We stop at Victoria's house to drop off money for the mattresses and other supplies, and Susan is greeted by Justine, Daniel and Sonyu with happy birthday greetings and song. Victoria offers Sue's first birthday present of the day.
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| Sue gets birthday hugs from Justine |
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| Laundry time at BKU |
The traffic in Kampala is particularly heavy, so we are an hour late picking up Jackie who has traveled in by bus. First, though, we need to visit a stationers' to pick up an exercise book, as Carly has forgotten hers at BV.
Our first stop is at Annette's vegetable stand. She says she is doing well and shows us the freezer which appears in good shape but is not currently connected with electricity. We wind back to the familiar lodging to find a building being erected directly in front of Annette's house, so that we need to dodge scaffolding and realize that her place is now depressingly dark. Annette has been purchasing electricity from a neighbour who recently raised the monthly price from 30,000 to 45,000 shillings per month. Annette has researched her options and saved the 400,000 shillings required to hire an electrician to run wires and set her up with her own service and meter. She tells us this will not delay her repayment of the entire microloan of 624,000 shillings, which could happen next month. We are amazed that she was given 2 years to repay this loan, and she has managed it in less than a year.
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| Baby whisperer Scott cuddles Annette's neighbour's child |
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| Gathering at the vegetable stand |
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| Annette with her freezer |
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| Sandra's turn to entertain the baby |
Sandra is the child who had heart surgery and requires ongoing medication. She is apparently doing well in school and very happy, although she did require a trip to hospital a couple of months ago for an infectious illness. She is thrilled to be starting boarding school, thanks to our organization's support.
Her younger sister, Marjorie, is still in boarding school and doing very well. Solomon just graduated from kindergarden and is cute as a button. We meet Maurice, a sibling older than Solomon, who lives with his grandmother but is visiting for the school break.
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| Marjorie & Sandra listen as we speak with Annette |
Overall, we are thrilled to see Annette doing so incredibly well with her business and money management.
We next stop at Jackie's house and meet with Harry, who lives with Jackie and Majid, and also Sarah, one of our sponsored children who has been staying and caring for Jonathan and Abraham while we have been occupying Jackie's time. We meet the two dogs and cute puppy, and enjoy some delicious watermelon before heading out with Sarah to visit her mom (Farida).
We make a stop to purchase a couple of shirts and shorts for Alan on the way to Farida's dress shop. Farida has a nice array of shirts and dresses adorning her small shop, all handmade by her. Carly gets measured for a dress, while Scott and Alan each order a shirt. These will be made over the next day or so. We're thrilled to see Moses and Cutie at Farida's home. Everyone is doing pretty well at school, but Moses says he would like to change schools because the kids tease him about his red eyes. He's been assessed in hospital and advised he has allergic conjunctivitis. It seems to respond to the expensive nutritional supplements which were recommended, but Dr. Alan suggests we may be able to obtain some preventative eye drops which will work better to keep the problem under control.
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| Carly inspects Farida's wares |
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| be sure to leave room for a few Nile Specials |
Farida is struggling financially for a few reasons. Her partner, who provided a fair amount of financial support, left when she refused to consider having more children. Her paper bag business has been undercut by local children who are now producing them. She gets more income from doing repairs then selling new clothing. As a result, she has fallen behind in her rent and is now actively searching out cheaper living quarters. She also plans to move her business to a location with less overhead.
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| Scott, Sara & Sue riding back to Farida's home |
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| Moses, Cutie & Sara by their bunk bed |
The boys say they haven't been riding the bikes we got them last year because they are "broken" and we find all four tires are flat. After we ask a couple of times, they agree they would very much like to have them repaired. We walk the bikes the short distance to the repair shop. It turns out that the tires and tubes all need to be replaced, and the boys are chastised for driving the bikes when the tires are low in air. The shopkeeper welcomes them to come in for free air pumping if they notice the tires are soft. Additionally, work is needed on the brakes and handlebars. Davis shakes his head at the expense incurred by keeping these easy riders on wheels.
Leaving Farida's house we are happy to have reconnected with the family but a little disappointed in the news we've received about both Farida and Moses' struggles.
We get back to the car to begin our travel to Sofia's business but are stopped on the road by a peddler selling fried grasshoppers. Deciding not to miss an opportunity for adventure, we pay the 8,000 shillings and warily have a taste. They are crunchy, salty, spiced, and altogether not bad but nonetheless we leave Jackie to finish them. Even Susan indulges in a crunchy morsel or two.
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| Davis points out the delights of fried grasshopper |
We quickly reach Sofia's Mobile Money stand. It is a small open-air "container" with room enough inside for only her. Carly has Sofia send some mobile money for her and she remarks that it is her first customer of the day, a disheartening start to our visit.
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| Sofia's stand is surrounded by competitors |
We are pleased when we reach Sofia's house at the improvement of her lodging since our last visit. Her new place is bright, large, clean, and there's no holes in the ceilings. The kids point out where they sleep on their new triple decker bunk-beds - one of the positive things Sofia has to tell us about since she has started her business.
We are amazed to see how the children have grown. Shatura, Saleh, Charlotte, and Sasha are growing like weeds and all look healthy. Shatura and Saleh inform us that their bikes are also "broken" and we promise to fix them. We are introduced to Shakira, Sofia's 13 year old child who has been living with her Dad until the last couple of months. She seems to be a lovely girl who is outgoing and affectionate.
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| Sofia, Shakira with Sasha on lap, Charlotte & Shatura |
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| posing beside the new bunkbed |
Sofia's business has been the most expensive and worrisome micro-loan project to date. We are disappointed to hear that she is not doing well. A combination of factors such as location and lack of sufficient float money have drained her. She explains that she is somewhat worried about the future of the Mobile Money business due to recent announcements made by the major carriers.
We ask her what she would like to do; continue with Mobile Money perhaps with some more capitol or cut her losses and move on to another field of work. We expect an answer within 3 months but she asks for only a week to think about it. We are surprised and decide to touch base in a week.
After our meeting, we enjoy watching the kids open up their gifts and most especially the fashion show we receive from Shatura. Sasha tries to join in the fashion show but is too young to get the clothes on and off fast enough. It is adorable.
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| Charlotte (behind) & Sasha posing with new clothes |
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| Alan helps Sasha get the hang of the Straws & Connectors game |
Saleh, a typical young boy, is uninterested in his clothes but eager to open up his "Straws and Connectors" game. We all share some pineapple biscuits and head on our way while the children are playing together with their new toy.
We drop Jackie off at a bus stop, as she doesn't want to fight the traffic in and out of city centre to the restaurant. For the second year in a row, Susan celebrates her birthday at the Speke Hotel, starting with a shot of green Zappa. Alan is not impressed with his steak, but everyone else enjoys their meal. The drive back to BV is very slow because of heavy traffic. Jemima advises us the airport called to confirm Alan's luggage is on tonight's flight, so we allow a bit of hope to creep in.
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