Uganda Day 2

Most of the group slept a little last night. Our bodies are so out of sync! Since we are in the bush every sound in mother nature sounds amplified. There are birds singing songs all night and many people are struggling to sleep. Add to that the 100's of cows mooing that sound like they right next to our rooms. Many people have earplugs and that helps! Our morning started off with me and Brinlee who had been awake since 2 exploring a little on the village. We met a few girls who were pumping water to carry back to their dorms. We offered to help and walked back with them to school. One girl put a giant Jerry can that I could not even light on her head! Amazing that in order to bathed and wash clothes they are required to go to so much effort. These girls were lucky. The pump was only about 100 yards away. In many places in Uganda there are no pumps or you have to walk several miles. We saw one young man carrying 8 cans on a bike he jerryrigged with wood sticks to hold the water. The rest of the group was awake when we got back and we started out day with bacon and and egg scramble! It was delicious. Then we were off to church. It was supposed to stay at 9 but people didn't really start coming in until 10. At first it appeared it may not be very exciting, but as the morning wore on the worship for louder and bigger! Amber made friends with a little girl and had her first experience of being peed on. Brinlee and Hannah snuck up to the balcony where they enjoyed dancing with other teenagers. A highlight was Kara being asked to sing how great thou art. The people were stunned and went crazy when she sung the last note which was so high it sounded like the glass would shatter. Overall it was incredible. After church we had a lovely lunch of pizza and pineapple. We are ask going crazy over the pineapple that grows in abundance here. After lunch we gathered with the AHI staff for trainings on health, reproduction, and hygeine as well as to train the young ladies on how to use their new Days For Girls kits. We started with some ice breaker games that really allowed people to get comfortable. Ugandan girls are often shy around Mzungus. It was a perfect way to start because by the time we were done everyone was laughing. The training was a great chance for us to practice as a team what we will be teaching in schools. The girls had lots of questions and the APE team were experts! Amber did a great job teaching about the reproductive system and, Stacie who was really nervous did a great job teaching about the female cycle. I know for Becky who was instrumental in both sewing and gathering kits this was momentous. Steve and Alex taught a separate class to the young men and the feedback was excellent. We then had some time off on the afternoon. Five of the girls took bikes out to the village and came back in a rainstorm. Everything is so safe and the locals treat you like family. After the rain subsided we had a lovely dinner of kabobs and finished with a team meeting. Alex, a Ugandan that is a good friend of APF's composed a song about unity that was very moving. He shared it with the group and passed out prayer copies be had written for us to sing.

Uganda Day 1 by Suzy

After arriving with the rest of the group we finally got to Banana Village about 2 am. We were so exhausted. Asked and Stacie Parker (Miller) were already there. The beds we so small in my room that I bunked with Alex since he had extra beds. Got up early the next morning to be met with heavy, cool rain. Now the fun began! We had to load up all of the bags plus the two electric wheelchairs dad bought for Paul and St. Jude. It was tough to do on the rain. We were so lucky that the big, heavy wheelchair fit perfectly in the front seat of the bus.  After loading up we started our journey to the African Hospitality Institute about 3 hours north in central Uganda. We arrived without incident and were shocked to find this place of great comfort and beauty tucked in a the middle of a what looks like the Garden of Eden! AHI trains young people in the hospitality industry and transforms lives whole they are under the tutelage of Maggie Josiah, an eccentric American Women who lives a humble life in the bush of Africa. We were welcome with fresh pineapple juice and wet cloths to clean up from our journey. We were all totally exhausted and thankful for the beautiful mean that was waiting for us. Because AHI is training students to get jobs at big hotels, everything is made to perfection! After our meal, we took a tour of the ranch which is really where the "people" live. It was about a mile long tour where we saw the two schools we will be teaching at, and even had a little boy in the to of a tree shake some fresh mangos dinner for us. We then enjoyed another gourmet meal and wrapped up the night with and incredible devotional around the fire. Maggie shared her own story of heartbreak as a sex slave for almost 30 years and related it to the suffering of her brothers and sisters in Uganda. She asked the group to go back and act upon their intentions of helping others and to not forget our Ugandan

The 2015 expedition is going to begin June 18! Here is a quick overview of what we will be doing.

We will spend the first night in Kampala and then wake up bright and early hopefully rested to head up to the African Hospitality Institute for the next 4 nights. Where we will distribute hygiene kits, do mudding, and visit some homes. (http://ahi-ug.org/)
              
Then we will head up north to Gulu for 6 nights. Here we will dig a well and also distribute kits here. We will meet our beaders and sponsored students, and take disabled children swimming!  This is like going to Disneyland for them! What an awesome opportunity for us!
  
After our hard work we will head to Bwana Tembo Safari Camp for 2 nights where we will hopefully meet Simba and Nala. It is in the Murchison Falls area of Uganda.
 
For the last 2 nights we will be back in Kampala and the Emmaus Guest house.  There will be time for souvenir shopping and some site seeing.  

Day 9: To the Nile!

Thursday, August 22, 2013

We left Gulu and headed out to the national park for our safari amidst pouring rain - which was worrisome given that we had a 5 hour drive on unpaved  roads. The rain seemed to bring out the animals, because within minutes of entering the park, we saw elephants, giraffes and water buffalo all along the side of the road.

We made it through some sketchy mud holes, water pools and dramatic bumps when we arrived at a long muddy hill. The bus started leaning precariously to the left as the tires spun out and the engine whirred. Apparently we made enough noise to attract attention because suddenly nine men in fatigues appeared out of the bush. Given all the stories we have heard about Kony and the rebels, some volunteers thought for a second that we were under attack. In reality, they were National Park police who were stationed up the hill and were coming to our rescue. We all got out of the bus, and the police worked with our driver for about an hour carving out mud, throwing down rocks and literally pushing the bus. Between the eight of them, they only had one a tool: a hoe. In the mean time, the park sent a Land Rover that picked up half the group. When we were finally liberated, we gave our helpers a tip and drove off to great applause.

We then made it to the dock in time for our Nile river cruise in a small two-story ferry. We rode the Nile for about three hours and had a stunning view of Murchison Falls. Along the way, we also saw dozens and dozens of hippos, fat crocodiles, warthogs and tons of brightly colored birds.

"One Good Thing":

Melissa - Seeing an elephant in the wild

Stacy - Seeing a giraffe NOT behind glass or bars

Kiera - Seeing a giraffe, so that I can finally tell my four-year-old Benson that I have seen one!

Jessica - Hearing Suzy yell out, "What the crap?!" When we hit a bump and she bounced out of her seat.

Becca - Reaching the paved road

Jen - Watching 8 men silently appear out of the bush to help rescue our bus

Suzy - Getting transported away from our bus in the "rescue" Land Cruiser: an off-roading adventure

Holda - Just as I had read about in my book about the first European Nile explorers, we rounded the river bend in our little Nile cruise boat and had a dramatic view of Murchison Falls.

Leah - Being so close to a crocodile

Ali - My 17th birthday!

Shantall - Celebrating Ali's birthday

Sophie - Eating an indredibly delicious pineapple

Day 8: Meeting all of our Beaders

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

We traveled northwest out of Gulutown to a village in Awer (pronounced "away") to purchase beads from a goup of women there.  They greeted us with traditional dancing and drumming before we all settled under the mango trees for introductions and viewing their beadwork.  They had also prepared a traditional meal for us.  We all left with several pieces of jewelry and full stomachs.  

On the road back into Gulu we met Tiger, the old man to whom Suzy had originally made her promise, inspiring the creation of APF.  Unfortunately yesterday's rains prevented us from driving to his remote village, but we were able to say hello and send him back with two boda bodas full of gifts and supplies.  

Finally, we visited Tribe, another beaders group.  We were stunned at the amount  of beadwork available by this group of about 20 women.  After emptying our wallets, we were saying our goodbyes when the women honored Suzy by singing a song thanking her for hard work for Africa, and each woman placed a necklace around her neck.  

We wrapped up our final evening at St. Monica's with "shopping" from our donations for our four sponsored girls, and our last menstrual kit distribution for the 150 St. Monica's girls.

"One Good Thing":

Holda - Speding the morning walking the streets of Gulu with Jen and going into the tinsmith shop, the stationary store, the "hardware store" and the dress shop

Sophie - Picking up my awesome hand-made dress from the market

Stacey - Seeing "You're highly welcome" written in chalk in huge letters on a hut as we walked into Awer

Melissa - Watching the women at Awer do their traditional dance coplete with live drumming

Leah - Dancing with the women in Awer!

Brinlee - Seeing my brother Joseph! Seeing Tiger again

Becca - Watching Brinlee's impressive bargaining skills with the bead sellers

Suzy - When the APF/Tribe beaders put beads around my neck and sang "Suzy, working so hard for Africa..."

Jessica - When I went back to the prison with Frederick to deliver the rice and my volleyball, and they remembered us! They put their faces up the gate and said, "Thank you!"

Ali - "Shopping" with our four sponsored students, as they went through and chose things for themselves from all of our donated items

Shantall - Seeing our four students take the cute little boy outfits for their sons that I brought

Jen - Demonstrating to the St. Monica's girls how to use their menstrual kits with a little individual performance and dance while standing up on a chair

Kiera - Seeing the sass, attitude and smiles of the St. Monica's girls as they posed when I took their individual pictures with their new menstrual kits

Day 7: Swimming with kids from St. Judes and Family Dinner at Frederick's

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

By Holda:

St. Jude's is home to around 150 children, many who are orphaned or disabled. APF reserved a swimming pool at a resort hotel in Gulu and brought the children in two groups to the pool to swim. Thanks to several generous APF donors, we had new swimsuits waiting for the kids to wear. Most kids did not know how to swim, so we provided float rings and joined them in the pool. Initial splashing chaos turned into further splashing chaos as the kids got more comfortable being in the water, playing and laughing with each other. After swim time, each child received a new outfit to wear home. 

In the evening, we joined Frederick at his parents' home for a traditional Acholi dinner, prepared by his mother. Six of his seven siblings also came, along with friends. Everyone sat in a long dining room, and introduced themselves "as thoroughly as possible" with others adding "supplements" if someone had been too modest. As on many evenings, Gulu's power had gone out, so we ate and talked by lantern light. All the APF volunteers were so thankful for the host family's hospitality.

By Suzy:

Today we had an action packed day.  We started out with a shopping trip to Wawoto Kacel, a wonderful craft shop that employs disabled adults, and HIV+ men and women.  It as so much fun to see the actual craftsmen and women making their pieces of art and the being able to purchase them knowing that we were helping to empoy these sweet people.  After our shopping trip, we then went to St. Jude Children's Home with our 28 seat bus.  We had 8 of our volunteers which meant that we technically could only take  20 more kids.  But, if you know APF, then you know we never turn a child away.  It was quite the ordeal trying to load about 30 children, most with severe disabilities, onto a bus that had little room.   We noticed that there was an older girl named Christine, who had gone swimming the year before who was quietly crying off to the side.  Because she had bedsores, she was not on the list of kids that were invited.  I talked to the headteacher and begged him to allow her to come, even if it were just to enjoy the day and eat chicken and chips. He agreed and somehow we managed to squeeze Christine on the bus.  

When we arrived at the pool, APF volunteers had organized all of the donated swimsuits and blown up the floaties.  Each child was helped into their swimsuit and then the fun/chaos began!  Smiles were big and laughter loud.  I quickly noticed that Christine, the one who was to not enter the water was sitting alone sad, but later when I glanced over at he, she had managed to aquire a swimsuit  and was modestly and quitly dressing herself (even though she cannot move her legs). She then summoned the strong lifeguard to carry her to the pool.  From then on, she at with a smile on her face, legs dangling in the pool. It was reported to me later that she actually fell in the pool, but was quickly rescued.  The plan was to treat the kids to chips and chicken and give them a real feast.  Our plans quickly changed as a torrential downpour moved our direction.  The kids were quickly loaded  onto the bus, and were off .  We had planned on receiving a second group after the first were dropped back off, but because of the rain, we did not think the headteacher would bring them.  We were all pretty hungry, we ordered 10 plates of food and started to organize and get cleaned up.  

As our food was arriving, we heard the bus reappear and out of the bus stepped 40 more (able bodied) children.  We were all stunned!  We quickly organized our 10 plates of food and with exception  of some complaining German volunteers, we all gave the food to the children to share.  There was some murmuring (not APF volunteers) that we should eat and then order for the kids. I put my foot down and said that under no condition were we going to eat before the kids.  Can you imagine? We, who do not even know what real hunger feels like, sitting down in front of 40 kids while they watched us eat? Not on my watch! We fed the kids, jazzed them up in their new swimsuits and the chaos quicky ensued!  Several of the volunteers were a nervous wreck with 40 kids, none who new how to swim, splashing and playing in the water. The rain had decreased to a drizzle and that made the swimming more enjoyable.  Our group had to be somewhere at six and so to save time, we decided to have the bus run us back to St. Monica's and then go back to get the kids and return them to St. Jude.  When we arrived back to St. Monica, we all quickly started showering and getting ready for our evening  out.  About 45 minutes later, Jen and I walked outside to notice that our bus driver was still  outside.  Due to poor communication, he was still sitting outside of our dorm and forgot to get the kids back at the pool.  We quickly sent him back, were a bit late to our dinner appointment at Frederick's mom house, but all in all, a good time was had!

"One Good Thing":

Holda - Being in a bus with 39 orphaned children singing the African anthem as well as some American classics like "Do-a Deer..."

Suzy - Seeing Vincent walk!

Leah - Swimmig with Monica, who was disabled and could not make many facial expessions, and then seeing how excited she was when I let go and she realized that she coud float on her own. 

Jen - Seeing our bus driver, Rogers, come alive when he was lifting and helping the children who could not walk in and out of the bus and the pool. And seeing how the children took care of each other, with many of the abled ones literally putting their arms around the disabled ones. 

Stacey - Talking with Lilly by the pool side. (She was not allowed to swim because of bed sores.) She told me the story of how she became paralyzed two years ago because of a tumor and then, after a year in the hospital, "God gave me back my hands!"

Shantall - Dressing all the kids in brand new outfits! 

Melissa - The food at Frederick's house, especially the boo, which is a delicious peanut sauce. 

Kiera - Diner with Frederick's family, espcially the long introductions and all the "suppements."

Jessica - Holding the lamp in front of everyone's face as each of the thirty-some guests introduced themselves.

Jen - When Frederick gave a "supplement" about me, he introduced me as Joe Biden, i.e. Suzy's second in command. Best compliment ever!

Day 6: School Kit Distributions

Monday, August 19, 2013  

Today we visited a primary school in an area of northern Uganda that had once been a no-go zone for civilians. Families only started resettling the area since 2009.  The Ugandan government has recently implemented a policy of no school fees for students attending primary school; this, plus long awaited peace, has produced over-crowded classrooms.  Sometimes more than 100 students in a single classroom.  The only plumbing was a hand-powered well pump...a block of latrines stand not far away.  Lunch is simply a corn mash.  The courage of the teachers and headmistress are almost unfathomable.  But the kids' smiles came easily and they were eager to play with us.

"One Good Thing":

Leah - Playing with the kids at the school and having them run away and shreak whenever I would approach them.  

Brinlee - Playing soccer with a small group of kids at the first school.  

Sophie - Playing soccer in the rain with a group of teenage school boys. Kiera overheard the schoolmaster say, "There are girls playing soccer? They must be very strong!"  

Jess - Running into Shantell above a big mud pit while playing soccer and catching each other right before we both slipped and fell into the mud  

Becca - When the little girl in the green dress came up to me and kissed my arm.  

Shantell - Holding a little sleeping baby.  

Holda - Talking to the math and science teacher at the elemetary school.

Melissa - Getting to know Irene and seeing how excited she was about the kits and how well she explained them to the girls.  

Jen - Going around to each girl and showing her how to pronounce the name of the girl who had written her a personal note and sent a picture in her menstrual kit. Then reading the sweet and formal letters they immediately wrote back.  

Kiera - Seeing how some of the girls clutched their menstrual kit bag with gratitude and excitement when I took their pictures.  

Stacey - Watching hundreds of kids clap rythmically in unison and then respond in unison to the headmaster's calls.  

Suzie - Jumping in as choir director in front of a large group of kids and figuring out how to lead them in some of their local songs.  

Alli - Picking up clothes from the tailor and being so happy with how they turned out, and then showing them to our St. Monicas girls, who were so excited about them too.