Long time since posting!

So sorry for being such a bad writer the past week! I can't believe how time flies! It's been one of the busiest trips yet! We've been out and about all day and when I get back home it's usually really late and unfortunately I am in 4 online classes for my MPH which means I am up all night doing homework! I really miss being able to write about the days! I have been keeping track and I'll post each day's blog one by one as I finish them! For now, I'll let you know that we are safe and happy!

I'll give a brief overview of what we've done so far.....We have done quite a bit of work since Thursday. We shopped for Little Angel's orphanage. We ended up finding shoes, backpacks, house shoes, cooking utentsils, and over 80 kilos of food for them! I can't wait to tell you all about it! We tried to see the Woolies on Thursday, but when we got there, we basically had to say hello and then leave....it was super sad but it's all because of some people following the rules and some people not. I'm not sure what I think of having the kids at Watoto right now. But, we did get a pass and this Saturday we will be going to see them for real! Yay!! On Friday we spent most of the day shopping for things that we needed. Saturday was a full day at Mbende village compiling information from the caregivers. We had an interesting ride home with breaks that weren't exactly working properly, so we drove at a snail pace for 4 hours instead of a decent pace for 1! Sunday was a great church service and visiting Katanga slum orphanage and Nantale's orphanage. It took some time, but I think we got all of the information we needed! Then we checked out the culture show which is always a treat! Monday we went around town getting things organized and ordering more medicine. We tried to see how much a fence at Little Angels will cost, but it's going to be at least $600 which is more than it is worth. Maybe some other trip it will be a good project! We delivered all the things we bought on Monday, which was awesome! The house mom was so excited! She was just like a little kid! Yesterday (Tuesday) we visited an orphanage that has 293 kids. We were planning on enrolling them in the study, but since Angella helped them find a public health nurse to volunteer time to help them, they no longer fit the profile of the study. It's really unfortunate because they don't really have the money to provide all the medicine, but they have just enough and they have the education and training that the public health nurse provides. I can't wait for a day when we aren't doing a study and instead just going around and giving away medicine! We did end up donating buckets (literally) full of medicine for them. It would be a great place to go if someday I have friends that want to do a building project or some teaching or community events with the kids. (Every one of the kids gave us a hug as they came home from school!) I really liked that orphanage! Today we are going to another orphanage with about 80 children and returning to Agape orphanage to provide medicine and deliver the sign that Isaac made! I am hoping that tonight will be a night that I don't have to worry about doing homework and I can catch up on giving you all the details! For now, here are a few of my favorite pictures from the past 5 days!!

Meetings are a lot of work!

Mosquitoes are not fun. I’m not really worried about malaria because I take my malarone every morning and I’m pretty confident that it is good prophylaxis. Because I’m confident and there really aren’t that many mosquitoes in the city, I chose not to get a mosquito net. I’m thinking maybe I should rethink that decision. The past two nights I think there has been one or maybe two mosquitoes torturing my ears. I remember being frustrated when I was little at the cabin when I would turn out the lights and try to fall asleep and there would be one pesky little mosquito that I could hear buzzing near my ear. There was usually a solution. Turn on a flashlight and let it come to the light and then smack it dead. Two nights ago I didn’t even think of a light, I just tried to listen for when I thought it landed on the side of my face or my head and then tried to kill it in the dark. It ended in failure. It would disappear for a while but pretty much every hour I would wake up to the familiar buzzing in my ear. Last night I tried to get smarter. I would turn on my headlamp when I heard the buzzing, but I could never see it. Maybe Ugandan mosquitoes are smarter than Minnesotan ones? I still spent the night waking up from the buzz. This morning as I was laying in bed there was just a little light coming in through the window. I heard the mosquito and then I SAW it! The little guy landed on my right arm I quickly reached over and got him! I know the night was over and I wasn’t going to get any more sleep anyways, but it felt good to get my revenge! Wow, I can’t believe I got that excited about a mosquito. Maybe I’m a little crazy, but I’m okay with it. I know that mosquito won’t be bothering me tonight……but I’m sure one of his friends will. Therefore, a mosquito net might be a good investment for my state of mind.

Today was basically a fact finding day for a couple of places. We called the reverend that Hilda worked for if he knew any places that take care of children. He was not sure, but gave us the name of Action for Children. We only knew that it was buy a taxi stage near Bukoto. Angella and I started looking for it because the boys were listening to Vanessa’s lecture at Mulago. We might as well not have looked because we couldn’t find it and nobody we asked had any idea. We did find some construction workers making a fence though. Random, I know, but it made us think that maybe we could look and see how they did it and then figure out how to make a fence ourselves. They were using sheets of metal nailed in to wooden beams. It looks like a pretty common way that people build fences. We walked a little ways to get the guys at a meeting place and then came back to the fence to show them. They thought it was a good idea so we asked one of the workers to teach us something. He ended up asking some random people and then showing us things. We asked where we could get the supplies and he told us there is a place near Rubaga where the orphanage is that has the supplies. He gave us his number and offered to come with us on Monday and maybe help us build if we wanted. Who knew that you could just ask about finding supplies and then get a worker out of the deal. So, Nelson will meet us on Monday and we’ll decide if we can pay for the supplies or maybe some help to do the job. It might be way out of our price range or we might luck out and be able to do it! I’m hoping for the latter!

We walked all over the place looking for Action for Children. We finally found a boda driver who knew where it was. He told us to walk a really long ways and then we should ask the other boda drivers that are closer. It was a pretty big hill and by the end we had probably walked two miles….but it was a great walk! On the way, a group of guys yelled some stuff to us in Luganda. Angella started laughing. People are always yelling to her when I am here and I’m sure it’s not fun for her. It’s usually something about how much they can pay for the white girl or something she claims is more offensive, but she usually doesn’t tell me. This time she explained they were saying, “hey we want the white girl, but what’s up with the white guys?”……at least that was her interpretation. I’m pretty sure Isaac and Dennis enjoyed the jokes as well!

After 6 turns, a lot of roads, and a few bodas’ directions, we finally made it to Action for Children and realized that it is almost right next to the main road we take every day and way closer to Angella’s house than we were lead to believe. I wish we would have known it sooner! Oh well, we got some great exercise! At least if we come back we won't have to go nearly as far!

The man at the gate welcomed us right away. I explained what we do to the receptionist and she sent us to meet with Shelly and Jessica, who oversee a lot of the programs for Action for Children. Jessica explained all of the things that the organization does. They are mainly focused on finding ways to empower children through improving their environment in various ways. They have set up a crisis phone number for children to call if they are in danger. They have worked with schools to educate children on what signs of abuse are. They also work with families in smaller communities to provide resources that they are lacking. It sounds like they do amazing work. I don't really think they fit the profile of what we are looking for though. When I explained what we do, they said we could come on Monday for another meeting and then spend a day going around and visiting the communities. I don't think the understand what we are doing and that we are not a large organization. That happens quite a bit here. We go to a place and they just keep talking about what they need and when we explain what they do, the ask for us to do something that is not what we offered. Sometimes I wonder how people manage to get anything done in groups here. There is just a complete lack of listening and understanding! It makes for a lot of interesting mishaps! We are still going to meet with them on Monday and possibly to visits on Tuesday, but I'm not really sure if it is going to be productive.

We needed to stop for lunch before we went to another place. The only one Angella could think of was Ibamba. It is the only restaurant that I really didn't enjoy at all! Last time I went there I tried to order three different times and none of the orders were right! The first time I just wanted nan and a rice dish. After waiting for a half hour, the waitress came and told me they were out. I picked something else instead. A while later everybody got their food except for me. I finally asked the waitress why and she said they were out of what I had ordered. I picked something random off the menu and she brought me something I didn't order! I was not looking forward to a repeat! They had a buffet set out lots of rice dishes, nan, some traditional Ugandan foods, and lots of vegetables. I thought about ordering off the menu, but since I could see the food on the buffet I knew they couldn't mess up! It actually was a great lunch. It's a really cool atmosphere with a grass roof and comfortable seats with tables made out of slices of HUGE trees. Ibamba redeemed itself this time. From now on, no ordering off them menu for me!





We went to Mulago and met Eva and Tom. Eva went to college with Angella and she knew of a place that we might be able to work with. Her aunt is the director of a home that takes in street kids and she has volunteered there a lot. Whenever anybody is sick they show up to her in the pharmacy and try to figure out how to get the medicine they need. Tom is a guy who used to volunteer there a lot but is now studying at Christian University to become a social worker. Both of them were really warm and lovable. When we arrived at Agape Children's Center I was surprised at how bit it was! They have a huge piece of land with a small house, a very large mud structure that serves as an auditorium, bedroom for 80 kids, and general meeting area for any of the kids. There is a small area with three walls that is the "shower" and a separate toilet building. Neither are anything spectacular! You can kind of get the idea in the pictures here. They have a cooking area with a couple big pots that they fill with millet and beans each day. It's a massive amount of food!



We went inside the small house and they sat us down in the living room area to explain what they do. Three of the older boys (probably in their early 20's were in charge of telling us what goes on at Agape. Eva's aunt Cathy had to go in to town so we didn't get to meet her yet. This place is funded by some individual donors who provide small amounts of money. It all goes into a pool and the director decides how to best use the funding. There is also a woman in the United States who pays the school fees for any of the children that go to school, which is only about half of them. Oh yeah, did I mention there are more than 80 kids!! I was amazed that they can keep track of that many but they all seem to know the names of all of them and what is going on in their lives. We got a really great feeling about these people and I am hoping we can find a way to help. Our biggest concern is that there are older boys and younger children. That means they don't fit the profile of the study very well, but there are at least 20 who do fit. I am hoping that we will be able to make it work for the ones who fit and maybe provide some other medicines for ones that it doesn't work for.

After getting a tour of the grounds we set out on our way. We were set to meet Vincent again to learn how to play those traditional instruments. Since we didn't see a sign on the door or gate, we offered to make them one. Now we will just have to find a way to get the supplies to make signs for both Little Angels and Agape! It's not as easy as going to the Home Depot, but we might be able to find somebody who knows where to get what we need!





We showed up to meet Vincent just in time for him to come and tell us that the center he was going to take us to is locked and we can come back tomorrow. So now that's twice we set out to learn and twice that we failed to learn anything. TIA! We decided to go back to Ntinda and get dinner at Taste Budz.....it's usually always our backup plan! After we sent the guys home on bodas, Angella and I both decided to walk home. It wasn't that late, and only a bit dark. It was a perfect night for walking and much more enjoyable than taking a Mtatu and boda.

All in all it was a good day. Except the power was out from the time we woke up until we got home from Taste Budz. I hope this doesn't become a pattern. It's hard to get things done without a working computer! It seemed like we didn't do much, but finding two new places and meeting with both of them can often take an entire day. That's kind of how it works. When we first started the orphanage project we met with twice as many orphanages as we actually used and it took the entire two weeks to get it all sorted out! I'm hoping we get at least something started out of one of these places from today!

Corruption is Everywhere

It seems no matter how good people’s intentions are, there always seems to be a hiccup that comes in to play after time has passed. We met with Hilda, the mother of the orphanage in Bukoto who was fired two weeks ago to see what exactly had happened. We only had one side of the story before, and really we don’t know which side is the truth anyways! We really thought Hilda was trustworthy. The children seemed to love her and were very joyful and well mannered. I couldn’t really imagine her doing something bad to them, but unfortunately we can never actually be sure of what goes on when we are not around.

Hilda was very excited to see us, although you could tell she was sad about not being at the orphanage anymore. She immediately asked how my mom is…..I’m not surprised….everybody seems to ask! I guess my mom made a really big impact on lots of people here! Hilda explained most everything in Luganda and Angella translated for me. From what we gathered, the orphanage used to have a director that was very good. It was overseen by a retired reverend that lives in Bukoto. Money came from Kenya and some local places and the director made sure that the money went where it should. Then she got sick with a mental problem (who knows what that means) and a woman named Hope took over. Since then, Hilda noticed that there was not a lot of money coming in and that things started to feel a little different. She then found out from somebody that her salary was supposed to be 200,000 and she had only been getting 150,000 per month. The other woman working there was also being shorted by about 100,000 each month. Hope has also been doing strange things with the money for clinic visits and food in order to make it look like the money went to the children and then she would take any leftover money each month and keep it for herself. Apparently she started her own shop somewhere and needed the money to do it. When Hilda tried to ask Hope about it, she was told it was non of her business and eventually Hope decided to fire Hilda. She made up stories and paid some of the older girls to make up lies about how Hilda treated the kids. She even went as far as making the older girls go in to a doctor and make it look like they had had abortions by writing out prescriptions for certain medications. She could then have a paper receipt as evidence against Hilda. If all of this is true, I am not really surprised, but I am still hurt. It’s like Ruth and the Woolies all over again. Somebody swoops in when a well-intentioned person can no longer take care of an orphanage and then uses it for their own gain! It makes me a little sick to my stomach that somebody would have no problems capitalizing on children this way! I honestly don’t want to ever meet this Hope lady……she doesn’t sound nice and I have a feeling only bad things would come of it. Instead of getting mad we told Hilda to try and apply at Watoto orphanage as a house mother. We offered to call the reverend and explain the need for a recommendation letter that could possible help her get started working there. It’s really frustrating because we want to help in so many ways but we also need to focus on our mission of bringing medicine. I feel like we could work forever and ever and never actually fix all the problems at one orphanage. Corruption is everywhere and I don’t know how to prevent it. I wonder what would happen if I were in a similar situation. I would hope that I don’t fall to the pressure of everything around me, but I have a feeling that poverty and hopelessness can cause good people to do not-so-good things.

After meeting with Hilda, we met up with Dennis and Isaac. We told them how to get to us by Mtatu, but they showed up on a boda. It turns out they had walked most of the way and then took a wrong turn. They just decided to take a boda to get back on track. At least they are together and are willing to get lost and then find their way back!

We called Joseph to pick us up and bring us to Little Angels. It’s so nice to have Joseph because he knows the places we normally go to. He also knows a lot of shortcuts to take when there is a jam. Without him, things would be just a bit more complicated sometimes.

I always get worried right before we get to an orphanage that the kids will be gone or something. I guess it comes from having so many random problems with finding orphanages and then having things completely change in a year sometimes. When we turned in to the driveway we could see a little old woman sitting in the shed so I thought it was a good sign. Then we saw a few kids running around that we recognized. There is a man named Max who runs this orphanage. He seems to be trustworthy and really cares for the kids, but we still like to make impromptu visits without calling Max so that we can talk with the mom, Judith, about the children and whether or not she has been paid lately. We have learned that the moms are the best source of information and are usually going to tell the truth about what is really happening. Judith seemed a little sad at first and it took a while for her to warm up. My mom sent money specifically to buy things for the children at Little Angels so we asked Judith what they needed. She didn’t ask for much, so we kept asking and then just started suggesting things that we thought she might be forgetting. Finally we came up with a decent list of school shoes, sandals for the house, backpacks, food, some cooking supplies, a broom, and that was pretty much it. Maybe when we go back we can find out more of what she wants. For now, we will go on Friday to the flea market (the flea market it pure chaos) to get all of the things.

There used to be a brick wall in the front yard, but about a year and a half ago it just fell down. Now there are big poles with huge pieces of tarp strung between them. It provides privacy but not safety. The gate still could be locked, but the doors are crooked and there is seriously no point to locking the gate if you can just walk through where the wall used to be. I’ve wanted to fix it for a long time, but I just never know how. The guys asked Judith if there were any work projects they could do. Isaac used to build sets for the theatre at his college so he’s pretty handy. Judith pointed out the crooked driveway door and started to look a little at the broken wall. The guys decided that they could repair the door and then maybe at least re-hang the tarp to make it look a little better. Maybe it will help a little!



Before we left, the kids sang us a bunch of songs and then did a couple of skits that teach them about sharing and different life lessons. There were only four of them because the rest were at school. These four had not had their school fees paid so they were sent home. They really are happy despite have pretty much nothing. There isn’t food stored in the house, so I think they rely on whatever Max brings them. It’s not like they have a stockpile that they can cook from every day. It’s amazing that there can still be joy without having basic needs met. Clearly they trust God to provide for them and the children happily sing songs about Jesus with huge grins on their faces. The only person that gives a hint of the real situation is Judith, who is worried about the children. I don’t think she has gotten paid in the past couple of months. Max uses the money he has to pay for things for the children, and usually if there isn’t enough, he just tells the moms he will pay when he can. Judith loves the children too much to just leave them, so she will just wait until he pays her, even if that means she doesn’t have money to send home to her own family. It’s truly a sacrifice for her, but one she is willing to make.




After Little Angel, we stopped by Mulago and Troy told us that he thought that Dennis’ bag had arrived. I thought we were going to have to go all the way to Entebbe, but they actually delivered it to the Kenya Airways headquarters downtown. We had just sent Joseph away in his cab so we took a Mtatu instead. We got off near where we thought it would be and then wandered around for a bit before we found it. We ended up calling Pat and he told us where to go. I also ended up just talking to him for a bit about his drive to Gulu. Pat works for the University of Maryland and a bunch of clinics all over the country so he ends up traveling quite a bit to make sure all of the procedures are being done correctly. It seems like a great job and he really loves what he’s doing.

Dennis got his bag back and everything was still in it! YAY! There were also two weird looking seeds in the front. Who knows how they got there or why they were there. I guess Dennis has a souvenir from his nightmare of journey over here. After Dennis got his bags we walked across the street to get lunch at Café Pap. It’s a pretty popular place for tourists but for some reason most bodas and taxis don’t know where it is, but if you ask for Nando’s which is right next door, they know exactly where to go. I suppose they only pay attention to the one that they normally go to. Plus, I realized today that the sign for Café Pap is awful. They tried to be creative with the letters but it ended up just looking like a block of color. Maybe somebody should tell them to advertise better? At least the food was good! We waited for Gloria to come and join us so we had a lot of time to talk and laugh. It’s so great to be around people who are happy and generally just excited about being here.

After lunch we tried to exchange some money that Dennis had brought. It turns out he had $100 bills that were from 1994 and they wouldn’t take them for the best exchange rate. It is a difference of 500 shillings per dollar which adds up a lot on that much money. I wish I would have talked to Dennis before he left! Since he’s never left the country, I think he just wouldn’t think of getting bills from after 2000. I guess Troy didn’t think to tell him either. So now Dennis has money that he can carry around but is pretty much useless!

We headed back to Angella’s house because her security guard offered to teach us how to play a local instrument. It looks kind of like a guitar, but with a lot less strings. I always see them in the craft market, but I never want one because I wouldn’t know what to do with it! We sat around Vincent outside surrounded by a bunch of the local kids while he explained how he uses the scale Do-Re-Mi-Fa-So-La-Ti-Do to come up with the notes. I think that Re and Ti were way out of tune but maybe that’s what they were supposed to be!? Vincent was going to get each of us an instrument to play, but the center wasn’t open today, so he just brought his to play for us. We stayed out until after it got dark listening to him play. He sang songs in Swahili and Luganda about Jesus walking on water, Mary’s journey to Bethlehem, and other stories from the Bible. My favorite was one that is apparently about how you shouldn’t get mad at your neighbors but instead dig a hole to make a garden so that you can eat. Practical advice and a pretty tune……What more can you ask for?


When Vincent was done, we all went upstairs and ate the food that Angella had cooked. She basically re-made the dish that her and I had eaten earlier this week. It was still delicious. Dessert of pineapple and mango was the perfect way to end the evening. We just sat around for an hour or two and told random stories. I’m pretty sure there were times I couldn’t stop laughing even if I tried. We have quickly gotten comfortable with each other so we can joke back and forth too. In just a couple of days I feel really good about being around the guys and Angella. You really have no idea what to expect when you start out on a trip, but you are always thankful when the dynamic is a really positive one!

First Day for Dennis and Isaac

Today was Monday, which meant we started getting down to work with Isaac and Dennis joining us! I was a little apprehensive about meeting them. You really never know what to expect when you are meeting new people and in this situation, we really won’t have a choice to simply avoid spending time with them because we are supposed to be helping them get introduced to the country. I hadn’t met either of them nor even exchanged emails before we left the states! Luckily for us, they are two great guys that I think we are going to have a lot of fun with! I am usually more worried about it for Angella than I am for me! I generally can get along with just about anybody and I’m used to most types of people in the states, but Angella is from a totally different culture and interactions can be a bit strained if people aren’t willing to be open and a little outgoing. Isaac and Dennis are both of these so we have no worries in working with them for the next two weeks.

To start out, Dennis had literally only the clothes on his back. Troy and Dennis had both lost their luggage somewhere between Minneapolis and here. So that meant that the first thing on the agenda was to take Dennis to get some clothes and random things to tide him over! We decided to go to garden city. Dennis’ mom, Vanessa is working with Troy in the hospital so it is the 4 of us just exploring and working in the city! We could have taken Mtatus, special taxi’s or bodas to get there. Since bodas are a bit intense for a first ride, mtatus are crowded and specials are overpriced, I was hoping we could walk. Luckily both Isaac and Dennis were agreeable to walking. In fact, they really enjoyed the idea of walking to our destinations. It was a pleasant day to walk and the sidewalk on the way to Garden City is one of the best in Kampala so it was perfect for getting to know people.

The craziest thing happened on the walk though……a MZUNGU asked us for money! Angella has never seen anything like it and I have to say it is a first for me. There was a guy from what sounded like Great Britain that came up and started telling us a story about how he lost his wallet and when he told the embassy they had no sympathy and his money wouldn’t be coming for at least a couple of days. It’s my strict policy to not give money to people on the streets, whether here or back home. Plus, I simply didn’t buy his story. It was full of a lot of randomness and he honestly didn’t look like he had been robbed recently. His shoes were worn as if he’d put a ton of miles on them and his clothes were not what I would expect from an Englishman who had just started traveling. We all had to decline giving him money and walk away. It’s so hard to say no sometimes. I feel like I’m heartless for not saying yes, but I have learned a lot from volunteering in big cities and from being in Kampala. One of the biggest things to remember is never to give money because it’s not going to solve any problem. There have been a few times when we have given money here simply because we know that if the mom’s buy the items they will get a fair price, but if we buy them, it will be double or more! We had to explain what an oddity this whole situation was to Isaac and Dennis.


Once we got to the “mall”, we let Dennis go to the Mr. Price store to buy some fresh clothes. Unfortunately, the clothes are generally overpriced. I would compare the quality of the clothes to something that you would find in the clearance of Old Navy, but with the price of something much more expensive. A basic button-down shirt was 65,000 shillings. This isn’t a super expensive store in Ugandan terms, but I that the equivalent of about $25 was too much for the quality that you get. Dennis is really relaxed and didn’t worry about paying for the replacements. I’m glad he’s calm! Angella and Isaac and I enjoyed each other’s company at a small coffee shop while we waited.

We then wandered around the grocery store to try and find some things. I started picking up the random things that we knew we watned to eat at Angella's place. After a while Angella came up and Angella said that we shouldn't get anything here because the prices were much higher than in Ntinda. Since I don't know anything about prices, I just trusted her and put everything back except for some candy and crackers for the orphanages today.

On the way home we decided to take a Mtatu. They only run in certain directions on certain roads. I'm pretty sure the distance is much shorter if we had walked because the Mtatus go all the way around the city. At least Dennis and Isaac got to see the whole city.

When we got back to the HVO house, Troy and Vanessa were also there on a break from the hospital. They were still trying to get the internet to function. Isaac had purchased some minutes for the modem in town, but he lost one of the cards. Everything is pay-as-you-go here, so if you want internet or phone time you have to purchase a credit card sized piece of paper. There is a code to scratch off that you enter into your phone or modem and it adds time to your SIM card. It's pretty convenient, but those cards are easy to lose! Isaac must have dropped one of the 4 cards he had purchased on the way home so we weren't able to load any of the time! Instead, I gave Troy my modem so he could at least check his email and get some work done.

We then went down to Katanga. It was probably not the best way for somebody to start a trip to the country because it is pretty much the worst you can see. It's one of the many slums in the city. It has definitely gotten better in JaJa's house, but it's still pretty awful. The "house" is one room with 5 sets of bunk beds and one single bed crammed in. I don't think anything is clean. There are piles of clothes everywhere and children hiding in every corner. There are two windows, but they don't let much air in because the next home is so close. A church group has helped with food and some other things. For example, they built shelves and cupboards on one wall and made a half-wall outside so there is a semi-private place to go to the bathroom. It's much better than last time when the "bathroom" chair was right next to the pot where they cook.

JaJa remembered me, and she remembered Rachel and Ross. I think the tall Mzungus always stand out! She always knows where the medicine cabinet is even in all the piles of stuff. She said all of the medicine had been used. We will come back on Sunday and actually go through the specific medical questions with her when most of the children are home. After only about 15 minutes inside, we were all sweating like crazy and it was honestly getting hard to breath. There is a ton of dust and the smell doesn't really get any better after time. Can you imagine living there.....sleeping, eating, kids playing? It's one thing to just be there for a few minutes, but to call that home would be rough. Luckily most of the kids spend the day at school, but they this is still what they come home to. It's pretty overwhelming to think about it. I haven't taken any pictures yet this year, but we eventually I will get some from Dennis and take some of my own. For now, here are a couple of pictures to kind of get an idea. It's Pay attention to the backgrouds.....what you see is pretty much all there is. Add the smell of garbage, dirty clothes, baby diapers, and maybe you'll get a picture of what we saw.





We gave JaJa some money for coal (this is one of the people I make an exception to my money rule for) We are also going to bring some rice and beans for her on Sunday when we return to get the information about the kids and the medicine. Dennis and Isaac seemed to appreciate the experience. It is hard to know what people are really seeing. Now I know how Angella feels when she takes all of us places. She's seen it so many times before that she wants to know what people are thinking the first time they see these things. I try to remember what it was like the first time I was here, but no matter how hard you try, you just can't go back to that feeling. I think that's why it's so great to bring people for the first time. I get to see what they are focusing on and what stands out to them when they see things. It brings back a bit of the excitement and I'm really thankful for that!

After Katanga, we went to get lunch at Taste Budz near the orphanage in Bukoto. Then we took bodas on the short trip down the hill to see the orphanage. In a half day we managed to get Isaac and Dennis to try almost every type of transportation! Dennis and I rode together and I think he was excited. He said he had never done anything like this before. He's actually never been out of the U.S. before, so everything is really new to him! Hopefully we make it good for him!

At the orphanage, we didn't expect to see many of the kids since they should all be in school. There were at least 8 of them there. It was a huge disappointment to see that Hilda, the mother from last year, was no longer there. Nobody was able to tell us why. The other mother introduced herself as Ana. She has only been here for two weeks and she doesn't know any of the children's names. I don't know why, but there seemed to be a bit of sadness in the kids that were there and they weren't as well-mannered as I remembered them. Hilda had a huge joy about her and the kids seemed to really love her. I think the kids are still adjusting to Ana and she is still getting used to her new job. Angella decided to examine the children and see what they were sick with. While she talked with them, the rest of us played with the kids a bit. Dennis noticed them doing carwheels and all sorts of tricks. Dennis said he knows how to breakdance and the kids would be great at it so he decided to try and teach them some moves. It was great to watch them respond to him and get excited about learning new moves. When we left, one of the older girls, Rita, came with us. She told us that Hilda is still living close to hear and that she sees her often. It seems like an odd situation that Hilda is gone. I think tomorrow we will try to get some medicine for the kids and possibly link up with Hilda. I have a feeling there is some sort of corruption going on, but I have no idea what the source of it is.



We sent Dennis and Isaac home on a boda. I was a bit worried about it but since the boda knew where to go, I figured they should be fine. I felt like a mother hen. I made sure they texted me when they got home! Angella and I didn't want to be responsible for anything bad happened when we were supposed to watching out for them!

I was exhausted and felt really dirty when we got home. I was too tired to take a shower so I just layed on the cold tile floor for a while. Troy and company decided we should go to dinner some place. I suggested Pavement Tandoori, a restaurant that is fairly close to Mulago and closer than most places from Angella's place. By the time Angella decided she was going to join us, it was already past the time we were supposed to meet. We eventually got there. Troy had called to ask where it was and I said it was right there, with a patio out front. He said he couldn't find it and he would wait at the Crocodile, a pretty good restaurant with lots of choices. When Angella and I pulled up, sure enough the Indian restaurant was gone and so was the Chinese restaurant that used to be there. Who knows why they closed, but they were gone, so we ate at the Crocodile instead. I guess maybe the location wasn't the best since it's off the main roads and a little harder for tourists to find? Who knows....


Dinner was great. Vanessa knows a ton about her field of hematopathology (or the study of blood diseases). Her and Troy work together but their focuses are pretty much opposite. It was great listening to them tell stories about research in the field because they would both interject points that focused on what they study. They were constantly trying to top each other's points with a good one of their own. Their excitement level was great. You know people really love what they do when they get excited about the things that most other people whould not understand or would find boring. Since all of us at the table have some sort of interest in medicine, we were all entertained by the conversation!

After dinner, Angella and I waited for almost a half hour to find a Mtatu that wasn't full. They either had no seats or one seat, but the conductors kept trying to get us to cram in. Eventually we had to settle for one with one seat left and just get closer to each other. Apparently everybody was traveling at 9:00 on a Monday night.

All in all I think it was a good day. JaJa and the children are still at Katanga. The Bukoto orphanage is still there but we are worried about why Hilda is gone. We showed Dennis and Isaac some good things and got Dennis some new clothes! Hopefully they are having a good first day! Tomorrow we will go to see Little Angels and meet up with Hilda if it all goes as planned, but let's be honest, when has anything really gone as we planned it?

Sunday

There is something about Sunday in Uganda that I always love. It seems that no matter how the week is going or what troubles we have behind or ahead in theweek, something good usually happens on Sunday. This one was no exception!

We spent the morning at the house just hanging out and getting stuff organized. We had decided to go to the noon service at church so we had some time to just relax. We made breakfast and ate under the shade outside on the porch. There is something about a relaxing morning just looking out at the beautiful green trees, white buildings, red dirt, and blue sky that is really special. I don't know why, but the colors seem to be a bit more vibrant in the morning. This is basically what we can see looking out from the porch....



We called our best cab driver, Joseph to meet us and take us to church. Last year, he drove us just about every day to different places. We haven't used him much so far because Angella and I have walked or taken bodas and Mtatu's everywhere we go. It's much cheaper and often faster to do it that way. He is a happy man that is super excited every time we see him. He came out and gave us big hugs. He immediately asked how my mom was. Pretty much everywhere we go people ask how she is. I think she'll have to come back and visit to show them all that she is fine! My mom had send a card and some things for Joseph and his family and he was so excited to bring them home to his wife, Eva!


We had Joseph drop us off the the Mulago guest house to see if we could find Isaac and Vanessa, two of the people Troy is traveling with but they hadn't arrived quite yet. We took a Mtatu to church. There are still security checks outside of big gatherings and places where there tend to be a lot of people such as the shopping centers. It's a bit funny to have somebody check your bag or pat you down as you walk in to church, but I guess that's still the consequences of last year's Al Shabab bombings. I love the choir at Watoto church. It's probably got at least 100 members. All of the women were dressed in matching yellow traditional dresses scattered with other colors. The men had matching blue shirts with a center line of the same material as the women's dresses. They sing and dance and praise with a ton of excitement during worship. One of my favorite songs was played during the worship. There is a lines that say, "strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord", "You're the defender of the weak, you comfort those in need, you lift us up on wings like eagles." These are such true and necessary words, especially over here. People have so many troubles and trials and sometimes we all have to be reminded that we have a God who loves and cares for us and is going to provide for us. I am constantly given reminders of how much I am loved as we find ourselves confused on what to do or where to find what we need, but somehow we are always pointed in the right direction.

During the offerning song, a famous saxophonist came and played. His music was so beautiful! Angella said that he is really famous over here so I thought it was a special treat that we got to hear him. The most amazing part of the service came at the end of worship. The pastors came up to invite a "special group" who had been traveling. Immediately I hoped it was the Watoto Children's choir because I love it when the kids come to sing, but I didn't think it was possible since they had already been back in Uganda for a while. I only know this because one of the kids we come to see, Trevor, was in the choir that most recently traveled to the east coast in the U.S.. When they announced the choir, Angella and I looked and each other and began to frantically search for Trevor in the group of kids that walked on stage. Sure enough, the fourth kid to walk on was TREVOR! He stood in the front row with a smile that could pretty much light the stage! He's grown up so much since we first met him and he seems to be really happy. Seeing Trevor made the day even more exciting. After service, we tried to see if he was still around, but the choir had already left and gone home. At least we will get to see him on Thursday with all the other Woolies.

After church we walked to exchange some money in town and then we still had some time to kill so we went to a craft market and picked up a few things. It's pretty much always the same stuff, but I somehow always find things that I haven't seen before that I buy. Plus, I have to bring home a lot of paper necklaces for my mom and some other people who wanted them! at under $2 each, it's hard not to buy a lot!

We took bodas to go and have lunch at Angella's friend Pat's house. He is the one that picked me up from the airport. Angella and Pat went to medical school together and it's so fun to be with the two of them. You really have to be ready to laugh without stopping when the two of them are together. Pat wanted to cook for us. It's not every day that a Ugandan guy offers to do the cooking, so we couldn't refuse! He lives with one of his sisters in their family home. Most of the rest of his family lives and works in the UK right now, so they have lots of extra room. The rent out part of the house to another family. There are lots of kids running around and people are always smiling and laughing. I think this home would be a good one to grow up in. There is a lot of love shown between all of them! My favorite baby is Honda. Yup, that's right, Honda, like that Japanese car. Pat's sister really likes Japan so she wanted to show it by naming her child something that reflected how much she likes the country! I think his mom was surprised that we knew his name before we met him. How can you forget a name like Honda?

Pat made us a delicious meal of sausage, chicken, rice and noodles. He entertained us with the movie Fast Five while he finished cooking. We enjoyed the action movie and when Pat finished he came and watched the rest with us. Angella loved all the action sequences, but didn't quite catch on to all the story lines. I had a lot of explaining to do! She said she was glad she didn't see it in the theatre because she would have never been able to understand it all. We finished off dinner with mango, pineapple, and oranges....and then ice cream. It was a delicious way to finish off the dinner. We spend a little more time playing with the kids outside and watching some youtube videos. The same stuff that we watch back home seems to be popular over here too! Here is a picture of Honda, and of the three of us with some of the children.




Pat insisted on driving us home. It's so much nicer to have a car here. It makes it seem not so difficult to get around and it feels a lot more like living in, rather than visiting Uganda. Pat left us and we spent some time just hanging out before the World Cup women's final. It was between U.S. and Japan. I'm not a huge soccer fan but when there are big games on and tournaments on t.v. I find myself getting really excited. It was a great game and we had to stay up until 1 to see the finish, which was a little disappointing for the U.S. We lost in a shoot-out! At least the game was really exciting!

We had been getting messages from Troy all night via email that him and Dennis had been delayed. We had arranged a taxi to get them from the airport at 11:30, but by the time they survived all the delays in Nairobi they didn't get to the airport until 3 am and not surprisingly their luggage didn't make at. At least the driver didn't mind waiting for them! I had been worried all night that they wouldn't hook up with the driver, especially when the driver kept sending messages that he hadn't found them! I was finally able to sleep when I got a message that they had met up but didn't have luggage. Once Troy gets in the country, he doesn't have a problem getting around.

Tomorrow the real work starts. We are going to meet Isaac and Dennis. They have never been here before and we are going to show them around the country and they will help us at the orphanages! I hope they are ready for the randomness that happens!

Relaxing Days

So usually when we get here we have to hit the ground running with projects and visits to places, but we actually had some time to just relax and enjoy Uganda life for a bit. We still did quite a bit on Friday but today was basically sleeping off jet lag and Angella and I enjoying life! It was glorious!

On Friday we woke up and after breakfast headed in to Mulago hospital to see our friend Susan. Last year we stayed at Susan's house while she was living next door with her sister who was about to get married. Susan just delivered a baby by C-section on Thursday and we were able to go in and see her! Little Jasmine is a precious little baby and Susan is a proud new mom! She was still a little out of it from all the drugs that she was on for pain and infection, but she was doing well overall! We took a bunch of pictures on Angella's camera that I will post when I get them uploaded. It was great to go to Mulago and not be on our way to see really sick patients, which is often the case. It felt like we were visiting friends in Minnesota in the hospital after they had a baby a couple of weeks ago. Susan was even fortunate enough to get a private room for her recovery! She loved the clothes that my mom and I had bought for the baby and the jewelry that we picked out for her! Way to go mom!

After visiting with Susan, we took boda's to another friend, Gloria's house. She stays with her brother and his family in a two story house that is much bigger than my parents home in Minnesota. I am not used to being here and staying in "real" houses. Usually it's a guest house or we are visiting an orphanage with very small rooms and lots of kids crammed in. Sometimes I forget that people live fairly normal lives right next to the places where life isn't so easy! It was great to see Gloria and I think she was excited to see us too! We went to the Oasis mall for lunch at Java's. It's a favorite spot of Mzungu's....as we were driving up to the mall, I saw more white people than I had seen all day in other parts of town. I guess we all end up flocking to the places that feel most like home!

We left to pick up a SIM card for my phone and then found a place in an area called Wandegeya that sells internet connections. Luckily they were having a sale so I was able to purchase my modem (that looks like a Jump Drive) and a connection package that will last about a month, depending on how much I use it for just about $40. I was a little shocked when they asked for my contact information including a phone and email when they registered my account. I think it's the first time in four years of coming here that anybody has sold me something and cared who I was! I guess Uganda is moving forward!!

By the time we were finished with our errands and visits it was already after 5, and the jam was bad. We tried to take a back road, but that really wasn't much better. Halfway up a small street, we were completely blocked by a tow truck. It didn't have enough power to make it up the small hill. Can you imagine the truck that is supposed to help other vehicles was incapable of even the smallest hill? While we were waiting a boda ran into the back bumper. Not really surprising and luckily didn't do any damage. When we finally got home, I realized I was exhausted and could barely keep my eyes open. Thanks jet lag! I ended up taking a nap for an hour, which is never a good idea, but sometimes its totally necessary! I woke up and ended up talking with Gloria, Angella, Gloria's brother George and his girlfriend Nora. The conversation was all over the place from very serious topics to extremely lighthearted ones, but there managed to be laughter the entire time. I think George has a way with words!

Today was an even more low key day. I had woken up in the middle of the night to finish some MPH assignments. It's not easy to keep up with them and as excited as I was about my Orange internet modem, it wasn't working well at all last night so the excitement went a little south. At 4 am though, it all of a sudden kicked in and now I have decently fast internet! Yay Orange! So I ended up staying up way to late and then sleeping in until 9:30! That's the latest I've slept in ages! We made some plans and some phone calls for where we are going to go each day and hopefully we will be able to make it all work out. Since Angella had bought a lot of vegetables, we decided to have a cooking adventure. We made amazing pasta complete with homemade sauce from fresh tomatoes and all kinds of random veggies. We were quite proud of our creation in the end! We even decided to document the momentous occasion with a picture. I think it's the first time I've been here and cooked a meal in a house. We've stayed at places without great cooking facilities before so this was a nice change!


We ended up spending most of the day watching silly American reality T.V. shows like Wipeout, Next, and some random new one about fixing people's relationships. We laughed a lot all day! I can't imagine what Ugandans think about us if this is what they generally see is "reality" They must think we are all a little crazy!

I convinced Angella that running would be fun and she agreed to go with! I was expecting it to be really hard because of the hills and the heat and I think we are at a bit of an altitude compared to Minnesota. It actually was a lot of fun. You have to really be aware of your surroundings with the traffic and the weird arrangement of the roads. I had to come up with random landmarks because it's not like there were street signs to guide my way! We tried to find another Susan's house, but we were totally not in the right place. On the way back with both saw it at different times and realized we had completely looked past it! I think I was so worried about making it up the hill that I saw in front of me that I didn't look off to the sides! We decided to come back another day and visit instead! Here are our before and after pictures! Haha!




When we got done, one of Angella's neighbors came up and asked her, "Doctor, why does this one not sweat?". Apparently my white skin was hiding all of my sweat! I wiped my face with my hand and assured him that I was not any different, and that I sweat too! I was so glad that Angella came with and that there weren't any falls on the slippery dust on the roads. My poor shoes are a little worse for the journey though! I don't think they will be coming home with me!


We spent the rest of the night watching the 3rd place game of the women's World Cup between Sweden and France! I wish I knew more about the sport! It's not easy to be excited about it when you don't know any of the players and the rules are still a mystery! I think I've picked up on quite a bit though and I was actually excited to watch it! Tomorrow is a must watch game between the US and Japan! I think I know who I'll cheer for in that game!

Okay, so the past two days were a lot of fun and relaxation which I think was needed but tomorrow starts working on a lot of things. We have to confirm contacts with a bunch of the orphanages, go to church (I can't wait for Watoto Church!), hopefully meet up with Troy's other traveling companions (Troy is stranded with Dennis somewhere between Paris, Nairobi, and here until Sunday night), try to meet up with our favorite cab driver, Joseph, and maybe make another trip to see Susan! I feel like I need to start doing the real work so we don't end up stressing out towards the end of the trip when we have to cram a lot into a few days!

I have arrived!

Traveling was different being alone, but I think I managed just fine. The only think I like about coming home from Uganda is that my carry-on is much smaller and lighter. On the way over I pack EVERY heavy thing I can in my backpack and computer case. I look like one of those inexperienced travelers that doesn't know when to stop packing. I had a printer, refills of paper, children's books, reading flashcards, all my electronics, and every other random heavy thing I could fit in my bags. Its was a delicate puzzle trying to get my computer out of its case and then back in again during the short time in security every time......and going through security is a requirement on EVERY flight, even the connections! In Chicago I'm pretty sure the International terminal was in a different city that domestic. We had to leave through security, walk through the entire terminal, take a shuttle, and then go through security again. I just love carrying all my crap on my back. I have probalby said it before, but I feel pretty much like a turtle with my whole life on my back! Oh yeah, and on top of that, I had to put my otoscope and opthalmascope into my really full, perfectly packed backpack and wouldn't you know that all three times through security, they couldn't tell what it was in the scanner! Even when I took it out of my bag in Amsterdam they had to rescan it. At least it gave me extra time to repack my computer each time without too much of a scene!

I was just a little more stressed during these flights because I knew I had a lot of online MPH homework to do while I was traveling. This computer has a battery life of 2 hours if I'm lucky so doing work on the plane isn't really all that productive. It makes me miss my mac! I got to Amsterdam and I had two things on my mind.....take a two hour online biostats test and check my board scores.....both are unappealing and made me sick to my stomach! When I got off of the flight from Chicago and printed my boarding pass from the KLM kiosk, I was baffled to see my ticket didn't give me a seat number and the "attendant" told me I was flying standby! Really? You have to be kidding me! And when I asked her how I could fix it since I was sure I already had a seat assigned, she said I couldn't do anything until I was at the gate and that the gate didn't open until right before security and boarding started....awesome work KLM!

By the time I found a place to connect to the internet, got my stuff set up, and got an internet connection started, I realized I only had 2 hours and 10 minutes before boarding started. I quickly checked my reservation and saw that I was in 16G. I hoped that simply knowing that would fix any problem that might arise. I probably rushed through the test and really all I could do was think about checking my score for boards so I won't be surprised if my biostats test score is less than stellar! When I finished with only 10 minutes left til boarding, I logged in to the email with board scores and started clicking through the website. I know it's not medically possible, but I'm pretty sure my heart was beating so hard that it could have just popped right through my ribs! Waiting for the pdf to open was an eternity! The first thing I saw when I opened it was the best 4 letter word I've ever seen....PASS. I didn't really care much about the details because I had to get to the gate, and honestly I'm still a little worried that I didn't read it right, but right now the webpage is down so I'll just have to assume that I was right! This made the last flight a whole lot more bearable!

Once I got to the ticket counter, I tried to get the attention of any of the 5 people at the desk but they all seemed to not even care that I, or any of the other passengers were there. I just wanted a seat on that plane! Finally a guy behind me pushed his way to the counter and told the desk person that he needed a boarding pass and informed her that I did too. Thankfully I was given a boarding pass immediately. It the awesome location of 22F. Awesome. Not an aisle seat like I was expecting, but it would do just fine. Oh yeah I forgot to mention that we had a stop in Kigali, Rwanda. It's really great when you book a flight through an airline and it shows all of your destinations but fails to mention you will be stopping to drop of passengers and pick up some more. Just another hour or two of sitting on a plane and not even going anywhere. It's not the first time it's happened. There was the stop in Sudan last year and a side trip to Tanzania a few years ago. I'm just going to assume from now on that we won't have a direct flight anywhere when KLM is taking us somewhere in Africa.

Luckily along the way I met some nice people. In line in Amsterdam, two women from South Carolina started talking to me about their trip to Kigali. One of them is a pastor's wife and the other is her friend. They were on their way to Kigali to help start a church with a local man who has been traveling around giving sermons but doesn't have a base to hold a service in. It was encouraging to hear what they are doing and the excitement they had. Before they got off the plan in Kigali, we exchanged information and offered to be praying for one another. It's really great when you can make a connection with somebody had feel like you are invested in the work they are doing even in just a very brief meeting! I was smashed between two people who happened to be a little bigger than their seats, so I tried my best to stay upright with my hands folded so I didn't take up more than my seat. I didn't really mind though. After an hour or two of sleeping, the first meal came around and it sparked a conversation with the man next to me. It turns out he's been living in Uganda for 3 years and his wife and children still live in Michigan. He travels home when he can, but it's only a few times a year. I can't imagine what it would be like to live her and have your family so far away! He made the time pass quickly as we shared stories of the city, past travels, and we ended up having a connection because his son also just took his boards! Ali gave me his contact information, offered I ride to Kampala if Angella didn't show up at the airport, and assured me that if I were in a pinch for any reason, I could stop by and he'd help me out. I'm always a little cautious of people offering to take me places, but he genuinely just wanted to offer a hand if I needed it. I hopefully won't need his help with anything major, but it's nice to know there is a connection if you need it!

At the airport, I waited in line to purchase a VISA. A man directed us to different ticket counters. I had the misfortune of getting to a window behind a woman and her three boys. By the time they were finished, half the people in the line behind me had made it through other counters. I just have to say, TIA. Stuff happens when it happens and waiting is pretty much a way of life. I found my bags pretty quickly and then waited in another line to put my bags through a security check and walk through a metal detector. I didn't quite understand it. Some people just pushed their bags through and walked around it. I never saw a single person stopped and I went through the metal detector with my backpack and laptop. Clearly they were not actually looking at anything!

When I got outside, there was the usual crowd of taxi drivers. I had no idea where Angella and Pat would be so I just slowly looked around. Then two taxi drivers came up to me and asked if I wanted a ride. Right after I told them know, I saw Angella pop out and say "boo"! You can't imagine how excited and relieved I was to see her! Between her and Pat the excitement was at an amazingly high level. We laughed and joked the whole way to Entebbe. We counted at least a dozen polic trucks on the ride, which is honestly a bit of a comfort. They can often stop people for no reason and ask for money, but I think that things have changed so that they are out to be more of a presence and intervene if anything happens at night, especially since there is always a flight coming in at 10:15 pm with people traveling on to Kampala.

Angella's new apartment is great. It's on the second floor so there is a lot less dust and the bathroom actually has a separate room for the toilet and the shower! The water heater works and the refrigerator holds a lot of stuff! Although there were still craters in the road and noisy dogs and roosters making noise all night, it feels more like a home than any other place I've stayed! I didn't sleep much because I was worried about an assignment that I knew was going to be late because the internet wasn't working and I was suffering from the usually jet lag and time change. I'm pretty sure I only really slept for a few hours, but at least I was in bed pretending to sleep form about 2 am until 7. We started to day with a breakfast made by Angella....amazing eggs, toast with nutella and pineapple! It was much more than I am used to, but it was delicious!

Now that I've written a novel about the boring travel stuff (btw it's like 5 am here and I am not sleeping because I wanted to finish an assignment that is due at midnight Minnesota time which is 8 am here. I had finished it before bed, but the internet was not working all night, so I kept waking myself up to check until finally it worked at 4 am! Haha.....luckily I'm still kind of on Minnesota time and had a hard time going right back to bed so I decided to take advantage while it's still working! It's actually Saturday here, and we did a lot of random things on Friday, but I'll have to save that for my next post! For now I think I'll try to get a few more hours of sleep!

4th time is going to be amazing!

I can't believe that it's been a year since the last time I was in the land I call my second home. It's been a pretty crazy year full of ups and downs and I'm hoping that this is going to be another high point. Let's be honest though, within the next 3 weeks there will likely be lots of highs and just as many lows. It's just a matter of taking it all in stride and continuing to work with what we've got! Since the last time I was in Uganda, I finished my second year of medical school including taking Step 1 of the USMLE boards. It's amazing how many clinic encounters I've had since then. I fell like I've already experiences an amazingly large number of patient interactions but I haven't even touched the tip of the iceberg when it comes to my medical knowledge! I started working on my Master's of Public Health degree the day before I took my board exam and unfortunately I will have to work on some online classes while I am away. The program is only a year long but luckily the whole summer is online classes. I'll be spending the next year in the classroom learning about how to treat entire communities rather than the individual science of disease. I know that this new degree is going to help me when I work in small towns and as I work on projects in Uganda over time. I hope I can start applying when I know on this trip.

Okay, that's pretty boring. The last year in Minnesota has been not all that exciting for most people to hear my drone on about how many hours we study. I have realized I've become quite a nerd and get excited about the pathological basis of diseases and all kinds of little details that most people really don't care about. At least it confirms that what I'm doing is what I'm supposed to be doing and that I'm excited to be learning all of it!

The trip this year is going to be a new experience for me......i'm traveling alone to Entebbe and Angella and her friend Pat will be meeting me at the airport. I'll stay with Angella for the next three weeks and work on more of the orphanage projects delivering medicine and educating the caregivers on how to administer the types of medications that you would normally keep in your medicine cabinet at home. In the end we hope to see a decrease in the need for hospital and clinic visits for the orphans that we are providing medicine for. Dr. Lund and two students will be joining me 4 days after I arrive. I think their names are Isaac and Dennis. It's going to be a different experience working with people I've never met until they arrive! Hopefully I will be able to give them a great experience.....but seriously, it's Uganda.....how can it not be amazing?


This picture is from Ross' first trip to visit the Woolies. It's amazing that the boys were so little. Angella introduced Ross and Ross introduced our family and friends to the kids. Although they are the original "woolies", we have added to the number that we visit every year! Every time I have left the country, I feel as though I'll never be able to have a heart big enough to love any more kids, but every time I get back to Uganda, it seems my heart has grown a little bit more and we find a bunch more to love!



Here's a picture of the original Woolies as they were last year.They have grown so much!


I'll try to be better about posting pictures this time! It's difficult because I usually have to write a blog and then eventually find an internet connection and upload it before it times out! It's almost like back to the days of dial up! This year I am going to try to get internet Orange which is pretty much like a USB port that acts like a wireless modem from anywhere. I'm really hoping it works out because on top of working at the orphanages, I will need to work on all of my coursework for my MPH classes! It's going to be really tough to concentrate on them!

So anyways, I guess that's just a very brief intro to the trip before I leave! I'm currently completely packed. I had to come down and stay at a friend's house in the Twin Cities (thanks Emily, Ashley, and Brandee!) I have a love hate relationship with packing! Two suitcases at 50 pounds each is not enough when you want to load them up with as many toys, books, and games as you can! I basically have a huge box of things at my parents house that my mom has been collecting and I just crammed as much as I could. I take up every last nook and cranny of my backback and computer case with all the heavy stuff and then just hope that I won't have to take anything out of my checked luggage. The only good part about leaving Uganda will be the fact that my suitcases will be significantly lighter.....but I don't want to think about that because once I get there, I usually don't want to leave!

Anyways, I think sleeping before the trip is a great idea! I hope you all enjoy the random commentary I will have about the trip! If you have any questions about what we're doing or random questions about the kids.....or maybe you've never heard of a "wooly"..... feel free to ask! Sometimes I'm positive my parents are the only ones that read this blog and they hear me talk about the trip a lot already!

ps.....I really am going to miss having my mom or my brother or sister-in-law on this trip......oh yeah, and Pamela and Nick, you guys were great travel buddies too! At least I have my "sister from another mother", Angella to take care of me.