Gulu

I just returned from spending the past 3 days in Gulu which is in Northern Uganda.  It took us about 6 hours to drive there from the capital of Kampala where I currently am.  It is about 100 km from the border of Sudan so quite far North from here.  It was definitely different than anywhere else I have been so far in Uganda, and I’m glad I had the opportunity to go.  Now before I write anything else, I want to say that the region has been stable for 4 years, so it was perfectly safe for me to be there.  Before that the LRA (Lords Resistance Army) controlled the region for 10 years.  The northern region is still very much in a state of rehabilitation from the war and as a result the town of Gulu is rampant with NGO’s (Non Governmental Organizations) and the UN has a noticeable presence there as well.

We were doing a site survey for Touch the World Uganada. They are building a place called the Adok Dream Centre in the Village of Adok which will include a health clinic as well as employment for the local people. Adok is a very small village and was previously home to two very large IDP camps.  The IDP camps are no longer there and the people have re-settled back in their home areas. Since the instablilty lasted for 10 years they had to start over with new homes rather than returning to their old homes as many of them had either been destroyed or were dilapidated due to not being occupied. Adok was a very conservative village. Up to this point I have been wearing long pants to survey as the bush has been quite thick and a skirt would not be feasible.  I was told that if I didn’t wear a skirt in Adok, the locals would think I was a prostitute. In the interest of not being thought a prostitute I decided to wear a long skirt with pants underneath. The Americans that oversaw the Adok Dream Centre joked that I was a prostitute under cover since I had my pants on underneath my skirt.  It worked out well though since the pants kept my legs from getting scratched up in the bush.  I also had less problems than I thought I would with getting my skirt hung up in trees.  I’m still hopeful though that my office won’t be implementing a skirts only policy for ladies in the field anytime soon.

It was definitely a lot hotter in Gulu than it was in Kampala.  The heat as well as the fact that we were on the 5th floor did not help me sleep deeply.  Also there were bats in the rafters which were making a large ruckus.  I had to shut my bathroom door since there was a hole in the roof and I didn't want any bats in my room!

There was definitely a sense of brokenness in the town of Gulu.  I was told that there is a lot of people dealing with post traumatic disorders due to the war and many child soldiers who have much to deal with mentally. I noticed stab wounds on some of the people I passed by, and battle scars on the face of one of our waiters who must have been no older than his early 20s.  It was hard to reconcile that some of the very people I met, passed on the street, and exchanged greetings and pleasantries with have had to deal with hardships and trauma that I can’t even wrap my brain around. Many of those people are teenagers or young adults. I just can't relate to having dealt with such trauma at such a young age. I’m glad I got the chance to visit Gulu and Adok.  It changed in no small way, the way I see the world.

 The town of Gulu as seen from my hotel balcony

 Some local Gulu children having some fun outside the hotel

 Some of the village boys in Adok that followed us around all day.  They are standing beside the community well.  Touch the World Uganda is building a water treatment unit along with drilling a new well since the people are currently getting sick from this well.

 One of the village boys having some fun in a very typical Ugandan way.

 One of the village boys

 The local and international staff of Touch the World Uganda.  The clinic which is under construction is seen in the background.

 Some children in Gulu

 There was a big soccer stadium outside our hotel in Gulu.  Some boys are seen here playing a game.

 Some of the local village kids having some fun.

 I realized I didn't have any pictures of me working!  Patrick took this picture of me when we surveyed at GBI in Buloba last week.  We forgot a prisim so Patrick got creative and we used a bicycle reflector instead. 

Watoto Survey

Today myself, Pat and Dan the intern went to survey at the Watoto village just outside of Kampala.  We had a few equipment issues, but managed to get enough data to do a reasonable job.  I enjoyed seeing the site and doing some work.  After we were finished one of the house mothers "Mama Harriet" had us in for supper.  It was delicious.  She is an amazing woman.  She just finished running a marathon!  After hearing the Watoto Childrens Choir in Manitoba this past fall and seeing photos of the site it was really neat to be there in person.  Tomorrow Dan and I are heading off to Gulu to survey for a few days, so I probably won't be able to post.  I will have some photos upon my return.

Here are some photos from the day.

 The babies home at the Watoto Village.  It is huge!

 Some children on the Watoto site.

 The goat barn.  They use the goat milk to supplement the formula at the babies home.

 Some of the children's housing units.

 Frank, a surveyor who works for Watoto is showing us the boundary of the property with a little help from a friend.

Dan and Pat with the GPS rovers.

 Kids here can often be seen rolling and running after old tires for fun.

 I am still awed and amazed by the beauty in this country.

 Some boys who were very interested in the GPS.

 Notice this guy is wearing a Tim Hortons shirt?  I thought that was great!

 Riding above the cows. . .

A panoramic view from the top of the Watoto Village.  It is so beautiful.

Somewhere in the middle. . .

It has been an interesting week.  The highlight was definitely yesterdays rafting trip, however I have had many other special moments as well as things that I look forward to in the coming days. Late last night 6 interns arrived from North America.  They are all from the US except for Jessica who is from Guelph, ON.  I now have company in the girls dorm.  Jessica and Hannah are very good company and I have enjoyed getting to know them.  The arrival of the interns fresh from North America has also given me a window with which to see how much 2 short weeks in this culture has changed me.  What shocks them no longer shocks me. . . some of the things they notice as new and different no longer seem all that different to me. In some ways the change I see in myself surprised me, as in many ways I still seem like an outsider in this culture.  In other ways I marvel at how some interactions and daily business seems natural and second nature to me.  I am comfortable hopping on the back of a boda boda (motorbike for hire) and going for supper at one of the staff members houses, buying something at the market no longer seems like a foreign experience. . . small things like this that seem not so out of the ordinary, yet there are still so many things that remind me I am somewhere in the middle.

 I read the book “Outside the Wire” about Canada’s mission in Afghanistan.  I highly recommend it as it is written by soldiers and humanitarian workers that  are actually on the ground in Afghanistan.  It gives a perspective not offered on the news or in articles and changed my views and opinions on what I thought in contrast to what actually is.  Anyway to get to my point, one of the humanitarian workers commented that although she had lived among the people in Afghanistan for several months, she had never really been to Afghanistan. . she was somewhere in the middle between Canada and Afghanistan.  Obviously this is an analogy, albeit it is one that I really identified with after travelling to India and Haiti and now to Africa.  I think to truly understand the meaning of her point, one has to have stood on the bridge between another culture and their own.  And so I also feel that at this moment I am somewhere in the middle.  Although some things in Ugandan culture seem familiar, I am still clearly an outsider.  I also know that when I return to Canada, although I will be back in my native culture I will feel like somewhat of an outsider as I will have changed in ways that I won’t realize until I am back in the Western world.  I will be somewhere in the middle. . .

I have no pictures to post from today.  It was a nice relaxing day around the office.  Maggie who is deemed the “eMi Grandma” had me over for supper which was very nice.  I enjoy talking with her very much.  Plans for this week have changed quite a bit since yesterday.  Tomorrow I will head to the Watoto Childrens Village which is near Kampala here and will take about 1 hour to drive to.  I will spend the day there will Pat Aylard who is on staff here as well as Dan the intern and do a site survey.  I went to see the Watoto Childrens Choir when they toured Manitoba, so I am very much looking forward to seeing their property.  Friday I will head to Gulu, but not to the original site we were going to go to.  The site we were originally going to survey was about 480 acres.  Dan and I will travel to Gulu to survey a smaller 8 acre site for a different organization and return home on Sunday.  I am happy with the turn of events as I wasn’t too excited about bushwacking 480 acres through the African Jungle to do a survey.  That survey will be done by someone else at a later time.  It was just too big a site to do in the time we had available. 

I am hoping to get some kiddie pictures from the Watoto Village tomorrow.  I am not sure if I will be spending the majority of my day in the bush, but will post photos if I have opportunity to take any.

The website for the ministry we will be surveying for in Gulu is http://www.ttwuganda.com/

Craft Market and Rafting on the Nile

It has been a few days since I have posted.  Thanks to everyone for the comments.  I have really enjoyed reading them.

Sunday was a bit of a rest day which was nice.  I went to church with Pat and Cara Aylard who are the only Canadians on staff here at eMi.  After church all the eMi staff along with myself and some other visiting volunteers from the US went out for lunch to a nice Western style restaurant.  Then Pat & Cara took me to the craft market which was really nice.  I was able to buy a few souvenirs, however I didn't get too many as I didn't want to have to carry them around with me everywhere.

Patrick, who I was surveying with had to return home unexpectedly, so I didn't go to Gulu as planned on Monday.  Instead, I believe I will be going on Thursday with an intern who is arriving tonight to do the survey.

Today I crossed another thing off my bucket list.  I went to Jinja to go whitewater rafting on the Nile River.  I never told my Mother I was going and she is going to have a bird when she sees the pictures, but I can assure you Mother that it was completely safe.  The outfit is run by some Australians and they adhere to all international safety standards.  Millions of people do this every year.  It was definitely an adrenaline rush.  Our guide Juma was hilarious.  He said we shouldn't be scared since Moses went over those same rapids in a basket. . . I wonder if he really did.

One of the guys in our boat asked the guide if the locals thought we were crazy for going over the rapids.  And he said no, what they really think is crazy is that you come all the way from Mzungu land and spend what for them is 2 months wages to float down the river. 

There were 4 guys in kayaks going alongside the boat to rescue people if need be.  They were so good and crazy in the rapids.  They would flip their boats on purpose in the rapids just for some extra fun.

 Here we are at the start of the expedition.

 We definitely ended up in the river on this one. . .

 I stayed in the boat on this one but two of my team mates did not.

 It was so exciting going down here.

 At the finish

My team mates.  Juma called us Team United Nations since we were all from different countries.  Juma is not pictured.  From left to right, one of the Ugandan staff members, a dental student who was born in India grew up in New Zealand and now calls Adelaide Australia home, a guy from North Korea whose name is something like Jian Sing Ho or something, Jay from North Korea who is studying Civil Engineering, me, and Iris from the Sichuan Province in China.

Photos from the road

I have now finished posting my archived write ups now that I am back on the internet.  For todays post, I am simply going to put up a few pictures I have taken in the past few days.

Survey Assistant

I have mentioned before that people make a very big production of white people.  It is getting a bit exhausting, because everyone wants to talk to me all the time.  I have so much been enjoying conversations with the locals though.  Everyone on this campus seems to know my name and where I am from.  One guy asked me for my e-mail address so he could e-mail me to “discuss the weather.” If he starts discussing anything other than the weather, I shall have to evaluate if his address will make it through my spam filter.  Another guy asked for my e-mail so he could “send me greetings.” I have learned to start saying no. 

I have a personal assistant for this survey project.  He is a worker for the college that helps me survey.  His main job is to go in front of me and make sure there are no poisonous plants or snakes.  He is very good at his job and so far neither he nor I have seen any snakes which I am quite happy about.  His name is Patrick and he is the first born of 19 children.  We come from such different worlds yet conversation seems to come easily between us.  I have enjoyed interacting with everyone I have met in Uganda thus far. Tomorrow there is an eMi staff get together in the afternoon and an eMi “Girls Night Out” in the evening.  I am looking forward to them both.  There have been a few change in plans and I am not sure what my schedule will be for the next few days.  I will be heading back to Eagles Wings on February 3 with an eMi team, and probably to Gulu in the next few days to do some more surveying.

Off to Survey

Wednesday I went to Kampala to go to the office of Engineering Ministries Internationa (eMi). I had lunch at the office and then it was a rushed departure to leave for the Gaba Bible Institute in Buloba where Patrick Cochrane and I would be surveying for 2.5 days.  We had a walk about on the site.  It is an old campus that GBI has purchased and is now trying to remodel and rebuild into a thriving college.  There is much work to be done.  I was also not expecting the primitive surroundings that we would be in.  The driver dropped us off and after our walk about JJ an American construction volunteer announced that I would be staying with a female staff member and Patrick would be staying with a male staff member.  He also announced that there was no car to drive us there. Normally this would not be a problem, however it was about a 10 minute walk over a very bumpy trail with my heavy suitcase.  It has wheels, but it is clearly not built for off roading.  JJ graciously dragged it the entire way.  Patrick’s suitcase was still stuck in London so he was quite happy to not have any baggage to carry.  On the way out we are going to get the driver to pick up our luggage where we are sleeping so we don’t have to drag it uphill all the way back to the main campus.  There is no running water and the latrine is a good 20-30 metre walk from the house.  The latrine consists of a concrete slab with a small hole in it.  Excuse my honesty, but it is very hard to have good aiming accuracy with a hole of such modest diameter.  There is also a large pig whose primary residence is outside the latrine.  It is a bit disconcerting to go about my business with him making a ruckus right outside the door.  I am not complaining, everyone here has been very gracious and I have enjoyed my stay.  After getting used to the idea of our rustic living environment, it has not been bad at all.  

                                                         The Latrine

The heat has really been getting to this cold loving Canadian.  Yesterday was my first day of surveying and I was not acclimatized at all yet.  It was very hard and I can’t really say I enjoyed myself very much.  Today was my second day of surveying.  It went much better.  Patrick and I tag teamed and worked while the other rested and vice versa.  It was much better with more breaks and I made sure I drank more water.  Sam one of the locals came up to me and said “Jaimee, you look so much better today than you did yesterday.”  I expect it will only get better from here on out.  It is so humid, there is a haze in the air.  In the morning it looks like a cold day in Canada because when you breath, a white mist comes out of your mouth.  I am missing winter in Canada.  Winter is one of my favourite seasons.  I love the feeling of a frosty day.  I know that it has been very cold in Manitoba recently so some of my readers may resent me for complaining about the heat, but I much prefer cold to hot.  The locals here are crazy!  They will be wearing long sleeves when it feels like a sweat lodge to me.  I’m not sure how they do it. Last night when I had had such a hot and hard day, around 6 PM it was still feeling extremely hot to me and one of the university students here said “Now it is cold, cold like Canada.” Not quite buddy, not quite. . .  I am hoping I don’t lose too much of my resilience to the cold weather while I am here.

Another thing that has been difficult to adapt to is the time of meals.  The first meal is usually served around 11 AM, the second around 1 PM and the third around 7:30 PM.  This does not bode well with me as I have usually eaten breakfast and at least one snack before 10 AM. I much preferred the way it was done in India with first breakfast and second breakfast served by 10 AM.  I am very glad that I brought snacks with me.  When I am at Eagles Wings they serve breakfast at the Canadian time so it is better for my tummy!

                                     Patrick tied flagging tape on the local kids.  They loved it!

Scrabble and Supper

I haven’t had internet for the past few days so I have been writing blog entries in Word and saving them to post.

Tuesday night was my last night staying with Bill & Ann Peckham of Eagles Wings Childrens Village before I left to do 2 survey projects.  I will return to them on February 3 with a team of engineers and architects. Tuesday night I had a wonderful supper of Canadian pancakes with the Peckhams.  The boys from the extension program ate with us and it was so nice to be able to chat with them for one last evening.  I have so enjoyed spending time with them.  When I go on these trips, it is my policy to never ask about the background of the people I am meeting.  I know that in many cases people come from very difficult situations of poverty and it makes them uncomfortable to talk about it.  If they want to share their story with me, I am happy to listen, but I never ask.  I am always simply happy to build relationships with who they are now regardless of their past. In this situation however I had the rare opportunity to hear the stories of these boys, and my respect for them is so much deeper knowing the depths of adversity they have overcome.  I consider them my friends now and I have so much admiration for who they are and who they want to become.

I have shared about Peter in my previous blogs.  Some of you will know his sponsors Scott and Vanessa Kish of Dauphin.  The thing I love most about Peter is that when he smiles he entire face and by default the entire room lights up.  He is such an inspiration. I was playing Scrabble with Rachel who is on staff for Eagles Wings Childrens Village, and Peter was helping me out.  If he saw a potential word he would spell it out with the letters on my wooden stand.  It was my turn so I looked to see if Peter had made a suggestion, and to my surprise he had spelled out a word that has to do with a bodily function that young boys seem to think is the funniest thing in the world.  He thought it was hilarious.  It is something my brother would have done when he was the same age.  Boys will be boys no matter what corner of the world you are in.

 The last supper. . . before I left for Kampala.  Going clockwise Bill, Jovan, Peter, Bacha, Paul, Ann & Elisha

Peter asked me if I would take a picture with him "so I would never forget my friend Peter"  Unfortunately he is not showing his million dollar smile.

I think the people I have met here have impacted me more than on other trips.  I think the poverty was more severe in Haiti; however, I think the stories here have been more personal.  Both my sponsor children walked me past the graves of their parents.  It is hard for me to imagine the burdens these 10 year olds have had to bear.  These are stories that will stay with me always.

Visiting Ibra

Today I got to visit my sponsor child Ibra at his home as well as see the Eagles Wings Childrens Village property at Lubumba. It was a very good day.  Ibra lived in a mud hut far far in the bush.  We had to drive through quite dense bush to get there.  He came out to the road to meet us since there is no way that we would have found the house otherwise.  He waited by the road from 9 AM until we showed up at 2 PM.  I felt bad that he had waited that long!  He was dressed up in the outfit that he got for Christmas with the money used from my sponsorship.  As with Bushira he was quite shy, but he is very fluent in English and was very excited for my visit.  I am looking forward to spending more time with him when I return to Eagles Wings at the start of February.

I have very much been enjoying experiencing Ugandan culture in a very authentic way.  The staff and older students here are very enjoyable to be around.

Tomorrow I am off to Kampala to the eMi office.  I will be surveying for a few days around Kampala and then off to the Watoto project in the north the next week.  I am very glad that I got to spend some time here at Bill & Ann's before arriving with the team as it will be crazy around here with a team of 11 people.

Here are some photos from the day.

 Here is Ibra standing beside the drying rack he made for his Aunt.  He is very wise for a 10 year old and takes a large amount of responsibility around the home when he is there on school holidays.  The rest of the year he lives at Eagles Wings Childrens Village.

 Here is me with Ibra's family.  His Grandma, his Aunt and the man is an in-law.  The Grandma and Aunt kept thanking me and telling me how I was a mother to Ibra and that they were so honoured that I came all the way from Canada to see them in the bush.

 Me & Ibra with the ball I brought for him.  He was so excited to have a ball to play with.

 Ibra's house which was constructed from mud and sticks.

 This is Grace.  She belongs to one of the Eagles Wings Extension program students and spends her days here.  She is very sweet!

Jovan and Peter playing football.  They are so talented!  I have really enjoyed spending time with the older students that are back from boarding school for their break.  They have a very enjoyable sense of humour.  When I return with the eMi team at the start of February, they will be gone back to school.

Wedding and Meeting Bushira

The internet has been down here for the past two days, so I haven't been able to post as much as I wanted to.  I attended the wedding on Saturday.  It was very good.  After the introductions I think I was expecting something wildly different than a Canadian wedding.  I was however, surprised at how similar it was.  There were definitely notable differences, but many of the same elements and traditions as a North American wedding would have.  The differences I noticed, were there was no kissing, and for the bouquet toss, all the girls lined up and didn't move and the bride would re-throw the bouquet until one of the girls caught it without having to move.  It was much calmer and less violent than the bouquet tosses I have been involved with.  People tend to make a really big deal of white people here, so it was impossible to blend in.  When one of the grooms mentors was giving his speech he said how welcome we were and how very honoured he was that the Mzungu's (white people) were in attendance.  The speech was not in English, however one of the girls sitting with us translated that bit.

 The wedding party

 Me & Elisha

The bride and groom.  The groom Elijah works for Eagles Wings Childrens Village.

Yesterday I was not feeling well so I rested most of the day.  I am feeling back to 100% today so was back at it.  Today I had the privilege of going out to a tiny village in the middle of nowhere to meet one of my sponsor children, Bushira. Bushira lives at Eagles Wings Childrens Village but since it is school holidays she is back out with her Aunt until the start of February when school begins again. We visited her at her Aunts house in a village about an hour from where I am. Bushira was very shy at first by also very excited to meet me.  

This is Bushira showing us around their gardens.  She took us to her Grandma's house as well as the house of her distant uncle.  She works in these fields.

This is Bushira's house.

Me & Bushira

 This is Bushira and her extended family, including one brother, her aunt and her Aunts children. Her aunt thanked me over and over for being her sponsor. It was very humbling. We brought her some practical gifts like flour and sugar and rice and she was so happy. 

This is Moses and Florence and their daughters Trust and Treasure. They are the house parents for family 3 at Eagles Wings Childrens Village  They are sponsored by my friends the Buhlers.

 This is Peter and Elisha.  Peter is part of the Eagles Wings extension program and goes to boarding school here in Uganda.  He will be entering senior 1.  He is staying here during his school break.  He is a hoot, and him and Elisha love to play together.  Elisha can be heard running through the house screaming "Peta, Peta where are you?"

I took this photo today on the way to Bushira's