The Cothams, including Andrew Price who is now an honorary Cotham since he was taught the secret knock, are trying to chill between groups. Tomorrow morning we get up early and will pick the new group up in Entebbe. The Loyds will temporarily head for Bethany Village (a children's home for mainly orphaned children-where all of the books have been delivered), but will meet back up with us by June 20th. Yesterday, we visited Jinja, including the Source of the Nile park and Bujagali Falls, where we took a short boat trip and saw some folks go over the falls. Our own efforts to white water raft were the victim of scheduling issues.
Today, I visisted again with my friend Abhay Shaw, who owns a Ugandan solar company, about a solar power solution to the DVD players we brought over. It was very encouraging--it looks like a realtively small panel could power the player. If so, with a little help from the manufacturer, we would be able to distribute a number of these players at sub $100 per unit, which would enable the schools to very easily share top quality educational DVD's. That could provide a vehicle for introducing some excellent content for these children and might further serve as a proof of concept for a larger program.
I also re-visited Uganda McMillan and with a generous donation by friends of Nanette's acquired 65 more copies of Where There is No Doctor, an extraordinarily well-written and popular book by the Hesperian Society for villages who have no doctor but nonetheless have needs for health care information. Both teachers and health professionals were extremely glad to recieve the copies that we had already brought (due to Chapelwood's generosity) and these extra copies will be incredibly well-received. One recipient, upon reviewing the book, said "this book will save lives here." Again, thanks!
We all miss family and friends, but are still having a great time and looking forward to introducing a new group to the Zombo District. Thanks to all. We'll try to stay in touch. Mark
No comments:
Post a Comment