The First Days on New Soil

Day one and two in Uganda

I have now been in Uganda for 72 hours. Most of it has been on buses. It takes a long time to get between places. Not because of traffic (you do not see many cars, mostly bicycles, walkers and mo-peds) but because of the roads. They have speed bumps in the most random places. You’ll be cruising along and then suddenly the bus comes to a halt.
There is so much fresh in my mind that I can tell you about. And all in just a few days. So please excuse my rambling or sudden change of topics as I write these blogs… though I guess that is not anything out of character.

Where to start? Day One? When we got into Uganda it was nighttime, so we just took a bus to the nearest hotel. Of course the mosquito net over the bed was a pleasant welcome. The next morning we woke to breakfast, which was actually not bad. They have really yummy bread, its dense and thick and sweet and REAL BUTTER. Yeah, so much for my hopes of dropping a few pounds. I think the first few weeks I am here with the group I will be eating quite a lot of BREAD. The coffee is also amazing. Rich and deep, AHHH, a good way to wake up. So on Saturday we started for an 8-hour bus ride to Fort Portal. Fort Portal is a town where H4K sponsors an Orphanage called Sunrise House. It was developed by one of the past Bishops of Fort Portal. At the moment H4K sponsors 37 children, but there are at least 100 more that are part of the program that need sponsorship. The children are amazing, so happy and joyful, even though many of their stories are heart breaking. The Bishop spoke to all of us and the children welcomed us with songs and dance. They showed us their rooms and took pride in what they had, which was basically a room with four walls, a few bunk beds with a barely there mattress, and two or three outfits. The Bishop’s son James is the director of the school. He heads all the development for the programs and he also is the main support of food for the House. He owns a 30 acre farm where he grows Banana, Avocados, Yams, Potatoes, Yams, Coffee, Goats, Cows and Chickens. He makes a trip twice a week to the Orphanage on his MOTORCYCLE to carry in supplies. Yes, Motorcycle. Speaking of which, it is crazy what you see people carrying on their regular bicycles. You can see people riding a bike with 2 mattresses, a goat and three 5 gallon jugs of water!! The idea of attaching a cart to their bikes just doesn’t occur to them.

We were fortunate enough to take a tour of James’ farm. It was beautiful. Rich with vegetation. We also met his family and they are so kind. They gave us a taste of the ripe bananas. Better than any I have had in the states in a long time. And the avocado tree… hello football size avocados. We could have a huge guacamole party at that house! Finally after a long bus journey and a day of playing with kids we got to our next hotel ate dinner and crashed hard. Oh, lunch; I forgot to mention the fact that GOAT is served EVERYWHERE… YUM!!! Maybe I will just change my diet from no-meat to ALL GOAT, are you kidding me? The crazy part is you see children walking their baby goats through town and you cant help but think that “pet” goat is going to be dinner one day. The other thing I haven’t yet mentioned is the “butcher” shops. Let me give you a visual.. shack type buildings all along the road, little market scene, potatoes, bananas, and then hanging in the open air off of one of the huts a BIG, HUGE, RED, SLAB of COW SIDE with rain coming down on it. ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? That is a butcher and they are in all the markets at the side of the road. But what keeps me from losing the insides of my stomach is the view when we pass the market area and continue driving. Uganda is gorgeous! Much more lush than I would have imagined. It is just overflowing with beautiful green vegetation. It is a land of poverty but rich in beauty. As we drive I hate taking my yeses off the road for even a moment, because of fewer of what I might miss. You just see richness everywhere and every few miles you see a group of children from babies to teens walking to school or to work and they just stop and wave and jump and down at the white people in the buses. It has only been a few days and I am in love with this country.

Sunday was our Safari day. We went to the Mweya National Park and took a boat safari. It was a perfect day. The sun was in and out and we would have patches of showers here and there to help keep us cool. This particular park is home to over 600 species, 125 of which are immigrant species. It homes over 3000 Elephants and 5000 hippos. We were grateful that day and saw a ton of elephants. It was awesome. I hope the photos do a little justice. There were the cutest baby hippos and a ton of water buffalo. And of course a ton of birds, making me come to face to face with my fear of the little creatures. Some of which were not so little. Heron birds, Egyptian geese African Red birds and weaverbirds. The wearverbirds are super cute little yellow humming-like-birds. From the boat we took the buses through the desert and looked for land animals. We saw Rhinos, Antelope and Wildebeest. The land is covered with these beautiful African trees that the natives call El Kukuro.
On our way back to Port Fortal we stopped at the Equator, which was kind of cool. At the Equator we did a “short” call, which I have yet to tell you about. Oh, the short calls. Another welcome to Africa that leads you to say TIA (This is Africa)! A short call is when you pull the bus over to the side of the road to pee. Yes, I have now experienced 4 short calls. The first of which I had stage fright, the others were a success. Picture this…. Three buses pulled over to the side of the road and a stream of White people fall out to go trek through the jungle for a short call. And yes there are “LONG” calls too., need I explain? Thank God I have yet to need one of those.

But again, I have to stress, Uganda is BEAUTIFUL. I already feel so blessed to be here. So let me take this time again to say Thank you to every single person who has helped to make this trip possible for me. After the rains come, the beauty is even more powerful. Uganda shines and radiates and the striking colors of the land become even more apparent. I have not seen beauty like this since my visit to Ireland and to Belize. In fact, this part of Africa greatly reminds me of Central America. Green, lush and full of spirit. Every single Ugandan that I have spoken with has had so much warmth radiate from their soul. Only one man has had a hard time expressing his thoughts to me in English. He is a pastor that has been traveling with us. He asked me my story and was a little shocked by the fact that I had been divorced and said I needed to be married. When I told him I was waiting patiently for the right person to come into my life, he said, “How do you know who is right person? (and then pointing to two of the girls on the trip with me, continued to say) How do you know if you should marry a tall man (pointing to the taller girl) or a fat man (pointing to the heavier girl). You just marry, maybe you marry here in Uganda.” The two girls and I just looked at each other and laughed. We now call them the tall and fat men. And I am obviously getting married in Uganda! Ha Ha. I think I will continue to save that search and journey for the states!
We are now driving for 10 hours to our final destination. To Tororo, where the main projects that H4K supports are located. One is called True Vine Boarding School, where we have built a church, a medical center and dental clinic, many mud huts for the local people, and a guest house for volunteers. Which I may be blessed to stay in for a few weeks when the group leaves. I know if that is in my plan, it will open up for me. The other project is called Smile Africa Ministries. Smile Africa is like a safe haven for the homeless street children. They provide two meals a day, a little education, a bath and medical treatment for those in need. I can not wait to get there!

So the low down comes to this:
Top reason three reasons why Heather SHOULD live in Uganda:
3) cost of living is pretty reasonable
2) People and land are beautiful and welcoming
1) THERE IS NO MCDONALDS!!!

Top reasons why Heather SHOULD NOT live in Uganda
3) I already miss my family and friends
2) LONG CALLS in the jungle
1) HANGING MEAT ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD

I guess it’s a toss up for me which is worse Mickey D’s or raw hanging dead cow????

I tried to upload photos, but it is taking too long... so hopefully I can get them on a website soon. Sorry. If I get them on a website, I will put the link on my blog. Ok, goodnight, I am BEAT once again. More when time allows!
Lots of love! xxxxoooo
Peace!