London

I arrived in London last night and leave for the States in 3 hours from now (L.A. and then Portland). By the time I realized that my flight leaves in the morning and not at night, it was late in London and I decided to call it a night and not take the train into the city. That means my whole London experience is relegated to Heathrow and the adjoining Park Inn Hotel. Oh yeah, the Duty Free shops, too.

My husband said that people have been asking him what I was doing in Uganda with AFC. What project I was working on. Sherie and I were working on documenting the AFC program. By this, we were putting together scrapbooks of children at the various AFC centers and creating a video of the program. The scrapbooks were in shape to leave with the AFC staff for completion and we have the materials for the video and will complete it when we connect in the States and then send it back to AFC. At some point, Jolly will be coming back to the States and she will use the video to explain to folks what AFC does and what more it can do.

AFC is in need of funding to provide additional schools and clinics for vulnerable children and to support family restoration. There are no school buses. Children walk. There is no free education. Education is tuition-based. Without AFC, many children would receive no education at all. Many children would continue to be malnourished and in dire health. Thanks to Jolly and her staff, AFC is helping thousands of children and Sherie and I had the privilege of helping to tell their story.

Leaving Uganda -- Monday Morning

It is Monday morning and I am at the Entebbe Airport waiting for my flight to Heathrow to board. I have made many friends in Uganda and they will all be going with me in my heart.

Let me take a moment to share my weekend with you. On Saturday we had a lovely reunion with friends from Holt International when they arrived in Uganda. Shortly afterward, Jolly took me to the women's prison. I teased that she was going to leave me there, but we were going to a going away party for a friend of her's. The next day (yesterday), we drove to Jinja for Halima's graduation party. It was a wonderful party that was mixed Muslim and Christian; quite colorful. It was the perfect way to say good-bye to Uganda.

Family, fellow Oregonians and SNW, I will be home before you know it. I hope to be in the office on Friday, depending upon jetlag. Matt/Mike, please let Mom know I'll call her as soon as I arrive. Jack, Brian and Peter, I can't wait to see you all.

Last Day in AFC Office

Today is my last day in the Action for Children office. I will miss the people in the office, their smiles, their amazing hospitality and the friendship they have given me in my month here. I have not finished all of the work I came to do, but will be able to send them a finished product as soon as I am able to enlist my son's help in putting together the final touches.

It is raining today, which is reminding me of home. I guess this is fitting as I'll be there in 5 days.

Gulu - February 5th

Another night of little sleep. The African Cup frivolities went on all night and into the wee hours this morning. It is not the first time I haven’t slept while in Uganda and for some reason I don’t mind much. The room, which definitely wasn’t European standard, was quite comfortable. Water is only turned on when the hotel feels there will be a need for it so that it doesn’t get wasted.

Water is a precious item in Africa since there are only one or two rainy seasons. Rain from roofs is captured in large tanks and then used throughout homes. When these tanks, which may be metal cans, plastic tanks or sealed concrete, run dry, a tanker may be called to refill the tanks. Villages get water from either a local pump or nearby streams. It is common to see children and women carrying plastic water jugs on their heads.

We went to two community centers that are sponsored by CARE today. Both centers were located in relocation camps. I heard more today about soldiers from Sudan surrounding villages during the night and kidnapping anyone who could serve as a soldier and killing the rest. Those kidnapped were set on a forced march during the night carrying heavy loads of provisions. The lucky ones are those who escaped and are in the relocation camps.

The children we saw in the camps all have big smiles. That is the good news. They also have extended stomachs (worms or malnutrition) and tatters for clothes. I wanted to take them all to a shower and then let them jump into a swimming pool for relief from the intense heat.

Trip to Gulu - February 4th

It’s Monday, which means back to work. I join Lydia and James for a trip north to Gulu. We leave the office about 11 and arrive in Gulu at 6 p.m. The road has many potholes in it, so driving is quite slow at times.

A week ago, we went to the source of the Nile River. Today we cross a branch of the Nile River that feeds into Prince Albert Lake. This part of the Nile is wild. We see falls in the distance and the number of boulders in the river make this a rafter’s dream or nightmare, depending upon experience. It is too fast and wild for me, that’s for sure. On the other side of the river, we are greeted by baboons in the road and toss roasted cassava to them.

Closer to Gulu, we see many relocation camps for families displaced by the 20-year war in the north. Round huts with grass roofs are crowded together with little space in between. There are multiple camps and the roofs go on and on. Although the war is over, only some families have moved back to their villages. Some have split their families so that part goes back to re-establish their homes and will come back for the rest of their families, others may go away during the day to work and return at night if their village is close enough. Others fear the war is not settled and choose to stay. Still others have lived in the camps for up to 21 years and no longer know their home village and choose to stay.

We finally reach Gulu and check into a hotel that Lydia has stayed at before because it is clean and quite. Well, generally. Tonight is the African Cup soccer game, so the bar is packed and noisy. Good fun.

Miriam's Graduation - February 3rd

Today is Miriam’s graduation party. Since I am staying with the Nyekos, Miriam’s aunt and uncle, I get to watch the day unfold. We have breakfast with Miriam, her mother, father, the Nyekos and another uncle. After breakfast is church. Church starts at 9, but we arrive around 10:30, in time for a couple of the songs (I love the drums the most), the sermon and rest of the service, which ends a little after 1:00. Jolly and didn’t have time earlier in the week, so we take time for a shopping trip for graduation presents and return home in time for the party.

The party is a mid-day party. I’ve been told that sometimes people don’t even say what time a party starts, other than mid-day or evening, because people arrive when they are ready. In this case, people start arriving at 3 p.m. and continue arriving until after 7 p.m. There were many speeches, a buffet dinner of matoke (plantains steamed in banana leaves), two types of rice, chicken, beef in broth, shredded cabbage salad with tomatoes, a cooked shredded cabbage and peanut sauce, more speeches, fruit salad, Miriam’s speech, then the cake cutting and distribution to each guest by Miriam, followed by a dance procession where each party gave presents to Miriam. It was beautiful and touching.

Masulita Tour

What an incredible day! I joined 5 AFC staff for a tour of community learning centers around Masulita. Our first stop was the first AFC center in Masulita where we had helped to make bricks (see picture of drying bricks) on our second day in Uganda. The community members were busily making more bricks, clearing the grounds and fixing plaster since school starts in 4 days. Interviews for a new teacher were this afternoon back in Kampala.

Our second stop was at a home of a young couple with their 5 children. They were busy making bricks in their front yard and the children were excited to get a ride in the AFC truck, short as it was.

In the center of Masulita, we stopped to get water. The boda-boda drivers (motorcycle taxis) were teasing our staff person who works there to buy them lunch to celebrate that she brought friends with her to Masulita, especially a white one. Everywhere Sherie and I would go, we would hear, "Hello, White Person!" This is not said as a slur, but as a recognition, or greeting. Now that Sherie is gone, I am hearing, "Hello, Madame White Person!" In some of the villages we went through today, this greeting was changed to "Hello, China!" Some of the children cry when they see me because they have not been exposed to many caucasians. I try hard not to scare them.

We stopped at one center that is in the process of being built (picture of round hut with grass roof). Children have so far to walk to go to school that local communities are banning together to build facilities. The gentleman in the white shirt has been working on the buildings and doesn't even have children who will be attending. Chris (red shirt) is the teacher and as we would drive to a school site, the children would cry, "Master!" to him. It was endearing.

Another site we visited is the home of a woman who had an extra building that she is donating for use as a school. After interviewing potential teachers, a retired teacher in the village said she would teach instead and the children love her. On top of this generousity, the community is joining together to make things to sell, such as the lady making strips to weave into a grass mat (picture), to improve the school.

The final picture is not of our trip today, but of one of the 3 AFC staff members who graduated this week. This is a picture of Halima modeling her graduation cap and gown. Halima is the first person in her family to graduate from college; a huge accomplishment. Miriam and Vanessa also graduated and we are all proud of all three of them!

Micro Finance-Kampala

When we visited Mbale last week, we saw our first Micro Finance team in action. The AFC Micro Finance teams provide small loans to guardians of vulnerable children to enable them to gain wealth to provide for their children. This program empowers women who otherwise have no assets and inherit children without a means to support them. Men are also eligible for the program. In addition to receiving a loan, the group benefits by forming a support group for each other.

I joined the Kampala Micro Finance team today as they distributed loans to a new group of guardians. There were half a dozen women in the group and the fewest number of children in a house was 7. The loans from the Micro Finance program will help (i) a local midwife with 10 dependents to expand her midwife clinic and provide signage that is more prominent (see picture), (ii) a grocer expand her produce stand to support her two biological children and the 5 children she inherited from her late brother (see picture), (iii) a widow with 17 children expand her bin inventory for retail sales, (iv) a nursery teacher with 10 dependents to produce envelopes, (v) a tailor with 8 children to expand her inventory of material and (vi) purchase goats for a woman with 15 dependents whose goats died in a draught.

Can you imagine doubling the number of mouths you must feed overnight when your brother, sister, daughter or son dies of AIDS and leaves you their dependents? Add to that the idea of being a woman with no assets of your own.

Some of the recipients of the Micro Finance program have had amazing success. One man was able to use his loan to buy a bicycle to use as a taxi. He saved enough from his earnings to buy a motorcycle to provide faster taxi service and can now more comfortably feed his expanded family. A woman used her loan to buy material and set up shop as a tailor. She was able to feed and shelter her dependents and went on to train young apprentices. There are as many stories as their are "graduates" of the Micro Finance program.

Youth Camp

AFC sponsors a camp for members of youth groups throughout Uganda. The week-long camp covers life skills, spiritual strength, and HIV/AIDS prevention (see picture), among other things. We visited the camp today and jumped right in with the teenagers as they sang, danced and clapped. We also listened to Oscar give a rousing testimony of his faith and how belief in God is the foundation for leading a good life through the temptations teenagers face.

After visiting the youth camp, there was a program at the AFC office to say good-bye to Sherie. A speaker from each department said something they had learned from her during her two weeks in Uganda and she showed them a video she had prepared for them about AFC. We are now back at Mamba Point so she can finish packing before catching her plane.

Several people have asked about Sherie's hair. Let me just say that she will fit well in Eugene, but no, it is not dreadlocks. She is styling.

Sherie's Last Day

Today is Sherie's last full day in Uganda as she flies home tomorrow. She had some shopping to do, so I tagged along to enjoy the company of her and Halima, our friend and guide from AFC. After shopping, Sherie had an appointment to get her hair done. I won't spoil the surprise for her family and friends; just note that she looks amazing.

Halima was introduced to Ethiopian cuisine for dinner. Although many spices and herbs grow in Uganda, they are not widely used. Ethiopian meals do use spices and the tastes were strange to her. Sherie and I were happily munching away on injera, lentils, cabbage, goat and other items and Halima was amazed to see us so content. It was as if we were on the cereal commercial that says, "Give it to Mikey. Mikey will eat anything."

Back to the field tomorrow for me and to Eugene via Amsterdam for Sherie.

Sipi Falls

Jolly, her daughter Lois, James, Sherie and I arrived at Sipi Falls in eastern Uganda on Friday evening. Sheri and I shared one hut (see picture), Jolly and Lois shared another, and James got a room to himself. When we woke on Saturday, we had breakfast (a plate of passion fruit, orange, watermellon, banana, and pineapple, a glass of passion fruit juice, African and English tea, French press coffee, and a bowl of corn porridge), then went on a hike with our guide, Kenneth.

From the Sipi Falls Resort, where we were staying, we could see the lower of the 3 Sipi Falls. We hiked to the other two falls and to a cave where the ancestors of local residents used to live before houses. The hike took 3 hours, most of which was uphill, to reach the third waterfall and our lunch destination (3rd waterfall in distance in picture). Our return only took one hour.

The loop we took for our hike brought us through plantations of bananas, coffee, castor (yes, castor oil comes from a seed pod of a tree. My grandmother used to make me take castor oil to prevent carsickness when I was a kid and I think it worked because I got sick before getting into the car instead of while traveling) and fields of tomatoes and cabbages. What originally looked liked farm land was really filled with huts and people. We walked through people's yards, passing their chickens, cows, goats and children. We came across people bathing, cooking, working in the fields, and making the local beer out of bananas. If I understood correctly, corn flower is cooked with water (see picture), then ferment for about 7 days, after which a special variety of bananas is added. We saw several groups of men sitting in a circle drinking brew out of a communal pot with long straws. The beer looks like a thin porridge and has a very high alcohol level.

People were very gracious to us. We always asked before taking any pictures and respected anyone's wishes if they did not want a picture taken.

Nile River and Mbale

How many of us remember that Mahatma Gandhi's ashes were immersed in the Nile River in 1948? I sure didn't. There is a memorial at the source of the Nile River in Jinja, Uganda that is dedicated to Gandhi. The falls that spring from the source of the Nile have been dammed and have formed a lake behind the falls where a bridge had been constructed. See bottom 3 pictures.

We crossed over the Nile on our way to AFC's office in Mbale. At Mbale, we joined a micro-finance meeting in progress. The meeting was to give out loans for people who are or have set up businesses in the area and are guardians for vulnerable children. Some of the people have one or more child of their own plus take care of four or more orphans. People we met have started textile businesses, a pharmacy, produce businesses and other businesses. See top 3 pictures.

Untitled

The above picture is from our trip yesterday. We passed areas that specialize in certain products, such as drums, stools, lufas (loofas? -- I don't remember the correct spelling), mushrooms, potatoes and tomotoes. Sherie took this great picture from a stall on the roadside that was selling potatoes. Customers do not need to get out of their car -- the people in the stall come to you. The beautiful way the products are stacked are typical of most, if not all, fruits and vegetables.

Once again, Sherie and I went separate ways today to learn different aspects of AFC's role in helping children. Sherie attended a meeting on nutrition and I attended a meeting on reviewing the Children's Act, the base law for how children are treated, adoption, foster parenting and guardianships.

In order to adopt a Ugandan child, whether the prospective parents are Ugandan or not, the prospective parents must first live in Uganda for 3 years as foster parents. One of the questions that is being reviewed is whether 3 years is too long. There are many other steps and issues in the adoption, foster parenting and guardianship process, too. I won't get into the details, but suffice it to say that there are many views on each issue. It will be interesting to see how Uganda's laws develop or if they stay the same.

We are going to the source of the Nile River and Sipi Falls for the weekend so you won't see any entries for a few days. Stay tuned.

Equator

I spent the morning visiting with the finance office of AFC while Sherie did some shopping.

During the afternoon we drove for an hour and a half to the equator (picture of Jolly, Sherie, Dora and me), watched the water swirl in one direction (see picture of flower swirling) when standing north of the equator and the other direction when standing south of the equator and not swirl at all directly on the equator. Having heard of this phenomenon before seeing it did nothing to disappoint the actual experience.

A short distance from the equator we turned onto another dirt road and drove for 4 km to a children's home that we'd learned about yesterday that is run by the Catholic Church. The home has 62 acres of fertile land, but not enough money to plow it all for growing crops to feed their wards. They have rooms for up to 2 volunteers to stay with them for 6 months to a year. While there, I touched something and got a rash all over my hand. The fun of travel.

Continuation of Kyanja and Introduction to Ttuba

The hotel we are staying in didn't have internet access last night, January 22nd, so I am a day behind in this posting. Here's the make-up report.

Sherie and I went separate ways yesterday. She went back to Kanya to continue working on documenting the Kyanja program. Jessica and Deo accompanied Sherie to homes where Sherie took pictures of the children with their guardians. These pictures, together with the individual portraits that were previously taken and drawings the children have done will be compiled into a notebook and added to in the future to show each child’s progress over time. Stories the social workers gather will be added to the notebooks to assist in caring for the children’s welfare.

I was introduced to Ttuba where we repeated the class of the Rights and Responsibilities of Children and began photographing each of the children. We will go back later to do the home visits.

Following the visits to Kyanja and Ttuba, we visited a babies home that was founded in 1958 by the Catholic Church. The home serves up to 30 children from birth to age 6. In addition to the orphaned children, the facility has a day care that is open to the larger community. After age 6, children are transferred to a home for children up to the age of 18. This second home serves a maximum of 100 children and provides both a school and a vocational school. Funding for the vocational school recently ended after 7 years and there is a search for finding new funds. Once a child reaches 18, s/he either goes back to an extended family, college or a trade. It is very challenging for children who have been institutionalized to join society as they are not used to the freedoms to which other children have been accustomed.

Getting to the villages surrounding Kampala is always an adventure. Sherie and I have been treated kindly as we get to ride inside vehicles, but many others ride in the open bed of a pickup. The roads in Kampala are paved, but the roads outside Kampala are red dirt that are prone to potholes and dust. The driver (James or Joshua) will raise his hand to the top of the cab and bang the roof so folks in the truck bed know to expect a large pothole or speed bump. There are so many potholes that it seems he could be playing the drums on the roof at any given time.

Kyanja Revisited

Sherie and I joined AFC staff to revisit the children at Kyanja today. Our mission was to work on art projects with any of the children who were not at Kyanja when we visited last week, photograph them and then start taking pictures of children at their homes with the guardians. Instead, we participated in the children's class groups to learn about children's rights and responsibilities. I joined the group of students age 9-11. The first did some games, exercises and dances, then had a breakfast porridge (picture), followed by their lesson (picture). The teacher asked what rights the children thought they had or wanted and they listed five: (1) education, (2) eat, (3) medical care, and (4) movement. The teacher added additional rights, such as going to church, and then discussed the responsibilities associated with each. After class, we made bracelets with some of the children while others played soccer. For lunch, the children were given rice with meat sauce and steamed bananas.

To get to Kyanja, we road a minibus taxi. It was an adventure to crowd into a minibus and then bounce along the rutted dirt roads. It is not unusual to bounce hard enough to hit your head on the way back up. After returning to Kampala, again via minibus, we went shopping (picture of shopping "mall"). Sherie is going to meet with a Ugandan official later in the week and needed a formal suit and I picked up a couple outfits, too. The last picture is of the inside of the fabric shop where you can buy either ready-made outfits or material to have something made. Either way, tailoring is included and bargaining is expected.

Sherie and I are fortunate. We are staying in a hotel that has wireless service so we are able to keep up with our friends from home. We have been told by a couple energy consultants taying in the hotel that only 10% of Uganda has electrical power. Another gentleman we talked to today say he thinks the figure is more like 50% since many in villages have a generator. Either way, having internet service is a treat here that we take for granted back in the States.

Kampala City Tour

It is Saturday. We spent the morning at a conference with future international adoptive parents, then toured a babies home (birth through age 3) and shopping. Thankfully, we had wonderful guides from AFC who gave us their afternoon.

Our husbands appreciate that with a few exceptions, credit cards are not used in Uganda, so our shopping was limited. Credit cards are only used at larger hotels and restaurants. Cash has to be large, unblemished bills newer than 1990. Smaller denominations are frowned upon and may garner a less attractive exchange rate. For example, today's exchange rate for $50 bills and higher is 1,690 Ugandan shillings per $1 and smaller bills only get 1,600 Ugandan shillings.

The first picture is a typical street scene in Kampala. The streets in Kampala are paved, which is nice as most of the villages outside Kampala are accessible on rutted dirt roads. If it hasn't just rained, the dirt roads are incredibly dusty, to say nothing of the bumps. Sherie has decided that the bumps replace the need of a massage.

The second and third pictures are from a hotel overlooking Kampala. The city center is to the far right in the second picture and Lake Victoria in the distance of the third picture.

Kyanja

We went to AFC's facilities in Kyanja today. The facilities include an office, kitchen, classroom, counseling center, playground and clinic. The facility serves over 30 orphans (group picture with kids in yellow shirts) ranging in age from 2 through 7 supported by Holt, as well as about 800 residents of Kyanja.

The children worked on an art project where they each drew pictures with crayons of anything they wanted. The pictures were an menagerie of planes, trucks, cooking pots, trees and birds; all beautifully done (picture attached).

Sherie played "cats cradle" with one of the older helpers and had the rapt attention of many of the children (picture attached).

The kitchen is a small area that is walled in by bricks just like the ones we helped make yesterday. A small fire pit was in one corner with a pot on top. The cooks worked on braiding grass mats while the food was cooking. Lunch for the children consisted of a porridge of millet and soy. Lunch for the staff was a bit more elaborate -- steamed plantains, peanut sauce, eggplant, rice, chicken in broth, beef in broth, and yams. A virtual feast.

The children are so beautiful here. Each one has a smile that can light up the world.

In addition to helping the children directly, AFC provides a "micro-finance" program for their guardians. This is a program that provides loans to groups of women (groups of 5) to help them start a business to support their family. Payments are made weekly and the women are encouraged to save 20% of their earnings from their businesses. Many women have been able to move their families from grass huts to brick houses, thanks to the program. Three women that were at Kyanja today had started businesses in selling undergarments and food products, as an example.

Masulita

Sherie and I joined the Action for Children staff for a in Masulita, a village outside Kampala, where AFC has a school. Although the children are still on holiday from school, parents, grandparents and children were already there when we arrived. Today's activity included clearing land for a garden and making bricks for additional classrooms. There are already two school houses, a gazebo-like structure, a kitchen and a house on the property and the bricks will be used to expand one of the two school houses.

We had a lot of fun! It has been many years since either of us got to make mud pies and making bricks reminded me of playing with my mother's pie pans after a heavy rain. The process is to use a large hoe to hack off part of a dirt bank, pour some water on it, stomp on it like grapes for wine (see picture -- can you imagine working in mud in a skirt?), pile the squishy mud into a large beehive, then punch the mud into a brick mold (see picture -- don't you love the hat made from banana leaves?). Once the brick is released from the mold, rows of bricks are layered with banana leaves to dry. In about a week, the bricks will be fired and ready to use.

While we were making bricks, Lydia, the AFC Director, was working with the children on drawings. Our main art project starts tomorrow.

My flights were great. I had enough frequent flier miles that I was able to fly Business class, which was fabulous! I got to stay in the Club World room between flights, take a shower, change clothes and sleep on the plane. It's the only way to fly long-hauls. Unfortunately, Sherie didn't have the same benefit on her flight.

Immediately upon arrival, I was met by Edward, the driver for the guesthouse Sherie stayed in last night. Sherie had a great room in Entebbe (white walls, mosquito net on a four-poster bed) and it was close enough for us to walk to the bontanical garden boarding Lake Victoria. We had a guided tour and saw banana, nutmeg, cacao, coffee and cinnamon trees, as well as many other species. We also saw two types of monkeys and too many birds to count. On our walk to the garden, we passed many men sitting astride their motorcycles in groups on street corners. These were the local "taxis." We talked to a few of them to get directions and they were most helpful even though we didn't want a ride.

We will be meeting with folks from Action for Children tomorrow morning. Tonight we get to sleep and get over jetlag.

The pictures posted are of termite hills (can you believe the size?) and of Sherie with Alex, our guide, in front of a cacao tree. Sherie was admiring a cacao pod, the giver of chocolate power.

I have said my good-bye's and leave Portland tomorrow. The flights from Portland to Seattle, Seattle to London (Heathrow), then London to Entebbe, Uganda will take 2 days -- thank goodness Missy gave me a new book to read on the plane. I will be meeting my friend, Sherie, in Entebbe. Sherie's flight arrives 10 hours before me and we have booked a ride into Kampala for Wednesday afternoon. Getting used to the Ugandan currency will take some getting used to. The shuttle into Kampala costs about 50,000/=, which is equivalent to $30. I'm not even sure what their currency is called yet, so I have a lot to learn.

My three bags are all at the maximum weight limit (50 lb. each) and are filled with art supplies, medicines and gifts. I'll have to buy clothes once I get there because there was little room for personal items. I understand that pants on women are frowned upon outside of the national parks, so it may be a good thing that I'll be buying clothes as I only have winter-weight skirts in my closet and the weather in Uganda will be equivalent to our summers.

We have been reading a lot about the political strife in Kenya and the impact on Uganda, such as high fuel prices. I am anxious to find out what that will mean to our project. More on that later. In the meantime, I leave in 20 hours and am SO EXCITED!