lazy sunday afternoon

hello avid readers! bahaha.
yesterday was the kickoff day for kickball. ive found some fairly cheap- well i got ripped off with the muzungu (white person) price- balls that work really well, pretty similiar to a kickball in the US, but know to send hellen next time for the acholi price! however, we sadly only had 10 kids show up, 6 of which were 5 or younger and the feeling is that they will not be able to follow the game and the program (workshops and all) were designed for older kids. There were four boys from the youth club tree program that turned up to coach, so that was really encouraging. They seem really keen to do it and will be there, and even having them there we could run games. Looks like it will be slow to start and even if we can get two teams, enough to try to play a game we will go with that next week. Eric, the boda man, didn’t turn up, which is unfortunate and his phone has been off since. He will be good to get kids there- but it takes getting him there! I was a little disappointed, especially as workshops are meant to start next week, but there aren’t any kids nor are they turning up at even close to a steady time (apparently 10 came at 8am because they were excited). Awesome to be excited, just come when you can play! So next week I will teach them to play regardless of how many there are and will attempt to run a workshop on leadership. Also, we will see how the 5 minute English warm ups go, despite having no idea where the kids are. We will start with ABCs and see how it goes. Also, Hope will be back in Gulu Monday for the week and we can hopefully talk through mobilizing the children more. Still hopefully and we will go with what we’ve got. If nothing else, they can play kickball while I am here. They did enjoy just playing football and the drums yesterday.

Last night, I met the second famous person of my life, I met Invisible Children’s Jolie. For those of you who haven’t seen IC, you should and you’d have a much better idea about what life was like here and what im working with. But it’s a documentary about the war that lasted for 24 years here. It was interesting to hear Martha say that Jolie started IC, when really three American boys who were headed to sudan ended up here and found out what was going on, met Jolie, and decided to make a documentary. BUT either way, Jolie is the heart and sole (yes intentionally sole) of IC and the organization on the ground here is her life. Well, that and the bar she runs (where I met her) to pay school fees for 50 children. All in all, I was amazed to meet her and got to tell her that IC is the reason I wanted to come work in Gulu and how amazing the work they are doing is.

We also made plans to travel on Friday of this week (a national holiday) to a rock (mountain?) about 3 hours away where Alice Lakwena used to go and drink tea. Alice started the LRA and the war in the North, when the spirit took over her. Joseph Kony, the much more known name behind the LRA and the International Criminal Court target for war crimes, claimed to overtake the spirit of Alice Lakwena because he was related to her and thus the war really took off. (that’s my memory at least of the start, you can read more at invisiblechildren.org if you wish. ) This rock is said to be haunted with evil spirits and Martha is very hesitant to go. It will be a great way for me to see more of the North and to learn more about the war. Plus I am anxious to spend more time talking with Jolie and learning all I can. And I haven’t been to any ‘Haunted’ places since my crazy days in college with tunnels and abandoned hospitals. Should be an adventure!

I called round to see Wissit and Judy yesterday, always good to chat with them! They are doing some interesting things and always great to bounce ideas off of. This morning just before 7am, I met Wissit for a 5 mile run. Mind you, I have not run in three weeks at all since ive been here and really only here and there for the past 3 months or so! Well, Wissit standing at 5’2’’ is quite a quick little English lady and kicked my butt! Not to mention the 5 miles! But we walked some, okay, a lot, and had great conversation and got to see some small villages outside of Gulu. Talked a bit about trauma therapy and some trauma focused CBT and my dream to do therapy in Gulu. Wissit was encouraging and suggested I make some contacts now to come back and do some capacity building and training for therapist, which is par for the course for a masters white girl, rather than doing the therapy myself. She said she knew some people to direct me to. Nice!

I got a pretty little blister from my too low socks but all in all a good run. Have been exhausted since. The highlight of the morning came when Wissit let me use her shower (!!) with hot water (OH MY!). I felt cleaner than I have since coming to Gulu. We had a nice breakfast and I discovered that I do not like papaya, tastes like soapy rubbish to me! I will miss her while she is away in the UK but am excited for her to return with my package from the US (a laptop and my big straw hat!) and will enjoy the time to get myself in shape in prep for future runs with her!

All in all, things are going well. I think having Hope here this week will be good to get things a bit more organized and see about some other time fillers. The neighbors downstairs who I have come to spend a bit of time with gave Martha and I a chicken as a thank you for the chalk I gave the children. Martha fried it today and it was sooo yummy! Now we are enjoying a relaxing Sunday afternoon! I need to go to the market and try on the skirt I had made, but the thought of walking…. No way! Have a bit of a headache and my tummy isn’t the happiest, nothing to be alarmed about though! Ive been good about taking my temperature (yes, I brought a thermometer, aren’t you impressed? This girl is prepared!) when I feel a bit off. Not trying to get malaria! Or to not know I have it.

Three weeks have flown by in many ways and taken ages in others. My bicycle is waiting on wheels from kampala but soon I will be cruising around town on a lil red bike. All in all, gulu is great. Ive managed to stay out of the majority of the rain, and am enjoying this time. Crossing fingers for more interaction with children soon!

Take luck

markets, goats, and babies!

1. I think these lists work well when I have random thoughts to share rather than a narrative like story.
2. im not a huge animal person as most of you may know. but the baby goats hanging in a bag from the handle of a bicycle crying out really pulls at my heartstrings.
3. ive worked out having internet more frequently which is nice, i like to be connected.
4. a classmate from grad school was in a really bad car accident and is in the ICU. she is nonresponsive but has opened her eyes a tiny bit a few times. thoughts and prayers for katherine and her family!
5. Money is messy and creates awkward situations.
6. I spent the afternoon at the market searching for fabric, yes i am picky!, with some evangelists from texas. those who are thinking..whhhhhat are dead on, not my cup of tea. but they were nice and i wanted to give them a shot and hear them out about what they were doing. they spoke to everyone as we walked through, fine by me. they asked the stall owners to pray with them and if they knew jesus, also okay by me. all in all, it was fine by me until i became the target. I felt a bit bad when one of them told me that she wasnt sure how i felt about what they were doing becuase of the look on my face when she told me what she was there for the day we first me. shooot, never have had a good poker face. they asked me if i had a relationship with jesus and various other questions. i tried my best not to be rude or uninterested but they kinda gave up i think when i told them that if i were going to tell people about jesus i would tell them about this guy who shows us how we should live our lives and treat people, how we should feed people, care for the sick and poor, love the least. not about salvation and hell and dying on a cross. and that i think it is a stronger message coming from a ugandan to a ugandan. but, okay overall and i dont think i offended... i did cringe when we ran into others in their group and they high fived and celebrated with dancing that someone they had spoken to was later teaching his coworker about jesus. NOW let me say.... telling someone about jesus is not bad or wrong. just not my role in this big world... not how God wants to use me. tell me that we are all called as Christians to share the gospel and i will say cool- but only use words if you have to.
7. My friend anna is in the hospital and i sat with her yesterday for a few hours. was a decent room, i think i wouldnt die if i had to go to hospital, but would demand that someone stay with me allll the time, i would be so lonely! the nurses were nice, she had tv and a generator, and a real mattress! they gave her all her meds through an IV, which, eww... gimme tablets. but i guess if youre sick enough to get admitted to the hospital you need meds the fast way.
8. mental health. i am very curious what services they offer here. despite the trauma of 24 years of war, there are the normal disorders and challenges that people go through. I have seen some pretty clear mental health cases on the street, and helplessly walked by a 13 or so year old boy who was clearly not in a good place who had sat in the middle of the road. people stopped to look but from what i saw no one did anything. im still turning over and over that i just walked on. There is a mental health district meeting some time soon, so im hoping to go and see what the deal is. There is also a peace corp volunteer who is doing counseling that i might try to get up with, but i have a feeling its hiv/aids counseling. but i think mental health is a big issue.
9. still waiting to get some war stories. the effects of the displacement are clear and there are some clear injuries, there is a whole ward at the hosptial for women whose legs were cut off by the LRA.
10. tomorrow the kids learn to play kickball! YESSSSSSSSSS!
11. sunday martha and i will go hang out with some kiddos at an orphanage that she goes to some times. very excited, esp for the babies!

rain rain... love my jacket

woah, two days in a row, aren't you impressed!
spent the morning 10-2.30 in a district health meeting. was very interesting. The Ugandan Gov is trying to put into place Village Health Teams (VHT) of volunteer, elected community members that will mobalize their villages to seek medical treatment, working with incoming NGO programs, check in with pregnant and new mothers to offer support, and basically streamline all health services through one group of village members. The problem: the district doesnt want to fund it and this morning basically put it to the NGOs to fund the training for the trainers who will go to each village to establish the VHTs. The VHTs are kind of in place now, but still very much so a work in progress.
Thankfully, the NGOs threw it back to the district to see what was budgeted, but the chairmen kept asking them to commit to pay without seeing the budget or the annual plans for the project and district allocations. I know from other conversations that the district has been slow at best to get involved in the NGO work and funding and this has been a big frustration from the NGOs. Then the conversation turned to about 1.5 hours of what the role of who is within the VHTs in terms of training, financing, supporting, etc. I had just finished reading the handbook and was confused as to why people were unsure as there was a handy chart in the back that spelled it allll out. thinking that people needed to have their copies or be given copies of the chart. so that was a bit frustrating as it could have easily been answered using that book.
all in all, it was interesting to see how a meeting, particularly run by the district health ministry went. we did get yummy mundaze and bananas for breakfast and rice and chicken and greens for lunch. that was a nice surprise and won out my broken backup granola bar that i keep with me! sidenote- went to the bathroom during the meeting, and saw the worst hole for a toilet i have ever seen. i wont describe it to you... but found it ironic that the ministry of health offices probably put me at the biggest health risk yet!
Ive been kinda concerned about what will fill my time with program pretty set and only actually running on the weekends. I still have some partnering to do and some commitments from community members to get and some kickballs to find and buy. Been thinking of asking around to see if anyone has any needs that I might be able to help with, and actually met another SW student who is doing community reintegration- what i thought i would be doing. So i might tag along with her and see whats up. shes doing a lot of program evaluation, so that will be cool to see. but also just realized this morning in this meeting, its good for me to just see how things run here, to get a better understanding of it all... so working on that perspective as well.
looking forward to saturday and teaching the kids to play kickball! really relieved that Eric Boda driver extraordinaire will be helping me. (a boda is a motorcycle for anyone who missed that like my mom!)
I also think my bike is ready! we took it yesterday across the street so the man could fix it. will be hard to ride compared to my road bike, but im very excited! and im glad i could give the guy a little business, its been slow over there. The nurse will ride it to do immunizations in the villages once i leave, so i count it 20 bucks well spent.
I think i mentioned that I bought a sweet apron the other day in the market. it had a sticker on it and they assured me it would iron off and i asked if it didnt if i could bring it back. I ironed it this morning and it came off, still a bit of residue but i think i can iron it onto paper. martha told me it was the fabric label and i got good fabric so thats good. some of you know how i love my east african fabrics!
All in all things are going well. feel really good about the program i put together, need to work on some funding stuff since im not a bank. but all in all think it will be successful!
Have a really hard time being home alone without power.... martha has been away all weekend and friday night i was not ok looking at my powerless weekend alone. luckily the power came back saturday evening just as i hunkered down for another 6 hours of reading by a small candle.
annnnd powers out, thank god for generators!
take luck my loves!

thoughts

1. I hate feeling like a bank.

2. I am very thankful for Wissit and Judy and the afternoon I spent with them at their compound yesterday and for Wissit who is allowing the package to be sent to her in the UK and will bring it back from her trip home to ensure that i actually get it.

3. reading by candle light alone gets boring and lonely fast- martha come home!

4. the kickball kids speak NO english... even hello was a stretch and the balls i bought didnt make it through football. they were less than $1 each though...

5. Eric will be my new besti- he drives a boda and will come get me when i need him and he also used to volunteer with the NGO and knows the kids- he is going to help get more coaches (there were only 6 who came, and they really shouldnt even be coaching as the oldest was 14 and only in primary 7.) He is going to be a superstar- just gotta touch base with Hope about paying him orr how that works, i know there is no money.

6. mango. i have had sooo much mango! still loving it, praying it doesnt repeat the avocado disaster of tanzania. It is especially fun when we get to collect them by the pig farm and knock them fresh from the trees. they are EVERYWHERE.

7. Ive met some new friends. motmot (slowly). and another social worker! WOO SOWO.

8. Been talking with the placement agency about how to spread the word about what im doing with the contract to not disclose the name of the NGO. been really frustrating. im blogging for the NGO, on the new blog ive set them up with, but cant share it with you bc of this contract. pretty frustrating, will be a reason to not go through a placement agency again and be better about researching NGOs to work with.

9. i shoulda written these down.

10. my belly is very full but im dreaming of cheddar bay biscuits cuddled on the couch.

quick

I am in the human rights focus office where I have paid a membership
to use the computers for NGO business when there is no power in the
clinic- I have yet to see power there! i just printed documents for
the program and used almost all my credit- ahh oh well. things are
good, had a very productive meeting with a woman called Judy from
Kenya who has an MPH and lots of training on lifeskills. she is going
to be really instrumental in facilitating a few of the workshops in
the kickball program and gave me lots of good ideas. We also looked at
the programs the clinic runs and she supported me in some of my brief
evaluations, first and foremost the mission statement, vision, and
goals all say pretty much the exact same thing. So those need to be
updated.
things are coming together with the program, i will meet the parents
tomorrow, and the children saturday morning and the coaches training
and meeting is saturday afternoon. I have been invited to lunch with
Judy and Wissit, an english woman who i think will be good people to
know socially, on sunday and so the weekend will be good. I went to
see the pigs from the new Heifer International project. They are all
pregnant and should have their piglets in the next week or so! Also
the farmer let me take TONS of mangoes home with me! they were fresh
off the tree, he knocked them with a big stick while i ran around
collecting them all the while squealing like a child with excitment!
they were everywhere and are SO yummy! I had a nice snack when i got
home last night.
Went to aerobics again last night with Martha, still really makes me
giggle. But its a nice group of people and they are all very friendly
and welcoming to me. also caught the tail end of marimar- yes my awful
soap at the acholi inn on our way out! lol. lame!
all in all, things are very good! just ready to meet some kids.
yesterday on my 45 min walk home children followed me for a while.
very funny.
alright hope is ringing from kampala, have to go!

--
I dream of an Africa which is in peace with itself.
Nelson Mandela

Bye for a bit?

Hope is away to Kampala tomorrow, laptop in tow.
The clinic (my 'office') has yet to have power when I am there so I am
not sure when I will have internet again. Working on getting martha to
share hers or stopping by the community resource centre for NGO
workers.
have a meeting tomorow morning with a woman called Judy whom we met
this morning. she has lots of training in life skills and reproductive
health and will hopefully be a big asset to the kickball program and
helping with the workshops. and she is kenyan, so i will get to mack
out some swahili and feel confident again in my language abilities!
although, i must say, my acholi is coming together nicely!
I also made a new friend tday, a former volunteer with hope is back in
town. she is away in three weeks, but we talked a lot today and will
be good to know someone in town. I also met wisset, an english woman
who has worked in gulu a lot. she is soon to be my running buddy!
seems like a very cool lady, so im excited to get to know her.
so, know that i am program planning and will meet with my future
coaches on saturday afternoon! cross your fingers it goes well, a lot
of the program hinges on them! Rose seems to be confident about
getting coaches and even encouraged us to have 3 coaches per team to
include more young adults.
will get on internet when I can but am anxiously awaiting the new
minilaptop that will soon be in the mail to me! ill use it while im
here then Hope will buy it off me for easier traveling on her part! I
have a very good boyfriend for dealing with that end of the purchase
and shipping : )
take luck friends!

this is a test post from my email to see if i can post. i will have
limited internet from here on out and will have to email my posts if
this works!

--
I dream of an Africa which is in peace with itself.
Nelson Mandela

office day 1

today was a busy day! woke up early to take advantage of having Hopes laptop to Skype with mark. starting the morning off well, i knew it would be a good day. Martha and I had omlettes for breakfast and then she dropped me off at Hopes, saving me the 10 min walk. I waited there for Hope who had gone to talk to the contractor who is building the new health clinic. eventually we headed out to Agonga, where Ill be running the program to see the site and the new health centre. Luckily the contractor drove us bc that beast is far! took like 13 minutes driving. meaning er 40 walking? hoping they get that bike, though the conversation is back to the boda- ugh! maybe i can be hardcore and drive a motorcycle... just dont want to pay for gas! and the excercise from biking would be awesome- though i did go to aerobics tonight (more on that later).

after seeing the site we came back to the current health centre and i met hellen who will realy be the one helping me run this program. I also met Rose, an older community member who is really the backbone it seems of the who NGO. She is the community key informant. she is the mobilizer and she gets people to come. As we arrived there was a line of children waiting to get de-worming pills and vitamin A. Mothers were there to get tetnus injections. i asked Hope a bit about that process and apparently the kids are supposed to get the de-worming tablets every 6 months but they are chewable orange goodies and they often come every month. fundingwise this isnt sustainable, but until better records can be kept, i suppose it is to happen. they do at least record each child they give a tablet to.

anyway, back to Rose. she listened to the program idea and said she would get kids for saturday! wow, this is really going to happen. we went over the plan in depth today and talked through with hellen what I will need and how she can also work to make this sustainable. basically the kickball league will be comprised of 4 teams, each will be coached by 3 youth (think 18-24) from the youth club. They will play games every weekend and on wednesday as well when they are out of school. they will practice together and coaches will also help teach kids about sportsmanship and manners. Each saturday before the games the kids will attend a workshop which will rotate health, education, community partners, and fun. The health will be nurses teaching them about HIV/AIDS, sexual and reprodutive health, hygeiene (hand washing and teeth brushing). The education will be a mix of life skills and tutoring/lessons. We will talk about leadership and pick team captains for each team, etc. community partner workshops will really be role model/career days. each workshop two members of the communiyt wll come talk about their career and how they got to where they are. the influence will be on staying in school, trying and caring about your education, and aspriring to be something. most kids in Agonga have given up on doing anything and dont try at school. hopefully these community partners can help encourage this kids and they can set some goals. the fun days will include group games and individual games like jump rope, bubbles, silly string. basically just to give them some unstructured time to play together.

The program calander is set through December, so they should be able to run this without me. The coaches will be instrumental in leading some of the workshops and i hope to prepare them for these before i leave. i will be here through the first 7 games! So this was what i spent my day finalizing.There are tons of statistics ad the likes that go with the formal progrm plan but none of you would be interested in those- i can hear the Sowos now! NO MORE! bahaha.
its been really fun to use the skills ive learned in program development for something i will actually run! makes last semester seem sooo much more useful and worth the crazy stress!
Got home today with samosas in hand for dinner! ahh such a treat! gotta lay off these or ill come back sluggish and all. actually, i saved my samosas for after aerobics at the acholi inn wth my housemate. Now. think billy blanks- tight spandex and all, with blaring african techno and a ugandan accent. THAT is what I went to tonight! glorious! then at the end we stretched to this slow, dreadful country song from the US. the change was so drastic i couldnt help but giggle. they have this m-tr and martha will go as often as she can. the people at hte hotel know her and didnt make me pay, which is nice. it was hot as helllllll and the stank was pretty vibrant! i felt like the uncoordinated musungu in a room of ugandans, but it was fun. and might even get me in shape- although it was only moderately hard. better than nothing i say!

came home and took my first gulu shower... yes, i got here saturday, dont judge, im in africa ok? i cleaned the important bits. took about 30 minutes to bucket shower my insanely long hair. dont think i really realized how long it is. luckily it will not get washed all that often. africa people!
and now i should be wrking on my program plan but im blogging to all of you. took some pictures at the health clinic today, will try to post them soon and im sure anne is dying to know what my house here looks like and all. Anne you can stalk my housemate like mom did, lol. shes my friend on facebook. music is blaring tonight- will be interesting to sleep. but im sure ill manage.

all in all, a great day! hope leaves wednesday morning, so im anxious about and feeling program ready. hellen wil be a huge help and martha of course is great for home things. she is leaving super early tomorow so i will cook my own omlette! eeek! just hope i can get the jiko to light! (caling it a jiko because I have yet to learn the acholi word). speakin of acholi, an a tye kafwonyo leb acholi motmot... ah! i do remember it! that means i am learning acholi slowly! Rose laughed hard when i told her that. Think she will be AWESOME to teach me.

afoyo my loves,
happy summer!

pictures

Hopes adorable 2 year old sweeping!

preparing greens... yum!!

Hope and Julius, my fabulous Hosts!

power is back. now to restart the pictures... blah!

anyway, think i posted all i meant to post

ah no, gulu centre is about the size of downtown carboro- armadillo to the farmers market.

think thats about all, lol. lil factoid.

ah and Hope will take me to a wedding in one months time. pretty fun! never been to an african wedding! have to get something to wear! think ill have a dress made... will find a fundi this week.

pictures- power out

More blog time! yesss.
The above pictures are in Kampala. The big house is where Hope and Julius live. The others are around the area I stayed and my swanky bathroom at the guest house! Havent taken any in Gulu yet, but will try to soon to appease my sister. AND power just went out, wnt load pictures tonight.
Gulu town centre is a grid of 3 long roads and 5 short ones- think three rows, 5 columns. seems very easy. I already know where the supermarkets, a cute bakery, and the posti are. Tomorrow il go to the clinic with hope.

was a lazy sunday- tends to be the case. I hung out with Hope and Martha a bit (think I called her Nancy before- dont know whyyy i kept calling her that!) my housemate. Apparently, the two hours a day of power is not the case- at least so far. we have had power all day yesterday and again today. nice little surprise, i was prepared for nada. also, i have only heard rain twice in my whole time here, not ever seen it during the day. thats a nice surprise too. but im sure it will make up for it later!

Mom is sending a package soon with some things for the kiddos, and my big floppy straw hat! YESS! shoulda brought it in the first place anyway. and we've already got money for a handful of balls! Thanks guys!!
no power, trying to post before laptop dies!
take luck

quick

hi all,
dont have much time... but i am in Gulu! the bus was long but not miserable. i sat next to a man who also places volunteers so we had a decent conversation. he works with refugees and human rights, which is cool. gulu is small- about what i expected. im in the flat now and met martha, my 26 year old housemate this morning. she seems very nice and outgoing and excited to have me here. should be fun. she sells beer in the district and so she is out a lot and knows a lot of people. she also said she might run with me! thinking im not too keen on running alone yet, at least not where the flat is, too busy. I rode a boda (motorcycle) yesterday- made me a lil nervous, the driver laughed at me when i told him to be careful, he had precious cargo.
seem to have reliable power so far in Gulu, might just be the weekend though. not sure how internet will work out, should have good access when hope is in town and at least check emails in the office. looks like ill be eating a lot of omlettes, which is good- especially since i like mine plain, makes it easy since thats what we get over here. Hope is cooking stew for me now because she knows i like it : )
all in all, things are good. havent seen the office yet, not sure ill have a bike, but think i have my bearings of town and where the flat is. not as hot as i expected. its quite comfortable inside, so thats good and at night. we shall see! kickball will be hot, im sure. but nice to know ill have some break. Nancy is already set to find me an MSW so i can come back here for my field work, rather than go to Kenya. lol.
alright. more later and hopefully some pictures!
ah and some acholi words Ive learned!
take luck

Got a Spare 5 Bucks?

Hello Avid readers- LOL.
Don' know who is actually reading this, although I am sure Anne is and will soon yell at me for pictures! (don't worry, they are coming).
HOWEVER, If you are reading and want to help me, heres your first chance!

Gulu will officially have a new Kickball League!

Yes, thats right the crazy muzungu (white girl) is going to teach these kids to play kickball!
Our program is based around a new league that will teach kids manners and sportsmanship, include HIV and health seminars, tutoring and education workshops, and Role Model days with memebers of the community presenting about their careers and the value of education.

Now here is where you come in! We need balls! I will purchase one or two, but we need a decent lot for practices and to make this program sustainable- which is my biggest hope!

A ball here is about $5 give or take. SO if you can skip your morning starbucks for a morning and help me buy some balls that would be AWESOME!! you can send cash money or a check to my parents who can put it into my account and then I can head to town and make the purchase!
Truely, one ball will make a huge difference.
The address is:
317 Brandywine Rd.
Chapel Hill, NC 27516

We allllll loved kickball on our playgrounds growing up, and shoot, there are adult leagues all over NC.... can you imagine a village of Ugandan kids, whove lived through 20 years of war running the bases and laughing hysterically at me? Cuz I can!

More to come on the program soon as it fully comes together, but with your help, it will last not only through the summer while I am here to fund it (kinda... as best I can...) but will continue once I leave.

Afoyo(Thank You) from the children of Gulu
Libby

riots that never rioted

so today we went in to town despite the riots... or threat of riots. I have never seen so many police and miliary police in my life, much less that many ak47s or whatnot and strings of bullets. wowzers this town is going crazy. The opposition leader, or the real president, was suppose to come back today but the ugandan gov kept him from getting on the plane, telling kenyan airways that the flight would not be allowed to land if the leader was on it. There were people all over the streets waiting to welcome him back as he is the popular president. Basically museveni rigged the election so he can stay in office and thus the riots about the swearing in tomorrow. Cops with tear gas bottles everywhere- Hope laughed when I said I wouldnt mind getting tear gased.... bahaha, hey its an experience no? mom dont freak out, it didnt happen.

We also went to samaritans purse offices today and I got to see the other end of the operation christmas child. Hope has not recieved the gifts for this year and apparently was left off the list for those shoe boxes we pack in the US and store in the warehouse in boone. apparently a lot of people apply to receive boxes then sell them in the markets though, so the office was talking a lot about adjusting the system and how they have recently completely excluded the jinja district because of corruption. apparently, children are only suppose to get one bx in their lifetime and thats not happening. I also learned that only 40 kids per application go through the discipleship course, unlike my thought that all the kids must profess their belief in jesus before receiving a box, which i had a problem with. So it was good to hear that isnt the case. we will go back tomorrow to meet with them to ensure that gulu is on the list for next year and see about getting boxes this year since it was their error. would be very fun to give out boxes, not quite a toms shoe drop, but still cool, since ive seen the other side in boone.

I used my first pit toilet today! Now I feel like I am in Africa! there is something about peeing in a hole in thw ground that is just so different its wonderful. I also turned my cell on today to look at the calendar and noticed that somehow my google running calendar was imported to my phone! WORD! Blue Ridge runners... i have the schedule now too and will do my best... the 14 mile run my last weekened will not happen though! i did see a white guy running with a jogging stroller today and had to explain to hope and julius that they are common, tey thought he wsa crazy for running with it lol. got the go ahead to run in shorts though- DARN it should have brought some.

alright, distracted by the soap!
take luck

busy busy bees

woah, a crazy two days. Still not really sleeping well, so that makes it even more crazy. I hear the roosters from about 2.30 to 4.30 or 5 every morning. grrrr.

Yesterday Hope and I met to go over things and start really looking into what I will be doing. Ive learned a lot about Gulu and am anxious to get up there. Invisible Children and my interest has given me a good background but there is still so much to learn and understand. The children are decades behind in school, with 20 year olds just now finishing primary school. Those over the age of 25 will never get the opportunity for traditional schooling, which is a big part of the problem in Gulu. When they are on holidays there is nothing for the kids and they have three terms a year and three breaks of around one month each and then two months at christmas. I am charged with creating a kids club of sorts that ill entertain them on the weekends and in the breaks.

OHHH overwhelming! Basically she wants me to plan and run a program this summer for the kids, but also design it to be sustainable after I leave... uh and im suppose to plan it this week and begin running it next week when I get to Gulu... Sowos.. think IP final assignment in one week minus the background info. insane. feel pretty overwhelmed with it all, particularly never seeing the place, kids, or "facilities" I am suppose to function within. Budget is err zero, and I will be writing to Unicef and the other international organizations in the area to get donations and support. WOAH. No way is this going to happen by next week, so I dont know how that conversation will go. Ive drawn up a plan... yes, kickball is coming to Gulu, but havent had a chance to run it by Hope. The program is supposed to be HIV education and lifeskills oriented, with a sport aspect... but i say you cant get kids to come without sport as the highlight. so we will see. Amazing experience, i suppose, if i can pull it off. Not what I thought I would be doing, but thats ok... thank God ive had Integrated practice last semester so i have a concept of program planning.... Gina Chowa would be oh so proud- or well, lets hope this falls together.

I got a cell phone yesterday and changed money. woah downtown kampala is overwhelmingly big and crowded as hell. my cell phone has two sim cards, so two phone numbers, which i think is pretty spiffy! One has a network that calls the US cheaply- they have told me 20 min for a dollar! but last night, i talked for 30 and it said over 7,000 shillings, so $3. the other calls cheaply in Uganda. I will need it a lot as Hope will be in Kampala 50% of the time and i will be in Gulu leading the program alone. oh ya, suppose I should mention the whole language barrier with leading a program. planning is one thing but I am to lead this program with a target of 45 kids who dont speak english! AWESOME! and the only acholi word I learned isnt even a word and now all i know is afoyo- hello and thank you! Bahaha. that will be a good program!

Today we spent the day in town again, still big and crowded but not as overwhelming. went to buy a flashlight and for a meeting with two board members for the NGO. The flashlight is pretty cool, you plug it in to recharge it. then we went to the market and bought all kinds of veggies and things. dried fish! it was crazy and I got asked to buy all kinds of things. ah the joys of hearing muzungu (white person) again... and the kiddos either waved or cried, which is always fun, lol. Traffic is crazy and we actually ran out of gas twice in the city, lol. i am learning to be patient! gas is about $6 a gallon here which is out of control. in the four days ive been here i think ive been to a gas station about 15 times bc you can only afford a few liters at a time!

I am dirty and sweaty, but all in all its been a good day. Seriously thinking about my ability to happily live in Nairobi for a semester... big African cities are not for me! ahh leave that for another time. havent touched any program planning today and still havent even run the ideas by Hope, yeaaaa not gonna happen by the end of the week.

Am ready to get to Gulu and be settled. Am going to have a bike to ride the 6k to work each day. She bought a boda (motorcycle) but I tried to get away from that... apparently thats how people die the most when they travel. I am sure I will have to ride one at some point, but no way am i tryin to drive one every day! leg power on the bike please, and even that makes me nervous seeing how people drive here! it is hotter in Gulu, which I am not looking forward to- should have brought my big straw floppy hat! oh well, getting used to sweating and working on the water consumption.

all in all, things are good. miss home and people a lot- have had some crazy dreams...
So whether you are SHACing, working crazy 13 hour Mondays, or relaxing- know that you are thought about in Uganda!

ahh Uganda!

Hello All,
arrived all fine and well, but exhausted, on saturday morning. Flights were decent, long but not miserable. The Ethiopian behind me hated me for leaning my seat back and periodically poked my seat over and over, suppose eventually she figured out I didnt care. and crap movies, sadly. but guess that made me sleep more. So far, Kampala looks a lot like Tanzania. Just more frustrating that I don't know any of the langauge and I havent been able to find a fanta passion yet! grrr.

I will be staying in Kampala until thursday or friday, so that is a change of plans. MOM stop reading and skip to the next paragraph.... The recent election has sparked riots in the area and the swearing in is this thursday. Hope, the director of the NGO I am working for is having asthma flare ups from the tear gas used to break up the riots and so we will lay low and work in the office here for the week and travel late in the week.

MOM you can start reading again, I am safe and well, so all is good. yesterday I spent the day chatting with Hope and getting to see how her mother's placement agency for housegirls, drivers, and hotel staff works. One girl came in for a placement and was 22. She had recently lost her only child to malaria. The baby was 7 months old. She spoke so matter of factly about it, accepting it as a way of life I suppose. Um, if my baby had died, I would be a hot mess, not out looking to work with someone elses children! I was not sure really how to take all this.

I have spent the day in Hope's home with her and her family, chatting, eating chipati and pilau (a rice and goat dish) and lying in the yard helping her children with their school work.
My life here in Kampala will be swanky for the week, im staying in Hope's families guesti, and have my own bathroom with an actual shower and toilet! she asked me if it was ok, and i told her it was beyond any expectation. She laughed telling me that the last volunteer refused it and was taken to the hilton, LOL. She is excited to work with someone so unfussy!

It is HOT here, forget the 64 degree nights I expected in Gulu. Last night I slept just under my net and sill struggled after waking up from my 5pm bedtime (jet lag sucks)
Today as cooler, so hopefully tonight will be better.

Bugbite count: 2.
will post more soon.
take luck my loves!