Below are excerpts from a diary by Michael and Jill Zimmer, Inquirer readers from Downingtown who traveled with Abitimo Odongkara back to Gulu, northern Uganda. Abitimo is the Ugandan schoolteacher who accompanied war-scarred teenager Jennifer Anyayo here for surgery as part of The Inquirer's All Join Hands program. The Zimmers are on the board of a new Philadelphia-based nonprofit, Friends of UNIFAT, to raise money for Abitimo's school:

May 18, 2007

Heathrow Airport, London

Ten hours in Heathrow has allowed time to review things with Abitimo. Turns out she has plans for us. Places to go, people to see. I told her we will look at UNIFAT and see what the school's physical priorities are. We will make a plan for what and when. There are now 15 groups committed to funding orphan tuitions. We hope to make ties to schools in the Philadelphia region as a way to raise money.

May 19, 2007

Kampala and Gulu

We are operating in a slight fog resulting from a six-hour flight, a 12-hour layover in Heathrow, and another eight-hour flight. Thanks to the time change, our bodies tell us we should be heading to bed (for the second time). Instead, we are piled in a 14-person van with 12 suitcases (almost all school supplies) heading north on the Gulu Road. We are traveling with a queen, though. We were met at the airport by a throng of Abitimo's "children." Some are blood relations. Others are kids to whom Abitimo has been a surrogate parent.

The drive is a challenge. The road is full of potholes and traffic. For eight hours we are never alone on the road. Motorcycles are common near Kampala. Further on they are replaced with more and more bicycles. There are many buses, and we occasionally pass slower trucks filled with cattle on their way to Sudan. Always, there is foot traffic - the displaced people who live in the many piecemeal structures along the road.

We arrive in Gulu late in the day and eat dinner at Abitimo's. There is a handwashing ceremony before we eat. There are no utensils. We use a rubbery bread to scoop up the food. The food is good, and Abitimo is sooooo happy to be home. There is a constant stream of children, grandchildren, friends, nieces and nephews. Eight children sit in a corner happily talking and singing. No TV. What a blessing.

May 21, 2007

UNIFAT school in Gulu

Uganda is an odd collision of technology and antiquity. As we walked today, we thought we saw a woman carrying water on her head and talking on a cell phone.

 Last night, Abitimo's adopted grandson Denis said that the current generation has learned to wake up and simply be happy to be alive. How do they return from this to the stable family life they had before? Survival is difficult, even without rebels on the doorstep. But people still smile. . . .

We met with the board and added officials at the school today. Everyone was eager to say hello and thank us for our efforts. . . . The members of the UNIFAT board are unabashedly proud of the record of their school. Ugandan children must take a difficult test to enter high school. UNIFAT places nearly 90 percent of its students in secondary schools. This is like 90 percent of a high school class entering college.

They note, however, that it is a constant struggle. With 1,500 students and 40 teachers, it is obvious that many classes are well beyond ideal student-teacher ratios. To keep good teachers, it is necessary to pay more. Yet with so many orphans in the school, the tuition base is low. This places a great strain on the school's budget and leaves little for the needed classroom expansions.

The board was especially inspired at the idea of American students adopting UNIFAT students. To have tuition coming in for the orphans will relieve budgetary stresses. The needs are many and varied. Children currently squat over open latrines flushed with water from a hose. Teachers hold classes in rooms that would be janitor closets in U.S. schools. The children are squashed into benches with barely room to pick up their arms to write. The current school must be expanded and made tolerable for education.