David’s Visit

I had the wonderful opportunity to bring my son to Gulu, Uganda and share with him the things I have been doing here and to meet these wonderful people. I wanted to share with him another side of life, because I believe that Africa changes a person for the better. People bring aid to Africa, but Africa gives them a gift in return; a bigger heart, more patience, more compassion and love. One cannot return home without more gratitude for all of the blessings we enjoy living in the US; electricity, clean water, and good health. The most important discovery, though, is the recognition and appreciation of the opportunities that exist for us in our developed country. And let’s not forget that wonderful thing called democracy. Most importantly, Africa taught me to simplify my life, and I no longer desire so many worldly things. I love my simple life in Gulu.

David is very sharp and interested in politics, so he talked to people about the government here. Uganda has a dictator. He would discuss the lack of laws or the enforcing of laws, the lack of sanitation and infrastructure, etc. David will be writing his thoughts about his trip to Gulu and sending them to me and I will post them on my blog. I can’t wait to read what he says. Now I will just tell you about the things we did.

David's first day at St Jude's Orphanage

Umm, this bike lasted about 2 hours and it broke twice.  It's walking or bodas for us :)

We went to St Jude’s Orphanage on his first day in Gulu. We picked up my bike so that we both would have a bike to ride. My bike plan did not work out because the bike I borrowed from a friend for David broke two times within hours of riding it! We returned the bike and decided to walk or boda to places instead.

David at the Market

We bought fresh fruits and vegetables at the market. An African market is an amazing adventure of narrow walkways and good and bad smells and unusual sites! I was so engrossed in watching David enjoy everything that I almost bumped right into a huge slab of stinky beef that was hanging from a nail! David steered me clear of it ! You will find everything you need in this market. David’s favorite meal every morning was a cut up avocado mixed with chopped tomatoes and onions and a little salt. He loved it! And it is so simple.

David and Innocent

After leaving the market, we went to Acholi Inn for a swim. He made friends with Morris and Innocent. Just that afternoon, David got to go with me to the bank to pay Innocent’s school fees. I was glad that David could be involved in an activity I have spent so much time and money on; paying the school fees of 35 kids so far! Now, he had met Innocent and they were friends. I had told David the food rules; if you can’t peel it, and it’s not cooked, don’t eat it. He forgot. He had the buffet at Acholi Inn and he ate the coleslaw that had been sitting out for hours. He paid the price the next day by being very sick. I put him on cipro, a big anti-biotic, and he was better the next day.

David is very sick, but the monkey doesn't care!

One of the days we walked to St Jude’s, although we were fearing the rain. We played with a large trail of monster ants and confused their path and watched them scramble around; all while being very careful not to get bitten! At the Orphanage, David played soccer with some kids. On a different day, he entertained the kids by playing his harmonica for them. He met Stephen again, the driver for the Orphanage and the young man who picked him up at the airport. Stephen has a monkey, Nicky, and we played with it for awhile.

David is playing his harmonica for the handicapped kids at St Jude's

David and Stephen

The next day, Stephen took us to Paraa Safari National Park. It was awesome! We did everything in one day! We left Gulu at 5:30 and arrived at the park by 8am and immediately enjoyed seeing tons of wildlife; elephants, giraffes, Uganda cob, antelope, warthogs, etc. Eventually, a park ranger joined us in our vehicle and showed us 5 lions! I thought we got a little too close to them, but I was sitting in the backseat and new the lions would eat the people in the front seat before they would come after me ! After a three hour rest at the lodge, we ate a great lunch at a local food joint. At 2pm we caught a boat for a ride on the Nile River to Murchison Falls. We saw so many hippos and crocodiles. We returned to Gulu after dark on VERY bumpy roads. I forgot to mention, we did the whole safari in an ambulance! It was a very fun day.

Thursday, we spent the day with Aid Africa in the remote village of Rowotbillo. We assembled rocket stoves for the people. I think this was probably David’s favorite experience. First we had to load the very fragile bricks. Then we went to the plant nursery where Aid Africa grows the fruit tree seedlings that they distribute to the villages. They have grafted a mango tree with 5 different fruits on one tree! It took several hours to make almost 50 rocket stoves. David was able to go inside a mud thatched house and mingle with the local people. He has a great sense of humor and makes people laugh. We always have a great time together. The staff of Aid Africa really enjoyed David’s company and hard work.

Just loaded the special bricks for the rocket stoves 

Aid Africa showed us their plant nursery 

David is making rocket stoves with Aid Africa

Our days flew by fast and before I knew it, we were riding a bus back to Kampala. We spent the night at the Nimerembe Guest House in Kampala. The next afternoon, Moses drove us to Entebbe to catch his flight back to the US.but because we had so much extra time, we took a beautiful walk along the shores of Lake Victoria, the 2nd largest fresh water lake in the world. It was the perfect ending to a perfect week. I was so sad to say goodbye. It had many a couple of years sense we had spent this much time together; we had so much catching up to do.

David and I at Lake Victoria

My prayer for David is that he will take this experience and use it to do great things in his life. Success isn’t just getting an education or getting a good job. Success is using your life to make the world a better place; starting with your family, your friends, your country, and then the world. Thank you, David, for letting me share with you my love for Gulu, Uganda, Africa.