Right now, I'm sitting over the Nile, watching the sun go down. We will go rafting tomorrow, then back to Kampala for a great last dinner. On Monday morning we'll get on the plane, and get home to JFK on Monday night.
Thanks to everyone for following my journey, supporting me, and commenting on this blog.
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Red Cross
Thanks to many generous souls, St. Jude's Orphanage will be receiving a 5 day First Aid and CPR training!
Jen and Danielle (two other teachers) have spent lots of time researching and talking to Mother Filda (also the Director of St. Judes). We were thinking that maybe some how we could get a doctor to come to the orphanage and do a few hour CPR. Instead, Filda started to explain that she would like to have the Red Cross come, but she doesn't have the money. We were shocked initially that the Red Cross was here, and then so excited! Amazingly, through the money donated through this blog, and through other teachers, we will be able to buy new cooking pots, new bed mattresses, and pay for the Red Cross to come and hold a CPR/First Aid training. Many of the details are unknown, but we do know that the basic training the Red Cross does here in Uganda is a 5 day training. Although this may seem like a lot of time by American standards, many of the concepts are foreign to people here (imagine that...foreign, in another country. hmmm...) and so it will definitely take them more time to teach some of these skills.
Although we will not be around for the actual training, I will be going tomorrow to visit St. Judes for one last time, and to finalize everything with Filda. Can't wait! I will have an update for all of you!
Jen and Danielle (two other teachers) have spent lots of time researching and talking to Mother Filda (also the Director of St. Judes). We were thinking that maybe some how we could get a doctor to come to the orphanage and do a few hour CPR. Instead, Filda started to explain that she would like to have the Red Cross come, but she doesn't have the money. We were shocked initially that the Red Cross was here, and then so excited! Amazingly, through the money donated through this blog, and through other teachers, we will be able to buy new cooking pots, new bed mattresses, and pay for the Red Cross to come and hold a CPR/First Aid training. Many of the details are unknown, but we do know that the basic training the Red Cross does here in Uganda is a 5 day training. Although this may seem like a lot of time by American standards, many of the concepts are foreign to people here (imagine that...foreign, in another country. hmmm...) and so it will definitely take them more time to teach some of these skills.
Although we will not be around for the actual training, I will be going tomorrow to visit St. Judes for one last time, and to finalize everything with Filda. Can't wait! I will have an update for all of you!
Monday, July 26, 2010
Ding Dong the Mouse is dead!
It's been about 2 weeks since someone had seen the mouse in our room. But it was a long process these past three weeks.
First Killing attempt- Buy traps from the market. We wanted the boxes that they get trapped inside, but after hearing, "They are not here. You come tomorrow." I waited a day. Falling for the African response and expecting they'd actually be there tomorrow was my first failure. Of course they weren't there the next day, so rather than wait, I bought snap traps. They said Mouse Traps on the box but were more the size of rat traps. "Oh well," we thought "load them with peanut butter anyway." I didn't really want to be the one to find a mouse snapped in half, so I didn't check them the next day.
Joe checked them two days later, and the peanut butter had been licked clean.
Fooled by the mouse the first time! We realized the trap wasn't set right and didn't even go off when we pushed it with a stick. We reloaded it with peanut butter and checked a few hours later.
Second Killing attempt- After making sure the trap will go off. Blasted mouse out smarted us again, and got an extra helping of peanut butter! Apparently the mouse was too light and wouldn't set off the trap.
Third Killing Attempt- So we reloaded it for a third try, this time with more weight. We placed 3 heavy coins on the trap and then put peanut butter on it. We had to wait till morning to see if it worked.
Morning came, and the trap was clean all except for the three coins. More free peanut butter for this stupid mouse, but at least he didn't take our coins (totaling about $1USD).
Fourth Killing attempt- While out in town that day, I stopped by to talk to Robert. He was our friend out in Pabo two years ago and now lives and workes in Gulutown. He told me about this type of medicine I could buy, open the capsule and mix half of it with a scoop of peanut butter. It would poison the mouse and kill him. I was estatic. Robert and I walked down the street and I bought 6 pills for about 4 cents. Drugs are pretty cheap here! I went home, mixed up the concoction and waited. Little did I know that Andy (another teacher) had found and bought 'Rodent Paste' that is basically rat poison. We put both on the trap and waited.
Days passed and we weren't sure if he was still alive or not. It appeared as though he hadn't eaten either the peanut butter or the poison, but there weren't as many late night scares of the mouse trying to climb into bed with one of the six of us. And that was a very good thing!
Fast forward about a week or more later. Six girls living in what we lovingly dubbed "Polly Pocket Ville". A 10'X 12' room with 3 bunk beds, 6 girls, and ALL of our stuff. The room started to smell, but as you can imagine we just thought it was a by product of the small size and the amount of girls. The next morning, thankfully group 1 was leaving, our room stank of death. As the other four girls packed up to leave Gulu, Sarah and I packed up to move into another room.
I am now happily living in the master bedroom (don't get too excited, there are still 3 bunk beds) with two other girls and we have a lot more space. Plus our day time guard, Michael Jackson (I'm not kidding) is awesome and he found the mouse in the back corner of our room. My heart goes out to Jenni and Kristin who slept in that corner of the room. So soddy.
Michael and Evelyn cleaned the room and soon it will be free of mouse stench.
Alas, after many long nights, and way too many killing trials, the mouse is dead! Maybe we'll have a party tonight!
First Killing attempt- Buy traps from the market. We wanted the boxes that they get trapped inside, but after hearing, "They are not here. You come tomorrow." I waited a day. Falling for the African response and expecting they'd actually be there tomorrow was my first failure. Of course they weren't there the next day, so rather than wait, I bought snap traps. They said Mouse Traps on the box but were more the size of rat traps. "Oh well," we thought "load them with peanut butter anyway." I didn't really want to be the one to find a mouse snapped in half, so I didn't check them the next day.
Joe checked them two days later, and the peanut butter had been licked clean.
Fooled by the mouse the first time! We realized the trap wasn't set right and didn't even go off when we pushed it with a stick. We reloaded it with peanut butter and checked a few hours later.
Second Killing attempt- After making sure the trap will go off. Blasted mouse out smarted us again, and got an extra helping of peanut butter! Apparently the mouse was too light and wouldn't set off the trap.
Third Killing Attempt- So we reloaded it for a third try, this time with more weight. We placed 3 heavy coins on the trap and then put peanut butter on it. We had to wait till morning to see if it worked.
Morning came, and the trap was clean all except for the three coins. More free peanut butter for this stupid mouse, but at least he didn't take our coins (totaling about $1USD).
Fourth Killing attempt- While out in town that day, I stopped by to talk to Robert. He was our friend out in Pabo two years ago and now lives and workes in Gulutown. He told me about this type of medicine I could buy, open the capsule and mix half of it with a scoop of peanut butter. It would poison the mouse and kill him. I was estatic. Robert and I walked down the street and I bought 6 pills for about 4 cents. Drugs are pretty cheap here! I went home, mixed up the concoction and waited. Little did I know that Andy (another teacher) had found and bought 'Rodent Paste' that is basically rat poison. We put both on the trap and waited.
Days passed and we weren't sure if he was still alive or not. It appeared as though he hadn't eaten either the peanut butter or the poison, but there weren't as many late night scares of the mouse trying to climb into bed with one of the six of us. And that was a very good thing!
Fast forward about a week or more later. Six girls living in what we lovingly dubbed "Polly Pocket Ville". A 10'X 12' room with 3 bunk beds, 6 girls, and ALL of our stuff. The room started to smell, but as you can imagine we just thought it was a by product of the small size and the amount of girls. The next morning, thankfully group 1 was leaving, our room stank of death. As the other four girls packed up to leave Gulu, Sarah and I packed up to move into another room.
I am now happily living in the master bedroom (don't get too excited, there are still 3 bunk beds) with two other girls and we have a lot more space. Plus our day time guard, Michael Jackson (I'm not kidding) is awesome and he found the mouse in the back corner of our room. My heart goes out to Jenni and Kristin who slept in that corner of the room. So soddy.
Michael and Evelyn cleaned the room and soon it will be free of mouse stench.
Alas, after many long nights, and way too many killing trials, the mouse is dead! Maybe we'll have a party tonight!
Safari Weekend
Traveling in the Invisible Children SUV off roading vehicle is so much better than a mutatu. Mutatu's are Africa's versions of large van taxi's that take many people, often more than the legal limit, from one town to another. Often they travel long distances, for many hours. I've come accustomed to this type of travel throughout Uganda. But I have only riden in a mutatu ONCE during this whole trip.
Because of the Kampala bombings, Invisible Children will only allow us to travel with the use of their vehicles. Thus everywhere we go we get to travel with the amazing Simon and/or Christopher, two of the IC drivers.
They took us to Murchison Falls National Park. We drove to Anaka IDP Camp and picked up Kelley, Min, and Colleen and then headed right to the park.
Catherine is our fearless leader this summer, and her right hand woman is Danielle. The two of them had to travel down to Kampala and to Entebbe with Group 1, so they put me in charge the Safari for our group. I was up for the challenge and definitely learned a lot. Plus, everyone in group 2 started calling me their commander-in-chief, which was pretty hilarious.
We drove through the park to get to the Nile and saw many Kob, Giraffes, and a few far off Elephants. After crossing the Nile, we boarded a small boat with just the 12 of us on it. Fiona was our guide and she did a fantastic job of showing us the many animals that live in the Nile or just off shore. Our trip was about 2.5hrs up the river to the falls, and then we travel back to the dock (1hr drive) as the sunset over the Nile. Pretty surreal. We saw tons of hippos, crocs, king fishers, and even some colobus monkeys.
That night we stayed in real canvas tents, and there were even wild warthogs walking around the camp ground. Thankfully, Angela and I left our food in the vehicle so they didn't bother us at night. Also, thankfully Angela is a light sleeper and my alarm woke her up even though it didn't wake me up. So we left bright and early for our game drive safari. We pulled out before 6:30 and got in line to take the ferry back across the Nile. First in line felt pretty good!
We then spent the next 3-4 hours sitting on a mattress on top of our vehicles. I can't imagine doing this in the states, but it really is the only way to do a safari. Thankfully the weather cooperated and it stayed cool most of the morning and by 10am the clouds started clearing and it started getting hotter. We finished by 11am without seeing any lions, but we did see lots of other animals. After I get home I'll post some pictures. The internet is just too slow here. sorry.
We got back yesterday and spent some time relaxing. Angela, Sarah, and I even went to an American type restaurant for dinner. We got our dinner to go and took it back home. I was able to eat a delicious chicken salad sandwich while watching Big Bang Theory. It was amazing.
Great ending to a great weekend.
Because of the Kampala bombings, Invisible Children will only allow us to travel with the use of their vehicles. Thus everywhere we go we get to travel with the amazing Simon and/or Christopher, two of the IC drivers.
They took us to Murchison Falls National Park. We drove to Anaka IDP Camp and picked up Kelley, Min, and Colleen and then headed right to the park.
Catherine is our fearless leader this summer, and her right hand woman is Danielle. The two of them had to travel down to Kampala and to Entebbe with Group 1, so they put me in charge the Safari for our group. I was up for the challenge and definitely learned a lot. Plus, everyone in group 2 started calling me their commander-in-chief, which was pretty hilarious.
We drove through the park to get to the Nile and saw many Kob, Giraffes, and a few far off Elephants. After crossing the Nile, we boarded a small boat with just the 12 of us on it. Fiona was our guide and she did a fantastic job of showing us the many animals that live in the Nile or just off shore. Our trip was about 2.5hrs up the river to the falls, and then we travel back to the dock (1hr drive) as the sunset over the Nile. Pretty surreal. We saw tons of hippos, crocs, king fishers, and even some colobus monkeys.
That night we stayed in real canvas tents, and there were even wild warthogs walking around the camp ground. Thankfully, Angela and I left our food in the vehicle so they didn't bother us at night. Also, thankfully Angela is a light sleeper and my alarm woke her up even though it didn't wake me up. So we left bright and early for our game drive safari. We pulled out before 6:30 and got in line to take the ferry back across the Nile. First in line felt pretty good!
We then spent the next 3-4 hours sitting on a mattress on top of our vehicles. I can't imagine doing this in the states, but it really is the only way to do a safari. Thankfully the weather cooperated and it stayed cool most of the morning and by 10am the clouds started clearing and it started getting hotter. We finished by 11am without seeing any lions, but we did see lots of other animals. After I get home I'll post some pictures. The internet is just too slow here. sorry.
We got back yesterday and spent some time relaxing. Angela, Sarah, and I even went to an American type restaurant for dinner. We got our dinner to go and took it back home. I was able to eat a delicious chicken salad sandwich while watching Big Bang Theory. It was amazing.
Great ending to a great weekend.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Most of the weekend went well until Sunday afternoon. It is difficult to tell this story, but I must share about Samuel.
Every year I’ve been here we’ve had a really amazing relationship with an orphanage here in Gulu. St. Jude’s Orphanage is a great place where Sister Filda takes in children who otherwise are not cared for. Some of them are living with HIV, others have no living relatives, and others were abandoned by parents and other family is unable to take them in.
We now have a great relationship with them, and two girls in my group are even trying to start a reading program there for the kids after school. They are teaching the older kids to read to the younger kids, in hopes that it can continue after the few weeks that we are here.
We had scheduled a visit for Sunday afternoon, and shortly after we arrived things started to go bad. I was honestly real excited to visit the kids and play with them. Unfortunately about 3 minutes after we got there, one of the mothers had run from behind a building saying something about a kid who fell. Some of the women ran back there, and we weren’t really sure what was happening. Slowly, we walked back to where they were, and a little boy had fallen down into a sewage hole, basically a latrine hole. Some people from our group were reaching into the hole to help pull him out. He had probably been down there for a few minutes by the time we got him out. Some teachers starting giving him CPR, but he wasn’t breathing. Then three teachers then went with a mother and him and rushed him to Lacor hospital. It all happened so fast that I didn’t even know what to think. I stayed with about 6 other teachers as they rushed him to the hospital. The six of us were still at the orphanage and we were trying to figure out what to do as we stayed there and the others had gone to the hospital. It was real awkward, so we stayed and prayed a little with the kids and some of the mothers. Then we just walked back towards town and caught bodas back to town.
By the time we reached home, we got word from the three teachers at Lacor that the boy did not make it. Apparently they arrived at Lacor and went running into the hospital and through the wards, but some how they were surprised at the lack of concern people showed as they tried to get help. They felt like they were tearing down the halls, trying to find the emergency room, and people weren’t even phased by it, as if it wasn’t an emergency. They finally got him to a bed, as in the bottom half of a bed that already had someone with an IV at the top half. Some people came over to help him, had a machine that was suppose to help him, but the machine apparently didn’t even have a cord, and they couldn’t figure out how to plug it in at first. Once they figured out the machine, at this point the teachers finally were able to stop giving the boy CPR, and let the machine take over. Sadly, he didn’t make it.
The boy’s name was Samuel. He was about 2 years old.
We had collected some money earlier in our trip and we were going to buy them some much needed pots and pans (think giant pots) so that they could do a better job of feeding the kids. Now that this tragedy has occurred, we have decided to take our money and give it to the orphanage to pay for Samuel’s funeral costs. While I write this I realize that maybe together we can help this orphanage. With a few dollars from you we could very easily help to purchase some pots and pans for these kids. Please think about giving just a few dollars. Money here goes far and together we can give them some much needed supplies.
The widget on the right will feed right into my PayPal account, and I will then take the money out of my account the day before we leave, and purchase some much needed cooking supplies for St. Judes. Please pass this link along to anyone you think may be interested in donating. A few dollars goes really far here.
Thank you for your generosity.
Every year I’ve been here we’ve had a really amazing relationship with an orphanage here in Gulu. St. Jude’s Orphanage is a great place where Sister Filda takes in children who otherwise are not cared for. Some of them are living with HIV, others have no living relatives, and others were abandoned by parents and other family is unable to take them in.
We now have a great relationship with them, and two girls in my group are even trying to start a reading program there for the kids after school. They are teaching the older kids to read to the younger kids, in hopes that it can continue after the few weeks that we are here.
We had scheduled a visit for Sunday afternoon, and shortly after we arrived things started to go bad. I was honestly real excited to visit the kids and play with them. Unfortunately about 3 minutes after we got there, one of the mothers had run from behind a building saying something about a kid who fell. Some of the women ran back there, and we weren’t really sure what was happening. Slowly, we walked back to where they were, and a little boy had fallen down into a sewage hole, basically a latrine hole. Some people from our group were reaching into the hole to help pull him out. He had probably been down there for a few minutes by the time we got him out. Some teachers starting giving him CPR, but he wasn’t breathing. Then three teachers then went with a mother and him and rushed him to Lacor hospital. It all happened so fast that I didn’t even know what to think. I stayed with about 6 other teachers as they rushed him to the hospital. The six of us were still at the orphanage and we were trying to figure out what to do as we stayed there and the others had gone to the hospital. It was real awkward, so we stayed and prayed a little with the kids and some of the mothers. Then we just walked back towards town and caught bodas back to town.
By the time we reached home, we got word from the three teachers at Lacor that the boy did not make it. Apparently they arrived at Lacor and went running into the hospital and through the wards, but some how they were surprised at the lack of concern people showed as they tried to get help. They felt like they were tearing down the halls, trying to find the emergency room, and people weren’t even phased by it, as if it wasn’t an emergency. They finally got him to a bed, as in the bottom half of a bed that already had someone with an IV at the top half. Some people came over to help him, had a machine that was suppose to help him, but the machine apparently didn’t even have a cord, and they couldn’t figure out how to plug it in at first. Once they figured out the machine, at this point the teachers finally were able to stop giving the boy CPR, and let the machine take over. Sadly, he didn’t make it.
The boy’s name was Samuel. He was about 2 years old.
We had collected some money earlier in our trip and we were going to buy them some much needed pots and pans (think giant pots) so that they could do a better job of feeding the kids. Now that this tragedy has occurred, we have decided to take our money and give it to the orphanage to pay for Samuel’s funeral costs. While I write this I realize that maybe together we can help this orphanage. With a few dollars from you we could very easily help to purchase some pots and pans for these kids. Please think about giving just a few dollars. Money here goes far and together we can give them some much needed supplies.
The widget on the right will feed right into my PayPal account, and I will then take the money out of my account the day before we leave, and purchase some much needed cooking supplies for St. Judes. Please pass this link along to anyone you think may be interested in donating. A few dollars goes really far here.
Thank you for your generosity.
Pabo; the 'b' word and little Trisha
I had forgotten how bad the road to Pabo is when you are riding in a SUV Vehicle. I went with Jenni and Pablo who are the two American teachers that have been placed at Pabo this summer. They only have one week left before they will return to America. The school had a celebration day because the organization Better World Books had come to donate some books to their new library.
One of the most amazing things was to walk into their library and see all the shelves of books. They were so proud of the books. While walking through the library all I could think of was my students back in King of Prussia and the HOURS, really DAYS, we spent in the basement of the school packing and organizing books. Some of those very books we boxed up in our school basement, and I saw them sitting on the shelves of the Pabo Secondary School library. I was just amazed at the sight of the Better World Books boxes stacked up around the room. Those very same boxes could’ve been sitting in the basement of Upper Merion Area High School, or maybe I loaded them into a truck with 1000 other boxes and the help of 15 students on a Saturday, or maybe they were loaded into the truck at 10pm while 3 inches of snow came piling down from the sky. Either way, I have now seen the fruits of our labor, and boy is it an amazing feeling to see the excitement on those kids faces when they are able to check out a book and take it home with them.
So at this point I felt like I could not hold anymore excitement or warm fuzzies for the rest of the day, but I knew there was more to come. It was so wonderful to come back to Pabo and be greeted by so many teachers who were there two years ago. Baloo, Dennis, Boron, Peter, Walter, Geoffrey and Christine were all SO excited to see me in Pabo again. I had met some of them at the conference including Chrsitine. If you are an avid blog reader than you realize that Christine is the woman who was pregnant when I was there two years ago. I met her daughter, my namesake. Little Antimango Lisa Trisha is a beautiful little 22 month old Acholi girl. She spends most of her time at home, thus she was pretty shy with not only a ton of Acholis around, but she was real quiet when a Munu (white person- me!) was sitting next to her, trying to play with her. She had a whole pink outfit on and even had little shoes that squeaked whenever she took a step.
I asked Christine what Antimango means and although she had a hard time explaining in English, finally she said it means “it is just there.” As I asked her to elaborate what she explained was that it deals with the way she felt at the time of the birth. She talked about struggling to provide for her family, and the idea of living through those struggles. This may seem very pecular to us in America, but all of the tribal names here are given in a way that it describes the state of the world, or of the family’s/mother’s life when she gives birth. It is very, very common to have a name that some how deals with struggles, or not being able to provide, etc. Oh, and her birthday is September 24th. She’ll be two years old this September.
One of the most amazing things was to walk into their library and see all the shelves of books. They were so proud of the books. While walking through the library all I could think of was my students back in King of Prussia and the HOURS, really DAYS, we spent in the basement of the school packing and organizing books. Some of those very books we boxed up in our school basement, and I saw them sitting on the shelves of the Pabo Secondary School library. I was just amazed at the sight of the Better World Books boxes stacked up around the room. Those very same boxes could’ve been sitting in the basement of Upper Merion Area High School, or maybe I loaded them into a truck with 1000 other boxes and the help of 15 students on a Saturday, or maybe they were loaded into the truck at 10pm while 3 inches of snow came piling down from the sky. Either way, I have now seen the fruits of our labor, and boy is it an amazing feeling to see the excitement on those kids faces when they are able to check out a book and take it home with them.
So at this point I felt like I could not hold anymore excitement or warm fuzzies for the rest of the day, but I knew there was more to come. It was so wonderful to come back to Pabo and be greeted by so many teachers who were there two years ago. Baloo, Dennis, Boron, Peter, Walter, Geoffrey and Christine were all SO excited to see me in Pabo again. I had met some of them at the conference including Chrsitine. If you are an avid blog reader than you realize that Christine is the woman who was pregnant when I was there two years ago. I met her daughter, my namesake. Little Antimango Lisa Trisha is a beautiful little 22 month old Acholi girl. She spends most of her time at home, thus she was pretty shy with not only a ton of Acholis around, but she was real quiet when a Munu (white person- me!) was sitting next to her, trying to play with her. She had a whole pink outfit on and even had little shoes that squeaked whenever she took a step.
I asked Christine what Antimango means and although she had a hard time explaining in English, finally she said it means “it is just there.” As I asked her to elaborate what she explained was that it deals with the way she felt at the time of the birth. She talked about struggling to provide for her family, and the idea of living through those struggles. This may seem very pecular to us in America, but all of the tribal names here are given in a way that it describes the state of the world, or of the family’s/mother’s life when she gives birth. It is very, very common to have a name that some how deals with struggles, or not being able to provide, etc. Oh, and her birthday is September 24th. She’ll be two years old this September.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Far from Kampala
No worries! We are here in Gulu, about 6 hours away from Kampala. You may have heard of the bombings that occurred here in Uganda just after the end of the World Cup Games. Three bombs went off at three different locations across the capital, Kampala, killing around 60 people and injuring hundreds other. So far what is known is that a group of Somali’s are unhappy with both the Ethiopian and Ugandan forces within their country. Thus they targeted an Ethiopian area of Kampala and two other Rugby clubs. You should probably just read the many articles from the internet as my knowledge is probably not very accurate.
The one thing I do know is that Invisible Children was about to send a group of Roadies over here to tour parts of Gulu and Uganda. This has become a sort of typical practice for IC over the years. One of the Roadies came over here a little early with some friends (US and Ugandan). This small group of ICer’s were at one of the three locations watching the World Cup Final. Tragically, one of the IC roadies was killed from the bombing, and others injured. Nate Henn was an IC roadie from Wilmington, DE. I don’t know much about him just yet, but hearing this news really shook me. I imagine that he was probably at some of the local Philadelphia area IC events when I was there. The IC office is closed for the day up here, and many of the Americans are just trying to lay low for the next couple weeks.
We are in no major danger up here, as the bombings were meant to bring attention to the Ugandan and Ethiopian occupation of Somalia. No one up here has any reason to believe that Gulu will be victim to any bombs, terrorism, etc. But we are of course taking proper procautions. Even before this happened we have had an armed guard at our house 24/7. We are now staying at our house during the night, from sunset till morning. Rather than go out for Quiz night at a local bar, we’re just going to have our own quiz night at our house on Thursday. Plus, we have plenty of DVD’s, books, cards, and even electronic Catch Phrase to keep us busy at night.
Hope you all are well. Thanks for your prayers, concerns, and thoughts. Thank you for the many ways in which you’ve supported me on this trip. I couldn’t be here, doing this, without your support. Love you all!
The one thing I do know is that Invisible Children was about to send a group of Roadies over here to tour parts of Gulu and Uganda. This has become a sort of typical practice for IC over the years. One of the Roadies came over here a little early with some friends (US and Ugandan). This small group of ICer’s were at one of the three locations watching the World Cup Final. Tragically, one of the IC roadies was killed from the bombing, and others injured. Nate Henn was an IC roadie from Wilmington, DE. I don’t know much about him just yet, but hearing this news really shook me. I imagine that he was probably at some of the local Philadelphia area IC events when I was there. The IC office is closed for the day up here, and many of the Americans are just trying to lay low for the next couple weeks.
We are in no major danger up here, as the bombings were meant to bring attention to the Ugandan and Ethiopian occupation of Somalia. No one up here has any reason to believe that Gulu will be victim to any bombs, terrorism, etc. But we are of course taking proper procautions. Even before this happened we have had an armed guard at our house 24/7. We are now staying at our house during the night, from sunset till morning. Rather than go out for Quiz night at a local bar, we’re just going to have our own quiz night at our house on Thursday. Plus, we have plenty of DVD’s, books, cards, and even electronic Catch Phrase to keep us busy at night.
Hope you all are well. Thanks for your prayers, concerns, and thoughts. Thank you for the many ways in which you’ve supported me on this trip. I couldn’t be here, doing this, without your support. Love you all!
BEST DAY IN GULU
This last weekend we had a Teaching and Learning Conference here in Gulu, and I had what would become my best day yet in Gulu. I was finally feeling better thanks to Cipro. That seriously may be my favorite modern medical invention. So I was able to eat my first real meal in days and not get grossed out at the smell/sight of the food. The conference was all about the new Emotional Intelligence curriculum being implemented in the 11 Invisible Children Schools across northern Uganda. It is definitely exciting to see Ugandan teachers become excited about the student as a whole being and not just the test scores they earn. If you’re a teacher, and your reading this, keep in mind that besides normal teenage issues, many of the students in secondary school in northern Uganda have some form of PTSD due to the horrific events of the war with the LRA. It’s crazy some of the statistics we talked about.
Ok, but enough about that, you are reading this to hear about Christine. She’s a teacher from Pabo (where I was in 2008) and she teaches Geography. She and I never taught together, but we did spend some time together in the Teacher’s staff room during the day. We would talk some, but she wasn’t someone I thought I had left a big impression upon. I was definitely wrong.
She attended the conference this year and we were catching up on old times as I asked her about Pabo. I then remembered that last time I saw her she was about 6 or 7 months pregnant. I asked her about her baby and she started to talk about the little baby girl she gave birth to. At one point she said my name, but it seemed like a little miscommunication between the two of us, so I just dismissed it. I asked her what her daughter’s name was and she told me the acholi name, even spelling it. “What is her English name?” I asked next. “Trisha. That’s why I said it earlier, I named her from your name”, Christine replied. I couldn’t believe it. I started to melt in my chair at the thought of this woman naming her daughter after me. She and I weren’t even close friends, but she had decided to name her daughter after me. Although it is not uncommon to have a baby named after you, I was still floored. Trisha is not a name you ever hear in Acholi land, and in fact many Acholi have a hard time pronouncing the ‘ish’ sound. I couldn’t believe it. As we talked, I told her that I was going to come out to visit Pabo on Friday. She then told me she would bring my namesake (her words) to school with her on Friday. She has to be around 2 years old now, and I can’t wait to meet her. Pictures will follow—I promise!
As if they could get any better, but then it did. Jolly is an acholi woman who is featured in the Invisible Children Rough Cut video and after meeting Jason, Bobby, and Laren back in 2003, she became an integral part in forming Invisible Children, Inc. She is now the country director for Invisible Children. She attended the conference on Friday and then she proceeded to invite all of us American teachers to her house that night for a bon fire. Really it was just a campfire, but I was definitely excited. We sat around a small fire and Jolly’s father, Norman, told us stories about the Acholi. (Side note for RATE- for the record, yes there were lots of ‘trees’ sticking out and through the fire-as it should be! A true African fire.) As we sat there on bamboo mats next to the fire, they also served us this amazing meal with real beef. Little pieces of steak were like heaven as I’ve never had that kind of meat here in Gulu. I had the urge to curl up next to the fire, a common past time of mine…haha. But I opted for lying back and looking up at the nights sky. The stars were amazing that night and I felt like I could lay there and look at the stars forever. Probably one of my most favorite nights in Gulu. Thanks Jolly and Norman for your hospitality.
Ok, but enough about that, you are reading this to hear about Christine. She’s a teacher from Pabo (where I was in 2008) and she teaches Geography. She and I never taught together, but we did spend some time together in the Teacher’s staff room during the day. We would talk some, but she wasn’t someone I thought I had left a big impression upon. I was definitely wrong.
She attended the conference this year and we were catching up on old times as I asked her about Pabo. I then remembered that last time I saw her she was about 6 or 7 months pregnant. I asked her about her baby and she started to talk about the little baby girl she gave birth to. At one point she said my name, but it seemed like a little miscommunication between the two of us, so I just dismissed it. I asked her what her daughter’s name was and she told me the acholi name, even spelling it. “What is her English name?” I asked next. “Trisha. That’s why I said it earlier, I named her from your name”, Christine replied. I couldn’t believe it. I started to melt in my chair at the thought of this woman naming her daughter after me. She and I weren’t even close friends, but she had decided to name her daughter after me. Although it is not uncommon to have a baby named after you, I was still floored. Trisha is not a name you ever hear in Acholi land, and in fact many Acholi have a hard time pronouncing the ‘ish’ sound. I couldn’t believe it. As we talked, I told her that I was going to come out to visit Pabo on Friday. She then told me she would bring my namesake (her words) to school with her on Friday. She has to be around 2 years old now, and I can’t wait to meet her. Pictures will follow—I promise!
As if they could get any better, but then it did. Jolly is an acholi woman who is featured in the Invisible Children Rough Cut video and after meeting Jason, Bobby, and Laren back in 2003, she became an integral part in forming Invisible Children, Inc. She is now the country director for Invisible Children. She attended the conference on Friday and then she proceeded to invite all of us American teachers to her house that night for a bon fire. Really it was just a campfire, but I was definitely excited. We sat around a small fire and Jolly’s father, Norman, told us stories about the Acholi. (Side note for RATE- for the record, yes there were lots of ‘trees’ sticking out and through the fire-as it should be! A true African fire.) As we sat there on bamboo mats next to the fire, they also served us this amazing meal with real beef. Little pieces of steak were like heaven as I’ve never had that kind of meat here in Gulu. I had the urge to curl up next to the fire, a common past time of mine…haha. But I opted for lying back and looking up at the nights sky. The stars were amazing that night and I felt like I could lay there and look at the stars forever. Probably one of my most favorite nights in Gulu. Thanks Jolly and Norman for your hospitality.
Grading=the Devil
If you know anything about me as a teacher, you know that I hate grading. I spent all day, and I mean ALL DAY grading. We gave a Senior 2 (8th grade) Exam for an hour and a half and then from 10am till 5:30pm we graded all TWO HUNDRED AND FOURTY exams, by hand of course. It was intense. Maybe I should bring Scantron to Gulu. About half way through the grading process I could list off the A,B,C,D code for all of the fourty questions.
Watoto
Rewind about a year and a half, think cold dark nights and jersey Christmas lawn ornaments. Before going to a friend’s Xmas party, Julie and I went to hear a Ugandan Choir sing at a church service. It was phenomenal. The choir was made up of both children and adults from Uganda but they focused on helping Ugandan orphans by giving them an education and helping them develop an interest in the arts (dancing, singing, etc.). Julie and I bought tshirts, which was not a surprise for me, but as for Julie, I think it is the first tshirt she’s ever bought! (believe it people!)
Fast forward to this June. While Down Under, I visited a Mega Church the one Sunday morning I was in Sydney. I was sitting waiting for the service to start and reading the small pamphlet found in my chair. When I got to the last page I started to read about the church’s women’s ministry and what/who they were supporting. As I read through the article it started to speak about the women of Gulu, in northern Uganda. I couldn’t believe it. I almost peed my pants right then and there. In just a few hours I would get on a plane, fly around the world and travel up to Gulu to meet the very same women that were spoken about in the article. The Hillsong church in Sydney was supporting the Watoto church in Uganda, and specifically the church in Gulu (not one of the other 5 located throughout Uganda). Needless to say I went to the service at Watoto my first Sunday here in Gulu.
The service was the first of it’s kind that I’ve ever been to here in Gulu. Many of the churches here are either Catholic or Anglican (due to the British Colonization). Thus many of the services are full of ritual and strict practices. Because of the cultural differences I’ve felt at time that these rituals have lost their meaning with the Ugandans. This has made it difficult to attend church and see some of the people as honest in their faith. Although I am sure some of my impressions are clouded since I don’t know much about the Catholic or Anglican traditions. Either way, the service I went to at Watoto was really good. They had people up front playing instruments and a whole choir. The pastor preached a good sermon and then there was even more singing at the end. I think singing is my favorite part of church. I just kept thinking how surreal it was to be at this church I had heard about on two separate continents. The world truly is a small place.
Oh, and I brought my tshirt with me and am wearing it around town of course.
Fast forward to this June. While Down Under, I visited a Mega Church the one Sunday morning I was in Sydney. I was sitting waiting for the service to start and reading the small pamphlet found in my chair. When I got to the last page I started to read about the church’s women’s ministry and what/who they were supporting. As I read through the article it started to speak about the women of Gulu, in northern Uganda. I couldn’t believe it. I almost peed my pants right then and there. In just a few hours I would get on a plane, fly around the world and travel up to Gulu to meet the very same women that were spoken about in the article. The Hillsong church in Sydney was supporting the Watoto church in Uganda, and specifically the church in Gulu (not one of the other 5 located throughout Uganda). Needless to say I went to the service at Watoto my first Sunday here in Gulu.
The service was the first of it’s kind that I’ve ever been to here in Gulu. Many of the churches here are either Catholic or Anglican (due to the British Colonization). Thus many of the services are full of ritual and strict practices. Because of the cultural differences I’ve felt at time that these rituals have lost their meaning with the Ugandans. This has made it difficult to attend church and see some of the people as honest in their faith. Although I am sure some of my impressions are clouded since I don’t know much about the Catholic or Anglican traditions. Either way, the service I went to at Watoto was really good. They had people up front playing instruments and a whole choir. The pastor preached a good sermon and then there was even more singing at the end. I think singing is my favorite part of church. I just kept thinking how surreal it was to be at this church I had heard about on two separate continents. The world truly is a small place.
Oh, and I brought my tshirt with me and am wearing it around town of course.
Tom and Jerry
Although I prefer to talk about Tom and Jerry, two family members, in this case, I’m thinking of mice. There’s a mouse living in our closet, and he has interrupted many a nights sleep. I thought he was harmless until I found a plastic bag of peanuts up on my bed had been eaten into, and then the mouse pooped on my pillow case. Since then, I’ve declared war on this mouse. Oh, and I should mention that I’m sleeping on a top bunk, with a mosquito net that is ALWAYS tucked in. I thought keeping food on my bed would be the safest place possible. Obviously not.
Being out-witted by a mouse was a big blow to my African ego. So I’ve decided that the little man will not get me down.
Danielle and I spent the weekend here alone, while everyone else was on either a Safari or a Rhino trip. Since there was no one around to make noise, the mice were out. Danielle and I were watching DVD’s on our computer, and she spotted a mouse running from the couch we were on, and over to another couch. She jumped up and screamed, and I kicked my flip flop up into the air. Since I have amazing aim, it came up and hit Danielle in the leg, causing her to freak out even more because she thought the thing that hit her was the mouse. We attempted to set up a homemade mousetrap; a wash basin, a piece of cut up plastic waterbottle, a broom with the longest handle in the world (no really, I swear), and a piece of bread with peanut butter on it. I was going to take a picture of it, but never found my camera. Picture the basic upside-down being tipped open with the water bottle. The broom is sitting next to the bottle, waiting for the mouse to scurry under the basin to get the peanut butter bread. When we would see the mouse move under it, we would push the water bottle and the basin would fall upside-down trapping the mouse. The only problem was that we didn’t think through it too much, and decided once the mouse was in the basin the only thing to do would be to leave it there and wait for it to die. Lucky for Jerry, he never went after the bread, and we gave up.
Since I woke up in the middle of the night last night thinking the mouse was in my bed, I’ve just gone to extremes and bought these rat traps. Apparently they don’t sell mouse traps here. I can’t wait for the mouse living in our closet to die. Hope that’s not too morbid.
Being out-witted by a mouse was a big blow to my African ego. So I’ve decided that the little man will not get me down.
Danielle and I spent the weekend here alone, while everyone else was on either a Safari or a Rhino trip. Since there was no one around to make noise, the mice were out. Danielle and I were watching DVD’s on our computer, and she spotted a mouse running from the couch we were on, and over to another couch. She jumped up and screamed, and I kicked my flip flop up into the air. Since I have amazing aim, it came up and hit Danielle in the leg, causing her to freak out even more because she thought the thing that hit her was the mouse. We attempted to set up a homemade mousetrap; a wash basin, a piece of cut up plastic waterbottle, a broom with the longest handle in the world (no really, I swear), and a piece of bread with peanut butter on it. I was going to take a picture of it, but never found my camera. Picture the basic upside-down being tipped open with the water bottle. The broom is sitting next to the bottle, waiting for the mouse to scurry under the basin to get the peanut butter bread. When we would see the mouse move under it, we would push the water bottle and the basin would fall upside-down trapping the mouse. The only problem was that we didn’t think through it too much, and decided once the mouse was in the basin the only thing to do would be to leave it there and wait for it to die. Lucky for Jerry, he never went after the bread, and we gave up.
Since I woke up in the middle of the night last night thinking the mouse was in my bed, I’ve just gone to extremes and bought these rat traps. Apparently they don’t sell mouse traps here. I can’t wait for the mouse living in our closet to die. Hope that’s not too morbid.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Sunday July 11th
Here in Gulu things are really picking up. I have taken the last of my Cipro, so I am finally feeling better. It makes such a difference between feeling bad and feeling good, for some reason it’s just sucks so much more to be sick in a foreign country. But enough about that…
Since I’ve been feeling better, I have spent more time at school near the end of the week. We were able to see a small school assembly of sorts. Some girls did a debate on “military means being the most sustainable way to bring peace to northern Uganda”. Their points were fascinating and most of the time it was nice, but other times it was a little hilarious with the things they came up with as valid points. Other girls did some native dancing. I had never seen a dance like the one they did. It was called Dikki dikki, which apparently is just a dance for peace time. There were a few more speeches in true Ugandan style, and then the afternoon assembly was over.
On Thursday night was one of the World Cup Semifinal games. I went over to a local restaurant and watched part of it, but left at half time to go to bed. The only bad thing about the World Cup over here is that the games do not come on until 9:30pm which means you are up till midnight watching the game. This is especially annoying for the final game. It is on tonight which means I will of course be watching the Netherlands beat Spain, but I have to be at school at 7am on Monday morning. This requires me to be ready and on the road by 6:30am!!! Feels like a school day in America.
I take back what I said about there only being one bad thing about the World Cup in Gulu. Really, the worst part is that the power is always on now when the games are on, but after tonight I have a bad feeling that we will not have power as often. I guess we’ll see.
This weekend we had our annual Teaching & Learning Conference for two days here in Gulu. All of the Teacher Exchange Participants and some others from the schools are invited. I thought it was a pretty good experience, considering some of the other conferences I have sat through.
Now that the conference is over the teachers split into their two groups; one went on Safari and the other went to a Rhino Sanctuary (my group). Since I have been to the Rhinos before, and it was not included in the price of the trip, I decided to stay back in Gulu. Danielle and I were the only two to stay here, so we made plans to see an old teacher. Dolly was an English teacher at Pabo, and is probably one of the coolest female teachers I have met. We had dinner with her last night and it was SO good to catch up with her. She is now living in Gulu and attending Gulu University getting a degree in Development. There are so many NGO’s here in Gulu that having a Development degree is very popular because you can work for one of the many, and I mean hundreds, of NGO’s.
We then came home and watched a movie from a laptop. No surprise there, but I fell asleep and saw about 30 minutes of the movie. The only eventful thing that happened was our adventures with a mouse in our house. But I’m going to leave you all hanging, and tell you about it in the next post. If I don’t create some suspense then you wouldn’t come back to read my blog!
Since I’ve been feeling better, I have spent more time at school near the end of the week. We were able to see a small school assembly of sorts. Some girls did a debate on “military means being the most sustainable way to bring peace to northern Uganda”. Their points were fascinating and most of the time it was nice, but other times it was a little hilarious with the things they came up with as valid points. Other girls did some native dancing. I had never seen a dance like the one they did. It was called Dikki dikki, which apparently is just a dance for peace time. There were a few more speeches in true Ugandan style, and then the afternoon assembly was over.
On Thursday night was one of the World Cup Semifinal games. I went over to a local restaurant and watched part of it, but left at half time to go to bed. The only bad thing about the World Cup over here is that the games do not come on until 9:30pm which means you are up till midnight watching the game. This is especially annoying for the final game. It is on tonight which means I will of course be watching the Netherlands beat Spain, but I have to be at school at 7am on Monday morning. This requires me to be ready and on the road by 6:30am!!! Feels like a school day in America.
I take back what I said about there only being one bad thing about the World Cup in Gulu. Really, the worst part is that the power is always on now when the games are on, but after tonight I have a bad feeling that we will not have power as often. I guess we’ll see.
This weekend we had our annual Teaching & Learning Conference for two days here in Gulu. All of the Teacher Exchange Participants and some others from the schools are invited. I thought it was a pretty good experience, considering some of the other conferences I have sat through.
Now that the conference is over the teachers split into their two groups; one went on Safari and the other went to a Rhino Sanctuary (my group). Since I have been to the Rhinos before, and it was not included in the price of the trip, I decided to stay back in Gulu. Danielle and I were the only two to stay here, so we made plans to see an old teacher. Dolly was an English teacher at Pabo, and is probably one of the coolest female teachers I have met. We had dinner with her last night and it was SO good to catch up with her. She is now living in Gulu and attending Gulu University getting a degree in Development. There are so many NGO’s here in Gulu that having a Development degree is very popular because you can work for one of the many, and I mean hundreds, of NGO’s.
We then came home and watched a movie from a laptop. No surprise there, but I fell asleep and saw about 30 minutes of the movie. The only eventful thing that happened was our adventures with a mouse in our house. But I’m going to leave you all hanging, and tell you about it in the next post. If I don’t create some suspense then you wouldn’t come back to read my blog!
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Tuesday July 6th
Today was our first day at school, and unfortunately mine was short lived. I woke up with my stomach doing flips, and my upper back/shoulders extremely tight. I stayed at school for the first part of our team teacher meeting, but then my teacher didn’t have any classes, so I went home. I watched an episode of Glee (props to Rachel!) and then fell asleep on the couch for an hour and a half. I felt much better when I woke up, and continued to feel better and better as the night went on.
Unfortunately this morning, Tuesday, I woke up with a stomach ache as well. So I have left school early again, came to the internet café briefly and then I will go back home to rest.
I have officially been partnered with Anying Ketty as my partner teacher. Unfortunately she is giving tests this week and next week, so I’m thinking we won’t start teaching together for awhile…oh well! TIA. I am excited to work with a woman, and to learn about the Acholi culture from a woman’s perspective.
Hope that you all are well, and I will write about more adventures to come.
Unfortunately this morning, Tuesday, I woke up with a stomach ache as well. So I have left school early again, came to the internet café briefly and then I will go back home to rest.
I have officially been partnered with Anying Ketty as my partner teacher. Unfortunately she is giving tests this week and next week, so I’m thinking we won’t start teaching together for awhile…oh well! TIA. I am excited to work with a woman, and to learn about the Acholi culture from a woman’s perspective.
Hope that you all are well, and I will write about more adventures to come.
Sunday, July 4th
I have now been in Gulu for about 5 days, and things are pretty similar, or at least the important things are the same. The people are just as inviting and welcoming as they ever were. Ugandans still know how to have a good time. And of course, they have the best sense of community.
We have just been sitting through a lot of orientation meetings, visiting old friends, and making new ones. As of right now, I’m not sure exactly who I will be teaching with, although I did go visit Sacred Heart Secondary School. It’s an all girls school, so I am definitely excited to teach physics to a classroom of girls. The teaching partner/pairs was re-arranged a little because one of the schools was closed down.
Last time I was here in 2008, I was teaching and living out in Pabo, one of the Internally Displaced Persons Camps outside of Gulu. There was another group of teachers at Atanga Secondary School which is also a camp. Well, apparently this week the students at Atanga S.S. were unhappy with their school officials, and thus they rioted. There are different rumors about why they started rioting, but I imagine it is about food. Apparently they won a district sports tournament (maybe futbol, or track?) and when that happens they are usually given a celebration party. This party typically includes a goat. But as the rumors go, Atanga S.S. did not have the money to purchase a goat for the students, they were mad, and thus they rioted and maybe even beat up the Headmaster. We’re not completely sure what happened, and Invisible Children cannot go to the school until the Ugandan government does something about it. So the 3 teachers that were suppose to live out in Atanga and teach at Atanga SS have been given placements here in Gulutown.
Last night we had a 3rd of July Party here at our house. It was a ton of fun. Students from Awere S.S. (where I taught in 07) came and did a bunch of traditional dances. They were SO good, and I loved watching them dance. I really enjoyed seeing some of my students from 2007 and talking with them. I also had the chance to visit with Agnes. She is the woman who did our laundry and house cleaning in 2007 and 2008. She still works at the other house, on the other side of town. I have not yet gone over to the old house, but I think I will try to go sometime this week. Doreen is the cook there, and she and Agnes are two of my favorite Acholi’s. Agnes now has an 18 month old son. I got to sit and hold him while she sat and ate dinner. I told her all about my niece Maggie and how she is the same age. Jared is Agnes’ son and he is so comfortable with Munu’s (white people) that I probably held him for 45 mins without him even squirming. It was really great to catch up with her and to hear about Gulu through her eyes.
The party included not only people who work for IC (like Agnes) but we also all invited our partner teachers. Since I don’t yet have a partner teacher, I ended up inviting another man named Robert. He was in charge of our lodging out in Pabo two years ago. He is really funny, sometimes on purpose, mostly because of cultural differences that he doesn’t realize are hilarious for us Americans. His ‘filler’ phrase is one of the most hilarious things. Every third sentence include the phrase “let me say like…” For example I was asking him about living in Kampala vs. Living in Gulu. His reply went something like this, “ Let me say like, I am going on here in Gulu, just like that since we had met. I am here in Gulu, let me say like, for 3 years. My brother and I are working together at, let me say like, this photo shop here in Gulu.” And it proceeds like that. I guess he doesn’t usually say it in every sentence, but I couldn’t help but accentuate it.
We got a DJ for the party, and proceeded to have a dance party for about 5 hours. At one point while I was just dancing around with everyone, I realized that people around me were greeting an Acholi man who was dancing just next to me. As many Americans were saying, “Hey Jacob! We’re so glad you came” and “Happy American Independence Day Jacob.”, etc…I then realized the man next to me was THE Jacob from the Rough Cut video. Because of his openness and vulnerability in front of 3 California kids, Invisible Children is now changing the lives of hundreds (I would argue thousands) of Ugandans here in the north. It was pretty surreal when you think of the impact of just one person. It starts as the tiniest pebble, dropped in a pool of water and next thing you know the ripples from that tiny pebble is affecting and changing the environment great distances away.
Definitely the most exciting thing about returning to Gulu is to see the lives of the Acholi people changing and improving. Everytime I come here it has been wonderful to see how Komakech Sheargold’s (partner teacher 07) life and his family’s life has changed for the better. He no longer has a regular bike, but he was actually able to afford a motorbike, and he now uses that to get around town, from Awere SS to Gulu University to Laliya, his village. It is pretty much priceless to the see the improvement of people’s lives here in Gulu.
We have just been sitting through a lot of orientation meetings, visiting old friends, and making new ones. As of right now, I’m not sure exactly who I will be teaching with, although I did go visit Sacred Heart Secondary School. It’s an all girls school, so I am definitely excited to teach physics to a classroom of girls. The teaching partner/pairs was re-arranged a little because one of the schools was closed down.
Last time I was here in 2008, I was teaching and living out in Pabo, one of the Internally Displaced Persons Camps outside of Gulu. There was another group of teachers at Atanga Secondary School which is also a camp. Well, apparently this week the students at Atanga S.S. were unhappy with their school officials, and thus they rioted. There are different rumors about why they started rioting, but I imagine it is about food. Apparently they won a district sports tournament (maybe futbol, or track?) and when that happens they are usually given a celebration party. This party typically includes a goat. But as the rumors go, Atanga S.S. did not have the money to purchase a goat for the students, they were mad, and thus they rioted and maybe even beat up the Headmaster. We’re not completely sure what happened, and Invisible Children cannot go to the school until the Ugandan government does something about it. So the 3 teachers that were suppose to live out in Atanga and teach at Atanga SS have been given placements here in Gulutown.
Last night we had a 3rd of July Party here at our house. It was a ton of fun. Students from Awere S.S. (where I taught in 07) came and did a bunch of traditional dances. They were SO good, and I loved watching them dance. I really enjoyed seeing some of my students from 2007 and talking with them. I also had the chance to visit with Agnes. She is the woman who did our laundry and house cleaning in 2007 and 2008. She still works at the other house, on the other side of town. I have not yet gone over to the old house, but I think I will try to go sometime this week. Doreen is the cook there, and she and Agnes are two of my favorite Acholi’s. Agnes now has an 18 month old son. I got to sit and hold him while she sat and ate dinner. I told her all about my niece Maggie and how she is the same age. Jared is Agnes’ son and he is so comfortable with Munu’s (white people) that I probably held him for 45 mins without him even squirming. It was really great to catch up with her and to hear about Gulu through her eyes.
The party included not only people who work for IC (like Agnes) but we also all invited our partner teachers. Since I don’t yet have a partner teacher, I ended up inviting another man named Robert. He was in charge of our lodging out in Pabo two years ago. He is really funny, sometimes on purpose, mostly because of cultural differences that he doesn’t realize are hilarious for us Americans. His ‘filler’ phrase is one of the most hilarious things. Every third sentence include the phrase “let me say like…” For example I was asking him about living in Kampala vs. Living in Gulu. His reply went something like this, “ Let me say like, I am going on here in Gulu, just like that since we had met. I am here in Gulu, let me say like, for 3 years. My brother and I are working together at, let me say like, this photo shop here in Gulu.” And it proceeds like that. I guess he doesn’t usually say it in every sentence, but I couldn’t help but accentuate it.
We got a DJ for the party, and proceeded to have a dance party for about 5 hours. At one point while I was just dancing around with everyone, I realized that people around me were greeting an Acholi man who was dancing just next to me. As many Americans were saying, “Hey Jacob! We’re so glad you came” and “Happy American Independence Day Jacob.”, etc…I then realized the man next to me was THE Jacob from the Rough Cut video. Because of his openness and vulnerability in front of 3 California kids, Invisible Children is now changing the lives of hundreds (I would argue thousands) of Ugandans here in the north. It was pretty surreal when you think of the impact of just one person. It starts as the tiniest pebble, dropped in a pool of water and next thing you know the ripples from that tiny pebble is affecting and changing the environment great distances away.
Definitely the most exciting thing about returning to Gulu is to see the lives of the Acholi people changing and improving. Everytime I come here it has been wonderful to see how Komakech Sheargold’s (partner teacher 07) life and his family’s life has changed for the better. He no longer has a regular bike, but he was actually able to afford a motorbike, and he now uses that to get around town, from Awere SS to Gulu University to Laliya, his village. It is pretty much priceless to the see the improvement of people’s lives here in Gulu.
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Where have I been for two weeks?
Well, here's what I've been up to...
Darwin- I flew into Sydney and then hopped on a plane and went right up to where Berta lives—also known as the Australian Outback. It’s kinda like the restaurant, only a little different. For example, I saw lots of bloomin’ onions. Ok, not really. But I did see a spectacular sunset on the first night right after I got a tour of Darwin. It’s actually bigger than I thought, as there are many neighborhoods of the town. I think I was kind of expecting a small 3 stop light town. Definitely not a tiny hole in the wall town. But we did drive past one. Noonoomah is a town about 45 mins south of Darwin, and it has a gas station, a beer/liquor store, and a RV park. We drove past Noonoomah on our way into the outback, basically the middle of no where Australia. Which looked pretty much like the African bush.
So Berta and I went to Linchfield National Park. They have a couple waterfalls that we spent time at, and we slept out in the back of a true blue Australian truck. One of Berta’s friend, Nigel, let us borrow his truck and we drove it down about two hours to the park . We made sausage on the Barbie, and noodles on the trangia. Let me just say, a trangia is one of the most awesome camping stoves around. I think I may try to find one when I get back in the states. Other than swim in the waterfalls, cook meat on the Barbie, we basically just laid out under the stars. It was amazing. Out in the middle of no where Australia you can see probably a million, million stars. Sadly, I was not prepared and was not able to find the Large Megallanic Cloud, but I guess that just means I’ll have to go back to Australia another time.
Berta and I spent more time together around Darwin after our adventures in the outback. I had a chance to try Kangaroo meat and Crocadile meat. Both are very good. Crocodile looks and tastes like chicken only it is much more chewy or gummy. I also got to see lots of aboriginals using the digeradoo, which is that crazy sounding tube instument. Sadly, it’s very insulting in their culture for a woman to play the digeradoo, thus I did not get to try it.
After a lot of fun, and a lot of catching up, it was time for me to leave Darwin and travel down to Sydney. I stayed in Sydney for about 40 hours before leaving for London. I had basically one day to go around and see all of Sydney, thus I tried to do it all! I walked from my hostel through the Royal Botanical Gardens, out to the Opera House, around Circular Quay (warf), the Harbor Bridge, the Sydney Royal Observatory (really, did you expect anything less? Don’t worry, I got LOTS of pictures!), Bondi Beach (famous surfing beach), a 5K walk along the beach cliffs, and a performance by Sydney Symphony to end the day. That was day one. On day two in Sydney it was a Sunday so I decided to go to Hillsong Church. It’s a HUGE church that puts out some amazing praise and worship music, which is known around the world. I had a great time at church, and the most amazing thing was that they gave out these little bulletin/brochures. One of the articles in the booklet was about their women’s ministry, and who they were currently helping to support around the world. Oddly enough, the article was about the women of Gulu Uganda, and a church called Watoto located in town. The insane part is the church is about a quarter of a mile from our house. Well, time to go to bed, but I’ll write more about Gulu very soon!
Darwin- I flew into Sydney and then hopped on a plane and went right up to where Berta lives—also known as the Australian Outback. It’s kinda like the restaurant, only a little different. For example, I saw lots of bloomin’ onions. Ok, not really. But I did see a spectacular sunset on the first night right after I got a tour of Darwin. It’s actually bigger than I thought, as there are many neighborhoods of the town. I think I was kind of expecting a small 3 stop light town. Definitely not a tiny hole in the wall town. But we did drive past one. Noonoomah is a town about 45 mins south of Darwin, and it has a gas station, a beer/liquor store, and a RV park. We drove past Noonoomah on our way into the outback, basically the middle of no where Australia. Which looked pretty much like the African bush.
So Berta and I went to Linchfield National Park. They have a couple waterfalls that we spent time at, and we slept out in the back of a true blue Australian truck. One of Berta’s friend, Nigel, let us borrow his truck and we drove it down about two hours to the park . We made sausage on the Barbie, and noodles on the trangia. Let me just say, a trangia is one of the most awesome camping stoves around. I think I may try to find one when I get back in the states. Other than swim in the waterfalls, cook meat on the Barbie, we basically just laid out under the stars. It was amazing. Out in the middle of no where Australia you can see probably a million, million stars. Sadly, I was not prepared and was not able to find the Large Megallanic Cloud, but I guess that just means I’ll have to go back to Australia another time.
Berta and I spent more time together around Darwin after our adventures in the outback. I had a chance to try Kangaroo meat and Crocadile meat. Both are very good. Crocodile looks and tastes like chicken only it is much more chewy or gummy. I also got to see lots of aboriginals using the digeradoo, which is that crazy sounding tube instument. Sadly, it’s very insulting in their culture for a woman to play the digeradoo, thus I did not get to try it.
After a lot of fun, and a lot of catching up, it was time for me to leave Darwin and travel down to Sydney. I stayed in Sydney for about 40 hours before leaving for London. I had basically one day to go around and see all of Sydney, thus I tried to do it all! I walked from my hostel through the Royal Botanical Gardens, out to the Opera House, around Circular Quay (warf), the Harbor Bridge, the Sydney Royal Observatory (really, did you expect anything less? Don’t worry, I got LOTS of pictures!), Bondi Beach (famous surfing beach), a 5K walk along the beach cliffs, and a performance by Sydney Symphony to end the day. That was day one. On day two in Sydney it was a Sunday so I decided to go to Hillsong Church. It’s a HUGE church that puts out some amazing praise and worship music, which is known around the world. I had a great time at church, and the most amazing thing was that they gave out these little bulletin/brochures. One of the articles in the booklet was about their women’s ministry, and who they were currently helping to support around the world. Oddly enough, the article was about the women of Gulu Uganda, and a church called Watoto located in town. The insane part is the church is about a quarter of a mile from our house. Well, time to go to bed, but I’ll write more about Gulu very soon!
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Back in Gulu!
After two weeks of traveling the globe (literally) I’ve finally made it to Gulu. And the best part is that my luggage never once got lost on any of the 8 flights I’ve been on in the past two weeks. Needless to say, I’m definitely glad to be in Gulu and to not see an airplane for a long time. Sitting in those seats gets kind of old.
So I’ve only been here for a few hours, but I can already tell that Gulu is a very different place from two years ago. There are some things that are the same, but what I’ve seen so far is that it is a much busier place. There are lots of high rise buildings that were not there before, and lots of people out and about. Since we got here last night, and I haven’t had a chance to go out on the town, you’ll just have to wait to hear about more changes.
Also, I will write more about my travels in Australia shortly. Stay tuned for more stories.
So I’ve only been here for a few hours, but I can already tell that Gulu is a very different place from two years ago. There are some things that are the same, but what I’ve seen so far is that it is a much busier place. There are lots of high rise buildings that were not there before, and lots of people out and about. Since we got here last night, and I haven’t had a chance to go out on the town, you’ll just have to wait to hear about more changes.
Also, I will write more about my travels in Australia shortly. Stay tuned for more stories.
Monday, June 14, 2010
Brushing up on my Lwo!
I'm returning to Gulu for the third time in four years, and it still feels a little unreal as I'm not really ready to leave. I think once I go to the store to buy my bug spray-maybe I'll only bring one gallon with me this time j/k- then I'll feel ready to go.
I should probably be working on my Lwo (the tribal language spoken by the people in Gulu), and because I haven't done much practicing this spring/early summer, I thought we could do some together.
Let's start with Hello- Apwoyo (Ah-foy-yo)
Good bye- Apwoyo
Thank you- Apwoyo
Good morning- Apwoyo
Good night- Apwoyo
Well, that was hard, but I think I'm ready! Ok, so honestly the language is a lot harder than that, but they do use the word Apwoyo for many of their greetings. On a more serious note, here's one of my favorite phrases;
De dong maber (day dong [like gong] ma-bay)
When someone is leaving, for either a short time or a long trip, they use the greeting De dong maber. The person traveling then responds with De wot maber [day watt ma-bay]. Those people staying say, "Go well" to the person traveling. The person traveling then responds by saying "Stay well." I love this interchange between the two parties. I love how it acknowledges both the traveler and those staying, in essence validating the health and wellness of both sides as they are apart.
Hopefully this blog can be a place for you to check up on what I will be doing, the school I'll be teaching at, and as always, some crazy stories about Africa. But more importantly, I hope that you will also comment and share about your summer. Without your comments, this one sided blog is not very exciting. Plus I can find out how you are 'staying well' and you can learn how I'm 'going well.'
So from now till August- De wot maber
-Lagum Trisha
I should probably be working on my Lwo (the tribal language spoken by the people in Gulu), and because I haven't done much practicing this spring/early summer, I thought we could do some together.
Let's start with Hello- Apwoyo (Ah-foy-yo)
Good bye- Apwoyo
Thank you- Apwoyo
Good morning- Apwoyo
Good night- Apwoyo
Well, that was hard, but I think I'm ready! Ok, so honestly the language is a lot harder than that, but they do use the word Apwoyo for many of their greetings. On a more serious note, here's one of my favorite phrases;
De dong maber (day dong [like gong] ma-bay)
When someone is leaving, for either a short time or a long trip, they use the greeting De dong maber. The person traveling then responds with De wot maber [day watt ma-bay]. Those people staying say, "Go well" to the person traveling. The person traveling then responds by saying "Stay well." I love this interchange between the two parties. I love how it acknowledges both the traveler and those staying, in essence validating the health and wellness of both sides as they are apart.
Hopefully this blog can be a place for you to check up on what I will be doing, the school I'll be teaching at, and as always, some crazy stories about Africa. But more importantly, I hope that you will also comment and share about your summer. Without your comments, this one sided blog is not very exciting. Plus I can find out how you are 'staying well' and you can learn how I'm 'going well.'
So from now till August- De wot maber
-Lagum Trisha
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Here I go again...
Not that anyone reads this (except maybe my dad), but thought I'd let the internet know that I'm going back to Gulu this summer.
http://blog.invisiblechildren.com/?p=2663
http://blog.invisiblechildren.com/?p=2663
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Video
Just after coming home, I came across this video thanks to a friend on Facebook. The Washington Post just put up this video that is about camp life in northern Uganda, and as if that isn't good enough the video is all about Pabo!
So even if you weren't able to travel there with me, now you can see a great video. Except the secondary school I taught at is not highlighted in the video (oh well!).
Enjoy!
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/video/2008/07/25/VI2008072502314.html
So even if you weren't able to travel there with me, now you can see a great video. Except the secondary school I taught at is not highlighted in the video (oh well!).
Enjoy!
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/video/2008/07/25/VI2008072502314.html
Monday, August 4, 2008
Pictures
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
