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| Hello Penn Charter 1st Grade. We hope you like visiting Uganda with us!!! |
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| The Bududa Learning Center, home of the Bududa Vocational School and the Children of Bududa programs |
Hello Ms. Netter’s 1st Grade class and greetings from Bududa, Uganda!
Karen and I are so happy to share with you about
Uganda. Your questions are terrific and
we will try to answer as many of them as we can. You are so lucky to be able to learn about other countries and other parts of the world you are now growing up into. Our world is an awesome and beautiful place with adventures to be found everywhere.
We first came to Bududa (pronounced Boo-doo-da) in 2003 with
a small group of volunteers from America and Canada. We came here to do service work like you do Penn Charter. Are you doing Terra-Cycling this year? Our service project was to work with people in Bududa
to help start a vocational school and a Saturday support program for children
who were very poor. A vocational school
is a school that teaches job skills so the vocational students can find work when they
graduate. The students at the Bududa
Vocational Academy are 16-22 years old and the skills they can learn are
Carpentry, Brick-laying and Building, Hair Dressing, Tailoring and Fashion
Design, Nursery Teacher Training, and Computer Skills. Each student picks one of these subjects and
then they also take English, Swahili (an African language used by many people
in Africa), Math, a course in how to be a good business-person, and a class
in how to use a computer.
They also have clubs, like singing, dancing, debate, and a service club to help other people. The school
has a boys’ soccer team and the girls play a sport called net-ball, which is
somewhat like our basketball played on an outdoor soccer field. Ugandans love
soccer. We will be here in June when the World Cup Soccer Tournament begins and
we have already made plans to watch many of the matches with our local friends.
The special Saturday program, called the Children of Bududa,
gives children from ages 6-20 school fees to pay
for the school they go to Monday-Friday, an extra day of school tutoring, extra food for themselves and their
families, and extra medical care when needed.
Karen and I spend each day, Monday-Saturday, helping out
with each program. I spend most of my time like I did in the Lower School at
Penn Charter, trying to help the school run better and making sure the students
are doing well. There are new problems to solve everyday, but Karen and I so
enjoy the people and schools we are working with. Being here is such a great privilege for us.
OK, so that is what we are doing here and I hope you can see how much we like being here! Now to your other questions:
Communication:
There are 56 different tribes of people living in Uganda and all together they speak 43 different languages. In school, students learn English and Swahili, a language spoken in many parts of Africa. Everyone also speaks and learns in their local language. Our local language is Lugisu and Karen and I can greet people properly in Lugisu and understand some things in the language when it is spoken to us. So, we usually communicate with a little bit of English and a little bit of Lugisu----and we are able to understand one another quite well.
Climate. Weather, Nature:
Daily Living:
School:
The school has electricity and some solar power. The electricity does not come to the school everyday and the solar power can't run the larger power equipment.
Everyday there is a tea and porridge break at 10:30am and lunch is served at 1:00pm. Everyone eats potia (pronounced po-sha) and beans. Potia is made from corn meal and it looks like mashed potatoes.
There are three types of buildings in Bududa. The oldest and most traditional building is made from sticks, logs, and mud with a straw roof. The next type of house, a bit newer, is still a stick and mud house, but with a tin roof. The newest houses and schools like ours, are made of brick, cement, and tin roofs.
About 86% attend primary school, about 38% attend secondary school; average class size listed by the government is 55:1, but many in our area are 100:1
Geography:
There are 20 cities in Uganda with at least 90,000 people living in them. Mbale, with about 90,000 people is the closet city to us. It is about an hour away by taxi van.
We are very close to Kenya. It is also about an hour away by taxi van. People have walked there from Bududa. It is about 30 miles over the mountains and takes a full day to get there.
Unlike the rural areas, the cities do have regular running water and regular electricity.
Uganda is about the size of Oregon (and England, too).
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| Uganda is famous for its large elephant herds |
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| The male lion is in Uganda |
OK, so that is what we are doing here and I hope you can see how much we like being here! Now to your other questions:
There are 56 different tribes of people living in Uganda and all together they speak 43 different languages. In school, students learn English and Swahili, a language spoken in many parts of Africa. Everyone also speaks and learns in their local language. Our local language is Lugisu and Karen and I can greet people properly in Lugisu and understand some things in the language when it is spoken to us. So, we usually communicate with a little bit of English and a little bit of Lugisu----and we are able to understand one another quite well.
Climate. Weather, Nature:
Uganda is on the Equator: sunrise is at 7am, sunset at 7pm every day.
Bududa is at about 4,000 feet in elevation.
It is very green, fertile, and beautiful where we live. Uganda is basically a country surrounded by mountains with a big flat area (plateau) in the middle. It is a beautiful country and has been called ”the Pearl of Africa”.
Average Temperatures: 75-85 degrees every day.
Being on the Equator, there are not seasons as we know them. Instead, a year is marked by a Dry Season: December to February; June-August, and a Rainy Season: March-May, September-November.
Most of the great African animals live in Uganda and the birds are especially good. In fact, Uganda is one of the best countries to see birds in al of Africa. Here are a few more pictures of animals and birds in Uganda:
Most of the great African animals live in Uganda and the birds are especially good. In fact, Uganda is one of the best countries to see birds in al of Africa. Here are a few more pictures of animals and birds in Uganda:
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| A male giraffe: do you know how to tell it is a male? |
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| Vervet monkeys. One of 20 primate types that live in Uganda, including the Mountain Gorrila |
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| A pair of magnificent Crested Cranes. They are on Uganda's flag |
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| One of our favorite visitors to our house: African Pygmy Kingfisher |
Daily Living:
60% of all Ugandans and 90% of the people in Bududa live on small plots of land and they are farmers. 80% of all people in Uganda live rurally.
Some of the main crops grown are: Coffee, Cotton, Corn (maize), Beans, Cabbages, Bananas: sweet and green for Matoke, and Cassava.
Like everyone, we eat mostly what is grown here. We add rice and pasta to our meals, too. Chicken and beef is sometimes eaten, but it is expensive and so most people do not eat this except at special meals.
The poorest of people eat the same foods, but they may only eat one meal a day.
There are only a few cars and trucks in Bududa. All the roads are rough dirt roads and they are very hard on any car or truck.
Only about 20% of the houses and businesses have electricity. Electricity does not come every day and we can go several days without it. Some houses, like where we stay, has some solar power. IN our house we can light a few rooms at night and we have enough power to charge our phones, computers, and cameras.
We do not have TV. I think there are about 5-10 TV's in Bududa and many people go to watch them when they can.
Running water , like electricity, is coming slowly to this region. No one has running water in there homes in Bududa, but a new running water system is being built now. People will need to pay to get water from the system, so many people will not be able to afford it.
Like everyone, we eat mostly what is grown here. We add rice and pasta to our meals, too. Chicken and beef is sometimes eaten, but it is expensive and so most people do not eat this except at special meals.
The poorest of people eat the same foods, but they may only eat one meal a day.
There are only a few cars and trucks in Bududa. All the roads are rough dirt roads and they are very hard on any car or truck.
Only about 20% of the houses and businesses have electricity. Electricity does not come every day and we can go several days without it. Some houses, like where we stay, has some solar power. IN our house we can light a few rooms at night and we have enough power to charge our phones, computers, and cameras.
We do not have TV. I think there are about 5-10 TV's in Bududa and many people go to watch them when they can.
Running water , like electricity, is coming slowly to this region. No one has running water in there homes in Bududa, but a new running water system is being built now. People will need to pay to get water from the system, so many people will not be able to afford it.
Everyone fetches from a spring or water hole in 5-gallon cans called jeri-cans. They are very heavy. Younger children like you fetch water in 2-gallon can. Some people have water tanks to catch rain water. We have a tank at our house and at the school.
The annual average income for people in Uganda is: $1,200.00 per year. For people in Bududa the average annual income is about $1/per day or $365.00 per year.
Ugandan money is called shillings. 3,600 shillings make up one dollar. When we carry shillings with us, can you figure out why we always feel like we have a lot of money?
There are many small shops in Bududa and the other small villages nearby.
About 50,000 people live in the Bududa area which covers an area about the size of from Penn Charter and all of East Falls.
Ugandan money is called shillings. 3,600 shillings make up one dollar. When we carry shillings with us, can you figure out why we always feel like we have a lot of money?
There are many small shops in Bududa and the other small villages nearby.
About 50,000 people live in the Bududa area which covers an area about the size of from Penn Charter and all of East Falls.
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| This is a woman digging her field to plant. This is how all the land is farmed in Bududa. Some bigger farms in other parts of Uganda use tractors to plough their fields |
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| This is a typical shop in the village. People put goods out by the road and also sell things in the shop buildings behind them |
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| Here are children playing with scooters they have made. To grease the wheels they use cow dung |
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| This is down along the river that runs through Bududa. People are washing their clothes. They can also get water here and children like to swim here |
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| I'm walking to school and behind me a woman is carrying green bananas in the traditional way |
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| This is a special meal cooked with meat and chicken, There is also japatis (a type of flat bread), yams, matoke (made from green bananas), Irish potatoes, beans and sauces |
School:
The school has electricity and some solar power. The electricity does not come to the school everyday and the solar power can't run the larger power equipment.
Everyday there is a tea and porridge break at 10:30am and lunch is served at 1:00pm. Everyone eats potia (pronounced po-sha) and beans. Potia is made from corn meal and it looks like mashed potatoes.
There are three types of buildings in Bududa. The oldest and most traditional building is made from sticks, logs, and mud with a straw roof. The next type of house, a bit newer, is still a stick and mud house, but with a tin roof. The newest houses and schools like ours, are made of brick, cement, and tin roofs.
About 86% attend primary school, about 38% attend secondary school; average class size listed by the government is 55:1, but many in our area are 100:1
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| This is Peter and Lois, our school cooks, in the kitchen at school. Peter is holding a plate of potia and beans |
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| This is a reading and writing class in the Saturday school program |
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| This is the Tailoring class in our school |
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| This is the new Boys Dormitory now being built. It is the newer brick and cement style building. It will have a tin roof |
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| Here is closeup of the brick work being done |
Geography:
There are 20 cities in Uganda with at least 90,000 people living in them. Mbale, with about 90,000 people is the closet city to us. It is about an hour away by taxi van.
We are very close to Kenya. It is also about an hour away by taxi van. People have walked there from Bududa. It is about 30 miles over the mountains and takes a full day to get there.
Unlike the rural areas, the cities do have regular running water and regular electricity.
Uganda is about the size of Oregon (and England, too).
There are 45 million people in Uganda; half of the people in Uganda areare 18 years old or younger.
The East Africa Community is made up of these countries: Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda.
Uganda is bordered by the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), South Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania, and Rwanda.
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| This is a map of Uganda that is in our school. I am pointing to where Bududa is on the map. The blue water you see on the map eventually becomes the Nile River which runs all the way to Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea |
