Amazing Ugandans-Part 2

Last Friday while walking along the side of a hill in the rain taking pictures of the library to send to the engineers back in the States, my flip flop broke. Yes, my five dollar Old Navy maroon flip flops had seen better days. The point of destruction: the plastic end that goes between your toes and through sole tore up through the top. At this point in the day, I could go around without shoes, wear my gumboots, or attempt to tape my flip flop back together. As many of you have already guessed: I attempted to tape my flip flop back together with little success.

So at the end of the day, I placed my flip flops under my desk as usual, changed into my gum boots, and headed down the hill. My plan was to bring up a new pair on flip flops on Monday and then just trash the broken ones.

Monday morning rolls around, I headed up to school wearing my gum boots and carrying a new pair of five dollar Old Navy black flip flops. I didn’t see my broken maroon flip flops under my desk, but since I had planned on trashing them anyways, I didn’t think much of it. At break time, good old Stephen Kuloba came in with my tea and chapati. He picked up my maroon flip flops from under a chair and said “good.” He had repaired my flip flop without me even asking! I looked and couldn’t believe they had been fixed. He had used a plaster to put the plastic end back through the sole and then weaved string in and out of the sole to hold it in place. This is just one of many examples of kindness from the people in Bududa. After sharing the story with co-workers, I decided to give Stephen a chicken. I have to admit, this is the first time I have given a chicken as a gift, but after the smile on his face, I’m sure it is only the first of many.

Other amazing things Stephen Kuloba has done:
1) When I needed to change the leaking hose connecting the water pipe to the toilet tank, Stephen Kuloba came to the rescue. I removed the old hose and started attaching the new one with the pliers he gave me, but I couldn’t get the top end reattached. Stephen jumped in to help. Without realizing we were working in the bathroom, Mike turned on the water tank pump. Water went EVERYWHERE, spraying all over poor Stephen, but he persisted with a smile and attached the hose.
2) Stephen climbed inside our large water tank at the guest house in order to clean it before rainy season. He had to climb in with a ladder and spend a few hours enclosed in the tank to clean it out! He came up to the school with a big smile on his face to tell me: mission accomplished.