My Cutie

So, I had several people ask me if I would be bringing children home with me. I wanted to pack this girl in my suitcase. She was soooo dang cute and loving. The first time she saw me, she came up and grabbed my hand and wouldn't let go. She loved being picked up and given attention. Although there are several kids I still want to help, I can not stop thinking about this little one.

P7 Class

These are the girls of the P7 class. They just finished their final examinations, so they are ready to move on to secondary school. Secondary school is very expensive, so many of them rely on sponsors to support them through school. If anyone is interested in donating, many of these kids could use sponsorship. Without the money to pay for school, they will most-likely stay at home, get married, and start having children.

Robina

This girl is one of my favorites. Her name is Robina, she's 14 and an orphan. She helps out a ton around the school. She works very hard, is very bright, capable, and well-grounded. She wants to be a pilot. She has everything it takes to be successful (oh, except the money to go on to school, or connections to get a job in the field). Robina is lucky enough to have sponsorship (for now) from a previous volunteer, but there are several others that could use help.

Old Friends

I love this picture. The lady on the left is Liz's mom--she's a really great lady. Who, although I can't communicate directly with her, is quite funny! She's always making people laugh. Here she is visiting a long-time friend. They are sitting on the ground outside her friend's mud hut.

Friends

Here is a picture of 2 friends. The boys on the left is named Joel and he's an orphan at Grace Orphange. He is one of my favorites--he works very hard and is always smiling.

Safari-Elephants

On our safari trip, I (small world) met up with a friend of a friend I work with. He had a private vehicle rented, so I tagged along with him for the safari excursion. We sat on the top of his range rover and had such a great view. Check out how close we got to these elephants (the safari vans with the guide didn't see elephants at all, so I really lucked out on this). We did a little off-road driving to find them, but it was well worth it.

Safari-Giraffe

The giraffe were my favorite on the safari--so beautiful and so graceful. And we saw many of them.

Warthog in Camp

At our safari camp, we had several warthogs--you have to be pretty careful about keeping for out, or they will fight you for it. Otherwise, they're pretty harmless and darn cute to watch.

Picture Perfect

I can't upload many pictures....it takes forever, but I had to do this one, it's one of my favorites...after a day out chasing animals, watching the sun set over the Nile, with a beer,....I needed a picture to prove I wasn't dreaming,...

Giraffe

Finally, I found a computer that will allow me to upload photos...here are a couple from our safari....

Update

Hello Friends,

I am having technical difficulties in uploading photos, but I thought I would update you anyway, that I had another good week in the village. We had a party day on Wednesday for the P7 class that had finished their final examinations. So, the kids sang, danced, then we played some football. It was a really fun day! I did have my first HUGE spider experience right before I went to bed on Wednesday, so that made for trouble sleeping the past couple nights. Luckily, Liz and Peter came to my aid and killed the thing...did I mention that it was freaking HUGE?! I also had pork served to me (that's a luxury, so it's hard to turn it down when they serve it to you). However, it is served with skin, hair and all. I ate one bite before I saw the hair. The rest had to be slyly dropped under the table to the cat. Last night I came into town to hang out with Lee Anne, and her mom, Linda, who is also in town from Montana. Although, my time here has gone quite fast, I'm getting very excited to come home and back to a routined life! Sooooo excited to see all of you!

Safari

Hello Friends,
I just returned from a weekend safari. It was really cool. We saw baboons, elephants (really close up), giraffe, hippos, crocs,....The safari itself was great, but the adventure is actually travelling to and from on the Ugandan roads....ugh,...Ants, Flies, and Speed Bumps. The 6 hour drive on Thursday (it's probably only 200 miles, but takes 6 hours on the roads), started out with a bathroom break alongside the road where I must've dropped my pants in an ant pile (biting ants) because when I got back in the van, I was covered in biting ants!!! eugh! I swatted as many as I could, then made sure I was clear at the next bathroom (that term is used loosely) stop, and was back on our way again. Next were the speed bumps, every 30 yards for about 15 miles,....bump, bump, bump,...It was a long 15 miles. Then, the vampire flies. I was told that they bite, so the first one I saw I swatted with my book. Apparently, it had already bitten because a very large amount of blood splattered on the window and book. The rest of the trip was filled with screaming girls and vampire flies. Once we reached camp, it was fantastic! Overlooking the Nile, a great sunset, and warthogs. I also had a big hippo right outside my tent. Now, back to the village for peace and quite...yeah!

Mirako

This is Mirako. She's the youngest of the orphans and she's so cute!! She's the girl we took to the hospital last week, but she's doing much better!

Kids on the Camera

This is a [not so] lovely picture of me while the kids were playing with my camera. The light in the background is kids who have come back to the school to study more in the evenings.

Toy

I love this toy. It makes me laugh when I see the kids so happy to be pushing this "car" down the path. Not sure if you can tell, but it's an old plastic can, with wood sticks and wood "wheels" attached. I tried to take a picture of the boy pushing it, but he ran away crying. His mother laughed. The kids don't see Mizuno's (white people) much, so we're a little scary.

School

These are the classrooms. They are made of cement with Wood dividers and Tin Roofs. Needless to say, it is very loud. There are 5 teachers for 7 classes. But, the kids love school. In fact, they usually come at 7 (class starts at 8), and come back after dinner to study under the lantern light. I made the mistake of showing up early to class to write on the board, and the kids were already there and ready for me to start.....so I had to turn a 2-hour lesson into a 3-hour lesson. I don't go to class early anymore.

Landscape

This is the beautiful landscape of my village--it's very thick of trees/bushes/gardens. Although, I stay on the path because I am scared of snakes .

Food

Ugandan food is very good. They can grow anything here. People really do not go hungry because they all have gardens full of vegetables and fruit. This is a typical meal of potatoes, rice, vegetables, cabbage, and avocado. I haven't had any problems not getting enough to eat--in fact, they usually take the portions down for me. I discovered something fantastic called Jack Fruit--it is a tropical flavor-oh so good!

Although, I have to admit, yesterday, I snuck into the city with other "Westerners" and had NY Pizza.

Proud Artist

This is my contribution to science class--diagram drawing. This is the first of many. Liz, the school director, is smiling in the background. I never fail to look VERY white--in more ways than one--always caking on sunscreen, wearing sunglasses, and this lovely sunhat.

Bed

Double the Mosquito net for me! This is my home away from home, my little sanctuary (away from the kids). I haven't any troubles with creepy spiders or exotic insects yet.

Shower

This is my new shower. It is so dirty here, though, that I think I actually shower more here than I do at home. Oh, how I miss hot showers,....

Toilet

This is my hole (toilet). This one is actually quite nice compared to others I've been in. The covers keeps the smell down and flys to a minimum. The first couple tries were a little ugly, but I've got my aim down now.

Hello Friends, I'm finally contributing to my blog. Things are good here. I have now been here for 8 days. I have to admit the first three days, I was asking myself "How much would I pay to be on the next plane home?"...and it didn't exactly start out smoothly either...The first day at school, we had to take a little girl to the hospital, so I got to experience a Ugandan hospital...ugh, I was sitting in the waiting room for 2 hours with dozens of coughing sick people. Hypochondria set in quickly and I developed several symptoms immediately. During our visit, we saw a girl come out screaming (her mother died), and a lady my director (Liz) knew came in with a snake bite. Of course, no representative from the hospital was there to help her in, so Liz had to help her in. The good news--the girl we took in is doing much better!

The next day, we learned that the lady with the snake bite died (btw, I've been ASSURED that snakes are not that common, and I haven't seen any yet). So, on Wednesday, we went to a burial. People from the whole village were there.

More to come....

A quote from Father Hogan in Missoula, "We should focus our energy on a life full of love, service, and a life of adventure. Life is a celebration."

I want to thank my family, friends, coworkers, and employer for all their support in my volunteer adventure to Uganda.