Goodbye Boys!

Today was a sad day because Dennis and Isaac left! I can't believe how quickly their two week stay went by. I think we accomplished pretty much everything that they wanted to get done. We had to stop by one orphanage to check in on the medicine in the morning and then in the early afternoon we made a Monopoly game the features our favorite places in Uganda. I need to take a picture to show your our great ideas! Then we stopped back by Agape to see how the toilet is coming along. Apparently Joshua was going to call us, but one of the boys stole is phone while he was at prayer time in the morning. Even with all of the problems that Joshua faces with all of the boys, he is encouraging and positive about the boys. The project is going well, even though it is taking longer than we expected. I was hoping it would be finished before the guys left so we didn't have to go back for a lot more visits, but it is looking like we will want to check in a couple more times before we leave. It's really just overwhelming to go there because there is so much that needs to get done there! We want to help, but there is so much to do, you just don't know where to start!

It was really sad to see the guys go! It's fun to have the four of us running around the city having all kinds of mini-adventures! It's only been a couple of days but we already miss them!

Saturday night and Sunday were pretty low key nights. We went to a birthday party for one of Angella and Patt's friends, Flavia. She is such a sweet girl and I am so happy we met her! We were more than fashionably late for the party. Apparently we thought it started at 6, but in reality it was a lunch party starting at 2. We had left the house at 5:30, then spent over two hours in traffic and getting lost a couple of times, we arrived at 7:30, just in time to put away the tables and food! It worked out really well because we got to go up to the apartment and have a quiet dinner getting to know Flavia! I guess being late isn't so bad! On Sunday after church, Angella and I went to have dinner at Patt's house with Flavia. He cooked for us and it was delicious! I even ate liver without complaining! Patt cut it very small and seasoned it well so it was much better than the last time I tried when it was huge chunks that looked like a raw fresh liver! I just couldn't do that! We watched a couple of silly movies and then came home to hang out. While watching the olympics, Hope showed me how to make Sambusas (or Samosas if we say the word everybody knows). They are a delicous deep fried food that you can eat for breakfast lunch and dinner! I have realized that most foods here are deep fried and carb loaded. It is an easy way to prepare food so it is hard to avoid, but still tastes pretty great! I have to learn how to make the filling and dough, but for now, I am proud of my Sambusa folding skills!!

Today (Monday) Angella and I are taking a trip out East to Sipi Falls to relax and maybe do some hiking. It's going to be our own little mini vacation before my mom gets here and we start another adventure and more work! We will be gone for two or three days and I'm hoping its a ton of fun! Oh yeah, the Ebola scare in Uganda is mainly in an area in the West and is transmitted through bodily fluids.....you can't catch it like you catch the flu. So in addition to being not involved in providing health care on this trip, I will be traveling the opposite direction of the outbreak!

Hello Corruption, I didn't miss you!

Well, I guess it should just be expected rather than a surprise that there is corruption within orphanages. Little Angels is an orphanage that we have been visiting for something like 4 years. The kids have pretty much remained the same except for a couple of new ones. In 4 years, Angella and I were discussing that NOTHING has changed at the place where they live, except to get worse. The brick wall surrounding the yard and protecting the kids from strangers or a person robbing the house fell down some time before we arrived last year and it is still not fixed. The gate barely swings closed. All of the windows are broken. I am pretty sure that non of the doors are able to close and lock. We brought mosquito nets last year and I think most of them have been used, but we found out that some of them were taken. Who would take nets from orphans, you might ask? Well, the answer is simple.....the guy who runs the orphanage takes them for his own children. Not a surprise at all. We had a similar experience with the Need for All kids (the original Woolies who are now at Watoto) a few years ago. We realized that Ruth, the woman who runs the orphanage, was taking all the money and food and only giving the bare minimum to the kids.

We had a great conversation with the house mom, Judith on Friday while we visited to bring more medicine and the soccer goals that Dennis and Isaac made for the kids. It was a great visit overall. We all played soccer, even Judith! It's so much fun to just hang out and have a good time and let the kids know that we care about them. Sometimes I wonder if we are wasting our time with such a little contribution of some minor medicines and the occasional purchase of random items that then need. Then I hear what Judith has to say, and it all feels better. She says how great it is that we keep coming back and don't just visit once. The kids feel good when they know that somebody cares about them, especially when it is somebody from far away. Judith also said how good she feels about her ability to treat the kids and how much she uses the medicine.


The talk we had with her later was what was disturbing. My mom has been thinking about doing something extra to help Judith so we wanted to bring up the idea with Judith. She is open to the idea since she hasn't been paid since March, but she is worried how Max, the guy who runs the orphanage will react. Max likes to be in charge of EVERYTHING. He wouldn't approve of us coming to visit and bring things to them without his knowledge. He always shows up to the orphanage to take money from donors who are doing community work and giving away food or large sums of money. He then takes the money and the kids never see it. He gives very small rations of food but never more than enough for a day or two at a time. He usually "forgets" to send the food, but Judith never has airtime to be able to call and remind him, so she just has to try and find ways to get airtime or to get a hold of him. If people give food, he locks it in a store room and only gives it when he wants to. When I thought back, I realized that I have NEVER seen food in the house when we arrive. We usually bring a large sum of food when we come, but other than that, I didn't know where the food was. Judith said that there are even times when he takes food from the donations to his family. I don't think anybody had a great feeling about Max from the start. He met us at the gate of this tiny orphanage with a big beautiful new car. He is a "business man" who didn't even tell us what he did. The way he interacts with the kids was just a litle off, too. Hearing Judith talk made me think back to the first meeting and realize that our initial intuition was probably correct. The stories go on and on. The kids school fees are supposed to be paid, but when Judith has gone to check she realized that none of the kids fees have been paid, even though donors were giving money for it. The only way they get paid are if the donors go directly to the school. The worst was when Judith told us about her son. Max said he would pay for her son's school fees, but never did so Judith had to borrow money. Then, at the end of school, all of the kids had been picked up at the boarding school, except for her son. When she asked Max to help with the tavel expense, he refused. Her son sat and waited overnight with the security guard. Finally, Judith worked out a deal to borrow money from the security guard to get him home. I could probably go on with anouth page worth of examples. The thing is, I completely beleive Judith. She loves these kids. She is working without pay. She stays because she knows somebody needs to take care of them and she wants to stay. We are trying to think of a way to help pay Judith and to provide the basic necessities for the kids without getting Judith in trouble for talking to us and without letting Max steal the money. Short of taking over the orphanage (which I don't know how to do, and I am sure will be very expensive and complicated), I am not sure exactly what to do. We have some ideas and we will do some brainstorming when my mom gets here!

Here are a few pictures that we took on Friday while we hung out with the kids. Afterwards, we invited some of Angella and Hope's friends to watch the opening ceremony of the Olympics. It didn't start til 11, so we spend a few HOURS playing darts. You would have thought we were having our own olympics games with a gold medal on the line. I am proud to say I was on the winning team three different times! We had a super late night but it was so much fun! Totally worth being tired on Saturday!!

Trust

The past two days have been exhausting both physically and mentally. We decided to spend the money and time to fund the building of a new toilet and shower for the boys at Agape Christian Children's home after a lot of going back and forth on whether or not we should do it. The biggest problem is that we are not sure who we can trust and exactly what goes on at the orphanage when we are not visiting. One of the main things that sets this orphanage apart from all the others is the age of the boys and the way that they are taken in. Most of the boys are teenagers, with a few of them that are under 12. They all come from the streets of Kampala, but most of them originated in Gulu as children taken from their families while Joseph Kony was leading rebels in the area. Because of their background, most of these kids know how to steal, lie, and cheat and it is difficult to force them to change. I mean, could you blame them for being that way? If all you had were the clothes on your back and you somehow had to survive and possibly provide for your siblings or elderly parents, would you do it by any means possible or would you try to follow the law?

Catherine, the woman in charge does a lot of work to try and raise funds for school fees and build better structures to live in. She has the help of two or three women who stay at the house to oversee cooking and some of the discipline for the boys. A recent addition has been Joshua, who helps with building projects and tries to get the boys to take part in activities outside of street life. I think these boys really need strong men in their lives to build them up and take part in helping them succeed. Catherine is trying to manage almost 100 boys and I don't know how many girls that live in a home in Gulu. It's a lot of work for 1 person and not a lot of money. Some churches here help out with money and pastors come to teach and lead worship sessions. I think it is just difficult to manage an orphanage with so many boys and so many bad habits. In talking to Catherine and the boys it seems that there is always somebody stealing something and nothing is really safe, including the boys. Sometimes they get into fights and hurt each other and its not easy to stop. At Agape, nobody is really turned away, so it is very difficult to control behaviors.

Our project itself is going fairly well. We spent an entire day getting supplies. Then, yesterday, Isaac and I went with Joshua to purchase tiles, cement, and a few other things that we needed. As we were collecting things, I was getting more and more confused about how this thing is going to come together. Some ideas just don't make sense, and there are all kinds of additional little costs that weren't in the budget. When we initially started the project, we gave Joshua a total budget number and said we want to do the project if it can be completed before the boys leave on Saturday. Initially he said it was "no problem", but now I'm not so sure. He keeps mentioning things we need to buy, which means we will either be way over budget or we won't get the work done. I guess I just have to remember that I've never built something like this and even if I had, I wouldn't know how to do it in Uganda. I just need to trust that it will get done and let Joshua and the boys at Agape do the work.

On a brighter note, we did get almost all the boys outside to help move piles of hard core (large heavy rocks) and a stack of bricks. It was pretty awesome to see them all out there laughing and having a good time while they were doing the work. I think the longer we are there, the more they are wanting to be involved in the project.

Today is going to be a bit busy. Since Isaac and Dennis are leaving on Saturday (that's already tomorrow!!), we are going to have to make sure we have tied up all the loose ends and gotten whatever work they wanted to finish completed. We will need to pray for no rain and no jam as we travel from place to place!

From the Town of Bedrock.....

Yesterday was such a long day! I was not expecting to be so worn out from it, but I was exhausted when I got home!

We started out around 9 at Agape. Isaac decided to stay there and help dig the hole. It needs to be at least 10 feet deep and I think 1.5 meters in diameter. This would be really easy to do if we were at home with all the great equipment like the stuff I saw when I was watching them do work on my aunts yard, but the only equipment we have available is manpower! Apparently it was taking around an hour per foot of hole and even longer as they got deeper and had to throw the sand and clay farther. I was impressed that they dug so far in one day!

As for Dennis and I, we got to be passengers on all the trips to the mines. I had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. First of all, we ended up in a big deisel truck traveling on super bumpy dirt roads for over an hour one way. We ended up going to the top of a beautiful hill overlooking Lake Victoria. It was a rock quarry where all of the stone comes from. It seriously reminded me of the quarry on the Flintstones. The only difference was that Fred and Barney got to use dinasaurs to help them lift the rocks! These people carry the rocks and throw them with only the use of their arms and legs! It's incredible to imagine all of the work they do for very little money! There are many women who are paid to break the rocks into aggregate size. They sit down on a pile of large rocks and just start hammering with a small sized hammer until they break all of them into the small size. It's super hot because the quarry in on the side of a large hill. It's dangerous because there is not protection from the falling rock. It's not a great job, but I am thankful that it gets done by somebody. It made me really appreciate how things are done here. It amazing to me that there are so many new buildings in the past year and a ton of changes, yet they majority of the work is still done with all manual labor all the way from making the bricks and mixing cement, to hauling beams and windows up on scaffolding made of long thin logs. I was truly amazed at the thought!


We spent the entire day until around 8 pm getting the loads of rock and dirt. Joshua, the man in charge thought it was a good idea to go with and make sure we got the proper materials. It is common for the men to get the wrong material and charge you for a higher quality. This way we got to have a fun adventure and ensure our materials.

I am making this a little short because we are trying to get an early start on working at Agape today! I will post more of the pictures on facebook or something later!!

Silent Voices

Okay, last post of the day. Sorry I was catching up on so many missed things this morning! Last night after we had gone to Agape to check in on the possibility of doing the urinal project, we decided to go to a play called Silent Voices. It was written by Adong Lucy Judith, who gathered stories from interviews with children from the north. She knew that she had to tell their stories somehow, so she wrote a play. Because it was a free show and it is here in Uganda, my expectations were not that high. I was expecting a good story, but I was not expecting it to be performed in such a powerful and professional way. The actors were amazing, especially the children who were reinacting what kids went through as they were 'enlisted' into service for the Liberation forces. The way the story was told was amazing and it brought together so many of the points of view of people who lived through these terrible times. Afterwards there is a discussion about the play and about feelings form the war. We weren't able to stay for the discussion because our ride had arrived to pick us up. I am hoping to go again next week with the girls that live in the house and make sure to stay for the discussion afterwards. Watching the play reminded me of just how complicated the lives of the children at Agape are. The kids that were being tormented in the play were acting out the experience of many of the kids that stay at Agape. I have no idea how they would be able to forgive or forget about what they experienced. It was truly an amazing production. They mentioned something about a video recording, so maybe if they are available, I will by one to bring back and people at home could see the great work!

http://www.observer.ug/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=19913:-ugandan-play-on-kony-here&catid=42:sizzling-entertainment&Itemid=74

Hello River Nile

Rafting is always a really great experience but it leave your totally warn out! On Sunday, we gathered a group of 7 to go and experience a great day on the Nile. Although there is always a risk in getting thrown out of a boat and being tossed around by the huge pressure of the waves, it's totally worth the risk! This was the third time I have gone and I think that every ride has been totally different. We had a fun ride on the bus laughing and making jokes. We took a ton of random pictures. I am sure everybody else was a little annoyed with our huge fits of laughter, but we really were just having a lot of fun! The guide we had from last year was there again. When Dennis recognized Paulo, we requested him as our guide again. He likes to tell a lot of random jokes and just relax during the day, so we knew it would be a good ride. Despite one person not knowing how to swim, and another who can barely swim, we had a good time and everybody was safe! When you look at the pictures you will probably assume it was a rough ride, and that's probably because it was. We flipped the boat more times than we stayed up throught the entire rapid, but I think it is even more fun that way sometimes. You try to hit the rapids in the hardest spot, which means you are more likely to flip the boat, which was totally fine by me! Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention we were the best boat. We were also the most diverse. We had the only two Uganda passengers along with two Americans from Asian countries, one from India and two Caucasions. We decided that our boat was the most international. In addition we had the most jokes, so clearly we had to have been the best! We had started the day before 7 am with a bus ride from Kampala to Jinga and didn't get home until after 9, so we were thoroughly exhausted. I was glad to take an easier day yesterday (Monday). My body needed to break!!

Urinals

So over the past week we have been really thinking and praying hard about a project at an orphanage called Agape. This orphanage doesn't turn anybody away, even though they have very little money and not a lot of place for all of the boys to sleep. However, the leaders of the orphanage trust that God will provide everything they need and know that without God, the children that stay there will remain completely broken. You see, the children there are not only orphans, but they are from the North - mainly near a place called Gulu. Maybe you remember a little bit about it if you followed the Kony 2012 social networking craziness earlier this year. While Joseph Kony no longer has very much activity with children in the north, there are still many people who are negatively affected by what happened in that area over the past 25 or so years. The children of Agape are mainly street boys who are used to fighting to get what they need. They worked hard to stay alive during wartime. Now they fight on the streets and steal to get what they need. The housemother, Catherine, says so many of them have no hope. She said when you look at their eyes, you can see complete hopelessness. A look that there is nothing that can help them or make their situation better. At Agape, they bring the boys in and try to give them stability in a place to stay, warm meals, and more importantly, a lot of Jesus' love. It's a very slow process and many of the boys are very difficult to reach.


When we arrived last week to talk with them, we had in mind to possible help build a chicken coup so that they would have eggs to sell or eat and they could maybe make a profit. In addition, it gives the kids a project to work on. When we suggested it to Catherine, she was not very interested. Mainly because she knows how difficult the boys have been, especially as they get older. They don't like to have to do work or be told how to act. Some of them just leave Agape because they would rather be on the street selling things, stealing, and being able to use drugs. Instead, Catherine suggested their greatest need right now is a change in the urinal/shower system at the top of the hill. Right now they started a project to rebuild their kitchen so it is further from the houses where people sleep. They cook with charcoal which gives off some nasty smoke and currently is in a place with almost no ventilation. You can imagine how horrible that is for your lungs! In addition, the space is super narrow, so walking by is a tricky process. Every time I pass a cooking pot I go as close as I possibly can to the wall so that I don't risk burning my legs. Moving the kitchen is a great idea, but the new location is stinky, literally!


The pictures below give you an idea of the current situation. The urinal/shower area is super dirty. It drains into a gutter system, but the liquid gets pooled about 3 feet from the new cooking stoves. If it makes it further down the hill, it drains into the neighbor's yard. Apparently, there is the equivalent of a city coucnil that comes to inspect homes and they have been warned that it needs to be fixed, even without the new location for the kitchen. Since they have not had the money to do it, nobody has make a big deal about it yet. However, they could come back and shut down the orphanage for having a system that is not up to standards. The inspectors know their situation and how important the place is for the boys, so they have been reluctant to do so. Our arrival and offer of help has been a much welcomed surprise. Medicine for Sick Children is working to prevent and treat illness in children. This urinal situation is a perfect way for the kids to get sick from contact with the contaminated food or water. A new system requires us to replace the floor, create a drainage system, and dig a proper hole underground for the waste to filter through. This way, there will be a clean bathroom area and the kitchen will be safer to use. The problem is that materials are expensive and the labor from the boys is only so-so. Catherine and Joshua, the man in charge of projects, say that the boys just give up when the work feels hard. Hopefully with our help, we can motivate the boys and pay for a good portion of the project. We are starting today with buying materials and digging some of the holes and trenches. We are praying for fair prices and lots of manpower to get it done before the boys leave on Saturday!

to i

ns

WOOLY BULLY

Today was all about the Woolies! Unfortunately I haven't called Ross, the original Wooly Bully to tell him all of the good stories we heard from the house moms, so I will only share a few for now.


Angella had a really long day yesterday, especially since she had to drive us. When I drive at home at night I am usually exhausted and that is just because it is tiring to have to stay awake! Here, the roads are much, much worse. There are often huge potholes that you have to avoid or the road narrows because the sides (I fail to say shoulders because I don't think they truly exist) have washed away. It was much more productive this morning for her to sleep in and work on her homework for her upcoming return to a masters program. I don't know what we would do without Angella. She gives up almost her entire vacation to help us out and sometimes we take advantage of her! I am trying to make sure we don't force her to wear herself out too much!


The boys and I went to the Watoto office alone this time. It was easy because we had talked to Emily about sponsorship and Bob about the visit already when Angella was there. Although it wasn't difficult to get a pass, they still had to make sure that we weren't going with out Angella. I reassured them that Angella took the morning to sleep but would be our "host" at our visit.


Afterwards we went to the craft market to look at what sorts of things they had this year. It's almost always the same stuff, but I still manage to buy a bunch more! I need to stop these habits. One of the ladies remembered me from last year. When I walked up she remembered meand what I had bought from her! That's amazing! I'm not usually that memorable, so this lady must have a really great memory. The women who sell in the shops are super hard working and are relentless in trying to make a sale. I am not really great at saying no in most situations, so I really have to force myself to use the word while I am in the market!


The best part of the day was the afternoon. We got to see the Woolies! I didn't call my brother or my mom from the house because I was almost out of airtime, and we only stayed for a couple of hours. We had sweeties and a couple of treats in the car, but surprisingly we never even took them out. Sometimes I wonder if the kids like us because we bring them things or they actually like us because we visit them. I think this time they really just liked us because we were there! Sweet! I showed them the "hello" video that Ross and Rachel (and Oscar) had made on my ipad. They loved it! The minute Ross showed up on the screen, Peter led the way with "Wooly Bully" and said "1-2-3" over and over. For those of you who don't know the song, here is a sweet video of it from youtube(I hope it works and that I am allowed to post it on a blog):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHF558u6Q_8


Over the past year, one of the house moms, Rose, passed away due to complications from HIV/AIDS. Her son and daughter still remain in the house and a new mom, Christine has come to take over. She is so sweet and is great with the kids. She was excited to meet us because when the kids say their prayers they often ask if they can pray for the Wooly Bully. They always talk about when they went to the zoo and when they went for chicken. She had no idea who they were always talking about and now she got to meet us and hear and see Ross. The kids loved seeing the pictures of themselves from all the times we were here on the ipad. It is super convenient to have them in one place. They liked to see the pictures from home, too. They started naming all the people that I showed them. Now they know Ross, Rachel, Oscar, Rocky, Mom, and Dad. It was just really great to hang out with the kids and play outside. I know we will get to see them again, and hopefully it will be a longer time. My mom is going to be so excited to see them again!


When we got home, we were much more tired than we expected. We were planning on hanging out with some friends, but we were too tired! In addition, we were all thinking about how long today is going to be. We are taking a trip to Mbende, which is a large village about 2.5 hours away. Angella said the roads are much better, so that is a bonus, but it is still far and there are hundreds of kids and adults that greet us. We give medicine to the orphaned kids who stay in houses and then we just go around and visit everyone else. It's probably the most work and the place with the most unexpected surprises. I just always hope that we will be able to see everybody and get the work done!

For now, here are a few pictures of the Woolies. I didn't take that many today because we spent so much time talking with the moms, but I promise there will be more to come!

House of Peace

Yesterday was another great day, despite the fact that I stress out about little things more than I should! I always have to remind myself that things will work out in the end, even if they aren't done the way I expected.


I started the day with a broken phone. After 5 years, I think my old Motorola flip phone decided to finally give out. Every time I turned it on, it wou

ld take about 5 seconds, or pushing any button to cause it to turn off. Although I still have the SIM card, all of the numbers that were saved to the phone are now gone. At least I wrote most of them down last year, so I didn't lose much! In order to save time, I walked up to the shopping center to find a new phone and print copies of our data intake sheets for the orphanages. The copy place was my favorite. It's a shop with a small counter, a wall full of paper and notebooks, and a really beat-up copy machine. You get copies for 100 shillings, which I think is around 4 cents - sweet! While waiting in line, another man behind me was asking for a copy. I didn't want to be nosy so I didn't look at his copies at first. Then the copy guy put them in front of me and I was intruiged. There was a black and white scanned picture that just looked like a fuzzy t.v. screen. In handwritten lettering it said "Warning: This man is a killer. If you see him contact..." I don't know what was more ridiculous - the fact that a man was searching for a serial killer with 5 copies of a sheet of paper, or that he expected people to identify it from the picture. When the man left, the copy guy started laughing and asked me if I could imagine his poster would be recognized. Even the copy guy knew it was crazy! I'm just hoping I don't run into the unrecognizable serial killer, but I'm pretty sure I won't!


As for my phone, I was able to find one for 70,000 shillings - about 28 dollars. I know, it pretty much broke the bank. I totally got downgraded to a NOKIA from around 1998. I am pretty sure I had a similar model in Jr. High. It even has the game Snake on it! Wow, totally lucked out. For an added bonus, there is a flashlight from the top. It actually came in handy tonight when we were leaving in the dark! Not bad for $28!


So onto our real work for the day. I ended up meeting Dennis and Isaac walking on the road by coincidence so we went to the ATM to get more money and buy some things at the store. I tried one ATM earlier that kept saying it wouldn't complete the transaction. 5 minutes after walking away, I realized it was because I was using my credit card - clearly not a checking account withdrawal! When I retried it with the corred card, I tried to take 720,000 - nearly $300 and it sounded and looked like it worked. The screen even said to take my money and receipt. My heart just about stopped when no money came, but the receipt did. With a look of panic I asked the guy next to me where the nearest bank was so I could report the incident. He calmly said that it didn't work for him either and pointed out on the receipt that my account was not charged. Clearly I need to read my receipt more carefully!!

When we got home, we needed to pack all of the medicine that we had purchased. It's amazing that you can fill a room with $600. Unfortunately, the prices have gone up quite a bit so we are spending more, but it is still much cheaper than bringing it from home. We were able to fill the medicine that we needed for the day, but we will have to get more of some items before the weekend. The only downside with the medicine here is the fact that most comes in glass bottles. I am always praying that they will survive the long bumpy trips to House of Peace and Mbende....or really any place we have to travel by car. Luckily, it has all survived the journey.


House of Peace is quite a trek. It takes a little over an hour to get to the main town by car if there is absolutely no jam, but because we were in traffic, it took nearly 2. Then, we had to take a bumpy, muddy, and puddle filled drive through the bush to get to the place. I am always amazed when we don't get stuck! An unfortunately Mtatu got stuck in the middle of nowhere because they ran out of gas. My guess is they would be there for a few hours at minimum. Pastor Kawooya is the man who started the orphanage and has plans to help develop the village. He would like a school or small clinic. He said that many women and infants die in childbirth because by the time they know they can't deliver at home, it is too late to make it to the nearest town. It would probably take a half hour if you had a good car, but most people would have to send somebody to walk and get a boda or car and then wait for the car to come and make it. Clearly not going to happen quickly, especially if it happens in the middle of the night.



The people at House of Peace are so appreciative! There are nearly 80 children cared for my adults and the older children. Last year, there was a sweet girl named Allen who was in nursing school. It would have been great for them to have a trained nurse living with them. Unfortunately, when I asked her about school she said that they were not able to pay her fees anymore so she no longer goes. It made me so sad. She was much less cheery and less interested in the medicine than she was last year, and I would probably be the same way if I were in her position. The likelihood of raising the funds for the older children to go to secondary school or university is not very high, but Pastor Kawooya works as hard as he can to raise the money. I know that there will be a way if it is meant to be.


Sometimes I feel that what we do is so insignificant. I mean, we saw JaJa's new house that some people who had met her decided to raise money to buy. It was amazing. Other people do work projects at Agape to make it a better place to live. However our focus is medicine. We don't have the thousands of dollars we would need to build a health center or provide expensive medicines, but we try to do what we can. It just feels like it isn't enough! It was very reassuring when Paster Kawooya spoke to the group and said how much our efforts have meant. He said they were blessed to know that we remembered them and decided to come back and visit them after one year. Even Isaac, who was very sick on the last trip came back and everybody remembered him! I guess I can never count out the effects that you can have simply by encouraging people and acknowledging that they are important. Maybe someday we can actually help them get a decent health center and do bigger things, but for now we will continue to invest a little money and as much time as we can with them!

Oh, yeah, we decided to do deworming on all of the kids. It's really not that expensive, but definitely needed. Apparently they have never been dewormed. The recommendation is once every three months. In the villages especially, kids eat food that has parasites so their stomachs end up full of worms. They just need to take a couple of pills to kill all the worms. It is a pretty easy way to help them out! Pastor Kawooya called it a "special Lord's supper". He mentioned that he cares for the soul and we are caring for their bodies. I think that both have to be cared for in order to have a healthy, happy person!

Good Days!

Hey Everybody!

Sorry, we have been busy again these past two days! We always seem to start out slow and then we get going and it all gets crazy! I wanted to get posts up yesterday, but the power was out starting around 8 am so that just didn't happen! We had a good couple of days that I will write more about later. For now, you should know we have visited almost all of the orphanages, including JaJa's. She now has a new home that is a mansion compared to where she was. The children are completely different than they were before. It's pretty amazing! We also had to spend a lot of time ordering medicine and getting prepared for the actual project again. It's always more work than you expect. In addition, the prices have gone up a ton. It's amazing how much more the market is affected here than it is in the U.S.! Here is a picture of JaJa at her new home for you to feast your eyes on for now!

An Amazing Start

Hello Friends!


I wish I could bottle up my excitement and contentment and share it with you because yesterday was such a great day! It was pretty much the perfect way to start out the work of the trip!



First off – the most amazing part – we are likely going to be able to sponsor at least 4 of the original Woolies! For anybody who doesn’t know them, you can look

ck to almost all of the past posts and you will read something about them. To sum it all up, we have known them for almost six years and have been through many ups and downs with them. Originally they were in a small home in Kampala and after a few years we realized their situation wasn’t getting better and there was corruption with the manager so Watoto orphanage (the biggest one in the country) was able to adopt them into the system. For the past three years we have asked about sponsoring them, but they have always been fully sponsored. Unfortunately, when the economy went downhill, Africa suffered more than other places. Donors stopped donations and the costs are much higher here than anywhere else. For example, petrol (gasoline) is at 4100 shillings (about $1.75-$2.00) per liter. I can’t remember the math exactly, but I think that it is for sure over $5 per gallon. So luckily for us, we met with a woman, Emily, who was very helpful. Apparently, they have had to add a sponsor for each child and 4 of the Woolies were not sponsored so the Perko family will be “adopting” a few more – at least we can be more official when we come to bring gifts and spend time with them! It was a total surprise for things to work out. We usually go to the Watoto office expecting to have to explain the entire story of how we know the kids, bring pictures to show we have known them, and prove that we have ties to them. This time, Emily knew exactly who the kids were and was excited to help us. It is possible that some of the new siblings of the kids also do not have sponsors, but we will not know until Friday. I am hoping that most of them are sponsored so we won’t have to leave any of them out. If all goes well, we will have the paperwork filled out before we leave the country!!! What a great start!




Our next stop was Katanga, one of the worst slums we have gone to. There was a woman, JaJa who takes care of almost 20 children. She is 77 and can barely move, but she somehow manages to care for the children and has people who help to pay for food and school fees for most of the kids. Fortunately, a church group has helped her to find another home, but unfortunately for us, we have to find her. Again, we have come to expect the worse. Walking into Katanga, you realize that it is a makeshift community built on piles of garbage. It is smelly and dirty but it is where people live and work every day. Children play in the streets which are usually the same place that garbage and sewage is disposed of. I am not a germo-phobe, but I feel like showering as soon as I leave and I don’t touch anything until I have at least washed my hands. Anyways, it’s not a great place but JaJa and her kids called it home. We were very lucky to find her place right away and then find her neighbor who had her phone number! We left Katanga and later Angella called JaJa. She was excited to hear from us and will send somebody to meet us when we want to go and visit! It was pretty great to know she would be easy to find!



We stopped for a quick lunch at Javas. There used to be just one at a gas station in town. Now there are at least three and one more is being built. It is popular with visitors so I think they do pretty well. I only say this because it is so delicious and is my favorite place. I love the avocado and cheese sandwich! It is so wonderful! I try to eat it as much as possible while I am here!



After lunch, we decided to visit Little Angels. This orphanage is one we have been visiting for about 4 years. The man who runs it, Max, is a local business man who has suffered a lot since the economy has gone down so he is not always able to pay the house mom and food is very limited. There are almost 20 kids and they eat a totally of 4 kilos of rice, 2 kilos of beans, ½ kilo of sugar, and 1 kilo of porridge for breakfast. Even that is sometimes not provided and the kids just eat whatever they can get. They rarely have fruit or vegetables and even more rarely have meat. Usually it is just at Christmas and Easter. I am hoping that we can provide some sort of “feast” for a day or something with them. I think we can probably wait until my mom arrives because I think it would be something she would love to take part in! When we arrived, Angella left us to go to a meeting and the rest of us went in. Judith, the house mother, was out, so it was just the kids. At first they didn’t know what to do with us. They were excited to greet us and then we went inside and sat down. We stared at each other for quite a while before we actually started talking. Once we broke the ice, we took the kids out in the yard and started playing. Eventually, we started a soccer game with a ball made of plastic bags wrapped into a ball, but it was still a ton of fun! I forgot to take a picture to show, but I will try to remember next time. It was great to be able to spend a day with them just hanging out and getting to know all of the personalities that exist in the house. Later, Judith came back and I was able to sit down and talk with her. She was excited that we returned and especially excited that my mom is coming back to see her! She was also super ready to tell me about how she used all the medicine from last time and how she knows what to give the kids and how it works when she uses it! I was so excited to hear that our little project does some good! Even if we can just help one mother at an orphanage learn to better care for the needs of the kids, I will count it as a win! It is sometimes quite frustrating to think of the difference between aid and development and which one is better. Sometimes people ask why on earth we would travel to Africa when we could be helping in the US. While I fully agree and try to help as much as I can back at home, I would say that the excited and smiles that I got from Judith were so worth the trip! It’s amazing what a very small amount of money, some teaching, and a lot of encouragement can do for people, especially here!
ba

Finally, the rest of the night was just fun! We left Little Angels a little before 7. The BODA BUDDIES have ridden again. Dennis and I have decided to pair up when we ride bodas and we usually have a lot of laughs! This time was no exception! Our driver, Cyrus, was friendly and pretty good, except he occasionally liked to drive on the sidewalk, but we still made it home safely and happily! Afterwards, we went for a quick coffee (we were too full for dinner after our huge lunch at Javas) followed by a local open mic night called Jam Session. One of the best singers was a person that Angella is good friends with so we got to meet him afterwards. I think Dennis was very excited because he sang songs that he really loved.

All in all this was a great day! We had a ton of work done and had fun doing it! We are excited to start another day of exploring and excitement!

Settled In!

Hello! I have not posted since arriving because I have been having too much fun! Normally when I arrive, we start working right away because we are only here for a short time and usually have way more to do than we have time for. This time, things are a little different. I will be here for over 5 weeks so we have much more time to do the things we would like. In addition, Angella has a vehicle so there is much less stress in finding taxis and other ways to move around town. Patt and Angella, in true Ugandan fashion arrived at the airport 20 minutes late, which I considered right on time, if you consider them being on Ugandan time! I was waiting for a while outside the airport and a cab driver tried to convince me that they weren't coming so he could give me a ride for 65,000 shillings(about $30), but I assured him that my ride was going to show up but they were just on Ugandan time. Luckily, I was right and he was not! We arrived to Angella's new place after midnight and got settled in. I will take some pictures and post them later. It's a pretty big house, with 5 rooms and a little yard. There is even a dog called Pretty who runs around all the time. It makes it feel like a home and I know Angella likes having more people around. Angella and a woman named Hope manage the place and rent out the rooms for people traveling to Uganda. There is a guy named JB who takes care of the house, runs errands, cooks, and drives around town for us. He basically does everything that Hope and Angella need. There is also a girl named Mariam from California who is doing some really great work with conflict resolution. She is going to be around for at least 6 months and possibly an entire year. So this little family has been great to hang out with for the past weekend. Angella had to go to her family's village over the weekend to take care of some things so I spent a lot of time with Hope, Mariam, and JB, as well as some of their friends. I went for a run with Angella on Friday morning, by myself on Saturday, and with Mariam on Sunday. This morning I decided to take a break, but maybe I can convince Angella to go this afternoon. I am in a very safe neighborhood and I actually know my way around pretty well because Angella lived near here last year. In fact, I almost ran to her old apartment yesterday, but then decided it was too many extra hills. It's pretty much impossible to run without going up at least a few. I started saying hello to people as I ran because they generally will stare at me as I get close. As soon as I say hi, they break out into a smile and ask how I am doing. One guy rolled down his window and said "great work" as I slowly make my way up a dusty hill. I asked another guy if I was going the right way and he laughed and reassured me. People are so nice here and I feel a lot more at home. Every time I get back from running, people are working out in the little garage that has a workout mat and an eliptical. It's fun to come home and do some extra exercise! We have eaten breakfast and some lunches together every day. On Friday, I stayed around the house most of the day and settled in my stuff. I also took a short nap. I have surprisingly felt very little jetlag, even with not a lot of sleep. I blame my surgery rotation becuase I got used to not sleeping a lot! At lunch, Hope had come home and JB cooked lunch for three of Hope's coworkers and us. It was delicious potatoes, rice and vegetables. I was greatful for good food without having to leave the house. On Friday night, we went out to a poetry reading with Hope and Mariam. There was a guest poet from the UK. I have a feeling she didn't know or care about audience sensitivity. She did an activity where she asked how people would prefer to die. The first two choices were getting eaten by a lion and getting eaten by a crocodile. She asked if anybody knew a person who was eaten by a crocodile and there were at least 3 hands that went up. It didn't look like they found it funny.... We decided to leave the peotry reading early and get dinner instead. We went to a nice Chinese restaurant and shared a feast. Then we decided to go to Alleygators for bowling. We had to bowl barefoot, so I hope I didn't pick up anything weird on my feet. I washed them thoroughly when I got home so I think I will be okay! On Saturday after my run, I eventually went to meet up with Isaac and Dennis, who are from the states and were here with me last year. They are staying near the hospital again. We had a great relaxing afternoon talking with another volunteer named Peggy who lived in Uganda for 7 years during the 90's when there was a lot of unrest and it wasn't as safe to travel around. It was amazing to hear her stories. She had six children here and has seen many things, both good and bad happen to her friends while she was around. At 5, we got to go to a birthday party for Jasmine, who turned 1! Last year, I arrived the day after she was born and visited her mom, Susan in the hospital. They year before we had stayed at Susan's house and she has become a special friend. We had a great time hanging out with her entire family, including a surprise visit from Susan's sister Gloria, who I thought was studying in Australia. It was such a great time to just hang out and enjoy each other's company. There were also quite a few kids around so there was plenty of entertainment. Af

t

Afterwards, Dennis and I joined a friend of mine from the school of public health back home to go to a pub with his brother. Barret and his wife moved to the US to give their daughter a better opportunity for school. They will officially be citizens in November and this trip was the firt time he has been back in over 4 years! It was great to meet his brother and have some time to talk about his family and all of the stories of growing up in Uganda. It was a busy day and a late night but totally worth it. I ended up having more plans than there was time to do them! It's really great to be in Uganda, but really feel like it is everyday normal life and not just a visit. Yesterday (Sunday) was another really fun day. We went to church at the place where Hope, Angella, and JB normally attend. It is smaller thant Watoto church, but has just as much energy. We were late (of course), but we didn't miss much. My favorite worship song, "He knows my name" was the first full song we heard. There is something about it that just puts me at ease, especially when I hear it here. The lyrics are about how God knows our name, what we need, and he listens to us, no matter who we are or where we are. It was pretty awesome confirmation that He is everywhere! The message was great too. It was about how none of our identity matters except in Christ. We are so often labeled by our race, age, family, occupation, and so many other things, but really none of them should matter if we can't identify ourselves by our God. After church, we gathered a bunch of people together and wento a pool at a hotel not far from Angella's house. We had to pick up Angella downtown which took almost an hour because of huge jam. We were pretty much parked in traffic for at least 20 minutes. I don't think anybody minded because we were happy to get Angella back from her trip. We went to get takaway chicken and chips (fried chicken and fries) and met up with the boys for a fun afternoon in the pool. It was really great to just hang out and be around with eat other in a relaxed setting. As much fun as the past weekend has been, I am ready to start working! Dennis and Isaac are excited about starting projects at the orphanages. Today we have plans to go and visit as many as we can in town to catch up and to see what kinds of projects or needs they might have. We are hoping to also get a pass to Watoto to see the original Woolies. We will need to pray that they remember us in the office and are willing to let us visit as many times as possible! We will be picking up the pace a bit and hopefully having a lot of fun doing it! I will be much more disciplined about updating every day so you all can share in the adventure!!

e

Another Grand Adventure!

Hello friends! I just thought I would write a quick note while I am waiting at Schipol airport in Amsterdam! I finally now how to say it, thanks to my good friends Emily and Levi who are also a fan of this place! It is "skip" "pole". I was a little shocked that I didn't know that already! So this trip is going to be full of all sorts of random connections and I hope it all turns out to be one amazing trip! This will be the 5th time I have been to Uganda. When people ask where I am going, they seem shocked, but to me it just feels like something normal. I have been blessed to be able to go, despite having an almost non-existent income. Thanks to a job doing Epic training and working at caribou during my mph, I was able to return! I will be gone for just under six weeks. For the first two weeks, Dennis and Isaac, two undergraduate students that were with me last year will be along for the ride. Then my mom will be coming from August 1-20. Shes going to work on some teaching projects and we will hopefully be able to spend more quality time at the orphanages, especially one called Little Angels. It is a place with around 18 kids. They went through a tragedy over Christmas last year. One of the kids was killed by lightning while visiting relatives of the the man who runs the orphanage in a village. It made me a little mad. Seriously, have they not been through enough? The childn there are so sweet and the house mother, Judith gets very excited to see us. She really loves the kids but I think it is getting to be difficult for max to pay her and she is away from her family. Last year there were times she didn't get paid for months at a time but she stayed anyways because she knew somebody needs to care for the kids. I hope that the past year was better for all of them! I do not have a very strict itinerary this trip and since it is a longer one, I have time to make decisions and change plans and still get everything done. I will definitely be working with Angella to deliver medicines and check up on all the orphanages. I addition we are trying to see about helping a little girl with a complicated history get the proper surgeries to correct an issues that should have been fixed at birth. The kids in one village have requested to be tested for HIV so one of our jobs will be to investigate the need and feasibility of testing. I also have a friend named Barrett who is from Uganda but was doing his mph with me. He is working on a project that I hope to help out with at least a little bit. There really are a lot of directions that we can go and it will just be a matter of taking it one day at a time and one step at a time! I will be less busy this time because I don't have classes to complete like last time so I should be much better about updates! I hope you enjoy reading along! If you have any questions feel free to ask them!