The School Fund, Wellington, and the Webers

            Wema has been working with the School Fund. Through the website, you can “adopt” a child by paying for a full year of education, which is $500. The Webers, a family who Alex has become extremely close with, paid for Wellington’s education. The Webers did not stop there. They took their “adoption” of him to the next step. They gave me a large duffle to bring up to Wema. It included letters from all three of the children, Austin, Bennie, and Graham, along with their favorite books they wanted Wellington to have. It also included shirts for Wellington, hats, books, colored pencils, and sketch pads because they knew he liked to draw. They read Wellington’s interests on the School Fund and made sure to give him stuff catered to these interests.

Wellington with pictures of the Weber children

Wellington loved all his gifts!

Wellington is an orphan who comes from very poor conditions in Bunyore. Wellington found out about Highway Academy from his sister who works near here. Wellington asked Stephen and Teresa if he could get an education. As Wellington says, Highway Academy is a much better education than the other schools. He lives with his sister in Bukembe when school is not in session. Wellington lives with his sister because no one is at home to feed him once his parents died. This will be the third year Wellington has lived at Wema during the school year. Laura told me he is one of the brightest and sweetest students at Wema. When he arrived back to Wema yesterday, I saw right away his sweet nature and could tell his English was very high quality. We took him into Stephen and Teresa’s house to give him the Weber’s letters and gifts. The smile on his face when he realized what the Webers had given him made me tear up. He kept saying “thank you.” When he saw the hats, he gave a yelp of joy and put one on his head right away. His smile stretched all the way across his face. I take for granted all the books, clothes, and hats my parents provide for me. When something is ripped or frayed in my or my friends’ closets, it usually has been done for a fashion statement and not as a result of it naturally tearing from too much wear. Many of the students’ uniforms are ripped and their own clothes are commonly dirtied. The tags are still on all of the items the Weber’s gave Wellington. They are brand new. Having new clothes is so uncommon here. I am really thankful for the School Fund and the Webers for giving me the chance to see Wellington’s smile yesterday.

Wellington with a thank-you note he made for the Webers, about to use a laptop

Computer lab all set up: teaching the teachers

Teaching a teacher about Microsoft Word

A Wema student (who had taken one class the first day) helping another student

While we were working with the teachers in the computer lab this afternoon, Wellington came in with a thank-you sign for the Webers along with three long hand written letters to the children. He already had a gmail account, so we set him up on the computer with an Internet stick and typed the three letters out to the children. Some of the same teachers came to the computer lab today, and a lot of them remember what they learned yesterday. One of the teachers Solomon gave me a double high-five when he left. He has picked up the computer so fast, learning Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

We started taking Swahili classes yesterday with Solomon. It is all of us plus a few younger students as classes are just starting up. We pretended to be different members of a family and learned family member names in Swahili. Somehow, at one point, my roommate Katie and I were sisters who also had a child. Only would that happen to us. Solomon told me he forgot to give us a book to practice. He also has mentioned giving us homework. Yikes.

Sugar Factor (hard hats not my best style)

We were able to visit the sugar factory where Stephen works. He is a chemist there. We got to taste sugars in their different states. It just showed once again how hard Stephen and Teresa work to support their family, Wema, and Highway Academy.