I’m sitting right now in a primary school classroom while Amber and Trent give a business training. We are in a city called Ojulu in the District of Gulu teaching a group of 15 people. Honorable Betty from the Ugandan Parliament has set up these groups that we may come in a teach business basics.
The bus ride yesterday was anything but comfortable. These bus drivers here are absolutely nuts, insane, and probably on drugs. Luckily I was able to get buried a book, Deception Point by Dan Brown. I read for quite some time while I endured the bumps, the many many bumps. The bus ride was around 5 hours long and we actually had pretty good seats, I was pleased. Amber and I sat together on the second to last row in the back, just two seats together. We had window which made it nice to be able to breath a little and even buy some refreshments when we came to certain stops. When we arrived in Gulu I was stunned to see that conditions were worse even than Lugazi, I was instantly apprehensive about being in a new place. It was as if I had been dropped in Africa again for the first time and I was supposed to figure things out, it was a bit overwhelming. We arrived at Betty’s home which was very humble. We saw the girl’s and boy’s quarters, a little scary. Luckily I was able to stay with Mike for one night in the hotel that was actually pretty nice. I found out today however that I will be staying with the guys because the price of the hotel didn’t work with HELP’s budget like it had when we called in advance. This of course was a surprise but I’m willing to make things work for a couple of days, as hard as it will be.
They have now been explaining the BEST game for at least 45 minutes, maybe an hour. It’s going to take at least another hour or so to play the game. Thankfully the group is attentive and even taking notes. This training is much harder than any of us ever expected or imagined. We have a translator and everything has to be translated which doubles the amount of time it takes to teach the lesson. When my turn comes around later in the evening I’m going to have to cut down on my lesson, something I’m very fine doing. My lesson is on Advertising, I’m kind of excited to teach about it. It should be easier than most topics, at least for me.
I’m going a little bit crazy. Here I am only 4 1/2 days away from catching a plane to NY and I can’t concentrate worth a darn. All I can think about is getting home, seeing my Mom, visiting my people in NY, and just getting back to life. I really feel done here. I came, I did, I conquered, and now it’s time to go home. Because I wasn't to go home so bad the time is going pretty slow. I only pray that I can forget about going home and just focus on what we are doing right here.
I talked to Mom last night for about 35 minutes, it was really good, absolute perfect timing (I just killed a fly, they’re everywhere). I swear, a mother’s intuition is definitely a force I believe in, and Mom sure has it. Just hearing hear voice helped give me the strength I need to be able to last. We talked a little bit about plans in NY. We were trying to figure out what we were going to do the first night we got there, whether to call Maria to pick us up, stay in the airport for the night, or just go to a motel. We talked about some things she’s going to bring for me and most importantly what I want to eat when we get there. I want a FATTY slice of New York pizza, oh my gosh, it’s hard to even talk about it. She assured me that this was only a moment in time and it will be as if it never happened, I believe her. It’s just the here and now that’s hard to deal with. I appreciate my Mom so much, she is my best friend and has the ability to make anything in life better.
Being here has only increased my gratefulness for what I have, especially for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I have SO MUCH! I don’t know why I’ve been blessed with so many things! These people have nothing, and I mean nothing. The clothes and their backs and maybe a change or two, enough food to stay alive, a roof over their heads, and that’s it! They don’t have cars, huge houses that are incredibly comfortable, iPhones, amazing food, clean water, good education, NOTHING! All they have is hope. Hope that things will someday get easier or better, something that most likely won’t happen during their lifetime. Why were they dealt the hand they were? Why did I get the better end of the deal? The FAR better end of the deal. After all is said and done, I realize it won’t matter what I had in this life, only what I learned and the relationships I formed.
It’s night now and I’m in my bed. Like I said, I got kicked out of the hotel because they quoted us the wrong amount and it was out of HELP’s budget to keep me there with Mike, I’m okay with it. Now I’m living with the girls believe it or not. There was an issue where there wasn’t an extra mattress where the boys were staying. That’s when one of the girls piped up and said that I could stay in the single room with the mattress, I agreed. So, here I am, but not in the single room. I’m on the top bunk with Amber and Heidi below me. The paint fumes are pretty outrageous and I just hope I don’t wait up dead....er....not at all. I’m using the Deception Point book, my MacBook neoprene case, Seren’s blanket, and an airplane pillow to make one big pillow. The book is mostly to prop me up while I type, I’ll remove it when I go to bed.
Well, I survived one day, it was eternity, but it’s over. I’ve got three more days and then I get back on the bus and head back for Kampala, I can’t wait. I’ve been meditating and thinking positive in order to settle down and focus a little more. 3 days really isn’t anything, unless of course it’s 3 days before you leave home from Africa, go to NY, and meet your Mom there after 83 days; it sort of makes it a little harder. Tomorrow is Sunday and we’ll be meeting in a small branch here in Gulu. I guess they meet in a Coffee shop ironically enough, and there aren’t very many of them. It should be a great meeting, I’m excited to go. Stephanie and I want to prepare something to sing, we haven't decided yet and it may never happen, but I hope it does. We didn’t get to sing last week in Jinja because it was fast Sunday. Hey! That’s how I have to look at this time. Last Sunday seems like yesterday, which means 3 days will FLY by.
The fumes are driving me crazy, I hope I can forget about them and go to bed. I wonder if they are worse up here! Grandma would be freaking out right about now. I’m sure I’ll loose some number of brain cells tonight, hopefully not the ones I need. Time to read scriptures and hit the sack. It’s been a great day of teaching, I can make it.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Day 77 - Last Day in Lugazi
Well, I’m gone. Here I sit in a hotel room in Gulu and it’s over except for the few day that lie ahead of business training and planting trees. I will most likely never return to Lugazi, or Uganda for that matter, but I can’t promise that. Who know where life will take me, what plan the Lord has in store for me. One thing I know is that my time here has been worth every second. I know that I accomplished so much and it feels so good. I was worried in the beginning and even wrote in this journal about how I had to make sure I did well what I came here to do so that I would feel good about it later on. I can say with pride that I DO feel like I did what I came here to do and it feels great. Although it’s been slightly hard to see the effects of my doings along the way, I’ve been assured by Jackie and Ashley as well as those around me that I certainly have contributed, what a great feeling. Most importantly, I created relationships with certain people that I will never forget! Salima, Irene, David, Christine, Wilson, Isaac, all people that I will never forget and am so grateful that I was able to meet. They taught me so much about life in Uganda and the ability of theirs to make the best of it and be happy. As I’ve explained before, this is their life and it always has been. We cannot compare our own and automatically assume that their lives are so much worse off than ours or something like that, it’s just not true. These people are genuinely happy and I can see it in their eyes. They work for what they have and they are happy. I’ve learned so much from them, hopefully something that I can take home with me.
I’ve just completed the second and final draft of my lesson plan for tomorrow, I think it will be pretty good, I feel confident about it. Now my eyes are beginning to shut and I must go to bed. Until tomorrow, my first real day in Gulu.
I’ve just completed the second and final draft of my lesson plan for tomorrow, I think it will be pretty good, I feel confident about it. Now my eyes are beginning to shut and I must go to bed. Until tomorrow, my first real day in Gulu.
Day 76 - Closing Time
I can’t even believe it, my last full day in Lugazi. It’s been 76 days since I left the US and 72 days that I’ve spent in Lugazi, Uganda. It has seemed like an entire lifetime and at the same time only the blink of an eye. The only time in my life I’ve experienced time fly so fast is in the mission field and that was a 2 year thing, not just 2 months.
I feel amazing today compared to the last 5 days. I’ve now been off the medication for 3 days and I can tell a major difference, I’m not quite 100% but dang close and I’m sure that tomorrow will be the first time feeling 100%. I was even able to eat the food tonight that Irene and Grandma fixed, most of it anyway. They really went overboard tonight and fixed so many things. We had chapati, peas, potatoes, cabbage, squash, pineapple, and passion juice. The chapati and squash were especially good tonight and I’m so glad, after-all, it is my last dinner in Lugazi.
I had a great today, a really great day. I’m super happy that I was able to be productive, something I haven’t been able to be for the many days. We did some cleaning up this morning as it rained outside and kept us from going to Barbara’s school to begin building the foundation. We finally left around 9:45 am. Amber and I started working on the foundation and David our guard showed up!! We were so happy to see him, me especially because I wasn’t sure I was going to see him again before I left. We haven’t had a guard for the last couple of nights because Town Counsel hadn’t paid David. To my surprise, he is here tonight as our guard, so happy about that! Anyway, David was a great help to us at the stove and it really went fast. We build it 5 bricks high, 2 walls, in 2 hours. We really kicked butt and it looked really nice. When we got done Amber said, “That was our last stove together. We rock.” And then we proceeded to give the rock or “bonga”. We snapped some pictures with David and Amber and called it good. I’m really happy about my last Adobe Stove and I’m glad I was well enough mentally and physically.
After the stove we all headed to town and Amber and I bought David a Rolex and a water, he was super happy and appreciative about that. I had one myself and it was pretty good, minus the occasional grain of sand. We ate our Rolexes while we sat at the Internet Cafe setting up a Gmail account for David. He was really exited about the fact that we would be able to communicate later on. I told him I would send him pictures periodically as well as the pictures I had taken with him. David is such a good man, he’s just a diamond in the rough. He lost his father when he was young, all of his siblings have passed away, and now he has a wife that lives in Mbale that he only speaks to twice a month and who knows how often he see her. I told Amber that I want to leave my phone with him so that he has a phone number to be reached at. I’m also leaving a bunch of Polos with him that I had purchased before coming here, I’m sure he will appreciate those.
My time has been well spent and I'm so grateful for the experience. I'm surprised that life took me this way, I never expected it. I'm sure glad it did, I've grown and learned so much, it's incredible.
I feel amazing today compared to the last 5 days. I’ve now been off the medication for 3 days and I can tell a major difference, I’m not quite 100% but dang close and I’m sure that tomorrow will be the first time feeling 100%. I was even able to eat the food tonight that Irene and Grandma fixed, most of it anyway. They really went overboard tonight and fixed so many things. We had chapati, peas, potatoes, cabbage, squash, pineapple, and passion juice. The chapati and squash were especially good tonight and I’m so glad, after-all, it is my last dinner in Lugazi.
I had a great today, a really great day. I’m super happy that I was able to be productive, something I haven’t been able to be for the many days. We did some cleaning up this morning as it rained outside and kept us from going to Barbara’s school to begin building the foundation. We finally left around 9:45 am. Amber and I started working on the foundation and David our guard showed up!! We were so happy to see him, me especially because I wasn’t sure I was going to see him again before I left. We haven’t had a guard for the last couple of nights because Town Counsel hadn’t paid David. To my surprise, he is here tonight as our guard, so happy about that! Anyway, David was a great help to us at the stove and it really went fast. We build it 5 bricks high, 2 walls, in 2 hours. We really kicked butt and it looked really nice. When we got done Amber said, “That was our last stove together. We rock.” And then we proceeded to give the rock or “bonga”. We snapped some pictures with David and Amber and called it good. I’m really happy about my last Adobe Stove and I’m glad I was well enough mentally and physically.
After the stove we all headed to town and Amber and I bought David a Rolex and a water, he was super happy and appreciative about that. I had one myself and it was pretty good, minus the occasional grain of sand. We ate our Rolexes while we sat at the Internet Cafe setting up a Gmail account for David. He was really exited about the fact that we would be able to communicate later on. I told him I would send him pictures periodically as well as the pictures I had taken with him. David is such a good man, he’s just a diamond in the rough. He lost his father when he was young, all of his siblings have passed away, and now he has a wife that lives in Mbale that he only speaks to twice a month and who knows how often he see her. I told Amber that I want to leave my phone with him so that he has a phone number to be reached at. I’m also leaving a bunch of Polos with him that I had purchased before coming here, I’m sure he will appreciate those.
My time has been well spent and I'm so grateful for the experience. I'm surprised that life took me this way, I never expected it. I'm sure glad it did, I've grown and learned so much, it's incredible.
Day 75 - Life
Today was the beginning of a new life, a life OFF the ARV medication that I’m supposed to be taking. I tried, I really did, to stay on the medication and be cautious about contracting HIV, but unfortunately I just can’t do it anymore and it’s now been 2 days since I’ve taken the medication and I feel SO much better inside. The last many days have taken a huge tole on my well-being and now that I’m off the meds I really do feel so much better. I’m still trying to regain my appetite but it’s slowly coming back. I’m confident that with the 0.3% chance of getting infected with HIV from a needle stick, the fact that Teo was negative, and that I got an amazing blessing from DJ and Jeff... I’m very confident.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Day 74 - Death
I feel like death today, and I’m not quite sure how to escape it. It’s a combination of so many feelings and emotions that I’m not even sure I can classify how I feel right now. I’m in a total funk to put it simply, and it’s not simple at all. Not only am I on these anti-retroviral drugs that are absolutely making me feel like total crap, but my nerves for Africa are 100% shot and I’m not sure how much more I can take. As great as the people here are, there are so many things that get to me because of our living conditions. No one really feels like they need to contribute to keep things clean and livable. There is almost no consideration one for another or for the house that we are living in. The family in the back has said a couple of times how dirty the kitchen is and one day they came in and cleaned it for us! What a disgrace!! I’ve have done all I can do without going to the extent of killing myself to keep things clean in the house. I’ve even proposed and posted a cleaning chart that I thought would help people stay on track and help out; didn’t work. The living area is a total disaster and I’m just at my whit’s end, I can’t do it anymore. I did some cleaning tonight while everybody just chilled in the living area, I was so frustrated. I found Irene, of all people, cleaning the freezer area and I just said to her, “You are not doing this, let me do this cleaning.” I finished cleaning and then cleaned the surrounding disgusting floor as well as the sink and the bathroom sink. Everything is gross and I’m going crazy. I feel so sick inside from the drugs that I’m barely able to do anything. My appetite is gone and everything I look at that has to do with food or the smell of it makes me want to vomit.
My plane leaves in 8 days 4 hours and 50 minutes and I’m not sure that’s soon enough. As much as I love the people here that I’ve been working with, the family out back, our guard David, and our cook Irene, I’m done here and I need to get back home. I’ve reached my breaking point, a point I never really thought I would reach. I always just figured that the time would wind down and I’d just be working until the end; not so. Ever since the HIV incident at the school in Baka village things have been going down hill. I started on the ARV meds and they have made me incredibly sick which has only amplified the fact that my nerves are shot and my patience has been tried. I never thought that I would feel like this, but if I could step on a plane right now, I’m pretty sure I would. The thought even crossed my mind that I could call and get my flight moved up and then I would just chill in New York until Mom got there. The thought went away as my conscience kicked in and I realized that going to Gulu would be an amazing experience and I would get some great pictures as well as learn about the people up there. I’m thinking about discontinuing taking the medication that has made me so sick. If I feel like this in NY I will be hating life and that is the last thing I want.
I’ve eating a Cliff Bar and a Sprite today. I just don’t want to eat. Everything sounds gross. Everybody is eating right now and I just want to vomit at the site of it all. My tummy has gone back down in size which is a plus. I’m hungry, but not enough to go eat the dinner prepared.
My plane leaves in 8 days 4 hours and 50 minutes and I’m not sure that’s soon enough. As much as I love the people here that I’ve been working with, the family out back, our guard David, and our cook Irene, I’m done here and I need to get back home. I’ve reached my breaking point, a point I never really thought I would reach. I always just figured that the time would wind down and I’d just be working until the end; not so. Ever since the HIV incident at the school in Baka village things have been going down hill. I started on the ARV meds and they have made me incredibly sick which has only amplified the fact that my nerves are shot and my patience has been tried. I never thought that I would feel like this, but if I could step on a plane right now, I’m pretty sure I would. The thought even crossed my mind that I could call and get my flight moved up and then I would just chill in New York until Mom got there. The thought went away as my conscience kicked in and I realized that going to Gulu would be an amazing experience and I would get some great pictures as well as learn about the people up there. I’m thinking about discontinuing taking the medication that has made me so sick. If I feel like this in NY I will be hating life and that is the last thing I want.
I’ve eating a Cliff Bar and a Sprite today. I just don’t want to eat. Everything sounds gross. Everybody is eating right now and I just want to vomit at the site of it all. My tummy has gone back down in size which is a plus. I’m hungry, but not enough to go eat the dinner prepared.
Day 72 - Life and Death Part 3
My nerves had been driving me nuts all day. The only thing I could think of, of course, was the stupid bungee jumping! It was so bad that I couldn’t concentrate at all today, and I was super honery the night before bed. The ARV drugs haven’t helped the situation at all either.
Church was good today, but long. Church in Africa is a little harder because it’s hard to understand exactly what they are teaching. Sometimes their english is a little hard to understand and it makes it incredibly hard to pay attention. We made our way to Ginger on the Nile restaurant to grab a bite to eat before we went to Nile High. I didn’t turn out to be very hungry as I wasn’t feeling very good. I ordered a bacon, egg, and cheese bagel with a side of fries and a Coke. It was really good food but was unable to finish! I was unhappy about it because I normally finish all my food. Tori G finished off my bagel for me.
Finally it was off to do the most feared thing of all. By this time I had been doing some serious mind control to keep my nerves under control. It worked really well until I was in the seat on the platform getting strapped in. I remember thinking, “What in the heck am I doing?! Am I really going through with this!?” Nobody really understands the feeling unless they’ve been there themselves. Being 154 feet above a large body of water knowing that you are going over the edge really isn’t a good feeling. We got finished getting roped in and we stood up. My heart began pounding and I felt like my head was going to explode because my blood pressure was through the roof. We ducked under the safety ropes and inched our way to the edge of the platform until our toes were hanging off the edge. By this time I was considering pulling back but the words couldn’t escape my lips. We dropped our arms from holding the metal bar above our heads and embraced each other in the strongest bear hug that ever was; I’m pretty sure I squeezed Amber so hard that I cracked her back. “And 3...2....1....” the guy announced and all of the sudden I was weightless and there was absolutely nothing I could do about it. But only one second after falling I was having the time of my life. Amber and I started screaming, laughing, and hugging each other as we bounced up and down on the bungee cord. It was one of the most incredible things I’ve ever done in my life as far as scary things go. I was so proud of myself for such a huge accomplishment. The funny thing was that when we rafted the Nile over a month ago I told myself there was no way I would ever be doing the bungee jumping thrill. I have always told myself I would never do any type of bungee jumping or sky diving because was radically too scary and I felt like the risk of dying was a little high. In reality, both have a very low mortality rates and I shouldn’t really worry about it... but I do.
I decided that the first jump was so cool that it was necessary to buy another and get one free, for a total of 3 jumps! I made my way back up the stairs to jump again. Being strapped in I made my way to the edge again, the same as before. Only this time I was alone and I had to actually jump off myself. Again, I didn’t have a choice of whether to jump or not as soon as I heard, “And 3....2....1....” I did my best and jumped as much as my nervous body would along, I went flying, the rush was amazing and I watched the whole way down! Not a second did I close my eyes, it was much to expensive of a jump to do that! My third jump was even better. I did a much better swan dive the third time. So good that I heard later that people below including the professional jumpers said that I had good form!! I was really excited to hear that, it gave me a bit of a rise.
Well, I’m very happy about my decision to “jump to my death” 3 times, probably one of the coolest things I’ve ever done in my life and I would definitely consider doing it again in the future at some other location in the US. I keep thinking how cool it would be to have my family here and take them jumping tandem, they would absolutely freak out!
Church was good today, but long. Church in Africa is a little harder because it’s hard to understand exactly what they are teaching. Sometimes their english is a little hard to understand and it makes it incredibly hard to pay attention. We made our way to Ginger on the Nile restaurant to grab a bite to eat before we went to Nile High. I didn’t turn out to be very hungry as I wasn’t feeling very good. I ordered a bacon, egg, and cheese bagel with a side of fries and a Coke. It was really good food but was unable to finish! I was unhappy about it because I normally finish all my food. Tori G finished off my bagel for me.
Finally it was off to do the most feared thing of all. By this time I had been doing some serious mind control to keep my nerves under control. It worked really well until I was in the seat on the platform getting strapped in. I remember thinking, “What in the heck am I doing?! Am I really going through with this!?” Nobody really understands the feeling unless they’ve been there themselves. Being 154 feet above a large body of water knowing that you are going over the edge really isn’t a good feeling. We got finished getting roped in and we stood up. My heart began pounding and I felt like my head was going to explode because my blood pressure was through the roof. We ducked under the safety ropes and inched our way to the edge of the platform until our toes were hanging off the edge. By this time I was considering pulling back but the words couldn’t escape my lips. We dropped our arms from holding the metal bar above our heads and embraced each other in the strongest bear hug that ever was; I’m pretty sure I squeezed Amber so hard that I cracked her back. “And 3...2....1....” the guy announced and all of the sudden I was weightless and there was absolutely nothing I could do about it. But only one second after falling I was having the time of my life. Amber and I started screaming, laughing, and hugging each other as we bounced up and down on the bungee cord. It was one of the most incredible things I’ve ever done in my life as far as scary things go. I was so proud of myself for such a huge accomplishment. The funny thing was that when we rafted the Nile over a month ago I told myself there was no way I would ever be doing the bungee jumping thrill. I have always told myself I would never do any type of bungee jumping or sky diving because was radically too scary and I felt like the risk of dying was a little high. In reality, both have a very low mortality rates and I shouldn’t really worry about it... but I do.
I decided that the first jump was so cool that it was necessary to buy another and get one free, for a total of 3 jumps! I made my way back up the stairs to jump again. Being strapped in I made my way to the edge again, the same as before. Only this time I was alone and I had to actually jump off myself. Again, I didn’t have a choice of whether to jump or not as soon as I heard, “And 3....2....1....” I did my best and jumped as much as my nervous body would along, I went flying, the rush was amazing and I watched the whole way down! Not a second did I close my eyes, it was much to expensive of a jump to do that! My third jump was even better. I did a much better swan dive the third time. So good that I heard later that people below including the professional jumpers said that I had good form!! I was really excited to hear that, it gave me a bit of a rise.
Well, I’m very happy about my decision to “jump to my death” 3 times, probably one of the coolest things I’ve ever done in my life and I would definitely consider doing it again in the future at some other location in the US. I keep thinking how cool it would be to have my family here and take them jumping tandem, they would absolutely freak out!
Day 71 - Life and Death Part 2
We had such a great day today in Jinja. We left the house around 10 am and headed for the craft shops. Some of the group went to use the internet. I got so many crafts I had to help people carry my stuff. This is my last week in the Lugazi/Jinja area so it was my time to gather some keepsakes and I sure did, I’m happy with my purchases.
Today was quite the relaxing day, it couldn’t have been better really. After getting crafts for 2 hours or so, we made our way to the Jinja Nile Resort and went straight to the pool. We were charged 6000 each to swim, we were very happy to pay for such a nice pool area. We swam for a short time and then laid out a bit. Trent and I did some reading while Jackie, Ashley, Steph, and Amber laid out. It was so relaxing, except for the fact that I had “bungee jump” on the brain... not exactly a stimulus for positive thought. We stuck around the pool for about 2 hours, 30 minutes of which I used extremely expensive marginally quick internet. Those 30 minutes cost me a whopping 5000 shillings, or $3.00. It’s so funny how things here are so “expensive.” But when compared to back home, it’s really not TOO bad. That’s the most I’ve ever paid for internet while being here, and I’ll never have to do it again.
I had a Coke on the pool side, it was refreshing. Coke is a funny thing, it reminds me of my Dad, so every time I drink it I get a flashback of some moment with Dad hunting and having a Coke. Time came around to 5:30 p.m. and it was off to Nile High. I was absolutely freaking out on the walk there, and signing my name on the release form really did me in. I had been contemplating the whole thing the entire day, and really the whole week. I kept telling myself that I was going to be OK and that I was just going to do it. We finally made our way over to the bungee jumping area, stomach still jumping like crazy. I don’t know what my deal was! I guess I didn't think I was that big of a baby. We went to the reception area, gave them our money, and signed our lives away. At this point I was really dying. A couple people went and then if was mine and Amber’s turn. We got up there and I freaked out. Amber sat happily in the chair like no big deal. As we were talking about going tandem, the guy running the thing let us know that because of our combine wait he didn’t have the right cables. He had retired a cable that day and it happened to be the one for my wait. I was actually really relieved because I just couldn’t handle the whole situation. Amber then asked me if she should just go and I said, “Oh course!” So she got all strapped up and made her way to edge. I could tell she was very nervous, she was hardly responding to anything that I was saying to her. She made her jump and went screaming all the way down. When she had finished and she was on the raft I looked down from the platform and saw her rolling around laughing the raft... so Amber. While I was a little bummed that they didn’t have my cable, I was slightly relieved at the same time. The guy said he would have a new cable ready for me tomorrow so we will be back after church to go... I’m nervous.
Today was quite the relaxing day, it couldn’t have been better really. After getting crafts for 2 hours or so, we made our way to the Jinja Nile Resort and went straight to the pool. We were charged 6000 each to swim, we were very happy to pay for such a nice pool area. We swam for a short time and then laid out a bit. Trent and I did some reading while Jackie, Ashley, Steph, and Amber laid out. It was so relaxing, except for the fact that I had “bungee jump” on the brain... not exactly a stimulus for positive thought. We stuck around the pool for about 2 hours, 30 minutes of which I used extremely expensive marginally quick internet. Those 30 minutes cost me a whopping 5000 shillings, or $3.00. It’s so funny how things here are so “expensive.” But when compared to back home, it’s really not TOO bad. That’s the most I’ve ever paid for internet while being here, and I’ll never have to do it again.
I had a Coke on the pool side, it was refreshing. Coke is a funny thing, it reminds me of my Dad, so every time I drink it I get a flashback of some moment with Dad hunting and having a Coke. Time came around to 5:30 p.m. and it was off to Nile High. I was absolutely freaking out on the walk there, and signing my name on the release form really did me in. I had been contemplating the whole thing the entire day, and really the whole week. I kept telling myself that I was going to be OK and that I was just going to do it. We finally made our way over to the bungee jumping area, stomach still jumping like crazy. I don’t know what my deal was! I guess I didn't think I was that big of a baby. We went to the reception area, gave them our money, and signed our lives away. At this point I was really dying. A couple people went and then if was mine and Amber’s turn. We got up there and I freaked out. Amber sat happily in the chair like no big deal. As we were talking about going tandem, the guy running the thing let us know that because of our combine wait he didn’t have the right cables. He had retired a cable that day and it happened to be the one for my wait. I was actually really relieved because I just couldn’t handle the whole situation. Amber then asked me if she should just go and I said, “Oh course!” So she got all strapped up and made her way to edge. I could tell she was very nervous, she was hardly responding to anything that I was saying to her. She made her jump and went screaming all the way down. When she had finished and she was on the raft I looked down from the platform and saw her rolling around laughing the raft... so Amber. While I was a little bummed that they didn’t have my cable, I was slightly relieved at the same time. The guy said he would have a new cable ready for me tomorrow so we will be back after church to go... I’m nervous.
Day 68 - Life and Death
Today was one of the most intense and scary days of my entire life, because my life as I knew it had the potential to change for the worse. Nothing but the protection of the Lord saved me from the situation and I count my blessings.
Today we did something that I have been waiting to do my entire stay here in Uganda. Naturally, being a medical assistant and wanting experience, this was something I had been waiting to do for a long time. We had tried to get things started up at the two local hospitals but it never happened, they just weren’t prepared to receive volunteers in their facilities. The chance finally came with Dave & Jamie Mackenzie. They have owned the school for about a year now I think, and they finally got it organized and funded to get all of the kids as well as the parents tested for HIV, be given deworming pills, and give vitamins. Somehow the CDs found out about it and we got scheduled to go and help out. When we arrived I found out that I would be able to draw blood to be tested for HIV, I was very excited. I was finally going to be able to practice what I’ve been trained to do.
The parents were not cool with what was going on at first, and even after many of the parents finally consented, there were only about 100 out of 150 parents and kids that ended up being tested. They were concerned that by putting a needle in theirs or their child’s body that they would be infected with an evil spirit. This, of course, was a myth of the village, and a very sad one. After talking with the parents, things were finally in order and the people lined up to give their information, fill out some papers, receive a blood vial, and wait in line for their turn for their blood to be drawn.
The time finally came for me to draw blood, I was nervous. Not only was I drawing blood outside sitting a bench with one leg on either side, I was going to be drawing blood from young kids, something I don’t have experience doing. But, I knew that I had the training and knowledge so I followed through and did what I knew how. I was given no direction, no instruction, nothing. I sat for about 3 minutes and watched the process of taking the papers and tube, cross-checking the names, drawing blood, putting the blood into the tube, taking the white paper and the tube and putting them in a pile... I knew nothing! I had no idea what was going on.
I finally sat down on a bench and the people began to line up. I started with a young child about 7 years of age. I couldn't believe what I was doing, that I was actually in Africa in some village drawing some child’s blood to be tested for HIV!! I was shaking a little bit because I was nervous about the whole situation. The nerves subsided after a couple of draws and it became more routine. I looked around and realized that I was going to be drawing blood for a couple of hours and I was OK with it. It was turning out to be the experience that I always wanted in Africa; the opportunity to use my medical certification and help the people. A lady sat down, here name was Teo. I had just complete drawing blood from her 3 kids and it was now her turn. She sat down and I knew right away that she was going to be an easy draw because her veins were clearly visible. I prepared a syringe, cotton swab, and the blood vial. I quickly drew the blood and inserted into the vial. I had just pulled the needle out of the vial when Teo stood up to leave the bench and she bumped me... pushing the needle into my left pointer finger, enough to make it bleed. I immediately froze and couldn’t believe what had just happened. My biggest fear coming to Africa, the one that I had gone over in my mind 1000 times had just happened and now it was critically important that I do the appropriate follow-up. I immediately put some antiseptic liquid on the prick, the same antiseptic we were using on the cotton balls to clean the area before we drew blood. I remained calm oddly enough, stood up, and went to Jackie to tell her the situation. While I was talking to Jackie I felt as though I was going to faint but stood my ground. It had really hit me what just happened and I thought I was going to die. Immediately I ordered the blood to be tested and luckily, with the help of the Lord, the blood was NEGATIVE for HIV. My heart rate slowed a bit after the good news. I was also calmed when I remembered that with the needle pricks, depending on the severity of the prick, only had a 0.3% infection rate with HIV. So, those two bits of good information made me feel pretty good. We talked to Dave quickly about the situation, he made arrangements to take us to the HIV Center in Kampala where I could get further help. Before we left, I had Jeff and DJ give me a blessing, Jeff anointed and DJ sealed the anointing and gave me a blessing. The spirit was strong and I was confident the Lord was with DJ as well as myself. I felt very good about the blessing and emotions were stirred. This was the most comforting part about the whole situation. I knew after the blessing that all would be well. I’ve been promised I would have a family in my blessing, which I’m counting on will be my own little carbon-copies. When we arrived at the HIV center an hour later, I asked that they test Teo’s blood again for HIV as well for Hepatitis A/B/C, all came back NEGATIVE, thankfully. They also tested my own blood for HIV to make sure that I was negative before they gave me the prophylaxis that I asked for. I of course tested negative and they prescribed me the medication.
Jackie and I found the cafeteria at the hospital where we had peas, chicken, rice, and fries. The meal was 3500 USH and was actually pretty good, we were very happy with it. While we were there we met two girls from the UK and one girl from upper state New York. They were super nice and fun to talk to. They even invited us to a 4th of July private party at somebody’s home in Kampala. We headed back to Kampala by taxi, then we had to walk a mile or so to find another Taxi that would take us to Lugazi. We stood around for about 30 minutes waiting for a Taxi back to Lugazi until finally this open-bed truck pulls up and Jackie says, “Let’s go!” I was totally freaking about, knowing that we couldn’t do anything more reckless than taxi back to Mukono in the back of a truck. Well, it actually ended up being a sweet ride with the wind in our face and not having to be shoulder to shoulder with other people. We hopped out at Mukono and then hopped on another Taxi to Lugazi. On this taxi I had to sit on half a seat, very uncomfortable. It ended up taking us about 2 1/2 hours to get back home, a very long and crazy day.
I'm grateful for my health and strength and I know the Lord's hand was with me!
Today we did something that I have been waiting to do my entire stay here in Uganda. Naturally, being a medical assistant and wanting experience, this was something I had been waiting to do for a long time. We had tried to get things started up at the two local hospitals but it never happened, they just weren’t prepared to receive volunteers in their facilities. The chance finally came with Dave & Jamie Mackenzie. They have owned the school for about a year now I think, and they finally got it organized and funded to get all of the kids as well as the parents tested for HIV, be given deworming pills, and give vitamins. Somehow the CDs found out about it and we got scheduled to go and help out. When we arrived I found out that I would be able to draw blood to be tested for HIV, I was very excited. I was finally going to be able to practice what I’ve been trained to do.
The parents were not cool with what was going on at first, and even after many of the parents finally consented, there were only about 100 out of 150 parents and kids that ended up being tested. They were concerned that by putting a needle in theirs or their child’s body that they would be infected with an evil spirit. This, of course, was a myth of the village, and a very sad one. After talking with the parents, things were finally in order and the people lined up to give their information, fill out some papers, receive a blood vial, and wait in line for their turn for their blood to be drawn.
The time finally came for me to draw blood, I was nervous. Not only was I drawing blood outside sitting a bench with one leg on either side, I was going to be drawing blood from young kids, something I don’t have experience doing. But, I knew that I had the training and knowledge so I followed through and did what I knew how. I was given no direction, no instruction, nothing. I sat for about 3 minutes and watched the process of taking the papers and tube, cross-checking the names, drawing blood, putting the blood into the tube, taking the white paper and the tube and putting them in a pile... I knew nothing! I had no idea what was going on.
I finally sat down on a bench and the people began to line up. I started with a young child about 7 years of age. I couldn't believe what I was doing, that I was actually in Africa in some village drawing some child’s blood to be tested for HIV!! I was shaking a little bit because I was nervous about the whole situation. The nerves subsided after a couple of draws and it became more routine. I looked around and realized that I was going to be drawing blood for a couple of hours and I was OK with it. It was turning out to be the experience that I always wanted in Africa; the opportunity to use my medical certification and help the people. A lady sat down, here name was Teo. I had just complete drawing blood from her 3 kids and it was now her turn. She sat down and I knew right away that she was going to be an easy draw because her veins were clearly visible. I prepared a syringe, cotton swab, and the blood vial. I quickly drew the blood and inserted into the vial. I had just pulled the needle out of the vial when Teo stood up to leave the bench and she bumped me... pushing the needle into my left pointer finger, enough to make it bleed. I immediately froze and couldn’t believe what had just happened. My biggest fear coming to Africa, the one that I had gone over in my mind 1000 times had just happened and now it was critically important that I do the appropriate follow-up. I immediately put some antiseptic liquid on the prick, the same antiseptic we were using on the cotton balls to clean the area before we drew blood. I remained calm oddly enough, stood up, and went to Jackie to tell her the situation. While I was talking to Jackie I felt as though I was going to faint but stood my ground. It had really hit me what just happened and I thought I was going to die. Immediately I ordered the blood to be tested and luckily, with the help of the Lord, the blood was NEGATIVE for HIV. My heart rate slowed a bit after the good news. I was also calmed when I remembered that with the needle pricks, depending on the severity of the prick, only had a 0.3% infection rate with HIV. So, those two bits of good information made me feel pretty good. We talked to Dave quickly about the situation, he made arrangements to take us to the HIV Center in Kampala where I could get further help. Before we left, I had Jeff and DJ give me a blessing, Jeff anointed and DJ sealed the anointing and gave me a blessing. The spirit was strong and I was confident the Lord was with DJ as well as myself. I felt very good about the blessing and emotions were stirred. This was the most comforting part about the whole situation. I knew after the blessing that all would be well. I’ve been promised I would have a family in my blessing, which I’m counting on will be my own little carbon-copies. When we arrived at the HIV center an hour later, I asked that they test Teo’s blood again for HIV as well for Hepatitis A/B/C, all came back NEGATIVE, thankfully. They also tested my own blood for HIV to make sure that I was negative before they gave me the prophylaxis that I asked for. I of course tested negative and they prescribed me the medication.
Jackie and I found the cafeteria at the hospital where we had peas, chicken, rice, and fries. The meal was 3500 USH and was actually pretty good, we were very happy with it. While we were there we met two girls from the UK and one girl from upper state New York. They were super nice and fun to talk to. They even invited us to a 4th of July private party at somebody’s home in Kampala. We headed back to Kampala by taxi, then we had to walk a mile or so to find another Taxi that would take us to Lugazi. We stood around for about 30 minutes waiting for a Taxi back to Lugazi until finally this open-bed truck pulls up and Jackie says, “Let’s go!” I was totally freaking about, knowing that we couldn’t do anything more reckless than taxi back to Mukono in the back of a truck. Well, it actually ended up being a sweet ride with the wind in our face and not having to be shoulder to shoulder with other people. We hopped out at Mukono and then hopped on another Taxi to Lugazi. On this taxi I had to sit on half a seat, very uncomfortable. It ended up taking us about 2 1/2 hours to get back home, a very long and crazy day.
I'm grateful for my health and strength and I know the Lord's hand was with me!
Day 65 - Celebration of the 4th
We had a great time today at the ARA in Kampala, which stands for American Recreation Association. That was where the US Embassy had the 4th of July party, but on Sunday. There was swimming before the actually party, I didn’t get in myself but a bunch of others from the group did. I decided that it felt nice to be dressed up nice for once and be clean and wasn’t worth getting all wet. Instead I sipped on Coke next to the pool with Jackie and Lindsi. Swimming was short lived which is another reason I’m glad I didn’t get in. After swimming there was volleyball followed by eating down in the park area. There were hamburgers, veggie burgers, hot dogs, potato salad (of sorts), and salad (kind of). We got a drink as well, and of course I had a Coke, my third of the day.
The time came for the celebration to come and we had some cool entertainment by some Uganda guys that did acrobatics. They were incredibly strong, ridiculously strong in fact. I got some cool pictures showing what they did. Everybody cheered and loved the show, including myself. Following the acrobatics there was chill time until the fireworks started which were totally unexpected but very cool. It reminded me that I would be missing the fireworks back home with the family at Millie’s house. Not long now and I’ll be back with my family!!
Never in my life have I been so patriotic. There’s no country like the United States of America. You will never know how blessed we are to be in such an amazing country until you have left it and live in a 3rd world country where every commodity you enjoy at home is nowhere to be found. In as much as there may be corruption in our government system and it isn’t perfect, it sure beats the rest of the world and this is what me must focus on. I’m so proud to be an American, and I really mean it this time! For so many years I’ve sung the song, now it actually means something. Never take for granted that we live where we do, we are most definitely a blessed people.
The time came for the celebration to come and we had some cool entertainment by some Uganda guys that did acrobatics. They were incredibly strong, ridiculously strong in fact. I got some cool pictures showing what they did. Everybody cheered and loved the show, including myself. Following the acrobatics there was chill time until the fireworks started which were totally unexpected but very cool. It reminded me that I would be missing the fireworks back home with the family at Millie’s house. Not long now and I’ll be back with my family!!
Never in my life have I been so patriotic. There’s no country like the United States of America. You will never know how blessed we are to be in such an amazing country until you have left it and live in a 3rd world country where every commodity you enjoy at home is nowhere to be found. In as much as there may be corruption in our government system and it isn’t perfect, it sure beats the rest of the world and this is what me must focus on. I’m so proud to be an American, and I really mean it this time! For so many years I’ve sung the song, now it actually means something. Never take for granted that we live where we do, we are most definitely a blessed people.
Day 57 to 64 - Tanzania
I’m not sure I’ve ever done anything so cool in my life as go to Tanzania and experience the Serengeti. I had the most incredible time, I’m going to have a hard time getting in every single detail. I was debating whether or not to take my laptop, my final decision of course was to leave the laptop for fear that it would be a burden and get in the way or being out-and-about. Well, I discovered that I really could have brought it and been just fine. That way I would have been able to record things as they happened or at the very least come back to the hostel or tent wherever we were and record for the day. In any case, I’m here now and I’m about to attempt to write about my experience in Tanzania.
It began early in the morning on Saturday the 21st of June. Our group was Amber, Heidi, Steph, Jackie, Ashley, Lindsi, Trent, Jeff, and myself, possibly the funnest group possible. I had been considering and was pretty sure I was going to plan my own trip on which Leslie and Emily were going to go. We had the idea that we would go to Tanzania and then South Africa. As time got closer to them departing I realized that my best friends of the group were the ones leaving and that I really needed to be with them! I quickly changed my mind and had Jackie call the travel agency to see if they could still get me in. Sure enough, they got me through and I was ecstatic. We were going to spend time in Kampala before we caught our plane but our taxi was late and the traffic was horrible. We quickly got the tickets from the travel office and screamed to Entebbe, only to find out that our plane was going to be 2 hours late. We were not to happy about it but realized that we had to deal with AST (African Standard Time).
Our flight took off about 2 hours late, whatever. We had a pit-stop in Mwanza, Tanzania and then on to Kilimanjaro Airport. We flew in a twin prop turbo something or nothing. I was nervous it was going to be one of those crazy puddle-hoppers but it turned out to be just fine. I was pretty impressed with the noise level, having expected horrendous droning of the props. The front of the plane was worse than the back for sound. The plane ride was short and felt like nothing at all. I think we went to a maximum of 19,000 feet the whole time. The first thing I noticed when I stepped off the plane in Tanzania was the air; cool and crisp, so refreshing. It was good to have a break from the monotonous humidly of Lugazi. We went through customs of course and had to lay our a whopping $100 USD, not the funnest part, though I have yet another stamp in my passport so I guess that’s alright. We were picked up by a man holding a sign that said, “Skinner x9.” He was a jolly Tanzanian, very nice. We threw our stuff in the Land Cruisers and we were off to Arusha. The landscape was amazing, totally different from that of Lugazi or anywhere in Uganda I’ve seen thus far. It was a desert! But then something weird happened. We got closer and closer to Mt. Kilimanjaro (which being clouded over was unable to be seen) and the landscape changed again. It went back to the lush green that we were used to. We figured that because of the altitude and weather around the mountain, much more precipitation was at the disposal of the plants.
We arrived at Arusha Backpackers Hotel, though it felt more like a Hostel. There were one or two beds to a room which classified it as a hotel. I was a bit nervous as to what the conditions were going to be there but was surprisingly impressed with the accommodations and the cleanliness of the place. Jeff and I roomed together, Amber and Heidi, Jackie and Steph, Lindsi and Ashley, and poor Trenty had his own room (he was OK with that, he actually offered to take the single room). The beds were done up nice, new sheets and neatly made with a towel for showering, in what? Yes, that’s right... hot showers; a commodity we have learned not to take for granted since being here. There was always somebody cleaning up the bathroom, sweeping the floor, etc, very clean. There was a bar on the third floor where you could have a drink or soda as well as order food. Free Internet was available which made the whole thing even more suitable. We all use the internet so much to keep in contact with family and it was so nice to have it included and available right there! We didn’t do much the day we arrived, we just got settled in and relaxed from all the hubbub of traveling. We decided we would go out and hunt down a restaurant to have some dinner. As we were walking I spotted a place called McMoody’s, the name couldn’t have been more perfect. Of course McDonald’s rang through as we read the title, I’m sure that had something to do with our final decision of going inside. The food was surprising VERY good. I had a pizza, fries, and a Pepsi and was very impressed, very satisfied. It was nice to actually have some REAL food, a REAL meal. Yes, we eat at the house every night but it’s the same EVERY night: rice, beans, cabbage, green beans, potatoes, pineapple; with a little mix up here and there. Following dinner we all headed back to the Hotel and chilled in the bar area. Of course I had myself a Coke to suit the moment of relaxation, it was great. I used the internet to check e-mail, that was nice.
Sunday was a pretty chill day that consisted of visiting a crafts village, a zoo of sorts, and some sort of Masai museum which was pretty anticlimactic. The crafts village was awesome. I couldn’t believe the artwork! Everything is art that they sell, whether it’s a carving, painting, or otherwise. I just wanted to buy the entire place and ship it home to my apartment. I bought somethings that are pretty cool, things that you couldn’t really get anywhere else. The people there were overly annoying however. In Swahili “karibu” means welcome. Yes, the animal that we have all known since that first grade lesson. Well, every store you walked by they would “welcome” you and tell you to come in their store. Most of the time they were talking over each-other because their stores are right next door to each-other It was slightly comical but more annoying. It was nearly impossible to just walk around undisturbed and just look around! Some people would even guide you in by making a human road block in the path you were taking. Others would even grab your arm and pull you! By the end I was so ready to get out of there but wish I could have gotten 3 times as much stuff as I did. The zoo was pretty entertaining. We saw crocodiles, snakes, birds, and some other animals. I got to hold a snake on my shoulders and in my hands. It was a type of garden snake. Very calm, very nice. It wasn’t like a Provo garden snake though. Just about 5 times as wide and long. I even got to hold a baby crocodile, now that was cool. The little thing was strong and could have drawn blood had he gotten a hold of me. We went to the Masai village next and that was not too cool, sort of a waste. What followed however made it worth it. I, Corbin Allred, have ridden a camel. For 1000 TSH (Tanzanian Shillings, just under a dollar) we got to ride some camels. They are funny creatures for sure. Heidi and I rode together, we had a blast. While the ride was only a total of 4 minutes or so, we definitely rode camels.
We had dinner again at McMoody’s, again I pizza, fries, and a Pepsi. The meal was just so good the time before that I had to have it again. We went back to the hotel and again went up and chilled in the bar area. Later in the night however we played around... Ashley and Trent decided they were going to stuff people into Ashley's backpack. Ashley was the first to go in, but I wasn’t there to see it happen. When I got there we had decided that Amber, being the flexible gymnast, would be able to fold in half and fit in the pack. It was a little harder done than said, she only got half way in, we have pictures to prove it. We were laughing so hard that Amber almost peed her pants... not that that’s an uncommon occurrence.
Monday turned out to be rather expensive and a bit anticlimactic. We decided to take a hike up to some waterfalls on the base of Mt. Kilimanjaro. We realized that our dreams of climbing the mountain were nowhere near going to come true, so we had to do the next best thing. The worst part about it was that it cost $50 USD. That wouldn’t have been so bad had we been taken on a trip that was worth that. We were picked up from our Hotel and then we drove for about an hour or so. We took off up the mountain in the big bus, following the badly beaten roads. It had recently rained and the roads were absolutely tumultuous, so bad in fact that we couldn’t make it up all the way. As we went up the mountain the roads got steeper and steeper and slicker and slicker, we knew we weren’t going to make it. We came to a point in the road where the tires on the bus started to spin. When the driver put the brakes on, rather that stopping the vehicle it created one giant slipping heap of metal and people. We slid back and almost into a ditch, we were a bit on edge as you might expect. We were told that the trailhead was an hour and a half by foot up the road and that that was our only choice. Reluctantly we stepped out of the bus with our clean shoes on to the muddy ground, what followed can only be described as messy, mucky, dirty, etc. We trudged up the hill with much difficulty but we eventually made it to the trailhead. The hike was long but amazing. Everything was fogged in and the air was practically water there was so much humidly. I remember on the way up my friend Steph asked, “Do ever just get to that point where you’re done?” “Yeah,” I responded, “like right now?” “Yeah,” she said laughing. We had only made it half way to the falls and we had HAD IT! We were filthy, it was wet, and we just didn’t really like that we had paid all that money for a half-way bus ride and a walk to some falls. We had paid $106 USD for an amazing hike at Sipi Falls, many amazing meals, nice sleeping quarters, and it was just amazing. So we weren’t too happy about it. We finally arrived and the falls were pretty spectacular and I got some good pictures. We sat in a little hut that had been constructed for sitting and relaxing. We got our lunches out and I cut some mangos, they were amazing. The walk down was another story. People were slip-sliding all over the place and many fell. Poor Lindsi fell so many times, we were all dying laughing. Amber, Jackie, and Steph all fell down too, they were all covered in mud from head to toe. Luckily I stayed on my feet and didn’t have to experience the ground.
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and half of Friday were all dedicated to Safari in the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater. The experience was amazing, something that I’ve wanted to do my whole life. The ironic part about it is that my room for the last 10 years has had the african jungle/desert theme. Now I’ve been there and experienced it first hand. We left Arusha in the Land Cruiser with our driver Buba Lou who turned out to be the best guide ever. Our drive to the Serengeti was a good 5 or 6 hours. We crossed all sorts of land, from lush to dry back and forth. As we exited the city we began to see more and more the Masai people. They were generally herding cattle, goats, or some other livestock. We also saw them walking in groups along the rode as well as in the fields. I felt like I was with the National Geographic crew out doing a show or something. Our first stop was on top of a hill overlooking the Serengeti. We pulled out the lunches they had prepared for us and had a pleasant sit-down. The skies were so clear and blue, you could see quite far over the valley. The air was crisp and dryer than Uganda. We made our way from lunch just below the hill we sat on to a Masai village. Never did I think I would shake hands with or participate in a welcoming jumping dance with natives of the Serengeti. It was an incredible experience. A guy took Jackie and I into one of the huts that they live in. Inside he showed us sleeping conditions as well as the small cooking area, as in, 3 rocks 4 inches tall and a small pot with a diameter of no more than 12 inches. We sat in there for 10-15 minutes and were instructed on some of the ways of the Masai people, it was very intriguing. Jackie luckily got a lot of it on here video camera, so that will be nice to have. I was able to take a bunch of great pictures. I’m always a bit apprehensive here in Africa about taking pictures. I always want to be respectful of people so it’s hard to determine when it’s appropriate. We usually ask if it’s OK to take pictures. We left the village and continued our journey into the Serengeti. Along the way we had a small game drive while in route to our campsite. The first animal we saw was a giraffe and I went snap happy with the camera, because of course in my mind it was the ONLY giraffe I was going to see in the next 3 days... silly me. Then along the way something entirely unexpected happened and we were all taken for extreme surprise. As we were driving along the way we stopped to find a lioness and with five cubs behind here walking down the road. I couldn’t believe my eyes. In the first hour of really driving in the Serengeti we see this! This time I went super crazy and took a bunch of pictures and boy did I get some good ones. What happened next blew our socks off. We realized that the mother had spotted a Pumba (or a warthog if you’re unfamiliar with The Lion King in which case I might have to kill you) and that she had gone into hunting mode. We watched as she edged forward and Pumba got down close to the ground to try and conceal himself... to no avail. The poor guy is as obviously as the sun in the sky. Suddenly the mom left her cubs and took off after Pumba; the race was on. We watched as Nala took Pumba out and later his shrieking as she put the death grip on him. It was absolutely incredible, we thought for sure there were cameras around and that we were in a documentary. I managed to get some incredible sunset pictures on the first evening, I got pretty lucky. They were on the move even, I didn’t even get a chance to really set up! I am very pleased with the shots I got, so pleased that I’m considering printing one of them on canvas. The drive continued and we saw Zebra and Gazelle. By chance we stumbled upon another pride of lionesses who were relaxing in the shade next to a water hole. Some wildebeest approached and they were on guard though they were VERY unsuccessful in taking them down. They sort of jumped the gun and the wildebeest took off quickly out of their grip. Our first day continued to get better with seeing elephants, more giraffes, and just absolutely beautiful country.
We arrived at our first campsite and set up camp. We were asked to help set up our tents and get things ready, we were happy to help. The campsite was nice with facilities (walls and a roof with a counter-space for cooking) for cooking, latrines, showers, and covered eating areas to boot. I felt very comfortable there and it was a lot of fun. There were many other people there as well, at least 20 tents set up in the campsite.
To be continued...
It began early in the morning on Saturday the 21st of June. Our group was Amber, Heidi, Steph, Jackie, Ashley, Lindsi, Trent, Jeff, and myself, possibly the funnest group possible. I had been considering and was pretty sure I was going to plan my own trip on which Leslie and Emily were going to go. We had the idea that we would go to Tanzania and then South Africa. As time got closer to them departing I realized that my best friends of the group were the ones leaving and that I really needed to be with them! I quickly changed my mind and had Jackie call the travel agency to see if they could still get me in. Sure enough, they got me through and I was ecstatic. We were going to spend time in Kampala before we caught our plane but our taxi was late and the traffic was horrible. We quickly got the tickets from the travel office and screamed to Entebbe, only to find out that our plane was going to be 2 hours late. We were not to happy about it but realized that we had to deal with AST (African Standard Time).
Our flight took off about 2 hours late, whatever. We had a pit-stop in Mwanza, Tanzania and then on to Kilimanjaro Airport. We flew in a twin prop turbo something or nothing. I was nervous it was going to be one of those crazy puddle-hoppers but it turned out to be just fine. I was pretty impressed with the noise level, having expected horrendous droning of the props. The front of the plane was worse than the back for sound. The plane ride was short and felt like nothing at all. I think we went to a maximum of 19,000 feet the whole time. The first thing I noticed when I stepped off the plane in Tanzania was the air; cool and crisp, so refreshing. It was good to have a break from the monotonous humidly of Lugazi. We went through customs of course and had to lay our a whopping $100 USD, not the funnest part, though I have yet another stamp in my passport so I guess that’s alright. We were picked up by a man holding a sign that said, “Skinner x9.” He was a jolly Tanzanian, very nice. We threw our stuff in the Land Cruisers and we were off to Arusha. The landscape was amazing, totally different from that of Lugazi or anywhere in Uganda I’ve seen thus far. It was a desert! But then something weird happened. We got closer and closer to Mt. Kilimanjaro (which being clouded over was unable to be seen) and the landscape changed again. It went back to the lush green that we were used to. We figured that because of the altitude and weather around the mountain, much more precipitation was at the disposal of the plants.
We arrived at Arusha Backpackers Hotel, though it felt more like a Hostel. There were one or two beds to a room which classified it as a hotel. I was a bit nervous as to what the conditions were going to be there but was surprisingly impressed with the accommodations and the cleanliness of the place. Jeff and I roomed together, Amber and Heidi, Jackie and Steph, Lindsi and Ashley, and poor Trenty had his own room (he was OK with that, he actually offered to take the single room). The beds were done up nice, new sheets and neatly made with a towel for showering, in what? Yes, that’s right... hot showers; a commodity we have learned not to take for granted since being here. There was always somebody cleaning up the bathroom, sweeping the floor, etc, very clean. There was a bar on the third floor where you could have a drink or soda as well as order food. Free Internet was available which made the whole thing even more suitable. We all use the internet so much to keep in contact with family and it was so nice to have it included and available right there! We didn’t do much the day we arrived, we just got settled in and relaxed from all the hubbub of traveling. We decided we would go out and hunt down a restaurant to have some dinner. As we were walking I spotted a place called McMoody’s, the name couldn’t have been more perfect. Of course McDonald’s rang through as we read the title, I’m sure that had something to do with our final decision of going inside. The food was surprising VERY good. I had a pizza, fries, and a Pepsi and was very impressed, very satisfied. It was nice to actually have some REAL food, a REAL meal. Yes, we eat at the house every night but it’s the same EVERY night: rice, beans, cabbage, green beans, potatoes, pineapple; with a little mix up here and there. Following dinner we all headed back to the Hotel and chilled in the bar area. Of course I had myself a Coke to suit the moment of relaxation, it was great. I used the internet to check e-mail, that was nice.
Sunday was a pretty chill day that consisted of visiting a crafts village, a zoo of sorts, and some sort of Masai museum which was pretty anticlimactic. The crafts village was awesome. I couldn’t believe the artwork! Everything is art that they sell, whether it’s a carving, painting, or otherwise. I just wanted to buy the entire place and ship it home to my apartment. I bought somethings that are pretty cool, things that you couldn’t really get anywhere else. The people there were overly annoying however. In Swahili “karibu” means welcome. Yes, the animal that we have all known since that first grade lesson. Well, every store you walked by they would “welcome” you and tell you to come in their store. Most of the time they were talking over each-other because their stores are right next door to each-other It was slightly comical but more annoying. It was nearly impossible to just walk around undisturbed and just look around! Some people would even guide you in by making a human road block in the path you were taking. Others would even grab your arm and pull you! By the end I was so ready to get out of there but wish I could have gotten 3 times as much stuff as I did. The zoo was pretty entertaining. We saw crocodiles, snakes, birds, and some other animals. I got to hold a snake on my shoulders and in my hands. It was a type of garden snake. Very calm, very nice. It wasn’t like a Provo garden snake though. Just about 5 times as wide and long. I even got to hold a baby crocodile, now that was cool. The little thing was strong and could have drawn blood had he gotten a hold of me. We went to the Masai village next and that was not too cool, sort of a waste. What followed however made it worth it. I, Corbin Allred, have ridden a camel. For 1000 TSH (Tanzanian Shillings, just under a dollar) we got to ride some camels. They are funny creatures for sure. Heidi and I rode together, we had a blast. While the ride was only a total of 4 minutes or so, we definitely rode camels.
We had dinner again at McMoody’s, again I pizza, fries, and a Pepsi. The meal was just so good the time before that I had to have it again. We went back to the hotel and again went up and chilled in the bar area. Later in the night however we played around... Ashley and Trent decided they were going to stuff people into Ashley's backpack. Ashley was the first to go in, but I wasn’t there to see it happen. When I got there we had decided that Amber, being the flexible gymnast, would be able to fold in half and fit in the pack. It was a little harder done than said, she only got half way in, we have pictures to prove it. We were laughing so hard that Amber almost peed her pants... not that that’s an uncommon occurrence.
Monday turned out to be rather expensive and a bit anticlimactic. We decided to take a hike up to some waterfalls on the base of Mt. Kilimanjaro. We realized that our dreams of climbing the mountain were nowhere near going to come true, so we had to do the next best thing. The worst part about it was that it cost $50 USD. That wouldn’t have been so bad had we been taken on a trip that was worth that. We were picked up from our Hotel and then we drove for about an hour or so. We took off up the mountain in the big bus, following the badly beaten roads. It had recently rained and the roads were absolutely tumultuous, so bad in fact that we couldn’t make it up all the way. As we went up the mountain the roads got steeper and steeper and slicker and slicker, we knew we weren’t going to make it. We came to a point in the road where the tires on the bus started to spin. When the driver put the brakes on, rather that stopping the vehicle it created one giant slipping heap of metal and people. We slid back and almost into a ditch, we were a bit on edge as you might expect. We were told that the trailhead was an hour and a half by foot up the road and that that was our only choice. Reluctantly we stepped out of the bus with our clean shoes on to the muddy ground, what followed can only be described as messy, mucky, dirty, etc. We trudged up the hill with much difficulty but we eventually made it to the trailhead. The hike was long but amazing. Everything was fogged in and the air was practically water there was so much humidly. I remember on the way up my friend Steph asked, “Do ever just get to that point where you’re done?” “Yeah,” I responded, “like right now?” “Yeah,” she said laughing. We had only made it half way to the falls and we had HAD IT! We were filthy, it was wet, and we just didn’t really like that we had paid all that money for a half-way bus ride and a walk to some falls. We had paid $106 USD for an amazing hike at Sipi Falls, many amazing meals, nice sleeping quarters, and it was just amazing. So we weren’t too happy about it. We finally arrived and the falls were pretty spectacular and I got some good pictures. We sat in a little hut that had been constructed for sitting and relaxing. We got our lunches out and I cut some mangos, they were amazing. The walk down was another story. People were slip-sliding all over the place and many fell. Poor Lindsi fell so many times, we were all dying laughing. Amber, Jackie, and Steph all fell down too, they were all covered in mud from head to toe. Luckily I stayed on my feet and didn’t have to experience the ground.
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and half of Friday were all dedicated to Safari in the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater. The experience was amazing, something that I’ve wanted to do my whole life. The ironic part about it is that my room for the last 10 years has had the african jungle/desert theme. Now I’ve been there and experienced it first hand. We left Arusha in the Land Cruiser with our driver Buba Lou who turned out to be the best guide ever. Our drive to the Serengeti was a good 5 or 6 hours. We crossed all sorts of land, from lush to dry back and forth. As we exited the city we began to see more and more the Masai people. They were generally herding cattle, goats, or some other livestock. We also saw them walking in groups along the rode as well as in the fields. I felt like I was with the National Geographic crew out doing a show or something. Our first stop was on top of a hill overlooking the Serengeti. We pulled out the lunches they had prepared for us and had a pleasant sit-down. The skies were so clear and blue, you could see quite far over the valley. The air was crisp and dryer than Uganda. We made our way from lunch just below the hill we sat on to a Masai village. Never did I think I would shake hands with or participate in a welcoming jumping dance with natives of the Serengeti. It was an incredible experience. A guy took Jackie and I into one of the huts that they live in. Inside he showed us sleeping conditions as well as the small cooking area, as in, 3 rocks 4 inches tall and a small pot with a diameter of no more than 12 inches. We sat in there for 10-15 minutes and were instructed on some of the ways of the Masai people, it was very intriguing. Jackie luckily got a lot of it on here video camera, so that will be nice to have. I was able to take a bunch of great pictures. I’m always a bit apprehensive here in Africa about taking pictures. I always want to be respectful of people so it’s hard to determine when it’s appropriate. We usually ask if it’s OK to take pictures. We left the village and continued our journey into the Serengeti. Along the way we had a small game drive while in route to our campsite. The first animal we saw was a giraffe and I went snap happy with the camera, because of course in my mind it was the ONLY giraffe I was going to see in the next 3 days... silly me. Then along the way something entirely unexpected happened and we were all taken for extreme surprise. As we were driving along the way we stopped to find a lioness and with five cubs behind here walking down the road. I couldn’t believe my eyes. In the first hour of really driving in the Serengeti we see this! This time I went super crazy and took a bunch of pictures and boy did I get some good ones. What happened next blew our socks off. We realized that the mother had spotted a Pumba (or a warthog if you’re unfamiliar with The Lion King in which case I might have to kill you) and that she had gone into hunting mode. We watched as she edged forward and Pumba got down close to the ground to try and conceal himself... to no avail. The poor guy is as obviously as the sun in the sky. Suddenly the mom left her cubs and took off after Pumba; the race was on. We watched as Nala took Pumba out and later his shrieking as she put the death grip on him. It was absolutely incredible, we thought for sure there were cameras around and that we were in a documentary. I managed to get some incredible sunset pictures on the first evening, I got pretty lucky. They were on the move even, I didn’t even get a chance to really set up! I am very pleased with the shots I got, so pleased that I’m considering printing one of them on canvas. The drive continued and we saw Zebra and Gazelle. By chance we stumbled upon another pride of lionesses who were relaxing in the shade next to a water hole. Some wildebeest approached and they were on guard though they were VERY unsuccessful in taking them down. They sort of jumped the gun and the wildebeest took off quickly out of their grip. Our first day continued to get better with seeing elephants, more giraffes, and just absolutely beautiful country.
We arrived at our first campsite and set up camp. We were asked to help set up our tents and get things ready, we were happy to help. The campsite was nice with facilities (walls and a roof with a counter-space for cooking) for cooking, latrines, showers, and covered eating areas to boot. I felt very comfortable there and it was a lot of fun. There were many other people there as well, at least 20 tents set up in the campsite.
To be continued...
Day 55 - Tired
I’m so tired right now and my head hurts. We just got done with dinner and now I’m siting on my bed (bottom bunk) with my back against the wall where my head would normally be. I took a shower today for the first time in 3 days, I know, pretty gross. The worst thing happened last night after coming home from a hard days work. It was 11:30 p.m. when I finally got around to getting in the shower. The 25 gallon water heater that we have here was all heated up and I was so excited because I knew I was SO dirty. I hopped in the tub and proceeded to spin both the hot and cold water nozzles. To my dismay, nothing but a tiny trickle made it out of the faucet, only enough to fill a cup... we had no water. I was hunched down at the time and my head just fell to the side and rested on the wall. My eyes closed and I wanted to cry... OK, not really, but pretty close. I was so excited to take a shower and get into bed all clean. While sulking I managed to get a small amount of water out of the faucet, left over in the hot water tank. With this water I washed my feet and up to my knees as well as my face. It was the least I could do before getting into bed.
Dinner tonight was pretty basic, just as basic as the last 47 days or so. Beans, cabbage, potatoes, pineapple, and passion fruit juice. Funny thing is, I’m not sick of it. She does pretty good at switching things up which helps out. I’m content to eat the same food for another 28 days, no problem. I’m happy to say that I’ve only been sick (in my stomach) once or twice while being here, not too bad! I thought for sure I was going to be spending 50% of my time in the restroom, luckily, that has NOT been the case. Irene, our cook, went to culinary school and does a very good job at keeping things clean when she cooks for us. She is a very classy lady, very nice. I’m going to miss her.
We went back to Little Angels Primary School today to fill the foundation that we built on Tuesday. There were only 6 of us in the beginning which shrunk down to 4 by the end. It took a little longer with fewer people but we got the job done. It’s always nice to have a lot of people there to help mix the adobe mixture which is probably the most annoying and difficult thing in the whole stove making process. We had just enough clay for the stove... well, kinda of. We have noticed a trend as we have been building these stoves. We never have enough clay. No matter how much we ask that the people provide us, they never get enough and it’s a little frustrating. So, we’ve had to improvise just a little bit. We decided that in certain parts of the stove where having the adobe mixture present isn’t critical, that we can use bricks to fill in space thus reducing the amount of clay we need. We have done this with all of the stoves now and it has worked greatly to our advantage. Today was just the same. We used bricks where we could and then we filled the rest with the adobe mixture. So, in theory we had enough and it worked out. We will return in 3 weeks to put a nice top layer of cement to provide a nice cooking surface.
Dinner tonight was pretty basic, just as basic as the last 47 days or so. Beans, cabbage, potatoes, pineapple, and passion fruit juice. Funny thing is, I’m not sick of it. She does pretty good at switching things up which helps out. I’m content to eat the same food for another 28 days, no problem. I’m happy to say that I’ve only been sick (in my stomach) once or twice while being here, not too bad! I thought for sure I was going to be spending 50% of my time in the restroom, luckily, that has NOT been the case. Irene, our cook, went to culinary school and does a very good job at keeping things clean when she cooks for us. She is a very classy lady, very nice. I’m going to miss her.
We went back to Little Angels Primary School today to fill the foundation that we built on Tuesday. There were only 6 of us in the beginning which shrunk down to 4 by the end. It took a little longer with fewer people but we got the job done. It’s always nice to have a lot of people there to help mix the adobe mixture which is probably the most annoying and difficult thing in the whole stove making process. We had just enough clay for the stove... well, kinda of. We have noticed a trend as we have been building these stoves. We never have enough clay. No matter how much we ask that the people provide us, they never get enough and it’s a little frustrating. So, we’ve had to improvise just a little bit. We decided that in certain parts of the stove where having the adobe mixture present isn’t critical, that we can use bricks to fill in space thus reducing the amount of clay we need. We have done this with all of the stoves now and it has worked greatly to our advantage. Today was just the same. We used bricks where we could and then we filled the rest with the adobe mixture. So, in theory we had enough and it worked out. We will return in 3 weeks to put a nice top layer of cement to provide a nice cooking surface.
Day 54 - Inconsistent bricks + Sickness = Major Frustration²
Although today was a very productive day and I feel good about it, it certainly wasn’t the most pleasurable. My sickness continues and this is the 6th day, only 4 more to go... theoretically. Today my ears were driving me crazy. I couldn’t even concentrate while we were building the stove at the Little Angels school. I asked Kelsi for another Clariton-D and it REALLY did the trick once again. My ears eventually popped for the most part and I was able to gain my equilibrium back. My sniffles cleared up and I wasn’t congested as usual, the pill works miracles.
We left the house a little late today, I wasn’t too excited about that. I really try to get people moving and out the door by 8:50 am so that we can be to our 9:00 am appointment. It didn’t happen today and I’m not sure when it will happen, but we can still try, right? My experience with building the foundation today at the women’s group place was far from awesome. For one, we had a total of 7 people crammed into an outdoor kitchen that was lined with bricks and mortar. Second off, the bricks were absolutely horrible. They were about as consistent as the number of times I’ve been to Hawaii... not so much. They were all different shapes and sizes which made laying the brick and keeping it level very difficult. I wasn’t feeling good at the time because of my head cold which made me a bit agitated at everything that was going on around me. I could tell the people around me were also getting irritated and I felt really bad. Because the bricks were hard to work with I found myself correcting people’s work a lot and I really don’t like to do that, I know they didn't appreciate it. This isn’t the funnest week for Simba Stoves thus far because of the fact that people have to learn and watch. What’s hard about learning is that you have to do a lot of sitting around until you can get in there on your own and get some action. I know volunteers are struggling with this and I’m really sorry about it. We want to be confident with the people that are in the group so that we can entrust them with Simba Stoves projects to complete on there own. Especially since Amber, myself, and Jeff all leave this weekend for Tanzania we must have a good system down before we leave. We know that once the group number cuts down people will find that they are much more involved.
We finished the stove a bit late but then Amber and I came home for a scrap of lunch and then hurried out the door for Mukono. We went back to the bakery to continue cleaning out the area in the back, today was EXTRA grose.
We left the house a little late today, I wasn’t too excited about that. I really try to get people moving and out the door by 8:50 am so that we can be to our 9:00 am appointment. It didn’t happen today and I’m not sure when it will happen, but we can still try, right? My experience with building the foundation today at the women’s group place was far from awesome. For one, we had a total of 7 people crammed into an outdoor kitchen that was lined with bricks and mortar. Second off, the bricks were absolutely horrible. They were about as consistent as the number of times I’ve been to Hawaii... not so much. They were all different shapes and sizes which made laying the brick and keeping it level very difficult. I wasn’t feeling good at the time because of my head cold which made me a bit agitated at everything that was going on around me. I could tell the people around me were also getting irritated and I felt really bad. Because the bricks were hard to work with I found myself correcting people’s work a lot and I really don’t like to do that, I know they didn't appreciate it. This isn’t the funnest week for Simba Stoves thus far because of the fact that people have to learn and watch. What’s hard about learning is that you have to do a lot of sitting around until you can get in there on your own and get some action. I know volunteers are struggling with this and I’m really sorry about it. We want to be confident with the people that are in the group so that we can entrust them with Simba Stoves projects to complete on there own. Especially since Amber, myself, and Jeff all leave this weekend for Tanzania we must have a good system down before we leave. We know that once the group number cuts down people will find that they are much more involved.
We finished the stove a bit late but then Amber and I came home for a scrap of lunch and then hurried out the door for Mukono. We went back to the bakery to continue cleaning out the area in the back, today was EXTRA grose.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Day 53 - A Full Day
Today was one of the more fulfilling days in the last little bit. It’s hard to keep busy every second of the day, but today just worked out really well as far as filing every moment with something to do. We left in the morning at 9:30am for Mukono, 30 minutes late. Sister Mugimu, the wife of the Mukono Branch President, runs a bakery in Mukono and makes some very beautiful cakes. They are sold in town and I think they are well known around town. We went there today to do some clean up, some SERIOUS clean up. The Mugimu’s lived in Provo for about 8 years. When they came back to Uganda they brought with them a whole load of donations, some of which came from HELP International. Unfortunately, the donations weren’t properly handled and a lot of what was stored was consumed and overridden by rats. It was probably one of the most disgusting clean up jobs I have ever participated in. Although, I was very happy to be there because organization is my middle name, well, second after cleanliness.
We began our little adventure into this trash pile of cardboard, possessions brought from the US, and donations. We weren’t exactly sure where to start, nobody knew quite what to do. Then there’s me who comes from a family with an ultra clean freak attitude about life, which I happen to love and appreciate. I immediately got to work and said to the rest, “Just think that everything is trash and when you come across something that might be a keeper, put it aside.” EVERYTHING was covered in rodent droppings and I wasn’t sure how to keep everybody safe from airborne. I told everybody that if they were going to sweep that they needed to put a bandana over their mouth and nose. Amber stepped up to the plate, pulled off her head rap, tied it on and got to work. She’s pretty awesome. We had to sort through so many things it was horrible. They are pretty busy there at the bakery and so it’s understandable that they might not have all the time in the world to clean out certain areas of the place. They REALLY needed our help and I’m glad to be there.
As we were working along, I KNEW for a fact that we would find living rodents in the stuff that we were to be sifting through. Sure enough, as I was getting into a box or things, out jump four rats, FOUR of them!! Of course I jumped up like Yao Ming to the hoop and as quick as Michael Johnson off the mark. I won’t divulge what I said however, for that remains private...secret... yeah. I came across another box which was housing two toddler rats. I hate to announce that I had to do away with them... you get the picture. Rats just don’t belong in the bakery and I had to do what had to be done. We didn’t finish there though, there is still so much to do and we are thinking about going over there tomorrow after we get done filling in the foundation at Little Angels.
Jackie and I checked our e-mail quickly in Mukono before we left town. The internet is supposed to be quicker there, but today it was lagging big-time, not so cool. We proceeded to the taxi yard and found our taxi driver friend Abdule, yeah, kinda like Paula. He happened to be there and loading a taxi to go to Lugazi, we hopped on. When we got back to Lugazi I headed straight to our Simba Stove project at Faith Orphanage. When I got there there were about 8 of the volunteers there, I was happy to see them there! Amber and I are in the process of training people how to successfully and neatly build Simba Stoves. Laying bricks isn’t rocket science, but certainly requires a knack for the arts or at least the ability to think in such a way. It was funny trying to teach some of the girls today. One just couldn’t really grasp the idea of what we were trying to accomplish. I did my best to explain each of the steps, hopefully it helped. Luckily, having grown up around construction (brick laying) though never really participating, I feel like I have a pretty good idea. The stoves that we have built thus far have been excellent in my eyes and in those of the people we are providing the stove to. Dan, the construction project lead here, helped us out with our second stove at the Equator Primary School in Namengo. It was there that I really caught on to the idea of laying bricks. He is artsy and has the knack, so I learned a lot from him and now we are off building them ourselves, Amber and I.
We were working hard and we got the foundation done in about 3 hours from start to finish. There are so many parts to building a foundation, everything has to be drawn up, measured out, leveled out, cement mixed, bricks present, etc. It’s not an easy or quick process. But we are getting better and better as the time goes on. I was happy with the final product, though, I’m sure what I’m going to find at Little Angels Primary School tomorrow when we go to fill the foundation we built on Monday. I’m worried that because Amber and I weren’t there the whole time that it’s not going to be up to par (without conceit). That’s what happens when you get sick.
I just got off the phone with Mom, Chase, and Grandma. I was sitting here typing in my journal and Jackie’s phone rang. It was a pleasant surprise to hear from them. They are in Morro Bay, California right now... only one of my most favorite places to be in the world. It seems they are having a good time and I’m so glad. I do miss not being there with them, but soon enough we’ll all be in Cali again for a small family trip before school starts.
Only 1 month left from today, I can’t REALLY believe it. How could it be? I’ve only been here for a week or so!! Or has it been more like a year or so... ha, I’m not quite sure which. Regardless, the time is going to fly and we are going to be doing some major work. I made a decision today not to go with some friends here to Tanzania and South Africa like we had previously talked about. I was set up until a night or two ago when I thought about how fun it would be to go with the group that’s going to Tanzania at the end of this week. I was torn for sure, because I really wanted the best of both worlds which would have been to go to SA and to have the other friends come to Tanzania with the group this weekend. But, I had to make a decision and that was it, and I feel good about my decision so I’m happy. Only 4 days until we leave for Tanzania and I’m just a little bit excited. I’ll end up taking 1000 pictures I’m sure... let’s hope so. This is basically a once in a lifetime opportunity. Until next time.
We began our little adventure into this trash pile of cardboard, possessions brought from the US, and donations. We weren’t exactly sure where to start, nobody knew quite what to do. Then there’s me who comes from a family with an ultra clean freak attitude about life, which I happen to love and appreciate. I immediately got to work and said to the rest, “Just think that everything is trash and when you come across something that might be a keeper, put it aside.” EVERYTHING was covered in rodent droppings and I wasn’t sure how to keep everybody safe from airborne. I told everybody that if they were going to sweep that they needed to put a bandana over their mouth and nose. Amber stepped up to the plate, pulled off her head rap, tied it on and got to work. She’s pretty awesome. We had to sort through so many things it was horrible. They are pretty busy there at the bakery and so it’s understandable that they might not have all the time in the world to clean out certain areas of the place. They REALLY needed our help and I’m glad to be there.
As we were working along, I KNEW for a fact that we would find living rodents in the stuff that we were to be sifting through. Sure enough, as I was getting into a box or things, out jump four rats, FOUR of them!! Of course I jumped up like Yao Ming to the hoop and as quick as Michael Johnson off the mark. I won’t divulge what I said however, for that remains private...secret... yeah. I came across another box which was housing two toddler rats. I hate to announce that I had to do away with them... you get the picture. Rats just don’t belong in the bakery and I had to do what had to be done. We didn’t finish there though, there is still so much to do and we are thinking about going over there tomorrow after we get done filling in the foundation at Little Angels.
Jackie and I checked our e-mail quickly in Mukono before we left town. The internet is supposed to be quicker there, but today it was lagging big-time, not so cool. We proceeded to the taxi yard and found our taxi driver friend Abdule, yeah, kinda like Paula. He happened to be there and loading a taxi to go to Lugazi, we hopped on. When we got back to Lugazi I headed straight to our Simba Stove project at Faith Orphanage. When I got there there were about 8 of the volunteers there, I was happy to see them there! Amber and I are in the process of training people how to successfully and neatly build Simba Stoves. Laying bricks isn’t rocket science, but certainly requires a knack for the arts or at least the ability to think in such a way. It was funny trying to teach some of the girls today. One just couldn’t really grasp the idea of what we were trying to accomplish. I did my best to explain each of the steps, hopefully it helped. Luckily, having grown up around construction (brick laying) though never really participating, I feel like I have a pretty good idea. The stoves that we have built thus far have been excellent in my eyes and in those of the people we are providing the stove to. Dan, the construction project lead here, helped us out with our second stove at the Equator Primary School in Namengo. It was there that I really caught on to the idea of laying bricks. He is artsy and has the knack, so I learned a lot from him and now we are off building them ourselves, Amber and I.
We were working hard and we got the foundation done in about 3 hours from start to finish. There are so many parts to building a foundation, everything has to be drawn up, measured out, leveled out, cement mixed, bricks present, etc. It’s not an easy or quick process. But we are getting better and better as the time goes on. I was happy with the final product, though, I’m sure what I’m going to find at Little Angels Primary School tomorrow when we go to fill the foundation we built on Monday. I’m worried that because Amber and I weren’t there the whole time that it’s not going to be up to par (without conceit). That’s what happens when you get sick.
I just got off the phone with Mom, Chase, and Grandma. I was sitting here typing in my journal and Jackie’s phone rang. It was a pleasant surprise to hear from them. They are in Morro Bay, California right now... only one of my most favorite places to be in the world. It seems they are having a good time and I’m so glad. I do miss not being there with them, but soon enough we’ll all be in Cali again for a small family trip before school starts.
Only 1 month left from today, I can’t REALLY believe it. How could it be? I’ve only been here for a week or so!! Or has it been more like a year or so... ha, I’m not quite sure which. Regardless, the time is going to fly and we are going to be doing some major work. I made a decision today not to go with some friends here to Tanzania and South Africa like we had previously talked about. I was set up until a night or two ago when I thought about how fun it would be to go with the group that’s going to Tanzania at the end of this week. I was torn for sure, because I really wanted the best of both worlds which would have been to go to SA and to have the other friends come to Tanzania with the group this weekend. But, I had to make a decision and that was it, and I feel good about my decision so I’m happy. Only 4 days until we leave for Tanzania and I’m just a little bit excited. I’ll end up taking 1000 pictures I’m sure... let’s hope so. This is basically a once in a lifetime opportunity. Until next time.
Day 52 - Sickness, again.
Well, today is day 4 of being sick. There have been some girls in the house that have had some upper respiratory illnesses and I was so hoping that it wouldn’t come around to me. I was taking Airborne and all sorts of things to try and avoid it but it definitely got the best of me. Today was miserable because of it, and I’m not excited for the next 6 days to come that my body will use to kill it off.
I woke up in misery. I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to get out of bed and be productive. But, somehow, through the will of my own and undoubtedly of someone else I got out of bed and made my way with the rest of the group to Little Angels Primary School. We built a foundation for a stove today there and it was a bit of a challenge. I really stood back on this stove because I wanted the other volunteers to figure it out. I was a little skeptical at first and it continued up until I heard about the end result which was a little lack-luster, but OK. I we worried about that since Amber and I both wouldn’t be there the whole time it was being constructed. I just hope that when we go back on Thursday it looks OK and that we can fill it efficiently. After about 2 hours of being there I couldn't handle it anymore. My symptoms were worsening by the minute and I couldn't even think straight let alone speak straight. I went hope, popped 800mg of Ibuprofen, hopped in bed, and took a 4 hour nap. The sleep really helped, but I was still groggy afterwards. That’s when Kelsi, bless her heart, came to me with Clariton-D in hand asking if it would help. If it would HELP!? Oh my gosh, it was EXACTLY what I needed and I had been asking around the night before. I took one and I could start feeling effects within 30 minutes. They last 24 hours so I should be good to go tomorrow as well. I should be able to sleep like a baby tonight and boy am I excited. Being sick is the worst, especially when you try to do everything NOT to get sick. Oh well, part of the experience I guess.
Something really gross happened tonight that should have progressed to the stage it did. I had notice a little raised area on the 4th to last toe on my right foot. I disregarded it for many days, even a week or so. I assumed it was some sort of inflamed sore that would go away... yeah, not so much. I got out the old finger nail clippers and began to hack away at it thinking it was just skin. I proceeded to clip the top of the bump off and my finger accidently pressed the base of it. Next think I knew there was what I thought was pus coming out of my toe! I was blown away! I had no idea I had hurt myself bad enough that it would need to pus and everything. When I had squeezed all the “pus” out I noticed that there seemed to be a separate piece of skin within the would. I got some tweezers and tugged on it. I peeled up and out in a saucer shape. At this point I’m baffled at what has just occurred. Then I decided to look at the “pus” a little closer with light shinning on it. That’s when I came to the realization that it was no pus, not even close. Try about 100 of the tiniest eggs you have ever seen. Yes, that’s right. I squeezed eggs and an egg sack out of my toe! I couldn’t even believe it! This had happened to Jackie about 6 weeks earlier and we were all freaking out that it had happened. I should have been more curious as two the large bump on my toe, but I wasn’t for some reason. Not I a have been officially initiated into Africa. You haven’t really become a part of Africa unless you are filled with fly larva. I think they are called Bot Flies, though I need a wiki search on that for the name spelling and what exactly they do.
So, some pretty exciting stuff today.... ish. It’s not past 2 am and I need to get to bed. I’m not terribly tired though because of my long nap but I’ll have to make it work. Until tomorrow.
I woke up in misery. I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to get out of bed and be productive. But, somehow, through the will of my own and undoubtedly of someone else I got out of bed and made my way with the rest of the group to Little Angels Primary School. We built a foundation for a stove today there and it was a bit of a challenge. I really stood back on this stove because I wanted the other volunteers to figure it out. I was a little skeptical at first and it continued up until I heard about the end result which was a little lack-luster, but OK. I we worried about that since Amber and I both wouldn’t be there the whole time it was being constructed. I just hope that when we go back on Thursday it looks OK and that we can fill it efficiently. After about 2 hours of being there I couldn't handle it anymore. My symptoms were worsening by the minute and I couldn't even think straight let alone speak straight. I went hope, popped 800mg of Ibuprofen, hopped in bed, and took a 4 hour nap. The sleep really helped, but I was still groggy afterwards. That’s when Kelsi, bless her heart, came to me with Clariton-D in hand asking if it would help. If it would HELP!? Oh my gosh, it was EXACTLY what I needed and I had been asking around the night before. I took one and I could start feeling effects within 30 minutes. They last 24 hours so I should be good to go tomorrow as well. I should be able to sleep like a baby tonight and boy am I excited. Being sick is the worst, especially when you try to do everything NOT to get sick. Oh well, part of the experience I guess.
Something really gross happened tonight that should have progressed to the stage it did. I had notice a little raised area on the 4th to last toe on my right foot. I disregarded it for many days, even a week or so. I assumed it was some sort of inflamed sore that would go away... yeah, not so much. I got out the old finger nail clippers and began to hack away at it thinking it was just skin. I proceeded to clip the top of the bump off and my finger accidently pressed the base of it. Next think I knew there was what I thought was pus coming out of my toe! I was blown away! I had no idea I had hurt myself bad enough that it would need to pus and everything. When I had squeezed all the “pus” out I noticed that there seemed to be a separate piece of skin within the would. I got some tweezers and tugged on it. I peeled up and out in a saucer shape. At this point I’m baffled at what has just occurred. Then I decided to look at the “pus” a little closer with light shinning on it. That’s when I came to the realization that it was no pus, not even close. Try about 100 of the tiniest eggs you have ever seen. Yes, that’s right. I squeezed eggs and an egg sack out of my toe! I couldn’t even believe it! This had happened to Jackie about 6 weeks earlier and we were all freaking out that it had happened. I should have been more curious as two the large bump on my toe, but I wasn’t for some reason. Not I a have been officially initiated into Africa. You haven’t really become a part of Africa unless you are filled with fly larva. I think they are called Bot Flies, though I need a wiki search on that for the name spelling and what exactly they do.
So, some pretty exciting stuff today.... ish. It’s not past 2 am and I need to get to bed. I’m not terribly tired though because of my long nap but I’ll have to make it work. Until tomorrow.
Day 50/51 - Mount Elgon... esque? But really Sipi Falls
I had the most incredible weekend. I really thought I was in paradise because our surrounding were just out of this world. I knew Uganda was beautiful, but I never new what was outside of the general vicinity of Lugazi. Well, let me tell you, it was absolutely amazing and I have the pictures to prove it. Although, the pictures aren’t going to do justice, you won’t really see what I saw, unfortunately. Just try to imagine the most beautiful place you have ever been or seen and then amplify that again.
The bus ride was about 3 hours from Lugazi to the city where we went, which, I don’t recall what is was called. Where we went it’s called Sipi Falls. We went through a major city called Mbale to get there. You pronounce that by making the sound of “m”, and then saying “bale” with what is pretty much a spanish accent. We stopped in Mbale and paid 5000 for a sack lunch. We didn’t realize what we were getting when they said we’d be paying 5000 for a lunch. Unfortunately, it was much less food than we could have bought with that much money, MUCH less in fact. We got a boiled egg, ham sandwich (ham that I had to remove because it was like raw bacon), weird local yogurt in a bag, samosa (we call them empanadas in spanish), banana, and 2 waters. Not what I call a good lunch for 5000. Anyway, I wasn’t too happy but dealt with what I was given.
We got back on the road and made our way toward Sipi Falls. The bus drive was nice. We listened to a little music, closed our eyes for a bit, and we were there. The trip was all inclusive so we didn’t have to worry about getting a taxi or anything. We road on this bigger sized bus, it was like an airport shuttle type of vehicle.
The climb was pretty intense, not exactly what I expected, buy I loved every moment of it, even with my 30 pound backpack that I carried. The problem with being a photographer is that you have to carry a camera and multiple lenses on ALL of your hikes and trips. Not only is it scary to do so in a foreign country where you are unsure of the security you have, but it gets extremely hard to do so EVERYWHERE you go. But, of course, I deal with it, suck it up, and get going. You just can’t afford to miss any shots. I would have to say that I can some great shots, you'll have to check them out on my picture site.
The climb I suspect was about 2000 ft in 1.5 hours. Not too bad. It was a lot of hiking very fast. And the extra 30 pounds definitely gave me a challenge which I enjoy. Hiking to me really isn’t hiking unless you have a pack on anyway so I shouldn’t be complaining or otherwise. Along the first part of the hike Amber complained that her shorts were falling off and that she had forgotten to bring a belt with here. I told her I would make here a belt, though I wasn’t entirely sure how I was going to accomplish that. We finally came to this ginormous rock that we were told was used by people for a home and/or shelter. There were some vines coming down from the top. I grabbed them and started braiding a belt. I gave it to Amber 20 minutes later. She was pretty elated and it actually worked pretty well. We got near the top and there was this manmade ladder that had to be climbed in order to get to the next level and continue hiking. I’ve never seen anything so cool! It was very sturdy, well built, and well traveled. The view from the top was absolutely amazing, the valley was immense as ever. We could almost had a 180º viewing angle (ok, a little on the nerd side, sorry). We hiked along the top for a bit until we made our way down another side of the mountain. As we started our way down the mountain, raindrops began to fall. I panicked because I had all of my camera equipment on me. Luckily, before I left, I picked up a wet back at Out-n-Back because I KNEW something would go wrong and I would need to keep my computer and/or camera out of the water. So, I stopped on the side of the path and put all my stuff in the bag. I ended being a couple minutes behind the rest of the group but I caught up quickly. Within 5 minutes of putting my things in my wet back the rain started to come down. At first, it was a pretty good rain fall, we all got pretty wet. I put my handy rain jacket on and it did me well. I also pulled out the rain fly on my backpack, though, that didn’t really keep the rain out too well. As we came to the bottom of the mountain the rain really started to come down, and I mean SERIOUS rain. If you’ve only lived in Utah and seen the rain there, you’ve only seen half of what falls out of the sky here. It came down like crazy, but I was confident my stuff was safe. The rain continued and we came upon a house or two that we took shelter under. It was very generous of the lady that let us come first into her outdoor kitchen area and then ushered in to her home. We stood there for about 10 minutes until the rain cleared up a bit. Our guide led us out of the madams house, we thanked her, and we were on our way.
We arrived at the home where a women’s group in the area congregated. To our surprise they invited us all to come in even though we were sopping wet and mudding up to our calves and beyond for some. We removed our shoes and went inside. Again, to our surprise they had steamed lemon grass milk ready for us. This milk was straight from the cow. The only thing that comforted me was that they had obviously boiled the milk for at least a little time because it was absolutely burning hot. It disgustingly good actually, and I almost hate to admit that it was such. Milk straight from the utter? Mmm, not exactly what I’m used to or would choose for myself, but it was SO good. So good that I think I might have to find a recipe for it on the internet when I get home. The women were so kind and happy to have us in their home. The were working on weaving baskets and whatnot as part of the group. I bought a couple of things as did other volunteers. We felt good that we were able to support them in their new efforts to provide money for themselves.
The night was amazing. We slept in the most amazing little cabana things you’ve ever seen. I really felt like I was on an exclusive island in Hawaii, that’s how great it was. It was cool, quiet, and just plain serene. I could have lived up there. We had a great dinner that consisted of Onion Soup and Spaghetti with meat sauce. I had two Pepsi’s of course, it was just to awesome there not to.
The next day we hiked up to the upper falls of Sipi after a nice breakfast of toast and fruit. The hike was beautiful, amazing, unreal. Country like you’ve never seen before. Green until you can’t see anymore. There were small children that followed us up along the way, they made the hike interesting and fun. We came back for lunch and hopped on the shuttle to go back home. We all wished that the cabana part of the trip could have lasted forever because it was so amazing there. I got some pictures, you’ll have to check them out.
I took a good number of pictures today and I’m really happy about it; around 300. I really need to keep good habits of taking plenty of pictures because I only have so much time left. Well, the weekend was amazing and it only cost $106 USD!! I couldn't believe it, I was very happy about that price. Now I’m tired and need to get in bed. Bye.
The bus ride was about 3 hours from Lugazi to the city where we went, which, I don’t recall what is was called. Where we went it’s called Sipi Falls. We went through a major city called Mbale to get there. You pronounce that by making the sound of “m”, and then saying “bale” with what is pretty much a spanish accent. We stopped in Mbale and paid 5000 for a sack lunch. We didn’t realize what we were getting when they said we’d be paying 5000 for a lunch. Unfortunately, it was much less food than we could have bought with that much money, MUCH less in fact. We got a boiled egg, ham sandwich (ham that I had to remove because it was like raw bacon), weird local yogurt in a bag, samosa (we call them empanadas in spanish), banana, and 2 waters. Not what I call a good lunch for 5000. Anyway, I wasn’t too happy but dealt with what I was given.
We got back on the road and made our way toward Sipi Falls. The bus drive was nice. We listened to a little music, closed our eyes for a bit, and we were there. The trip was all inclusive so we didn’t have to worry about getting a taxi or anything. We road on this bigger sized bus, it was like an airport shuttle type of vehicle.
The climb was pretty intense, not exactly what I expected, buy I loved every moment of it, even with my 30 pound backpack that I carried. The problem with being a photographer is that you have to carry a camera and multiple lenses on ALL of your hikes and trips. Not only is it scary to do so in a foreign country where you are unsure of the security you have, but it gets extremely hard to do so EVERYWHERE you go. But, of course, I deal with it, suck it up, and get going. You just can’t afford to miss any shots. I would have to say that I can some great shots, you'll have to check them out on my picture site.
The climb I suspect was about 2000 ft in 1.5 hours. Not too bad. It was a lot of hiking very fast. And the extra 30 pounds definitely gave me a challenge which I enjoy. Hiking to me really isn’t hiking unless you have a pack on anyway so I shouldn’t be complaining or otherwise. Along the first part of the hike Amber complained that her shorts were falling off and that she had forgotten to bring a belt with here. I told her I would make here a belt, though I wasn’t entirely sure how I was going to accomplish that. We finally came to this ginormous rock that we were told was used by people for a home and/or shelter. There were some vines coming down from the top. I grabbed them and started braiding a belt. I gave it to Amber 20 minutes later. She was pretty elated and it actually worked pretty well. We got near the top and there was this manmade ladder that had to be climbed in order to get to the next level and continue hiking. I’ve never seen anything so cool! It was very sturdy, well built, and well traveled. The view from the top was absolutely amazing, the valley was immense as ever. We could almost had a 180º viewing angle (ok, a little on the nerd side, sorry). We hiked along the top for a bit until we made our way down another side of the mountain. As we started our way down the mountain, raindrops began to fall. I panicked because I had all of my camera equipment on me. Luckily, before I left, I picked up a wet back at Out-n-Back because I KNEW something would go wrong and I would need to keep my computer and/or camera out of the water. So, I stopped on the side of the path and put all my stuff in the bag. I ended being a couple minutes behind the rest of the group but I caught up quickly. Within 5 minutes of putting my things in my wet back the rain started to come down. At first, it was a pretty good rain fall, we all got pretty wet. I put my handy rain jacket on and it did me well. I also pulled out the rain fly on my backpack, though, that didn’t really keep the rain out too well. As we came to the bottom of the mountain the rain really started to come down, and I mean SERIOUS rain. If you’ve only lived in Utah and seen the rain there, you’ve only seen half of what falls out of the sky here. It came down like crazy, but I was confident my stuff was safe. The rain continued and we came upon a house or two that we took shelter under. It was very generous of the lady that let us come first into her outdoor kitchen area and then ushered in to her home. We stood there for about 10 minutes until the rain cleared up a bit. Our guide led us out of the madams house, we thanked her, and we were on our way.
We arrived at the home where a women’s group in the area congregated. To our surprise they invited us all to come in even though we were sopping wet and mudding up to our calves and beyond for some. We removed our shoes and went inside. Again, to our surprise they had steamed lemon grass milk ready for us. This milk was straight from the cow. The only thing that comforted me was that they had obviously boiled the milk for at least a little time because it was absolutely burning hot. It disgustingly good actually, and I almost hate to admit that it was such. Milk straight from the utter? Mmm, not exactly what I’m used to or would choose for myself, but it was SO good. So good that I think I might have to find a recipe for it on the internet when I get home. The women were so kind and happy to have us in their home. The were working on weaving baskets and whatnot as part of the group. I bought a couple of things as did other volunteers. We felt good that we were able to support them in their new efforts to provide money for themselves.
The night was amazing. We slept in the most amazing little cabana things you’ve ever seen. I really felt like I was on an exclusive island in Hawaii, that’s how great it was. It was cool, quiet, and just plain serene. I could have lived up there. We had a great dinner that consisted of Onion Soup and Spaghetti with meat sauce. I had two Pepsi’s of course, it was just to awesome there not to.
The next day we hiked up to the upper falls of Sipi after a nice breakfast of toast and fruit. The hike was beautiful, amazing, unreal. Country like you’ve never seen before. Green until you can’t see anymore. There were small children that followed us up along the way, they made the hike interesting and fun. We came back for lunch and hopped on the shuttle to go back home. We all wished that the cabana part of the trip could have lasted forever because it was so amazing there. I got some pictures, you’ll have to check them out.
I took a good number of pictures today and I’m really happy about it; around 300. I really need to keep good habits of taking plenty of pictures because I only have so much time left. Well, the weekend was amazing and it only cost $106 USD!! I couldn't believe it, I was very happy about that price. Now I’m tired and need to get in bed. Bye.
Day 49 - Clinically Not Happening
We started our day out today at the clinics... not the most effective use of our time thus far. The hospital doesn’t quite know how to receive us, they don’t know exactly what to have us do. I’m the only one in the group with medical certification which qualifies me to do a lot of things others can’t and it’s kind of hard because I want everybody to feel like they can actually do something. I talked to the head nurse there at Kawolo Hospital, Sis. Keri (sp?) and told her the predicament. She informed me that she would have a meeting with the different ward leaders and come up with a better plan for us. We really have the desire to help but it’s really hard to help when they don’t tell you what exactly to do. Hopefully I will be getting a call in the near future with a plan.
I stopped at my favorite chapati maker at the end of Stanbic road. I call it Stanbic road because the Stanbic bank is on it and I don’t know what to call it otherwise. He’s the fourth guy on the left as you walk down the street that turns off of Stanbic. He really knows how to make a good chapati. He used plenty of oil and he rolls the dough out larger than most do. They are still 200 shillings each and taste amazing. I usually get 2 or 3 at a time, they are THAT good. It basically a glorified tortilla. I’m going to be communicating with the lady behind us to get the recipe for chapati so that I can make it when I get home.
I came to the house and had some lunch which included the chapati I just purchased. I also cut up the pineapple I bought yesterday, it was a bit ripe for my liking but still good. I’ve got two mangos I’ll have to cut up in the morning, I’m a bit excited for those to touch my tongue.
Jackie asked me earlier if she could borrow my computer for a teacher training at St. Edward's Primary School. She mentioned that both of the PCs were freezing up... no surprise there. Of course I consented. She later called and told me that they didn’t have time to get the projector or the sheet (for a screen). I gathered it all up and Lindsi and I hopped on some bodas and got over there fairly quickly. I love not having to walk everywhere all the time, I already did that for 2 years and I’m pretty sure I could do without for a while. We got there before everybody else did, I was surprised. The rest arrived and we got everything set up, I was glad that I had a functioning computer and the time to help them out. The training went well and everything worked as it should. I got extremely tired for some reason and even fell asleep for a couple of seconds. Unfortunately, it was right when I was needed to go to the next slide. I was laughed at and I laughed at myself to make myself feel better.
I stopped at my favorite chapati maker at the end of Stanbic road. I call it Stanbic road because the Stanbic bank is on it and I don’t know what to call it otherwise. He’s the fourth guy on the left as you walk down the street that turns off of Stanbic. He really knows how to make a good chapati. He used plenty of oil and he rolls the dough out larger than most do. They are still 200 shillings each and taste amazing. I usually get 2 or 3 at a time, they are THAT good. It basically a glorified tortilla. I’m going to be communicating with the lady behind us to get the recipe for chapati so that I can make it when I get home.
I came to the house and had some lunch which included the chapati I just purchased. I also cut up the pineapple I bought yesterday, it was a bit ripe for my liking but still good. I’ve got two mangos I’ll have to cut up in the morning, I’m a bit excited for those to touch my tongue.
Jackie asked me earlier if she could borrow my computer for a teacher training at St. Edward's Primary School. She mentioned that both of the PCs were freezing up... no surprise there. Of course I consented. She later called and told me that they didn’t have time to get the projector or the sheet (for a screen). I gathered it all up and Lindsi and I hopped on some bodas and got over there fairly quickly. I love not having to walk everywhere all the time, I already did that for 2 years and I’m pretty sure I could do without for a while. We got there before everybody else did, I was surprised. The rest arrived and we got everything set up, I was glad that I had a functioning computer and the time to help them out. The training went well and everything worked as it should. I got extremely tired for some reason and even fell asleep for a couple of seconds. Unfortunately, it was right when I was needed to go to the next slide. I was laughed at and I laughed at myself to make myself feel better.
Day 48 - New Volunteers... again.
Already a new set of volunteers has creep their way into Uganda and the seen has totally changed. We were a group of 16 all living under the same roof. We are now 1 1/2 times bigger with 8 new volunteers; 24 people! Of course, there are still 16 people in the house and we have moved 8 people into the Mayor’s house, in the boy’s quarters that are in back. It’s interesting to have new faces walking around and new personalities to try and get used to. I’m glad to have them here, we could really use the help actually. Things are picking up and we need more hands to help things REALLY get rolling. We are scheduling more and more adobe stoves all the time and we’re going to need a lot of help with those.
The morning started out with a bit of trauma as Tori and I took Heidi to Dr. Debbie in Jinja to get her butt sown up. Poor girl. Dr. Debbie was really nice again, but still with her very stern personality. She’s definitely a doctor, and one without much feeling left. She used a needle much larger than the one I used to numb Heidi up; again, I felt really bad for Heidi. I was about to offer her the smaller needle that I had used last night but I didn’t dare say anything. I just bit my tongue and watch her suffer. She got the suture kit out. The suture needle wasn’t exactly super sharp like I’m used to seeing. She began stitching and, of course, the needle wasn’t exactly slipping through her flesh like it should have. The stitches were a little bit rough too, though stitching isn’t her everyday activity so I guess I can understand. She knew that I was a medical assistant and we were talking about how I was GOING to bring a suture kit but failed to. She then asked if I’d like to “throw a stitch in.” Of course, I shrugged and the conversation floated away. She was all done up and we were out of there just as fast as we got in.
Pour Amber and Heidi had to give up their room to me and Trent. Trent and I are now the only 2 guys in the house and I must say I don’t mind. We have our own room and it doesn’t smell! I felt bad that we had to kick the girls out, but it had to work out that way... I’m just glad to still be in the house. We made the switch which required a bit of effort but was successful nonetheless. I tried to get others around the house to be motivated enough to clean up for the arrival of the new volunteers, but nobody was to hot on the idea, not surprising. So, I tidied up as much as I could and that was it! The volunteers got here and I helped them in with their bags. It’s going to be interesting having new people around, but it will be good to mix things up. We had a small logistics tour with everybody. Dan and I were assigned to take DJ, but Dan ended up staying in Seya pretty late. So I took DJ around and showed him all of the important things around town. He’s a real nice guy, very cool, easy to talk to, and will be a great asset to our team. We are hoping to get him trained really well on the stoves so that we can use him as a group lead for the Simba Stoves. We want him to be able to take a group of people and go build a stove with no problem.
When dinner time rolled around, it was really funny to watch the new volunteers serve up and eat their food. It was obviously a different experience for them... they weren't prepared for steamed cabbage, beans, and rice, and maybe another thing or two that was "weird." I'm sure they'll get used to it in a couple of days when they come home starving from working all day.
The morning started out with a bit of trauma as Tori and I took Heidi to Dr. Debbie in Jinja to get her butt sown up. Poor girl. Dr. Debbie was really nice again, but still with her very stern personality. She’s definitely a doctor, and one without much feeling left. She used a needle much larger than the one I used to numb Heidi up; again, I felt really bad for Heidi. I was about to offer her the smaller needle that I had used last night but I didn’t dare say anything. I just bit my tongue and watch her suffer. She got the suture kit out. The suture needle wasn’t exactly super sharp like I’m used to seeing. She began stitching and, of course, the needle wasn’t exactly slipping through her flesh like it should have. The stitches were a little bit rough too, though stitching isn’t her everyday activity so I guess I can understand. She knew that I was a medical assistant and we were talking about how I was GOING to bring a suture kit but failed to. She then asked if I’d like to “throw a stitch in.” Of course, I shrugged and the conversation floated away. She was all done up and we were out of there just as fast as we got in.
Pour Amber and Heidi had to give up their room to me and Trent. Trent and I are now the only 2 guys in the house and I must say I don’t mind. We have our own room and it doesn’t smell! I felt bad that we had to kick the girls out, but it had to work out that way... I’m just glad to still be in the house. We made the switch which required a bit of effort but was successful nonetheless. I tried to get others around the house to be motivated enough to clean up for the arrival of the new volunteers, but nobody was to hot on the idea, not surprising. So, I tidied up as much as I could and that was it! The volunteers got here and I helped them in with their bags. It’s going to be interesting having new people around, but it will be good to mix things up. We had a small logistics tour with everybody. Dan and I were assigned to take DJ, but Dan ended up staying in Seya pretty late. So I took DJ around and showed him all of the important things around town. He’s a real nice guy, very cool, easy to talk to, and will be a great asset to our team. We are hoping to get him trained really well on the stoves so that we can use him as a group lead for the Simba Stoves. We want him to be able to take a group of people and go build a stove with no problem.
When dinner time rolled around, it was really funny to watch the new volunteers serve up and eat their food. It was obviously a different experience for them... they weren't prepared for steamed cabbage, beans, and rice, and maybe another thing or two that was "weird." I'm sure they'll get used to it in a couple of days when they come home starving from working all day.
Day 47 - Progress at it's Best
Today was one of the most incredible days I’ve had here. Amber and I really went to town today, both figuratively and literally speaking. We set out to set up stoves with different organizations including schools and orphanages alike, we rocked Lugazi. We had help from a friend whose name I won’t mention for fear that what I say might get back around to him/her. He happens to be a very helpful man when it comes to knowing people and where help is needed. The only problem is that not only is he a very frustrating person to work with, he doesn’t have the best reputation around town. He was once a very prominent member of the town and did many great things to help the people. Story has it he got involved with drugs and whatnot and hasn’t been the same since. It’s easy to see why his reputation wouldn’t be of utmost value. Nevertheless, we have continued to work with him because he has been very helpful with contacting people and starting projects. For example, we went out one day looking for stove pipe for our Simba Stoves and we ran into our friend. He immediately began to take us around town to look for pipe and actually led us to what we will now be using for many of the stoves. He is helpful, just hard to work with.
Our friend introduced us to 2 schools today that we have scheduled to make stoves with, we are very excited about this. We have been looking hard for more projects to do around town, and we have found them. We proceeded to find another 3 schools/orphanages and have either scheduled to make stoves or will be in contact with them in the near future to begin building foundations.
I really feel please with our work today, I feel like we accomplished a lot. I have been able to compare this experience with missionary work, and the similarities are remarkably close. We had been blinded in, as it were, to the city of Lugazi. We knew nothing about anything or anybody when we got here. We were forced to figure it out and get things going. Luckily, we were blessed to have Deo introduce us to the town counsel of Lugazi which really made everything work as it has up to this point. We are busy each day contacting people and getting their information, begging for an opportunity to come to their school/home and share a lesson with them about Simba Stoves and how they can improve many aspects in the lives of their cooks. Everybody we have come in contact with has been interested which is not typical of missionary work, but most definitely what is wanted. It has brought many memories back of being a missionary and always rendering service, almost every moment of every day. It feels good to be selfless and worry about others for a change. Nice to be lost in a work again. I think we loose track of where we are and what we are about when we don’t participate in major service projects often. When you don’t serve others in a major way it’s almost impossible to as grateful as possible for what you have. You really don’t know what you have until you and those around you are without.
The most insane things happened tonight. Ashley asked me if I would go with her to the internet late at night because she needed to do something for HELP. I agreed and took my laptop along with me so that I could check e-mail, upload pictures, etc. We were there for about 30 minutes. We walked home and when we walked in the door there was nobody to be found out and about. We made our way to the girls large room and sure enough, there’s everybody, in the room... not sure what was going on. Next thing I know I’ve got a camera in my face, it’s rolling, and I’m being directed to the bathroom. The next thing I saw I did no more expected than a flyer saucer beaming me up (scottie...). We no longer had a sink, the sink was gone, and there was absolutely no trace that it had fallen or otherwise. I was in awe. I couldn’t even speak. A million thoughts raced through my head as I tried to come up with a scenario in which the sink would actually break off the wall and no longer exist. When I turned around to exit the bathroom, camera in my face, I began to question, but not with words; with my eyes and a wide open mouth. The next think I know they’ve ripped a blanket off Heidi’s half naked butt revealing a wound that required stitches. Naturally, my instinct is to “go in”, and so I did.
Side note: Heidi had been laughing her guys out along with 3 other girls, such that they ALL were going to pee their pants if they didn’t all get to the toilet at once. One used the toilet, the other hopped in the shower, and Heidi, without anyplace to go, leans back with her elbows on the sink with her pants half down ready to switch off with the other girl on the toilet. The sink just couldn’t take the weight and down it went along with Heidi. She landed on top of the shattered porcelain sink and cut herself up real good.
I immediately seized control of the situation and began to do what I knew best; fix it. They had placed butterfly bandages unsuccessfully which I proceeded to remove and clean the wounds. There was one major laceration and 2 minor cuts. The largest of the three was pretty dang deep, the adipose (fatty tissue) was visible and I knew that stitches were needed. I did my best to clean it up really well and then I decided it would be a good idea to give her some local anesthetic to help stop the bleeding as well as give her some relief from the pain that would surely follow. I proceeded to do so. I took the sodium bicarbonate (buffer solution) and added 5-cc to the Xylocaine just as instructed. This is to take off the stinging edge of the anesthetic when it hits the flesh. I began administering the anesthetic to all part of the laceration until Heidi was eased and unable to feel anything in the area - only the size of a quarter or a tiny bit bigger. It’s hard to thoroughly cleanse a wound when you can still feel it because you don’t want the person to suffer. After it was numb, I used alcohol (because we didn’t have hydrogen peroxide) to clean the wound and to prepare it for closing. Unfortunately, I didn’t bring any suture kits, I was very unhappy with myself. Instead we will make a trip to Jinja tomorrow to have Dr. Debbie stitch Heidi up. I decided that super-glue followed by butterflies and some medical take on top would do just fine until the morning when she’d get her stitches.
I was sad to see that Heidi had gotten herself cut up but I have to admit that it was a great experience for me to treat her with the small amount of medical training I have. I love intense situations where you have to think fast and smart. She was in no way in danger of loosing her life, but she was definitely in discomfort, so I was glad to help. This topped off the night, it was by far the highlight of the day.
Our friend introduced us to 2 schools today that we have scheduled to make stoves with, we are very excited about this. We have been looking hard for more projects to do around town, and we have found them. We proceeded to find another 3 schools/orphanages and have either scheduled to make stoves or will be in contact with them in the near future to begin building foundations.
I really feel please with our work today, I feel like we accomplished a lot. I have been able to compare this experience with missionary work, and the similarities are remarkably close. We had been blinded in, as it were, to the city of Lugazi. We knew nothing about anything or anybody when we got here. We were forced to figure it out and get things going. Luckily, we were blessed to have Deo introduce us to the town counsel of Lugazi which really made everything work as it has up to this point. We are busy each day contacting people and getting their information, begging for an opportunity to come to their school/home and share a lesson with them about Simba Stoves and how they can improve many aspects in the lives of their cooks. Everybody we have come in contact with has been interested which is not typical of missionary work, but most definitely what is wanted. It has brought many memories back of being a missionary and always rendering service, almost every moment of every day. It feels good to be selfless and worry about others for a change. Nice to be lost in a work again. I think we loose track of where we are and what we are about when we don’t participate in major service projects often. When you don’t serve others in a major way it’s almost impossible to as grateful as possible for what you have. You really don’t know what you have until you and those around you are without.
The most insane things happened tonight. Ashley asked me if I would go with her to the internet late at night because she needed to do something for HELP. I agreed and took my laptop along with me so that I could check e-mail, upload pictures, etc. We were there for about 30 minutes. We walked home and when we walked in the door there was nobody to be found out and about. We made our way to the girls large room and sure enough, there’s everybody, in the room... not sure what was going on. Next thing I know I’ve got a camera in my face, it’s rolling, and I’m being directed to the bathroom. The next thing I saw I did no more expected than a flyer saucer beaming me up (scottie...). We no longer had a sink, the sink was gone, and there was absolutely no trace that it had fallen or otherwise. I was in awe. I couldn’t even speak. A million thoughts raced through my head as I tried to come up with a scenario in which the sink would actually break off the wall and no longer exist. When I turned around to exit the bathroom, camera in my face, I began to question, but not with words; with my eyes and a wide open mouth. The next think I know they’ve ripped a blanket off Heidi’s half naked butt revealing a wound that required stitches. Naturally, my instinct is to “go in”, and so I did.
Side note: Heidi had been laughing her guys out along with 3 other girls, such that they ALL were going to pee their pants if they didn’t all get to the toilet at once. One used the toilet, the other hopped in the shower, and Heidi, without anyplace to go, leans back with her elbows on the sink with her pants half down ready to switch off with the other girl on the toilet. The sink just couldn’t take the weight and down it went along with Heidi. She landed on top of the shattered porcelain sink and cut herself up real good.
I immediately seized control of the situation and began to do what I knew best; fix it. They had placed butterfly bandages unsuccessfully which I proceeded to remove and clean the wounds. There was one major laceration and 2 minor cuts. The largest of the three was pretty dang deep, the adipose (fatty tissue) was visible and I knew that stitches were needed. I did my best to clean it up really well and then I decided it would be a good idea to give her some local anesthetic to help stop the bleeding as well as give her some relief from the pain that would surely follow. I proceeded to do so. I took the sodium bicarbonate (buffer solution) and added 5-cc to the Xylocaine just as instructed. This is to take off the stinging edge of the anesthetic when it hits the flesh. I began administering the anesthetic to all part of the laceration until Heidi was eased and unable to feel anything in the area - only the size of a quarter or a tiny bit bigger. It’s hard to thoroughly cleanse a wound when you can still feel it because you don’t want the person to suffer. After it was numb, I used alcohol (because we didn’t have hydrogen peroxide) to clean the wound and to prepare it for closing. Unfortunately, I didn’t bring any suture kits, I was very unhappy with myself. Instead we will make a trip to Jinja tomorrow to have Dr. Debbie stitch Heidi up. I decided that super-glue followed by butterflies and some medical take on top would do just fine until the morning when she’d get her stitches.
I was sad to see that Heidi had gotten herself cut up but I have to admit that it was a great experience for me to treat her with the small amount of medical training I have. I love intense situations where you have to think fast and smart. She was in no way in danger of loosing her life, but she was definitely in discomfort, so I was glad to help. This topped off the night, it was by far the highlight of the day.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Day 40 - Two More Fill-ins
Today was quite fulfilling, though exhausting, to the point of dropping dead; just what we want while we’re here. We filled in two more foundations that we had previously built. One at the True Light Primary School that is in our village only 150 yards from our house, and one up at Betty’s house that we made on Monday. It was a little drizzly this morning and we were afraid we were going to get rained out, luckily the rain never really came down, only a light trickle. We arrived at True Light and they had the extra clay we had told them we needed. It was just Leslie, Heidi and I on this project and it turned out to be a little mistake that we did not have more help. Joshua, the man that was up at Equator P.S. was there ready and willing to help us out. He’s a funny old man. Totally interested in what we’re doing but at the same time full of questions in broken English that we can barely make out. Sometimes it’s frustrated to have him around, but today I learned to appreciate him and realize that he’s exactly what we have been looking for as far as someone to teach and keep the building going once we have left the country. Working just the three of us with the help of Joshua just wasn’t enough. We had to mix the adobe mixture and pack it ourselves. That takes a long time and takes a lot of effort, more difficult that it may sound. We wished we had another 2 people with us to help mix and/or pack. Now we’ll know for next time. We ended up having just about enough adobe for the stove, actually, it was a little less than we would have liked but it did the job. We had to use bricks to help fill up space, it wouldn’t have worked otherwise. It took us around 5 hours to complete and we were beat afterwards. To make it worse, we had another to fill, at least I had another one to fill, Leslie and Heidi had something else to attend in the afternoon.
Amber returned from Mukono after having been at the bakery. I was glad to see her around so that she could go with me to fill in the second stove. I was not excited about it because I was so tired. The rain started to pick up as if it wanted to come down but ended as we walked out the door. Joshua met us up at Betty’s house and again helped us out and learned some things as well. Betty was incredibly helpful which I appreciated very much. She was just as much invested in making the stove as we were. She had supplied all of the materials except the cement, a big accomplishment for a single mother with a few kids. We didn’t end up having enough clay over which I began to panic. We had known this the last time we were there but didn’t remember until we saw the half-filled bag of clay upon arrival. We decided it was ant-hill soil or nothing at all. We had already spent 1000 shillings to get up there and we weren’t about to turn around and head for home. Betty began cutting away at an ant-hill when the termites erupted from beneath. They were the ugliest looking things I think I’ve every seen. Little green bodies with a head and pinchers the same size as the body. The pinchers looked sharp and Betty decided to demonstrate for us. She reached down and allows one of the irrupted “ants” to attach to her finger. The thing was ridiculously strong and I could tell it would kill if that thing pinched you anywhere. Later on in the day when we had found another ant-hill that had been burned out and gotten the soil from, we were back at her house mixing the clay, soil, sand, fiber and water to make the adobe when out comes marching an “ant.” She again went to let the thing grab on to her. Except, this time the ant was a little more aggravated than the last. It grabbed on and sunk it’s teeth into her finger. She even squealed and grabbed the body and pinched it, killing it, to get it off of her. I watched the thing sink it’s teeth in her finger, it was horrible. I didn’t get to close to the mixture after that.
I’ve killed a total of 4 mosquitos through my net while sitting here in my bed typing. With out these nets we would be absolute toast, welted all over with bites, I wouldn’t be able to sleep without one.
The stove turned out good, we were very pleased. We ended up having just enough of our mixture, including bricks stacked in the bottom to take up room. Had we not used bricks, we would not have had enough; thanks heaven for bricks everywhere. It took us a good 2 hours to pack the foundation, a little longer than expected, but reasonable none the less. Betty was very excited and we told her that we had one request after having built her stove. The request was that she would teach her friends and help them build their own stoves in their homes. She will be another great asset to our cause, I can feel it. She got all nice today and said, “I need your phone numbers to I can call you when you have left this place!” We were touched. It was nice to hear that she enjoyed us being there, so much so that she wanted to keep in touch.
It’s been so great to meet so many great people, people I may never see again in my life. At the beginning of my stay here I felt like I would never meet and become good friends with any body in particular, just simple friendships with many people. I was wrong, and I’m glad I was. Well, it’s time to go to bed, I’m beat and I need my strength in the morning. Until then.
Amber returned from Mukono after having been at the bakery. I was glad to see her around so that she could go with me to fill in the second stove. I was not excited about it because I was so tired. The rain started to pick up as if it wanted to come down but ended as we walked out the door. Joshua met us up at Betty’s house and again helped us out and learned some things as well. Betty was incredibly helpful which I appreciated very much. She was just as much invested in making the stove as we were. She had supplied all of the materials except the cement, a big accomplishment for a single mother with a few kids. We didn’t end up having enough clay over which I began to panic. We had known this the last time we were there but didn’t remember until we saw the half-filled bag of clay upon arrival. We decided it was ant-hill soil or nothing at all. We had already spent 1000 shillings to get up there and we weren’t about to turn around and head for home. Betty began cutting away at an ant-hill when the termites erupted from beneath. They were the ugliest looking things I think I’ve every seen. Little green bodies with a head and pinchers the same size as the body. The pinchers looked sharp and Betty decided to demonstrate for us. She reached down and allows one of the irrupted “ants” to attach to her finger. The thing was ridiculously strong and I could tell it would kill if that thing pinched you anywhere. Later on in the day when we had found another ant-hill that had been burned out and gotten the soil from, we were back at her house mixing the clay, soil, sand, fiber and water to make the adobe when out comes marching an “ant.” She again went to let the thing grab on to her. Except, this time the ant was a little more aggravated than the last. It grabbed on and sunk it’s teeth into her finger. She even squealed and grabbed the body and pinched it, killing it, to get it off of her. I watched the thing sink it’s teeth in her finger, it was horrible. I didn’t get to close to the mixture after that.
I’ve killed a total of 4 mosquitos through my net while sitting here in my bed typing. With out these nets we would be absolute toast, welted all over with bites, I wouldn’t be able to sleep without one.
The stove turned out good, we were very pleased. We ended up having just enough of our mixture, including bricks stacked in the bottom to take up room. Had we not used bricks, we would not have had enough; thanks heaven for bricks everywhere. It took us a good 2 hours to pack the foundation, a little longer than expected, but reasonable none the less. Betty was very excited and we told her that we had one request after having built her stove. The request was that she would teach her friends and help them build their own stoves in their homes. She will be another great asset to our cause, I can feel it. She got all nice today and said, “I need your phone numbers to I can call you when you have left this place!” We were touched. It was nice to hear that she enjoyed us being there, so much so that she wanted to keep in touch.
It’s been so great to meet so many great people, people I may never see again in my life. At the beginning of my stay here I felt like I would never meet and become good friends with any body in particular, just simple friendships with many people. I was wrong, and I’m glad I was. Well, it’s time to go to bed, I’m beat and I need my strength in the morning. Until then.
Day 39 - Martyr's Day
Today is Martyr’s Day. Back in the late 1800’s there was a group of 23 men that were burned alive after standing up for something they didn’t believe it. There had been a law passed in Uganda that people would have to work on Sundays. Well, the Catholics and Protestants were too thrilled with that whole thing because they knew and believed that Sunday was a day of rest. Appartently these men were standing up against this law according to their beliefs and were killed because of it. It has become a national holiday and, to my knowledge, has been celebrated since then. We went to a place called Namugongo where the event or holiday was celebrated. I’m sure why it’s held there, though I’m assuming it’s because it’s where the tragedy occurred. We decided we would take the day and check it out.
We attended the beginnings of the protestant gathering which recognized the martyrs, it was OK. It was in an amphitheater type of setting with hundreds of people gathering on all sides of the downhill slope. There was a choir, a man praying and giving speech, and many other people who I wasn’t sure of their purpose. We couldn’t here very well and the dude singing had a horrendous voice, we eventually decided to leave.
It turned out to be pretty crazy, more Africans than I’ve ever seen at once in my life, it was incredible. There was a certain street that every body walked up and down. There were street venders of all types littered the length of the street. We didn’t even walk the whole thing, it would have taken 2 hours at least. We were always bumping in to each other, dodging boda bodas, and just trying to stay alive in general.
We came across something that has quite possibly become one the most experiences of my life... as far as food is concerned. There was a huge pile of pineapple, small to large, all varying in price. There was also a man peeling the pineapples right next to him, free of charge if you purchased a pineapple. He would hold the stem and cut the skin off and even give it a cross-hairs cut to make it easier to eat right off the stem!! I couldn’t believe my eye and instantly had to be part of it. We quickly found out that the smaller pineapples, perfect for one person to snarf, were only 300 shillings, a grand total of .18 cents... believe it. The thing was about one and a half times the size of a softball and perfectly ripened. I was with a bunch of the girls from the group, as usual, and we all got a pineapple. I can’t even begin to explain how incredible the pineapple was. It was by far the best I’ve ever had in my life, including that of Hawaii. To eat the pineapple off the stem just amplified the experience. Not only had the guy NOT touched my pineapple with his hands, I would be able to eat it and stay relatively clean. We took pictures and recorded video, which shows us devouring the pineapple like crazy; we were crazy and we couldn’t get enough. This amazing experience however landed me with major intestinal problems 45 minutes later, something I didn’t really expect or even care about at the time. I suppose it was quite a bit of pineapple and I did eat the WHOLE thing, oh well, it was still worth it.
We ended going to Kampala which was only 20 minutes from where we were. We decided it would be nice to have a decent lunch at the food court in Garden City. We started out at the Shop Rite which was like unto a grocery store at home, just not the same things on the shelves, still a bit interesting. We ended up seeing the mission president in there with a new senior couple from Rexburg Idaho that had only been there for 9 days. When we left the store we saw three Elders, I proceeded to go up to them and meet them. One from Idaho, another from Texas, and one from the Congo, right next door to Uganda. I immediately put myself in their position and imagined serving a mission in Uganda, I shuttered. I’m positive the Lord sent me where he did because he knew I would be able to handle it, even though it was a scary, dangerous, and difficult area.
I had pizza, again, a safe food group. It ended up being pretty good. I even got a free glass of passion fruit juice from the lady at the register. She was a rather pretty woman, from somewhere like Lebanon or something of that nature. She was refreshingly sweet and nice to talk to. I’m so used to talking to people that don’t really respond or smile back when I smile, it was a pleasant surprise. The trip back was uneventful, except that I fell asleep on my backpack on one side of my face and woke up with a serious mark on my face, we got a picture.
We attended the beginnings of the protestant gathering which recognized the martyrs, it was OK. It was in an amphitheater type of setting with hundreds of people gathering on all sides of the downhill slope. There was a choir, a man praying and giving speech, and many other people who I wasn’t sure of their purpose. We couldn’t here very well and the dude singing had a horrendous voice, we eventually decided to leave.
It turned out to be pretty crazy, more Africans than I’ve ever seen at once in my life, it was incredible. There was a certain street that every body walked up and down. There were street venders of all types littered the length of the street. We didn’t even walk the whole thing, it would have taken 2 hours at least. We were always bumping in to each other, dodging boda bodas, and just trying to stay alive in general.
We came across something that has quite possibly become one the most experiences of my life... as far as food is concerned. There was a huge pile of pineapple, small to large, all varying in price. There was also a man peeling the pineapples right next to him, free of charge if you purchased a pineapple. He would hold the stem and cut the skin off and even give it a cross-hairs cut to make it easier to eat right off the stem!! I couldn’t believe my eye and instantly had to be part of it. We quickly found out that the smaller pineapples, perfect for one person to snarf, were only 300 shillings, a grand total of .18 cents... believe it. The thing was about one and a half times the size of a softball and perfectly ripened. I was with a bunch of the girls from the group, as usual, and we all got a pineapple. I can’t even begin to explain how incredible the pineapple was. It was by far the best I’ve ever had in my life, including that of Hawaii. To eat the pineapple off the stem just amplified the experience. Not only had the guy NOT touched my pineapple with his hands, I would be able to eat it and stay relatively clean. We took pictures and recorded video, which shows us devouring the pineapple like crazy; we were crazy and we couldn’t get enough. This amazing experience however landed me with major intestinal problems 45 minutes later, something I didn’t really expect or even care about at the time. I suppose it was quite a bit of pineapple and I did eat the WHOLE thing, oh well, it was still worth it.
We ended going to Kampala which was only 20 minutes from where we were. We decided it would be nice to have a decent lunch at the food court in Garden City. We started out at the Shop Rite which was like unto a grocery store at home, just not the same things on the shelves, still a bit interesting. We ended up seeing the mission president in there with a new senior couple from Rexburg Idaho that had only been there for 9 days. When we left the store we saw three Elders, I proceeded to go up to them and meet them. One from Idaho, another from Texas, and one from the Congo, right next door to Uganda. I immediately put myself in their position and imagined serving a mission in Uganda, I shuttered. I’m positive the Lord sent me where he did because he knew I would be able to handle it, even though it was a scary, dangerous, and difficult area.
I had pizza, again, a safe food group. It ended up being pretty good. I even got a free glass of passion fruit juice from the lady at the register. She was a rather pretty woman, from somewhere like Lebanon or something of that nature. She was refreshingly sweet and nice to talk to. I’m so used to talking to people that don’t really respond or smile back when I smile, it was a pleasant surprise. The trip back was uneventful, except that I fell asleep on my backpack on one side of my face and woke up with a serious mark on my face, we got a picture.
Day 38 - Another Foundation
It rained quite a bit last night and it continued on into the morning. As I woke up I knew it was going to be a raining and half dreary day... and that’s exactly how it started. I had a good breakfast; french toast on wheat. It was OK, I can’t complain. It was a little difference but to be expected. I used a little vegetable oil and Blue Band spread to grease the pan and give flavor. I ate 3 pieces of it with french toast, I was pretty satisfied, although I ended up downing 2 bananas after that. We made our way out the door at 11:00 am, I sort of slept in an hour later than I should have, I felt bad about that. Luckily, the rain was too hard to go out into anyway so I didn’t feel as bad, though I could have gotten some reading in.
We went to True Light this morning ready to fill in the foundation we built last week but ran into a problem: they hadn’t gotten enough clay. They had gotten less than half of what we needed. We told him we needed two more large bags of clay. He informed us that the bags were each 5000 shillings. Amber and I talked about it a seconded and decided that we could pay for one of the extra bags. They had already provided the cement which we usually go and decided we could switch the cost of the cement we didn’t use to help paying for the clay. Isaac told us that they could have it by Wednesday, hopefully that’s when we come back and do it.
We made our third Simba Stove foundation today at a lady’s house named Betty. She was present when we made the stove at Equator Primary School and was very interested in having us come to here home and help her install a stove. Amber, Leslie, Emily and I went up there to build it. We are building the stove in her home in the kitchen area. She has been cooking outside for who knows how long and we are very excited to help her move her cooking inside but not have to worry about the smoke. The stove ended up being relatively small compared to all the ones we have built so far. Granted, it’s in the house of a lady who generally cooks for her and a couple of kids, not an entire school. We designed the size of the stove to enable her to cook with larger pans on the weekends when she has guests. We are quite excited about this stove, it’s our first residential stove and comes closest to the design that we were trained to make. Betty is such a nice lady, happy to have us up there at her house and it very fun to be around. There are many kids that come to the house as well when we are there, they can’t stand not to see the freak show when it’s in town... us of course, and our white skin. Betty was very willing to help and was eager to learn our methods. We of course want to train her as much as we can so that she can pass the information on to her friends and community memebers. This is how we are helping the Simba Stove program be sustainable.
Without sustainability, our efforts here in Lugazi are only short-term and will on affect the people we work with directly. Well, our goal as HELP International volunteers is so create sustainable support. Everything we do here needs to be able to be replicated by the people here with not much effort. So, in order to have our training of how to make Simba Stoves go the farthest, we feel the absolute need to teach the people so that they in turn can replicate our work and help more and more people. I think about how good it feels just to help the people here for only a couple of months. But the thoughts and feelings of my work and knowledge being extended infinitely after I leave brings so much more happiness. There is a man named Joshua that I think is going to be of great help in the future. He seems very interested in what we are doing and wants to be involved. It will be nice to have a “representative” for the village of Namengo, one who will be able to assist people like Betty in making stoves in her friend’s houses.
I’m listening to Love Song by 311 right now. It happens to be one of the most soothing songs ever... give it a listen sometime.
With more and more appointments to build Simba Stoves we could very well hit our goal. We are going to have to incorporate a principle my mission president installed when I was in New York. It’s something called Focused Finding. It’s a time when you do nothing but find people to hear the gospel. Whether it was knocking on doors or fearlessing, as we called it, on the streets, we had to do it for 2 hours every day, no exceptions. Appointments did not overrule, it itself was to be considered an appointment. Anyway, we are going to have to dedicate some time such as focused finding to go out and just find tons of schools, women’s groups, or any other community situation that would like a stove. This way we can fill up our appointment book and just be constantly making stoves. This will help us reach our goal of 40 stoves by the end of the summer. I’m so lucky to have been part of the first wave, even a week extra having come with the country directors early to help them out. I have seen everything come together and been a part of all the hard work to make it all happen. This is an exciting work and truly reminds me of the mission field, something you generally don’t get to experience more than once in a lifetime.
Well, my eyes are slipping on me, I better get some shut eye. Until tomorrow.
We went to True Light this morning ready to fill in the foundation we built last week but ran into a problem: they hadn’t gotten enough clay. They had gotten less than half of what we needed. We told him we needed two more large bags of clay. He informed us that the bags were each 5000 shillings. Amber and I talked about it a seconded and decided that we could pay for one of the extra bags. They had already provided the cement which we usually go and decided we could switch the cost of the cement we didn’t use to help paying for the clay. Isaac told us that they could have it by Wednesday, hopefully that’s when we come back and do it.
We made our third Simba Stove foundation today at a lady’s house named Betty. She was present when we made the stove at Equator Primary School and was very interested in having us come to here home and help her install a stove. Amber, Leslie, Emily and I went up there to build it. We are building the stove in her home in the kitchen area. She has been cooking outside for who knows how long and we are very excited to help her move her cooking inside but not have to worry about the smoke. The stove ended up being relatively small compared to all the ones we have built so far. Granted, it’s in the house of a lady who generally cooks for her and a couple of kids, not an entire school. We designed the size of the stove to enable her to cook with larger pans on the weekends when she has guests. We are quite excited about this stove, it’s our first residential stove and comes closest to the design that we were trained to make. Betty is such a nice lady, happy to have us up there at her house and it very fun to be around. There are many kids that come to the house as well when we are there, they can’t stand not to see the freak show when it’s in town... us of course, and our white skin. Betty was very willing to help and was eager to learn our methods. We of course want to train her as much as we can so that she can pass the information on to her friends and community memebers. This is how we are helping the Simba Stove program be sustainable.
Without sustainability, our efforts here in Lugazi are only short-term and will on affect the people we work with directly. Well, our goal as HELP International volunteers is so create sustainable support. Everything we do here needs to be able to be replicated by the people here with not much effort. So, in order to have our training of how to make Simba Stoves go the farthest, we feel the absolute need to teach the people so that they in turn can replicate our work and help more and more people. I think about how good it feels just to help the people here for only a couple of months. But the thoughts and feelings of my work and knowledge being extended infinitely after I leave brings so much more happiness. There is a man named Joshua that I think is going to be of great help in the future. He seems very interested in what we are doing and wants to be involved. It will be nice to have a “representative” for the village of Namengo, one who will be able to assist people like Betty in making stoves in her friend’s houses.
I’m listening to Love Song by 311 right now. It happens to be one of the most soothing songs ever... give it a listen sometime.
With more and more appointments to build Simba Stoves we could very well hit our goal. We are going to have to incorporate a principle my mission president installed when I was in New York. It’s something called Focused Finding. It’s a time when you do nothing but find people to hear the gospel. Whether it was knocking on doors or fearlessing, as we called it, on the streets, we had to do it for 2 hours every day, no exceptions. Appointments did not overrule, it itself was to be considered an appointment. Anyway, we are going to have to dedicate some time such as focused finding to go out and just find tons of schools, women’s groups, or any other community situation that would like a stove. This way we can fill up our appointment book and just be constantly making stoves. This will help us reach our goal of 40 stoves by the end of the summer. I’m so lucky to have been part of the first wave, even a week extra having come with the country directors early to help them out. I have seen everything come together and been a part of all the hard work to make it all happen. This is an exciting work and truly reminds me of the mission field, something you generally don’t get to experience more than once in a lifetime.
Well, my eyes are slipping on me, I better get some shut eye. Until tomorrow.
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