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.

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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.