A Farewell to Uganda

Ever since I can remember, I dreamed of going to Africa. I thought I could save, or at least make a difference where ever I went.  What I learned though, is that Africa does not want or need to be saved.  In fact, Africa changed me. It changed me forever in many ways.

On a high note, I met some extraordinary people in Uganda who have shaped my life. They taught me about the human capacity to overcome enormous obstacles. Their stories are of great, great loss.  Even today, the sadness continues for some as their difficult life continues. These amazing friends have endured impossible suffering and loss, yet they never lost their sense of life, purpose, or dignity. They will forever be in my heart.

The people of Uganda have so many obstacles to overcome; poverty, lack of health care, malaria, nodding disease, HIV, a very corrupt government that is not addressing their needs, and a suppressing dictator that won't step down. Poverty is a reality no matter how hard they work because there are SO many obstacles to overcome! My thoughts and prayers will forever be with them.

I can't begin to express the things that I witnessed.  Some days were filled with overwhelming joy and love and appreciation for life.  Some days were filled with fear, grief, sadness and despair.  I have lost some of my ability to communicate my feelings because I am overwhelmed.  It is going to take me awhile to process this experience before talking about it more. 

I learned a lot by actually living in Uganda. I learned that our traditional giving society (giving food and money) has left the people in the same or even worse condition than they were before.  By giving them fish, they failed to learn how to fish for themselves. We created a corrupt society where the money never reaches the poor or victims of war; a society where almost everyone accepts and practices corruptness on a daily basis. A friend of mine said, "I am a poor man.  I don't mind corruptness.  I need it to live." In such a corrupt society, you cannot just wire money and expect it to do any good.  You must have a very trusted person with feet on the ground to ensure your money is not wasted.  Instead of sending money, we need to focus on education, safe water, health care, housing, and solar energy.

I became a trusted conduit of money for many individuals and charities.  I made sure 100% of their money got to the recipient.  That is a rare thing. Many charities and individuals skim or pocket some or even all of the money, leaving nothing for the person in need.  Be very careful investing your money in Uganda right now.  Many countries have recently stopped sending aid there for this very reason.

In my personal quest to set up accounting controls where I worked, I was sometimes met with threats of black magic, poisoning, and worse.  It was hard not to give up and quit trying, but I kept at it.  It may all fall apart upon my departure, but at least I know I made a difference.

I attended meetings and mingled with a group of professionals who were both givers of charity, yet participated in the taking of funds for personal gain.  An organization, even a charity, is only as good as the people operating it.  Even good people are forced to do bad things to put food on their table. Those are cold hard facts I had to accept and live with. 

I am soon starting a new chapter in my life with the US Peace Corp. I will, of course, continue to write of my adventures. My dream is to help create a world where every person has access to the basic resources of life in order to live a life of dignity.
 

Reviving Siong's Project

 

 

A few months ago I introduced you to Peace Corp Siong and his baking project at Gulu Public Primary School.  He left Gulu last Spring, and upon his departure, the project died.  The school did not lock up the ingredients, so they were picked by the teachers.  The money wasn't collected by anyone in particular, so it was pocketed.  When I went to visit his project, I was upset; upset for the kids, upset for Siong, and upset for the lost potential.  Siong had left his project sustainable. I needed to do something. This was a class that taught baking skills, budgeting, selling, money counting, everything about running a business.  It was a real life skill class.

 

 

The school wanted me to pump my money into the project to revive it.  I refused.  It had been sustainable, so I was not going to aide them with money.  I wrote a requistion to the school explaining that Siong had given two years of his life to these children and this project and that his spirit still resided here with them. It was because of their carelessness that the project died, so it is their money that needs to revive it.  I asked the school to donate 30,000UGX ($12) to buy the necessary ingredients to get started again.  They agreed.

 

 

I put Juliet in charge of the whole project and let her pick her own trusted helpers.  She collects the money and buys the ingredients and teaches the class.  She is a wonderful lady.  The first baking day, we used 2 bags of flour.  We knew we needed to buy 3 bags for the next baking day, so we HAD so make 15,000UGX ($6) in order to bake the next week.  We made 15,500! :)

 

 

Meet Juliet. 

 

 

In previous classes with Siong, the kids were used to making fun shapes with their dough; snakes, flowers, bowls, etc, then getting to eat their creation. Now, there was nothing to spare.  We have to sell each and every roll if we are going to get this project sustainable.  Everyone was OK with that.  They enjoyed mixing the dough, kneading the bread, and shaping into rolls.   

 

The dough rises in the sun for about 30 minutes.

 

 

Now the dough is ready for the oven.

 

 

Into the oven it goes.  The oven is heated by firewood.  For some reason, the left side gets much hotter than right side and some rolls were burned.

 

Our second baking class used 3 bags of flour, so we made more rolls, selling each at 500ugx, or about 20 cents.  Our goal was to raise 28,000ugx because we needed 15K for 3 flour, 10K for lard, and 3k for sugar.  We made 28,000! We did it!  This coming week, we have special Rotarian guests visiting our project, and we are making bread for their lunches all week.  They will buy us out!  Of course, we will charge them the customary mzungu price (White man's price which is higher than the local price), which will boost our project's sustainabilty!

 

These P7 girls from Gulu Public are once again learning important business skills.  They want to send their love to Siong, the founder of this project, and let him know that they will do their very best to keep his dream alive.  Everyone at Gulu Public loves you so much, Siong.  Goodluck to you as you move on to your next big adventure...

2012 August in Gulu, Uganda

I have a story to tell you before I get into my August happenings. One day I saw a group of white people sitting all together at a table.  I was so attracted to them - like a butterfly to a beautiful flower!  I can go for days not even interacting with another white person.  I just wanted to be with them and talk to them.  They were from my own "planet", and I wanted to communicate with them.  I feel I have been living so far away and for so long. I approached these "Earthlings" and introduced myself.  Then something very strange and foreign happened to me; I began to feel very shy and unable to concentrate on my words. I even began to sweat and was uncomfortable. I was nervous around my own people! They asked me what I was doing here, but I didn't use my intelligent words; I mumbled something. All along, I was wondering what THEY were doing here on MY planet. After a few moments they got up to go.  I had mixed feelings. I wanted to stay in their company, to be around people that looked like me and understood what I said, but I was also relieved to be free of their company because they made me so nervous. How can this be when I can sit at a table with local people and laugh, chat their ears off, and tell stories?  I forgot how to talk to Earthlings because I have been on Mars for too long! 

 

Will I ever be able to go back to Earth (USA) and assimilate into a normal life?  Have I changed so much that no one will ever know or understand me again? Have I seen too many sad things, lived around such poverty, experienced too much pain to ever be normal? Have I lived abroad for so long that I am no longer an Earthling?  Am I lost in space?

 

Some of the changes I am aware of is that my heart has had to build a protective covering around it.  It has become harder in order to protect itself.  I don't cry as easily anymore.  If I havent seen the worst, I have heard it.  I don't think there is any place on this earth that has gone through worse than the last 40 years of Northern Uganda.  Maybe equal to, but not worse. 

 

Now onto my life in Gulu for the month of August:

Sharon got new hands in August!  When she was a baby, the LRA shot her mother and father leaving baby Sharon unattended in the hut.  She crawled right into the fire and burned her hands pretty much off.  Through donations from Rotarians, we have paid her school fees and provided her with several prosthesis'.  In January, we enrolled her in Primary Level 4.  She has been promoted TWO levels to Primary Level 6! Way to go Sharon!  She is thriving, happy, chatty, and doing great!  I took reuseable menstruation kits to her and all the other young ladies at her school.  Now they dont have to spend their valuable little money to buy pads.  Every little thing helps.

This is a close up of her new hands.

Dr. Muzira David is the doctor in charge of Sharon's hand prosthesis.  He will also give her physical therapy and teach her to use them efficiently.  

In July, a group of friends and I made the trek into the bush to find the beautiful Aruu Falls.  The grass is stall and the hike was steep!  Here is my friend Stephanie in the tall elephant grass. If I fall more than a few steps behind her, I will lose her for good!

We finally found the top of Aruu Falls, but now we are going to make the climb DOWN to the bottom.  We were hoping to find a swimming hole. 

 This is Aruu Falls.  A hidden gem.  The Niagra Falls of Uganda! It was breath taking!  What a wonderful site and a wonderful day!

In my last blog, I introduced Suzy and her group from African Promise Foundation.  We had visited the Women's Prison in Gulu in July and had promised to return with more needed supplies.  Suzy sent me money from her foundation to purchase 40 new mattresses for them. I used a local friend to help me get the best price because if I were to just walk into a store, my "mzungu" price would be much higher.  

They sent some male prisoners to help carry the mattresses the short distance to the Women's Prison.

Here are 40 new mattresses on the road to a new home. 

The prison officials were very happy to see our gifts.

The women prisoners sang and clapped for us and thanked us for making their lives a little easier. 

On a MUCH sadder note, a good friend of mine died this month in a very unfortunate way. He was poisoned. I was shocked and scared. I am very sad about it.  Life can be very difficult in Gulu, even for those born here.  I have very little experience in processing death.  It's hard to let friends go.... 

 

As for my work with Aid Africa; it continues to go well.  The 2011 audit has come back with a favorable result.  I am currently training someone in the office to take over for me.  My overall work is important and I know I am making a difference.  It's life's daily little things that I am struggling with...

A Week With Friends From African Promise

After my trip back to Texas, I had a hard time getting used to my isolated life in Gulu.  There's only so many books to read and movies to watch before I start to lose my mind for company. So you can imagine my joy and excitement when ten friends came from the Seattle, USA area to spend a week in Gulu doing service!  They came with African Promise Foundation to do a week of service.  African Promise Foundation's main objective is paying school fees by selling Acholi Beads online. They think that I helped them with SO many things, but they have NO idea how much they helped me! Isn't it great when both parties think they are the winners?

African Promise Foundation turns these Acholi Beads into cash for School Fees.

When the group arrived at 10pm on Sunday night, the place they had reservations for had no room for them! They called me and I sent them to Hotel Roma for the night. The next day, I arranged for them to stay for a great rate at Saint Monica's Tailoring school. They went from dispair to such joy, especially when they met the famed Sister Rosemary, the 2007 CNN Hero of the Year.  The food and atmosphere at Saint Monica's is the best in Gulu.  It's my new hang out place with all my Sister friends. :)  

Suzy is sitting by Sister Rosemary at the Gulu Prison demonstration. 

Daina demonstrates how to use the "DaysforGirls" washable menstruation kits. Go Daina! 

Gulu Prison ladies get to shop for their individual under clothes.

One of the first activites was bringing the ladies of Gulu Prison some new underclothes, yeast medicine, washable menstruation pad kits from "daysforgirls", hygiene education, and snacks. They sang for us, thanked us, and expressed their happiness for what we brought.

Suzy, the Warden of Gulu Prison and I.  They need more metal beds, mattresses and blankets. 

The African Promise group and I at the Prison.

 We toured the prison and made some notes of other things the ladies need. These are tough times for them, and it is my own personal opinion that most of these ladies are serving time for fighting back in an abuse situation.  We made some ladies VERY happy today.

Suzy's group brought 100's of little dresses to make many little girls happy. We gave every little girl (and some little boys that insisted!) a new dress at St Jude Orphanage.  There were lots of smiles this day!  Here are a few more pictures of our day at St Jude Orphanage:

How many new dresses can you count? 

This little one is SO CUTE! 

Blessed is one of the many lucky little girls today!

On another day, we packed up all the kids at St Jude's Orphanage and took them swimming!  This was the first time most of them had ever been swimming.  The handicapped kids, normally wheelchair bound, were able to kick their feet and feel the freedom of movement only found in water.  I wish so much that these kids had a therapeutic pool to help them heal and get exercise for their crippled limbs.

SOme kids are feeling the freedom of movement in the water for the first time!

Can his grin get any bigger? 

Suzy's son, Joseph is carrying this handicapped girl into the pool.

Loading the kids in the van....

A bus full of excited first time swimmers!

When the water was too cold, there's a merry go round to play on.

One of my many services is helping the visitors get fair prices at the market.  I also make sure they dont get taken advantage of and help them solve problems if they do...yeah, some did. :) 

These are the African Promise beaders.  There are 20 of them.  They are so happy in this picture because Suzy just broke the news to them that they are each getting gifted a brand new bike!  Getting a bike here is like getting a new car!  Suzy put a request to her facebook friends to help her with the funds ($100/bike for $2,000).  In less then 24 hours she had the necessary money plus! 

I want to thank Suzy and her whole group, my new life long friends, for sharing their week with me.  They truly changed a lot of lives during their short stay in Gulu.  I know they changed my life for the better....I love you all. 

A VISIT TO SEE MY KIDS IN THE US

I have the most beautiful family ever.  We haven't been together as a family since November 2010, or over 1 1/2 years!!  I didn't realize how much I missed them until I saw them all again.  And, boy, do they love me!  Never have I felt so much love.  They are all so handsome/beautiful!

I am on Galveston Island, Texas.  It is on the Coast of the Gulf of Mexico about an hour SE of Houston Texas, USA.  It's a popular tropical tourist place.  There is a seawall for miles and miles to ride bikes, jog or take walks.  It is a very beautiful place.  Jeremy and Dustin live here.  We are all staying at Jeremy's apartment; yes, all six of us as well as 4 dogs (David brought his two dogs, Kayla brought her dog, and Jeremy has a dog!).  We are having fun, and everyone is just happy to be together again! 

 When my boys aren't working, they are fishing.  Working, fishing, and loving life.

Jeremy is helping Kayla bait her pole.  We are fishing on a pier in the bay. 

I like to eat fish, but I don't like to take part in catching, killing or cleaning them.  I like to watch my boys fish and I get excited when they get excited.  Then I turn my head away when they have to kill the poor little fish.  The best part is when we eat it :)   

Jeremy and I

Jeremy got in a brawl with an alligator, or a bear, or maybe his brother David.  I'm not sure! A couple of black eyes and a busted nose. LOL!  Boys will be boys; that's all I know!   

This picture is for my friends in Africa who only know me as the bicycle riding mzungu.  Yes, I can drive a truck!  And I remember to stay on the RIGHT side of the road, too! 

All FIVE of my kids are finally together.  David's wife, Lindsey, has joined us for the WHOLE weekend!  We are at Jimmy's on the Pier, where Dustin works.

This is a long nights work for Jeremy, David and Bryanna.   

 

Kayla rides a Segway for the first time!

David and Lindsey ride the Segway too.

There's nothing like dancing with my own son!  I was SOOO happy and having SOOO much fun! 

Jeremy and Kayla are dancing

Jeremy, Bryanna and Lindsey show us a line dance. 

Jeremy with Bryanna, Dustin, Mom and Kayla on his 23rd birthday.  After a wonderful night of grilling steak and bratwurst, we went to a great Arcade and played Glow Golf and other Arcade games with some of Jeremy's friends.  It was a wonderful evening, and everyone had a great time.

Dustin at the Arcade playing his favorite shooting game. 

Kayla beat me in Air Hockey!  She's quite happy about it too!

Jeremy is serious when it comes to his Air Hockey! 

Bryanna won this monkey and gave it to Kayla.  I think that was the best part of Kayla's night.  Thank you Bry!!  You put a great smile on my little girl's face! 

Mother and Son.  Happy Birthday Jeremy! 

Mac, Jeremy's dog

I can't fail to mention our furry friends. There were up to 7 adults (Me, David, Lindsey, Jeremy, Bryanna, Dustin, and Kayla) and 4 dogs (Mac, Lucy, Lizzy, Kona) all staying together in a one bedroom apartment.  And guess what?  We were never crowded.  Everybody was so happy to be together again that nobody complained.  It was wonderful!

Lucy is Kayla's sweet dog

Lizzy is David and Lindsey's first dog. 

Kona is David and Lindsey's second dog.  In this picture he was grounded to his crate because he kept barking...one hour for every bark...LOL...not really.

Thank you my wonderful family for the laughs and good times.  It is something this family REALLY needed after a couple of hard years.  We have many more years of good times to look forward to...I love you all so much.