Will see you all soon!

Sorry I have not posted anything in nearly two weeks. I have SO much to share but have not figured out how to articulate all my experiences clearly. Upon my return to the States I will add several posts to highlight the big stuff.

Tonight is my last night in Gulu. There has already been a flood of tears - I hate goodbyes (and see you laters)! We are having a big dinner and then head to Jinja for the weekend to go rafting on the Nile. I will have lots to share about that experience I am sure.

I arrive in New York on Monday night, will stay the night with my college roommate, KA, and then will be flying into Houston on Tuesday afternoon (7/28).

Looking forward to seeing everyone and sharing lots of photos and stories!

The Farmhouse - a different perspective

Twice we were invited to the home of Tom and Rose O'lalobo.  Amy, the organizer of the trip met one of their sons during her planning trip and thought their story was fascinating.  She was right!  

Here's what I can remember - some of the details may be a bit off:

Tom grew up in Gulu.  He went to Sir Samuel Baker School (where I was taught this summer).  As a young adult, Tom was trained in the U.S. to be a pilot.  Later (maybe later 20's, early 30's) Tom moved to Tanzania to live in exile because of political turmoil - many of his family members who did not leave the country were killed.  It was here that he met Rose, they got married and started a family.  Inthe early 80's they returned to Gulu and began building a home.  When the war broke out the left again, this time to London where they raised their 7 children.  During the war Tom's mother and some other family members stayed behind, often using his home as a shelter from the LRA.  Because the home was fenced it served as a deterrent because the young men in the LRA did not want to get stuck/fenced in if 

they need to flee quickly.  He told stories of his mother and family members hovering in the dark while their were gun shots, at one point a neighbor tried to break into the house (thinking that no one was there) and at one point at Tom's mother at gunpoint.  Around 2007, Tom and Rose returned to Gulu.  Over the past couple of years they have fixed up their home and started many business ventures around town.  Rose runs the only bakery in town and you can get CHEESE! and cakes with frosting (delicious!).    [Again, some of these details, dates, etc. might be a bit off - I tried to leave out details if I wasn't sure if I remembered them correctly]

The invitation to visit their home 

was so greatly appreciated.  Aside from the delicious food and beautiful scenery, it was val

uable to see a different side of Uganda.  So often people draw this picture of Uganda being a poverty-ridden nation that depends on the rest of the world for help.  While Uganda does have a long way to go, I have found that this country is made of strong, beautiful, resilient, hardworking people that are ready for Uganda to turn things around.  I think Rose and Tom's move back to Uganda is evidence of the direction that Uganda is moving.  There has been so much economic development in the past two years and it continues to grow.  

Ft. Patiko

Today we traveled with the Ugandan teachers and their families to Ft. Patiko.  Ft. Patiko was once a place where Arabs traded African slaves.  Sir Samuel Baker (my school's namesake) was the man responsible for ending the slave trade there.  This was good news because I originally thought that my school was just named after some white guy that settled in Uganda but it turns out he may actually have been a pretty decent guy. :)

At Ft. Patiko we had a potluck lunch so each school was responsible for br

inging something - Sir Samuel Baker School was responsible for fruit, probably the easiest thing.  Gulu Secondary School had side dishes so I ended up helping one American teacher make guacamole (my

 favorite food - why this is not as popular in Ugandan as it is in Texas I will never know).   This was a rather messy venture since we had limited utensils - I ended up just squeezing the avocados because I had no knife or spoon handy.  Needless to say, it was DELICIOUS and I ate it with chapati chips until I couldn't breathe - there was plenty of it because the Ugandans didn't touch it.  

The most difficult part of the lunchtime was the children from the local village that came to watch us.  They were all in tattered clothes, several had ringworm, none had shoes

 and it was clear that hadn't eaten much in a while.  While there is certainly poverty all around Gulu town it is far worse in the more rural areas.  The park asked that we not give away food because it makes begging a bigger problem.  This is something that we talk about a lot at Invisible Children - making sure that the aid or assistance that we offer is sustainable and not just a short term solution.  HOWEVER, there is also just something very inhumane and completely unbearable about stuffing your face while starving children watch you...and we had plenty of leftovers so we broke the rules.   In the first attempt to pass out chapati the children were grabbing and trying to hide the piece they were given so that they could get another.  A Ugandanteacher, however, then told them that if they could sit down in a circle and not grab we'd have more food for them.  The first thing they did?  Ran to the jerry can and helped each other wash their hands.  My heart broke.  In the midst of their hunger and excitement these children - some as young as 3 or 4 years - remembered to follow the proper customs for their meal.  So often people in these dire situations of poverty are viewed as less than human but here was a perfect example to the contrary.

After our meal together some of the village children helped us to make a path up to the top of the nearby mountain.  We trekked through grasses above my head, individual farmers' gardens and scaled rock faces to make it to the top.  On my way there all I could think was, "Oh please God let me not come across a snake" and "How are these children doing this with no shoes?!?!" and "Ouch, ooh, oh, ah, augh...really? is this worth it" ...but it was!  The view was amazing and it was quite

an adventure.  It was a great day of bonding between the Americans and the Ugandans.

6 weeks is just not enough time!

I am in love! This country and the people are teaching me so many lessons about myself and the world daily that I just do not want to leave in 2 weeks time. If I could stay and teach at Sir Samuel Baker for the next year I would. I love the staff at the school. They are hilarious and seem to have really welcomed me into their lives. Already they are talking about how they will miss me and cannot even remember their lives without me – I feel the exact same way. I’m just starting to develop bonds with my 150+ students and would love to stick around and see them progress even further. They work so hard to impress me with their abilities and I just know that we could really kick butt together if I were to stay. The beauty of living here is the balance. I can plan and work my butt off in the classroom but then I come home and the pace of life is much slower – there is more time to reflect and to enjoy friends and to appreciate the little things. I want to take this back with me but fear that I will get swept up into the normal fast pace that my life follows back in the States. Someone, in September when I am stressed out, please remind me I said this.

I think next steps are grad school and then hopefully working on education policy internationally. It is fascinating and there is so much work to be done. I’m not an expert but I can certainly see myself spending the rest of my life trying to become one.