The rusted tin panels of the merry-go-round, painted in bright red, blue, and yellow, heat up beneath the blistering Ugandan sun. But whether we are sweating in the heat, or doused with a cool rain sweeping through the hills with a passing thunderstorm, the children are undeterred. They dart out from the classroom with its rickety wooden chairs and tables, rotting makeshift blackboard, and paint chipping off the walls, hidden by student artwork, to play on their rickety merry-go-round, slide, and teeter-totter that Sr. Lucy scraped up the money to commission from a local metal worker. I don't think the children see the rust, ragged edges, and chipping paint.
Every morning it is the same. They run out to play for recess and I'm assailed by cries of "Teacher Kirabo," as they call for me to come and play. It's just not as fun unless you make the teacher run in an eternal circle to turn the merry-go-round, and manually lift and lower the teeter-totter laden with five or six kids since the metal seat is too wide for small feet to touch the ground on either side. But there are always a few students who are too hungry to play.
