Journey to Uganda - Update Day 1 & 2

On Sunday, July 8, Theresa and Sara Weinman departed for Uganda ... follow their journey here as they visit Ddgeye, check in with our scholars, and much, much more ... 

Day 1

Our trip so far has been the adventure we always expect! On our way to Logan we stopped at a rest stop where a woman was having a seizure in the parking lot. Everyone was trying to call 911 but nobody knew the name of the rest area. I ran(literally) into the rest stop and let the person at McDonald’s know that we needed to call 911 but he didn’t speak English. He pulled over another girl who also couldn’t understand my question of “What is the name of this rest stop, we have an emergency.” They looked at me in horror and responded “I. No.” They finally brought over a manager who decided not to tell me the name and run out to the parking lot himself and then didn’t seem to know the name of the rest stop either. A few minutes later we heard the sirens so I am guessing everything turned out OK. Yes, Mary Smith, drama follows me – even to rest stops!

Sara and I got to have a great dinner with my sister Patty in Boston before we left despite much GPS drama and 3 wrong meals. Our long travel was pretty good to London but our 8 hour flight to Entebbe had a poor woman from India sitting in front of me with her 18 month old on her lap and her 6 year old next to her. The 18 month old cried/screamed/cried/thrashed the entire 8 hours. The entire time. My heart broke for her but it was an overnight flight and Sara and I had already not slept for 1 night….now it was two. It was a long, sleepless flight for everyone between rows 17 and 32.

When we arrived at Entebbe we were thrilled to see our friend Charles from Churchill to greet us. As we pulled off the twelve 50 pound (OK, in 4 cases 54 and 55 pound bags = clearly over the legal limit) off the conveyer (where is Bob when you need him) a guy tried to grab my black bag CLEARLY marked Engeye #3 all over it in my personal bright orange duck tape. We both had our hands on the bag and then looked at each other and both wanted that bag. Then he said “Are you going to Engeye? “ It took a moment but I recognized him from the Engeye website - it was Joe Freeman returning from his trip home from the States! With the throngs of people what are the chances we would be standing right next to each other – we were on the same flight from London. We had never met and I thought he was coming home a few days later. Too funny. Apparently on the last AMC trip, one of our black bags (with my beautiful orange E in duck tape) got left behind and Joe was using it. So….we both had orange bags there with Engeye #3. We gave Joe a lift to Kampala where he was going to get some meds for the clinic. It was a great time to get to know him better and the ride to Kampala scored me access to the only flushing toilet in Ddegeya – Joe & Kathy’s. I. Am. A Brilliant. Woman.

We had a good ride to Engeye with Charles, doing all the usual stops, the Equator (which now has flushing toilets people!). When we arrived at Ddegeya, everyone was still seeing patients so it was not the big welcome party we had demanded. J Soon everyone heard all the Mzungus and out came Resty, Ritah, Hellen , Susan, John, David – and the two long days of travel were so worth it. The fact that we had not slept in two days (or showered) was forgotten! We used the big clinic space to lay out all our bags and got to sorting. It took a long time. Between supplies for the clinic, supplies for the schools, personal gifts and our own stuff – it was a lot of STUFF.

We soon found out that not only had it not rained for 2 weeks and both of the water tanks were bone dry but that the bore hole had been broken for two weeks and there was no clean water. They were using the muddy pond for cooking and cleaning (boiled of course) so there were no showers to be had. We also learned that the internet had been down for two weeks but they were hoping Joe would be able to fix it tomorrow with the new cable he was bringing from Uganda. John then broke it to me that Pat the rat had returned to our housing unit. Gulp. We would not be discouraged, we had worked long and hard to get here and I was not going to let a rat ruin my wonderful mood. Just hearing John’s laugh throughout the compound makes it all worth it. We walked to one of the broken bore holes and gave Greg a tour of Ddegeya.

After dinner of rice, beans, potatoes we ended up using the pump from Brenny and Mark’s project (so cool) and got some wonderful, clean, FREEZING water from the faucet. A very quick shower followed and we ran to bed. It was only 9 PM here but we had all been up for 2 days. I took some sleeping assistance (1/3 of a sleeping pill), popped in my ear plugs and slept soundly for 10 hours. Unfortunately, Sara and Elaine were not so lucky and had a battle of wills with Pat the rat for the majority of the night. I feel kinda guilty for sleeping so well but…….hey, they could have put in ear plugs too. We did make one middle of the night latrine run. I forgot the challenge of the headlamp, babywipes, putting your shoes on and heading out to the latrine in the pitch black but as soon as I started moving, Sara and Elaine had their headlamps on and were right behind me. It’s good to room with other girls.

Day 2

This morning we were woken out of the pitch black by the ROOSTER. Oh the rooster. But it was a good way to get moving and we got to enjoy Ugandan coffee, eggs and fruit with the staff as the patients began lining up at sunrise. Then we got Good news = John was able to have the bore hole fixed so our coffee was with clean water which was a good way to start the day. We headed to Sydney Paul for a morning of introductions and welcome. We brought bracelets that said “Empowerment Through Education (ETC) and got to visit each classroom and see our Scholars. We were not allowed to really visit with the scholars today (can’t disrupt their classes) but we got to hug Susan, Wilbur, Harriet, Waswa, Bena and so many of the Scholars. It was so hard to be in Susan’s class and only have a few minutes with her but her smile was ear to ear. We told her we were coming back next Monday to take her to dinner. We were originally only invited for two days but we must have been so super cool today that they invited us back for the debates tomorrow.

I also learned that Elaine and I are only known as “Mama Sara” and “Mama Elaine.” Our role is only as their mother’s so I am now called “Mama Sara” wherever I go. It’s kinda sweet. Both Susan and Wilbur’s classes will be participating in the debates so it’s another excuse to spend time with them. One sad thing happened in their class, when asking us questions one young boy stood and asked how children were chosen for scholarship. He was soon crying as he asked the question. John explained to us that his mother had just died, he was a strong student but knew he would need to leave school. It’s so hard – you want to help everyone – they are all so worthy and work so hard.

We head to St. Gertrude’s later today and Sara and Greg will teach their first classes – “Life of American Teenager,” “How to tell time” and “Life in a big city/skyscrapers.” They will be teaching several days this week and next week. Both Elaine and I are amazed at Sara and Greg. Lots of hiccups, rats, the latrines, days without sleep, etc and yet, they are thriving already. They are walking around smiling, working, without complaint. There is hope for this world. J We are getting lots of entertainment from Jackie. She lives up to every story I heard about her. Funny to watch her today (at 3 or 4 years old?) climb on the back of a motorcycle, no helmet, grab the hips of the driver and off to school she goes. I know this is long but not sure how many times I will be able to get the internet connection.

We returned from Sydney Paul and had some lunch with the staff and then walked on the HOT road to St. Gertrude’s. It was so good to be back. At first it looked like there was not much change from our B4B but as you entered each classroom you saw the differences. The roof was not leaking, each class had shutters and doors, each teacher now had a chair, there were posters and teaching tools in each classroom. Books were available and there was chalk and pencils – the small things that were not there before. To see the solar lights hanging down was also a thrill. We plan to return at night one night to see them in action. I think my favorite part was going to the dormitories and seeing the bunk beds for the girls! Success! Sara and Greg each taught a class today. It started slow as the kids are often afraid of Mzungus aka white people but they warmed up. Sara did “Life of an American teenager.” They asked great questions and then became teenagers themselves and asked her a lot of questions about her boyfriend, going to clubs, etc. They all seemed to warm up when we said we knew Brenny, Mark, Sarah and Elliott. It was also so cool to see how many kids remembered Sara from last year.

It took hours and it was hot and we returned to Engeye around 5:30 PM. I got to take my “shower” with a cup but tonight was a luxury. I borrowed a thermos of hot water from Susan in the kitchen and added that to the cold water I had pumped from the new container (thank you Mark and Brenny). I got to rinse off with warm water and it felt amazing. Elaine got to use the second half of the thermos. It’s amazing how careful you are with water when you are here. One thermos of water for two American women to wash their hair? Yup. It can be done. We are tired, dirty, dusty, happy and grateful to be here among such hardworking, kind people. I am at the picnic table, listening to Ugandan radio, the cooks laughing and talking and Sara running around with Peter, Jackie and all the kids dirty, tired and I have never seen her so happy. Greg Hickey has adjusted like he has lived here for years. I have never seen a kid or adult take so easily to Uganda. I've also learned I HATE chickens. Chickens who scurry around your feet while you eat and poop everywhere. I will never feel bad about eating chicken again. I have a hunch both these kids will be back many times. We are blessed! Happy 20th birthday Robert – John says hello too! PS - one Ugandan reality check today. My dear friend Resty said "Oh Theresa, you have gained weight! What HAVE you been doing?" Ouch. I said "Eating too much." Maybe I'll take less potatoes tonight!