I'm bringing them all home!

Day 13! Holy Cuteness :)

Wednesday May 30^th 9:05 pm

Today was one of the days I have been looking forward to most since landing in this beautiful and breath taking country. We started the morning by loading the bus with all of the items we had brought to donate and headed to MUBS for breakfast. We had toast, a muffin, and a samosa and then we left Kampala to travel to Entebbe.

Once we reached Entebbe, more specifically the location of Sure Prospects Institute we had to walk just a short distance before arriving at the school. Francis, the founder of the school, gave us some background information before we got to begin interacting with the kids. The school is for both kids with special needs and those without; there is a 1:3 ratio. He talked about some of the disabilities we would encounter, autism, Down syndrome, blind, and deaf, and how the school came to be. It was really interesting since it directly applies to my major.

Then we walked up to where the kids were practicing for their upcoming sports day this weekend. We were each assigned a house and got to cheer with that group of kids, play with them, talk to them, and just interact. I absolutely loved every single minute of it. When we headed back to the school they got a snack and we played some more games/sang some songs like they hokie-pokie, which they loved. Then it was lunch time, I ate some rice but nothing else looked too appealing.

After lunch we got a quick tour of the school before getting to play with the kids some more. Dori, Alessa, and I also met with the teachers to talk and plan for our upcoming opportunity to teach. We are definitely a little overwhelmed, but will spend the next couple of days finalizing plans and making sure we are adequately prepared.

It was hard to say goodbye to the kids, but we loaded back up the bus and headed to dinner. We went to Faze 3, and I had nan, chicken strips, and a milkshake. Now we are back at Red Chilli and trying to get to bed early so we can depart for Murchison Falls. Can’t wait to see some hippos and other animals J

I'll try to post the pictures of the cute kids soon!

~Mary 

Day 12!

Tuesday May 29^th 6:15 pm

Not as many people got up early to witness another breath taking sunrise, but I just couldn’t force myself to sleep in. I figured I would only get to see this one more time and so I decided to take full advantage of it. It was just as beautiful and even looked relatively different. This morning after the sunrise, we even saw a beautiful rainbow so any lack of sleep was definitely worth it.

Of course I went back to bed for an hour before it was time for breakfast. I had an omelet again and banana again. Then it was time for our morning lecture from David Batema. He talked to us about gender equality in Uganda and I think it’s an understatement to say I was shocked about some of the issues. It wasn’t until 1995 that the constitution said that men and women should be treated equally and after talking to the MUB students I don’t think this is actually carried out in society. The one thing that really stuck with me, apart from many of his stories, was his quote “you must change with the changes, otherwise the changes will change you.” In my opinion, Uganda needs to start making some drastic changes to the way women specifically are viewed and treated, but to gender equality in general.

After the lecture we had lunch, where we continued our conversation with the MUB students. For lunch we had something that seemed like fish sticks and more French fries. But I didn’t pay much attention to what I was eating, because I was so engrossed in the conversation. We were talking to Lawrence and Ezira about their views on women and whether or not they should be treated equally. They both said that they should not be nor do they think they will be in the near future. The scenario we talked a lot about was if there was one chair in a sitting room that the woman would be expected to sit on the ground and the man would sit in the chair. Even if the woman was there first, when the man entered she should get up and give him the chair. This absolutely stunned us because we feel as though it is the opposite in the United States. I could rant about this forever, but after lunch we loaded up the bus and headed back to Kampala.

We drove through a forest on our way back and looked at some tea and sugar cane from the bus windows. We arrived back relatively early around 4 and were able to catch up with the real world and get some internet access. Now I’m just waiting for my pizza to be ready, grab a bite to eat, and retreat to our cabin to catch up on journaling. Can’t wait for a great day at Sure Prospects tomorrow. I’m sure I’ll have lots of kids pictures to post.

Can’t believe this trip is going as fast as it is, but looking forward to seeing everyone back home soon!
~Mary

Pictures from the Nile!

 Sunrise over Lake Victoria. It was early...but boy was it worth it!

 Source of the Nile!

Day 11!

Monday May 28^th 8:30 pm

Wow! I truly could not have asked for a better day or a more gorgeous morning. We woke up at 5:30 so we could watch the sunrise over Lake Victoria and the Nile. The morning began pitch black but by the time we were done we had witnessed a beautiful sunrise with some breath taking pictures (I’ll try to post some as soon as possible). Then of course it was back to bed until the alarm went off to actually get up and get breakfast.

We ended up getting out of bed around 8 and went up to eat breakfast. I had an omelet, some toast, and watermelon. It was a pretty good breakfast. Then we had a little bit of time to finish getting ready before we loaded up the bus around 9:30. Our first stop was to journey deeper into Jinja and more specifically the source of the Nile.

To get there we had to cross over a bridge, which separates two different kingdoms (both with different kings). We drove by a lot of their various industries before arriving at the spot. Then it was a walk down some stairs with various shops along the way and finally arrived at the spot where Lake Victoria flows into the Nile. This was obviously a prime picture location and a breathtaking view (again hopefully pictures to come soon). We also saw the monument built to Ghandi since some of his ashes were brought there.

Then it was back on the bus where we traveled to a local weaving shop. We got to watch them do work on the looms and then look around the shop some. It was really interesting for them to explain all the different methods and tools they use to make some of the beautiful cloth work we’ve seen across the country.

After this it was time to head back to our “resort” (I use the term loosely) for an afternoon of relaxation. We had a buffet lunch, which consisted of more potatoes/French fries, rice, and pasta. As soon as we inhaled our food we rushed back to put our swimsuits on and lounge by the pool. We literally spent all afternoon laying out with a drink and just enjoying ourselves. I think we all got to know one another better and it was one of my favorite afternoons thus far. It was relaxing, sunny, and just all around amazing. Some of us walked down toward the water and spent some time hanging around the park and looking in the small gift shop.

Then we went down toward the lake because some of the MUB students had brought drums and other instruments and wanted to enjoy some company and music. Before long it had gotten dark and we decided to head up to dinner. For dinner, we had more potatoes, carrots and some gross chicken.

We just finished taking showers and now we are going to enjoy our last relaxing night before returning to Kampala by once again watching a movie (and of course catching up in our journals, since we always seem to be behind). I think I’m getting up early for sun rise again and then we are back to home sweet home Red Chilli for a day before hitting the road again. Hopefully I’ll have internet tomorrow so I can post these blogs and get everyone back in the loop!

~Mary

Day 10!

Sunday May 27^th 9:20 pm

Today has been better than I could have expected. Our morning started by getting up and packing up our suitcases. We moved all of our suitcases into our professor’s cabin and left with only our backpacks. At MUBS we had our typical breakfast of toast, biscuit/cookie, and fruit and then it was time to depart for the rural village.

This time instead of going deep into the heart of the village, we stopped at the school where they also hold church services. When we arrived they were just finishing up their morning mass and so we prepared to talk about clinic plans. One of Dr. Bishop’s classes prepared clinic designs for the clinic they are preparing to build and it was our responsibility to present the plans to the community members. The members then gave us feedback on what they liked, disliked, or thought was missing. We needed the MUB students to help us translate because most of the community members didn’t speak English, but it was a really good and eye opening experience.

While some of the health care students who are doing work with the clinic for their project were conducting interviews, we got to play with the kids. I got to hold some cute babies and met some really nice kids. One that wouldn’t let go of my hand was named Rachel (I miss you sissy) and she was super precious. We taught them some hand games, some played soccer, and we played duck duck goose and simon says. We also sang some songs and talked about America.

After our wonderful morning and early afternoon we loaded up the bus to continue our journey to Jinja. We arrived at King Fischer’s resort, which I would not necessarily consider a resort. The rooms are small and there are lots of bugs all around (including dead bugs in our mosquito net), but the absolutely breath taking view makes it better.

 When we arrived, we took a quick walking adventure to see where we were staying and then quickly changed into our swimsuits to lounge by the pool. We all got drinks and enjoyed some quality bonding and sun time by the pool. In fact it felt so much like a relaxing vacation that it was easy to forget we are actually in Africa.

After “swimming,” it was time for dinner. We had a buffet at King Fischer’s that consisted of French fries, beef kabobs, fajita type food, and some fruit. It was so good that we inhaled it and went back for seconds. The ketchup even tasted somewhat American, which was enough to make a lot of our nights.

Once we were actually full for once, Dani, Megan, Micah, and I retreated to our rooms to watch a movie and head to bed early. We took ice cold showers and now our ready to sleep with some lovely bugs. The alarm is set for 5:30 am so we can get up and watch the sun rise over Lake Victoria. I am super excited and continue to be amazed by the wondrous things this country has to offer. While some people are getting more and more ready to come home, I fall more and more in love with The Pearl of Africa daily.

~Mary

Day 9!

Saturday May 26^th 8:05 pm

I’m so happy we got back on the early side tonight, because it was an early morning and a long day. Our morning started with a 7:00 breakfast of toast and a banana at MUBS. Then we boarded the bus for the over hour bus ride out to the rural visit.

Once we arrived at the small village where Dr. Senteza grew up, we got to tour two farms. At the farms we saw the wide variety of crops that they grow here from sweet potatoes, to pumpkins, to bananas. We even got to try some fresh fruit cut right down from the trees with a machete. I tried jackfruit and guavas, both of which were just okay. It was interesting to compare a farm in Uganda to one in Iowa or Illinois. The one main difference I noticed was intercropping, which means that a banana tree would be planted amongst rows of beans.

After our farm tours, we went to one of the elders of the village home for lunch. It was definitely eye opening to see just how little this family had and they were one of the wealthier in the community. To give you an idea, I peed in a hole in the ground. For lunch they served us fresh pineapple, matooke, rice, and meat. It was a little bit better than what we usually eat at MUBs, but I still don’t like it and am getting sick of it.

During lunch we decided that Daisy and Lawrence, two of the MUB students, should get married so we had some fun with that and then it was time to discuss what we had seen. We had the opportunity to ask the elders questions and then they in return asked questions. To give you an idea of what we talked about, we asked things about the future of farming in Uganda, how education plays a role in people not taking over the family business, and other aspects of their life. They asked us questions about why we only give candy to the kids, our political opinions, and other light-hearted questions.

After our discussion we presented the elders with the many clothes and other gifts we brought. We decided to leave it up to their discretion and give the clothing to the children they thought were the most needy, rather than us handing it to random kids. They were extremely grateful and it felt really good to know that we were going to make a difference in these children’s lives.

It was then time to get back on the bus before the rain hit, but it took us quite some time to walk back to the bus because we were bombarded by village children. We had some candy to hand out, but I did not expect the mob to happen. The smiles on their faces and the way they jumped up and down every time we pulled something out of our bags made me really really happy. They also loved smiling for the camera, so we got some cute “snaps” as they call them.

Once we got close to the bus we were pretty much fresh out of candy. However they were still holding their hands out so I started giving them high fives. The chorus of laughter that erupted is one of my highlights of the trip thus far. Finally it was time to depart and we headed back to Kampala. We made a quick stop at the supermarket for snacks for our trip tomorrow and made it back to Red Chilli for dinner. I had a salami and mozzarella sandwich, it was just okay.

Tomorrow we are going back to the rural visit and then off to King Fisher Resort in Jinja. This is our relaxing part of the trip and I think we are all looking forward to jumping into the refreshing pool. I don’t know what the internet will be like there, but as always I will do my best. Now it’s time to pack my stuff, shower, and get to bed early.

~Mary

It's been decided...I'm coming home with a child (sorry mom & dad)!