Upcountry

My trip to Gulu this past weekend was a bouncy and exhausting one but one that is well worth the bumpy bus rides, lack of electricity, icy cold showers, and long days. Gulu is the second largest city in Uganda. It is in Northern Uganda about 338.8 kilometers (210.5 miles) from Kampala a ride that would take approximately 3.5 hours on US roads but takes anywhere from 5-7 hours depending on traffic and road construction. The road to Gulu is not great to say the least. It is riddle with pot holes and in some parts the pavement has been worn down to a small strip in the middle of the road barely big enough for one vehicle. There is construction being done currently which is promising for the future but a pain right now.

Once you finally make it to Gulu it is quite lovely. It is small town that has come a long way in a short time since the years of LRA control and general political strife and civil war in Uganda. A friend just shared his experiences of Gulu in 2006 with me and explained it as having little infrastructure and one restaurant with C+ food. Now Gulu has many restaurants and some even have A+ food (A+ for Uganda that is which is an entirely different rating scale). When I arrived in Gulu I hopped off the bus and headed to a popular restaurant to enjoy their delicious brick oven pizzas. After a late lunch I made my way to the girl’s home HALO supports. I rode a boda (motorcycle taxi) and thoroughly enjoyed the ride. The air is so much fresher in Gulu and I found myself sucking it in trying to clean out my lungs of the gross Kampala fumes. The ride was also quiet which is such a treat for me. In Kampala I am assaulted daily by noises from all. Such is big city life.

Ahhhh, peace

When I got to the girl’s home I was greeted with smiling faces running towards me bombarding me with hugs. It was so great to see those girls again. 

We spent the evening doing art as we always do and taking pictures. We had a delicious traditional Ugandan dinner prepared by the girls. 

It was a lovely evening but I was ready to turn in early after the long bus ride. I feel asleep immediately (which never happens to me) but woke up in the middle of the night to the rain pounding on the tin roof. Despite being woken up I was happy for the rain because it brought the temperatures down and made everything less dusty. It hasn’t rained in Kampala in months and the dryness is getting to be too much. The plants on the side of the road are no longer green but have a thick coating of reddish brown dust stirred up from passing vehicles. It was nice to smell the rain again.

In Kampala

Poor plant, it was once green.

Dust Prints

The girls were in school all day Friday so I did some work and charged my electronics at the same restaurant I went to the day before. I ran into some people I know so I ate breakfast with them and we spent some time catching up. It was nice to see them at breakfast because I never really have time to socialize with the people I know in Gulu since I only go for a few days and I spend them working. That afternoon I went to see our girls who are in boarding school. The school they attend is called Restore Leadership Academy. It is a great school inspired by the visionary Bob Goff and run by a few people who I am proud to say are my friends. Check out their website for more information. http://www.restoreinternational.org/

Restore Girls

The view from the school

Me waiting on the side of Juba Rd, the road that goes from Uganda to Juba, South Sudan, for a transportation opportunity. A boda eventually drove by.

I only had an hour with the girls since they had to get back to class but we had a good time catching up.

After visiting Restore I had a meeting with the mentors who manage the Gulu home. I was so happy to hear everything is going really well and they didn’t have any major problems to discuss. Finally the girls got home from school around 5pm. I did some art with the girls who were not busy preparing dinner. We had another delicious dinner and after eating the girls treated us to a few performances. First the girls performed a danced they choreographed themselves. Then they did a news broadcast that I really loved. The girls wrote stories about what has been going on in Gulu Girls home and reported them like they were newscasters. One girl read the headlines then the other girls read the in depth stories. It was adorable and I actually learned a lot about what the girls have been up to! To end the night we watched Shrek on a laptop. The girls loved the movie.

The Neighbors 

The Neighborhood

Main water tap at the house

I left early the next morning for Kampala. I was able to catch a ride with someone I’ve never meet but heard about many times. His name his John and he worked for Restore International in Uganda for five years. He left last May about a week before I came to Uganda to attend law school. He was back in Uganda visiting and working with Restore. He shared many stories with us on the ride down to Kampala and I really enjoyed hearing about what Gulu was like six years ago. Six years may not seem like a long time to you but a whole lot can change in six years in Africa. Gulu has definitely changed a lot in the past six years.

I am always happy to be back in Kampala because I am not much of a small town girl, but I always wish I could spend more time with the girls in Gulu. 

HALO Homes - Uganda Style

HALO has five homes in Uganda and each home has a name and its own personality. Four homes are in Kampala and the fifth is in Gulu which is a town in Northern Uganda. The homes are simply named by the area of the city they’re located in. The greater Kampala area is broken down by districts and parishes. Each district and parish has a name. Our homes are located in three different districts but they are only about 20 minutes from each other. Each home has a unique vibe and I’d like to talk briefly about each home.

All of the Kampala homes are ranch style houses that are within a walled off compound. The yards are medium sized but with enough room for the kids to run around and play. The houses typically have four to five bedrooms, a small kitchen, one bathroom, and a storage closet. Each house also has a separate bedroom outside as well as an outdoor bathroom and kitchen which are standard features for houses in Uganda.

Mengo Home – The Mengo home is an all girls home with 22 girls ages 9-18. About half of the girls are 13 or younger so the home has a very youthful feel. The girls love to play with each other so they are always playing games, dancing, and hanging out as a group. The majority of the Mengo girls enjoy dancing and singing. They choreograph their own dances and hold practices every week. The Bukesa boys, from the Bukesa home which is a short five minute walk away, usually join the girls for dance practice. Overall the Mengo home is a playful home with the sweetest girls who love a good giggle. It is always a joy to spend time with the Mengo girls.

The girls dancing and singing

Sisterly Love

Bukesa Home – The Bukesa home is a busy place filled with 21 rambunctious boys who love to have fun. Fun and silliness is the unofficial motto of Bukesa home. These boys love to run, jump, skip, flip, and fly around. It is near impossible to get one of the younger ones to sit down with you and concentrate for more than five minutes. They are always finding interesting ways of entertaining themselves. Sometimes I find them chasing the chickens around the yard. Sometimes half of them are up a tree doing who knows what. Other times they are all working together to take apart and repair old electronics they’ve found. I never know what I am getting myself into when I visit Bukesa home.

Unloading food from the truck

I wasn't kidding...Nathan and the chicken he caught

Karim! How did you grow your hair so long?

Typical. In a tree.

Lungujja Home – The Lungujja home is a home for girls who were involved in prostitution. The girls are older and more serious than the Mengo girls. They are pretty typical teenager girls. They’re into clothes, music, and hanging out with their friends. The Lungujja girls are more interested in doing well in school and learning practical skills than playing and having fun. In their free time they like to sew, dance, and to spend time relaxing and chatting with each other. I deeply admire the strength and courage these girls have. They are learning how overcome their pasts and to be strong confident young woman who look forward to their future possibilities.

Hanging out

Art

School work

Makerere Home – The Makerere home is a home for older boys who were living on the streets. All but two of the boys in this home are older than 15 and all of them have had very hard lives. Due to the nature of their childhoods the Makerere boys are tough kids who do not like to show emotion. They are not really into playing as much as the Bukesa and Mengo kids are. Most of the boys are in secondary school so they spend a lot of time focused on school and doing homework. Despite their rough exterior they are really sweet boys who love deeply. They enjoy playing soccer and making crafts like beaded bracelets.

Sadam's application for school prefect

Gulu Girls Home – The Gulu home in Northern Uganda is quite different from the homes in Kampala mostly because of the cultural and structural differences between the two places. The Gulu home is in what we in Uganda call the bush or the village. The home has a lot more land than the Kampala homes and instead of being located in a city it is located in a rural farming area. The kids do not encounter the same distractions as the Kampala kids do because there are none of the features of a large cosmopolitan city. Gulu is a quiet and small town that has far less infrastructure than Kampala. The girls are very well behaved and the home operates in peaceful unity. The girls are very sweet and they love to perform plays and dances. They keep themselves busy each week by organizing game nights, debates, and intentional family time where they share and the mentors teach lessons. They also enjoy taking care of their garden. It is always a treat to visit the Gulu girls. 

Kids Say the Darndest Things

Let's start off with this cuteness....

From left to right we have Ibra, Abudul, and Karim. These three are always hanging out with each other so the other day I asked each one why they like the other two. The first kid I asked was Ibra. Ibra is never in to answering my questions so in true form he just said "because I love them" using a very obviously-that-is-the-reason-mary-why-are-you-asking-me-this tone of voice. Of course I probed him a bit more and tried to get him to tell me what it is about Abudul and Karim that makes him love them. This is what he finally said

Ibra said about Karim, “I like his skills in somersaulting.”

Ibra said, “I like his dancing” about Abudul.

These three boys really enjoy gymnastics. They are always flipping, cartwheeling, hand-standing, and so on. They refer to these activities as somersaulting. 

Here is what the other two said about each other...

Abudul said about Ibra, “There are many things. He likes playing. He likes to be with his brothers or friends. He goes to school and does not miss. He likes to be with his friends, play with them. He likes to go to the parties (at school).”

I think my favorite reason Abudul loves Ibra is that he goes to school and doesn't skip! What a great reason to be friends with someone. 

Abudul said, “He is a somersault boy. He likes to read story books. He likes to talk with us and the uncles. He likes dancing. He is a boy. We are good friends” about Karim.

My favorite reason Abudul gave for liking Karim is that he is a boy. 

Karim said he likes Ibra because “Ibra likes to eat, play, fight, study, and he likes jokes.”

Karim said “Abudul like to play so much! He likes jokes. He likes to fight, and to somersault. Abudul is a hard working boy and so is Ibra.”

Of course Karim means play fight when he says he likes the boys because they like to fight. 

These boys are in the Bukesa home which is an all boys home. All of the boys in the home consider themselves brothers to the rest of the boys. They are one big family and they are all friends but naturally each child has one or two brothers that he is closer to. Karim, Abudul, and Ibra are very close and now you know why they love to spend time each other.

Hopefully this entry will turn in to a series of entries and I will share pictures of kids and the things they say!

How HALO Rocks it in UG

I came to realize that many of you probably don’t fully understand how HALO operates in Uganda so I thought I’d take some time to explain our system because it’s actually pretty cool.

One of the most important aspects of HALO UG (Uganda) is our partnership with the local nonprofit Cornerstone Development Africa, more commonly referred to as Cornerstone. Cornerstone has been operating in Uganda for 30 years. They are deeply connected to the country. Cornerstone’s main program is their schools. The Ugandan school system is quite different from the American system. Without getting in to too much detail the Uganda system works like this…primary school (levels 1-7), ordinary level secondary school (levels 1-4), advanced level secondary school (levels 5-6). Not everyone goes to advanced level secondary school. Cornerstone runs advanced level schools for boys and girls. The Cornerstone schools are always in the top 10 best schools in the country and many of their alumni go on to play important roles in Uganda (some are members of parliament and part of the local governments). HALO partnered with Cornerstone because of their deep connection to many communities in Uganda, their vast knowledge of Uganda, experience working as a nonprofit and working with other nonprofits, and their values and organizational integrity. It has been a very fruitful and productive partnership for both organizations for the past four years.

As the HALO Ambassador in Uganda I work very closely with Cornerstone. My office, the HALO field coordinator’s office, and the resettlement coordinator’s office all reside within the very large Cornerstone head office located in the heart of Kampala (Uganda’s capital). We work very closely with the Cornerstone staff to ensure a strong partnership.

HALO has five youth homes in Uganda. These homes are directly run by mentors or as we call them in Uganda, Aunties and Uncles. The mentors are graduates of the Cornerstone schools. The mentors are hand selected by the Cornerstone staff (mainly their alumni coordinators and the head mentor) with the approval of HALO staff. The mentors live in the youth homes for three to four years while they are in university. The mentors are held to very high standards and are given a great deal of support from HALO and Cornerstone staff. They receive training throughout the year in the form of weekly meetings, and occasional guest speakers and leadership conferences. 

The nurse who tends to our children giving a lesson on first aid to the mentors

The mentors are the ones responsible for making sure the kids go to school every day, eat three meals a day, receive medical care when necessary, and are loved and cared for. We could not do this without our Aunties and Uncles. They pour themselves in to the HALO homes and we are so thankful for their compassionate souls and their commitment to the children and to HALO. HALO would not function in Uganda without our mentors.

Me and Uncle John at community service

Aunt Harriet and Aunt Teddy of Lungujja home giving directions for community service

HALO also could not function without our field coordinator and resettlement coordinator. Asiimwe, the field coordinator, is a passionate and caring individual who is sharp with numbers and never lets unexplained costs slip by him. Asiimwe is HALO’s accountant in Uganda, but he is so much more than that. Asiimwe cares deeply for all the HALO children. I seek his advice daily on all sorts of issues. Asiimwe helps me make informed and culturally appropriate decisions in regards to HALO work and my own life. He negotiates the rental contracts for all the HALO homes (we rent four of the five of our homes in Uganda) and he even negotiated the rental contract for the house I live in. He frequently visits and checks up on the HALO kids who are sponsored in school but do not live in a HALO home. He makes sure the mentors are aware of their homes financial situation and he is great at reminding us all of the financial implications of our program decisions. HALO Uganda would be fumbling around in the dark without the guiding light that is Asiimwe.

Me and Asiimwe rocking our HALO t-shirts at community service 

We recently hired a new resettlement coordinator and she is already a rock star. Molly was in the Mengo Home before HALO even worked in Uganda. At this time Mengo Home was not well financed and they could not pay for her upper level secondary education. Molly did not give up though. She is an excellent dancer. She dances all the traditional Uganda dances so she joined a dance troop and started dancing and weddings and other events. She paid her own way through upper level secondary. Then she continued to work and support herself through vocational training school. Now she works part time for Cornerstone and part time for HALO. Since she shares a similar background as many of the HALO kids she really understands their troubles and is able to connect with them. It is Molly’s responsibility to prepare our kids to leave the home. She starts talking to the kids up to if not more than a year in advanced. Molly’s ability to communicate with the kids is a priceless addition to HALO UG.

Then there is me.

I am responsible for overseeing HALO’s programs here and I serve as the liaison between the US and UG. I write monthly home updates and keep our HALO US branches stocked with pictures, stories, and information from the kids and program in Uganda. I manage the scholarship program. I facilitate individual and group art projects with the HALO youth. I spend a few evenings a week hanging out with the kids doing various things. Sometimes I just sit on the couch and wait for them to come talk to me while other times I arrange games, projects, or seek out specific kids to check up on. I also strategize, brainstorm, and work to make our programs the best they can possibly be!

 

While we all have different job descriptions and various responsibilities we really work as a team. I could not do my job without my coworkers in the US and Uganda.

GO TEAM HALO! 

Food

Food, food, food! I struggle so much with food in this country! I am not a fan of the local fare and I can barely put two things together to make a decent meal myself. I never thought I was bad at cooking until I came here and I am a mess. There is definitely less available to work with but I still have access to plenty of foods that I could make a meal from. I think my main problem with cooking is that all the things I usually made for myself in college are things that aren't available here. I lived off sandwiches and canned soup in college. Lunch meat is available but its not the same and it is expensive. There is no canned soup to be seen. I could make soup and I made a lentil soup once but I'd rather just buy a can. I have managed to put together some decent tasting dinners, but I still find it hard to motivate myself to cook. Hopefully after more time here I will learn some tricks of cooking in foreign countries. For now I'd like to share about Ugandan food. I do some freelance writing for a website about living in Kampala - http://www.livinginkampala.com/
and this is the article I just finished about local food.

Depending on what situation you are in when eating local food you will be served different types of foods. This article will give you a general review of the majority of the foods you are likely to encounter during your various dining experiences. You will never be at a restaurant or house where all the foods mentioned are available. Furthermore, I will only cover food you will encounter in the Kampala area. During you travels around Uganda you might see or eat food that is not mentioned here. The different regions of Uganda have different specialties.

The local food in Kampala is generally good but can leave the tastes buds wanting. The main staples of meals are starches. The main starches include rice, matooke, posho, and potatoes and will be referred to as the “food” portion of the meal.

The rice in Uganda is standard white rice. Brown rice is not served in Ugandan cooking and is even hard to find at specialty food stores. Matooke is boiled and mashed green bananas. Posho is the local name for a food found all over the African continent and around the world. Posho (or ugali in some parts) is water and maize flour boiled and mashed together until it is a dough like consistency. Potatoes here are your standard potatoes but are usually referred to as Irish.

Food will always be accompanied by one or maybe even two sauces. Sauces are made of beans, peas, groundnuts, and/or meat. The meat sauce is a thin salty broth like sauce made with either goat or beef combined with a few vegetables. The bean and pea sauces are made by boiling dried beans or peas and adding in a few vegetables and a lot of salt. Of all the sauces peas are my favorites, beans are a close second, I’d rather not eat the groundnut sauce, and I do not eat the meat sauce. Vegetables are referred to as spices. The only other spice used in most Ugandan cooking is salt and occasionally a tiny bit of red curry powder. From my experiences I’ve learned that many Ugandans think the saltier the food the better it is. I have no problem with salty foods but I do enjoy more of a variety of spices in my food that I cannot find in traditional Ugandan cooking.

You will almost always be served a side dish with your main starch and sauce. Potential side dishes include:

·        * Greens which can be either kale or some other leafy green like amaranth, nakati, or borr. Greens are boiled and served plain.

·         * Cabbage which is served boiled and salted

·         * Steamed vegetables like carrots, eggplant, and tomatoes

·         * Fresh avocado

·         * Pumpkin

·         * Sweet potatoes

·         * Baked/fried cassava

·         * Baked/fried yam

Dessert

Dessert is not to be expected at most dining occasions in Uganda. I have only ever been served dessert at special events. The most common dessert is fruit like bananas, pineapple, mango, jack fruit, papaya, and passion fruit. At special events like conferences, weddings, and graduation parties the host will most likely provide cake. Most of the cake I’ve had at events in Uganda is relatively dry and not as sweet as I am used to. Many cakes are made with raisins which I’ve never really understood. Other types of desserts like cookies, different types of cakes, ice cream, brownies, etc can be found at stores and restaurants around the city but rarely in a Ugandan home or restaurant.

Street Food/Snacks

Street food is an entirely different category of food in Uganda. You will almost never be served food you can get on the street in a home or restaurant. Street food is also a risky choice. I have eaten street food and not gotten sick, but I know plenty of people who have eaten street food and gotten very sick. That being said…proceed at your own risk. Street food is also similar to the western version of snack food. Food you might see on the streets of Kampala includes:

·     *  Chapatti – similar to a tortilla chapatti is made with flour, water, salt, and lightly fried in oil

          *  Kikimando – beans and chapatti

·      *  Rolex – chapatti with fried egg wrapped up like a burrito

·      * Meat skewers – various meats (chicken, beef, liver) on a stick, cooked on a charcoal grill

·      * Kabalagala - fried banana pancakes

·      * Mandazi - Sweet dough balls similar to doughnuts but not as sweet and a bit chewier

·      * Samosas – cowpeas or beef wrapped in dough and fried

·      *   Groundnuts (gnuts) – roasted and salted peanuts

Rolex is probably my favorite street food. They are filling and good. Sometimes they are too greasy but this is one food I find myself craving in Kampala. Kabalagala are also good but only when they are fresh. Once they’ve been out of the fryer for more than twenty minutes they become chewy and lose their good taste. I have yet to try a meat stick but word is they can be really good. Be careful though because the liver often looks the same as chicken so be sure to clarify what type of meat you’re getting.

Although not my favorite cuisine Ugandan food is good and absolutely worth a try if you are just traveling through.

Back in Action

I am the worst at updating this thing! It wasn't my new year's resolution but I think I am going to change it now. New new year's resolution - blog more. There it's done. Now I’m going to have to ease into this so this blog is going to be short-ish. 

Basic overview of the last two months:

Mid Nov – Mid Dec = a blur of activity! I was rushing around trying to organize art projects. I spent a lot of time with the kids and got a lot of paint all over myself. It was great. I wanted to bring lots of art back to the U.S. so HALO can use it during their art auctions.

Thanksgiving in Uganda was better than I ever could imagine. The kind parent’s of one of my friend’s hosts a huge Thanksgiving dinner every year for all the expat kids. It was a wonderful gathering of about 25 of my friends. The food was incredible and we stuffed our faces with no shame (well at least I did). I was (and still am) so thankful to have such an amazing community in Uganda.

Mid Dec: I think I finally got all the paint off my hands and then things slowed down at work because all the kids finished school and went home to their relatives for the holidays.

I went on a staff retreat with HALO's partner organization in Uganda, Cornerstone. We went to Jinja, Uganda which is a beautiful small town an hour east of Kampala. Jinja is a major tourist attraction as it is the source of the Nile River, and Jinja offers all sorts of fun activities like white water rafting and bungee jumping. I did not participate in any of those activities but I did have a great time with the staff of Cornerstone. We stayed at a nice resort on the banks of the Nile. The retreat was very peaceful and great way to end the year. Cornerstone staff members work incredibly hard all year and definitely deserve this special treat. The retreat was a combination of relaxing with friends, meetings, and a Christmas party. Everyone had a great time. 

After the retreat I headed back to Kampala for a few more days before I flew home. I was very excited to go back to the U.S. and see my family and friends. I got home on Dec. 18th even though I left Uganda on Dec. 16th. Longest journey ever! I had crazy long layovers in both South Africa and New York so it took me awhile to get home. But the long journey was SO worth it. 

Home was wonderful. My time there was filled with family, friends, and good food. What else could a girl as for? The first thing I did was have a warm homemade meal with my parents. Then I went to bed around 9pm. The next day I had lunch with my Grandma, and saw my friends that night. By the second day I had hit all the basics of being home, family, friends, food, so I just continued with that pattern for the next four weeks.

We had Christmas dinner at my parent’s house with my Grandma, Aunt, Uncle, and cousins. My parent’s hosted another family gathering at their house when the rest of my cousins came to town. Both gatherings were wonderful. I had such a good time hanging out with all my cousins.

I rang in the new year with a few of my closest friends at our friend’s cabin on a lake about an hour outside St. Louis. It was perfect.

A few days later I headed to good ol’ Indiana to see my friends from college. We all gathered in Indianapolis and proceeded to have an awesome weekend together. We spent Thursday night at our friend’s house doing what we do best - hanging out and talking for hours on end. Friday we hit up the Indianapolis Museum of Art for some culture. Friday night we hit the town and had a blast as we always do when we’re together. Sadly our time together ended on Saturday afternoon. I headed back to St. Louis to recoup and get ready for my next road trip.

Two days later I was heading west towards Kansas City, MO to spend a few days at HALO headquarters. It was so great to see the US part of the HALO team! We spent our time together catching up, having meetings, and strategizing for 2013. I left Kansas City feeling very inspired and ready to get back to work!

The last week and a half of my time at home was spent relaxing at home and eating good food. My brother was also in town from school so we hung out. My parents took us out to some of our favorite restaurants. The weather turned warm for a day so we took advantage of the situation and spent a Friday hiking around the nearest state park.

Eventually my time to leave came and I spent many hours strategically packing my suitcases to fit as many US food products not available in Uganda as possible. Three pounds of chocolate? Check. Two bags of quinoa? Check. Vanilla extract? Check. The list goes on.

The fun didn’t stop there! I still had one more special trip before flying back. New York City with my bestie! Flying out of NY to Uganda is about $500 cheaper than flying out of St. Louis so I like to monopolize on this situation and spend a few days in the city with one of my best friends, Rachel. Lucky for me another one of my best friends lives in NYC right now as well. The three of us spent the weekend bouncing around the city. From the upper west side to the lower east side to Brooklyn we had an amazing time. I also was able to see a friend from Uganda who recently moved back to NY. We had a super fast but super great catch up session at a bar in Brooklyn.

Finally it was time to fly out. I re-weighed my bags (50lbs exactly) and headed to JFK. It was sad to say goodbye to everyone, but I am happy for the time we had together. Twenty two hours later I was back.

I loved every minute of being in the US, but I am glad to be back in Uganda!  

I happily said goodbye to the cold and the snow!