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| Tom in the midst of KAMPALA traffic |
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| Kampala down by the taxi park |
It's been awhile since I wrote. We had our Peace Corp training down south of Kampala for 2 days. If we had not passed our Lugbara test we would have had it for 4 days but since the grace of God was shining bright that day I passed and we spent only 2. Thursday was National Women's Day here and a holiday. I don't know for who. The kids were out of school so that mean they were home and the women had to lug more water make more beans and do more laundry since everyone was home. But we had no school so Tom and I went to Kampala for 3 days before going to Masaka for training. PC has a program where someone at the embassy will host PC volunteers in there home when they are in Kampala because most of them were volunteers also. Our hostess was a young woman who served in Cape Verde and then got a job in Haiti doing relief and is now in Uganda working in the health sector. Tamika Allen. She has a pooch and lives in a lovely 3 bedroom rambles with large garage and summer house behind. Everything in the are she lives in is very heavy security as it is mostly inhabited by ex pats. She was not going to be home when we arrived so she gave us the combo to her key lock box and we let ourselves in. She has a generator and solar power so when the rolling blackout comes she still has a cold fridge and lights. The home was like the ones in America, with overstuffed heavy furniture carpet, drapes and very dark colors. Tamika was lovely but not home very much and we got the impression that we were welcome to crash here but she wasn't going to say home and entertain. Good for us she had a great veranda and the rain has come to Kampala so we could see green and walk on green.
We did some shopping and wandering in Kampala and I found a source for raisins and popcorn that pops and oats so I can take them off the list of Please send us, and we were on our way to the bus park in a taxi in a traffic jam in the heat and my window was open and I was reading my text messages on my phone when a hand reached in and grabbed the phone from my hand and ran off. Tom had forgot his phone in Arua so now we were phoneless. It scared me but it reminded me of my stupidity of not paying attention to my surroundings. This is a PC drill and they go over it frequently. Then I felt stupid and finally mad that I am without all those # and connections and a communication source. We took a overstuffed matatoo to Masaka and the road was under construction so a 90 mile drive took 4 hours. There is no traffic laws here and cars just push and shove and squeeze and go what ever way is open at the moment. Our driver drove down a drainage ditch for 2 miles to get around the construction. His conductor got out and walked down the road to see if there was a way around the congestion and this was it. If anyone is going to buy a vehicle get a Toyota. These things are built way sturdier then a Ram. We were just flying down the ditch and then stopped and waited for the conductors to catch up and get in and off we went again. It was nice to see our classmates at In service training. But after a couple hours of seeing them it wasn't so nice anymore. I am really glad I am done being a wild child it is so hard to be around others who aren't done with it and some are older then me in the Corp. We are down to 40 from the 46 we started with. 3 were medically separated and 3 left before Christmas per their request. After training since we were 4 hours from Queen Elizabeth Park and one of our friends sites we took a bus and spent 3 days there. The place is beautiful, German run and gives discount to volunteers and missionary's. It sits on a ridge overlooking the rift valley which is flat and stretchs for mile upon mile of savannah. So, from our banda (Hut made of stones and straw roof) we had a spectacular view of the park and plains.
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| The view |
The swimming pool overlooks the park too and 2 meals a day are included in the price.
We did a game drive and boat ride and I have included pics in the note of things we saw. No lions just a fresh kill they had made the day before.
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| The Glory of God |
Our 3 days went really quick and now we had to head home. There is a road that goes N along the Renzowrie Mts but in rainy season it is impassable but this was dry season. We met a couple with kids from British Columbia that were going to the park up N by us and they gave us a ride for part of the way as we didn't want to pay the park fee and hotels in the park are outrageously expensive. So, we got in the Toyota van with them and headed N rather then go to Kampala and get a bus. The road was tarmac for 90 miles and that was beautiful and wonderful and then it turned to murum which is a word for red clay roads. Red clay washboard roads where the Toyota rattles so much that dust is billowing in from the floor board and pretty soon the Ugandan driver is the same color we are. This lasted 3 hours. Tom has no fat on him anymore and he said his butt was numb from being beat to death in the back. A back leaf spring broke an the washboard so they called a mechanic, he came out on a motor cycle and they propped the van up with rocks, took off the spring, pounded it with a hammer took it to town found a piece came back in 2 hours pounded it some more and put it back on and off we went. I thought my dad would have loved it. The only tool I saw was a hammer the maul kind with a short handle and it worked great. Our new friends let us off at a taxi park in Masindi. We had 2 more washboard roads in a car meant to hold 8 but having 12 in it,and did I tell you it is still hot here and sweaty and hot and dusty and the windows in the back don't open and your butt is ½ on the guy next to you and your chest is wedged between I am not sure what and who's idea was this anyway? We finally get to the road main artery to the N and the bus is coming at 12:30am and it is 8 now and we are covered in silt and sand. We found a place to bucket bath for 30 cents shook out our clothes and ate some beans and rice. Now it is 9 so I went to the bus station and they unrolled a mat on the floor and I layed down and fell asleep. Tom stayed awake and at 12 we got on a bus for home, We were 5 hours away and it stopped ever 50 miles to pick up or drop off but we weren't squished and the window in the back was open. We got to Arua at 4:30 and it is still very dark. We are not to ride boda's so we head out walking which we know is bad idea. The boda drivers tried to get us to come but we refused. We are only about a mile from our house when we are at the bus but it is night. We walked for ½ mile through town and came upon some partiers but we didn't think they would bother us. As we walked closer to the hospital a boda came by really close to us and Tom hollered that we couldn't take boda's and he said he knew he was watching the guy following us. A GOD MOMENT! We are in his protection and praise Him for it. We got to the hospital gate which is locked, and the Askari (guard) let us in but told us to be careful when we went to the school because there was a party going on. (It was a hand over of student council members and they had a disco party all night.) The music is so loud you could hear it at the hospital so you can really hear it at our house and it goes till 6:30. That is when the generator gets turned off. The Askari that is at the school is drunk but has a helper who got the key in the lock and let us in and out of the next 2 gate so we could go home. When we got home, laying on our front veranda was a body. It is now 5 am. We woke him up, he is one of the heavily armed security guards that wanders around the housing at night and he told us he had slept on our porch every night since we had been gone. Tom made him some soy tea and got him a chair to finish his shift in. Another GOD MOMENT! Tom is in Kampala this week again for a training and I am home alone but the doors are locked and the chair is out. The security guard is sitting outside my door. The power is on and the cool breeze is blowing which is such a relief after the heat of the day. The last picture is of the local kids that come over everyday to hang out. I am sure 1 of them has Tb as he is coughing all the time so I listened to all their lungs. Then they wanted to listen. They helped me go through all the bags of supply's that recently came from the hospital. The stethoscopes were a hit but the soccer ball has been the greatest gift for the kids. Even a baby toddled over to have a go with the ball. Thank you all my friends for keeping us supplied and entertained. We miss you all but somedays we are enjoying the adventure. When it is a travel day the adventure is not so great... Love from Arua where it feels like home and is good to be here!
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| Local helpers appreciating all the great stuff! We all say THANK YOU! |
