There have been a bunch of random thoughts running through my head so here they are:
I rarely drink soda in the states and when I do it's diet. Yeah yeah I know diet soda is bad...here in Uganda I've started a two bottle of classic Coca-cola a day habit...which btw are glass with pop top lids, so there's not taking it to go unless you want to pay the recycle fee.
Last night I got bit twice by mosquitoes in the middle of the night...I got one on my forehead it was as big as a quarter, smack dab in the middle of my forehead. At 3am I was looking at in the mirror first thinking hmm do I want it to be a mosquito bite or a spider bite? I then thought "huh who would have thought I'd get my "third eye" in Africa and not India". I should have taken a picture of it then because it shrunk by morning.
Since we've been here, 4 people that we know of who we have been in close contact/working with have had an outbreak of malaria...guess what we don't know that many people here. Proof malaria is a very serious problem here.
Yesterday we went back to one of the camps to chat with the kids, find out about their Christmas and how they like their new beds. What did you do on Christmas? Here are some of the activities are kids did:
They went to fetch water.
They got to eat a lot of meat.
They went down to try and catch fish.
The dog ate the meat for their Christmas dinner.
They went to prayers (church).
How the kids slept on their new beds:
One girl sang to her mattress.
Another went to bed with a big smile on his face.
Another had sweet dreams.
The other night when we were coming back from Murchison Falls it was dusk and there were kids as young as 4 years old, walking barefoot, down the two lane road, alone. Where they were walking is beyond me...but how vastly different, eh?
I'm going on a walkabout with my camera in the next few days. The photos I can get on the ground of everyday life will be so much better than the photos I snap from the van when we are zooming down. I can't wait.
My type A personality has easily adapted to Acholi time. We will pick you up at 10:00am....actual arrival time about 11:30...am I worried, nah.
The Ugandans also do this thing instead of saying a verbal "yes", they kinda raise their head ever so slightly with a raise of the eyebrow...totally have found myself doing that, along with a verbal "mmm" when I'm in agreement with what someone is saying.
People have been saying I hope you're having "fun" on your trip, this is fair from a vacation...I'm having fun, but I have fun everywhere I go....this isn't vacation fun, but it's one hell of an experience.
xox
Tuesday 29 December 2009
Monday 28 December 2009
Murchison Falls
Before I tell you about our trip to Murchison Falls, can I tell you when I travel I’m pretty easy going. I’ll try strange foods, I don’t mind not showering, or cold showers, I rarely wear makeup, a hair dryer- what?, hairy legs yeah yeah. BUT my friggin hairy eyebrows send me RIGHT over the edge….and let me tell you getting them waxed here in Gulu is not going to be happening….if I moved here I’d have to teach someone how to thread, well I’d have to learn how to thread myself and then teach them. Seriously, on my layover in Brussels or in Chicago, I’m hunting down the airport spa and paying whatever amount they want, because I have TWO HUGE caterpillars growing on my forehead. I hate plucking my own eyebrows, so that’s not an option, so here I sit with really bad eyebrows…moving on!
Saturday morning, Beth and I hopped in the van with our trusty driver Jack. It took about 3 hours to arrive to Murchison Falls. As soon as we got into the park, we started seeing a variety of animals in the antelope and deer like categories, we also saw some elephants way off in the distance. We stayed at Red Chili Camp, Red Chili is a UK hostel chain here in Uganda at MF they have Bandas (which are like walled structures) and then a variety of tent like structures. We booked a 4 person tent, because that was all that was available at the time. The Nile River runs through MF National Park (duh Murchison Falls is the Nile River, but you probably didn’t know that until now). Where we came into the park, you have to cross on a “ferry” (really a barge like thing that holds 8 vans) to cross over to Red Chili. While we were waiting for the ferry, we saw hippos in the water and a herd of elephants (probably like 10) down the river from where we were standing. We took the ferry across, checked into RC, had a bite to eat and then crossed back over the ferry to meet up with our Game Drive Guide. Can I tell you that damn ferry drove me crazy. I asked one of the employees of one of the lodges why they don’t build a bridge and he said “they make a lot of money off that ferry”, which I presumed, but also during the height of rebel activity I’m sure the government didn’t want to provide an easy way across the river either.
We picked up Tigris and we headed onto the game track, at first we were all sitting in the van but then Beth and I decided to climb up onto the roof of the van into the luggage carrier. My first thought of course “I love 3rd world countries and their lack of liability concerns. Some of the most fun things I’ve ever done would NEVER be allowed in the states.” My second thought “I’ll probably die doing something I’d never be allowed to do in the states”. My third thought “I hope when it happens I’m having fun”.
This afternoon- we saw: Water Buffalo, Water Bucks, Elephants, Giraffes way off in the distance, a bunch of antelope-y/deer –ish kind of animals and THREE lions. Beth and I kept coming up with what/how we wanted to see things “I want to see a male lion with his mane”, “I want to see a male lion roaring”. I want to see a hippo standing up in the water, yawning…our order kept getting taller and taller. The first lion we saw we had to drive “off track” in fact every lion we saw we had to drive “off track”, which is posted as illegal, but you have to do it if you want to see lions. Yesterday on our second drive as we were bumping along I thought “so what happens when your van gets stuck from being “off track” and you’re 30 feet from a lion?.....”thankfully I didn’t have to find out the answer to that question. The first lioness we saw was lying next to a very dead water buck, we don’t think she made the kill as her neck was very badly wounded from a poacher’s trap, we don’t believe she would live. It was quite sad. We later saw two more lions (one male/one female) napping.
After our drive we headed back to catch the last ferry of the night. Typically when there are more than 8 vans you really have to be ready to jocky for position, otherwise some “rat bastard” is going to take your spot, even if you were there before them. There were only 8 vans waiting for the ferry, so as the vans started to load onto the ferry, Jack was sauntering back to the van after a chat with a friend. I’m sitting up front with my flips kicked off, he hops into the van and the battery is dead that’s right D E A D. He jumps out of the car to the battery, which was located behind my seat, I hop over to the driver side barefooted (it’s a stick thankfully I know how to drive one), he starts banging on the battery, yelling for a torch (flashlight). I yell to Beth there’s one in my blue bag, she can’t find it, I say give it to me find the torch, as I’m turning the ignition, watching all the vans get loaded onto the ferry. Jack yells something like “hold the ferry we are coming”. A few more bangs and the battery starts, Jack shuts the door, runs around the van, I hop back into my seat and we have a good ol laugh as we make our way into the last position on the ferry. Shew…such a fun story!!
The next morning we headed out for another game drive. We finally saw a ton of giraffes or as Jack calls them Grrr-affes. Personally, I’m digging the Grr-affes, opposed to the giraffes. I was up top of the van again, Beth stayed down below. As we are cruising along the road, perfect day, wind through my hair, I’m thinking to myself “I’m riding on top of a van, in Africa, looking at wild animals. I’m a very lucky and blessed girl”. It was so awesome.
Tigris received word from another guide where the lions were located so we made our way there, remember I’m sitting on the roof of the car. We see one lioness and we are like 30 feet from her, we then see another lioness and we get about 30 feet from her, we then see a lion walking towards us in the distance…..another van was right next to us and Beth was hanging out the window. Both guides were telling Beth and another man to stay inside the vehicle…I’m going “hello I’m on roof….do I need to be worried”…they were like no you’re fine…I clearly lived to tell about it, but I’m not going to lie, I was on the verge of peeing my pants.
We saw a ton of elephants, more grrr-affes, water buffalo, etc. etc. We then went back to Red Chili for lunch and then drove to Murchison Falls (the namesake of the park). I haven’t seen Niagara Falls, but MF is wicked, there is not a chance you’d survive. I’ll post video once I get back to the states. Again it’s Uganda so there is no railing or anything from protecting you from falling in, being pushed in or jumping in, the force is incredible. In fact when Idi Amin ruled Uganda he was accused of forcing many people over the falls to their deaths during his reign. If for some reason you’d survived the falls (which truly would be impossible) you’d get eaten by the crocodiles at the bottom.
After the falls, we started to make our way back to Gulu, we stopped at the UWA (Uganda Wildlife Authority) staff quarters. Jack knows a bunch of the guys that live there and he also knows George the hippo lives there…we got about 30 feet from George with NOTHING between us…George seems to be accustomed to the people, but I was still scared.
On our way out of the park, we saw a few elephants cross the rode in front of us. We had to bribe our way out of the gate as it’s $30/per 24 hours/per person, which we didn’t know and had overstayed our time. Luckily I had been really sweet to Rose the day before and Jack knows her well, so he gave her 30,000 shillings (about 15 dollars) opposed to the 60 we would have had to pay. We then headed to Packwatch (definitely misspelled) to buy gas to make our way back to Gulu. The park has a shell station but it is very expensive, so we headed to Pacwatch (still misspelled) to purchase black market fuel….I could tell Jack didn’t like or trust the kids who were selling the fuel, but it was our only option. This kid in a red shirt was motioning to me, his friend said he had no money (I don’t believe the red shirt kid spoke English). I said I wouldn’t give him shillings, so he motioned to the almonds and cranberries I had next to me, so I gave him those and a granola bar I had in my bag. Pacwatch was very destitute, had no electricity and once again put into perspective how our world is so different.
We made it home just fine and had a good time telling Jen all about the fun she missed.
Today we are off to one of the camps we gave beds to, to learn more about how they’ve been sleeping and have a bit of fun with them. Yeah can’t wait!!
Saturday morning, Beth and I hopped in the van with our trusty driver Jack. It took about 3 hours to arrive to Murchison Falls. As soon as we got into the park, we started seeing a variety of animals in the antelope and deer like categories, we also saw some elephants way off in the distance. We stayed at Red Chili Camp, Red Chili is a UK hostel chain here in Uganda at MF they have Bandas (which are like walled structures) and then a variety of tent like structures. We booked a 4 person tent, because that was all that was available at the time. The Nile River runs through MF National Park (duh Murchison Falls is the Nile River, but you probably didn’t know that until now). Where we came into the park, you have to cross on a “ferry” (really a barge like thing that holds 8 vans) to cross over to Red Chili. While we were waiting for the ferry, we saw hippos in the water and a herd of elephants (probably like 10) down the river from where we were standing. We took the ferry across, checked into RC, had a bite to eat and then crossed back over the ferry to meet up with our Game Drive Guide. Can I tell you that damn ferry drove me crazy. I asked one of the employees of one of the lodges why they don’t build a bridge and he said “they make a lot of money off that ferry”, which I presumed, but also during the height of rebel activity I’m sure the government didn’t want to provide an easy way across the river either.
We picked up Tigris and we headed onto the game track, at first we were all sitting in the van but then Beth and I decided to climb up onto the roof of the van into the luggage carrier. My first thought of course “I love 3rd world countries and their lack of liability concerns. Some of the most fun things I’ve ever done would NEVER be allowed in the states.” My second thought “I’ll probably die doing something I’d never be allowed to do in the states”. My third thought “I hope when it happens I’m having fun”.
This afternoon- we saw: Water Buffalo, Water Bucks, Elephants, Giraffes way off in the distance, a bunch of antelope-y/deer –ish kind of animals and THREE lions. Beth and I kept coming up with what/how we wanted to see things “I want to see a male lion with his mane”, “I want to see a male lion roaring”. I want to see a hippo standing up in the water, yawning…our order kept getting taller and taller. The first lion we saw we had to drive “off track” in fact every lion we saw we had to drive “off track”, which is posted as illegal, but you have to do it if you want to see lions. Yesterday on our second drive as we were bumping along I thought “so what happens when your van gets stuck from being “off track” and you’re 30 feet from a lion?.....”thankfully I didn’t have to find out the answer to that question. The first lioness we saw was lying next to a very dead water buck, we don’t think she made the kill as her neck was very badly wounded from a poacher’s trap, we don’t believe she would live. It was quite sad. We later saw two more lions (one male/one female) napping.
After our drive we headed back to catch the last ferry of the night. Typically when there are more than 8 vans you really have to be ready to jocky for position, otherwise some “rat bastard” is going to take your spot, even if you were there before them. There were only 8 vans waiting for the ferry, so as the vans started to load onto the ferry, Jack was sauntering back to the van after a chat with a friend. I’m sitting up front with my flips kicked off, he hops into the van and the battery is dead that’s right D E A D. He jumps out of the car to the battery, which was located behind my seat, I hop over to the driver side barefooted (it’s a stick thankfully I know how to drive one), he starts banging on the battery, yelling for a torch (flashlight). I yell to Beth there’s one in my blue bag, she can’t find it, I say give it to me find the torch, as I’m turning the ignition, watching all the vans get loaded onto the ferry. Jack yells something like “hold the ferry we are coming”. A few more bangs and the battery starts, Jack shuts the door, runs around the van, I hop back into my seat and we have a good ol laugh as we make our way into the last position on the ferry. Shew…such a fun story!!
The next morning we headed out for another game drive. We finally saw a ton of giraffes or as Jack calls them Grrr-affes. Personally, I’m digging the Grr-affes, opposed to the giraffes. I was up top of the van again, Beth stayed down below. As we are cruising along the road, perfect day, wind through my hair, I’m thinking to myself “I’m riding on top of a van, in Africa, looking at wild animals. I’m a very lucky and blessed girl”. It was so awesome.
Tigris received word from another guide where the lions were located so we made our way there, remember I’m sitting on the roof of the car. We see one lioness and we are like 30 feet from her, we then see another lioness and we get about 30 feet from her, we then see a lion walking towards us in the distance…..another van was right next to us and Beth was hanging out the window. Both guides were telling Beth and another man to stay inside the vehicle…I’m going “hello I’m on roof….do I need to be worried”…they were like no you’re fine…I clearly lived to tell about it, but I’m not going to lie, I was on the verge of peeing my pants.
We saw a ton of elephants, more grrr-affes, water buffalo, etc. etc. We then went back to Red Chili for lunch and then drove to Murchison Falls (the namesake of the park). I haven’t seen Niagara Falls, but MF is wicked, there is not a chance you’d survive. I’ll post video once I get back to the states. Again it’s Uganda so there is no railing or anything from protecting you from falling in, being pushed in or jumping in, the force is incredible. In fact when Idi Amin ruled Uganda he was accused of forcing many people over the falls to their deaths during his reign. If for some reason you’d survived the falls (which truly would be impossible) you’d get eaten by the crocodiles at the bottom.
After the falls, we started to make our way back to Gulu, we stopped at the UWA (Uganda Wildlife Authority) staff quarters. Jack knows a bunch of the guys that live there and he also knows George the hippo lives there…we got about 30 feet from George with NOTHING between us…George seems to be accustomed to the people, but I was still scared.
On our way out of the park, we saw a few elephants cross the rode in front of us. We had to bribe our way out of the gate as it’s $30/per 24 hours/per person, which we didn’t know and had overstayed our time. Luckily I had been really sweet to Rose the day before and Jack knows her well, so he gave her 30,000 shillings (about 15 dollars) opposed to the 60 we would have had to pay. We then headed to Packwatch (definitely misspelled) to buy gas to make our way back to Gulu. The park has a shell station but it is very expensive, so we headed to Pacwatch (still misspelled) to purchase black market fuel….I could tell Jack didn’t like or trust the kids who were selling the fuel, but it was our only option. This kid in a red shirt was motioning to me, his friend said he had no money (I don’t believe the red shirt kid spoke English). I said I wouldn’t give him shillings, so he motioned to the almonds and cranberries I had next to me, so I gave him those and a granola bar I had in my bag. Pacwatch was very destitute, had no electricity and once again put into perspective how our world is so different.
We made it home just fine and had a good time telling Jen all about the fun she missed.
Today we are off to one of the camps we gave beds to, to learn more about how they’ve been sleeping and have a bit of fun with them. Yeah can’t wait!!
Photos from Murchison Falls
My apologies there are just a few pics. I somehow blew my laptop power cord today, thankfully my computer wasn't plugged into it. So I had to quickly choose a few and get them onto a stick. Praying for a "Mac Miracle" up here in Gulu.
Grr-affes right off the road outside of Murch Falls
Uh yeah he's real...and yes that is true fear on my face.
George the Hippo at the UWA staff quarters
Baby elephant
Beth and I riding on top of the van
Really dead Water buck and dying lioness. We believe she was caught in a poacher's trap
Grr-affes right off the road outside of Murch Falls
Uh yeah he's real...and yes that is true fear on my face.
George the Hippo at the UWA staff quarters
Baby elephant
Beth and I riding on top of the van
Really dead Water buck and dying lioness. We believe she was caught in a poacher's trap
Christmas Photos
Our Christmas family. The two older Mzungus- Jerry and Candace. The Ugandan Woman- the owner of the hotel. Can I just say, I can NOT believe almost every single person is looking at the camera....we took two pics. I was AMAZED.
Jen reading to Teddy "Bear" - my addition to her name (one of the 16 year old girls helping Candace and Jerry for the weekend) and Catherine.
Me and Fa Fa
Patrick having a blast with one of the donated cameras and my tripod
April and Catherine. She's wearing the necklace I gave her.
The kids playing in our little "courtyard" area.
Patrick the 13 year old getting a chance to "be a kid".
Jen reading to Teddy "Bear" - my addition to her name (one of the 16 year old girls helping Candace and Jerry for the weekend) and Catherine.
Me and Fa Fa
Patrick having a blast with one of the donated cameras and my tripod
April and Catherine. She's wearing the necklace I gave her.
The kids playing in our little "courtyard" area.
Patrick the 13 year old getting a chance to "be a kid".
A Gulu Christmas Story
Good Morning. It’s the day after Christmas here in Gulu. I’m attempting to get this entry typed up before Beth and I head to Murchison Fallls, but my eyeballs are slightly glued shut.
Yesterday was a big day for Beth, Jen and I and of course the 11 orphans from Home of Love (HOL) and their caretakers Candace and Jerry. Candace and Jerry were fortunate enough to have the assistance of both Barbara and Teddy, two teenagers who are spending the 4-day break with them to help with the kids.
Home of Love Orphans are children who have been born to child mothers and/or born in the bush. The kids who live at HOL have no immediate parents, due to either abandonment or deaths of their parents. HOL currently cares for 49 children. The government insists that kids in orphanages go back to any relative even if it’s distant during the holidays. These 11 kids have no one to go home to.
The day started off with Candace picking the three of us up from our hotel and heading to Deliverance church. The church is a simple one room building with wooden benches up front for the kids and plastic chairs in the back for the adults. I chose to sit with the kids, because well that’s where all the action is. The service was mostly in Acholi but some English as well. There was a lot of dancing and praising going on, as I was jumping up and down, dancing with the kids I thought “well I’m definitely getting my cardio in today”.
The HOL kids by now recognized us from the 2 days prior we had hung out with them, they seemed happy to see us. What was cute were all the other kids from the church who had not seen these 3 Mzungus (white people) before and were mesmerized with watching us dance, smiling at them, etc. It was a neat experience.
After church was over we all headed back to our hotel, we sat the kids down with paper, colored pencils and crayons and let them draw while we came up with the next plan of action. Katherine one of the girls who I’d say is probably 11 started to cry while she was drawing. I encouraged her to stand up and come with me into the hotel lobby where she just cried and cried. I kept my arm around her and read her a Christmas story. She’s pretty shy, so while she understands English she did not verbalize her tears. I’m assuming it has something to do with her story. Katherine’s mom is still alive, yet wants nothing to do with her. One day as she was being driven to school she saw her mom in the market, a few days later, she ran away from HOL in search of her mom, she never found her and came back to HOL of in tears, defeated and rejected. Katherine is such a sweet girl. No child should have to endure that kind of rejection, especially from her mother. As we were sitting there I put a necklace I had been wearing around her neck, at the end of the day, as the van was getting ready to pull away from our hotel, Katherine motioned like, do you want this back and I gave her the ‘no keep it” gesture (we both didn’t want to make a big deal out of it as I didn’t want the other kids to notice I had given her a necklace), we both just smiled really big at each other. I’d like to think when she wears that necklace, she’ll remember the day we spent together and how much 3 crazy Mzungus love her.
Once the kids had enough of drawing, Jen read a story, they played with puzzles Beth had created from magazine photos, then it was time for Christmas lunch. Did we have have feast!?! We had chicken, beef, rice, beans, do-do (pronounced doe- doe), matoke (which is part of the banana family and no I didn’t have any), potatoes, cooked cabbage and some cooked greens, along with all the soda the kids could drink.
Little Moses was sitting on my lap during dinner. I would guess Moses is about 15 months old. He had already eaten but I was feeding him off my plate while he sat on my lap, he was eating chicken right off the bone, the whole time I’m thinking never in the US would a 15 month old be eating chicken off the bone. We also suspect Moses has worms as he has a distended belly and puts away food like a quarterback. HOL was planning on taking him for treatment.
After lunch, Beth came up with a great game of keep the balloon up in the air. All of the children loved it, even the 13 year old boy put down his guard and had a big smile on his face as he continued to keep hitting the balloons into the air. Of course having balloons around some of the small children was an issue. I think I pulled balloon shards out of Jasper’s mouth (he’s probably 3) at least 3 times if not 4. He’d find a popped balloon stick it in his mouth and just chew and chew. I’d say Jasper come here, stick my finger in his mouth and go “no Jasper stop eating balloons”. I’m thinking good Lord the last thing we need is a kid choking, but thankfully it all worked out fine.
I had some of the cameras out for the kids to play with and even let Patrick the 13 year old use my good camera. They love snapping (we try to avoid using the word “shooting” here in Gulu). We ended with a game of Pin the Horns on the Goat (thanks to Beth’s ingenuity) and opened Christmas presents from a teacher back in Nashville. God works in funny ways, this teacher had sent 14 books wrapped, we had 13 kids…we didn’t know before we got here how we’d be spending Christmas or with who, so thankful for that gift and how it worked out.
I learned the kids’ names pretty quickly, but Jen and Beth both struggled with remembering their names…I chalk it up to me being younger than them , but one of the girl’s is named Fatuma. I have a friend back in the states named Fatima, she goes by Fa Fa. So I nicknamed Fatuma here in Gulu, Fa Fa, she absolutely loved it, insisting I write Fa Fa on her drinking cup, in the book she received for Christmas.
I didn’t take a photo of the kids as we were packing them back into the van and sending them off with Candace and Jerry for the night, but the smiles on their faces, the big waves and the sounds of “Byyyeeee Byeeee Byeeeee” will remain in my memory for many years. It was a very special Christmas.
Yesterday was a big day for Beth, Jen and I and of course the 11 orphans from Home of Love (HOL) and their caretakers Candace and Jerry. Candace and Jerry were fortunate enough to have the assistance of both Barbara and Teddy, two teenagers who are spending the 4-day break with them to help with the kids.
Home of Love Orphans are children who have been born to child mothers and/or born in the bush. The kids who live at HOL have no immediate parents, due to either abandonment or deaths of their parents. HOL currently cares for 49 children. The government insists that kids in orphanages go back to any relative even if it’s distant during the holidays. These 11 kids have no one to go home to.
The day started off with Candace picking the three of us up from our hotel and heading to Deliverance church. The church is a simple one room building with wooden benches up front for the kids and plastic chairs in the back for the adults. I chose to sit with the kids, because well that’s where all the action is. The service was mostly in Acholi but some English as well. There was a lot of dancing and praising going on, as I was jumping up and down, dancing with the kids I thought “well I’m definitely getting my cardio in today”.
The HOL kids by now recognized us from the 2 days prior we had hung out with them, they seemed happy to see us. What was cute were all the other kids from the church who had not seen these 3 Mzungus (white people) before and were mesmerized with watching us dance, smiling at them, etc. It was a neat experience.
After church was over we all headed back to our hotel, we sat the kids down with paper, colored pencils and crayons and let them draw while we came up with the next plan of action. Katherine one of the girls who I’d say is probably 11 started to cry while she was drawing. I encouraged her to stand up and come with me into the hotel lobby where she just cried and cried. I kept my arm around her and read her a Christmas story. She’s pretty shy, so while she understands English she did not verbalize her tears. I’m assuming it has something to do with her story. Katherine’s mom is still alive, yet wants nothing to do with her. One day as she was being driven to school she saw her mom in the market, a few days later, she ran away from HOL in search of her mom, she never found her and came back to HOL of in tears, defeated and rejected. Katherine is such a sweet girl. No child should have to endure that kind of rejection, especially from her mother. As we were sitting there I put a necklace I had been wearing around her neck, at the end of the day, as the van was getting ready to pull away from our hotel, Katherine motioned like, do you want this back and I gave her the ‘no keep it” gesture (we both didn’t want to make a big deal out of it as I didn’t want the other kids to notice I had given her a necklace), we both just smiled really big at each other. I’d like to think when she wears that necklace, she’ll remember the day we spent together and how much 3 crazy Mzungus love her.
Once the kids had enough of drawing, Jen read a story, they played with puzzles Beth had created from magazine photos, then it was time for Christmas lunch. Did we have have feast!?! We had chicken, beef, rice, beans, do-do (pronounced doe- doe), matoke (which is part of the banana family and no I didn’t have any), potatoes, cooked cabbage and some cooked greens, along with all the soda the kids could drink.
Little Moses was sitting on my lap during dinner. I would guess Moses is about 15 months old. He had already eaten but I was feeding him off my plate while he sat on my lap, he was eating chicken right off the bone, the whole time I’m thinking never in the US would a 15 month old be eating chicken off the bone. We also suspect Moses has worms as he has a distended belly and puts away food like a quarterback. HOL was planning on taking him for treatment.
After lunch, Beth came up with a great game of keep the balloon up in the air. All of the children loved it, even the 13 year old boy put down his guard and had a big smile on his face as he continued to keep hitting the balloons into the air. Of course having balloons around some of the small children was an issue. I think I pulled balloon shards out of Jasper’s mouth (he’s probably 3) at least 3 times if not 4. He’d find a popped balloon stick it in his mouth and just chew and chew. I’d say Jasper come here, stick my finger in his mouth and go “no Jasper stop eating balloons”. I’m thinking good Lord the last thing we need is a kid choking, but thankfully it all worked out fine.
I had some of the cameras out for the kids to play with and even let Patrick the 13 year old use my good camera. They love snapping (we try to avoid using the word “shooting” here in Gulu). We ended with a game of Pin the Horns on the Goat (thanks to Beth’s ingenuity) and opened Christmas presents from a teacher back in Nashville. God works in funny ways, this teacher had sent 14 books wrapped, we had 13 kids…we didn’t know before we got here how we’d be spending Christmas or with who, so thankful for that gift and how it worked out.
I learned the kids’ names pretty quickly, but Jen and Beth both struggled with remembering their names…I chalk it up to me being younger than them , but one of the girl’s is named Fatuma. I have a friend back in the states named Fatima, she goes by Fa Fa. So I nicknamed Fatuma here in Gulu, Fa Fa, she absolutely loved it, insisting I write Fa Fa on her drinking cup, in the book she received for Christmas.
I didn’t take a photo of the kids as we were packing them back into the van and sending them off with Candace and Jerry for the night, but the smiles on their faces, the big waves and the sounds of “Byyyeeee Byeeee Byeeeee” will remain in my memory for many years. It was a very special Christmas.
Thursday 24 December 2009
Update from Gulu
Today marks a week since we’ve arrived to Gulu, can I tell you it feels like a lifetime that we have been here.
Northern Uganda has suffered tremendously over the past 20 years and there is a lot to be done here. Many Northerners are glad that things are starting to go back to normal and that the threat of the LRA seems to be diminishing, but the threat still lurks in the shadow. It is no secret that the current President of Uganda (President Museveni) is no friend of the Acholi (the largest tribe in the North). He is so unpopular, 97% of the Acholi voted against him. Prior to Museveni’s rules there were term limits, but like any good man who likes to wield power, he changed that rule. The next election is in 2011, so many Acholi are waiting to see what the next election brings before they can truly feel like life can go back to normal.
Prior to the LRA’s reign of terror, children went to school, people farmed and overall lived a fairly happy life here in Northern Uganda. While the Acholi are moving back to that kind of life the past 20 years have wrecked havoc on their spirit and it is slow process to regain some sense of normalcy.
Jen has been meeting with a number of different people we have met, in order to get more of the low down on Gulu, the other NGOs working in the area, and who is meeting what needs of these people. One man told her that the kids that are now coming back to seek amnesty have been in the bush since they were 9 and some can be old as 28. I can’t even begin to imagine the deprogramming it takes to retrain a 28 year old who has been in the bush fighting a civil war with horrific guerrilla tactics. During all of this, the Acholi have insisted on giving amnesty to anyone who leaves the LRA in order to encourage more kids to come home and get on with their lives. The Acholi knew that most of these kids were abducted, brainwashed and forced to commit acts that they would not have done on their own.
Many NGOs are working on play, dance, art therapy to get through to a lot of these kids and give them a sliver of their childhood. While many of the kids we interact with smile, there are still many who don’t, whether that’s because they are shy or still recovering from the trauma they have endured it’s hard to say.
The need here is still great, but the key I believe is empowering the Acholi to rebuild and to be able to sustain themselves, but that will begin to happen at a day at a time.
While we’ve been here eating is low on the priority list, I’d say I’ve been eating easily ½ the calories I’d eat in a day in the states. Yes you do here the woo woo in my head as I anticipate getting on the scale when I get back home. Many days we are so hot, that eating lunch is not necessary, but also the availability of variety is slim. Since we’ve been here I’ve had tilapia and fries, rice and beans, vegetable curry, eggs for breakfast, and pizza with green peppers. Today at the market we did pick up some mangos, bananas and a pineapple for our Christmas celebration.
Tomorrow we will be celebrating Christmas with 13 orphans from an organization called “Home of Love”. The government insists that if the children have even a distant relative that they go back to their village for the holidays. These 13 kids have absolutely no one to go home to this holiday season. Candace and Jerry to Americans who run Home of Love have the kids with them for the next four days, while their employees have the weekend off. While the kids are essentially well behaved, that’s still a lot of children to reign in for four days. Today, we spent a few hours with them playing and I insisted on buying lunch for all of us. For 16 of us to either eat beans and posho (like a heavy cream of wheat) or beans and sweet potatoes it cost about 23 dollars. 23 dollars to feed 13 kids and 3 adults, I felt it was the least I could do today for these kids. Tomorrow we have ordered a feast from our hotel restaurant…I’m hoping we don’t make the kids sick with all of the food. We will also do finger painting, play “pin the horns” on the goat (thanks to Beth’s creative idea, along with some other fun games.
We had met these kids on Monday while we were visiting Home of Love, so it was good to see them again today and by tomorrow we will be old friends. On Monday while we were at the orphanage one of the little boys was very sick with malaria. When Candace took us back into town, we also brought Patrick with us so he could go to the clinic to receive malaria treatment. Beth offered to pay for his treatment, it ended up he had cerebral malaria which is 50% fatal if not treated within the first 48 hours. He received three drips over 2 days, the total cost of his treatment $11US. Today when we saw him, he looked 100% better, I’m so happy to report.
Yesterday, we went out to one of the camps to distribute beds, we were way out in the busy. I was walking around taking some photos and I thought to myself “holy crap I am but a speck on this earth right now, way the hell out in the bush, right now, it was an interesting feeling, to be SO remote”. In fact, I’m not sure I’ll ever be scared again being out in the woods in the states, after being so far out yesterday.
Things that I find funny and/or cute here in Acholi- land:
It is common that you always say Hello! How are you? So sometimes I start out with just saying hi and someone’s reply will be I’m fine.
Or you’ll walk into a store and they’ll say “You’re welcome”. They are so hospitable here.
Or you’ll drive down a road and kids will run from their huts running and waving saying “Byeeeeeee Byeeeeee” So stinking cute.
I’ve come to the conclusion that my feet will never be clean here, I don’t care but the other day I was looking at them and was like good Lord these suckers are dirty. I’ll take a photo one day when they are good and dirty for you all to see
Saturday, Beth and I are heading to Murchison Falls, to go see the falls and then do a safari drive. We are staying the night there in a tent, Jen is staying here in Gulu. She says she has a lot of work to do today, but I know the truth, she doesn’t “do tent”. I’m getting excited about seeing some animals out in the wild.
It is Christmas Eve here in Gulu, for most of you it is Christmas eve morning and you are starting to meet family, prepare meals, open gifts and enjoy one another’s company. Please take a moment and be thankful. Be thankful for the following:
You were born in a free country.
You were born in a country where the food is plentiful.
You were born in a country where job and educational opportunities are limitless.
You were born in a country where if you crave chips and salsa, you hop in your car and you drive the store.
You were born in a country where you go to the sink to get a drink of water, you don’t have to walk miles to a well with your jerrycan, for a drink of water, to wash your clothes, to cook.
You were born in a country where you don’t have to stand in an ATM or bank line for 3 hours to get your Christmas money out.
You were born in a country where your brothers, sisters, parents, friends, have not been maimed, killed and forced out of their homes by rebel factions.
You were born into a country where clothes are plentiful and your closet is more than what you are wearing on your body or drying on a clothes line.
We are truly blessed.
Merry Christmas!!
Much love,
April
Northern Uganda has suffered tremendously over the past 20 years and there is a lot to be done here. Many Northerners are glad that things are starting to go back to normal and that the threat of the LRA seems to be diminishing, but the threat still lurks in the shadow. It is no secret that the current President of Uganda (President Museveni) is no friend of the Acholi (the largest tribe in the North). He is so unpopular, 97% of the Acholi voted against him. Prior to Museveni’s rules there were term limits, but like any good man who likes to wield power, he changed that rule. The next election is in 2011, so many Acholi are waiting to see what the next election brings before they can truly feel like life can go back to normal.
Prior to the LRA’s reign of terror, children went to school, people farmed and overall lived a fairly happy life here in Northern Uganda. While the Acholi are moving back to that kind of life the past 20 years have wrecked havoc on their spirit and it is slow process to regain some sense of normalcy.
Jen has been meeting with a number of different people we have met, in order to get more of the low down on Gulu, the other NGOs working in the area, and who is meeting what needs of these people. One man told her that the kids that are now coming back to seek amnesty have been in the bush since they were 9 and some can be old as 28. I can’t even begin to imagine the deprogramming it takes to retrain a 28 year old who has been in the bush fighting a civil war with horrific guerrilla tactics. During all of this, the Acholi have insisted on giving amnesty to anyone who leaves the LRA in order to encourage more kids to come home and get on with their lives. The Acholi knew that most of these kids were abducted, brainwashed and forced to commit acts that they would not have done on their own.
Many NGOs are working on play, dance, art therapy to get through to a lot of these kids and give them a sliver of their childhood. While many of the kids we interact with smile, there are still many who don’t, whether that’s because they are shy or still recovering from the trauma they have endured it’s hard to say.
The need here is still great, but the key I believe is empowering the Acholi to rebuild and to be able to sustain themselves, but that will begin to happen at a day at a time.
While we’ve been here eating is low on the priority list, I’d say I’ve been eating easily ½ the calories I’d eat in a day in the states. Yes you do here the woo woo in my head as I anticipate getting on the scale when I get back home. Many days we are so hot, that eating lunch is not necessary, but also the availability of variety is slim. Since we’ve been here I’ve had tilapia and fries, rice and beans, vegetable curry, eggs for breakfast, and pizza with green peppers. Today at the market we did pick up some mangos, bananas and a pineapple for our Christmas celebration.
Tomorrow we will be celebrating Christmas with 13 orphans from an organization called “Home of Love”. The government insists that if the children have even a distant relative that they go back to their village for the holidays. These 13 kids have absolutely no one to go home to this holiday season. Candace and Jerry to Americans who run Home of Love have the kids with them for the next four days, while their employees have the weekend off. While the kids are essentially well behaved, that’s still a lot of children to reign in for four days. Today, we spent a few hours with them playing and I insisted on buying lunch for all of us. For 16 of us to either eat beans and posho (like a heavy cream of wheat) or beans and sweet potatoes it cost about 23 dollars. 23 dollars to feed 13 kids and 3 adults, I felt it was the least I could do today for these kids. Tomorrow we have ordered a feast from our hotel restaurant…I’m hoping we don’t make the kids sick with all of the food. We will also do finger painting, play “pin the horns” on the goat (thanks to Beth’s creative idea, along with some other fun games.
We had met these kids on Monday while we were visiting Home of Love, so it was good to see them again today and by tomorrow we will be old friends. On Monday while we were at the orphanage one of the little boys was very sick with malaria. When Candace took us back into town, we also brought Patrick with us so he could go to the clinic to receive malaria treatment. Beth offered to pay for his treatment, it ended up he had cerebral malaria which is 50% fatal if not treated within the first 48 hours. He received three drips over 2 days, the total cost of his treatment $11US. Today when we saw him, he looked 100% better, I’m so happy to report.
Yesterday, we went out to one of the camps to distribute beds, we were way out in the busy. I was walking around taking some photos and I thought to myself “holy crap I am but a speck on this earth right now, way the hell out in the bush, right now, it was an interesting feeling, to be SO remote”. In fact, I’m not sure I’ll ever be scared again being out in the woods in the states, after being so far out yesterday.
Things that I find funny and/or cute here in Acholi- land:
It is common that you always say Hello! How are you? So sometimes I start out with just saying hi and someone’s reply will be I’m fine.
Or you’ll walk into a store and they’ll say “You’re welcome”. They are so hospitable here.
Or you’ll drive down a road and kids will run from their huts running and waving saying “Byeeeeeee Byeeeeee” So stinking cute.
I’ve come to the conclusion that my feet will never be clean here, I don’t care but the other day I was looking at them and was like good Lord these suckers are dirty. I’ll take a photo one day when they are good and dirty for you all to see
Saturday, Beth and I are heading to Murchison Falls, to go see the falls and then do a safari drive. We are staying the night there in a tent, Jen is staying here in Gulu. She says she has a lot of work to do today, but I know the truth, she doesn’t “do tent”. I’m getting excited about seeing some animals out in the wild.
It is Christmas Eve here in Gulu, for most of you it is Christmas eve morning and you are starting to meet family, prepare meals, open gifts and enjoy one another’s company. Please take a moment and be thankful. Be thankful for the following:
You were born in a free country.
You were born in a country where the food is plentiful.
You were born in a country where job and educational opportunities are limitless.
You were born in a country where if you crave chips and salsa, you hop in your car and you drive the store.
You were born in a country where you go to the sink to get a drink of water, you don’t have to walk miles to a well with your jerrycan, for a drink of water, to wash your clothes, to cook.
You were born in a country where you don’t have to stand in an ATM or bank line for 3 hours to get your Christmas money out.
You were born in a country where your brothers, sisters, parents, friends, have not been maimed, killed and forced out of their homes by rebel factions.
You were born into a country where clothes are plentiful and your closet is more than what you are wearing on your body or drying on a clothes line.
We are truly blessed.
Merry Christmas!!
Much love,
April
Tuesday 22 December 2009
Saturday 19 December 2009
Woman outside our hotel, carrying what I believe to be a very heavy trunk on her head.
Woman reading one of the bibles we passed out to the kids in the Abili Camp
Lots of beds going home last night. Some kids have to walk as far as 12KM home with their beds.
I called this little boy "the director" because he kept pulling my hand and pointing to where I should take the photo.
Words can't describe this photo.
Nap time on a papyrus mat.
Nap time on a dirt floor
The "kitchen area" in one of the huts, some of the kids sleep in.
Mickey Mouse Jump Rope- One Dollar. Hours of entertainment and joy- priceless.
Fun with vivitar
Beds headed home.
These three boys hang out by Jeffery's house, the boy on the far left has not smiled at me yet (we've met twice now) but I'm working on it. The first thing I noticed about him were how haunted his eyes looked.
Woman reading one of the bibles we passed out to the kids in the Abili Camp
Lots of beds going home last night. Some kids have to walk as far as 12KM home with their beds.
I called this little boy "the director" because he kept pulling my hand and pointing to where I should take the photo.
Words can't describe this photo.
Nap time on a papyrus mat.
Nap time on a dirt floor
The "kitchen area" in one of the huts, some of the kids sleep in.
Mickey Mouse Jump Rope- One Dollar. Hours of entertainment and joy- priceless.
Fun with vivitar
Beds headed home.
These three boys hang out by Jeffery's house, the boy on the far left has not smiled at me yet (we've met twice now) but I'm working on it. The first thing I noticed about him were how haunted his eyes looked.
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