a travelling I go...

Fast forward five years, and I'm now heading to Central Asia for another mission trip. I am currrently sitting in Munich, Germany waiting to board my next flight to Moscow. From Moscow, we head to our final destination. In 12 hours, so much has happened! Our third flight got delayed which is going too hopefully end up in our favor... because the airline can't find my co-worker's ticket. He's now going on a different flight than our group. Our intern quickly got sick. We experienced several cultures in a day making it difficult to keep up!

But the good news is that despite now being separated, we are all back on our way.

In  Central Asia, we have a lot planned! We brought 247 pounds of ministerial gear! On Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, we will be implementing a VBS program for 30 children in the mornings as well as teaching teenagers how to evangelize to their peers in  the afternoon. On Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, we're taking those teenagers and some of their friends outside the city to host a soccer camp and practice sharing their testimonies.

Following our mission work, we're spending Thursday being tourists in Moscow before heeding back to the U.S.A.

Please pray that we continue to experience safe travels, experience no more sickness, and can spread God's word to the people!

Wrapping up the end

We spent the last five days of our trip at the Black Sea. In my previous post, I left off with being extraordinarily homesick after being extraordinarily sick. After having a few rough days, I spent time reflecting on the experience, understanding how it changed me. I spent ten days with some of the coolest people I've ever met. I'm talking about the team I was with from the metro-YMCAs. We were amazing together, and I could not have worked with a team with bigger hearts than these people. Everything fell into place nicely when I jumped on the trip last minute. As for group dynamics, we all got together very well. Toward the end of the week, we were working as one cohesive unit, with one goal: work as much as possible. I've never met any other group willing to work as much as our's. We not only completed the Georgians' projects, but we added two more. We built a tire swing and a porch swing in addition to doing yardwork and painting the balconies at Camp Orange. I'm so proud to be a part of our team. And now back to reality, I am back teaching swim lessons for the next couple of weeks before I start working at Georgia State University. Summer is winding down, and I will begin my graduate assistantship with intramual sports. Enjoy the school year!

No AC. No chicken noodle soup.

I woke up today of course exhausted and completely depleted of energy as I have not been able to keep any food or drink down. I went to breakfast in hopes of finding something to eat despite my complete lack of appetite. I choked down two pieces of bread and one piece of beef jerky. I feel empty, but I can't bring myself to eat more. And to top it all off, the students are bored out of their minds today, and there's no AC. Next post I will elaborate on the boredom part.

Today was a horrible day

So this morning, we were supposed to finally begin our actual work at YMCA Camp Orange. As we loaded the bus, my stomach began to churn. To make a gross, long story short, I three up everything. I ended up in the ER with an IVu,ping fluids and meds in my system. They wouldn't let Erik or the YMCA Georgia leaders in the room with me, and they kept waking me up to drink some nasty water. Finally it sunk in, I was in a foreign country, with IVs pumping my arm, and little way to communicate with anyone, let alone hear a familiar voice. After beginning to cry, they finally let Rezi (a YMCA leader) in to translate. After three and a half hours of this craziness, they dismissed me. I have three prescriptions to take every time I eat, and I'm on a restricted diet the rest of the trip. I either had a virus, food poisoning, or ingested bad water - they don't know. The cool thing was I did not have to pay anything, because a billionaire owns the facility. After getting back to the hotel, I started to get a fever which makes me think I have a virus. I made my way to the YMCA band's concert for ten or so minutes, and they were phenomenal. Great end to a terrible day!

We arrived to the Black Sea!!

Today, after six long hours in a coach bus, we finally arrived at the Black Sea. We spent the afternoon swimming and spent the afternoon playing games. We're staying at a local resort, and the Black Sea is about 150 feet from the door. We are here with our eleven, and twenty plus YMCA leaders from Tbilisi, and tomorrow we will meet up with about twenty more people. We begin our mission work tomorrow. As of now, we have done a lot of tourist stuff. We are working with the Tbilisi leaders to do more mission work and less tourist activities. We're ready to WORK! I can't wait to show everyone my pictures. The sand on the Black Sea is black, of course.

Ex.haust.ed.

Today we went to an orphanage. After touring the boarding house and the school house, we took the children to an amusement park for the afternoon. It was so much FUN!! We only took eleven kids. Typically during the school year, the orphanage has 80-100 children, most of which have families, but their families cannot afford to keep them. However, only eleven of the children (the ones we were with) have absolutely no one to call family. During the summer, the state requires that all orphans with any type of family member spend the summer with their family in order to keep close family ties despite the economic downfall families experience. It's kind of a sad and cool deal at the same time. While the parents cannot afford their children year round, the children still get some time with their family during summer. Afterward we went to eat - the food here is so HEAVY. It is pretty tastes, but it fills you up very quickly. Now we're off to take naps before we begin shopping for souvenirs. Tonight we are going to ride the skylit that crosses the city and ends at a castle!

Honey badger don't give a ****

You think you've seen enough of he world to merely understand that others have hardships incomprehensible to you; a lifestyle impossible to imagine living. Then you go somewhere new, and reality sinks in again, even further than ever before. I'll never understand what it'sike to truly live the lifestyle I just witnessed. Today, we went to visit a family three hours outside the cities in need of groceries and medicine. They have seven kids, and the grandparents live there too. The parents were at the hospital having baby seven, but the grandparents and other children were there. The grandmother was so excited and grateful for the donations. She talked our ears off; I only wish I knew what she was saying. She let us into their house - a two room shack - a room for sleeping and a room for cooking and worshiping. All eleven family members sleep in the same room between three twin beds. Thy heat water on a stove of lesser value than my camping stove. They bake bread, weave wool, and clean laundry outside. David, the 6 year old has epilepsy, and we gave him the medicine to last a month. The government gives the family a pension, but it only amounts to $60 US - not near enough to cover the family's needs. What bothers me about today is that my biggest concern prior to meeting this family was the fact my feet were swollen, and my sandals weren't fitting correctly. Talk about having a first world problem. Seeing families like I saw today truly puts life in perspective as to how blessed we truly are.

Day 1

We did not arrive to the hotel until 4:30 a.m. Georgia time which is 8:30 p.m. Georgia time. Hahaha, get it? Anyway, because it was the middle of the night here, we went to bed, and because of the time difference, we did not wake up till 1:00 p.m. Republic of Georgia time. We spent today meeting YMCA leaders and teen leaders. We have Rezi who leads everything for us, his boss (Gayla, I think), and George. The teen leaders are Luca, Nicka, Ana, Tata, and Helena. They were all wonderful. We are trying to teach them as many camp games as possible in the next ten days. A for now, I think they just think we're a little crazy. After meeting them, we all toured two cathedrals and went out to an authentic Georgian dinner. In the cathedrals, the women all had to wear scarves over our head, including myself, Sarah, and Leani in my Y group. Dinner included some fruit flavored sodas, some cheesey bread, and dumplings. I wish I could name what they were actually called, but I am struggling with the language here. The only word I know as of now is madloba which means "thank you." We went to a couple markets along the way, and I caught myself speaking Spanish to the women.... Well, I'm glad my Spanish comes so naturally (5 years post Panama'), but it's rather embarrassing to speak neither Georgian or English to the people here. After dinner, we walked around the city. It's gorgeous. There's this amazing bridge near the President's house like no other I've ever seen. Pictures will be uploaded as soon as I get home! As for now, it is 10:19 p.m. Georgian time, and it's 2:19 p.m. Georgian time, so I am off to bed!long day ahead tomorrow...

A day in Munich!

After a nine hour flight from Chicago to Munich, we arrived and had six hours out in the city. We took the students out in the city for lunch and went shopping around some small shops. No bought anything really, just looked. It was so nice to stretch our legs. This is the first time I have traveled into a country where I could not communicate their language with them. I even explained to some of the Germans I knew English, Spanish, and French, but it wasn't enough. However, it was not hard to get where I needed and communicate via pointing and smiling. What a weird feeling to know I can't say something to anyone. The students here are awesome! We get along so well, and we are already creating awesome memories. I keep asking questions to everyone, like, "What are we going to be doing? Where will we be? How modern will it be?" I'm still in the dark as is everyone else, and at this point, the surprises to come are going to make this even better!

Georgia on my mind...

So here's the scoop (that I know of)! This trip includes myself, my boss Erik, another male leader, and eight teenagers. The youngest is 16, and the oldest will be a junior in college. We're still getting to know each others' names, but I can tell this group will be amazing. The teenagers consist of two girl s and six guys. They've been working on this trip since January. Each year the metro-Atlanta YMCAs have teens apply to go on one of three mission trips: Costa Rica, Jerusalem, and Georgia. After applying, the students are interviewed and placed on one of the trips according to their wants and needs. This year the Jerusalem trip was canceled due to politics, and those students either deferred until next year or were put on Costa Rica or Georgia. After being selected for the trip, the students are given materials to help fundraise for their trips. If a student falls short of the $3,000 necessary to go on the trip yet tried as hard as they could to fundraise for the trip, the YMCA will cover the rest of the costs for the trip. However, if a student fails to fundraise or attempt at fundraising, he or she is responsible for the cost of their trip.  As for the specifics on my trip in Georgia, I'm waiting on details still. I know, some of you would be dying in my shoes - jumping on a plane with 9 strangers and your boss, to go to a foreign country, without any details as to what you are doing when you get there. Honestly, the lack of details I know for this trip does not bother me at all. I've been abroad before, and some of the best knowledge I've gained from my travels is: expect absolutely nothing. Whether I know the details or not, I am still going to have an amazing time and make memories that will last a lifetime. So for now, I'm still sitting on the same details as this morning - I'm going to Georgia to do mission work with the YMCAs in Georgia. I believe we are helping train counselors to some degree while we are there, helping one specific YMCA develop into a residence camp. We will also be working with an orphanage over there. Oh, and of course, my big excitement - I get to swim in the Black Sea. :)

God is good!

In the past 24 hours, what started off as a joke has turned in to me packing my bags to go abroad once again. I've been working with a YMCA program called Teen Expedition all summer, taking teenagers camping and teaching them outdoor ethics. My boss has been planning a trip with a different group of teenagers the past year to take them to Tbilisi, Georgia for a mission trip. My boss's trip takes place July 18-28, 2012. As he left the office yesterday, I said, "Hey Erik, take me with you!" wholeheartedly joking with him. He looked at me and said, "Actually our female counselor just dropped!" Well to make a long story short, after I gave a rather large donation to the YMCA to help cover the cost for a last-minute plane ticket, I am joining Erik and the teenagers in Tbilisi this week! We leave TOMORROW!! God is s good, and he works in very mysterious ways. In my Teen Expedition camp, it's always me and Daniel - a male and female counselor for the male and female campers. Well, this week, instead of having twelve campers, only five BOYS signed up. Had one girl signed up, I would not be going to Tbilisi. We were able to pull in another male counselor to replace my spot with Teen Expedition, so I could embark on this awesome opportunity. I also had numerous friends and colleagues step up, giving me recommendations to jump on the Tbilisi trip last minute. I appreciate everyone's help to make this trip possible for me - my boss, Ben, Toby, Wes, Amber, Sam, Daniel, and the list goes on! Follow my blog, and I will be sure to update you on what's going on! As of right now, I leave for Tbilisi in 23 and a half hours. I will be with the YMCA - a few leaders and several teens. I get an eight hour layover in London the day after the Olympics begin. I get to swim in the Black Sea. That's all I know for now, and I'm jumping in with two feet!

{3 Hours outside of the U.S.}

As we approach Atlanta, I'm ready to cry; however, whether tears of sadness leaving Kampala, not knowing when if ever I will return, or tears of joy returning home, I am unsure of.

Here is what I know:
Uganda is beautiful in every aspect possible. The birds that fly around Makerere University look like pterodactyls. Boda bodas (cycle taxis) may look like fun, but are extremely dangerous. Whenever you ask a Ugandan to do something for you, they respond, "Yes, please." A Ugandan not only will let you gawk at their precious baby, but they hold him out to you, a complete stranger, to hold him. There might be lions and hippos and Jackson hartebeest, but the true beauty is in the people.

No one can make you feel better than your mom when you're sick. I'm a daddy's girl to the core. I love using the internet all the time. I miss my friends and family. I will no longer be treated superior to other people, but rather average and like everyone else. Everybody is waiting for my return, including myself.

Instead of crying, I'm going to rejoice. I'm on my way home more adult now than before I left. I grew up a lot during this trip, and anyone who knows me well, knows I needed it. Will I still fall? Of course. Will it still hurt? Sometimes, most of the time. But I will pick myself off, dust myself off, and hold my head high, because I am both lucky and blessed in the life I am fortunate to come to.

Signing out for the last time, see you soon!

Food for thought

My original blog was much longer but I have summer it up in an eail I wrote to my parents, "So here I am with only two days left in Kampala. Since Sunday, the homesickness has turned into sadness. Don't get me wrong, I can't wait to come home, but today I realized I am finally comfortable in this place. Until today, I have been restless during free time and thinking of all the things I am missing. I truly think I have been given a gift in Kampala of appreciative-ness . I have let so many petty things in life tear me down when I should just be thankful for what I have. Seeing the people here do what they do everyday and still being thankful has shown me a lot. I have never heard one Ugandan complain about drinking bottled water everyday or even complain about the miles they walk from the village in order to obtain that water. Who am I to ever complain again about what I can't have when I already have so much?"

Sweet too much, good too much, thanks too much

As our trip begins to end, and we start to say our good-byes, we are still having a great time! On Sunday, we all played in a tournament against the TKL team going to South Africa. We had to modify the rules however. The Americans could shoot from wherever they wanted, but the TKL team had to score from a 20' x 10' rectangle in front of the goal, after everyone on their team had touched the ball! We managed to tie one game 1-1 and win the other 1-0. We were pretty proud of ourselves, despite our lack of abilities. We even got to play with a World Cup soccer ball.

Following the tournament, we had another BBQ at the Dudley's. The team was there as well, and we all had a great time. We met some guys from Belgium who work for Sony, and we taught them how to play "scum." We left the Dudley's exhausted and sad, because we had to start saying good-bye to some wonderful people who we won't see again before we return to the US.

I don't remember much of yesterday, because I spent most of it in bed. In the morning, we went to local schools and observed some classes. The schools here are pretty rugged to say the least. They're over packed, some classrooms with over 100 children at one time. The school I went to was a vocational school. That means they taught classes outside of the normal ones like wood-working, working on cars, horticulture, etc. This is so the children who do not attend college still have a way of making their living.

After lunch yesterday, I went straight to bed. I had a cough for a couple days, but it turned into a sinus infection. I was so out of it, I don't remember conversations I had with people. I had to ask them later last night what we talked about. I'm feeling better today though. All of us have now gotten sick in one way or another. I'm just glad mine hit at the end of the trip!

Signing out...

We payed some cops 5,000 shillings to sneak us in...

Last night we went to Navikubo Stadium to watch the France v. Uruguay match on big screens. We called our driver (yes, we have a driver - so snobby) Twaha to take us, and he surprised us with his wife Sarah as well. They took great care of us. There were four students and Twaha and Sarah. They made sure the four of us were sandwiched between them all night long. The police at Navikubo would not let us in, but Twaha explained he brought 4 mzungus (foreigners), and they snuck us in! They batted all the Ugandans out of the way in order to do so. And we only had to pay the crooked cops 5,000 Ush ($2.50). It was a great night, and we were immersed in Ugandan culture for really the like third or fourth time this whole trip.

This morning we woke up ealry and worked with the A League again. We were there as the children got their new jerseys, and they were so excited! The children were very excited to see us because they thought we returned to the US. We played some more soccer with them, and we helped the children change into their new jerseys. Unfortunately, we had to leave early due to some KSU plans. I also found out my boy Wilson is actually 13, not 9!

After the A League, we had to go to the pharmacy because I have some nasty cough agitating my throat. I think it's just a cough with a combination of bad pollution because otherwise I feel fine.

Following the pharmacy, we picked up our teacher and headed to the Equator! We ate at a small cafe in the Southern Hemisphere before taking our tourist pictures and returning to Kampala.

Margarita and Dr. Peters went to the airport to drop off Dr. UKJ and pick up Margarita's dad who lives in Botswana. In the mean time, the rest of the girls and I went to the craft markets for shopping, of course!

Seven pages typed later...

June 3, 2010

Today we spent the most money thus far. It was Martyr’s Day, which is a huge deal here in Kampala. People walk from miles and miles away for the event. Because of the June 2nd’s market experience and our friend Grace’s advice, we decided to skip the Martyr’s Day festivities and leave Kampala for a day trip. We went to Cassia Lodge for lunch and to see the scenery. On our way, we stopped at Lake Victoria – the second largest inland body of fresh water in the world. Do you know where the biggest is? We have it! It is Lake Superior! I didn’t know that before our visit to Lake Victoria. Anyway, for lunch I had a mixture of steak, chicken, and pork with chips (fries) and crepes for dessert, yum!! Cassia Lodge had wi-fi, and I finally was able to speak to my parents for the first time this trip.

We returned to Makerere early for a relaxed day, and we decided to give our driver the afternoon off. I feel so snotty when I say “our driver.” But hey, I’m not on a boda boda right? That’s a motorcycle run like a taxi that women ride sidesaddle. We spent our evening playing spoons again, not too big of a day for us.

June 4

Tensions are starting to rise because our group is small, and let’s face it, we have five female students with our female professor. Too much estrogen! I myself have been getting annoyed with lack of listening or paying attention, but c’est la vie. It is all working out for the best.

Today, we went to Hill Preparatory School. Hill Prep integrates special needs children with regular children. The special needs children could be ADD, Down syndrome, mental retardation, dyslexia, autism, etc. They require three regular students for every special needs children. All the special needs children get their own individual work course and are reevaluated every two or so weeks, making sure their work load is pushing them the correct amount. There are 95 students at the school. In order to bring a disable child to Hill Prep, a parent must do one of the following three things: 1. Enroll their own regular child, 2. Enroll a regular child from the village, paying for their tuition, or 3. Donate toward the scholarship fund (last option). People will actual pay for a child from the village to attend Hill Prep as their “regular child” because of the stigma that comes along with the school. A disabled child pays about 720,000 Ush and a regular child pays 360,000 Ush a semester. There are three semesters. Also, the classes are small, with about 14-16 children in a class; this ensures individual attention for each child.

The children at Hill Prep are taught how to live sustainable lives. If the teachers foresee that a child may not attend college or even education past primary school, the children learn about agriculture and how to teach themselves. Children also take Bible study classes and swim classes throughout the week. Claire, the head mistress and founder has a daughter who is special needs. I don’t know what she has, but she talks slower than normal. She taught the Bible study that day that me and my friends Nicole and Stephanie were fortunate enough to attend.

We also got to go to the 6-8 year olds’ class and sing songs with them. We taught them the Hokie Pokie. When we asked them to teach us songs, they were all Christian. It was amazing. These children in fact benefit greatly from having special needs children in the classroom with them. The teachers were very energetic, and the respect level for them from the children was unbelievable. The teacher says, “Good Morning children.” Then the students all stand and say, “Good Morning teacher.” They will then continue standing until told to sit. They did this for us as well because we were visitors.

We left Hill Prep for the Guest House and ended our evening with a card game of “scum.”

June 5

Today we woke up super early and went to work with the A (adaptive) League. Words cannot express this day properly. It was truly an amazing experience and one that will stay with me the rest of my life. With the A League, we all got our chance to coach and play scrimmage games with the children.

This boy Wilson grabbed a hold of my heart throughout the morning. He literally had no feet, but was able to walk. You see, he had ankles and heels, but no toes. He didn’t have anything past his heels or ankles. But he walked upright! He kicked and dribbled and juggled the ball better than any 8-9 years old I have ever seen play soccer. He does not even consider himself disabled. I will try to upload some videos because the disabled children were extraordinary people to work with. They play soccer despite their disadvantages, whether physical or mental.

Ann shared with me a story about a boy Julius, which I would like to continue to share with you. Julius’ legs end at his knees. His mom abandoned him as a young child, and he grew up in an institute. TKL got a hold of Julius and his mom and worked very hard to get him involved in TKL’s A League. You see, from Julius’ mom’s standpoint, her child could do absolutely nothing. After a lot of work, Julius finally started playing soccer. In the A League, even disabled children may not score with their hands. This did not stop Julius. He figured out how to throw the ball up and bat it into the goal with either his head or leg. As the first match ended in which Julius did this, both he and his mom were in tears. For the first time in either Julius’ or his mom’s lives, they were both proud of Julius and saw his true potential. This impacted Julius’ mom so much, she went through coaches training herself with TKL’s A League. Unfortunately, however, she died three months ago. This story meant a lot to me because it shows that sports can change people’s lives forever. Julius’ participation in TKL changed his life and his mom’s forever. And as a child of someone myself, there is probably no greater joy than knowing you’re parents are proud of you.

More than 85 children participate in the A League. The disabilities are numerous. Hearing impaired. Sight impaired. Stubs for arms or legs. No legs. No arms. Autism. Down syndrome. Crippled. Paralyzed. Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. And all these children play together! The coaches have figured out how to implement everything they need so no child is left out. Isn’t that incredible?

We left the A League that day for the International School. Talk about A to Z. The children who attend the International School pay $20,000 a year!! That is more than I pay for college. There we met the World Cup team representing TKL that will leave for South Africa June 20. There are eight children in the group. Four boys and four girls – Gift, Richard, Taiwan and another child make up the boys. Stella, Hituba, Esther, and Ruth make up the girls. They are between 14-19 years old. They are incredible. Each one represents a different part of TKL. Taiwan grew up in Kampala, but moved to Thailand a while back. He represents the international part of TKL. Ruth has an artificial leg and represents the A League (she swaps between the A League and regular league depending on where her friends play). The others represent TKL as a whole, and I believe that some are the most elite soccer players in TKL. However, from watching them play, they all look elite to me. They played in a tournament today against multiple international schools in order to mingle with children from all different cultures, getting ready for South Africa. They will be holding another tournament on Sunday which me and couple other girls will try to compete in. Our friend Nicky, the female coach for this team is going to get some guys to play with us to even it up. Should be very entertaining to say the least, especially with my “soccer skills.” Like I said, Nicky is the female coach and Eddie is the male coach. They will be with the children in South Africa, along with Trevor and Ann Dudley. Following the tournament on Sunday, I will jump in the pool with Stella and teach her how to swim!!

Please keep the children in your thoughts and prayers as they travel to South Africa.

We left the International School and went to Nicky’s to hang out before a BBQ at Trevor and Ann’s house. At Trevor and Ann’s they welcomed us to TKL. Their cook Harriet made veggie kabobs (we needed our veggies too!), steak, sausage, potato salad, regular salad, rice salad, and served us fresh bananas and pineapple for dessert. It was a great night. We met three Frenchmen who have come to Kampala to film TKL.

As the nigh rolled in, we left Ann and Trevor’s and headed to an Art Festival that was hosting various bands. We went to the concert four a couple hours and jammed with our friends from IN Movement – Grace, Justin, Davis, and Oscar. Needless to say, we had a very long night and headed back to Makerere to pass out!!

June 6

Dr. Peters and Dr. UKJ took us out to lunch at the Colline Hotel. I ate a whole fish from Lake Victoria. It came out with its head and all! It was so fresh and so delicious. Following lunch, we went to the Ndere Centre where we met Grace and watched dancers from Uganda, Ethiopia, and Rwanda. They were amazing. Some male dancers balanced drums on their head. They would walk around beating the drum and kicking it with their feet… WHILE balancing. The women at one point balanced pots on their head. The singer balanced 8 pots stacked one on top of the other on her head while she walked around and sang. The host had a great point. We ouu and aww at the pot balancing, but if one drops, we pick up the pieces and make a new pot. But if you don’t take care of the children, there are no spare parts to fix mishaps with. I hope that makes sense. He explained it a lot better.

June 7

Today we went to the Nile River in Jinja, Uganda After climbing up 44 meters worth of stairs, Margarita and I had our feet tied together. Hugging each other, we bungee jumped over the Nile, dipping our heads in the water. It was amazing. I went tandem with Margarita because she is scared of heights and it gave me more courage to be put in that role of leadership with her.

Following the incredible bungee, Nicole and I hopped in a raft and headed down river. We signed up for the rafting that involved no paddling or effort on our part. For two hours, we went through class 1s, 2s, and 3s (which would be 2-4 by US standards!). During the calm water, we were able to jump into the croc/hippo Nile water and swim. We actually swam with some otters – very cool.

While we waited for some others in our group to finish their day of rafting, Nicole and I joined our teachers and Stephanie who were waiting for us and headed to the source of the Nile River where Lake Victoria meets it. Its funny because even though Uganda has the source of the Nile, the UK believes that Egypt owns the entire thing!!

We headed back to Adrift (the rafting company) to find that the three girls who did day rafting had the worst spill in 2 years! Unfortunately, all three were hurt and Melanie hit her head on some rocks. We headed immediately back to Kampala to find the best hospital and have our girls checked out. Thankfully, it turned out that it was a lot of shock for the girls (duh), but they were okay. Margarita already had an infection in her scraped knee, but Melanie’s head checked out okay and the three girls are doing well. Please still keep them in your thoughts and prayers that their scrapes and aches go away soon.

Mom and Dad – Aren’t you proud that for the first time, I did something relaxing and not too crazy… and I’m not hurt! Let’s face it, I’m usually the one hurt.

June 8

Today was Melanie’s last day so we went to the Markets for some shopping! The stuff there is beautiful. I spent way too much money… Well in shillings, it felt like I spent a lot when in reality I spent a fairly good amount and kept to my budget!

We returned to Makerere to meet with some anthropology students there who we met through our friend and Professor at Makerere, Dr. K. We more or less socialized for hours with them. They showed us campus that none of us realized how huge it is and joined us all for dinner. It was a pleasant and calm evening to follow our previous day of many adventures.

I think I went to bed at like 10:30. I was so exhausted.

June 9

We returned to the hospital this morning to get Margarita’s knee checked up on. She’s doing well. While there, a very unfortunate and devastating thing happened. I walked back to our van and noticed some men standing around the parking lot, and a baby sitting on the ground crying. I asked Dr. UKJ if he knew whom the child belonged to and how long she had been there. He had no idea. The men surrounding her walked away. Dr. UKJ went up to them and inquired about the child. Next thing we know, the men have chased down a woman and called the police on her because the child belonged to her. She abandoned her child in the hospital parking lot minutes before. They wrestled the woman into a nearby car and picked up the child for safety. Knowing we could do nothing about the matter, we left the hospital very sad for the child. However, we are very thankful that the men took the situation very seriously. They called the police and restrained the mother from leaving. They were taking care of it. You could tell they were furious at the irresponsible mother. As I’ve said many times this entry, please keep this child in your prayers.

We are now headed to Murchison Falls for our two-day safari, one day on land and one in a boat! We should arrive in a couple hours.


We arrived at Red Chili Hideaway Camp at about 5:00 PM this afternoon. Some people in my group were more or less not pleased with the amenities or rather lack their of. It was tents with community bathrooms. I personally thought it looked like a blast between the camp fire with people from UK and Australia and the camping atmosphere. They had tents, cabins, and rooms with beds but no bathrooms. I didn’t think it was bad, but I also am more carefree with stuff like this.

One of my friends here had never been camping before, so we had to talk her through a lot. The lizards and warthogs around campus didn’t seem to be helping much either.  Did I say warthogs? Yes, I did! There were warthogs all over the campsite! I was within 7 feet a mother and her two babies, and she didn’t care one bit, jut let me walk right up.

Nicole and I took the tent (which had two twin beds) while the others slept in cabins… And the night was quite an adventure.

June 10

Wow! Last night Nicole and I had quite a night. We were warned the night before to keep our lantern lit all night to scare animals away. bout 1 AM, Nicole woke me up, and the two of us trecked across campus to the nearest restrooms. I’m pretty sure we even used the men’s restrooms because we were tired and a little bit scared. Haha. Anyway, we safely made it back to our tent and attempted to fall back asleep. Within twenty minutes I was hearing munch, munch, munch in the grass right outside our tent! I whispered Nicole’s name in the dark, and when I got no a response I tapped her shoulder. She jumped so high from fright. We both laid there, whispering in the dark for over an hour terrified of the munch, munch, munch. Right as I was about to fall asleep again, I heard a deep, loud blow of the nostrils from our munching “friend.” We laid in our beds as still as possible as the muncher huffed loudly again – within inches of our tent side. At 5:45 AM that morning I was very careful as I left the tent to wake up everyone in their cabins…

We left shortly after for our land safari. It took us about ten minutes to find out what animals was huffing and puffing outside our tent. It was a hippopotamus!! Can you believe it? A hippo was literally within feet of me!!

We rode the ferry across the Nile River, and we hired our ranger for the day, Dennis. Don’t worry, he carried a rifle with him for safety! On our safari, the savannas were beautiful. We were in the Great Rift Valley! We saw numerous animals. More than 60 giraffes! Elephants from afar. Monkeys and baboons. African cob and hartebeest! Water buck and water buffalo! Ant hills seriously taller than me and gorgeous palm tress. And last but by far not least, two female LIONS!! We were literally within 5 feet of a female lion! We knew she was worn our because we could see the gashes on her side. Our guide said she probably was fighting a water buffalo. I will post pictures as soon as possible!! The computers here are ridiculously slow, so I am having trouble with pictures. If I need to, I will use flicker or something. As we returned to catch the ferry back, I got a couple snap shots of a baboon and myself. I walked right up to the crazy thing, and it just looked back peacefully. Yes, I just referred to a baboon as peaceful. Some of the animals are so almost domesticated, they don’t care about human coming close.

Later in the afternoon, we loaded a boat for our water safari. We saw 100s of hippos and more than 50 elephants up close. We were within 10 feet of hippos and 30 feet of the elephants! It was amazing. We saw so many beautiful birds as well including the African snake bird (African penguin) and the fish eagle. We also saw quite a few giant crocs! I think the biggest were between 10-12 feet long. We spent 3 hours on the water. We saw Murchison Falls, the biggest rapids I have ever seen!! It was like a waterfall mixed with beauty mixed with rapids mixed with terror. I believe the guide said it was 85 meters tall, but I may be wrong. This whole meters deal is throwing me off. The whole day was an extraordinary experience.

We left our safari and drove to another hotel for the night.

June 11 – WORLD CUP 2010 COMMENCES!!
This constant traveling is starting to get to me. I woke up this morning with a sore throat and exhaustion. I didn’t sleep well because my mosquito net was blowing in my face all night long. I finally tied it up, but then my curtain blew in my face. It was a rough night, but I woke up to some delicious French toast.

We are on the road again heading back to Kampala. We decided not to go to Gulu because it would involve so much driving on bumpy dirt roads in too few of days. I think it is safe to say all five students on the trip are homesick. I got hit last and hard last night. My malaria meds upset my stomach, and sometimes no one can make you feel better like your mom. I am having a great time though, and I think 3 weeks will be the perfect amount of time here. We will go back to Makerere Guest House for a day off to recuperate from the past few days of traveling. Also, this will allow us all to rest as some of us are a bit under the weather. Oh yeah, and watch the World Cup, duh!

Tomorrow we will go the equator. I will get to be in the Southern Hemisphere! Also, my friend Margarita’s dad is flying in from Botswana. He lives there, and she used to as a child. She hasn’t seen him in two years. I am so excited for you. I haven’t seen my dad in two weeks, and I’m going a little bit crazy. One of the nights he is here, he is going to cook for us. If I’m not mistaken, he is one of the top chefs in Botswana currently.

On Sunday, Nicole, Stephanie, and I are going to play in a soccer tournament against the TKL team going to the World Cup. I can’t wait! Hopefully we will get to spend a little more time with Nicky as well. I don’t know what we have planned past that. On Thursday we leave to head home. It’s a bitter sweet feeling leaving this beautiful place that has impacted my life in more ways than one. And then it will be back to reality – working, paying bills, gross.


I’m writing this blog on my teachers laptop because I’m so far behind on blogging. I will finally post it when we have wi-fi.

I miss everyone terribly and look forward to seeing all of you soon. My trip is a little more than half over now.

Signing out…

"You don't need toes to walk."

Alright, so I left off a few days ago after a great experience with TKL. I will try and get y'all caight up on the past few days.

On Tuesday, we went tot he museum in Kampala. After our first Ugandan rain - an hour long down pour, the weather cleared up, and we were able to go watch the 2-4 year olds at the Acorns School play soccer. It was awesome. Afterward, we went to a group called "Percussion Discussion" - a French African group that was awesome. That was a late night, and I FINALLY slept the whole night through.

On Wednesday, we went back to TKL and met with the adaptive kids league. That was incredible. As of now, we have only met with coaches, volunteers, and professionals. So answer me this: How does TKL have more than 85 participants in their adaptive league, but the only one I know about back home has 20 or less? And don't say because there are more people with disabilities here. I really do think it has to due with the program here is just that awesome. The adapt for some many kids. They let physicalled disabled use hands. They put a whistle on the ball for sight disabled children. They wave a flag for the hearing disabled. And they pair up abled children with intellectually inparied children. This program is so awesome, they have no problem getting able-bodied children to play with them. They also said sometimes the disabled kids even play better and have stronger skills. They are taking one child with an amputated leg to South Africa next week with their World Cup team!

Oh how could I forget Wednesday morning? It was an experience to say the least and ISOLATED at that. I'm going to say it again, ISOLATED. I know people read these things assume the worst... one more time. ISOLATED. We asked our driver (yes, we have a "driver") to take us to the market. And he did. He took us to his market, not a touristy market. Our mistake, not his. It was literally 40+ shacks piled together with mud or wood planks for flooring and tarps for the roof. It was jampacked. I felt like I was swatting flies when in fact I was swatting men's hands away from me. I got proposed to like 5 times, touched, tickled, and my phone number asked for. Well, not knowing that Vencent, our driver, was taking us to the wrong market or that we were even stopping at a market (at the last moment kind of thing), we didn't think to have men with us or dress in pants and cover up more. We were in no way wearing flashy clothes - skirts to our knees and t-shirts, but us mzungus (white people) looked mighty tastey. Anyway, Ray and Titus from TKL said that next time they will be happy to escort us.

So then on Wednesday afternoon, we went to IN Movement. Our friend Gracie taught us how to dance and sing a song.
The song went:
amagunju, amagunju
gano amagunju
gano amagunju aga zinibwa abobutiko
gano amagunju

Don't ask what it means. All I know is it was a dance and song performed for a king.

I like our hotel, every room is lined with open windows for ventilation. And the opposite side of our hallway has windows as well, and we also have a fan in our room. However, the noise in the morning is ridiculous - thank Columbia University! I finally figured out it was them when I could sleep in till 8:00 AM for the first time this whole trip (they left yesterday). Rude Americans. Mosquitos are finally getting me though. I didn't have a single bite till this morning, and I have found like 5 or 6! Don't worry, I'm using my mosquito net (weird...) and taking my malaria pills!

Yesterday was Martyr's Day and due to our experience at the market and our friend Gracie's advce, we avoided it. Instead, we spent our afternoon at Cassia Lodge having a nice lunch. Afterward, we returned back to Makerere University Guest House (our hotel) and played "Spoons." The waiter laughed at me when I asked for seven spoons and then realized what we were using them for. It's a card game if you didn't know.

"Don't just give people fish, teach them how to fish"

Alright, anyone reading this be ready to read a lot! It was five pages written out, beware.

I still don't think it has exactly hit that I am here and what I am doing. Today we met The Kids League people (TKL). There are not even words that can explain everything. We spent our afternoon discussing objectives with TKL.

Since 1998, when President Museveni was reelected, he won by guaranteeing more children would be able to receive primary education. By doing this, he squeezed out physical activity. (Just a side note on education: All public schools require uniforms which cost maybe $10 in US money, but it is still enough to keep children out of school. No uniforms, no education.)Trevor Dudley, a former architect developed the NGO Kampala Kids League (KKL)to put some form of physical activity back into the children's lives. Since 2002, KKL became The Kids League (TKL) and has sevred more than 16,000 children, in nine sib-districts of Uganda.

We met a volunteer from Australia, Justin who will be working in Gulu, trying to improve their activity levels. Gulu children are receiving little to none! This is because within the last five years, Gulu has resolved civil wars and is now considered "post-conflict." Most people during the wars lived in IDP camps (concentration camps). As the post conflict time period has began, people have started living on their own and urbanisation has occurred. What happened to the US during urbanisation? Physical labor stopped. What is the US's hugest (literallY) problem? Obesity. Well through urbanisation, the people of Gulu are now suffering from obesity, cardiovascular disease, and high blood pressure. Although HIV is still the number one fatal disease in Uganda, these people ae now suffering the double burden of communicable and non-communicable diseases!

Now NGOs are coming in, trying to help, but only enabling the people of Gulu. Are the NGOs teaching the people how to take care of themselves? No, they are giving them food. My friend Stephanie made a great point, "Don't just give people fish, teach them how to fish."

Anyway, back to Justin. He will be spending a year total here working with Gulu children, increasing their activity levels. He will be completing an 8 week experiment, testing the children through various tests like the "beep test." We call that the pacer. Unfortunately, we will not be here for the experiement or hatever you want to call it.

We will be here to PLAY! and interact and have fun with all the children. We get to work with their temas going to the World Cup within a couple of weeks. My friend Nicole and I get to coach a soccer team on Saturday. We can't describe our excitement!

We also had to pick a personal project for our class. I chose to compare and contrast coaches here with those of the US. I will look at:
1. Levels of respect
2. Coaching styles
3. Committment and why
The purpose of the porject is to better myself as coach, figuring out how to respond better to children's needs.

There are so many new emotions going through my head right now.

1. Ignorance - When I thought of Uganda before two days ago, I thought of poverty and HIV and underdevelopment and wars. Uganda is as Trevor Dudley says a beautiful hidden little secert in Africa. I completely agree with im. What parts of Africa that were bad, have been resolved, FIVE YEARS AGO!! Even "Inivisble Children" is over. It ENDED FIVE YEARS AGO. I cannot get that point acorss enough because I didn't even learn about it till 2007.

2. Sadness - People outside Uganda are misinformed and although Uganda has made huge improvements, they still need help

3. Hopeful - People like Trevor Dudley and his wife exist. They came to Africa in 1988 for two years, and they have been here since.

4. EXCITED - Over the next 17 days, I will get to work with amazing people and amazing children.


So after all that, this guy Ray from TKL went with us to lunch. My whole meal and a beer cost me less than $4 American Dollars. Life is good here.

Signing out... Miss everyone.

Here At Last

After flying from Brussels to France to Ethiopia to Uganda, we are finally here - and EXHAUSTED. Our flight from Paris to Ethiopia was ten hours and through the night. We all pretty much drugged ourselves with sleep aids and benadryl to ensure we would all sleep. We were also fortunate enough to be able to spread out and everyone had twp seats to themselves. I think I slept something around five hours straight. By the time I woke up, there was only an hour and a half of the flight left. Sleeping through the night on plane has helped with jet lag a little, but we're all still very tired. I am not letting myself nap, so I will sleep well tonight.

We had a four hour layover in Ethiopia and were able to enjoy an Ethiopian lunch. I had some lamb mixed with something or other. I don't know exactly what I ate, but I liked it!

From Ethiopia, it took us another two hour flight to land in Uganda. It's unbelievable. I don't think words can explain it. I guess imagine jumping straight into a National Geographic magazine. So far the only animals we have seen are cows, goats, and chickens on the side of the road. However, next week we will be taking a safari, camping out for 2 or three nights in the wilderness.

As of now, not much going on. We're just chilling in the Guest House at Makerere University in Kampala. We will get our agenda for the week tonight. For the next week it is me and four students, the professor, her "esteemed colleague," and a representative from the global learning institute at KSU. Melanie (KSU rep) and UKJ (esteemed colleague) will leave after ten or so days and it will be the six women!

Signing out for now... Miss everyone!

Brussels, Belgium - what???

Right now I am sitting at the airport in Brussels. Why? Because the bad weather in Atlanta delayed us last night for three hours, forcing us to miss our connection. However, everything worked out. We went into the city for the afternoon to get some lunch and check out artisan markets. In Brussels, they speak mainly French and Dutch. Therefore, I've been speaking English only to my peers and French to everyone else. It's been very awesome and rewarding to know I can still speak French this well!

In a few minutes we will check into our next flight which will take us to Ethiopia. It will take twelve hours. After a 6 hour layover in Ethiopia, we will finally take off for Kampala. We have an addition to our group until we leave leave for Uganda. We met an 18 year old girl travelling alone to Rwanda. Her new flights would have originally taken her 3 other places before Rwanda. But we helped her get a new flight and let her tag along for the day. What a treat for everyone!