The Conquerors' Voice

Today was the first meeting of first ever St. Theresa Secondary School for Girls student newspaper. First on the agenda was to get to know all about newspapers. We learned about headlines, bylines, captions, how to write a lead, and the 5 w's and 1 h questions. After all of the boring stuff, we got to name the newspaper. Some of the suggestions included St. Theresa's International Newspaper, The Winner's Choice, The New Vision (the exact name of one of the top two newspapers in Uganda), and The Courageous Vision. The girls were stuck between The Winner's Choice and The Courageous Vision. We eventually got into a Thesaurus (one of those giant ones that takes up two laps), and looked up 'winner'. Once the girls heard the word "Conqueror", they were absolutely sold. The Conquerors' Voice will be the student run newspaper at our school. I couldn't be more proud today. They expressed their opinions, they compromised, they discussed, and they eventually came to find that when they all work together they'll find better ideas than they could have alone. Beautiful. The newspaper is made up of girls from all years of secondary school, from all walks of life, some are orphans, some have parents who work for oil companies, and some live in horrible conditions and are receiving an education out of the courageous and merciful hearts of the Sisters of St. Theresa who run the school.
The amount of students was incredibly underestimated this term. We thought we would be receiving 700 students, and we're about to round 900. Beds were scarce in the beginning, but as more school fees are coming in, we are slowly able to board every girl who wants a bed. These beds, however, are in Uganda where about three hundred and twenty people die of malaria each day. It is the number one killer in the country, and it has devastated countless families and villages.
My hope while I am here is to see that each bed at our school can be equipped with a mosquito net. I am currently organizing my application for a grant that will help us purchase 800 nets for all of the students who sleep in our dormitories. So far, my incredible mother has been slowly collecting money for us from my amazing friends and family at home including Jim and Pat Padula, Uncle Billy, Aunt Linda, my cousins Johnny and Nicole, Aunt Emma and Uncle Jack, Diane and Aunt Eileen McNellis and my faithful Nana. The grant that I'm applying for will allow even more people to help. It's called the Peace Corps Partnership Grant and it sets up an account online where people can donate money to this immediate need at our school. As soon as I hear about the details, I will be sure to post them here. Even if you cannot donate anything, know that prayers are just as important and equally needed here. God is most definitely here in Uganda, and as many of us know, when He is here, the devil is not too far behind. I've started some one on one counselling with some students, and I'll only say that some of their burdens are unfathomable.
God Bless You All, and please pray for all of us in Uganda.
Love,
Tori