Two more schools in Jinja

We ate breakfast with our German friend Sasha. He left today for Kampala but will keep in touch as we find ways to partner with his organization, Ring of Hope Uganda. What a fun and productive chance meeting.

Today we went to two primary schools in Jinja. In the morning we taught girls and boys in the school yard, under big sprawling trees. I love holding class outside though it is hard to explain how to use a calendar if you don’t have a chalk board. Helen was hysterical modeling our pad while dancing and strutting about. She had those girls belly laughing and to me that means that the shame and stigma surrounding menstruation is breaking down. Yay Helen.

Phoebe delivers The MoonCatcher Project curriculum for boys.

While there is plenty of laughter, the girls also listened intently.

The afternoon classes ended up being held inside because of tremendous downpours. This often happens here but after a short while it stops, and we carry on with our schedule. These classes had about 200 children in each asking lots of questions and there was the usual laughter of course. So many smiles on the faces of these children; both boys and girls. It is a constant reminder that this work is so important.

We interviewed two girls that had already been using MoonCatcher kits for over a year. They spoke about how comfortable the pad is and described how they take care of it. Dozens of giggling younger children surrounded us wherever we went so it was difficult to hear what these soft-spoken girls were saying. We were using the microphone that Maureen gave  to record our conversation - but I’m not certain how successful we were. We will try again in Kenya if possible. I loved it that one of these girls is named Patricia. I told her that was my daughter’s name too. Another smile!

A fourteen year old student shows us an important message!

Off to Kenya tomorrow to see Jacky and baby Ellie.