Picture Update

All my Uganda pictures can be found here (note there are a few I've borrowed from others...thanks guys!):

Uganda

Summer is slipping away... back in the US of A

Now I'm home in South Carolina before heading to Cleveland to start law school and I have to say that this summer exceeded any expectations I had. I still have to pinch myself to make sure it was all real. I learned so much, I met amazing people and I saw things that I'm blessed to have seen. I'll be back to Africa soon... very soon...

Here are a few highlight photos from my trip:

Safari Pictures from Samburu and Lake Nakuru

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2160591&id=10902158&l=afb42955de

Happy 4th of July

New pictures of Kenya!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2159727&id=10902158&l=af3b910c5b

Jambo Sana

Its now been a very long time since I’ve written… I am now in Nakuru, Kenya. It’s been a whirlwind of fun and lessons since I’ve left Uganda. My last evening in Uganda I had dinner with the other URF volunteers, which includes the multitude from Engineers without Borders. We even indulged in some laughs over white wine…
My last day in Masaka I went with two of the volunteers to visit Ivan in the hospital. Ivan had been brought in after becoming extremely malnourished... he was refusing to eat and at about 10 months old weighed only 10lbs. I got the most wonderful news via email today from Andrew (the young man that so unselfishly gave up two weeks to sit with him in the hospital). Ivan is out of the hospital and doing much better.

I miss Masaka and the children at the orphanage very much. On the 21st, after being escorted to the airport by wonderful Sylvia, I flew to Nairobi and was greeted by Patricia from Nakuru at the airport. After resting for a while Alex and Patricia (my gracious hosts, husband and wife, not to mention founders of the Walk school) took me to see the progress the school has made over the years.
My packages containing supplies had arrived the prior week and funny enough, so had a misdirected package from some woman from Berea, SC... her homemade preserves and Kmart clothing for her niece ended up in Kenya, when it was supposed to be going to California. I asked dad to look her up and tell her that they'd thought it was their package and eaten the goods, he declined of course... I wouldn't want to tell a redneck her package got misdirected to Africa either...

Last week I started teaching at the school. I can't even explain the joy at seeing the students from my old class grown and almost 9! They've got the same smiles... the same personalities, and some even remembered me! It warmed my heart to see Zipporah again. Her younger brother Simon is in my class now. I'm teaching the baby class again and love bringing arts and crafts every day for them to do. The kids are just beautiful and I'll be honest, I'm going to go through major children withdrawal when I start law school in a month and a half!

So I turned the big 25 last Friday. Don't feel older, but if I had to look back on the past 25 years, I'd say I've had a hell of a run. I'm a lucky woman to have lived out her dreams and every day is only getting better.

Yesterday I got in my third boda boda (pickey pickey's here in Kenya) accident this month. The guy tore the front bumper off of a truck, just BARELY missing my leg. I'm telling you, someone up there is watching over me in a serious way.

How could I forget to mention the crazy evangelicals that were here in town this weekend for a crusade. The best part is they were from Ohio and are banned from preaching in the states because of stealing from the church. Anywho, they came to my school, made the kids shout Jesus for 20 min in front of a 10 foot Goliath/warrior picture and then left...oh wait, not before donating one freaking bag of beef jerky (WTF) and a bag of candy? Don't let me forget that they came into the classroom and said, its great that you're teaching these kids, but they don't need food, water or education, they're different, they just need Jesus. I mean faith is one thing, and I can appreciate that, but these guys were lunatics. Furthermore, they charged the locals about $50 for a "healing" on stage... healing from AIDS, tumors, pain...whatever they had... It was the craziest shiz I've ever seen.

I've only got about two weeks left in Kenya before I'm going back to Uganda and all over to travel. I'm meeting up with a friend in Jinja and going from there. I wish money grew on trees... I got my loan/financial aid notice from law school and I'm going to be one broke mzungu in a few months. I can't let it bog me down because when there is a will, there is a way. I can't let it inhibit my dreams and the work I want to do.



Some quotes from the week (really need to do a better job of writing these down):

"Your husband is very lucky to have such a strong woman. You can birth multiple sets of twins." -Man at airport, to me...

"Mzungu, give me my money. Now." -Streetchildren in Nakuru

"Did you ever imagine on your 25th birthday you'd be sitting around with a bunch of volunteers making sounds with your hands?" -Chris, volunteer from UK

"The best part is, I get to kill the goat." -Other volunteer

"Flick, have you found Jesus here in Nakuru?" -Crazy pastor before shouting at children

"You can only have chocolate ice cream because you're African and I can only have vanilla because I'm white..." SILENCE at the pool followed -Pastor's child from Ohio


In short, I'm still having the time of my life and will be really sad to leave East Africa. I've rediscovered a sense of purpose and a clear perspective on life and you can't really put a price tag on that.

Will write soon... hopefully after I've gone on Safari this week... or after I meet Obama's grandmother in Kisimu (that's right, I'm going to meet her on the 4th of July...)

Much love,

Kim

Mzungu in the mist....

So it has been a while since I’ve had a chance to write… I’m just back from Kigali, Rwanda. What an adventure the last week and a half has been!

The weekend before last, Emma and I went to the Ssese Islands, and the only way to describe it is phenomenal. Its like paradise nestled in the middle of Lake Victoria. The best part is that paradise was cheap! To stay in a thatched bandas with three full meals and beers it cost me about $15. I would’ve paid that for the perfect four hour nap I had in the hammock overlooking the bay.
We woke early on Sunday morning and took a motorcycle to the shore of Lake Victoria at dawn. Sometimes the beauty of things here gives me goosebumps. From there, since the ferry wasn’t working, we took a wooden boat to the islands. It reminded me of Canada Lake and the slow boat rides we'd take to the island, except this one was about 2 hours. Once on the main island we hired a boda to take us to Kalangala where the Hornbill Camp is (where we were staying). Don't know why we thought a 25 km boda ride on dirt hills would be comfortable... It was beautiful though. Monkeys darted across our path as we crossed through various forest reserves on the island.
At Hornbill we had a wonderful time filled with banana pancakes and loads of beers with the crazy German owners. We stayed up long into the night laughing at the outdoor bar beneath a nearly full moon.

Back in Masaka Monday we spent our time at the orphanage. In fact, Emma and I moved from Kyetume to Masaka town so we could spend most of our time here. The kids are just wonderful. Scott and Lesandro were finally able to get them to start the paving for the back area of the compound which will go a long way in keeping the place more sanitary. Wednesday I made a trip to Kampala to pick up loads of things for the orhphanage, including clothing, teething toys, cleaning supplies and a hose with a sprayer so they can easily clean the back area now that it is cemented. Hopefully in the next few weeks they'll be laying sod in the front of the house so the kids will have a soft, fun area to run and play.

Thursday afternoon I began my travels throughout the country and Rwanda... I boarded a matatu for Kabale from Masaka. 7 hour later, I arrived (should've been a 5 hour trip...). The roads are all under construction from Masaka to Mbarara so it took much longer without solid tarmac. After staying the night in Kabale and having the most amazing chipati omlette with African tea, I set off for Kisoro. Only two days until I saw the gorillas in Bwindi!

Since there weren't buses heading for Kisoro I had to hire a driver for about $50 to drive me the 2.5 hours to Kisoro and then the next morning to Nkringo where we'd trek through Bwindi to see the mountain gorillas. The ride was absolutely beautiful... They call the Kabale area the Switzerland of Africa. It's amazing how lush and mountainous the area is. The hills are covered with crops and scattered huts. Through the mountain drive, you see lake bunyoni, one of the gems of Uganda. The pictures don't do it justice... We passed babooons, monkeys, cows, goats, cameleons and plenty of forest reserves on our way to Kisoro. The driver, well, was quite frankly, strange... For starters he had a pop out DVD player blasting Ugandan music videos the whole ride. At one point he pulled the car over when we were surrounded by baboons and made a pass at me, to which I ignored and said lets continue driving please...

Kisoro is very close to the Rwandan/Congo border in Uganda and is surrounded by the dormant volcanoes. The hills are truly never ending. On the way into town we passed a UNHCR refugee camp that houses refugees from Rwanda and Congo (mostly Congo now). The area is very peaceful now, but the instability in the north of the Congo has driven people to the southern areas and borders.

In Kisoro, I met up with Arthur who took me on a tour of the volcanic caves where the pygmies used to live. The pygmies are a tribe from this area of Africa (spreads across the rainforest areas), a very short people that lived in caves and in the bush. They were supposedly the first protectors of the mountain gorillas. I had a clausterphobic moment when crawling in the caves to where the bats were... I had to slither through a crawl space as wide and tall as me for about 10 feet and freaked out and had to back track before calming down. Poor Arthur had to calm me down and convince me there was light at the end. Afterwards, I tried local bannana beer (can't say I'm a fan), and their version of moonshine.... I'll stick with Nile beer. I went out in town with Arthur and his friends and had an absolute blast. Good people with a great sense of humor.

Saturday morning I was up before dawn as me and five other mzungus packed in the sedan for the 1.5 hr trip to Nkgringo in the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. As the sun rose over the volcanic hills, I just thanked god for my vision. I know I say it again and again, but no picture will ever do that view justice. We wound through all the tiny mountain roads with deep valleys and lakes beneath us. Heavenly... just heavenly. That morning I'd woken up with a swollen red eye... It had happened a few weeks ago so I'd assumed it was from a mosquito bite or spider so went ahead with the trek. After paying the hefty fee for the tracking permit there was no way I was turning back.

Once in Nkgringo, we hiked into the impenetrable forest for a few hours until we reached the family of 19 gorillas. I was really unsure of how I'd react when I was face to face with them. I watch plenty of discovery channel so was sure I was in for a real treat. When we saw the first male through the trees, I gasped. Magnificent creatures... so playful. We crawled up through the brush to where the group was feeding. The silverback was closest to us and let out a growl to let us know his presence. Just as he did that, two baby gorillas fell from trees above as they chased each other playfully. We had one hour to spend with the gorillas. They were hysterical to watch... some were just lounging with their feet in the air, siblings were playfully wrestling, the mother of the baby twin gorillas was feeding and holding them close... it was just amazing. For creatures that share almost 98% of our genetic makeup, it was fascinating to watch.

After our hour was up, we trekked out of the forest up steep hills and valleys back to our starting point, stopping for lunch. At one point, the beers from the night before caught up with me and I hurled, but felt better after having a few bananas and a liter of water. We saw a few of the pygmies on our way out, tending to their crops. Many were relocated from the forest reserves to land just outside. Some of these homes are on the top of a single hill in a valley of mountains, surrounded by crops and forest. It's truly phenomenal...

Sunday morning, we took a motorcycle ride to the border of the Congo so I could cross... just to say I had :o). It was amazing. The villages were beautiful along the way. Churches were calling people to service with beautiful drums. Later in the morning we were off for Kigali, Rwanda. While we only had a night to spend there, it was amazing. The land of a thousand hills they call it... I must say, Rwanda is much cleaner than Uganda. They have a rubbish removal system so you don't see litter everywhere like you do in Uganda. Kigali is a beautiful city set in the midst of various hills. We walked around town after arriving and visited the Kigali Genocide Memorial and the mass graves from the 1994 genocide. It was a harrowing experience to read about the history of the country and the build up to such horrific events. The photographs and tributes to the victims had me sobbing. The memorial has a section on the reconcilliation and tribunal process currently going on. It was interesting to watch some of the videos and to read about the healing that has gone on since the dark days of Rwanda's past.
Afterwards, we walked back to town and visted the actual "Hotel Rwanda" before getting some amazing Indian food. Pricy but delicious, and they had white wine! I was in heaven.

Yesterday we left and I headed back to Kampala... where I am now. Thursday I'm going white water rafting on the Nile with Emma. It should be quite an experience! Grade 5 rapids, I'll probably piss myself with fear but heck, I only live once...

Later this week I'm back to the orphanage in Nyendo/Masaka before I leave Sunday for Kenya...
I'm sad that my time in Uganda has gone by so quickly but so happy to have been blessed with so many memories and to have met so many amazing people.

Thank you for all the emails of support. I love you all!

Pictures of my time with the gorillas and other recent adventures can be found at:

http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=772816022/a=708528022_708528022/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Some pictures from Orphanage and Ssese Islands

Sorry for the delay with pictures! Uploading to Snapfish hasn't been working well so I've loaded them to:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2156239&id=10902158&l=5c2cb38a5f

(I know you'll hate this Dad, but you don't have to join Facebook to view them... promise...)

Nakupenda

Hi everyone,

Almost another week. I've been able to find two projects that I feel benefit the most from my time here.
This past week we started the student leadership and service program at Hope Academy. I spoke to the students about the qualities of good leadership and how important giving back to one's community is. After having the students submit various ideas for the student led community service projects, we had our official kick off this morning. The projects include: student librarians (to keep the library open for children not in school during evenings and on weekends), a poultry project for the student run agriculture project, building a home for a child headed family in the village and outreach to children in the various nearby villages that don't attend school in order to get them to attend the after school program at the very least. I truly hope that the program stays up and running when I leave.

In the past I've mentioned the Nazareth Orphanage, and I can't really articulate the joy these children keep bringing to my days! We've started going three days a week, and it doesn't seem like enough. We help bathe, teach, feed, wash clothes and play with the children. It seems like little Ivan is getting much stronger now that he's eating more... even though he usually only finished his bottle when I'm feeding him. Truly all of the children have captured my heart...
My first day at the orphanage, little Gloria (about 4) caught my attention because of her beautiful smile and sweet laugh. Every afternoon though, I noticed her suddenly get sad, distant and non responsive, for a few hours. After learning she was the newest child to join the orphanage in March, it made more sense... Furthermore, she's from Tanzania and only spoke Swahili when she arrived (all the other children speak Luganda). As soon as Carol told me this, I went over, picked her up and whispered the few Swahili words I knew into her ear... The first being Nakupenda (I love you). She immediately smiled and started singing a song... "Nakupenda penda penda..." over and over and kissed my cheek. My eyes teared up and my knees weakened because I was so happy I could bring a smile back to her face...
Ugandan adoption policy requires a three year residency and after that day, I seriously contemplated it.

Also this week we had Nora, a Ugandan woman from a local NGO that specializes in the construction of environmentally friendly stoves that clear the smoke out of the cook shacks. She came to the orphanage and helped us build the stove, that will go a long way in keeping the staff and children safe from respiratory diseases associated with the black carbon that fills the kitchen and surrounding courtyard. The stove is constructed from ant hill soil, cow dung, saw dust and water. The coolest part was we got to knock apart the ant hills that had been dug up. They were infested with millions of ants and we just knocked them down until they were powdered for the cement. The chickens discovered the millions of ants very quickly and feasted for hours on the carnage.

I can't wait to share the pictures from this week. The funniest moments came from when the children went swimming! Another volunteer brought a tiny blow up pool for the kids and we filled jerry cans with water and had all the little ones go swimming. It was hysterical... they splashed and splashed for an hour, laughing so hard. My favorite little swimmer was Joseph (3 yrs old). He loved the pool so much, the next day, we found him on the side of the house with a wash basin he had filled with laundry water and was just splashing around by himself! He's such a ham...

At Nazareth, I've found a heroine in Carol, the 25 year old Ugandan who was raised at the orphanage and returned after school to continue running it. The kids truly love her and I can't even fathom being in such a position at my age, the welfare of twenty seven children day in and day out. Heroine might be an understatement.

I can't share how happy I will be to get in the back of a yellow cab... or a normal car after the taxi/matatu situation here (especially this week...). In a Toyota Corolla the other night on way back to Kyetume, we had 4 people in the front (yes, one was sitting with the driver in the driver's seat), and 9 in the back. The speedometers are usually broken and you're lucky if both headlights work. It's truly a recipe for disaster. Emma and I have been pretty lucky with hitching rides this week though, allowing us to avoid this situation and ride in comfort in the back of a friendly Ugandan's Land Rover... Dad, it's safe, I promise. We only hitch in daylight... official taxis at night... :o)

I've also discovered the Masaka market this week. Dana, you would love this... We bought 6 HUGE avocados for 1,000 Ugandan Shillings, or 50 cents... can you IMAGINE?! I've been in heaven with these, the limes, the pineapple, the passion fruit and the mango... I also finally found locally grown peanuts to help give me some protein and keep me from getting tired before late evening.

Now Emma and I are off to the Ssese Islands for the next two days (they're on Lake Victoria). Looking forward to it. Thursday of next week I begin my travels around the country and have decided, that if I can, I'm going to see the mountain gorillas... You only live once... and I'd probably be speechless at the sight of the silverbacks... Might as well make the most of my summer adventures...

Much love for now...

Kim

Pictures from week 2... Village meetings and Lake Nabugabo

http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=653815022/a=708528022_708528022/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Another day in paradise...

Hello everyone,

So it is Monday here in Kyetume. I can hardly believe how fast time is flying by…
Saturday after teaching computer class to primary students, Maureen and I went to one of the villages to speak with the women about health issues. The women are wonderful and have been so welcoming. I can’t really describe how beautiful the village was (really all villages). It reminds me a bit of an old western movie with nobody in sight and dusty roads, with cows roaming and children walking in small groups through the tall grass.
I’ve uploaded some pictures of the village as well as some views of a rainstorm coming in over the hills.

When talking with Maureen about how the women’s movement is going here in Uganda, she stresses that for things to change, men are going to have to loosen their hold on the power cords and become involved with women’s rights. Furthermore, I’m struck by how rampant polygamy seems to be (even if it is not official, it traditionally still happens in rural areas quite often). Uganda, by tremendous numbers, has the highest growth rate in the world currently. Women here average between 10-15 children, a thought one from home can barely imagine. The population largely depends on agriculture and this year, with fewer rains falling during the wet season, the bean and maize crops are feeling the painful effects of climate change. Unfortunately the rural areas aren’t equipped with running water, and therefore lack the capacity to harness irrigation techniques that would alleviate these issues. Uganda’s infrastructure is barely growing to accommodate current needs, and with the population growing so rapidly the recipe will only lead to disaster.

How could I forget to mention that the adventures of Kim and Emma continued Saturday evening… as we were walking to the school in the late afternoon we suddenly heard a cow exhale deeply and start to charge us! We scattered to the left and right running from the cow; who would’ve known I would’ve participated in the running of the bull here in Uganda, not Spain! It certainly got our blood pumping…

Sunday we headed to Lake Nabugabo, just east of Masaka and just before Lake Victoria. It was about a 20-30 minute boda boda ride, and a gorgeous one at that. The views from Sandy beach were unlike any lake I’ve seen in the states… only Canada Lake in the Adirondacks could rival them. It was the first day I felt the equator’s heat burning down on us… There were donkeys roaming around as we ate lunch, one even threatened to eat one volunteer’s book… After lunch we walked along the shores trying to spot monkeys. While we didn’t spot monkeys, the walk was a beautifully relaxing one. The area around the lake was so lush, with plentiful flowers and so many birds.

Later, the three of us got on a boda boda, totaling four on one motorcycle. This turned out to be a disaster when we crashed on our way back to Nyendo. It wasn’t a bad crash but still, only in Africa . Just some more bruises to add to my ongoing collection.

That is all for now, back to work… but wanted to give everyone an update.

Much love,

Kim

Pictures!

http://www2.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=632528022/a=708528022_708528022/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

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

First week

Finally internet... it has been pretty frustrating trying to connect to family and friends so far, but I expected as much.
I arrived in Entebbe just outside Kampala Wednesday evening after about 20+ hours of flying. Flying in at night was gorgeous, so few lights and clear skies.
On the way to my hotel from the airport I just soaked in the feeling of being back in Africa as we passed UN trucks, boda-boda's (motorcycle taxis) and crowded matatus (vans used as taxis usually full to the brim). Since I would be bathing for the rest of the month with a basin of rain water, I enjoyed my last shower until I travel later in the month.

Thursday, Adrian, a staff member from the Uganda Rural Fund picked me up at the hotel so we could make our way south to Kyeteme. Good luck trying to find it on a map, it is more of a trading post between small villages and the closest town I was able to find on the map is Mbrizi. And so I'm here in Kyeteme (pronounced che-tu-may) at the Uganda Rural Fund volunteer house where we live with the family. I share a room with another volunteer, Emma, from Spain, and its a pretty typical African home with a tin roof and open space above the 9 ft concrete walls (so very loud). The sound of cows, goats, pigs, chickens and ducks wakes me up in the morning... ahh welcome to Africa.

On the same property, just down the hill, is Hope Academy where roughly 120 students attend school and where we operate an after school program. The after school program offers various programs, including computer classes, math and english tutoring, as well as sports, music and debate programs.

The work we have been doing varies each day. Friday and Saturday I was really still getting an introduction to the projects that URF operates so I mostly absorbed knowledge from the other volunteers here (Ali, Scott and Emma). Friday we helped work on the library here at Hope Academy and since the school was on holiday until this Monday it was a slow day.
Saturday we finalized the library, which is sparsely populated with books, but will be a wonderful resource for the children since many of them have never owned a book and some even had to be shown how to turn the page. Early on Saturday, Fred, Emma and I took boda-boda rides to the various villages to see how projects were going. We visited a number of child headed households where we are helping build new and more adequate housing for them, as well as constructing vegetable gardens so that they can have affordable and easy access to food. In a few of the villages we met with women leaders who head up the various piggery and poultry projects (Muslim women raise chickens, Christian women raise pigs). Although most of these projects would seem so small to an American with so much at our fingertips, there has been a big impact in these small villages.

Although I have been to Africa before, I was in Kenya's 4th largest town and by my standards, rural. Being in Kyetume blows that conception out of the water. The green hills of Uganda are breathtaking, and since the villages largely still rely on agriculture and have no running water or electricity, the natural beauty is still very much intact. I do remember the constant chant of "MZUNGU!" whenever Ugandan children see a white person, and that is surely the same here in Uganda.
Saturday we walked to town and enjoyed some Ugandan beers as the sun set over the hills. Truly phenomenal. The weather has been beautiful, quite warm. The sun fried my Irish skin within a few hours.

Sunday is a free day, so Emma and I went to Masaka, the nearest large town with shops, Mzungu food and a pool at the hotel to relax at. I don't think I've ever been so happy to have bruschetta in my life. I definitely miss vegetables and fruits... The Ugandan meals are heavy with rice, beans, and matoke (tastes like a hybrid of plantain and potato). So... my "traveling" vegetarian diet has its limits. But the fruit we have had has been delicious, I enjoyed half a watermelon for lunch today!

Monday and Tuesday we worked at the Nazareth orphanage in Nyeiendo, which is like a suburb to Masaka. There are 27 children at the orphanage, most of which are under the age of 5. I can't even articulate my emotions from my two days there. The children are so desperate for human touch that you have between 5-7 climbing all over you as soon as you arrive. We played with them, helped basin wash their clothes and I attempted to teach the alphabet and numbers to the older of the small children not yet in primary school. There is one baby, Ivan, under 9 months old that stole my heart this week. He is extremely malnourished and the staff at the orphanage said he hadn't been eating and they were worried about him dying. Emma saw last week that he struggled to drink from a cup like the older kids (no bottles), so she purchased a sippy cup from town. After I was able to rub some porridge on his gums he finally started to drink from the cup and finished two whole cups in one afternoon. When I saw him again on Tuesday he looked much stronger and was sitting up, he even smiled when you played with him. After I showed the staff how to feed him, I hope that his condition will get better. These children are truly beautiful, so full of life and happiness despite having endured such hardship.

My favorite adventure so far was yesterday, when Emma and I were on our way to Masaka the matatu pulled over because of an accident ahead and we were told we would have to take a boda (motorcycle) into town. This would be no problem since we ride them often now, but they failed to mention we'd have to go through the swamp which included two huge ponds of water. Instead of getting out and walking through the water or to the side, the driver told us to sit and he drove through the ponds, with the water coming up to our waist on the motorcycle, drenching us. I couldn't stop laughing and all the Ugandans around were laughing at us and talking in Luganda, but you know they're talking about you when they include Mzungu... TIA (This Is Africa) as Moreen would say. Moreen is one of the staff members here at URF that runs the women's empowerment program and helps with a number of its other initiatives.

Today we helped plant seeds in a garden for one of the child headed family's and this afternoon I'll be speaking with the older students about implementing a leadership and service program. Hopefully this program will teach them the importance of leadership and we hope to establish ongoing service projects for the students to coordinate (i.e. library staff, helping repair thatch roofs for elderly in villages).

Tomorrow over 90 women will be coming to URF for they run a village bank (similar idea to the Grameen bank, but very localized). It will be great to see the progress the women have made with particular projects and to see which new projects will be approved for this coming period.

I have to run to teach class soon, but I wanted to give everyone back home an update while the internet was actually working.
I am doing well, very happy but miss you all dearly.

An update will hopefully follow next week. Hopefully I'll get pictures uploaded to snapfish but that might be pushing it until I get to Kampala in June.

Much love,

Kim

Leaving on a jet plane...

I leave in a few hours, and while I was perusing the web and not packing, I very fittingly stumbled upon this quote:

"Words without actions are the assassins of idealism."
Herbert Hoover

I'm a woman of few words tonight but excited for the adventures to begin!

I begin the summer of 2009 a perpetual optimist...

Hello all...

With two weeks before my departure, I'm plagued with insomnia and complete failure to prepare myself for what's ahead. I'm truly thrilled, although I might have tried to pack too much into this summer. Leaving NY behind was tough after seven years, countless memories and individuals I'm lucky to call friends. Alas, a new chapter begins...

Many have asked why I'm going back to Africa and why the particular programs. For those of you I've discussed this with and for those of you who have experienced Africa personally, there just hasn't been a comparison in terms of personal enrichment. The awe inspiring skies, the vast landscape, the wildlife, the wonderful people, the rich culture, the deafening nighttime silence, the lessons I learned... these are just a few of the reasons I had to revisit the continent. I've never been able to articulate the sense of personal clarity I felt when I was in Kenya in 2005. While I know that the children and people I'll be working with will be in some small way touched by the work I intend to do, I am much more aware of the impact their lives will have on me. I only hope that the exchange that I'll participate in will help further the organizations' missions and inspire the Ugandans/Kenyans I work with to continue their diligent grassroot efforts.

Additionally, I'll take a moment to explain what I'll be doing and with whom.
-I'm going to be spending the first month in Uganda working with the Uganda Rural Fund, a grassroots organization I discovered in 2007 when I was doing research on the country's most vulnerable children as a continuation of my thesis research on street children. They facilitate a wide array of projects, which include several sustainable development programs, an orphanage and a school. One of the reasons I was captivated by the organization is because they have a very realistic approach to the way in which they operate, they rely on volunteers and local people to run the organization, the funding is very wisely used for programs that work. While I'm there I will be working at the orphanage/school, as well as helping to develop their women empowerment/leadership programs within the community. The organization works with roughly 150-250 Ugandans on a regular basis in rural south eastern Uganda, primarily the Masaka district. Their website at www.ugandaruralfund.org has more information about their initiatives and current programs.

-In Kenya, I'll be going back to teach at a community school on the outskirts of Nakuru. In rural areas of Africa, because of the high cost of school fees/uniforms, and the distance to most public schools, local teachers or individuals, sometimes international organizations, have created community schools as a way to help provide the most basic education for children that would otherwise remain victims of cyclical poverty. The school has about 100+ students attending on a regular basis. The school's leaders/teacher recruit the students from nearby slums and the local trash pit. Because of the poverty and disease, many are orphans and earn their living and find their meals in the local trash pit, getting small change for plastic. As a response, the school provides fellowship with other children, two meals a day and classes for all ages, even a few high schoolers. The program is very rudimentary and simply a worthy cause that does its best to help give these children a brighter future. I'll be teaching the younger class here, and was certified as an English teacher in 2005 before my last trip.

Pictures from my 2005 Trip