“You’ve seen who we are and what Millennium Promise did for us, now show it to the entire world”: this is one of the first sentences that I, the other bloggers and journalists heard from the headmistress of one of the schools we visited.
My diary of this unbelievable journey starts like this, with the photos we took at the first school we were taken to, in Ruhira.
Since Millennium Promise (whose Tommy Hilfiger is one of the biggest donators) started its mission here the number of students increased a lot, reaching the number of 246 boys and 349 girls, only in this school.
Thanks to the introduction of electricity, not available in most of the houses, now students can stay at school until late to read or finish their homework, and they also have a computer room that they can use to discover everything outside their community.
Houses for teachers were created near the school, so teachers don’t have to walk 20 km a day to reach classes as they used to, and this means a better preparation for both students and teachers.
A balanced daily meal is guaranteed for all the students, and the meal is cooked at school with ingredients from the school garden or from the animals of the institute.
Thanks to this development the percentage of school drop-off was cut by half.
I have a lot of different stories about my time here, but these photos (all shot by Richi while I was filming) represent my real first contact with this fantastic people, and I couldn’t start my travel diary in any other way…
“Avete visto chi siamo e quello che Millennium Promise ha fatto per noi, ora fatelo vedere al mondo intero”: questa è una delle prime frasi che io, gli altri blogger e giornalisti abbiamo sentito pronunciare dalla preside di una delle scuole che abbiamo visitato.
Il mio diario di questo viaggio indescrivibile inizia cosi, con le foto scattate nella prima scuola in cui siamo stati portati, a Ruhira.
Da quando Millennium Promise (di cui Tommy Hilfiger è uno dei principali donatori) ha cominciato il suo percorso qui il numero di alunni è cresciuto notevolmente, raggiungendo i 246 bambini e 349 bambine solo in questa scuola.
Grazie all’introduzione dell’elettricità, non presente nella maggior parte delle abitazioni, ora gli alunni possono stare a scuola fino a tardi per leggere o finire i compiti, e sono attrezzati di un’aula con computer per scoprire la realtà fuori dalla loro comunità.
Sono state create abitazioni vicine alla scuola per gli insegnanti, che prima erano abituati a camminare 20 km al giorno per poter arrivare a lezione, con conseguente miglior prestazione per alunni e maestri.
E’ inoltre garantito un pasto equilibrato quotidiano per tutti gli studenti, cucinato proprio a scuola con ingredienti coltivati nell’orto o derivati direttamente dagli animali dell’istituto.
Grazie a questi miglioramenti la percentuale degli abbandoni della scuola primaria è stata dimezzata.
Ho decine di storie diverse da raccontarvi di questi giorni che sto passando qui, ma queste foto (tutte scattate da Richi mentre io filmavo) rappresentano il mio primo vero contatto con questo popolo fantastico, e non potevo iniziare questo diario di viaggio in altro modo…
Ruhira, Uganda, 5th June 2012
http://www.facebook.com/mess.carteras?ref=ts
the most inspiring blog post in years… congratulations S2
http://www.thehappening.co/
Check out what this blogger has to say about you…I don't agree with her at all by the way. Love your photos!
I was listening to Put Your Records On by Corinne Bailey Rae when I was reading your post and I had tears in my eyes! It's such a happy song for me and with these happy photos it was really nice
this is so amazing <3
polka dot converse?mfashionfreak
Wow, very impressive!
so heart touching :') all those kids deserve wonderful things in their lifes!…
lovely work u did Chiara
aladylikeaboss.blogspot.com
Such an amazing post and photos! What a great experience!
http://www.cbijicollection.blogspot.ca
beautiful
http://www.pinklemonincrystal.blogspot.kr
So beautiful! It must be a very enriching experience!!!
xxx
- Laura
http://ucouldbemysomeone.blogspot.com
Les photos sont juste magnifiques j'ai hate de voir la suite
Great post! Nice experience
Beautiful!
Que bonita experiencia!
http://elarmariodemailaga.blogspot.com.es/2012/06/white.html
so good!
***
Amazing photos. I can't imaging what a once in a lifetime experience this must have been. Thanks for sharing with us!
xoxo,
Suzie Q
http://www.StyleCueBySuzieQ.com
Lovely pictures! It so wonderful to see those
, I hope there will be much more schools following..
kids happy
LOVE,
PurePreciousPerfection.blogspot.com
Really amazing pictures and story! XX
what an amazing thing to do!!
This is truly moving, Chiara, and it is so good to see someone like you involved in this, and to see how a fashion and style blog can make a difference and also show us something other than fashion, also show us such beauty as this. Thank you for sharing this experience, that must have been life changing.
http://fashionfauxpas-mintjulep.blogspot.pt
Bellissime foto. Complimenti a Richi!
alla fine non è contraddittorio, come molti insinuano, che un grande marchio organizzi campagne per l'Uganda, anzi: sono proprio i 'grandi' che hanno tanti soldi a dover promuovere questo tipo di cose. Se non lo fanno loro, chi?? loro hanno potere e denaro, dunque bene che Tommy Hilfiger si coinvolga in tutto ciò.
Love these pictures, they are so amazing and so is your trip! Enjoy it!!
Xx
Marleen
Style Route
Style Route
Wonderful!! Priceless!!! Extremely inspiring!
These kids have such beautiful smiles… great job!
Kisses from Brazil
E' stupendo..cosa possono darci queste persone, andare in africa è uno dei miei grandi sogni, son contenta per te, te lo meriti
this is so cute
you are really good person 
I hope one day I will help somebody like you are helping them right now 
SO BEAUTIFOUL *_*
http://www.thecleverstylebyvalentinafino.com
amazing photos…
dreamingthesea.blogspot.com
How I wish I could be there as well. Does this organization also takes volunteers? It's a great cause.
xx
http://gita-oddsandends.blogspot.com/