Day 1: May 12^th, 2016

We have arrived!

Arriving to Uganda has been an adventure to say the least. After arriving to the airport at 2:30am on Thursday, we quickly made sure to buy usable phones for our travels here. We want to make sure that we as a group can communicate with one another no matter what happens. We were picked up by the Mountains of Hope coordinator, James Malinga, and we’re fortunate enough to be able to stay in a house right across from his home during our stay here. Our ride to our summer home from the airport was an adventure because due you the arrival of the newly elected president, the main road was closed off to ensure that the president would arrive safely. Therefore, James had to navigate through an entirely different route that he was unfamiliar with. And after an hour and a half of travel we finally made it! The home we are staying in is actually the home of the director of the elementary school that James’ children attend. We met her and she is also incredibly friendly and sweet towards us. James has been incredibly hospitable by providing us with delicious meals (provided by his wife and house helper) as well as accurately communicating with us with what we will be doing for the day. Because we arrived so early in the, James was kind enough to let us rest for the remainder of the day. We were also very fortunate to be able to make a grocery store run with him to buy clothing detergent, paper towels, and other necessities we may need. So far we haven’t received much of a culture shock and it may be because we have all experienced rural communities, whether it was the villages of Mexico and Honduras or the mountains of Appalachian North Carolina. However, we did manage to hand wash some laundry, something we are not accustomed to do. We are also not accustomed to squatting toilets or having no access to the internet. We are certain that with each passing day, we will manage to grow accustomed to this lifestyle change.

We made it!!!

-Jessica

Day 2: May 13^th, 2016

Today was our first day at the Mountains of Hope office. We woke up, got ready, and left at 8. The Mountains of Hope office is in a storefront that’s near the city center of Mpigi, which is a smaller city than Kampala. We arrived in Mpigi around 9 and talked to James about the rest of our trip.

Generally, we will be in the Mountains of Hope office Monday-Thursday to help train young people with computer skills, write reports, and go with James to help with other projects supported by MoH. We will be checking in with kids who are sponsored by people through MoH, distributing water filters to people who have demonstrated need after being identified by the government or by MoH, and helping to improve their social media sites.

On Friday and Saturday, we will be going into villages to implement the Comprehensive and Sustainable Menstruation Management (CASM) curriculum. Fridays will be spent teaching about menstrual health, safe sexual practices, and management of menstruation. Saturday’s will be spent teaching participants how to make the reusable pads, which they will be able to take once the day is over. We will be taught on how to carry out these lessons by trainers/mentors who already know how the project needs to be implemented. We will be trained for the project on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week.

Two students who will be entering university next year worked with Julia and Abbey on computer skills, including Microsoft Word and PowerPoint. Afterwards, we got to sit and chat with one of the students, who explained the Ugandan school system and a little bit of history.

That afternoon, we drove to nearby villages to visit children who are sponsored through Mountains of Hope. We ate a local mango and one of the children wrote a thank you letter to his sponsor.

When we got back to the office, there was sugarcane we attempted to cut and eat. Olivia, a MoH employee, cut it for us because Julia cut her finger while trying. We also went to a market in Mpigi, where we bought mangoes, passion fruit, and bananas. The market was crowded with people and all kinds of different fruit and vegetables for sale, and we definitely plan on going back. The fruit was delicious and greatly appreciated at dinner.

Day 3: May 14^th, 2016

FUN DAY!!!!

Today was Fun Day at one of James’ kid’s primary schools, so of course, we and his 3 other kids decided to tag along!! The celebration of the school’s first year started off with some morning, which revealed that our dance moves could use some serious work. A clown, who we thought was pretty scary but the kids all seemed to like, led games for the rest of the day. The day seemed like an extended 5 year old’s birthday party as about 30 3-7 year olds jumped from duck-duck goose to relay races to the bouncy house.

During the event, we sat and chatted with the photographer who was a recent university grad. He told us about “uni” life at Uganda Christian University, which is the biggest private university in Uganda (with around 90,000 students!). We also learned about the best places to go in Kampala and how to make our way around the city.

After a failed attempt to do laundry a few days before, we decided to give it another shot. Turns out, doing laundry without running water can be a little tricky, especially for us newcomers. After a serious struggle go bring water tanks from James’ house to ours, we worked for about 3 hours to wash out the red dirt caked to our pants. A few people walking by shook their heads and chuckled, “mazingo” (white person). We couldn’t stop laughing at how absurd we probably looked in our attempts to rinse out suds for the 15th time. Ironically, this simple completing this simple chore was one of the best times we’ve had so far.

Afterwards, we went over to James’ for dinner and chatted with him for a while after. He is so knowledgeable about international politics, and those of his own country. We talked about everything from poverty to pop culture, corruption to favorite foods, and debt to Donald Trump. It was interesting hearing his perspective on Uganda’s culture, economy, health care system, education system and so much more.

At the latrine that night, tragedy struck. As I stood up holding the end of the toilet paper, the entire roll unraveled down the latrine hole. Shout out to our parents who made us bring packs of tissues; they’ve come in handy.

From Me to You,
Abbey

Day 4: May 15th, 2016

DAY OF REST

Today has mostly included praying and sleeping, sometimes at the same time. Finally, we’ve had a chance to recover from the combined effects of a college semester full of all nighters, and an 8 hour time change to Uganda.
However, we were up for an early start to join James, our host, and his family for a service at their church. We arrived a little late, because we needed to take a friend to a nearby clinic for malaria treatment. James joked that among his many jobs was being the neighborhood ambulance driver. When we arrived at the church, we quickly learned that James had yet another job: he is also the minister. The service was lively and upbeat, including lots of hymns, readings, and sermons (translated in some cases from Luganda to English, and other times from English to Luganda, as the speaker often bounced between the two). When James had his turn to speak, I was captivated by his wealth of knowledge and engaging presence. He spoke with conviction about the ripple effects of inequality and injustice in our world, and that only through love and community can we change our path.

After the service (which lasted about 4 hours) concluded, we were introduced to the congregation and warmly welcomed. We have met so many loving and receptive people already, and though some are get shy, most welcome us with open arms. One of our new friends, and Mountains of Hope employees, Olivia then invited us to join her bible study following the service. By this point, around 2, all of our stomachs were gurgling with hunger and our skirts clung to our legs with sweat, but we decided to stick around. We had the chance to meet the other 18-30 year olds at the church and hear a little bit about their lives and faiths. From our few days here, I have noticed that many of the organizations and communities we come across are faith-based. From schools to clinics to grocery stores, it seems that much of the culture is rooted in the Christian or Islam faith and holds the associated values of love, generosity, and community.

We came home to a big late-lunch of rice, bananas, beef, watermelon, and mango juice and then hit the sack for some long naps. I woke up a little before everyone else so I decided to sit on our back porch and journal. I am constantly amazed by the sheer beauty of the natural world around us.

From Me to You,
Abbey