Ramblings through the heat...

It is so hot today…
Just finished taking some re-hydration salts, seriously tastes terrible but so necessary since I’ve been feeling ill the past few days.
Yesterday we had roughly 80 women come to facilitate the community bank. Although my involvement was pretty limited because it was conducted in Luganda, so I mostly served as an eager observer (okay sometimes a really bored observer…). The process took all day and according to Maureen, the women have been saving much more than in the past (a good thing in the credit crunch…).

This morning we walked about a mile to one of the villages where we constructed from scratch a vegetable garden for a child headed household. I’ll say it, I felt pretty bad ass swinging a machete for two hours chopping wood. I’ve even got the blisters on my hands to prove it. The garden, once complete will have a rock quarry in the center which will help filter wash water to the plots of vegetables. We used banana stalks to pad the inside walls after we’d driven wooden stakes we’d chopped into the ground.
Afterward we took a boda boda back to the house for lunch. On the way we thankfully got to stop for a Pepsi, some reminder of home… although I’d prefer Diet Coke… no such luck in Africa… It’s amazing how Coke and Pepsi have infiltrated the country (Kenya too) so thoroughly while they struggle to get basic necessities to the areas. One can’t forget the mobile phone companies in Africa. They’re everywhere… almost everyone has a cell phone, sometimes two or three… even in the fields. A phone costs less than 20 dollars and a sim card for a particular network is less than 5 dollars and you can keep adding usage as you need it. No contracts, no hefty bills... what's wrong with our system?

Later today, after I teach the primary students during the after school program, I’m going to keep planning my 6 day travels throughout the country before I leave for Kenya. So far, I’m including the Ssese Islands, Jinja (source of the Nile), Murchrion Falls (most powerful waterfall on the continent), Rwenzori Mountains and finally the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. I’ll keep you posted as I continue planning.

Much love from abroad…

Kim