Kibaale

After many years of fundraising and sending other supports off to Kibaale, I finally got the opportunity to go and see the school that I have ‘helped’ to build. Kibaale Community Centre is a compound located in the city of Kibaale, within the district of Rakhi. The centre has a nursery, primary, secondary and vocational schools on its grounds, along with other projects and facilities such as a community medical centre. For a more detailed background on the centre: http://www.kibaale.net/

It was amazing finally getting to see this place after all these years of hearing constant updates on the status of the school and the students there. So after the hour and half drive along a bumpy road, we finally arrived and I got my first taste of ‘real’ Africa. The reason why I use the word ‘real’ is because to me, this centre is a reflection of what I always thought Africa to be like. The centre is very close to the more rural town of Kibaale, which is why I think it’s a different kind of Africa than what I have experienced thus far. It was much more rustic and village-like than what we had experienced before. Being there, the community is more intertwined with the people living there. It was like being in a totally different world. I think I can say this now because until this coming week, we haven’t been really involved with the Timothy Centre and the school on our campus. We are living in a place where there’s more of a Canadian flavour. All in all, it was really interesting how different this place was from what we had experienced thus far.

'downtown' Kibaale

a primary class having lessons outside

Though I knew that Kibaale was going to be different than what I was used to, it also struck me as being a lot different than I had always imagined it to be. I don’t know how I pictured the school to be like in my mind, but when the rain storm ended and we finally got the chance to walk around the campus I was pleasantly surprised at how different it actually was. I think that what I expected was something closer to the North American version of what Pacific Academy had been like, and it’s definitely not this. I know this sounds silly because the school is located in Africa, but I always thought it would be essentially a copy to what we have at home, but the school was definitely more African than North American. I think just being in the school setting that I had grown up in, I just assumed that because the Kibaale Centre was a vision that PA had created it would be a lot the same. But the place oozed of Ugandan culture, and I think this is why I really loved this place. It definitely does not have the same comforts or amenities that the Timothy Centre has, but I love it because it’s a different type of place. The difference between these two places I think is going to be a good balanced experience of the Ugandan culture.