This has been the strenuous week so far in my trip. Forget jet lag…traveling in country was tougher for me. Wednesday we traveled up country to Gulu, which is about 2 hours from the border of Sudan if I remember correctly. This is another site of Hope Alive!. I was joined by another family, the Heersinks, who are appointed with WorldVenture. They are here visiting to see if this is where God wants them to serve instead of Argentina. Brandon, Elizabeth, Patrick (4), and Henry (1), along with Catharine and our special hire driver, Bosco, traveled the 6 hours together. We had dinner with some of the staff at that site, and also took a tour of many of the schools – primary, secondary, and vocational. This was probably more eye-opening for me as a public school setting is already different than my own school experience – and now I was seeing another country’s version. We met some of the Hope Alive! students at these schools, and also was able to see some of the classrooms in action for a few minutes. At one school the primary 1 class (1st grade) sang ‘Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes” in half English and half Luganda. It was darling.
Another things we did on this trip was to visit some of the homes with the students. One of the mentors, Enoch, who also spoke English was our guide through the bush of Gulu. We only went to 3 houses of Hope Alive! students, as they are all very far apart and some were not home from school yet. Many interesting things were learned about the students and their lives at home. Most of the ones we met were all orphans, and some were even living with Enoch and his family, which was extra neat to see as he was able to be their mentor in a closer way. Friday after dinner I became ill with some stomach bug. I did not sleep much and the trip home to Kampala on Saturday was pretty miserable. I rested Sunday (Biblical, right?) and Monday I felt so much better that I went to staff meeting/work.
Tuesday we left for the lower side of the earth – the southern hemisphere! Uganda is a pretty cool place, even though it is small. So much to do and see and the Equator is just one of those things. I can now say I have been to both hemispheres at the same time…with one foot on either side of the line! The site of Hope Alive! here is in Masaka, and offices are held at Masaka Baptist Church. There is a Compassion International site here as well. We went on home visits, seeing more of the homes because they were not as far in the bush as in Gulu – more like brick/mud flat suburbia. Since these homes were closer, there were a million children running around singing and shouting “Mzungu! Mzungu!” the whole day. “Mzungu” is the term in Luganda meaning ‘white person’…and of course I stand out even more with my blond hair that they all come running just to wave, say hello/bye, or touch my hand/arm. At one point there were so many children that they ended up turning their yelling of ‘Mzungu’ into what sounded like a schoolyard song for jump rope. So funny!
Wednesday we visited the primary school that is connected with the church and then headed home to Kampala. Back in Kampala Nurse Kacie, who was now home from her trip, took care of my still not feeling so well stomach with some meds and cream of rice (similar to cream of wheat and so yummy!). This morning I am feeling better, but very tired. Today we head out for school and home visits here in Kampala. This weekend looks to be extra busy as 5 more visitors/interns arrive and we have a full weekend with Saturday club and many other activities.
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