Robert, Lawrence and I critiqued the program this morning with few changes recommended save those we have already discussed. When I asked what else they needed (besides replacement pouches, socks and posters for distribution), Robert in true Ugandan spirit, mentioned money. It’s not that he is complaining about his NFA monthly salary of 100,000/= ($55.00), but the fact they can go for three months without pay. He is hoping for a monthly “allowance” of 20,000/= when school is in session but would probably be happy with half of that. As a comparison, an American earning $85,000 makes $55.00 an hour! A person who makes $55.00 a day is probably below the poverty line, just above the minimum wage.
After lunch we went on our follow-up to Tea Estate. As we arrived early I spent some time playing soccer with the boys while Connie supervised a game the girls made up – a cross between hop-scotch and dodge ball. We were both sweating as we conducted the follow-up. I mentioned that the kids at Tea Estate are lucky, a good school and a dedicated head teacher. In addition to attending the program himself, he arranged for the purchase of seedlings, fruit trees, and supervised their planting. These kids have already made a difference.
On our way out we took a tour of the factory escorted by Mark, the factory supervisor. We already knew about harvesting the leaves (blocking) but now followed the process through dehydrating, cleaning, chopping, drying, sorting, bagging and even quality control tasting, done every hour. Power for the conveyors is produced by their own generators and eucalyptus is burned for the heating process (24 cubic meters a day to process the 67,000 kg of leaf. Of course, I didn’t have my camera. This one facility employs over 2,000 workers and exports various grades of tea all over the world through a system of brokers