Brain Tree School

As many of you know, my high school, Shipley, partnered with a primary school in Uganda called Brain Tree. When I got into my study abroad program I googled where Brain Tree was on a whim, thinking that I was being naive in hoping that in the entire country, the school may be close to where my program was located. But, somehow, it turned out that Brain Tree is 5 kilometers from where I am staying! So I contacted Shipley and told them I would be able to visit the school to see if there was anything they would like me to bring from them. I brought a whole carryon of donations from Shipley and spent my first two weeks anxiously waiting for some free time so I could go visit the school.
 My visit to Brain Tree last Friday was truly incredible. My friends must have gotten tired of it because I met up with them afterwards and gushed about the visit for an hour straight. Just driving through the gates was a surreal experience. I had heard about this school since I was 11 and had never imagined that I would actually see it one day. At Shipley, I could barely wrap my head around the idea that it was a concrete place, and that the people there were more than abstract cut-outs of people with a painted background. Remembering my misconceptions of Brain Tree throughout my middle and high school years made the experience that much more powerful for me.
Upon my arrival, I was greeted by a song the school had prepared to preform for me! I posted the video on facebook because blogger was having trouble processing it.

I then got to tour the grounds and see the places Shipley had helped to fundraise for over the years. I saw the library, with pictures of my class at Shipley pinned on the wall, along with the kitchen and dormitory construction. All of which were aided in funding by Shipley.  I also got to see the beautiful culture center donated to Brain Tree by the Buganda King's wife! Brain Tree also had an outdoor auditorium, chicken coops, a playground, a cafeteria, an outdoor volleyball court, and the most colorful classrooms I had ever seen. The Brain Tree School was started to education the orphans living on the street in the community. Now, the school has grown from one woman teaching under a tree outside, and is able to provide free education and boarding for a quarter of the students to help them receive the primary education they deserve but cannot afford.

After my tour I was able to meet the student who received the scholarship Shipley's 5th grade had sponsored for a student to go to secondary school. His name is Ivan and I could not be more happy with Martha's choice for the recipient of the scholarship. He has led a very hard life, and despite that scored well enough to continue to secondary school. Without the money from Shipley, he would have had to stop school at 14 and find a job. I got to interview him with some questions the Shipley fifth graders asked so they could get to know him better.

After meeting Ivan I decided to hang out at the school a little longer. There was a game of volleyball going on and I joined in for a couple hours. Many of the teachers are young and had joined the game as well. Despite me having played all through high school, my team still lost!
Finally, as it got dark, I decided to head out. The Brain Tree School's van driver was kind enough to take me back into the city.
I would have liked to go back this week but my class ended too late for me to go. Once my Independent Study Project starts and I have six weeks without classes, I will hopefully go at least once a week. I was so happy when I was at the school. It is a really wonderful place and I truly cannot wait to go back.

Tomorrow I head to Rwanda for two weeks and may not be able to blog for a while. But I will post if I can!