Hey Family and Friends,
So you just read all about the Bunabuyoka
village in my last update and everything we are wanting to do there.
Well we need more project funds to meet our goal and help these people
as much as possible! As a team we have set up a website where you can go
and donate to this project. Please take 5 minutes to go to the
page...there are a ton more details of the project and what we are doing
and there is a place for you to donate. ANYTHING will help. I have met
these people personally and want so bad to help them as much as
possible. I also have a link on my facebook page and blog. Encourage
anyone and everyone to go to the page and read about the project and
donate as much or as little as they can, so we can meet our goal and
build this health center and school.
I'll give you one story for a
little motivation (we have hear SO many more stories just like this one
from families we have interviewed in the village)
So we were talking
to a man in one of our meetings, he is one of the leaders in the
village. He then began to tell us a story about his 10 children. They
all got sick at the same time, he didn't say what they were sick with,
but it was most likely preventable and treatable)
One night they all
got WAY bad, so he had to get other villagers to help him carry all of
his kids down the HUGE mountain and get them to the closest hospital,
which is not very close. By the time they were able to get there they
had gotten way worse and by the next day every one of his kids died...
He
talked about how excited he was for the health clinic, and he knows
that as he starts over with a new family that his children will be able
to be treated when they are sick and will be okay.
Another lady told
us about how she gave birth to 2 of her children in her home (which is
tiny and filthy) she told us that she pushed the baby out and then cut
the umbilical chord with a razor, then waited until the afterbirth came
out and took a bath to clean herself off...
There are SOOO many
more stories of the families we interviewed, that are so sad and heart
breaking. They NEED this school, and health clinic. They are the
happiest, most humble, and most grateful people I have ever met, and we
have so much to give them. Even if it seems small to us it is huge to
them. They are willing to work hard and do the labor and help get
supplies to do these projects, but the one thing they don't have is
money. Which is where we come in! I can show you pictures and videos as
we build it so you can see the progress of the money you are donating.
And I promise it will be well worth your dollar. SO DO IT RIGHT NOW!! :)
Here is the link...and thank you SO much for the help... Building the Future!
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Bunabunyoka Village! :)
Well I thought I better give you an update of my few days in the village!
First, I thought I'd tell you about the projects we are doing up there. So last year the group from HELP-Intl. went up to this village and helped them build a MUCH needed school. It's just a one room building that is pretty good in size. In the village they have a TON of children and they were so excited about the school and realized how much they needed it, and needed more classrooms they decided to build a second building. (the villagers did this themselves...HELP just did the first building) They literally sacrificed and gave everything they had to build this addition to the school, but their funds ran out and they were unable to finish the roof or floor, so they can't even use the building.
Also the "health clinic" that they have is a tiny square room with muddy cement floors...and no lights and less supplies than a first aid kit. They have no trained medical people living up there, and the doctors who are willing to come and help have no where to treat patients. So we decided that we also wanted to build them a health clinic! They were SO excited and grateful. It will just be two small rooms, but it will be SO much more than what they have and we are going to fill it with as many supplies as we can. We also have a few doctors in town who are already willing to come and volunteer 1 or 2 days a week at the clinic to treat all the people up there! Also as a kick start to the clinic we are trying to arrange different health clinic days that we can set up later in the summer (when I am home unfortunately) but like an eye clinic day...where an eye doctor comes up to the clinic for a few days and everyone is able to get their eyes checked...and an HIV clinic where a doctor comes and is able to test everyone for HIV and give them the necessary treatments..and different ones like that.
The villagers are SO excited and they want it so much they are willing to help with ANYTHING which makes us want to help them so much more and give them as much as we can!
So with all their help and our means we are going to be able to FINISH the clinic in 2 weeks!
We met with them last Monday talking about what we wanted to do to help them, and by this Monday when we got there they had already dug the foundation for the clinic and started working! So we helped them work on the foundation while we were up there! Remember how I told you about the "hell hill" that we have to take to get there? Well the entire mountain and village and everything is all that steep...so to get from house to house you have to walk straight up a hill. So we had to fill gunny sacks with rocks and carry them up this STEEP hill for HOURS!! They crush them up and use them for the foundation of the school and health clinic...it was hot and dirty and hard!
But I seriously couldn't even complain, because all the little kids on their way to school and during their breaks go up the hill and help carry the rocks....except they are ages 6-11 and they are carrying rocks that I literally couldn't even lift and carrying them on their HEAD! If that isn't motivation...I don't know what is! And they all do it without complaining because they love their school so much and want to do anything to help finish it!
I also got to teach English to a 3rd grade class! And I am going to be teaching them every Monday-Wednesday until I come home! (which is coming WAY too soon....)
It was so fun to teach them, and they were all SO excited and ready to learn. It's amazing how much we take education for granted, and complain about going to school. These kids are there EVERY day no matter what as long as they can be. I can't wait to teach them more! And continue to help with the building of the school and health center! I am so excited that I will get to see it finished before I come home :)
The people in the village are SO nice to us, they seriously treat us like royalty and it makes me feel so bad! They are telling us how sometimes they can't work their hardest (which is still 500 times harder than us) because their food is growing right now and they don't have very much so they are working on empty stomachs and it slows them down. And then that night they feed us a huge full meal!!!
Speaking up the meal...it is quite interesting! They give us posho, matoke, and scuma for every meal, and usually some kind of meat (which we tell them not to because they don't have much) But the Posho is basically corn starch and water....so it's just a big blob of white stuff...haha it doesn't have much taste but the texture is super hard to swallow. Matoke is in the banana family, but it's more like a potato...it's way good when you make it certain ways but the way they make it is just a giant blob of yellow mush, and the scuma is a green vegetable type thing...comparable to spinach. It's SUPER strong in taste. The first time we had this meal I literally could barely choke everything down. And I felt so selfish and spoiled because they are giving us like everything they have. But I have learned....you have to scoop a ton of the broth from the meat onto everything and then you just have to mix everything together and eat it all at once and then it is actually pretty good!!
Our sleeping arrangements were pretty funny as well....we took up 5 foam twin size mattress things...and then basically made a tent of our mosquito nets, but then we had 9 people squished onto the mats.. haha and they all have a plastic covering on them. So we were literally all spooning and you had almost no room to move....and we were all sticking to the plastic and SO hot and 3 of the people were way grumpy, and the rest of us were slap happy and laughing at everything....so it made for one of the more interesting nights that I have had haha and we got basically NO sleep!
It was a way good experience though and I can't wait to go back up next Monday morning!
I never realized how good our house was here, and how grateful I would to be back! Even the nasty shower that barely trickles down and is FREEZING was like HEAVEN!!
Then yesterday I did all my laundry!!! It took me forever...but I was way proud of myself and I am actually way good at it! I had red mud stained in my white skirt....yep it's completely clean and white again! :) haha
Then last night we had a meeting at Child of Hope (the school in the Namatala slum) about their bead business for the women. We are trying to help them get it going again with a few of them and we are making a website to sell them in the states and coming up with some designs for them to help them sell! I am actually really excited about it, and I am going to keep helping them with this one when I get home!
We have another meeting with them today to show them the designs we want them to do and get them making some as soon as possible so I can bring a bunch home and start selling them!
I also am teaching an English class tonight to some of the adults at our church, so I am excited about that! :)
This weekend we are river rafting the Nile! I am way excited/ nervous....and then we will stay up there Saturday night in Jinja because Sunday is stake conference there! So we will go to that and then ride back in the taxis with the ward! I am way excited to go to the stake conference. I think it will be a neat experience.
Next week on Saturday we are going to the Uganda fut-ball game!! I am SO stoked.....I bought my jersey a few weeks ago and this is actually supposed to be a pretty good game! :) And the next weekend II am planning our Safari! And believe it or not the weekend after that I will be HOME and it's my birthday!! It is flying by way too fast...but I am just making sure to make every minute count!!
I hope all is going good at home...I was so excited to come home from the village and see that my cute nephew Warner was born!!! He is so stinkin cute...I got to meet him on skype and I already am DYING to meet him in person! Talk to you all soon, Love you! And thanks for all the emails and little notes.
First, I thought I'd tell you about the projects we are doing up there. So last year the group from HELP-Intl. went up to this village and helped them build a MUCH needed school. It's just a one room building that is pretty good in size. In the village they have a TON of children and they were so excited about the school and realized how much they needed it, and needed more classrooms they decided to build a second building. (the villagers did this themselves...HELP just did the first building) They literally sacrificed and gave everything they had to build this addition to the school, but their funds ran out and they were unable to finish the roof or floor, so they can't even use the building.
Also the "health clinic" that they have is a tiny square room with muddy cement floors...and no lights and less supplies than a first aid kit. They have no trained medical people living up there, and the doctors who are willing to come and help have no where to treat patients. So we decided that we also wanted to build them a health clinic! They were SO excited and grateful. It will just be two small rooms, but it will be SO much more than what they have and we are going to fill it with as many supplies as we can. We also have a few doctors in town who are already willing to come and volunteer 1 or 2 days a week at the clinic to treat all the people up there! Also as a kick start to the clinic we are trying to arrange different health clinic days that we can set up later in the summer (when I am home unfortunately) but like an eye clinic day...where an eye doctor comes up to the clinic for a few days and everyone is able to get their eyes checked...and an HIV clinic where a doctor comes and is able to test everyone for HIV and give them the necessary treatments..and different ones like that.
The villagers are SO excited and they want it so much they are willing to help with ANYTHING which makes us want to help them so much more and give them as much as we can!
So with all their help and our means we are going to be able to FINISH the clinic in 2 weeks!
We met with them last Monday talking about what we wanted to do to help them, and by this Monday when we got there they had already dug the foundation for the clinic and started working! So we helped them work on the foundation while we were up there! Remember how I told you about the "hell hill" that we have to take to get there? Well the entire mountain and village and everything is all that steep...so to get from house to house you have to walk straight up a hill. So we had to fill gunny sacks with rocks and carry them up this STEEP hill for HOURS!! They crush them up and use them for the foundation of the school and health clinic...it was hot and dirty and hard!
But I seriously couldn't even complain, because all the little kids on their way to school and during their breaks go up the hill and help carry the rocks....except they are ages 6-11 and they are carrying rocks that I literally couldn't even lift and carrying them on their HEAD! If that isn't motivation...I don't know what is! And they all do it without complaining because they love their school so much and want to do anything to help finish it!
I also got to teach English to a 3rd grade class! And I am going to be teaching them every Monday-Wednesday until I come home! (which is coming WAY too soon....)
It was so fun to teach them, and they were all SO excited and ready to learn. It's amazing how much we take education for granted, and complain about going to school. These kids are there EVERY day no matter what as long as they can be. I can't wait to teach them more! And continue to help with the building of the school and health center! I am so excited that I will get to see it finished before I come home :)
The people in the village are SO nice to us, they seriously treat us like royalty and it makes me feel so bad! They are telling us how sometimes they can't work their hardest (which is still 500 times harder than us) because their food is growing right now and they don't have very much so they are working on empty stomachs and it slows them down. And then that night they feed us a huge full meal!!!
Speaking up the meal...it is quite interesting! They give us posho, matoke, and scuma for every meal, and usually some kind of meat (which we tell them not to because they don't have much) But the Posho is basically corn starch and water....so it's just a big blob of white stuff...haha it doesn't have much taste but the texture is super hard to swallow. Matoke is in the banana family, but it's more like a potato...it's way good when you make it certain ways but the way they make it is just a giant blob of yellow mush, and the scuma is a green vegetable type thing...comparable to spinach. It's SUPER strong in taste. The first time we had this meal I literally could barely choke everything down. And I felt so selfish and spoiled because they are giving us like everything they have. But I have learned....you have to scoop a ton of the broth from the meat onto everything and then you just have to mix everything together and eat it all at once and then it is actually pretty good!!
Our sleeping arrangements were pretty funny as well....we took up 5 foam twin size mattress things...and then basically made a tent of our mosquito nets, but then we had 9 people squished onto the mats.. haha and they all have a plastic covering on them. So we were literally all spooning and you had almost no room to move....and we were all sticking to the plastic and SO hot and 3 of the people were way grumpy, and the rest of us were slap happy and laughing at everything....so it made for one of the more interesting nights that I have had haha and we got basically NO sleep!
It was a way good experience though and I can't wait to go back up next Monday morning!
I never realized how good our house was here, and how grateful I would to be back! Even the nasty shower that barely trickles down and is FREEZING was like HEAVEN!!
Then yesterday I did all my laundry!!! It took me forever...but I was way proud of myself and I am actually way good at it! I had red mud stained in my white skirt....yep it's completely clean and white again! :) haha
Then last night we had a meeting at Child of Hope (the school in the Namatala slum) about their bead business for the women. We are trying to help them get it going again with a few of them and we are making a website to sell them in the states and coming up with some designs for them to help them sell! I am actually really excited about it, and I am going to keep helping them with this one when I get home!
We have another meeting with them today to show them the designs we want them to do and get them making some as soon as possible so I can bring a bunch home and start selling them!
I also am teaching an English class tonight to some of the adults at our church, so I am excited about that! :)
This weekend we are river rafting the Nile! I am way excited/ nervous....and then we will stay up there Saturday night in Jinja because Sunday is stake conference there! So we will go to that and then ride back in the taxis with the ward! I am way excited to go to the stake conference. I think it will be a neat experience.
Next week on Saturday we are going to the Uganda fut-ball game!! I am SO stoked.....I bought my jersey a few weeks ago and this is actually supposed to be a pretty good game! :) And the next weekend II am planning our Safari! And believe it or not the weekend after that I will be HOME and it's my birthday!! It is flying by way too fast...but I am just making sure to make every minute count!!
I hope all is going good at home...I was so excited to come home from the village and see that my cute nephew Warner was born!!! He is so stinkin cute...I got to meet him on skype and I already am DYING to meet him in person! Talk to you all soon, Love you! And thanks for all the emails and little notes.
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Projects and more projects!
I got two emails this morning asking when I was going to send an update
again, so I decided I better write one today before we go to the village
in the morning! Hopefully I will have some neat experiences to write
about when I get back from there on Tuesday night.
My mom said that my emails are quite funny to read, because they are basically just one big run on sentence....and I write exactly how I talk (super fast and hard to understand). So, I'll try a lot harder to take a little bit more time and make them easier to read!
I haven't written an update this week because I feel like I am not making very much progress in changing the world. I have kind of had a hard time and felt like I have wasted my first two weeks. The group that I came with doesn't have any projects planned out for us before we get here. We have some contacts from last years groups, and our country directors came a couple weeks before us and got a few more. So when we got here we were able to go to a lot of the different villages, slums, and clinics that want our help and talk to a few more people and then we have a lot of meetings...both with our group, and potential projects. Then we are set loose....with no guidance or much direction to plan the projects we want to do and work out every detail of them and set everything up!
This was a bit overwhelming....I am not good at figuring out all the details and setting up meetings and working out all the logistics, especially when I don't have a ton of knowledge in any of the projects. But I have realized this experience is about a lot more than just doing service the entire time. I am learning SO many more life lessons and things that will help me in the future. I also have realized that if we want to truly make a difference in the 4 months that our group is here, and create projects that will continue to help them even once we are gone...those projects take A LOT of time and planning. We have to figure out the best ways to help these people help themselves. Even though I haven't been out doing a ton of physical work...the planning and preparing is making just as much of a difference! I won't be able to see all of our projects finish in the 6 weeks I am here, in fact most of them won't be done, but that's okay because I am still making a difference and helping while I am here. And even more than that I am being changed and touched by every single person I meet, both the African's and people in my group, and the experience I am having will change me and help me to be a better person and affect people when I come home as well.
I didn't really mean for that to be such a long introduction...but anyways now I can tell you a little bit about what we have been doing and the projects we have been working on!
As we have talked to a lot of the village and school leaders one of the things they want and need the most to help them is education. They know the importance of education and they have such a lack of it. And knowledge is something that we can give them that won't run out when we leave or cost money, or need fixing and repair.
So a lot of our projects have to do with education....teaching English, general health, science, music, and then the project that I am kind of in charge of with a couple others is youth leadership and empowerment classes. We have like 8 classes that we have set up and written the curriculum and lesson plans for, and the schools can choose to either have just the individual classes taught, or they can be taught during a 6 week program where we come once a week. We even have like maturation type classes that we have set up because they have NO knowledge of that type of thing here or sex education or anything. It's way sad...in the middle school they said over 75% of their students are sexually active and know nothing about it or the consequences of it. In the Bunabuyoka village (the one we went to on Monday and the one we are going back to tomorrow) the midwife was telling us about a 15 year old girl who got pregnant, but had no clue about it because they don't teach them about it at all and she didn't know when she went in to labor she just thought she was sick so the baby ended up suffocating inside of her and died and then she got way sick and almost died because she had a dead baby inside her....isn't that so sad?? They need to learn SO much, and a lot of it is things that comes second nature to us and we don't even realize that we are so lucky to have a knowledge of..
I won't go into detail about more of the projects because I am sure I will tell you more about them as we are doing them!
But then on Thursday me and Jan didn't have any meetings to go to and I found a salon in town that did braids so we decided to get our African braids!! They told us it would take like 3 or 4 hours...Jan's took about 4...mine took 7!!!! I was sitting in the same hard chair for 7 hours. I was going crazy by the end, but they looked way awesome and only cost like 25 dollars! Everyone in town told us that we looked like Alisha Keys and that we looked "smart" which means good looking basically haha
I really liked them and I was SO excited to not have to worry about frizzy and greasy hair the next 3 1/2 weeks. But then last night one fell out and a bunch were getting loose and they were so heavy and my head itched and I couldn't sleep and my hair is so thick that I couldn't pull them all up and they were super hot.....so today I couldn't stand them any more and I took them all out.....haha they were bugging me so bad I guess I had a nightmare about them and woke the girls up in my room screaming about my braids! So they only lasted like 3 days! But it's okay I'm still glad I got them and experience my African braids...and we definitely had quite the funny experience at the salon getting them done.
They washed our hair and then they dried it in one of those old fashion dryer things, but there was no cover over the blade and it was basically just spinning my hair in a circle and matting it WAY bad. Then there was a guy in there who asked us if he could work on our nails so we said why not since we were just sitting there.
So I got a manicure and pedicure! It was kinda sketch and he KILLED when he was massaging us, but it's all part of the experience :)
Then yesterday we went on this hike called Sipi Falls. It was GORGEOUS!! I have a bunch of pictures that I will upload to facebook later tonight or later on in the week. It was up in the mountains and we hiked to like 3 different falls. There are villages clear up there and all the kids came and guided us to all the different places. There was a 15 year old boy named Martin who started talking to me and then became my guide haha he would tell me all the different plants and things on the way. He would sit and wait for me any time the group started going and he would hold my hand any time it was muddy or there was a hill so that I wouldn't fall. It was way cute!
I can't wait to show you guys the pictures..it was so pretty I can't even describe it!
Also...look forward to pictures of my post braid hair.....haha first it was in like way sweet dreads and now it is a legit AFRO haha it is huge!! The pictures are pretty funny...
I think that is all I really have to update you on....pray for me tomorrow night when I am sleeping in the village in the mountains. Haha hopefully we make it back safe! We are doing some WAY exciting things in the village but I will tell you more about them later!
My mom said that my emails are quite funny to read, because they are basically just one big run on sentence....and I write exactly how I talk (super fast and hard to understand). So, I'll try a lot harder to take a little bit more time and make them easier to read!
I haven't written an update this week because I feel like I am not making very much progress in changing the world. I have kind of had a hard time and felt like I have wasted my first two weeks. The group that I came with doesn't have any projects planned out for us before we get here. We have some contacts from last years groups, and our country directors came a couple weeks before us and got a few more. So when we got here we were able to go to a lot of the different villages, slums, and clinics that want our help and talk to a few more people and then we have a lot of meetings...both with our group, and potential projects. Then we are set loose....with no guidance or much direction to plan the projects we want to do and work out every detail of them and set everything up!
This was a bit overwhelming....I am not good at figuring out all the details and setting up meetings and working out all the logistics, especially when I don't have a ton of knowledge in any of the projects. But I have realized this experience is about a lot more than just doing service the entire time. I am learning SO many more life lessons and things that will help me in the future. I also have realized that if we want to truly make a difference in the 4 months that our group is here, and create projects that will continue to help them even once we are gone...those projects take A LOT of time and planning. We have to figure out the best ways to help these people help themselves. Even though I haven't been out doing a ton of physical work...the planning and preparing is making just as much of a difference! I won't be able to see all of our projects finish in the 6 weeks I am here, in fact most of them won't be done, but that's okay because I am still making a difference and helping while I am here. And even more than that I am being changed and touched by every single person I meet, both the African's and people in my group, and the experience I am having will change me and help me to be a better person and affect people when I come home as well.
I didn't really mean for that to be such a long introduction...but anyways now I can tell you a little bit about what we have been doing and the projects we have been working on!
As we have talked to a lot of the village and school leaders one of the things they want and need the most to help them is education. They know the importance of education and they have such a lack of it. And knowledge is something that we can give them that won't run out when we leave or cost money, or need fixing and repair.
So a lot of our projects have to do with education....teaching English, general health, science, music, and then the project that I am kind of in charge of with a couple others is youth leadership and empowerment classes. We have like 8 classes that we have set up and written the curriculum and lesson plans for, and the schools can choose to either have just the individual classes taught, or they can be taught during a 6 week program where we come once a week. We even have like maturation type classes that we have set up because they have NO knowledge of that type of thing here or sex education or anything. It's way sad...in the middle school they said over 75% of their students are sexually active and know nothing about it or the consequences of it. In the Bunabuyoka village (the one we went to on Monday and the one we are going back to tomorrow) the midwife was telling us about a 15 year old girl who got pregnant, but had no clue about it because they don't teach them about it at all and she didn't know when she went in to labor she just thought she was sick so the baby ended up suffocating inside of her and died and then she got way sick and almost died because she had a dead baby inside her....isn't that so sad?? They need to learn SO much, and a lot of it is things that comes second nature to us and we don't even realize that we are so lucky to have a knowledge of..
I won't go into detail about more of the projects because I am sure I will tell you more about them as we are doing them!
But then on Thursday me and Jan didn't have any meetings to go to and I found a salon in town that did braids so we decided to get our African braids!! They told us it would take like 3 or 4 hours...Jan's took about 4...mine took 7!!!! I was sitting in the same hard chair for 7 hours. I was going crazy by the end, but they looked way awesome and only cost like 25 dollars! Everyone in town told us that we looked like Alisha Keys and that we looked "smart" which means good looking basically haha
I really liked them and I was SO excited to not have to worry about frizzy and greasy hair the next 3 1/2 weeks. But then last night one fell out and a bunch were getting loose and they were so heavy and my head itched and I couldn't sleep and my hair is so thick that I couldn't pull them all up and they were super hot.....so today I couldn't stand them any more and I took them all out.....haha they were bugging me so bad I guess I had a nightmare about them and woke the girls up in my room screaming about my braids! So they only lasted like 3 days! But it's okay I'm still glad I got them and experience my African braids...and we definitely had quite the funny experience at the salon getting them done.
They washed our hair and then they dried it in one of those old fashion dryer things, but there was no cover over the blade and it was basically just spinning my hair in a circle and matting it WAY bad. Then there was a guy in there who asked us if he could work on our nails so we said why not since we were just sitting there.
So I got a manicure and pedicure! It was kinda sketch and he KILLED when he was massaging us, but it's all part of the experience :)
Then yesterday we went on this hike called Sipi Falls. It was GORGEOUS!! I have a bunch of pictures that I will upload to facebook later tonight or later on in the week. It was up in the mountains and we hiked to like 3 different falls. There are villages clear up there and all the kids came and guided us to all the different places. There was a 15 year old boy named Martin who started talking to me and then became my guide haha he would tell me all the different plants and things on the way. He would sit and wait for me any time the group started going and he would hold my hand any time it was muddy or there was a hill so that I wouldn't fall. It was way cute!
I can't wait to show you guys the pictures..it was so pretty I can't even describe it!
Also...look forward to pictures of my post braid hair.....haha first it was in like way sweet dreads and now it is a legit AFRO haha it is huge!! The pictures are pretty funny...
I think that is all I really have to update you on....pray for me tomorrow night when I am sleeping in the village in the mountains. Haha hopefully we make it back safe! We are doing some WAY exciting things in the village but I will tell you more about them later!
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
African babies stealing my heart...
Last
Wednesday this guy named Suda took us to a village and like 3 schools
that want us to do projects. So he picked us up in a taxi...that is
supposed to hold like 13 people but we had 17 and it was CRAMPED!! There
taxis here are super nasty and are like falling apart and it won't
start on it's own, so every time the guy had to push start it and pop
the clutch with like 15 people inside haha honestly we didn't really
think anything of it at the time, but looking back it was pretty funny.
So the first village we went to we were greeting by literally 30 women and kids all dancing and singing and SO excited for us to be there. When we opened the door to the taxi they basically lifted us out and were hugging and kissing us. It made me feel SO GOOD and LOVED!! (I expect nothing less at the airport when I come home in 5 weeks) Then we went to a few more schools and a hospital clinic that wants us to help. So the rest of the week was mostly planning all our projects and having a TON of meetings with all the people to figure out the details of everything.
On Saturday my friend Josh had his birthday so we went to the hotel down the street and for 5000 shillings you can swim and take a shower! So we all swam and hung out by the pool all afternoon. It was WAY hot and then some clouds started coming in for the daily rainstorm...and it started raining so everyone got out of the pool but me and Jan just kept swimming in it, and then it started to DOWNPOUR...it was SO fun swimming in it and it just kept getting worse and worse until randomly it started hailing. So we decided it was probably time to get out and the hail was huge and hitting us way hard..so we went and got in the shower and by the time we were done it had stopped raining and the sun was out and the skies were blue! So bizarre....
Then that night we went to dinner at the restaurant in town called chat n chinos....I think I told you about it. I know it doesn't seem like a very rough day in Africa....but we need some breaks and fun days too :)
Then Sunday we went to the branch, I love it so much and the people are SO friendly! In sacrament meeting there were two men who had just gotten baptized the day before and they were confirmed in Sacrament meeting...it was way neat to be a part of that and the spirit was way strong....and all the talks and lessons answered questions and prayers that I had that week. They asked all of our group to sing next Sunday, so we get to find a hymn to sing acapella this week! wish us well....haha and they are having us teach Young Women's and relief society each week, so it's kind of fun to feel a part of the ward.
Then today we woke up at like 6:30 to go to the Bunabuyoka Village. Our group that came last year did work with them last year and they were very excited to have us come back again. So we got on another one of the AWESOME taxis...this time squished with 22 people...and drove for a little over an hour. Then we started our hike STRAIGHT up the mountain...they told us it was like half hour, but we were hiking for a good hour and a half and I am not joking around when I say it was straight up. I had another fainting experience on the way up....this time it was my friend Alexis. She has asthma way bad and the hike was way hard and way hot so we were almost to the top and she was really struggling and feeling sick so she sat down for a second and then just passed out....so we go to help her and her body starts to seizure for a good 5-10 seconds. It was way scary!! She was way hot and sweaty so we poured some water on her and she kind of came to and then she just started puking a ton. I was really freaked out for a minute, but after she threw up she was totally fine and finished the hike no big deal!
So when we finally got to the top (the whole way up was honestly the prettiest view of anywhere I have ever been) we were greeted by all the kids from the school singing to us! I have a video of it and it seriously was the cutest thing ever. All the people there were so nice, and so excited to have us there. The whole village is christian so we prayed like 3 times while we were there and at the beginning the guy was saying the prayer and he thanked God that we were there and he said that he knew we were sent by Christ all the way from America to find their little village in the mountains. It was so sweet and made me want to cry...
They built a second school building since they have so many kids and the other one is just one open classroom, but never were able to finish the roof so they can't use it...so we are going to help them finish the roof and floors and then we are building a health clinic up there and then we are going to be teaching English and health classes to the children and adults! I am way excited and can't wait to go back :)
We are going on Sunday and then we are going to sleep up there until
Tuesday next week and then I don't know how often we'll go up after
that. It is going to be way neat to sleep in the village though and
experience TRUE Africa! I'm a little nervous though too! I wish I could
just show you all the things that I have seen because talking about them
and trying to describe them doesn't even do it justice. During the
meeting today a little girl who was probably 2 or 3 came up and sat on
my lap and she ended up just cuddling up in my arms and falling asleep
and stayed there for a few hours...I have some pictures of her, she is
precious! I can't get over how cute all the kids are here. I don't know
how I am going to leave them...
So the first village we went to we were greeting by literally 30 women and kids all dancing and singing and SO excited for us to be there. When we opened the door to the taxi they basically lifted us out and were hugging and kissing us. It made me feel SO GOOD and LOVED!! (I expect nothing less at the airport when I come home in 5 weeks) Then we went to a few more schools and a hospital clinic that wants us to help. So the rest of the week was mostly planning all our projects and having a TON of meetings with all the people to figure out the details of everything.
On Saturday my friend Josh had his birthday so we went to the hotel down the street and for 5000 shillings you can swim and take a shower! So we all swam and hung out by the pool all afternoon. It was WAY hot and then some clouds started coming in for the daily rainstorm...and it started raining so everyone got out of the pool but me and Jan just kept swimming in it, and then it started to DOWNPOUR...it was SO fun swimming in it and it just kept getting worse and worse until randomly it started hailing. So we decided it was probably time to get out and the hail was huge and hitting us way hard..so we went and got in the shower and by the time we were done it had stopped raining and the sun was out and the skies were blue! So bizarre....
Then that night we went to dinner at the restaurant in town called chat n chinos....I think I told you about it. I know it doesn't seem like a very rough day in Africa....but we need some breaks and fun days too :)
Then Sunday we went to the branch, I love it so much and the people are SO friendly! In sacrament meeting there were two men who had just gotten baptized the day before and they were confirmed in Sacrament meeting...it was way neat to be a part of that and the spirit was way strong....and all the talks and lessons answered questions and prayers that I had that week. They asked all of our group to sing next Sunday, so we get to find a hymn to sing acapella this week! wish us well....haha and they are having us teach Young Women's and relief society each week, so it's kind of fun to feel a part of the ward.
Then today we woke up at like 6:30 to go to the Bunabuyoka Village. Our group that came last year did work with them last year and they were very excited to have us come back again. So we got on another one of the AWESOME taxis...this time squished with 22 people...and drove for a little over an hour. Then we started our hike STRAIGHT up the mountain...they told us it was like half hour, but we were hiking for a good hour and a half and I am not joking around when I say it was straight up. I had another fainting experience on the way up....this time it was my friend Alexis. She has asthma way bad and the hike was way hard and way hot so we were almost to the top and she was really struggling and feeling sick so she sat down for a second and then just passed out....so we go to help her and her body starts to seizure for a good 5-10 seconds. It was way scary!! She was way hot and sweaty so we poured some water on her and she kind of came to and then she just started puking a ton. I was really freaked out for a minute, but after she threw up she was totally fine and finished the hike no big deal!
So when we finally got to the top (the whole way up was honestly the prettiest view of anywhere I have ever been) we were greeted by all the kids from the school singing to us! I have a video of it and it seriously was the cutest thing ever. All the people there were so nice, and so excited to have us there. The whole village is christian so we prayed like 3 times while we were there and at the beginning the guy was saying the prayer and he thanked God that we were there and he said that he knew we were sent by Christ all the way from America to find their little village in the mountains. It was so sweet and made me want to cry...
They built a second school building since they have so many kids and the other one is just one open classroom, but never were able to finish the roof so they can't use it...so we are going to help them finish the roof and floors and then we are building a health clinic up there and then we are going to be teaching English and health classes to the children and adults! I am way excited and can't wait to go back :)
We are going on Sunday and then we are going to sleep up there until
Tuesday next week and then I don't know how often we'll go up after
that. It is going to be way neat to sleep in the village though and
experience TRUE Africa! I'm a little nervous though too! I wish I could
just show you all the things that I have seen because talking about them
and trying to describe them doesn't even do it justice. During the
meeting today a little girl who was probably 2 or 3 came up and sat on
my lap and she ended up just cuddling up in my arms and falling asleep
and stayed there for a few hours...I have some pictures of her, she is
precious! I can't get over how cute all the kids are here. I don't know
how I am going to leave them...
Visiting the Namatala Slum
I guess I'll start by telling you about the last few days first. So on Saturday a bunch of the group went on this way awesome hike that I really want to do. But I was still kind of sick and Jan (my best friend) woke up WAY sick, so a few of us decided to stay back and just have a chill day (much needed...the jet lag was kinda catching up with me). So we were walking in to town (like a 25 min walk) and Jan was sorta falling behind, and she woke up with her throat like completely closed off and couldn't breath so she was coughing and couldn't hardly breathe and her anti-malaria pill was taking away her appetite so she hadn't eaten much and was dehydrated. We'd been walking probably 15 minutes and it was the middle of the day so it was SUPER hot and humid and as we were walking down the street all the sudden she just passed out. We all ran to her and she was out cold for a good minute, so enough time that we all started panicking a bit.....she finally came to and we gave her some water and I grabbed a Boda (the motorcycle taxis) and we rode it back to the house. (Our FIRST boda ride!) haha she was still super out of it when we got to the house, and the money convergence thing still confused me a bit....so we payed the boda driver 20,000 shillings....and it is only supposed to be 1,000 into town and we weren't even all the way in town! haha 20,000 is only the equivalent of like $8.00 so it wasn't very much for us, but for him that is like a month's salary...so we gave him quite the bonus that day! haha
But since Jan was so sick I ended up just staying at the house all day with her and kinda playing nurse and making sure she was okay....so we just sort of chilled and watched a movie and stuff. Then that night we went into town with some of the girls to a little coffee shop/ cafe called "Chat 'n Chino's" it was SO yummy....everything they make here they make from scratch and it all tastes so good! I ordered hot chocolate (the best I ever had) and when they brought it to me they had written "lovely" with the chocolate syrup in my cream :) haha it was the cutest thing ever. Then I got something called a Rolex. They are SOO good! It's a chipote (the tortilla things I told you about) and then basically just eggs and peppers and stuff, but they are DELICIOUS!!!
On Sunday we all got up and went to church (all of our group is members except for our 2 Country directors and then one of the guys that Holly brought) It was pretty funny going through town cuz we were on a train of boda's with all these Muzungu's and none of us really knew where the church was haha
But we made it and we were even a little early! We were greeted at the gate by the missionaries and then EVERY single member would come up to us and shake our hand and introduce themselves and thank us for being there. Everyone is so friendly and made me feel so loved and welcomed, and they were SO excited to have us there! During sacrament meeting we all split up so we were sitting all with different people so I was sitting with a group of girls around my age up to like 22. All of them had kids, and some had ones as old as 5!! More than 1/2 the population in Uganda is under the age of 15 and they usually live to like the age of 45, so their culture is to start having kids around age 17! They were all so friendly and nice though and LOVED my hair and skin they just kept touching me and playing with my hair and by the end of sacrament meeting I had like 15 little braids in my hair :) haha
Kinda funny story...I asked someone where the bathroom was at church and one of the missionaries from California just started laughing and said "Good luck! I hope you have strong legs!" I went in and the bathroom was just a whole in the floor! Haha...let's just say I held it until we got home.
Church was amazing though and I loved all the meetings! I think the thing that is so amazing is that the church is the same wherever we go...we sing the same songs, teach the same lessons, and feel the same spirit. If that isn't enough proof it's true then I don't know what is! The members here are so amazing and have some of the neatest stories. They are so humble and grateful for what they have and so grateful for the gospel. The branch there keeps growing at a way fast rate and right now there are like 120 members!
Then today we woke up and we went in to town to see the outdoor market.....oh my goodness....I don't even know how to describe this to you. First of all it was SO hot and humid and muggy. And there are HUNDREDS of people in way tight quarters selling everything you can imagine. It is so smelly and hot and gross....I can't believe that is where most of our food we are eating comes from. The meat they sell is just sitting there all chopped up and hanging with about 5 millions flies covering it and I even saw one piece with the furry tail still on it....I definitely left there feeling a bit queezy....after that we went to just like a grocery store and bought some drinks and stuff and then went to tour 'Child of Hope' and the Namatla slums....
Child of Hope is a school that they built right in the middle of the slum, and they find the very poorest of the poor and bring in one child from each of those families to their school and they teach them and clothe them and provide medical care. They are only able to do one child per family but they do that in hopes that they can then go home and teach their family and help provide for them. It's a super neat program and they do it all for free.
So then the people from Child of Hope took us around to tour the slum....as hard as I try I won't be able to describe to you the things I saw and the way that I felt. I don't know that I was prepared for this nor could I ever be. I even just from this one experience today my heart will be changed forever. There are SO many people living in these slums and they have NOTHING!!!!!! The children all just came RUNNING to us and hugging us and touching us and holding our hands...we had a huge group of them following us the whole time we were there. Most of them had no shoes on and none had underwear or diapers...a lot were naked and the ones who did have clothes were just wearing dirty clothes with tons of holes that were just like hanging off their bodies. But their eyes and smiles had more love than I have ever seen!! It didn't matter how dirty and gross they were I loved them so much and just wanted to give up everything I had to help them in any way that I could. The whole time we were walking I usually had 3 kids on each hand all holding one finger and usually another one in my arms or on my back. There was one little boy who was with me the whole time and any time someone would try to hold my hand he would push them away or tell them to go to the other side haha.
They all lived in these little tiny huts with just mud floors and walls and they are basically just living in their filth. They all wanted to take my water bottle and watch and one little boy looked up at me and said "You have so many things! Where do you get all these things?" I had almost nothing with me but yet to them I had things they could never even dream of having. There were old women who were just sitting there and asking us for money or anything to help.
Most of the people living there are refugees from other parts of the country and just in that one slum there are 8 or 9 languages spoken, and most of the people come from super hard pasts. The average family of 7 people lives off of like 1000 shillings a day....which is equivalent to 80 cents....80 cents for 7 people!! Can you believe that??
One little girl as we were leaving came up to me with her big brown eyes and said "Auntie Jenni....will you please come back to Child of Hope" it seriously melted my heart and I promised her I would come back....I have no idea how I am ever going to leave this place!!!!
Well you probably are wondering when I am going to end my novel....so I'll end with a quick funny story.....so when we got home we were seriously covered in filth so me and Jan took a bucket bath/shower (since we only get 2 real showers a week) so I had to do it down stairs in the bathroom.....so I was coming upstairs in just my towel and I was trying to do it inconspicuously as possible and sneak into my room.....well right as I got to the top step my flip flop slipped and broke and I ate it SOOO hard! I couldn't catch my fall otherwise my towel would have fallen off so I hit the floor hard and of course everyone is in the family room and all look over....haha I was just laying there barely covered in my towel for like 2 minutes cuz I seriously couldn't move.....but at least everyone got a good laugh out of it :)
I am in Africa!!
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| Big Ben |
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| Buckingham Palace |
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| The Queen driving by in her carriage! |
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| First group picture in front of our house |
So then we land in London and get on the train to go into town, once we got off at our station we walk up stairs and first thing I see is Big Ben! I felt like I was in a dream (literally since I was still drugged up on sleeping pills) and we just sort of started walking down the street. The road was blocked off and there were policemen everywhere and actually straight up English soldier guys in the red with the tall black fluffy hats. So we asked an officer what was going on, and guess what he said.....Oh just that the QUEEN OF ENGLAND is on her way to open parliament and she'll be coming down the street in about 10 minutes. Yes, I saw the queen! Haha people are in London for years and never see her...we're there for 12 hours and see her TWICE! And I have a video to prove it. So a few minutes later all these soldiers riding black horses in straight lines start coming down the street and the royal band is playing and then the queen comes along in her carriage! And then followed by another carriage with Prince Henry. So after that we just kept walking down the street and went to Trafalgar square and then walked down to Buckingham Palace and as we almost get to the Palace...oh no big deal...here comes the queen and the royal procession again! Haha and this time we were even closer. I really still can't believe that happened... so we walked around some more and in the different parks and stuff and just around London...it seriously is like a different world there and with the whole horse brigade and the queen and everything I felt like we jumped in a time machine and were in a different era. I for sure want to go back again when I have more time. But after that we walked to Harrodd's SO HUGE!! and by this time we are like DEAD because of the flight and lack of real food and all the walking, and the fact that it was like 4am our time. So we got sandwiches and juice at the Harrod's deli and ate it outside and then headed back to the airport. We then got on another 8 1/2 hour flight to Kenya (I took just one sleeping pill this time and it did the trick so it was a pretty good plane ride) Then we finally were in Africa! Then we waited like 2 hours at the Kenya airport and then got on a plane and then had a one hour flight to Entebbe, Uganda!! We flew over Lake Victoria....it was HUGE!!!! Once we met up with our country directors we squished all of us and our luggage on to a bus and drove for another 5 hours to Mbale! We stopped on the way in Jinga and got food...strangely enough my first meal in Africa was Thai food...haha I got chicken curry and rice, but it was really good! I thought the 5 hour drive would be MISERABLE after traveling so long and being so jet lagged, but I was in so much awe the whole time it went by super fast! I couldn't believe the things I saw....we went from the city where people came right up to the open windows of the bus begging for money and trying to sell us meat and shoes and all sorts of things, and then past little tiny towns where people lived literally in dirt huts. I wish I could describe to you everything I saw today. Everywhere we would go everyone would stare at our bus and yell Mzunugu's!! (white people) and in some of the smaller towns they would literally chase after our bus. But we made it to our house and it is super nice for Africa!! But still completely NASTY for the states haha I am SO happy to be here though. We have a cook who makes us dinner Monday- Friday, so I had my first real African meal tonight and it was WAY good!
We talked for awhile about house and safety rules and our plan the next few days and then we set up our beds and mosquito nets, and today we get to take a freezing cold shower, but we only get 2 showers a week! And 1 hot one every other Sunday....definitely embracing the experience for all it's worth :)
It's way hot and humid and there are more bugs than there are in Hawaii, and I have never been so tired in my life, but I am SO happy and would not want to be anywhere else right now. I can't wait to experience more, and I hop you guys will be able to keep in touch and be a part of it with me. I have access to internet a lot so email and facebook me! I want to hear from all of you :)
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