Greetings from Uganda

Hi again everyone!                                                                                    28 Feb. 2015

I’m pleased to tell you all that things are rolling along as smoothly as expected around here! We've begun construction of the first water tank in the village of Kabaya, the same village where we built Wilson’s home last year. I spent the morning hauling stones with the children and the men; they are always surprised to see me getting dirty and working! Instead of buying the big, plastic Crest tanks like we've done in the past, we are building a tank out of stones and cement. Stay tuned for photos and you’ll see how that is possible! The hope was that this tank would be just as big, but cheaper than the Crest tank. By the time we factor in hauling all the materials, the cost of labor and the many, many bags of cement this tank will use, I think it’s actually going to cost a bit more. They tell me that it is stronger and better though, perhaps that is just the builder talking and he’d rather have three weeks worth of work building the entire tank than three days worth of work building just the base for the plastic tank!? Either way, it is a learning experience and the village will have a nice, big tank to harvest the rain water when it falls from the sky! The first day I showed up in the village Wilson wasn't around so we sent some kids to find him, just moments later he showed up with his bare feet caked in mud. He had been out digging in the field, he looks strong and happy. I wish I could say he’s put on some weight, but he hasn't, he is still skinny like a broom but he is able to walk and even dig in the garden!

The search for a space to start the women sewing has proven to be slightly challenging. The biggest issue is either the place doesn’t have electricity, is completely filthy or it doesn’t have a toilet for the women to use. My friend, Thomas, found a beautiful brand new house (more like a condo or a tri-plex) that I wanted to rent but since it shares a compound with two other homes I’m afraid they won’t like women traipsing in and out of the compound all day. Thomas also told me that the rent for this place should be around 250,000 Shillings ($89. USD)  per month, then the homeowner told me the rate would be 300,000 ($107. USD). So, of course, the question is always; is she overcharging for the house because I’m a Muzungu (white person)? It blows me away that this brand new beautiful place is only $107. per month, even if she is overcharging me! It is more house than we need though and it is also in a residential area. The following day, Uncle Alex, the director of Amazing Grace, and I toured around the area near the school, looking for more options. The best being the little room in town for only 50,000 Shillings ($18.) however, it comes with some downfalls and I’m not completely sold on it. The downfalls being that you have to walk through the pig pen in the back yard to get to the toilet, the room itself has a haystack in the center of it, which they tell me they can clean out in just two days but still the biggest problem is that there is no ceiling. The room is open to the tin roof above, which makes it not only VERY noisy during the rain, but also VERY hot during the days of sunshine. And so the search continues.

The hunt for the next water tank location has also been keeping me busy and has been mostly enjoyable. A full day of hiking through the rolling foothills of Mt Muhabura in the sunshine, greeting women and children while they dig in the fields is an ideal day for me. It is incredibly green, lush and lovely; bright green beans are sprouting from the rich, black soil and the blazing sun has scorched my forehead. We were lucky to have a hot, sunny day and not get caught in a downpour; the rain comes hard and fast around here! After seeing a hose poking up next to the road with water spraying out of it and people trying to maneuver their jerri-can under it to fill it Sam explains that the government put this underground tube in that supplies water from the mountain but, “the people destroyed it.” I think about how senseless it is to provide a service if those who benefit from it don’t even care enough to take care of it. By the time we are journeying home on the motor bike, I am tired and discouraged. I express my frustrations to Sam and Didas on the dusty, bumpy ride home. “Why should I work so hard and ask people at home to help when these people are not responsible, they can’t care for the water tap they’ve been given?" They reply with, “in the dry season people are fighting for water and only the strong ones can get water to feed their family.” I gulp. I swallow and I learn. It is the desperation and necessity of water that has destroyed the tap, not carelessness or negligence. I have never lived in desperation.

I continue to be entertained, educated and amused by so many little things. I’ve been told more than once, “Bonnie, you’ve added weight!” which of course, I just love to hear! It was also followed up with, “Oh, I forgot that’s not a compliment to you!” But, by far, the best entertainment is watching the kids sing and dance. Especially the little ones, they seem so grown up and when they are told to stand up and sing they do it obediently. They stand with their hands on their hips and very rhythmically swing them from side to side.

I’m planning to travel to Kampala by the end of the week; I will visit with the crafting co-op that has been making the many, beautiful paper beads we've been selling, I will visit some friends and I will buy sewing machines. The sewing machines will be loaded on a truck and transported to Kisoro, where a friend will meet them and deliver them to the space I’m sure we will have rented by then. There’s a lot of trust and a lot of factors that must fall into place for it all to come together, but I have no doubt that it will! I am continuously amazed by the mere fact that the system works, it seems to me like there is no system at all, but somehow it all works out!

Keep the Faith and Keep the Prayers Coming,

Love, Bonnie

    “It's not how much we give but how much love we put into giving.”  

  ~ Mother Teresa

If you'd like to donate to Resilient Uganda please choose from one of the following:

For a tax deductible donation:

Send a check payable to H.E.L.P. (our partner organization) to:

H.E.L.P.

1041 S County Rd 3

Johnstown CO 80534

Please include a note (separate from the check) indicating that the funds are for Resilient Uganda and then let me know you need a receipt and the tax i.d. number and I will e-mail it to you!

For a non-taxable donation:

Send a check payable to Bonnie Bzdok to:

Bzdok's

9161 Great River Rd

Little Falls MN 56345

or

Visit our website: https://resilientuganda.webs.com and donate through our Paypal account.

Thank you so much, your donation will go directly to improving the lives of Ugandans and building projects of empowerment.

Wacozey Chaney!  (Thank you very much!)

Welcome back to Beautiful Uganda!!

Hills of Rwanda

Ladies along the roads of Rwanda

Hitchin a Ride

Busy roadways

Assembly to welcome me

"Humbling ourselves to pray"

"What song would you like to sing?"

"shake it all about"...a.k.a. The Hokey Pokey!

Testing out their new instruments

The delicous Ubushera drink

My favorite place to eat..."Peace's place"

The Chef in the kitchen

Friends I've been missing

So good to see you again!

Jael exhausted after jumping on the neighbors trampoline

Little friends

Martin and the kids

Sweet Jael and I

So many happy friends who love the camera!

My BFF and I....reunited at last!

Hello Friends!

After a loooooooooooooooooong, tiresome journey...I made it safely to Uganda! The trip within the U.S. was quick and easy, MSP to Chicago, about seven minutes to run to the next gate; then, Chicago to New Jersey. On the flight from New Jersey to Brussels I had three seats to myself and was able to lie down and sleep for the majority of the eight hour flight! As if that wasn't good enough, I spent a couple hours in the Brussels airport visiting with a very kind man from Maryland who was also on his way to Uganda. He also has a project in Uganda; he is digging wells in the northern region. Needless to say, we had a great visit and I learned a bunch. When we boarded the flight from Brussels to Kigali, the plane was nearly empty! This time I had four seats to myself! I watched a movie and then I lay down and slept like a baby! It was long, but definitely more comfortable that usual! By the time I arrived in Kigali after two days of travel my ankles had no resemblance to an elephants trunk, which they normally do, no swelling at all with all that laying down! Also much to my surprise the two oversized bags that I had drug along with me also made it….we are off to a good start!

The second I stepped off the plane and descended the steps a smile spread across my face at the smell of the hot tarmac and the cooking fires I could smell in the distance. Aaaaah….Africa, I have missed you! The simple airport, with two small, beat up baggage claim carousels as soon as I step inside the door, the leisurely pace with which the Immigration officer inspects my passport then stamps it and takes my visa payment, all of it is a reminder of the culture change in which I am emerging. I mentally downshift, to a muuuuuch slooooooowwwer gear. African time, here we go.

On the three hour drive to the Ugandan border the next day I watch the school kids running alongside the road, many of them are barefoot. They are laughing and shouting as they make their way home for lunch. The women and the unfortunate kids who aren’t at school are carrying loads on their heads bigger than their own bodies. Men are pushing bicycles that are so laden with goods they are sweating profusely as they push them up the hills. As I wave and smile at the little ones my mind drifts again to the many opportunities we have that these kids will never know. They’ll never have piano lessons or swimming lessons and they’ll never know what it feels like to have a new pair of shoes. This is the only thing they know, hard work and relentless struggle. I’ve spent the past ten months with hot showers, food overflowing from the cupboards, meeting so many of you while eating or drinking delicious red wine, and doing a wide range of activities from ice fishing on the Mississippi, long, silent and peaceful runs with my dog, water skiing, going to a movie or listening to exceptional live music. Then, there are wild things like snow tubing down a hill at completely unsafe speeds and screaming with both fear and delight as the -25 wind chill sends tears down my cold, stinging cheeks. The random opportunity I had just a month ago to go on an incredible all-expense paid cruise in the Caribbean; these are all reminders of how incredibly lucky I am. How blessed I am and how different the life of a Ugandan is.

When I finally made way back to Amazing Grace I find the kids in disbelief when they see me again, I don’t think they actually believed me when I said I would return. The teachers are wearing the same long dresses they were wearing when I left, eating the same meals two times a day of potatoes and beans; everyone is doing the exact same thing that they were doing a year earlier when I left. If they aren't working, they are sitting idle. I find myself feeling a twinge of guilt for all the pleasures I've experienced, but mostly I find myself swelling with appreciation and gratitude and especially an overwhelming desire to share my blessings, as I know so many of you also feel by your generosity and support.

The past two days in Kisoro have been spent visiting, planning and scheming. The plan seems to change hourly, but at least we have a plan! I have been busy distributing the many clothes, books and goodies that I lugged along. The appreciation, clapping, singing and dancing that follows each and every time is both overwhelming and incredibly gratifying. Thank you to all of you who have donated clothes, books, apple butter, money or anything else! I cannot put in plain words how grateful they are.

Friendly reminders to you all; if you’d like to mail a package, send it soon! I'll only be here until mid-May; also remember that shipping is very expensive and your dollar would go farther as a donation. I can buy almost anything here. The exception to that are books! I cannot buy kids story books here.

Amazing Grace Pre and Primary School
Attn: Bonnie Bzdok
P.O. Box 290
Kisoro, Uganda AFRICA

With all my love,

Bonnie

  "Never underestimate the impact you have on the lives of others." - Faith Halverson-Ramos

If you'd like to donate to Resilient Uganda please choose from one of the following:

For a tax deductible donation:

Send a check payable to H.E.L.P. (our partner organization) to:

 H.E.L.P.

1041 S County Rd 3

Johnstown CO 80534

 Please include a note (separate from the check) indicating that the funds are for Resilient Uganda and then let me know you need a receipt and the tax i.d. number and I will e-mail it to you!

 For a non-taxable donation:

 Send a check payable to Bonnie Bzdok to:

 Bzdok's

9161 Great River Rd

Little Falls MN 56345

 or

 Visit our website: https://resilientuganda.webs.com and donate through our paypal account.

 Thank you so much, your donation will go directly to improving the lives of Ugandans and building projects of empowerment.

Wacozey Chaney!  (Thank you very much!)

2015 Already!

Just a few of my crazy nieces and nephews!

My mom and Dad and I

Camping on the North Shore with my nieces

At Gooseberry Falls with my nieces

Me in my big, red truck!

Minnesota Fall

Beautiful, paper beads made by Beautiful Ugandan Women

Our Halloween Carnival

Hello Friends!

Here we are, another year coming to an end, another year beginning. Peel back a layer and start anew, start again and what will you do differently, what will you do better? I'm feeling like a detox, an enema and a power surge flushing of the entire body this time of the year is in store for me! Feeling stuffed and blessed!

It's hard to believe I've been home for nine months already! Six of those months were spent driving dump truck for my brother. The dumping season was a good one, it turns out I have a love/hate relationship with the job! I really enjoy touring around the beautiful state of Minnesota all summer, jumping in lakes and walking along trails when I can. My days are spent hauling pea rock, listening to good tunes and b.s.ing with the boys I work with. My nights were spent under starry sky's while sleeping in the box of my dump truck. Occasionally I'd get rained on, which would lead me to sitting up in the cab of my truck and trying to sleep, and then to a hotel room the following night! The fall was spent trying to navigate my way around the Twin Cities while hauling hot mix for making new roads. I was hauling hot mix directly to my brother, who was running the paving machine out on the road, which was fun cause he is my boss, but I don't usually even see him for the majority of the summer. Working in the Cities also allowed me to be my youngest sisters roommate, whether she wanted one or not!! Brooklyn Park was a great place to crash and a dog to walk each night when I got home was a bonus! There were many long days behind the wheel (10-15 hours a day, sometimes more!) plenty of Saturdays and even Sundays that we worked when there are so many things happening and so much summer fun to be had...hello, layoff and hello, winter fun!!

I lost my Father in September. Which, of course, has been extremely difficult and still today it feels like it can't be true, I'm told time is an amazing healer though and I can only pray that is true. On Christmas Day, it was three months since we lost him. I am so thankful it happened when I was here, in the country and I'm also very thankful for the five weeks we had with him in the hospital to get used to the possibility of losing him and to say our good-byes. If nothing else, death reminds us in a big, bold way that this life is temporary and none of us will be here forever.

Raising money and awareness about my friends in Uganda has kept me busy and it has also kept me catching up with so many old friends! 2014 has been a year of amazing old friends and many wonderful new friends too.  Whether it's selling beads in a cafe or a home slideshow and bead party, a community room, a library, a church, a classroom full of eager students with ooodles of questions, a Rotary Club meeting, or a Lions Club meeting with only 5 minutes to speak, I have found so many amazing and really good, good people. I'm so grateful to all of you for opening your homes and hearts to the mission and to my Ugandan friends! I'm returning to Kisoro in February, I'll only be there for three months this time. It's going to be hard leaving my family and especially my mom this time around, which means, I'll have to work hard and fast while I'm there! I've been doing innumerable slideshows and presentations, sharing photos and stories about Uganda and raising awareness of the struggles that life consists of for so many. I've also been selling the beautiful handmade paper beads that Ugandan women make. We were also awarded a $4,000. grant from the Franciscan Sisters in Little Falls!  I'm so grateful and so excited to return and start improving lives, little by little, one at a time. We will continue to focus on supplying water tanks and also on creating jobs through crafting co-ops and whatever else the ladies can come up with! All this, in turn is hopefully working also to educate us of the blessings we are surrounded by and remembering what our true blessings are!

I know what you're all wondering!; Ebola is in West Africa, I am in East Africa, it's like New York and L.A. I feel confident that it has been contained and that it is safe for me to go to Uganda right now. No more risky than walking down the streets of Brooklyn Park!!

Thank you all sincerely for supporting Resilient Uganda and myself in 2014 ~Without love, we have nothing.

Tonight as I listen to the deep gurgling belly of the river as it freezes, I'm thinking about the beating drums that will be soon be my background noise and the children's voices that will greet me when I'm running down the dirt roads of Uganda. All the little faces and arms that are so eager to wrap around my neck. How can it be that that is all they ask for in this world?

Please stay in touch, words from you keep me connected and remind me of the love I am surrounded by. All of you good people I've met through the year who have offered support, prayers, praise and encouragement, you give me the strength and courage to pass it on, I'd love to hear from you!

May 2015 be the year that we are all truly grateful of the many blessings that surround us.

   Love, Blessings, Peace and Health to each of you,

Bonnie

                                     "Service Above Self"                     - Rotary's motto

                           "One profits most who serves best."        -Rotary's secondary motto

If you'd like to donate to Resilient Uganda please choose from one of the following:

For a tax deductible donation:

Send a check payable to H.E.L.P. (our partner organization) to:

H.E.L.P.

1041 S County Rd 3

Johnstown CO 80534

Please include a note (separate from the check) indicating that the funds are for Resilient Uganda, then let me know you need a receipt and the tax i.d. number and I will e-mail it to you!

For a non-taxable donation:

Send a check payable to Bonnie Bzdok to:

Bzdok's

9161 Great River Rd

Little Falls MN 56345

or

Visit our website: https://resilientuganda.webs.com and donate through our paypal account.

Thank you so much, your donation will go directly to improving the lives of Ugandans and building projects of empowerment.

                              Wacozey Chaney!  (Thank you very much!)

Home Sweet Home!

Hi Friends, it’s me! 

I’ve switched over to g-mail so that I could ‘bcc’ people and hopefully avoid everyone getting two pages worth of other peoples e-mail addresses! I still have my hotmail account, but will send these group e-mails from resilientuganda@gmail.com

Taking the long way home from Uganda has proven to be quite exhausting, beautiful and overwhelming at times! It has been filled with surprises from reclining lounge chairs for the five hour layover in the Addis Ababa airport to the man in the chair next to me lighting up a cigarette! Also a surprise visit to the ER in Malaysia which turned out to be ring worm on my face, I could think of worse souvenirs to bring home! Another surprise trip to the East side of the Malaysian peninsula and a few lazy days floating in the warm waters of the Pacific Ocean, getting a lobster-red sunburn and innumerable delectable meals with the Stanley’s. I found myself experiencing the shock of 90 degree weather, plus humidity, you know when you walk out of the house and instantly the skin prickles as the intense heat sweeps over your body and a shiver runs down your spine.

Roaming the airport in Hong Kong for fourteen hours in the middle of the night, a nice surprise is when I finally see three chairs next to each other that no one has already sprawled out on. A not-so-nice surprise is when I lay down on them, and then I jump up as I realize the chairs are wet! At 3:30 a.m. when I’m strolling the quiet airport terminal to eat more chocolate and use the toilet I find three seats in a row...and they are empty and dry! I sleep like a log during the twilight hours. The flight leaving Hong Kong is delayed by rain, so we sit on board, buckled and ready for take-off for over three hours until the rain relents and we can finally begin the thirteen hour flight. We arrived in San Francisco just moments after my connecting flight to Denver left. So, nearly two full days later when I finally step outside, I step into a snowstorm, wind whirling around us through the parking garage at DIA, then directly onto I-70 where a blizzard is raging and it's a white-out as my Dear friend, Jennifer and I crawl along the interstate and finally onto the smaller, winding road that leads to Winter Park. The peeling skin from sunburn soon turns into a dry and scaly coating that sheds like a snake everywhere I go. The dry mountain air cracks my skin as I find myself whizzing down the mountain and enjoying the phenomenal views. Winter Park has so many runs it's ridiculous, views to die for and with a buddy pass skiing is incredibly affordable!!

It turns out leaving Uganda was physically more difficult than I thought it would be as well! There were wonderful dinners and farewells, complete with going away gifts for myself and even for my parents; it was so sweet and thoughtful. My last night in Kisoro was spent with friends at Promise’s house. I brought the wall calendar from Amazing Grace to leave with them, since I didn’t want to roll it up and carry it home and since a student, Shiba, lives there. I thought they would enjoy hanging the big poster-sized calendar with photos of the Directors, the students and some of the teachers; they enjoyed it more than I could have imagined. I laid it on the table in front of them and for over an hour the discussion was on the photos of the two Directors, which one of them looks more serious, which one looks friendlier, the school itself and who knows what else, it completely captivated them. I had no idea it would be such a source of entertainment. Along with the “first aid kit” that I gave Promise, he had to try on the face mask and a pair of latex gloves, then he wanted to sleep in them because they were so warm!

The next day when Mark and I finally screeched into the Kigali airport just one hour before the flight, I rushed through the security scanner, reached back to hand him my last few Rwandan francs and dashed to the check-in counter. I sensed something wasn’t quite right as soon as the woman told me, “Just wait one minute” as she disappeared with my passport. She returns and explains that she sees my ticket has been purchased but for some reason I'm not on the flight manifest. She asks if I bought the ticket online and then explains that people always have troubles when they buy online. She could get me on this flight, but the connecting flight from Addis Ababa to Kuala Lumpur has been cancelled and the next one is in two days, so I could wait here for two days or in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia for two days. I was stranded at the airport without any money and a debit card that doesn't work in this country.

After an hour or so of sitting in the airport office like an elephant that everyone was trying to ignore I decide to go and find a place to sleep. I spend the next two days in the Ethiopian airline office and eventually get them to pay for my hotel room and even for delicious meals at the hotel. I am astounded by the fruit drinks in a fancy glass with fresh fruit decorating the rim, by the breakfast buffet of so many delicious foods, pastries and meats piled up that I cannot help but feel gluttonous and like I’m cheating on my Ugandan friends that I know have never seen most of these foods. My first month out of Africa and it dawns on me that I have already experienced many things that most Ugandans never will, including; swimming in the ocean, visiting an aquarium, a canopy walk over the jungle in Malaysia, downhill skiing, snowshoeing, roller skating, swimming in a pool, eating at a buffet, having a pedicure and so many more. I am the luckiest person alive. I am amazed by all the good songs on the radio, how delicious cheese is, how much I’ve missed sandwiches, clean toilets, toilets you can sit on, hot showers and a sink with running water to wash my hands in before a meal. I jump in surprise when an automatic door opens for me and I am so pleasantly surprised every time I find a bar of soap next to the sink. I am the luckiest person alive. I think repeatedly about my friends and the students that I’ve left behind and how great it would be to share all these experiences with them. I take photos for them that they’ll probably never see, but maybe someday I can share all the beauties of this big world with them!

My oldest and dearest friend, Jennifer Basch and I have spent many hours in the past few weeks organizing and establishing Resilient Uganda. After phone calls, meetings and speaking with so many good people, we have agreed to work under an already registered and established non-profit that we really like and feel so blessed that we have connected with these great people. It was through a series of meetings with good people in Estes Park and being passed on to a friend of a friend, which brought us to Pam who runs H.E.L.P. Uganda, also working under the umbrella of H.E.L.P. International. The best part of joining with them is that we don't have to go through the fees nor the time consuming obligation of applying with the IRS for the 501c3 status, which could deny us anyway. Plus H.E.L.P. International is willing to let us continue in Kisoro with our mission and goals still being the project focus! Check them out at: http://www.helpint.org/

                                                                                     

Resilient Uganda’s focus is to create self-sufficiency within villages by meeting the basic needs of access to water and empowering Ugandans with the necessary resources, education and job skills to earn a living.  

If you want to know more about Resilient Uganda check it out on facebook; Resilient Uganda, our website; resilientuganda.webs.com or check out my blog http://bonniebzdok.blogspot.com/. If you are interested in a slideshow and bead party, let me know! I love to share the stories and we are selling beautiful handmade beads from Ugandan women. The colorful beads are made from recycled paper and by buying the beads you are empowering women by enabling them to provide for their families.

Next Stop, Minnesota, where so many good peeps are waiting for me, thanks for your patience and I cannot WAIT to see you all! The dump truck is calling me again, I have an opportunity to make more money in a summer than a Ugandan will make in his lifetime, I think I should take it!

Love, love, love and hope to see you soon!

Bonnie B.

      “Let your light heal the world”   -anonymous