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| Playing with a baby while William sips on the local brew |
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| In the Village |
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| Handing out the clothes that Brittney brought |
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| Boys bathing and clothes drying in the sun |
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| Nile boat cruise to a cave |
Murchison Falls National Park
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| It must be my lucky day~Ridin' the rainbow! |
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| Murchison Falls |
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| A perfectly balanced Friendship! |
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| The girl can sleep...and I mean anywhere! |
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| Hippos |
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| Brittney and I at the bottom of the Falls |
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| Croc tail...prehistoric? |
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| Priscilla, Valley, Brittney and I~ in Fort Portal |
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| Keneth on the wooden bicycle that the kids built at school |
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| Bread and Jam for everyone! |
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| Hilltop Primary School |
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| More t-shirts for the kids in Ntungu |
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| Visiting Teacher Olivier's home |
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| Kerungi Children's Home in Kabale |
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| Amazing Grace sends Brittney off with a bang! |
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| Brittney and Zamah |
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| Village baby chillin' outside her home with HAIR! |
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| Amazing Grace Students taking shelter from the rain |
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| Brittney and I with my Ugandan Family |
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| Kampala chaos! |
Hi Friends!
I’m back in action, after three and a half weeks of being
a tourist with my sister I am happy to be settled again. It was a wonderful few
weeks, but exhausting. Bus rides, hiking, visiting with friends, schools and
swimming and giraffes…are all extremely exhausting!
She arrived with a suitcase full of vacuum-packed bags
stuffed with kid’s clothes, so our first mission was to get rid of that
suitcase. We headed to Jinja, so she could recover from her jet lag and
distribute the clothes to village children, while resting on the banks of the
Nile. Our new lovely friend William drove us to a village to distribute the
clothes. Luckily, we started with some control from the “town woman”! We
started with a neat and orderly line, but it didn’t last long. As the crowd
increased the breathing space on the little grass mat where we sat was reduced
and soon it resembled a mosh pit more than a line! It was a perfect
introduction for Brittney to the chaos, desperation and gratitude of daily
life. We hastily found t-shirts that looked like the right size or tossed a
skirt to a little one with no pants and then I’d wonder if it was a girl?! They
were so grateful, if only we had more!
Murchison Falls National Park was our next stop. After
six hours of quality roadside watching we had three days in the game park! At
the top of the falls we enjoyed the cool, misty shower she offered us after the
hike in 100 degrees to get there! At the bottom of the falls we enjoyed the
bouncing and turbulent waters and some cold Nile Special Lager while learning
about the fateful double crashing of Earnest Hemingway’s planes near the falls
in 1954. He survived the first sightseeing plane crashing near the top of the
falls, and then when the rescue plane came for him, it exploded on take-off and
he survived again, this time with serious head trauma. While we pondered this
staggering information we watched the massive bulk of hippos rise out of the
water around us and wondered how he ever made it out alive, after crashing in
the African bush. Later that night, we watched a hippo roam around our
campsite! The woman working pointed him out to us and told us, “give him space
and don’t shine your torch in his eyes…he hates that.” Then she tells us
his starting speed running is 45 KPH. Was that supposed to be encouraging?
Later that night I heard him as his thunderous steps toured around our tent, it
was like a small earthquake passing by the tent. In the morning we woke up
early and drove out, hoping to see elephants, giraffes and lions! We stood and
our heads poked out through the top of the truck to see herds and herds of
antelope, warthogs and giraffes! I can’t believe all the giraffes, they were
everywhere and so beautiful and graceful. The giraffe has the highest blood
pressure of any animal in the world, to get his blood up that long neck! And
also, he has to spread his front legs and bend his neck just right so that the
head doesn’t go below the heart! The elephants hid themselves from us until the
end of the day and the lions never did show themselves, but what a sweet treat
it was to come upon a small herd of elephants with little black birds perched
on their backs eating the parasites off the elephant…what a perfectly balanced
friendship, I could use a friend like that!
Now, we were finally on our way toward Kisoro. With just
a few short stops on the way! First stop, Fort Portal to see my dear Priscilla
and Valley-Wey again, sorry you missed the party Rick, but thanks for
everything, it was really great! Priscilla was so good to us, and other than
almost killing her on the way back up the mountain from the waterfall, I think
she had fun too!!
With a homemade pizza in a box, a bag full of her
delicious and famous chapati’s and a bunch of bananas Priscilla sent us off on
a matatu to Mbarara. I’ve decided Brittney is a good luck magnet when it comes
to transportation. We sat comfortably in the back seat of the matatu, each with
a full seat to ourselves, for the entire eight hour ride! The following morning
we meet Keneth when he got off the bus and we headed to Ntungu, the village we
provided the water tank for and all those beautiful little students at Hilltop
School. After two hours on a motorcycle with bags full of soap and sugar and
meat and more clothes for the kids here all stuffed between us, we suddenly
stopped in front of a little brick house on a hill, the house had an orange
tarp stretched out across the front of it and under it were about two hundred
people, all eyes were on us as I wiped the dust ring off of my lips and pulled
the big dirt balls from my eyes. “Sure…let’s join the party!” We agree as
I try to get my hips functioning again to make it up the hill toward the
expectant eyes! Brittney had no idea what she was in for and when we are
asked to stand and introduce ourselves, of course she was mortified! After some
songs, offerings and prayers, singing and dancing from the kids and after the
most incredible dance I’ve ever seen, from the town drunk! (It was performed
while lying on the ground, with hips thrusting into the air!) We walked home
and were soon followed by all the kids, who came running up behind us, everyone
wanting to shake our hands, hug us or at least greet us. It was a wonderful
welcome to the village. We spent the following days at the school singing songs
with the kids, reading books to them, exploring the village and the best part
was that we brought twelve loaves of bread and a few cans of jam. So, our first
morning there we jammed about one hundred and seventy slices of bread, then
delivered them to the classrooms. Not one student knew what jam was, but with
big eyes they accepted while doing a little genuflect to show respect and a
“sank you very much!” They savored that slice of bread and jam; it was a
delicious breakfast for them and provided a little more in their bellies than a
sweetie would!
After the village, we stopped in Kabale, where we visited
the orphanage that I worked at in May. We also visited Lake Bunyonyi and swam
and relaxed and hiked through villages to get there. We stayed with Sarah and
her incredible little family, so many great people along the way, who fed us
and housed us and cared for us and loved us. Unbelievable, how blessed we are.
When we finally arrived in Kisoro we were exhausted and
enjoyed hanging out with my family and friends there. We went to school each
morning and worked with the kids. We spent the afternoons climbing up mountains
or exploring the countryside in search of a lake to jump in. The kids I work
with are especially at risk of dropping out of school because of poor grades,
or lack of school fees. For this very same reason, 50% of Ugandan school girls
are molested by their teachers, who are often just kids themselves. Brittney
decided to sponsor one little girl that she was particularly impressed by for her
willingness to learn. I have been working with Zamah for almost six months now
and on her last exam she jumped from 15% to 58%. She is eager to learn and was
at school every single morning to work with me during the last holiday.
She is reading better than ever and I believe her scores will keep
rising! For each year of education that a girl receives, it is estimated that
she will produce 10% less children, and the likelihood of her contracting HIV
is about 20% less. Not to mention that without an education it is impossible to
gain any sort of employment, education is invaluable for these girls. I am so
proud that Brittney will be providing Zamah with an education, hopefully all
the way up to University, what an incredible gift!
Then, to top it all off, while she was here, we moved
Wilson into his new home and had an official house warming, dedication and
blessing for him! His new home, complete with a bed, sheets and blanket is
beautiful! While visiting with him and inspecting his toes for improvement Brittney
and I were attacked by fleas and had them up our pant legs and biting us for
hours afterward! We had to confirm that the boys would wash all of Wilson’s
clothes and even bathe him before he was able to sleep in his new bed. When we
went home that night, we turned our pants inside out and pulled dozens of fleas
out of the seams of our jeans. A small taste of what Wilson has lived with, but
will no longer!
So, the adventure continues. Brittney’s visit has come
and gone, but I am still here. I still have work to do and the adventure
continues.
Thank you all for your love, your prayers and your
support.
Every day that I live, I have more to be grateful for.
Bonnie B.
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful,
committed citizens can change the world. In fact it is the only thing that ever
has.”
-Margret
Mead
In Jinja~ on the banks of the nile. Handing out the suitcase full of clothes that Brittney brought with her.
