Kids Club Kampala

Yesterday a friend of mine took me along with her to a place she’s been volunteering at since she came to Uganda a few months ago.  Kids Club Kampala is a nonprofit organization that was founded in 2009 aiming to bring hope and love to vulnerable children and to transform poor communities in Uganda.  They are currently located in 17 communities and reach over 4,000 children in Uganda every day.

Going into this, I knew we were off to one of the largest slums in the Kampala area (we visited the Katanga Slum), but I don’t think anything can prepare you for the life that we came from to the life that these children are living on a daily basis.  We arrived early and I was offered to be taken on a small tour of part of the slum.  I was informed that in this tiny little area some 25,000 people call it home.  As we made our way in I was immediately greeted with a smell that at times made it difficult to breathe.  You had to be careful where you stepped as there was trash and what I can only imagine sewage everywhere.  Little children followed us through as we made our way, everyone wants to smile and wave to the “Mzungu” (white person).  One thing I’ve noticed since arriving is Ugandan’s are some of the friendliest people and are always very polite.

Outside the Katanga Slum.

My tour guide, one of the school teachers, pointed out how to get up to the main road, people’s homes, and small shops as we made our way through.  It was an eye-opening experience that I know I will never forget.  Words cannot begin to describe all the sights from the inside (sorry, no pictures of this as I felt it was rude and improper).  As we made our way out of the slum and headed back over to the one-room classroom, I wasn’t sure what to expect.

The children were adorable and ranged in age from infants to pre-teens.  Unfortunately, school is very expensive and most families cannot afford it.  This place gives these children the opportunity to come and learn until they hopefully get a sponsor so they can get a real education.  Since it’s not a real school, they don’t have uniforms and most of their clothes were tattered and torn.  Many of them were in mismatched outfits that were either too big or too small.  Some of them weren’t even fully clothed.  And shoes, if they had shoes on them they were lucky although most of them the shoes were also half broken or not the right size.  During our visit, we only got to spend time with about 30 or so children.  I was informed that on a normal day they have 80-100 plus kids joining them.

One of the little girls they help.

My friend helping teach a lesson.

Most of the kids knew my friend and were very excited to see her.  But, as most children are, everyone got a little quiet when it came time to greet me because I was new.  That quickly changed as we began reading the kids letters from their new pen-pals back in the US.  The letters were from my friend's nephews second-grade class and were dated from early November so all the American kids talked about was Halloween and the leaves changing colors.  Being directly on the equator, it was hard to explain that back home the US has four seasons instead of sunny, cloudy, windy, and rainy like the poster in the classroom had.  Once the kids heard that their new American friends also liked to play soccer, or football as the kids here call it, and many of them enjoyed swimming, we were back on track.  Our kids came up with their own questions for their new friends and we spent the afternoon writing letters back to them and drawing pictures.

Reading some of the letters to the kids.

Sitting in the classroom.

It was a wonderful and rewarding experience and I hope to go back.  It made me truly realize how lucky we were to grow up in the US and to be able to go to school every day and get the educations we did.  I was even luckier in that I knew I had 3 hot meals a day, clothes and shoes that fit, and a family I knew would be there for me.