Alex In Africa - Goodbye Larema (Friend)

This chapter of my journey comes to an end today. There are many emotions surrounding this. I am excited, sad, hopeful....

I am sad to leave the place I've called home for the last 12 days. Uganda is a very special place, and will forever be something I keep with me. The food of Uganda has been something new and exciting for me. Dishes of hand grown vegetables, hand picked fruits, and freshly slaughtered animals with nothing artificial inside has been the food we've been eating each day. I've had a more balanced diet and regular eating times here than ever before. Each day we sat at tables with some of the most incredible people I've ever met. These people, the Sisters, are so selfless. They all lived during times of war and heartache, yet here they sit across from me with a smile on their face and a heart full of happiness and hope. I like to think of things back in America that I've considered troubling or problematic in my own life and realize how absolutely small and not actually troublesome these things are. As you know we did a lot of work in Atiak, and saved the orphanage so much money on labor. The contractor told us that he was going to take the money he saved and donate it to the orphanage to be spent how they saw fit. During our closing meal there, Sister Asunti said this; "Your work this week with Atiak has allowed me to look at myself and know that I can serve more. It has allowed me to remember why I chose to become a Sister. Although we cannot see God, I see God through each of you and the work you've done." Her statement seemed so peculiar to me, as when I think of sacrifice and serving, I think of her and the other Sisters. Yet she considered my journey here a sacrifice and such a service...hearing this from a woman who (just years ago) stood beside and forgave the very people tearing her world apart meant everything and then some to me. If the experiences weren't enough, this sentiment gave this trip and my life so much purpose. 

We were visiting with our driver Geoffrey and just sharing stories as we sat in a circle and I had mentioned the kindness of Uganda, and how I hoped to apply that kindness to my life back in America. He laughed and told us that he's been driving for many years, and while he's run into a lot of people from a lot of places, his favorites are those from Oklahoma. "When I see someone who isn't friendly, I then know they are not from Oklahoma." Throughout the week I've gotten to know Geoffrey fairly well. He has told us that we are the closest he's been with a group, as we've traveled together, worked together, sang together, and sweat together, which is something other groups don't often do. He told us that we have been the first group to do manual labor, and he is very fortunate to have been able to work with us. We were talking about Sister Rosemary's book "Sewing Hope," a new favorite of mine, and I was referring to the kindness of those in Uganda. Inside my copy of the book, Sister Rosemary signed and wrote "kindness is key."  I asked Geoffrey if he had read it. He told us no, he hasn't, because she could only bring so many with her and he wasn't able to receive one. Upon unloading the van of our bags, I gave Geoffrey a few items. Bug spray, because he has never had any that was good "like the American spray." He has severe malaria many times, something that isn't fun to have. A powerful flashlight, because in Uganda the flashlights are never powerful and most of them only work for a few days before they break. Lastly, I gave him my copy of Sewing Hope so that he could read it and feel what I felt when hearing so many stories. He didn't want to take it, but as I told him, "A wise woman once shared with me that kindness is key."

Last night we had the customary friendship cake with the Sisters back at Gulu. We were told we got a friendship cake, and then she said this... "It's not because it's the end, but because it's the beginning of a beautiful friendship." These words were so amazing for me. A friendship across continents and oceans, one that prior to this week was not likely. 

Something that each Sister said in her own way was "safe travels" as well as "tell you brothers and sisters in America of this journey, so that they too can be encouraged to do what they can to help." One Sister even told me, "Helping is not defined by the amount you give or the status of the person you're helping, but it's defined by the fact that you're doing what you can."  As we were saying our goodbyes there were many smiles and some tears. For I knew that while this is the end of this specific journey, it is only the beginning of advocacy for my friends many miles away in the heart of Uganda.

I am so fortunate and thankful of my journey, and hope to someday return. I also hope that if you are reading this you too can have a similar experience, as it is life changing. To those that I've met along the way, I say thank you for your kindness and hospitality. To those who helped get me here, I say thank you for your generosity and love. To my friends both new and old, I say thank you for impacting my life, safe journeys wherever life takes you, and above all; kindness is key.

Alex In Africa - Pt. 6

Our days are numbered here in Uganda, but for the remaining few days we will continue to make the 40 minute drive the Atiak and do work on the orphanage there. We are the first volunteers to come and do manual labor, whereas volunteers in the past have either came for medical work or just came to see around the area. We now take breakfast everyday at 8am, and we must be ready to leave by 8:30am so we can make the drive. If you remember, we originally were going to be building a house. However, there were two trucks with supplies on them, and while one made it safely to Atiak, the other got into a wreck and lost all of the supplies. They said that it's amazing the driver is still alive. Once at Atiak, we started to do tasks like paint windows and lay tile there. Once we complete all of our tasks, we will sit down with the head contractor and calculate the amount of money we worked based on the tasks we completed. Work here in Uganda is not based on the hours you work or even the task itself, but it is based on the amount you (the worker) and the your "boss" (the contractor) agree upon. For example, we are painting the windows and typically that will be approximately 20,000 shillings, but it could be higher or lower depending on the agreement. At that point, if there was no timeline given, you could work as fast or as slow as you wanted.  

I brought enough clothes so that I didn't have to do laundry, but some of the people in my group had to do laundry. The most interesting thing about laundry is that they will try their hardest so men don't have to do it. It is a "woman's" job, and they stick to this. One of the women in our group had to do one of the men's laundry, although he was trying to do it himself. You do laundry by filling up three buckets. The first bucket is the for the initial wash so it contains soap, and you turn your clothes inside out and scrub with your hands on the "dirty" areas, like armpits, neckline, and back. After you scrub well enough (although we've noticed our scrubbing is never good enough,) you wring the clothing out and transport it to the second bucket of soap. You scrub the dirty areas again, but this time you ensure to get the other areas of the clothes. After you scrub well enough in bucket two, you move to bucket three which is just water. You rinse out the soap and then hang your clothes to dry.

Another thing I've found peculiar here is some of the schools teach the children how to cut grass. It would be strange enough if they had lawnmowers, but this is Africa. Instead of lawnmowers they have sharp blades that the swing and cut the grass. The blades have sometimes been bigger than the child, but they still must learn to do it.

I've been playing music while we work at Atiak, and everyone loves the American music. It has been mostly pop divas and they still rock out with us. 

Alex In Africa - Pt. 5

We made it back to Gulu yesterday and enjoyed the remainder of the day. We skipped lunch because we were on the road all day and by the time we got back to the compound the Sisters insisted we took tea to refuel our bodies after such a journey. It is common for the Sisters to watch the news after supper, so we joined them in doing so. 

Today we woke up at our usual 7:30am and heard a local church singing music very loudly. It was wonderful to hear, and we found out later the church was Protestant and they sing all day. We made our way over to the area that we eat with the Sisters. Upon arriving, we heard them having their own small service at which time they too were singing and playing small drums. It was a magical moment, as we all stopped and listened without actually deciding to do that. After a few moments, we went upstairs to have our breakfast. After breakfast, we went over to the other side of the building and watched some more news with a couple of the Sisters. One of them has been working for over a year on a handmade embroidered table cloth with safari animals and different settings. It was so beautiful to see. After the news we went outside of the compound and explored Gulu some more. Upon arriving back at the compound we ended up picking avocados out of a tree with two of our new friends and employees of the school, Sadi and Patrick. They are both going off to school tomorrow, and we will miss them around the compound. After we picked enough avocado to suffice, we ended up picking a few more and throwing them over the large wall to the local children. They absolutely loved it. 

Avocados are much different in Uganda than America, as they are about 3 times the size here. They are huge and they grow in large trees that you must climb and use a long pole to hit out of the tree. After avocado picking, we helped Patrick catch one of the compound's rabbits, as it is protocol to put all of the animals inside of their indoor cage if it will be raining, which it will be tonight. If it rains, we will probably be losing electricity for a while. After we helped catch a rabbit, we started making our way back to the large building that we eat at, and we found two girls, Josephine and Florence. After talking for a few moments, one of them asked what our local names were and we told her we haven't received any. She was completely shocked so she and Josephine gave us all our names. My name here is Ociti, which means leader of a group. She told me that I seemed very fun, and everyone laughed and said it was true. After a small conversation and receiving our names, we made our way to supper and then off to our huts in banana village. It is time for bed now, because we have to get up and start construction on a house at a nearby school in Atiak. Wish me luck!

Alex In Africa - Stupendous Safari pt. 1

We stayed at Paraa Safari, which is the equivalent of an American 5-star resort. The animals roam free around the property. Yesterday we did the water safari, which was an 18 kilometer boat ride to the falls. Today we are doing the safari drive at dusk. Here are pictures and videos of the fun!

Outside of the lodge

Time lapse of the Nile

Elephants 

Alex In Africa - Pt. 4

Today we are going to travel about 3 hours to the Parra Safari Lodge. We woke up and had breakfast with the nuns as usual and then we waiting outside for Geoffrey to pick us up. As we were out there, one of the ground keepers was doing some plant maintenance and a chameleon jumped out of the plant. Here's that little guy!

We took a small adventure around the compound again, and we found this beautiful tree. 

As we started our journey Geoffrey took the familiar path to get to our destination but we soon discovered that the center of Gulu was doing roadwork on a small section of the road without giving notice so we had to turn around and find another route. Luckily Geoffrey knew his way around and it wasn't much of a hassle, with the exception of lost time. Time is an interesting thing in Africa, as they use it very loosely. In America, 9:30am means 9:30am, and unless you're early you're considered late. In Africa, 9:30am could mean 9:15am or even 9:45am, it just depends on when you feel like it. Adjusting to this mindset is no easy task. As we traveled, I can count approximately 5 times when we didn't see somebody walking on the road. Everyone here walks, some people drive poda poda, and very few people actually have cars or trucks. Driving is a very risky thing, but not in the sense of safety. During the Ugandan rainy season it rains heavily for approximately 1 hour almost every day. So depending on when you're traveling, you could have drove miles only to discover that the road is flooded. Very few roads here in Northern Uganda are paved, so the red mud becomes a very sticky clay. As you drive, it is very common for the children to get excited to wave, smile, and yell hello to you. The towns are overgrown with large blades of grass and other weeds, and the building are all very run down. If a building is lucky enough to have been painted, they are more often than not very chipped and faded.  Some of the larger buildings have giant walls surrounding them, and on top of the walls can be razor blades, broken glass, and coiled barbed wire to keep intruders out.

 Most of the roads are done by Chinese workers, and they all live in a compound with their equipment, like the one pictured below.

Everyone here lives in some sort of hut, some circular and some square. Occasionally as we would drive, we would see a beautifully built building, like the Catholic Church pictured here.

You would know when a water well would be coming up on the road because you would see people, mostly children, carrying their yellow water cans. Some wells have more than 20 people lined up waiting to be used. I find the livestock here very interesting. Some are tied up, but most just roam free. Pictured here is an open field with some cows grazing.

We are headed to Parra Safari so I'll update later tonight!!

Small hut village 

Children playing

Small village market 

Alex In Africa - Pt. 3

We made it to Gulu where we will be staying for the next week which is home to the Saint Monica's Girls School. I recommend you reading the book Sewing Hope or watching the documentary on Netflix to give you some more insight on where we are. The school is ran by nuns and it is absolutely wonderful. Below are various videos of our home!

Banana Village- The huts here are made up of recycled water bottles. 

Looking around St. Monica's

While this small compound is absolutely beautiful, other parts of Gulu aren't quite the same. We took a small journey with one of the Sisters to exchange our U.S. Dollars for some shillings. We went through the marketplace and it was awful. Small shops lined up selling anything and everything. Almost every shop had flies. My favorite shop was the one that was plucking the feather off of a chicken. Yeah, imagine the flies there. Outside of the marketplace the shops aren't too different. Every building had it's usual advertisement while every building promotes their "cheap and quality" goods. We went to one bank, which refused service so we had to travel about 1/2 mile to another. $20 bills are considered small bills, so while I paid $60 U.S. Dollars I got less shillings than some of my fellow travelers who paid with a $50 bill. 

Back at St. Monica's, the nuns do not want us working because we should be tired from all of our travels. I made friends with a compound worker there names Fiona, and I convinced her to take a break and eat one of my snacks and I would finish weeding banana village. She was very kind and loved the snacks that I gave her. Here is a picture of us.

One of the most amazing things that happen here is everyone inside the compound, and even some people outside of it well greet you each and every time with "you are welcome." Not to be confused with the American saying used after a "thank you," but they are meaning it quite literally saying you are welcome here. 

Our meals vary by type, but they are always at 8am, 1pm, and 7:30pm. Today we had the meal below.

Although it doesn't look like much, people around Uganda would do so much for this meal. It really allows you to put things into perspective.  So for this post, I leave you this message. Be thankful for what you have, work for what you want, and just know that somewhere there's someone rooting for you.

Alex In Africa - Pt. 2

Driving through Kampala was one of the most interesting things I've done. There are few rules of the road, and even when there are rules they are rarely followed. We were taking pictures of the scenery around us and our driver Geoffrey said "take care of your phone." Nobody was entirely sure what he meant, but as we kept driving forward he said that people will reach in and take advantage and steal things if they saw it. Everyone decided the "photo shoot" was over and we started living in the moment. Motorbikes, or known as  "poda poda" here in Uganda, weave in and out of traffic honking their horns. The motorbikes carry anything and everything, including four people at a time or a goat. Here is a time-lapse of 5 minutes in traffic.

One of my fellow travelers, Paul, posed the question "how are there not any accidents around here?" I'm not sure if Geoffrey was responding to the question or if he legitimately didn't mean to, but he bumped into one of the motorbikes and kept moving forward.  Almost every store is a speciality store, and almost every item has a store. Playground toys, furniture, food, caskets, all of which have stores. It's so strange coming from a place where even though I'm "different" I still fall into the majority, where as here I stick out like a sore thumb. Speaking of thumbs, rules and regulations of voting are painted all over the city. One of the most interesting bits about voting in Uganda is that voting twice is illegal, and the way they monitor this is by painting a line on your thumb cuticle to show that you've voted already. 

Geoffrey tells us there is an election within the upcoming year, so they are heavily promoting this across the city. The further we drove, the more the city looked like what you see in a commercial with "the arms of an angel" playing in the background. Children played in trash piles, cattle eat the same trash piles, and nobody seemed to care. One of my favorite things to watch is the fashion. Dresses and shirts of brightly covered fabric and exotic patterns stand out against the dull mud-red roads and terrain. Silks aren't too common, but they look amazing with the sun shining down on them. 

We continued traveling down this unfamiliar road when Geoffrey took an unexpected stop. He got out of the car, and the car was the approached by 7-10 people, each attempting to sell something different. Geoffrey bought us pineapples and asked if we wanted to try to miniature fried bananas. There was no peel, but the outside was still hardened as if a peel were still there. Once you get through the chewy exterior, the banana itself was tender and sweet. 

Geoffrey then bought us all water and we continued onward. We stopped at what seemed to be the most American thing in Uganda, a small restaurant that played country music, served burgers and fries, and made you pass through a metal detector to enter. I opted to eat a grilled chicken sandwich and once we finished our meal we began our journey again. Geoffrey told us that we were at the halfway point and sister Rosemary told us before we left we would know that we were in north Uganda when we saw straw rooftops. She told us how poor the government treated north Uganda in comparison to south Uganda, and her testimony stood to be true. As if we were suddenly on some Oklahoma backroad, the paved streets turned into gravel covered roads and the brick houses turned into straw covered shacks. Within minutes of being on the dirt road, we found ourselves sitting for a good while at a construction site. They would not let us pass because the road was being worked on and only one "lane" was open. At this stop, Geoffrey bought what Americans would call roasted corn. If you put roasted corn and popcorn on a scale with each item representing the opposite end, you would have what we ate. Finally we got to proceed only to find another wait down the road. Instead of waiting at the border line so oncoming traffic could come, several cars blocked the way and the construction workers refused to move the barricades. The workers told Geoffrey to proceed, and if the cars didn't move it was their problem, so Geoffrey did. The road turned back to pavement, but it was different this time. The pavement was full of pot holes, while only half of the road was paved at most. Anytime an oncoming vehicle was headed our way, either they would pull off the road or we would. It was really like a game of chicken, and if the sun wasn't enough to make us sweat, this not-so-fun game would be just the trick. One of the most remarkable things about traveling through these small "centers" (towns) is that everyone still smiles and waves at us and is just happy to be there.later on down the road, we came across a truck with something similar to a cage on back. Inside the cage seemed to be about 20-30 children, who were, as we discovered, going to school.

Throughout every center, both large and small, buildings would have advertisements for various things on top of them. These things ranged from Ugandan products and services to well-known American things like Pepsi or Mountain Dew. I asked Geoffrey why it was there, and he told us that businesses will paint the interior and exterior of houses if the house owner allows the business to paint their advertisement on top of the building. He described it as "one service for another."

 Children packed on a truck going to a soccer camp

Crossing the Nile 

A small but hidden in some bushes and trees

Momma and baby baboon hanging out on the side of the road

Alex In Africa - Pt. 1

What seems like an eternity later we finally landed in Africa. We were greeted in the airport with hand sanitizer and face masks....after filling out a few forms we were corralled like cattle from one check point to the next; application turn in, temperature check, fingerprint scanning, payment. The airport was a fraction of most American airports with what also seemed like a fraction of security. Instead of having fans or an A/C, they left all the exterior doors open, even the ones that directly lead to planes. I'm not sure what would happen if someone walked out the doors, and I'm not sure I want to find out. After having all of our luggage checked, we started to exit the airport at which time we were met by the biggest smiling face I've ever seen; Sister Rosemary. 

She greeted each of us personally and thanked us so much for coming and then we all continued outside of the airport. We made it to the car where Geoffrey was waiting. We loaded up all of the luggage and started our journey to what we would call home for the night. Sister Rosemary stopped prior to picking us up and purchased small triangular pies that were filled with beef, cabbage, and onion. After all the airport food I had consumed, it was delicious. As we were driving with the windows open you could hear so many noises foreign to my American ears. Critters, animals, frogs, all of which were singing an unfamiliar song. As we traveled down the road, I couldn't help but notice two things; the drivers are fucking insane and there are no road signs or street lights. I was so overwhelmed by the sights and smells and was just taking it all in. The town surprised me with all of their flashing lights and bars, a nightlife that I honestly didn't expect would be every few feet. I was amused to hear a familiar song playing at a dance club, although Sister Rosemary did not seem to appreciate the ruckus. Coming from a small town in Oklahoma, when someone flashes their lights at you, or head lamps as Sister Rosemary would call them, it means that either you are doing something wrong or their could be trouble ahead. To my surprise, every car flashed their lights at us. After a few minutes, curiosity and fear got the better half of me and I asked  what the signal meant. "It is a rule of Ugandan travel. Everyone flashes their headlamps to show the oncoming vehicle where they are on the road" Sister Rosemary explained. *internal sigh of relief* She told Geoffrey that we needed drinks, so we pulled into a gas station and she invited us in. This gas station was truly a one stop shop, food, drinks, alcohol, just like America. I decided to go with one of sister Rosemary's favorite, "Stoney." It's the equivalent of American ginger ale, something the airplane frequently ran out of. As we drove through the city, it vaguely reminded me of the hunger games. You know, that part where Katniss buys, sells, and trades stuff through a black market? Imagine that, but for miles. Many booths and many people, all bartering and selling their goods. We were told that we were going to be staying the night at a convent in Kampala which sat right behind the American embassy and was heavily secured. I was about to be living my own version of a crossover between the Lion King and The Sound of Music. 

Upon arriving at the convent, it was surrounded by large walls with razor blades and electric fencing at the top. There was only one way in, which was through a locked gate that was guarded by a man with a rifle. Luckily for us, he had fallen asleep on the job so it took a few minutes to enter. By the time we entered shortly after midnight, everyone was so sleepy we immediately went to our rooms and crawled underneath our mosquito net and sheets and went to sleep.

 I awoke to yet again another set of unfamiliar noises, which was around 5:30am. There were people yelling outside and there were so many animal noises. I was uncertain what the yelling was about, but my heart was content with whatever was happening. I later discovered that the yelling was just people playing in a field beside the convent. I laid in bed with so much energy, ready to see what this adventure would bring. I heard something that would bring such a peace and serenity to me; the sound of the local nuns singing. It was such a wonderful, peaceful, relaxing sound, but it also meant that it was time to wake up and see what the journey of today would be.  I went out onto the balcony to see the sights and hear the beautiful music, at which time the smell of sweet African rain came and it began to come down. We were invited by the sisters to join them for breakfast, where they served their usual coffee and tea with peanut butter and jam for bread, but because we were guests to the convent they prepared us omelettes.    I didn't know much about the Itinerary for the day, but I did know it included a 6 hour drive to our next home.

On the balcony of the convent overlooking Kampala.

Selfie on the balcony.

The room at the convent.

All of us with Sister Rosemary