getting back in the swing of things.

So I thought I was really ready to get back to my life in Uganda after my holiday back in the states...man, was I wrong. I had heard from other volunteers that it is very hard to re-adjust to life here after being away. I thought I was strong, sure in my conviction and desire to be in this country.

In my last post I discussed the theft of my camera, the power being disconnected from my home (with the heat in the North, no power=no fan=no sleep=a grumpy, irritable volunteer) for over two weeks and my landlord failing to pay his mortgage on the property...leading to my potential eviction. All of these things were tough, but I thought I could deal.

My organization started a four day program out in the villages, obviously I was the only white person out collecting data in these villages. I was barraged with people asking for my financial help for their children's school fees, drunk men asking me for small money for "tea" and quickly I was at my wits end. It seemed that all the hard work that volunteers do here is for no purpose, or maybe that there is so much to do that the task seems impossible. While in the communities the children mocked my mzungu accent and swarmed around me to make fun of me and the way I looked.

This was the first time that I honestly laid awake at night (I couldn't sleep, too damn hot without the fan) thinking that maybe this wasn't right for me, I should just call it an experience and head back to the states. Maybe I'm just not cut out for this type of work...

But then I wake up and Patience, the young girl next door is giggling in the front yard, the old man in the village thanks me for the work I'm doing and I look out over the grass-land of Northern Uganda and realize how fortunate I am to be having these "struggles."

I think the most important thing to remember is to take care of your own mental health while volunteering in this type of environment. Recognize the stress and if it gets to be to much, get away...I made a few calls to friends and we took a long weekend in Kampala.

Now, Kampala is an amazing city. anything you want to do can be done. Our first night in town we went to a very authentic/amazing Chinese restaurant. I've seen Old Chinese men sitting in the back rooms smoking, looking like something out of a movie. We sat in the back yard of the restaurant enjoying the evening with 12-15 bunny rabbits running around in the grass. As we perused the menu a chef walked out back cornered a rabbit, grabbed him by the ears and carried him into the kitchen. Like I said, real deal Chinese food!

After dinner we hit the casino in Garden City (pictured above) which is where you can gamble, go bowling, eat and drink too much, or shop for Western goods and electronics. We're talking Listerine and Pringles... amazing.

The casino was a blast, we spent the evening playing roulette and drinking free gin and tonics. To give an example of the quality of the casino, the poor girl at the wheel accidentally flung the ball against the far wall three times in a row while trying to make a spin. not exactly Vegas, but great fun none the less.

Saturday we took in Prince of Persia (awful movie, I slept through everything but the opening and closing credits) relaxed, drank $6 cappuccino's and finished the evening at an amazing Indian restaurant.

I'm back North, re-energized and looking forward to the future. Uganda is an amazing place, giving the volunteer the option of getting away from the "village" and getting back on track. I am again confident that I'm ready to handle the stresses that are sure to come in the rest of my time here. It's good to be home.

safari and home

It's been a while since i have written here, my apologies. I was recently talking with friends how the things that happen in Uganda now seem commonplace and ordinary, while are probably fascinating to many friends and family back home. It's easy to forget to put "pen to paper" and share the experiences. I'll try and do better in the future.

On April 12th, the volunteers in my group met for a week-long life skills workshop in the outskirts of Kampala. We have workshops on various topics roughly every three months. If you have seen posts from other volunteers on my Face book page you will see that we all have a fairly good time at these events. The group is a great group coming from all corners of the states: Puerto Rico, Alaska, Seattle, Atlanta and Kansas among others.

This group is as diverse as the U.S. itself and I am blessed to be able to call most of them very close friends. It's funny the bonds that are built when a group is placed in a foreign environment with the hopes of achieving a common goal.

On Saturday the 17th, I left Kampala with Zach, Jill and Hayley to visit the girls sites in the West and take a safari in Queen Elizabeth National Park. Since I have been in country this is the first trip I have taken away from my site, so needless to say I was pretty excited about seeing some other parts of the country.

Queen is an area of grass land that is surrounded by mountain ranges and two large lakes connected by a channel. It also borders the Congo on one side. The first day we were at Hayley's site she took us on a hike up one of the mountain ranges along a path used by the villagers living in the hills. I am fairly certain this area is rarely seen by tourists, so pretty exciting hike. In the valley's along the ridge of the trail leading up the mountains are a series of crater lakes. These lakes are the source of water for the villagers, but to get to it is a treacherous climb down a steep angle.

When we finally reached the peak of one of the mountains we sat on the ground outside of an open-air one room school house and snacked on bananas and chips while looking out over the park. It was great hike and day with friends.

The next morning we woke around five a.m. to meet a coworker of Hayley's that also does guided tours of the park. He picked us up and we headed down the mountain to the park entrance to Queen. We entered the park just in time to see one of the most beautiful sunrises ever. During the morning we saw elephants, water buffalo, tons of warthogs and spring buck.

During lunch we ate cheese and sausage Hayley's family had shipped to her at a hotel on the side of the mountain and after took naps in hammocks looking out over the grassland we had spent the morning touring.

The afternoon was spent on a boat tour along the channel between the two lakes checking out the hippos, crocodiles, water buffalo and birds. We watched two hippos fight on the banks over (I'm assuming) a female. Pretty cool to see something like that 25-foot away in a boat. Right about this time my camera shot craps (more on that later),

All-in-all it was a great trip and the four of us had an amazing time. It makes the time in Uganda much more enjoyable when you are able to click so well with others.

On the 21st I boarded a plane to fly back home for my childhood friends (known each other over 28 years) wedding. I flew back right during the beginning of the Iceland volcano, but the airlines did a great job of getting me back to Kansas. Dad picked me up in the airport, it was a great beginning to a wonderful trip back home.

I was able to do all the things that I have really been missing here: golf, bowling alley, food (oh my god, the food!) and most importantly time with family and friends. The wedding was an amazing event that went off without a hitch. Everyone had a great time and I was able to get through the best man speech without passing out. Ryan, you and Chris are a great couple and I'm fortunate to have you both in my life!

Before my flight back to Uganda, I was able to pick up a few essentials I had been needing. A years worth of deodorant, toothpaste and underwear, clothes out of my closet, more shoes and most importantly a very nice new camera.

The goodbyes were tough, it will now be the long stretch of 18-months before I return home. Everyone understands I'm having the time of my life, but i realize it's still hard to let me go. There are plans in the works for both Dad and Cindy, and later mom to come visit so that will help a great deal. Although hard to do, I was really excited to get back to my "home" in Africa!

So, how was I welcomed back? I had a driver pick me up from the airport and drive me to a hotel in Kampala, on the way I had him stop at my Ugandan bank so I could get out some shillings to pay him. I apparently forgot my PIN and after three wrong tries it ate my card. I had to go to an exchange bureau and cash in some dollars to get him paid. It took the bank three days to get me a new card in Kampala before I could head North.

The morning I left, a fellow p.c. worker in Kitgum; Josh, and I were sitting on the bus in the park waiting for it to leave. I had with me two huge duffel bags, a backpack with two laptops inside and my camera bag all beside me. As Josh and I have reflected on the event, i think that we were distracted by one man while another picked my new camera ($400) right out from under my nose. Another woman on the bus had her laptop stolen as well. I think the men came on, distracted and stole what was handy then disappeared back off of the bus before anyone was aware of what happened. On the bright side, that was all that was taken from me, it could have been worse...i suppose.

When I got home that evening, the power to my complex had been disconnected because the other tenants never stay current on bills, i opened the door and there was a 5-days to vacate eviction notice from the bank because the landlord apparently doesn't stay current on his payments either. After some major complaining by me, the power is now back on and it sounds like the landlord has made some arrangements with the bank. So for now, I still have a roof over my head! I'll keep you posted.

So this brings us to date. This morning an old man approached me in the field on the way to work and said, "Sir, could I trouble you for some help?" He pulled from his pocket the death certificate of his wife dated yesterday... He didn't have the 10,000 shillings ($5.00) the police were insisting he pay them to have her taken to their village five miles out of town for burial. Quick reminder that things are pretty darn good in my life.

Baduda Mudslides

So far they are estimating over 5,000 displaced families, 300+ dead and 200+ orphans left in the wake of the recent mudslides of Baduda district. Many P.C. volunteers have gone to the site to do what they can to help the Ugandan Red Cross in their efforts in assisting those who have been affected by this disaster.
As volunteers we were not allowed to work at the site of the mudslide, because of the inherent danger in that work. We were there in a support capacity in the IDP (internally displaced persons) camp that was set up by the UN. Our duties included the organization of donated materials coming into the camp, registration of families/orphans that were coming in to camp from the mountains, construction of latrines and bathing areas as well as food distribution.
Disaster relief is an amazing thing in the fact that you have to mobilize so many entities from all over to assist these people that have lost everything. Things rarely run smoothly, people from different relief organizations are rarely on the same page, but you pull together and make it work. It is exhausting both physically and emotionally...but is an amazing experience. It is a good feeling to be working alongside Ugandans in the interest of helping those from the surrounding mountains.
In a couple of the pictures you see kids helping in moving donations...most likely these kids have just lost it all (possibly their entire families) and they are so excited to be helping us out in any way they can. The boy at the top followed us for three days, often holding my hand as we moved around camp. He's flexing for me to show how strong he is while he moves tarps for me, very cute kid.
On the first distribution day people received the following items (quantity depending on family size): blankets, wash buckets, bar soap, cooking pots, 3 liters bottled water, 1 kilo beans per member, 1 kilo posho flour (makes local bread) and a handful of potatoes. Trying to do this in a streamlined manner for so many hungry people is an extremely complicated process. Imagine trying to keep 300+ people in an organized line in 90 degree temperatures that want nothing more than to get something to eat.
On the second day a group of us spent a majority of the day digging pit latrines and creating hand washing stations to try and curb the spread of disease and bacteria. The displaced families have been using the river that runs right behind their camp for bathing, cleaning clothes, toilet and anything else you might need water for. I walked around many piles of human feces while there...so a major issue is going to convince all of these villagers that in such a confined space sanitation is going to be key in their future health.
There is at this point no plan on what to do with the displaced. It is my concern that they will be stuck in this camp for months to come as they struggle to clean the disaster area. In the coming months i'm sure I will make return trips to assist in any way they will need.
We stayed in a hostel that was being "managed" by a girl from Wisconsin that is teaching up in that area. There also was a freelance photographer from Germany staying and we all sat around at night talking and playing Cranium. A really nice stress reliever after frustrating days of work in the camp.
Still a lot of work to be done down in those mountains, but this is just the beginning and hopefully with continued help and support we can get things on track.

Random thoughts

It's approaching March, meaning I've now been in country a little over six months! It is amazing how quickly the time goes. I'm able to read the hometown paper on the Internet, so i'm not completely out of touch. The new campus hotel was defaced, the Jayhawks are amazing (my alma mater is also kickin' tail) and it's damn cold! I hope Ryan and Chad were able to have some cocoa after shoveling moms drive and walking Marley....

Some observations on Uganda:

1) Co-wives are an accepted part of the culture. It is not uncommon for men to have more than one wife. It is a sign of virility and manhood to have many children and multiple wives. And to think, it's a win for me if i get a second date with a girl. Deep in the village a successful man has many cows, children and several wives.

2) Battery acid is readily available on almost every street corner. It is sold for use in...batteries, but it is the weapon of choice in most domestic disputes (reference co-wives). You can hardly read the newspaper without there being a story of a woman throwing it on her husband or his other wife while they sleep. When a woman is suspected of sleeping with a married man... not good. It is common enough that there are support groups for those living with the damage done by the acid.

3) Child Sacrifice is a reality in almost every region of the country. The ritual was almost eradicated 10-years ago, but with more and more Ugandans struggling to make a living and survive, they are turning to traditional healers (witch doctors) for solutions. These witch doctors pray on the uneducated and the weak in most cases, promising wealth or good fortune in exchange for the ritualistic killing of a child. You see many children in the villages with pierced ears, they are considered impure and will hopefully not be kidnapped. When we first arrived in country there was a kampala businessman on trial for having buried a boy under one of the apartments he was building...the blood supposedly bringing good fortune.

4) Mob justice is rampant. While driving through Lira with coworkers we heard a man screaming. When I turned and looked there were three men beating a man with sticks as about 30 others stood around watching. My supervisor just laughed and said he had probably stolen something from the market. The people here hate thieves. There is a volunteer that was pick-pocketed in Kampala, he yelled "thief" and the man was caught and pummeled as he fled. If you are found with a stolen animal in the village...they will kill you. A recent article reported of a man in the south being decapitated by a mob for being "suspected" of stealing a chicken. They tend to not mess around.

On to good things...

I recently got on the list to track the silver back gorilla's in the rain forests bordering the Congo. There are less than 1,000 left in the wild and Uganda is one two places you can still see them in the wild. The trip is in mid September so I'll keep you posted.

I can't wait to make it home to be a part of Ryan and Christina's wedding! There was a time when I wasn't sure i was gonna make it, but I'll be there standing tall after all.

Things I want while back home:
-shower with hot running water
-pizza, Mexican food (including taco bell), cheeseburger from Conroy's and a steak.
-bowling and cold Coors light.
-time with family and friends
-to play a round of golf

not in any particular order, although Taco Bell is very high up there.

Ocen goes hunting....

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Last weekend the "gang" was invited to go on a little hunting excursion on some land by a village next to a town called Pacquatch. It's an area that is just a few meters away from the Nile river. We were invited by a guy who works for Concerned Parents main office, and it is apparently a yearly adventure where a group of guys go off for the weekend and do a little spear hunting.

I asked the question, "what will we be hunting?" and the answer was a very serious, "whatever it is we see."

Pacquatch is right outside of Murchison National Park, which happens to be an area that is full of elephants, lions, Buffalo, among other large, wild animals. Anyway, the trip is set and five of us drive down from Kitgum to meet up with the rest of the group on the way to the site. Me and Zach, my fellow P.C. volunteer, and three guys from work.

Our plan is to meet the rest of the group on the highway between Gulu and Pacquatch. As we are driving down the road around dusk we come upon a Toyota truck that is crammed full of guys yelling and singing... it's our group. 18 drunk Ugandan's crammed into the back of a small pickup. These are all guys that are "professionals" in Northern Uganda, most working for NGO's and other organizations like mine, but on this weekend they are cutting loose. Kinda, like when American men get together without their wives.

Both cars pull over on the shoulder of the road next to a village, everyone gets out and starts yelling and screaming and dancing...a guy tries to hug Richard, my coworker, and they both go rolling down off the highway into a ditch along the road. These guys are wasted! The villagers are looking at us all like we are nuts, and why are these three white dudes with all these drunk Africans?

After everyone calms down, we pile back in and make our way off the main road into the "bush" towards our campsite. When we reach it is completely dark (8 p.m.) and the landowners have started our campfire in the middle of three mud huts (like the one at the top of this page).

We gather around the fire and go through introductions, this takes a long time because the Acholi love giving speeches. they each talked forever and welcomed the munus to the hunt. After introductions the 23 of us split up into four teams, each team getting a sack of sweet potatoes. We went out in a field and dug a hole in the ground, then we gathered dirt clods of various sizes and built what i would describe as an igloo with the clods over the hole. I honestly don't have a clue how these guys were able to build a dome with dirt and not have it collapse but they did.

Then, the "igloo" was stuffed with grass and wood and fired until the dirt clods were glowing red, when this happened we stuffed the void with the potatoes, crushed the red-hot soil down on top of them and covered the whole mess with more dirt and let the Acholi oven cook the potatoes overnight.

After this was done they brought out the goat. Zach lost the coin toss and had to cut the goats throat. as he did this they captured the blood in a container for later use...Once the goat was butchered they put its testicles on a stick and briefly cooked them over the open flame, since i didn't cut the throat i had to eat one for good luck in the hunt.

While the goat was roasting, everyone drank and talked around the fire, eventually some native instruments were brought out and people started dancing. The first dish that was finished they called simply "blood," and it was all of the internal organs chopped up into bite size pieces and cooked in it's own...well, blood. Actually not nearly as awful as it sounds. But still pretty bad.

We ate and drank until about 1 a.m. then went off to sleep in one of the huts. We slept in a large pile of straw, and listened to about 12 in our party continue to drink around the fire. Pretty restless night to say the least.

We got up (those who actually went to bed) at 6 a.m. and were introduced to our guides for the hunt, two UPDF soldiers carrying AK-47's in case we ran into anything we didn't want to be running into. We were given instructions for the hunt; "Kill anything you want, except elephants." So with those intricate instructions we dug up our potatoes (our sustenance for the days hunt) and were off into the bush.

We spread out in a line of 23 and made our way into grass that was taller than me, we immediately came across an Anyeree (three-pound edible rat) and chased it into a huge termite hill. Everyone was very excited that we made a kill so quickly....and we took off in search of larger game...

We walked under 7' tall barb wire lines that people use as elephant fence, saw several antelope, but none that were close/slow enough to throw a spear at. After walking all morning through thick grass and clusters of trees we came upon a small river that fed directly into the Nile. We found a small series of falls and decided to strip down and go for a swim. It was awesome, the water felt great after the long walk in 90 degree heat all morning. Some guys fished, using the rat intestines as bait, and caught one small fish.

After about an hour we decided to move on with the hunt, so we got dressed and moved up river, where we immediately stumbled upon a large crocodile nest full of eggs....an hour ago it had not even occurred to me that big ass crocodile's like kickin' it around these rivers. We were still good on our head count though, so we moved on.

We never saw another animal, but what can you expect with 23 guys (most of which were still drunk) walking and talking through the bush. Every one's best guess is that we walked close to 20 miles that day and by the end i was about dead. Even though we never saw some of the things i was hoping to see, it was still a great day. The locals love having us around and really try very hard to keep us entertained...

I am back in Kitgum after a two week trip South towards Kampala. I spent the first week in the town of Gulu with the seven other volunteers that are posted in the North and have been learning Acholi. This first week was a language in-service training session where we were able to get together and discuss the problems we have been having in learning the new language. It was facilitated by our two local teachers Nancy and Moses.

We were housed in a Convent named St. Monica's just outside of Gulu, run by a host of Italian nuns. It was a very large convent and we were the only guests staying. It was a very beautiful, serene place to hang out for a week. The nuns really took care of the eight of us. Every evening after language class we would go out and play frisbee in the garden, we even got one of the nuns to have a few tosses. You haven't seen funny until you see an old Italian nun trying to throw a disk. Every night they prepared for us an amazing meal of either steak or fish and all the fixen's. After dinner we would sit in the courtyard and talk while the nuns would bring us cold beer they were letting us store in their fridge. The bats would fly over head eating mosquitoes, while we sat in the cool evening catching up on each others experiences.

One morning while waiting for language to start Nancy said; "you know, there is an eclipse this morning. Do you want to see it?" Of course we all said yes, so the next thing you know Nancy pulls an X-ray of a human skull out of her purse and walks off into the garden. Apparently an x-ray makes a great viewfinder for looking directly at an eclipse. We all stood taking turns looking at the sun through an image of her sister's skull. Luckily I was able to catch a glimpse of the eclipse without identifying any tumors! Quite a sight to see.

We have become friends with a couple by the name of Ben and Holly that originally came over as Mennonite Missionaries several years ago. They have decided to stay here to live and work for the foreseeable future. That week they had us over for a dinner party at their compound in Gulu. It was a great night, we sat outside grilling chicken, drinking beer and listened to American music on their stereo. Holly made Hummus and salsa and the chicken tasted like home.

On Thursday we were taken on a tour of St. Mary's Hospital in Lacor. As we walked in we were immediately overcome by the smell of feces and urine. The hospital is an enormous place that was completely over run by the sick. Every bed was occupied and there were still hundreds spread all over the complex, under trees, on the patio and sleeping in the grass. We were taken into the children's ward and I saw some of the most heart breaking things I've ever seen. More sick children than I can even describe. Kids dying from AIDS and Malaria, children that had been neglected and malnourished. Very tough stuff to see. It quickly reminds you of the nature of this country. There is a lot of work to be done.

On Saturday we left for Kampala and a week of In Service Training with the other 47 volunteers that came to country at the same time as me. They put us up in a resort hotel on the outskirts of the city. We spent the week having sessions during the day and having a great time in the evenings. There was a pool, steam and sauna, weight room, two full bars and the best food I've had in country available every night.

It was a great time to get together with some of the people i haven't seen in three months and we wasted the time having belly-flop contests, swapping movies on our computers (Where the Wild Things Are, The Hangover, every season of the Wire, among many others), and just having a mental vacation before heading back to our respective posts.

welcome to Africa!

Hey all!

Welcome to my first posting! I feel very strange starting my own blog, as i used to think it was for people that felt a little self important. There has been a lot of people curious about how i'm doing and what i have been up to since i moved to Uganda in August and i figured this would be the best way for me to let people in on my experiences.

As the weeks led up to my departure i did a lot of research on what to bring to begin this new life. Everything that i read said that i should plan on leaving my computer at home, as Uganda wouldn't have adequate utilities for it to be worth the packing. So, i left mine at home and packed my bags with 80 lbs of clothes and toiletries.

Shortly upon arrival we were having a session on technology in a training class when the instructor asked "who here didn't bring a laptop with them?" I was the only one out of 52 new volunteers who raised their hand. He then asked "who here didn't bring a thumb drive with them?" again, i was the only one who raised his hand. From behind my friend Caleb put his hand on my shoulder and said, "Travis, you stone-age bastard!"

My point is that the availability of technology has reached the third world...i was able to buy a laptop in the capital city of Kampala as well as a mobile modem that allows me to keep in touch with family, friends and current events while sitting in the comfort of my home.

So, that leads to this blog, my experiences here are amazing! I never could have fathomed that i would have the opportunity to lead this kind of life and it's important to me that i share these experiences with those that are close to me.

Uganda is a country that is as diverse as the African continent as a whole. In the West (along the Congo border) is one of the only places in the world you can see the silver back gorilla in the wild, in the South you can see hippos, lions and elephants. In the North (where I live) you can see giraffe, zebra and elephants. Also, Uganda has some amazing landscapes and waterfalls that attract tourists from all over the globe.

Politically, i'm here at a pretty fascinating time as well. In Sudan there is political unrest as the people in the South are wanting to form their own country. There is talk that there is going to be another bloody civil war leading to refugees flooding across the border into Uganda. My home is about 50 miles from that border.

In Uganda, elections are to be held in 2011 and there is talk of protests/riots in the South as that date approaches. Some of you may recall that i was under house arrest during a riot last September that arose after president Musevini blocked one of the main tribal leaders from entering the capital.

Musevini has overturned a law stating that a president could only serve two terms, and looks like he has no plans for relinquishing power. To say the least, my two years here could be very interesting.

There is also a bill on the table in Parliament that if passed could make it possible for anyone found guilty of being a homosexual to be put to death or given life in prison. Anyone that is found to knowingly harbor a homosexual or not report can also face a strong prison sentence. President Obama has taken a hard line stance against this bill and if it goes through it could definitely have negative repercussions on the work Peace Corps is doing here.

Anyway, these are some of the issues that I will be living with for the next couple of years and i figured this would be a good way of keeping family/friends informed. So, welcome! I hope you enjoy.