I Almost Died.

-->

THE HEALTH CLINIC OPENING DAY

We have finally opened our health clinic! We worked many hours alongside the village people to put the finishing touches on the structure and the decorating of this clinic. The closest clinic is about 3 hours away and the only transportation for many of these people is by foot. So all you mothers out there, can you imagine going into labor and then having to walk 3 hours to the nearest hospital. Or having malaria, which has all the symptoms of the worst stomach flu, and trying to put one foot ahead of the other to get treatment. Yeah, that would be terrible. So we are thrilled to have this clinic for the people in the village. We had a remarkable turnout with government leaders, press and many villagers coming to support this clinic. It was a huge success and many patients were able to receive proper care.

 I work in skirts now.

 These are the wood posts for our urinal behind the clinic.

 They decorated for opening day.

 My little friend. Isn't she adorable.

 A camera from the 90's. Awesome.

HIV/AIDS AWEARENESS FUTBOL TOURNAMENT

Some of the girls in our group have been working tirelessly to get a soccer tournament put together for the people in the Namatala area. This area is absolutely plagued with HIV with about 10% of people affected. One town over has only about 6% so this is an area in great need of HIV awareness. We had TASO come and test individuals for HIV with a simple finger prick test. As I went around to encourage people to get tested one man was especially frightened to get tested. In my mind I thought it was ridiculous because it was just a prick on the finger. But when he said to me “How would you feel if you got tested and it came out positive?” Somehow, that really affected me as to the reality that these people face. Just a simple prick on the finger could change someone’s whole outlook on life and it is so common here that it is a total reality to them.

I was told that the invention of seedless watermelon cost millions of dollars. If that millions of dollars was spent on creating awareness for diseases such as HIV/AIDS just think of the GENERATIONS of people that could have had an opportunity at living life to the fullest. That really put things into perspective for me.

 That's me testing for HIV. He was negative!

 The TASO tent

ST STEPHENS SECONDARY SCHOOL

School started so I finally started teaching secondary school! I have never seen kids more thrilled to learn. It’s absolutely incredible. They laugh at everything too, which can either be a self-esteem boost or depressor. Haha. So I will be teaching Biology and some guidance and counseling classes.

 Market day outside St. Stephens.

RAFTING!

After all of the hustle and bustle of the big activities that we have done, we all decided to take a little vacation. So we went to Jinja and went rafting down the Nile River. It was INCREDIBLE. We went through 8 rapids (ranging from grade 3 to grade 6) and we may or may not have capsized oh about 3 times. The first time we went under was an absolutely terrifying experience. I have gone rafting before but never tipped the raft, so this was a first for me. I swear I was stuck under the water for at least 5 minutes being tossed around by the waves and hit in the head by the raft. Ok maybe it wasn’t 5 minutes but it felt like forever. My sense of direction was totally thrown off and I had no clue where I was but finally I came up and a safety Kayak saved my life. Phew, I made it! The next time we flipped I was a lot more prepared and knew how to get the raft off my head and swim out of the rapid. But the third time we flipped was worse than the first. Wave after wave after wave crashed down on me and I was trying to keep my shorts on as well as my helmet. It was intense. But again I made it out alive. It was so AWEOMSE but absolutely terrifying and totally worth the parasite that I am sure to get from all the water I swallowed in the Nile.

 Yes, i found the cameraman and smiled. That was the first time we flipped. I didn't look for the cameraman after that.

 That's my friend/guide Hydro in the back. He's awesome.

Coming to Africa I thought I would see a ton of wildlife. That hasn’t been the case. We just see cows, chickens and goats roaming around outside and toads in our toilets and cockroaches in our beds. But going to Jinja was great because we saw MONKEYS! 

Our house has not had power for 3 days, my feet are completely blistered I haven't had a hot shower in 6 weeks and as much as I try I can't seem to get all the dirt out of my hair but I am having a BLAST in Uganda and loving life!

Zion!

So I have been in Uganda for 24 days now. Holy Cow!

If you ever have the thought " How can I become more patient?" I've got the solution: come to Africa! It's great, you go to meetings scheduled for 2pm that don't actually start until 4pm. You have a list of things that need to get done in a day and the person in charge never shows up. Taxi rides take 1 hour to go ten miles. Dinner is not served until 9:30pm... I tell ya, this is the place to learn patience!

Last weekend we had the Lincredible opportunity to stay with a host family for two nights. This man is a school teacher and his wife is in politics. They are much better off than most people, but they still don't have running water or electricity. So I had my first interaction with a bucket shower. Yes, I did it and now that I've done it, I hope I never have to do it again!

We went on another hike. This hike was to go see a village that had been affected by landslides in 2010. That is a big problem with many people that live on certain mountainsides. It is quite tragic. Luckily many of the children were in school that day and were protected but upon returning home many of those children became orphaned. I can't imagine what that would be like, but it is a reality that so often affects many people all around Uganda.


Beginning the hike I saw a large rock peak and encouraged everyone to go up there after we reached the landslides. Well, we ran into a "park ranger" on our way down and I asked how far the peak was. He said "It is nearby, I am on my way there. I will take you". So a few of us went with him up a steep mountain trail. 45 minutes later he said "We have arrived". We were definitely not there. When we told him our destination again he laughed and said "oh that is impossible to get to unless you take a machete and blaze your own trail". So note to self, when a Ugandan says something is nearby, don't listen. Lesson Learned. We then went back down the mountain only to be caught in a torrential rain storm that lasted one hour. We stopped in a village and ate chapatti as the storm passed. It was quite the adventure. You can see the rock peak in the back of this picture.

WARNING: The following paragraph may contain disturbing mental images. Proceed at your own risk.  :)

I learned from our host family about a circumcision ceremony that  occurs every even numbered year. In order to pass through boyhood to manhood must go through a three day ceremony. During this ceremony these boys run around the entire mountain day and night to show their strength and then at the end of this grueling exercise they stand with a stick above their head as a man pulls the foreskin and with a machete proceeds to chop it off. As blood splatters everywhere they must remain straight faced for a number of minutes. if they flinch or make some face, they are ridiculed and called a coward bringing shame upon their home. THAT ACTUALLY HAPPENS. We missed the ceremony by one month and people are very open about talking about it. I can't believe it.

We worked on our health clinic for three days this week. We are trying to get last minute preparations done before we open this wednesday! I can't wait. So we spent those days painting, building sheds, building bathrooms, making stairs, moving stones, carrying wood, sanding, and gardening. It was quite the undertaking. But many members of the community came out to help because they take so much pride in things that make their community better. It is really inspiring so seem them unite like that. They are so thrilled to have a health clinic in their community and it is rightly called "Zion Community Clinic". Through talking to them and learning more about their culture it is amazing to see the Faith they have and their humility. Many of these people live in huts and live day to day but they dedicate all they have to God. We had a ton of kids working on the clinic. The youngest was 2 years old. Adorable.

One day I stayed behind after dark with some of the villagers to finish painting. Before we could leave the site, they said a prayer dedicating the clinic to God and thanking him for the "white visitors for all their help". I am just so humbled by their gratitude and I can not talk highly enough about them. 

So, things are going really well. It's nothing like what I thought it would be but somehow it is so much better!