Experiences: St Paul KAASO

Emma Young, from the US volunteered during February and March 2006.

It is difficult to describe in words an experience that changes your life. I’m a better person for having visited KAASO (the Kabira Adult Attention and School of Orphans): I’m more patient, understanding, and giving of my time, attention and love. I’m also much more knowledgeable about the life one leads in rural areas of developing nations. The pictures and description on the website might not help you to understand that KAASO is in a rural village in Uganda- without access to public utilities, such as water and electricity- near the swamps surrounding Lake Victoria, in the district hardest hit by HIV/AIDS in all of Uganda and possibly in all of Africa. It was in this area that the epidemic originated, long before anyone understood the disease.

The school is a Primary Boarding School, filled to capacity with HIV/AIDS orphans. While walking around the stunningly gorgeous villages with temperate climate and welcoming people, the scenery and quiet, simple, country life, might distract you from the more subtle observations: each home, each banana plantation, has graves, large and small, and there are not many people seen between the ages of 30 to 50. It’s as if an entire generation disappeared. In this way, you begin to understand how each of these children, so loving, so giving, so open in heart, so ready to embrace what opportunities this world brings them, is a survivor. The adult learning groups, primarily composed of widows, both old and young, banning together to learn life skills and support what family they have, are cause of great respect on the volunteer’s part.

I made lifelong friends amongst the people at the school. Sarah, the earnest nursery teacher in her early twenties, was mother to me- teaching me how to wash my clothes in an inch of water, bath my body in a small plastic washtub, cook my food with firewood, all with patience and love. Alex, the young science teacher with his broad smile and joy for life, inviting me for long walks to explore fauna and flora across the rolling hills, and asking us to give presentations to his classes on such things as energy production in our home countries and what machines we use. The Headmistress Rose (Dominic’s wife and the true power and management of the KAASO project), with her well-spoken English and quick mind, teaching me the details of cultural differences I could not understand, and quickly grasping foreign concepts we tried to impart. Too many supportive, giving, and friendly people to mention here- just know that when I say you will find friends here, it’s true.

Kabira, the name of the sub-county the project is in, is gorgeous- a setting seen only in movies. It is also filled with a type of poverty little understood in our developed nations. You are about a 20 minute walk to the nearest “town”, and a 25 minute scooter ride to the nearest city, Kyotera, the capital of the Rakai District. The District borders Tanzania and Lake Victoria and is relatively close to many of the tourist destinations people come to Uganda for: the safaris of Queen Elizabeth National Park, the tranquility of Lake Bunyonyi, the mountain gorillas of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, the birder’s paradise of the Ssese Islands, etc. But, having reached this haven of love, beauty and survival, in which you will be treated like royalty and stuffed with so much wonderful food you’ll look forward to traveling back to your home country in order to lose weight, you’ll hardly want to leave to explore other areas.

I miss my room at KAASO. Private and large, with clean, pressed sheets on my bed, and a cool breeze that would float in on the rare too-hot-to-venture-out day, I loved every moment within. I especially loved the many visitors we had. Staying at the school grounds, you interact much with children and visitors and you always feel part of the action, able to start projects on your own, or join in any new initiative.

I taught children’s classes, or assisted with grading papers. I helped to organize the office and library. I played games with the children, both at recess and during Physical Education. I attended the women’s support group, watching as they made traditional baskets and mats, and helping them to practice English. I explored the villages and countryside, often walking on my own, safe in these close-knit communities. Dominic and Rose (Headmaster and Headmistress and Husband and Wife) took me to many local functions, exposing me to all the culture has to offer and the differences in lifestyles. The volunteer’s schedule also now includes helping the matrons- the women who live and work at the school caring for the children. You also have the opportunity to volunteer at the local government school, which Dominic directs, and a vocational senior secondary school, closer to town, and directed by an uncle of Sarah’s (my younger Ugandan mom mentioned above), where they teach hairstyling, cooking, computer classes, tailoring, etc. My one piece of advice to future volunteers is to embrace all these diverse experiences with smiles and greetings of joy.

You won’t believe the love, support, care, and attention you’ll be given at KAASO. You’ll be humbled by how grateful everyone is for such small efforts- even just for you visiting and greeting them. And your every effort, no matter how small, is needed here. The people, everyone from the nursery children who delight in playing with you, to villagers who do not speak English but love to wave at you, are so giving and welcoming. You’ll never be treated so wonderfully again- even the most expensive hotels cannot provide such service. It is love that money cannot buy and you’ll find it in abundance near the swamplands of Lake Victoria, in a district little known by outsiders, in a country feared by those who have never visited, and cherished by those who have.

I miss Uganda. I miss Kabira. I miss KAASO. I miss the children. I miss my friends. I invite you to go, experience a life-changing miracle, and send my greetings to my dear friends: Alex, Sarah, Rose, Dominic, and the many, many dear and wonderful others I have not listed here. Please remember to send my fondest well wishes to them and let them know of my desires to see them again.

Emma Young.