Nakavule Hospital

9.15.09

About a week ago I was walking through town along the main highway when I saw a crowd of Ugandans. As I approached to see what all the fuss was about the crowd parted and they all kept saying “mzungu, you see.” My curiosity got the best of me. First I saw a motorcycle laying open the ground. About ten feet away was the body of its driver. It was gruesome. My stomach convulsed and I gulped back my lunch. Was I really seeing this? The new volunteers were just feet away and approaching. I assured them they didn’t want to see it and we left.

Politics in Kampala have been causing quite the stir in the country. The Buganda tribe was rioting throughout Kampala over disrespecting their king and land. Musevini, Uganda’s president had disrespected the king by not allowing a youth rally to take place. The Buganda people view the king as higher than the president. Tribal issues in Uganda are very interesting. Bugandans feel like they own the land that the capitol is on. Obviously Musevini can not just give them Kampala. Somewhere around ten people ended up dying in the riots. Musevini released the army into the city to bring peace. They had live ammunition and a lot of tear gas. The US embassy was saying to avoid Kampala, especially on Saturday. Saturday was when the youth rally was scheduled. The king of Buganda had called for all Bugandans to participate and the king himself was planning to march with his people in the riots. But when Saturday morning rolled around the king had a ton of army men barricading him in his home. The king then released a statement ordering all Bugandas not to riot and to cancel the rally. Whether or not a gun was held to the king’s head and he was forced to say it is a whole other story. Thankfully it seems there is peace in Kampala. I was at the post office and a taxi pulled up. A crowd gathered again and due to my extreme curiosity I went over. A man from Iganga had gotten caught in the the cross fire during one of the riots and had been killed. His body was in the taxi. It was a hard week.

Yesterday I took this little girl named Faith to the hospital. Her eyelid was completely swollen. We sat at the hospital for three hours. Then they drained the puss out of her eyelid by cutting it open. I felt so bad for her. Poor little Faith!

Flat Tires

9.06.09
On Tuesday we left to take a volunteer to the airport. It was an adventure, like transportation always is. In the middle of no where we got a flat tire. When we got our spare out Morris said there was no way it would make it to the next town. We got the car jacked up and was trying to take the bolts off when the wrench broke. One of us jumped on a boda and went to the next town to get it fixed. We waited patiently next to the car. Once the wrench got back we changed the tire and thankfully made it to the next town. In the next town we went to the closest gas station and waited for a guy to come repair the tire. They took out the tube and found the hole in it. This all took a little over an hour. But the whole ordeal took around 3 hours. We had to hurry to the airport because we were getting nervous about the jam in Kampala (which you can sit in for around 3 hours). But thankfully we made it in time. It was such a weird experience going to the airport but not leaving. I am really going to miss Ti. She taught me so much about myself. I am a natural born extrovert. Making friends and starting conversations has never been a challenge for me. I can get along with almost anyone. But Ti was an extreme introvert. She challenged me and my ability to connect with her. At first it was a struggle but I learned a lot and built a relationship that I cherish. We had until Friday in Kampala before we needed to pick up a new volunteer.

On Wednesday Andrea and I went to Katanga slums to visit some of my friends from the previous years. I had met this woman named Shakira last year, whom I wrote about in my support letter, and I really wanted to see her. Shakira had been a prostitute in the slums and Come Let’s Dance helped her find alternative means of support. Andrea and I were waiting for a staff member from Come Let’s Dance outside of a slum church. I heard a woman yell “Annie Morrison”. I began looking around, and saw Shakira. I was in shock that she had remembered me. The CLD staff member came around the corner with her son, Ema. (Ema is the little boy in the picture where we are looking at each other, it is on my blog) Ema ran up and jumped in my arms. Then we went to Shakira’s home and talked for awhile. It was really good to see her. The relationships with Ugandans that I have built in previous trips here mean so much to me.

The rest of our time in Kampala we just hung out and ran around Kampala. On Friday we picked up Lynne from the airport. Our van had been at the mechanic all week and wasn’t finished being fixed by the time we needed to leave for the airport. It was a whirlwind of chaos trying to get everyone going to the airport. The entire drive there everyone was looking at their watches realizing that we were 30 minutes away and her flight was just landing. Andrea and I ran through Uganda’s small airport and thankfully made it there right before she came out. The timing worked out perfectly. Lynne just graduated from CU and is now living in Tennessee. She is a really sweet girl and I am thrilled that she is here. Once we got in the outskirts of Kampala we got a flat tire. No big surprise. This time we didn’t even have a spare tire. We pulled into a gas station and sat next to the car while the boys did everything. They took the tire off and fixed it. Then Morris decided we should buy two new tires for the front of the car, since they were the ones that kept popping. We waited and got the new tires put on the van. After two hours our van had new tires and a fixed spare tire. And we were on our way home to Iganga! We just had to sit in jam for about two hours in Kampala. As unreliable as public transportation has been somehow our own van ended up being even more unreliable. I couldn’t decide what was better: being stuck in a jam packed taxi with chickens or sitting on the side of the road constantly for flat tires. Well that’s Africa for ya! Just as they say in Blood Diamond, TIA (This is Africa).

The kids all came back to Musana on Sunday and Monday. I was so excited for them to come back. We got a few new kids, a tailor, a new head master, a social worker and a new volunteer. Things at Musana are very exciting! Our social workers name is Ester and she is amazing. Ester is 7 months pregnant right now! We can’t wait for her new baby. Our new head master is such a great guy. His vision is to make Musana’s school the best in the district. We are very exciting!

Swimming Day!

9.02.09
A few days ago we took around ten of our kids to the pool in Jinja. The only concept of swimming these kids had ever experienced was swamps, sewage or Lake Victoria. All of which are extremely different from swimming in a pool. They were so excited when we came to pick them all up. Once we got to the pool they could barely contain their excitement. It was as if you had just told them that you were going to give them a million dollars. Solmon stood by the pool staring into the clear water. His face was frozen in amazement. After the kids ate some lunch, the swimming began. At first I was the only one in the pool with the kids. It was chaos. But, it was the kind of chaos that makes you stop dead in your tracks and appreciate that fleeting moment where there seems to be nothing else in the world besides you and who you’re with. I had Bosco, Nora and Shakira (six and seven year old sister who are some of the cutest little girls ever) clinging on to me for dear life. The older kids where jumping around, throwing balls, screaming, laughing and splashing each other. Their happiness was evident for everyone to see. After hours and hours of swimming we finally had to drag most of them from the pool, but the moment we got into the car the majority of them feel right asleep. It was by far my favorite day at the pool!