Happy 4th of July!

I missed going to the rodeo, barbeques, and firework shows, but I hope that everyone had a wonderful time celebrating at home! It's funny how I felt much more American and proud to be one when I was in africa than all the years that I've been in America combined. I guess I appreciate our freedom and lifestyle so much more now after living under other circumstances around the world. I'm not saying that America is better than Africa, or that I like it more, but I am very grateful for the life that we have in America and feel so blessed to be an American!

Happy 4th!

GULU

Gulu—land of the Invisible Children. If you don’t know anything about the history of Northern Uganda, start studying. It is fascinating and heartbreaking and unbelievable that such a thing could happen. I highly recommend watching the documentary Invisible Children and reading the book Girl Soldier. They will change your life.

Going to Gulu this weekend definitely changed my life. We were able to meet so many people who were affected by the catastrophe up there, to hear their stories, and to see how they are courageously pressing forward in life. Here’s a little summary of the history of Northern Uganda: During the past 20 years, Joseph Kony has been creating a rebel army called the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) to overthrow the government of Uganda. He abducted thousands of children from the bush, the rural outskirts of the villages, to serve as soldiers in his army. Rebels would burn down the straw huts of the villagers, steal their food, kill many, then chain the children together and force them to walk for mile carrying the stolen food and goods. Often the children were forced to kill their own family members or neighbors as a brainwashing tactic. Many of the young girls were given to army commanders as wives. Rape plagued the land of Northern Uganda. Abduction and violence were at their worst from 1994-1995. From this time up through 1998, none of the villagers dared to leave their homes. There was no where safe to go. At this time, the government down in Central Uganda was completely ignoring the issue, giving no aid or assistance to the Northerners. It wasn’t until 1999 that the government started creating Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps and sending soldiers to protect the people against Kony’s rebel army. This is when the night commuters started, the Invisible Children. Although the IDP camps were set up and the people all relocated to them, they were not much safer than the bush. In fact, they were almost worse. The mud huts of these camps were so close to one another that a fire started on one straw roof could easily jump to another and burn a thousand huts from one match. There were not enough soldiers set guard at the camps to adequately protect the people, and when the rebel army came, the soldiers usually ran away instead of defending the camp. There was no hiding in the camps like one could in the bush. Kony’s army had no trouble spotting them, so children were in even bigger danger of abduction and rape. This is why thousands of children would walk for miles every night into the main town of Gulu where they could sleep safe, or safer, than they could out in their villages and camps. This lasted up until about 2007, more and more people moving into camps that housed anywhere from 10,000 to 30,000 people with terrible sanitation and lack of food or income and more and more children commuting each night into the city centers to sleep on the verandas of shops, churches, hospitals, and schools. Finally, in 2006 or 2007 Kony left Uganda and went to the Congo. Since that time, people have been leaving the camps, returning to their villages, and trying to start up the lives that they used to live.

My heart was touched as I walked along the streets where the Invisible Children once walked every night, as I saw remnants of IDP camps that were once the home to thousands of innocent individuals, and as I met personally with people who were child soldiers and survivors of the catastrophe that tore apart their lives. I was so impressed with the hope and courage that the Acholi tribe showed. The IDP camps were now nearly deserted and though the people had suffered so much tragedy and pain, they seemed to be happy. There were many organizations and NGOs in Gulu that offer counseling and skills training to child soldiers and they seem to be doing an excellent job. We visited one that I loved called Living Hope. They focused on restoring dignity to vulnerable women. What a great purpose! They offered such great services to the women there who were very deserving and in great need.

We met a man named James. He was the head teacher of a primary school that we visited. The school was once located in an IDP camp, but in the past few years has been relocated just outside of it. There were about 75 students at his school, but there were no classrooms or desks. They meet under a grass canopy roof and sit on the dirt floor every day at school. It is a government school, and they are in the process of building them a couple classrooms right now, but can you imagine going to school for three years sitting on the dirt floor? I complain about not having air conditioning. I was able to teach a dental hygiene lesson to the students at the school and to give them all tooth brushes. Of the 50 students who were there that ay, only 5 of them owned their own tooth brushes. The rest of them either used tree bark or nothing at all. Wow! That was a wake up call. Something so basic that I totally take for granted.

James told us his story of how he was abducted into the LRA. He was forced to walk for mile carrying heavy loads of food and supplies on his head. He walked until his feet were so swollen he couldn’t walk anymore, but they threatened to kill him if he didn’t keep walking, so he found the strength to get up and keep going. He was with the LRA for 3 months until he escaped during a crossfire. Now he has a beautiful wife and three young children. He is working to build a technical skills school in Gulu for child soldiers who never had the opportunity to go to school. He’s written a proposal for funding to build the school and purchased the land already. I am amazed when I see people like this who have gone through so much suffering themselves and are then able to use their trials to bless the lives of others. If anyone knows how to get sponsors for something like this, or is interested in donating to the cause, let me know.

I could write about Gulu for days, but I’m running out of time. We heard so many heart breaking stories from former child soldiers, but I was inspired by the way in which they were able to carry on with their lives with hope and happiness.

We found a little bakery in town that was amazing! I ate so many croissants, banana bread, carrot bread, and other sweets this weekend. I bet I gained at least 5 pounds. It tasted so good though! Practically homemade! And I miss home baked goods so much!

The bus ride home was long, but I read Hunger Games the whole ride. I've never read so much in one sitting in my whole life. Highly recommend the book! It's like the new Harry Potter!

Hippos and Warthogs and Crocs... OH MY!!!

SAFARI TIME!

We just got back from our safari to Murchison Falls yesterday. It was awesome! Murchison Falls is a national park up in North Western Uganda. It is an amazing waterfall in the Nile River and a huge game park full of giraffes, elephants, antelope, water buffalo, hippos, crocs, and more.

We had quite the drive to get up there, but it was worth every minute of it. On our way to the camp on Saturday, we took a short hike up to the top of the falls. The road to the falls was a narrow, bumpy, dirt road lined with trees and jungle life. We had to stop the vehicle multiple times to let the baboons cross the road. Haha, can you imagine a baboon crossing sign back home instead of deer crossing?! There are these devilish little flies called Teetsee Flies that swarm into the car through open windows and bite. They bite really hard! We had a pretty entertaining ride constantly rolling the windows up and down and up and down. Every time the van slowed down to go over a bump flies would come in so we had to hurry and shut the windows, but if they were closed for more than a minute we all suffocated from heat and lack of air, so in was a constant open, close, open, close, shoo the flies out... adventure.
"Teetse Attack! Close the windows! Can't breathe, open them! Attack! Close them, close them, close them!" Haha, we got some good laughs out of it!

The water falls were beautiful! It amazed me to see so much water cascading down such a small space. It had so much power, force, and beauty. I seriously love nature!



Back at the camp:

Our camp was in the middle of no where, but we ate some great food and actually had real toilets and running water. We slept in safari tents with two beds per tent. They were really nice, but not very noise proof when it poured during the night. At least they didn't leak! Our campsite was the home to about 30 warthogs. "They pretend to be domestic, but they're not!" -our guide. They warned us not to keep any food in our tents or else the warthogs and even hippos might try to steal it. Yikes! I don't want a hippo coming after me in the dark, or the light for that matter.



Day 2 of the Safari:

Wake up bright and early for the game drive. We set out before the sun was up to get out and see the animals. The sunrise this morning was probably the most beautiful sunrise I have ever seen. We watched it rise, reflecting off the Nile, as we took a ferry across the river and over to the park. Majestic!

The game drive was so cool! We rode in a fun little 10 passenger van with a pop-up roof. We stood up pretty much the whole 4 hours, peeking our heads out of the top to see all the way around us. We saw antelope, Ugandan cob, bush buck, water buffalo, elephants, giraffes, warthogs, birds... My favorite was probably coming withing 15 feet of two elephants. They were huge! The giraffes were really fun to see too! I didn't expect to see so many of them. Unfortunately we missed the lions, the first van saw two of them, but we were just a little bit too late. There weren't any zebras or gazelles in Murchison Falls either, but other than those, we saw just about everything.

That afternoon, we went on a boat ride out to the base of the Falls. We saw hundreds of hippos and a few crocadiles along the way. They're both kind of creepy because they lurk right below the surface of the water and then pop up and scare you. One hippo popped up right next to our boat and sprayed us. Another, thankfully a little ways away, snapped his teeth at us. Other than that, they were pretty lazy animals and just sat around in the water all day.



Day 3 of the Safari:

Today was the last day of the safari. Most of the day was spent driving back home, but we made a little stop at the Rhino reserve park to track the rhinos. This part was a little different because we actually got out of the van and went looking after the animals on foot. Sweet! There are 9 rhinos in the reserve park. There used to be tons of rhinos in Uganda, but they have been poached to extinction for their horns. We found two of the rhinos in the park, one of which is named Obama. Yes, Ugandans are obsessed with Obama.

After the rhinos, we continued our nice, lengthy drive back home. Pretty stellar weekend!

I read Tuesdays with Morrie on the drive. Highly recommend it! It was such an inspirational book! What is the purpose of life and how can we live it to the fullest? Find out for yourself!



Now we're back to another great week of work! Trying to make the most of every minute!

Playing at the Orphanage

Yesterday we went to an orphanage out past Jinja. We had such an incredible day there. We sang songs with the children, listened to them present their little lessons on HIV/AIDs, sanitation, gardening, and bead making, played games, and then I taught a little dental hygeine lesson. The kids were so thrilled to get their own new tooth brushes and tubes of tooth paste. Thanks family for putting those together! I'm glad we were able to use them for a good cause since they didn't make it out to Haiti. It was so touching to see how happy and smart these kids were despite the challenges they face in life.

Nicole and I caked in dirt after our boda ride

We got so dirty on the boda ride back! If you can't tell, my face is caked in dirty! I love motorcycles though! They are so fun!

We're going on our safari this weekend and I can't wait! It's going to be quite the adventure!

Rafting Pics!

"THE BAD PLACE"

Waterfall!

Full House!

Last week was just another week in Paradise as usual. We got eight new volunteers for second wave last Sunday, including my friends Katie Liddiard and Jon Richards. It was so fun to see them again! There are now 24 of us living in our small three bedroom house. It's quite cozy and crowded, but the more the merrier, right?!

Work last week was pretty much the same as usual. I spent a couple mornings doing physical therapy with Grace at the hospital and am still really enjoying that. We visited the orphanage one afternoon and played with the children there--Duck Duck Goose, dancing and drums, tag... It's been fun to actually get to know these kids individually as we've gone to this same children's home a few times. I am in love with these two little boys Dan and Mark. They are seriously so cute I want to eat them up. I wish I could take them home with me.

Alex and I taught our back therapy lesson to the Musana Women's group again and to the hospital staff and both lessons went very well. Sometimes it's hard to read people's emotions here since their facial expressions and common phrases are so different from ours, but they were very active in participating and seemed genuinely interested in what we were teaching. One of the Musana women said that she wanted to help us teach our lesson to the women in more rural villages because what we were teaching was so important and they needed that education too. Wow! Things are getting pretty busy with projects and time running out here, so I don't know how much we'll be able to spread our lessons, but at least there's someone who cares and appreciates the knowledge we've shared and will be willing to pass on the things we've taught after we leave.



We stayed in town this weekend and hung out with our local friends from The Youth Outreach Mission, Wilson and Godfrey. They were our tour guides for the day and showed us all around town. We went to Sezziwa falls, some small waterfalls nearby that many Ugandans consider sacred. They worship the spirits of the trees and nature there with small offerings and reverence.

Then we went to the crazy city of Kampala, saw the national theater, the parliament building, and Garden City Mall. Getting lunch at the food court in the mall was one of the most stressful experiences ever, haha. We sat down at a table and within 10 seconds, waiters were swarming us and shoving menues in our faces. I would try to read one, but as soon as I got my eyes on it another one was shoved on top of it and then another, and another, and another, until I had 10 menues and 20 hands in my face and no clue what to order. I decided on Shwarma, a beef wrap sandwhich that we got all the time in Israel. Random for Africa, but it sounded like a nice change and I was too stressed to look at the menues any longer. Not a bad choice! I must say that I like food courts in America much more than Uganda. So much less pressure.

After lunch, we drove to Entebbe to see the zoo and Lake Victoria. That was the first time I've driven out to Entebbe since we first arrived at the airport, and it will probably be the last until we go home. I don't want to think about that last drive just yet. Time is flying by too fast. The zoo was so much fun! How can you go to the zoo and not have fun?! We got to feed monkeys (there were at least 20 running around the parking lot and stealing food out of our pockets and hands), ride camels, see zebras, giraffes, chimps, crocadiles, and rhinos, and even watch the lions play. That was Godfrey's first time going to the zoo and he's 23 years old. I never realized how spoiled I was to have gone to the zoo every summer as a child.

We stopped back in Kampala on our way home for some ice-cream and burgers (I do love ice-cream!) and then made it safely back home.



We went to church in Jinja again this Sunday. The branch here is so awesome. I'm going to miss the simpleness of church here and the love and unity that the small branch has. There has been a baptism almost every Sunday since we've gotten here. The church is growing so quickly! I wonder how long it will be until the church expands to Lugazi? I can't wait to see that day.



Well, I can't believe I'm on the downward slope. We've passed our half-way point and have less than a month left. It kind of makes me nervous. I'm scared to come home. Will I be able to be the person that I want to be and to apply all the things to my life that I've learned the past two months? Will I be able to finish up my projects in time and see a sustainable change in people's lives and accomplish all my goals? Time feels like it's slipping through my fingers faster than I can catch it. I hope I can make the most of every minute here. Life in Lugazi is great! Love you all tons!

THE BAD PLACE...

Last weekend we went rafting down the Nile! I can't even begin to express how fun/terrifying it was. If you know anything about rafting, they rate each rapid on a number scale according to it's intensity. Class 5 is pretty much the highest class possible to raft and make it out alive--that's what we were rafting. Our team was split up onto two rafts. One of our guides was from New Zealand (what ever jungle fever we were starting to get was definitely washed clean in the river when we met him ;) and the other guide, the one on my raft, was a Canadian who was in the process of adopting a Ugandan orphan and had to stay in the country for three years in order to get custody of the child in Canada. He was a really cool guy and had been a guide for 10 years in Canada which was comforting. The first 4 hours of the trip I was having the time of my life! We were joking and playing and getting a thrill out of each of the rapids and waterfalls we crashed through. Swam in the Nile, accidentally drank some of the Nile, peed in the Nile, ate Pineapple in the Nile... But then we hit "The Bad Place."

The last rapid was literally named "The Bad Place." How terrifying is that! My raft renamed it "The Fluffy Bunny" to alleviate some of our fears, but it didn't help much, and in hind site, "The Bad Place" is the only name that fits. "Hold on guys, we're approaching the bad place, and just so you know, I've never made it through this rapid without flipping the raft." Well that's just peachy. Our guide pretty much told us flat out that we were going to get wet and rocked by the rapid. No lie, we did. No more than three seconds into the rapid we had flipped over and gotten sucked into the waves. Paddles and limbs were flailing everywhere. I felt like a rag doll spinning in a washing machine. Thank goodness I didn't get sucked into a whirlpool like some of the others. They were under for so long that one of them contemplated breathing water. I think I would have gone into shock and died. Fortunately, I got tumbled around for a while, popped up and took a huge gasp of 1/2 air 1/2 Nile water right as another wave crushed me back under again. This happened for a few minutes until finally I had floated out of the rapids and back to the raft. Whew! I survived the bad place with nothing other than a small scar of fear.

We ended on a slightly scarring note, but it really was sooo fun! Despite the layers and layers of sunscreen we caked on, we all got varying degrees of sunburns on our lips and thighs. Luckily mine wasn't too bad, but it's still crumby. Some people got fever blisters though, and they look terrible. Man, this equator sun is intense!

After rafting, we stayed overnight in Jinja, watched two of our team members bungee jump into the Nile, ate delicious American burgers and chocolate cake, cheered on the USA in the world cup, and hit the sack. It was a stellar weekend. Wish you all could have been there!

PS: Just want to let you all know that as I was near to death in "The Bad Place" I was thinking about all of you and how much I love you all!

SILVER FISH... Danger! Avoid eating at all costs...

Last week was a pretty typical work week... other than shadowing the surgery I guess. Alex and I worked with Grace a couple times at the Physical Therapy clinic. Grace has really let us take the reigns and have full control in treating some of her patients. It's so fun! I am really enjoying it, and the more I get to know Grace, the more I love her. She is such a fun woman.

Monday was a really heart wrenching day. We spent the morning working with Grace, and we saw the saddest case. Robina, a little 5 year old girl, came in with terrible burns on her hands. She was a victim of child abuse. She was staying with her aunt and ate some food that wasn't given to her, so her aunt put her hands in a pot of boiling water. It made me sick just thinking about it. I never would have put burns and physical therapy together, but now it totally makes sense. When a burn is severe enough, it damages the nerves and the new skin also tends to be so tight. So physical therapy is needed to re-stimulate the nerves and stretch out that new skin. Despite all the trauma she'd just been through, she was the cutest, happiest little girl ever. After working on Robina, Alex and I observed the C-section of a still born baby. I cannot imagine being in the position of that woman, 19 years old and all alone at the hospital going through traumatic surgery and having a still born baby. She was so strong though, and was holding up surprisingly well through all of it. These people never cease to amaze me. After finishing at the hospital, I went around with Francis, the town council leader for PWD-persons with disabilities, to visit the homes of some disabled individuals. We met the cutest little boy named Bryan who can't walk or talk, but he is very sharp mentally. He stays with his grandma and his grandpa who is blind. Amazing people! I can't wait to get the Ability Soap project up and running to help these people who are so deserving and in need to generate a little extra income. We are also working on starting a choir for the disabled children and the children of disabled parents.

On Wednesday and Thursday Alex and I taught our first lesson to the nurses and women of Uganda. We taught them how to properly care for your back and did exercises with them to strengthen their core muscles. I was a little nervous because I didn't know what to expect... how many people would show up? Would they be interested in what we were teaching them? Luckily, it was a huge success! We had a huge turn out, at least 25 nurses on Thursday, and they were very accepting of the things we were teaching them. They asked lots of questions, took notes, and participated in the exercises. I can't wait to teach them again this week!

Friday:
A few of us went out to Kayunga again this week for our Physical Therapy outreach with Emmanuel. We saw so many patients, and many of them were returning patients from the last time we were out there. They actually did their exercises and had improved a lot! It was so exciting to see the healing effects of Physical Therapy in action and to see how it was benefiting the lives of these people. Work was awesome! Lunch was... DISGUSTING!

They were so kind to feed us lunch, but I would have rather starved to death... or eaten a huge bowl of matoke. They fed us rice with geenut sauce with SILVER FISH. Never eat silver fish! They were little fishes about an inch or two long and they stuck the whole fish in the rice. The stuff smelled like cat food. I had to plug my nose so I didn't vomit. Thank goodness for Novida Pineapple, the best soda ever, it's the only thing that got me through that meal. I'll admit, I didn't actually eat a fish, I scooted the sauce and fish to the side as best as possible and tried only to eat the rice, but the flavor spread onto the rice and it was still almost deadly. We were all gagging it down. I'm so glad we weren't eating with the cooks and it wasn't one of those situations where you are forced to eat all your food. I wouldn't have made it. I've eaten some pretty weird stuff in my life... chicken hearts, snails, fish eyes, grasshoppers... silver fish definitely wins for being the worst!

We went rafting on the Nile on Saturday! Just wanted to let you all know that I am alive and survived the experience. There were a few minutes that I wasn't sure if I was going to make it. I love you all and will write more about rafting when I get a chance!

Welaba Mzungus!

You'll Never Believe What I Did!!!

Monday, June 7, 2010

Alex and I scrubbed up at the hospital and watched a C-section! They let us stand right there and watch it all. I was a little nervous at times that I might pass out, but I held in there just fine. Unfortunately, it was a still born baby and that is why they did a C-section. It was emotionally draining to be a part of such a tragic event, but fascinating to see how incredible our bodies are inside and out. I have a sincere love and appreciation for our bodies after taking anatomy and this experience testified to me even stronger that our Heavenly Father created our bodies with a divine plan in mind.

Where's Waldo???

Sipi Falls

You probably can't see me, but I'm the little ant somewhere a few feet to the left of the waterfall in the middle of the picture. Yep! I repelled down a 300 foot waterfall! It was AWESOME!

Sipi Falls was one of the most beautiful places I have ever been! It is a beautiful mountain village area about 4 hours East of Lugazi. Eight of us girls had a wonderful weekend hiking and repelling there and sleeping in a little banda (mud hut with a straw roof).
I could talk about it for days, but I'm out of internet time, so it will have to wait for later.

Martyr's Day at Namagongo

Thursday, June 3, 2010

June 3 is a national holiday in Uganda, Martyr's Day. It is a huge Christian holiday to honor the lives of the first Christian martyr's in Uganda. The first Christian missionaries came to Uganda in the early/mid 1800's. Before then, the country was primarily Islamic. In the 1880's when King Mwenda became the Kabaka (king), he feared that all of his subjects who were converting to Christianity would start respecting Christ more than the him as the king. In 1886, he marched 25 of his pages 37 miles in chains to Namagongo where they were martyred. He burned them from their feet up so that they could deny Christ before the fire consumed them and their lives would be spared, but they stood strong in the faith. None of them denied Christ. It reminded me of Abinadi and Joseph Smith. Are we willing to stand up for what we believe in no matter what the circumstances are. Even though I'm not a Catholic or Anglican, it was a very spiritual experience to be a part of this holiday. Hundreds of thousands of people walked for miles to get to this site to honor the martyrs who died for Christ. It is a tradition that you "foot" (walk) there no matter how far away you live, so some people walked all the way from Kenya and Tanzania. They consider it a pilgrimage like the Muslim Hajj to Mecca. I was hoping that we would walk at least part of the way there, but our driver decided it would be safer to just drop us off there. I guess that was smart. I have never seen so many people in one place at one time. It was truly inspiring to see so many people together worshiping Christ and their anscestors.

Home Sweet Home

Me, Cecilly on the bed, and Molly

Check out our bedroom! Are we princesses or what!
Haha, I've come to really love my mosquito net.
It feels like you have your own private room when you crawl inside.
This is the garage where 7 of us, soon to be 8, sleep.
It gets a little stuffy and hot, but it's grown on me. I like it :)

Cutest Kids on the Block!

These are some kids that live in our village. Aren't they adorable!
Gotta love their toys...
Yes, those are grasshoppers... remember how I ate one of those!
I wish I could take them all home with me! They are so cute!

Reunion in Kajjansi

Sunday, May 30, 2010

I finally made it out to Kajjansi to visit our family friends, Edward, Florence, and their children. It was about a two hour taxi ride from Lugazi to Kajjansi, so we set out early so we could make it in time for church. Kajjansi was much like Lugazi. A small village full of wonderful people and lots of poverty. We had an excellent time at church. It was district conference, and Edward, being the branch president, spoke in the meeting. The whole meeting was themed on service, "Have I Done Any Good." It was so humbling to listen to these talks and realize that service is important even to people who have little to give. I have learned so much from the humble example of the people here and hope that I will find a way to take what I have learned to heart and let it change my life.
"Have I done any good in the world today?" I hope that we can all find a way to brighten someone's day everyday.

After church we went over to Edward and Florence's humble home. They have a small home with a little sitting room and from what I gathered three bedrooms. The floors are cement, but there was a carpet rug in the main room, some chairs, couches, and a table. Their kitchen consists of a small table outside to prepare food on and a few charcoal stoves. Their bathroom is a small cement stall on the side of the house that acts as a joint shower/toilet. They don't have any running water, they shower out of a bucket, and I haven't quite figured out yet how you go to the bathroom if you have #2... luckily I didn't have that problem, haha, but never the less, it was an adventure to use it. All I can say is that they are one of the happiest, humblest families I have ever met. And despite their living conditions that we might consider shocking and unbearable, they are quite well off compared to many.

We had so much fun visiting, playing games, sharing stories, looking at pictures, and eating, eating, eating! We played Boggle with Edward's daughters Liz, Linda, and Grace. That is one of their favorite games. I brought a deck of cards and a bunch of plastic spoons and taught them how to play spoons. It was a riot! We had so much fun! We talked about memories from when Florence and Edward visited us in Salt Lake to be sealed in the temple. We laughed about how Edward tried to stand on the toilet seat and squat like it was a latrine because he didn't know how to use a flushing toilet... and how he was appaled that he could be arrested for throwing his trash out the window... He is truly an amazing man--amazing father, headmaster of his school, branch president, village chief--so humble, yet so respected. I could go on for days.

Florence is an amazing cook and takes pride in her cooking. She made an amazing Ugandan feast for us Sunday night. She was even so kind to dish up our plates for us, haha. She must think that all Mzungus have the appetite that Rob had when he was on his mission though because she served us so much food! Matoke, beef, potatoes, rice, noodles, cabbage... my plate was overflowing. Nicole's missionary in her licked her plate clean, I asked for a smaller plate and did the best I could, Suzanne is the smallest girl ever and did the best she could, but she hardly made a dent. It's offensive here if you don't eat all your food. We did the best we could, and it really was delicious, but the matoke was going to spill out my ears if I ate any more. I hope Florence understands!


Monday, June 31, 2010

This morning we visited Edward's school. It was the first Ugandan school I've been inside and I was shocked by the conditions. From what I've heard, Edward's school is fairly nice compared to most, but still it was shocking compared to the schools I grew up in. It is a secondary school so it's comparable to middle school and high school back home. Each class had nearly 100 students in it cramped into one small room on wooden benches with one teacher to teach all of them. They were literally sitting on top of one another. I don't know how they learn in conditions like that. The crazy thing is that they are all so smart. They are so dedicated to their studies and give so much respect to their teachers. They take their education seriously and are grateful for whatever they can get.

He showed us his library, full of books that Suz, Rob, family, and friends donated books to. It broke my heart. The library is literally a closet and half of the books were still packed in cardboard boxes because there is no room to unload them. They can't even use the resources that they do have because there is no space. I wish so badly that there was something I could do to help. Still, it is amazing to see how they can get by with so little and still accomplish so much.

Florence made another feast for us for lunch today. It was all the same food but encoco (chicken) instead of beef, which I was very grateful for. The chicken was delicious! (beef here kind of freaks me out--it is so chewy and fatty and when you see it hanging up on the streets covered in flies suddenly it is no longer appetizing). She picked up on our porportion sizes from last night... Nicole must eat a lot because she cleaned her huge plate last night. Suzanne must be starving because she didn't eat anything so I'll give her even more. Megan get's a medium sized plate. Thank goodness! haha. Proud to say I nearly cleaned my plate this time!

We had such a good day together. They are such an awesome family and I am blessed to have met them. Thank you Suz and Rob for bringing them into my life. They told me as I was leaving that they are planning to go to South Africa in July to be sealed as a whole family in the temple!!! Pray for them to make it there! They deserve it more than anyone!



We stopped in Kampala on the way home to go to a meeting. We went to ShopRite, the westernized grocery store, and it was a bit of a let down. I was really hoping for some granola bars or American treasures, but for the most part everything was the same as the little super markets, just cleaner, more organized, and bigger. The funny thing was though that when I was walking through the store I didn't feel like I really needed anything. I'm totally content with what I have. Sure I miss brownies and could probably down a whole tray if I had them, but I don't need them. There's so much that I used to think I needed that I've realized is totally unnecessary. Sure it's not entirely bad to have those luxuries, but it's kind of nice to live a simple life.

We had to take bodas (motorcycles) across the city to get to our meeting. Maybe I shouldn't talk to much about it... it was slightly terrifying! Traffic in Kampala is CRAZY! I will never complain about being stuck at a red light again. I would much rather have to wait at a red light than to have no lights at all and to play chicken with all the cars on the street. We weaved in and out of traffic (so illegal in america), I grazed my elbows and knees on a few cars, but we made it there safely. Whew! Not going to lie, it was pretty fun!

Touched the Source of the Nile

I know last time I said I had so much to say, but it just keeps getting better. I seriously have SO MUCH TO SAY!

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Last Saturday (I know I've gotten a ways behind on writing) we went to the "Source of the Nile" in Jinja. It is literally the spot where the Nile River starts. We took a little boat ride out on the Nile and saw the spot where Lake Victoria becomes the Nile River. If you would have told me two years ago that by the time I was 20 I would have touched both ends of the Nile River I never would have believed you. Is this really my life? or am I dreaming? Seriously amazing! This river is so rich with culture, life, and religion. From the Pharoahs to Joseph to Moses to Christ to the people of Uganda to me... It is flowing with life and history.

That afternoon we got Indian food for lunch in Jinja. There is quite a large popluation of Indians here because they own most of the sugar cane factories. Cool fact: Did you know Lugazi is the sugar capitol of the world? Lunch was so delicious! Chicken Tiki Masala with nan. Try it if you ever get the chance. It was a nice break from our regular Ugandan menu.

So Much To Say...

Where to start... So much has happened this past week.

Wednesday:
Last Wednesday we went on an outreach with the Chairman to Buikwe, a district of small, rural villages near by. I think he dragged us around with him mostly to boost his popularity and help his campaign, but we still had a good time. We went on a long, bumpy taxi ride, but the scenery was incredible! We visited a few rural villages where we listened to the chairman give some speeches in Luganda, but after the speeches we got to assist the nurses in screening the people. I got to be a pharmacist in the back of a taxi for a couple hours. I filled perscriptions for the nurse as she assessed a long line of villages and helped them with their medical needs.

Thursday:
We volunteered at the hospital with Grace again and talked to the nurses about starting a back pain rehab group. They seemed really excited about it, so I hope we can get it organized and up and running. We want to hold weekly meetings with them to do core strengthening exercises and stretches and teach them about how to propperly protect and take care of your back.

That afternoon was awesome. Katelynn, Alex, and I finally visited an orphanage! It is called Hope Children's Home and was started by a couple in the United States. There are about 50 children there from infants to 15 years old. They were so cute! We were there just as they got back from school and they all seemed to be the best of friends. We sang songs with them, played the drums, danced, and played soccer. I hope to go back there regularly in the afternoons to tutor them in their homework and plan activities with them. I was thrilled to see that the orphanage seemed like a happy place. The children were well taken care of and despite their hardships seemed truely happy.

Friday:
We spent another morning volunteering with the Physical Therapist Grace. We watched her literally saw a cast off a kids arm. Thank goodness she has a steady hand! She helped us to develop a curriculum to teach to the nurses about talking care of your back and taught us a bunch of exercises.

We were so excited to go dancing this evening. All of our local friends had planned a party and were going to take us. But then the bug came and infected our group. The first bout of sickness hit. Poor Ashley and Alex got so sick. So we spent the night playing mom and nurse and trying to take care of them as best as we could. Wow, can I just say that mom's are amazing! Thank you mom for always taking such good care of me!

More Lemonade Anyone?

Our house got stoned last night! We think it was just kids out having fun and causing a little trouble, nothing serious, but thank goodness we have an armed guard. Apparently I slept like a rock last night and did not wake up to it, but lots of the volunteers heard a loud bang in the middle of the night followed by the sound of our guard caulking his gun. Yikes! The other night I was out on the front porch after dark looking at the stars and writing in my journal. I was loving the small moment of peace and quiet, when Morris walked up to me and asked that I not sit there when he wasn't around. Someone might throw rocks at you. Haha, serious Morris? No one's going to throw rocks at me... well, I'll take him seriously now! Don't get freaked out or anything, I promise I'm safe. Public transportation and walking along the highway is probably my biggest threat because the drivers are reckless here and don't stop for pedestrians, but I still wouldn't mind your prayers!

Public Transportation:
Alex and I had a wonderful experience riding on the public taxis to Kiyunga yesterday, haha. We were very grateful to have Immanuel or his brother escorting us, so we felt safe the whole time, but we weren't necessarily comfortable. They pack those vans so stinking full! The max capacity says 14 persons, but one of ours definitely had 21+2 babies+1 chicken. We were packed like sardines in a can! haha, oh Africa! We got really close to some Ugandans that hour!

Gotta Love It!

Project Update:

On Friday, Alex and I volunteered with Grace at the Physical Therapy unit again. She let us do some hands on things with her patients and it was really fun. I felt like I was actually learning something and accomplishing something. I wish I had worked as a PT Tech before coming to Africa so I'd have more skills to contribute, but surprisingly, a lot of what I learned over the years in dance is helping a lot, and what I learned in Anatomy of course, and the things that I don't know I'm picking up from Grace and Alex.

Yesterday was probably my favorite project day so far. Alex and I went out to a village called Kiyunga with our clinical medicine doctor friend Immanuel. He and his brothers own a health clinic out there and invited us to go do physical therapy there. We saw 12 women and 1 man, mostly elderly people with back pain. We had to kind of improvise as we went, but we'd prepared some general exercises before hand and did basic massages and exercises with all of them. The only set back was that none of them spoke English, but Immanuel and his brother Kyobe translated for us and we became experts at using sign language. When we tried to assess the patients' pain scale, the doctors told us that they all came in with severe pain and felt significant relief after treatment. I don't know if that was all true, but they seemed much happier when they left. I hope we helped! Hopefully they will continue doing the exercises that we taught them and maybe we will see some improvement in their conditions when we return next week.

The village of Kiyunga where the health clinic is isn't too far away, but because public transportation is so slow it took us nearly three hours to get home. We definitely missed our seven o'clock curfew... opps! I felt terrible. We told Immanuel we needed to be back by then, but Africans just don't understand the concept of being on time. We made it back safe and sound though and we learned our lesson. Won't happen again.

This afternoon we're going to go help with HIV/AIDs testing again and tomorrow we're doing an outreach with the Chairman to neighboring villages. I'll write more about the details after I see how it goes! Everyday just keeps getting better!

matoke...matoke...matoke...matoke...PIZZA

After many meals consisting of matoke and rice and beans if we were lucky, it was an excellent treat to find a Dominoes in Kampala this weekend. Cheese has never tasted so good! Don't get me wrong, I like the food here, especially the pineapple and mangoes, but there is no variety. Two weeks of eating matoke for dinner gets a little old, haha, and it's just going to keep going. There are hardly any foods with dairy products here; there's no cheese, and milk, yogurt, and ice cream are either weird/unpasteurized, or hard to come by. I love dairy! Let's just say I was overjoyed to have pizza and ice cream in one night.

So after our little feast, the day got even better. We went to Mandela Stadium in Kampala to watch a soccer game--Uganda vs Kenya. It was a sweet game, and Uganda won! We got seats on the front row, center field (and we only paid $10 for the tickets)! That definitely beats the nose-bleeds in the Delta Center. I even ran into my cousin Scott there who is a volunteer in Mukono. It was fun to see him and compare our experiences so far.

Stellar weekend!

MUSCLES... I'M THE ONE WHO NEEDS THE MASSAGE!

I finally went running through the sugar cane fields! I can't even begin to explain how beautiful it is here! It is so green and lush. We went on a little run this morning through the village past a beautiful catholic church, some humble African homes, and a huge sugar cane field. I felt kind of silly running for recreation when all the people we passed were carrying huge loads on their heads or pushing rusty bicycles up steep hills with huge jugs of water on the back of the bike. They all laugh at us when we run by because no one exercises here for recreation since their daily routines are all so physically demanding. The run was great though, and it felt so good to be out running again, I missed it.

I have never felt like this before, not even after I ran the half marathon, but every single muscle in my legs cramped up after we finished our run. Shouldn't the heat and humidity make them looser?

This morning, Alex and I observed the physical therapist, Grace, at the hospital again. We watched her work on two patients, one with leg pain in her femoral nerve from an improper injection for malaria (the untrained nurse hit her nerve with the shot instead of her muscle... ouch!) and the other, a nurse with back pain. I was so envious of the massages she was giving them and wanted so badly to get one myself! We are going to go back tomorrow morning if all goes well, and she told us that she wants us to start assisting her with her patients! I'm so excited!

Projects have been coming along pretty well, we are still trying to organize everything, communicate with partners, and work out the logistics of things, but I think that we're going to have some great projects this summer. We just heard from the chairman and he wants us to go out to a few villages this coming Tuesday-Friday to do physical therapy and public health trainings. I think we will be spending the night there if we get plans approved. Cool! I'm excited to see more of Uganda. I feel a little unqualified to be going out to schools and such to do these trainings, but Immanuel taught us all about HIV/AIDs this morning and I learned so much! With a little more training and studying myself, I think that I will have something valuable to offer to these students and people.

I think that's all for now! Hope my legs loosen up soon!

PS: my new staple food is an avacado sandwich... basically mashed avacado on bread with salt and lime if you are lucky. It is actually quite delicious! The avacadoes here are at least three times the size of avacadoes back home--the pit of these avacadoes alone is probably the same size as the ones you find in the states. It's hard to come up with anything creative to eat here since there are no microwaves or stoves. I never realize what a convenience those are. We did get a fridge last week though! I miss having an easy bowl of cereal. Can you believe, no cereal here? I found one box of corn flakes, but who likes corn flakes? Plus, I heard that the milk is not pasturized so I haven't risked drinking any just yet...
When life hands you lemons... make avacado bread!

BODA BODA

Tuesday was an awesome day! We had a meeting in the morning with the Chairman of Buikwe district, the district that Lugazi is in. Ahh, big deal, that's like meeting with our congress men and senators! He was an amazing man, very kind and down to earth, and he has some great ideas to help the people of Uganda. That afternoon was amazing though!

I had my first experience riding a boda boda (motorcyle taxi), which I was a little leery of after watching one get knocked off the road and into the ditch last week. Traffic is crazy here! If anything scares me about Africa it is the cars. They do NOT stop for pedestrians. So I mustered up my courage and got on the boda to take us a couple miles down the road to Lugazi University. I wasn't brave enough yet to sit side-saddle like the women here so I straddled the bike like a man... My dress had no stretch to it though, haha, so it was extremely awkward, and I'm afraid I showed my knees and an inch of my thigh... scandalous! Opps! Nicole and I shared one boda so it was a little squishy, but I felt nice and safe. We made sure to tell the driver EMPOLA EMPOLA (slowly slowly!), and we made it there safe and sound! Whew! It was actually quite fun!

I have finally made it to the best part of the day though. We were going to the university to meet with Immanuel to do HIV/AIDs testing. I thought we were just meeting with him to learn about it, but we were actually going to do the testing! Ahh, I don't know how to do this. It was a little uncomfortable at first, but it ended up being the coolest experience. We weren't allowed to do any of the actual poking with the needles, but we did a lot to help with the process of testing. We cleaned fingers with alcohol pads, registered patients, visited with them while they waitied for their results, and helped deliver the results. I had a great time visiting with two women while they waitied for their results and learned a lot about Ugandan history and culture from them. Delivering the results was so amazing though. Thankfully all of the 50 students that we tested came up negative, they did not have the virus, but many of them were very nervous and knew that they were at risk for the disease. We counseled with each one of them individually before giving them their results, asked them if they knew what put them at risk for contracting the virus, if they had done anything risky, and if so, committed them to stop doing those risky things. We told them how wonderful life is and all that they have to accomplish in life. That it is not worth taking those risks. Nicole, my country director, and I tag teamed on some of the consultations. I felt like a sister missionary as we taught these people, testified that what the other said was true, and committed them to changing their lifestyle. I hope that we made a difference in the lives of some people that day. There was one man in particular that was very nervous to be tested. Nicole talked with him for quite some time, comforting him and expressing to him the importance of being tested. He eventually decided to be tested and when he received his results that he was HIV free he declared that he was never going to put himself at risk again and that he was going to go back to his village and tell everyone to be tested and to abstain from those risky behaviors. It is a terrible thing that this virus is attacking the lives of so many wonderful people and children, and I hope that we will be successful this summer at saving the lives of many Ugandans from its destructive forces. I hope that I was able to touch someone's life today, but whether or not I did, I was touched by the experience I had and expanded my love for teaching and counseling others.

WHEN LIFE HANDS YOU LEMONS...

MAKE LEMONADE!

Living in Africa is not the same luxourious lifestyle that we have back home. In order to keep a positive attitude, I've decided that each time I come across a lemon, I'll just try to turn it into lemonade, haha.

Lemon 1:
The water shut off for 3 days...
At least we have running water. Apparently the team last year didn't and they used buckets the whole summer! Baby wipes were the greatest invention ever! It finally came back on and I got a wonderful shower!

Lemon 2:
Hand washing clothes is so much harder than it looks!
But I will no longer complain about Liberty Square's crappy/expensive washers again. They're a blessing from heaven! And my arms are getting ripped!

Lemon 3:
Nicole and I put mud on our faces like war paint the other day when we were building the adobe stove... all the Ugandans started snickering at us... apparently they only do that in their culture before a boy is going to be circumsized! OPPS!
HAHA, we got some great laughs out of that one!

Lemon 4:
Someone fed us Ensanene today (literally insane!)... aka grasshoppers!
Turns out they aren't too bad!

haha, well there's just a few of the funny ones... but advice for all... when life hands you lemons, make lemonade!

CHI KATI! HI!

update from Uganda...

Last week we continued to be introduced to partner organizations and projects that we will have the ability to work on. We met with a women's group that the HELP volunteers last year set up a savings and loans program with them. They are basically a group of neighbors from young mothers to grandmothers who meet together once a week to visit and support one another. The volunteers last year helped them to establish a savings system where each week they are required to save a minimum amount (1000 shillings; $.50). They put this amount into their group safe and then they can take loans out from this amount to pay for their businesses, children's school fees, medical costs, etc. They must pay the loans back in full with intrest. At the end of the 6 month period, their savings are returned plus intrest earned and then they start over again. It is an awesome mini version of micro-finance loans that is of great assistance to the women's ability to provide for their families and also teach them the basics of how to track and save money.

FRIDAY:
On Friday we met with a man named Wilson. He was such an inspiring man. He is a native Ugandan and student, and only 22 years old. He has started his own organization in Uganda called The Youth Outreach Mission to educate children about HIV/AIDS, and to help teach street children and bring them hope and purpose in life. He started up a soccer league with the street kids and paired it with educational lessons, and has created a great program to go around to schools to fight agains AIDS and teen pregnancy. It is amazing to see how someone with so little is doing so much to give back to their community. What have I done with my life? Have I done anything great for my fellow men? Will I ever be able to do something great like this man?
I began to feel very overwhelmed that even though I'm here in Uganda this summer to serve the people, I don't know how to make a difference or make a meaningful change in anyone's life. Just then the scripture Alma 37:6 came to my mind, "By small and simple means are great things brought to pass." I may not be able to accomplish anything as great as this man, but if I can create a meaningful change in the life of one person, that is enough. I can make one person smile every day. I will do all I can to forget myself and get to work; to give all that I have to bless the lives of those around me.

SATURDAY:
Party in Jinja!
On Saturday we were tourists. We went to Jinja, a larger city about an hour East of us that is the Source of the Nile. We went shopping through the souvenier markets, ate a CHEESEBURGER, and even went swimming at one of the hotels in the area. It was a nice break after a long week of work, and I've never tasted a better cheeseburger!

SUNDAY:
Back to Jinja for church. Church in Uganda is awesome! The members there are fantastic! I went to Young Women's this week and the girls in there are incredible. There are at least 10 of them in the branch. They were so smart and willing to participate... well half of them that is... the others are super shy. But needless to say, I was very impressed! I'm sure that many of them are new converts or the only members in their families, and still they had such strong testimonies. I have much to learn from their examples.
Going to church here, or in any foreign country, makes me think a lot about serving a mission. I still have a year to go, so it's hard to know if that's really what the Lord has in store for me, but I'm definitely considering it. I want everyone to have the joy and peace of the restored gospel in their lives that I am so blessed to have. As a team, we keep talking about development and what projects we can do this summer that will be most beneficial to the people of Uganda. Everytime we talk about it, I just think about how the gospel is what they need. I'm not here to serve a mission, but I'll do all that I can to share the light of Christ with the people I meet. As for the next year, I'll prepare like I'm going to serve a mission, because whether or not I end up serving, I will in turn be prepared for whatever the Lord throws at me.

MONDAY:
Cut the reigns and set us free. Our country directors set us loose today. We're on our own now to create our projects and start getting into the community and serving. For my primary project, I'm planning on doing some type of physical therapy/rehabilitation with my friend Alex. We started off by going to the hospital and talking to the Public Health director Josephine. I was a little discouraged at first wondering how we were going to fit our plans to the needs of the community, but I think we found some great leads. Josephine introduced us to the Physical Therapist at the Hospital, Nakakawa Grace. We talked to Grace for some time about her practice and the needs of the community, and then she let us observe her working with one of her patients. She is very qualified and runs a great practice, but it is shocking how old and limited her equipment is. She does a great job with what she has though. I hope to be able to shadow her once a week and maybe be her assistant so that I can get a better feel for Physical therapy and see if it is really what I would like to do as a career. Then Josephine introduced us to a young man named Emanuel. He is a health officer who does outreaches in the surrounding villages for those who cannot travel to the hospital in Lugazi. His main focus is HIV screenings and therapy and work with the elderly. The elderly! Of course! Our partners have all expressed a lot of concern about the elderly in Uganda. There is no Social Services program here to care for the elderly and there is a great need for care here. Our team was stumped as to what we could do for the elderly, but I think this is a great start. We could provide physical therapy for them and build friendships with them along side that. I'm excited to meet with Emanuel today to get more ideas from him and see if my plans will work.

The Work Begins

We started working on projects this week, mostly receiving training on them and being introduced to all the options that are available to us to work on this summer. We constructed two adobe stoves, visited a mushroom house, toured the Kawolo Hospital, met with a women's group, and visited a school that HELP has volunteered at in the past. The adobe stoves were a really neat project! They require getting dirty and working hard, but they are so valuable to the people. They save so much time in cooking and firewood that they help the mothers out a lot. They are also a healthier way to cook than an open fire because they produce a lot less smoke. We made them using all local materials--bricks, cement, clay, and banana tree trunks. I can't really explain them, but maybe I can get a picture up. They are an awesome project though, and I'm excited to contintue building them and teaching the people how to build them.
Touring the hospital was really neat. It was actually a really big hospital and was well organized, but it was not nearly as clean or developed as our hospitals. It made me very appreciative of health care in America, even if Obama is messing things up it will still be 100 times better than anything in Africa. I'm planning on volunteering at least one day a week in the hospital, hopefully with women and babies, the disabled, and pediatrics.
I think that's all for now...

Oh wait... I ate a grasshopper!

Shabbat Shalom... African style that is...

Sunday in Uganda was amazing! We got up early to travel to church in Jinja--about an hour drive away through a beautiful jungle forest. Jinja is a more touristy city in Uganda. It is located at the head of the Nile, "The Source," and we got to cross over the Nile on our way to church. It brought back many memories of being in Egypt last fall. The branch in Jinja was surprisingly big and had a lot of new members. The lessons all focused on basic gospel principles, but they were fantastic, and it was neat to hear the members' testimonies. The ward building was actually really nice and it had an oven! (We are definitely going to have to make cookies sometime!) There were so many missionaries in that branch, four elders, and 6 sisters. Most of them were from various African countries, but one of the elders was from St. George--he was the second Mzungu (white person) I've seen since being in Uganda. It's crazy to be such a minority!
Rose, our cook, made a Ugandan feast for us tonight. We had pretty much every Ugandan dish that we will be eating for the next 3 months. It was all really good, but there's not much variety. Rice and beans, matoke (mashed plantains), sweet potatoes, potatoes, and cassava, green beans, chick peas, chipati (fried thick tortillas), watermellon and pineapple... I think we'll be mixing and matching that for the rest of our time here. Haha, good thing I liked all of it.
I've decided to take on the challenge of reading the entire Book of Mormon while I'm over here. I've calculated that I should be able to get it done if I read 7 pages a day. So far it is going great, and I'm loving reading it. Feel free to join me in reading it this summer if you'd like too! I felt like I could really connect to Lehi and his family when they talked about leaving their home in Jerusalem and all their possessions to go to a foreign land. This is another little journey of mine to a promissed land and I hope to be able to come closer to my Savior and myself through this experience.

Home Sweet Home...

On Saturday we moved into our house in Lugazi. It is brand new! But by American standards that isn't saying much, haha. The toilet has already broken at least three times, on one occasion spraying a fountain of water up into my face that soaked my from head to toe! (We do have real toilets--minus the seats, apparently that is an unnecessary luxary in Africa-- and showers with running water... that is when the water is turned on. The water has been shut off for the past three days and we didn't have a reserve tank yet since the house is brand new, so no showers or flushing toilets... problematic! As a consequence, Ashley and I had a brave adventure pooping in buckets... what a treat! The water did finally turn back on this morning though and I was finally able to take a shower! Haleluia! Mom, thanks so much for those shower wipes! I've already used half the pack since we get so muddy doing our projects.) Back to the house... Dad, you would have a fit if you saw the work the construction men are doing. They work fast and get the job done, but it is not high quality by any means. The kitchen cabinets are all crooked and half of their glass paneled doors are already cracked. The curtain rod fell out of the wall on the first day when we tried to hang the curtains up. The sink leaks... but the humbling thing is that this house is luxurious compared to most of the houses in Lugazi. I have to keep reminding myself how blessed I am to have all that I do.
We spent the day on Saturday cleaning the house out, stacking the bunk beds and getting everything moved in. The house has three small rooms, a kitchen, bathroom, and dining room, and a garage. My room is the garage, haha. Besides the metal garage doors and lack of windows it is identical to the other rooms. Other than the tile floors in the kitchen, the whole house is made of concrete, and it's a good thing too, because it gets dirty quick with all the dirt roads and rain. I share the garage with six other girls and we are all like princesses sleeping under our canopy beds (aka mosquito nets). I have gotten quite used to them now though and don't even notice it. The circus outside is another story though... The house has no insulation so you can hear EVERYTHING that is going on inside and outside. The grasshoppers have a little concert from 11:00pm-4:00am, then Morris, our gaurd, has a dance party with his radio on the front porch, next comes the roosters at 5:00am making sure everyone knows the sun's about to come up, and the cows and goats like to join in with the roosters too... Oh the sounds of Uganda.
Our house is in a perfect location though. It is only a five minute walk into "down-town" Lugazi and our surrounding neighbors seem very friendly--their kids do at least. I feel like the Mzungu parade everytime we walk down the street. The run after us, grab our hands, and yell "Bye Mzungu! Bye Mzungu!" They are so cute! But I'm going to have to find a way to make them keep their distance just a tiny bit.

Day 2 in Uganda:

I think there's a curse that using the internet brings on the rain, haha, because it's pouring again! We got soaked on our way home last night, but it felt good. I took a bucket shower last night (their house has a real shower, but they made us take a bucket shower as an initiation, haha). It was cold but refreshing! Dinner was pretty good. The cook made posho (it was like cooked cereal but really thick--it was alright, but nearly flavorless), eggplant (strange... not my favorite), rice and beans (these were my favorite--I have a feeling I'll be eating a lot of them in the next few months), and cooked greens (eww... they were weird). Luckily after our water scare yesterday and our introduction to some new foods we are all feeling well and have not gotten sick yet. Keep your fingers crossed!

Sleeping under a mosquito net is kind of tricky! We didn't have enough string yet to tie them all up so we tried to get creative with duck tape. Well the tape only held for a few hours and then collapsed on us during the night. I felt like I was sleeping under a weird suffocating blanket, but I was so tired that it didn't even matter. I fell right back to bed.

The kids here are so cute! They chase us down the street yelling "Hi Muzungo!" That is Lugandan for white person. Haha, some of them act like they've never seen anyone with fair skin before. One even ran up to me and held my hand and walked for nearly five minutes with me up the street. He couldn't have been more than four years old. It was so funny. I didn't know how far I should let him go with me, but I didn't want to be rude and shake him off, haha. Eventually he turned around and left. Well, I think that's all for now, but I'm loving Uganda and all the adventures it's bringing me!

So the Journey Begins...

After three days of traveling and an amazing day trip to London, I have arrived safe and sound in Uganda! It is currently pouring outside the tiny internet cafe... I'm going to get soaked on our walk home, but I don't really care because I haven't showered in 3 days so it will feel great!
Uganda is beautiful! It is so green and jungly compared to Utah. The people here are so nice. Florence, Edward, and their children met me at the airport. It was so fun to see them again. We talked for probably about a half hour while we got our bags loaded into the taxi. I can't wait to visit Edward's school. We are all jet lagged, exhausted, and going a bit delusional, haha, but I know I'm going to love it here!
Our directors found a house for us in Lugazi. It is brand new and will not be ready until tomorrow, so we are spending the night at the Mukono team's house. It is nice and big, with running (hot) water, but no furnishings or carpet, just the beds that they purchased this week. Apparently our house will have running water too! What a great surprise!
It is now pouring outside and the street is flooding with puddles of red water a few inches deep. Man our feet are going to get soaked! haha... and the adventures begin!

Lesson #1: Just because you buy bottled water with a sealed lid doesn't mean it's safe. There is a black market on bottled water and they drill a small hole in the bottom of the bottle, steal the pure water, refill it with impure water, and seal it back up! Opps! We got five bottles to share and three out of the five were bad. Luckily we only took a few sips before we found out. Hope we don't get sick!

Who...What...When...Where...

Just thought I'd give a little background about the program I'm going with and what I will be doing. I'm going with a group called HELP International in Provo. They have a really neat program because you can design and decide what projects you want to work on. Our group will be doing every kind of service you can think of from volunteering in orphanages and schools to business training, Public Health projects, construction projects, gardening, working with women's groups, setting up an eye clinic to do eye screenings and cataract surgeries, teaching about nutrition, physical therapy, recreational therapy... etc. I'm most excited to help in the orphanages and schools, do physical therapy with disabled children, and build adobe stoves. I hope to be able to do a little bit of everything though! There are about 25 volunteers in my group, the Lugazi group, and another 25 volunteers in the Mukono group. Lugazi and Mukono are two villages about 30 min away from each other so I'm sure we will be getting together occasionally. I will be in Uganda May 5-July 26, with a little stop through Paris and London on the way home! I think that about sums it up!

VOLCANO!

If nature cooperates, 24 hours from now I will already be on my way to Uganda... but as we've all heard on the news, there is a volcano erupting in Iceland!!! One of my country directors was delayed in getting to Uganda last week because her flight through London was cancelled and had to be rerouted due to the volcano. It sounded like the airports in Europe were all open again, but I just heard on the news that the volcano is stirring up again and there is trouble with some of the airports. If it erupts tonight I guess I won't be leaving yet. Pray that the volcano will keep quiet for a bit!

5...4...3...2...1...GO!

It's almost time to jump on the plane. I'm so excited, anxious, nervous, excited, excited, excited, EXCITED, I can hardly wait. I started packing today... emphasis on started... I still have so much left to do before I leave. Can I get it all done? We'll see!

Last night Suz and Rob had me over for African food! We looked at all their pictures of Uganda from Rob's mission and the trip they took there together. Then we called Edward and Florence on skype! They are an amazing couple from Uganda that Rob became good friends with on his mission and then they came to Utah a few years ago to be sealed in the temple. I got to meet them when they came and I can't wait to see them again! I have dreamed of going to Africa ever since I met them and that dream is finally about to come true! Thanks Suz and Rob for getting me all prepped and pumped to go!

5 days from now I'll be on the plane and headed to Uganda!

Africa... Here I Come!

It is now two months minus one day until I leave for Uganda... Cinco de Mayo!!! Time is flying by and I can hardly wait to go! We had our first training meeting today and learned all about organizing projects for the orphanages. That is one of the projects that I am most looking forward to. I love kids and I can't wait to go fall in love with the children there! If you have any good ideas for games to play, songs to sing, lessons to teach, or fun activities to do with children let me know. I would love to hear your advice and suggestions!