My scorecard as a Volunteer

People I worked with

Dress is called kitenge

They saved lives

As my two years have come to an end, I ask myself... what have I really done here in Gulu?  My end-of-placement report of 33 pages (with pictures) says that I have: prepared process

couldn't send them to school

checklists, demonstrated that work is not your own creation but follows documented procedures, showed what is customer care, organized some workplace, and so on. I have been engaged also in what is called the Wider Role of  the Volunteer by making myself useful to the priests and nuns whose selflessness gave me inspiration.  But, I have not: built anything visible, saved a life in an operating room, taught the poor some  livelihood activities so they can eat beyond beans and posho, sent a single child to school by underwriting his school fees.

So, have I accomplished anything meaningful? Well, a Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) brochure says, "to spend time in a developing country volunteering and sharing your experience is possibly one of the most rewarding things you can do. It is said we make a difference and so we do but, the biggest difference we make is to ourselves".

It's just the color of the skin

As a volunteer, I deliberately lived in an environment devoid of desire for things that I cannot have or do. I learned: to keep a healthy mind and body, (the stomach may grumble, bladder may begin to burst but they can be tamed by mind control), the virtue of patience, realizing that being impatient will not dramatically change my life (my endurance had been tested), that I am comfortable with abandonment of my identity, and the deeper appreciation of the simpler things in life.

white mosquito net,  now gray

What difference in me has this done for others? I made: simple people happier by giving them almost all the material things that I possessed here, some people display and be proud of their skills by patiently waiting for them to finish their work no matter how long it takes. 

Now you see him, now you don't

I showed them that it is only the color of my skin that is different. That in this global village, some countries are ahead but others (such as Uganda) will catch up.

From them, I learned: the bonding effect of prolonged greetings and handshake, to value the wisdom of elders, that responsibility for family extends to the whole clan, that yesterday and tomorrow are not as important as today, that in Africa, when you support someone, you don't stay in front or beside the person - you stay behind to provide that big push.

With youth groups

But the biggest payback I got was when a young man told me that he would want to marry a white woman like me. I said, well, are you willing to cook, wash clothes, and do other household chores because white women, unlike African women, expect their men to do these things, too. He said, he can learn. 

I had two very good years in Gulu, Uganda, East Africa.

One of them wants to marry a white woman

Would you like to help them?

Send them your heart.  Lend a helping hand

After living in Gulu for 2 years, I have not been more certain that their biggest problem is quality of education. It is just 3 years ago that Gulu is coming out of a 20-year war. Not too long ago, the problem was access to education. But then Uganda introduced

Sister Angelina teaching

free Universal Primary Education, which keeps her at par with the rest of the world insofar as providing free primary education is concerned.  But the quality of what the students get in their

Ground-breaking of  building

formative years leaves much to be desired.  Feedback from organizations that are helping in the education sector in Uganda says that teachers are absent most of the time doing sideline work to augment income.

Roof coming up

They leave the brightest student in class to be their substitute.  Teachers' methods are archaic,  monologic; no interaction.  Students are trained to memorize with less opportunity for thinking.  Books are outdated.  Development and charity organizations that send

Temporary building coming up

modern teaching aids are disappointed that the materials that they have collected from abroad remain untouched and rotting for several years in some decrepit storehouse. You see the result:  young graduates have difficulty reading and writing.  I suspect that the reason why voice calls are used here more than text

Sowing seeds; sowing education

messaging comes from the difficulty in writing and reading.  Even in talking, the teacher's poor influence is showing.  Talk like.... this is a...... what?
Now, there is something that we can do to help in our small way.   Let's help Sister Angelina of the Little Sisters of the Mary Immaculate of Gulu build her nursery and primary school in a place where nursery kids have nowhere to go or those in primary school now have to walk more than 6 kilometers to the nearest school.   She needs books, dictionaries, bibles, and money.  She runs a nursery school in the church grounds and I have seen the difference.  The children speak English with the correct accent and goes beyond the sing-song How are you?

This is where our help can go

The pictures above will tell us the story of why she needs help and open our minds and hearts on how we can help. If you have something to share (ideas and/or material things), please send me an mail at eve2000_ph@yahoo.com with subject: Mary Queen of Peace Building. Just an idea of how far a little help could go here in Gulu: One U.S. dollar (43 Philippine pesos) is equivalent to 2,500 Uganda shillings. It can buy 12 tubers of cassava for one meal of 12 small kids.

Recess time with corn porridge.  No spoons to scoop.

I volunteered in Africa because I was inspired by Michael Jackson's composition, We are the World.  I hope it will inspire you, too, to help.
There comes a time when we hear a certain call When the world must come together as one There are people dying and it's time to lend a hand to life The greatest gift of all. We can't go on pretending day by day That someone, somewhere will soon make a change We are all a part of God's great big family And the truth, you know, Love is all we need.

Temporary school in a chapel

We are the world, we are the children We are the ones who make a brighter day So let's start giving There's a choice we're making We're saving our own lives it's true we'll make a better day Just you and me Send them your heart so they'll know that someone cares And their lives will be stronger and free As God has shown us by turning stones to bread So we all must lend a helping hand

Children hike from afar to attend Saturday school

When you're down and out, there seems no hope at all But if you just believe there's no way we can fall Let us realize that a change can only come When we stand together as one

Physical education time with teacher Grace

From the Philippines, with love

It says:  Donated by the Avila family from the Philippines

I thought of donating a directory of priests who served in the church where I go to. It was both an agony and ecstasy. The parish priest researched on the names of priests who served in

Credits at the back

Street side workshop

the parish since it was founded in 1962. I took the pictures of the church's interior paintings and had my son, Gino, design the artwork. Gave it to a local painter in Gulu who started work in March 2011 and the final work was turned-over to the parish in April 2012 - more than one year.

David, the garage and store keeper

Bosco, the painter.  He is a pal now.

Well, there were two versions of the work; the first one was rejected by the priest, so the painter agreed to start all over again, free labor this time. Realizing his constraints, he was given the church garage as temporary workshop.

Turn-over sheet.  Perfectly executed.

He was so disorganized and his alignments and calculations had the tendency to be crooked and wrong so I worked with him whenever he had the time. He makes me wait for 2 hours after the appointed time. Sometimes he does not show up or disappears for days. I would have given up if not for the encouragement of the priest. Finally, the work was hanged inside the church.

The Holy Rosary Parish Church, Gulu, Uganda

It turned out to be a relatively marvelous piece of work.  It is not just a directory but a painting.   Churchgoers look at it and some would have their pictures taken.  Those who know that I gave it to the church praise me to no end.

It's a work of art and now part of the parish's history.

It's a gift from a family in the Philippines to the Holy Rosary Parish in Gulu, Uganda whose Golden Jubilee they will celebrate in October 2012.  The Comboni missionaries will hand-over the church to the diocesan priests on the same date.  Mission accomplished for the Comboni missionaries.  Placement and after-hours and weekend mission accomplished for the VSO volunteer.

"I shall pass this way but once, whatever good I might do, let me do it now, for I will never pass this way again."  

   Are missionaries and volunteers not of the same fold?   

Two years of DIY in Africa

With the accountants of Gulu District, Uganda

1.  I had not been to a beauty parlor.  I cut my own hair, did my nails and gave my feet a scrub.  I had to color my hair every fortnight as it easily fades because of the harsh sun or perspiration.
2.  My eyeglasses with the top of the line bifocal lens could not withstand the heat of the sun.  The coating of the lenses got bubbly that I am seeing raindrops even if it is bright and sunny.
3.  Never been to a dentist.  I did my regular dental floss and prophylaxis with the DIY (Do It Yourself) stuff that I brought.
4.  Never bought new clothes as those that I brought from home have not suffered wear and tear.
5.  All my socks had holes in the sole but I keep wearing them.  I don't have the habit of removing my shoes in public so no cause for accidental revelation.
6.  The soles of my two pairs of walking shoes are chiseled that I can already feel the pebbles that I am stepping on.  I will have to bring them to the rubbish bin soon.
7.  I enjoyed my home cooking alternating among vienna sausage, fried sardines and scrambled eggs.

I realized that I can live anywhere in the world with whatever can go into my rucksack.  The essentials are the 5Ps - passport, phone, plastic money, personal computer and prayer book.

My, this is a kind of freedom. 

I feel that my heart is light and pure.  I can grow and love more.  There is such a lot of living, thinking, and feeling to do.

Teaching good grooming

I am a child of the universe.  What a beautiful world.