Post from Wendy:

Greetings from Uganda! We had another amazing day today. We went to the Railways (a dwelling place for displaced people). Lillian organized a day for the children which was well over 300 of them! As we drove in, we were greeted with huge grins and children running towards our car. As we exited, they swarmed us and the children tried to grab onto any part of our exposed skin, so it wasn't unusual to have 5 children grabbing on to our fingers, wrists, and up our arms! It was a little overwhelming at first but you can't help but feel drawn towards their adorable big eyes and lovely smiles. We took a walk around the railways and saw peoples homes. Then Lillian had all the children form a circle in their school playground...this took awhile and there were moments of confusion  but in time, we were playing games. They taught us a cat and rat game and I was the first cat to be chased in and out of their circle! We all had our turns and then it was my turn to teach them the Hokey Pokey and "Wendy says". After the games, the children sang us songs that they knew and then I taught them a few. Their voices were beautiful! Mike and Glenn arranged a soccer game, girls against boys until our soccer ball popped. In the meantime we got the other children in some sort of line for lunch. Lillian and her friends had cooked rice and a Ugandan vegetable and meat stew. Mikaela and I helped serve the rice. It was astounding to see Lillian organize so many hungry children. Everyone was served and then there was some left over for seconds. The children sit in the grass and eat the food with their hands and many older siblings are carrying their younger brothers or sisters on their backs. Once lunch was finished, we distributed clothing to as many as we could. It was very difficult not to have enough for everyone, considering they are all extremely poorly dressed. We finished up our day by teaching groups of 15 or so older children, how to make friendship bracelets. It was supposed to be only 5 at a time but they kept pouring into the classroom where Mikaela was cutting the embroidery thread. We tried to keep the others busy outside with bubbles and a frisbee. They had never seen one before and once we tossed it to them and they got the idea, they loved it! Mikeala did a fabulous job in preparing the thread for maybe 80 bracelets. The children caught on quickly to the design and in no time, we were tying bracelets on all their wrists. On our way out, we organized the children in the field for a "sweet" scramble. Candies were tossed in the air, every direction and children ran to and fro collecting them. At one point i found myself knocked to the ground beside a crying 2 year old. I quickly unwrapped a candy and popped it in her mouth. Its hard to describe in words the emotions we felt throughout the day. Overall, it was an experience I will never forget and I am so thankful to be here. Ugandan people are so friendly and warm and helpful and full of gratitude. I am humbled by the joy they exhibit despite their dire circumstances.

Post from Wendy (my sister)

Good morning friends!
We are here in Jinja and are adjusting to African life. We arrived at Entebbe aiport to be greeted by Glenn.  We had a short drive to the airport guesthouse and we were warmly greeted by the guesthouse staff. They unloaded our bags and we appreciated the "thank you please" and "OK please". We got a chuckle from their expressions.
Mike, here now.  I am sitting on the patio at Serjio's having just finished a nice spanish omlette watching a chicken meander slowly across the yard pecking away followed by the gardener sweeping the yard with a broom (no rakes here!).  Had a great first day yesterday.  Drove up from the airport through Kampala (where we picked up Damali, Glenn had brought her up the night before for a quick surprise visit to her new husband!) here to Jinja.  After checking in at Serjio's, we went back to Sonrise and had a tour of the baby home and then took them all for a walk down the road to the children's home - quite a surreal experience walking down a red dirt road with 12 little babies tagging along.  Gotta go, headed out to one of the villages to take some supplies to some families that Pastor Gabriel has identified.  We will post more later. 

April 22: Special Sunday Fun

the kids washing the car

ATIN AFRIKA:

about to go swimming: everyone's excited

19 kids and 2 adults: no problem...

out for dinner with kids.  so quiet during eating. 

Lamek is a fierce eater: no food is safe around him

April 23: some photos of the day

Morris talking to street kids in a dump area where they sleep.

every child was sniffing glue mixed with airplane fuel when we visited their spot.  In the pictures you can see kids holding something up to their mouth...its a rag soaked in gasoline and glue.  Some will be holding water bottles also filled with the non palatable intoxicant. this is where the kids from ATIN come from.  They too were in this same lifestyle before coming to ATIN.  When we pass this section in the vehicle they all look to see who is there. 

there home is essentially a dump behind some shops.  some of the kids say they sleep in the trees.

when they are ready to get off the street and show that they are serious are welcome at ATIN if they can follow the rules.  in the first weeks the kids are detoxifying and getting used to taking food, sleeping on a schedule, washing themselves, etc.

many of the kids are malnourished.  sniffing glue takes away hunger pangs.  many are beginning to show signs of brain damage.  one boy was in and out of mild seizures where he would stare and his eyes would go back in his head.  there is no telling what kind of damage is inflicted on their developing brains through these addictions/coping behaviour.

the kids were showing signs of intoxication which reduces inhibitions.  normally they would be much more self conscious about having their picture taken while doing something that they know is wrong/harmful.

there is a sad irony in the writing on the back of this boy's shirt.

shot of main drag in Lira

  

Piggery funded through Lynn G. being constructed under supervision of Compious and Morris.  The goal is to send one pig with each child that is resettled as form of financial assistance for the family.

This is the sight around just about every corner in Africa.

Matron Grace relaxing with the kids on the trampoline. 

Kids play football (soccer) in the ATIN compound.  such a good life compared with life on the street

Kids enjoying slip and slide

April 21: Fleshy and Soft

If Jinja is the intro to east Africa Lira is senior year advanced seminar.  From what I hear if you hit Kitgum or Pader you’ve reached graduate school.

Jinja squeezes the western comfort out of you a bit here and a bit there.  It certainly shocks the sensibilities but you can stay kind of prune-like with it’s coffee shops, restaurants, the fountain of ngo’s, the odd hot shower, and the scenic adventure vibe of the lake and Nile.  If things ever go sideways you can always scoot into Kampala to get yourself sorted out and worse comes to worse you board a plane.  Lira, on the other hand, gives you the choice between posho, posho, or posho for dinner.  It has insects the size of squirrels.  The land, it’s rock and dirt, slaps you just for thinking of complaining.   People are built tough as hammers.  They could be dying in front of you and still ready to walk the 6 miles to town.  Law and order has a wild west feel to it.  Lira is like being on a fruit diet.  The good news is that after the detoxification, which includes a healthy dose of hanging out with street kids, you can feel the softness leaving your psyche.  I love comfort.  Right now comfort is having a relatively calm intestinal tract.  It doesn’t matter that the toilet in my room doesn’t have a toilet seat.  It’s actually a luxury.  Why do they even come with seats?  The bowl feels unnervingly large at first but you don’t really need one.  Try it.            

April 20: Life at ATIN

If you are in need of a boost to your sense of importance I would suggest visiting the kids at ATIN.  They mob you every time you arrive even when you come and go several times in the same day.  Each time I get to the gate I am flooded with hugs and ‘welcome back uncle’…’Uncle welcome back’.  Yesterday I tooted the horn at the gate (to get someone to open it) but when they saw it was me suddenly I realized that they were ‘all’ pouring into my car. Every door was open and kids were jamming in everywhere.  Little Joel was practically on my lap.  I began telling them to ‘stop’, ‘wait’, ‘get out!’, but they are not yet domesticated so you can’t always expect them to do what you tell them.  When it comes to my vehicle they don’t seem to have a sense that it is off limits.  It is quite the opposite actually.  So, now when I arrive I’ve succumbed to the idea that 17 kids will attack and infiltrate my vehicle and then I will give them a ride around the neighbourhood.  They have not given me much of a choice in the matter.  Whether it is safe or not is something else altogether.  The fact that Immanuel stands on the back bumper and holds onto the spare tire suggests that I go slowly.  On a similar note if I’ve got anything that I want to keep inside the vehicle there is a good chance that it will be gone once I get them all out.  It’s not stealing they just think that whatever is in my car is for them!     

April 20: Work at ATIN

around the dinner table.  posho, beans, and fish!

Sadly, one of the girls at ATIN tested positive to HIV today.  She is about 13 years old.  They have not told her yet because they want to do it in the most supportive way possible lest she return to the streets to try to forget her problems through reckless living.  She most likely contracted the virus through sexual activity either by force or as a means to earn money, which in the end is not much of a choice when you’re a 13 year old street girl in Lira. The kids hold on to you when you enter the gate at ATIN as if you’re a war hero, as if they never want to let you go.  Greetings and farewells are big deals in Africa especially among street kids and orphans.  The wounded attachments with caregivers that were truncated or underdeveloped want to compensate by clinging and trying to avoid ‘goodbye’s’.  Of course, all males who come to help and work with the kids are called, ‘Uncles’ and all females are called, ‘Aunties’.  For the first while, since I arrived with a car, I was called ‘Uncle Car’ until they learned my name. 

must strap the mouth because pigs are talkative during transport

I’m currently shepherding the procurement of shelves, filing cabinet, school desks, and two couches for ATIN.  Finding the carpenters is easy.  Getting their prices is easy.  Settling on the guy you want to build your furniture easy.  The only tricky part is getting them done by the due date.  This is where all bets are off and you get into the trenches and even start employing some less than puritan tactics to motivate the carpenter. 

I have learned that he will tell you that he can have it completed when he knows deep down that he cannot.  I am trying to work on this area of communications so that he can speak freely and tell me the truth.  His tendency is to tell me what I want to hear so that he keeps my business but I try to tell him that if it isn’t done on time then it actually hurts any chance of doing business with him again but he isn't usually thinking that far ahead.  I massage it a little by reassuring him that I would rather have him say a day later and it be the truth than tell me what I want to hear only to come on that day to find it is not done.  This is the critical part of the negotiation. 

the carpenter Charles and I after coming to an understanding

So, you have to push hard but then allow a back door for the guy’s honest truth to come out.  Somewhere in there you have a deal.  But it requires constant vigilance.  I will drop by the carpenters tomorrow and the next day just to let him see my face and have the reminder reverberate throughout his nervous system.  Deep down I’m hoping it instills some light flickers of fear as stress can be a powerful motivator.  I might even buy him a soda.  Kind of like a peace offering, a salve to ease the pain of this rigorous muzungu timetable.      

Notes from: April 19, 2012

Solomon (next to Morris) home village.  Talking to his Aunt.

Sometimes you just admit defeat and call it a day.

My life felt like it made sense today.  Driving down red dirt roads in a 4x4, across fields, through ditches, sun in the sky, deep into the land outside of Lira, passing smoke rising, babies and more babies chasing goats and playing with sticks, old weathered faces, mud home after mud home, I was with Morris as he went about the work of resettling street kids in their home villages.  Assessing the home environment, trying to figure out why the child left, seeing if there is family is willing to take care of the child if they got help with school fees.  Today, we met Solomon’s aunt and uncle and his sister and learned that his mom was killed in an LRA attack just after his sister was born and his Dad is blind and lives somewhere in Kampala.  His Aunt and Uncle were raising him but had no money for school fees.  At 9 years old Solomon has been trying his hand at living on the streets and making his way in the world.  Where we were today there was no connection to the outside world.  This is a place where there is no phone network.  People walk or ride bikes.  They farm the land but it’s a harsh, low bush, hard soil with little water.  There is no electricity, no medical care, no place to fix your vehicle, just land, endless African land. 

Walter one of ATIN's first street kids: resettled here.  Going to school, raising chickens

Walter, one of the first ATIN graduates. Gets a T-Shirt

Then back in town I hung out with the kids at ATIN AFRIKA.  There are now 17 street kids living at ATIN.  They discovered a football in my vehicle and it quickly became there’s.  Late in the afternoon they all walked me back to my room at the Lira Hotel so I could get some water and I felt that rare feeling of having my insides and my outside in tune.  It doesn’t hurt that they greet me like I’m world famous so I tend to feel quite good about myself here.  The sun was beginning its final descent today, chickens pecking by the road, warm air cleansing me as I arrived on a boda bringing dried fish, g-nuts, and tomatoes to the home for a special supper.  As dinner was being prepared the watchman Dennis shared part of his story with me.  I listened as if sitting before royalty as he recounted his abduction by the LRA and the two years he spent under their rule.  After every stomach was happy again we had singing and the learning of songs around the table.  A good day in Africa is unbeatable.

 17 Kids off the street in Lira and living together.  Remarkable energy in the compound.  These kids can eat.  I was asking them what their favourite foods were and I discovered that there is no such thing as food they don't like.  The matron 'Grace' pointed it out to me that these are not like kids who grow up in homes where they have some choice in the matter.  They eat what is there and the love it.  Posho, rice, beans, matoake, cassava, sweet potato, irish potato, fish, chicken, greens, that about completes their entire diet.  The little one 'Lamek' eats like its his vocation, like he's taken a solemn vow.  He destroys his food tearing apart the toughest sinews of chicken with his bare hands.  I had to wipe pieces of chicken off the top of his head the other day.  By the way if matron wants chicken for supper the kids will make short work of the juiciest looking pecker in the yard, feathers fly everywhere, and 'wall la', chicken's ready to cook.

April 19 - Barr Subcounty: We're Getting Remote Here

There's a few things I'd like to fix up but that's the life of a home owner.

Notes from: April 18, 2012

George and two chickens.

Drove to Lira Wednesday.  Picked up three guys I've met in Jinja who wanted a lift.  I was happy for the company.  George started loading his stuff into the back of my vehicle while I got talking to someone else.  When I returned to the vehicle I checked the back hatch to make sure everything was in order.  Opening the hatch door I found two huge sacks of silver fish and two live chickens perched on top.  Everyone seemed happy enough and ready for the journey.  The fella’s passed several hours discussing politics and all of them seemed well versed in the latest corruption scandal as reggae grooved and charmed us over the 400 km north.  As I’ve mentioned previously the section between Mbale and Soroti just punishes you.  The smooth road beyond Soroti feels like a dream. 

coming into Mbale.  Mt. Elgon in background

all too common sight.  overturned trucks.  

Ugandans can laugh at themselves with ease.  It is almost like a national pastime.  People who make the news for doing something really stupid become famous.  The guy carrying a pig on the back of his boda or four men jammed together ride along with big grins.  They have a great sense of humor which can be quite astute.  Even in the midst of expressing anger they seem capable of shifting seamlessly to levity.

Incidentally, for those following along I paid a visit to ‘Accurate Motor Garage’ to collect my money from Issa.  He wasn’t in.

Notes from April 16, 2012

Just a quick update letting you know that Sharon came through the surgery well and is now in recovery.  She will be in hospital for one week then at home for a week before the stitches can come out.  The mass that they excised was put in a container and is being sent to Kampala for testing.  I was glad to pass over the container as soon as possible.  For interest sake Dr. Philip charged 725 000 ($300) for the surgery, blood, histology, supplies, etc.  Not bad I'd say.

Notes from April 16, 2012

Gerrard and Bosco are simple men but from time to time they offer up some real gems.  Today, after taking a grilling from Justine (the cook),  Gerrard lamented (in his thick accent and toothy grin), ‘ladies…they are very difficult’.

Yesterday we had our community meeting at the Railways.  We wanted to gauge their interest in the latrine project and test their motivation to contribute to their maintenance and emptying.  A variety of local leaders were present and a health officer who helped to educate the people on sanitation.  I think it went well but was not without great animation and confusion.  As I get to know the community better I can see that it is just like any other in that there are tensions with members who do not follow community rules regarding keeping toilets clean.  Therefore the clean one’s have taken to putting a padlock on the ‘stance’ (stall) that belongs to their block exclusively.  Each block then polices itself.  If you walk through the railways you will see many latrines but none of them are functional.  Some latrines weren’t constructed with cement footings lining the pit so that the whole structure is now sinking into the hole underneath.  The water toilets get blocked almost as quickly as they get repaired so the community has opted unanimously for lined pit latrines instead. 

Ben had reached his threshold for talk of feces.

We are in the bowels of community processing right now.  At one point during our meeting one of the members rose to say that if anyone is caught deficating on the ground they should be beaten with sticks.  Another member took aim at the local leaders saying, ‘why do you wait till foreigners come to show interest in us?’  and ‘why don’t you use government funds to help us?’  Another wanted to know what the chairman was going to do about the member who was caught throwing his feces out the window in a plastic bag.  I’ve got to say it’s a no brainer for sure that they need help with toilets but the issues and underlying tensions causes by lack of facilities is pretty intense.  It doesn’t help that a good portion of the men spend most of their time sitting around buckets of local brew drinking out of long straws.  It also doesn’t help that some members come from deep in the villages where they have never learned about using a toilet properly.  Some community members come from tribes that believe that if women use latrines they will become infertile.  Many think it is a place to put garbage thus clogging the drains.  You can see there are some obstacles to overcome.   

I'm seated next to the Parish Councillor: Allen (holding baby)

trying to talk one of the members down off the ledge...

I think life here can be summed up by saying that things are rarely as they appear.  You go to use something and it doesn’t work.  You want to do something that requires power and it goes out.  You want to fry and egg and the frying pan is missing the handle.  You’re in the middle of a phone conversation and just when you’re about to the get the information you so longingly desire his airtime runs out and you can’t reach him for the rest of the day.  You’re never quite sure if a ‘yes’ is a ‘yes’.  ‘Left’ sometimes means ‘right’.  Directions are so much fun.  So, it’s kind of like an obstacle course.  The kind that maybe you played in youth group when you were sent out to find clues and be the first to make it back.  That’s kind of the way if feel much of the time.  

Notes from: April 15, 2012:

I'm feeling worried about Sharon's surgery in the morning.  She will be under a general anesthetic.  I'm really not sure I'd be trusting the blood here.  Even Dr. Philip seemed concerned about getting 'good' blood.  Tonight she is checked into the children's ward at the Jinja Hospital and has surgery booked for the morning.  If you happen to think of her you might say a prayer for the whole procedure.  It's a little unsettling being the one who has been keeping track of her health records and the testing we've done.  I've been carrying around her xrays, ultrasound results, and blood work wondering why she doesn't have a file or chart or something.  I felt a little better when the anesthesiologist asked to see the tests while he walked Sharon to the hospital this evening.  Sharon has worn the same dress that doesn't quite fit her everyday this week.  She comes across on a boat everyday and has nothing except the look of fear and quiet obedience.  When she greets me or the doctor she goes down on her knees as a sign of respect.  May God be with Dr. Philip as he works on Sharon's tumor tomorrow.

A host of things happened today that I don't have time to write about just now.  It was one of those days that was so full it was like pricking a piece of fruit bursting with juice.  I've drank deep from life's cup today.

Notes from: April 13, 2012

It felt like a very productive day. 

Timothy, Sharon, Dr. Philip

Arrangements were made with the surgeon, Dr. Philip and the anesthetist, to do Sharon’s surgery on Monday.  She will come into the clinic Sunday for preparations.  Dr. Philip is still getting back to me with the price.  Little anxious about this.  I have no idea what is a reasonable price.  Some might say any price is reasonable if it saves Sharon’s life.  As we discussed the plan with Dr. Philip, the anesthetist, and Timothy Dr. Philip inadvertently remarked on the size of Timothy’s feet.  Now, Timothy has monstrous feet to be sure but transitioning from how to find safe blood for the surgery to this observation jarred me a bit but all of us laughed from a deep place of amusement.  I asked Timothy what size his feet were and he said 12.  I put mine, which are 11, next to his and they passed mine by a country mile.

Incidentally, Timothy got a hold of my iphone and I had him listen to some music with the earphones.  That really did it for him.  Keep in mind this fellow is probably 6’4, 280 lbs, with massive hands and feet now visualize him with the iphone marveling at how clear the sound is, swaying to the music, and then…singing along.  Of course, like most of us when listening to earphones, he had no idea that he was singing, and then providing commentary on the songs, at a volume that carried deep into the recesses of the clinic.  He then had Sharon listening along.  Because Timothy is a Pastor and has no trouble breaking into a sermon he took the chance to translate the lugandan song that he was listening to.  Evidently the song was about Lion of Judah, fire from heaven, and God’s power.  Such fodder for the beaming Timothy.      

Sharon's Dad, Sharon, Timothy

After this I met with an engineer and we went out to the Railways community, known as, 'loco', to visit the site for the proposed latrine.  Just to back up a bit, the Railways is a 'slum' by the water in Jinja.  It is the old barracks of railway workers so it has long blocks with probably a hundred individual units about 10x10 which serve as 'home' for families.  Most families have a mom and dad and at least 3-4 children.  People rent these units from the Ugandan Railways for 15 000 schillings per month ($6) and many families have difficulty making their rent.  Many people here are displaced from other parts of Uganda.  Some came because of the unrest in the north.  Some came to escape the poverty of living in villages only to find a more difficult life in the city.  Some came fleeing the Karamajong (lawless primitive bandits) in the east.  There is rampant alcoholism, domestic violence, and despair evident in the community. Nonetheless, the place grows on you and there are plenty of shining jewels in this battered place, including several hundred children and some young women determined to live a different life.

The community has no functioning latrine which means that the risk of spreading fecal oral diseases, especially now in the rainy season, is very high.  It is one thing to step around manure or droppings from goats or even from dogs but trying to steer clear of human excrement is very disturbing.  There is one latrine that is full that we think we can empty and refurbish to make functional again.  On the other end of the community we are hoping to build a new latrine.  We are having a community meeting on Sunday to discuss this project but mostly to get some 'buy in' regarding the proper use and maintenance of the latrine.  Without this we might end up with another full and broken down latrine in 6 months and be in the same position if the community does not feel responsible for the cleaning and emptying.  This will mean each household will have to contribute toward the costs associated with this.  It is very unsettling to sense a dependent mindset.  I have been bolstered in my resolve to try and address this by other ugandans who know that to consistently expect help to come from outside leads to a feeling of powerlessness and loss of ambition.  It is something that we all deal with in various ways but we know that when we own something we tend to take care of it in a way that we simply cannot if it has been given to us without effort on our part. 

The whole project is an exercise in community development and working on the attitudes of the people regarding their health and well being.  But today was a great day in terms of meeting and mobilizing people of influence.  We have the Local Chairman-Boniface, City Councilor-Paul, Health Inspector-Chris, Public Health Manager-Wilberforce, LC3 Councilor-Allen (a woman), and a public health counsellor-Samson all on board for a meeting with the community Sunday. The Health Officers and politicians are fully supportive of the project and have been lobbying their government for some time to gets funds to do this. 

So just wanted to give an update on this aspect of my time here.