Last Night In Uganda

Hello Again;

 This will be brief, because I’m hoping Robyn will have a chance to post tomorrow while we all drive and she waits for her luxury, fancy-pants flight to Kigali.  Yes, we’re driving to Rwanda tomorrow, our final stop of the journey before flying home.  On the way down, we will cross the Equator, then cross the border, then brave 65km of windy mountain roads. 

Today we took on a team of pre-teen soccer stars, the kids of Ugandan police living in the Kampala barracks.  And just to keep the suspense from building too much, let me assure you that we Americans did not embarass ourselves too much, and only lost 3-2. 

Yes, Pam, Cathy got registered at the Canadian consulate.  And yes, Mum, I have gotten some pictures with me in them. 

More later!  And see you all fairly soon!

-Audrey

Back in Kampala!

Greetings loved ones (from Audrey again)! We are happy and healthy here in Kampala for our second visit. We are now at the St. Augustine’s Institute, where they tell us everyone thinks we are wonderful. Since we last blogged, we have visited Gulu in Northern Uganda, Kumi in the northeast, and Tororo on the border with Kenya. Then yesterday we drove in from Tororo.

We saw a lot of petroleum trucks on the highway from Kenya, where Uganda gets all its fuel – gas prices here are very high, around $2/litre, and the normal supply lines have been disrupted, so they are having to truck in a lot more. So we are experiencing some effects of the protests in Kenya next door.

One of the beautiful moments yesterday was seeing the Nile River, most of us for the first time. We watched a swimmer go over Bujagali Falls in just swim trunks; investors are hoping to dam the Falls for hydroelectric power, so our view of it may be even more precious. Then we saw the point that used to be Ripon Falls, now dammed over, which is the source of Nile.

We have met amazing people every day we have been here, and I will let someone else share a bit about some of those experiences….

From Catherine – I have found the people of Uganda to be extremely friendly. From the people we passed on the street, to the members of the organizations we have visited everyone has a similiar, friendly manner. We have been so well hosted and welcomed in every place we have been. I was especially moved by the welcome we received from the Acholi people in the IDP camp in Gulu. They performed traditional dance rituals for us which included drumming, percussion, dancing and ritual movements. It has been difficult to teach and practice these rituals in the camps and they were in danger of being lost. It was a precious gift to be able to witness these dances which were practiced and performed in honour of our coming.

From Christine – Yesterday, while in Tororo, we visted with a village of people suffering from HIV. The effects of this disease are devastating because it impacts all areas of their life: friendships are lost, family keeps their distance (some family members even turn the person’s children against them), hospitals are difficult to come by and are not even the most welcoming or caring place if they make it there,  medicine is expensive and if they choose to medicate they, at some point, find themselves in the midst of poverty, without the strength to do the necessary daily chores of gathering water and food, and waiting to die. We witnessed one woman, Scovia, waiting for God to take her home. However, even in the midst of death, upon seeing visitors with so much life and love (that would be us) she found a smile that brightened the room- and fortunately, her family was there waiting with her. Being with Scovia was a difficult experience that most of us are still processing. However, I found, for myself, that it is actually easier for me to see people who are sick and impoverished face to face, rather than over a computer screen in all the mass emails that are sent. Somehow, being there in person, being able to shake their hands, look in their eyes, give them hugs, eases the pain I usually experience from afar.

ARRIVED!

Greetings, loved ones!  We have arrived!

The PSR group is now in Kampala.  We arrived last night into Entebbe airport around 9 pm, then got through customs in record time and headed to Lweza (in Kampala) where we spent the night.  We spent the morning at our swanky conference center, then met a Foreign Affairs Office rep at the US embassy (we are all registered there, by the way).  Now we are downtown Kampala, getting a taste of this bustling city.  Tomorrow we will drive up to Gulu in the north, and we will  swing southeast through the country from there, and then wind up back in Kampala before we head south to Rwanda.

It is warm but dry.  We are all taking our meds and getting plenty of water, mom, so don’t worry!  The time change is making many of us a little sleepy, but after 30+ hours in airplanes and airports, I think we are mostly just happy to be on the ground somewhere.

Keep tuned to this channel for more information on our whereabouts.  We will try to post as often as we have regular email access (but I am not sure how often that will be).

We love you all lots!

-Audrey, on behalf of Aeri, David, Brooks, Cathy, Paige, Akiko, Phil, Joan, Robyn, Michelle, Nicole, Laura, Christine, Sonja, and our gracious hosts

Trip Info

We posted basic info about our trip – itinerary, flight info, and emergency contact details – over at the page accessible at the top or by clicking here.

No Ebola for us

Phil found this scary article about the Ebola outbreak in western Uganda, but we will not be traveling near there, and the CDC has not made any special recommendations about travel to Uganda. Worry warts like me be calmed!