Today is a visiting day at one of the Just Like My Child Foundation scholarship recipients schools. Kiberu William’s mother came to the guest house early this morning with his older sister Sarah. Night and Lucy who are staff members of Bishop Asili Hospital also showed up because they decided to go and visit their friend Anna today at university. We all packed into the vehicle and headed for St. Peters Primary School in Kampala.
Left to right: William's mother Grace, Kiberu William, William's sister Sarah
I went to visit with Williams teacher for a little while and looked at his report. He has improved his marks slightly since the last time I received an academic update. He doesn’t really have very much room for improvement because he’s doing so well. 
We walked around the school compound for awhile and took some photos. Williams' school was having a big celebration today and his mother had prepared a home cooked meal for him as well. I decided to give William some time alone with his family. I left them at the school to eat their lunch together and enjoy the celebration while I went with Night and Lucy to visit Anna at university.
Anna is from the same area where Sister Ernestine Akulu comes from. She had a rough child hood and Sister Ernestine took her in and encouraged her to go to school. Anna had a lousy foundation in primary school, but she took Sister Ernestine's advice and studied very hard. She passed out of several exams without every having gone to school consistently. When I first arrived at Bishop Asili in July, Anna was living and working at the guest house where I live and in the process of applying for university. Her marks in secondary school were exemplary and so therefore she was accepted into the two best universities in the country. I became good friends with her in a very short time and I was eager to see how she was getting along on college campus in Kampala. Anna didn’t know we were coming so she was ecstatic when we arrived at her dorm room. She’s living in a room about half of the size of a typical dorm room in the United States and she shares it with another girl. The room has just enough space for two beds and a small stove for cooking. There is no closet, so they just have to hang their clothing from a few nails that have been hammered into the walls. Their extra clothing stays in their suitcases that barely fit under their beds. I noticed right away that she’s lost quite a bit of weight since leaving Bishop Asili just a few months ago. Anna says she doesn’t really have time to cook for herself. Her classes start at 7a.m. every morning and she has no idea where on campus her class will take place. She has to wake up at 5:30am and immediately head for a message board that will tell her where her class is to take place. If she isn’t one of the first people to reach her class then she has to stand outside the classroom and peak through the windows for the lesson because there are not enough chairs for all of the students. Kyambogo University (second to the best in the entire country) has no books or library for her courses. She can’t afford to buy the books for her courses because there are eight of them and they cost over 100,000/= per book. The best university in the country (Makarere) has the books in a library, but there are few and must be shared by all of the students for two universities. Anna spends any time that she isn’t in class at the library in Makarere, which is easily an hours walk away or more from her dorm room so that she can read the lectures and chapters that are assigned to her by her professors. Most of her assignments must be typed as well, which means she has to spend hours waiting for a computer to open up so that she can complete her work. I’ve never seen her happier!!!! For all of the challenges she has to go through every day she really had no complaints! She’s just happy to be given the chance to study! She’ll take what she can get! Oh how we take so much for granted in the United States!! I was so happy to see Anna! She gives me hope for the future of Uganda! That light I’m always keeping my eye out for just shoots out of her!
Left to right: Toby (the driver's) daughter Rebecca, Anna, Tessa
Left to right: Anna, Night (cook at Bishop Asili), Lucy (nurse at Bishop Asili), Petra (Anna's roommate)
Went back to St. Peters Primary School to pick up Williams mother and sister. They had a lovely time eating lunch and catching up with William. We took a few more pictures and said our goodbyes. I love spending time with William and his mother together. I just appreciate how they interact with one another. I like how they have this mutual respect for one another. William is not treated like a child, but as a peer. 
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