One Week Later-Final Thoughts

St Jude's Orphange in Gulu, Uganda

How do I sum up 5 weeks of life-changing experiences?  It's hard to do, and as I sit here writing this, I am crying.  So many emotions and experiences flood me all at once.  Where do I start?  First and foremost, Uganda is in my heart and on my mind.  Those few days in Uganda just blew me away.  I just want to say thank you to all the Rotarians that traveled with me, for the life-long friendships we formed, and for the absolutely wonderful people of Gulu, Uganda who showed us their needs, their love, and their spirit.  I want to share the lessons learned and blessing received on this trip with everyone.

1.  My daughter, Kayla, is a different person today than she was two months ago.  She has blossomed into a more mature and loving individual on this trip.  She shared her life with the unfortunate, and saw a different side of life.  She volunteered for two weeks at an autistic school and made friendships and grew to love the children there.  She then spent the next few days touring a polio clinic, fistula clinic, schools, hospitals, and orphanages.  She gained an appreciation for everything she has; her health, her home, her family, her body and just life in general.  She glows today with this new found love of life.  Uganda was her favorite, as was mine.  The Kalang Mill was our project, and it brought happiness to so many people.  They danced around her and with her and for her!  She smiled and laughed and touched and held their hands.  They loved her!  She got up very early many mornings when she could have slept in. She wasn't afraid to get dirty or work hard when we fixed a borehole water well.  She put on the vest and gloves and got right to work.  She jumped into the truck to go fetch the heavy rocks to line the water run-off area.  Again, the children loved her. They wanted to touch her skin, her hair, and even her freckles!  When we visited the orphanage, she got down with the babies and played with them and loved them and touched them.  We both would like to return next year for some volunteer work at the orphanage.  They need help so much!  Kayla has blossomed into a young woman now and she continues to grow as we discuss our trip next year and start our preparations for what she needs to learn in the next few years if she wants to live over there some day to serve the people of Gulu, Uganda.

2.  I have made so many life-long friendships on this trip.  I lived with Zemi Yenus for two weeks in Ethiopia and came to love both her and her son Jo Jo.  Thank you so much you two for having us.  We had a great time.  After leaving Zemi's house, we became a group of 50 Rotarians and spent three days touring places that needed our help.  Then we spent 4 long days and many hours of traveling for polio immunizations in Harar, Dire Dara and even closer to the Somalia border where polio is coming across the border.  The hours on the bus left us much time to talk and share our stories.  We laughed and cryed and became friends.  When you share a hurt with someone, the pain is a little easier to bear, and we all shared with each other.  We had lots of good times too!  Our group got even smaller when we went to Uganda and shrank to about 15.  Now we became one very close knit group.  We shared our amazement as we were shuttled from one fantasitic experience to another.  I have to take this time to thank our leader and planner for this trip to Uganda, Ben Abe.  Ben is from Gulu, Uganda, and he has been taking a group of Rotarians to his homeland for several years. I can speak for the whole group when I say it was the most amazing experience in our lives! The Kalang Mill, fixing the well with our own hands, and spending an afternoon at the orphanage changed our lives. We had fun unwinding at the Safari Lodge Paraa and sharing our feelings and thoughts with each other.
Thank you again, Ben, for all your work.  Thank you friends for making Kayla and I feel loved and special.  Let's keep in touch!

3.  I have a renewed thankfulness for my health.  We take it for granted that we drink clean water and plenty of good food every day when many people all over the world don't enjoy this privilege.  I was sick-very, very sick for about 12 hours, then weak for a day or so after that.  I don't know if it was something I ate or drank, but it happened.  I am thankful for my strength to perservere.  I made it.  All of these experiences have made me stronger.  I am a survivor.

4.  Service is the key to happiness.  Serving others is why we were put on this earth; not pursuing money, wealth, or material things.  When we are serving others, we are serving God.  A trip like this makes me realize that my problems are minor compared to many other people.  It helps me put my personal issues in perspective and realize that, ultimately, I can survive anything that is thrown my way or overcome any obstacle put in my path.  Occasionally, certain people cross our path of life and share some very important information with us.  Several very special people crossed my path, and I know this was a gift from God.  He knew I needed to hear what they had to say at this time in my life.  I am a richer person today for meeting some very amazing people on this trip.  I now have the confidence I need to solve the problems in my life and find the balance, joy and love that I so need.  Serving others makes me happy.

5.  If service is the key to happiness, then gratitude for what we have is a very close runner-up.  Gratitude for what we have in our lives leads to contentment, and contentment leads to happiness.  Get off the fast paced whirl wind for more money and more of everything.  Be happy for what has been given to you, and appreciate everything.  When bad things happen, find the good in it, because even the bad times strengthen us.  I find that after a trip like this that I start to even down-size my belongings.  I donate more things to charity that I haven't used, and if I buy something new, I get rid of something else old.  I have started my list of things I want to remember to take to back to Uganda next year. I don't want to be attached to things.  I want to be able to give up absolutely everything I own if I had to (which of course I won't have to).  Just knowing that things aren't important to me is comforting.  My life stays simple, and I can concentrate on my inner being and my mind.  I can improve the person I am.

6.  I love who I am today.  I love my God, my life, my family, my health, my friends, Rotary, my home, my dogs, my yard, my food, my water I drink, my job, my everything!  I love life!

Paraa Lodge and Safari

We definitely needed these last two days of down time and relaxation.  Our trip has been long and we have worked hard.  Our hearts and emotions are worn thin.  We need to decompress.  We have been busy!  Some of our group seem to have sleeping sickness, in fact, one of our members was just taken to the hospital today in Kampala. It seems he has Malaria.  He was sitting next to me on the bus, and he was freezing.  He had a fever and chills.  I gave him both Kayla and my airplane blanket, yet he was still cold.  I am glad he is getting the care he needs.  He probably contacted it in Harar last week.  It was pretty rough area over there.  Others just love relaxing in the pool.  The land here is very similiar to Hawaii.  Everything is lush and green.  The biggest difference is the ANIMALS!  We have seen a male and female lion mating, which is very rare.  We saw and got very close to a hundred elephants today as we cruised on the Nile River.  We also saw many hippos and crocodiles and baboons.

Yesterday when we arrived at the Paraa Lodge, we went for a cruise up the Nile River to Murchison Falls.  Today we went down river to the delta.  Early this morning we went on a safari in the bus and saw giraffes, lots of cob, hardebeast, dic dics, and other food for lions. We saw many cape buffalo and beautiful birds.   We saw about four lions.  It has been a good two days.  We needed it before heading back home.  We will leave in the morning for Kampala, where we have one more night then we will fly home on Tuesday night.

At a later date I will upload pictures of some of the animals that we saw, but for tonight I must be done.  I have been on the computer all night and must get up in about two hours.  No problem as I can sleep on the bus to Kampala which is about a 6 hour bumpy drive.

My time in Uganda has been amazing.  Some of the best experiences of my life have been in the last few days.  I will definitely return someday to do more.  I am so thankful for the opportunity I have had to serve here.  It is a wonderful country.    The time I have spent with my fellow Rotarians has been life changing.  I know we have made relationships that will last forever.  We have had so many laughs together.  Thank you everyone for all the friendship and love that we have shared.  Rhona

Village Market and beautiful children

Gulu Market                                             Child with sling

We went exploring today in the local Gulu market.  It was busy and full of beautiful vegetable displays, sewing shop after sewing shop, stinky fish markets, and everything and anything you might want to buy.  About the only thing I was really after in Gulu are the famous Acholi paper bead necklaces.  These beautiful beads are made by the Acholi women and they sell them to support themselves.   The beads are made of tightly rolled strips of magazines and posters and then varnished to a shiny finish.  They are very colorful. They are popular and you can even find them at the Ala Moana Mall in Hawaii for $40-$80.  We were buying them for 3000 to 4000 schilling, which is $2-$3!  I bought some for our club's silent auctions, for my own personal use and for Christmas gifts. 

He's not quite sure what we are up to....

Many children suffer from worms that swell their bellies

This particular blog will also have some of the best of my pictures that I have taken of the beautiful Ugandan children.  I had to be selective as I have so many.  Their eyes are so big, and their teeth are so beautiful.  The skin is so dark and although they are very shy, I got some beautiful smiles!  I will miss Uganda as i am preparing to return home soon.  We will defintiely be back next year, perhaps for a longer period of time.  I think the orphange could use Kayla and my help.  There are still so many things that Gulu needs as the kidnapped children continue to return from the bush and get rehabilitated into the real world again.  This is a place that has just been devastated by war asthe world sat by for 25 years and did very little.  We have a lot of catching up and aid to offer these beautiful people.

A very common site as the children are the fetchers of water for their family

Everyone is waiting for the well to be fixed and a clean drink of water

This picture needs no words

St Jude's Orphanage in Gulu, Uganda

Here is the monk that is running the orphanage

Kayla is playing with some of the babies

Today I met an angel.  he is truly an angel sent on earth that is helping hundreds of orphaned and disabled children.  these children would die without his help.  He has been doing this for over 30 years. Let it be known that there are angels among us.  St Jude's Orphanage was a hard place to visit.  Don't get me wrong though.  The children were wonderful.  It's just that I was so sad that all these childen had lost their parents.  The conditions, although better than nothing, was still short of a desirable situation.  The funding for the orphanage is sporatic and they have so many needs.  the child to staff ratio is quite high.  When we picked up a child, he would cry when you tried to put him down.  They needed more arms to hold the babies than they had.  There were so many little babies napping on the ground on little mat.  There were so many children without parents. There were so many disable children with cerebral palsy, deformed limbs, or crippled from other injuries. 

Me with a couple of the babies

Ben is holding a young one with cerebral palsy

We all sat in the office when we first arrived to listen to the story of the orphanage and their needs.  In the corner slept two week old new born twins who still had their unbilical cord on.  Their mother died during child birth.  The orphange will train and support an aunt for about 6 months to raise the little ones.  They were so cute!  We toured the facility and the school and did what we could for them.  I definitely think we will do more for the orphange next year when we come again now that we know what they need.  I hope and pray they can find permanent steady funding.  Although the children need so much more, the orphanage is doing the very best it can with what it has.  One of our Rotarian members bought a supply of vitamins for the whole orphanage!  Others gave money, and some the great gift of a brand new soccer ball!

Week old twins in the orphanage

Fixing a Borehole water Well

Fahy Bailey, Kayla and I ready to work!

                               Unloading the equipment

Rather than dig new wells in the area, Rotary Clubs are repairing worn and broken wells.  Ben's Seattle club has a matching grant to repair and fix 19 broken water borehole wells in the area.  Today we did one, and it was another amazing day.  I know I use this word alot, but it is for lack of a better one.  Again, the whole day is really undescribable, but I will do my best.

Frederick Ocaya Bese is the lead civil engineer from his company "Frontline Engineering" that is guiding our repair job.  I am sure his company could have done it much faster without our help, but he was very fun and patient with us.  He is an amazing young man.  He is doing so much to help his people and he is caring and kind and responsible and successful.  He is also very happy.  One look into his eyes and you will see a genuinely good individual.  Although not yet a Rotarian, we are lucky to have his honorable help on all of our Rotary projects.

This particular well has rusted out.  We have to replace the inner channels and all the parts to the pump.  We are all holding very important looking tools.  A big storm came through later in the afternoon and one of our Rotarian friends became concerned that we were holding a lightning rod in the air!  Once we replaced the shaft, we had to let the dirty water pump out for a couple of hours.  Some, including Kayla, were taken to gather large rocks to line the run-off area of the well.  They lifted some big rocks!  I was taken away to a village hut and treated to some boiled pumpkin and pinto beans.  During the storm, the goats and chickens tried to come into the hut with us!  We had to shut the door when the rain came down real hard.  It was pitch black in there until someone used their phone as a flash light.

After the water was running clear, the pump parts were replaced and the well was working again!  There were many cans lined up for filling.  This well will save many kilometers of walking for this village to find clean water.  What a great day to be a Rotarian!  We are helping ease the lives of a people that have been ravaged by war for the last 25 years.  What joy this brings to our hearts!

Kayla and I pumping the clean water!

As lead civil engineer, Frederick Ocaya Bese from "Frontline Engineering" has to drink the water to certify it as clean!

Kalang Grinding Mill in Northern Uganda

Kalang Grinding Mill before ceremony

The first time I went to Africa, I watched other people do their projects in 2007.  The next year in 2008, I helped Sonya raise money for her Well of Hope.  This year, I raised money with a couple of other prople for our own project.  My project is a grinding mill for a very remote village in Northern Uganda. The ladies of the village must walk very far to grind their grain, or grind it by hand which is very time consuming.  This grinding mill will provide relief to them as they will be able to grind their grain in just minutes.  It will also provide an income for the village as they take in grain from other villages for a small amount of money to pay for the diesel and other village necessities.

Last year when we visited the village, a very brave and old lady stood up and spoke her mind about the real needs of the village.  She was told to sit down, but because she spoke up, one of her requests, a grinding mill, became a reality for her today.  She was crowned and celebrated and honored.  I have a great picture of her.

Frederick Ocaya Bese is the civil engineer from "Frontline Engineering" in Gulu that installed the mill.  He did an amazing job.  There is a counsel of 9 people (5 ladies, 4 men) that will make all decisions regarding the mill.  So my project helps ease the lives of these village women and is run by women as well.  There is also a training and maintenance plan in place. Our ceremony was undescribable and just awesome! Yes, I even danced with the villagers.  It was great!

We were greeted with such ceremony and joy.  There was dancing and drums and speeches and recognition and pictures.  I cut the ribbon for the official opening of the mill.  There were already many bags of grain lined up for grinding from local women.  Everyone was so happy to have this new grinding mill. Because of the popularity of grinding mill, the villagers asked if there was a possibility that we could build a latrine, an awning for shade as the ladies wait their turn, and a borehole water well for water!  My little grinding mill is turning into a little town! One thing at a time.....

Rotarian ray Connell from Seattle is my partner on this project

Our day was right our of a National Geographic show.  I have a million photos and a great video of the mill.  Thank you to everybody that donated to this project and made it happen.  We made the lives of many people very happy.  We made a difference today.  Service above self- that's what Rotary is all about. Today was a very happy day for me that I will never forget.

Henna and the French School Market

Kayla getting her legs done with henna

Kayla and my last day, Monday October 26th, was spent shopping at the French school market and having our hands and legs beautifully painted with henna. Zemi had a Muslim lady come to our room and paint our hands, arms and legs. It is a Muslim custom that merely signifies beauty. We were originally going to have it done at the wedding preparation ceremony of some of Zemi’s relatives a few days ago, but that was cancelled, so Zemi arranged for this. As you can see from the pictures, it is beautiful! It will last about 2 weeks to a month. Our shopping experience was great as always.

Kayla's beautiful arms!

And my leg!

We pack tonight for our departure to Uganda tomorrow morning, Tuesday, October 27th. Our plane leaves at 10:45, so we will leave the hotel at 8:00 in the morning. I look forward to the second part of our journey. As fun and exciting as Ethiopia has been, I know that Uganda is just as if not more amazing! Our group will be about 14 or 15 members, so we become much closer and form life lasting friendships. Here we come Gulu, Northern Uganda!

Polio National Immunization Day

Kayla administering the polio vaccination

The trip to the Polio NID (National Immunization Day) was a long 13 hour bus ride to Harar and Dire Dawa on Thursday morning for two days of polio immunization. A total of 263,038 children were scheduled to be immunized. Rotarians are working with the World Health Organization and the Ministry of Health to eradicate polio from the face of the earth. Rotarians have donated lots of money toward the eradication effort as well as grant money from Bono, Bill Gates, and Paul Allen.

Sonya and I with some local Rotarians. This is about 10 minutes before I start to get very sick!

Our group was sent as close to the Somalia border as was safe being that Somalia is in turmoil right now. We are unable to immunize in Somalia, so several cases of polio have recently been carried over the border into Ethiopia. We were within 50 miles of the border. On Friday morning, from Harar, we drove another 3-4 hours to a very small town I think called Gurchee or Gunshee. I can’t quite remember as I became very sick that morning about 8:00. It must have been something I ate the night before at our late dinner at the hotel. Once I started throwing up, I couldn’t stop! This violent vomiting lasted for about 12 hours. I had to leave Kayla and our group to be taken to a health clinic where I could lay down between bouts of illness. They gave me Cipro and an anti-nauseous medicine, but I just threw them up over and over again. There is nothing like being sick at both ends in the middle of nowhere and using very smelly holes in the ground for bathroom facilities when so very sick! I eventually made it back to the hotel where I could sleep it off. Thank goodness our hotel was very nice with AC and hot water! The other half of our group that stayed in Harar was in a terrible facility that was a former psychiatric hospital and had no running water, A/C or flushing toilets! They had a real adventure!

A beautiful picture of some kids on the way to Dire Dawa

You can see by the pictures that Kayla had a wonderful experience immunizing the children. She was very good with the children and they followed her everywhere! She has a real gift with children. The group had a successful day, but it was another long drive in the vehicle back to our very nice hotel in Dire Dawa. I wasn’t feeling quite myself the next morning, and Kayla was tired of being in a vehicle for so many hours of driving, so we took the second polio day off and rested. We shopped in the local markets for scarves, African shirts, blankets, and souvenirs. Although not feeling great, I am never too sick for a bit of shopping in the local markets. They are exciting and an adventure to explore. We paid a local young college man to go with us and to do the talking for us and help us bring the price as low as possible. We got some really great deals!

Morning we left for Harar and Dire Dawa for polio

It only took about 10 hours drive to return to Addis Ababa on Sunday evening. When we got to the hotel, a group of us decided to walk over to the Hilton Hotel for the purchase of some Diet Coke- the only place I have discovered in Addis that sells diet coke! We had dinner at the Hilton and then walked back to the Ghion. Our days in Addis are almost over!

Everyone liked to dress Kayla up in the local scarves and dresses!

The local boys we hired to get us good deals and keep us from getting lost!

“A Door of Hope” and the “Joy Center for Autism”

Group photo at the Joy Center for Autism

Wednesday morning we went to the “Joy Center for Autism”, and then to “A Door of Hope” in the afternoon. The Joy Center treated us to a lovely coffee ceremony and a fantastic lunch with collard greens, green beans, avocados and tomatoes, engera and shiro. We toured the facility and played a bit with the children. Both the teachers and the kids were happy to see Kayla and I again. Kayla played outside with them while we were talking inside. More supplies were brought like wooden puzzles, tennis balls, musical instruments, etc. Some in our group were so impressed that they donated money to the wonderful efforts of the school! I am proud to have been a part of this school for the last few weeks.

Children at "A Door of Hope"

“A Door of Hope” is a school for underprivileged children, orphans, or children with HIV parents. They performed songs and races for us. The school is directed by a young Rotaract member that is only 21 years old! She is an amazing young lady. We had another great day.

More children waiting to go home

We made one other stop at the Fistula clinic where we got a quick tour just before they closed.  The fistula clinic is where young girls can get treatment for injuries caused during the birth process.  They have often suffered the loss of their unborn child and the trauma of the fistula, so pictures are not allowed at the clinic of the girls.  There are over 10,000 cases of fistula (tears into the bladder and rectum through the birthing canal due to pressue of prolonged labor) in Africa.  Fistula does not exist in the USA because everyone can get to a hospital and have a cesearean performed if necessary.  There are many girls waiting to have the surgery done at various other outreach programs.  Oprah Winfrey built this wing that kayla and I are standing next to.

 

Well of Hope- Samasenbet, ET

Sonya Mendez with village elders and key Addis Ababa Rotarians

We had to walk a while to get to the field.  We are in the Great Rift Valley

It was a long and very bumpy ride to the Well of Hope in Samasenbet. It was one hour on pavement and two hours of bumpy dirt road, and then the same amount to get back. Whew! We had to hike a bit into the actual well site because the road has been planted with their grain teff, and they didn’t want to lose any of their harvest. There has been much progress on the well since I saw it last year. I didn’t realize just how big it was going to be. It has several distribution centers that the water will be pumped to. This will bring the water much closer to several villages and reduce their walking time significantly. It will also be pumped to the school. This well will service over 10,000 people! At this time, the transformer is not here, so the well is not operational. After the harvest of the teff, the transformer can be driven to the well and electricity will be connected. It is a very large and wonderful water well. This large project was initiated by a group of Rotarians from Hawaii, led by Sonya Mendez and is now called the Well of Hope. It is a very good cause to support if you ever want to donate money to a good cause. I have witnessed the well with my own eyes. This is even more proof that Rotarians are doing amazing things to improve the life of others all around the world.

Kayla with Samasenbet school children

I'm passing out school supplies

The village elders are so very appreciative of the clean water we are providing them. They brought us into their homes and fed us and treated us like royalty. Gifts were exchanged and speeches made. Several other villagers wanted to show us their appreciation the same way, but we were stuffed and we needed to get back on the road. It was hard for them to let us go. When we returned to Addis Ababa, we had a wonderful dinner at a local Rotarian’s home. It was a wonderful

Kayla's new friends above and below

Camels can spit and bite.  We are a bit nervous behind this one!