bet you don't see these headlines in the summerland review!

YES THEY ARE!!!!!!!! well no...they are exellent drivers, they are MAD..and if anyone drove like they do here in canada, we'd all be dead on the road within 5 minutes. but here, everyone drives crazy so everyone is used to it.

briefly- the karimojoa region is northern uganda that is severley sketch right now. IDP camps are nearing i think...60? (internally displaced persons) basically thousands and thousands of refugees that have fled their homes in southern sudan from the LRA(Lords resistance army) are in these camps in northern uganda. karimojong people make up 80% of the street people in kampala(the capital city) and most of the street kids here in jinja. watch out too, because some areas in karimoja are still practicing canibalism.

if you are following the southern sudan/northern uganda crisis.....

over half of the students writing uni enterance exams in my area were found with fraud-ed papers/copied papers they turned in. how unfortunate, but maybe the gov't should focus on making PRIMARY school education free- or else there won't BE ANYONE to take the uni enterance exams because noone's even gotten through primary school.

i try and buy a newspaper every few days to try and keep up-to-date with the happenenings of this country and the surroundings ones. sometimes i die laughing of some of the ridiculously blunt and sketchy articles and letters to the editor, and sometimes i nearly cry becuase you would NOT hear headlines like this back home. i'm bringing home most of these papers so you can see them. there is so much going on that even i'm not really aware of after living here for two months. i still feel so ignorent sometimes. if you an see this above one, it's the latest population stats. ones that stuck out to me were "1.6% of people own a car, 5.5% a telephone" or "10,000 street kids in uganda" or "60% of pupils don't complete primary school"

jinja town

here are a few photos from "around town". i don't really know what the population of jinja is, but im guessing maybe penticton size? however its spread out like mad with all the surroundng villages and sub-county's and districts...this place is split up all over the place, i can't keep track. above is a shoe store window.

i like this one- got this bicycle boda( called 'piki piki') is a slower form of transport. you sit on the seat on the back. i never take them as i'm self concious of when they are huffing and puffing going up a long hill and you are suddenly very aware of how heavy you are on that back seat.

so, accordng to the latest poll, only 5% of ugandan's have telephones. thus these little booths that are EVERYWHERE..even in the smallest villages. they boast a landline and you pay however much money to make a call. mobile phones are extremely popular though, as you can only do 'pay as you go' and thus you wont have a bill at the end of the month you can't pay.

this is one of the art studios we go to quite often to see local work. people are so bloody talented here there are paintings and sketchs and drawings for sale EVERYWHERE and its really neat because quite often the artist is actualy there and will take you to behind the store where his studio is.

this is leslie writing in red dirt. cool.

this is the field across the street from welcome home, where we take the older toddlers every afternoons to run off some energy. however these are not our toddlers, these are some shool boys have 'football' (soccer) practice. soemtimes i want to join in, but i know i would get trampled. these guys are GOOD.

team east africa

)
i can't count how many photos i have of the two of us- but i'm sure it will take up half of my photos album (maybe i shoudl make more friends?) hahaha. LINDSEY- we love you and miss you..dont feel left out;i thought i would dediate a post of my dear friend leslie lappa-lafhuhdfdisf. (i can't pronounec her last name, or spell it). ANYWAYS. i seem to be blessed with amazing girlfriends wherever i go and i am SO thankful to have leslie attached to my hip (and i to hers) most everyday. we have yet to fight, we laugh pretty consistantly and have a newspaper poster on our bathroom door of two HOT soccer players from the real madrid team. we eat , sleep, travel, live, walk..everything except work together during the day (she is at TASO- the aids support organization) while i am at welcome home.

the first three photos are, of course, out of order, but maybe that makes them funnier to look at. i personally like the squatting one best. (we are pretending to jump into the nile) the last one is from sipi falls adventure last weekend. we leave jinja in ONE WEEK TODAY (its thursday) for our adventure to rwanda- where we will take up our backpacks and trek the jungle to the endangered mountain gorillas, HOPEFULLY meet my compassion SPONSOR CHILD!!! and visit the kigali genocide memorials before we head back to uganda for a last few days together before i fly to london and then home.

ah yes, travelling, meeting people, making friends that turn into life-long kindred spirits....(sob sob...) cut the sap vicki. it's not in your character. (usualy....)

thanks les, i love you!

water shortage

friday morning we had a note written on the blackboard in the house saying "water shortage and won't be more til monday...use spareingly!!" . there was also a note above the hot water tank switch we turn on for showers that told us to not shower. great. so, leslie and i haven't showered since thursday (it's now monday). which usualy, if i was at camp or even at home wouldnt be that unusual. BUT i am covered in so many layers of red dirt it's starting to match my hair. and the neat factor that our toilet stopped flushing, only AFTER the fact of the matter that we used it. (our bathroom door is now closed)...is really not so neat at all.

people were complaining about it at breakfast and my friend matt was trying to tell us to just sponge bath and then dump a water bottle on your head... leslie and i were walking downtown just now and she was saying how gross she felt, i was saying how i'd love to flush our toilet when it hit me that in the midst of LIVING in a country, a city that probably 95% of the people don't have running water EVER..i can still think like a westerner. i still want my shower. i don't want to use a long drop or a squatter. i want my flush toilet. even though my next door neighbors are outside bathing each other in buckets right before my eyes, i am still somewhat desensitized to it.

interesting.
touche.

you'd think that my brain would stop functioning like that. but it hasn't.
and that's slightly embarrassing to me.

brenda

oh brenda, jesus loves you brenda, oh brenda, jesus loves you.....

and vicki does too...

hairy lemon and the travelling life

we went to this place called hairy lemon last weekend. it's basically a little island in the middle of the river nile that some people have transformed into a little 'getaway'. its gorgeous, ridiculously out of the way but definatly worth it. on the insane boda-boda ride there, i got a rock in my eye and we spent most of saturday trying to wash it out by dumping a few litres of water onto it, and my shirt. i looked REALLY hot with a swollen eye and all the makeup washed off of one side fo my face. and ive never felt such pain in my life. seriously. go get a big rock stuck in your eye.

anyways. we met some sweet people and stayed up most of the night listening to music at the bar and dancing and just having a good time. i LOVE this part of travelling. you meet so many interesting people, doing all kinda of crazy things and taking life on so many adventures. sunday was spent lounging in a hammock, swimming in the nile, eating good food..lying in the banda and listening to the thunder storm roll in. on our car ride home the taxi had a tape of justin timberlake and 'what goes around comes around' was on repeat for like an hour.

in the photos there is one of me by the river...one of the main house part on the island, one of sam(of of the managers) answering the phone in the only way/spot they get reception on the island..and one of leslie and the guys we hung out with- pete(aussie who is also a manager), sam(from wales) and chris(south dakota).

i am realizing the longer i am here and meeting people, the more opportunities that come up. i think i've had 4 job offers in the past few days. working with a travel/tour company taht goes around uganda, working and taking over hairy lemon, going to thailand with pete to start up a new hairy lemon on a river tehre and a white water kayaking base....seriously. unfortuntaly i really do need to come back to canada in july and these options will have to be put on hold...well...maybe... ;)

it's a struggle, but i know i'm meant to come home in july, for at LEAST a year or two of education....then the desire to be back here might take over, and i might just be a travvleing hippie kayaking guide for the next few years. who knows??!!!?

oooh, we are going abseiling down sippi falls this weekend. (a massive waterfall at the base of mt. elgeron)

LOVE you all!

www.welcomehomeafrica.com

i am going to post some more stuff about the orphanage. if my camera batteries were still alive, i would post more pictures. those will have to be added later. but i wanted to touch on a few things i get to do here, incase you wanted to know.

i think i mentioned that i've become good friends with esther, who runs the place out here. besides the obvious good things about having a good friend, i also get to see a side of things that many volunteers might not. there are two student interns at welcome home right now, charity and issac. they are my age and doing their uni degree in social work. i, and leslie when she is there, get to go along with them . i get to tag along to meetings with possible children we might take in, visiting the villages and families where they come from. i get to take kids to the clinic to get immunizations and medicene. i get to go with the social workers to the hospital to see mums who have just given birth. i get to make certificates, write schedules and be a part of things that are more so the administration side, which is really, really interesting. and i also get to sit in esthers office and eat 'sweets' and visit with her whenever.

it's pretty awesome. however. you also see more of the hurting side of things. for instance.

yesterday we got in a new baby. her name is julianna, she is 1 year old. she is HIV positive and we think she has TB and malnutrician and Lord knows what else. the mum died from AIDS (its assumed) and the ja-ja (grandma) who is somewhere between the age of 70-80(she didnt know) has been taking care of her, and the other 5 children under 10 yrs who all have different fathers who have all disapeared.there is a sister, but she is in school and cant take care of her. it is too much for the ja-ja in the village, with no means of income becides the occastion maize she walks to the market to sell. how, you ask, can this happen? but it is just one out of....so many stories.

it has though, in fact, become like home. thus , what a fitting name the place has. welcome home. please go and check out the website, and if you feel like it's something you'd like to support- they are always in financial need. and you can see more photos of where i am!
thank you. :)
www.welcomehomeafrica.com

listen to the sound of the world

You can’t see it, but around his waist is a black band, a sign that he is seeing the witch doctor to cure his illness.

You can’t see it, but his tummy is as round as santa claus’…and I guarentee it’s not from eating cookies and candy. The worms in his stomach are eating his insides.

You can’t see it, but he’s staring at his house…which is made of mud and brick and a few branches that get washed clear when there is a tropical storm..which happens often in the rainy season.

You can’t feel it, but his bottom isn’t as soft as a “baby’s bottom” should be.

You can’t hear it, but his voice screams “I LOVE JESUS!!” with more passion than Billy Graham.

You can’t see me…or the tears that form in my eyes and splash onto the paper as I try to sketch his photo.
So much you can’t see, feel or hear..just from one little bare bottom.

tribute to the trio

“LVL C3.” (Lindsay Vicki Leslie, Canadian Three). That’s right, we were cool enough to make an acronum for ourselves. I just wanted to say that one of ‘the three of us’ has left and gone home to kitchner Ontario, and leslie and I shall miss her terribly. As they say on the lion king, “our trio’s down to two. Oh.”
Anyways- LINDSAY…we love you and miss you tons. It’s not the same without you telling us stories that start off “this one time, on our canoe trip..” and I have to make fun of leslie and her sing-song voice all alone. Pete’s sister and her bf from London came and brought a bunch of tabloids though that you are missing out on. Hee. We think of you often and eat your nutella with our fingers every night. Muah.

my little loves

These are a few of my babies…the ones I wish I could take on the plane with me! Brenda is the skinny one…she is our newest and I wrote about her earlier. She has gotten SO much better in the matter of two weeks of eating and getting some real love. She smiles, she laughs, she holds my hand..as you can see. I’ve got a special place for her in my heart. Other little loves are ben, who has THE biggest smile in the world, mercy- the cute little gal eating a toy, and john- the little boy who gives me kisses(the one I’m holding).

safari!

I was going to post photos today, but unfortunatly am sitting at a computer that doesn’t have a usb output AND I forgot my camera pluger-inner thing. Double suck. You’ll just have to imagine everything. Oh and I also did the brilliant thing of deleting most of the photos on my camera after I burned a cd of them, BEFORE I posted them on my blog, sooooo…photos of giraffes and y’know…unicorns and dragons…are gone until I get home.

I might turn all my thoughts into a few posts here so I don’t overwhelm you . I’ll tell you about our most recent weekend, and also tell you that you should check out my best friend here, leslie’s blog. The address is www.leslieinuganda.blogspot.com . she writes more detailed than me, and might give you a different perspective on mostly the same stuff..as we are together nearly 24/7. anyways…this past weekend we went on a SAFARI! At murchesin falls… we actually got to kampala on Thursday, being under the impression that our bus left on Friday…however, as things go in Africa, it decided not to leave until Saturday. SO we spent thurday and Friday in kampala which was actually REALLY sweet as we got to experience the “big city” and its luxuries like a MALL with a movie theatre and real stores in it, and a smoothie bar which was the highlight of my weekend. Screw the elephants, give me a smoothie and I’ll show some excitement. Anyways… our NGO contact in kampala took us out for a royally nice dinner and hooked leslie and I up with a travel agent who booked us mountain gorilla permits in Rwanda, for july 8^th. YES!!!!! So leslie and I, after much distress trying to re-arrange our flights and stuff decided to leave Jinja a week earlier than proposed to head down to Rwanda for the last week we are here. So I will fly out of Uganda on july 15^th, spend a few nights in London, and then carry on to arrive in Vancouver july 18^th.

So in theory I could be home in summerland by the 20^th or something…planning to catch some of the summer before heading to camp for senior high, hopefully flying to Montana for a friends wedding and then moving myself down to…where? Yes indeed, I still don’t know. I am currently at the top of the waiting list for the musical theatre program at capilano college in north Vancouver. However, in the meantime or unknown there I am registering (or my good friend Joanne is for me) at ucfv in chilliwack for the theatre program. So most likely it looks like I will be in chilliwack, with a chance of north van. But theres my life update. Now back to the safari

So after spending a few days in kampala, meeting rad people at our backpackers (check out their NGO www.krochetkids.com ) we took off Saturday morning 6 hours driving up north to murchesin falls, where its hotter than hell (or Jinja, anyways). Sunday morning at 6am we set off on a 4 hour game drive. The girls and I sat ONTOP of our safari van- which proved to give amazing views but very very sore bottoms. Yes we saw elephants, giraffes, baboons, birds and crazy elk and warthogs (pumpa!) and LIONS! It was fantastic. Actually more so than animals I loved the scenery- the landscape is just bloody UNREAL and African skies are God’s best masterpiece. The girls and I would bust into “circle of life” quite often and even once I started singing “goin’ on a lion hunt”..only to be told to shut up by our guide as I would scare the lions away. Ha!

We went on a boat cruise that afternoon to the bottom of the mighty waterfalls, as well saw loads of hippos and crocs and whatever else. It was cool. I got loads of sun. the bitter-sweet thing about my malaria pills is that they make me more susceptible to sunshine, which means I burn like a banshee but get a nice tan quite quickly. The drive home on Monday was the longest ride of my life. Oh well it was worth it.

That’s all for the safari blog- now I shall post another on more in depth thoughts.