Friday

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 * On Friday, we visited two schools proximate to the Abayudaya Jewish community in Mbale. I don't know a ton about the history of the Abayudaya Jews, but I believe the current community is descended from the original influence of Semei Kakungulu, who converted to Judaism about 95 years ago. The schools are public schools, so they are not dogmatic in nature, and have a high proportion of Jewish attendees (30+%) because most of the Abayudaya live in the same area. I was talking with Mrs. Nyeko about the genesis of the schools that we visited. For example, does the government decide when and where it wants a school and commission it to exist? Or do people start schools and then apply to the government for funding based on how many students they have? She told me that it's fairly common, or has been fairly common, for people to start schools privately and then ultimately apply for the government to take over and provide some funding. I think this describes the history of Semei Kakungulu Secondary School, and accounts for some of the traits within that might vary slightly from a more rigidly formed government school. ||
 * l[[image:Friday2.jpg caption="Mr. Seth Jonadev, Headmaster of Semei Kakungulu Secondary School."]] || [[image:Friday1.jpg width="512" height="341"]]
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Below are some pictures of the Hadassah Primary School, which we visited after the secondary school pictures above. The Abayudayah community has a relationship and receives some support by organizations abroad, including one in NYC called Kulanu. As was the trend, the administrators, teachers, and students at this school were entirely welcoming and generous. It's not very common for kids here to get to see and interact with westerners, so I think that the students valued the introduction equally with Mr. Schroeder and myself.


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 * [[image:Friday17.jpg width="512" height="341" caption="Little kids throughout our visits were very curious about the feel of our skin and hair. Many thought they'd died and gone to heaven when they saw Mr. Schroeder's mustache."]] || [[image:Friday19.jpg width="512" height="341"]] ||
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 * [[image:Friday22.jpg width="512" height="341" caption="It was such a nice visit that if they'd left in a van, I'd have also chased them."]] || [[image:Friday23.jpg width="512" height="341"]] ||

Friday evening I returned to the Abayudaya community to attend a Shabbat service with a group of the doctors, several of whom are Jewish. Upon arrival, I met a bunch of little kids that I'd seen earlier in the day, and made a few new friends as well. The service was really beautiful, and featured an abundance of singing and guitar playing (the only guitars that I'd seen in Uganda!). It was a really nice way to end the week, and it rained during the service, evidently for the first time in a few months.

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 * [[image:FridayNight2.jpg align="left" caption="Susan took a break from some afternoon work to come hang out."]] || [[image:FridayNight1.jpg width="512" height="341" caption="Little boy, his name sounds like 'Ema', but I'm not sure of the spelling."]][[image:FridayNight3.jpg width="512" height="341" align="left" caption="Jennifer."]] ||
 * [[image:FridayNight4.jpg width="512" height="341" caption="Girls that board at the secondary school walk over a kilometer to get water in the afternoon. The total trip can take 4 hours, including some waiting time at the source."]] || [[image:FridayNight5.jpg width="512" height="341" caption="Nuru."]] ||
 * [[image:FridayNight6.jpg width="512" height="341" caption="Kids gathering flowers."]] || [[image:FridayNight7.jpg width="512" height="341"]] ||
 * [[image:FridayNight8.jpg width="512" height="341"]] || [[image:FridayNight9.jpg width="512" height="341" caption="Young man that lives in the community."]] ||