Happy New Year 2009! This year is going to be amazing! How can a year with both the numbers 2 and 9 not be?!
By the way, the last blog entry, where I wrote about my “worst day ever” was basically ALL hypothetical except for the phone being stolen. I was never bitten by a black mamba…you would for sure know because I would most likely be dead or in the process of dying and thus unable to write a blog entry ever again. Therefore, if the blog entries stop, you will know why. I am SORRY if this entry caused any confusion to the few readers of this blog.
So it has been approximately 1 month since I have last written and I can say a few things have happened during that time.
Written on 14/12/2008
So here is the real story…in case I am framed for murder, abduction or something else. I came back to Rakai with a kid today because she was supposed to stay with her sister for the holidays in Rakai. The kid, out of her own free will, got into the truck with all the other kids to go to Kiwanga (Seeta-Mukono) when she was not supposed to (yay for accountability). Anyway, I left her on the bus while I got off in Kyotera (the town before Ssanje) BUT made sure all of the conductors knew she was supposed to get off at the church. When I return to Ssanje they ask where she is. Awesome…thoughts of horrible deaths and traveling all the way to Tanzania cross my mind. I go to the link station in town (for a second time…did not want to make the story too long – language barriers etc.). We call (someone)…SHE GOT OFF, but she did not go back to the school. SO she is now running somewhere around Ssanje at the moment. I also find out from her sister, whom we visited after we found out she left the bus that she had stolen 100,000ushs. No one told me this kid was a felon! There is no way she is going to return to her sister’s house and most likely the reason she left for Kiwanga was because she did not want to get her ass beaten when she returned. Crap. The End.
Written on 1/1/2009
The next day I woke up and met Deborah to ask what we should do about the missing girl. She tells me that we need to contact the police and then goes on to explain all of the beheadings and child kidnappings/trafficking which has been going on in OUR area for a while. Well, at this point I feel “great,” so I quickly walk with Peter, the librarian and an amazing help with anything and everything, to the station. I tell the police the story…they then have us wait so that I can give the story again to another person. They said the reason for obtaining the story again was because they wanted more details…whatever (tells you a little bit about the police here). Anyway, after the 1.5 hour police station “run” we go to the loud speaker station in town and have them announce all day that this girl is missing and if seen to bring her to the police station or Sabina. Of course just because it was a missing girl doesn’t mean that the announcement was free…no, no…I paid them 15,000 shillings for the day (I am sure that is muzungu price but at the time I could give a s***). Once back to Sabina I go to the parish clinic to talk with Jackie about the inventory which we did together and issues which the clinic needs to work on (A LOT!). Probably about 10 minutes after returning to the parish I get a call from Peter who tells me the missing girl is at Sabina. She had hid, the day before, until late in the evening and then secretly snuck into the dorms without telling anyone! She was in the dorms the whole time! At that time I had no interest in talking with her. If her sister does not kill her for the money she stole, I might have at that time from the worry which she put me under. Anyway, I call the police and tell them she is found. I then try to get my money back from the loud speaker station because they only announced her missing status for about 30 minutes. That worked out well…not. Long story short – she is found, alive, and with her head.
Living around the Kampala area has been amazing, not just because of the electricity and wash room attached to my room (such luxuries), but also because of the amazing organizations which I have connected with for our girl empowerment group. I was able to enter non-profit Mecca. Thus far I have met with 4 different organizations: Reproductive Health Uganda (who also came to Kiwanga and talked with the kids about sex, pregnancy, and condom usage…it was fabulous watching all of the kids open a condom), Raising Voices, Akina Mama wa Africa, and Mentoring and Empowering Young Women. I am still trying to connect with SHARE, which is part of the Rakai Health Sciences Program and does amazing work with domestic violence issues within the villages.
So if anyone ever wants to know how to get kicked out of the Peace Corps, all you have to do is go on a Christmas vacation before you have completed your first 3 months of service. Fun times! So basically my whole PEPFAR 3 group (which is speedily diminishing…we started with 26 and now have 18) decided to go to Kabale, or actually an island around Kabale called Bunyoni Amagara where one of our other Peace Corps friend, S, is doing her service. Most of us arrived around the 23rd, chilled out, did a little canoeing, and a little swimming (this is one of the only lakes in Uganda that does not have something harmful in it so it is safe to swim). We (well, most of us) get a text on the 24th which says that we have the 24th through the 27th off and if we are traveling we need to tell Peace Corps. Well, this was a shocker to all of us. Whenever any of us tried to travel at all during our first 3 months of training we were immediately shut down, so we had no idea that just by telling Peace Corps we would be traveling that would be okay. Anyway, we talk to the heads and end up having a meeting on the 27th with the big wigs in order for them to determine an appropriate punishment. So, the rest of our time on the island was sort of relaxing, at least when we were not joking about what we are going to be doing when we get back to the states (this rule breaker could have sent us home…however, there were 10 of us). Blah, blah, blah, blah…we got vacation days taken away and a very stern warning that next time, pack your bags. Our life now revolves around permission for anything and everything from Peace Corps. Yay government control for the next 2 years!
I am a big fan of New Years Eve, so I decided to take all of the CoU kids (about 16) to the Rider Hotel for fireworks. We arrived around 8pm. Awesome…there are only so many games of Uno one can play (by the way…that game is incredibly useless for anyone over the age of 3). So I decided to buy everyone a soda and hoped that the caffeine would entertain them until midnight. Luckily though, the regular dance troupe which performs at Rider every Sunday performed until around 11:15pm. They are fabulous. They not only dance, but they also sing and play instruments. By the way, the reactions to the fireworks were hilarious. I think there were approximately 5 blasts and each time one went off, everyone (I am pretty sure it was not just the kids) would scream. Hey, if nothing else, I was entertained. Overall, I think the kids had a fun night. They actually were kind of mad at me when I told them that we had to leave at 12:30. Most wanted to stay for the dance party afterwards…too bad, so sad.
And then I texted…to the United States…and received a response! What a sign! It’s going to be a great year.
By the way, the last blog entry, where I wrote about my “worst day ever” was basically ALL hypothetical except for the phone being stolen. I was never bitten by a black mamba…you would for sure know because I would most likely be dead or in the process of dying and thus unable to write a blog entry ever again. Therefore, if the blog entries stop, you will know why. I am SORRY if this entry caused any confusion to the few readers of this blog.
So it has been approximately 1 month since I have last written and I can say a few things have happened during that time.
Written on 14/12/2008
So here is the real story…in case I am framed for murder, abduction or something else. I came back to Rakai with a kid today because she was supposed to stay with her sister for the holidays in Rakai. The kid, out of her own free will, got into the truck with all the other kids to go to Kiwanga (Seeta-Mukono) when she was not supposed to (yay for accountability). Anyway, I left her on the bus while I got off in Kyotera (the town before Ssanje) BUT made sure all of the conductors knew she was supposed to get off at the church. When I return to Ssanje they ask where she is. Awesome…thoughts of horrible deaths and traveling all the way to Tanzania cross my mind. I go to the link station in town (for a second time…did not want to make the story too long – language barriers etc.). We call (someone)…SHE GOT OFF, but she did not go back to the school. SO she is now running somewhere around Ssanje at the moment. I also find out from her sister, whom we visited after we found out she left the bus that she had stolen 100,000ushs. No one told me this kid was a felon! There is no way she is going to return to her sister’s house and most likely the reason she left for Kiwanga was because she did not want to get her ass beaten when she returned. Crap. The End.
Written on 1/1/2009
The next day I woke up and met Deborah to ask what we should do about the missing girl. She tells me that we need to contact the police and then goes on to explain all of the beheadings and child kidnappings/trafficking which has been going on in OUR area for a while. Well, at this point I feel “great,” so I quickly walk with Peter, the librarian and an amazing help with anything and everything, to the station. I tell the police the story…they then have us wait so that I can give the story again to another person. They said the reason for obtaining the story again was because they wanted more details…whatever (tells you a little bit about the police here). Anyway, after the 1.5 hour police station “run” we go to the loud speaker station in town and have them announce all day that this girl is missing and if seen to bring her to the police station or Sabina. Of course just because it was a missing girl doesn’t mean that the announcement was free…no, no…I paid them 15,000 shillings for the day (I am sure that is muzungu price but at the time I could give a s***). Once back to Sabina I go to the parish clinic to talk with Jackie about the inventory which we did together and issues which the clinic needs to work on (A LOT!). Probably about 10 minutes after returning to the parish I get a call from Peter who tells me the missing girl is at Sabina. She had hid, the day before, until late in the evening and then secretly snuck into the dorms without telling anyone! She was in the dorms the whole time! At that time I had no interest in talking with her. If her sister does not kill her for the money she stole, I might have at that time from the worry which she put me under. Anyway, I call the police and tell them she is found. I then try to get my money back from the loud speaker station because they only announced her missing status for about 30 minutes. That worked out well…not. Long story short – she is found, alive, and with her head.
Living around the Kampala area has been amazing, not just because of the electricity and wash room attached to my room (such luxuries), but also because of the amazing organizations which I have connected with for our girl empowerment group. I was able to enter non-profit Mecca. Thus far I have met with 4 different organizations: Reproductive Health Uganda (who also came to Kiwanga and talked with the kids about sex, pregnancy, and condom usage…it was fabulous watching all of the kids open a condom), Raising Voices, Akina Mama wa Africa, and Mentoring and Empowering Young Women. I am still trying to connect with SHARE, which is part of the Rakai Health Sciences Program and does amazing work with domestic violence issues within the villages.
So if anyone ever wants to know how to get kicked out of the Peace Corps, all you have to do is go on a Christmas vacation before you have completed your first 3 months of service. Fun times! So basically my whole PEPFAR 3 group (which is speedily diminishing…we started with 26 and now have 18) decided to go to Kabale, or actually an island around Kabale called Bunyoni Amagara where one of our other Peace Corps friend, S, is doing her service. Most of us arrived around the 23rd, chilled out, did a little canoeing, and a little swimming (this is one of the only lakes in Uganda that does not have something harmful in it so it is safe to swim). We (well, most of us) get a text on the 24th which says that we have the 24th through the 27th off and if we are traveling we need to tell Peace Corps. Well, this was a shocker to all of us. Whenever any of us tried to travel at all during our first 3 months of training we were immediately shut down, so we had no idea that just by telling Peace Corps we would be traveling that would be okay. Anyway, we talk to the heads and end up having a meeting on the 27th with the big wigs in order for them to determine an appropriate punishment. So, the rest of our time on the island was sort of relaxing, at least when we were not joking about what we are going to be doing when we get back to the states (this rule breaker could have sent us home…however, there were 10 of us). Blah, blah, blah, blah…we got vacation days taken away and a very stern warning that next time, pack your bags. Our life now revolves around permission for anything and everything from Peace Corps. Yay government control for the next 2 years!
I am a big fan of New Years Eve, so I decided to take all of the CoU kids (about 16) to the Rider Hotel for fireworks. We arrived around 8pm. Awesome…there are only so many games of Uno one can play (by the way…that game is incredibly useless for anyone over the age of 3). So I decided to buy everyone a soda and hoped that the caffeine would entertain them until midnight. Luckily though, the regular dance troupe which performs at Rider every Sunday performed until around 11:15pm. They are fabulous. They not only dance, but they also sing and play instruments. By the way, the reactions to the fireworks were hilarious. I think there were approximately 5 blasts and each time one went off, everyone (I am pretty sure it was not just the kids) would scream. Hey, if nothing else, I was entertained. Overall, I think the kids had a fun night. They actually were kind of mad at me when I told them that we had to leave at 12:30. Most wanted to stay for the dance party afterwards…too bad, so sad.
And then I texted…to the United States…and received a response! What a sign! It’s going to be a great year.
