The day started with rain which delayed our start. After half an hour of waiting for it to stop, we all decided to brave the rain and made our way to schools for the morning sessions. Group one made their way to VH Primary School, as it was still raining they did a very successful classroom session! Group two made our way to Adyel Primary school. Here the rain had stopped slightly so we had Nick outside running ‘head, shoulders, knees and toes’ whilst the other volunteers were inside having a classroom session on HIV. However, I think the classroom sessions were more manic than the outside ones as once we were done with the flash cards, we had a catching session inside the classroom, 4 balls, 2 volunteers and about 30 kids is definitely going to cause chaos! We then left with a warm goodbye, as then half the school came out to say good bye to us! Everyone wanting to give you a high five, so you always have around 10 kids hanging off your arms!
Now the rain has stopped we were able to run our normal session! We started the session with relays which the kids thoroughly enjoyed and then moved onto the individual sessions; batting, bowling and catching. However my job for this session was to distract the kids watching so they wouldn’t interrupt the sessions going on. Just my luck, they happened to be the very young children who were just so cute! They took a very big liking to me, many high five and hugs were exchanged and they were fantasised by my skin.
Then I met some older girls who I got talking to, and they kindly gave me a tour of the school and I was able to see their dorms they stay in and some of their classrooms. However on the way back to the field, I was greeted by another 40 children who decided they all wanted to hold my hand whilst we walked which definitely was an interesting experience!
Next we took a lunch break which was an Ugandan dish called a Rolex. This is a omelette wrapped inside of a chapati. Usually I’m quite a fussy eater but not a bad word to say about this dish!
Next we arrived at Ojwina school (now know as the purple school). Before I came out to Uganda, I was told that the girls would love my hair and I would receive some attention however hadn’t experienced much of this until now! We were greeted with high fives and again they took a liking to me. To many of the girls, I was now known as Auntie Holly and became their friend. Whilst Nick and Tom ran the relays, me and Lucy were set for the crowd control again. This included many conversations ranging from HIV, Boris Johnson and my pet dog Mylo which they all found hilarious. I befriended some boys over our love for Arsenal. I made the mistake of taking my hat off and suddenly I had 20 kids around me just in awe of my hair! Never received so many compliments about my ginger hair!! My highlight of this whole session were the kids were hugging me so much that they lifted me up and I was carried about 5 meters, just like I won the World Cup or something! Then just as I was leaving, sitting on the bus about to leave around 30 children outside the bus chanting ‘holly, holly, holly.’ I’m taking that as my 30 seconds of fame!
After this manic session, we went to a local college and were able to run a game of five bats with a group of children and many many spectators. Then me and Mark went off to the market to collect our hand made shirt and skirt. We ended the day with a meal and some well earned rest.
Written by: Holly Presswell (first time CWB volunteer)
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