Jessica in Uganda

2007-05-13T06:28:00.000-07:00

Lake Bunyonyi

I woke up the first morning to a beautiful rainbow outside our door. I think that this is the first time I had seen a rainbow in Uganda, something about when it rains, angle of the sun etc.

Bushara Island Camp is an eco-friendly tented camp that also trains hotel staff, 80% of the profits go into local community development programs. Eco-Friendly means they try to have as small as possible impact on the environment. So their toilets are composting toilets where you make your “deposit” then put down two scoops of ash.

There is no running water so you just tell the staff when you want a shower and they bring out water and fill the can. It is really about the same as the showers at home except you have to turn the water off while you are soaping up because you really didn’t want to run out of water with shampoo in your hair!

We spent the day relaxing, reading, playing cards and walking around the island. There was a beautiful trail all around the perimeter of the island.

On Easter Sunday we had a nice Easter breakfast and then left the island to head to Lake Mburu which is closer to Kampala. Unfortunately our car broke down an hour into our trip. The car was overheating so we stopped at a gas station where we found a mechanic and some of his friends to take a look.

It became apparent that they weren’t going to be able to get it fixed that day so now we had to figure out how to get the six of us either to the hotel we planned to stay at or even to Kampala. About that time a white couple pulled into the gas station so Jackie went out to ask if they could help us out. It turned out the lady was my hairdresser Sunel, she was coming from the same place where we left and was going where we were going! Unfortunately their car was too small for all of us so after some haggling we hired a car, somehow managed to pack all our stuff into the two cars and drove the 60 km to another tented camp.

Sunel had some friends at the camp who agreed to help us get back to kampala the next day. Unfortunately we couldn't all fit in the two cars so Jackie, Laura and I decided to go on public. So we hitched a ride with the hotel staff to the main road and waited for a bus or taxi to come by. Well, it was easter monday and everyone was heading back to town from their weekend so everything was full. I was starting to get a little concerned until I saw this white car in the distance. As it came closer I noticed that there were two white faces. I was like - I don't care if there are strangers I'm going to flag them down! As they drew closer I noticed that in fact I new them, Doug and Jacqueline a couple from our church in Kampala. I was jumping up and down - so excited to see them and the fact they had an empty back seat.

They gave us a lift to Masaka where we dropped Jackie and Laura but I decided to continue on with them to Kampala. They dropped me near the YFC offices where I cought a boda-boda and picked up my car and was home by 5:30.

Kristine, Coroline and Sally were not so lucky. They went on a game drive which was nice and was able to hook up with their car in Masaka but they ran into trouble again in Kampala. They ended up getting TWO flat tires! Luckily there was a guy at a gas station able to fix the spare tire. But they didn't get home till past 10pm.

2007-04-10T03:00:00.000-07:00

My Easter Weekend Adventure -Part I - Getting there!

I started my travels on Thursday as I escorted Louise, a young girl staying at our center and her son to Rwanda. She fled the genocide in '94 and went to the Congo and two years ago came to Uganda as a refugee. When she got pregnant her guardian rejected her and we were unable to find a home in Uganda for her. Her guardian connected us with a cousin in Rwanda willing to take her in, but I didn't want her to travel alone so I went with her.

We arrived in Rwanda without any problems and some "family" were waiting for her and my friends (Brad & Kiki Burnfield) were waiting for me. I gave her some more money for food and transport and we said goodbye. I was sad to say goodbye. Even though I can't communicate much with Louise, she is a sweet gentle girl whom no one wanted to say goodbye to. Her son Joshua is such a good baby, not fussy at all and has the same gentle spirit.

So Brad and I immediately try to book me on a bus for the next day, unfortunately they are all booked (Good Friday, everyone is traveling). So I have to go on taxi bus to the border, cross over and get another taxi on the other side to Kabale (where I would meet up with friends at a resort outside of that town). We were advise to arrive at the taxi park early, in case the taxi's fill up.

After figuring that stuff out, we go out to dinner. It is Brad, Kiki, me and their friends and co-workers Fawn & Mike with their two adorable girls. We enjoy some pizza, calzones - you know traditional Rwandese food ;-)

We arrive a bit past 6:30 am at the park the next morning and the taxi to Gatuna is full but this turns out to be a blessing because there is another taxi that is going - so I get the best seat on the taxi, the front seat! I just have to wait about 30 minutes for it to fill up and endure all the people sticking phone chargers, belts, tissues, and water among a few things in my face as I wait.

Now, I am not so sure how the whole taxi to Kabale will work but I overhear a conversation in back about how this guy is going to Kabale and this is the cheapest way to go and all you have to do is pay a few thousand shillings... All this is in english, which is unusual but I consider this an answer to prayer. The guys talking is a tall Indian guy, so I decide to keep an eye on him at the border to see if I can hitch a ride with him or just see where he goes for a lift.

It took FOREVER at the border! After an hour an a half and a lecture from a Ugandan official about how I need a work permit, 'yes sir, I know sir. I am filling out the paperwork now sir' He said 'I'll give you a 30 day pass', 'can you give me a 60 day pass?' I asked -although i wanted a 90 day one but thought that would be pushing my luck.

Finally done with the officials and I see my tall Indian friend negotiating with some special hires, so I tap him on the shoulder and ask if we can go in on the taxi. I let him negotiate the price and along with another lady we are off to kabale - for only 6000 Ush about $3. I left Kabale about 8am Uganda time and arrive in Kabale around noon.

I decide to have lunch, during which I saw a Good friday procession of youth singing hymns, it was quite a site with hundreds of kids holding these big crosses. Unfortunately no pictures since my camera was in my suitcase with my roommate. I then went to an internet cafe to check emails and then I asked the manager on how to get to Lake Bunyonyi. He arranged a motorcycle boda which dropped me off at the dock where I take a boat to the Bushara Island Camp.

It must have been market day, because there were a tone of people right there. I wasn't even off the bike and there are 3 guys asking me where i am going. I would have walked around and checked out the market but I didn't want to have people following me around while I do it! It was really confusing, which boat do I take? It is supposed to be free. Eventually, I figure it out. they were only trying to be helpful but they just got in the way! It was a 10 minute boat ride to the island, I shared the ride with the general manager of the camp-Patrick.

That is all the time I have for now.... more later

2007-02-06T07:26:00.000-08:00

Fresh Eggs

So Kristine and I were walking home from Sally's place just down the street and we ran in to a neighbor lady who owns the local grocery store. She stopped and said hello and we chatted for awhile. In the seat beside her was a basket of fresh eggs, and when I say fresh I mean those eggs were laid that morning. She was like, here take these they are fresh - laid just today between 10am and 3pm! She gave each of us three eggs, one of mine still had a chicken feather attached!

We already had a half dozen eggs in our fridge but were were not going to mention that so we took the eggs home and decided to have an omelet for dinner. We were curious on what such fresh eggs taste like!

So that is the first time this city girl had --laid the same day-- eggs!

The first surprise was that the eggs had bright yellow yolks! Most eggs here have a whitish yolk so I knew that she fed her chickens with some feed and they did scrounge around in the garbage! So I had a wonderful - fresh veggie omelet, probably one of the best ever!

2007-01-27T05:02:00.000-08:00

A Year in Review

January started with attending a two week language training course in Palmer Lake CO. We would get into groups and try out the language theory that we learned in class. We had a language helper who helped us learn mandarin (Chinese). I attended this training to help me learn Lugandan, I’ve been here 9 months and I know how to say where I am going and ask where people are.

February – Dorothy and Mike came to visit for about a week and we kept busy. We went to the butterfly pavilion lots of cool critters there. We also went up to the mountains to go sledding in Silverthorne. We went to Dads place and the weather was so nice we decided to go on a hike. It was a beautiful sunny Colorado day. Mikey lucked out this year and got to celebrate his birthday four times (twice in Colorado, twice in MI).

March – not much going on in March just me packing to leave for Uganda! To busy to take pictures.

April – Who would have thought I would be in a 5K race the first month I was in Uganda? It was a fundraiser the international school does every year and this year the profits went to Mirembe House & Wakisa ministries.

I also had Easter Dinner with a Ugandan Family, one of the G21 volunteers (pictured right).

May – getting to know the girls, and starfish gathering

June – We got a flat tire on the way to Lira, had to wait on the side of the road for three hours and by then it was to late to continue especially without a spare tire!

July – We hosted a mission team of 40 people from Colorado, but I’m not posting those pictures, to many to choose from!
It was great but I was physically and emotionally exhausted!

August – did some home visits to check on how some of our girls were doing. This is a picture of some of the kids outside the girls home. Very common to get a crown of kids around you as you are walking in the village area.

September – All the staff went up to prayer mountain for a day of fasting and prayers. Prayer mountain is just that, at the top of this mountain it is an area where people come to pray. So the first tuesday of the month we spend the day up there in prayer.

October – Birthday Month. My roommate Kristine and I both have birthdays in October so we had a party to celebrate. This snap is of Kristine, Monika and Me.

November – Is rainy season so that means grasshoppers! Yes, a Ugandan delicacy is eating grasshoppers so I decided to try some. They are not to bad, a little fishy tasting actually they are very oily so I can't eat to many of them at one time. They collect them , pull off their wings and legs then just cook them up. They don't have to add any oil because they just fry in their own oils.

December – End of the Year Appreciation Party. We decided to thank all of our volunteers for their year of service. These were some amazing kids that served God this year, they will be hard to replace.

2006-11-12T04:32:00.000-08:00

I didn't want the last post to stay up to long because I am not there anymore. It is hard to put in words but I feel that I learned so much this past week.

I learn that prayer isn't shallow.

I learn that there is hope.

I've learned that my heart can grow bigger and more compassionate, that it is ok not to guard it so much.

Back to prayer, I've learned I couldn't have gotten through last wednesday without it. Prayer gave me peace in a time that wasn't peaceful. Through prayer I was able cry to God and share my frustrations and even learn a few things about myself. I learned that I can give more. I was stretched past the breaking point, and when that happens you just can't go back to the same place that you were before. You are different, better. Instead of closing down, and hardening my heart, through prayer my heart can expand and grow. Prayer is priceless.

Also, there was one great thing I forgot to mention that day. Hadija's aunt, who brought her to the center and has supported her but because her baby was a product of incest, could not support the baby. But she saw how God has worked in Hadija's life through out this year and due to that, had decided to accept christ as her saviour!

An update on Angel... turns out that an aunt of the father of her baby is willing to take her in. She is actually willing to go to Kisoro and get her and bring her back! Praise God for this woman who is willing to help.

God will make a way... when there seems to be no way.

2006-11-08T07:42:00.000-08:00

Today was a tough day emotionally. I feel the need to get it all out, so why not blog the day, like a diary, I guess.

I've been more tired these past few days not sure why, so this morning since I didn't have anything pressing in the morning at the office a slept in a bit. It is November, the rainy season and all this week I have woken to rain and today was no exception.

Hmm.. maybe the reason I have been so tired and emotionally blah is because of all the rain.
I've gotten so used to the sunny days here!

Anyways, I end up getting ready and I felt the need to have some extra quiet time. I just felt God was speaking to me and I wasn't going to rush it. Plus I knew that traffic was going to be horrible because some of the roads near the university were going to be closed. Long story short: teachers are stiking, kids are upset so they are rioting, tear gas, riot police, arrests etc. I guess this happens almost yearly. This is only a half mile from the office so all the traffic is being diverted through where our offices are. So I would rather have a long quiet time than spending that time in a traffic jam.

So finally, I am ready for the day and to face the traffic! I made it through the jam to arrive at the office where I find one of the girls Hadija and her son Chisache leaving. They have been at our center for about a year now and we finally found a home for her and her son. It is so hard to say goodbye, I might not ever see her again. In her few years of life she has had such hardships and now she is moving on to the next place that God has for her. She is probably one of the bravest girls I know. I hope I get to say that to her one day. So I cry a bit, more like I try not to cry (showing emotions here is just not the thing to do).

Later, I am asked if I can help take Katie home today that she should be coming back from the hospital and we want to immediately take her home. Usually we don't do that but this was a special case. Katie had been at Mulago Hospital (the state hospital) since last week. She went into labor but it wasn't progressing very well. After a few days they found out that the baby had died. This is after spending a few days in the hospital, alone with no one to help her or to console her. The talk about a c-section but decide to induce. Here, when they induce they don't give you any pain killers to go with the patosin so she has a very hard and painful delivery. On Tuesday she delivered a baby boy, still alone. We tried to contact a relative to be with her but no one came. So today she is released from the hospital and comes to the Mirembe House which is full of pregnant girls and a two babies. I can tell that she is in shock. Such a difference from the girl I remember. She was always so happy, such a big beautiful smile.

So we took her to a relative, I could see that what she needs is to be around family to heal both emotionally and physically. I finally saw a few smiles as she greeted her family. I cried, or tried not to!

Pray for Katie... Pray for Hadija... Pray for all the girls at the center.

To finish the day I talked to Angel, a girl that we sent to her grandparents because her parents have refused to take her in. Unfortunately things are really bad in the village. She isn't eating enough to be able to feed her daughter who was born pre-maturely (6 weeks). So the baby is in danger. The grandparents want her to go back to kampala, but no one here in kampala will take her unless she gives up her baby. And she doesn't want to give up her baby. So what do we do? How can we help her? Is there another organization here in Kampala that can help? I don't know.

Prayer?

It seems so little to offer someone.

I will pray for you...

No, I need food. I need a place to lay my head. I've been rejected by family and friends. I have no where to go.

Does Jesus understand this? Where is God?

2006-10-14T05:17:00.000-07:00

Sorry! It has been forever since I updated this thing. I am surprised that it still let me log on! My excuses... well it is hard enough to just catch up on my emails while I am at the cafe much less update this thing. Plus the last time I looked at it I couldn't find the last pictures that I uploaded, then couldn't figure out where the heck they put the pictures I uploaded. Considering it takes 4 ever to upload pictures I just got frustrated and quit and never published my last post.

So lets see if I can upload a picture here.....

Yeah It worked! Last time I bet blogger was having problems. So this is Paul trying to eat some of the beef we roasted. Yes, we had a bull roast! The Anglican Archbishop actually gave us a bull cow to roast. So I am thinking pig roast... not quite. After killing the cow, they cut it up in pieces put it on these long sticks and roast it over an open fire. Lets just say it could have used some marinade.

Here I am being cute while I try to eat this roasted beef. It really was tasty. I was in Masaka which is 100Km/62miles/2 hours from Kampala attending a sports camp that was put on my some ministry partners called Chrisc (Christians in Sports Contact). They have people all around Uganda reaching kids for Christ through sports. They invite us to do the praise and worship times, and we get to participate in the camp. It was fun. I learned Ultimate Frisbee which I never had a chance to learn before. Who would have thunk that I would learn that here in Uganda?

Somalie and I are being a bit sassy. Somalie is a G21 (Generation21) praise team volunteer. She sings and dances for us. She has a great fun loving attitute. All the girls were dressed alike in our Orange Ministry Tees and black skirts. We just got back from church services.

Here we are enjoying tea. One thing they did here was feed us well. We had tea, boiled egg, bread and banana's for breakfast. For lunch was matoki, rice, meat, sometimes posho, beans and watermelon. Dinner was pretty much the same, it was the meat that varied; chicken, beef or fish. At 4pm we would have afternoon tea with simosa's or fruit or something. I swear I gained 5 lbs! Still working on losing that weight here. Don't want my pants to get any tighter!!!

Alright. That is all for now. More updates later. This was pretty easy. Not like last time!

2006-05-30T03:59:00.000-07:00

Funny sight on the way to the internet cafe...

OK, this cafe is a half a block from the Mirmebe House so I don't have to travel far to see something interesting. So a little background; it poured this morning, just solid rain for hours so it is pretty wet outside. I'm passing this pile of dirt that is about 2 or 3 feet high which isn't unusual and I almost pass it without a thought then I realize that at the top of this pile was a dog sleeping. The dog was the same color of the dirt and it was just conked out along with two other not so luck dogs on the pavement. I couldn't help think 'what a smart dog, getting to the high ground' I wish that I carried a little camera in my pocket so I could post a picture but I gave that camera to my sister before I left. Oh well.....

2006-05-28T06:57:00.000-07:00

This weeks Highs & Lows

I met a boy names Opio on the bus up to Lira on Monday (May 22nd). He was obviously a street kid with his filthy clothes and bare feet. He didn't speak Lugandan (local language) nor did he speak english. He spoke Lango, the language of the people from Lira so we had to speak to him through a third guy who was sitting next to Paul and I.

Opio said that he was 7 years old although I think he was closer to 10, his mother lives in an IDP camp not far from the town of Lira. He left Lira two months ago and probably either talked his way onto a bus to Kampala or stowed away. Why did he come over 100 Km to Kampala? Because he heard that there is money here, so his goal was to get 5000 shillings (approx. $2.75 USD). Two months later, he is happy because he has his money and is heading home. He was very vague in how he got his money but when the money runs out he will just go back to Kampala to get more!

I struggled with the desire to give him more money or to buy him some groceries but then I thought I wondered maybe that would just encourage him to come back to Kampala quicker and reaffirm this idea of money in Kampala. But I still wanted to do this. Unfortunately, he disappeared quickly after getting off the bus. Now, everytime I see a street kid begging I don't think I can pass them up. I will just remember Opio and hopefully I will have some extra schillings available.

My High for the week happened on Friday. The G21 team were practicing all day and at the end of the day they were just playing some music. I saw two of the pregnant girls in the doorway, doing hand movements to the music. I went through my office door to get a look at what they were doing. After a few moments the girl saw me looking at her and she got embarrased, laughed and ran down the hall way. I followed her and asked if she liked the music, of coarse she did. I invited her to come down and listen to the music. All of a sudden I have six pregnant girls in the Outreach room dancing to the music! It was a regualar dance party, the only difference is that these girls are 7-9 months pregnant! It did remind me that these girls are just that, young girls who find themselves in some scarry circumstances. It was so good to see them let lose and just dance!

2006-05-06T04:54:00.000-07:00

After two years of planning, I arrived in Uganda on March 28th. I was lucky and was able to spend the first two weeks in country with Teresa Spurlock and Emelie Bauerle. What great fun women of God, I admire them both greatly. Their main purpose wasn't to make my transition to Uganda easier although that was a benifit! We spent those two weeks planning the big mission trip that will be coming from our church in Colorado in June. We have almost 40 people planning to come on that trip so there were a lot of details to cover!

It was sad to see Teresa and Emelie go but I was excited to move into my new place and get to know my new roommate (Kristine). I was lucky and found a great place in Ggaba, the only drawback is that it is pretty far from town, it takes me atleast 45 minutes to get to the office and that is without a traffic jab, which is rare!

At Youth for Christ I do all sorts of things, mainly for right now I am helping to plan for our visitors in June. It takes a lot of organization to host 40 people. Things do tend to slip through the cracks but due to Gods Grace he reminds us when that happens.

I am trying to strike a balance between the Outreach department and the Couseling department since I am part of both departments. It is so much easier to hang out with the Outreach volunteers, they know english are fun and I love to listen to them sing and watch them dance. But with the pregnant teens not many of them know english so it is hard to get to know them. So I try to go back there and sit with them during tea time and then sometimes in the afternoon. They are getting more comfortable with me and I start to see them act more like teens everyday.