Jamilyn's Adventures

An easy way to help the women of bigodi

2011-09-22T10:09:00.004-04:00

Looking for a unique gift for a birthday, the holidays or an upcoming wedding. What about a beautiful handmade basket or necklace from Uganda. All the proceeds are sent back to Bigodi to assist with community projects. I can ship and I take all major credit cards, paypal, and personal checks. To see pictures of the crafts please visit, www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.146552817211.125216.572152211&l=e88ad1c5c4&type=1. The link is also on the right hand side of this blog, under pictures. If you don't see a color or design that you like do ask, as I have many more pieces and may have just what you're looking for.

The baskets and jewelry are all made by members of the Bigodi Women's Group. This group of 115 members has been working together for 15 years to create beautiful works of art. To read more about this group please visit
www.bigodi-tourism.org/4301.html

I pay the women for the crafts when I order a shipment than all the additional proceeds are sent to the community for community projects. Currently, community leaders are still collecting funds to finish a desperately needed well for the 500 families that live in Bigodi. At the present time, women and children are still walking miles each way daily to get water.

Thank you for your continued support!

Two years and two months

2011-09-22T09:58:00.003-04:00

It's hard to belive that I've been back home for two years and two months! It doesn't feel that I've been away from Uganda and my village of Bigodi that long. I think of the friends that I left behind in Bigodi everyday. In the morning when I let my shower run to get hot, I think of my friends and how they still have to walk miles to get water everyday for bathing, cooking, drinking and cleaning. When I drive my car to work, I think of my friends who ride their bikes and walk miles to work and home everyday. I especially think of my friends when I go grocery shopping and I have twenty alies of food to chose from while their choices are whatever they grow in their gardens. When I do to the doctor I think of my friends and their familes members who die from easliy treatable illness. Everytime Uganda comes on the news, I see my friends faces and my desire to return to Uganda/East Africa increases.

During the spring and summer, I was in a contest with Travlocity to win a trip to Tanzania to work on a womens entrpeurnership project. While I was one of the finalists, I was not chosen as one of the four winners. However, thank you all for your amazing support. I know I could not have become a finalist without your support. I ended up 9th based just on the votes which is amazing in a national contest!!!

I appreciate you all supporting my dream of returning to Africa as I know my work is not finished.Please let me know when you see travel and service opportunities here and around the world.

Ugandan Crafts for Sale

2011-04-08T11:38:00.003-04:00

Looking for a unique gift for graduation, mother's day or an upcoming wedding. What about a beautiful handmade basket or necklace from Uganda. All the proceeds are sent back to Bigodi to assist with community projects. I can ship and I take all major credit cards, paypal, and personal checks. To see pictures of the crafts please visit, www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=125216&id=572152211&l=e88ad1c5c4. If you don't see a color or design that you like do ask, as I have many more pieces and may have just what you're looking for.

The baskets and jewelry are all made by members of the Bigodi Women's Group. This group of 115 members has been working together for 15 years to create beautiful works of art. To read more about this group please visit
www.bigodi-tourism.org/4301.html

I pay the women for the crafts when I order a shipment than all the additional proceeds are sent to the community for community projects. Currently, community leaders are still collecting funds to finish a desperately needed well for the 500 families that live in Bigodi. At the present time, women and children are still walking miles each way daily to get water.

Thank you for your continued support!

Update

2011-04-06T11:24:00.002-04:00

It's still so hard to believe that I have been home 21 months!

Last month Tinka and Michelle (the current UNITE teacher trainer) visited NC from Uganda. Tonay and I were lucky enough to get to have a wonderful visit with Tinka. I was so excited to have these two important men in my life meet each other. Since it was St. Patricks day, we got to take him to a pub for a beer. It was wonderful to catch up on all the news from Bigodi. They will be paving the main road though the village this summer and electricity will be coming as well. I have mixed feelings about the electricity as I'm afraid how it will change life for my friends. But as they say the only constant is change. I know with the possible negative consequences will come lots of amazing positive changes. I sent Tinka back with a suitcase filled to the brim with books and gifts!

I had always hoped that I'd get back to visit within two years. With the two year mark looming ahead in July, it was obvious that I didn't have the funds to go back as soon as I had hoped. However, thanks to a friends recommendation I have applied for a volunteer travel grant though travelocity. While Uganda wasn't on the list there was an amazing program working with women's entrepreneurship in Tanzania. With the help of another Jaycee friend, I made a video and got it posted just in time. In the last week I have moved up so I am now 20th in the voting, which is fantastic! I need to stay in the top 25 to be a finalist.

Please share this link with family and friends. You can vote every 24 hours till May 31st. I really appreciate all the support!
www.volunteerjournals.com/volunteer-travel-grants/entries/experienced-volunteer-tanzina

I hope to be back in East Africa soon!

Holiday gifts from Uganda

2010-12-09T11:30:00.001-05:00

***Feel free to forward this post to others. If I can sell out my current supply of crafts this holiday season, I will be able to send over $3000 back to Bigodi. That money is needed to help finish the well project and to help rebuild mud classrooms that collapsed earlier this year! Uganda remains one of the poorest countries in the world.

This holiday season give gifts that help others. Click the link below for beautiful crafts that were all made by the women of Bigodi. All profits go back to Bigodi (the village in Uganda that I lived in last year) to assist with community projects.

You can see samples of the items in the album below but I have nearly every color imaginable. I have over 150 in stock! The baskets are very similar to sweet grass baskets from Charleston Sc.

www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=125216&id=572152211&l=e88ad1c5c4

The baskets are made with coils of banana fiber, around which raffia palm is wrapped. The fibers are first harvested from the swamp, dyed by hand, then woven into works of art. Baskets range $15-$25 a piece, more than 80% of the sale price gets returned to the village!

The necklaces are made from strips of magazines and other papers that are rolled into a bead shape. The bead is not painted, but becomes the color of the paper that was used. Later, the bead is coated with a lacquer so that the beads can withstand rain, snow and moisture. Necklaces are $10-$15 a piece with more than 80% of the sale price going back to the village.

Thank you for your support!

Ten months later…..

2010-06-10T10:56:00.002-04:00

It’s hard to believe that it has been over ten months since I left Uganda and headed back home to the states after an amazing six months living in Bigodi! It’s hard to believe that six months have passed since my last blog entry. I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve gotten caught up in daily life here in all of its complications, financial worries, and busyness. There are many days that I miss the simpler life of my little village, though it certainly is not without its hardships.

I miss not having to schedule every hour in my blackberry

I miss walking down the main road in the village and hearing mzunga shouted at me by the children

I miss having healthy natural food cooked for me daily- I’ve gained 30 pounds since being back in the US

I miss feeling healthy and strong

I miss the beautiful Rwenzori Mountains

I miss working with the amazing dedicated teachers

I miss feeling like my work has an immediate impact on my surroundings

I miss having quiet time to read and journal daily

I miss showering outside

I miss the thousands of bright stars in the night sky

I miss the children of the village who always brought a smile to my face

I miss coming up with hands on ways to teach classes of over 100 students about the
environment

I miss sitting on my friend Julia’s porch and looking at outskirts of Kibale National Park

I miss walking in the Bigodi swamp and counting how monkeys I saw that day

I miss living amongst the most friendly and welcoming people I have ever met

I miss the music and dancing of the children

I miss my favorite guest house in Fort Portal

I miss Leon

However, there are also many things that I do not miss. I don’t miss seeing extreme poverty everywhere I turn, I don’t miss hearing of people dying from things that I know are treatable with western medicine, I don’t miss seeing girls pregnant and married off at 12, I don’t miss waiting for it to stop raining so the solar panels can charge and I can do computer work, I don’t miss the corruption that is pervasive at nearly every level of government, I don’t miss being homesick and feeling so far from everyone who I love and loves me, I don’t miss eating meals of plain potatoes and tomatoes, and I don’t miss seeing teachers struggle to teach in nearly impossible situations.

We are so very blessed to live in this amazing though sometime overwhelmingly busy country. I was in bad car accident in mid March, if that same accident had happened in rural Uganda – the outcome would not have been the same. A loved one got diagnosed with cancer in late April, that same cancer would have undetected in rural Uganda until it was too late to treat it. When I returned and needed to find a second job to help pay for needed home repairs, even in a recession I had choices of places to work and ways to earn additional income. My friends in Uganda do not have this luxury. I think of my friends every morning when I turn on my shower knowing that they are walking miles to get unclean water to bathe from. I think of my friends when I microwave a meal that is ready to eat in three minutes and they are spending three hours cooking their meal over an open fire (admittedly their meal is healthier). I am thankful for air conditioning, my refrigerator, an air conditioned car, and my washing machine!

I continue to sell baskets and jewelry made by the Bigodi Women’s group- http://www.bigodi-tourism.org/4301.html. You can view the products for sale at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=125216&id=572152211&l=e88ad1c5c4. All proceeds go back to community projects in Bigodi. Currently, the community leaders have a contract to build the first well ever in the village! The original estimate came in around $4,500 and now the estimate for the project is up to $12,000. $12,000 is actually an average price to dig a well in Uganda but certainly more than the village leaders had hoped and a lot of money to raise in a place where people live on less than $2 a day.

In addition to selling Ugandan crafts, I also continue to speak to community and school groups about Uganda. Since I’ve been home we have raised over $1500 for projects in Bigodi. I have collected lots of children’s books and sanitary supplies. Last week, I spoke to over 200 elementary students about Uganda and what they could do to help. Currently, I am sponsoring one young boy to attend a private school near Fort Portal, I would like to be able to sponsor more.

Ways you can get involved

Water is Life Project- Women and children carry water great distances from unsafe water sources in heavy containers every day. A donation of any amount for the well would be very helpful. I take cash, check or credit cards and then wire the money to the Water is Life project.

Book and school supply drives- The schools are terribly under resourced. There are very few to text books so instead there are paintings of the human body, the world, etc.. on the outside of the school walls and the teachers teach from those. Families have to provide children with paper, pencils, books and many can’t afford them. The children don’t have books to discover the joy of reading. This also becomes an academic problem in the later grades as the students are tested in English but they don’t have English books to practice reading! You could collect used children and young adult books than have a fundraiser to pay for the shipping costs.

Athletic equipment drives- Children in rural Uganda make balls out of plastic bags or banana fibers, which fall apart halfway though a game of soccer. Imagine what joy a few soccer balls would bring these kids. Your group can collect gently used soccer balls and then have a small fundraiser to pay for the shipping costs.

Purchase or sell crafts from the Bigodi women’s group- The beautiful baskets and jewelry can be viewed at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=125216&id=572152211&l=e88ad1c5c4. All proceeds go back to Bigodi for community projects. You can purchase them directly from me, sell them at your place of business, or your group could set up a table and sell them at a community event.

Exam fees- Students have to pay to take monthly exams that help get them ready for their end of year exams. Those students who can’t afford the monthly exams don’t take them. Students who don’t take monthly exams do far worse on the end of year exams which determine if they continue or not. It cost only $5 for each student to take the nine monthly exams.

Sanitary supplies- I visited over 20 schools and at nearly every school was told about the need for sanitary supplies for girls. Unfortunately, many girls miss schools while they have their periods because they do not have proper sanitary supplies. You can donate an Afri-pad menstrual kit complete with washable pads for just $5. http://www.afripads.com

A tax deductible donation- The Kasiisi Project based out of Cambridge MA works in the same region of Uganda where I lived, is registered with the IRS as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. All donations are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law. They do amazing work! http://www.kasiisiproject.org

Conserve resources here so we don’t have to harvest timber in the rain forest

Thank you for your continued support!
Love,
Jamilyn

Ps. Check out this incredible video of the students from Bigodi primary school.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEjuPa8XaLk

Gifts with a purpose

2009-12-18T15:00:00.000-05:00

This holiday season give gifts that help others. Click the link below for beautiful crafts that were all made by the women of Bigodi. All profits go back to Bigodi to assist with community projects.

Yes, I can ship them! Thank you for your continued support!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=125216&id=572152211&l=e88ad1c5c4

Holiday greetings

2009-12-18T12:55:00.002-05:00

Jamilyn’s Christmas Letter 2009

I went into the woods because I wanted to live deliberately. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life...to put to rout all that was not life; and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. - Henry David Thoreau

Dear friends and family,

I hope this letter finds you and yours doing well this holiday season.

I remember when I first came across the quote above; I was in high school and had just finished watching Dead Poets Society. At the time, I was profoundly taken with living life to the fullest and seizing all the opportunities that are presented to us. I’ll admit that in the fifteen years or so that have transpired since then I still believe in embracing life!

This year, that belief took me to the other side of the world (literally) where for six months, I lived in a small village in western Uganda with no electricity or running water. What was lacking in modern amenities was made up for by the breathtaking landscape and wildlife, the friendliest people I have ever met and the knowledge that the work I was doing was having a positive impact. During my time in Uganda, I trained over 100 teachers in conservation education. When I wasn’t training teachers, I was able to travel and explore much of what Uganda has to offer: chimp trekking, a ten day safari, white water rafting on the Nile, the beautiful Renzori Mountains, Kampala (the capital city), and most importantly getting know the Ugandan people. My experience in Uganda will always be with me and I will always be grateful that I took that leap of faith.

In the last four months since I’ve returned to the states, I’ve continued to raise awareness and money for community needs in Western Uganda. So far I’ve sent back just about $1000 raised from donations and basket sales. This money will be used to help build the first well in the village! In addition, I am still raising money to send children’s books and sanitary supplies to the schools that I worked with.

In addition to raising money and doing community presentations on Uganda, I have been busy with work, travel, and just enjoying being home. I am back in my old position at Wake 4-H Youth Development and working part-time at Williams-Sonoma. I feel so blessed to been able to take a six month leave of absence and return to my position.

In the last few months since I’ve been home, there have been many travels as usual. In September, I went to New York City with my boyfriend and two of our close friends. We had tickets to the Yankees/ Orioles game so I could see my childhood team play at the new Yankee stadium. It just so happened that we were there the night that Derek Jeter broke Lou Gehrig’s record becoming the Yankees all-time hits leader! In November, I was off to western NC so I could co-teach a week long pie making class at the John C Campbell Folk School! For an entire week in November, we made 19 different types of pies during the day and danced, attended concerts, and watched craft demonstrations in the evening! It was an amazing week.

I don't know what 2010 will bring but I'm sure it won't top the excitement of 2009. Thank you for your continued love and support.

Merry Christmas ---Love, Jamilyn

Beatiful Uganda Crafts for Sale

2009-10-25T16:26:00.002-04:00

Click the link below for beautiful crafts that were all made by the women of Bigodi. All profits go back to Bigodi to assist with community projects.

Yes, I can ship them! Thank you for your continued support!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=125216&id=572152211&l=e88ad1c5c4

News from my friends in Uganda

2009-08-25T10:25:00.002-04:00

Since I've been back I've enjoyed getting emails from my friends in Uganda.

This morning I got an email from my friend Julia, who is a primatologist living and working just a few miles up the road from where I was living. Julia took me under her wing while I was there and was an incredible friend/mentor. She has been living in Uganda for over 10 years!

Here is a link to a great article about her: http://www.primatehandshake.org/latest/julia-lloyd-primatologist-and-village-girl/

In the article she does a great job of explaining the tensions between conservation and sheer survival.

I miss her and my other Ugandan friends dearly!

Thank you

2009-08-22T15:18:00.002-04:00

Thank you to everyone who came out last night to the "Taste of Africa" party at my house. We had an amazing turnout!!

Throughout this entire journey, I have been so touched by everyone's support and generosity. We raised $702 at my staying in last night for the people of Uganda!!! Once you add in the donations that were received Monday at "Life in an Africa Village" and at my work on Friday, in one week $792 was raised!!!

Thank you for continual support on behalf of the people in western Uganda.

Check out pictures from the event at

http://brightlens.smugmug.com/Friends/Jamilyn-Coles-Taste-of-Africa/9366213_TyFjW/1/626835281_HSuZv#626835281_HSuZv

Animoto.com

2009-08-18T12:32:00.001-04:00

2nd week back in America

2009-08-13T15:05:00.000-04:00

I’ll be the first to admit that so far my transition back has been much easier than I ever anticipated! I’m loving being home though I certainly miss the beautiful Ugandan country side and my Ugandan friends.

Highlights from last week:

1. Attending St. Mark’s Episcopal church in Raleigh and visiting with old friends. I’ve been attending St. Marks off and on since 2003 so it was great to see everyone!

2. Cooking up a storm- One of the things I missed most in Uganda was being able to cook and shop for a variety of foods. In the last week I’ve made fresh banana bread, meat loaf, a cheese and yellow squash casserole (always one of my favorites that my mom used to make for me), eggplant Parmesan, couscous, London broil, and sweet corn on the cob just to name a few.

3. Taking care of business- Since I had two weeks off before I returned to work, I’ve been able to get a lot done around the house. It’s been nice to see my to-do list get a little shorter; house is power washed, lawn is cut, car is clean, dog went to the vet, me to the doctor, lots of food has been cooked and baked, clothes washed, and I even got a new washing machine.

4. My first Jaycee meeting in six months- It was so great to go to my first Jaycee meeting last week and to see so many friends! I was even in mentioned in the presidents closing comments as an example of what can happen when you step out of your box and try something new! I can testify that you never know where life will take you.

5. Home sweet home- Last Thursday, I drove home to beautiful Loudoun County, Virginia to visit with family and friends. I got to meet my best friend from high school s’ little boy who was born while I was in Africa. He is absolutely precious! I also had dinner with a dear group of high school friends, they had the pleasure of sitting though a 2 hour Ugandan slide show! On the way up to Virginia I stopped and visited with my 81 year old Aunt in Maryland.

Two upcomming events

2009-08-04T06:29:00.002-04:00

I am hosting two upcoming events inspired by my time in Uganda! All are welcome to attend.

August 17th-Life in an African Village

“Life in an African Village” is a interactive presentation of my experience living and working in the African country of Uganda. I spent six months in 2009 based in Bigodi, a small rural village at the base of the Rwenzori mountains in Western Uganda. My work as a conservation education trainer for the UNITE project of the NC Zoo allowed me to experience, first hand, what life is like in a developing country.

Did you know that many Ugandans are subsistence farmers and provide for their families on less than a $1 a day? "Life in an African Village" is a presentation which will provide an overview of (a.) everyday life in Western Uganda, (b.) my experience working with teachers in ten rural schools that surround Kibale National Park, and (c.) international projects that may interest you!

This event will be held at the Raleigh Jaycee office located at The Flagship Building, 4332 Bland Street in Raleigh North Carolina at 7pm on August 17th. Please RSVP to jamilync@yahoo.com

August 21st- Taste of Africa

Instead of having a traditional welcome back party I am hosting a small fundraiser at my home.

In celebration of my recent trip to Uganda, join us for an evening of good food and friends!

We will be feasting on traditional Ugandan food such as chapatti (yummy fry bread), matooke (steamed plantains), medozes (donuts), posha (similar to grits), ground nut sauce (peanut sauce), and other traditional foods. You won’t want to miss the slideshow of pictures from this picturesque country. Baskets and jewelry made by the women of Bigodi (the village where I lived for six months) will be for sale. My souvenirs will also be on display.

All donations & proceeds from items sold will be sent back to the help fund community projects in Bigodi, Uganda.

This event will be held at my home in Clayton, North Carolina at 7pm on August 21st. Please RSVP to jamilync@yahoo.com

Home Sweet Home

2009-08-01T13:46:00.001-04:00

*** When I started this blog I intended just to blog while I was in Uganda but I’ve had such a great time with it that I’m going to continue it at least for a while. Don’t worry even though I am now back on American soil, I will still continue to be involved in projects to help my friends living in Western Uganda. I will post those events here ….

Thanks to all your prayers and positive thoughts I had a safe trip home and landed on July 25th! It’s hard to believe that I’ve been back home for nearly a week now! Time truly flies when you’re having fun! After a long trip home with a wonderful layover in London, I’ve had a great low key week back in NC. Here are just a few highlights from my first week back in America.

1. Landing at RDU and seeing the sign for the PONY tournament which is of course run by the Raleigh Jaycees! I knew I was home…

2. Waking up in downtown Raleigh with a view of our beautiful city, a perfect way to spend my first night back.

3. Seeing my house for the first time and being relived that it was all in one piece!! After living without so much for so long I realized how much stuff I have!! I’ve been wedding though much of it this week, like do I really need five winter coats?? The size of my bedroom amazes me, it’s at least two and half times the size of my entire house in Uganda! To put it into perspective my banda in Uganda was smaller than Henry David Thoreau's cabin at Walden Pond.

4. Spending time with my three furry children- when I left for Uganda my kittens where just six & seven months old, now they are full fledged cats. It has been great to spend time with them and my five year old dog Juno! I was so blessed to have great friends taking such good care of them while I was gone; all three were very well taken care of.

5. Cooking- one of the things I missed most was being able to cook and prepare my own meals. I’ll admit it was certainly a luxury to have all of my meals( not to mention my laundry )prepared for me everyday however, I did miss cooking. So far I’ve made pretty simple dishes; I think my most complicated was a breakfast scramble with smoked salmon, spinach, mushrooms, and dill! Just that fact that I have a refrigerator has opened up a whole new culinary world; I can have dairy, orange juice, cold water, ice cream, all things that I have missed!

6. It is just like a ridding a bike- since I admittedly I am not the best driver I was a bit nervous getting behind the wheel for the first time in six months! Thankfully, it is just like ridding a bicycle and I hadn’t forgotten how.

7. Enjoying the great metropolis of Clayton, NC- While I work in Raleigh, I live in a small town just about 20 minutes south east. It has always reminded me of the small towns in Virginia that I grew up in. In the past I have often been two busy to enjoy living here instead spending much of my time in Raleigh. This week I’ve gone to our new farmers market (not quite like the ones I grew up selling at around the DC metro area), had my late fees forgiven at the library (evidently one library book was in my car the entire time I was in Uganda), and danced the night away to great band at the local bar just a couple miles from my house!

8. Thank you - I’ve been blessed though this entire journey to be supported by an entire “village” back here and it hasn’t ended yet. Before I even landed my car wasn’t working so three of my friends took care of it so that it was in working order when I got back! Before I got my plates back on my car Monday afternoon, my friend Stacy spent nearly an entire day running errands with me. From pet sitters to package senders to taking care of my bills to just listening to me when I had a rough day in Uganda; I could not have done this without everyone’s support.
9. Spending time with loved ones- The best part of this week has truly been just catching up with old dear friends. There have been lunches and dinners where we tried to catch each other up on the past six months. Laid back evenings just catching up in my living room, cooking for my sweetheart, long phone calls with those I haven’t seen yet, and lots of relishing in the simple moments. I am so blessed to have such amazing people in my life!!

10. Abundance- As time goes on I will begin to process my time in Uganda, for now I’m just truly to recalculate to my life here. In all honesty, it was been much easier to slide back in to my old life than I ever expected. Everything seems completely normal and just as it should. Right now my time in Uganda feels like a very, very, very, very long dream and this feels normal.

One thing that has struck me is the absolute abundance of everything that we have available at our fingertips. Even in my little town of Clayton, I have the choice of nearly any cuisine for any meal that I could want instead of just what I can grow in my garden. I have enough clothes in my closet to clothe half the women in Bigodi! I certainly have enough furniture for a few homes. We all have a car instead of being the only one in the village with one. Going into Target, Wal-Mart, and Lowes Foods were all lessons on abundance; I haven’t seen that much stuff since I left the states. While I believe we have and use more than we need we are so very blessed to be Americans!

My experience in Uganda will always be with me and I will always be grateful that I took that leap of faith. However, for now it is great to be home!!

The long journey home

2009-07-22T08:20:00.000-04:00

Thank you all for your support throughout this adventure! It’s hard to believe that I’ve been in Uganda almost six months!

Tomorrow (Thursday) morning, I leave Bigodi to start the long journey home. My friend Julia will drive us to Fort Portal where I have one last school presentation to make than we will travel the five hours to Kampala for some last minute shopping. Next is a taxi ride to Entebbe, where I will be spending Thursday night. Friday morning, I depart at 9am from Entebbe on British Air and fly to LONDON where I have a 20 hour layover.

Friday evening will be spent catching up with my friend Tiffany (who stayed with us for a couple of weeks her in Bigodi) than staying at a hotel at Heathrow. Saturday, I leave London at noon again on British Air and get to Philly about 2:30pm. After going though customs and a three hour layover, I leave Philly at 6:40pm on an US Air flight and arrive at RDU about 8pm.

Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers for a safe journey home!

Week of July 6th-13th

2009-07-13T05:02:00.003-04:00

It is hard to believe that I will be leaving Uganda in 11 short days. What an amazing experience this has turned out to be. This week’s blog will be shorter than normal as things are very busy with last minute school visits, meetings, and reporting. It feels like there is not enough time to get everything done before I leave.

A country of extremes- While the farmers were all complaining that rainy season was less rainy than normal; it was certainly more than enough rain for me. Many days I couldn’t do computer work because it rained all day and therefore we wouldn’t have any solar power. We are now officially into dry season and a drought. To the point that when I woke up this morning I was told that we couldn’t wash clothes today because we didn’t have any water! It also feels like we are living Stienbeck’s great dust bowl of America. Without any rain the roads are so dusty that I have to keep my eyes closed when ridding on a boda-boda; I just hope the driver has his eyes open!

An international dinner table- Last week, I stayed at my favorite guest house in Fort Portal as I was working on reporting and data entry that needs to be done before I leave the country. There were fascinating guests from all over the world! We eat family style at dinner so I dinned with people from Ireland, England, Germany, Uganda, NYC, the Netherlands, and Massachusetts. Some were on vacation traveling to all the great parks that Uganda has to offer. Others were working on projects ranging from doctors with a boarders, community libraries, church schools, school improvement and eco tourism. I even met a family with three kids from America who had been here eight years!

Data entry even in Africa- Last week, I entered over 500 surveys from children and teachers into a spreadsheet. While the work is not very exciting to say the least, it was heart breaking to see the following comments from children:

"If you go into the national park the wild animals there can eat you"!

In answer to what are the biggest environmental problems in Kibale National Park many replied with: that’s where rebels hide and animals that kill people live there (elephants)!

In answer to what you like most about forest, most children replied getting firewood!

The teachers had more uplifting comments:

“I am very grateful with the methods used by Jamilyn Cole when presenting to us and how she involved all of us actively in learning situations.”

“I truly appreciate for the arrangement of this training for it has made a great change in my way of doing things. “

“The training was so nice. May God bless Jamilyn Cole.”

“Let this UNITE remain forever and ever.”

“I leanrt many methods of teaching the conservation of environmental education.”

Most helpful “The methods and teaching games. Confidence and decent dressing of the facilitator Ms Jamilyn (African style of dressing not trousers).”

Mark your calendars

2009-07-08T03:13:00.000-04:00

In celebration of my recent trip to Uganda, join us for an evening of good food and friends!

Date: August 21st
Time: 7:00pm
Location: My house in Clayton NC

We will be feasting on traditional Ugandan food such as chapatti (yummy fry bread), matooke (steamed plantains), medozes (donuts), posha (similar to grits), ground nut sauce (peanut sauce), and other traditional foods. You won’t want to miss the slideshow of pictures from this picturesque country. Baskets and jewelry made by the women of Bigodi (the village where I lived for six months) will be for sale. My souvenirs will also be on display.

All donations & proceeds from items sold will be sent back to the help fund community projects in Bigodi, Uganda.

The realties of living in Uganda

2009-07-06T11:19:00.001-04:00

Week of June 29th-July 6th

For most of my time here, I’ve been able to escape the daily hardships of living in western rural Uganda. I live with the most prominent family in our village; we are the only family with a car and solar power. Unlike most of the other women my age I do not dig in a garden daily with a baby on my back. Even here in Uganda, I make monthly what most people make in two-three years. This week I experienced first hand the challenges of living in this area of the world.

An attack in the forest- A week ago today, one of the researchers I know was captured at gun point in Kibale National Park. After spending all night on the forest floor, he was able to escape in the morning and get back to the research station. At this point the assumption is that they were poachers. Years ago rebels used to hide out in the forest but it has been a long time since anyone has seen rebels in the park.

Conservation and survival- People who work in the field of conservation here and many places around the world are often at odds with people who are just trying to survive.

Everyone who lives in the communities surrounding the park use either firewood or charcoal to do all of their cooking. Which means everyday there is firewood to be gathered. Many people don’t think anything about crossing the park boundaries to get firewood. One of the organizations we work with is trying to encourage people to plant trees on their own property that they will than harvest for firewood but it hasn’t been embraced by the community yet. The same organization is also training people how to build stoves that will use less wood.

Locals here do not see the primates who live in the park as cute like many of us from the west do. Instead many here seem them as a nuisance as it’s the primates and other animals that raid people’s gardens here. I was in a meeting last week where one of the major items of discussion was what to do about the elephants that had crossed the park boundaries and were destroying gardens.

While people don’t eat much bush meat (primates) as they have in years passed, poaching still occurs in the forest. I was with a group of students recently and the ranger speaking to them knew whose parents were regular hunters in the park.

On the other hand many people in the surrounding committees know that the park and other local conservation sites provide jobs and that the tourists bring money into the local communities. So there is a constant struggle.

Accidents happen everywhere- Tiffany (our new housemate) was walking to the swamp with guide as she had done at least twice a day for the last two weeks when she was hit by a bicycle. The driver of the bike had lost complete control of the bike as it came careening over the hill at top speed. Tiffany was knocked backwards onto the gravel road. After applying basic first aid to her most visible wounds, I was able to convince Tinka that we needed to take her to the hospital in Fort Portal. I was very concerned because she was in a terrible amount of pain in her back and was asking the same questions over and over again.

Almost two hours after the accident occurred we arrived in Fort Portal where we had to go to three hospitals until we found one who could do x-rays that evening. By evening we had learned that she had a broken bone in her hand, a concussion, a compressed vertebrae, and had to have stitches in five places including on her head!

She was in the hospital for the next three days and two nights. I stayed with her the entire time to help navigate the language and cultural barriers. The hospital looked like something out of the 1900’s. There were about ten rooms all around a central courtyard that looked like it had been bombed at some point. Seriously, the courtyard was full of concrete rubble and a low hanging clothes line that patients had to navigate to get to the one bathroom or the surgery room. There were no electronic monitoring devices in the patients’ rooms. We had to supply our own sheets/blankets for the beds and there were no pillows. The care was so basic, about all they could do for her is clean her wounds, take x-rays, and give pain meds.

The sad thing is even with that basic care it’s more than most Ugandan’s receive. The boy (20 years old) who was driving the bike went to health clinic in Bigodi which is basically just a first aid clinic. Once his wounds were dressed he than went to another district (county)- to hid himself because he was afraid thatsince he hit a mazuga he would go to jail. Once I reassured his stepmom that he would not go to jail and that he needed medical treatment (he has a head injury), the next issue became payment. They didn’t have the money for treatment. Nothing breaks my heart more than someone not receiving medical care simply because they can’t pay for it. I offered to pay for his treatment but they have been unable to locate him.

Teenage pregnancy- A girl who is just 14 who attended one of the schools I work with gave birth last week. One of the many sad aspects of this situation, is she was at school on Monday no one knew she was pregnant and by Wednesday she had given birth. Many, many girls here get pregnant and or married very young. When I go to visit the secondary school there are so few girls in the classes because most have dropped out of school by than.

Field trips- On a happier note two of our schools went to Kibale National Park on field trips this week. Even though they all live within just miles of the park, none had ever been into the park legally. Many had crossed the park boundaries to get firewood or to hunt for their families. It is a little frustrating that some of the park staff put more emphasis on their foreign guest than the local youth who are the ones who directly impact the park. However, I am glad we able to take them on an official tour. This week we have kids going on their first visit to the botanical gardens in Fort Portal.

Classroom visits- We visited three schools last week, it was great to see all the hands on and conservation lessons that they are doing with the students. I even got to teach a class of 204 second graders- yes there were 104 all in one class! It is frustrating when we go to schools and teachers are absent. There is a very high rate of absenteeism among teachers and since there are no substitute teachers, when a teacher misses school that class is on it’s own for the day or another teacher will try to cover two classes. Neither works well.

No place like home-I’ll admit it after being here five and a half months; I am looking forward to going home. It’s the little things I’m looking forward to the most; hanging out with my pets, catching up with friends, enjoying good food, chilling on my back deck, and just enjoying being home.

Week of June 22nd-29th

2009-06-30T07:08:00.001-04:00

1. 48 garden hoes, 90 flour sacks, and 10 watering cans- All this and more was purchased to get ready for my last big training which was held this past weekend. I trained 40 plus 5th-7th grade teachers this weekend! This was the second time that I had trained this particular group of teachers. We had a great time learning new activities that they could incorporate into their teaching. The highlights of the weekend included a tour of the Bigodi Wetland, a presentation by the Community Conservation Warden of Kibale National Park, and learning to make learning aids from local materials.

I love taking teachers on a tour of the Biogdi Wetland, most have never been on a tour because they think there is nothing special there. However, after the tour they are always amazed at the variety of primates, plants, birds, and tree species. It is our hope of course that they will pass on this knowledge and respect for the local environment to their students.

This week the teachers from Green Circle (a school in Fort Portal that is trained in Montessori methods) taught us how to make posters and charts for classrooms out of empty flour sacks! Using a flour sack and a few magic markers the classrooms at Green Circle are covered with diagrams of the digestive system, water cycle, geographical features, and many others. Our teachers had a great time making their own flour sack charts for their classrooms!

2. Elephant ball- I always intersperse games into my trainings to keep things fun and lively. All of the games can also be done with students so it’s great for teachers to experience them. Speed ball, one of favorite name games is always a hit with the teachers. Last week we all learned a new game that the teachers loved. Jamaal, the Canadian who was staying with us for a few days taught us how to play elephant ball. Everyone stands in a large circle with their feet wide apart and their shoes touching their neighbors. Players than bend over and make a trunk with their arms. The object is to keep the ball inside the circle by using your “trunk”, if the ball goes though your legs than you are out. The teachers had such a great time playing this game; I can’t wait to see students playing it!

3. Repeat customers- I’ve enjoyed getting to know all the teachers though these trainings. Many teachers have had such a good time that they have come to 4 out of 5 of the trainings (they only ‘had’ to come to 2). Somebody even told me that they didn’t expect the trainings to be so much fun!

4. Thank you- In addition to receiving lots of great packages for me while I’ve been here many of you have sent things for the teachers and students that I work with. The teachers were so very grateful for the volleyballs (netball is very popular for girls here), playground balls, sanitary pads, girls underwear, children’s books and educational games that you sent. They wanted to make sure that I told all my American friends and family thank you!!

5. Free range chickens – At Tinka’s we have five goats, two dogs, and lots of chickens. The chickens are literally free range roaming around finding food wherever they can. I know it’s good for them and produces yummy meat however; I don’t like it when they graze off my dinner plate!

6. An elephant break-in- Our housemate, Tiffany went on safari to Queen Elizabeth this weekend and an elephant broke into to their vehicle. She evidently used her trunk to get into the car and get the snacks!

Week of June 15th-22nd

2009-06-22T13:32:00.000-04:00

1. 45 teachers and me- This past weekend, I spent two days training 45 p1-p4 (1st-4th grade) teachers from nine area schools on how to integrate conservation education into their classroom teaching. It was the second time that I had trained this particular group of teachers and we had a fantastic time learning new activities that they could incorporate into their classes. I am always amazed at the turnout we have for these trainings as many teachers come from over an hour away. None of the teachers have cars so they either walk/bike very far distances to get here or have to hire a boda boda to carry them over bumpy poorly maintained “roads”.

One of UNITE’s goals and my personal mission’s is to teach teachers hands on ways of teaching. We want to help move teachers away from chalk and talk to more interactive ways of teaching. Even without text books or classroom resources there are many things you can do to make a lesson interactive and engaging for students. The teachers learned many new methods over the course of the weekend that they can use when teaching conservation education and other subjects.

In addition to learning new methods of teaching, we invited the Community Conservation Warden from Kibale National Park to come and talk to the teachers about the park’s school conservation programs. Saturday afternoon, we took all the teachers on a guided tour of the Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary. Only one of the teachers had even been on a tour there. They had no idea what types of primates or birds live in this area. If the teachers don’t know about their local environment than how can we expect them to teach is to their students! It was great to see their reactions to seeing baboons up close and learning about the different types of birds and trees.

2. What can you make from a handful of beans and rice? - Since schools here do not have money for teaching materials most of the classroom walls are bare. However, there are many teaching aids that can be made from locally found materials. I invited the staff from a Montessori trained school in town to come a lead a workshop during our training on making learning materials. The teachers loved it and they all got to make a learning aid to take back to their schools. I can’t wait till I can post pictures so you can see the creativity of these teachers.

Using different types of beans, rice, plywood, and glue made from cassava flour: they were able to make a diagram of the human eye so students could clearly see the pupil, iris, and other parts of the eye. A chart of the different types of soil was created from just a piece of plywood, beans for the lettering and borders, cassava flour glue, and soil. Many teachers chose to make a fish so their students could learn the different parts of the fish; it was made from just paper, beans, and cassava flour glue. My group used banana fibers (from the trunk of a banana tree) to make a large sheet of paper on which we than painted a colorful map of Uganda!
I wish I had time to more of these workshops as there are so many things that can be made for the classrooms with just a little time and creativity! Unfortunately, my time is starting to run out – I leave Bigodi one month from tomorrow. I do have one more training next week for the p5-p7 teachers that I am looking forward to.

3. I will miss…- There are many things that I will miss when I head back to the states in just about a month. I will miss kids running down their driveways to say “Mazuga, mazuga how are you?” as they see me jogging past. I will miss running into my friends in the local bar. I will miss healthy natural food prepared by someone else. I will miss working with this amazing group of teachers. I will miss seeing the beautiful Renzori Mountains from the porch of my little house. I will miss the fact that since there is “no hurry in Africa” in five months, I haven’t been late to a single function. I will miss my little village of Bigodi where it seems like almost everyone knows me. I will miss feeling like I am making at least a small difference in the world. And of course I will miss Leon.

4. New housemate- Last week we got a new housemate. Tiffany is from the UK and will be staying with us till mid July. She is an undergrad studying biology/conservation and is volunteering at KAFRED for the month. For the last five days, a University student from Canada has been staying with us as well. Jamaal is on a three month field placement in Uganda studying community development. They are both great fun and it has been a real treat for me to have English speaking company! Both even attended my training over the weekend and seem to really enjoy it.

Marriages, burials, and chickens-My 19th week in Uganda

2009-06-19T05:53:00.000-04:00

I’m a little late posting this due to lack of computer availability and a good internet connection this week. This is for the week of June 6th-14th.

1. Good to be back- After traveling throughout much of Uganda on Safari, it was great to be back in Bigodi and in my normal routine last week. I will miss my little African village when I head back to the states in late July!

2. Attending an introduction- Last week I got to attend the introduction of our neighbor’s cousin. An introduction here is sort of like an engagement party, it’s where the bride’s family accepts the bride price or dowry from the husband to be and the two families are officially introduced. The actual marriage will occur at a church ceremony a month or so later. In this case as with many marriages here the couple had actually lived together for the last seven years and had two children together! The official wedding and introduction are often put off for many years due to the expense of these celebrations.

There were well over two hundred in attendance at this introduction. It was a very formal affair with the men in suits and the women in their best traditional dresses.

3. Losing one of the oldest members of the village-Last week the oldest woman in Bigodi passed away. While everyone knew she had three generations of grandchildren no one knew exactly when she was born. Tinka did know what king she was born under so he was able to look that up on the internet and at least narrow it down to a decade. The decision of the village elders was that she was 113!!! She even cooked for Tinka’s Grandfathers wedding so many years ago!

4. Month long birthday celebration- I’ve always loved birthdays and while this year’s birthday was a little anti climatic, I’ve continued to get packages and cards for the last five weeks! This week two birthday packages arrived, one from my sister and one from my old high school friends. My sister obviously knows me well because not only did she include books, balls for the kids (she is a PE teacher after all), but there was also chocolate for me!! The package from my friends was gigantic and must have cost a fortune to send. They included lots of books, assorted magazines including Bass fishing, volleyballs for the kids (netball is very popular here), and lots of snacks for me! I am very blessed to have such a supportive group of friends and family.

5. Twelve secondary teachers and me- Last weekend, I trained 12 teachers for the local Secondary school. I hadn’t worked with them yet so it was a joy to get to know them. Since they teach at the secondary level they were all fluent in English, which made the training at lot easier on me. We had a great time learning conservation activities that they could incorporate into their teaching. There were two surprising things for me: one was that while the schools mission is “We conserve to develop” they were actually doing very little in the way of conservation education. The second was none of the teachers at the school had ever been on a tour of the Bigodi Wetland which is less than a mile from the school! None of the teachers had any idea of how many birds’ species live in the swamp or could name the different types of primates. We took a guided tour of the wetland and by the end of the weekend; all knew that there are 200 different types of birds and eight species of monkeys living in the wetland!

6. 26 pounds gone- One of the great side effects of living and working in Uganda has been losing weight by sampling eating natural foods and walking a lot. So far I have lost 26 pounds!!!

7. I’ve heard about chickens coming home to roost but this is nuts- I had two incidents involving chickens last week. While napping, I felt something jump up on my bed at first I thought it was Leon but no it was a chicken. Tinka thought maybe she was looking for a place to lay her eggs! Later in the week, I was getting my “juice bucket” from outside as it was drying upside down; when I picked it up I heard a loud squeak and there was a small chicken. Evidently, she had been missing and trapped under my bucket for two days as I was out of town!

Back from Safari part 2

2009-06-10T09:33:00.002-04:00

** Please forgive the length of this entry but there was so much to write about!

Saturday May 30- Jinja
After spending an amazing day rafting the Nile, we spent the evening at a fantastic lodge called the Nile Porch. The Nile Porch over looks the Nile as it approaches the falls. According to my guide book “the tents are spacious yet cozy, with inner mosquito netting and verandas facing the river”. It definitely lived up to our expectations; our luxury permanent safari tent was literally on the edge of the bank over looking the Nile. We had an incredible view of the Nile! For the first time in days we had our own ensuite bathroom. Even the bathroom had a view of the Nile! It was incredible to fall asleep listening to the mighty Nile. We awoke to a thick wall of fog over the river so we couldn’t see the Nile at all. It was awesome to watch the fog slowly break and reveal the beautiful river.

After living on “local food” for the last four months, which while it is healthier than my typical American diet tends to be a bit bland. It was such a treat to eat such great food on this trip. The Black Lantern at the Nile Porch was no exception, we had two amazing meals in the restaurant that overlooked the Nile. I’m looking forward to returning to this hotel someday.

Sunday May 31-Leave Jinja for Lake Mburo
Our driver (who is a friend of Tinka’s) picked us up from the Nile Porch in Jinja and was with us the rest of the trip. We drove back though Kampala than west to Lake Mburo, it took about six hours to make the trip. Along the way we stopped to take pictures at the equator! There was a lovely café there as well where we had lunch.

My main reason for wanting visiting Lake Mburo is that it is the closest park with zebras. I couldn’t go on an African safari and not see zebras! When we arrived in the afternoon we did a game drive where we saw my first zebra, lots of impala, buffalo and warthogs.

The entire time we were on our game drive we didn’t see any other visitors. I knew that this was not one of the busier parks but I didn’t expect it to be empty! We were suppose to stay in a safari tent but since that part of the park was completely isolated, we opted to stay in a cottage at another lodge. The cottage was very cute and had its own bathroom though no electricity or running water! We were awoken at about 2am by the sound of something outside our window. It sounded like a warthog or larger animal grazing but every time I looked outside I couldn’t see anything. That kept us awake for awhile for fear it was going to start grazing on the cottage which wasn’t really very study. Just when we were relaxed enough to go back to sleep, we heard lots of scurrying in the ceiling, which was probably just a rat or lizard but was unsettling. I got to sleep about 4am and I think Sharon was up the rest of the night!

Monday June 1- Arrive at Queen Elizabeth
We awoke at 6am so that we’d have time for breakfast before our game drive and the four hour to Queen Elizabeth National Park. The game drive was great as I got to see lots of zebras !! We got fantastic pictures of them. I don’t know whey they fascinate so much though I did grow up in horse country in northern Virginia and never saw a stripped horse!

We arrived at Queen Elizabeth National Park a little after 1pm which gave us some to check in to our lodge for the evening and have lunch before our 3pm boat ride on the Kazinga Channel. We splurged for this and stayed at the luxury Mweya Safari Lodge. According to my guidebook and everyone I know this is one of the most beautifully situated lodges in Uganda. Some have described it as a Sheraton in the bush. After staying there I totally agree and it was worth every penny! As soon as we arrived we were greeted by a butler with hot washcloths and fresh glasses of passion fruit juice. The entire lodge offers amazing views of the bank of the Kazinga channel. We could see elephants and buffalo grazing as we were eating our lunch. The food in lodge was fantastic, as good as any four star restaurant back in the states! We both had salads for lunch which is a real treat for me as we can’t eat raw veggies in Bigodi.

After lunch we went on the boat ride which was wonderful and unlike our last boat ride, we didn’t get caught in a storm this time. It was about two hours long and we saw tons of elephants, buffalos, waterbucks, water birds, and hippos. In comparison to the other two parks that we visited this week, we saw more of everything here at Queen. Instead of seeing a family of three elephants we’d see a heard of more than twenty! Instead of a handful of buffalo, there would be twenty-five or more on the bank of the channel. We passed a small island that was full of at least six different species of water birds!

When we returned to the lodge from our boat ride, we went to the spa and had massages! Oh what a treat and they were only $20 per person! I consider a real shower a luxury these days so this was blissful. Afterwards, we had pre-dinner cocktails in the bar that reminded me so much of the Grove Park Inn with its large fireplace and stone accents. Instead of a view of the mountains, we had an amazing view of the channel. The drinks had great names like hippos delight! Dinner was phenomenal, I had fried corn fritters to start and Sharon had the most amazing spinach/mushroom soup I’ve ever had. For the main course, I had chicken cordon blu that was out of this world and Sharon had pork that was also amazing. We both had the chocolate cake for desert-who’s going to say no to chocolate cake!

Tuesday June 2-Queen Elizabeth day 2 and drive to Bigodi
On the one day on this trip where I could sleep in, at about 5:30am I was awoken by the sound of elephants. Sharon questions how I knew it was an elephant and not another African animal but since a large heard was gathered on the other side of the channel; I say it was likely that it was an elephant! Whatever it was, it was very cool. Since I was already up, I went outside on the veranda to catch up on my journaling. While I was there, I witnessed the most amazing sunrise over the channel. It was absolutely breathtaking! It seemed like we could see for miles in ether direction.

We had an incredible breakfast buffet complete with fresh passion fruit juice and nutella for my pancakes! I’ll admit having banana’s, bread, and tea day in and day out for breakfast gets a bit old so this was a real treat! I didn’t want to leave this incredible hotel any earlier than we had too, so we didn’t check out till after 10:30am. This is definitely a place that I want to come back to some day.

We did our last game drive as we departed Queen Elizabeth. On our way out of the park we saw elephants, antelope, warthogs, and lots of birds! We stopped at another equator marker, a salt lake, and a sign post saying DRC is 27 km to take pictures. The stop at the salt lake was a little dramatic as I fell, reinjured my left leg and broke my camera! I think I was more upset about my camera than my leg as the camera was a bon voyage gift from my NC friends. Our driver loaned me his camera for as long as I need it and Sharon took the camera back to the states where it will be fixed!

It was about a 4 hour drive back to Fort Portal and than it’s only 45 minutes to Bigodi my home away from home. As we got closer to Fort Portal, the landscape gradually changed from the tall grasses and scraggly trees of the savannah that we saw at Queen Elizabeth to the lush green foliage and mountains that signal that I’m getting closer to home. I can truly say after traveling a good portion of this amazing country that my favorite area is the one where I live. I am blessed to live on the outskirts of a lush tropical forest and at the foot of the Ruwenzori Mountains!

In Fort Portal, we stopped at the post office where I had three packages waiting for me! One had been mailed on April 8th, so I was thrilled that it had arrived safely. I have been so blessed on this entire journey to be supported by such amazing friends and family. If you have mailed a package, please don’t lose hope –I’m sure it’s on it’s way but the mail can be very slow here.
This evening, we stayed in the tree house in Kibale National Park just a few miles from where I live. The tree house is deep in the forest (it’s a little less than a mile trek to get to it) and has a great view of a swamp that is often frequented by elephants. While we didn’t see any elephants, it was very cool to wake up to the sounds of the forest.

Wednesday June 3- Chimp Trekking
In the morning, we set off on our 3 three hour trek though Kibale National Park to see the famed chimpanzees. I had gone chimp trekking in February and after four hours of very difficult trekking though the forest we had failed to find the chimps. Luckily, this time was different. Within just about 30 minutes, we found over 30 chimps eating high up in a fig tree. It was amazing to watch them eat and play high up in the trees. After watching for over an hour, we followed a few as they came down to the ground and was able to watch one male chimp while standing only about five feet away. It was fantastic!

Afterwards, we took a boda-boda (my favorite means of transport) back to Bigodi and had lunch at home. In the afternoon, Sharon decided she wanted to get her hair braided. We sat outside Betty’s hair shop and attracted half the women in the village as they watched the muzuga get her hair braided! The women were having a workshop on making paper beads so as Sharon was getting her hair done I got to learn how to make beautiful beads out of paper.

Thursday June 4-Bigodi
The original plan had been to leave Bigodi this afternoon and stay in Fort Portal for the evening. However, we were having such a great time in Bigodi and at Tinka’s that we decided to stay another night. In the morning, we went on a guided walk of the Bigodi wetland (this was my eighth visit to the wetland). We had a great walk and saw so many of the animals that live in the wetland, including five different primates, the great blue turraco, and other wonderful birds! We were able to see four different species of monkeys playing in the trees! The only bad part was nearing the end of our walk I was stung by a wasp! I hadn’t been stung in over 25 years. Our guide wanted to put kerosene on the sting which is a local remedy however I refused as I had a first aid kit back at my house with western medicine.

Sharon got to experience a traditional Ugandan meal at lunch. There were three other American’s at the house for what I call “tourist” lunch. Tinka gives a presentation on traditional Ugandan customs and afterwards everyone feats on a traditional meal. We had spinach/carrots, fried cassava, mattoke, groundnut sauce, posha, rice, beef stuff, sesame sauce, and pineapple for dessert-yum!

After lunch, we walked to Bigodi primary school and visited the p4 class which is taught by my friend Alex. Due to the kids break and my safari, I hadn’t seen most of them in well over a month so it was great to get back in the classroom. We talked to the kids about our trip and quizzed them about animals found in each park. Afterwards, they sang traditional songs and preformed dances. As usual it was very touching. I love those kids!

In the evening, we walked around the village and met some of my friends. We visited Irene who operates the local restaurant near my house. Irene is always great for getting the local gossip though sometime she tells me gossip about my self! Our next stop was to see Helen who is Irene’s mom, she who founded and runs the Bigodi peanut butter project. Over ten years ago Helen started buying groundnuts ( peanuts) from the local women and making peanut butter. The project now supports over 40 families in the area! Helen went to NC in 2000 and even named her last born after my boss at the NC Zoo! Our last stop was to visit Alex in his store in the trading center. Alex has been a member of UNITE for years and got to visit NC on one of our teacher exchange programs. He currently teaches p4 at Bigodi primary. After school, he comes to the trading center where he operates his store for a few hours every afternoon. Every time, I come in Alex insist on giving an avocado or a bunch of banana’s because as he said everyone in NC treated him so well!

Friday Jun 5- Trip to the airport
It’s hard to believe this amazing trip is coming to an end. We left Tinka’s at 7am and drove the 6 hours to Entebbe airport. After having lunch at the airport and saying goodbye, our driver and I headed back to Bigodi.

This was an absolutely amazing vacation!

Back from Safari- part 1

2009-06-05T22:09:00.004-04:00

Wow, what a trip! Sharon and I had an incredible time touring four of Uganda's National parks, rafting on the nile and other grand adventures!

I have posted a few pictures that can be viewed at
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=97753&id=572152211&l=0573b5d2bb. You do not need to have a facebook account to view the pictures.

Wednesday May 27- After spending Tuesday evening at the Red Chili hostel in Kampala eating great food and meeting people from all over the world including Durham NC, we left early Wednesday morning for their "Big Five" trip. I had heard great things about this trip from another American so I was very excited. In the upcoming three days we were going to have an opportunity to view the "Big Five"- leopards, lions, elephants, hippos, and rhinos.

It was about a seven hour drive to Murchison Falls National Park from Kampala. Once we arrived, we took a guided walk around the falls. Having left for Safari with bronchitis, being an asthmatic and walking during the hottest part of the day- I'll admit the walk was challenging to say the least. However, it was so worth it!! There are actually two falls and they are both amazing. It reminded me of my many visits with my father when I was younger to Blackwater falls in West Virgina, expect so much bigger. My dad would have loved this trip.

In the evening we stayed at Red Chilli rest camp in the park. We had a wonderful safari tent with two real beds, luxury camping! The canteen for food and drinks over looked an incredible veiw!

http://www.uwa.or.ug/murchison.html

Thursday May 28- By 6:45am we were loaded in the safari van with our packed breakfast ready for our first game drive. We took a fery to cross the Nile for a 4 hour game drive around the Nile Delta area of the park. This is where the most big game gathers and where there are spectacular views across Lake Albert towards the Blue Mountains of the Congo and northern Uganda.

We saw lion, buffalo, elephant, giraffe, babbons, monkeys, a phython, many types of antelope, hippos, and lots of differnt birds! One babbon even climbed up the back of our van and into top to grab one of the girls breakfast sandwich! It was truly amazing to see all of these incredbile animals in their natural haibatats.

After lunch we departed for a 3 hour afternoon boat launch trip up-stream towards the base of Murchison Falls. We were able to see more hippos, Nile crocodiles, more buffalo, elephants and lots of birds. It was a little nerve wrecking when it started to thunder and lightening while were were on a boat in the Nile!

We spent another night at the rest camp- enjoying the food, great view and company.

Friday May 29- By 8am we left Murchison Falls for the trip back to Kampala. On the way back we stopped off at a Rhino sanctuary where we tracked Rhinos! The trek wasn't long, we did the first 15 mins in the van than the last 15 mins by foot though 5 foot tall grasses. It was amazing to see the rhinos- they were gigantic!

http://www.rhinofund.org/

Saturday May 30- Jinja- At 7:45am we were to leave Red Chilli Hostel in Kampala where we spent Friday night for Jinja where we were to go white water rafting. Being the ever pone acciedent one, while carrying my 40 pound back pack up the hill towards the bus, I fell and twisted my right ankle while skinning my left leg pretty bad. Sharon went and haltled the bus while I got bandged up and back on my feet. Thankfully, I had my first adi kit with us so I was able to take of my leg and my ankle.

We than rode about an hour and a half to Jinja, where we rafted the mighty Nile. Given the excitement of the morning and the beating sun, we opted for the half day trip. Even so we rafted eight rapids, three being class five! It was an incredible experince. The company we went with was fantastic and provided the free shutlle from Kampala, breakfast, fresh pinapplle on the river ( there is nothing like Ugandan pineapple), and a barbeque dinner! My only regret is that we couldn't have our camera's on the river so I couldn't capture the incerdible bird life and people on the banks of the river washing their clothing.
.http://www.raftafrica.com/
http://www.nileporch.com/

16th week in Uganda

2009-05-26T12:57:00.003-04:00

1. Back to my first love-I love training teachers but having spent seven years working in museums, it was great to return this week to training tourism site staff. While working in the museum field I always worked in the education department in fact I even got a Masters in Museum Ed, so I have a passion for working with youth in museum settings. Here in Uganda many tourism sites treat school groups as they would any other tourist group. Of course, children are not your average tourist so it was good this week to train two sites on working with school groups. We covered ages and stages of youth development, basics of experiential education, and alignment with the national curriculum!

2. Ants a delicacy- For months, I had refused to try eating ants. I finally gave in this week when thie kids where having them as an afternoon snack. They were umm crunchy but not too bad though I’ll admit, I didn’t go back for seconds.

3. Chopsticks anyone- About four years on a trip out of the country Tinka picked up a set of chopsticks however they had never been used because no one knew how! Like any good American, I know how to use chopsticks! So there I was in a rural African village teaching Deuce (one of Tinka’s sons) how to eat Africa food with chopsticks!

4. Rain, rain go away- While everyone in Bigodi is very thankful to have the rain so they can finish planting their crops, I however wish it could rain with the sun shining so I could still get a little solar power! This week has been challenging to get a charge on the computer as it has been raining a lot.

5. Saying goodbye- I’ll admit it, it was hard to say goodbye to Katatito this week. I had gotten quite attached to the little guy even though he chewed some of my books and clothing. After fostering him for over three weeks and helping him get rid of his fleas, worms and double in weight – it was time to give him to a good Ugandan family before he got too used to being spoiled by a Mzunga!

6. Bronchitis- So one of the challenges of living Uganda for me is dealing with allergies that trigger bronchitis. This week I’ve had my second bout of bronchitis since I’ve been here. It was bad enough that I finally gave in and took the 1 z-pack (antibiotic) that my doctor let me bring with me. I was saving it for when I was really sick and decided this was it, plus I wanted to be able to travel next week with my friend Sharon from the states. It seems to be working very slowly but hopefully I will kick this thing soon.

7. Boxes, boxes- I have been so blessed to get so many packages while I’ve been here- in fact three padded enveloped arrived this week! However, none of the five boxes that people have sent have arrived yet, one was sent over 7 weeks ago L I have been told by my British friend Julia not to give up hope so let’s hope they come soon.

8. Off on safari-I haven’t done much traveling since I’ve been here so I am so excited to travel around the country with my friend Sharon. Here is our itinerary:

Wednesday May 27- Depart Kampala for Murchison FallsIn the morning we leave Kampala on a group tour for the long drive up to North to Murchison Falls National Park.Murchison Falls is a waterfall on the Nile. At the top of Murchison Falls, the Nile forces its way through a seven metre gap in the rocks and tumbles 43 metres down, then flows westward into Lake Albert.Once we arrive at the falls we will go on a guided walk around the cliffs and right up to the edge of the Falls themselves.
http://www.uwa.or.ug/murchison.html

Thursday May 28-Murchison FallsEarly in the morning we will cross the Nile for a 4 hour game drive around the Nile Delta area of the park. This is where the most big game gathers and where there are spectacular views across Lake Albert towards the Blue Mountains of the Congo and northern Uganda. There is a very high chance of seeing lion, buffalo, elephant, giraffe as well as many types of antelope and varied bird life. After lunch we will than depart for a 3 hour afternoon boat launch trip up-stream towards the base of Murchison Falls. Hippos, huge Nile crocodiles, more buffalo, antelope and fantastically varied bird life abound.Friday May 29- Leave Murchison Falls for KampalaWe will leave early to drive to a Rhino sanctuary where we will track Rhinos!
http://www.rhinofund.org/

Saturday May 30- Jinja- White water rafting the NileToday we head about 90 mins east of Kampla to go white water rafter on the Nile. We will spending the night in Jinja.

http://www.raftafrica.com/
http://www.nileporch.com/

Sunday May 31-Leave Jinja for Lake MburoOur driver will pick us up from our hotel in Jinja and will be with us the rest of the trip. On our way out of Jinja we will stop at the source of the Nile. Than we will drive back though Kampala west to Lake Mburo. When we arrive in the afternoon we will do a game drive where we hope to see zebra, impala, buffalo and warthogs.

http://www.uwa.or.ug/mburo.html

Monday June 1- Drive to Queen ElizabethWe pass the equator on our way to Queen and will stop for pictures. When we arrive at Queen Elizabeth National Park, we will do a boat ride on Kazinga Channel. It is about two hours long with elephant, buffalo, waterbuck, and hippos seen on a daily basis. We are going to splurge tonight and stay at the Mweya Safari Lodge. According to my guidebook and everyone I know this is one of the most beautifully situated lodges in Uganda. Some have described it as a Sheraton in the bush. The dinning areas and bar offer a view over the bank of the Kazinga channel.

http://www.uwa.or.ug/queen.html
http://www.mweyalodge.com/html/facilities.html

Tuesday June 2-Queen Elizabeth day 2 and drive to BigodiWe will do a game drive in the morning around the park before we drive to Bigodi. Tonight we will stay in the tree house in Kibale National Park. The tree house is deep in the forest and has a great view of a swamp that is often frequented y elephants.Wednesday June 3- Chimp Trekking and school visitIn the morning we will do a 2-4 hour trek though Kibale National Park to see the famed chimpanzees. In the afternoon we can visit Bigodi primary to hand out books and explore the village. Tonight we will stay at my “home”. We will have lunch and dinner with the family. After dinner we will enjoy traditional story telling and dancing.

www.uwa.or.ug/kibale.html

Thursday June 4-Bigodi Wetland and Fort PortalIn the morning, we will go on a guided walk of the Bigodi wetland. After having our last meal with the Tinka family we will head into Fort Portal. Along the way we can stop at the tea plantation or Crater lakes if we would like. Tonight, we will be staying at my favorite guest house in Fort Portal. It is a very relaxing place, each room has a veranda. Dinners are amazing and I always meet the most amazing people here.16th week in Uganda

Sending children’s books to Uganda

2009-05-21T05:37:00.001-04:00

Turns out sending kids books here is “much” cheaper than I expected!!!! My friend Sarah just sent me 5 kids’ books and two magazines for me and the entire package was $19. If you take out the magazines I bet it would be less than half that!

The trick is to send small paperback picture books, they are very light.

As I’ve written about in past blogs, the students I work with are mostly barefoot and walk long distances to attend school, the classrooms are packed with as many as 100 students to a room, and, for all of their efforts to learn, the students' classrooms are without books. Can you imagine growing up with out a book to read? Not having books has large effects here- when students are in P7 they have to take an exam to leave primary school. Since that exam is in English and students learn English as a second language but often not very well, many fail that exam and can not go on to secondary school! Having English books to read throughout primary will help them prepare for the test in addition to discovering the joy of reading!

If you are in the Raleigh area than please contact my friend Jessica jessruhle@yahoo.com,who is putting together a shipment of children’s books or feel free to ship a few here. Thank you!

15th week in Uganda

2009-05-19T13:59:00.001-04:00

Wow, it's difficult to believe that I have been here 15 weeks. So many amazing adventures!

1. Mama of Katatito - If I ever decide to become a lounge singer and need a stage name, I think I'll use Mama Katatito. The family has taken to calling this since I am a mamma to my pup Katatito. Leon has stopped calling me Jamilyn and just says of Katatito when he wants my attention!

2. Its not easy being green- As my boss has reminded me Kibale National Park and rain forest like it around the world act as the earth's lungs. Kibale is also the habitat for the endangered chimpanzees. The actions of people living around the park have implications that affect us all around the world. While conservation effects have been underway here for years due to survival and lack of information there are still harmful practices that take place. For example many people still venture into the park to get their firewood which of course leads to deforestation. That's why UNITE and many other projects are working in this area.

However, there are also lots of ways in which I think Ugandan's are greener than your average American. Where I live in western rural Uganda there are very few cars. People walk or ride there bikes everywhere! If they need to go some distance they will car pool, take a taxi, or ride in a bus. It is not uncommon to see seven people crammed in a midsize car. While it is economics that prevents people from having automobiles there is an environmental benefit. Imagine if we had good public transportation even in rural areas.

Plastic bags are heavily discouraged and shop keepers even charge you for them! If grocery stores did that in America than maybe we would start brining our own bags to the store and stop filling the landfills with trash. Ugandan's are also experts at reusing everything! Tinka even has a pair of shoes made from used car tires.

3. Looking forward to school starting again- School starts May 25th and I can't wait! I have missed working directly with the teachers and the students. Most of this month has been spent working on upcoming trainings, reports, and budgets. I will miss all of the kids who have been home this month. We have had ten of Tinka's children here over break! Next week will be down to five kids, Betty and Tinka, and I - in America that would be consider a house full.

4. Upcoming trainings- I do have three trainings next week that I am looking forward too. We will be sending almost 1000 students on field trips to three area sites in the upcoming months. Next week I will be training their staff on working with school groups effectively. This is where my 8 years of museum experience, my MA in museum ed, and my years at 4-H youth development will all come in handy!

The three sites are: the Kibale Association for Rural and Environmental Development, Toro Botanical Gardens in Fort Portal, and Kibale National Park.

5. Random acts of Kindness- I stayed at my favorite guest house in Fort Portal last week for two days to take advantage of the electricity. While I was there I met a Dutch family who were on Safari. They fell in love with Katatito, as most people do when they meet him. The daughter had evidently rescued a puppy in Greece a few years ago and transported him back to Holland so they were convinced that I should bring Katatito to America. They even gave me 50 Euros (about $65) to start the bring Katatito to America fund. I tried to them that my goal is to fine him a good family here as we already have 3 dogs, 2 cats, 1 hamster, and 2 humans in my small house - we don’t need another dog. However, it was a very sweet gesture!

6. New friends- One of the best parts of this adventure has been meeting people from all over the world. At the guest house I met a lovely American family with two children who had been living in Uganda for over two years! They are running a secondary school on the other side of Renwzori Mountains. They will be here for at least three more years. The children seem to love Uganda and had a great time telling me about all of the animals they have seen here. Ironically while living in America they were members of the NC Zoo!

While sitting on the patio of a restaurant in Fort Portal, I met a Dutch man named Rob. He is traveling around the world for an entire year! He left Holland in March and has been to Kenya, Tanzania, and of course Uganda so far on his trip! He is headed to Rwanda next and latter in the year will make his way to South America. I admit I'm a bit jealous but I have learned with this trip anything is possible. Life is all about choices.

7. This week’s animal count- I have been so busy that I haven't taken my favorite tour of the Bigodi wetland in over a month! Rob coming to Bigodi gave me an excuse to go on the tour for the sixth time - it's different each time. We made the mistake of going in the afternoon when it was very, very hot so the walk seemed much longer than three miles. Thankfully even in the heat we had great luck seeing the animals, we saw three different monkeys, the great Blue Toraco which is my favorite bird here, and many beautiful butterflies.

Great opportunity to live and work in Uganda

2009-05-15T23:38:00.002-04:00

If you have been inspired by my stories of Uganda and are ready for a life changing adventure than I encourage to think about this opportunity. I'd be glad to talk to anyone who is interested. Please feel free to forward

Conservation Education Trainer

Bigodi, Uganda

1 year position available (with possibility of renewal) with the North Carolina Zoo’s Uganda and North Carolina International Teaching for the Environment (UNITE) program providing training and materials to aid Ugandan teachers in developing environmental and conservation curricula and activities.

Successful candidate will be based in Bigodi, Uganda.

Duties: Design, coordinate and facilitate teacher training; mentor teaching strategies; develop and implement environmental/conservation units for schools; keep Ugandan education officials informed of project; collaborate with NGO’s and other groups working around Kibale Forest; establish an electronic newsletter; design and implement project evaluation tools.

Qualifications: undergraduate degree in education or conservation required. Experience working in the developing world and/or advance degree desired.

Salary: $10,000 + travel, room and board

Deadline: 5/31/2009

Contact: Please send resume and cover letter to Carolyn.L.Brown@nczoo.org.

14th week in Uganda

2009-05-13T06:11:00.001-04:00

It’s been raining so I haven’t had solar power in Bigodi so I’m a little late posting this blog. Even in Fort Portal the power is out today (happens frequently) but luckily my favorite internet café has a generator!

1. Growing pains-I live in an 11 X 11 room/Banda that also serves as my office. It has been plenty big for the last three months. However, with the addition of Katatito it’s becoming a little crowded! He is now in the I want to explore and chew on everything phase, very challenging in such a small space. I am however proud to report that he has gained almost 2 pounds in the last 1.5 weeks so he no longer looks so scrawny. There is a picture of him from his very first day with me in the Uganda pictures album.

2. Turning 32 in Uganda- Last Wednesday I turned 32! A year ago I had no idea that I would be spending this birthday or for that matter half of 2009 in Uganda. You never know what can happen in a year. Birthdays traditionally are not celebrated in Uganda however with more and more western influences it’s becoming custom in some areas. Tinka and his family don’t make a big deal out of birthdays (his went unnoticed just a week before mine) so it was a quiet day. They did make me my favorite dinner and even got me a soda which is a rare treat! Happy Birthday was sung in both English and Rutoroo.

While my birthday was quiet on this side of the world, it certainly was not quiet over email and the phone. Thank you for all your emails (and my sis for sending out a reminder), facebook posts, phone calls, and texts! It’s nice to know that while I’m on the other side of the world I am certainly not forgotten.

3. A shared birthday- As fate would have it; Leon and I were born exactly 30 and half years a part. So when I turned 32 last Wednesday he officially turned 1 and a half! Leon also got a soda to celebrate; Grape Fanta is his drink of choice whereas I am partial to Orange.

4. You’ve got mail- I’ll be the first to admit that I so don’t understand the mail system here! The average appears to be 3-4 weeks to get a letter or package here. However, sometimes they get here in 2 weeks and currently I’m still waiting on a package and letter that was mailed over 4 weeks ago! Even with the frustrations with the mail, I did get two fantastic packages this week so thank you very much. Every book, granola bar, and drink mix go a long way to making my stay here that much more comfortable. It has been amazing to have so many people supporting me on this journey- thank you!

5. Decisions, Decisions- I think the hardest decisions to make are when you are choosing between two good options. I was “lucky” enough to be in that position last week. The NC Zoo had wanted to extend my contract here past the initial six months and I learned that Wake County 4-H was going to have a position for me in August (thus honoring my six month leave of absence) even in light of the recession.

After being homesick the first almost two months, recently I have settled into life here that I was in no hurry to leave. On the other hand, I know jobs are not easy to come by at home right now and I am lucky enough to have a job that I enjoy. Ultimately, after a lot of soul searching I decided to come at the end of July at the end of my six month contract. Uganda and it's people have touched me deeply that I know I will find a way to continue to help the people who live in this region. I'm already tossing around different fundraising ideas! I know I will come back to this beautiful place at some point.

6. Toro Botanical Gardens- In addition to my main job of training teachers in the 10 UNITE schools, I am also suppose to be working with Toro Botanical Gardens in Fort Portal. The Gardens are very large with walking trails, demonstration gardens, a nursery, and a new drying and processing facility. Their focus is on plants that are indigenous to Uganda. Last week Tinka and I attended the grand opening of the new drying and processing plant. It was a big affair with the French ambassador to Uganda as the main speaker. Ugandan’s are big on formalities and speeches so there were lots of speeches! Here is an article on the event http://allafrica.com/stories/200905070540.html.

7. An international following- My blog is being read my people in 13 countries: US, Uganda, United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Spain, Qatar, Guyana, Kenya, Turkey, Trinidad and Tobago, Israel, and Kenya!! How cool is that!

8. Mornings in Uganda- I love to wake up a little before 6:30am, open my window in my little Banda and just listen as Uganda wakes up all around me. First a few birds will wake up and start chattering to each other than more and more until it sounds like there is a bird symphony outside my window. Shortly, after I can hear the women sweeping their compounds. There are lots of morning chores to be done.

9. The new normal- After being here over three months here are a few things that I now think of as normal:
- Seeing women carrying things to market in big baskets that they balance on their heads
- Using a latrine during the day and a juice bucket at night
- Having to dial a country code to talk to my best friend
- Passing pigs and goats grazing on the side of the road on my daily walks
- Not understanding a word that is being said in church!
- Eating dinner after 8pm every night
- Seeing people walk miles on rough dirt roads barefoot

New puppy, 500 footballers, and 20 pounds lost- my 13th week in Uganda

2009-05-04T10:45:00.001-04:00

I don’t know if I’ve ever believed in lucky numbers but this 13th week in Uganda has certainly been lucky!

Katatito- In Rutoroo which is one of the two local languages spoken in this region, Katatito means very small which seemed like a proper name for the little neglected puppy that I’ve rescued. Katatito weights just over four pounds and is about two months old. When my friend Julia and I found him in Bigodi he was just skin and bones, filthy, covered in fleas, and had worms. Since he was “owned” by a friend of ours he agreed to let me take care of him. There are no vets out here so we had arrange for flea and deworming medicine to be shipped on the next bus from Kampala. We called in the morning and it was here by 4pm that same day. There is no commercially available dog food so I have to prepare all his food. So far he likes digestive biscuits (whole wheat cookies), avocados, rice, and sweet potatoes!

500 footballers- As I’ve mentioned before Ugandan’s are nuts about their football (soccer). Even knowing this I was still surprised when I found my self stuck in the middle of a parade of 500 footballers! Fort Portal is the host for the two week long high school football tournament sponsored by Coca-Cola. There are teams playing from all over Uganda!

Cell phones and juice don’t mix- I like most people living here who use an outdoor latrine keep a juice bucket (chamber pot) by their bed at night. One morning in a display of unusual coordination, I managed to drop my cell phone in my bucket which was full of “juice”. I immediately cleaned it but it still was not working properly. On my next trip into town, I went to the cell phone store that had to replace the mother board. Lesson learned- juice and cell phones don’t mix!

Goats and cars- Our baby goats are now about two months old. They are still adorable and often take naps under my house to get out of the heat. However, just like dogs and cats back home they like to climb on top of the car. Instead of having cat paw prints on the hood there are goat hoof prints!

Laughter- Ever since I got to Uganda I have been touched by how friendly and welcoming Ugandan’s are. Even though they have been though so much in their country’s history and even now have few of the luxuries that we have at home, I have found them to be genuinely happy people. There is so much laughter, people delight in the everyday moments. We are always laughing at something the children, animals, or babies did. It is a blessing to be around people who find happiness amidst struggle.

Schools out- Schools here are basically on a year round schedule. There are three terms in every school year and about a month off between terms. The first term ended at the end of April and won’t start again till the end of May. While school is out, I will be focusing on creating the curriculum for my three teacher trainings that I’m facilitating in June and training the staff of some of the local tourist sites.

Waking up to the sound of Chimpanzees- My friend Julia has a lovely place that boarders Kibale National Park. When I stay there, I wake up to the sound of chimpanzees in the morning! It was so cool to hear them.

20 pounds gone- In the last 13 weeks I have lost 20 pounds! At the moment I am borrowing a friends scale (so I can weigh the puppy and make sure he’s gaining weight) but it’s been nice to be able to weight myself without having to hang from a produce scale. I was nervous when I came to Uganda that I would gain weight since the diet so full of starches but this all natural/organic diet seems to be working for me!

Three months since I left the states

2009-05-02T00:35:00.001-04:00

Prior to leaving for Uganda, I set some personal and professional goals for my time here. Since Thursday was exactly three months since I left the states for this journey so it seemed like a good time to reflect on my goals.

Personal

To use my singleness to make a positive impact in the world, to do something that I probably couldn’t do when I have a family. In progress- I am so glad that I took the chance to live outside the box and move to Uganda. The next challenge will be take the lessons I’ve learned here and apply them to my life in NC. It has been a great joy to be able to use my skills as a trainer and experiential educator to train teachers here.

To eat healthy and have an active lifestyle. In progress- This will be a life long goal for me but so far in the first ten weeks here I have lost 16 pounds, two clothing sizes, eat almost all natural/organic foods, and have even taken up jogging!

To get away from materialism and back to basics. In progress- It has been a nice break to live with just a few things (less to clean and worry about) and refocus on what is really important.
Take time to be alone. In progress- I have often been guilty of trying to do too much all the time so it has been an amazing gift to have time to myself.

To grow in my faith. In progress- I knew that there would be times here where all I would have to get me though would be my faith. I pray more than I ever have before, I pray for the people I met here and my friends at home who are going though challenging times.

Professional

To contribute positively to the Bigodi community- In progress. Bigodi is a very special community and I hope I have had a positive impact.

To work in every UNITE teacher’s classroom. In progress- when I wrote this we only had 30 UNITE teachers now we have over 100. However, I have already worked in over 30 classrooms so I believe this will get accomplished.

To offer 4 two day trainings and monthly ½ day trainings. In progress- so far I have trained over 90 teachers in two weekend long trainings and have facilitated one ½ day training.

To develop a p1-p4 and secondary environmental education curriculum that is aligned with the Ugandan curriculum. In progress- I have created 12 activities for P1-P4 and now have to do the secondary curriculm.

To train the Toro Botanical Gardens, Bigodi Wetland, and Kibal National Park staff. To be started soon- this is what I will be doing in May when the schools are closed.

12th week in Uganda - Best week yet...

2009-04-28T18:53:00.017-04:00

This was one of those great weeks where I was able to just enjoy being in this amazing country! I feel very blessed to have this opportunity to work and live here.

1. Bumpy, bumpy boda ride- So it’s possible that I got a little over confident on my boda-boda riding skills. To get to one of my schools this week I had to take a boda-boda for nearly 30 minutes over a bumpy, windy, hilly, dirt “road”. I now understand the expression holding on for dear life! Many of the “roads” here are barley big enough for one vehicle and are impassable if it has just rained.

2. Running though the village- In a village where no woman is seen in public in pants, I got more than a few looks as I went jogging in my yoga pants Sunday morning as folks were on their way to church! It is not in the culture here to just go out for a walk or a run. So, I always get questions of “where are you going”, even in my workout gear and headphones a boda-boda driver asked me if I needed a ride!

3. Two wonderful days in Kibale National Park- I live on the boarder of Kibale National Park which is famous for the chimpanzees that live there. Even though I live so close, I enjoy every opportunity I get to go into the park.

This weekend I got to spend two wonderful days in the park with 20 P6 (6^th grade) students that were part of a conservation camp. Two students were picked from ten primary schools that border the park to come and spend a weekend in the park. Even though these students live so close to the park, most had never been on an official “visit”. It is critical that students in this area understand the importance of Kibale National Park and their impact on it. Many families in this area trespass into the park to take out firewood, hurt baboons and chimpanzees when they crop raid, and cut down tress- all things that negatively impact the ecosystem of this area.

During the weekend the students participated in forest walks, learned to indentify different species of primates and trees, visited the park headquarters, made wonderful chimpanzee masks, watched conservation films, went on a field trip to the Amabere caves and waterfall, and stayed at Mackere Universty Biological Field Research Station.

4. For the love of reading- There are no books in the classrooms of the schools that I work with out here in the villages. Children don’t have books in their homes and they certainly don’t know about the joy that comes with reading. So imagine my surprise and delight when a group of children grabbed the picture books I was carrying, sat down on the grass and started reading in English (their second language)!!!

5. Monkeying around- Normally, when I see monkeys here they are high up in the trees but Sunday I was lucky enough to see a group of seven black and white colubus monkeys playing only feet from where I was walking. It was delightful to see them leap and jump in the trees as they were eating their breakfast of leaves. I must have watched them for 30 mins!

6. I know I am not supposed to have favorites- Just like you're not supposed to have a favorite of your children, I probably should love all of my schools the same. The truth is two have a special place in my heart. One is a private well funded Montessori type school that does incredible things with their students and the other is a small poor rural school with no permanent structures but where real learning is going on. I was lucky enough to spend a day at each this week visiting classes and leading activities.

7. Village Life- Other than offending the locals by running though the village in lryca (actually I think they are getting too used to it- one girl even patted my behind), I think I am adjusting quite well to village life. I have my favorite bar, I know most of the shop keepers – they even put out my bottles of water when they see me coming and this week I even joined the locals to watch a football match on the one TV in Bigodi!

Being a Celebrity- My eleventh week in Uganda

2009-04-21T10:41:00.001-04:00

1. Being a celebrity- While I will probably never be a famous musician or a movie star, I do know what it’s like to be surrounded by hundreds of screaming fans! At some of the schools we visit, the students see very few if any Mzungas’s so when our car pulls up, hundreds come out of their classes to surround me saying” Mzunga , Mzunga how are you?”. It is a little surreal! I left the local primary school recently to walk home for lunch and there were 40 kids following me!

2. I’ll never complain about housework again- I decided to sweep and mop my house last week, since it is only 11 by 11 this should have been an easy task. It wasn’t. The broom we have doesn’t have a handle so I’m bending over the entire time and there is certainly no dust pan. I’m not entirely sure that I got any of the dirt out of my house or if I just moved it around. We don’t have a mop, so instead we use a basin with water from the cistern and an old rag. I will be very happy to see my Swiffer when I get home!

3. 19 classes in three days- In March, I trained 96 P1-P7 ( 1st-7th grade) teachers on integrating hands-on environmental education into their teaching. I now have the task of observing each of their classes to see if they are using the methods that they learned. I observed 19 classes this week! It was amazing to see the improvements in the teachers’ instruction. My program’s goal is to see more environmental education taught at school and better teaching methods used in all subjects.

4. Using peanuts as a teaching tool- One of the challenging/rewarding parts of my work has been to develop learning activities that align with the national curriculum and use commonly found items. The schools don’t provide the teachers with learning materials like we have in the states. Because coffee beans, groundnuts (peanuts), mangos, and dried corn are easily found, I use them a lot in my activities. At the UNITE meeting this past Saturday, I taught the teachers an activity about carrying capacity (how many people or animals can a particular area support) using only groundnuts!

5. Jingle bells- Like every 1 and a half year old, Leon gets fussy at times. Being that I am tone deaf and can’t remember the lyrics to most songs, one evening I resorted to singing “Jingle Bells” to him. Miracles of miracles he stopped crying. Imagine there I am in Africa singing Jingle Bells t a kid who has never seen snow!

6. Hanging around- I had been trying to find a scale for weeks. I knew from how my clothes were fitting that I had lost weight but I wanted to see the number on the scale. Since there appeared to be no scales in Bigodi – Tinka bought out the produce scale and I hung from a piece of rope like a bag of flour! Only in Uganda!

7. Football – Ugandan’s love their football ( soccer) ! Since we don’t have a TV at home ( I don’t believe anyone in Bigodi does) we listen to all the games on the radio. One of the bars in town does have a TV and it is always packed when a football match is on! I can hear the cheers from the bar at my house when Manchester scores!

8. Supplies needed- If you’re putting together a care package and there is room, please consider adding in one of the following items for the students that I work with.
- Books in English- children’s picture books or young adult
- Deflated playground or soccer balls
- Sanitary supplies ( just pads no tampons)
- General school supplies

9. Dancing- Often when I go to schools, the students will perform traditional songs and dances for me. They are so talented. Twice this week at two different schools, they pulled me from the crowd to dance!

10. Won’t you be my neighbor- It occurred to me last night as I was walking though my village talking to people who I knew along the way, that I know more people in Bigodi than I do in Clayton where I have owned a home for 5 years! Please don’t get me wrong, I love Clayton but in the 5 years that I have lived in my subdivision, I think I have only met 4 of my neighbors. Yet, I have been in Bigodi less than 3 months and I know half the village!

My tenth week in Uganda

2009-04-12T09:46:00.001-04:00

1. My new alarm clock- We got a new rooster this week, the problem is that he wakes up much earlier than I. So at 5 am as he starts announcing his presence to the neighborhood, I am still trying to get a few more hours of sleep. Luckily, we had chicken for dinner a few days later so I am no longer awaken at 5am!

2. White little fluff balls-There are eight different species’ of monkeys living in this area. One of the more common is the Black and white colobus monkey. They are beautiful with their black bodies, white facial markings, and long white tail. This week, I saw my first baby black and white colobus monkey and it was solid white. These monkeys are born solid white than at about 3 months they turn black!

3. A trip to the big city- This week, I decided to venture back to Kampala, the capital city. This was actually a big deal, since to be honest I hated Kampala when I first got here. Okay, maybe hate is too strong of a word but I was completely overwhelmed by the chaos of the city, there seem to be no order at all and so much poverty. Tinka was going for a workshop I tagged along.

We took the bus into the city which took five hours, thankfully I had just gotten a book in the mail (thank you Sara) so that kept me entertained. I stayed in a nice hotel the first two nights and a not too nice one the last night (more about that later). It was such a luxury to have a TV with CNN, a tub, and room service. In the three days I was in Kampala, I saw three American movies (it’s the closest theater ). I also had my first ice cream in months!

4. Random Acts of Kindness- One of the main reasons I decided to make the trip to the city was I needed to get supplies for my schools. You can not buy children’s books or educational posters where I live. Even in Kampala, the selection is limited and is very expensive. However, I was able to get some great things for my schools. I was at the register about to pay for my items when the total came to more than what I had (the store didn’t take plastic), as I was deciding what to put back, a man behind me insisted on paying the difference (about 13000 shillings or $7). Turns out he’s from VA and is here working on a military contract.

5. Ben the Boda-boda driver- I’ve met amazing people in this country and this week was no exception. Twice, I was picked up at my hotel by the same boda-boda (motor bike taxi) driver. Turns out he’d been driving his boda-boda for the last ten years. His parents died when he was very young and he was raised by an Aunt. At the end of primary school ( 7th grade), she could no longer afford his school fees. He then got his boda-boda and made enough money to pay for secondary school and University. Currently, he is in his last year of University working on a IT degree! I was very touched by his story as there are many children here who don’t finish school because their families can’t afford the school fees (which range from about $150-$600 a year).

6. It’s a small world after all- I was in line at the ATM in Kampala, when I heard someone ask “are ya’ll in line”, turns out he was from Louisville Kentucky! During my trip to Kampala, I met a missionary couple from Iowa with their two children who have been here four years, a Canadian professor who has lived here with his family for the past three years, a German education administrator who has worked here since 2003, a British Architect who had been here for over 5 years, and two women from Michigan.

7. Don’t let the bed bugs bite- I switched hotels for my last night in Kampala to save a little money. On hindsight, that may not have been the best idea. I woke up with bed bug bites all over my body! It’s three days later and they are still very itchy.

8. You’re the one I was sent for- I was walking though Bigodi to buy some water when a station wagon pulled up next to me, the female Mazuga driving the car said “I think you’re the one I was sent for”. Turns out a friend of mine who runs a guest house in Fort Portal had told Julia to look me up next time she was in Bigodi as she lives in the neighboring village. She said she was going to the local bar and asked if I wanted to join her there. Five hours later we were still there!

9. A goat for Easter- Trophy and Leon’s great Aunt gave them a new goat for Easter! I don’t really know why we needed another since we already had four but….

10. Easter in Uganda- In Bigodi, most people are Christians so Easter is a big deal here. On Good Friday, there was mass and people walked though the village with crosses. Saturday night, there was an Easter Vigil. Sunday morning, I went to mass with the family. Of course, I could only understand two words: Amen and Hosanna as the mass was held in the local language. We came back to the house for an Easter dinner of Chicken, matooke, and rice. Thanks to my friend Rachel who had sent me some Easter candy, the kids had their first taste of Easter chocolate!

My ninth week in Uganda

2009-04-07T05:13:00.002-04:00

1.Leapin Lizards- It seems in addition to the geckos, cockroaches, and spiders that visit my banda often, I now have a guest lizard. He’s over a foot in length and has a beautiful green blue color! While I like to admire him when he is running across the rafters, I do get startled when he runs out from under my bed.

2. Emails, two care packages, and phone calls- I got two fabulous care packages from home this week- thank you for the books- I was getting desperate for reading material! I started and finished one of the books on the 5 hour bus ride to Kampala. I continue to get calls from a few dear friends in the states which help me to feel not quite so far away. One discovered that Skype is a very affordable way to call Uganda! It was also great to get emails from some old friends and co-workers-Thank you!

3. Speaking to a thousand- It was only a few years ago that a friend had to trick me into public speaking as I was fearful of speaking to a large group of my peers. Thank goodness, I had that practice because Sunday, I walked into a private catholic school gymnasium thinking I was speaking to a class of students (50 or so) and there were over 400 seated in there waiting for me! After speaking to them for about an hour on the UNITE program, environmental problems in Uganda, and taking questions- I was off to another presentation. Again I was just told I’d be speaking to a group of parents, no one mentioned there would be 600 parents!

4. Baboons, civet cats, and bushbucks- On our trip to Fort Portal we saw over 30 baboons just hanging out in the road, eating berries and corn. Than on the way back we saw a bushbuck (small deer) and a civet cat (a wild cat). It was a great week for animal sightings, as earlier in the week, I went for another walk in the wetland and saw three kinds of monkeys and a ton of birds.

5. Reading, Writing and 'Rithmetic- This week we visited 8 classes to evaluate if there had been a change in content and teaching methods since the teachers attended my trainings. Most teachers in the rural schools here teach by lecturing since they have very large classes (over a 100 students is common) and no resources (no text books, very few learning aids, etc…). One of my jobs here is to train the teachers in experiential hands on education; it was great to see them using some of methods that I had modeled for them in the trainings. The students presented me with sugar cane and avocados to thank me for my visit! It still breaks my heart to see students in school with bare feet, no buttons on their shirts, and torn clothing- there are some things I just won’t get used to.

6.Welcome home- Leon, his mom, younger brother, and older sister were away for about a week visiting the grandparents. When Tinka went to pick them up from the bus station, Leon recognized the car and started calling “Jamilyn, Jamilyn” even though I wasn’t even there!

7. Elections- Ugandan style- In the rural part of the country where I live there is no advertising your candidate on TV or on billboards. Instead to announce a candidate, I’ve seen 20 plus people pilled in the back of a pickup truck shouting the merits of their candidate as they drive though villages. In this particular local election, there was gun fire in a neighboring village and charges of corruption against the election officials so the election was declared invalid and will have to be held again.

8. Will a Harley be in my future- Never thought of myself as the motorcycle type but I do love ridding the boda-bodas here!

9. Allergies, go away- After being sick most of the month of March – my allergies seem to have taken a reprieve for which I am so grateful.

Two Months in Uganda

2009-03-30T12:28:00.002-04:00

It’s hard to believe but I left North Carolina two months ago today, for this incredible adventure! In the past two months, I have seen and done things that I never thought I would get the chance to do. Most importantly, I have gotten to experience how much of the world lives. The following is what I have learned in my first two months:

1.Ugandan’s are the hardest working people- I live in a rural part of Uganda where most people are subsistent farmers. They wake up at dawn and start toiling in their gardens. People here grow nearly everything they eat with the exception of meat. Meat is usually purchased on Saturdays in the trading center after a cow has just been slaughtered. Most people live on less than $1 a day so growing everything they eat is a must for survival. It is not uncommon to see women with babies strapped to their backs working under the hot sun all day.

2.Childhood is not universal- While Universal Primary Education was introduced about eight years ago requiring every Ugandan child to attend school though P7 (7th grade), many children are not in school. Some families choose to keep their children at home because they need help in the home or garden. For the majority of children who do go to primary school about half of them drop out by P6. While American children are watching cartoons before school, Ugandan children do about hour and a half of chores before school; these may include working in the garden, sweeping the compound, cleaning the house, helping with meal preparations etc. After school children continue with chores often having little time for homework or studies.

3.While the above is true, young children have a wonderful life- Because most of the families are farmers; children are with their parents and other extended relatives all day. Leon, the 1 and a half year old who I adore has attention from any number of people everyday. He has a huge area to run and play in; one of his favorite pastimes is to chase the chickens around the compound! Since he has grown up around nature, he has a keen eye, he can spot a new bird before the rest of us even see it!

4.The first month was the hardest- There were times during the first month were I thought I’m not sure I can do this, it wasn’t the living without electricity or modern conveniences that was so challenging. In fact at times I relish in the simple life. No, rather it was being so far away from anything that was familiar and getting used the conditions that people live in. At the end of two months, I can truly say that I am glad that I took this opportunity and chance.

5.Every email, phone call, letter, and care package brightens my day- Throughout this entire process; I have been blessed by amazing and supportive friends and family. This week, I got my first care package!! I had been so desperate for non work books that I devoured the 660 page book in two days!

6.Education in Uganda- The teachers here especially in the rural schools have all of my respect. Every day, they go to buildings that are falling down many with dirt floors to teach over 100 students with no text books or other learning resources. I have seen teachers that give their best every day in a very challenging situation. I have also seen teachers who don’t come to school because they have lost hope or they have side business to attend to.

7.Training teachers- In the last week, I have trained 96 teachers!!! This past weekend alone, I had 41, P5-P7 teachers. Teachers here have very few opportunities for professional development so I am thrilled to be able to offer trainings.

8.Chances are worth taking- This time last year, if someone told me I would be in Africa within the year, I would have thought they were nuts! I am thrilled that I took this chance.

9. I have met the amazing people- From the teachers who work tirelessly in challenging situations to development workers trying to help to tourist from all around the world- I have met incredible people in the last two months.

What’s for dinner?

2009-03-25T10:38:00.001-04:00

My diet here is certainly not your typical American diet- in fact it goes against so many of the diet guidelines we hear and yet I’ve lost some weight. A typical meal has a couple of starches, one or two vegetables and on a good day a source of protein. All of our meals come from the garden, only a few ingredients are bought from stores in town. The fresh fruits and vegetables are wonderful. We eat a lot of pineapple, bananas, avocados, and jackfruit. So far I have had seven different kinds of bananas! Since Uganda was a British colony, there is still the tradition of having tea time. Dinner is served quite late by American standards, we eat between 8-10 most evenings.

Here are some typical meals:

Breakfast
There is always tea with breakfast and almost always a banana.
Banana and a roll or slice of bread
Banana and an omelet with fresh veggies
Millet porridge- Millet is eaten a lot here both in bread and porridge. I can’t stand the bread but the porridge is okay

Lunch
Mashed potatoes with onions and carrots
Potatoes cooked in tomato sauce
Spaghetti
Cassava, smoked fish in ground nut sauce, spinach,, avocados, and matooke (steamed bananas)
Rice with beans and cooked cabbage

Dinner
Rice, matooke, spinach in groundnut sauce, and chapatti (fry bread)
Rice, posha ( similar to polenta) , beans, pineapple
Matooke, beef stew, and sweet potatoes

My seventh week in Uganda!

2009-03-22T10:17:00.003-04:00

This week has just been your ordinary I’m living in Africa week- no naming ceremonies or tree house but plenty of memorable moments.

1. Mail from home- I got three letters from the states this week! It’s my first real mail since I’ve been here. Thank you!!

2. Avocados make great gifts- I have found Ugandans to be so generous. I went to visit a friend in his store and he gave me an avocado to take home. I have been given sugarcane, pineapples, potatoes, and avocados as gifts! Tinka says he’ll send me out more often to do “food-rasing” for the family.

3. Training, Training, and more Training- This week I trained 6 staff at one of the local science centers which bought back memories of working in museums in the states. Than this weekend, I trained over 60 teachers from 11 schools surrounding Kibale National Park. It is challenging to train in another culture as my accent is new to them and my approach is different than what they are used to but we had a great time learning new environmental education activities that they can use in their classes. Halfway though day 2, I twisted my ankle so I had facilitate the rest of the training from a chair!

4. Not as sweet as you once were- I had my first candy bar in seven weeks, not only was it not as good as I remembered but it triggered a migraine!

5. Yoga- Leon and I have discovered a new game. He likes to mimic all of my “yoga” moves- so there I am lying on my mat waiting for dinner (we eat outside on the ground) and Leon is doing yoga with me. Too cute!

6. Rain, rain go away- I don’t mind the rain so much, so far during rainy season we only have one or two storms a day. What I do mind however is typically that means the much of the day is cloudy so we don’t get any solar power. This means I can’t charge my computer! I’m okay not having air conditioning, TV, a refrigerator ( i.e. no cold drinks), lights, etc.. but I do like to have a charged computer.

7. Debate-This week I attended a debate between two of the schools I work with on a conservation topic. I was very impressed with the 7th graders passion for the subject and their ability to articulate their views in their second language, English.

8. Family planning- Over drinks one of the teachers that I work with asked me about family planning or contraceptive use in America. It is seen as the woman’s responsibility here and there are not many good options. Of the few options that are available to women here, most have unpleasant side effects. She thought since I came from America, I could train the woman in the villages on better family planning. I however, am not a health educator- just an example of one of the needs in this area of the world.

9. Creepy Crawlies- After being here almost two months, I still hate bugs, spiders, lizards, geckos, moths, and other creepy crawlies. As an Environmental Educator trainer here, I know that they all serve their purpose in nature. However, I hate having them crawl across my plate when I’m eating, climb the walls in my banda, waking up with bug bites, and always hearing things buzzing!

10. No more bathing out of a bucket- I got home today and Tinka has rigged up a shower for me !!! There is a large container that water will be poured into then gravity will pull the water into the shower head. For the last seven weeks I have been taking a sponge bath using a basin and two gallon jugs- this will be a nice treat.

Week 6- Magic Moments

2009-03-14T10:05:00.002-04:00

While some weeks are very challenging, this week has been full of magic moments. Here are the highlights from my sixth week in Uganda!

1. Making Friends- As an extrovert one of the hardest parts of being here is not having friends to share my experience with. While many people here speak English as a second language, it is spoken with varying levels. I am learning Rutoro but at the moment the only one I can converse with is Leon! I spent three days this week traveling with the two Americans; Holly and Alice that I met at the guest house in Fort Portal. As fate would have it meeting them couldn’t have come at a better time for me and they were even here working on a similar conservation project though the OR Zoo.

2. Spending the night in a tree house- In Kibale National Park you can spend the night in a tree house that’s deep in the forest. Alice, Holly, and I decided to book it for one night. The tree house is very cool, you have to walk about 1/2 mile to get to it. It sits about 30 feet up in the air and over looks this beautiful clearing that elephants like to frequent. We didn't see any elephants but we did hear the most incredible sounds in the forest at night. It was such a an amazing experience.

3. The naming ceremony- There are two regions in this country that give pet names and there are only 12. On the night that I was to be given my pet name, we had a ceremonial meal of millet bread ( the only food here I don’t like), cassva, beef, matoke, beans and beer. The family preformed some songs and dances then all took turns suggesting names. They decided on Atenni for me which means snake goddess! The name then had to be blessed by a burst of laughter by everyone present (no I'm so not making this up). Evidently, the way this works if you respect someone than you call them by their pet name. I had people asking me if I had one yet- so I'm glad to be able to tell them yes now.

4. Getting trapped in the latrine- Uganda has two kinds of seasons, rainy and dry. Rainy season has officially started; so far it’s not so bad we just have one rainstorm a day. One evening, I went to the latrine and while I was there a huge rainstorm started with lighting, thunder and a strong downpour. I decided to stay in the latrine thinking it would pass. What I didn’t know was everyone in the house was watching me and laughing at me being trapped in the latrine. The storm wasn’t slowing down so Grace (one of the teenage girls) came and got me with an umbrella.

5. Calls and emails from home- I appreciate every email and phone call, it’s always great to hear from familiar voices.

6. Leon locking me in my banda- I had the door closed while I was changing and Leon didn’t like that as he was on the other side trying to get in. So using the outside lock he locked me in my house!! He couldn’t unlock it and was crying because he couldn’t get to me so I had to call out to his sister to come and unlock my house so I could get out!

7. Meeting people from all over the world- This week alone I’ve had meals with folks from with Switzerland, Oregon, Massachusetts, Austria, England, Germany, the Netherlands and of course Uganda. The family serves lunch to many the visitors who want to experience an authentic Ugandan meal so I have the opportunity to eat with visitors from all over the world here at “home”. When I go into Fort Portal and stay overnight at the guest house, I also meet the most fascinating people, the last two nights I was the only American at the table but we had 5 countries represented! In the last six weeks, I have met amazing people both Uganda’s trying hard to make their lives better and folks from all over the world working on a variety of development projects.

8. Having the wind in my hair-I’ve never thought of myself as the motorcycle ridding type but even I have to admit that there is something to having the wind in your hair as your going 40 miles an hour on these crazy dirt roads. My longest boda-boda ride so far has been about 25 mins and I loved it!

9. I’m on the Hollins website- Hollins has posted a short blurb about my work here and link to my blog on the alumnae accomplishment page- http://www.hollins.edu/alumnae/accomplishments.htm! I feel so very proud to have been included.

Visiting Uganda

2009-03-12T11:18:00.003-04:00

After being here over 6 weeks, I highly recommend Uganda to anyone who loves animals, wildlife, incredible parks, or amazing people. I promised you will be touched. I agree with the Lonely Planet guide that says "Uganda is Africa condensed, with the best of everything the continent has to offer packed into one small but stunning destination."

If anyone is interested in visiting before the end of July, please let me know. Even if you can't make it before I leave, I encourage you to put Uganda on your travel list.

Here are the details:

What is there to see
Other than coming just to see me there are lots of great things to see and do in and around where I'm living.

Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary
I've never been much into birds but I have fallen in love with this sanctuary. I have taken the 5k guided walk three times so far. Each time is different. I have seen many species of monkeys, birds, and plants each time! The sanctuary was formed to protect the Magombe Swamp, a haven for 137 bird species. The sanctuary is operated by the local community.

Kibale Forest National Park
Kibale is an amazing park and has lots of great tourist activites. I have gone chimp treeking and spent the night in a tree house 30 ft high in the forest here. Here is a great description from www.lonelyplanet.com/uganda

The chimpanzees are the stars at Kibale. There are hundreds and hundreds here, plus great hordes of monkeys, giving this small national park (admission 1/2/3 or more days US$20/30/50) one of the highest primate population densities in the world. It’s not as strenuous as tracking the gorillas. The chimps tend to keep a safe distance in the tall trees, chomping on fruit and defecating at will, but it’s still a fascinating experience for the uninitiated. An excitable chimp makes mountain gorillas look decidedly shy.

From the park headquarters at Kanyanchu, guided walks in search of the chimps (3km to 5km, two to four hours) can be arranged along well-marked tracks. The walks start at 8am (the better time) and 3pm and cost US$70 per person, plus park fees.

Other things to see
In addition to the sites right around where I am, the entire country is amazing. I can't wait to get to Queen Elizabeth Park where you can see big game animals. Again from www.lonelyplanet.com/uganda

Uganda is home to the highest mountain range in Africa, the Mountains of the Moon in the Rwenzori National Park which is not to far from Bigodi. It is the source of the mighty Nile, and around Jinja offers the best white-water rafting in the world! It has the highest concentration of primates on earth, including the majestic mountain gorilla, one of the rarest animals on the planet. Head to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park for a chance to get close to these great apes.

On top of all this, the scenery is so striking that it looks like an oil painting, the beautiful national parks see far fewer visitors than in neighbouring Kenya and Tanzania, and the capital, Kampala, is safer and friendlier than most in Africa. In 1907 pioneering tourist Winston Churchill called it the ‘Pearl of Africa’. He was right.

Getting to Uganda
You will fly in to Entebbe International Airport (EBB) which is located on the shores of Lake Victoria about 40km south of the capital which is Kampala. Entebbe International offers direct connections from Nairobi, Kigali, Dar es Salaam, Addis Ababa, Khartoum, Cairo, Johannesburg, Dubai, London, Amsterdam and Brussels. I flew on British Air to London than to Entebbe. We flew from Greensboro to London then to Entebbe. It was two overnight flights with a 10 hour layover. My round trip including taxes and all fees was $1900.

Getting to Bigodi/Kibale National Park
I may be able to come pick you up or I can help you arrange for a tour company to make the five hour trip from Kampala to Bigodi.

Where to stay
There are few places to stay in Bigodi where I'll be living. One is www.traveluganda.co.ug/safari-hotel-bigodi, which is run by the family that I'm living with. You can make reservations online. There are also other places in Bigodi, in Kibale National Park or in nearby Fort Portal. You can also stay with me in the familys home. They are used to having tourist stay with them and are truly wonderful.

General information on Uganda from www.lonelyplanet.com/uganda

Seasons
Wet (March to May, October to November), dry (December to February, June to September). Uganda can be visited at any time of year. It is about 75 degrees year round and will drop down to 50 at night. The hottest months are from December to February.
Budget
US$20 a day in town, US$100 in parks
Capital
Kampala
Visa
US$30 for one month; issued at most borders. Can easily be gotten at the airport.
Languages
English, Luganda
Money
Ugandan shilling; US$1 = USh 1900

Pictures

2009-03-10T06:36:00.004-04:00

A lot of people have asked about pictures. I know it's hard to imagine a place until you've seen it. Don't worry I have lots of pictures that I have taken.

The challenge is my Internet is soo slow here that uploading pics rarely works. I will be burning them to a CD soon and sending them back to the states to be posted on here from there.

In the meantime, here is a link to a few pictures that I have been able to upload:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=73083&id=572152211&l=30afb

I have also put the link to this album where I will continue to add pictures as I can on the right hand side of the blog.

My fifth week in Uganda

2009-03-07T07:34:00.000-05:00

No, I haven’t skipped a week but I went back and counted and Sunday March 7th marks the end of my fifth week in Uganda! So far the time here has been full of new experiences and challenges. Here are the highlights from my fifth week.

1. Today’s special- Sometimes it really is the little things that make all the difference. During lunch one day, I was told today’s special was matoke but when I lifted thee lid it was spaghetti!! After weeks of eating only “local food” at home: beans, groundnut sauce, cassava, posha, matoke, and goat, it was such a treat to get familiar food!!

2. Birds and worms- Last Saturday, we had our second UNITE meeting with all the teachers and headmasters that are currently involved in our program. My favorite part was when I taught them a new activity on camafloge and animal adaptation to do with their students called “Birds and Worms”. The activity is a relay race where each person is a “bird” and they are trying to find the “worms” hidden in the ground. In this case the “worms” were green coffee, dried corn, and groundnuts. It was hilarious to watch the teachers and headmasters topple over each other trying to get to the worms!!

3. After weeks of waiting- We had two baby goats born this week. They are absolutely adorable. Now at the homestead we have two adult goats, two baby goats, a few chickens, and two dogs.

4. Samilyn, samilyn- Leon, the now seventeen month old who I live with has just learned to say my name but it comes out as “samilyn”. It’s too cute. This week he also figured out that he can walk from his parents house to my banda by himself. So now when I’m working in my banda, I hear the pitter patter of little feet and “samilyn, samilyn”, I know I have a visitor!

5. I can help with that- After the disastrous experience of me attempting to help with the laudry and peeling matokee, we have found three things that I can do. I am becoming skilled at shelling groudonuts (peanuts), peeling beans, and roasting groundnuts! Three very marketable skills!

6. Children’s performances- On a school visit this week; I was treated to a wonderful performance of traditional folk songs and dances from the two tribes of this region. It is nice to music and dance still have a place in schools, it’s something I think American schools could learn from Uganda! The children are so very talented.

7. Something I can do- Often when I go to visit schools, the problems they want my help with are so big ; like not enough teachers, too many students, falling down buildings or no permanent buildings at all, that often what I can do to impact those areas is minimal. However, this week a school needed help with sanitary supplies for girls, playground and soccer balls, a few extra uniforms, and a couple of basins for bathing. I could help with those things. I gave them the 20,000 Uganda shillings that I had on me (about $10) which would buy two uniforms and two basins and promised to help with the other items soon.

8. Little luxuries- This weekend, I stayed at a lovely guest house in Fort Portal and had my first shower, porcelain toilet, double bed, and salad in over a month! The guest house is run by a wonderful British/Dutch couple who prepare the most wonderful western food, it was a real treat. We even had a baked desert. In Bigodi, our foods are either steamed, roasted, or fried over a charcoal or kerosene burner. Nothing is baked since we don’t have a stove as we have no electricity.

9. It’s a small world- At the guest house; I met two American’s from the Oregon Zoo who are here working on a similar conservation education program. One of the women grew up in Raleigh!!! It was great to hear a southern accent.

10. Star light star bright- The stars here are absolutely incredible. I have never seen so many stars and they are so bright. I only wish I knew more about stars, at the moment all I can point out is the little dipper!

11. Ugandan wildlife- The wildlife here is truly amazing. One of my favorite things to do is to take the guided walk in the Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary. The walk takes about 3 hours and is truly breathtaking. On my most recent walk, I saw three kinds of monkeys, many different species of birds, and even had raw sugar cane!

12. A view of the mountains- From the porch of my banda, I have the most incredible view of the Rwenzori Mountains. I love to sit out there in the evenings and watch the sun set.

13. One day at a time- So far this has proven to be an amazing adventure but it does have its challenges. There are still many days when I miss my home, friends, and especially my pets. I try to just take it one day at a time and enjoy this incredible adventure.

Boda-Boda’s, Burial, and Theft – my third week in Uganda

2009-02-27T03:16:00.003-05:00

It's hard to believe I've been in Bigodi over three weeks now! Here are the highlights from my third week...

1. What can you do about overcrowding in our schools, exam fees, lack of sanitary supplies, lack of text books, academics, etc.. - These are just some of the questions that the headmasters pose to me when I go to visit their schools. I'm in a tough position because the needs are so great but I am just one and was hired to do a very specific job of training teachers in conservation education.

2. God grant me serenity- When the above happens or when I just become overwhelmed by all the needs around me, the serenity prayer brings me a lot of comfort. "God grant me serenity to accept the things I cannot change. Courage to change the things I can & Wisdom to know the difference."

3. You're Obama’s people- This is how I am often introduced when I go into classrooms. It's interesting that all the children know that Obama is the president of the US, but seldom know who president is of neighboring countries.

4. Attending my first Ugandan burial/wake- My friends "auntie" (really her mom's cousin but many older women are called auntie here) passed away Monday morning so the burial and wake was Tuesday afternoon. I have never been to a wake with so many people, there must have been 200-300 all seated on benches under make shift multi colored tents. Turns out all the people from the village go to the burials and just like at an American wake there was lots of food!

5. Getting money stolen- I had prepared myself long before I left home that I would probably experience at least one theft while I was here. Let’s hope that by getting it out of the way early into my trip that the rest of my stay will be incident free. I had the equivalent of about $100-$150 stolen from my wallet; they were kind enough to leave my small bills. I have to carry a fare amount of cash here because the closest ATM is 45 minutes away in Fort Portal and I often need cash for work.

6. Transportation Ugandan style- Ridding my first boda-boda (motor bike taxi) and being crammed in a taxi with 7 others definitely makes this week’s list. Here most women ride boda-boda’s side saddle, I on the other hand couldn’t figure out how to balance that way so there I was in a skirt straddling the motor bike! It was quite a sight to see.

7. Do you go boozing?- What um booze, you mean drink, yes of course. This is how the conversation went when I was asked out to my first Ugandan bar by one of my teachers. There is a bar just about a five min walk from walk from my house!

8. Best Ugandan pickup line I’ve heard yet- “You’re very large, you must eat a lot.” If I was home in America and somebody said this to me, I’d think they were being rude after all it’s never polite to comment on a lady’s size. However, here being a larger woman is a sign of health and wealth.

9. Trying to help around the house- Sometimes when I try to help here at home, it becomes more of a mess. Turns out I'm not very good at washing clothing by hand or peeling green bananas (we use them to make matokee). In the time it took me to peel one, Sara (one of the daughters’) had peeled eight!

10. A perfect end to a good day- Many times after dinner, the girls will get out the drum and sing wonderful songs. There I am sitting underneath the most amazing star filled sky listening traditional African songs, thinking life is good.

11. Ash Wednesday service- I decided to attend Ash Wednesday service at the local Catholic church here in Bigodi. Good idea, except that is was entirely in Rwterra so I didn't understand a word of it!

12. I’m in love- Don’t worry, I’m not marrying an African prince. Leon, the 16 month old of the Tinka family, has a way of brightening my days with his big smile and beautiful brown eyes.

13. Calls and help from home- I continue to be blessed by amazing friends. This week I had a call from the states, an offer to mail me a care package and found out that one of my friends has organized 3 drives to send things that people need here (like sanitary supplies, playground balls, and books). Thank you!

Getting cheap calling cards to call Uganda

2009-02-26T04:29:00.001-05:00

Some people have asked how they purchase a cheap calling card for Uganda. Here are a few links as you can buy them online and you also may be able to get them at a convenience store. The cheapest appears to be about 8-10 cents a min.

Incoming calls for me are free and I pay about 30 -60 cents a min to call the US.

http://speedypin.com/phone/cards/Uganda+-+Cellular
http://www.interscall-cards.com/p/buy.php?idcountry=539&id_from_country=2

Remember from the US my number is +256 0772096551

Overwhelmed by all the needs around me

2009-02-24T03:06:00.007-05:00

Sometimes it's hard not to get overwhelmed by all the needs around me. On a daily basis, I see women and children carrying unclean water long distances on their heads, schools without text books, headmasters tell me about girls missing school because they don't have sanitary supplies, or children who can't take exams because their parents can't afford the fees. It's easy to get overwhelmed.

However, the local communities are hard at work to solve many of these issues but could really use help from the US. I know money is tight right now at home but a few US dollars go a long way here. If your civic orgainization, church group, school, co-workers, etc... is looking for an international project to get involved in this year or if you would like to make an individual donation, here are a few ways that you could make a big difference in the lives of many Ugandan’s.

The Water is Life project- We take water so much for granted in the US. Here women and children carry water great distances from unsafe water sources in heavy containers every day. In Bigodi, the village where I am staying, out of the 500 people who live here only one family has a cistern to catch rainwater. The leaders have designed a project to get pumped rain water into the village. They have already raised over $1400 and need just $2100 more.

School Supplies –The schools are terribly under resourced. There are very few to text books so instead there are paintings of the human body, the world, etc.. on the outside of the school walls and the teachers teach from those. Families have to provide children with paper, pencils, books and many can’t afford them. The children don’t have books to discover the joy of reading. Children here make balls out of plastic bags – imagine what joy a few soccer balls would bring these kids. Since books and schools supplies are heavy to ship I’d encourage sending money and we can purchase the supplies here. However, if you can collect children’s books and want to raise the money to ship them – the kids would love books from America. They have been delighted with the few that I brought. Lastly, deflated sports and playground balls can be shipped.

Exam fees- Students here have to pay to take monthly exams that help get them ready for their end of year exams. Those students who can’t afford the monthly exams don’t take them. Students who don’t take monthly exams do far worse on the end of year exams which determine if they continue or not. It cost only $5 for each student to take the nine monthly exams.

Sanitary supplies- I have visited over 20 schools and at nearly every school am told about the need for sanitary supplies for girls. Unfortunately, many girls miss schools while they have their periods because they do not have proper sanitary supplies. Some schools with the help of American charities have started successful programs where girls get their sanitary supplies from school. These programs have drastically reduced absenteeism which is a major problem in schools here.

Donations of any amount would be greatly appreciated. Checks can be made out to KAFRED, the Kibale Association for Rural and Environmental Development, please write the name of the project in the memo line, and send to my address- Jamilyn Cole, Po Box 733 Fort Portal Uganda.

Here are a few examples of how far US money goes here:

$25 will purchase:
basic school supplies (paper, notebooks, rulers, pens, crayons)
Sanitary supplies and underwear for a girl
world maps and atlases
5 books to contribute to a school library (literature, poetry, field guides)
3 text books for a primary class that has none (math, science, reading)
2 text books for a secondary class that has none (math, science, history, geography, English)
1 year sponsorship of a school in the Wildlife Clubs of Uganda

$50 will purchase:
1 set of math, science or English books for Bigodi Secondary School (5-10 books)
science lab equipment for a school that has none (lenses, prisms, magnets, balances, compasses, thermometers, soil test kits, weather instruments)
gardening tools and supplies for 1 school to assist with school grounds improvement projects conducted by students (tree planting, flower beds, vegetable gardens)
musical instruments to assist an exceptional music teacher at Bigodi Primary School with her curriculum (guitar, thumb piano, flutes, drums, xylophone)

$100 will purchase:
materials to build furniture for classrooms without enough seats for each student
1 complete set of geography books for a Bigodi Secondary School
materials to build bookcases for a school library
field guides and binoculars for Kibale National Forest's educational programs for students

$150 will purchase:
1 microscope for a school that has none
1 set of literature books for a secondary school library (approximately 30 books)

$500 will purchase:
the labor to build 1 classroom at Bigodi Primary school
will send a child to a private school for 1 year

$1,000 will purchase:
books, science equipment, microscopes and/or gardening tools for 5 Ugandan schools

$2,000 will purchase:
the materials and labor to build 1 classroom at Bigodi Primary School
water system for the town of Bigodi

Thank you for your ongoing support. For more information on any of these projects, please feel free to contact me at jamilync@yahoo.com

A weekend of firsts

2009-02-22T08:08:00.002-05:00

I spent this weekend in Fort Portal with my new friend Edvine. Fort Portal is the closet town to Bigodi and is only about 45 mins away. We've been having trouble charging my laptop of the solar panels at home in Bigodi so I had some work to do in town at the Internet cafe and Edvine had been wanting to have me over.

Firsts for the weekend include

- Ridding my first boda boda or motorbike taxi- there is a driver and you ride on the back. Most women here ride side saddle but I couldn't manage. So there I was in skirt ridding straddling the back of the bike while holding a long African mat, a shopping bag, and my purse! It was a sight to see.

- Ridding in a taxi car with 8 other people- Typically, taxis are actually vans here but today we took a taxi car. However, there were eight of us. Four in the back seat and four in the front, including two in the drivers seat!

- Attending mass in Africa- Actually, we went to two Catholic masses this weekend. The first one on Saturday was in English which was great because I could actually understand it. I was raised Catholic and have wonderful memories of attending mass with my father so it's always nice to return. One great thing about the Catholic church is no matter where you are around the world the service is the same.

-Attending mass in Rweteera- Rwetweera (which I've spelled wrong in earlier post) is one of two languages spoken in this area. While English is the official language of Uganda because there are so many tribal languages people learn their tribal language first. Today's mass was in Rweteera, I understood exactly two words: Alleluia and amen! However, the music was wonderful- instead of an organ there was fantastic African drumming.

- Going shopping in a store- Last weekend, I attempted to buy skirts at a local market in Bigodi which was an experience. Yesterday, Edvine and I went to "real" clothing stores in Fort Portal. There are no changing rooms so you change in a corner in the store.

We have high expectations for you...

2009-02-18T06:24:00.005-05:00

Today was the first day that I walked though the village by myself to one of my schools- Bigodi primary to attend a parent meeting. It was great to recognize people and be recognized by people that I actually know and not as just that Mzugna.

When I got to the school the headmaster greeted me and said "we have high expectations for you", I hope I can meet them. The challenges in the schools are so great that I hope I can make a small difference.

On the days when I think - six months seems like a very long time to be here, I just look at the teachers who have put so much faith in me and think I have to find a way to make a difference.

Oberservations and lessons from week 2

2009-02-17T04:43:00.004-05:00

1. Many of the children look much younger than they really are due to malnutrition and poor health care. I met a girl selling passion fruit along the roadside who looked like she couldn’t have been more than four but she was nine!

2. I suppose it wouldn't be called a risk if it was easy. It was difficult to leave all my friends, my pets, my home, my job, esstenlally my life and move to a small village on the other side of the world. There are days that are very difficult but I have seen happiness, suffering, faithfulness, and hospitality in there truest form.

3. Who needs an MP3 player when you have the constant sound of birds, cows, goats, and children playing as your soundtrack. There is a women's group who practices their singing just behind my banda in the afternoons they are wonderful!

4. Fish out of water. Due to the cultural differences every day poses a new challenge. Just going to the market to buy skirts was an exercise in flexibility. I thought I could just go on my own but was told I needed to take one of the kids otherwise I'd get the Mzungu price. So Deuce, the 12 yr old who has been my helper went with me. Saturday is market day in Bigodi where people come to sell their wares. So there we were in a stall as I am trying on a skirt and I swear 15 people come to crowd around to watch the mzungu try on clothing!

5. 16 month olds make great teachers. Leon is the second youngest in the Tinka family and is learning to speak his native language, Rutoro. As he is learning so am I. I now know the words for dog, bird, eat, and drink. I do need to increase my vocaboly but it's a start. People here learn English when they go to school as a second language. There are two tribes where I live thus two native languages.

6. I'm beginning to have favorite foods. We don't eat much meat here at home and most of the foods were new to me. Most meals consits of a starchy staple and another vegtable or two. Meals are served outside typically on a mat on the ground. There is tea with every meal. I've discovered that I love warm cabbage salad, avocado salad, sesame sauce, groundnut sauce, Irish potatoes, and matoke (steamed bananas) is growing on me. I don't like millet bread - which is really more like a dough.

7. My headlamp is my new beast friend. Since we are right on the equator here in Uganda, it gets dark about 7:30pm and light about 7:30am. So my headlamp gets lots of use!

8. I don’t bathe after dark. See I bathe outside and I politely refuse to bath after dark. There are two many creepy crawlies who hang out where I bathe. In the last week, I have gotten much more efficient with my bathing and can now wash my hair using only two cups of water!

9. Evenings after dinner are wonderful. Often after dinner there is an improtu net ball game with the kids or the telling of traditional stories.

10. Incoming calls are free. I miss talking to people back home but it's fairly expensive for me to call. However, you can buy cheap calling cards online to call Uganda.

11. Kibale National Park is amazing. I have never seen such density and beauty in a forest till I went to KNP!

Education in Uganda

2009-02-13T08:39:00.001-05:00

In the last five days I have visited 19 schools around Kibale National Park in western Uganda. About half of the schools are currently in our program and the others we wanted to see as comparisons. All but one were primary (elementary) schools.

The conditions vary among the schools but we saw many schools with dirt floors, most did not have widows, many were falling down, some were just pavilions not buildings at all, and a few that had mud and thatch roof structures for classrooms. It was not uncommon to see a class with over 100 students and one teacher! In fact we saw many classes with 150 students. You can see it would be difficult to get any teaching and learning done in a class like that. Desks were in short supply, so often we saw nine students crammed in one bench meant for three. In some classes there were no desks or benches so children sat on the floor. Resources are slim- many school “libraries” were in fact simply a cabinet in the headmaster’s office. There are no computer labs, teacher assistants, playgrounds, very few educational supplies, media centers, school busses, auditoriums, etc...- All things we take for granted in American elementary schools. My task is too train teachers in hands on ways of teaching conservation education which will be a challenge with such large class sizes and limited resources.

The students were wonderful and seem so eager to learn. The older classes asked us questions like “What do we eat in America?”, “Are there blacks there?”, “Can we give them a scholarship?’, “What could we do so they weren’t so poor?” Many of the students walk miles each morning and evening to get to school. At some of the schools, hundreds of students would spill out of their classes and surround us as they had never seen a Mzugna (white person) before.

The Ugandan education system has many challenges facing it. As we toured the schools the headmasters shared with us their concerns that after p4 the number of girl students rapdleiy decreases as students get married early or are kept at home for domestic help.

I now have internet in Bigodi

2009-02-09T12:33:00.003-05:00

It's hard to belive but I now have internet in my banda (hut). Seriousley, we don't having running water or electricty but I now have internet!!! I am using a portable wireless modem - it's slow as molass but it's internet access

Information on how to donate to bring water to Bigodi

2009-02-09T06:42:00.002-05:00

I have been overwhelmed by the responses of folks who would like to donate to help bring water to this village- thank you so much for your compassion. I am blessed to have such wonderful friends.

Until we get online donations set up- checks be sent to my address Jamilyn Cole, PO Box 733 Fort Portal Uganda. Please make the checks to the KARFED - Kibale Association for Rural and Economic Development. Do write water project in the memo line

If water isn't your things the schools can also use money for school supplies and sports equipment. The children pall with balls made of plastic bags. If anyone wants to ship deflated balls they will be put to good use!

many thanks!

Lessons from my first week in Uganda....

2009-02-08T09:50:00.004-05:00

1. Technology can fail you no matter where you are- I had a very eloquent blog written that I saved on my jump drive but the computer here in the Internet cafe can't read it as these computers don't have MS 2007!

2. Life goes on- In just the week since I left one of my best friends uncle has been diagnosed with stage 4 brain cancer and my high school best friends first baby was born 6 weeks early! I'm sorry to not be there for these.

3. Hospitality is not just limited to the south- I have been treated with such kindness since I've been here. The family I'm living with has done everything to make me feel at home including giving me a bookshelf for my banda (house) once they saw how many books I had!

4. Potatoes make great gifts- After going and visiting family of the Tinka family that I'm living with their Aunt gave me a sack of potatoes to thank me for my visit. I should have been the one thanking her! People may not have much in the way of material possions but they give what they have and they are truly rich in love.

5. Monkeys are easy to spot with a good guide- On the trip to Bigodi last Weds with Tinka we saw Baboons and black and white columbus monkeys. Then on Friday on a 3 hour guided walk of the Bigodi swamp we saw red columbus monkeys, red tail monkeys, and mackerbee monkeys. They were so playful. I can't wait till I can post pictures.

6. Peanut sauce goes with everything- So peanuts or groundnuts as they are called here are very common. Groundnut sauce is served with nearly every meal and is put over cassava, sweet potatoes, steamed bananas, bread, vegetables, and the list goes on. I've learned if I don't like something, I can just bury it in groundnut sauce and it's fine.

7. There are still great needs here. The first few days were tough as I was adjusting to the extreme poverty all round me. Women and children have to carry water from unsafe distances back to their homes. We have a cisterne at my home but out of 500 in Bigodi we are the only ones! They need just $2100 to bring a pipe system to the village. If you would like to donate please let me know. In addition to un safe water, people are malnourished, school have no resources, and the list goes on.

8. Less is more- less is more in so many ways here. However, I am specially speaking of shampoo. See I bath using two basins, one gallon of hot water, one gallon of cold, and a cup for mixing the two. I am find with having a sponge bath, where I mess up i using two much shampoo and not having enough water to get the shampoo out of my hair.

9. Uganda is a beautiful country- From the mountains to the forest to the wildlife to the lakes, Uganda is a beautiful country.

10. There are drive-thus here-now before you get all worried that KFC and McDonlads have taken over Uganda what I'm taking about is the original drive thu. Here there are charcoal grills set up on the side of the road and as you stop your car. 5 or more people come cover asking if you want a roasted banana, roasted chicken or beef etc...

The first few days...

2009-02-02T09:11:00.007-05:00

It's hard to believe that I have been in Uganda 3 full days now! We landed about 8am Sunday morning and it is now Tuesday afternoon about 1:20pm.

Kamapla is a big crazy city and its taking some getting used to- I'm looking forward to getting out to Bigodi and Kibale park. I think the country is more my speed.

The drive from the airport to our hotel took about an hour. The roads were crowed with folks dressed in their finest walking to church. Had lunch at the hotel, naps, than dinner bout 10pm and went back to sleep. Monday we had a wonderful brunch for breakfast in the morning, though many of the items on the buffet are unusual for breakfast by American standards. For example: fried Taplia, baked beans, kidneys, roasted tomatoes. You can see the British influence in Uganda ( it was a British Colony) many places but especially in the food. The baked beans and tomatoes for breakfast reminded me of when I lived in London in '99, they are part of a traditional English breakfast. The assortment of fresh fruits- mango', pineapple, and sweet bananas are just wonderful.

Monday consisted of exchanging money ( the exchange rate is very good right now - we get about 1900 Uganda shillings for the dollar- for a reference point my meals range form 6000-12000; so about $3-6 ), went suvioner shopping at a crafts market, went to the mall to buy school supplies, came back and had lunch with Tinka our UNITE coordinator in Bigodi who I will be living with. In the evening we had a wonderful dinner at Kampala's version of a food court - the tea and fruit tart was amazing. After dinner I came back and had my first Uganda beer at the hotel bar while listening to the band.

Tuesday started out a little rough, I fell getting out of the shower/tub and banged up my arm pretty bad. After another great breakfast, Tinka and I headed out for more shopping. I wish I could fully capture the chaos of Kamapla. We went to two bookstores (I was in heaven ) to get boosk for school and a cookbook for me! We also got my modem and cellphone. I know it's crazy I'm moving to a village with no electricity and running water but I'll have a cellphone and Internet access!

Highlights so far...

2009-02-02T08:25:00.002-05:00

I have figured out how to access the wireless Internet from my room which seems to be faster and allow me to access the blog which the business center did not. It's hard to believe I've been in Uganda for 36 hours- I'm just trying to take it all in.

Highlights so far

1. After a very hectic departure day - of having to drive form Clayton to Richmond to get my visa from Gigi than race to Greensboro to make my plane just getting here feels like an accomplishment.

2. Spending a wonderful day in London (one of my favorite cites)- took a bus tour, ate at a wonderful pub and even had a pint!

3. Getting moved up to first class on the ride from London to Entbee.

4. Having all of my luggage arrive - my travel companions did not.

5. Getting to buy some wonderful souvenirs this morning. The crafts of this country are beautiful.

6. The Immigration officer at the airport getting me " Saying is this your first time to Uganda ? We're going to like you here and you're going to like it here. You are going to make lots of friends. " I hope so ....

7. The hustle and bustle of Kampala. It is a very busy and modern city though Coke is served in glass bottles. There are motor bikes darting everywhere between cars

Arrived! Well... Sort of

2009-02-01T06:04:00.008-05:00

Jamilyn is now in her hotel in Kampala. And even though it's only 2 in the afternoon there, she's ready for bed. (Slacker, anyone?)

My hat's off to her, though. I certainly couldn't survive three flights over two days, an 11-hour layover in London, a ride (cab, motorcycle, or camel?) from Entebbe to Kampala, and still have the where-with-all to find the business center in the hotel and check my email - all without sleep!

So it's three more days in the capital before she's whisked away to her 4-star hut in Bigodi. In the meantime, she'll be lounging in the lap of luxury, sipping pina coladas by the pool, and cursing the dial-up access she has in the hotel. Talk about stone ages!

Fear not, though, she will be online again Tuesday or Wednesday before her 5-hour trek across the country and thus will begin the real adventure. The one she embarked upon three short months ago when deciding she could make a difference in the lives of so many people half-way across the world. We love and admire your courage, Jamilyn. We know you will be amazing, see amazing sights, and do amazing things. Just don't forget the souvenirs! ;)

The Latest News

2009-01-31T12:27:00.002-05:00

To all those anxiously awaiting news of Jamilyn's adventure, she has arrived in London and is attempting to make the most of her time between flights. She will soon be boarding a plane bound for Entebbe, Uganda near Lake Victoria. From there, she will be traveling to the capital of Kampala for a short stay while awaiting the official start of her African Adventure!

It takes a village...

2009-01-26T06:50:00.002-05:00

I think many of us are familiar with the African proverb "It takes a village to raise a child". In recent weeks I’ve been beginning to suspect that “It takes a village to send Jamilyn to Africa”. I have been so blessed and thankful for all the love, support, and practical help that I have received from so many. There is no way I’d be able to embark on this amazing journey if it wasn’t for so many supportive friends and family.

From throwing me two of the most amazing bon voyage parties to helping move things to my shed to fixing fences to taking my pets for six months to making the most incredible cake for my party- my friends and family have been incredible during this process.

Thank you to so many who are making this possible.

My prayer

2009-01-14T21:56:00.006-05:00

Dear God:
I want to be of be of service. Use in me in Uganda to be an instrument of thy peace. I know you have called me to this work. You have given me skills that I hope to share with the teachers around Kibale. Please grant me the strength to do a good job in the work that I have been sent to do. Let me be open to all the lessons that I am suppose to learn. I know this is the next step in my life and on my journey as a Christ follower and a spiritual person.

Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace;
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.
Amen.
The Prayer of Saint Francis

The above has always spoken to me, I even used it in my fathers funeral when he passed in 2001. It seems all the more relevant as I get ready to live among another culture. I know to be successful in my work, I will have to adapt culturally and to be an instrument of peace.

Visitors Welcome

2009-01-13T11:05:00.005-05:00

Many of you have asked about coming to visit. I checked with the zoo and they actually are encouraging me to have visitors! They feel it will ease my transition to have friendly faces from home. For sure I will be there Feb 1ish though Aug 1.

According to lonely planet "Uganda is Africa condensed, with the best of everything the continent has to offer packed into one small but stunning destination."

Here are the details:

Getting to Uganda
You will fly in to Entebbe International Airport (EBB) which is located on the shores of Lake Victoria about 40km south of the capital which is Kampala. Entebbe International offers direct connections from Nairobi, Kigali, Dar es Salaam, Addis Ababa, Khartoum, Cairo, Johannesburg, Dubai, London, Amsterdam and Brussels. I believe I will be flying on British Air to London than to Entebbe. I think we'll fly from Greensboro to London then to Entebbe. It'll be two overnight flights with a 10 hour layover. I think flights range from $1500-$2000.

Getting to Bigodi/Kibale National Park
You'll want to arrange for a tour company to make the five hour trip from Kampala to Bigodi. Once I know who we are using, I'll let you know.

Where to stay
There are few places to stay in Bigodi where I'll be living. One is www.traveluganda.co.ug/safari-hotel-bigodi, which is run by the family that I'm living with. You can make reservations online. There are also other places in Bigodi, in Kibale National Park or in nearby Fort Portal.

What is there to see
Other than coming just to see me there are lots of great things to see and do in and around where I'll be living.
Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary
I've never been much into birds but I can't wait to explore the wetlands. Birdwatching and swamp walk activities are available daily at the Bigodi Wetland Sanctuary just outside Kibale Forest National Park. The sanctuary was formed to protect the Magombe Swamp, a haven for 137 bird species. The sanctuary is operated by the local community.

Kibale Forest National Park
The more I read on Kibale the more I can't wait to see all the plant and animal diversity. Here is a great description from www.lonelyplanet.com/uganda

The chimpanzees are the stars at Kibale. There are hundreds and hundreds here, plus great hordes of monkeys, giving this small national park (admission 1/2/3 or more days US$20/30/50) one of the highest primate population densities in the world. It’s not as strenuous as tracking the gorillas. The chimps tend to keep a safe distance in the tall trees, chomping on fruit and defecating at will, but it’s still a fascinating experience for the uninitiated. An excitable chimp makes mountain gorillas look decidedly shy.

Other things to see
In addition to the sites right around where I'll be, the entire country looks amazing. Again from www.lonelyplanet.com/uganda

General information on Uganda from www.lonelyplanet.com/uganda

Borders

Safe and accessible land borders with Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania;

Seasons
Wet (March to May, October to November), dry (December to February, June to September). Uganda can be visited at any time of year. It is about 75 degrees year round and will drop down to 50 at night. The hottest months are from December to February.
ATMs
Kampala, Jinja, Mbale, Mbarara
Budget
US$20 a day in town, US$50 in parks
Capital
Kampala
Visa
US$30 for one month; issued at most borders
Languages
English, Luganda
Money
Ugandan shilling; US$1 = USh1760

What will I be doing....

2009-01-12T23:36:00.004-05:00

For those of you who are I wondering what exactly I'll be doing in Uganda for 6-12 months, here are some details from my job description:

Work with Uganda UNITE Coordinator, John Tinka, to become a part of the Bigodi community and to establish a working relationship with UNITE teachers in Uganda

Work with Zoo Education Specialist and other Zoo staff to design evaluation tools to assess program success.

Work with Kibale Fuelwood Project and KAFRED in establishing an environmental education science center at Bigodi.

Work with Zoo Education Specialist, NC teachers, Ugandan UNITE teachers and other NGO staff to continue development, pilot testing and implementation of environmental and conservation units in Ugandan classrooms.

Provide opportunities for students and UNITE teachers to travel to Kible National Park for programs to increase their understanding of conservation and the environment in which they live

Arrange occasions for researchers working in and around Kibale to go into classrooms to share their work and knowledge of forest ecology with students & teachers

Establish professional development opportunities for Ugandan UNITE teachers

Regularly visit UNITE schools to observe teachers and co-facilitate lessons, providing feedback, coaching and supporting teachers in an effort to enhance their teaching skills and raise their capacity to incorporate inquiry-based learning and small learning communities, thereby establishing a sound platform for delivery of an environmental curriculum

Packing list

2009-01-08T16:31:00.006-05:00

To answer the question of what exactly does one take for six to twelve months in Uganda, my packing list is below.

The biggest challenge so far has been the clothing. Given the unique environment of Uganda’s jungle, I need clothing that is quick dry, odor resistant, offers sun and insect protection, plus size, and is easy to hand wash! That's a tall order for clothing and unfortunately those pieces are expensive.

first aid kit
hiking boats
tevas
sneakers
koolmax socks
hiking socks
zipoff pants
short and long sleeve shirts
long skirts- needed for when I go in the schools. Woman don't wear pants in Uganda
day pack
mp3 player
nalgene bottle
gaitors- to keep my feet dry when I'm in the park. Uganda has two wet seasons.
biodegable soap
sun hat
journals
small books
hand crank flashlights
head lamp
water resistant wrist watch
good camera
bug repellent - 30 % deet- must wear this all the time
sunscreen
rain suit
water filter
electrolyte powder
anti marial pills
binoculars
travel towels
feild guide

In less than a month....

2009-01-08T15:49:00.004-05:00

In less than a month, I will be living on the other side of the world among people who I've never met before. It's sort of like freshman year of college all over again but on a much bigger scale!

I'm excited to meet the people who I will be living and working with in and around Kibale National Park. I've read that even though all the hardships that Ugandans have had to face in recent decades, that they are some of the happiest people in all of Africa. I'm excited to see what people are like when you take away all the "extras" that we have here in the states and get down to what's really important. I can't wait to meet all the school children that I will be working with for the next six months to a year. I am hoping that the children will keep me from getting too homesick. In addition, I can't wait to see all the wildlife and vegetation . Kibale has 250 different kinds of trees and 70 different kinds of mammals including 11 species of primates! As a comparison, the US park with most variety in tree species only has 25!

People often ask me what I will miss the most and honestly I have no idea. At this point I think it will be my two adorable kittens (one who is laying beside me as I write this), my dog, and my friends and family. But I'm sure I will return with a new appreciation for running water, indoor plumbing, high speed Internet, and McDonald's.

I've had a lot of time in the last two month's since I accepted the position to reflect on why I said yes. Honestly, a lot of it comes down to why not. I am 31, single, and have no dependents except for my three pets. My parents have both passed away so I have few who depend on me at this moment. In 2008, I got a strong sense that I was single for reason. Maybe I was single in my early to mid twenties so I could help take care of my folks when they were sick. But what was I suppose to be doing with this time now. I believe God has a hand in all things - when I saw the position it all clicked maybe this is what I suppose to do. I have the skill set to train the teachers in Uganda and I'm "free" to go. In addition, to why not and my strong sense that this is what I am suppose to be doing in 2009, it also relates 20 years of believing in Carpe diem. Ever since I saw " Dead Poets Society" in 1989, I have tried to live by Carpe diem or Seize the Day. We only get one chance at this life so lets make it the best it can be.

I've "seize the day" in the past: being a Christian clown, living on a living history farm for a summer, chaperoning a group of high school students to Costa Rica, driving across country, living in London, just to name a few but I think my biggest adventure is yet to come in a little less than a month.

It's Official

2008-12-04T15:20:00.003-05:00

On Wednesday, November 12, 2008 I officially accepted a postion with the UNITE project of NC Zoo. I will be leaving Jan 30th and am very excited about this incredible opportunity!!!!

Thank you to all who have been so very supportive during my descion making opportunity and for those who offered to do things like taking care of my home, pets, business affairs etc... so I can go off on this adventure.

I will be living in the small village of Bigodi Uganda which is on the perimeter of Kibale National Forest which has some of the best primates in the world. The position would be providing training and materials to aid Ugandan teachers in eight schools that boarder the National Forest in the development of environmental and conservation curricula and activities. This taps into one of my passions which is training. I will also get to collaborate with organizations working in and around Kibale.

Here are few interesting links:

A link to the program http://www.nczoo.org/conservation/International/UNITE.html
map of where I'd be- http://www.usu.edu/mubfs/uganda1.gif
Google Kipale National Forest for incredible pictures

Above is a picture of the banda that I'll be living in