Meet Some of the Students We Sponsored!!

26 Students, $5190 in donations (10,205,700 UGX):  Meet some of the students that are back in school!

Charlette Adong- 15 years
Charlette’s father died from HIV. Her mother died in an ambush during the war. She now lives with an Auntie who has 6 children to care for. She would like to go to a boarding school as this would improve her living arrangements and help her to study in better conditions. Charlette will be S-1, which is 8th grade. She is the niece of a very good friend of mine.

Agnes Akello- 23 years (Picture not available)
Agnes was abducted by the LRA Rebels when she was 14 and given to an LRA soldier as his wife. She was with him for two years before he was killed. She escaped and returned home to find her father and elder brother dead from the rebels. She supports her mother and daughter and several villagers with her small salary as a cook for UNHCR. Agnes would like to return to Alliance High School for adults S-2 (9th) in the evening.

Sarah Adyero- 15 years
Sarah’s mother is caring for 8 orphans whose mother died of cervical cancer. During the war, the cattle which were of great help to their family were collected and taken by rebel soldiers. Sarah’s mother has great chronic pain of the backbone which prevents her to do heavy work like digging or walking long distances which could help in earning some money to help the family. She is the cousin of a very good friend of mine.

Rebecca Florence Auma-15 years
Rebecca’s parents are both dead. She is being supported by her sister, who cannot afford the school fees for Rebecca. Rebecca’s schooling was being paid by her uncle until last fall when he died. She has no other means to pay for school fees. We also paid for her uniform. She lives next door to us.

AGNES ADOKORACH-16 years
Agnes was my daughter’s first friend in Gulu. She is living with her grandmother. She is the youngest of six siblings. Her mother died when she was very young and her father left all his children with the grandmother. Her grandmother cannot afford the school fees for Agnes, so she was not attending classes until we arrived. She is the first one we sponsored and she is so very grateful.

Jamesey Latela- 23 years
Jamesey is asking for assistance with a driving permit for 3 years so he can become more self-reliant. His studies ended in S-2 (9th) because of economic crisis. Jamesey supports his grandmother and a few orphans with odd jobs here and there. A driving permit would greatly increase his ability to support his family. He is my friend and neighbor, and brother to Agnes (above).

Vicky Arach-16 years
Vicky is the oldest of 4 children. Her father is alive but he has two wives. Vicky’s mother, Margaret, is deserted by her husband and he will not pay the school fees for the children. Margaret does not have the capacity now to support Vicky in her high school years. She was brought to me by St. Jude’s Orphanage.

Cecilia Acen-16 years
Cecilia Acen lost both parents during the war. Her father was killed by the LRA rebels and the mother died of sickness. Cecilia stays with the paternal grandmother. Her grandmother is old and weak and cannot support Cecilia’s education. This is her first year of high school S-1 (8th). She was brought to me by St. Jude’s Orphanage.

Mercy Akello-15 years
Mercy lives at Kati Kati with her maternal grandmother. She is the third of four children. Her mother is alive and her father was killed by the LRA rebels in 1999. Both parents were peasant farmers. Mercy is interested in school, but her mother cannot support her education. She was brought to me by St. Jude’s Orphanage. This would be her first year of high school, S-1 (8th).

JENET LAWINO-13 years
Jenet is blind. She has 4 siblings. She was beaten by her Aunt three years ago and lost her sight. She is a very bright girl. Jenet lost her father in the war. Her mother could not meet her school fees, and she cannot study in regular schools because she is blind. She is now studying in Gulu Primary school Annex of the blind .She was brought to me by St. Jude’s Orphanage.

LUCKY LUCY APIO- 19 years
Lucky has been a great friend to both Kayla and I. She escorted Kayla many nights, and she stayed in our house with Kayla whenever I left town on business. I have grown to love Lucky like a daughter. Lucky is the first and only person we have sponsored to a University program. She is very bright and has such a desire to continue her education at the University level. Although it will be very hard, she has agreed to come up with half of the cost by working full-time as an office assistant for 150,000/month ($75), and I will sponsor the other half of the cost. Lucky is getting no support from home. Her father has 5 wives and about 23 other children to support. She is on her own.

There are many others that just don't have the space for.  We sponsored 26 students for the school year 2010 in Gulu, Uganda.  We raised $5,190 in donations or approximately 10,205,700 UGX.  Thank you to all who donated to this great cause!

Funeral for a Mother

I’ve never known a man who loved his mother as much as Morris did. I knew his mom was sick, and I knew he was worried about her; we spent several afternoons together talking about her. Morris left the UK 18 months ago to come back to Gulu to care for his mother. His children in the UK miss him terribly, but he needed to be here for the woman that brought him into this world and gave him life. You have all met Morris in a previous blog. He is the lifeguard at the Acholi Inn Pool and the bouncer for Green Valley.

Gulu Cathedral

His mother was only 65 years old; nobody thought she would die so soon. So today, Friday, I am attending her funeral and am here to support my good friend Morris in his time of grief and sadness. I have given my video recorder to Morris to take a video of the services for his sister and uncle who were unable to fly home from the UK in time for the service due to the ash plume from the volcano in Iceland.

Except for the immediate family, everyone is wearing their beautiful, colorful traditional Gomez. The funeral was to start at 10, but due to an unexpected problem, I arrived at 11. No worry, though, because it still hadn’t started! I am surprised at the tears I cry for a woman I have never met. I search my heart to understand this, and I realize that this is my first funeral I have attended. At this time, I can recall no others. Funerals are very sad, so I cry. I cry for Morris’ loss, and my heart goes out to him. Let us all remember to cherish every day with our loved ones before we or they are taken away. I can only hope that a child of mine will someday have for me the kind of love that Morris had for his mother. It was a very special love.

His Mother's place of rest in the middle of the village.

The funeral was very beautiful. There were so many people that knew and loved her. Today, I saw the only tears I have ever seen in the eyes of an African woman and man. This is probably the only time they allow themselves to cry in public; at the death of a loved one. “Save your tears for human life”, I have been told. Morris invited me to his village for the actual burial. I feel honored to be here. There is a very large hole dug in the middle of the village next to several other graves. Many people have arrived from the church to continue their mourning. It is very hot outside, and we are waiting for the arrival from Kampala of some more relatives. After several (many) speeches which I don’t understand a single word, a delicious meal is served to everyone. I marvel at how many people this humble village has to feed as part of the tradition. We are served rice, posho, beans, potatoes, chicken, and cabbage.

Due to the heat and lack of water, (I had it with me, but I tend not to drink much so that I don’t find myself in a position to have to use the bathroom in a strange place), a very strong headache hit me very quickly. I recognized the signs of a migraine headache, and I left immediately on a boda. I had to rest my head on the back of the boda driver, and with every bump he hit I winced in pain! I was able to make it home, jump in bed with the lights out, medicate myself, and rest. It has receded. All is well as I write this blog!

Some have waited many many hours for their water at this spring.

I have posted a few pictures of a place I visited this week with Miriam, Ben Abe’s sister, who is running for Mayor of Gulu in 2011. We visited a very densely populated area that has over 50,000 people using only one source of water that is far away. Any other water that is close to the Kanyagoga A, B, and C camp is privately held and they charge 200UGX for each jerri can. At the only free water spot, jerri cans are lined up 24 hours every day and the wait is hours and hours, even at 2 am or 5 am! This place is desperately in need of a couple of new borehole wells drilled in the middle of each village so that they don’t have so far to walk for water.

The jerri cans are lined up forever it seems.

Reverse Aid from Africa

A boy from Kanyagoga A village posing for my camera!

Reverse Aid from Africa is the opposite of what we give to them through the many NGO’s and churches that send many different forms of aid to Africa. Reverse aid is what happens to us when we return from Africa. What gifts do we bring home inside of us? How does it change our lives?

Another child from Kanyagoga IDP Camp

I started to travel to Africa in 2007. I noticed upon my return to the U.S. that there were changes, but I didn’t know to what extent. I usually traveled during October and returned in November; the month that Christmas shopping begins. My first sign of change was that I no longer wanted to buy my growing children electronic toys and games that I knew would be discarded within a year. I had witnessed such poverty, and I was almost embarrassed by our excess. So for Christmas that year, instead of buying expensive electronic games, I arranged a vacation for us on another island that we had not visited. We had a wonderful time, including a helicopter ride over Kaui. Instead of more “things”, my family was treated to lifetime memories! A distance began to grow in the way my ex-spouse and I wanted to handle our money. I now wanted to put more aside for traveling to Africa and fund raising efforts to sponsor projects in areas of Africa that I was visiting. He wanted to continue to upgrade our DVD player, get a new flat screen TV, new computers, and buy things. His list of wants was long. I had lost interest in buying things; worldly things. I didn’t even like to waste money on eating out at anyplace more than a sandwich place! I saw money in a totally different way, because I saw how hard it was to live without it. People here often live on 1,000UGX/day, which is equivalent to 50 cents a day. All they can afford to buy is a little bit of beans, some corn flour for posho, a tomato, an onion and some oil. This is their breakfast, lunch, and dinner; beans and posho.

An example of the very over crowded living conditions in an IDP camp.

Clean water is something we all take for granted in the U.S. My next gift from Africa is an appreciation of the clean water coming directly into my home. We don’t need to boil it, or filter it; it is ready to drink! In Uganda, the water is boiled; even the tap water in my home in Uganda needs to be boiled before we drink it. I will always be thankful for the water we drink straight from the tap in Hawaii!

These kids are appreciating the clean borehole water to drink!

I am now more thankful than ever before for many things; my car, electricity, a comfortable bed to sleep in, a stove and a fridge to prepare proper food with, a washer and dryer for faster cleaning of my clothes, all my kitchen gadgets and accessories that prepare food faster, paved roads (that’s a BIG one!), my health and the fact I don’t worry about malaria, worms, and infections, and finally, a proper sewage system that we enjoy in the U.S. (flushing toilets), and proper garbage disposal.

I think the two biggest things I learned here are appreciation for everything I have, and respect for other’s ways and culture. Although I found it difficult, I had to tolerate African time being about two hours late, meetings and ceremonies that were hours too long from speech after speech, and a society that doesn’t believe that women are equal to men, and one that still embraces multiple wives and girlfriends. I usually tried to practice patience, but I didn’t always succeed. There are a few incidents I would like to have a chance to do over again. I would rethink my actions and realize the issue was one of culture. At the time, I perceived something as thoughtlessness, when in fact it was just a big difference in culture and the way things are done in Uganda.

My time here is winding down; only a week left. I will enjoy every hour of every day. Someone told me that once you live in Africa for an extended period of time like I have, that it is very difficult if not impossible to adjust to life in America. Many people end up relocating back to the place they lived in Africa because they were not able to readjust to their life. Will this happen to me? What about Kayla? Life is full of surprises and twists. I know that God brought me here for a reason; I now know that reason. I definitely know that certain key people were brought into my life in Gulu and it has changed me inside forever. I have also crossed paths with many people that I will never forget. I have made new lifetime friends in Gulu, Uganda. I came with a broken heart, and I leave whole again; I was given the gifts of joy, love and happiness. I am now ready to rebuild my life in Hawaii.

Pabbo IDP Camp/Bakers Fort

This is the Rotary GSE team from MN at Pabbo.

This week the Rotary Group Study Exchange team has arrived in Gulu. The team is led by Rotarian Tim Murphy of Minnesota. He is leading 5 young adult professionals on an educational trip around Uganda. The team will do some touring, but they are mainly here to exchange ideas with other professionals in their profession and to experience how professionals like themselves do things in a foreign country. They are in Gulu for seven days.

The huts are built very close to each other with no room for gardens.

It's mango season, and this little tyke is taking advantage of it with one in each hand!

I accompanied the group on Tuesday to Pabbo. Pabbo is the largest IDP camp in Northern Uganda. IDP means individually displaced persons. It is similar to a refugee camp, but people from their own country are not called refugees; they are displaced because of the war. At its peak, 75,000 people lived in Pabbo; there is still about 27,500 people living here. They came from far away villages and farms in the country to be safe from the rebels. They had no choice, because if they stayed out there, they would be killed. But life in the IDP camps was very difficult. They were very over crowded, no sanitation, not enough food or water, no opportunity for employment. Life was dark and dreary. Most existed only on free aid and food handed out to them; it was not the way they wanted to live. These conditions lasted about 25 years. Even when food was given to them, about 2 or 3 days later the rebels would attack the IDP camp to get some of the food. The villagers would always have part of their food hidden out in the bush so that the rebels couldn’t take it all at one time. Another sad fact is that the Ugandan Army would settle in the middle of the camp rather than the edges to protect the village. The Ugandan Army used the village as a shield. The rebels would have to swath through the village killing as they went to get to the Ugandan Army. The whole situation was very dark; both the rebels and the Ugandan army were treating the villagers bad, even raping and killing them at will. Who is the bad guy in a situation like this? Can the bad guys (rebels) actually be the good guys? How horrible is it when both of the conflicting parties are preying on the people? They were in a difficult position to say the least….

Two of the young residents of Pabbo.

Kayla and I are in Baker's home.

Bakers Fort was our adventure this morning. It, too, has a sad story. This is the place that the Arabs kept the slaves they had captured and they would sell them to different countries, or even their own. It was surrounded by an 18 foot mote so that there was no escape. We saw the cave that they kept the women in and the cave they kept the men in. We were shown how a slave was proven to be strong so that he would catch a good price. When a slave got sick or weak, we were shown the place where their head was cut off by the Arabs and the body rolled down the rock into the bush where the wild animals would eat it. The sloped rock really looked like it had blood stains running down it. It was a very touching scene. You could see the marks made into the stone from the sharp blade that cut the heads off. Many, many cut marks were in the stone. Finally, in 1882, a man named Baker rescued the slaves and he became famous. He built a stone house there that we were able to go into. The place became Bakers Fort. It was just a beautiful day.

This is the cave that the women slaves were kept.

The sloping rock where they would cut off the heads of the weak slaves. Blade marks are still visible.

I am very tired today. I was up until 3:30 this morning on the internet, but first I was trying to contact Kayla and get her home at midnight, but I ran out of airtime. She loves the Acholi Pool, and I have a hard time getting her to come home! I was out of airtime, so alone, cold, late, and in the dark, I had to search for a place that was selling airtime for my phone so that I could contact Kayla. It is times like this that I would love a man around the house to send him out into the dark to do errands like this for me. I just don’t like being out after dark in my neighborhood; it is a bit scary…

Frederick is narrarating the story of Bakers Fort.  This is the security check; the entrance.

The “Beach” and More School Fees Donations!

Jamesey and I wrestling a crocodile.  Why are we laughing?  It hurts like hell!

We had been anticipating our visit to the “beach” for quite some time, especially coming from Hawaii which has the most beautiful beaches in the world. We were pleasantly surprised. It is a quaint park with fake animals on the walking jungle safari. We were treated to several animal hunts and picture taking opportunities as you can tell by the pictures! Our group was eight people, including some of Frederick’s staff. We played on the playground and became little kids again. There were lots of smiles today.

Kayla has approached the dangerous hippo for a photo op!

Frederick is actually trying to eat the food right from this gazelles mouth.  He is always very hungry!

We next went on a boat ride around the little pond in a wooded canoe. It couldn’t hold everyone, so we went in shifts. It was a lot of fun. As the sun went down, we enjoyed a dinner of pork and fries together as a group. After dinner, we moved ourselves to a couple of different clubs for the evening to enjoy some company, dancing, and great music. It was a fun night for us all.

They failed to catch any fish for our dinner!

I took some more great photos with the staff at the orphanage. I wanted to remember the two mothers that I spent the most time with. Christina is the “mother” of Baby Kayla, and Matilda is the “mother” of Sunday. I spent a lot of time holding these two little ones. I will miss them dearly and the staff that has become family to me. It is a wonderful, loving environment. I have enjoyed my time there.

I am relaxing and playing with the babies under the mango tree.

I am with Christina, the "mother" of Baby Kayla and a good friend.

This week I was busy paying school fees. I received a couple of bigger donations, and I have been busy withdrawing, organizing, and paying the school fees of many girls. It is time consuming to stand at the bank lines and do this, but the payoff is so worth it! These girls are so happy to be back in school and on the road to a better life! With so many of you, we have raised $4,500 and have sponsored about 20 kids now! Wow, this became much bigger than I originally intended it to be. Now I am working on a way to make my little project sustainable year after year. I have some good thoughts, and I just need to put them together when I return to the US. It would be great to continue to pay the school fees for each girl that does well and works hard.

Kayla is reading to the children at the orphanage.

I received some great news this week!  I have been in contact with a fellow Rotarian from WA that I met last October on the Uganda trip.  He has been trying to secure funding for the orphanage.  When I started work at the orphange, I did a sort of assessment to see their greatest need: food, clothes, education, health, etc...  I came away with a strong opinion that the education fund desperately needed funding.  In fact, because St Jude's fund was empty for new students, I started helping the orphans as much as possible with my fund raising.  Anyway, the Rotary Club of Sammamish agreed to donate $1,000 this year and every year thereafter to the educational fund of St Judes Orphanage!  I was very pleased and very happy!  Way to go Rotary!

Easter Weekend in Kampala

Happy Easter everybody! 

Monday, March 29
Last night was horrible. I ate something bad yesterday, and it made me very sick last night. I think it was the eggs I had Sunday morning. My stomach still hurts this morning. I am just going to take it easy today. After I did my blog yesterday, I went to the sauna and pool and hung out with my swimming and sauna friends. The music is good. I am getting addicted to the sauna and how good it makes me feel! Frederick just finished his 3 day de-worming process and has recommended that Kayla and I do the same process when we leave in May. It is something he does every three months. Each day for three days you take 2 de-worming pills, and you must eat very little food so that the worms will be forced to eat the pills. Kayla and I will de-worm ourselves upon our departure….so gross, huh? I know I don’t have worms or my belly would be swollen, but we can’t be too careful. Kayla hung out with Innocent all evening at the pool and he put some great Acholi and Uganda songs on her IPOD. At first she was upset because she realized she lost all the other songs on her IPOD, but now she is excited about all the new songs she has. For an early birthday present, I gave Kayla some money to spend. She has bought herself a beautiful rainbow summer dress, an African purse, and a beautiful necklace and earring set so far.

Grace Amono speaking with a child.

Tuesday, March 30
We had dinner at a Chinese restaurant last night. I was telling the chef about a special dish I wanted him to make for me; rice with lots of ginger and extra vegetables. I told him my stomach had hurt all day, and he gave me a special dish that he guaranteed would make my stomach feel better by the morning. It did! My stomach ache is gone. Last night was a late night for us. Frontline Engineering had no power but had much work to do, so my home was turned into an office and the whole gang came to the house until 2 am to do some work that is under a deadline! Even Kayla did her part to help. Everyone was back at my house by 8:30 am to finish up. I went to the market and replenished my supplies of papaya, pineapple, bananas and bread for everyone, because they will be here again tonight. By the time I went to the market, did my laundry, and straightened my house after my guests left, there was no time for the orphanage today. I had to teach my swim class at the pool today at 3:00. I have 8 Gulu University Sport Science students. Today they learned the breast stroke. After the class it rained and got cold, so I especially enjoyed the sauna today. I forgot to mention an incident that happened last week. I stepped on a very large and dirty old nail and it went clear through my shoe and into my foot. I was not able to keep it clean that whole day so by that night it was quite sore to walk on. I started an antibiotic- Cipro 500- for 7 days. It immediately felt better within a day. I needed the Cipro for another infection I have anyway…I have already had a tetanus shot, so I will be fine now. I am leaving for Kampala tomorrow for some business. I look forward to a change of scenery.
Muyenga Hill in Kampala, Uganda- the only picture of Kampala I took! Too busy looking around!!!!

Wednesday-Sunday, March 31-April 4
Kampala was wonderful! I enjoyed the hot showers the most, followed by TV, movies and the news! A real bed was nice rather than the usual pad on the floor. Kampala is the capital of Uganda. It is a very big city; at least to me anyway! It made me a bit nervous to be around so many people, though!  I am NOT used to that! Being there made me realize just how remote the living conditions are in Gulu, and it is very evident that Gulu has been left behind 25 years from the rest of the world in construction and technology. The buildings were beautiful and some were quite modern. I saw the beautiful Lake Victoria. I tried to walk to the lake, but realized it looked much closer than it really was….but at least I went for a nice long walk each day. I ate at a nice Italian restaurant and had PIZZA! Wow, PIZZA! It was so good! I even had leftovers to enjoy later. The next day, I had a HAMBURGER! It wasn’t McDonald’s but it was the best hamburger I have eaten in over two months! Oh, the joy of the simple things in life. Now I am back in Gulu and back to beans, rice, sweet potatoes, bananas and the occasional piece of chicken. It is a 5 hour bus ride to Kampala, but the scenery is beautiful, so I didn’t mind it at all. I zoomed around Kampala on a motorcycle taxis (boda boda). It was exciting and quite an adventure; but they tend to go very fast in and out and around the cars on the road. Bodas don’t get caught in the traffic jams, they just go through them! I really didn’t take many pictures this week. I think I am getting used to this place. Imagine taking your camera around with you in the city you live; after you have lived there for awhile, you wouldn’t find things interesting enough to take pictures of anymore, right? I am getting used to seeing the things you might find interesting, but to me they have become everyday events and sites, and how many pictures of that do I need, right?

I only took two pictures in Kampala- this one and the hill one! 

It was my son’s birthday yesterday. Happy birthday David! It was also Easter; but the damn Easter bunny didn’t make it to Gulu! Sorry about that Kayla! She had a great time while I was away! She wants me to leave more often! Lucky stayed with her at the house. We had a whole list of rules for them to follow, and we had our spies in place to ensure they followed the rules! Kayla spends the majority of her time at the swim pool when she is not reading to the kids at the orphanage for a couple of hours each day. She is still with Innocent, and they spend time listening to music. He is also the DJ at a club called BJ’s, which Kayla and Lucky like to go to on the weekends. Kayla had a great weekend, and I had a fantastic weekend as well! Today, Monday is a national holiday, so Kayla and I will go to the orphanage tomorrow.  Today I had to do work for some clients on my computer, and then I plan to hit the sauna with my sauna friends! Happy Easter everybody!

My son was married last week!  Congratulations, Dustin, to the three of you!!  Sorry I couldnt be there for your happy day!  I will be home soon.

Good news! We have sponsored over 18 students school fees! Wow!! I couldn’t do it without everyone who has donated to the cause. Thank you everybody: Rotarian Paula Bailey, Julie Lange, Rotarian Sonya Mendez, Rotarian Dan Fullenwider, Deanne Dotson, Barbara Lundy (sister), Rotarian Stacy Suzui, Rotarian Jeannie Shaw, Rotarian Bob Herold and his wife Cathy.  Thank you!