Africa Installment I

We've been home from Uganda for almost 2 weeks now. In some ways it feels so far away, like it was all a dream. And in other ways, it's all still fresh, and it feels as if part of us is still there. There are so many stories to tell, feelings to describe, and photos to share...blogging is not going to do it even the slightest justice, but I at least wanted to give you a glimpse of what our experience was like. There may be other installments at later dates as we remember other things to share, process it more, and edit the video we took.

FAMILY LIFE
Living with Liz's family gave us a really good idea of what it is like to LIVE in Uganda. To have a mother (Madame) who was never educated working so hard to see to it that her children get an education...and to see children thankful for their opportunity to go to school. Liz's mom (her dad passed away 10 years ago) has a bit of a miracle story. They used to be a very poor family living in very humble means, when a cell phone company came to them and said that their property was the perfect location for one of their towers. Now with a tower on their property, they receive a regular income for the first time. Ever. This has allowed her to build a house with running water and electricity. It has allowed her to send two of her daughters to the US for college, and one of son to London. The remaining 3 children in Uganda are all currently in school as well. Madame chose to build her house in the same area of their previous, much more humble home so that she could continue living in the company of her friends and neighbors that she's always known. She's probably one of the most generous people I've ever met...there were always an additional 5-10 people at the house who needed a place to sleep, or a meal to eat. She would give them minimal work to do such as washing clothes, cooking a meal, going to the market, etc in return for food and a place to stay; something to give them a sense of worth, and a sense that they are earning their stay. Madame didn't speak much English, but with translation and charades, lots of laughter and the little bit of Luganda that we learned, she quickly became someone we highly respected. The first few photos of the slide show at the end of this post are of Liz's family members, and the neighborhood we stayed in with Liz's family.

The first thing they told us when we got to Liz's house is that they use their hands for everything! They wash their clothes with their hands, clean their house with their hands (handle-less brooms), prepare their food with their hands, etc. I wanted to experience it all and work right alongside them for all of that. At first, they weren't so into the idea of me working because culturally, a guest should not have to work. But with Liz's help in translating, they realized that I really WANTED to help...I wanted to learn...so eventually they let me. And in the end, they even let me show them a few Arizonan things...like how to use the avocados from the tree in their yard to make guacamole...and how to make salsa. :) Even though their house has electricity, it is too expensive to heat water, so they mixed boiling water and cold water in a small tub to bathe. It's also too costly to have an oven/stove, so all the food is cooked in an outdoor kitchen over charcoal. Their food is largely made up of produce: potatoes, sweet potatoes, yams, cassava, peas, mangoes, passion fruit, avocados, and matokae, which is their staple food (similar to bananas, picked while they are green, and boiled wrapped in banana leaves). Everything takes a long time to prepare. If you want to eat peas, you must start by opening the pods and pulling out the peas, which you then sort, and then cook...everything has more steps than what we are used to. The benefit of this is the wonderful connection you gain with the company you are preparing with, as well as the food itself.

We made friends with many people who stayed at or near the house, especially a tailor named Saidi and a boy named Sadati.
You will see a photo of Ryan in a suit standing next to a Saidi at a sewing machine. Saidi has been a tailor on that porch for the past 35 years. His family lives in the village, but since there are no jobs in the village, he works in Luzira and sees his family only every other weekend. His smile brought us close as friends and we looked forward to seeing him whenever we were coming or going from Liz's house. I asked him to make me a skirt and top with the material that was given to me as a gift for being Charlene's godmother. His work was absolutely beautiful, down to the touch of having satin as a lining inside the skirt and top. When I asked him, "How much do I owe you?" He responded with 10,000 shillings, the equivalent of $5. $5? Aware of the time that such work must have taken, I knew $5 was not a fair price based on our standards.

Sadati is the 15 year old son of the man that built Liz's house. His father has 6 children and can't afford to feed them all, so on school breaks Sadati comes and lives with Liz's family to help out and eat. You will see photos of him washing shoes and also at the internet cafe with Ryan. He taught us how to play several traditional Ugandan games, and Ryan taught him how to play guitar and use email. In the photo of him at the computer, it's actually his first time ever to use a computer. Ryan helped him create an email address, and we've been able to send a couple of emails back and forth since returning home. What did he want as his email address you ask? SadatiRyan@... :)

POLITICS
Uganda LOVES Obama!! Everywhere we went, we were greeted with enthusiasm about Obama. As I mentioned before, the people in the village greeted us with, "We are so honored that people from Obama's nation would visit us." The night Obama was elected, there was a dance club in Luzira that changed its name to Obama Club, and put a new sign up. I think having Obama as our president gives them hope. Hope for themselves, hope for their children. If the son of a Kenyan immigrant could become of the president of the United States...anything is possible for them!

Unfortunately, the government of Uganda does not offer the same hope, as it's a very corrupt system. Police are feared and not trusted. There are no records to keep track of criminals. Government workers all live in huge mansions (even by American standards), yet the citizens are barely able to get water, food, or shelter. It was sickening, and made us so appreciative of the systems America has in place. We may not be a perfect nation, but we do have a lot of really good things going for us, and we believe that change is possible.

RELIGION
Uganda is a country mixed with both Christians and Muslims. Five times throughout the day, a Muslim call to worship is heard over a loud speaker. We were at a craft market during one of these times, and a man right next to our car was on his knees with his face to the ground in prayer. In our experience with Liz's family, it seems there is a lot of peace and friendliness between religions. Social groups are mixed with Christians and Muslims, villages are mixed, etc.

SAFARI
Ryan and I took 3 days to go on a safari in NW Uganda. Elephants, giraffe, hippos, oh my!


VILLAGE
The village we visited told us we were the first white people to EVER visit their village. Wow. It is incredible to me that some places remain so untouched. So isolated. I loved the village, and could have spent several days there. Their life has to be more difficult than I could ever imagine: no water, no electricity, no jobs, no food other than what you grow, etc. People get married very young and begin having families right away. When I asked at what age women have children in their village, their answer was very factual, "whenever her uterus is ready". In the photos, you'll see a woman in white: she got married and started having kids by the time she was 15. Before visiting the village, I felt sad when I heard of family members leaving the village to move to the city. I wanted them to all live together, to persevere without today's luxuries to make life easier, to live a simple life and to have more joy because of it. But in being there, I realized why people leave. It's not because they don't want to be with their families. Their families are what keep them coming back to visit as often as they can. They leave to survive. To help their families survive. To give them hope. To give the children in the village hope.
When I went to Jamaica a couple of years ago on a service trip, we were encouraged to leave all of our clothes that we brought there, and just go home with what we were wearing. I loved doing that, and Ryan and I decided to do the same in Uganda. We gave most of our clothes, shoes, toiletries, to the families in the village...I don't think I've ever given clothes or shoes to people who needed it more.

BITONE HOME FOR CHILDREN
One of the highlights of our trip was to spend some time hanging out with kids at an "orphanage" (I put it in quotes, because they themselves don't refer to it as an orphanage so the kids don't refer to themselves as orphans, but rather as family)...so from today forward, I no longer want to refer to it as an orphanage, but as a home for children. It was an incredible place!! If you find yourselves in Uganda...you must go!! We found out about this home from a college friend of mine who had spent a semester abroad in East Africa. Branco, the man who started it 5 years ago, is only 28 years old, and he has brought each child there individually on his own after seeing them as street children and asking them their stories. There are 25 kids between the ages of 8 and 18 years old. There are several sibling groups as well. Many lost parents in the war in northern Uganda, and others to AIDS. Branco trains them all in traditional Ugandan music and dance as a form of healing. The name of the home is Bitone, which is Luganda for "Talents". Our time there was priceless, and we hope to make many trips back. Before we arrived in Uganda, my college friend had sent Branco Ryanhood's new EP...and then the day we got there, the kids performed Ryanhood music for us...complete with hand motions and dance...it was great...we'll include it in the video. I had told Branco before we came that if the kids wanted to make jewelry, I would take it to Ryanhood concerts to sell and send them the money. The children proudly presented us with a bag of 431 pieces of jewelry for us to sell for them! The music throughout the slide show are audio recordings we took at Bitone.

(Sorry the photos are blurry, it was the best quality we could get for such a large file on blogger.)

Flaming guitar fingers.

Okay, I really did it this time...

So, the "little volleyball injury" that I mentioned earlier has turned out to be kind of a big deal. He has a hairline fracture just outside of the joint of his pointer finger on his left hand...a pretty important guitar finger. He is currently coming up with a list of songs that only require using 3 fingers to play. And to think, we haven't even had the first show of the tour yet... :)

Family all around

As soon as we pulled up to Phil and Kathy's on Sunday evening, it felt like we were able to fully relax and settle into "tour mode". I think while we are at home, we forget about what an extended family we have on the road, but it's true...it really feels like we have this totally separate life of family and friends that we just love to see and spend time with while we are toting around in the van from state to state. After we left Phil and Kathy's and realized we had a couple of more days until we needed to be anywhere, we called Diane and Hub to see if we could swing by...and now 3 days later we are still here. :) It's great...we feel so loved. Last night Diane's daughter invited us to come and play volleyball with her league. Ryan was hesitant because of his fingers being so valuable, but knowing how much he loves volleyball, I unfortunately encouraged him...and now today he is sitting around icing his finger which is swollen and black/blue today...I'm feeling pretty disappointed in my poor tour managing behavior. :(


And, the bump by nose ring is starting to go down...but not without faithful salt water soaks....


Basically, we are creating a hospital and Diane and Hub's for ourselves. :)

bumpy tour...

The tour was to start at 8am yesterday. Ryan woke up at 3am the night before with the flu though, and remained "sick" until well after 9am...and was still feeling weak and queasy after that. So, at 10am, Cameron and I made the decision to plow forward with the day's 11 hour drive to Amarillo, TX and have Ryan meet up with us in Kansas City via plane on Sunday. With the ambulance-sized van packed with mittens and long underwear, we left warm sunny Tucson behind. At 11:30am, Cameron got a phone call about a family emergency. Luckily Ryan was at home and could do the computer work to book Cameron a flight to get out to be with family. The only flight we could find departed from Oklahoma City, another 6 hours past Amarillo...so the 11 hour drive became a 17 hour drive, and the band dwindled from 3 to 2 to 1. Today I'll be driving 5 hours to Kansas City where I'll pick up Ryan and we'll stay with some of Cameron's family (family on the other side...not involved with the emergency).

To those in Tucson...we miss you alreaady!

To those in Michigan...we wish there wasn't a lake separating us while we are touring Wisconsin!

To those everywhere else...we hope our van wanders into your neck of the woods soon!

House Cleaning

On Saturday we leave for tour, and on Sunday renters move in for the month. The renters asked to have someone come in and clean the house mid-way through their stay, and since we've never used a house cleaner before, I thought I should have one come today to familiarize themselves with the house. It's nice. Her cleaning products leave a nice smell to the air. She is way more thorough than I ever am. And, I know that in an hour, our home will be clean, while I was able to do other things that needed to get done before we leave. The only thing I don't get about having a house cleaner though, is that I had to spend most of the morning cleaning the house to get ready for her to come. She can't clean very well if there are clothes all over the bedroom floor, piles of papers (and maybe more clothes) in the kitchen (..living room, dining room, guest room, and maybe even the bathroom). Oh well, it was worth it for this moment of peace knowing that at least this week I won't have to be mopping floors when I'd rather be spending time with family and friends on our short retreat at home.

HOME!

We made it home safe and sound after 36 hours of travel (in the economy class section of the plane this time). Somehow though, I was still able to sleep for about 20 hours...not sure how I'm ever going to train my body to be on the right time zone now. We had such a wonderful trip...I can't wait to upload and share my photos with you. From where I left you last, we had Charlene's baptism party....not really what you'd think of as a baptism party...there was a DJ, dancing, lots of food, and it lasted through the weee hours of the night. There were some fun surprises in the evening, Ryan was gifted with traditional Ugandan male formal wear, and I was given some beautiful fabric that we had made into a skirt and top. African culture is full of speeches, so I was asked to give a speech at the baptism, I gave it some real American flare by keeping it under 15 minutes. :) And then, the real kicker was at the end of Liz's speech she announced that Ryan and I were going to start the dancing for the night by dancing to the first song alone! Ack...what?? Good thing for swing dancing lessons... :)
We took a 3 day safari in the northwest region of Uganda. It was a pretty jaw dropping experience of getting to see elephants, giraffes, hippos, rhinos, etc in the wild. We saw the rhinos while we were on foot...only about 20 feet away...a little intimidating to say the least. :) Good thing for dramamine...as the trip was pretty rough and bumpy.
We spent a day in the village...wow, they are living my Little House on the Prairie dream life! Although, I think it's much harder than I realize. There is no electricity or running water at all...and with that, no jobs, or money, or food other than what they grow. As the night grew dark, they had a gas lantern lit that we all sat around...about 30+ people came from their village to greet us and sit around and chat by the lantern. One little girl (about 2 years old) was soo scared of us, as we were the first white people she had ever seen. I felt so bad, and the more I tried to help the situation, the worse I think I made it. She screamed like I had never heard a child scream, and then wouldn't open her eyes the rest of the night. I was surprised by how many of the adults had never seen someone white before either, other than in a car driving by while they were "in town" (I put that in quotes because their closest town only consists of a little stand where they can by food, the same food that they grow in the village...and I think that's about it). Over and over, they just kept laughing and saying how shocked they were that we were in their village....kind of a weird feeling for us since we didn't think anything of it. My favorite, was how much EVERYONE in Uganda is excited about Obama being the next US president. We were greeted by one man in the village with, "We are so happy that we have people from Obama's nation visiting us." A club right by Liz's house changed it's name the night of the election to "Obama Club" and a butchery by the orphanage was called "At Obama Butchery". Everywhere we went, people commented about Obama. It's so nice to travel internationally and have people excited about our soon-to-be leader.
We had a wonderful time at Bitone (the orphanage). The children were so unbelievably talented, well-behaved, and family-like...I can't wait to share more about our time there with you via video clips. Thank you for the sheets and sending money for us to bring over to buy more items for them! We were able to buy sheets for all of the kids (their current beds just consisted of a foam mattress with no sheets at all...several kids often to one small mattress on the floor)...and we will be wiring them money this week for bunk beds, mosquito nets, more mattresses and blankets...THANK YOU!!!

Ugandan Living

Hello!
I'm back at the internet cafe. I wish I could post photos now so you could see what it looks like. There are 11 yellowing computers from the 90's on tables lined in a row. No overhead lighting and a low ceiling. The term "cafe" doesn't really apply as there are no refreshments. Loud music is playing behind us...not really sure what is going on...we'll have to walk over there after we're done here. It only costs 25 cents for a 1/2 hour worth of computer time...but the connection is slow, so you need at least a 1/2 hour to do anything. Unfortunately the internet cafe is one of the only things with a "fixed price"...the only other fixed prices we've found are for gas and milk...everything else (sugar, toilet paper, clothing, etc) requires bargaining, which I am not too big of a fan of. And, Liz said that since we are white, they think we are rich, so they've been increasing the starting price for everything. We did a good job though with buying fabric, and got them to decrease the price so that we only had to pay 60% of the original asking price. As for going to the zoo the other day though, the price was 4 TIMES as much for us! Liz tried bargaining, but they wouldn't budge...$2.50 for Ugandans and $10 for the muzungos (white people).
On to other things...
Yesterday we attended Liz's cousin's wedding. Ryan was asked to accompany Liz's brother as he sang two songs at the reception...afterwards the councilor of Kampala asked if he was available for hire...sorry!
Today was the baptism at the church...I love just watching the children here. The girls who are able to go to school all have their heads shaved (it's part of the dress code for school), and they look so beautiful with their eyes standing out so bright! There was one girl in particular who had Ryan and I captivated. There was also a little boy (3 years old-ish) who was just clapping and singing through the whole service while standing next to his mom in the choir. This afternoon there will be a big party at Liz's in celebration of Liz's baptism.
One of my favorite things so far is just walking around the streets where Liz lives...so many people living in such small places...lots of cooking (everyone cooks outdoors using charcoal.
I'd write more, but I have to look up a few things online yet before my time runs out.