Day 4: Drilling A Well

Saturday, August 17, 2013

Eighty percent of preventable illness in Uganda originate from contaminated water. Streams in the villages are often polluted by grazing livestock, which was the case in the village we were scheduled to help today.  Before locating a new well site, we visited the existing draw point: plenty of hoofprints and a conspicuous gray hue to the water. We joined volunteers and staff from Aid Africa (www.aidafrica.net) in setting up a drill stand, complete with pulley and a rope for human power.  Our women got right in there with the men, getting muddy as they guided the heavy metal bore down the well shaft.  Aid Africa informed us that the next day, after further drilling, fresh water was found!

"One Good Thing":

Melissa -  Walking down a trail into the village instead of driving up to it. And the singing and high-pitched celebratory screeching that greeted us when we arrived.  

Brinlee - Seeing the looks on the faces of the women and girls when I carried the jerrycan of water on my head.

Kiera - Getting muddy working to drill the well.  

Becca - Having a mom strap her baby onto my back and carrying her around most of the aftenoon.  

Stacey - When I was sitting next to a woman in the village who did not speak any English, and then I turned away and felt the woman rub her finger along my foot and then look at me and smile.  

Suzy - Throwing mud onto Jess and then having a mud fight with her  

Leah 2 - Talking to the English teacher in the village and asking him all my questions about women and Achioli culture.  

Jen - Getting my sandal stuck in the mud in front of the entire village and having a man help me get it out and then help me wash my feet and sandal.  

Shantell - The litle 4 year-old-gir, Prissy, who held onto me for a really long time and didn't let go.  

Holda - Talking to Morris and Boniface about their stories from high school, including participating in a riot to protest the lack of food. And, eating fresh okra that I had purchased at the market.  

Jess - Seeing all the kids run behind the pick-up truck as we drove out of the village.  

Sophie - Playing soccer with the girls at St. Monica's  

Ali -  Dancing at the club.

Leah 1 - Talking to 22-year-old Rodney at the club and hearing his stories about the past and about his hopes and plans for the  future.

Day 5: Gulu Prison

Sunday, August 18, 2013  

Across the street from our lodging at St. Monica's School, Gulu Prison houses about 1000 prisoners.  Only a third have actually been convicted; the rest are still awaiting trial, some longer than two years. APF donated mattresses and other supplies last year, and was invited back again this year to visit (thanks to some help from Sister Asunta).  We expected to deliver soap to the men, and kits and toiletries for the women.  But what a surprise was in store for us!  Nearly all the prisoners were assembled in the yard in the afternoon sun, while we sat under the veranda as honored guests.  The prisoners treated us to music using handmade instruments, theatre dramas, and games.  The second band performed a rousing piece with a Caribbean feel, and we simply couldn't stay in our seats!  Later we had the chance to purchase some  of the handicrafts made on site.  Frederick told us later that the prisoners wanted us to know that they appreciated being approached as fellow brothers and sisters.  Gulu prison rarely receives visitors at all...we were so privileged to be treated to such a performance.

"One Good Thing":

Stacey - Meeting the Young Women at church and recording them on video reciting the Young Women's theme. And hearing Jess give a prayer in church with her new Ugandan accent.  

Becca - Going to church outside with roosters and birds in the background, and then singing "How Firm a Foundation" and "Hark All Ye Nations."  

Ali - Wandering around the market and meeting Isaac, a shop owner who took us under his wing, showed us the market and gave us his phone number in case we got lost.

Sophie - Riding a boda boda for the first time.  

Jen - Seeing the way Suzy got up and talked in front of all one thousand prisoners and then sat down amongst them in the dirt in her white skirt.  

Jess - Playing the "sign game" with a group of prisoners in front of the entire group of prisoners for their entertainent.  

Kiera - Jumping up to dance and play with the prisoners in the "bear and lumber jack" game.  

Shantell - The two musical performances by the prison ensembes with their unique African instruments and their singing. "I've never been so happy as when I watched them perform."  

Brinlee - Getting the courage to go out in front of the crowd and dance with my mom.  

Becca - Listening to the music perfomances and watching the man without teeth in the front row smile up at us the entire time.  

Frederick - "The fun, happiness and dancing we all experienced together. Sharing a good moment can be better than sharing things or money."  

Melissa - Distributing the kits to the female prisoners. "Before that I was tired and ready to leave [the prison], but once I got with the women, I could have stayed forever."  

Suzie - When Melissa gave out the menstrual kits to the female prisoners and said, "I made these with my own hands," especially because I know how hard she worked to get here.  

Holda - Giving one of my daughter's toys to Daisy, one of the female prisoners. Then the guard came over and Daisy looked nervous, but then the gaurd said, "I'm just happy to see you talking togther like friends."  

Leah - Receiving the gratitude and appreciation of the female prisoners when they said, "Go back and know that the women of Gulu of love you."

Day 3: Rocket Stoves

Friday, August 16, 2013

In Gulu, we connected with another non profit group called Aid Africa, and they invited us to accompany their staff to a village to make and distribute rocket stoves. (Check out their website here and watch the short video about how they make the stoves: http://aidafrica.net/building-stoves/the-rocket-stove/)

They are managed by local man named George who is a very progressive leader and teacher; he gets a couple shout outs later in the post. While we were there, we distributed mestrual kits to the women who came to get their stoves and then we got to spend quite a bit of time hanging out in the village. 

"One Good Thing":

Holda - Seeing the men look so happy and involved as they built their own rocket stoves. And finding something that "hits a sweet spot" in terms of direclty filling a need that will greatly improve their quality of life

Melissa - Watching George explain to the women how to use the menstrual kits

Suzie - Realizing that one of the four girls APF sponsors at St. Monica's, Florence, is in the catering program and has been one of our cooks! And watching George pick up a crying baby boy during his presentation, holding the little guy by his naked behind.

Shantell - Playing with the girl in the village who had the blue flower dress who did not talk, but who had the best, most infectious smile

Kiera - Having so much fun playing a variety of games with a huge group of kids, including ring-around-the-rosie, duck-duck-goose, tag and red-light-green-light

Sophie - Seeing how they make peanut butter (actually "g nut butter") in the hut by grinding it on a stone

Jess - Holdig a three-day-old baby, Bosco

Stacy - Getting to know Joyce, who wants to become a midwife, and her daughter Eliza as they gave her a tour of the village

Leah - Breaking off from the group and being with one person who showed her all around the village

Alli - Preseting a donation of toothbrushes and toothpaste (that Alli herself had gathered!) to a woman living in a hut in a small village

Jen - Receiving the gift of maize from the school boys who picked in directly from their field to give to us. And teaching a young man how to take a picture on her camera - he had never used a camera before!

Brinlee - Getting peed on by a baby she was holding

Becca - Holding baby Eliza and then getting peed on by her

Tori - Hearing George and Frederick singing a traditional Acholi song to us in the bus. And playing games in the field with all the kids

Jared - When one of the Aid Africa workers said to him: "I have a problem. All of the men are drunk and they're breaking my bricks! I'm waiting for the women."

Frederick - Seeing all of you "in different actions," learning, and experiencing and serving in new ways. 

Day 2: Journey to Gulu

Every night, we have a group check-in called "One Good Thing" where each person shares one of their favorite things that happened that day. This post features what everyone shared on Thursday, August 15th. On this day, we took an eight-hour bus ride from Kampala to St. Monica's School for Girls in Gulu, where we will be staying (in the dorms) for the next week.

Sophie - Seeing the Nile! (We stopped at a bridge and took lots of pictures)

Melissa - Seeing all the babboons and monkeys on the side of the road, many with their babies

Holda - All the kids who waved and smiled at the bus as we passed

Jess - Cuting cabbage and making friends with the girls at St. Monica's who are in the catering program and are preparing all our meals

Becca - Watchig Suzy "freak out" and get all star struck whe she got to meet Donald Dunson, author of her favorite book "Child, Victim, Soldier" (He was also staying at St. Monica's)

Leah - Having a new experience with "squatty potties"

Stacy - Surviving the bus ride! And catching air on the front seat of the bus when our driver took on some gnarly pot holes. And watching people's faces light up when she would smile at them on the road.

Shantell - Watching Suzy "freak out" about the monkeys' bright blue crotches. (Potential new bead color: "monkey ball blue")

Alli - Spotting the naked man on the side of the road who was gleefully showering as we drove by

Jen - Sitting under the awning at St. Monica's to watch the thunder and lightening storm. And seeing and walking arond the water bottle huts.

Please note that these are not necessarily direct quotes. :)

Sorry there aren't any pictures on the blog yet. We are not able to load them here, but we can load them on fb, so check us out there! Just "like" African Promise Foundation. 

Kampala

We began our day meeting a fantastic beader co-op of women. These women produce hundreds of pieces of beaded necklaces, bracelets, belts, and  even rings! They meet weekly in a member's home where they design their jewelry and bead together. They have plans to earn enough to have their own gallery! African Promise Foundation will be proudly selling their pieces in the USA very soon.

We then joined the folks of Hands of Hope for a lesson on health and distribution of Days for Girls menstrual kits.  Hands of Hope runs a health clinic and promotes AIDS awareness and education in the slums, as well as sponsoring children to attend school. We gathered at their center with 50 girls and young women who were delighted to receive the cloth menstrual kits and were enthusiastic participants of the accompanying health education presentation. Many of their girls were having exams and in school, so kits were left behind to be distributed and explained by their volunteers. We split up into two groups and took a tour of the slum. Over 10,000 people live in the seven areas of this huge slum (the largest in Uganda). No electricity.  No running water.  Their sanitation system is virtually non-existent, with the residents drinking water that is shared with livestock and filled with garbage. Life in the slum is hard- to say the least. We are so glad to have brightened the lives of 50 women today!

Tomorrow we travel to Gulu... stay tuned for  more adventures!

First Stop

Greetings from Amsterdam! After 10.5 hours and lots of free movies, we are now eating Dutch pancakes, pastries and smoothies. Yum! Our pink hope T-shirts are drawing a lot of positive attention. Next leg: 9 hours from here to Entebbe. 

Tomorrow awesome volunteers like this will embark on our APF 2013 Volunteer Expedition.  Stay tuned for updates and photos!  We will also be bringing home lots of Ugandan Paper Beads and expanding our jewelry line. Stay tuned!