• Home
• Slide Shows
• Videos
• Parent Videos

• A Day in the Life of New River Academy
• Testimonials
  • Parent Perspective by Amy Hill
• Staff/Employment
  • Staff Bios
• Athletics
• Being the New Kid

Parent Perspective By Amy Hill

What seemed like a really good idea at the time finally became reality as the small but long rustic canoe turned the corner on the small rapid exposing what will be home for the next week. Anxiously I awaited what I thought would be a Julie Andrew's (Sound of Music) entrance on this tiny tropical island of Hairy Lemon. Under the scorching African afternoon sun I began wandering this little oasis wondering how my sweet boy who left home 6 weeks earlier could and want to elude me. It was of course under his persistence that I traveled 2 days to see NRA in action on the Nile. Eventually, I found him, waist deep in water, measuring for the third time water height on a small White Nile tributary. This was the future of Hairy Lemon...an island forever touched by 15 kids seeking a little more, laying out the framework for a hydro electric dam. School was in fact “In Session” and within hours I would quickly understand the immense importance for this project and most importantly how poignant it is in the NRA Ugandan experience.

After a quick hug it was back to business. In total this highly technical jerry rigged “ water project” at inception  included a filthy metal pole attached to another bent rusty pole, tied together with twine, piece of rope, some tape, a rock, a stick, plastic water bottle, throw rope and clip board. Skeptical  to it all I could not help but ask, “And what are you doing again?”.  I have been on Hairy Lemon island now for 45mins, watched 8 kids discus the accuracy of these measurements (hence the reason for the 4th and last final measurements), how to firmly secure the “newly built structure”, calculate CFS and set up the all important time table for the nightly wake up calls. Instantly the intensity for this project was evident and then even more so when kids began “volunteering” (imagine that) to wake up throughout the night  in pairs every 2 hours to go to the river to measure flow. As it turned out, waking up was not the issue, but rather it was reported that “at 3am every rock in the river resembles a crocodile” and “anything that touches your leg feels like a snake” seemed to put it into reality.
Confident that all construction would fair the rising high water, the sun began to drop signaling the school bell.The day was done, the water was rising and it was time to play. Paddle gear, boats and camera's were collected and within minutes the swarm disappeared up the White Nile to the playground, Nile Special. This is when I met one of the most exceptional young people ever. Miss Julia Boland watched her teammates, classmates and friends head out for the next 2 hours to play on the wave that makes their hearts sing and gives them reasons why they love to paddle. Julia (aka Juno) was recovering from a separated shoulder which occurred only 3 days into this epic African adventure. For the next 6 weeks, every day with grace and optimism she would remain on Hairy Lemon and watch them depart. How she remained sane being a stones throw from these waves and not partake was a testament to self control. After patiently recovering for weeks Juno was ready to test her wing (remember- she is an angel) and expertly guide me on a tandem kayak to the base of this legendary wave. I tried by best to give the illusion that my son takes after my footsteps, but truly know that Julia delivered me to the opposite shore with style, skill and a huge smile.  She was glad once again to be on top of the water.

Now on the outer bank I was transplanted into another world for the third time that day. Only hours earlier I left the security of a fenced in, machine gun protected hotel compound on the shores of Lake Victoria. Once outside the gate it became a world I had only seen in photos and thought existed only in isolated images. Children, infants, elderly, orphans, and goats spilled out on the roadways...all on foot, most without shoes and all smiling that they were on there way from or to the water hole. For 80 long kilometers (3 plus hours) it was the same image over and over, resonating in my mind that I have flown for days landing into a world oh so very different than my own. Sad? Yes, because it looked so desperate. But, in the same breath everyone appeared so happy and content. Mile after mile thousands sat in front of mud huts, infants nursing in their mothers arms, children running naked in the streets, yellow water bottles being filled, carried or balanced on head.  Many times that day I questioned that I had been transported back in time rather than transported to a new land. There was nothing “New “ about it. The only novelty was that of OUR kids now playing so happily in the wave. They became the object and entertainment for the many natives now at the waters edge.

For the children of Uganda they were lucky just to share a ball, a stick or even a pair of shoes for that matter. And here our children arrive to the western shores of the White Nile with hundreds of $$'s worth of camera equipment, kayak gear and fancy water shoes. All come to the country vaccinated from every known virus and disease. The reason for their visit? A school outing because dams are changing the face of the nation. In fact it was not just an outing it was a trip of a lifetime. In the first day alone I was already overwhelmed by the impact this would have on my life in my mid 40's, not even imagining what this would do to young minds at 16.
Clearly this was life changing. How could it not?

In 6 weeks what had our children learned? It was simple...LIFE...the kids started to build a dam to generate power for an island left in the dark once the sun dipped past the horizon. Electrical power was a constant challenge at Hairy Lemon, actually a challenge everywhere in Uganda. Only 14% of the population have electricity and probably only the same percentage would miss it if they did not have any. Ironically though I think it was our children with their electronic needs that missed it most in a country missing it for a lifetime!  Ironically though, it is that impending closure of an epic river section because of electrical expansion that lured international paddlers to Uganda and particularly NRA. Perhaps this is where the expression “You are damned if you do and damned if you don't” comes from.

Aside from that obvious reality came the one of honesty, trust and happiness. In a land so visibly poor economically it was amazing to see the level of absolute contentment amongst the people of those we were around. Happily children would play at the waters edge cheering on OUR children at play. No shoes on their feet and sometimes walking for miles, they would line up with hopes to make 20 cents hauling in the help line.  And then with the brightest of smiles they would patiently wait to hold one of our valuable cameras to take a photo of OUR beloved. Once they got ahold of a camera of course they would shoot for hours given the opportunity. I feared my camera would eventually walk away on its own, as its worth would sustain a family there for a lifetime. But it was OUR students who had to remind me that I had nothing to worry about could 100% trust them. This mutual trust was spectacular. I don't think I have ever been so trusting with my equipment.
Then there was a visit to a typical secondary school that left us all mostly speechless. It was painfully hot, dirty, overcrowded and heart wrenching. The vast number of orphaned children was a sad reminder to the pervasive AIDS epidemic, lack of vaccines for malaria and basic life sustaining medicine.  I did not meet a native child that had not lost a sibling or parent. Typically they were 1 of at least 10 and their ONLY dream was to get an education. The level of education remained a mystery, there was a significent absense of books, texts and absolutely no computers to be found. Unusual signs however made the grounds interesting and  suggested how misleading some of the education they were receiving was.
Back at Hairy Lemon I was impressed with how the kids had developed an enormous affinity for their new home. As much as they complained about the the food it in itself was a learning experience. As we strive in North America to become consumers of the the 20 mile diet our kids learned to appreciate it?! That would be slightly sarcastic but by the time I arrived, each morning another dream was shared at the breakfast table that somehow included a milkshake, cheese and Hamburglar.. Meat was in limited supply and an ice cube non existent. The food all came from within a mile of the island was cooked in an open air kitchen. Our kids certainly were not living for 7 weeks a luxurious lifestyle but rather a lifestyle to learn a lifetime.

After one week in Uganda I departed wanting desperately to return home and value absolutely everything that I have. Never wanting, hoping or needing because I realized my life was richer than I could ever have imagined. Most of all, ever so grateful for experiencing it myself and even more fortunate that my child got to have this experience... a Huge experience.
Having chosen NRA last year as an educational alternative for my eldest Matti, I would never have known until experiencing it for myself what life at NRA is like.  Matti completed his senior year at NRA and has gone on at one of the nations top engineering schools prepared academically but now realizing...he is prepared for life too! Now seeing my other son Errik paddling daily in the most challenging but safest environments, living fully immersed in different cultures and learning from teachers who are not just mentors but friends, makes me believe that as I parent I succeeded in making the best decision for their future ever. They were a student at NRA for a year...which surely will translate for a lifetime! What a thrill it was to be a student with them for a week.

Thank you.