good week : )

this week has been good, if I am being truthful, I am amazed at how quickly 5 weeks has passed! I have done a fair amount of work this week and stayed decently busy, which is nice. Tuesday, 4 americans from Denver came to the clinic to visit. They are working with Partners Worldwide are were all from a church, looking for NGOs to partner with. It was interesting to hear Hellen talk about the NGO and what they are doing, knowing we are in a big evaluation period and Hope has agreed to a six month freeze of new programs and partnerships to evaluate where the NGO is going. (thank goodness... its much needed!)
The crew is interested in doing medical missions to do immunization, which is pretty dead on with what the nurse does a few times a month. They also had been looking for a paper bead supplier for 3 years. We arranged for them to return on wednesday to meet the women's group the NGO formed and buy beads from them. I was excited about this too since I had planned to bring beads back. I spent the afternoon with them visiting different villages the NGO works in and doing the best I could to paint the evaluation picture that I could, complete with a possible scaling back and refocusing on the part of the NGO. Their leader, a staff member from partners worldwide in Kampala commended me for the work im doing and said he was glad to see the NGO evaluating and really working out what it can best do thats focused, as he sees them as dabbling in a lot but not really making a huge impact in any area. So that was great to hear.
They asked me for suggestions on lunch and not ever eating out, all i could direct them to was coffee hut- where all the muzungu go. We had a nice lunch, cheeseburgers all around. i hadnt had cheese in 5 weeks and only ground beef one when i first arrived in gulu. Was a nice treat. I helped them buy airtime and put it on their phones and helped them with dialing home. Funny how I must have learned all of this at some point but dont remember when- probably in belfast in part...
The next morning I arrived at the clinic to greet the beaders and help them set things up for the group to buy. I was amazed when after 2 minutes of arriving, they approached me about buying it all. we are talking like 500 necklaces, if not more and about 100 bracelets. I told them to hold off, and wait to see what transpired. We then moved from here to the church where some of the women prepare their beads. other women met us there and we were about 20 in all. They showed us how they cut the paper, which is donated or bought in Kampala, told us about how they take the paper to be dyed at a local printers, then rolled for different sizes and strung. the amount of beads before us was doubled as more women arrived and laid out their loot.
strings were counted, bulk prices were negotiated, and the crew left with about $1000 worth of beads to be sold over the year at their church and through bead parties. They plan to return each year for supply (they come to gulu each year anyway) and to have more shipped mid year if need be.
The NGO, having started and supported this group, gets 10% of the profit from each market that come by way of the NGO. This ill be used to run the clinic. I also put in an advanced order with Sarah, the mego (mama) who seems to be in charge and with very good english. She told me about her recent trip to the US and galapagos islands where she taught people to make the beads. very good. I also got a very friendly price. They bead every MWF and I will stop by once a week I think to hang out and possibly learn some sweet beading skills. I am planning to have a party when I get back, like beadsforlife, but with beads from women I know. I also have contacted The Bead Store, a small shop in Carr Mill Mall about any interest they may have in stocking Ugandan paper beads. Would be fun to see them in a store and to have a continuous market for the women. So, be prepared for a late summer party to buy some sweet beads! for those of you who know the market (anne... mom...) Im bringing 3 string solid, multi, and long multi. any requests, just ask. I can pretty much hand choose color and style or if they dont have it, get them to make it. big time excited! it will be paper beads all around! :)
the babies are all falling sick, the rainy season is tough here. There is almost constant crying in the clinic as someone or another is feeling awful or getting a shot. We had a tiny tiny baby admitted tuesday night with malaria and pnemonia that they werent sure would make it through the night. She has since been discharged as is much better! Hellens daughter as well is quite sick and was coughing and sneezing all over. hand sani it is!
Martha spoiled me this week with ice cream multiple times, apples!, and amazing pork and potato roasties yesterday! yumm! between that and the burger at coffee hut, which the partners worldwide treated me to, I think ive put back on a few of the pounds ive lost. I have also gotten a bit more comfy riding the bicycle to work! did i tell you it showed up fixed, despite arguing and getting 60% of my money back adn being told it couldnt be fixed? oh silly gulu.
Wissit texted from the UK and my laptop and staw hat package have arrived! in about a weeks time they will be here in Uganda. Ive gotten a huge chunk of internet time and get to spend more time on skype, which makes merry all around. all in all, things are going quite well!
hope you can say the same!
take luck my loves
nakupenda sana....