ebola, cholera, malaria- eeee!

So I’m sure you have all heard about the ebola outbreak by now- but my lack of posting has nothing to do with that… one of my African friends here though was talking to me about it and in his typical Ugandan accent said “ebola and cholera and malaria- eeeee!” it reminded me of lions and tigers and bears oh my! haha. People here are so used to this type of thing, it is again NBD. Nobody is particularly concerned here... we joke about it a lot, but I really don't think it is going to be an issue...so no worries... I know everyone is worried.

Sam is my dance partner AND my new tennis partner

On Friday Sam and I had a tennis lesson with our new favorite African named Ayub. I have not played tennis since I was about 7 and took tennis lesson for a week… so I obviously sucked real bad. Sam on the other hand played on the tennis team in high school… Ayub kept saying things like “come on” “focus” “watch the ball” and then the occasional “good” even though his face showed it was most definitely not good. haha he was cracking us up! We actually beat him 1 game out of 6 and made sure to let everyone know! 

Afterwards we went to imbalu, which is the circumcision festival. It only happens on even years and is a BIG deal here. We were a little hesitant to go because it was in essence a bunch of men hopped up and testosterone blazing… but we got a special invitation to sit with the president of Kenya, and I wasn’t about to miss the cultural experience of a lifetime (ebola or not) and we made our way to the festival (it was at a huge field out of town). It was CRAZY right from the boda ride there. Rodg my favorite boda picked us up and we started- along the way we ran into a couple MASSIVE circumcision parades. Each boy that is going to be circumcised has a parade of people dancing and playing drums and holding spears and singing and just generally supporting him. As mzungus though, we cause quite the stir. It  was ridiculous. Rodg valiantly tried to drive THROUGH the parade and the people were amped and for some reason pinching us and hitting us and yelling (not angry but yelling all the same) and at one point someone hit rodg’s glasses off his face and since I was in the middle closest to him I grabbed them and then was protecting his head because obviously I want his hands on the handlebars! As I was defending the rodg though someone hit me in the head with some sort of stick! Super not cool. Ha.

Rodg! right after he let cami drive!

We finally made our way through the chaos and to the festival and at this point think this is the what? worst idea we ever had.  We started to make our way to the important people tent and randos kept running/stampeding towards us as they ran away from the policemen that they were throwing sticks at. It was out of control- so the police threw some tear gas into the mix. Luckily we were already on our way to the tent and weren’t affected. Just saw the people running on the other side of the fence. We had Ayub and David with us and it was sad how the Ugandans treat their own people. We were ushered into the tent no questions asked, just because we were white… Ayub got hit by the policemen and pushed out before we realized what was happening and told them he was with us. It was real sad.  Inside the tent there was no chaos- just the hottest place on earth. All the important people were there though so when the boys started their traditional dances we got to see everything and it was really cool. Def worth the chaos at the beginning. Total national geographic stuff. We didn’t actually see any circumcisions, and I felt insensitive taking pictures of the poor boys walking away with their African lavalavas trying not to cry… It was a really cool experience.

AYUB! 

Saturday we went and hiked Sipi Falls. It was beautiful. HUGE waterfalls in the middle of the jungle, can’t get better than that.  We also fulfilled me lifelong dream of holding a chameleon! I wanted one SO bad when I was little- but I was never allowed to have one… I was so excited to see the first one that the little trail guide boys found at least 8 for us to play with! It was the best! They make everyone so happy!  We got to jump into a frigid river with at least 3 men that were completely naked and bathing- our bad- and it was so cold! Ayub jumped in first and I followed- he basically had to pull me out of the current. It was FREEZING and the current was pretty strong but just more shocking. When Sam got out though she had a leech on her! I obviously did not handle this very well and did this whole ehhh ehhhhh ehhhhhh thing while shaking my hands at her haha. She was understandably freaking out not knowing why I was freaking out and then Cami flicked it off of her. Ha. gross.

and i will name him... pascal 

so excited. 

I leave in one week from today and I am so sad about it. I can’t believe it has come so fast! I am going to miss it here so much.

the time a boy wrote me a love song and gave me a live chicken

Love this kid so much.

Well you know how much I love Simon- turns out he has the cutest little sister and I love her too! Her name is Jaclyn and she is quite possibly one of the cutest kids I have ever seen.

Jaclyn!!!!

This week we went up to Bunabuyoka to hang out with the kids and talk about the language school they want to start up there. It had been forever since I had been and I missed Simon! (and the other kids of course). As soon as we got there the kids came running out of the school and gave us hugs. It is the best feeling in the world when a little African kid remembers your name! So the shouts of Alexis! automatically puts me in a good mood. Which is good considering riding on the taxi smashed with 24 people in a van always makes me a bit cranky… (we discussed that middle middle on the airplane ride home would be a welcome spacious journey compared to African travel!) Simon of course ran up to me and told me he had something for me but I was a little confused as to what he was talking about so just gave him and hug and moved on.

Simon and his note/song!

Later I was talking to Jared the school teacher, which by the way MIND BLOWN- his name is Gerald! haha the whole summer we have been calling him Jared and I will continue to call him that-fits much better, and he told me that Simon had something for me. He motioned for Simon and he came running down and handed me a note. It turns out it was a song and it was so cute. He sang it for me and I loved it. Ha as the other girls pointed out- first time a boy wrote a song for me…and I didn’t hate it! 

Jared/ Gerald

Later that day we were hanging out with Jared and tall skinny teacher Simon and they are obsessed with the Princess Pat! We sang it to the kids once and they love it. I have literally never seen so many grown men dancing and singing to the Princess Pat.  We also got them to teach us a little African dance which was super funny. We were all laughing and then Jared was like “oh! I almost forgot! the boy brought you a chicken” …. uh what? yup Simon brought me a chicken! I felt so bad because his family can’t eat sometimes and here they are giving me a chicken! What am I supposed to do with a chicken?! I tried to turn it down but didn’t want to offend as Jared assured me I would if I didn’t take it…They made me hold it and thought I was the funniest person in the world when I called it chicky chick… I just really didn’t know how to react… I was so flattered by the present and the obvious ultimate sacrifice in Africa. Jared told me of course it wasn’t extra- there is never extra- but it is a sign of friendship. I mean he gets up at 5 am everyday to walk up the Hell Hill just to make it to school on time (it’s about an hr walk) and he did it holding a live chicken! He also takes care of his cute little sister on the way. It just made me love him all the more. Apparently the only thing I need to love a boy is a song and a live chicken haha. Sara (the woman we stay with) made it for dinner! Chicky chick is no more!

Some of my favorite village guys dancing! They love the princess pat!

This picture cracks me up- mostly because they don't think twice about  the hand holding... especially in a place that it is illegal to by gay....

He got me a what?

Finally comfortable with Chicky Chick

Sorry mom... this is chicky chick after... I of course had to eat it- I would be a terrible person if I didn't eat the poor boys chicken!

Cami and I have not been on a real project together all summer and are thinking about running an eye camp in Buna. The team in Lugazi had 800 pairs of glasses donated and they have nowhere to put them. We are thinking it would be really cool to do a camp and do a bunch of eye exams and then leave the extra glasses in the brand new clinic that we built! Then they will always be there when people need them. I am excited to finally work with Cami on something!

I just love Cami so much! Believe it or not..we are dancing haha

The beading women are doing good and we are excited to start them out on some new designs soon. As for the urine project…we are officially finished! So much cooler in PDF form… it still makes me shudder thinking about the pouring of Ryan’s pee we did… but on the plus side the women are super stoked! Also I found out that the people in Buna are using urine as fertilizer! haha I was just joking with them today when we were helping the kids plant beans for their agriculture project and they were like uh of course! haha.

Jaclyn and Simon!

I just love it here. 

NBD.

I don't think I will ever get over the nonchalant attitude toward human life and innate rights here in Uganda. I can't even comprehend the difference of my life and the life of a Ugandan. All the time when tragic things happen, we are told, "it's ok, that is how life is- it is our way" I want to yell out that it is NOT ok! That those things should not have to be normal! In their experience though it is nothing to complain about, it happens to everyone, they should just accept it. 

They work harder in one day than I have ever worked. It's amazing.

For example, I have told you about Annette, my apaperero from beading, the other day she was really quiet during beading and I went to her "house" afterwards and asked if she was ok, she told me that her good friend and neighbor had died. You know i'm always awkward with news like that- but she said it so matter of factly that I had no idea how to respond. I told her I was so sorry and she just told us the same "it's ok, it is our way here in Namatala". I just can't comprehend that that is daily life- NBD.  Then today Rebecca and I were in Namatala and walked passed her house and she was selling some vegetables outside. Rebecca bought some for the house and Annette said "oh thank you! you have given me lunch today!" She didn't say it to make us feel bad, she was just stating the fact that she wasn't going to be able to eat lunch that day (and probably not feed her children lunch either), but since she made a sale she had some money to get food. NBD.

Annette, my apaperero!

her son Silver

One of my friends at the church works as a guard. He is part of the infamous 21 pack (all the young single adult boys who are all too excited to hang out with us mzungu girls). Yesterday I was at FHE at the church and he was in his guard getup. I went in the little station and saw he had a gun! I asked him if he even knew how to use it and he said "of course". Why wouldn't he be able to use a gun? He is from Northern Uganda after all... I asked what that meant, but all the boys seemed to think it was obvious that anyone from Northern Uganda would be able to use a gun. He then proceeds to tell me that where he is from every boy knows from the age of 12. NBD. He was KIDNAPPED from his home and taken to the bush and beaten and taught how to use a gun. He was able to escape with some of his older friends and had to go into hiding. He told me that it was better for him when Kony moved to Sudan because then he could stop hiding and go to school again. His dad had died and his mom couldn't really take care of him. I made him pinky promise that the story was true- he told it like he was telling me about the time he went to the store- like a total NBD moment. It's a big D. big D. He is one of sweetest and calmest people I have met here. I would never imagine that coming from him. When you think of that sort of thing happening-child soldiers and what not- it is super sad, but to know someone- makes it all the more real. Yet that was 10 years ago and he is not angry or bitter like you might expect. He was baptized a few months ago and is preparing to serve a mission. 

We have another friend (also part of the 21 pack) and he is one of the happiest people I have ever met. He is great. He also has gallstones and not enough money for surgery so is taking medication that makes him super sick and dizzy and nauseous. He can't pay for school fees, but wants to finish so bad, that he goes to the church everyday and studies by himself so by the time he has saved enough to go to school he won't be behind. He has so many bad things in his life but he is totally part of the NBD movement. So happy and I want to say...jolly. That's right I said it- cheese. He is just always smiling, even though he is in intense pain pretty much all the time. I mean my life can't even compare. I feel guilty when I complain about stuff and here he is never complaining.

This is not one of the 21 pack but another always happy man from Bunabuyoka

There are so many other things, this post is real long already though- but the attitude towards men being more important than women- just accepted- no one even questions the correctness of that statement, healthcare not being supreme - that's just how life is, everyone has malaria, NBD if I have a C-section then have to ride with my newborn home in a taxi stuffed with 28 people and then get on a boda (motorcycle) to get the rest of the way to the one room mud hut (that is if they didn't give birth in said mud hut and use a razor blade to cut the cord then go back to work), it's normal that the street kids smell like paint thinner because they have been huffing, NBD.

I just want to point out that all of this is a big deal. I still don't think I have adequately described the sad things you see here that are "NBD" to everyone because that is the way of life- but then in contrast to that the happiness and gratitude that is shown by every person. We are working with a documentarian right now that is going to help us make a movie about Namatala, but he is also working on a documentary called "Uganda 2012" It is in response to that Kony 2012 movie i'm sure everyone has seen. His main point is that when the outside world thinks of Uganda they think of Kony now- which is not a problem. He says they have been out of war for years now and that the real problems in Uganda (because Uganda DEFINITELY has them) are that there is no medication in the hospitals, and that people cannot afford to receive an education.

It still blows my mind that signs like this are at primary schools- it's not fair that they have to deal with stuff like this

I still can't wrap my head around it, but i'm thankful for the opportunity to even take a glance into what life is like for the people of Uganda.

wanji?!

I haven't been in the united states for the fourth of july in so long... I guess summers are for traveling? It didn't really feel like a holiday- we went about our usual business and best day ever- we got to tell the women that we are going to buy necklaces from them! They were so excited. We definitely got a few AYE AYE AYES! It feels good to finally talk openly with the women about the website and tell them why we need to have it a certain way. I really want to be here to see the start of their businesses! I am looking into possibly changing my flight so I can see the project through- but i'm debating prices.

Annette and her design! She is my apaperero (friend)!

Rebecca and Veronica with her design

After beading we went home to our 4th of July extravaganza! We had SO much food! We made pretty much everything you would have in the states. We also had all of the Americans we know (aka the elders) over and then our favorite African friends were also invited. We played volleyball and ate A LOT. We had so much extra food. Cami and I were talking to Freddy and he was joking with us telling us that we needed to eat more food because there are starving kids in Africa- we told him that people say that all the time in the states. I asked him how we could give it to the starving kids, and Freddy is so awesome he just picked up and said let's go! He said last year they used to have huge dinners and then give the extras to the street kids all the time. So off we went, trash cans full of coleslaw in hand (we got creative, we don't have very many dishes) to go feed the street kids. Freddy told me he was my body guard and that it would be safe. We went to town and Fred took us to the place where the street kids sleep. They all know him (he is actually pretty famous in Mbale, a radio DJ that everyone loves) they lined up for us and we handed out plates and served what we had. They were so cute, and surprisingly polite. There were some older guys there too though that were trying to push the little boys out of the way. They all smelled strongly of paint thinner and Freddy told us it is pretty common. Huffing the paint thinner makes you lose your appetite. There was a little boy named Henry that told us he was 13 (he was TINY) and that he went to school up to P7 but his father abused him so much that he ran away from home. It was so humbling. One of the most heart wrenching 4th of Julys that i've ever had.... considering last year I was in Verona, eating gelato and walking around lago di garda. I can't believe the stark difference in one year to the next. I'm grateful for all of the opportunities I have had.

 Pineapple upside down cake! Made on the charcoal stove pictured below- our cook Sam is amazing!

 Who doesn't boil eggs outside? Deviled eggs? yes please.

Last night we painted paper for the beads... like Rebecca says our beginnings section could be a million pages long. We literally were sitting in our house painting old magazines, trying to get the graphics not to show, while getting paint all over us and stuck to us- never to come off, we couldn't find
places to keep all of the wet painted papers- they are currently scattered all around our house with no real places to walk..500 sheets of painted paper = only half of the necklaces we need to make!

We printed our first business plan! We gave it to Child of Hope when we had our meeting about becoming partners! 

shamba'd.

This last week has been quite the week.... it seemed like everything went wrong.

Tuesday Rebecca and I were excited because we were going to take pictures of where Martha works- she works at the medical school as a cleaning women- when we got there though she had already finished her work so we just sat down and talked with her. She told us her story and it is incredible! She is an amazing woman. She wants to start a casava business and has everything worked out but just doesn't have the start up capital. She doesn't know about the 1000 Shillings website yet, but we hope that the money she earns from selling necklaces will help her reach her goal! When we were leaving we saw a big pile of rusty beds sitting outside, we are building the clinic in bunabuyoka and happen to need hospital beds so we decided to ask if we could have one. We got as the Ugandans like to say "tossed about" a lot. We were sent from one office to the next and then told we had to come back later. Meanwhile we are just walking around the hospital which is insane! There are no real waiting rooms and everyone is just outside chillin- open wounds, IV ports coming out of little kid's heads and then the maternity ward just out in the open...could have potentially been very traumatizing but luckily I saw nothing... the mental hospital is also just in the middle and there were a bunch of guys in all white handcuffed together that was super shutter island and creepster... basically we didn't get the beds...

After that fail we decided to go try the milkshakes at the internet cafe that everyone had been talking about... even bringing Ashley to tears...and it's true they were dang good... first real ice cream i've had since i've been here... the let down was I immediately noticed the coconut ripping my chest apart.. I of course wasn't carrying any medicine so I just went across the street to the shiv (a supermarket) and got some water. It wasn't my worst reaction but not great. We had meetings the rest of the day so I went to those without getting any medicine. I went to institute that night and my reaction was getting worse so I kind of wanted a blessing but no one was there to give me one. I said a little prayer that maybe the elders would show up so they could give me one but they never go to institute - I was so surprised when I walked out the door and they were standing there! An appointment had fallen through and they had just stopped by. It was really cool. Also after receiving the blessing my reaction ended and didn't continue into the next day as usual.

Wednesday we went back to Martha's work to try and video her awesome story. BIG FAIL. Rebecca and I realized that we are NOT videographers. It was the worst. I can't even tell you how bad it was. We tried with different cameras later that day at beading and still a fail. All you can hear is birds CA CAW CA CAW! Super annoying. Then the beads the women had were covered in dirt with bugs dried into them... so we decided we needed to paint the paper for them first because they don't have room in their 1 room huts to dry a bunch of paper... the paint we used took FOREVER to get off our hands not to mention dry- and Cam and I had to sleep in the living room because the paint fumes were so bad and I had delirious dreams about getting malaria because I wasn't sleeping under a net! Ha.

Thursday we went to Kamonkoli and Kakoli as always (the urine project) we were supposed to have a guest speaker but he didn't show up!! It was terrible. We had to wing it for 2 hrs and had nothing prepared! Beading made the day better though. Our women were so excited and a lot of the necklaces are really coming together! Rebecca and I got really sick though and I'm not sure why...

Friday I was sick all day.. I was throwing up and it was not nice. It's the weirdest feeling though because i'm super hungry but then when I eat anything it's the worst.

Today we went to play soccer at the church and were shamba'd turns out it was the church clean up instead haha.

Even though things get frustrating here, i'm still so excited to be here and I love (almost) every minute of it. Rebecca and I just keep laughing when we have days like that saying when we look back at our "beginnings" as 1000 Shillings we are going to have the best stories!

Faces of Namatala

I freaking love the people of Namatala. Today we went in and just wandered around and took pictures to use for the photojournalism part of 1000 Shillings.  It was one of the best days I have had since I have been here. I forget about how special the people of the slum are- they are living in less than desirable circumstances but find joy in the little things. I mean just take a look at the picture above and try and tell me you didn't smile. If you ever have a bad day you can just look at this chunk of a baby and he will make you laugh! I can't get over this picture!!

This is an example of one of the bigger houses in Namatala. We went and talked to all of the bead ladies today and literally their houses were smaller than most walk in closets in the United States.  Elizabeth (below) showed me her house and what you see is the entire thing... there are 2 beds touching in an L shape and then that huge pile of beans there drying in the middle of the room- that's it. She sleeps there with her 6 kids. I have no idea where they all sleep- they range in age I think she said from 3-14. She is holding the paper that she painted to make beads with! It was so awesome to just drop in unannounced and see all the ladies beading! They really are dedicated which makes us hope this business works all the more!  I really want to make this work for them! They all have dreams of opening their own businesses and I want to help them reach that goal!

 I love this. He was trying so hard to do his job of taking care of the calf... I can't believe how small he was and how big his responsibility was.

 

This little boy was just carrying around this roll of film- the photographer in me freaked out a bit at the sight of his little fingers on the negatives- but then I just thought it was cute. Pretty much anything goes for toys here.

 Carmen here is ALWAYS hanging out around Child of Hope. She is really cute- but really clingy. She would not leave my side today for even a minute as we were walking around trying to take pictures - which PS was way successful and we have a ton of awesome ones! - whenever I would try and take a picture I would have to drop her hand and she would start to whine/cry a bit. She is a funny girl.

Little Ado is Ida's daughter a is FEISTY. She is the cutest. She reminds me of Hannah actually- she knows she is cute and definitely plays into it.

I know I have been spamming this site but we are so close! Only 130 to go and 35 hours! The money helps to buy these amazing people water filters! Clean water is scarce in Namatala. It is hard to find and expensive when you do. We want to give these people the opportunity to have clean water just like everyone else!
http://www.indiegogo.com/buildingthefutureuganda?a=483184

Donate if you can!! 

1000 Shillings!!!!

Great news on the bead front!! These women are amazing! They are so excited and motivated to make the necklaces. We started working with them to improve the designs of their necklaces and it is better than anticipated! They look great! Last year the women were taught how to make paper beads but then were left with no market to sell them in. Here in Mbale and surrounding areas, the market is pretty saturated. So the women of Namatala had this new skill but they had no place to sell and became super discouraged. Our goal was to help them differentiate themselves and gain new skills. Then we decided we wanted to give them access to a global marketplace and have decided to start a business! We have named it 1000 Shillings (the amount of money the families in Namatala live off a day - about $0.40) . This new international market will give these women the opportunity to supplement their incomes.  We also want to be able to tell the story of each of these women and their families and communities. It will be like a travel magazine mixed with an ecommerce site. 

Meet the ladies!!!  

This is Veronica, she is the happiest lady ever! I love her smile! She is so willing to learn and is easy to laugh. We had the opportunity on Saturday to go and see her house and meet her family. Her husband left her awhile back and we couldn't distinguish quite how many children she actually has but she takes care of at least 10 kids. The kids were out working in the field and we got to go visit them and see them at work.

This is Ida. She is our rock star! She is the only one of the ladies that had continued from last year. She has been making beads and trying to sell them in her spare time (which isn't a lot). She picked the most complicated of the designs we offered and is doing super well! Her necklace had 730 beads! She is very dedicated and wants to own her own business one day. I really think she can. She tries to sell charcoal now but most of the time doesn't make a profit. We want to start teaching them business skills so that one day Ida and the rest of the women will be able to stand on their own as confident business women.

This is Esther. She is so funny. She loves to laugh and was so proud of her first necklace. She has been living in Namatala since her husband "chased her out" as she told me. She speaks English but is super shy. She was my partner this last week and we put this necklace together as a team! When it's finished the top with have a leather strap or possibly braided african fabric. We are really excited about this one!

Martha came out of nowhere! The first time we met with the bead ladies there were only 5 of them. Then one day Martha showed up and we are happy to have her! She is so on top of the game that when we met last not only had she completed her homework of making enough beads for her assigned necklace- but she had already varnished them! She is also quick to smile and has really good English. We got to meet all of her kids on Saturday as well. It was really cool to talk to them and see their mom's influence. She is a great asset to 1000 Shillings!

 This is Elizabeth, I admit we were a little worried about her at first- but she has turned out to be a front runner! I love her necklace! Rebecca was paired up with her last week and they had a lot of fun making what we affectionately call The Elizabeth. She is very shy and timid at first and then opens up and loves laughing with the women. I think the women appreciate this time together beading- maybe it helps them to forget for just a minute.

This is Annette. I absolutely love her. She is so friendly and has one of the cutest babies in the world! She is always wearing that neon green do-rag (spelling?) and it makes me laugh. She is usually right on time for our meetings (which is a definite accomplishment in uganda! ugandans tend to be at least an hour late! admittedly!)

These women are so great and I am excited to start being able to sell their stuff. It will make such a huge difference in their lives! Hopefully rent, school fees, food, and running their businesses won't be so much of a problem anymore! Plus I think I might of found something that I would actually be happy doing with my life... as seen by past experiences i'm not really great at staying in one place- but right now I have a yr and a half plan and I don't even feel claustrophobic about it! I get to combine my love of traveling with my love of photography. We want to branch out to different countries and spotlight collections from different women's groups all over the world. Rebecca has connections in Nepal so we want to start there after Uganda, but are also interested in going to women in the United States, as well as Mexico for this year. I'm excited for the opportunity to tell these women's stories- the aim is to let you get to know her as I have. I think this is such a cool concept! So...stay tuned!