Day 5: Thanksgiving Orphanage

After child of hope we got back into the vans and headed to the orphanage. This orphanage has been a project of one of the guys on our team, Matt. On our way to the orphanage we had to go through a police check which we did not pass. Awhile later with some money and talking we were on our way again. When we got to the top of the hill we were greeted by hundreds of orphans running towards us singing and welcoming us with open arms and songs:

Just a side note: it is incredibly difficult to type all of this while in the van. We literally swerve left and right every other second to avoid the huge holes and canals in the road. The roads aren't the best here and they are all dirt. So excuse the spelling errors and typos as I am shaken like rattle in this car.
So we arrive and they have prepared songs and dancing.

Matt dancing with his Ugandan dog was probably my favorite part of that, surprise surprise.

This here, behind the building, is where thanksgiving was prepared. Look closely as this picture. First, that view! Second, my Thanksgiving was prepared atop a mountain, behind an orphanage, where they slaughtered the turkeys and cooked everything else on actual fire pits.

After serving the adults we had our feast: avocado, potatoes, rice, beans, and plantains.

We served all of these adults first who some of which are guardians to some of the orphans.

I did not eat my turkey. I saved him for my lessons later:

We will get back to this in a moment.
So, while eating these white ants with wings started to crawl out of the dirt in mass swarms. The kids thought these were quite the treat and began to eat them.
We then went to the site where they are building classrooms for the orphanage. We made a huge assembly line of kids and volunteers and then started passing bricks from the bottom of the hill to the top. I was so impressed by the kids who did this for what seemed like hours without any complaints. It wasn't easy work but they kept an awesome attitude and continued to push forward despite the hardship. I think we can learn a lot from their example. These aren't normal bricks either, they are huge. After being sufficiently covered in red dust.
Back up. Let me tell you about then men on my trip real quick. I have been beyond impressed by the men who are with this project. The Dame brothers who started Proof Eyewear and the men volunteers who came with HELP and Proof are the kind of men all men should strive to be like. They are kind and courteous, they are uplifting, they open doors and check in on everyone, they make sure you have water and bring food, they are positive and work their tails off. They never stop. When some of us are tired beyond belief and are lagging they are our running with the kids. Today while we had a brick line they were pushing wheelbarrows full of dirt up the mountain. I'm just so impressed and love seeing them in action.
Ok, so after awhile I recruited the sick bay girls and we went back to the current school house/ orphanage and did the turkey crafts my kids prepped.

Oh, that's where the picture from above comes in. I was getting ready to talk about turkeys when suzanne tells me they have alive turkeys! We call to David and he goes and gets one! I wiggled the turkey's gobble and showed the parts and then we made the turkeys. The kids swarmed us when we tried to hand out supplies. I'm not sure they have ever done an art project before. Perhaps they had never seen glue or markers either. Look what happened when I pulled out crayons:

Check this out: #NailedIt #pinterestfail

The kids loved it.

Now that's an eventful Thanksgiving. These kids have one pair of clothes, no shoes, and they live here:

If you are looking for a good cause to donate to this Thanksgiving please check my Facebook page for a link to donate to this orphanage. I would post the link here but I don't have internet. ;)
These kids need their school to be finished so that this room can be turned into a dormitory for them.

Also, if anyone has any ideas for a sustainable project in Ca or an amazing organization let me know. My family is going to find some alternative way to do Christmas again this year but I want it to be sustainable and meaningful, not just hand outs. That's going to be harder but it needs to happen.

read more "Day 5: Thanksgiving Orphanage"

Day 5: Child Of Hope

After a sleep in the Mbale house we headed to the organzination: Child of Hope. I've been holding back tears since we left the gates.
First: Child of Hope is an organization started by Bex, a European, and her Ugandan husband Moses. Once married on their honeymoon Moses had a dream to start a nursery school and so they did. The organization works in the slums and takes one child from each family and educates them. They provide food, clothes, health and education.
We toured the village. Let's talk.

Parents leave in the morning and the kids are all left alone with no food and no supervision. The older kids watch the younger.

Many had no shoes, most had clothes that were tired together to close holes, covered in dirt even though they were washed and many had no clothes at all.

They make on a good day 1,000 shillings a day: that's 0.30. Thirty cents! Rent is 25,000 a month: $7. Many can't get that so they go out begging on Fridays. During the day the women go to town and look for food in rubbish bins or pieces of old coal.

They have a tap for water but someone owns it and it costs 200 shillings to fill one bucket:

If they can't afford that, which many can't, they just go to the river to fill their buckets.
The village brought me to tears but the things is that while it's hard this is their way of life. Is there better? Yes. But hand outs do not help. Change has to come about in the right way, for the right reason, and with the right mindset. It's tough.
The organization Child of hope: Uganda is an incredible one that is doing it correctly. They have a sustainable project and they are good people doing good things.

Here is one of the classrooms.
If you are looking to donate to a great cause this is it.

You can also donate to HELP intl for the orphanage we are about to head to. I promise that both these companies are helping in the correct way, through organizations on the ground, and with sustainability.
This morning I was able to fund 7 teacher's salaries for 3 months with one click of a button.

We are so incredibly blessed in the US. Regardless of where you are in life you can always give. You can always help. As my mom always says: money is a tool.
It's not how much you have but what you do with it that counts.

This hut is made of mud bricks. It has a straw roof that leaks when it rains. It is maybe 6 feet in diameter and it holds on average 6 people. It is almost bare inside. If you have more you might have an old piece of foam for you and 5 kids to lay on.
This is life here. Change your outlook. Be grateful for what you have no matter how much or how little it is something unimaginable to most in the world. It's not our job to so called change the world but it is our job to be kind, to help one another and to love in service.

read more "Day 5: Child Of Hope"

Day 4: Books, Eyes, Jewelry

Man.
I wrote a post but I don't know where it went.
Last night we drove in at 1:30 am. It was so hot and humid in our car. However when I work up this morning there was HOT WATER! Hot water! Yes! You should have seen the red dirt coming off me.
I then took my malaria pill mad twenty minutes later I was over the toilet puking stomach acid. That was not fun.
We then headed to Lugazi. Here HELP set up a project awhile back where the women of the village make jewelry and sell it to bring in income. When we arrived the women greeted us with hugs, singing, a dance, and bracelets they made.

They then made us breakfast. After that we headed to a local school to read books to the children as a library outreach. This is also where I donated the books my students donated.

We stayed and played with the kids for awhile as well.

We then headed to schools to do eye testing.

After screening dozens of kids we had a mini dance party which consisted of the white people dancing while all the locals cheered us on. Who am I kidding... us? Haha. This girl can't dance.
From here we went back and got lunch. The women made the most delicious food.
Up next: a Muslim school to teach hand washing and reusable pads.

Women here are made to feel dirty and like they cannot be apart of society while on their periods so bringing Days for Girls kits and teaching about menstration is very important.
By the way my feet are on the engine which is between the driver and passenger and it's super hot.

During our lesson a huge storm rolled in and it started to down pour. Look at the river flowing on that picture, yeah, not a river. The rain was so intense we could not hear one another talking.

When this was complete we went back to the women and bought jewelry from them.

Now we are back in the bus for another 5 hour night journey.
I'm not sure what day it is or even time but this has been an incredible journey so far.

read more "Day 4: Books, Eyes, Jewelry"

Day 3: Safari & Refugees

I'm sitting here in the safari van watching the sunrise over the savannah(?) with animals surrounding us. There is a herd of deer to my right and warthogs to my left.

We just found the two mother lions and their cubs!

Then it got ticket and started to hiss? Roar? Growl? All of the above.
Seeing these animals in the wild is an experience.
There is something about being in a place you have dreamed about and longed for for years. I mean for crying out loud there is a giraffe painted in my childhood bedroom and now I'm sitting here with the wind blowing through my hair, the smell of the wild ;), and real wild giraffes running next to the van.

Or an elephant in the sunrise munching away. It's taking my breath away and quite lit
erally at times making my eyes water in joy.

We went back to the hotel hotel for lunch which was SO good. Yellow sweet potatoes, avocados, rice and incredible beans. Then we waited around for awhile. A long while actually and I'm not sure why. And now that the day is gone I'm really sad we sat there and wasted those hours because...

So we finally load the vans and start on our journey to the refugee settlement. This settlement is one of the smallest in Uganda but still has 67,000 refugees. It's been open since 1990 and houses refugees from a few places but many from South Sudan. Uganda does the settlements differently in that they give the refugees a plot of land so they can build.

Let's back up for a minutes. I teach a book called: A Long Walk to Water. Stop what you are doing and download it right now or order it on Amazon. Actually order it. Let's start a movement. You order the book, then read it, then give it to someone you know and have them read it. Write your thoughts, feelings, or just name in the book and let's get those books being passed around. If you have kids over 10 have them read it to.
It's a short read and written for a young audience even though the content is heavy.
It's one of the most powerful books I've read and for sure the best book that has come to education and teaching.
The book is based on true stories. It follows two people. One, a boy who is fleeing the Southern Sudan war and goes through Hell and two, a girl who has to walk to her water for her family every day and cannot attend school.
Anyway, after reading the book and seeing the struggles that go on being here is well, a lot to handle.
Seeing the people walking with the yellow water containers, seeing the children balancing them on their heads or tying multiple to bikes...
Seeing the well and the line of people and then seeing those who did not have a well at the river bank, , filling those containers with cloudy brown water.
Today I cried. It was so much and it became so real. I know this is their life and way of living but everyone should have access to clean water. It hurts to know people are dying of diseases that could be prevented if the village had a well.
Ok fast forward. When I found out that we were going to get to go to a refugee camp for the Southern Sudan and that Suzanne had gone and talked with men from the Dinka tribe I was elated.
When we finally pulled into the

camp I was nervous because it was late and we were late. The sun was starting to go down and a huge storm was blowing it. We got in the vans and were escorted by the police to the first refugee school where we were to hand out hygiene kits, teach hand washing lessons, and give reusable menstration pads and teach about them. Well, when we first arrived I went straight for then kids carrying the water jugs.

Then we headed to the first class but it started to downpour and the winds came.

So we had to hurry.

The roads got bad to the point where we were sliding the van off into the bushes so we couldn't visit anymore. I'm majorly bummed out. But, thankful to have at least had the chance to come even if just for a moment. I can't wait to take my knowledge and pictures back to my district and begin funding for a well.

I also feel the need to come back. I wish I had more time here to go into the camp and collect stories. To go to the wells and meet and talk with the people but I don't. I am grateful for the opportunity to be here, it's only been 4 days and I already feel that increased inner desire to serve refocus my life. I've had my perspective reset and light bulb inside replaced that gives me hope, desire, and passion.

read more "Day 3: Safari & Refugees"

Day 2: Safari

Last night I was at dinner like: when I was a young warthog!

And then I was like pumba please come eat all of these bugs that are in the shower and sink:

I literally awoke this morning at 5am to being in a tent, in Uganda, in a safari park.... what is happening?! Talk about trippy. No power or wifi in this part of the jungle. It's very humid. Everything is wet but today, today it happens! SAFARI TIME!
Bucket list time! I am stoked!
I am in a van and there are dozens of giraffes all around.
We just finished looking at a mother lion and her 4 cubs. A lion! And cubs! In. The. Wild.
Warthogs, deer, other horned things, animals all around.
A herd of elephants and so many babies.
The Nile full of hippos.
yeah.
What is life?!
Pure amazingness.

This is an experience to remember. Our guide Charles is also super awesome!

After the safari we got on a boat and headed up the Nile. We saw dozens and dozens of hippos and elephants, baboons, and warthogs. It was beautiful.
After we came to a maaaive waterfall that was insanely powerful.
We got out of the boat and began the hike to the top. Instant sweat. Water was just pouring out of us. It was insanely humid and warm but the views were gorgeous.

Once at the top we got back in the vans and headed to the next place to sleep. We arrived near 9 and waited to shower, with 6 girls it took awhile. I just stole the men shower. It was a little rough because you had to hold the shower head and attempt to wash your hair with a drizzle. Also when you used it the sink filled with water and the toilet wouldn't flush. 😂

We waited for dinner but at 10:30 I decided food was no longer important. Sleep.

read more "Day 2: Safari"

Day 1: Eye Camp

And this is why I'm here. It's like a full blown reset of life. Travel seeps into my blood and reminds me why I live.
This morning I awoke to a stunning sunset of which pictures cannot begin to capture the layers and depth of that sunset.
Proof brought us all some sweet sunglasses and then we loaded into the three vans.
On our journey we passed a marathon and got out and cheered on the runners.
Next stop was the market for some breakfast: Rolex. Ha some kind of tortilla filled with fried egg. Reminded me of the one we ate in china.
Our group is 25 strong full of both Proof and HELP and two Instagram famous photographers who have stunning work which I've followed and loved.
We are currently in the vans on the way to an eye camp.
we have three native Ugandans in our van and we are learning so much.
Moses is telling us about how when women got pregnant before marriage were pushed off cliffs by their brothers. He told us about the murders and crooked cops. One time he was pulled over and charged for murder because there was a dead bird in his grill. Literally had to pay them a fee.
We are learning about the economy and the rich and poor. About how there is a lack of savings.
oh man! I'm in the bus and I just saw a family of a woman and kids carrying water. I wish I had a picture this is exactly what I need to bring back to my student's.
What is great now is he is talking about how the whites come in with hand outs and it doesn't help because if you bring rice, when the rice runs out, you are still hungry. But if you teach self reliance and how to grow the food, they are not hungry. That's one thing I like about HELP, they do sustainable projects that empower people to do it themselves and teach instead of give.

I just saw the well. As we've been driving I continued to see people walking with their yello water jugs. Some on bikes, others carrying them. Then at the center of the village was the well with dozens of people waiting to fill their jugs. I wish I could have taken a picture of that but I will try. This is such an incredible experience. Go read A Long Walk To Water.

What a fulfilling day. We arrived at the school and hundreds of Ugandans were already there.
The process was to check them in, give a basic eye test, see the Dr., then visit the prescription and glasses room.
I started in the eye test station. Many do not know how to read so we have directional tests.

After we finished with this I switched over to help in the 'pharmacy'

The people waited hours and hours many of whom just needed reading glasses. Those kind you can buy at Target for $3. Others needed vitamin A, eye drops, and other creams.
We had our first Ugandan lunch which is very similar to Fiji.

The school classrooms were also very similar to Fiji:

Very basic, tons of recycled materials. Simple desks, dirt floors, no windows. If only our kids knew just got great they have it.

But everyone here is so happy. Simple life. Simple pleasures.

By the way, let's just acknowledge that we know what I look like in America and forgive everything that happens to me here in this heat and humidity.
Required dress code: skirts and shirts. Pants and collared shirts for men. The people here are very modest which is nice.
The roads are crazy.

Then there was the one time I had to pee. Luckily, due to the mass amount of sweating this doesn't happen often but that... that right there was special.

read more "Day 1: Eye Camp"

Africa: The Journey

I booked this flight partially by accident and partially by the cheap son of a gun who lives inside of me. Regardless, I regretted it the second it said: purchased.
You see, when Africa was just an idea in my mind, I had been tracking flight prices on an app called Hopper (we will talk about that monster later. Word to the wise: delete that app now and never look back). While on my tracking journey I found a flight for $839 round trip. Not bad right? I mean we are flying literally across the world to Africa.
Fast forward: I'm accepted to the program and immediately begin the search to get a flight. I exhaust all my resources and knowledge to find that the ticket on Hopper is by far the cheapest. Get the ticket now mode sinks in and I begin to click through the app: BUY.
ticket not available
Are you kidding me?
What went wrong? I try it again, at least three times, to make sure it wasn't user error. On the unnumbered next attempt I try a different flight home that bumped the price a little but not by much.
Purchased.
Upon further, more detailed review, the horror of what my cheapskate self had done was revealed:
a total flight time of: 48 hours and 23 hours in layovers. 3 DAYS of straight travel.
And the real kicker is changing international flights is a beast.
Never will I ever be this cheap again, assuming that is, that I survive this. Next time I publicly declare that $500 is not worth my boredom, sleep, and crankiness... but then again... that's a ticket to Asia.

Anyway. I've been having anxiety about this trip for awhile now. I'm currently in the air over Canada. By a miracle I was able to sleep on the plane for 2 broken hours, that, or the fact that I didn't go to bed until really late last night and then began my journey at 4am, an hour that no human should be forced into.
Whats next: A 4 hour layover in the airport and then an 8 hour flight to Belgium.
Belgium, a place I've never been. Too bad my layover there is only 2 hours, for now, that country will remain a mystery.
Time to land.

Well land I did. Upon arrival I was impressed with Canada's airport because look at this:

Now that is somewhere I am willing to hang out and wait. So I grabbed a spot and started to chat with friends, we do indeed have 4 hours to kill. As I'm sitting there I realize I have yet to eat and I'm pretty hungry but I keep thinking this is a nice seat, I can get food later. Then I start to shake. Again, I think: indeed I need to get food. I wait. Finally, it's like get food NOW. Well, I got up and went on the search for food. When I went to pay is when I realized: it was gone. If you've ever lost your wallet you know that feeling where your stomach literally falls to your feet and your heart drops. Panic started to set it and I kept thinking there's no way, you know you zipped it in this pouch. I began to upload everything in my bag and pray with earnest. By the third time I unloaded my bag I realized to my dismay, it was indeed, gone. I knew the last time I had it was on the plane but I also remember putting it back in the zipper.
At this point I quickly texted my sister. This wallet had not only my credit card but my debit card, license, my cash, insurance card, copies of my important documents: basically everything but my passport, which thankfully, I had.
Of course I start crying. I have 13 days and 4 countries of which I will be alone and in need of money! My sister and I began to talk about what to do and to quickly contact mom to cancel all the cards but then I realized it could be on the plane. I found a lounge with a man who worked for Air Canada and explained my situation. He started to call around. By pure divine intervention the plane had not yet left yet and long story short it was on the plane! After talking with many more people and an hour and a half of total freak out: I had it back in my hand. Everything, even cash still inside.
Im grateful for the prompting to eat, I'm grateful that the plane had not yet let. I'm grateful for honest people and that I have my belongings back. I'm also grateful for pizza and money to buy pizza.
My 4 hour layover gave me a panic I've never experienced while traveling and hope to never experience again.

Current status: on a plane to Brussels. Sitting next to a very large man. There are no air vents. This is going to be a very long 8 hour flight.
Attitude: Grateful but tired and not happy about the fact that I still have 16 hours of flight time.
Hopeful that we have some movies I have yet to see.
I survived. Watched the Shallows, it was gross.
Two hours in the Brussels airport is done. That was hard. I just wanted to cry and throw up. I don't do well without sleep.
I'm irritable and the man next to me is about to get it. First, he was in my seat and didn't want to move. I can be nice but I'm not giving up my aisle for the middle of a huge row. When he finally moved he did the man space: aka spread his legs wide and is now in my seat while I'm in the aisle. He also took both arm rests and his arm is literally on top of mine as I type this. Needless to say, I'm not in the mood and I don't like being touched as it is let alone by strangers.
I might lose it.
Some people got lucky. They have an empty seat next to them. How much do you think they would require to switch me seats?
Its 2am. Except it's not. It's 11am here and 1pm in Uganda.
I need sleep.
3 hours in: I write to keep from snapping. I was almost asleep until the man who is practically in my seat josteled me to alert me to the drink cart. Then again because he needed a pen. My seat doesn't recline but rest assured the one in front of me does. I dare to say I have two men in my lap and I want them to both go away right now.
My food was frozen and these seats are significantly smaller than the last two planes.
I'm tired and cranky. I also feel the need to throw up again.
7 hours later:
We just started our decent into Entebbe. I could not be more excited to get off this plane. I'm very glad that it's late at night and I will get to sleep when we finally get wherever we are going. That's the hard part about travel. Yes, I'm about to land but then it's face customs, wait in lines, wait to be picked up, wait until we go wherever we are going to sleep. I can totally understand how people don't like travel and I'm beginning to think I'm done with big trips unless I can get direct flight. Actually, I know I am.
21 hours in air 33 hours total travel.

Of you've read this far, I'm impressed. I promise I'll wrap up my rambles now and leave the negativity in the plane.
I'm here. I'm here to serve, help, grow, and experience: Africa.
Let's do this!

Update: landed at 9:30. Met Paige outside the airport. We sat and waited until the others landed at 10:30. Didn't leave the airport until 11:45ish. Then took a bus and got to the hostel around 1:30am. The ride reminded me of why I do this. Break myself down as far as I can to regrow stronger.
After a cold shower from a spicket in the wall, I climbed into my netted bed at 2am to awake to an alarm at 5:45.
Here we go.
But really, I'm excited!

read more "Africa: The Journey"