Norman the Turkey - Still a Menace

Happy Wednesday Morning –

I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the summer… Coincidentally, there hasn’t been much sun here and yesterday was rainy and 65. Feels like home! Boo!! But, I do have to say that I enjoyed the rain as our 2,000 Liter water tank ran dry yesterday and I wasn’t particularly looking forward to bathing in the pond water. We’ve recently had an influx of volunteers here including a group of 10 or so Minnesota engineering students. They are working hard putting four 24,000 L water tanks in for the school as well as digging a hole and building a structure for the pooper (never will I take another TOILET for granted!).

So, switching gears, and by switching gears I mean trying to hide the tears… Last Friday marked the most unfathomable day yet. Currently we are starting up an outreach program for child-headed families, which encompasses households run by children who have lost both parents and are either living alone, living with other children, or living with an ever aging grandparent. Three of us went about an hour south of here and deep into the bush to get out to the homes we were to assess. The first house had a very old grandmother with 4 children ranging from 4 yrs old to 16. They didn’t have much, but in comparison to the next stop…. The most heartbreaking visit was to a home with 6 siblings (ages 10 to 17). These kids literally had absolutely nothing. The only positive thing they had going for them was that they were living in a World Vision built home that was structurally sound. When assessing the situation, the most difficult part is posing the question of how they lost their parents. In this case it was to AIDS and none of the children had been tested. Comforting right? They didn’t have kitchen or cooking supplies, no bedding (they were sleeping on concrete floor with maybe 2 blankets for the six of them), a set of clothing for each child (which obviously were in poor condition), and the list goes on…

I literally had to hold back my tears and as we were driving away. I couldn’t help but think about all the things I have taken for granted. Do I really need to buy a $200 pair of jeans when these kids could eat for the next year? Heavy stuff, but that’s the reality down here. I could literally spend all of my days here weeping, but life is cruel and unfair, so I will limit my tears. I vow to do my best to pull myself together and focus on all the wonderful energy and amazing happiness that these people are more than willing to share!

On a lighter note (mainly because I need to get off that subject for fear of never being able to stop the tears), I took my first Boda-Boda ride on Sunday, and in a skirt no less! A Boda-Boda is a motorcycle taxi of sorts. I wouldn’t call it the safest thing on wheels, but safety appears to be a relative term here in good ole Uganda! Kate and I were headed to give a talk about alcohol use and abuse(Uganda ranks the top of the list of per capita alcohol consumption in the world according to the WHO) to the women’s group, but as “Africa Time” allows, the talk was rescheduled to next Sunday. A fun ride nonetheless. It seems everywhere you go here it’s like a parade. All the kids shout “Bye Muzungu” (white person?) as you pass by, and this never seems to end. Kate and I proceeded to do the pageant wave to both sides of the street and laughed our asses off!

Monday was a holiday, so we had a bit of a house party on Sunday night. Hard alcohol comes in little bags here, about 3 shots per, and is about 500 shillings ($0.33 US). Also, the beer is not refrigerated, so having a nice cold one is nearly impossible. There was a lot of dancing and singing and the rest is history. A few people were quite sick the next morning, however I was not among them! The warm beer and super sweet cane spirits are not exactly my cup of tea…probably a good thing!

Yesterday I managed to log some manual labor hours helping the engineers move gravel. I’m definitely paying for it this morning as my back has never felt this sore! I like to think that I burned off a few calories, but I’m not sure that it made much of an impact in the grand scheme of things. So yes, we’re still getting 8 servings of carbs per meal, and it just so happens that all of them are of a yellowish tint. It looks like my vegetable craving isn’t going to subside any time soon. Speaking of cravings…you would think that coffee would be in abundance here since it grows on the trees and is drying in yards everywhere you look, but apparently no one drinks it! Damn you Starbucks for forcing the locals to export the most precious of beans (you are right Mom, I should have packed a french press and some grounds)!!

Anyway, that’s about it for my rant. The turkey is still mean as hell, but I’ve managed to hold my ground and swing sticks fairly effectively and haven’t gotten attacked as of late!