Oh, What a Wonderful World!

I still wake up every morning thinking--is this real? Am I really here, living in Uganda? I love being here, every minute. I can't believe I've already been here for 3 weeks and it seems like I still have so much to do. I am living in one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen, with some of the most hilarious service-minded people serving the most loving individuals I've ever met. I feel so blessed and fortunate to be given this opportunity to be here and working alongside such great people. I know that I was meant to be here, as long as I can keep my mind focused on the work that needs to be done while I'm still here.

I apologize I've been slacking a bit when it comes to updating the blog about what I've been up to, as much of my time has been focused on projects, especially the clinic preparations in Bunabuyoka. We have been making great progress with the clinic, but a few things first!

Last Friday Josh and I volunteered at a school health clinic called Child of Hope, located in the slums of Namatala. We met with Grace, the school nurse who is a retired nurse from Mbale Regional Hospital. She's been the school nurse there for 5 years and she had us help as she administered to the children. When we arrived, there were about 10 children waiting for care and she had us help with each and every child. It was not exactly the experience I was expecting. I guess I assumed that we'd be nursing sick kids by coddling them with a little cough syrup, and send them off with lollipops and smiles. I was sadly, incorrect. The first little boy we tended to was visibly sick. He sat with his mother as she told us about his symptoms--vomiting yellow bile, fever, lethargy--all signs that would lead Grace to believe that this poor little boy had malaria. Because the vomiting was so severe, which we were witnesses of, he was unable to be treated with an oral medication. He had to be treated via injection, which Josh and I had to assist with, and we all know how children love shots. I felt terrible because of the chaos that ensued trying to calm and restrain a screaming, vomiting child. That was the beginning to my experience working in pediatrics. Every child that followed who needed injections reacted about the same way. Grace had us assist with the injections by administering them ourselves as she restrained the child.

 The way adults treat children here are VERY different than the U.S. I suppose you could say that in America, we "baby" our kids, but here adults are much more forceful, stern and less sympathetic. At the same time, children are far more submissive and speak very quietly, if at all. This was apparent to me as we worked in the school clinic. My favorite patients of the day were the ones who just needed an oral dose of antimalarial medicine. By the way, all Africans think that they have malaria, even if it might just be a common cold. Grace will diagnose almost every patient with malaria based on her own experience without testing to verify her assumptions. About 6 of the 10 children had were just given oral antimalarial meds, which was far more enjoyable to administer than the injection. Luckily, the school pays for the health care for these children but this is rare. Most children at schools do not receive such tentative health care or medicines. It's just sad because these children have parents who are illiterate, uneducated and have a dozen other mouths to feed, so many go neglected. The saddest moment of that day was when we had a little boy come in because of a rash head-to-toe that he'd had form birth. It was evident that this poor little boy was suffering from HIV. It was heartbreaking because this little six-year old was completely unaware of his condition, and apparently, so was his mother. That was another shock into reality here.

On a happier note, a group of us decided to take advantage of our Saturday and head up to Sipi Falls. We'd heard it was a great day hike and it would be a beautiful, scenic day off. It was such a gorgeous hike. Probably the most beautiful day in a while. We got to play in the falls and just enjoy the beautiful scenery!

Sunday we enjoyed another great day at the local LDS branch. The branch president, George, is so wonderful and kind and has the CUTEST kids who we hold during the meeting. The group of us 12 sang in Sacrament Meeting at they all loved it. One member even asked if we could record it for him to have.

Early Monday morning, I headed up with a few other team members up to Bunabuyoka. The hike actually gets easier the more you do it, which is good considering I'll be doing the hike at least once a week for the next 9 weeks. I can't believe how much I love these people!! They are so willing to help us. We had men who volunteered to carry our foam mattresses and food up the mountain just because that's all they have to give.

We stayed with Sarah and "Papa" and their family who have opened their home to us for the summer. Not only, did they let us take up their whole living room for 3 days but they made us Posho, Matoke (and even beans!) for lunch and dinner every day we were there. I'm so humbled by their willingness to give, when they themselves have so little. This is "hunger season" meaning that all their crops are growing so many of them go hungry in order to ensure that their children have food. Mothers in the village are responsible for getting water for their entire family, many of which have at least 6+ children. The problem is that the nearest water source is a good 25 minute walk along a dirt path to the other side of the mountain. Not only did they cook us food, but they provided us with lemon grass herbal tea before each meal. It was DELICIOUS and since returning to Mbale, I have began craving the tea. Mmmm!

As far as the clinic goes, we are prepped and ready to begin construction!! In fact, construction had already begun by the time we arrived. The men had all excavated the land needed for the foundation and had started accumulating stones for the foundation. We met with the village elders when we first arrived and they were so excited to show us what they had accomplished before our arrival. They did say that although it is hunger season and they have little energy, they will work as hard as they can until we complete this project. The next day, Josh and I taught a health class to the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd graders. It was a bit difficult to teach especially since it required a translator, but I know that we got our messages of personal hygiene across--we quizzed them after and they all seemed to understand! A few girls taught English while Josh and I began moving stones up and down the mountain. It was hard labor carrying 20kg bags full of stones up a mountain in the heat and humidity of the African climate. But, it was absolutely worth every minute. I know that all this work will be worth the trip once the clinic is complete.

The remaining item sees to be that we receive enough funds to purchase the building materials so that we can begin construction on Monday. We will be helping create bricks and completing the walls, and the roof technicians will complete the roof at the very end. We will also be cementing the floor of the school extension, so I will return to the U.S. as an amazing brick mason/ cement layer.

If you are able, please donate what you can to our efforts in building this clinic. It might be one of the most important things I've ever done because I know the significance of these people's lives because they are in dire need. I spent part of Wednesday going to homes and interviewing families about their current health in their home and the health of the community. One man told us that he'd once had 10 children and they had all died because he had nowhere to take them when they got sick and didn't have the money to take them into town to receive medical care. Getting Malaria is a death sentence in Bunabuyoka because there is no help or medication. I know that many lives will be spared because of this clinic. I spent much of Tuesday evening playing with a group of sick children, and although I washed and sanitized often, I still came down with a cold and have been battling it since. Fortunately, I have cold medicines here at the house, while these children are all sick and have no options. This clinic could be one of the most important items this community needs and I will see to it that we accomplish it! It is my goal, and I know we can do it! Please donate anything you can, and I know that peoples' lives WILL be affected for the better.

Thank you for your support in loving and sacrificing for these wonderful people. You don't know the impact you're having on their life, but I can see the light in their eyes and gratitude they have for our help.

The children at the sick bed at Child of Hope School

Josh and I working with Grace at the clinic

Hiking up to Sipi Falls

Atop Sipi Falls!

Looking out over the valley

Some of the children at Bunabuyoka

The excavation that has already begun for the Health Clinic!

They held a celebratory dance party and these were our drummers!

All of us dancing with the villagers!

The large pile of rocks that we moved up and down the hill. It was worth every kilo of stones to keep everyone motivated.

The men continuing to dig to prepare for construction.

The school that we will also be roofing next week!

We filled the floor with rocks from the mountain which we'll cover in cement next week.

Josh and I at a clinic at a village here near Mbale.

I will be spending Monday thru Wednesday every week in Bunabuyoka working on construction and teaching, and the rest of the week working in clinics around the Mbale area, administering injections, filling prescriptions and evaluating the health status of children and local Ugandans.

This is turning out to be the best summer of my life and I am so grateful for this opportunity to be here! Keep posted for more exciting summer updates.

Much love!

Can you believe I live here??

Queen of the Falls!

Bunabuyoka Needs Help

As I posted in my last blog, I had the wonderful opportunity of visiting the AMAZING village of Bunabuyoka and meeting the people there. These people are extremely humble, loving and so grateful for our willingness to help them. I love them so much already! Due to the isolation of this community, very few resources are available--most importantly, health care. As a prospective health care professional, I was appalled at the lack of medical attention found in the village based on insufficient space, supplies, and medical expertise. There is one midwife, Sarah, who is responsible to administer to the health needs of all ages in the community, and has little training and no location to assist mothers with child-births. There is one dark room with a dirt floor that they currently use for delivering children, but that is the extent of a health care facility for hundreds of people. They have a few medical supplies shoved into a small cabinet but it ranges from a few cotton balls to basic ibuprofen and some ulcer medication, and that is the extent of their health care. I was startled to hear just how people respond to death and how nonchalant people react to death because "it's just a part of normal life." We are so privileged to have doctors who will fight for our lives in the U.S., and a life is soon forgotten here in Uganda.

I met with the village elders and they expressed deep desire for a clean place with adequate care and medicines for their families and community-members, and I knew that this would be MY goal for the summer. I would do everything in my power over the next 2 months to deliver health care to these wonderful people. We posed the idea of using the school, that we are also helping to complete, to double as a health facility. But after further review, we knew that it needed to be kept at a distance from the children especially with varying levels of ailments that would be entering the clinic we would need to ensure that the children were safe. After discussions in greater depth with the village elders, it was apparent to me that this community was in great need of a health clinic. I took this proposal to the rest of my team and we all agreed--building this clinic would be our top priority this summer.

Not only would we build the clinic, but we'd also help formulate a way to recruit doctors, nurses and other community health workers to ensure that the villagers were receiving the health care once the clinic is complete. Our wonderful partners, CFAI (Christian Faith in Action International) has gone to great lengths to establish connections with doctors in the area that are willing to travel the 2 hours to Bunabuyoka each week to treat the villagers. We will be meeting with some of these doctors and nurses to further discuss long-term health care for this community. Additionally, we will be meeting with a pharmaceutical partner who may be willing to donate or at least sell us discounted supplies for the clinic. We will also be looking for supplies like beds, curtains, stethoscopes, etc, but it will require cooperation from these partners. My biggest worry is sustainability. I need to know that once I leave this summer, that this clinic will continued to be staffed and supplied and that the community will not be reliant on HELP volunteers to maintain their personal health. We are merely the spark to the fire that must be maintained by the people themselves. But, building this clinic is first and that IS the necessity!

Josh and I will be the project leads over this clinic and have spent man hours dividing up the exact materials, labor and additional costs to complete its construction. However, we have come to a roadblock and a significant one at that. In total to create this clinic, we are looking at a $3000 cost, which we as a team just cannot afford with all the other projects that our team is hoping to accomplish over the next few months. Our team has banded together and we've decided to fundraise this cost. While this cost may seem exorbitant, we know that this is an achievable goal! We have seen the need and the humble circumstances in which these people live. I am confident that we can construct this facility and that we can improve the lives of these wonderful people.

At this time, I ask you for a favor. My favor to ask of you is to allocate any monetary or supply donation to this impoverished community in any amount that you can, especially for a community that is in great need and has no options as far as health care goes. I know that for many of us, our funds are limited; however, I have seen the lives of these poor fathers, mothers and children that live in circumstances that we cannot fathom. When we are sick, we can head to the nearest health clinic down the road. These people have no funds or resources to be able to travel and many suffer the pains, which go untreated. The people of Bunabuyoka are so loving and grateful for our willingness to help them and my deepest desire is to give hope to these wonderful individuals. If you know anyone in health care in the states that may be able to provide actual supplies to stock in the clinic itself, those would also be greatly beneficial!

If you feel that you are able to donate to this cause, we are willing to provide incentives:

$10.00- A personal thank you with your name on our Website and Facebook Page.
$25.00- A personal village boy or girl thank you picture ecard.
$50.00- A personal video clip emailed or linked to you of the villagers saying 'Thank You.'
$100.00+ - Your name goes on the wall of the clinic or school (your choice),

Our group will be accepting donations through our private accounts via HELP International. You may mail in donations to:

HELP International for Ashley Alexander

455 N. University Ave.

Suite #212

Provo, UT 84601

or online at online donations can be made at:
http://help-international.org/donate-now 

I will be visiting the village tomorrow and will be staying there for the next few days while I teach health classes. I'll keep you updated on our progress towards building this health clinic. Thank you so much for your wonderful support!

Speaking with Sarah, the midwife and Tesila translating for us. This is the small room where they currently deliver babies and treat all villagers. It's extremely small and dirty.

The view from the village

The half-completed school house that we will also be roofing before we start building the clinic

Surveying the progress made on the school and what still needs to be done.

The villagers describing to us what we'll need to complete and how we will all do it.

Some adorable children that were following us around during our visit. They also performed for us when we first arrived!

Josh and I listening to Sarah. We were appalled at some of the current medical conditions in the village. I know that constructing this clinic is what I need to accomplish this summer. I ask for your contribution to this wonderful cause if you are able. Thank you!

Bunabuyoka!

What an exciting week it's been!! The first week was me trying to get my barrings in a foreign environment, which takes some getting used to in Africa. But now, it feels like home and the work can really start progressing. We've all been splitting up into our different areas of interest and have began making contacts with individuals that we are wanting to work with.

Last week I went to an orphanage with a few other girls in our group to survey their current needs. The children were so darling and excited to see us, and overall, their living situation wasn't nearly as poor as we were expecting. The children were happy and the caretakers sure love them! It was a great experience but the road to and from the orphanage was quite adventurous. We took a taxi there and back--a taxi doesn’t sound too bad though, right? Wrong. To put it lightly, it was like the Indiana Jones Ride at Disneyland minus the safety harness and cool air conditioned security of a family-friendly theme park. We all got to cuddle up in a 12-seater minivan with about 20 other Africans. Such is the African experience! It took us about an hour, both ways, of motion-sickness down the bumpiest road in sub-Saharan Africa..so it felt. I loved the children but I felt that there are other areas I can really make a difference. I know that working in health care is something I have a passion for and have enough experience to make a difference in the community.

In conjunction with health care, Josh and I went to meet with CFA, Christian Faith in Action, the organization that has been working with us and the village of Bunabuyoka. We met with the two sisters who head up this organization, Tesila and Tabitha, and about six other individuals. We were all SOO excited talking about the future plans for this village and how we would like to help this community, because it is in such a remote location and the lack of assistance they receive. We discussed many plans but we felt it necessary to go visit the community ourselves.

This morning, we started our day very early in order to get up to Bunabukoya and meet with the leaders there and discuss our options as far as community development goes. We'd heard Tesila and Tabitha's perspective but it would require the cooperation of the community to accomplish our goals. We'd been told that it would be a long trip up to the top of this mountain village but I had no idea what that would exactly entail. We took, yet another, taxi ride with a full van load of people along a bumpy road up into the mountains. We were dropped off at the side of the road and walked up a long dirt path that was nearly a vertical climb up the mountain. Our guide told us that the village was up this long dirt road around the first mountain and up the second. It sounded a bit daunting but we were eager to meet the people and we would reach them by any means, even if it meant a treacherous hike up into the mountains. About half way, we were met by a group of men with drums who led us up the rest of the way in a loud, drumming procession. As we got closer, we could hear the singing of children. We were met along the path by a whole school-full of children singing welcomes into the village! It was SOO sweet and it felt like we were royalty being met and graciously welcomed. They would sing, "This is the time to welcome you visitors, and we are happy to say welcome!" I felt unworthy of such a welcome but they explained to us later that we were the first Mzungus to visit the village since the HELP volunteers left last summer.

There was a whole program prepared for our arrival, we were sat at the front of their church and all the community leaders came introduced themselves, the children performed a few more numbers and asked us all to introduce ourselves. Each leader who got up and introduced themselves thanked God for bringing us to them and that we were blessings sent from God. I was so touched at their gratitude to God and to Jesus Christ for what I felt was a simple visit. Sure, we had to walk a ways to get to them but it felt like we had done very little for them-- they were still beaming with excitement and gratitude for us.

We all sat together as a group and discussed options for this village. It took awhile with constant translations but after a few hours of discussion, we came to a conclusion! We will be finishing construction of a school extension that was started a few months ago. This includes completing the roof, and cementing the floor. Here's the REALLY exciting part-- we are building them a health clinic! After seeing what they currently use for health care it is a TINY little room with no ventilation and a tiny little cabinet with nearly no supplies, and a dirt floor where the women give birth. There are no doctors or nurses but there is one midwife in the village with minimal training. We have lots and lots of work to do but I am so excited to teach them, establish this clinic and help them create a healthy, sustainable life far from the conveniences of town. This will include recruiting help of doctors or community health workers to venture up to Bunabuyoka on a consistent basis to ensure the health of these people.

We will return on Sunday evening and stay there until Tuesday evening. Josh and I are preparing the first of our health lessons and two other girls will be joining us to teach English while we are there. I already feel such a love for these people, possibly even more so than other people I have met at other locations. They are so gracious and loving and grateful for our help. I am especially humbled by their appreciation to God for their blessings and I am reminded of the many blessings I have been given and that Heavenly Father is so aware of us individually. He loves each and every one of these children as much as he loves me. I know that this is my opportunity to serve my fellow men and help them to feel Heavenly Father's love. I am overwhelmed by ALL the work that must be done and my desire to do so much while I am here. I want to affect so much change in the next 10 weeks but there is only so much that I can do alone. I was recently reminded that it is not the change in mass quantities of people that influences great change, but affecting one person at a time. Through the love of the Savior for each person, I hope that I can make at least one person's life better. This whole summer will be worth it if I can help one person be loved and influenced to serve another.

Thanks for keeping updated and being such a great support to me!!

Lots of love,

Ash

A view from our hike to Bunabuyoka-- all the children came out to greet us

All the wonderful children singing for us!

Common staples at every African meal. They made this for our lunch at Bunabuyoka. Matoke (left) is pretty much mashed banana and Posho (right) is flour and water.

I really love matoke. Eating with our hands!!

Warm Welcomes and Future Plans!

Yesterday was a bit of a slow day here in the Mbale household. About half the group who was interested in an education project with the Mbale School District all went to meet with the Minister of Education. The other half of us stayed behind at home to work on cleaning, shopping and project planning of our own. I have the lovely chore of bathroom cleaning this week. I won't begin to disgust you with some of the regulations involving the toilet, but let's just say...it's definitely camp-style out here. I'm just grateful we even have a toilet! We headed to the market in town to pick up a few staples for the house-- bread, eggs, oil, etc. The rest of the group met us back at the house and we began a project brainstorm/development session that lasted us for the next 5-6 hours.

Josh and I spent quite a bit of time working over some of the details for projects we would like to tackle as far as public health and volunteering in a clinical setting. We are so eager to begin working but there are a few people we need to meet with first and some project development research that needs to be done before we can jump into it all. Here is our idea-- there is a mountain village quite a ways from here that HELP did some work with last year to complete a school. They were the first Mzungus to ever enter the village. This year, we REALLY want to work to build a health clinic for these people who receive very little health care because of their distance from town. Word is that we will need to take a taxi, boda and a hike all the way to the top. Once we provide them with a clinic and even in the midst of construction, we are eager to also teach health classes in the community about women's health, HIV/AIDS, proper sanitation, etc. CFA is the organization here in Mbale that works with this community providing education to them and are looking for our help to create this health clinic. We will hopefully meet with CFA on Friday to begin plans and find out what our options are. This might be one of the big financially demanding projects, but also has the potential to become one of the most sustainable. My hope is that we could head up to the village on Monday and see what their current health status is. We will probably stay days at a time up there once we begin work on the clinic. Josh and I will probably become very accustomed to the long distance to the top by the end of the project. We also have been informed that they do not speak any English in this community, which will also require us to have translators while we are there.

A quick side note--before coming here I did some research on language and culture in Uganda. I found that English and Swahili were the main languages here, yet, I have found that VERY few people actually speak Swahili. Most speak Luganda but its form differs from district to district. You could drive one hour from Mbale and encounter an almost completely different dialect that a local Ugandan would not be able to understand. I am shocked by this but it is just the way that tribes were split up and are still divided by language. So, with the potential of living 3-4 days in a remote village in an area that speaks no English, I am finding it a cultural norm here to have language barriers, even between fellow Ugandans.

Today, we woke up early and were met by Sulu who represents an organization here that works with women's groups and schools in Mbale's surrounding villages. We all hopped into a taxi and were transported to a village about 15 minutes away. When we arrived, I was not prepared for what was about to happen. We drove up and there were many women waiting for us to pull up in the van. As soon as we pulled in, the door of the taxi was ripped open and I was forcefully removed from the car. I was lifted out by the swarm of women who were yelling and screaming and cheering. I was at a loss of words. One woman grabbed me out of the pack and pulled me across the path to some chairs that had been set up for us in the shade. Once everyone was pulled out of the car and seated, they began to perform for us. A musical number in English, a skit and then a song in their language. A common sound was a yell, like the Xena warrior princess yell (for those who are familiar).

We were taken to 2 other similar women's groups, a health clinic, and 2 schools where we had similar greetings of cheering, singing and dancing for us. I was floored at their love and excitement for us as we went from village to village. Each group begged for our assistance this year, mostly looking for teachers in the schools and microfinance assistance to help these women with income generating activities. I wish I was more knowledgeable in the business aspect and could help these women to be self-reliant. I love their willingness to earn their own income and be self-sufficient women without the dependence on men, who are often absent in theirs and their children's lives. I hope that our group can provide this assistance so that they can continue to empower themselves and each other.

Here are the videos from the performances today. Definitely one of those moments I will remember forever. I absolutely felt like royalty as they prepared these performances and cheered with excitement at our arrival.

Blessed are the poor, the meek and humble

Today was such a humbling day. I knew the day would come that I would be thrust into the reality of the severe economic situation of Uganda--and today was that day.

My day began with an amazing, yet hot, run around our neighborhood. There is a 3 mile loop around our house and it felt so good to get out and run a couple loops. I got my first hot shower and it was amazing! We chatted a lot about project preparation this morning before we set out to meet Moses, the director of Child of Hope, a school that was built in the slums of Namatala. The school recruits children from the slums to attend their school. About 200 students total attend the school, which includes nursery and primary school through 4th grade. These children are given an indispensable education and will be responsible to return home and teach their families, and be the one to eventually generate income and provide for their family. It is a wonderful opportunity for children in such dire situations to escape the life of poverty and create a life for themselves.

When we arrived, Moses explained the Child of Hope model and how they are attempting to change the lives of the children in the slums. Some of his associates took us on a tour of the community and it was far worse than I expected. Children with little or no clothing, small grass huts for homes and no clean water sources. Our guide told us that these women are all single mothers, with no income and have many many children to feed. Most children are lucky if they receive one meal each day and that depends on the success of the mothers leaving town and return with food for her children. When we walked into town, the children went WILD. I thought Saturday’s venture up into the mountain villages was an eager welcome but these children attacked us the minute they saw us. They came running and would jump on us, cling to us, wanting to hold our hands and walk with us everywhere we went. Many of them just wanted to touch my skin. Some babies would look at us and cry out in terror. I can only imagine what it would be like for a little baby to see a white person for the first time. Terrifying, I’m sure.

I was heartbroken when I saw these children and their current situation. They had nothing. Many of them would just sit in the dirt playing in the mud as their only form of recreation. Yet, they were all SO happy despite their immense hardships. I suppose it is all they know, and have no reason to be bitter. I LOVE these children so much. Each of them live on literally cents each day, if that. All I wanted was to hand over all the change in my pockets but I knew I couldn't affect real change unless I spent time to create long-lasting projects--not just short-term resolutions to these heartbreaking images.

After our tour, I vowed I would help with Child of Hope and find a way to help these extremely poor women and children. Josh, a fellow pre-med student here, and I are interested in implementing a health care project for this community. They said that there is a clinic but no medicines or funds to help maintain it. I am hoping there is a project we can develop for their health care. I would also be very interested in the women's empowerment in this community and how we can better create change for these women. I will provide updates the more we develop these ideas. I am incredibly humbled by these circumstances that these people live in, and it makes me deeply grateful for the wonderful blessings I have been given--to have been born into a wonderful family who loves me, has given everything for me and taught me so much about myself and my potential. Such small things have been neglected in the lives of these children and I hope that I can instill a bit of hope for a few individuals while I am here. I love Uganda and I have a feeling I'll never want to leave. I am already feeling like a different person and we haven't even been gone for a week yet. So much is yet to come.

On a side note, Yasin, my new best friend, has come over everyday since Saturday just to hang out and play. He promised he will teach me to dance this week if I promise to play football with him. We all know my soccer skills are amazing...so that should be a fun game for him haha! He took us around the outdoor market and taught me a lot about maneuvering through the downtown area. He calls me his "Nakhumitsa"-- meaning "I like you" in Swahili. I love this little boy so much already! His birthday is next week and I hope to do something fun for him.

That's all for now!

Two of my little friends in Namatala

They all wanted to be in every picture and see their pictures

This little boy's face is hilarious! They all just HAD to be in every picture.

This little girl clinged to me the whole time!

Kara and I on the boda boda. The basic form of transportation here.

This woman ran up to me and hugged me, and thanked me profusely for the water filters that HELP created for them last year. it helped prevent a cholera outbreak in their community this past January.

She was my little friend the whole time in Namatala.

Child of Hope offered us cold sodas after our long walk through the community. Their classrooms were so adorable--all the pictures were painted on to the walls.

Mzungu! How are you??

I was not planning on blogging today but I just had one of the best days I've had in a long time and just have to share it!

Holly and Rebecca, our country directors, offered an invitation to go hiking with them this morning. I was a bit apprehensive. I thought it could be fun but I was still a bit tired from the jetlag and my chacos are not quite broken in yet, so I had a fear of blistering if I went. I figured nothing I could do at home or in town would be quite as fun as spending time with my new roomies and country directors, so I decided to go. Our amazing guard David came with us as well as Simple Freddie, our hysterical friend/ radio personality/ local celebrity. They both brought friends and 2 guides along for the trip, and off we went!

We started venturing towards Mt. Elgon, the large mountain just East of Mbale. We began walking through a village where the local people live, mostly mothers and children were there as we passed through. This was the first day that we really got the chance to see the people and their living conditions. These homes are mostly made of adobe or stucco walls with small wooden, or in rare cases, tin roofs. The children were SO adorable. All of them are dressed in mere ragged old shirts, no shoes and very few actually had pants or shorts. As we started walking through the village, it felt like we were celebrities walking into their town. Children would run from their homes screaming "Mzungu! Mzungu! How are you??" This greeting followed us for the remainder of the day. More and more children would scream from the matoke (banana) fields or from their porches and yell to us! Few would actually venture close enough to us on their own but if we came to them they would either shy away from us or become curious enough to see what we had to say/ give them. Most of the time we just wanted to take their picture. At one point early on in the hike, Holly and I hung in the back of the group just taking pictures and talking to the locals. I took a picture of these two darling little girls, I leaned over to show them the picture and they squealed out of excitement to see a photo of themselves. I'm sure they had never had that experience before and it reiterated to me just how impoverished this community was. But, I am also amazed at how happy they all were. These people who had almost nothing but the rags on their bodies and the few cooking utensils, were always smiling and happy to see us. All would smile at us and wave saying, "Mulembe!" meaning hello. It is so foreign to the lifestyle we live in the U.S. where we may know our neighbor but how often to we warmly greet them with a smile? It definitely made me think a bit more about how I conduct myself everyday.

After passing through the village, we began the treachery of the next 5 hours that would be our hike. It was the MOST gorgeous hike I've ever taken. Everything was so green and lush and absolutely beautiful. We were told that we would hike to the base of the waterfalls but I soon became aware that our guides were actually leading us away from the base of the waterfalls. Holly and I somehow ended up at the front of the pack with the guides leading the way saying, "Hurry up Mzungu, we must go faster! No taking breaks!" In the states, we are used to switchbacks. No such thing existed today. Most of our trek was vertical and straight up. We still encountered some pretty muddy patches that caused a few of us to go on all fours to hoist ourselves up. I suppose no real hike is complete unless you end up covered in mud by the end.

The top of the falls is along this very high ridge. I had no idea that this was our destination until we got closer and closer until I finally asked the guides WHERE we were going. They said, "Up there!" pointing to the top of the ridge. I became increasingly more skeptical as to whether our group could tackle such a feat. In order to do so, we had to traverse an unmarked path in the opposite direction of the falls for awhile and farther up and up until we reached a ladder. It was less of a ladder, and more of a LARGE pile of sticks that can been arranged so that we could climb to the top of this ridge. I totally felt like Indiana Jones at that moment hoisting myself up higher and higher. I was amazed that all of the strength it took me with all four limbs, some of the local people were carrying tens of kilos worth of matoke up and down this ladder only using their feet. I was shocked. We finally reached the top and the view was INCREDIBLE. You could see all of Mbale and were we had walked from our house all the way to the top of this mountain.

We were incredibly hot and sweaty from the trip, so we all decided to go for a dip. It was cold but wonderful! The local village children cam out to play with us and see what we all were doing. After a swim and a quick bite of lunch, we ventured onward back down the mountain. We walked through a different village this time and got the same reactions from the people-- the children screaming "Mzungu! How are you??" and the smiles and waves. It felt like a parade of white people coming through the city. I already love these people soo much!

I became best friends with a 16-year old boy named Yasin (Yah-SEEN) who had been one of our guides throughout the day. He and I talked the whole hike back home. He reminded me of a similar sassy little brother at home. The sassing included, "You need to go faster! You are too slow! Why do you fear?" I would say in response, "I'm not scared, just taking my time!" We were facing a slippery, muddy slope downwards off the mountain and one wrong step could have sent me sliding to my doom, so you can imagine my caution. He is so smart, telling me about many languages and Ugandan culture. He has been through so much, just having lost his mother and now living in a house of 15 with his grandmother. I was amazed at his story because he was so optimistic and happy, cracking jokes with us. He told me that he is going to teach me to dance and that we must play football together soon. We all stopped at this local farmer's home and he took us around offering us fresh passionfruit and avocados. SOO yummy. Yassin put a couple of avocados in my backpack and insisted on carrying it for me all the way home. We hit a massive rainstorm on the way through the last village becoming so soaked, it was like we had gone swimming in the falls again. After the rain subsided Yassin wanted to dry out my bandana for me. He was so cute and darling. He is 16 but seems much younger to me. I would guess that being malnourished has caused him to look about 11 or 12. He gave me a new name, "Nakhumitsa" meaning "I like you." He said that it will catch on with the whole city by the end of the summer. He already told me that he does not want me to leave, but good thing I still have 3 months before I go. 


I love these people SO much!!! And, the scenery only adds the magnificence of this country. There is still so much to be done and I am becoming more eager to start our work on Monday! We will attend the local LDS branch here in Mbale tomorrow-- I've heard that they are eager for us to arrive and become involved in their branch. There is still so much to be done. 


I took so many pictures today but can only add so many pictures due to our slow internet connection but I'll add my favorites: 

Walking through the first village. You can see the waterfall and the top of the ridge that we will eventually scale.

The two little girls that I showed their picture to. They absolutely squealed in excitement of seeing themselves on my viewing screen.

Taking a quick break from our high climb. Me and my favorite Simple Freddie. Brian and Ivan were our two guides. You can barely see Holly in the back.

The end of the trail as we got to the "ladder." You can barely see it in the distance in the crevice of the mountain.

At the top of the waterfall! I made it!

We all decided to jump in the water to cool down!

Sharing our lunch with a couple of ADORABLE children.

We had an AMAZING view of Mbale from the top of the mountain!

Another waterfall along our path down.

Sucking on some passion fruit at the local farmer's home.

My new best friend Yassine!