ramblings: the sell family blog

The Trip in a Nutshell...

2008-07-23T12:49:00.000-07:00

Since I didn't get a chance to get on the internet much while I was in India, I thought I'd give you guys some highlights from the trip.

Here's a map of all the places we went while we were in India the past couple weeks!

Being at Happy Home for the first week was definitely the highlight for the entire team. Each of us fell in love with the kids and wished we could've stayed the whole time in Shimoga. Here are some more pictures of our time at Happy Home:

Happy Home!!!

The boys room

The girls room

The hallway that leads to the kitchen and dining hall

Irene, Roshan and Reema's home (it's on the same property as Happy Home)

I got a chance to ride with Roshan to pick up the kids one day after school. Here are Christine and Bob crammed in the backseat with some of the kiddos:)

Hanging out with Pallavi

Here I am with Mary, one of the workers at Happy Home. Mary and her two children, Stooti and Samson live here. (Mary calls me Queenie because Courtney is too difficult to say!)

This is where the kids wash clothes and dishes (here is Mani taking a break from laundry)

The cuteness continues...here are some more of the faces at Happy Home:

Ashwini...the little mom — always making sure the other kids are doing what they're supposed to

Nateen...the littlest guy at Happy Home (3 years old)

Chitra...the little sweetie — here she is after I helped her find her shoes...it took a while, but we finally got the right pair! Now she's ready to go play:)

Mona...crazy, feisty, energetic, pushy, jealous — haha, she makes me laugh so much! Here she is begging me to pick her up, "Akka!!! Akka!!" ("sister" in Kannada)

Little cuties:)

I loved this about Happy Home...the older kids were always helping out the little ones. Here is a boy who already had a difficult time walking (notice his feet) but he was helping little Kavya walk to the dining hall because she can't walk on her own.

Here's Mona watching the older kids play a game of Cabadee

Kavya...playing Duck Duck Goose

Muhammad...in his wheelchair with his new football

My little sweetie, Dayana

Kavari and I...big smiles!!

Reema and I on our last day at Happy Home...what an amazing woman!!

Pavithra...I love her smile:)

Hanging out with the kiddos:)

Durgappa...he's ALWAYS smiling!!!

I know we all learned so much from our time at Happy Home. From the children we learned about serving with a smile and finding joy in the little things. Irene, Roshan and Reema taught us about complete surrender to God and what hospitality really looks like. I was challenged by their faith in God and the hope they have in Him alone. As I said before, it was hard to leave this place that had become our home, but as Irene later told me on the phone, I always have a permanent home in India at Happy Home:)

After leaving Shimoga, we took an hour train ride to Bangalore where we stayed the night in a nice hotel before we left for Ongole. This is where I posted the blog for our team....here are a couple pictures:

This was taken from the window of our train as we were leaving Shimoga

Our amazing hotel room

Roomies! This is Tiffany...my roommate during the trip:)

Crazy traffic outside our hotel in Bangalore...

After one night in Bangalore, we headed back to the train station for a 12 hour ride to Ongole. I really liked all the train rides! It's kind of relaxing to be on the sleeper trains: time to read, rest, listen to music, talk with the team, play games...the time went by fast! Here are some pictures to give you an idea of what the trains are like...

We arrived in Ongole at 2:30am...our new friends from Beulah Ministries picked us up and we took two vans to our hotel, "Taste Residency," where we would spend the next three days. At the hotel we enjoyed awesome food (although it always took forever...it was worth it to have amazing nan bread!!!), air conditioned rooms, worship every morning with the team, and we even got our picture in the local newspaper! We were missing Happy Home, but were having fun bonding as a team and experiencing a new part of India. For the three days we were in Ongole, we got to spend a couple hours each day with the orphanage/school. We listened to songs the kids performed, watched some awesome skits, and even performed a little ourselves with songs and skits that the kids loved:) The kids were adorable and so much fun to play with! I wish we could've spent more than a couple hours each day, but we had a full schedule in Ongole and had to get on with other things for the day!

After a couple hours break for lunch, we were back in the vans. Our afternoons were spent at the college (I was a little confused because they called it college, but the students were all 16-17, so it was more of a high school I think). It was pretty much the same set up as the younger kids...some of the students performed for us, then we would sing songs and perform skits for them. We also shared testimonies, with the help of a translator and shared what God was teaching us. I think they appreciated us coming, but it's hard on such a quick visit to know if we made any kind of impact. Here is the room where all the students crammed into as we shared our songs and stories...

Again, I wish we could have stayed longer and gotten a chance to hang out with the students more, but we were on a schedule. We left the college, filed into our two vans and drove to a village about a half hour away. While we were in Ongole, we visited two different villages. This was a really new experience for me, because we visited local pastors who took us around to different homes and we talked with and prayed for non-believers, sick or injured individuals, demon-possessed people and people who had given up on God. This was a hard time for me as I came face to face with poverty, spiritual warfare, and the power of God. I will never forget one woman that we prayed for. Roshan told us she was demon-possessed. I'm not sure if she actually was, or if it was just something Roshan said...but I definitely felt the presence of the devil at her home. As we circled this woman to pray, I was overwhelmed with anxiety as utter chaos exploded around us. A tree nearby was filled with birds that were going crazy and making loud noises, cows tied up close by were mooing and trying to break free, babies were crying non-stop in the woman's hut, and kids were playing loudly up the street. I just kept praying for peace and for God's spirit to fill this place. I wasn't scared for our safety, I wasn't even afraid of the demonic powers because I know our God is victorious...I was just not at peace in that place. As we left her property, we reflected on the presence of evil that was so obvious at that woman's home. I have never experienced anything so oppressive before, and I didn't know what to think...I just wanted to leave.

The drive back to our hotel away from the villages we visited, was a great time of reflection and prayer. I came away from both villages so thankful for what God has done in my life. We met a man who was so frustrated with his circumstances and had given up on God. This man had a wife and three healthy children, and yet he was so focused on his financial situation and the injury in his leg, that he blamed God for his troubles. It made me frustrated that this man had lost faith just because he had gone through trials. But then I was also convicted, because so many times I get caught up in the trials I'm going through that I don't continue to thank God for all the ways he's blessed me. Rather than focusing on disappointments and frustrations that happen in our lives, we are made to glorify God in all that we do and praise Him for saving us. This man was a great reminder to thank God in all situations!

We also met so many people that couldn't read, and it made me realize what a privilege it is that I am able to read the Bible whenever I want! There are so many in the world that are uneducated and unable to learn about the greatness of our God. I take for granted the education I have, and I was reminded of the privilege I have to read the word of God anytime I want!

Here are some pictures from our adventures in the villages...

As we were leaving the man who had given up on God, we witnessed the beauty of God's creation. It made me think about all the times I focus on my little problems when God performs miracles all around me. Sometimes we just need to stop looking at ourselves and look at the beauty in the world
around us:)

This is the hut of the woman who was demon-possessed

Our last day in Ongole we spent a couple hours at the beach and it was so great to have some time to relax and just hang out with the team. The water was so warm and the wind was blowing...what a great way to end our time in Ongole!!

Julie and her son — Julie is married to Jesse, a social worker for Beulah ministries. This little guy is half Russian, half Indian...what a cutie!!

Just hanging out at the Bay of Bengal...what a great day!

Allison and me enjoying the waves:)

We left Ongole a little apprehensive about the next 27 hours that we would spend on a train! Surprisingly the time went by fairly quickly...probably because I slept for 12 hours when we first got on the train, and then slept another 5 or 6 hours off and on the rest of the trip.

We arrived in Agra, got a couple hours of sleep, then headed up to the top floor of our hotel for a good breakfast to start our day being tourists:) We would only be in Agra one day...so this would be it...the day we would spend at the Taj Mahal! We were all amazed at the size and beauty of the Taj...it was everything we expected and more! While it definitely wasn't the highlight of the trip, it was pretty amazing to see one of the seven built wonders of the world...and we all enjoyed taking fun pictures. Here are some of my pics from our day at the Taj Mahal...

So beautiful!

Ta-da!!

Roshan and me posing for a quick picture:)

Tiff and me

Christine, Stephanie and me

I couldn't believe how HUGE it is!!!

I loved all the intricate carvings...so I had to get a couple pictures of all the beautiful details...

the girls:)

the boys:)

After leaving Agra, we took another train to Delhi where we would spend a day to do some shopping. From Delhi we took 2 1/2 hour flight to Bangalore, and then we were saying good-bye to Roshan and flying back to America. The trip seemed to fly by...I would have LOVED to stay longer, but we packed a lot into the 2 1/2 weeks and I loved every minute of it! Through our time at Happy Home, our long hours of traveling, and the time I spent with the team, I saw God moving and learned so much about His heart for the world. I was challenged to be content in all circumstances. I'm also learning to see God in the mundane, everyday situations. I don't have to be on a mission trip to know that God is at work all around the world. I think this perspective has helped me to transition back to my life in America. My time in India has taught me that I need to be surrendered to God with my entire life. God speaks to us in ordinary ways, and we need to be expecting Him around every corner. As I get ready to go back to work tomorrow, I'm excited to see God at work, because He is! Miracles happen everyday, and my prayer is that I will see them. That I won't be so consumed with my own problems that I'll miss the work God is doing.

"'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,' declares the Lord. 'As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.'" Is. 55:8

I continue to see this verse in new ways as I learn more about God's greatness. He is so huge...we are so small, and God's ways are so much higher than we'll ever know! He is at work in India...at Happy Home, at the orphanages in Ongole...and He is at work in America...in Portland, at Solid Rock. I'm just excited to see God's plan unfold in His faithful servants all around the world!

Thank you again for your prayers for this trip! I've been so blessed by this second trip to India, and I am privileged to have the opportunity to share my experiences with you!

A video of my little girl:)

2008-07-22T21:18:00.000-07:00

Here's a video of Pallavi singing a song for me...with help from Megana:)

I'm Home!

2008-07-22T19:33:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to let you all know that I made it home safely! The team arrived in Portland at 11:30am and were greeted by friends and family who were excited to see us:) Since I've been home, my parents have received an earful as I've shared story after story of the kids I played with, the people I met on trains, and the crazy experiences that always happen on a trip to India. In the next couple days I'll be updating the blog with more stories to fill you in on my trip, but for now I thought I'd share some pictures with you.

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Happy Home...

Saying goodbye to Happy Home

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Safari...

Some hungry monkeys walking around the park

Creepy hyena...I wasn't a big fan of this one

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Jog Falls...
The view of Jog Falls from the top...before we started the hike

Reema and I at the viewpoint overlooking the falls

The crazy monkeys are everywhere!

Looking up at the falls...it was such a beautiful day!

Tiffany, Tony and I — the three brave ones that went the farthest on the hike (plus a few friendly Indians that wanted in on our picture!)

...more pictures and stories to come!

Leaving the Happiest Place on Earth...

2008-07-14T12:48:00.000-07:00

It's super late and I'm really tired (it's midnight, and I've been up since 5:15). It was my turn for writing the team blog, so I've just posted it here.

If you read the "Hear the Cry" blog I did get a sari when we all went shopping...two actually:) and I'm in LOVE with them...haha! They are so beautiful! We didn't end up having time for Reema to show us how to wear them, so I might have some difficulty trying to wear it! I did start feeling a little better, although when we were shopping for saris, we were really crowded and I got super light-headed and pale and thought I was going to pass out. After I stepped outside and had some water I felt a little better, but Reema still made me go to sleep on her bed when we got back to Happy Home:) She's so sweet, I asked her if it was ok that I was on her bed and she was like, "no need to ask, my house is your house"...I love her so much!

Today was SO hard! I talked about it a little on the team blog, but oh man, I was bawling!! It was so hard to leave a little girl named Pallavi (Pah-la-vee)! She's the girl that is with me in the picture. I love her so much...she gave me a pair of earrings today! She said "small gift...small gift, for you" and she put them in my ears! Oh...it was so sweet:) I gave her a picture of our family that we took last Christmas...and she loved it!! She came back with a plastic cover for me to put the picture in so it wouldn't get ruined...oh man...everytime I think about her, tears come to my eyes! As we were leaving, we were both crying so much and hugging and we just couldn't let go of each other...then when I went on the bus all the kids were gathered together waving goodbye, and she came closer to the bus, and held out her hand for me to hold her hand one last time! oh...so sweet!! We were both just crying so much!

Ahh....ok, well that's my story for now...haha...

Well, I'm ready to go to bed in my super comfy bed!!! I hope I can get a lot of sleep tonight! I'm looking forward to the trainride tomorrow...I can't remember how long it is tomorrow...I think from Ongole to Delhi it's like 20 hours or so...but I'm not sure about the train tomorrow....

Ok, well I better go, I'm fading:) I love you guys so much! It's kind of weird, I think it's easier to think about going home after saying goodbye today. Even though I want to stay, there isn't as much incentive if we're not with the little kiddos:) But, we'll see what tomorrow brings.

Ok, I'm really going to bed!

LOVE YOU!!!

Court

Photos from India

2008-07-14T09:32:00.001-07:00

Courtney at Happy Home for the Handicapped...

The kids loved the beachballs...

The team with Roshen (second from left next to Courtney) at the site of where they hope the home will be relocated. They've lost their current lease...

A day of shopping in town...

In my weakness He is strong -- July 12

2008-07-11T23:59:00.000-07:00

Hey guys, wanted to give you a quick update, as usual, there is a line waiting to use the computer, so I gotta make it quick. Things have been going so great, and we are getting into the routine of dishes, sweeping and mopping, feeding the kiddos (hand-feeding is my favorite thing to do!), and then of course the couple hours of just hanging out. I'm loving all the relationships I'm building with the kids, it's fun to get to know each personality. I'm feeling a little sick today, so if you could pray for me I would really appreciate it. I'm just feeling really weak and out of it, along with a major headache, but I was reminded today to thank God for my weaknesses, because His power is made perfect in weakness (2 Cor 12:8-10). I'm not exactly sure what is planned for the rest of the day. The older kids will get home pretty soon from their half-day of school today (Saturday). Then we'll probably play games, and I think Reema is taking us shopping, so I'm looking forward to that:) I love you all so much!

The Happiest Place on Earth!!!! --July 8

2008-07-08T03:39:00.000-07:00

We made it safely to Shimoga, India! After about 11 hours to Frankfurt, 10 hours to Bangalore, 8 hour bus ride to Shimoga, we finally arrived at Happy Home! I am SO happy to be here, this is the happiest place I have EVER been! The kids are so smiley and playful and full of joy! I am having a blast laughing with these precious children! Sorry this is short, but I have to run. I'll try to update some more, but right now there is a line waiting to use the computer! Check out our team blog to get more info on what we've been doing and to see some pictures! (hearthecry.blogspot.com)

Courtney Heads to India

2008-07-05T10:47:00.000-07:00

Well, we said goodbye to Courtney...again. I do believe it's getting easier. I must be growing up. It's great to see both of our girls out serving and answering their passions. They are truly an example to Leslie and me.

Courtney packed and ready to go!

A last minute pose before saying goodbye...

The team heading to India...

The Plan...

2008-07-03T15:35:00.000-07:00

Saturday is quickly approaching...the day I'll head for the airport and hop on a plane to India!! As I've been counting down the days, I just keep getting more and more excited for the journey ahead. I've seen so many pictures of the sweet orphans that live at Happy Home and heard so many stories of Irene, the woman who took these children into her home and off the street. I still can't believe I have been given the opportunity to go to India again...just one year later! I'm so thankful for the financial support I've received and for the friends and family who have committed to pray for me while I'm gone.

I wanted to share with you the "plan" for our time in India. Going to India...you never know what to expect, so there is a very good chance our trip won't end up following the itinerary exactly. However, it gives you an idea of our schedule for the next couple weeks. Thanks again for keeping me and the team in your prayers!!

2008 INDIA TEAM SCHEDULE

July 5th: Depart PDX at 1:05 PM headed to Frankfurt, Germany.

July 6th: Arrive in Frankfurt at 8:20 AM and catch connector flight to
Bangalore, India at 11:35 AM. Arrive in Bangalore, India at 11:50PM,
meet Roshan and head to the bus. Please pray for safety in our travels.

July 7th: Depart Bangalore on an early morning bus to Shimoga
(6-7 hour bus ride). Pray for the team as we will be experiencing major
jetlag along with a rough ride. Arrive in Shimoga, check into hotel
rooms, unpack, and head to the orphanage to meet the children!

July 7th-14th: MINISTRY TO HAPPY HOME FOR THE HANDICAPPED!!!
We will be in Shimoga, India at Happy Home For the Handicapped for a little over
a week ministering to the orphans and widows. We are there to serve in any
way they see fit. This will include: laundry, preparing and serving meals,
mopping floors, doing physical therapy with the children, painting,
building, and encouraging our brothers and sisters in Shimoga, India.
Pray that Irene, Roshan, and Reema (mother, her son and daughter)
would be encouraged and blessed this week.

July 14th: Leave Shimoga for Ongole via overnight train.
Please pray that we would be patient with one another,
and that God would bring us together in unity.

July 15th: Arrive in Ongole.

July 15th-17th: Meet up with Simpson Rebbavarapu, director of
Beulah Ministries – an orphanage and school for over 300 children.
While serving with Simpson, we will be teaching bible studies,
helping the staff,and loving the children. Pray that this ministry would
always seek to glorify God and would follow Him in all they do.

July 18th: Depart Ongole on an overnight train to Agra.

July 19th: Arrive in Agra.

July 20th: Visit the Taj Mahal. Depart Agra on overnight train to Delhi.

July 21st: Depart by plane from Delhi to Bangalore at 5:50 PM.
Arrive in Bangalore at 8:30 PM.

July 22nd: Depart Bangalore at 2:05 AM for Frankfurt.
Arrive in Frankfurt at 8:00 AM. Depart Frankfurt at 9:45 AM for PDX.
Arrive in Portland at 11:20 AM. Please pray for our transition back
into the States, both physically and spiritually.

curt's journal from Uganda-Aug. 25

2007-08-25T01:34:00.000-07:00

The trip home

The plane ride to London was uneventful, which is always nice. We didn’t change time zones, so there wasn’t any real jet lag, though we were tired from the late night dinner followed by an early morning to the airport. Most of the people from the dinner were there to see us off. We ended up leaving late because of the huge electrical storm that blew in. I saw at least two lightening strikes on the other side of the airfield followed by the loudest thunder I’ve ever heard in my life. Hillary, I think she was joking, said God must be mad that she was leaving Uganda. We landed in London, tired but doing well. Mary’s sister, Sarah, and her brother-in-law, Vasant, were there to great her and they had a great hug and went off together arm in arm. Mary was staying with them as they happened to be in London at the same time.

We exchanged some American dollars for pounds and had hopes of taking a shuttle to our hotel, getting settled and then zipping in to London to look around. If we didn’t feel up to that, I thought we might go in the morning instead. Well, since the shuttle, which is FREE in the United States, took half of our money, along with fact that the bus ride to London was forty-five minutes each way and would take the rest of our money, we decided to just go back to the hotel and relax...much to my chagrin. I don’t know if I’ll ever make it back to England, so I really wanted to see some “historical stuff.” I’ll admit it, I got a little grumpy about this, but after a nice warm bath, I felt better and really clean. I was a little sad to see the last of the Uganda soil go down the drain, but I’m sure I’ll find some more in our clo-thez.

This morning, we took the same walk through a neighborhood that we walked through yesterday. We saw this cool church and took a few pictures. Leslie noticed a gravestone for some men who died in World War I. We decided we wanted to have a morning tea, but none of the little restaurants and pubs opened until ten, so we ducked into a little coffee shop. We decided to have some breakfast and ordered two breakfasts to share. One was “traditional” and the other was “healthy.” It was really fun to see some subtle differences in breakfast. Baked beans and large pieces of ham, called bacon, were part of the fare. It was really enjoyable and very English. I noticed “black pudding” on the menu and asked the server what it is. She scrunched up her face and said in a charming accent, “It’s pigs blood, fried in sort of a circle. I don’t know why anyone would ever eat it.” I decided to take her word for it.

After breakfast, we packed and headed off for the airport. The shuttle driver asked for our tickets, so we handed him the round trip passes that we got yesterday. One problem; they were “One Way” passes. He was really nice though and didn’t make us pay. Leslie and I decided if we ever came back to London, we’d have to really do some research on how to explore it on a budget since things are so expensive.

We got to the airport in plenty of time. Hillary and Courtney wanted a picture of a double-decker bus with Harry Potter on the side, but couldn’t find one, so they settled for just a normal double-decker bus. We got in line and, when it was our turn, checked in. Since we booked our flight way after Hillary, the only seats that were available when we booked were “Plus” seats, which are more roomy than the economy seats. That was really nice for the flight from Uganda to London and they were nice enough to bump Hillary up so she could join us. Today, when we checked in, we found out that there were no seats available in that section so they bumped the three of us up to Business Class, which was a nice surprise. However, the lady at the counter informed us that Hillary would have to be on “standby” because there were no seats available. I decided if that happened, I would be the one to stay behind. Furthermore, she explained that we would have to wait until the last minute to discover our fate. This thwarted our plan to meet up with Mary inside the terminal after passing through security.

We found out Hillary made the flight, and we tried to get her upgraded to Business Class with us, but didn’t have any luck. We would’ve had to sell one of our cars to make it happen, but they did upgrade her into the "Plus" area again, which was very nice. Courtney’s carry-on suitcase, which carried the food we were going to snack on once inside the terminal, was red flagged. We didn’t realize the jar of peanut butter would be a problem since it made it through the Ugandan checkpoint. So, we had to slowly unpack everything in that suitcase while they checked it for explosives. The peanut butter was confiscated, and we were on our way.

By this time, our flight was already boarding, so we still hadn’t connected with Mary. We hoped that she made it on okay, because we had no other way of contacting her. There are no “Courtesy Phones” at Heathrow. The best we could do was to leave a message for her at the ticket counter. At the gate, they wouldn’t tell us if she had already checked in for privacy reasons, but I told them her initials and they said no one with those initials had checked in. We found out later that they arrived at the airport too late and missed the flight. Her parents told us she was pretty upset about this, but at least she was with her sister.

When we arrived in Seattle, we found out that one piece of luggage hadn’t made it...the one with all of our dirty clothes. That should be a treat to go through when it arrives! Don Windham, the director of ICN, picked us up and took us to Mary’s house for a wonderful dinner. We shared with them some of our experiences, but after a while, we started to fade a bit and knew we still had a three and a half hour drive ahead of us with both cars, so we left and headed for home, where we arrived just past midnight. I think we’ve been up for about twenty-eight hours now. It’s weird to be in our own house. Hillary’s friend, Stephanie, who house sat for us, did a great job taking care of things while we away. It really gave us peace of mind having her here. My father-in-law did some work on our lawn and it looks better than ever. I can’t wait to sleep in my own bed...and dream of Uganda...without the dogs barking throughout the night.

curt's journal from Uganda-Aug. 23

2007-08-25T00:52:00.000-07:00

As I fly over the desserts of northern Africa toward London, It’s hard to imagine that it’s been a whole month since I passed this way heading south to Uganda. In many ways, it went so quickly and yet it feels like we packed a lifetime of experiences into this time.

Yesterday was an emotional day for us. I spent a lot of time in the morning trying to track down some supplies to fix some of the things we had broken. As you can probably imagine by now, in Uganda, you don’t just take a quick trip to Home Depot and Lowes to grab all of the things you need. You drive through an amazing amount of traffic then fight for a parking spot in the district where these types of supplies are sold. I would estimate that the district we went to spanned at least ten square blocks, packed with hundreds of tiny shops that are very specific in what they sell, often in very strange combinations. Yesterday, as we passed a boda-boda with its driver balancing a large, boxed television on his lap, his passenger cradling a large boxed component stereo system, I saw a shop that sold only car engines and office chairs. This hardware district was full of such combinations.

We were looking for a piece of glass that needed to be cut to replace the one that I broke on the coffee table that I sat on (Mom, you were right, I WAS going to break something). We were able to get this quickly and they cut it for us while we waited. Then we looked for a part for the towel rack in the bathroom. I’m not sure we really broke it, because it didn’t look like it had been installed well, but we thought we should replace it anyway. After trying about twenty-five shops, however, I was about ready to give up. Resty had assured me this was a very common item, but Jemba Moses and I were really striking out. We even had the help of “agents” who guided us from store to store. Moses explained to me that these agents get paid a commission by store-owners when a customer buys something. We were assured, time and time again, “No, no! It’s no problem! I know the store where you can get these!” only to be disappointed. We finally found the piece, but as soon as the owner saw a “Mzungu” walk into the shop, visions of an early retirement danced in his head. He would only sell them as a set and at a high price. I used a little “tsst” sound that I had heard Moses use and started to walk out of the store (it’s the sound you make when you have something stuck in your teeth). The owner wanted to negotiate and came down in price, but there was no way I was going to pay for his kid’s college with my purchase of a simple towel rack, so I walked out. The agent soon came running after us and had another offer. “Nedah (no) I don’t want to buy both of them. What am I going to do with the extra one? Take it back to America with me? TSST! Nedah.” He walks back into the shop only to reappear moments later with another offer. Moses and I walked off with a wave and went looking for glue instead.

After this little journey, we picked up a few things for our trip home and then went to Lusaka to attend another choir practice. They didn’t really have choir practice, but all of the kids were there anyway and the boys were working on their drumming routines. I sat in for a little while and they laughed when I tried to play the drums. I could do the bass drum okay, but the smaller drums were exhausting and they have to hit them so hard to get the right sounds. They are really amazing. My hands still hurt today.

While some of the boys were drumming, the rest of the kids were writing letters to their sponsors and to us. As I’m typing this, Hillary is across the aisle of the airplane reading them. We have so many letters; I want to share them later in this journal. The kids went back and forth between being happy that we were there for one more day, and really sad that we would soon be leaving. I’m so attached to these children, I can’t imagine what Hillary must be feeling after being with them for four months. As I read them I can’t help but get tears in my eyes thinking about their smiling faces, despite their difficult lives.

After they were dismissed, we went to the “boys’ home” about a half mile away from the school. We wound along dirt roads in this poor part of Kampala and rolled up to their house with a van full of kids that either live at this home or, like Yvonne and Julius, were just not ready to say goodbye yet. It’s not a Boys Home like an American might imagine. It’s simply “the boys’ home” because it’s the place where all the boys live that Moses and Hopkins have rescued and taken in. They’ve taken in so many children that they had to buy another modest home. The girls live with Moses and Hopkins and twenty-one boys live in this small home. The boys range in age from eight to sixteen and seem to love it. The garage area has been converted to a kitchen, but not a kitchen like an American would have. It was basically two propane burners on the ground with large pots to make chicken, or rice, or posho, or cassava, or matoke...whatever is available. I have a feeling the cassava we got as gifts in Gulu ended up here to feed these growing young boys. “Uncle” is the one who cooks for them and runs the household. A man named Joseph, who is a friendly teacher at St. Mbuga Primary School, also lives here. Other than that, there are no parental figures on a permanent basis. Pastor Moses stays with them sometimes, but not regularly.

We took a tour of their place and I was amazed that you could fit twenty-one boys in this small building. Several three-story bunk beds filled one small room. There were two large tables that filled another room. It was explained by the proud boys that this was the room for homework and eating. Several boys set aside their homework while our tour walked through. I can’t really describe just how small this house is. It made me think about the times I’ve evaluated that our three-bedroom house was just a little too small for our four-person family. I’m starting to think we could probably house fifty boys in it. As crowded as it was and sparse as it was supplied, not one of the boys had one complaint. They seemed happy to be there and love living together. I wondered what their original living situation was, that brought them here. I know some of them live there because Pastor Moses or Hopkins simply said, “you will now live with us.” After negotiating with their often-uncaring guardians. I enjoyed this part of the afternoon. These boys are a treasure and I know many of them will grow up to become leaders in their community. According to Bruno and Eric, they “sometimes” live in the home. I think it’s more like “usually” but they sometimes live with their guardians.

Eric and Bruno took us outside to the area where they play. Eric said he like to play in this small temporary structure that looked like a small shed. The sides were lined with jagged metal sheets and nails stuck out everywhere...a lot like some of the forts I built with my friends as a kid. This one doubles as a place to store things, since there isn’t much of a place to store things inside the house. Bruno and the older Julius showed me were they have planted some beans to eat once they are ready. The boys were all very proud of their house. Many of the boys in the choir live here. It’s going to be strange to invite them to my mansion when they come to the U.S.

We said goodbye over and over again. I can’t get the image of Bruno sitting over by the fence with a seriously sad look on his face as he nodded goodbye to his friend...and sponsor...and mother...Hillary. In his letter to me, he informed me that he now has three names. He now shares my last name. No complaints here. Eric gave me one of his patented smiles and said, “Don’t be sad! We shall see you again so, so, so, soon!” I couldn’t hug all these boys enough.

We finally broke away and headed down to say goodbye to Yvonne’s mother. We were hesitant to go there again, since we had heard that our last visit had caused a problem for her family. But, Yvonne was insistent. “My mother has said that she really wishes you to come and say goodbye to her.” How could we refuse that? We walked up to their tiny dwelling and were greeted by her smiling mother. She hugged us and thanked us over and over for all we had done for her family. It really made me proud of Hillary for the way she had integrated herself into this family. I told her we were sorry that we had caused a problem for her with her neighbors. She said, “I don’t know what you mean! There is no problem! You can come here any time! Our neighbors haven’t said anything!” I felt relieved as she said this, though I’m not convinced she’s being completely candid. She loves her kids so much, I don’t think she really cares WHAT the neighbors do. It was really hard to say goodbye to Yvonne, but according to her, she’s getting much better at it now, since she’s had to do it with Hillary two times before. I’ll never forget this sweet girl. I pray that God will protect her in her environment, which is often unkind to girls.

After the goodbyes to all the kids, like Julius, Jane, and Annita, we headed back to the apartment to pack. As we drove off, I saw Julius sitting on the steps of the church. He was having a hard time keeping it together. Right now I prefer to think of him dancing and singing. I don’t want to think about leaving him behind. I also saw Jane, who had held my hand any time it was available throughout the afternoon, and her big sister, Annita, who thanked me in a letter for being nice to her little sister. Her intelligent eyes sparkled as she waved goodbye.

After packing we went out to dinner with Pastor Moses, Hopkins, and their team of leaders who weren’t out of town working. We had a wonderful time talking and laughing and reflecting on our trip. I thought it was funny that our last night was spent eating Chinese food. It was great though; a really great way to end our trip. Sam Straxy and Sam Lawrence kept us laughing with their funny stories, while Hopkins just cracked us up all evening. She is an amazing person who manages a lot of people and I hope I never stop hearing her voice in my head...
“Our hunger is increasing!” (as we waited for our food to arrive)
“I think that I might-a have to divorce this-a one!” (nodding at Moses).

After we ate, they spent a long time complimenting on our work there. Moses went on a long time about how Americans usually aren’t as nice and flexible as we were. He really went out of his way to compliment us. It was humbling. Hannington, Straxy, and others took their turns and then they wanted us to share. Mary, Courtney, Hillary, and Leslie all shared their thanks beautifully. There were so many things that I wanted to express to them, that I didn’t know where to start. This trip has been so many things to my family and I. I feel like we gained way more than we received. I did the best I could, but didn’t come close to expressing the depth of my gratitude.

Then it was Hopkins turn. She talked about our love for kids and complimented us with such intensity, that it looked like she would fight anyone who dared to disagree with her or ever said anything bad about us. The laud we received this evening was humbling from this group of people who have literally given their lives to serve others. They were so grateful that someone would come to care about what they do. They made me feel like the captain of a ship being greeted by a group of people who had been stranded on a deserted island. I think maybe our roles were actually reversed. I’ll never be the same.

curt's journal from Uganda-Aug. 21

2007-08-21T08:56:00.000-07:00

Tuesday Morning:

Well, it’s 6:30am and I didn’t sleep very well. Sure the dogs barked a lot, but there was something else. After a great morning with the girls, shopping at the open-air market by the taxi park, the afternoon delivering a package to Compassion International, and the evening relaxing and talking, I got ready for bed. As usual, I made sure all the camera batteries were charged up and ready for the next day. I wanted to put the video camera in its dock so it would be charged up too, but I couldn’t find it. I hadn’t used it since Sunday morning at church when Julius sang a solo. I looked in the normal places where it might be and found nothing. Panic swept over me as I thought of all the footage of the choir that we needed that hadn’t been backed up. Soon everyone was searching our whole apartment for it. It was gone. We tried to retrace our steps and we realized that it never made it home from church. We called Hopkins and Straxy to see if anyone had turned it in. Sam checked the bus that we rode in and couldn’t find it. They told me they would call all of the ushers and see what they could discover. We waited up for quite awhile, but finally decided to go to bed. We never got a call.

So, right now, we have no video camera. Hillary seems confident that it will show up at the church, but I don’t know. I’m really frustrated with myself for not being more careful with it. I’ve spent the whole trip packing around all of this equipment and trying to get great footage for the promotional materials and for our own memories. I know there is a lesson to be learned, but I can’t figure it out right now. Last night I laid on my bed and just let the tears come out. I felt like such and idiot to not take care of the camera. I’ve never been one to tightly hold onto my possessions and it has cost me several times in my life. My response is usually, “It’s just stuff. Things can be replaced.” But this time, those video clips cannot be replaced. I’m not sure where to file that in my brain. It’ll be hard to make those payments on a camera that doesn’t exist.

The thing that kept coming to mind, as I struggle to sleep, is the passage in the Bible that says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” I’ve been saying that to myself all night. As I’m typing that verse, I realize the hardest part for me is the “with thanksgiving” part. I really wanted a visual record of our memories, but I’m thankful, I still have my memories and a LOT of photos. We didn’t lose all of the footage. I’m thankful for every moment that we’ve spent in Africa, and I’m not about to let this ruin our trip. I’m thankful that God knows exactly where that camera is, even if I never find out. I’m sure all of this will eventually bring me peace. It always has.

Tuesday Afternoon:

Well, we had a bunch of leads today, but nothing concrete. We’re still hopeful, but definitely leaving it in God’s hands. Courtney and Leslie reminded me tonight that everything we have is God’s anyway, including the video footage that was lost. He knows what we need to properly promote Matsiko and doesn’t need all of my hard work to get the job done right. I just need to trust him to provide the results, it’s not up to me. This is a lesson I’ve relearned many times, but needed a refresher. I was lamenting a little about making payments on a camera that we don’t own and Courtney said, “It will just be a good reminder that even if you have something that is of really good quality, it can be taken away in a moment, so we shouldn’t hold on tightly to our possessions.” She’s a smart kid.

We were talking tonight about how great this trip has been for us as a family. Our relationship has changed to a more adult friendship. We’ve had the best time together and had very few moments of strain between us. I feel very thankful for that. This trip has really come at a good time for us. I’m so proud of my wife and kids and how hard they work, how much they care about others, and how wise they are. I have much to be thankful for. I think the peace I was talking about this morning is growing stronger.

Today we said goodbye to the kids in the choir, but not the REAL goodbye. We’ll be seeing many of them tomorrow too. It was still really hard though. I talked to Eric alone and told him Leslie and I are going to pick up the other half of his sponsorship. The choir kids have a choir sponsor and a school sponsor and Hillary thinks he only has one. I call “DIBS!” on Eric. He lit up when I told him and said, “I just LOVE the Sell family!” He’s such a great kid. Every time he saw me the rest of the day, he gave me another hug.

Video camera? What video camera?

As I'm typing this, the song "It is Well" is playing in the coffee shop.

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
when sorrows like sea billows roll;
whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well with my soul.

curt's journal from Uganda-Aug. 20

2007-08-20T02:37:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, at church, they had us go up to the front to say goodbye. It was really hit us that we don't have very much time left. Even though we're going to see the choir kids several times before we leave, they were sad and Jane was crying and wouldn't stop hugging me. It's going to be really hard to leave. With only three days left, I found a better internet option, but will probably only get online one more time after today. Oh well, at least I can pass it on to the next team that comes.

Today, we walked to an open air market and had a great time. It was really crowded and crazy with people yelling at me to bring my Mzungu money to them. It surrounds the taxi park where hundreds of Toyota vans are parked with hundreds of taxi drivers asking, "Mzungu, where are you going?" or "Where do you want to reach, Mzungu?" It was a really interesting atmoshphere and we were able to barter with people. I was able to buy a set of five pans for the child that my friends, the Scotts, sponsor. We spent the afternoon arranging a ride, getting a location, and finding the Compassion International office. Mission accomplished. It was great to get that delivered. We still haven't delivered another package for one of our fellow church members, but we are hopeful. It's just so hard to make arrangements in a town so overcrowded.

We are excited, yet apprehensive about our last few days in Uganda.

curt's journal from Uganda-Aug. 18

2007-08-19T08:13:00.001-07:00

After a great night of sleep, we woke up and had a wonderful breakfast. During breakfast Pastor Moses dropped by to tell us that we would be going to visit the centers later than we expected. The locals heard that he was in town and asked him to spend a half hour speaking on the radio. He wanted me to “help” him, but since I had just sat down to breakfast, he let me off the hook. Whew! If I ever come back to Uganda, I better have several sermons prepared, practiced, and ready to deliver on a moment’s notice. Here, if you can preach, by golly, you preach!

We had a little time to kill, so we walked down to the other hotel where the rest of our traveling companions had spent the night. They were just sitting down to breakfast, so we sat and chatted with them. One young man, Ben, invited me to sit with him, so I spent some time getting to know him as he ate his cow hoof for breakfast. That’s right...cow hoof! It looked like, well, a cooked cow’s hoof...a good-sized leg bone surrounded by, what looked like, a healthy amount of fat. He offered some to us, and Leslie was quick to say, “No thank you, we just had breakfast.” I, on the other hand, enjoy a well-marbled steak, so I thought, “why not?” and took a bite. Resty and Ben insisted that it wasn’t fat, but it sure had the texture of fat. I think that it’s just skin, but it actually tasted pretty good. Not something I’d go out of my way to order, but definitely edible. Ben thought it was funny that I had learned some Luganda, so he taught me a few more phrases, and kept grilling throughout the day. It was a very enjoyable second breakfast.

After Pastor Moses got back, we headed outside the city of Gulu to the new school that had just broken ground, thanks to Moses’ team. We met two of his sisters and his brother James. One of his sisters works for World Vision, so Moses had partnered with them for this project. World Vision had gathered all of the biographical information for the kids that needed to be sponsored, so all we had to do was take photos of two hundred kids so that ICN can try and get these kids sponsored in the United States.

The drive out to this remote area was on the worst road we have encountered thus far. It was barely a road and was swampy from all of the recent rain. It’s the rainy season in northern Uganda, so the roads were well watered. It felt like we were driving in a bog. Fortunately, our van has four-wheel drive and our driver, Moses, is amazing and very experienced. As we drove, I surveyed the beautiful landscape. It’s hard to imagine that just three or four years ago this area was being ransacked by the Lord’s Resistance Army, slaughtering innocent people as they moved through the area like hungry locusts. As I mentioned earlier, this group became famous through the movie “Invisible Children” for their practice of kidnapping children to increase the size of their army. I learned that the LRA has a beef with the Ugandan government, so they are just trying to cause trouble. They are currently stationed in the Congo, I believe, and are in peace talks with Uganda, but no one here trusts them to ever be peaceful. By the time the movie came out, the problem outlined in the movie no longer existed, but there were still a lot of problems that the LRA had left in its wake. I found out today that the “Invisible Children” campaign is finally starting to do some good in the Gulu district, focusing its resources on setting up educational centers for the children. There are 400,000 children in this district alone. We passed by several camps where temporary housing have been set up to house the thousands of displaced people. It was quite an awe-inspiring experience.

We finally reached the education center. Pastor Moses told us that not many white people make it out this far. The movie has generated a lot of attention for Gulu, but most white people just fly into Gulu city and don’t venture out into the district. It would be like someone wanting to write an article on farming in Nebraska, yet never venturing outside the Omaha city limits. It wouldn’t be a very thorough or accurate report.

The center boasted a brand new building with the foundation under construction for a teacher’s quarters. Unlike the established schools we’ve visited, the group of people waiting for us consisted of guardians and children alike. The guardians seemed so grateful that we had come there just for them. From the school you could see the tree and bush filled plains stretching out on all sides. It was just beautiful. We took all of the pictures and then the girls played with the kids, while I was engaged in a conversation with a group of older high school boys who had built the school building and were working on the rest. I found out later that some of them had been captured and brainwashed by the LRA. They had been counseled through this and were now helping where they could. They “worked me” for money for a while, as many of the older kids here do. Hillary told me not to pay so much attention to them, but I already knew what they were up to. They were basically nice guys though. As Ben said, “When your stomach is empty, you don’t always wait for the coconut to fall.” Next thing I know, Ben’s carrying a live chicken that some appreciative person in the community had given our group. Out of earshot of the locals, Mary said, “I’m not riding with that thing!” (I don’t think she knows it’s in the van as I write this.) As we left, another group waved down our van so they could load two huge sacks of cassava into it. We had to unload them out of the sacks so we could pack them in next to the chicken that was tied to the leg of the back seat.

As we drove to our next center to take photos, Moses expounded on the many problems facing Uganda and its people. There are so many, that I can’t really begin to mention, but he was quick to add, that it also has a lot of great things about it, and many things are improving. I can now say I’ve seen this first hand. Uganda is a living illustration of contrasts. As much as they are quick to aggressively, and not so subtly, angle for American dollars, they are quick to help their fellow man. Every day, I see strangers jumping to the aid of their fellow man as a truck gets stuck here, or giving a ride to a stranger. As probable as it is that a Ugandan man will leave his family to fend for itself, only to start a new problem with another woman, someone will volunteer to take in a homeless child and add them to their family unit. It’s at the same time disturbing and wonderful...annoying and endearing...pitiful and hopeful.

As I sat down to a relaxing dinner of rice, Irish potatoes, and goat stew, I looked across the table at my family and my new friends and thanked God for this experience. Every day that I’m here, my world becomes larger and more full.

The trip home was tedious, but uneventful, except for one thing...the baboons. We drove by a place where there are usually a lot of baboons on the roadway during the morning and early evening. Just as Pastor Moses was wondering aloud if the recent rain had sent them back into the shelter of the forest, a mother baboon jumped onto the highway, her little baby wrapped around it’s stomach, holding on for all it was worth. I scrambled to get my video camera rolling and Leslie snapped a bunch of photos as we threw bananas out of the van windows. Soon another baboon joined the party. We only stayed for about a minute because we didn’t want to hold up traffic, but it was fun to see real wild animals in their own natural environment. I would’ve liked to stay longer, but the locals that were traveling with us see them all the time on this road. Usually, when the weather’s better, there are a very large number of them along this stretch of highway. I was just grateful we got to see some animals besides cows, goats, and chickens on this trip.

Although the Ugandans that travel with us don’t seem to have a problem with it, I find it impossible to get any sleep while traveling here. The abrupt jolts of slamming into a surprise pothole...the sudden swerves to stay on the smooth part of the road...the speed bumps that seem to be randomly placed to keep traffic under control...the police checkpoints...the regular honks of the horn to warn pedestrians and boda-bodas to move over...and the quick application of brakes to ease through potholes that span the width of the highway...make it impossible for me to shut my eyes for more than a few minutes at a time. Pastor Moses slept peacefully behind me until we rolled into Kampala at about 11:30

curt's journal from Uganda-Aug. 17

2007-08-19T08:12:00.000-07:00

Today we left for Gulu at 9:30 Uganda time...which is to say 11:45. We needed to get an early start since it’s a five-hour drive. (Yes, when I say “early” I’m being sarcastic.) The waiting around doesn’t really bother me at all. Since I’m usually the one who’s always late, I finding it refreshing to be waiting on others.

It took us a long time to get out of Kampala. Traffic, in many places is horrible in Kampala. There are just too many people for the roads that have been built. These areas make our rush hour traffic look like the highway drive in the middle of Wyoming. The thing that intrigues me is that there are very rarely any disputes on the roadways. When I tried to explain “road rage” to our driver, Moses, he just laughed. He couldn’t really understand it. The worst I’ve seen here is one time a driver gave Moses the “you’re not using you brain” hand signal. I just learned that one from Hopkins the other day. You start by placing your closed fist on your forehead and then you throw your fist forward while opening your hand. Its not an obscene gesture, but is quite effective. I also found out that when you point to the side of your head and make circles with your finger (like we do when we say someone is cuckoo) it means you’re intelligent, using your brain. If you say someone is “smart” it means they look attractive or are dressed well. These are just a few random facts to amuse and astound your friends.

Once we finally got out of Kampala, we headed north toward Gulu. It was a beautiful drive. I’m trying to think of other words besides “lush” and “green” to describe it, but none come to mind. All the buildings you see along the way are quite a contrast to the green. They are usually dirty and brown and look really run down, but they have a certain charm to them. Most of the really permanent buildings here are made of brick, which the people make themselves. Hannington showed us the process one day. They dig up the right kind of dirt, which is everywhere, then they mix in water and stomp this mixture into forms with their bare feet. Once the bricks have dried enough to safely take them out of the forms, usually one to two days, they are stacked in large rectangle stacks that look like walls, about five feet high, four feet wide and as long as you want. They are then covered with grass so the rain won’t ruin them, where they remain for several days. Next they are stacked like pyramids with the top cut off. These stacks are usually twelve to fifteen feet high with two tunnels at the very bottom of the stack that are large enough for a man to crawl into (though I wouldn’t advise it). The outside of the stack is packed with a thick layer of mud to keep the air inside and long thatch is laid across the very top. Finally, they put wood inside the tunnels and light a fire. They keep the fire burning hot until the heat reaches the top and the thatch starts to burn. This is the signal that it’s time to close off the tunnels with bricks and seal it with a layer of mud. They let it continue to cook and it sits there for about a week and the process is complete. There is a certain kind of mud that is grey and makes stronger bricks that are more expensive, but the red clay bricks are everywhere.

Many of the buildings have the bricks showing, but some cover the outside with a type of plaster. Many remain a tan or grey color but some are painted like huge company billboards. Resty told me that companies approach building owners and ask if they can paint their structure. Most accept it because it’s a way to have a nicely painted building without having to pay for it. Two phone companies, MTN and Celtel, seem to use this marketing technique the most. You can see their bright colors and company logos plastered on buildings even in some very remote villages. Everyone here uses cell phones that are the “pay as you go” type. You can buy cards to add minutes to your phone on almost any street corner in Kampala and usually several places in even the smallest villages, including the one we stopped at today.

About two and a half hours into our five-hour journey, Moses, the driver, said something in Luganda to Moses, the pastor. We pulled over in the small village of Lewega for what we thought was a short rest stop to stretch our legs. Actually, Moses had noticed that the brakes weren’t functioning well, so he pulled into a mechanic’s shop to have some adjustments made. Moses talked to a couple of friendly looking mechanics and explained the problem. They immediately took both of the back tires off and began to work. We were getting a little hungry, so we walked further up the highway where there appeared to be an open air market with grey smoke rising from it. We were hoping to purchase some grilled corn, Hillary’s favorite roadside snack. They didn’t have any; it was too early in the day, according to Resty, so I bought a couple of beef kabobs (not the Uganda term for them). I gave one of them to Moses because he looked like he needed to take his mind off of the trouble in front of him. Now there were five mechanics squatting down next to our car...more Luganda...more squatting...more Luganda...it looked like we were going to be a while. Soon dark clouds blew in, and with them, buckets of rain. All work stopped as the area around our van became a roaring stream of water. We were invited inside a small restaurant next door to be sheltered from the storm. Finally about a half hour later, the rain slowed down enough that Moses got up and walked toward the mechanics...serious Luganda aimed at the mechanics...laughter from the mechanic and a gesture toward the sky...quicker and sharper Luganda from Moses with a gesture toward the car...more Luganda from the mechanic to the other mechanics who were holed up in a car to stay dry...finally we were back in business. I purchased a fresh pineapple from a kid on a bike across the street and he cut it up for us right there. Our protector, Resty, gave the kid a long speech about not touching the pineapple with his dirty hands. He looked apologetic and held onto the stock throughout the whole process. Talk about SKILLS. He was quick!

While we waited for the mechanics to try and find a part for the one that was broken, Pastor Moses and I talked about Uganda. It was really the first opportunity I’ve had to spend any real time with him since we’ve been here. He shared with me some of the challenges of this country that he loves. Because of war and diseases, the number of men is much smaller than the number of women. As I said earlier, women are only valued if they can bare children, so there’s a real problem finding men for marriage. Consequently, many men marry multiple wives and rule over their personal “baby factories” with an iron fist. They choose to marry the more uneducated and very young, because they have more power over them. So, it’s hard to encourage bright young women to stay in school and become educated. It’s even harder to encourage them to not marry a man with several wives. They’re trying to change the polygamy laws here, but women are fighting against it. “Whom will we marry?” is their cry. He really loves Uganda and his family has a history of being difference makers. I have no doubt he will give his life to encourage positive change.

After three hours, our quick little adjustment was completed and we were again on the road toward Gulu. The road stretched out ahead of us in what looked like smooth sailing. Unfortunately, a closer look revealed thousands of deep potholes, as if meteorites had showered the highway. Actually, the word “pothole” doesn’t do them justice. “Crater” is probably a better description. Moses deftly avoided most of them by zig zagging back and forth across both lanes of the highway. After more than an hour of this, we hit a nice stretch of two-lane highway that was straight and true, about 150 kilometers from Gulu. Everywhere we looked there was thick green trees and tall grass on the flattest area of land we’ve seen thus far. As darkness started to fall, I was captivated by the splendor of this land. The darker it became, the less chance we had of seeing some wild African animals along the way. Instead we were treated to one of the most brilliant electrical storms I’ve ever seen. We don’t get much lightning in Oregon, but as a young boy in Nebraska, I used to love watching it light up the sky. As we neared Gulu, it was so dark outside that we couldn’t even see the terrain. But, as the intense flashes filled the sky to our right, to our left, and in front of us, we discovered that we were on a plain. Outside I could hear millions of crickets and then a chorus of insects that I’ve never heard before. It sounded like a countless amount of tiny coconuts clapping together or small wooden bells. I couldn’t really tell what they were, but there were certainly a lot of them. The closer we got to Gulu the less the other drivers and pedestrians obeyed the unspoken laws of the road. Pastor Moses had warned us about that. I’ve become so accustomed to the hypersensitivity of those in the south. There, it seems like everyone knows what everyone else is thinking. Here, it seems like they couldn’t care less. As we passed through a village at 100 k/h, oblivious pedestrians seemed to wander aimlessly along the roadside, and a white pickup truck darted into our lane. Moses skillfully avoided both pickup and pedestrians while giving one solid honk of the horn. This has rarely been heard since we’ve been here. Usually, the horn is tooted quickly to say, “I’m about to pass you and you don’t appear to have a clue, so please move over.” That happens hundreds of times on each trip. The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful thanks to the expertise of our driver. One of these days, I’m going to figure out the secret code of the turn signals and flashes of the headlights that alert oncoming drivers some covert message. We arrived in the city of Gulu at 9:00, got checked into our room, and had a nice meal together. I enjoyed a nice, warm shower and fell asleep on a very comfortable bed, wondering what tomorrow would hold for our team.

curt's journal from Uganda-Aug. 16

2007-08-19T08:11:00.000-07:00

Today I fell in love. My marriage to Leslie is as strong as ever, but I have another love...Matsiko, the children’s choir. We spent the day with them on the outskirts of Kampala and at the Botanical Gardens along Lake Victoria. It was another work-day for me. We had to get video footage and photos of them in their performance costumes for the promotional materials. Work has never been so fun.

Moses pulled up to our apartment in a small bus. It had more seats than the van, but it wasn’t as big as a school bus. As he pulled up, he ran out of gas, so we had to coast down the street to the gas station. (It reminded me of my first date with Leslie, where we coasted off of the highway and had just enough momentum to get to the gas pump.) Anyway, we got gassed up and were on our way, one hour late on American time, right on time in Uganda.

We drove to Lusaka to pick up the kids. When we got there, Straxy was pulling the costumes out of grocery bags. Apparently, last night, when he went to pick them up from the dry cleaner, they hadn’t done them as they had promised, so he just took them as they were. Resty pulled out an iron and started pressing them, so they’d look good for the camera. The kids got dressed and into the bus and we headed for the hills of Kampala, two and a half hours late Uganda time. I told myself the morning sun I so coveted wasn’t really that important.

We spent the next hour or two taking photos and videos in some remote hills. The kids were great, but were starting to lack focus and energy. I didn’t see the same fire I normally see, so I suggested we get some food in these kids. We made stops at several stores along the road and cleaned them out of chapattis, splash juice boxes, mandazi (which are supposedly donuts, but taste more like bagels), bananas, and water. Their enthusiasm in the bus picked up as soon as they had some water and madazi. We then drove to the Botanical Gardens for lunch and afternoon filming and play.

Many of the kids had never been to the Botanical Gardens, nor had they seen Lake Victoria, which is only a small distance from Kampala...maybe a half hour drive. As soon as they saw the water, the volume level went up as twenty-six children excitedly chattered about what they were seeing.

We entered the gates after...um...encouraging the gatekeeper to not overcharge us for entry (they charge extra for cameras and even more for video cameras). While the kids went to use the restroom, our driver, Moses asked, “Did you see that monkey? There!” As I looked up a black and white monkey ran away from us and over a small hill. I ran to get my camera, but he was gone. Leslie and I headed with Moses toward the place where we had last seen this fairly large primate. Then Moses pointed up into a large tree and said, “There!” We looked up and couldn’t see anything at first, but sure enough, there were four monkeys up in that tree. We walked right up to the tree and took some photos and video as they looked down at us. We tried to coax them down later with a banana, but they wouldn’t. So, at least I have one picture of an animal we don’t see in the US.

After lunch we spent the next couple of hours moving around this beautiful park. The choir behaved and performed wonderfully. Sam has really trained them well. This talented, twenty three year old man has really dedicated his life to these children. He’s really tough on them, but loves them intensely. He dreams of running his own music studio, and I have no doubts that he will accomplish it.

After I had gotten all of the photos and videos I needed, I told the kids to grab a friend or two and find a location and I’d shoot their picture. They excitedly grabbed each other and headed for a spot to get their picture taken. I had no idea how excited they would be about this. They moved from spot to spot forming new combinations and poses as they went. We slowly move across the park, as they worked in front of me and yelled, “over here!” as soon as I snapped a shot. The resulting photos were the best shots of the day. They were having such a fun time, that I quickly filled up the card on my camera and had to download them onto my laptop so I could shoot some more. The thing that amazed me was how much the groups intermingled with each other. No one seemed to care WHO they got a picture with. They were hugging and posing and laughing, until we started losing the light and it was time to go home. We got some photos with the kids we sponsor, but soon several others joined us. They’re ALL our kids.

Our kids

At one point, as Leslie was taking a photo of me with Julius, he wrapped his arms around me and whispered, “You’re my dad.” Hours later, I still can’t think about it without tearing up. I get the feeling he likes how it feels to be able to say that to someone. I hope I make a good dad.

Julius, me, and Jane

On the ride home, I loaded all of the rest of the photos on the laptop and started going through them to see how we did. The kids started standing up on the bus and commenting about each picture. It was a lot of fun for both them and me. Rarely does an amateur photographer get such instant and positive feedback. It was really fun.

We dropped them off at church. They prayed together and then Sam warned them that it was getting late and that they needed to go straight home. He emphasized this several times and finally said, “You know I have the authority over you, and I will spank you if I hear you stopped somewhere on the way home! Understand?” “Yes!” “Are you sure?” “Yes!” “If I hear that you didn’t go straight home, you might as well start preparing your backsides for a good spankin’! Understand?” “Yes” “Okay, give these people hugs and go home now.”

We got the best hugs...and I have no doubt they went straight home.

curt's journal from Uganda-Aug. 15

2007-08-19T08:10:00.000-07:00

I don’t have much time to write today. I’ve got to get things prepared for filming the choir tomorrow and get some much-needed sleep.

Today, we went back into the bush to Kamasenene. Hopkins wasn’t very happy with the reception we got there, but I absolutely loved it. She said it didn’t even look like the teaching staff knew we were coming. She really likes, and expects, a well-organized presentation when we get to the schools. You can tell these schools are her pride and joy and she runs a very tight ship.

One of her frustrations was that not very many kids were at the school. It was kind of a holiday, I think. I think once the official exams are over, they have holiday, or vacation. I haven’t really figured it out yet, because they still have school in some situations. She said something like, “The kids at Lusaka will be on holiday next week, but they’ll still come to school...just a half day.” I don’t think I’d be a happy camper if they made us go half days during spring break or summer vacation!

Anyway, Kamasenene was beautiful. The school was located in a thriving, green valley. The scenery was breathtaking. I think I could’ve stayed here for our whole trip. Next to the school, there was a tree filled with spherical nests. One of the teachers who came with us from Lusaka school told me they were Weaver Birds. There were maybe sixty of these bright yellow birds nesting in this one tree and they sang beautifully and constantly. It was really a relaxing setting. The fact that there were a smaller number of children was nice too. Sometimes it’s a little overwhelming when there are so many kids vying for our attention. We were able to take a lot of pictures without gathering a crowd too, which was nice. I’d love to take a SLOW journey through the countryside of Uganda and take pictures. I don’t think I’ll get the opportunity as long as Moses is driving. He’ll stop anytime I ask him to, but we’re usually trying to get somewhere. I’d feel weird stopping the van full of passengers to take a photo of a cool rock!

Almost everyone fell asleep on the way home, but Hopkins kept answering my millions of questions. I learned a lot about her past, growing up without the love of parents. Fortunately, she had a loving grandma that she lived with until seventh grade. In high school, she moved in with her aunt in Kampala to go to high school. She had some questions for me too. She wondered about the United States, how we live, how we get educated, and why I keep saying “bless you” when she sneezes. I explained that it’s just become a habit for us in the States. I happened to recall that the origin had to do with the superstition that evil spirits would enter whenever you sneeze (or was that when you yawn?) so you need a blessing. She thought that was pretty funny.

I got to try my first sugarcane on the way home in the van. I think I’ve found my new favorite vegetable. It was another great day and our group is very tired. Everyone just came home and crashed...now I’ll do the same.

curt's journal from Uganda-Aug. 14

2007-08-19T08:08:00.000-07:00

This morning I checked out a less expensive alternative for the internet. I must’ve gotten there too early, the squirrels that provide the speed by running on their treadmill hadn’t been fed yet. Translation: It was inexpensive, but VERY slow. I had to bite the bullet, but by the time I got to my usual spot, I was running late, so I didn’t get all the photos uploaded.

For lunch, Hillary and Resty made this really nice meal, which included a tasty cabbage dish. I’m not a big fan of cabbage, but this was really good. We also had matoke, which is a staple here along with rice. Matokes look like green bananas, but are yellow when cooked, and taste like tangy mashed potatoes. Supposedly it’s a great source for hydration when you don’t have water available. Mary loves it, while I’m a little undecided, and Courtney eats it only to be polite.

After lunch, Hillary and I went to Lusaka to the St. Mbuga school to interview some of the Matsiko kids. We had Resty interpret so the kids could be comfortable telling their stories without having to concentrate on the correct English words. I keep teasing Resty, “why do we need an interpreter if English is the official language?” I tease her about this every chance I get. Many of the TV shows are in Luganda, all of the locals speak Luganda when they really want to explain something, many adults don’t speak much English at all, yet they insist it’s the official language. I’ve heard there are about fifty-two other languages spoken here, so they needed a common language to minimize misunderstanding. Uganda has British roots, so English was chosen.

Anyway, the interviews went pretty well. Sam Straxy gave us a list of kids that would be good to interview: Sulaina, Agnes, Yvonne, and David. Yvonne was home from school with some sort of rash, so we interviewed the other three. We had several things working against us for these interviews. THEIR CULTURE: people here are reluctant to share their true feelings. A Ugandan man will never tell you he’s tired even if he’s been awake for three days. THEIR PAINFUL PAST: these kids don’t want to relive their past, and for good reason. So many of them have lost a large number of relatives close to them. They protect themselves from getting hurt again. THEIR LANGUAGE: they don’t speak English very well yet, but are learning it in school, so it’s difficult for them to get very descriptive. THEIR AGE: I sometimes forget, these are just elementary school children. How many of our kids would be comfortable sharing deeply and descriptively with someone they barely know from another country? With these first three children, we also had the challenge of shyness. All three of them are very quiet, so even when they were speaking Luganda, they didn’t say much. In addition to this, I haven’t really found a place yet, in the city, where there aren’t a bunch of noises. During these interviews, we battled the sounds of chickens, children playing, a bottled soda delivery man, people walking by and saying things to us, loud birds, and of course, the ever present bane of my existence...barking dogs. The kids did a great job, but I’m not sure how much we can use from this first group. Sulaina told of her mother dying and the trials of living with a mean stepmother. She sounded like Cinderella as she described her life. Even though there are other children in the home, she was forced to do ALL of the housework and wouldn’t let her do her homework or go to choir practice until it was all done. She didn’t go into detail, but there were regular beatings as well. Sam Straxy and some of the other leaders went and talked to the step mom and convinced her to be kinder, so things are a lot better now. I really wish we could learn the whole story, but I think a lot of it will stay inside her.

We decided we needed to interview someone we knew better to try and get a little deeper into his or her stories, so we pulled Julius out of class. I love this kid. He has the most expressive face...his eyes say so much. He started out a little shy at first, but he opened up and ended up sharing a very painful time in his life. As the tears started rolling down his perfect little face, he recounted the story of losing his parents. It was all I could do to keep the camera rolling and not just pick him up and hold him forever. I was so proud of him. That was really hard for an eleven-year-old Ugandan to do. He lives in different places, but a lot of the time with Dr. Pauline. They announced one day at church that he needed a place to live and she stood up and volunteered to be his new mom. And that was that. That’s how it’s done here. If they had to go through a big court case for every displaced child, the courts would be gridlocked. As hard as his story is, it’s one that is told over and over here. Almost everyone I’ve talked to has several siblings or parents that have died. Early death is so common here. I think that’s why these kids are so attached to their sponsors. It’s truly a lifeline. If I have anything to do with it, Julius will have his way paid through college...so will Yvonne...and Bruno...and...I have a lot of work to do.

At the end of each interview, we had each of them sing their favorite song. The beautiful melodies, sung to a backdrop of chickens, traffic and birds, will be something I treasure for a long time. After the interview we gave them each a soda. Fanta seems to be the most popular choice in Uganda. Do we even still sell that in the States?

When we were done, Hillary decided to check on Yvonne. We have to be careful where we meet her now. Apparently after our last visit where we met her mom, their neighbors have been giving them a bad time. I may have already written about this, but when Mzungus visit locals, the neighbors make the assumption that we dump loads of money on them, so they refuse to trade or loan anything, or help them out in any way. “You had five Mzungus at your house yesterday. You’re in a different class from us, you don’t need our help anymore!” is what they said to Yvonne’s mom. This makes it very difficult for the family, because community is so vital to their survival. We were really upset that we might have caused a problem, so hopefully it will blow over.

We sent Resty over to her house to see how she was doing and tell her we’d like to take her to Dr. Pauline’s clinic to see what was wrong. She was very happy to see us, as usual, and gleefully hopped into our van. On the way there, we grabbed some beef kabobs from a street vendor. It was a little tough, but tasted really good. I offered some to Yvonne and she quickly said, “Yes!” and took some.

Dr. Pauline greeted us with a huge smile and gave me a hug. She had brought her clinic guestbook to the place where we live and hadn’t yet thanked me for what I wrote. She is one of the sweetest ladies I’ve every met. With her ever-present grin, she said she wanted me to teach her how to play guitar (pronounced jee-tah in Uganda). It would probably take about five minutes to teach her all I know. She happily welcomed Yvonne into her clinic and the little soon came out with a bundle of pills, medicine, and a special soap. All for about $10 US dollars. The woman is a saint...I mean that in every way possible.

On the way home we grabbed some roasted corn from another street vendor. We asked if Yvonne was hungry. She said, “I already had supper.” “What did you have?” Hillary asked. “We take tea.” was her reply. After a little prodding, we discovered that she drinks tea for breakfast, goes to school where she has a cup of porridge (a watery, milky drink) at about 10am followed by posho and beans for lunch, then it’s tea again for dinner. So the only real food she gets is what the school gives her. I know I may be sounding a little preachy with all this sponsorship endorsement, but it’s hard not to when you see how these happy little kids live.

I told her I wasn’t very hungry and asked if her mom would like the rest of my corn. “Yes!” a huge smile brightened her face.

As we drove away, I slunk down into my seat trying to avoid detection from the neighbors, and I thought about all of the food we’ve thrown away in the past year. I hope they didn’t notice the three ears of corn tucked close to her side.

courtney's uganda journal - Aug 12

2007-08-14T02:08:00.000-07:00

It’s so crazy as I think back over this whirlwind of a summer I’ve been having! Thinking back, a lot of my summers have been pretty much the same…and they all seem to blend together in my memory. Hanging out in the sun, relaxing with my family, reading, sleeping in, swimming, going to the beach…and of course celebrating my birthday—which was always a highlight when I was little:) This summer has been totally different from anything I’ve ever experienced…and I’m loving every minute of it! Working at Starbucks for a month, going to India—a dream come true, resting for 3 weeks (surprising Ryan in Washington for his birthday), traveling to Uganda with my family…and getting to celebrate my 21st birthday in this beautiful African country! This has definitely been a birthday—and an entire summer—I will never forget!!

Last Sunday when all our sponsored kids came over to hang out with us we celebrated my birthday with cake and ice cream:) It was so funny…in the van when we were driving to our apartment, mom mentioned that we would be having dessert to celebrate my birthday and Deborah got so excited, “It’s your birthday?!?” and so her and Mable (I was sitting between them) started clapping and singing happy birthday as the van full of kids joined in singing to me. It was so much fun…and, of course, it sounded beautiful because all the kids are in the choir, so they have amazing voices:)

My actual birthday was yesterday, and we went to watch the choir practice which was so much fun! I just love hearing them sing (and watching them dance)!! I could sit and watch them for hours:)

Today Dad, Mary and I led worship at church today!! We sang about six songs just the three of us, and then dad sang one song with Shakina (the worship team). I wasn’t too nervous singing like I thought I would be, and it was fun because the congregation got into it more than we were expecting. When we sang “In the Light” a lot of the high schoolers recognized it and sang along with us which was a lot of fun:) After we were done, Mary and I went up to the balcony for the rest of church where a bunch of the high schoolers sit. While the worship team continued singing all the kids around us were singing and dancing like crazy…it’s so much fun to watch:) One little boy was dancing the entire time (Hill thought he looked like a little Michael Jackson…doing all these crazy moves). During the sermon we sat with him and his little sister (they were so adorable!!) I found out later that they are Deborah’s younger brother and sister…they look so much like her:)

I have been having such an amazing time in Uganda. I’ve totally fallen in love with all the kids…they make me smile so much!! They are all SO sweet, I’m really going to miss them when it’s time to leave…but I’m trying not to think about that!

curt's journal from Uganda-Aug. 13

2007-08-14T02:06:00.000-07:00

Well, I officially hate Ugandan dogs. They barked and fought throughout night. At one point, I went out to see what they’re doing when they go crazy. It’s so dark here at night that I couldn’t really see much, but it looked like the neighborhood kids were intentionally getting them riled up. If only I had my Uncle Robert’s pellet gun…for the dogs, not the kids.

5:15am came too soon, but a quick, cold spit bath did the trick to wake me up. We were supposed to leave at 6am, but the van couldn’t get into the fenced compound where we live. The girls and I decided to go down and try to go out to the van instead, but we were locked in. There are two guys who live here and their main job is to open the gate whenever anyone honks their horn to enter or leave. The older one is really nice, but moves pretty slowly at times. The younger one, who I’ll call Grumpy isn’t very motivated. It’s especially noticeable at 2 or 3 in the morning when someone is trying to get in after a night on the town. They can sit and honk for twenty minutes or more before grumpy decides to open it up.

Anyway, this morning, as we walked down to the gate I heard someone unlocking a door in the living quarters, so I assumed he would be out soon. After several minutes of hearing someone working on the lock, I decided to investigate. The older gentleman was trying to get out of his room, but couldn’t. I turned the knob and PRESTO! He was free. Unfortunately, he doesn’t keep the key, Grumpy does. So we had to wake him up and soon we were on our way. Onto the good stuff…

The drive to Kitongo was beautiful (It’s pronounced Chit-ongo. The KI makes a “ch” sound). There was a soft fog over the hills and valleys as we drove, again at breakneck speed. I think that’s Moses’ only speed. Today I told him he drives like my mom. I’m not sure he knew what that meant, but he smiled. To get to Kitongo, we passed Kasanda, where we would be visiting later in the day. We drove along some of the narrowest roads I’ve ever been on, especially at the speed we were traveling. The road was so narrow that whenever we would pass people walking or riding their bikes, they would dive into the thick brush on the side of the road. At one point we were going up a slight hill, and a slight curve, and we passed a guy carrying large gerry cans of water along the road. Nothing unusual there. He stopped and stared at the white people. Again, nothing unusual. Suddenly, to boys came roaring around the curve, oblivious to our presence. As soon as they saw us, both sets of eyes instantly tripled in size and they went careening off of the road and into the guy standing with his bike and water bottles. All of them tumbled to the ground in a mixture of bottles, tires and feet. It looked like everyone was okay, so we sighed a sigh of relief and then Moses and I had a little chuckle. He and I both have a little bit of an evil sense of humor. He doesn’t speak much English, but he and I are having a nice bond in the front of the van. It’s become my official seat, which I hope is okay with everyone else. Hopkins says she can relax more when I’m in the front seat because the police don’t stop cars with Mzungus in them. Interesting.

When we arrived, the kids started screaming and running to their welcoming spots. This has happened at several of the schools, but today was especially cute. They crowded our van and as soon as we stepped out, they started grabbing at our hands and were saying things like, “We well-uh-come you our vistahs” and “We are happy to well-uh-come you.” I most definitely felt welcomed.

They went through their awesome little routines and songs. Hopkins did her normal introductions, but his time she said something like, “this is Curt, soon you’ll be calling him Uncle Curt.” I like that. So, then we had to get down to the business of sponsorships and letter writing. It was a little confusing and Hillary definitely gets pushed to her limit. But we worked through that and got it done. Then we were offered tea and African pancakes. The pancakes were about three inches in diameter and tasted like a deep fried banana bread. Their made with bananas and cassava flower. The tea was made from things they grow right at the school…tea leaves, some spice that tasted a little like cloves and something else. That was the best snack I’ve had in Uganda. It was delicious.

After our snack we started mingling with the kids. As I was mingling and taking pictures, I saw a girl cleaning some kind of large fruit at the water pump. I was trying to make conversation so I asked her, “What is that? I’ve never seen one of those before.” She giggled a little and told me it was a “papa” which is the Ugandan way of saying papaya. Later I found out she was washing it off to give to us as a welcoming gift. She gave it to me a little later and I thought she was just being nice and said, “no, you don’t have to give me your papa” but she insisted. That was the plan all along. Soon other kids were bringing me things. Passion fruit, freshly picked coffee beans, and eggs. These were sacrificial gifts from very poor children. It was hard to accept, but they feel so grateful when they get to meet people who sponsor children. They have such a hard time figuring out why someone who lives on the other side of the world would love children enough to help them. They don’t really care why though. But they definitely feel grateful.

We played and walked around with the kids. They followed us wherever any of us would go. If we took their picture, they wanted to see it on the screen. Soon, everyone’s crowding around, straining to see. It becomes a bit of a madhouse, so I have to put the camera away. Courtney sat and talked with a large group of girls, as usual. I didn’t see Hillary much. Leslie had quite a following as she played with them, handed out stickers (which are like gold here! “Me madam! ME! Please Madam!”) and pulled out some super balls. She handed them to me and I threw them as high and far as I could and watched the kids scramble for them. We played this until the six balls were gone. Some were not about to give them up once they had them in their possession. Mary found that the kids like to copy, so she was leading them around the school doing different crazy things that the little girls would copy. It was really funny.

At one point, near the end of our time there, I snuck off down the road with my camera. Suddenly, I heard a timid voice saying, “Uncle Curt.” I thought maybe I was hearing things at first but then, I distinctly heard a little boy say, “Uncle Curt” and he came walking out of the bushes. He had been at the home of a neighbor to the school. He had a little piece of fruit in his hand and told me in broken English that the neighbor sells sugar cane and fruit to the children. He had a really genuinely sweet disposition and I enjoyed just sitting by a tree talking to him without a crowd around us. I asked if I could take his picture and he was happy to comply. Soon, another crowd had gathered. It was harder at this school to move around without gathering a crowd. It was a really nice moment for me though. One I’ll cherish. The picture is another one I will frame when I get home.

My time standing under the shade of this cool tree was interrupted by a summons from “Madam Hope” (Hopkins). It was time to go. The little boy said, “Don’t leave yet, I’m going home to get you some eggs!” I told him, “You don’t have to do that, the picture I have of you is the perfect gift.” But again, he insisted and took of sprinting down the dirt road.

I slowly sauntered with my entourage to the van, stalling for time. I knew we had to get going because we had another school to visit, but nothing was going to prevent me from waiting for this giving little boy. After about fifteen minutes of stalling, I finally said, “We’re not leaving until the little boy comes back with the eggs!” Just then I see him flying up the road in his Rockport t-shirt (a gift from his sponsor) carefully holding onto the pocket of his blue shorts. He’s got a huge smile on his face and as he huffs and puffs he pulls three fresh eggs from his pocket. This may be the best gift I’ve ever received in my life. Just thinking about the gifts from these children brings instant tears to my eyes.

We drove back to Kasanda and spent some time there as well. The kids put on an amazing program in this comparatively modern school. These kids were very sweet and took Leslie an I on a tour of the grounds. I was latched onto by a boy named Kayemba Sabiiti, in second grade (P2), who wanted to show me his classroom. Kayemba had a great smile and I noticed his eyes were kind of cloudy, but sparkled just the same. We finally worked our way there, but at the time, Leslie had started blowing bubbles for the kids, so a huge crowd was gathering around her. I asked if he’d rather show it to me later, he said “no” so we continued to his room, hand in hand, where he and a friend got a special pleasure out of explaining all of the posters and other artwork hanging in the room. It was another wonderful, quiet moment with a couple of great kids. As the time drew near for us to leave, I almost lost it when this little guy said, “I love you so much!” and gave me the biggest hug. Just taking the time to listen to him elicited such a powerful response. I believe with my whole heart that he meant it too. I told him, “I love you too!” because I do. I made sure Hillary took a picture of the three of us. I’m going to frame it when I get home. I think I may need to build a new wall.

What a great day, I’m exhausted. Tomorrow is an internet day and then I’m going to tape some interviews with some of the kids in the choir for the promo video. I hope I can get their real story out of them. Tonight I’m going to try counting dogs jumping over a fence…into the awaiting arms of a dog catcher!
Oh the other day I made up a joke after walking around in downtown Kampala…

Q: Why did the Ugandan chicken cross the road?
A: No one knows. It never made it!

I’ll keep my day job.

curt's journal from Uganda-Aug. 12

2007-08-14T01:46:00.000-07:00

Yesterday and today have been kind of a whirlwind. I’m starting to realize that we’re more than halfway through the trip and the kids in the choir, especially those we sponsor, are starting to really latch onto us. I’m beginning to understand why Hillary didn’t want to leave Uganda her first two trips. These kids are so special and are so quick to give you their love.

This morning, many of them stayed in the “big people” church service instead of going with the kids as usual. They wanted to hear us lead worship and my preaching. It was so great to look up into the balcony where they were sitting and see the huge smiles on their faces. I really wanted to have an African drum beat on one of the songs, so I asked Bruno at the last minute if he would play with us. He smiled and said “yes.” He played beautifully. So many of these kids are so talented. He’s got a great feel for drumming. You’ll get a real kick out of him when the choir comes to the states. Mary, Courtney, and I led the congregation in six songs then I got to fulfill one of my dreams. I’ve always wanted to sing with an African choir behind me. It was awesome. The congregation really got into it too. They were all dancing, the way only Africans can dance, and singing at the top of their lungs. It went on for quite awhile, but I think I could’ve done it all day!

After the choir sang some more songs and then some more choruses, it was time for me to get up and preach. Before that I snuck out because I had to use the restroom, I had consumed so much liquid to try and get my voice to work. I know this is a weird topic of discussion, but this is a journal, so excuse my stream of consciousness. The usher pointed me outside and showed me where the restroom was. I really didn’t think any men’s restroom setup could confound me…I mean how complicated can it be? But, this one really stumped me. When I got there, it was a series of walls set up like kind of a maze. The walls were only about four feet high and there was no ceiling. I could see there was already someone in there, but I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to join him, or if the maze was several different “stalls” or what. I decided to wait and when I went inside, it was basically three walls with a drain on the floor. I think several people use it at the same time. This wasn’t gross or anything, just something I had never experienced before. I never found out what the other divisions were for. I’ll investigate when it’s not so busy.

Anyway, preaching was also a new experience. Oh, I’ve preached many times over the years and, at times I’ve spoken in front of youth groups two to three times per week. But I’ve never needed an interpreter before. Well I might have NEEDED one, but I’ve never used one. It was very strange to speak in phrases, waiting for the interpreter to repeat it in Luganda before continuing. Fortunately, Pastor Dithan was my interpreter. He has a great sense of humor and always makes the congregation laugh, so he was able to adapt my funny stories into Luganda. They laughed at all the right places and said, “Ah-mee-nuh” (or Amen) when they really liked something I had to say. I’ve been worrying about this since the first day we got to Uganda when Pastor Moses said, “On the twell-eth (twelfth) it will be YOUR Sunday.” (I love how they add syllables to words. It makes it more poetic.) Running our own worship service has kind of been hanging over my head, but, as usual, my worry was unwarranted. After I was done, I sat down next to Pastor Moses and he complemented me and said, “Next time you come to Uganda, you’ll be preaching every Sunday you’re here!”

When I went up into the balcony after the service, I was greeted by a bunch of the kids. Eric said, “Your preaching was very good. I enjoyed it very much.” I said, “Was it understandable enough?” “Oh yes! It was very valuable and informative.” was his reply. I officially want to take him home with me, and I’m not kidding. I know I’ve talked a lot about him before, but I’m really in awe of him. He’s been through a lot of pain and suffering in his short life and he’s like a 30 year old in a twelve-year-old body. Today, after the choir led their own choir practice (that’s right, they led it THEMSELVES), they had a time of prayer like they always do. They all start praying out loud and it’s amazing to watch. No one is paying attention to what other people are doing. Some get down on their knees, some stand in reverence, and today both Eric and Jane were walking around inside the circle. I have never even seen adults pray with such sincerity. I’m completely humbled by these kids. Jane had this angelic look on her face and was praying with such passion. Eric paced back and forth across the room and was in deep conversation with God. He was imploring, and pleading, and worshipping all at once. At times he had his hands folded behind his back with a serious look on his face, at other times he made motions with his hands, palms up, as if he was pleading a court case with a huge smile on his face. It was one of the most amazing displays of devotion I’ve ever experienced in my whole life. I’ll stop now, because there’s no way my words can do it justice.

After this was over, they went around and hugged each other and then each of them took turns hugging us too. I love these kids. I just can’t believe they did all of this with no adults in the room. Then they all headed home, with no parents to pick them up. Most walk, some hang around for awhile, some, including our little man Julius, take a boda-boda. I don’t want to even think about leaving them yet. It’s too sad for me to think about. I’m just glad they’re coming to the US this year for the choir tour so I can see them again soon. I’m not sure how we’ll manage it, but I’m going to make sure we do whatever it takes to get the kids we sponsor through college.

Tomorrow we go to Kitongo and Kasanda (I think that’s how they’re spelled) to collect more sponsorship information. It’ll be a great time, but I’m sure we’ll be exhausted when we get back. Tuesday, we have a day off, so I’ll probably videotape the choir in their school setting for the choir promo videos. Wednesday, we go to another school in the bush. Thursday, we take the choir to a remote location to take promo photos and video for their trip to the States. Friday, we go to Gulu, a five-hour trek to northern Uganda. We’ll be in the area two days and we’re going to try and stop by a wildlife area on the way to try and see some cool animals. My cousin Brenda will never let me live it down if we don’t see some animals that you don’t see in the United States. The place we’ll be going is the setting for the movie “Gorillas in the Mist,” the story of Diane Fosse, who lived with the gorillas of northern Uganda. Gulu is the area that received a lot of attention from the “Invisible Children” documentary. It told the story of how many families were driven from their homes by rebel forces and the children were forced to become soldiers. The rebels have since been driven from the country, but the displaced families remain in refugee camps. This is where we’ll visit.

As a side note, the country is not very happy with the “Invisible Children” campaign by most accounts. Uganda, whom Churchill called “the Pearl of Africa,” relies on tourism for a lot of its economy, and “Invisible Children” scared away a lot of tourists even though the problem with rebels no longer exists. So the financial hit the country has taken from a lack of tourism far outweighs the money brought in my “Invisible Children.” It’s a case of someone trying to do the right thing but not really weighing the impact before jumping in. Just throwing money at the problem is not always the answer. Anyway, that’s my political editorial for today.

I’m not sure when I’ll get a chance to post this, it’s going to be a busy week. I know in the Old Testament, God shut the mouths of the lions so that Daniel wouldn’t be eaten. I’m hoping that he chooses to shut the mouths of the dogs outside our apartment!

curt's journal from Uganda-Aug. 10

2007-08-11T01:48:00.000-07:00

This morning I got up early to head to the place where Hannington digs. I ignorantly thought of American farming, so I jumped in my flip flops and shorts and headed out the door with the farmer/preacher/assistant superintendent. The drive was about 40 kilometers outside of Kampala. I’m still not really sure of the kilometer to miles ratio, but it took us about an hour and a half to get there. On the way we had some fried and salted cassava, which tasted a little like French fries. We also had a bottle of coke, luke warm and served in the bottle with a straw. It was a fantastic breakfast. As we drove, I asked a million questions which he was more than happy to answer. We discussed the differences between our countries, including government roles, school systems, highways, and how the poor are cared for. Hannington is a talker and every question I asked was met with a dissertation on the subject at hand. He’s also listened intently to my explanations of American life. He has some very strong stereotypes of Americans that I needed to dispel, but he seemed to enjoy our discussion.

As we got closer and closer to his house, I started to get the feeling I was not dressed properly. This was deep into the bush and was the closest thing to a jungle that I’ve been in. My flip flops and shorts were not going to cut it. All around the countryside was lush green, and very tropical looking. Vibrant colored flowers were everywhere. We pulled up to a small, nicely manicured hut and Hannington announced, “We’re here.” We were instantly met by his grandma. Well, not his grandma, but the sister of his cousins aunt, or the mother of his aunt’s cousin…somehow they were related and she was older that him so he called her his grandma. That’s very common in Uganda as I’ve said before. Whoever you live with becomes your relative. I kind of like that tradition. Before we had arrived, he told me that his grandma was watching the place because his wife was staying with her mother due to complications in the birth of their eighth child. She couldn’t work the land, but was keeping people from stealing their crops while his wife was away and he was on the road checking up on the schools.

This tiny lady greeted me with the warmest smile and handshake and looked at me like I was the queen of England. She made me feel like royalty. I’d like to learn how to make my guests feel that way.

Hannington then took me on a tour of his acreage. We walked through a jungle area that had been somewhat cleared and he pointed out all of the different crops he was growing. He had jackfruit, bananas, matoke, coffee, sweet potatoes, corn, and sugar cane among others. This is a diversified plantation. All of these plants were on the side of a hill and then sprawled down into a beautiful valley. I’m not good with sizes, but it was a bigger plot of land than I had imagined. I got pretty chewed up as I walked down the side of this hill in my flip flops videotaping the whole way. I asked Hannington a few leading questions to get him going and just rolled tape. The man is a talker! It didn’t really matter what I asked, almost all of his answers came back to funding the schools to help the children. He is one passionate dude.

When we got back to the house, Grandma was waiting with warm tea in milk and a bowl of jackfruit for me. I noticed no one else had milk in their tea, but didn’t really think anything of it. It was really good and the jackfruit was an interesting new taste. I really liked it. Later I found out that one of the neighbors down the road likes Grandma and gives her a cup of milk every day. Today it was MY cup of milk!!! I didn’t find out until we were on the drive home. I wanted to turn around and give her a big hug and buy her a milking cow!

We met Hannington’s neighbors before we left. We had to do this so they would know I’m a guy who loves the children of the village schools and not some rich fat cat Mzungu who was loading Hannington up with cash. We needed to establish this because he wanted to make sure his prices didn’t get jacked up next time he went to market. If word got out that he was hosting a Mzungu, the assumption would be made that he was now wealthier and could afford steeper prices. The neighbors were great and got a real kick out of it when I took pictures of them and then showed them what they looked like on the camera’s screen. I guess it doesn’t happen to them that often.

We spent the afternoon attending a school debate. A three hour marathon with the honorable Eric as the residing chairperson. The subject was: Knowledge is more important than wealth. The debate went on for what seemed like hours…oh…because it was. Once in awhile, teachers would poke their heads in, but for the most part it was ruled by Eric. Arguments were laid out and were often interrupted by children jumping up and shouting, “Point of order!” or “Point of defense!” or “Point of Education!” among others. Eric, looking a combination of aloof, bothered by their interruption, and bored, would say, “Point of order accepted” or with a don’t-bother-me wave of his hand, he might say, “Point of education NOT accepted.” Sometimes after he did this, he would look over at Hillary and I, sitting near the door and his bored look would turn into his bright smile. It was hilarious. Near the completion of the debate he asked for points from the audience. A few people got up and gave points, but I think the crowd was getting restless. Then Eric said, “Are there any point anyone else would like to make? Such as our honored visitors?” and he looked directly at us and smiled. While the crowd cheered, Hillary shook her head “no” while his pleading eyes said, “please?” I couldn’t resist, so I gave a little speech on the fact that you can’t just throw money at problems and you can’t eat money. I ended with, “For me, I’d rather be poor and smart than rich and stupid!” It got a large round of applause. I’m not sure if it was because it was a good point or because they thought it was funny that a Mzungu got up and spoke. For the record, Knowledge won over Wealth.

Tonight, I went to practice with the choir. On Sunday, I’ll be leading a couple of songs with the worship team which is about 20 or so singers. I thought I’d be following them, but they really wanted me to tell them EXACTLY what I wanted them to do. Although I’ve led worship before with a band, I’ve never led a choir before, so it took me a little while to gain confidence, but it ended up being a lot of fun. I’ll write more later about how it goes. For now, it’s been a really long day. Okoye (I’m tired).

curt's journal from Uganda-Aug. 9

2007-08-11T01:47:00.000-07:00

Today was kind of a rest day. We did some cleaning around our place in the morning, then Hillary and I headed out to use the internet. It’s amazing what a grand excursion this is each time we want to simply check our emails and post on the blog. I definitely took it for granted before. Here are some other things I took for granted:

Consistent Electricity…it seems like several times a day it goes out. The lights are on a different system, so sometimes we have lights and no electricity and sometimes the other way around. The lights don’t ever work during the day. By the way, if you turn the coffee pot on, the refrigerator stops working. I really wish my friend Bob was here (otherwise known as McGuiver). He’d have this whole apartment complex rewired by now and he’d probably find a way to use a frying pan to bring in a satellite signal for internet. I’ve said this several times on this trip. If I ever come back to Uganda, he’s coming with me. End of discussion. (See you at Starbucks in three weeks from today, my handy friend)

Hot water…We have a hot water heater, but none of us has ever figured it out, plus it’s about the size of the coffee pot, so when we do get it, it doesn’t last too long. I don’t think I ever realized when I was home, just how many times I use hot water to clean things. It’s handy to have around.

Drinking water out of the tap…I’m getting used to the taste of our boiled water, but I definitely miss being able to just go in the kitchen and grab a cool class of water. There was a recent article in the local paper claiming the water here was deemed safe by the World Health Organization, but there was another article refuting it. All I know is they used the word feces in both stories, so we’re not about to take any chances.

Easy internet access…In recent years, it’s become such a part of my everyday life, like this morning, when we were trying to remember some really important information (“What movies has John Cusack been in?” We came up with three, but know there were more). It’s also such a quick way of communicating. But, when you have to plan your day around it (a boda-boda to Mateo’s Restaurant, a walk down the street to buy an hour’s worth of internet time…$6, logging out whenever possible to save time, multitasking every second online, calling our driver to pick us up, waiting for him to make his way through traffic, then back to the apartment, whew!) you start to wonder if it’s really worth it.

Washers and Driers…It took me about two hours to wash three pairs of socks and some underwear tonight. Okay that’s a slight exaggeration, but it is quite a process. I think I remember struggling as my mom grilled me over and over again on the difference between the “perma press” and “delicate” settings.

A quiet night of sleep…why don’t Ugandan dogs sleep at night? Every time I see one sleeping during the day in the hot sun, I want to scream, “WAKE UP! AH-OO-OO-OO-OO-OO-OO! RUFF RUFF! AYE AYE AYE!!!” Next time my dog at home gently woofs at 3am to politely tell me that he needs to go outside for a bit, I’m going to hug him and give him a gigantic slice of bacon.

Okay, before you think I’m just being a typical, spoiled, whiney, American. I’m just saying I took those things for granted, not that I can’t live without them. It’s been surprising how easily we’ve adapted to this way of living and our apartment life is way nicer than most of the people in this neighborhood or those who work for the organization we’re here with. In fact, much of the world lives without all of these things and doesn’t even know the difference. Tomorrow, I’m spending some time with Hannington at the place where he “digs” (the Ugandan word for farming). He took out a fifteen-year loan to get this piece of land, so he’d have food for his family and a source of income so that he can afford to be the assistant superintendent of the schools. I can’t wait to see his home.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Today I got a haircut at a place called “Dark and Lovely” that doubles as a video rental place. Almost every business here dabbles in something else. I don’t know about the video selection, but for haircuts, you can’t beat the “Dark and Lovely.” It cost $2 and was the most detailed, spoiling haircut I’ve ever received. At home I can buzz cut myself in the dark if I need to, so I’m not really used to this type of experience. It included a shave and several steps including scalp massage, ear hair removal, and Hillary’s favorite, the forehead shave. (I didn’t even know I had any hair there.) When he started in on my eyebrows, I politely put an end to it. I’m not really into the perfectly tweezed look myself. Not that there’s anything wrong with that… It was all Hillary could do to keep from laughing. After every step, I would say, “That’s great, thanks.” And then he’d go into another part of his routine. I now feel both darker and lovelier.

curt's journal from Uganda-Aug. 8

2007-08-09T02:50:00.000-07:00

Today, we woke up before the crack o’ dawn to head out to the school in the bush village of Lugazi. I’ve been saying Loo-GAH-zi, but our driver Moses corrected me. It’s Loo-gah-ZI. We drove out into the country at breakneck speed, flying down a narrow two lane highway at 110 k/h (nearly 70mph). Moses knows how to put the pedal to the medal. I know 70mph doesn’t sound that fast, but when you see the roads, it feels like 100mph. They’re full of potholes that he swerves to avoid. Meanwhile along the side of the road are scads of little children walking to school…bicycles loaded down with things to be sold in the market…boda-bodas swaying back and forth and passing one another…oncoming traffic, swerving to miss their own potholes…and faster cars passing slower cars, darting back into their lane just in the nick of time. In most places there are no lines on the road, so it’s every man for himself. Passing lane? What’s that!?!

Moses is a great drive though, so we feel really safe. He really knows what he’s doing and has extremely quick reflexes. He’s the man!

Anyway, the terrain gets more green and “jungley” and is more mountainous than Kampala. It was really beautiful. At times it made me think of Oregon with the towers of green on both sides of the highway, but instead of pine forest, it’s more tropical with brightly colored flowers and banana trees filling in any gaps. As beautiful as the drive was, nothing could prepare me for the beauty ahead.

We exited the highway and drove for several miles on another “bike path” looking road filled with huge holes filled with water. Finally, we pulled into the St. Mbuga School of Lugazi, a quaint and very rustic school. The children saw us for a second, made sure it was us, then turned and sprinted like nobody’s business. They started singing the “welcome visitors” song that we’ve heard before. As I looked around, the level of poverty impressed me. They looked more ragtag than the groups we had seen earlier. Some in their school uniform, some not. I found out later that they were expecting us tomorrow, so many of them had washed their uniforms and couldn’t wear them today. They were a little upset about that. They really like to put on their “Sunday best” when “viztuhs” come. I liked it more though. You got to see them as they are. The beauty I saw in these children was awe-inspiring. These were VERY poor country kids, and there was a sadness to them, but still, the JOY came through in sparkles that grew the longer we stayed. They put on a show for us, and although it wasn’t as polished as it might have been had we been there a day later, I absolutely LOVED the rawness of it. They gave us their all. At one point, Hannington, the assistant superintendent of all the schools, jumped in and danced the traditional dance that some of the older girls were performing. He was hilarious as he shook his hips and stayed in perfect harmony with their choreography.

We spent much of the morning taking pictures and collecting sponsorship information. This is a daunting task, that is fairly unorganized, but Hillary has done a great job of keeping it organized this summer. I think some of the problem is the lack of communication to this remote area. Leslie and I do kind of the easy part of taking the pictures. It’s tiring, but I Courtney, Hillary, and Mary are work much harder. Today, Hillary checked and rechecked the list and kept everything straight with Hopkins and Hannington, while Mary and Courtney helped the team of people collect biographical information from little kids that don’t speak much English.

After this was all done, we all spread out and did different things with kids. I found Hannington, running as hard as he could, pushing the merry-go-round and laughing his hearty, contagious laugh. Soon, Hannington, Mary, and I went to play soccer with a gargantuan group of kids. We tried hard to represent the USA well, but I am not a very skilled soccer player. They did have a pretty hefty home field advantage though. In the middle of the field were a few large trees, a large pile of dirt, a huge stack of bricks, and various large rocks and brick strewn throughout for effect. I discovered the rocks when I was going for a breakaway early in the game. I was all alone, with nothing between me and the goal but the goalkeeper. Advantage: Large Mzungu!

…As I laid on my back in the Ugandan dirt, I reflected about what had brought me to this point in my life…I questioned my decision to play American football in high school instead of soccer (which would’ve been very helpful)…and I wondered if the 50 plus children would ever stop laughing at…er…I mean WITH me. I also contemplated a rematch on my home turf at Aloha High School. Let’s see how they run on that artificial turf with NO ROCKS! It was the first of many such falls during the match, and I think I might have broken one of my fingers (probably just jammed), but it was a LOT of fun. The USA lost to Uganda 7-6. I ducked out of the game early to give my team a chance to get back in the game. Mary continued on, representing our country very well.

I found Leslie reading a picture book to a large group of kids while Courtney sat with a large circle of children. These kids just ate up any attention we gave them. A tiny girl named Mabel (another one) and was just staring at me as I pulled my camera out of the van. I motioned her to come to me and she took my hand. Then she just cuddled into me. I think that may be what I miss most about Uganda, the affection of children, even strangers. Leslie snapped a picture of the two of us that I will have framed when I get home. I wanted to take some pictures, so I handed Mabel to Leslie and I just wandered around. Since I was already dirty from soccer, I got an up close and personal picture of a pig. I took photos of kids in various stages of play. I took pictures of kids talking, playing keep away, playing soccer, eating sugar cane…I even saw a girl hoeing in the dirt, just for fun! I wandered into a classroom and found a kid singing to himself. He was in first grade and seemed to enjoy my presence. He had his homework book out, so I asked him to show it to me. I asked him questions about each page, quizzing him on what he had learned. He was eating it up. He seemed so proud to show off what he knew. I was taking the example of what I had learned from Eric yesterday. Soon, we had a crowd in this quiet room and four or five boys listened intently, as this boy grew prouder and prouder. I showed them my camera and some of the pictures I had taken. They practiced their English by naming everything in the pictures. I asked them if they wanted me to take their picture and they started jumping up and down. The result in the doorway of that room was a keeper.

We also met the little girl my friends, the Wards, sponsor. Leslie spent a lot of time with her and read her a book. I haven’t talked with her yet about that experience, but I’m sure she’ll share. At the end of the day, Leslie gave her the book. I saw a big smile on her face. Earlier in the day, it was everything we could do to get this shy little girl to smile. By the end of the day, the smile was quick and beaming.

Lugazi was a great experience. I enjoyed every minute of it and hope to keep in touch with the principle, Julius. He’s a great young man who loves the kids and is proud of his school. He hasn’t finished college yet, but hopes to eventually go back and finish, then come back to this school. He can’t afford it right now, but hopes to soon.

On the way home I saw a boda-boda with a queen sized mattress rolled up and loaded on the back. I also saw one loaded with at least 20 dozen eggs. What did YOU see on the road today?

hillary's uganda journal - aug 8

2007-08-09T02:47:00.000-07:00

So this was my last time of visiting Lugazi :( I'm really going to miss that place. I think if I ever went on a long term mission trip to Uganda I would want to live in Lugazi. I was trying to figure out why that is, and I really have no other reason besides the kids being so flippin cute. Which they're cute every where, so I don't know what the difference is. It seems like there
are a lot more younger kids there, which makes it odd that I like it so much. I've talked about the little kids here before, they're crazy! They attack my hands like they're going to die if they aren't the ones holding onto them. Don't get me wrong, the children in Lugazi aren't some different species of Ugandans who wait they're turn, ask politely to hold my hand, and trade places with kids when their turn is over. They are just so innocently happy to see us. It's not a fight for who can become friends with the Americans the fastest, just to say that they are. I held a little girl that would look into my eyes and you could see that she was just totally in love with me. haha How is it that they can show us so much love barely knowing us? Each time I am with these kids I am humbled in some new way.

We got to Lugazi and were welcomed by the whole school running to line up with babies in front and older kids to the back to sing us all the songs they know. It looked a little less organized than it usually does, kids running all over the place and only half of them wearing the normal checkered uniforms. Every other time I've come here the kids are already lined up like
the only thing they have to do all day is to wait for us. I didn't think much about it. But I found out later that we were supposed to be coming on the 9th, so most of the students were washing their uniforms today so they could all be clean for tomorrow. I felt really bad, but they should know by now that they can't impress me with they're clean uniforms. The only thing I notice is their sparkling eyes and smiling faces! So they went through probably 10 songs, mostly all about Jesus. But I never get sick of their songs, in some villages the songs are so long and they repeat everything 50 times and they're about how much they need money and school fees. Which is also important to hear, but when you hear little kids singing about Jesus, it never gets old. I don't know if they truly understand all the words they're singing, but they have them memorized pretty darn well and they have the cutest performance ever!

We got to see Nakitende Oliva again! She was so cute! Except she shaved her head so I couldn't even pick her out when the whole school was singing. But after I saw her I couldn't take my eyes off of her! She was so serious again with me at the beginning, but then she started to warm up to us. Mom gave her a book about clouds and she loved looking at the pictures with a serious and intense concentration. But soon enough we got some toothless smiles out of her.

The teachers at Lugazi always really impress me. The teachers in Uganda are kind of unreliable, sometimes they don't show up and at other times they just sit in the classes relaxing rather than teaching the students. A lot of times they just seem uninterested in the kids and like they don't really care about them and have no imaginations in their jobs. But in Lugazi the teachers are always with the kids. They seem to actually enjoy being with them and playing with them. It's a really different atmosphere there. I am going to miss it soooo much!!

curt's journal from Uganda-Aug. 7

2007-08-09T02:45:00.000-07:00

Today was a lot of fun. We got to see the Lusaka kids from St. Mbuga School playing sports. Leslie, Courtney, and Hillary went earlier than Mary and I. Mary hung around for awhile at the school while I went and talked with Sam Straxy. Straxy is one of the “trainers” for Matsiko, the kids choir. He is an amazingly talented musician, yet doesn’t know one chord. He helps lead music at church and usually what happens is the singers start singing and he figures out what key they’re in and starts playing along. You’d never guess that he doesn’t have sheet music in front of him, he plays so well. I think he’s the overall leader of Matsiko and is busy preparing them for their American tour and he’s the one I’m trying to coordinate with while I’m here. My task is to put together promotional pieces for the choir, so I’m going to be filming and photographing them in as many situations as possible so we have enough raw footage for any of our needs. I told him we’d like to film interviews with some of the kids and he gave me a warning that I wasn’t really ready for. He said that whenever a Mzungu goes into a poor neighborhood, the neighbors often assume we are giving money to the family we are visiting. He told of a family that was visited often by an American. Later, the neighbors attacked them and demanded the money that the Mzungu had given them. He said it doesn’t always happen, but you have to be careful just the same. Everywhere we go, our new Uganda friends tell us that when Ugandans see white people, they see dollar signs. It’s one of the reasons they seem so nice to us. I think even our new friends here overestimate the resources we have. We are definitely rich by their standards, but it’s not the never-ending supply they imagine.

Anyway, after talking with Sam for awhile, Mary and I walked down the hill to the school and found out that many of the kids were already at the sports field. She tried to give us directions, but decided to send a couple of little kids to show us the way. She said it was a “little bit of a walk.” By the time we wound our way through several neighborhoods, at least a mile, following these tiny guides (who held my hands the whole way), I was huffing and puffing. Exercise was the last thing I had on my mind! But the children of St. Mbuga had other ideas. They pulled my hands in all different directions, begging me to come play with them. As I entered the large open space, I looked down and saw hundreds of little shoes, all black, lying in a gigantic pile. As I surveyed the field, I saw maybe 150 barefooted kids in different games, supervised by maybe three adults. You had kids playing football (soccer) on a couple of different “fields.” Some boys were throwing an American football, playing keep away and calling it “Roogabee” (rugby). A huge group of girls, surrounded Courtney, and were sitting or standing in a circle, or a big blob, playing various word games, dancing games, and story telling games. There was Leslie, walking around with her own posse, trying to take photos with kids hanging off her arms. Hillary had her own entourage that followed her wherever she went. She flitted around from group to group. Mary chose to play soccer while I gravitated toward the American football game. I felt pretty good because they always through it to me and I was the only one that could throw a spiral. They oo-ed and ahh-ed every time I threw it. This may be the last place in the world where my athletic prowess can be appreciated. It was a lot of fun and I tried to make sure to throw a pass to each kid there at least once. Not many of them could catch the passes, but they had a great time trying. When the ball would get loose, a kid would dive on it and then all the boys would pile on top of them. There would be maybe 15 kids on top of one little boy and they all jumped as high as they could before they came slamming down into the pile. I kept thinking the kid at the bottom would come up crying, but they almost always came up laughing!!!! These kids have an astonishing level of pain tolerance. I think I would’ve been crying a few times. Everywhere you looked, there were kids doing things that would be considered dangerous by U.S. standards. Kids chasing each other with stick, kids running barefoot over the rocks, kids tackling each other only to get up laughing or hugging. I only saw a few boys get in minor scuffles during the whole, hot afternoon.

To the side of one of the fields, a man had set up a stand and was selling sugar cane to the kids. They seem to really like it and it’s really cheap at just a few pennies.

As the sweltering afternoon wore on, I gravitated toward to the more sedentary areas of the field. Of course, wherever I went, my guides were at my side. I think I was part of an “Adopt a Mzungu” program. We got involved in Courtney’s area where they were playing a story telling game, led by the chatterbox, Mabel. She cracks me up whenever I see her. She runs the show wherever she goes. [She and Eric, the little boy interviewed in Hillary’s video, are the school “Prefects” or “Head Girl” and “Head Boy.” They are considered the best students in the whole school and are placed in charge of a lot of responsibility. They are both born leaders.] Anyway, at one point she was directing everyone on what to do, so I teased, “Mabel, who put YOU in charge?!?” Without missing a beat, she threw her hands out, palm up and said, “Well, GOD did!” It’s hard to argue with that. Yesterday, I was sitting with Eric and asked him, “So, Eric, are you in charge of the little kids?” because I had seen him standing with the little preschoolers helping them sing the songs when the school sang for us. He said, with his usual serious tone, “I’m in charge of ALL the kids.” They take this Prefect stuff seriously. Oh, while I was sitting there talking to him, this tiny little girl, maybe 1st grade, came up to him and handed him her corrected papers. He went through the whole book and gasped in approval at ever page. He looked like a daddy who goes overboard to give his child positive reinforcement. It was a moving moment for me.

I’m so glad we’re getting to spend extra time with the kids at St. Mzungu. The more time I spend with them, the more I fall in love with them. They come from the poorest of circumstances and live in shacks. They have very few clothes (pronounced Cloe-thez) beside their school uniform and their shorts and t-shirt that they wear on “competition days.” Most of them say on their forms that they live with their parents, but the truth is their parents are whoever takes them in. Many of them live with uncles, aunts, grandmas, or people from church who care enough to provide modest shelter. They’re almost on their own in the world. Yet, they soldier on. The motto at St. Mbuga is, “Never Give Up!” which is perfect for these kids. Each hour I spend getting to know their little faces that light up whenever we arrive, I want to mend all their torn little uniforms and give them new t-shirts with a brand new logo on it. It would be so easy to do that if we were in the U.S. but resources are so scarce here. I wish my mom and Leslie’s mom were here with their sewing machines. They could do wonders! I wish shipping a large load to Uganda wasn’t so expensive. What’s a Mzungu to do? I know I won’t sit still. They are too valuable to let slide through the cracks like the generation before them.

hillary's uganda journal - aug 7

2007-08-09T02:42:00.000-07:00

Today we were in Lusaka. We didn't have anything really scheduled except to finish up with some sponsorship stuff. But then dad saw that all the kids didn't have their uniforms on so he asked if they were going to go to the field, which they usually do on Thursdays. But Hopkins changed whatever they had planned for the day...probably like school or something unimportant like that, and said that we were all going to the field.So we all walked down there and once we got there, Joseph (science teacher) coems up to me, "we're here, now what's the program?" uhhh. So I already felt weird considering we just made them all come and have a pointless, yet very fun, day at the field, so I came up with the story that my dad was just wanting to film them playing. SO they started up a netball and football game and Court played clapping song games with a lot of the girls. Dad played American football (what they call rugby) with a lot of the boysAnd I mostly just sat around and chatted with the kids. It was really funny because Jjombwe Eric always tries to tickle me but one time I caught him and held him like a baby and wouldn't let him go(he's like 12 years old) So it was really funny when all the kids saw him sitting on my lap like a baby and I called him omwana Eric (baby Eric) Then later after I had let him go he came back and sat on my lap again. haha so he now refers to himself as my baby Eric. I love that boy so much!! He is really really serious all the time, but he has just opened up with me for some reason and I can get him to be crazy and funny usually. This is probably inspired by my weirdness, but I'm ok with making a fool of myself as long as he stops frowning and shows me his amazing smile!! I just can't get enough of that smile!!

our "known" schedule as of Aug 7

2007-08-07T01:58:00.000-07:00

Here are the things we'll be doing in the next short while...

Aug 7...Back to the school at Lusaka for sponsorship updates and filming choir kids
Aug 8...Open day
Aug 9...Travel to Lugazi, in the bush to visit a school and collect sponsorship info.
Aug 10...School at Lusaka (Choir video on location?)
Aug 11...Courtney's Birthday (21!)...Choir practice and prep for our service
Aug 12...We are leading one of the morning services.
Aug 13...Travel to Chitongo and Kasanda in the bush to visit schools and collect sponsorship info.
Aug 14 &15...Filming interview days
Aug 16...Travel to Kemesenene, in the bush to visit a school and collect sponsorship info.
Aug 17...Lusaka school Guardian conference day. (might be traveling to Gulu in N. Uganda)
Aug 18...Visit in Gulu (refugee camps where many children used to be captured and turned into soldiers)

That's it thus far, but in Uganda...You never know!!! =) We love it!

curt's journal from Uganda-Aug. 6

2007-08-07T01:24:00.000-07:00

Yesterday and today I took another step in learning what sponsoring a child means. Before Hillary came to Uganda her first time, I had always thought of sponsorship as another name for a donation. Hillary helped me put names and faces with the donation, but until yesterday, I still didn’t fully comprehend it.

Yesterday, we had a party for the kids we sponsor along with those who are sponsored by our friends and family. We celebrated Courtney’s birthday too, so we had Ugandan cake and ice cream. It was interesting to coordinate everything since our fridge doesn’t always work…we had to get the ice cream at the last minute.

The kids sing Happy Birthday to Courtney!

First we put some games out, along with colored pens and paper. They spent most of the time writing love letters to us and the others who sponsor them. Then, we had lunch with the kids and they were nearly silent, sitting politely while they ate. We asked them why they were so quiet. Deborah said, “It is impolite to speak while you are eating”… obviously quoting something they had probably recited numerous times in school. Mabel, the group’s unofficial spokesman piped up with her squeaky little, “Also, you might spit in someone else’s food.” Good point!

Later as they played, we took them, in small groups, into another room to give them the clothes and supplies we had brought from America. A lot of it we bought at Goodwill, Target, and Walmart and really didn’t have to spend a lot of money. As they pulled their gifts out of the bag, I can’t even describe the gratitude in their faces. The only thing I can compare it to is Christmas, plus a birthday, and another Christmas all rolled into one…times ten. Yvonne tried to hide her tears as she looked at the scrapbook Hillary had made for her. She slowly looked at every picture and read every word that Hillary had written. Bruno got all blushed and excited as he pulled out his new clothes. The smile on his face was so big and permanent. He quickly gave us HUGE hugs as if he didn’t want to let go. Mabel kept a running commentary for everyone else’s gifts and then her own that Leslie’s sister, Stacey sent. We think she and Stacey would have a LOT to talk about. Jane had her usual light-up-the-room smile as she opened her bag. When she got to the princess crown and scepter and said, “It’s just for me?” then HUGE smile, even for her. Her sister, Anita, was sick all day, but didn’t want to miss this party. She managed to smile weakly even though she could hardly sit up without bending over in pain. She did manage to write a love letter to Kelly, her sponsor. Peter, who my mom sponsors, just sat around and giggled. He’s the youngest kid in the choir and my mom would love him. JuliusAs I’m writing this I’m realizing that I don’t have words to describe the experience. That’s’ unusual for me! I’m learning that they really have a hard time comprehending adults that love them. They really feel like their sponsors are the only ones who really care about them. They really view us as adoptive parents. I’ll never miss sending another check for our sponsored children. As sponsors we are literally their life-line. I don’t know if I’ve ever even felt that with my own children.

Oh, one really fun thing…we played Hillary and Courtney’s graduation videos. They got a GIGANTIC kick out of watching highlights of the girls as they grew up. They noticed every detail. Every time a new picture would flash on the screen, they’d say “Hillary” or “Courtney” or “That’s Courtney and Hillary”. It was so funny. They got a big laugh out of seeing me with a full head of hair. (It wasn’t a “mullet”! It was bi-level!). What a great day.

Today, as we drove the two hours to Troas, I wasn’t sure what to expect. This would be my first experience in “the bush” of Uganda. As we turned off the main road, we started up a narrow, pothole filled red dirt road. I soon realized this was actually another main road as we turned onto, what looked like, a narrow bike path. As we drove into the schoolyard, the children started screaming and scrambling to some predetermined positions. They all lined up and, just like at St. Mbuga, put on a program for us. Troas was a different experience from Lusaka. Children at both schools are poor. Probably the best way to describe it is that the Lusaka kids at St. Mbuga are “slum poor” while those at the Troas school are “country poor” and seem a little sadder. I’m not sure why. One little boy, maybe five years old kept getting my attention by waving at me. This is not unusual here. As a white person, you can’t drive into any area where children are playing without hearing, “MUZUNGU! MUZUNGU!” and they wave until you wave back. Sometime they wave more and sometimes they run away laughing and jumping around like they just won the lottery. But something was different about this little guy. While the other kids were performing, he would walk in front of other kids and wave at me with a far away look in his eyes. “He’s dumb.” Hopkins whispered. I thought the worst, but she went on, “he can’t hear or speak.” Apparently no other school would take him, not even the schools for the deaf, so someone just dropped him off at the school. I spent the rest of the day waving at him, shaking his hand and talking to him whenever I got the chance. I couldn’t help but love this kid!

While collecting sponsorship information in Troas, I talked with Hannington, who is like the assistant superintendent for all seven of the schools that were started by Pastor Moses and Hopkins. He told me that, in Uganda, women aren’t considered real women until they have children…lots of children. Often a poor mother will have ten children to prove her womanhood. Meanwhile, Ugandan men are not very good at living up to responsibility, so when it gets too expensive to feed the kids, they just pack up and leave and start a new family somewhere else. This trend, along with the fact that Aids has killed off a lot of the adults, and polygamy is legal, explains why there are so many children here, many of which go uncared for. The government is trying to stop this trend, but it’s so engrained in the culture, it’s slow to change.

He went on to outline the vision for the schools and reinforced that these schools and the sponsors are often the only people who care for these kids. They are teaching the kids to get their education and work hard so they can help other people that they don’t know, just like their sponsors help them. Many of the children say they want to become doctors, so they can help others who are less fortunate. I videotaped an interview of Hannington who has an amazing story. He was down and out and owed so much money (about $150) because his crops had been ruined and he couldn’t pay the rent for the land. He was on his way to a store to buy poison so he could kill himself. On the way a couple of ladies talked to him and told him God had a plan for him. Until then, he had hated God, because he had such a hard life and he blamed God. He told them if he could find a way to pay back the debt he owed, he would listen to them. He went to the landowner and she said, “I know you Hannington. Don’t worry about it. I know you’ll pay me back.” He was amazed, because that just doesn’t happen. Soon he gave his life to Jesus Christ and his life has never been the same. He still struggles to make ends meet, but he’s one of the happiest guys I’ve ever met. He rides boda-bodas to all the schools in the bush and visits with the children, their guardians, and the village leaders to try and convince them to keep the kids in school. He’s been in three accidents and was nearly killed, but he pushes on. His difficult background is what drives him to help those who are in need. Here’s a man who travels all over Uganda to give support and leadership to these schools, meanwhile, until last year, he couldn’t afford to send his own children to school. Some people through ICN have made it so all his children can now go to school. I’ll show you the video once we get back and get it edited. You won’t want to miss it.

On a personal side, we’re all fairly tired, but doing well. Courtney is still fighting flu-like symptoms, but seems to be doing a little better. Mary and Hillary did a great job today collecting information for sponsorships and then dished out the food to the children at lunchtime. It was called porridge, but it looked a little like milky water. When all the kids were given one helping, about ten or twelve kids dove at the big pot that was used to cook and serve the porridge. The all dug in with their cups and hands and cleaned out the pot. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to seeing kids who are starving. I’ve seen American kids ACT like they’re starving, pushing and shoving to get the last piece of pizza or cake, but this scene will probably be burned in my memory along with many others from this trip.

Another short list of things I saw in the past two days on the back of a boda-boda…
- The driver and a mom sitting side saddle holding her two little baby girls and her Bible on the way to church.
- A huge cake delivery box
- Another boda-boda strapped across the back seat.
- A passenger holding two spare tires with a third strapped to the back.

And what did YOU see on the road today?

leslie's journal from Uganda-Aug 3

2007-08-04T02:18:00.000-07:00

O.K., so today was the most fun we’ve had so far. We spent the day at Lusaka at St. Mbuga School. When we arrived Hopkins asked if they could first perform for us – they would be disappointed if they didn’t. Of course – we would love it!

They emptied their classrooms, and soon the courtyard was filled with 400+ kids all in straight lines.
“Hello, children,” Hopkins called out.
“Hello, Madame Hope,” they yelled in unison.
“We have guests,” and she introduced each of us.

Soon the African Drums start and Ronnie is leading them. They sing out strong. (Hopkins had earlier warned a couple of kids – “stop fighting, be disciplined – do you want to shame us?”) The babies are singing and dancing – so, so cute.

After the singing, they ceremonially raise the flag and then sing their national anthem. The drums begin again, and the babies with their arm on the shoulder in front of them, march back to class. The drum beats faster, and soon they are trotting back to class – arms on shoulders (no one pushes or shoves – and no one gets hurt).

They haul desks outside and about 30 kids are brought out for sponsorship. Is this all? Hillary wonders. No! By the time we are finished, we have gathered information and taken pictures of 82 children – we are extremely sweaty, sunburned, and tired (we didn’t think to bring sunscreen, it had been thundering and pouring down rain all morning – I think it has rained every day we’ve been here, and this isn’t the rainy season!)

And now on to pen pals. More desks are brought out and over 100 kids are seated around us as we begin taking pictures and they begin writing. They work hard on their letters. They are out in the sun, three or four to a desk, and write for over an hour. One boy gives me his letter, then asks for it back so he can add more.

I start to recognize some of the faces from my pen pals last year, and gather them together for a picture I can take back to show my kids. A girl comes up to me and says, “Tell Millie I said hi!” Oh…so cute! Then others come up – tell Taylor hello, tell Christopher I said hi. Another comes up, “You know Makayla?” I tell her yes, and her faces lights up. “Tell her I love her!”

School seems to be over but no one really leaves. They seem to love having us there. The older girls are playing net ball (with no net -it’s kind of like Keep Away), and we have all split up – but you can easily find us – just look for a crowd of kids. Mary is playing circle games with the babies, Courtney is being taught Luganda by a crowd of kids (and, of course, Deborah, who hasn’t left her side), Curt is in a classroom with students reciting some of their lessons. I sat down with Anita to get any idea of what size shoe she wears. She slips off some raggedy boots (a few sizes too big) and I measure her feet with my hand (thumb to pinky outstretched). I tell her that Kelly has given me money for her and I was thinking of getting her some shoes. Her face lights up as I ask if she would like that. “Oh, yes. Thank you!” I soon had a crowd around me, listening to me talk about snow, throwing snowballs, building snowmen. They eagerly listen, leaning in. They have many questions, “How does it stay clean?” “How does it stay together?” I try to remember how we got on this subject (oh yeah, it all started with me telling them about my dogs – I described them as snow dogs – they didn’t know what that was.)

I’m thankful at night for our apartment and a cool shower!

curt's journal from Uganda-Aug. 3

2007-08-04T02:17:00.001-07:00

Wow! Today was quite a day! We woke to the sound of buckets of rain. I hadn’t seen rain like that since I was a kid in Nebraska. The drainage system is interesting here. I can’t give you all of the engineering specs. All I know is that when it rains hard the road below us looks like a roaring stream and turns into huge puddles when it’s all done. There is so much dirt everywhere that when it rains you can really smell the dirt rising into the air. Mary and I were both looking forward to a little break from the garbage burning and other pollution. It was nice to breathe a little fresh air.

Because of the rain, our trip to St. Mbuga Primary school in Lusaka was delayed. We were trying to get an early start because we had a lot to accomplish in one day. Hopkins, or Madam Hope as the kids call her, told us that the kids were really looking forward to singing for us and greeting us. She knew we were behind schedule, but didn’t want to disappoint the kids since they were so excited. The marched all the kids out in the yard and they sang songs and did motions, from the little preschoolers on up. My favorite part was when they had the very littlest kids lead a song. A tiny little kid sings a solo in front of everyone and it goes like this:
“Do you want to know me?” (“OH YES!”)
“My name is Precious” (“OH YES!”)
“I love Jesus” (“OH YES!”)
“Of course I do-do-do”
(Everyone)
Jesus Jesus, He is my savior
And I love Jesus. Of course I do-do-do

It was one of the cutest things I’ve ever seen and they sang it with such enthusiasm!

After that, they introduced all of us. Of course they already knew Madam Hillary. Then they introduced Courtney or Coney. We’re finding we have to say Cor-ten-knee or they don’t get it. Hopkins said, “This is Hillary’s sister! Don’t you notice the resemblence?” (“YES!” was the response). Then came Mary. This, of course was easy for them and there were many Mary’s in the crowd. Next was the “beautiful lady Leslie, who is also a P-5 teacher in America (applause) AND her class were pen pals with this class over here!” (HUGE applause and hoots from the kids who were excited to be in that class). Finally it was time to introduce “CUT” which is how everyone says my name in Uganda. (Giggles) “Can you say that?” (“CUT!” more giggles). Hopkins continued, “NO! Not that kind of cut! It is CUT! See - You – Ahtuh – Tee! Can you spell that?” “C-U-R-T” (Apparently “R” is a two sylabled rolled R sound. Kinda cool).

Once things got settled down, we started running some of the kids through the sponsorship process. We took their pictures twice and then they went over to another table where Courtney and Mary wrote down the biographical information for these little angels. The national exams ended yesterday, so today was a “holiday” for the kids while their teachers graded the exams. They still had some class activities like they held a huge formal debate about whether or not children should get punished (as in corporal) in school. It was funny, while the kids were selling their points for and against, some of the older kids were walking throughout the room with tiny switches. If a kid was goofing around or not paying attention, SWISH! Not enough to hurt much, but it would certainly get your attention!

Back to the sponsorship stuff. We took the pictures and wrote down the biographies for the better part of the day. It got really hot and all of us got a little burned. Can’t wait for the huge freckles to show up on the top of my head! The information will be brought back to the U.S. and people there will have the opportunity to help give them two meals a day and a good primary school education for only 30 dollars a month. It raises to about 80 dollars when they get to high school, but usually ICN just signs up a second sponsor for that child, unless the original sponsor wants to go ahead and cover it. When you see where these kids come from, it really makes you want to sell everything you have and just give them ALL an education. It’s interesting, not all of the kids at the schools get the opportunity to get sponsored. If their living situation is such that it’s likely they’ll move away before their through school, Hopkins has to make the tough choice of not getting sponsors for them. She’s found that people in the U.S. get frustrated when the school loses track of a kid and they are no longer sponsoring them. If you came here, you’d understand it though. Sometimes a kid will live with and uncle or a friend and then moves to another situation. There are just so many children who need love here. They flocked around us all day and hung on our every word. All you have to do is look at them and smile and they just light up with pride!

After the school stuff today, I went in search of a better internet option for ICN while their teams are here. It’s really expensive and unreliable to get on the internet here. I found something, but it’s too expensive for us to cover. For a one-time fee of $410 you can get a wireless modem that creates a “hot spot” in your living quarters. If you move you can take it with you. Then for an additional fee of $160 per month you can get unlimited broadband high speed internet ($80 for less fast, which is a turtle’s pace). But, if we did it, ICN teams would only have to pay for it when they’re in town once the one-time fee is covered. The company that provides it is at www.infocom.co.ug if you want to look it up. Maybe some of you internet savvy people can give us better ideas. All I know is the options are really limited here. That’s one thing I really appreciate about home.

Well, we’re all sunburned and tired, so it’s off to bed. But first…a short list of things I saw today on the back of a boda-boda…
- three grown men
- a car engine block
- a man in suit and tie with a dead turkey around his neck
- something that looked like a dryer (as in Whirlpool)
- a six foot tall bookshelf
- four huge bunches of bananas and 50 lb sack of sugar.

And what did YOU see on the road today?

curt's journal from Uganda-Aug. 1

2007-08-02T01:39:00.000-07:00

Well, I didn’t end up getting much sleep, the dogs were howling all night. I captured a little bit of it using our camcorder, so as soon as I can extract the audio, I’ll try to post it on here. This is probably the last time I’ll mention sleep, I’m sure you don’t really care how much or little I sleep. Now that we’re accustomed to the time change, it’s just like home. Sometimes you sleep well, sometimes you don’t. I still miss Dr. Rathbone though. It didn’t really matter though. We had a great day!

Speaking of doctors, I interviewed Joseph (Jolly) today. I found out why his nickname is Jolly. He is a very happy young man despite his circumstances. As I mentioned he is a third year medical student. He was housed and supported by Pastor Moses after both of his parents died of Aids when he was very young. He has four younger siblings that he is hoping to support. All but one of them are illiterate and are still living in the bush. I am amazed by the dedication of this 22 year old young man. He volunteers most days in the clinic so that he can get some real hands on training, he plays keyboard at the church, and maintains excellent grades while taking extra classes in medical school. When I asked him how much it costs to go to medical school, he said, “It’s very expensive. About $1.8 million shillings per semester. (plus about $800,000 shillings for book fees, exam fees, and additional fees).” Of course, that meant nothing to me because it requires math to make the conversion. Leslie figured out that it averages out to around $200 per month. It seems like there might be some doctors back in the states that could swing that to put another doctor in business in Uganda. I can’t wait for some of you to see his video an hear his story.

Dr. Pauline’s sister, Joyce, also volunteers at the clinic. She does that to try and somehow pay back Pauline for taking her in. One of her cousins offered to sponsor her education on the condition that she “stay” with him in his house. She almost did it, because she’s desperate to finish nursing school, but decided it wouldn’t be worth it. So, she lives with Pauline and had to drop out of school. She makes bead necklaces out of rolled up paper in her spare time to make ends meet, so you can bet we’ll be buying out her supply. In Uganda, you have to take three years of nursing school consecutively, so she’ll have to start over when she gets to go back. Nursing school is much cheaper than for doctors at about $900,000 shillings per semester (around $700?). I’m so impressed by her heart and integrity. Her smile is contagious.

In the afternoon, we went to Lusaka to St. Mbuga Primary School, where Hillary could often be found. The staff there speaks so highly of Hillary, they’re all sad that she’ll be going back with us. While we were waiting for the kids to get out of exams, Leslie, Mary, and I wandered down the road from the school. Just about ten steps from the gate of the school and I felt like I was in another time. It has a certain charm to it though. I went back and forth between being a little scared while, at the same time, totally wanting to just stay there for awhile. I talked to Mary later and she said the same thing. Partly, it’s because everyone’s always looking at us. When the little kids see us, their faces instantly light up and they start jumping around and yelling, “Muzungu! Muzungu! Muzungu! Hi Muzungu!” When we wave at them, they get REALLY happy. The adults are a different story. I can’t quite read them. They smile a lot when we give attention to their children. Mostly they just stare at us and kind of move toward us. At one point, Leslie was just snapping away with her camera and Mary and I were both feeling a little closed in an vulnerable (maybe without reason, but we both felt it) so we decided to head back up the hill to the school. I’ll try to post some pictures of this path down from the school. It’s weird, we’re in the biggest city in Uganda, but it feels like country living in many parts. I can’t really describe it other than it feels like everyone’s camping in a huge crowded campground. A very Western concept, I think.

When we got to the school, the little preschool kids (“the babies”) surrounded us and wanted to play with us. That was a lot of fun. Then when the big kids got out of their National Exams, a bunch of the girls from the school, including the girls from the choir, had dance practice with drumming by some of the boys, including Bruno, who we help sponsor. They did traditional dances and were instructed by Ronnie, who according to Sam Straxy, the choir director, “is an expert on all traditional dances.” It was a lot of fun to watch. It was so fun to see the girls our extended family sponsors. Every time they caught our eyes, their face would light up and they would get all proud. Yvonne, who Hillary sponsors, danced with her school sweater on the whole time, because she had some little holes in her dress that she didn’t want any of us to see. I’ve met hundreds of people over the years, but I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who has a smile like hers. Several of the other kids come in a very close second. Jane, with her semi-shy-almost-mischievous smile…her sister Anita, with a gracious, almost blushing smile…Julius, whose whole face smiles…Blest Deborah, who smiles with her eyes…Bruno, who looks at you like he loves you more than anything in the world…Gloria, whose face lights up like a beacon. People in the U.S. are just going to LOVE these kids when they come on tour next year (hopefully).

It was a great day!

curt's journal from Uganda-July 31

2007-08-02T01:38:00.002-07:00

This morning we walked down to the clinic that is run by a woman at the church named Pauline. Hillary loves her. She provides a home for one of the boys we sponsor, Julius, so she calls Hillary her sister. She wasn’t at the clinic this morning, but she came by our apartment this evening. She’s been a doctor for more than 10 years and could probably make a lot more money and be in a nicer facility, but she prefers to help those in need who can’t afford it. I can tell Hillary really adores her and the feeling is mutual. She bragged about how great Hillary is at dispensing drugs and helping her in the clinic. We showed her Hillary’s graduation video, which highlights her life from birth on. She and Resty watched the whole thing and seemed to really love seeing how Hillary grew up. We’re going back to the clinic tomorrow morning to video-tape a third year medical student named Jolly who volunteers in the clinic. He is a graduate of the school in Lusaka where Hillary helps out and plays basketball. He was the one who organized the basketball game the other day between the older guys and the Prophets. He was still talking about the game. He wants a rematch. We’ll also interview a young lady named Joyce who volunteers there as well. ICN is hoping to start a new program to help young people like them who are trying to get their education to work with the less fortunate. I hope I can accurately tell their story. I’m nowhere near a being professional videographer. I hope I can do their stories justice.

I’m starting to feel much more independent, though on the walk home, Hillary said we’re not very smart they way we walk along the streets. Apparently, we’re not attentive enough to traffic. I’ll take her advice. I’ve seen how pedestrians are treated here! Today I felt good though. I purchased internet airtime, sat and used the internet, ordered a bottle of water, and then a newspaper from a guy walking down the middle of the street selling papers…all by myself. I know, I know, “goody for you, Curt,” but, for me, it’s quite an accomplishment.

Tonight, Hopkins (Pastor Moses’ wife) came over and we hammered out the details of what we’ll be doing for the next couple of weeks. We’ll be heading into the bush to visit many of the schools and spending more time with the kids in the choir. We’re all really looking forward to the next phase of our adventure. Now, to the adventure of getting some sleep…Welaba!

curt's journal from Uganda-July 30

2007-08-02T01:38:00.001-07:00

The earplugs worked perfectly and I got my first good night of sleep. Ready to face the day. Today we went to the US Embassy to “check in.” Wow, talk about tight security! And grumpy too, until we got past the screeners. Once inside, we filled out the paperwork and then moved BACK through the grumpy screening facility so we could go to the library, where we heard there was free internet for American citizens. Free? Yes. Fast? Uh, NO! Apparently, our tax dollars have not upgraded the computers in the Embassy for quite some time. We spent about 30 minutes trying to read our emails, but no one was successful except Courtney, who was able to get off one email. Oh well, the quest for a good connection continues. I know in the grand scheme of things there are worse problems, but I am anxious to share our experiences with friends and family back home.

When we got done there, we went back for a quick lunch. Not much is quick here, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Since there was nothing on our schedule, we decided to take the afternoon to buy some gifts for people back home. It was really enjoyable to get out and check out the city. We haven’t really been out much yet as we adjust to how things work here. It’s been really relaxing though. I got to sit in the front seat of the van to get my first front row view of Uganda driving. Wow! Our driver, the other Moses, is really good and is trusted by our hosts. I wish I could somehow express what Uganda driving is like. Maybe it’s like this in a lot of countries, but this is my first experience with it. There are lines painted on the road, but I don’t think anyone notices them. Weaving in and out of traffic are the boda-bodas, which I’ve already described, stacked with everything from people to bananas to large plumbing pipes and crossbeams. Walking alongside the road and crossing anywhere, and any time, they want to are the pedestrians…some of the bravest souls I’ve ever encountered. Now I know where the term “walking the gauntlet” came from. They even walk down the middle of two-way streets. But, unlike the U.S., pedestrians here have absolutely ZERO right-of-way. Cars and boda-bodas don’t slow down a bit when someone crosses the street in front of them. I might be imagining things, but I think they might even speed up…just a bit. They just assume the person is going to dive out of the way. This happens several times on every city block. I seriously don’t know how people don’t get killed here all the time.

The African Village was touristy, but not too much. Our host/cook Resty assured us that it was real African stuff and that the shop owners expect you to barter. She told us not to buy anything until we had gone into all the shops and checked out the prices. Sure enough prices were different at each shop for the same items. Surprisingly, Leslie was the master barterer. She won’t ever do that at garage sales back home, but she was totally working it! Mary was a pretty good shopper too. Plus, she’s been learning a lot of Luganda, which is helpful at times. You can often hear Resty teaching her new words and phrases. Mary’s background in French is coming in handy. We walked around for a few hours and got some really unique little mementos. It was a really nice afternoon.

On the way home we stopped at a coffee shop/bar because we heard they had wireless internet. Like everything else here, it comes at a cost. It’s a little spendy, but it worked faster than the US Embassy! Everywhere you go, people are charging you coming and going. The other day, a policeman standing on the corner stopped Pastor Moses for easing into a crosswalk at the wrong time. I don’t get that. You can practically plow down a pedestrian everywhere else, but go into CERTAIN crosswalks and you’re in trouble. He ended up having to…um…pay a “special fee” to the policeman to let it slide. Otherwise, they take your license away until you stand before a judge and pay an earth-shattering fee. They take their traffic laws seriously here. (wink, wink, nod, nod).

leslie's journal from Uganda-July 27

2007-07-30T08:29:00.001-07:00

Friday, June 29 (2:00 a.m.)

At 2:00 a.m. I wake to a cacophony of voices. It starts with a single voice (or should I say howl) and crescendos to a full choir – seven or eight part harmony of yips, howls, barks, woofs, growls – I am in Africa!

I spend the rest of the early morning in and out of sleep. At 6:30 the sunrise blankets the sky with a soft, pink haze. The birds have taken over where the dogs left off – I especially love the kazoo-sounding screech!

Everyone is pretty tired as we enjoy the mendazi Hillary has prepared for us. I sip my Africafe instant coffee (not bad) and enjoy the relaxing morning. I spend time in Psalms on the balcony overlooking the city – I’m in Africa! (I still can’t get over it!)

Moses picks us up around 10:30 and we venture into the city. We think we are going to the embassy, but instead we go to the bank. The exchange rate is 1652 shillings per dollar (the value of the dollar has been steadily decreasing since the announcement of Queen Elizabeth’s arrival in November). We exchange our money, and two hours later we head out into the city on foot, which turns out to be quite an adventure! The traffic is crazy – bumper to bumper cars, boda bodas, people walking. We finally make it half way across the street and wait for another break in the traffic. The ground is uneven so I am trying not to trip while watching for cars and boda bodas and keeping an eye out for Hopkins so I don’t get lost. Amazingly, I am not stressed out – I am in Africa! More later.

After making a number of stops in the city (paying for parking each time), we make it back to the apartment (five hours from when we left). I feel like am prepared for how long things take here, so it doesn’t bother me (although we never made it to the embassy!)

I head to bed at around 23:00 and sleep until 1:00 (two hours). I am wide awake, so I read for a few hours. (I found a great book for my first read aloud in the fall – I read the first chapter to Court and Hill earlier in the day and now they are hooked!)

leslie's journal from Uganda-July 26

2007-07-30T08:26:00.000-07:00

I’m in Africa! This is actually my second day here – I slept most of my first day!

Thursday, July 28

We arrived in Entebbe at 7:40. As we stepped off the plane I couldn’t stop smiling – I’m in Africa! The air was thick, but there was a slight breeze so it wasn’t too warm. Off to the left was Lake Victoria. Straight ahead and to the right was land and trees in the distance – so big and open. Behind us was the airport, under construction (as are many things in this country!)

We waited in line to get our visas – nothing like the hustle and bustle of the Seattle and London airports. Security was pretty much nonexistent. We grabbed our luggage (it was all there – yeah!) and headed toward the airport building. Courtney was the first to spot Hillary, and then it was my turn to hug her. “Hi, Mama.” I missed that sweet voice and sincere smile! Then it was on to more hugging . First Hopkins, then Dethan, Sam S., and Sam L. Lots of smiles – so glad to finally meet these great people Hillary has told us so much about.

Our luggage is stuffed into the back as we pile into the van – all eight of us – and there is room to spare! As we drive from Entebbe to Kampala I do my best to take in all the sights and sounds (and smells). There are many people walking on the sides of the road, riding bikes, driving boda bodas. I can’t get over the fire red dirt (even though Hillary told me about it) – it is everywhere! There are people working in the fields of red dirt digging, hoeing – I’m not sure why. There are even people sweeping the red dirt!

Our van zooms around, weaving in and out of cars, driving on the left side of the road – this will take a while to get used to. I see the land filled with palm trees and banana trees (I think) - it is beautiful. I am in Africa, I keep telling myself! Then, as we drive through a more populated area, I see shops with wares from sides of beef (I think it’s beef) hanging outside, to furniture (all the chairs are exactly the same).

The closer we get to the city, the more poverty I see. None of the side roads are paved - just lots and lots of red dirt. Many people sitting or standing, staring off into the distance; shoeless children walking around (seemingly unsupervised); women bent over cooking pots.

The boda bodas zoom by, squeezing through places that seem impossible to squeeze through. After about an hour we turn off the highway onto a bumpy, dirt road (really bumpy). There are shacks pieced together with strips of battered wood, clay, and sheets of aluminum. Men and boys are lined up along the sides of the road, there faces filled with blank stares. They look sad. I wonder: “Do they have jobs?” It is a Thursday morning at 10:00. The women I see working (sweeping dirt, cooking over outside fires). But mostly I see men.

We get to our destination and after about 10 honks the gatekeeper unlocks and opens a large metal gate. We haul our luggage up three flights of stairs and enter our home for the next month. It is very nice (and clean) especially after seeing the living conditions all around us. It is much bigger than our house at home. It is filled with linoleum that we quickly cover with a film of red dirt. We unpack some of the things we brought to give away to the kids so Hill can see. We are so excited to give them away.

At about noon I decided to take a nap. It had been about 40 hours since I had slept in a bed – it felt so good to lie down. The sounds of outside flowed in through the open window - revving cars, honking horns, barking dogs. It didn’t seem to bother me - it was dark when I woke up! We shared a dinner consisting of noodles, rice, avocadoes, and peas (with onions, garlic, and tomatoes). It was delicious!

Moses, Sam S., and Sam L. came over later. The Sams are hilarious. It was fun spending the evening with them. Moses said he would pick us up at about 9 or 10 the next day and take us to the U.S. Embassy.

After spending a little time in our room hanging out with Hill and Court, I was back in bed. The outside noises continued – music, talking Ugandans, dogs, cars, honking horns – it was almost calming (I’m not sure why). I’ve only lived in the suburbs – I wonder if any city would sound like this at night.

curt's journal from Uganda-July 29

2007-07-30T08:25:00.000-07:00

Today before church I decided to cook breakfast for everyone. I don’t quite have the tools I have at home and so I improvised. Bad idea! Everyone was nice about it, but those were the nastiest poached eggs and toast I’ve ever made. I know it’s hard to ruin such an easy dish, but I managed just fine thank you.

We walked into church at about 10:00 and were ushered to the front where seats were saved for us. The church is a large building with rustic wooden beams and a Ugandan red dirt floor. The floor was hosed down the day before during the kids choir practice to keep the dust down. That was something you don’t always see. We didn’t get out of there until after 1:00, but if it were up to me, it would’ve gone longer. I really enjoyed it. I didn’t understand much but it was very moving. It’s a bilingual service so everything that is spoken in English is translated into Luganda and visa versa (and the speakers switch back and forth between the two making it mental gymnastics for someone like me). I’m finding that, although English is the official language, Luganda carries the weight of this country. The music was extremely moving even though I didn’t understand much of it. When the choir went into the Luganda version of “When We All Get to Heaven” I was moved to tears. I found out later that it affected Leslie the same way.

At the end of the service, one of the pastors, Dithan, called Hillary up to the front. She had been working with the kids like she always does, so she didn’t sit by us. When she came up to the front everyone clapped for her and Dithan went on a long, description of all that Hillary had done for their mission work. He said he want to keep her there, “so if any of you young men would hurry up an marry her…” She was, of course, rolling her eyes and embarrassed but covered it well. He then had her introduce us up on stage. He asked us to say something and I was the only one that would at first. I proceed to completely BUTCHER two of the only words I know in Luganda. I was going to be SOOOO smooth, but I got nervous and blew it. At least I didn’t say a swear word.

After church and lunch, we took a two hour van ride to Bugandi Falls and also the source of the Nile river. The roads were under construction quite a bit, so there were some interesting maneuvers. I have no idea how people don’t get killed every day on the roads. It’s really something I can’t even describe. Lines and road widths mean nothing. Our tourist destinations were really beautiful. We paid a guy to risk his life by floating down Bugandi Falls…not sure how I feel about doing that, but…eh…it’s a living! The Source of the Nile, where Lake Victoria spills into the Nile River was beautiful. We took a few photos and then paid some gymnastics guys to give us a demonstration. Pretty much everywhere you go, people are trying to sell you something but this was pretty unusual. This guy shimmies up this pole that is not in the ground at all, then does all these fancy moves while his buddies drum and sing. It was pretty cool. I especially liked where he put both of his legs behind his head. That dude was limber.

On the way home, we stopped at a “rest stop” which is where you pull over to the side of the road and a whole bunch of people surround your car and try to sell you something. My sliding window was cracked open for a breeze and this young lady just took it upon herself to open it up wide. We bought some friend bananas, which were interesting. Some of them were the non-ripened variety, which tasted a bit like a tart squash. Others were mature, large, and very sweet and rich. It was a very interesting day all around. We were all really tired and came home and crashed. Leslie is sleeping hard as I write this. Tonight I’m going with earplugs to see how that works. (not for Leslie, for the dogs and Karaoke)

curt's journal from Uganda-July 28 (Actual date)

2007-07-30T08:24:00.000-07:00

Well, last night didn’t bring much sleep, but I’ve got a good feeling about tonight. I’m not really sure what sounds more off key, the Karaoke or the howling dogs. I think it’s a toss up. The dogs definitely have more rhythm though.

This morning, we relaxed around the apartment as our bodies are still trying to adjust. It was nice to just chill out and get to know Resty, the young lady who cooks for us and is pretty much our guardian. She doesn’t seem to get tired of my thousands of questions.

This afternoon we got to see the choir practice. It was amazing. They went to school all morning and when we got there at about 3:00, they had already been practicing for quite awhile. When we got there they stayed up on the stage but we received some of the most loving looks I’ve ever received. Sam Straxy, the main “trainer” had us introduce ourselves and then each kid told us their name and grade. I had seen them perform on video, but it was nothing like the real thing. I was amazed at how young and small they are. I think on video they looked so poised and skilled that I assumed they were older than they are. The practiced hard for the next two hours and I enjoyed every minute of it. They spent a long time going over and over one part. I can’t imagine a group of American kids holding their concentration that long. The youngest, Peter, is only five years old! My mom sponsors him and I know she would really like him. Our family and extended family sponsors so many of these kids, I felt like I knew them all. After they were done practicing, they called us up on stage and we all gathered in a circle and they sang a song. Then Sam had them spend some time praying. I was not prepared for what happened next. Some of them got down on their knees and some of them remained standing. They prayed out loud and I’ve never seen more sincerity in my life. It was truly a humbling experience. These kids truly live what they believe and believe with their whole heart.

After this was done, the kids all gathered around us and we finally got to meet them face to face. They came up and gave us big hugs and said, “You are welcome.” This is the phrase that I’m hearing a lot. It means “thank you for coming to our country…welcome!” I think because of their relationship to Hillary they were as excited to see us as were were them.

After this we walked up to the high school, because Hill was already there to play basketball with the boys. Little did we know, this would be a real game with a ref and everything. Some of the graduates of the high school, who are now in college came to scrimmage one of the school’s teams. So, there was Hillary, starting guard for the St. Mbuga Prophets. She played great and the crowd grew and got louder in the second half as the Prophets mounted a serious comeback. They ended up winning by about nine points and the place went crazy. Hillary’s been sick, so she took herself out of the game a few times, but her presence was felt. The surreal moment for me, when I KNEW I was in Africa, was when a chicken wandered onto the bricked court and no one really even noticed.

curt's journal from Uganda-July 28

2007-07-30T08:23:00.000-07:00

I promise not to always let my posts turn into novels, but right now I’m just overwhelmed by everything. The first night in our new home was a very interesting experience. I think at about midnight the local dogs began to howl like I’ve never heard dogs howl before. It sounded like wolves from all over wailing at the top of their lungs. The sounds filled the air for a long time and were nearly impossible to sleep through. I say “nearly” because our exhausted group of young girls heard nothing! They then continued to bark off and on all night. At about 1:30am Leslie and I heard this loud rattling on the gate below. I thought maybe it was the wind, but I couldn’t feel the slightest breeze, though I longed for one desperately. The loud rattling would go on for about 20 seconds and then stop for about five minutes, only to start up again. Then the rattling became banging, lasting progressively longer. It definitely had a human feel to it. I looked down and couldn’t see anything. Finally after about twenty minutes of this, the gatekeeper woke up and let the man inside. Resty told us that this happens every so often and sometimes they then argue for another 20 minutes. She wants to yell, “Argue in the morning! We are trying to sleep!” I’m currently cursing the invention of Karaoke. From our location we can hear a lot of loud, BAD, singing into all hours of the night.

Today we exchanged our money for Shillings. I was not aware traveling would require so much math. I’m sure I’m going to mess up and spend 20 dollars for a pencil. The good thing is that while we were waiting at the bank, I discovered a wireless network was available, so I was able to get on the internet to make that last post.

We all drove around with Moses and Hopkins and went to the store to pick up a few things. We drove by the square where Idi Amin dumped Moses’ father and a bunch of other men who dared to preach the Bible despite Amin’s warnings not to. They were imprisoned for a long time and starved to the point of almost dying and then put on display in the square. I was struck at how casually he talked about this…as if it happened all the time. So many in this country were persecuted and killed for their beliefs. They are true heroes in my book. This area is now undergoing massive landscaping for the arrival of the queen of England. There is a lot of construction and road and sidewalk repair going on as Uganda readies itself for this historic occasion.

This evening we ate dinner and Moses came by to talk further about the schedule we’ll be following while we’re here. We are all flexible and don’t really care too much what we do here. But he assures us we will be busy. He knows that Americans like to come and feel like they’re accomplishing something, but Hillary and Courtney have taught me through their experiences that it’s more important just to be here as an encouragement to the people and just flow with their schedule. On the other hand, we have some things we need to accomplish in order to properly promote the arrival of the choir in America in January. Hopefully, we’ll get the promotional video-taping done quickly and then spend a lot of the rest of our time in the schools, both here and in the bush. Balance is going to be the word. We need to allow ourselves to rest too. We are still feeling the effects of jet lag and Hillary has come down with some kind of flu, so getting our strength is going to be important. He told us that two weeks from Sunday is “our Sunday” at church. I think that means our family, with Mary, will be running the service. I’m not sure if that means ALL of the services or not. That would be from early morning until 7 or 8 at night. I might need a week to recover after that! I really don’t understand how Moses does all that he does. Everyone says he’s ALWAYS working. This weekend, he’s going to Eastern Uganda to preach in the bush. He told us that their church has 100 different ministries around Uganda, so unless we stay for 100 days we won’t be able to see them all. When he visited our home last year, he sat down in one of our chairs that has a wire frame and comfortable padding. It took all his effort not to fall asleep. He LOVED that chair, so we brought him one that my mom had and gave it to him the first night. He sat down in the chair and said, “I can tell this is an American chair” so we said, “It’s yours.” He looked at me in shock and then got down on his knees and grabbed my hand and thanked us. He was so excited. So mom, it was a big hit. Thank you from Moses.

Tomorrow (Saturday) the choir will perform for us (after school…they “only” go to school half days on Saturdays!) and Sunday we’ll be going to do some sight seeing for the afternoon after church. Monday we’ll start to do some filming and possibly some school visiting. We’ll see how the schedule goes.

curt's journal from Uganda-July 27? (part two)

2007-07-30T08:22:00.000-07:00

Last year, when Hillary came home from Uganda, she said to Leslie and I, “We HAVE to sponsor this boy in the choir named Bruno! He is the sweetest boy.”

After we paid the boda boda drivers, we walked into the primary school for a minute before we went to the high school. We met some of the school staff and then Bruno saw us and quickly walked over to us. He immediately came up to me and gave me a big hug! I instantly knew why Hill had been so adamant. He is such a sweet young man. I can’t wait to get to know him more while we’re here.

We went to the high school and Hillary began to round up her basketball buddies. Some of them said they had to do other things, but they changed their minds I guess, because pretty soon there was a big group of older kids kicking the younger kids off of the court so they could play full court with Hillary. For some reason, the staff only wants her to come to play basketball two days a week. I think maybe some of the other programs they want to plug these boys into were suffering when she came every day. She’s not too happy about that arrangement, but really enjoys her time with these guys. She plays with a constant smile on her face. I was happy to see she still has her shooting touch too. Every time she scores people around the court clap. Some of the boys were pretty good, but “rat ball” is the same everywhere you go. Everyone wants to make the fancy play or flashy pass. Unlike playing basketball with guys in America, these guys actually look for Hillary and pass her the ball whenever they can…probably because she’s proven herself.

As I was watching, school kids kept coming over to me and talking to me. I met this girl named Irene who told me she wants to be a doctor and a lawyer. That would be a great combination in the U.S. with all of the malpractice lawsuits! I asked her if she likes school and she gave the most sincere look and said, “Oh YES! I just love it SO much! God has been so good to me to allow me to go to school. Oh, I love it SO MUCH!” I could tell she really meant it too. I asked her if she played any sports and she said, “Yes, I play Chase.” I imagined some sort of version of keep-away or maybe sprinting races. I asked her how it’s played and she said, “Do you see those boys over there playing Chase. Have you never played Chase before?” I looked over to see about twelve boys huddled around four CHESS boards. Ah…I need to listen more carefully.

As I was watching the basketball game, darkness fell. I mean it FELL. I could literally watch it change shades of darkness, and suddenly, it was completely dark. The game ended and we walked down to find our ride home. This is where I thought we might die with a boda boda as the murder weapon, but we arrived home safely. I figured out one of their tricks. When they need to make a turn across traffic, they find a large vehicle and Since Mary is under my care, I’m not about to let her ride those, not that she wants to. She’s seen them drive. I think maybe she’s too intelligent for that. Wait, what does that say about me? Sometimes the truth hurts.

I settled down for a nice relaxing night of sleep after my first day in Africa, or so I thought…

curt's journal from Uganda-July 27? (part one)

2007-07-27T01:42:00.000-07:00

I can’t believe we’re actually in Africa! We landed yesterday morning in Entebbe, Kampala and the airport was way different than any other airports I’ve been to. This one is under construction, so we may have just gone through a temporary area. We weren’t really sure where to go, but eventually figured it out and got in line in this huge room to get our entrance visas. I was really worried about this before we got there. I had hoped to get our visas while we were still in the States, but with Leslie’s passport coming so late, we couldn’t. I also couldn’t get a Yellow Fever vaccination, so I was worried that they wouldn’t let me in the country. They didn’t even ask for our Yellow Fever cards, so all that worry was for nothing. That’s starting to become a theme in my life. I’ve started to realize that even though I’m a really laid back person, inside I worry a lot. (I had to be hospitalized when I was in kindergarten for “almost ulcers” so that should tell you something. What could I have possibly been stressed about? “I wonder if there will be enough milk with our crackers today?” “I wonder which animal they’ll use to illustrate the letter A?”, etc).

While we were standing in line for our visas, Leslie noticed that the baggage was coming in on the other side of this the room. She suggested I go get it because it looked really disorganized (which it was) and was just getting thrown into a big pile. I wasn’t sure if I should leave the line, I didn’t want to make trouble on my first day, but it was fine (Again with the worry!). Once we got our visas we walked out this long passageway and there she was! Hillary or Heery or Hillally, whatever they call her. It was so great to see her again. That three months was the longest time we’ve gone without seeing her before. She was happy to see us too. Big smiles all around! We met a bunch of the team that we had heard so much about. Pastor Dithan, Hopkins, Sam Straxy, Resty, all gave us big hugs. We crammed all of our stuff (I’m so glad most of it is staying here) into the back seats of a van and then crammed the rest of us in and we took off for our hour ride from Entebbe to Kampala.

It was hard to really soak it all in. I went back and forth between catching up with Hillary, who sat between Leslie and I, and looking outside at the amazing sights. It’s all so very…African. This is a long way from my roots in Nebraska and then Oregon. I just kept thinking, “I can’t believe I’m actually here!” From the storefronts and dirt roads to the people and scenery, I’ve just never experienced anything like this.

We got to our apartment and were let in through a secured gate. Once we got to our apartment, and got settled, everyone laid down for a nap. For Leslie, Courtney and Mary, it turned into a seven-hour nap! Hillary woke me up earlier than that because she was going to play basketball at the secondary school and I told her I wanted to come. We walked outside that gate and I instantly felt like I was in another world. It was a very interesting feeling. I tried to look nonchalant and pretend I was just a regular Ugandan, but man, I was a mixture of really nervous and at the same time I wanted to run around and touch everything and ask a million questions.

We walked down a dirt road to an intersection and found a group of guys sitting on small motorcycles called boda bodas. Because of the bad roads and CRAZY traffic they are the quickest way to get from “border to border”…get it? Boda boda. Anyway, Hillary started talking to one of the guys. She told him where we wanted to go and we hopped on the boda bodas and took off. Wow, what an experience. I think Hillary thought I was going to be really scared and freaked out by this experience, but it was really fun, in an exciting, adrenaline-inducing-I think-I-might-die sort of way. I totally understand why she likes it and I totally understand why Pastor Moses and everyone else here try to discourage her from using that mode of transportation. These drivers are amazing, darting in and out of really heavy traffic, anticipating everything from oncoming trucks to goats and chickens. Apparently, though Hillary’s driver knew where the school was, mine didn’t. He THOUGHT he did, he SAID he did, but not a clue. At one point, we took off the wrong way and Hillary’s driver honked and yelled something that no one on my boda boda seemed to understand. Hillary and her driver going one way, me and my new best friend going the other! He pulled over to the side of the road and said, “Where?” and I was thinking “Where?!? You’re asking ME? I don’t even know where I am, let alone where I’m going.” I said, “St. Mbuga School” and “Lusaka” but it didn’t really help much. He pulled over three times to ask people and finally I saw Hillary up ahead. Whew!

(I'll write more about the rest of my first evening in a later post. I'm finding that getting on the internet is not super reliable, so I can't promise when, or how often I'll post again. Right now we're sitting downstairs at a bank trying to get the best rate for our rapidly declining dollar. They wouldn't give us the full amount for one of our 100 dollar bills because it was dated 1999! Funny)

curt's journal from Uganda-July 25

2007-07-27T01:39:00.001-07:00

The person I miss most is my chiropractor, Dr. Rathbone. After nine hours of trying to sleep on the flight from Seattle to London, I think that rather than being in it’s normal semi straight alignment, my neck resembles something more like an accordian or the zigging and zagging line through British Customs. But, I am thankful that the flight was uneventful. My body is definitely not sure whether it’s day or night, which is a new sensation for me. I think I might have slept more on the plane, but there was an family sitting behind us that I think were playing hacky-sack or maybe “wall ball” against our seats. They definitely hadn’t been taught to use their “inside voices” either. We made it through customs without any problems. We thought about taking a trip into London for our nine hour layover. Mary’s sister, Emily, who is a student in London, gave us an awesome map and some great instructions on how we could pack a bunch of sightseeing into that nine hours, but we opted instead to sleep on some hard seats instead. Hmmm…sleep or Trafalgar square? Some broken up tidbits of shut eye or Buckingham Palace? Interrupted snippets of REM-less slumber or Westminster Abbey? It’s amazing what kinds of choices a person can make when they’re sleep deprived. We will definitely hit all of those places on the way back when we have a 24 hour layover. The thought of another long flight doesn’t really appeal to me, but it should be better without the rugby team running through drills behind us.

The great thing about this layover in London is that everything is so cheap here! Oh wait, those are pounds not dollars? What’s a Pound worth? Oh…um…nevermind.

Curt's journal from Uganda-July 24

2007-07-24T18:08:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm sitting here on the floor of the Seattle Airport (clutching my money belt) at the only power outlet that works. Leslie, Courtney and our new friend/temporary daughter, Mary, are relaxing as we wait to board our flight for Heathrow. We made it through the check in process without any problems. Well almost. On the way to the airport I stopped at a back to get some more cash to bring and used my ATM card in the walk up ATM. Apparently, I was in a big hurry...and nervous...and excited. I didn't realize, until we were at the airport and and looked in my wallet, that my debit card was missing! Fortunately, Mary's mom banks at the bank we stopped at, so she made a quick call and we confirmed our fears. I left the debit card in the ATM!! Nice start to the trip, eh? The machine chewed it up, so it wasn't compromised. Fortunately, it's not the card we were going to bring anyway, so we're okay. It was a bit of a scare though. My body temperature and sweat glands were working overtime. I then flustered my way through all the check in process with our world traveler, Courtney, rolling her eyes at me the whole time. "Dad calm down!"

Okay, I'm calm now. But still really excited. This is all really new to me. I'm the only one in this group who hasn't traveled outside the country (not counting day trips into the U.S. suburbs north and south).

Well, we'll try to keep you all up to date as we head out on this journey.

Weleba!

hillary's uganda journal - july 21

2007-07-21T17:57:00.000-07:00

Today the choir got their new outfits! They are SO amazing!! They all look so cute!!

While they were practicing Peter was just going CRAZY with the dance moves! At first he didn't realize I was watching him and
he was just going all out. But then he saw me, so then it kind of became a show. But it wasn't like a "look at me aren't I funny?" kind of thing, he just really thought he was doing some good dance moves and that it was entertaining me because he was so good! haha

It's kind of a joke that we have here, whenever we see a group of dancers who are all doing the same thing, like on tv or something, but then there's one person who's off, it's always "they have a Peter in their group too!" But Peter's just too flipin cute to try and fix.

Then I went up to the secondary school, but they were doing inter-house competitions for music dance and drama. SO I just shot around with my friend Jolly who is in Medical school here. We were doing a freethrow shooting contest and I killed him every time. but it's ok, I didn't have to be nice. He's one of those guys who thinks he should be on AND 1, he thinks he has all the moves, so he needed to be humbled a bit. haha

I'm really excited for church tomorrow! The choir is performing during the service!! I can't wait!

hillary's uganda journal - july 19

2007-07-19T09:02:00.000-07:00

The kids at Lusaka were taking exams today. It seems like they are always taking exams! And each time they tell me they were so simple, I wonder what the point is in the huge number of exams when the kids already know all of the information!? I think the teachers are running out of things to test them on, but they won't give up that easily. At any chance they get, with any new piece of information, they need to be tested. Semi-stupid to me, I can try all I want to try and get a rebellion started from the kids, the school system here is intense. But these kids never complain about it, so no use in my trying to stir things up, I guess. haha

Anyway, I spent most of the afternoon sorting through beans. I learned what they call them in Luganda, but it was a long word and now I forget. I was sitting on my little stool next to a bag that had, before lunch, held a whole bunch of meat, so there were millions of flies. Everywhere. It was a pretty relaxing afternoon though, I had a lot of time to listen to the conversations around me and to think. I admit my thinking wasn't as deep as you couldv'e asked for. It mostly consisted of how itchy I was. What with flies constantly landing on me and all the bugs I had to take out of the bucket of beans with my fingers. I felt like there were bugs crawling all over me. But, I am getting pretty good at sorting through beans. Ask anyone, they'll agree.

hillary's uganda journal - july 15

2007-07-15T08:20:00.000-07:00

Today I went to Sunday School for the first service and then went up to the main church. But during the first service, the older boys run the Sunday School. And they were so cute! Especially Julius (not my julius, he's an older one in the choir) He was so cute with all the little kids! I also asked Mahad if he would come to church, but I asked him at the beginning of last week, so I thought he probably wouldn't remember. But he was there! And this is really cool because his family are all Muslims. But I wish I had done Sunday school today, because sometimes I think it's a little iffy. Because it's so long, I think the teachers run out of things to talk about. And so they get onto things that have nothing to do with the Bible and these things seem to take up most of the time because apparently they are easier to talk a lot about. (haha) Lecturing the kids on good manners and stuff. But oh well. At least he came. I hope he got something out of it.

Bruno and me

Then another church was supposed to come and play against us in basketball. But they weren't organized, so they didn't show up. :/ SO I just hung out at the school for a while, watched part of “The Terminator.” (haha that movie is weird. I am not a fan at all.) But we didn't play basketball at all because all the guys were either home, sick, injured, or playing in the chess competitions. SO it was pretty uneventful there.

Oh, I also went to Yvonne's house today, and the whole family was there except for Morris. Mama Yvonne was like, "You've been lost these days!" Which means that she hasn't seen me for a long time. She also tried to convince me that Monica is learning English, and if I ask her how she is doing she'll say she's fine. But, of course, she decided that she was going to be shy. But it was really fun hanging out with them for a while! I love that family!!

Bridgett and Yvonne

hillary's uganda journal - july 14

2007-07-14T08:16:00.000-07:00

Today I went to my first actual African wedding!! It wasn't as exciting as I thought it would be, it was really long. SO I spent most of the time outside hanging out with my kids because they had shown up at the school for a choir practice that didn't end up happening. But it was really fun to see all the decorations and the beautiful dresses! And the wedding was bright green!! Oh my gosh! I loved it! And Veronica was the flower girl. She was KILLER!! She was so cute I couldn't even handle it!

hillary's uganda journal - july 13

2007-07-13T07:52:00.000-07:00

Today was a parent visitation day at the primary school. So, they didn't have classes, they all just had to sit there, being bored, while the teachers talked to one parent/student at a time. So I had the choir finish their letters to their sponsors. I noticed that a whole bunch of the kids, including Yvonne, were staring at me so I was like, “What?” and Yvonne goes, "he thinks I look like you!" SO apparently my dream of becoming an African is finally coming true!!

As I was working the kids also kept coming into my office to talk to me because they didn't have anything to do. It was so much fun! I wish everyday could be as relaxed for them as it was today so they could hangout with me more. They don't need school, right?

A message from Anita to her sponsor Kelly.

Bruno, Yvonne, and Jane all wrote me letters and they were sooooo cute! This was Janes:

"Dear my friend Hillary I great you in the name of Jesus Christ. I love you. I thank you for being my friend. I love your family. I love your hair so much. I wish I had hair like yours. I like dancing. Do you like dancing? I like singing. Do you like singing? My best song is Joy is coming in the morning time.  
May God bless you so much. From your friend Nakigozi Jane Bye Bye!  
And I will never forget you in life and death I will never and every forget you because I love you so much and you love me to because your my good, loving friend. I will never and every for get you."
 :)

I am really excited to give Courtney her letter from Blest Deborah. It is really cute. It starts, “Dear my lovely Courtney Sell…” (haha so cute.) Here's a picture of the two of us...

Then Jane came in with a storybook with like 10 stories in it. She said she couldn't read them, then went through and told me each of the stories from her memory because apparently she had them all memorized. So then she asked me to read “The Little Red Hen” in her class. So, I went to the back corner so I wouldn't disturb the teacher and stood on a bench and shouted the story to the 60ish kids in there that were in a huge pile of bodies right in front of me. They all liked it a lot and the parents who were waiting were all entertained I think. I think here just think I'm weird. But that's all right. Then, Eric said that I lied to him because I went to the p.3 class instead of his p.6 class. So I went in there next and they asked me to read a book to them. I didn't think they would be very interested in hearing me read a little picture book because they are older. But they insisted. So I read “Daniel and the Lions Den” and “Cinderella” to them. When I would look up some of the kids were just staring at me, totally mezmorized. (Haha) But now my throat hurts.

All right, so I'm getting pretty sick of the African guys. As soon as the fact is established that we are both single, I'm up for grabs. No matter how little English they speak, or how completely and totally pointless of a conversation we might have, I'm white. They want to marry me. One of the little boys at the primary school's uncle saw me when I was waiting to walk Mahad up to the secondary school where he lives. He looked nice, so I just smiled at him. Big mistake. He didn't stop staring at me. And when I was leaving he had his nephew came out and told me to wait because he wanted to talk to me. But I left anyway. So I was up at the school talking with some of the basketball guys and HE HAD FOLLOWED ME UP THERE!! ugh. So, I had to talk to him. This is how the conversation went after he introduced himself:  
Him: “How are you?”
Me: “Good, how are you?”
Him: “Good....how's life?”
Me: “Uhh great. How about you?” Him: “Good.” (long pause.)
Then he repeated the whole conversation again.
Then, Him: “SO, can I have your address?”
Me: haha NO!! Then he finally left. phew!

hillary's uganda journal - july 11 part 2

2007-07-13T07:49:00.000-07:00

This was on the 11th, I forgot to write about it, but I thought it was funny.

I watched the p.4 and p.3 debate today. It was so crazy! For one thing there were more than 100 kids in there! And for another, there were, obviously, two sides, and both wanted to win, so it was pretty much madness. With a lot of clapping, stomping, and shouting. But there was also organized shouting that apparently would encourage the person debating at the moment: "She's our girl! She's our girl!" haha  

The topic of the debate was, “Is rainfall better than sunshine?” Julius was on the Rainfall side, and after he had given his argument, he pointed over to the opposing side. "Do you drink sunshine or water!?" It was really funny and dramatic. The Rainfall side ended up winning so they all jumped up and started running around outside.

hillary's uganda journal - july 12

2007-07-12T08:35:00.000-07:00

Today we went to Lugazi!! I was really excited! I wasn't able to find Harriet though. I asked the head teacher if he knew who she was, or if she lived close by. But he couldn't even remember who she was. So, I didn't get to see my little twins. :( I hope I get to see them next time I go though.

I got to meet Nakitende Olivia. She's the child that is sponsored my friends, David and Lisa and their kids Austin and Abbey. And oh my gosh!! She is the most ADORABLE girl ever!! She was really shy though, and wouldn't smile or talk to me or anything for a while. She sat on my lap for a long time and I tried to get her to talk, but she was happy just sitting there not saying a word, staring at this strange white person speaking words she'd never heard before or couldn't understand because I butchered the Luganda so badly. But, she started warming up to me a little later. She started smiling and playing with me, but she'd still hide behind her friend a lot, or hide her smile behind her hands. It was so cute! Here are some pictures of her in the yellow dress...

hillary's uganda journal - july 11

2007-07-11T08:32:00.000-07:00

Today I was having the choir kids write letters to their sponsors. I thought I had told Jane before that my aunt and uncle are here sponsors, but apparently she didn't know, because when I told her, her face absolutely lit up!! She immediately turned around and told her sister Anita the news, and anybody within earshot for that matter. A little later after she had written her letter she comes running up to me, "Hillary, I'm going to go get my stickers!!" Let me tell you, this is a big deal. They love stickers here. You're pretty darn special if you get stickers on your letter!

Later I was walking up to the secondary school with Mahad and a few other kids and Jane told me that Monica missed me!! I'm not sure if you all remember this, but Monica is Yvonne's baby sister who was scared of me and would not smile in my direction if her life depended on it! So that made my day!!

On the way home I stopped by Yvonne's house because I hadn't seen her all day because she was busy during the letter writing time. So I met her cousin, I think her name is Claire. Anita and Jane were there, and there were a few other kids, but I couldn't really tell who they were because it was dark. Then Monica saw me, RAN UP TO ME, AND GAVE ME A HUG!!! WHAT?!

My life is now complete.

hillary's uganda journal - july 10

2007-07-10T08:17:00.000-07:00

Today we went to Troas. I had all the kids, who are sponsored, write letters to their sponsors. This took a long time because they need a lot of help since they're still learning English. There was a class in the U.S. who did “Hope for the Holidays” and got a whole bunch of stuff together that they wanted me to give their boy in Troas and some of his friends. The boy’s name was Innocent.

We had a lot of extra stuff so we asked him to bring a couple friends to get some gifts too. So, he came out holding the hands of a boy named Mukasa Eric and a little girl named Christine. It was so cute!

Then I read “A Bugs Life” to some of the kids. I really don't think they understood me too well, but they laughed at me when I made funny voices. So at least it was entertaining for them.

Then a group of kids decided they wanted to test me on my knowledge of Uganda. I think it gave them a lot of joy finding out how ignorant I am. haha

hillary's uganda journal - july 8

2007-07-08T08:13:00.000-07:00

A pastor from Kenya preached at church today. I think it was really good....I got lost a few times, but he was really expressive and he told some really funny stories. So I liked it. Then afterwards I watched one of the house competitions between the “Kings” and the “Apostles.” They are both teams that don't really know how to play basketball and all they do is foul each other and almost break the backboard when they chuck the ball up there. The final score was 18-10, after four 15 minute quarters. It was insane! haha

But I had Mahad and his older sister Vanessa to entertain me when the game got too crazy to watch. Mahad and Vanessa are the gatekeeper’s kids. They live at the secondary school and go to St. Mbuga primary school. I am pretty much in love with them! They are so cute!! I'm kind of confused though because I think they are muslim, but Mahad told me they go to the mosque and also go to church. Sooo...maybe they're both? I don't know how that works, but yesterday they were telling me how they were going to go to church. But anyway, I hung out with them all day and before the basketball game we watched a Nigerian movie together. These movies are ridiculous! Everyone loves them for some reason, maybe because it's the only thing that's available. Maybe I just got spoiled by “Lord of the Rings.” But they are partially in English and then randomly in Luganda, but the mouths are off because they were made in Nigeria with whatever language they speak. And I really can't tell when they're speaking Luganda or when they're speaking English because the sound is so bad. But these guys can't get enough of these movies.

hillary's uganda journal - july 7

2007-07-07T08:09:00.000-07:00

Ok, so this takes a little bit of explaining. I'm not the only American in the apartment right now. There are five other people that got here about a week ago. They aren't with ICN, but they did come with ICN last year, so that's how I know them. But anyway, one of the ladies had some kids come over today because they are sponsored by some friends of hers. So, we got to hang out with five kids from the choir. I read some books to them and colored with them. It's so amazing how well behaved they are and how they can sit for hours just listening to someone read to them. Kalongo David was the only boy there and he is SO adorable! He reminds me so much of my cousin Spencer and so I just love hanging out with him!

Sorry I keep saying things like this, about how people remind me of my family members....

I guess I'm missing them a little bit.

hillary's uganda journal - july 6

2007-07-06T08:04:00.000-07:00

Today I went to a football game for the secondary 2 and 1 team. It's kind of like their JV team, I think. We lost 2-1, so the guys were pretty upset about that, for a little while at least. That is until something more exciting happened, like a goal in the game played after ours, then they forgot all about their game. haha. I think I have so much to learn from their attitudes about sports.

The only thing that was kind of bad today was that the field we played at was in the middle of town and had every secondary student from everywhere gathered there. And I think I was the only girl and definitely the only white person. SO, I drew a lot of attention, which I am not a big fan of. Some guys thought that they could be sneaky and they all think I have money, so they tried to get me to come to their school and support their football team because they don't have enough money to have a team or something. Then they were trying to get me to tell them how they can contact me. Good thing my phone was stolen, so I wasn't even lying when I told them I don't have a phone. Then they tried to steal my camera. haha

Some of the guys that I know from the football team were talking about this whole ordeal after the game, and they were saying how those guys were bad news, but how I was just too sharp for them. They apparently had heard the whole conversation, but of course they just left me to fend for myself and didn't say anything. How nice of them!

hillary's uganda journal - july 4

2007-07-04T07:51:00.000-07:00

Alright, so I found out that that actually wasn't Julius's mom. So good thing I didn't beat her up. Sam told me that in Uganda it is really, really looked down upon when people have children outside of marriage, and so they try to cover it up, I guess. So, since his mom abandoned Julius after she had him, this other lady decided to take him in as a son. I think it's a fairly new decision though, because he's always told me that he doesn't have a mom. So anyway, that's that, this lady is his mom now I guess.

I only got 1 1/2 hours of sleep last night, don't ask me why. I just laid in my bed for hours. So I was extremely tired today! I spent half of the day in and out of naps at my desk. Then at 5 I went up to play basketball, even though it had been raining all day. My flip flop also broke so I had to walk up there barefooted, which apparently is a crazy thing for a Ugandan to witness. So I had even more staring at me than usual. There's millions of kids here that don't have shoes, but when a white person goes barefoot it's weird, I guess. But it's so much easier walking barefoot in the mud than with flip flops, I'm thinking about starting a trend one of these days.

Bruno, Julius, me, and Masad

When I got to the school I couldn't find any of the guys at first, so Joseph (one of the boys in the choir) wanted to teach me chess. As he taught me, a huge crowd gathered. Which is pretty unnerving since it's a really difficult game with too many rules, in my opinion, that takes a lot of concentration. So, I had everyone telling me what move to make, and after each move telling me what I SHOULD’VE done instead. And then they decided that I wasn't playing up to their standards, so they ended up just moving my pieces for me. I'm not quite sure if it was very educational for me, but I think I got the gist. And I even WON! But I can't really claim that victory for myself. It was a team effort. haha

courtney's reflections - July 3

2007-07-03T13:21:00.000-07:00

"if you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." Matt. 19:21

After being in India I have such a greater calling to give up my possessions to the poor. I have a responsibility to share what I've experienced. After everything I've seen, I feel responsible to change my way of living. How can I justify spending money on myself, on things I don't need after what I've seen? How can I continue living the way I did after seeing the poorest of the poor? At the same time, I'm learning that just because I feel called to live this way, I can't expect others to feel the same. I feel called to be a missionary some day, to live a simple life, to give my life for others, but I can't judge those who don't feel that way. All I know is, I have to obey God with what He's put on my heart.

India has changed my life. It's given me new perspectives and has ruined me in so many ways. My world has been torn apart. There are so many thoughts going on in my head...so many questions unanswered. Processing all of what I've seen and felt is the next part of my journey. India was amazing and confusing. It was an adventure that will stay in my heart forever. I will never be the same. India has changed my life.

hillary's uganda journal - july 3

2007-07-03T07:37:00.000-07:00

Today I met Julius's mom! Last year he told me that he had never met his mom. And then his dad died in the spring, I think, of last year. And apparently his mom heard about it and decided to come back and start being a part of her son's life. She came to the school yesterday just to visit and see how the school was, because, I'm not sure, but I think Julius still doesn't see her much, like he is living with someone else. So, she came with his little sister who might be one and a half or two years old. He says she is his real sister, from his mother and his father. But I don't know how that works. I'm just really confused with his family. But it was nice to get to meet her. Even though it was really hard for me to be civil to her because she had caused so much pain in my little boys life. I kind of just wanted to punch her in the face. But I controlled myself.

courtney's india journal - July 2

2007-07-02T13:00:00.000-07:00

We got into our taxi to go to the airport. I sat there looking outside at the people, the little shops, the dogs, palm trees, taxis everywhere, all the trash...everything....thinking about that first taxi ride 3 weeks ago, how everything seemed so foreign and crazy and overwhelming. Now it was normal, ordinary, it was just life and I've realized how I've become so used to how things work here, the traffic, the pace, the smells and just the way of life in India. Not like I know everything there is to know, but I've just become really used to everything. I started to tear up in the taxi, because I didn't want to leave this place that has been my home for the past 3 weeks. I couldn't believe that this would be my last taxi ride in India...that our trip was coming to an end. I couldn't believe I was going home. I don't really want to go home, but I know I'll be back, if God wants me to. I don't know what it is about India that just captivates my heart. It wasn't a horrible experience being here, like some have told me it would be. It was challenging but it wasn't awful. It's taught me a lot about myself, about God, about the world. I'm definitely not the same person I was 3 weeks ago. I really feel called to live a more simple life, to not let things become so important to me. There is so much in my life that is unnecessary, that I can do without, when I remember all those people who have absolutely nothing.

hillary's uganda journal - july 2

2007-07-02T07:35:00.000-07:00

I bought Bruno a cake today! I really wanted to buy the icing to write something on it myself, but they don't sell that. And the guy in the bakery part wouldn't let me write it myself, so I had to be content with brown writing and not as cool as I would've made it. I also wanted a soccer ball on it because he loves it so much. But the dumb guy didn't know how to draw a soccer ball. Even though, before he started on it, I asked him specifically if he knew how to and he assured me he did. Then he drew it on and it didn't resemble a soccer ball at all except that it was a circle. SO I made him take it off. (Like the ungrateful American that I am. Haha) But Bruno loved it of course because he is so thankful for everything! He probably gave me 10 hugs!

courtney's india journal - July 1

2007-07-01T12:38:00.000-07:00

I'll never forget tonight. It's our last night, and Sarah and I were on our way back from dinner going to our hotel. We walked by a sleeping baby on the sidewalk. He had to have been under a year old...laying down on a piece of cardboard, covered up by a worn-out little piece of cloth. As normal as this is on the streets of India, it really hit me because it was the first time I'd seen a baby sleeping by itself on the streets. And I guess it didn't affect me until later when I thought about it, when I pictured that little baby. Walking down the streets it's hard to be affected by all I see because I just get so used to it. The poverty becomes normal. The images of people laying on the ground is something I saw all the time. Picturing that little baby in my mind, I can't get it out of my head. Sleeping so peacefully, but knowing what a hard life that little person has. Why does this happen in our world? Why is there so much poverty, but also so much wealth? It made me question my own life, how can I continue living the way I do when I know there are little babies without a bed to sleep in? Little babies growing up learning how to beg before they can walk, before they can even talk they are pointing to their mouths motioning for me to give them food. Little babies...oh it blows my mind...it breaks my heart. For the first time I feel like my heart has broken. It makes me sad and confused that it happened the day before we leave. I feel like I've been so excited to be here, just loving the culture and the people and everything, that the poverty is just part of it all. But tonight I feel like things changed for me. I saw the injustice of our world, how unfair it is that millions of people are living on the streets when others are living in mansions. My heart breaks for the poor and oppressed, those who seem to have no hope, who live such hard lives. My heart breaks for wealthy Americans, like myself, who have no clue what it would be like to have no place to live, no clue what it means to be poor.

hillary's uganda journal - july 1

2007-07-01T07:30:00.000-07:00

It was Bruno's birthday on Sunday. I remembered that it was his birthday when we were at church and here’s how our conversation went…

"Bruno is it your birthday today?!"
"No, it was yesterday"
"Oh I thought it was July 1st"
"Oh yeah, it is, I thought yesterday was the 1st."

He didn't even know what day his birthday was on! He was so cute. I didn't have anyone to sit with, so instead of going to Sunday School he sat with me in the big church. I didn't want to sit in front of the church like I usually do because there were other bazungu there, so I don't think I'm special anymore. (“bazungu is luganda for white people…plural of “muzungu”) But that's ok, it was nice having all the attention on them instead of on me for once! And when they saw me I felt like I was just one of the Ugandans with my little group of kids who sat with me up on the balcony part of the church.

Joseph and Bruno

After church, I went to the secondary school to watch their house competitions for basketball. It was interesting. I'm not really sure how they split up the teams. Apparently the “Judges” team has all the ones who have played the longest. And they pretty much slaughter the “Apostles,” “Prophets” and “Kings.” (haha) Doesn't sound too nice, huh? Although, I wouldn't necessarily call it slaughtering, since no one has a really good shot, not many baskets are scored throughout the game. Bruno and Julius and Mahad came and joined me up there too. Bruno has been my buddy lately! He didn't leave my side the whole time I was watching the games! And he isn't a big fan of basketball, he's a football (soccer) player, just like pretty much everyone else here. So it was really cute that no matter how bored he was watching those games, he just wanted to hang out with me!

hillary's uganda journal - june 27 & 30

2007-06-30T23:58:00.000-07:00

June 27th
Today I had pineapple for breakfast...for a snack...AND for lunch. I thought I was in heaven!

But that's not even the most exciting thing that happened today! I went to the villages of Kassanda and Kamusenene to do sponsorship work. It was so much fun! First of all I told everyone my favorite village was Lugazi, and then I added Kitongo onto that one. But I don’t think I can have favorites anymore because every village I get to spend more time in, I fall in love with!

It is so much more relaxing when I get to go just by myself instead of with a huge group of Americans. I get to play with the kids more and its not so hectic and crazy. There was a little girl in Kamusenene whose name is Kemigisa Rose. All I did was ask her what her name was and gave her a hug. But she would always catch my eye in a crowd of kids and smile hugely at me. And then later she got on her knees in front of me (which is kind of a sign of respect) and gave me a mango. It was really cute. Here's a picture of Rose...

Then I met a boy named Tumwesige Peter and he was absolutely adorable! I noticed him right away because you just can't ignore a smile like his. It's impossible. I called him over to me, but he decided he was going to by shy and sprinted away as fast as he could. And then it became a game to him, he'd wait till I looked at him and then he'd run away laughing. Here's Peter in the background. See what I mean?

Once we got all the paperwork filled out, and all the kids wrote letters to their sponsors, we went back to Kassanda and did the same thing.

Filling out the sponsorship papers has a good and bad side to it. It's really fun getting to spend a little bit of time with each child and to find out what their favorite class is, and what they want to be when they grow up, and to hear their stories. But it's really hard for me to force the history out of these kids, who live every day trying to escape and move on from their past.

Najjuma Jesca was the first girl in Kassanda that I talked to. She is ten years old and has one brother and three sisters. And she only has a mom. Her dad was a construction worker who fell off of a building and died a few years ago. Now her and her four siblings will grow up without their dad. As she talked to me she tried to hide the tears that streamed down her face. I can't even imagine what she's feeling. I cannot relate at all. I am so thankful for that, but it also makes it easy to just forget how much suffering so many other people go through. To just write down their lives as a statistic, as some good information that will lead some heart in America to be moved and want to spend $30 a month to try and help a child move past the pain that that they’ve experienced. That thought makes me sick right now. I don't want Jesca to just be a number. I wiped those tears off of her face. It was real. I wish I could write her pain on this blog so you might understand that these children don't just need school fees. They need love…and so much of it. By sponsoring a child, we're filling a void in their lives. We're part of their lives now, they think about us every day, even though we're on the other side of the world. It's amazing the huge impact that we can have on them by just showing them a little bit of that love that they desire so badly.

June 30th
I was going to go to a burial today. Sharifa's dad died yesterday. I'm not really sure what happened, it all happened so fast. I just found out that they had taken him to the hospital and he was suffering from ulcers, I think, and that he was unconscious. Then the next thing I heard is that he had died. Sharifa is the little girl near Kamusenene who had a problem with her bladder (it was on the outside of her body). Two years ago we got her surgery to fix it. She lived in a village close to Kamusenene and they were all Muslims. But after the huge sign of love than many people from ICN showed toward this suffering child, they wondered why were so different. Her whole family, who were devout Muslims, became Christians, including her father. That is such an encouraging story, that even though we're sad about the death of her father, I am so excited that we can know he's in heaven right now. I just feel so badly for Sharifa, she has gone through so much pain, through ridicule from all the children in her village before she had the surgery, to now with her father passing away.

But, I didn't go to the burial because it was really far away and it's a really long ceremonial thing, so I went to the studio with the choir. They recorded two songs, Majesty and Joy. It was pretty uneventful. Some kids would be recording on one side of the room while the rest had to quietly sit on a mat on the other side of the room. I don't know how they could sit still so long. I couldn't. Yvonne sang this song to me on the way home:

Hillary
I love you
so much.
I love you!

Haha! It was to the tune of one of the other songs they sing in the choir.

Eric decided that I needed a bodyguard, so he didn't let me out of his sight, but then on the way home he fell asleep on my lap. What a great bodyguard!

Editor's Note: For new pictures from Hillary in Uganda, inlcuding photos from things she described in earlier posts, click here

courtney's india journal - June 30

2007-06-30T12:24:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is our last day in India! I can't believe it...it seems like it's been fast, but at the same time, it seems like I've been here forever! I'm getting really used to living here, it's weird to think about what it will be like back home. This weekend is a little strange though, because we're staying in a SUPER nice hotel. It's the nicest hotel I've ever stayed in! I'm enjoying the amazing showers and the AC, but It just feels weird. I've totally experienced the contrast of Kolkata. People who have nothing, and those who seem to have everything. It's weird, that you can see both on the same street!

courtney's india journal - June 29

2007-06-29T12:23:00.000-07:00

Today was a lot of waiting around. We went to a village where we were going to have lunch, see a baptism, and plant some trees on their new property. We did all of that, along with probably 6 hours of waiting around throughout the day, and 4 hours driving from place to place. It was a long day, but I enjoyed seeing all the kids and just in awe of the beautiful people here! I don't think I've seen one ugly Indian...they are all gorgeous:) Here are some pictures I took of the beautiful people in the village today:

courtney's india journal - June 28

2007-06-28T07:06:00.000-07:00

Our time in Gaya isn't exactly what we expected. We only spent a little while with the kids at the orphanage, which was a bummer. I think we were all really looking forward to spending most of the time with the kids, which isn't what's happened at all. Even though our time with them has been short, the kids are so adorable and a lot of fun:) Here are some of the kids I spent time coloring and playing games with during our time here:

We've taken a lot of long car rides to small villages. One village was Prince's father-in-law's where we ate lunch and took a tour of the village. It was really funny having huge crowds of mostly kids, but some adults too, following us, staring at us, and laughing at us crazy white people:) I've gotten used to it by now...just smiling at them when they stare...it's really funny to me. It has been really intriguing being in this part of the country where the people live so differently than in the city. I really like being here in Gaya, even if we don't have a lot to do, I like experiencing this part of the country.

courtney's india journal - June 27

2007-06-28T07:02:00.000-07:00

Last night we took our 9 hour train ride to Gaya to visit Pastor Samson and the Village Gospel Missionaries of India Orphanage. The train ride was a very interesting experience! The train station was really crowded, so it was crazy trying to get our group together to find a spot to sit and wait for the train. We had a while to wait, so as I was sitting down eating my chicken fried rice, I had time to just watch everything going on around me.

A woman was carrying her little baby in her arms with a huge bundle balancing on top of her head. She sat down on her two flip flops that she'd taken off and put the bundle in front of her. She covered her baby with her sari and started feeding him....An old man was sitting on a crushed basket eating a mango. Another guy who wanted his spot came by and yelled at him in Bengali to move, thrusting a small wooden stool at him. The man threw a fit but eventually moved away as the other guy put his stool down and sat to wait....Men in lungees (man-skirts) walked by with huge things on their heads, baskets with fruit, tied up leaves, bundles of random things.....A horn blew for the train on platform 13 right next to us. About 50 people probably came out of nowhere sprinting to get on the train....A girl stood in front of me in a red and green tattered dress holding out her hand as I ate my food. I finished half of it, then gave the rest to her. She smiled at me and started walking away as she put a big bite into her mouth....

The train came around 8:30, and it was a sleeper train so I was in a group of six that had bunks for each of us. We had to defend our area so people without tickets wouldn't try to steal our spots. I was able to sleep off and on, but it felt good to just lay down. My eyes were bugging me a lot too, so I had to take out my contacts so I couldn't see when we got into Gaya, which was a little stressful, but it was ok. (Yeah...I left my glasses at home, so that has been a bummer) Pastor Samson and his two sons Prince Calypso and King Johnson (yes, those are their actual names!) picked us up from the train station and took us to our hotel...which has air conditioning!! It's kind of weird staying in a nice place, but it's also a nice break to be able to have a really good sleep!

courtney's india journal - June 26

2007-06-27T06:58:00.000-07:00

Today was our last day working in the Mother Teresa homes. After breakfast at the Mother House they always ask if it's anyones last day, and we sing a song to them. So today, our whole group got in the middle of everyone and they sang the song:

"We thank you, thank you, thank you
We thank you, thank you, thank you
We thank you, thank you, thank you from my heart
We thank you, thank you, thank you
We thank you, thank you, thank you
We thank you, thank you, thank you from my heart"

And then it's "We love you" and then "We'll miss you"

So that was kind of fun but a little awkward having everyone singing to us looking at our big group:)

I had a really good time at Prem Dan. We spent the first part doing laundry as usual. Here is a picture of where we did the laundry:

I spent the rest of my time massaging the women, which was really relaxing. And I got to meet a few new women that I've never sat with, so it was fun seeing new faces. It was kind of hard to leave the women, knowing I'll never see them again. But today was such a crazy day, that we were on to the next thing, so we didn't really have a long good-bye or anything. Here are some pictures of the women I spent the most time with: (I wish I knew their names, but Bengali is so hard to pronounce, I couldn't even say it right after hearing them say it)

Here is a picture of the four other girls from my Fox team that went to Prem Dan with me everyday: (me, Molly, Emily, Ra, Meaghan)

So after that we had lunch at KFC which is across from the YWCA where we stay because we wanted something fast. It feels really weird eating fast food in India, I don't like it, but today we were in a hurry, and it takes FOREVER in India to get food, so we wanted to make sure we had enough time. Then we got on the Metro (subway) and headed toward Kalighat for our trip to Sari Bari. Kristen (one of the "Word Made Flesh" workers) met us at our stop and led us to the home where the women work making the quilts. It was really neat hearing about how Sari Bari is making a difference in the lives of these women. And it's not just a place for them to work, but they are also developing their confidence and increasing their self-worth. WMF is really working to encourage them and provide a positive, peaceful environment. They're also teaching the women reading, writing, and math during their training period, which is like 6 months I think.

hillary's uganda journal - june 25

2007-06-26T08:39:00.000-07:00

Today might have been one of the most tiring days since I've been here! I woke up after just a few hours of sleep to make the mandazi. Then I got everything together and took a boda boda over to the school.

Our friend, Justin took this while he was here in Uganda. It's the view from the back of a boda boda.

I was there by 10:30ish. I went in the "middle class" (right above "baby class"-it goes baby, middele, top then p.1, which is like first grade) I helped them with a numbers worksheet. I was helping a couple of children with theirs, when one of the teachers came up to me and said to one of the kids: "You sit over here!" (the desk in front of me) Then she said to me, "He'll just distract you." Ummm. Well, he was the one that really needed help, but apparently not right then...the ones that need the most need to wait, I guess...? (haha)

It was kind of an interesting situation when I walked in to the class, the two teachers helped the last few kids finish their papers, which took a long time because there are always those kids that need a lot of extra help. Meanwhile, the rest of the class were all in the back of the classroom laying on a huge mat. It was just really funny to see. But that classroom was really fun. They are so ADORABLE! And when it's in a classroom it's even better because at that age is when they mostly find joy in attacking me, so that can't happen in a classroom. It makes things so much easier. Then they sang me some songs before it was time for them to go home. For one of the songs, they would pick one child out and they would do a solo (it wasn't really singing, it was kind of a chant). It went like this:

"My name is Esther I love Jesus.
Jesus. Jesus my Savior. I love Jesus.
Oh yes i do do do."

And they had a little dance with it. It was ridiculously cute!

Then I finished getting my lesson ready for the afternoon. I'm not sure if I've talked about this on here, but the teachers decided that I was going to teach an english class today. I was pretty stressed about it, but once it got here it was fine. It was pretty fun! Except for the fact that games are an unheard of thing in the Ugandan classroom, so the learning games that I did with them were a little out of control. (I'm now semi-understanding what the crazy hitting teacher was thinking!) But they all had a lot of fun, and hopefully learned something.

We were learning about polite language. I thought that there would only be so much that could be taught about this, but Ugandan people aren't a very polite people. There's nothing wrong with it, it's just the culture, to be harsh and demanding. So it was probably a good thing they told me to talk about this topic, because I don't think a Ugandan teacher could really get the point across. So they told me the class was from 2:00-2:40. That's fine, I can handle anything for 40 minutes. Even 45 seven to nine year olds that are all at different levels in their knowledge of the english language. But, of course, it wasn't 40 minutes. It was Africa time. I was in that classroom from 2:00-4:10!!! It was CRAZY!!! But I never had a time where I was awkwardly standing there, not knowing what to say. (Might be one of my worst fears) So it was ok, we spent the last 20 minutes playing a number game, which really has nothing to do with english. But, learning how to speak politely, thrilling as it is, can only be dragged on for a limited amount of time.

Then, I started to walk up to the secondary school. I love walking around Lusaka, especially when the primary school kids are out. I hear various forms of my name being called out where ever I go (Hirary, Hillaly, Hirry, Harry, Helen, herra, just to name a few... the list is endless.) It's probably the most difficult name they have ever had to say. Considering I am, to my knowledge, the ONLY GIRL named Hillary in Uganda! Yeah, highlight girl part. If there are any Hillary's, it's a guy. A fact which I have been told on many occasions after I repeat my name 6 times. Then they realize no, they aren't mishearing me, I said it, I have a man's name. But I still love it when they all call me, just to say "hi," whenever they see me. I just wish I could remember all of their names! It'll come.

Then I went to the secondary school to play basketball. Because this isn't just a 3-4 times a week thing, they want me to come everyday! Which is just fine with me! So after I walked up the path with hundreds of eyes on me the whole way. ("please don't trip please don't trip"), and then finding someone that would actually talk to me rather than just staring at me dumbfounded, I eventually found out the guys were at the football fields. So I walked back through the tunnel of eyes and started walking to the fields, But I met them on their way back to the school. So I played basketball with a few of them untill it was too dark to see the ball. We played 3 on 3 for like 2 1/2 hours. It was pretty tiring. And, they aren't too shabby, they're mostly like any street ball players. They just need some coaching, that's all. On my team I had one of the tallest guys I've seen at the school and the shortest guy. And let me tell you, we were KILLIN'! It was really fun because I feel like I'm getting back in the rhythm so all the crowd (everyone, of course, was watching the game) would go crazy whenever I did anything. It's really encouraging! I should come here more often to play basketball! (haha)

courtney's india journal - June 25

2007-06-25T07:20:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we went on a "retreat" to the beach to take a break from the city. We took a 5-hour bus ride and it was so bumpy I couldn't read or write during it, so I just thought a lot...and looked outside:) It's really relaxing to just sit and stare at all of India passing me by as we drive, especially when we get out of the city. It's so green and colorful, I love it!

I feel like when our whole group is together I get kind of quiet. There are so many conversations going on, I just listen because I'm either too tired to think or just don't really have anything to say. There was one point where I was just really overwhelmed because it seemed like everyone was having really deep conversations, philosophical type stuff or something...and sometimes I get sick of always having deep conversations:) It's kind of exhausting to me. So I'm content just staring out of my window, feeling the breeze on my face, looking at all the women in their sarees, loving the palm trees and mud huts:)

The weekend at the beach, was basically a day. We got there around 1 or 2 on Saturday, and then left around noon on Sunday, but it was good. After getting settled into our rooms (which took a long time because there was a mix-up and the people that worked there were really rude) we all walked out to the beach. Our hotel was the closest to the beach, so it was a short walk.

Oh man, the Indian Ocean is amazing! It's the first time I've been to another beach beside the Pacific Ocean...it was so warm and my toes didn't sting from being frozen! It felt so good to swim with a couple people from my team. Most everyone just hung out in the sand, but I wanted to swim:) Although it was a little challenging because the pants I was wearing didn't have a drawstring, just elastic, so they kept falling down everytime I went to dive under a wave:) After a day at the beach I was pretty exhausted, so it felt good to just hang out that night and go to bed early:)

The next day all of us woke up at 4:30 to see the sun rise. We were so excited to see the sun rise over the ocean...but that never happened:( First of all, the sun wasn't rising over the ocean, it was more over the trees off the coast a little ways. And second, we couldn't really see the sun rise because it was cloudy. But we did see some cool rays of sunshine behind the clouds, so that was neat. And it was relaxing being out there early in the morning, just a little disappointing:) Then, it started raining...haha. So it was definitely an adventure, not what we were hoping for, but I love it when it rains, so I was happy. We all went back and slept some more, then woke up and I journalled for a while as it was POURING down rain! Oh man, when it rains in India, it rains hard!! I love it!

For breakfast, Sarah had asked for french toast, and they gave us the Indian equivalent I guess, deep fried bread, haha. It was good, kind of plain (no syrup) but it was a nice change from the white bread, banana and hard boiled egg we've been eating at the YWCA.

It was an interesting experience this weekend. The people at our hotel (I think that's what it's called) were pretty rude, but that's ok.

Last night our team had our Namaste and it was really good. We had worship, Sarah read Psalm 40, Clint read from his book (I think "3 cups of tea," or something like that) and then we all went around and shared something we're learning from our time at the Sisters of Charity homes, or something we'll never forget...It was really neat hearing about what people are learning through the work at the homes. And it's interesting because God is speaking to us all in different ways, so we're not having the same experiences. At this point, I feel like each day I really enjoy being with the women at Prem Dan, but at the same time, it's not the "amazing experience" some people are sharing.

I have a feeling that it's when I'm home that I'll really realize all that I'm learning right now. I think the biggest thing I'm learning right now is to be present in the moment. I've been able to just serve the woman right in front of me, love her as much as I can, when most of the time I feel useless. I've felt like I'm just in the way, and awkward at points, but when I think about the poor on the streets, I know that what I feel is nothing compared to the hopelessness, worthlessness, that they feel. I've been really humbled here. I can't try to fix anything. I can't expect to come in and know what to do and make a difference. So many people in the world feel useless and are treated like trash. I have no clue what that feels like. There's no way I can relate to the desperation they feel.

We only have one more day of working at the homes. Tomorrow morning we'll work at Prem Dan, and then in the afternoon, a group of us will go to Sari Bari, a place started by Word Made Flesh . I'm really excited to visit there, it's a place for women who come out of the red light district to make a living sewing quilts made out of used sarees. It's such a cool thing, and I've been really impressed with the impact WMF is making. It's really inspiring, there are three women from WMF who live here in Kolkata, and they are all between 24 and 32 years old, such amazing women:) We had dinner with them last week, and it was really cool hearing each of their stories. One of them was a fine arts major, who wanted something to give her life to, and then God opened the door for Sari Bari, which she now manages. I'm excited to see it tomorrow:)

Tomorrow night we leave for our 8 hour train ride, which will be an interesting experience! I guess we have to be careful and hold our spots because they are really crowded, and there aren't enough seats for everyone, so it'll be an adventure:) Then we'll be in Gaya for three days at an orphanage. I'm so excited! I'm really looking forward to this next week, it will be a great way to end our trip:)

hillary's uganda journal - june 24

2007-06-25T06:28:00.000-07:00

There is a rat in my room. I know there is. I saw it move in my closet for a brief second before I screamed and ran into the hallway. The problem is finding it. I have to wake up in a few hours. Now, how the heck am I supposed to fall asleep while being paraoid that there is a rat sleeping right next to me?! thats what I'd like to know. I then proceeded to thoroughly search everything in the house by kicking each thing and shining my flashlight on it. But no luck. You're probably wondering why I am so scared of a little rat. I'm in Africa! I should be used to these kinds of things right?! Wrong. There's just something creepy about rats. They're too quick and spazzy. You never know what they're thinking and what they're going to do next. Kind of like chickens. But I am slowly working on that fear of mine, with all the chickens running willy nilly all over the place here.

So... now I am the "mandazi lady." For some reason everyone loves my mandazi! I don't get it, it's an african food, they shouldn't be begging ME to make them! But they do. Hopkins and Pastor Dithan have already gotten a bagful each and they're complaining that I need to make more for them. Oy, this could get tiring. I think I need to start a mandazi business! Not only will people come to me because I am white, but these are darn good mandazi! (haha) So I am making mandazi in the morning. Lots and lots of it because I'm making some for all of the teachers at St. Mbuga also.

hillary's uganda journal - june 23

2007-06-24T08:21:00.000-07:00

Well I had a dilemma today. My computer crashed. Or at least it was threatening to, apparently. I really have no idea, I'm not technologically smart at all. This is just what Sam Straxy (one of the choir directors) was telling me. He came to figure out why I couldn't burn pictures onto DVDs (I needed to transfer the sponsorship pictures onto one so I can send the pictures back to ICN), and he ended up almost breaking this computer!! And this would've been a HUGE problem because I don't have any copies of those pictures anywhere. Oh man! I thought they were totally gone and I had no clue what I was going to do! But thank goodness he is a computer geek! So, he figured it out, and even got a DVD made! woohoo!

The choir had practice tonight, so I went to that and learned some new songs with them. Every time I see them they are learning new songs! And let me tell you, you guys are in for a treat when they come to the U.S. They are amazing!! So, with new songs, they only learn the words, the steps come later. But, in Uganda, there's no way that you can have songs being sung without some kind of movement. So they go to the extreme! They all break out there own crazy dance moves! All on beat too! Well, all of them except Peter that is. He dances like no one's watching him and like it's the most normal thing to do. But man that kid is out of control!! Vivian and Glory are so cute! They are always standing right next to each other. And no matter what the rest of the choir is doing, they are always doing the same exact thing! They just feed off of each other, A little foot movement moves to arm action, to head bobbing, until they are both jumping and spinning and dancing at the same moment! But when it's a slow song they can always be seen, hand in hand, swinging their arms to the beat. It's adorable!

I played basketball for the first time since I've been in Uganda!! It was really fun! And it was hot out, so I got to work on my tan! Double whammy! Only I had to wear my stinkin' ankle braces. So... I could get a funky tan. Dumb things.

But I have a funny story with the whole basketball thing. I went to the head master at the secondary school to see if anyone was going to be playing basketball today so I could join in. So... he called up the guy in charge of athletics at the school, who was at the fields with the football guys. And apparently a lot of them play basketball. So he told them to come back to the school to play. The next event happened so fast. All I remember asking was if I could play basketball with them every once in a while and then I heard that I'd be training these guys 3-4 times a week! WHAT?!

At the primary school I ask to observe some classes... "Oh, you want to sit in on some lessons? OK! You can come teach next Monday!" (Which is actually happening, wish me luck!) "Oh you want to play basketball? Sure! You're the new coach!"

It's funny how things work here. It almost reaches the point of manipluation. But I don't mind it, it's stretching my comfort zone! And I am actually really looking forward to these new experiences! We'll see what else the Ugandans have planned for me!!

hillary's uganda journal - june 22

2007-06-23T07:22:00.000-07:00

It was laundry day for me today! Why, you wonder, am I telling you about this boring job? Well, for three reasons. First, this is absolutely all I did today. Second, I've only done laundry once while I've been here, 46 days, and that time I only did some of the laundry. And third, maybe this will give you a renewed appreciation for your washer and dryer. It was a big job to say the least. My raw burning hands prove my point. It took a few hours to get all my clothes washed and hung outside. Not to mention cleaning all the dirty water off of the bathroom floor.

I had a particularly hard time with a pair of blue sweat pants. I don't even know where I wore them, but it must have been extra dirty there! The water was so gross afterwards! It was totally brown, like I had just poured a bucket of mud in there. But, my clothes are now spotless! With the exception of those stinkin' blue pants. I couldn't quite get those as clean as I would've liked. But that's ok, I'm in Africa, they'll get dirty again as soon as I wear them.

hillary's uganda journal - june 21

2007-06-22T07:16:00.000-07:00

Today was a lot of fun! On thursdays all of St. Mbuga School go to the field to play games for a couple hours, so I got to go with them. It was like a half hour walk from the school. When we got there they all split up, girls went to the netball area and boys went to the football (soccer) field.

I've always thought that netball is just like basketball with a few slight differences, such as, the basket is just a pole with a hoop on the top (no backboard) and there isn't any dribbling. But I've now realized that it is A LOT different. There are so many rules to it. And our girls are actually on a team and Ronnie is the coach for the team. He was the referee today, so they actually played by rules. I'm not used to that, I've only seen girls throwing around a ball, basically playing keep-away. But this game is so fast paced, I don't know how he can even call some of the things that he does. So many little things happened that I never caught, but the girls were so upset when a call wasn't made. I watched for a little bit, claiming that the only way for me to learn was to watch (everyone wanted me to play with them). I watched Yvonne play, but she doesn't seem like she is very good (haha). She just kind of stood there, talked with her friend that she was guarding, and held hands with her. She reminded me of my cousin Emily, it seemed like there were better things that she wanted to be doing. :)

So then I moved to the football field with my mob of 10-20 three to six year olds who kept attacking me, because they all NEED to be touching me at all times! I'm pretty sure something bad will happen if they let me out of their sight. So I brought a big crowd of fans over to the boys and I tried watching the games that were going on. But I didn't usually get the chance to watch much because I would have to look between the kids that would stand 5 feet in front of me. Staring at me. I come to their school every day, but they just don't seem to get tired of looking at the "muzungu." Sometimes I get the feeling I'm not a real person here. I'm like a fish in a fishbowl. A new one, that's crazy colors and does crazy things. Only I wasn't entertaining anyone. Or being funny. I wasn't going to do any tricks. They don't care. They just keep on staring. Every once in a while I would snap them out of it by telling them, "Tuula!" (sit down!)

One of my groupies was Peter. He stuck to me like glue today! But I never mind him. He just sits on my lap and smiles with that huge smile with the big gap in the middle. I have to keep reminding myself not to get...flustered? Maybe that's a good word for how I feel with all the attention that is ALWAYS on me. I really don't mind how the kids poke my legs and count all my freckles and inspect every inch of my hands. I think the part that overwhelms me is the number of kids doing this at all times. It's hard not to get a little annoyed when they're all pushing and shoving so much that I almost fall over, but I can't move to catch myself because my hands are being tied back and there are little feet right in front of mine. At these times I have to smile, yank my arms up in the air and tell them to stop fighting or no one gets to hold my hands! Kind of a funny thing to say when you think about it. But it works, for the older ones that understand english. The really young ones think its a new game.

I had quite the group of injured kids today for some reason. Deborah fell on her arm and so she didn't get to play netball at all, Bruno hurt his leg yesterday and it was still "paining" him today so his football team was Bruno-less, and Julius got something stuck in his calf the other day. I think it was actually pretty serious, he had to go to the hospital for it! And he still can't walk on it, he hopped around on one foot with two different shoes on. I'm not actually sure how bad it's still hurting. He might possibly just be milking it. But what am I here for except to spoil my kids, right?! So I carried him on my back all the way to school. And let me tell you, this was no easy feat. First, he is 9 or 10 years old, he's not a little little boy anymore. Second, it was slightly uphill the whole way there. Third, the sun decided just at this time it was going to shine it's brightest (it had been cloudy all day untill then). But we got back to St. Mbuga with minimal huffing and puffing on my part.
Pictured: Deborah, Yvonne, and Mable in the back. Peter and Gideon in the front.

Oh-When we were getting ready to go back to school, there were a few little girls by one of the nearby houses. One of these was about a 1-1/2 year old. I walked up to her and squatted down a couple feet away from her in case she was going to be scared of me. When she noticed I was there she immediately came up to me, wrapped her arms around my neck and layed her head on me! Oh my gosh! Greatest feeling in the world!! Especially when I expected tears!

breakfast at epiphanies

2007-06-21T20:56:00.001-07:00

As I sat down for breakfast this morning, I had another epiphany. I don’t know what’s causing this. Maybe it’s my age. Some guys get sports cars and trophy wives. I get epiphanies (and everyone who’s met my wife agrees, I definitely “married up”…WAY up, so trophies would be a downgrade). The dictionary defines epiphany as “a sudden intuitive leap of understanding, especially through an ordinary but striking occurrence.” I guess this makes me Captain Epiphany. I am fascinated by the ordinary.

The fact that I even sat down for breakfast was what prompted this particular “striking occurrence.” I just realized something strange…

I don’t feel old. I should, but I don’t.

For most people breakfast wouldn’t be the source of such an amazing revelation. But, this morning, as I sat down to eat my carefully prepared, two eggs, half a piece of wheat toast, exactly four ounces of orange juice, and eight ounces of milk it hit me...I’m doing a lot of stuff older people do, but I just don’t feel old.

Sure, there were times when breakfast meant filling a cafeteria sized mixing bowl with Cap’n Crunch accompanied by a delicious stack of buttermilk pancakes, and chased down with gigantic swigs of whole milk straight from the carton. Sometimes my breakfast of choice consisted of leftover pizza and fruit loops, eaten at noon. I was young and carefree, with the metabolism of a hummingbird. But those were the choices that got me where I am today...Curt Sell: Plus Sized Male Model.

That seems like such a long time ago. So, why don’t I feel old?!?

My mind began to rationalize, “Maybe I’m NOT old. Maybe these things I’m doing aren’t old people things. Maybe they’re the hottest new trends and I’m on the cutting edge. Maybe I’m retro. Maybe….”

I allowed myself to indulge in this fantasy as I carefully folded the comic page and began to work on the daily crossword puzzle…like I do every morning…while I eat my my carefully prepared, two eggs, half a piece of wheat toast, and drink exactly four ounces of orange juice, and eight ounces of milk.

"This needs to stop!" I chastised myself. With reckless abandon, I snatched up my mp3 player and started to listen to some of my favorite music. The unfettered musical stylings of TobyMac, Switchfoot, and Telecast blasted into my ears.

“See? I’m NOT that old” I convinced myself, “Old people don’t listen to this kind of music do they?”

It WAS a little loud though, so I turned it down...just a bit. “No sense ruining my hearing. You know, you only get two ears…”

As the recognition that I had just quoted my dad TO MYSELF struck me, I suddenly became conscious of where I was. Without even thinking or planning, I was on my daily walk! Not a daily RUN, not a daily JOG, but a daily WALK. I walk! I’m a walker! When I run, my joints hurt because I have a type of arthritis that hits young people…that’s what my rheumatologist told me anyway. Wait, I have my own rheumatologist?

Okay, I admit it I’m getting older. There I said it! It feels good to admit that. I think it helps to let it all out, so here goes…

-- There’s about as much hair on my head as there is grass in my front yard.

-- All the hair that used to be on my head has packed itself into my nose, ears and eyebrows.

-- I groan when I get up from the bed or sit down in the car.

-- I drive the speed limit and buckle my seat belt…every time!

-- I embarrass my kids with my puns.

-- I tell the same stories over and over, but don’t remember it.

-- I eat salad for lunch.

-- I called an old friend from college, and when he asked if I could still dunk a basketball, I just laughed…and laughed…and laughed…then I forgot what I was laughing about.

-- My wife and I go to Chevys and order the same thing on every date (during happy hour to save money). Our server, Melania, knows us by name.

-- To me, “hitting the town” means catching a few garage sales on the way to Starbucks.

-- I tell the same stories over and over, but don’t remember it.

So why don’t I feel old?

Could it be immaturity? Maybe, but I really hope not. I think I feel young because I feel like I have so far to go and so much to learn. A couple weeks ago I heard a sermon that highlighted the differences between being childish and being childlike. People who are childish, stop maturing and growing, while those who are childlike resemble sponges, soaking in each new experience. They mature each day, putting childish ways behind them, but still they experience the world around them with wide eyed wonder.

I hope I never grow up.

Well, I gotta run. “Perry Mason” is on.

(to download an mp3 of Josh White's sermon,
entitled "Faith Like Henry," click here)

update from india - june 21

2007-06-21T08:41:00.000-07:00

Sarah and Clint Baldwin are the leaders of Courtney's trip to India. Sarah is the Campus Pastor at George Fox University. She just sent this email out...

Hey, all--

We had an epic journey (as Bethany would say) on Saturday. We traveled crammed into two vehicles 2.5 hours outside of the city on a wild ride over bumps and through congested villages to an island off of the coast. Once arriving at the coast we traveled by a half-raft/half-fishing boatish contraption to the island and then took bicycle rickshaws to the beautiful Friends' Orphanage named the Emmanuel Hostel. The children were beautiful, they treated us like royalty and for most if not all, it was the highlight of the trip so far. Being outside the craziness of the city refreshed us and although we were sore and exhausted by the time we returned, it was worth it.

We worshipped with a fellowship that meets at the Y yesterday and today are beginning our work in the homes. We have three or four different groups of students who will work in three or four different homes. We either work in the morning or afternoon--and some will work both shifts. The heat and the length of transportation make a half-day feel like a whole day.

A couple people are sick--we are right on schedule. Stay a week in Kolkata, some will get sick, stay two weeks, most will. :) But no one is desperately ill. This will most likely be our biggest need of prayer while we are here--physical health.

I am sure many of you are hearing from the students--the internet cafe is a convenient after lunch stop.

Thank you for your prayers.
Sarah & Clint

hillary's uganda journal - june 20

2007-06-21T07:07:00.000-07:00

Today I went to Lusaka at 10 in the morning. This was a big deal for everyone since we don't live right next to the school, they think it's impossible to get there at a reasonable hour apparently. I'm not really sure why I had to be there at 10, Hannington told me to, but he wasn't even there today.

But I got to be in the p.6 (primary sixth grade) class today and learn about science. It amazes me how smart the kids are. For the first part of class they reviewed what they had learned yesterday and the teacher would ask what something was and either they would all repeat it, together, or one person would stand up and recite the answer. Just from yesterday! They're at school from 6 in the morning till 5 at night and then the p.6 and p.7 classes come back at 6 and go till 8! I don't understand how they can even think straight after that! And then they wake up again the next day and do it all over. But apparently, at some point in their days, they find time to memorize their notes on the reproductive system. So that's what we were learning about, the reproductive system, menstruation, and conception. It would've been an awkward class in the United States, but not here. It's all facts that should be known. Nothing awkward about that. These kids are around 11 or 12 years old and there was barely any snickering or funny looks. I think the only ones I did see were the students laughing at someone's question. Because they did ask questions. You wouldn't be able to pry questions out of Americans during a class like this. But it was interesting for them because this information just makes them more knowledgeable for when they all become doctors! :)

Joseph, the teacher, wrote notes up on the chalkboard and drew diagrams of everything, and the students all copied it down perfectly into their notebooks. And then Joseph got up on his soapbox and started preaching at these kids about not getting pregnant and the disadvantages of being pregnant when you are young.

He said, "The moment you become pregnant you are OLD! Why should we waste our time on you to bring you back to school?"

It's so different how abruptly they speak about these things. But this is a really convincing argument for them because school is the main objective for everyone here. You go to school, and you have a successful life. But you won't survive if you don't go to school.

"All of you here are Christians. You don't have bad manners!" (meaning that they aren't going to have any babies until after they're married)

Then they got onto the topic of AIDs and Joseph said that more young people (12-19 year olds) are dying from AIDs rather that the old people. Deborah (the girl my sister Courtney sponsors), stood up and asked "Who brought AIDs to Uganda?"
Me and Deborah

Then we had lunch, I ate with the teachers in the staff room. They were teaching me more luganda words and then decided that I needed a clan. Ronnie (the music teacher) said "you are a real Mugandan now!" I wanted to be an Empologoma (lion clan). But they decided against that and called me Mumbeja Hillary (Princess Hillary). The royalty in Uganda are a separate clan. Pauline is a Princess and Gladys is too (she's the one teaching me how to make the mat). So now I am a princess. I guess I'm alright with that. :)

Before I move on from lunch I just want to admit something: Posho is growing on me. When you just smother it with beans, it's not too bad. But I've found something worse. It's called matooke. Matooke are green bananas and when they are cooked they make a golden chunk of mush, if that helps at all for a mental picture. Ground nut sauce, Matooke, and Posho/They say it doesn't have any flavor. But I wouldn't necessarily say that. It has a flavor. Kind of a....blech. Yeah, I think that does it justice. I said I didn't want any to begin with, but Ronnie insisted that I need to learn to like matooke to truly be a Mugandan. So I gave in. But just like the posho anything can be improved if you cancel out the nastiness with something good tasting! So the ground nuts worked splendidly for that!

After lunch I went into the p.3 Social studies class. There were 73 students!! It was crazy! They learned about government and basic needs. Susan (the teacher) said that she teaches them history also and trades off between that, government and social problems (I guess thats what you'd call it).

Susan: "What are basic needs?"

One student stands up and says: "clothes" (pronounced Clothe-ez).

So, Susan writes it up on the chalkboard: C-L-O-T-H. Susan: "This is the correct spelling. Clothe-ez is spelled like this."

She announced this with such authority and as if she were revealing some hidden rule in the english language. No one would dare question her, including me. She gave the students a couple questions to write the answers down in their notebooks and then walked around and checked all 73 of them when they were finished. The type of discipline that she used was very interesting. I'm not a huge fan of it. She had a few boys go to the front of the classroom and stand on one foot. ("...and when I've found you've touched that foot to the ground...") Or when she was walking around she would hit some children on the head or on the back. I'm not really sure why, but one time I heard: "I don't like bad handwriting!" and another time: "Who is making our class smell like that?!" (whap! whap! whap!)

But this didn't break their spirits, it actually seemed pretty normal, except for the shouts of "owunya!" (you smell!) Then all the children broke out in song while Susan continued checking the papers. They moved from one song to the next, almost in unison. From songs in Luganda, to an education song, to Father Abraham! I loved watching their joyful faces as they sang and shouted for the world to hear while the classrooms on either side banged on the walls.

hillary's uganda journal - june 19

2007-06-21T07:05:00.000-07:00

I mostly helped Tao, Mama, and Gladys with kitchen duties today. I passed out the food to the kids, washed dishes and put them away in the storeroom. But the most eventful thing was Gladys taught me how to make a kyaki mat! It is so much fun!! and it looks so cool! I can't realy explain it, I guess its just weaving and adding a piece of ensansa every now and then, Which is apparently dried palm leaves. But they're really skinny, so I don't know. We were going to buy some ensansa for me at the market, but they are gone at the moment, so I guess I have to be patient until next week. I'm going to make a green kyaki mat! I'm really excited!

How we cook for the children at the schools

(For more photos click HERE)

hallucinations and other exciting adventures

2007-06-20T01:45:00.000-07:00

"Larium may cause restlessness, confusion, dizziness, and hallucinations." Only three people on my team are taking the drug Larium, for Malaria prevention. I happen to be one of them, and so far, I'm the only one who's hallucinated! It's kind of funny thinking back on it...but at the time, really freaky. So, I've been having trouble sleeping (apparently due to my malaria medication) and I wake up during the night, and then again at 4 or 5:00am and can't go back to sleep. Well I woke up around 4:00am today, and there was an old Indian woman standing at the foot of Bethany's bed. Ok, it wasn't really an old woman, but I could've sworn that the towel and sheet hanging on that hook was a woman. I was so freaked out. The fans were blowing, so it looked like she was standing there scratching her back or something. I laid there for an hour and a half completely believing that a woman from the streets had wandered into our room and was just standing there looking at us. So, apparently those Larium side effects are no joke...quite an experience!

The past three days from 8am-noon I have been working with other volunteers at one of Mother Teresa's home: Prem Dan. I have been having so much fun hanging out with these women, smiling at them, helping them go to the bathroom, feeding them, rubbing their backs...I love it. And it's been fun to be able to come back to the same women and have them recognize me, it's so cute:) Today I sat down by a woman who I hadn't talked with yet. She was laying down on her cot and I started rubbing her back. Then she put her arm around my neck, pulled me close to her and kissed my cheek! She probably kissed me 5 or 6 times...and said "Tomorrow? Morning?" and I knew she wanted to see me again:) It was just so precious and made my day!

This is where all the women sit for their meals. There are benches along the walls and in the middle so all the women cram in this long hallway area to eat.

Last night Father Abello came to talk to our group at the YWCA, where we're staying in Kolkata. He was kind of interesting, I mean he knew Mother Teresa, and so that was amazing to hear about her! But, he rambled...a lot...and it was really hard to keep track of where he was going. And we were all SO tired as we listened to him from 7-9:45pm. That time of night is killer, because we've all had such LONG days. I really wanted to get more of what he was saying, but I couldn't stay awake...oh man, it was tough:)

The past couple days have been a bit odd for me. I feel like I'm getting used to how things are here, not a lot shocks me or makes me really sad when I see it. There is so much poverty and gross things everywhere, and I feel like I'm not really affected by it. And I'm also just really confused. I don't know what I think about things...I guess still processing and figuring out what life is like in India. It's also weird, because part of me just wants to live WAY more simply...giving away what I don't need, like how Mother Teresa lived her life. Seeing how people are living here, makes me realize how much I don't need in my life. But then, there's also the part of me, that wants to go shopping for sarees or purses or whatever, because everything is just so amazing here and I love the style! So, I guess I'm kind of struggling with that...wondering how to react to what I see, and how it will change me. I know these weeks in India are going to change my life forever. I'm already thinking about things differently and realizing how I'm really drawn to this place, to these people. I feel really overwhelmed sometimes, I try to figure out what I think about everything, try to understand how I'm feeling, and I just get more confused:) I feel like there are so many emotions going on in me...happiness, love, sadness, confusion, joy, overwhelmed...sometimes I just feel like crying because of what I see, or else I just want to laugh and smile. Hmm...so anyway, it's just weird. But I'm so happy...I know that much. I love India. I love the kids. I love the old women. (even hallucinations of them...haha) I love my team. I love God. Life is so good:)

hillary's uganda journal - june 16-18

2007-06-18T08:25:00.000-07:00

Posted by Curt, but written by Hillary...

June 16th
Today I went to my first African wedding! Well...actually...I was GOING to go to my first African wedding. We waited around all day to be picked up to go. Apparently, there was a misunderstanding and Hopkins came to pick us up at 7 at night. Which was after the wedding was over. So we just went to the reception and ate their food. haha

This party was about like any wedding reception that you might go to in the states. Except there was a lot more random dancing, the bride knelt down in front of the groom to give him cake and a drink of fanta (don't ask me why fanta), the bridesmaids came by to all the guests with plates of little pieces of cake for us to pick one, AND it was all in Luganda. SO I just understood little pieces of what was going on. But it was fun looking at all the fancy outfits! A lot of the women wore gomasis. These are the traditional African dresses, they have the puffy sleeves and wraps around their waists. They are in all different colors and are SO pretty! The wedding's colors were orange and white. But it still looked good! It was kind of a pale orange. But anyway, that was all I got to see of this wedding. But Hopkins says we are going to another one in July. SO that will technically be my first African wedding to see.

Sunday June 17th
Today we were at church most of the day. In Sunday School we taught the kids the names of all the books of the Bible. We made signs and they came up and taped them on the wall in order. Then we taught them the song that goes with that. But it's to a different tune than the one that kids learn at home. And they say the Bible names all weird. So I was learning along with the kids.

Yvonne and me with her little sister, Monica at church. Monica let me tickle her and she even smiled!! haha but she still wouldn't let go of Yvonne. She had at least one hand grabbing her the whole time.

Oh I also met Yvonne's grandpa Paul today. He was so nice! Old people here are so cute! At home, it's "hit and miss" a lot of the time with older people, many are nice and friendly but then you also get the grumpy ones. Here I don't think I've met any grumpy ones. They're all cute and friendly! They just seem so genuine with whatever they're saying to me, and make me feel like whatever I'm saying means the world to them!

Monday June 18th
Today we went for a run at 5:30 because I didn't want everyone staring at us. We barely saw anyone! so that was nice. But we also couldn't see the ground in front of us. Which did present some problems because the ground isn't very flat. So that made things a little more difficult. But, if I took my eyes off of the ground, I could see all of Kampala stretched out before me all lit up. And the big mosque on the hill shining in the darkness. As we ran, the Muslim prayers started being chanted on the microphones from all directions. It was a nice relxaing "workout mix" (haha) which I needed because I haven't gone on a run for more than a month :-/

update from india - june 18

2007-06-18T07:04:00.000-07:00

Posted by Curt, but written by Courtney...

I don't even know where to begin, India is truly an amazing place. I am so in love with the culture, the people, the trees...everything! It's weird because I've dreamed of coming to India for so long, and as much as I've thought about it or researched it, I could never imagine it would be like this. India is intense...heat...poverty...people everywhere...it's so different than anything I've ever experienced, and I am so intrigued by it all! I haven't minded being sweaty ALL the time, the humidity is crazy, but it's actually a little cooler than the past month because we're getting into the rainy season now. The city of Kolkata is really busy and dirty. There is so much traffic all the time...it's always an adventure crossing the street! It's been so amazing taking different forms of transportation too:) In one day we rode the Metro (the subway), a bus, a small ferry, and an auto rickshaw (a three-wheeled 4 passenger thing...hard to explain). We've also taken taxis, riden on the back of a cart pulled by a guy on a cycle (bike) and a smaller boat. Those have been a lot of fun...some people on the team are a little scared about the taxis-weaving in and out of traffic, but I absolutely love it! It's so much fun, and the drivers here are so good...no one ever hits any other cars...well sometimes the mirrors get hit:)

The past couple days have been so full of adventures. My favorite day so far has been our day outside of the city where we visited an orphanage. It was so amazing! It was like a 2.5 hour van ride, followd by a boat ride over the ocean to the island, followed by a cart ride to the orphanage. It kind of reminded me of the pictures I've seen from Hill in Uganda in the Bush. The houses were all mud with straw roofs. It was so cool! There were palm trees everywhere, kids playing in little streams, women working in the fields in their beautiful sarees, groups of goats, sheep, and cows walking along the streets. And then the orphanage was amazing...the kids were so adorable and so happy! They sang songs for us and we sang to them too:) We had a little while to play with them, but it seemed like a really short visit. I fell in love with this island! I seriously want to move here someday:) I feel like that's been the hardest part of this trip, wanting so badly to belong here, but feeling a lot like a tourist. I'm starting to feel more comfortable here, and can totally picture myself living here:) We'll see what God has planned!

Everyday has been such an adventure and every experience has been so exciting! I love walking around some of the smaller streets where people aren't trying to always sell me something, and just smiling at the kids and women. It's so fun to make eye contact with people and just be friendly:) I really wish I knew the language...it would be so fun to find out more about the beautiful people all around me!

Today we started working with the Sisters of Charity homes. I was placed at Prem Dan which is a home for elderly men and women (but as a woman, I just stay with the women). It was such an interesting experience. It was really hard to see the older women in pain, or handicapped in some way, or mentally challenged. But at the same time it was really fun to just sit and hold hands with a woman for a long time. It's hard trying to communicate with them when they don't speak any english, but I just smiled a lot:) We also did laundry and dishes for a couple hours which was hard work, and I got SOAKING wet...but it was fun to be able to connect with other volunteers from all over the world. Later today I'm going to a home for kids, just for today. The rest of the week I will probably only go to Prem Dan in the morning and that will be it. But I'm really looking forward to hanging out with kids and playing with them! I think it will be easier for me to communicate with the kids, because we can just play games:)

I'm kind of getting used to the time difference, although since I've been here I wake up at 5am, along with two other girls on the team...it's like clockwork every morning:) The three of us just read or journal because we can't get back to sleep...it's been a good way for me to start my day, just relaxing, praying, thinking about the adventures I've been on so far, and what I will experience that day.

And I absolutely LOVE my team! It's so cool because we are all really different, but have so much fun together, and are really learning a lot from each other. I've been able to have some really good conversations with people on my team which has been so good! I like when the group is all together sometimes, but have really enjoyed being with only a couple people...and it's easier to travel without the WHOLE group:) I'm just having a lot of fun right now. A lot of thinking and processing. I'm not really that saddened by the poverty I see. It's all around, wherever I look, and I wonder if I should feel more. I think at this point I'm just taking it all in, absorbing everything I see. I'm just so fascinated by the people and this country, and I just want to get to know them rather than feel sorry for them.

Anyway, those are my thoughts so far. Kind of random...but that's how I am right now. My mind is all over the place, just so excited to be here and learn more about this place and the people:) Thanks for your prayers, if you could pray for our team, a couple people are sick...thankfully I'm not. But we still have 2 more weeks...definitely time for us to get sick:) Thanks!

greetings from kolkata, india - june 15

2007-06-15T08:22:00.000-07:00

Sarah and Clint Baldwin are the leaders of Courtney's trip to India. Sarah is the Campus Pastor at George Fox University. She just sent this email out...

Dear friends and family:

Greetings from Kolkata! After 28 hours of travel (with no problems or delays), we made our way to the YWCA hostel that we are staying. We are all well and overall in good spirits. Thanks for all your prayers.

Yesterday we took a four hour walking tour of the city. We were very much immersed in the sights and sounds (and smells) of Kolkata. Last night as we were debriefing several students mentioned that what most struck them was the sheer amount of people that were everywhere that we looked. Over 16 million people flow through the streets of Kolkata every day in a city the size of the Dallas/Ft. Worth airport. Amazing! We crossed the Howrah bridge on foot--it's the busiest bridge in the world with over a million people crossing it every day. We truly were sucked into a sea of people like we have never been in before. We took every kind of transportation possible yesterday (almost!). We took taxis, ferry, bus, subway and autorickshaw. But the end of the day, we truly were exhausted.

Stock photo of the Howra Bridge.

This morning we visited the Assemblies of God hospital and were super impressed with its facilities. It's just a 5 minute taxi ride from our hostel, so parents, you can breathe easier. We have good medical care practically in our backyard.

In an hour we are going to register at the Mother House so that we can begin work this Monday. Tomorrow we will visit a Friends' Orphanage and continue our acclimation process to this crazy city we are living in. Sunday we will worship with the church that meets in our hostel.

Please pray for our team's continued health. The climate is tough here and disease is everywhere you look--but we are consuming vasts amounts of anti-bacterial gel on our hands. Also, please pray for those of us who are suffering with jet lag. It's hard to manage this city on not a lot of sleep. And pray for us as we prepare to work in the homes.

Thanks so much for your prayers!
every blessing to you,
Sarah & Clint