BUILDing a Brighter Future

My greatest passion in Uganda is working with youth.

Especially girls since they are they are marginalized when compared to their male counterparts.

As the first term break came, so did the camps.  As applications filled my inbox, I contemplated whether or not to work at BUILD, Boys of Uganda in Leadership Development, or GLOW, Girls Leading Our World.  Up until this point, I had worked at four GLOWs in various capacities, as a Counselor, Staff, or Co-Director. 

As the due dates neared I finalized my decision to apply for a Counselor position at Northern BUILD, where 88 boys from the region would come together for a week of life skills, games, and fun.  The decision came from me wanting to find out why the young men think the way they do and to help educate them from a strong, woman’s perspective.

I arrived to Gulu for training to find nine other eager Peace Corps Volunteers and Ugandans ready for a week of learning, laughing, and new experiences.  We spent a couple days together learning about our roles and making welcome posters for our groups. 

The theme for this year’s BUILD was heroes, as that is what we were hoping to build out of them.  Who was my hero you ask?

Schindler.

Fittingly, our camp sign was titled “Schindler’s List”.

As I glittered my shirt to make it more me, I could hear the matatus roll in with the campers.  We welcomed them with smiles, shirts, manuals, and a bag.  I soon found out that in my group I would have two visually impaired students, one of which I will write more about in a following post.

The week included sessions on leadership, public speaking, imagination, dance, gender, HIV/AIDS, malaria, nutrition, water and sanitation, and agribusiness.  Staff members were responsible to facilitating the lessons and they did an incredible job doing so.  Classes were taught in a way that the children were not familiar with, including creative and critical thinking.

During the week we took a day trip to The Recreation Project, an outdoor facility that inspires resilience through adventure and sports.  The campers climbed the rock wall, zip lined, completed a challenge course, and participated in teambuilding activities.  It was an inspirational day to see the Schindler boys pull together to support one another and successfully accomplish each activity, despite some fears and inhibitions. 

The week wrapped up with each hero group doing mini presentations on various topics that they could then take back to their respective community.

Oh and a dance with the girl’s.

Needless to say I felt like a mom when I had to tell the youth to stop dancing so close and to make room for Jesus. 

All in all it was a successful week and I was happy I got the chance to work with these young gentlemen.  I do believe that this camp prepared them for their future, a way forward, and how to successfully BUILD a positive and progressive Uganda with their GLOWing female equivalents.

TRP

During trainings the counselors went to TRP and

we did an activity where we had to keep a water

balloon safe from a 3 meter (10 foot) fall...

Our group's balloon survived and then

had to endure a water balloon toss!

Late night art!

Malaria trivia!

Gender 101

Meet ya at the next camp!

It’s A Small World

For years, Disneyland has been reminding people of all ages just how small of a world we live in through its 10-minute, 30-second boat ride.

Back in the States I would always encounter individuals who somehow had connections with someone or something from my past, always serving as a constant reminder of just how close of a world this is.

Never in my wildest dreams did I think that my life in America would have connections with my life in Uganda.

Let us rewind to early 2012. 

My dad was out in Point Reyes for a job and like a proud father was talking about his children.  Towards the end of the conversation it got brought up about me going to Peace Corps.

Here is the gist of the conversation…

“Where is she going?”

“She is off to Uganda in May.”

“Oh you get back in here.”

The woman, I believe named Jan, had put a young, Ugandan woman named Gloria through school that her daughter had met during some contract work in Kampala.  Jan helped ease my Dad’s concerns and he came back home eager to share the news and contact information of both Jan’s daughter and Gloria.  Jan also sent home a scarf from Uganda for me and now whenever I see them in country I think of her and her hospitability.

Prior to leaving I decided to communicate with Gloria to find out more of what I could expect from the UG.  She shared some words of advice that were incredibly helpful as I packed my bags and said my goodbyes.

Throughout Pre-Service Training and my first few months at site, Gloria and I kept in contact.  We were able to communicate in Runyankore as her home area is in the Southwest yet she was currently staying Kampala working. 

Time was quickly passing and I was worried that I would never meet Gloria.

Then I ended up sending Gloria an email to check in and see how work was.  I apologized for being lost (meaning that you have been away) and explained that I ended up moving to Kitgum.  I shared with her that while I have been busy and will be up until I leave, that I would love to meet before I left country.

Then she replied back saying that she was now living and working in Gulu!

For those who are unaware, Gulu is a mere 2-hour bus ride away and my closest city. 

Excitedly I wrote back to her saying that next time I was in town, I would call her so we could meet.

Well then I got a mysterious phone call a couple days later.

Low and behold, Gloria was in Kitgum for work.  We ended up meeting after work for dinner and spent hours talking about America, Uganda, our similar life, our different life, our family and friends, the southwest versus the north, Peace Corps, and much more. 

It was a unique experience to sit down with this woman and hear her stories in person rather then read them through my computer screen. 

The world is a small place filled with people that come and go and I am blessed to have been able to share in a part of Gloria’s. 

Oh and Pops. 

If you are reading this tell Jan that Gloria sends her greetings and that without the education that she helped provide, Gloria would not be in the place she is today.

Buggy Burgers

Living in a place where produce is dependent on the season and supermarkets are seldom stocked, you have to be innovative with your recipes. 

Henceforth the white ant burger experiment. 

This time of year you can find these little, dried insects in giant rice sacks spread throughout the market amongst your everyday tomatoes, onions, and bulbs of garlic.  As my friends navigated the stalls, I cleaned up at home and prepared for the bizarre feast we were about to have.

As we minced garlic, diced onions, and rinsed chickpeas, Ellen grinded the white ants with a traditional wooden mortar and pestle.  Once all the veggies were prepared, we mixed everything in a bowl with an egg and some breadcrumbs to help hold the odd mixture together.  We toasted bread, fried eggs, and sliced some peppers as the patties sizzled on the stovetop and soon we were assembling burgers like we were at In-n-Out.

Except we weren’t at In-n-Out and the burgers definitely didn’t have the taste of the west coast burger joint.

I am not going to lie though… They weren’t half bad.

Until about halfway through my burger when I was staring into the eyes of those insects.  It was incredibly gritty and not even the mustard or ketchup could mask the texture.

I quickly lost my appetite and decided to sweep the remnants of ants out of my house while I admired my friends as they continued to eat. 

I challenge Andrew Zimmern to this meal to see if he can stomach the somehow tasty treat.

P.S.  I just Googled white ants to email my Pops a picture.  Fun fact: white ants are also termites.

Swift Safari

I remember when I was little and my sisters and I would beg our parents to take the “Jungle Road” on the way to Grandpa’s house.  As my Dad would twist and turn through the dense area filled with trees, we’d be singing, “Lions and tigers and bears.  Oh my!” thinking that these animals co-habituated together.

Fast-forward to our elementary school days and we quickly learned that these animals are in fact spread out on Planet Earth. 

Well, two weeks ago I was singing a song to the same tune but the lyrics changed to, “Lions and zebras and warthogs.  Oh my!”

A couple friends and I went on a safari where we were able to see some of Africa’s indigenous animals freely roam the vast savannah.  According to our guide, spotted hyenas and lions could be heard roaming through our campground during our stay. 

Thank gosh our mesh windows did the job...

Each day we woke up with the sun and watched as it set behind the mountains and painted the sky and mirage of pinks, yellows, and oranges.  We sat on top of a safari vehicle as it navigated the dirt roads that took us up close and personal to the African buffalo, kobs, ostriches, and giraffes.  We ate lunch in the middle of the park where an ostrich could have had a bite of my hard-boiled egg.  We watched as a pack of lionesses spotted a group of warthogs for lunch.

The warthogs won and the lions went hungry.

We took in the beauty that is Uganda and felt incredibly blessed and lucky to be living amongst these animals in their pristine land.

For more photos visit: Safari.

One of the 2,317 African Buffalo we saw

This little guy is a serval and he roams the land amongst all the other gigantic animals