I wrote something!

Welcome, and thank you for being interested in what I am thinking about as I travel in Uganda and Oman!

Now, where to begin…I left Los Angeles Jan 5 for Uganda, where I spent the rest of January as part of a Habitat for Humanity Global Village team and touring Uganda on my own.

12 strangers made up our team, ranging in age from 19 to around 70- and what do you know, we got along great! We started off by driving to Masindi from the capital, Kampala. I was so jetlagged at that point (I was in the air or in airports for almost two days) that I nodded on and off the whole way.
Now, I believe I could think back and describe each and every day- but allow me to reflect on some highlights. (occasionally in first person, if you don’t mind, as this is excerpts from my journal)

I was continually struck by the similarities to Sri Lanka. A former British colony (so they drive on the left, have roundabouts, and the educated people speak English), fighting rebels in the north, the roads are flanked by endless jungle and farmland, the lack of paved anything, and the smell is surprisingly seemingly identical- I couldn’t place it, but there is a sweetness in the air. (it could be a strange combination of raw diesel exhaust, charcoal and cow poop though for all I know) Another think is that instead of having Turkeys in the yard, our hotel has storks!

Man oh man did I start my day off with a jolt. I wanted to use my computer this morning to study Arabic, so I pluged in my power adapter and surge protector. But as I did that, it sparked and set on fire inside the box! Its clear now that I should not have plugged something in not rated for the voltage here- but whatever the case I am a little freaked out. (I have a particular fear of being electrocuted, and being hit by a car)
Anyway, yesterday was good. We showed up to the village and they had all turned out to see us. There was also a local dance troupe that performed, and as part of their singing they said all our names- and mine first! But I think that’s just cause I wrote the largest on my masking tape name tag. The houses, both what they had before and the final product are almost identical to Sri Lanka I spent most of my day crushing rocks with several members of the team, utilizing an extremely small sledgehammer. There are lots of kids around, and evidentially we are somewhat of a spectacle, and the family we are building the house for will forever be known as having hosted the whites. Then later this evening we had an icebreaker- what has surprised you about Uganda? My answer was that it sure isn’t as hot as I expected, the way people dress no nicely here (men are almost never seen without slacks, a dress shirt, and nice shoes), and the widespread use of English.

Mafia is a hit! The night before last I introduced the game and we were awake at least till 1130 playing. The team absolutely loves it, and all during the next working day they were talking about the games we had played the night before. What’s great about the game? Well, it changes not only from playing with different groups of people, but also from game to game as people have different roles and decide to alter their styles. It is especially good at helping to bring people together, provides a common ground for sharing other interests, and allows you to get to know other people outside of asking questions as you see how they tend to act in their roles- as personalities matter so much. Oh, and a bonus to myself, as I am often the moderator I am forced to learn names, and get to make up lots of creative exciting stories.

Today was an amazing day. We finally played the soccer game that Michael (out Ugandan Habitat leader) organized- us vs. teenage boys in the community. Since we found out about it we have been dreading the game, basically because we knew none of us were very good. Let me start by saying that earlier this week we went to a professional game- the Masindi team Kinyara (named after the local sugar factory) vs. a team from Kampala. It as fun, there were probably 300 or so people in this sort of make shift stadium designated by a tin fence that surrounded it. Anyway, it was pretty exciting and the crowd loved it cause the local team (ranked much lower) tied the game in the final minutes.
So, at our game, we showed up apprehensive after work to the local school pitch. What was amazing wasn’t the game itself (they won 3-2, but it wasn’t anywhere that close in terms of talent believe me!) but instead the crowd. I am serious when I say there were somewhere between 450-500 people watching us! I absolutely could not believe it. Every time the ball was near the goal everybody would hold their breath or cheer or yell. I had so much fun, and really- the town had a wonderful time.

Well, after our house dedication- we were able to complete two houses so both families and lots of local people attended- we started our tourist section of the trip. Oh, let me say that it wasn’t just us that built them, there are masons that Habitat hires and we work with them, assisting and doing everything that we can to allow the work to go much faster. They were really great guys, (and make sure to check out the picture of me with one of them- you’ll know the one I mean.) Anyway, I am now experiencing the height of luxury that Uganda can offer. We are staying at the Paraa Safari lodge- “The Jewel of the Nile” in the Merchison Falls National Park. It is wonderful, and I really feel that I appreciate staying here after doing construction for the last 2 weeks. I enjoy it cause in a way perhaps on this vacation I earned it. Now that I have been getting filthy and sweating the whole day being here is absolutely…relaxing. I can only imagine if we had been staying in the village instead of a hotel in Masindi. Driving around in the park, we are always on a Safari, and my colleagues have taken abundant pictures that I’ll post of all the animals we saw- lets see if I can list them: Water buffalos, elephants, giraffes, fish eagles, 10 or so different kinds of gazelle-type things, crocodiles, hippos, wild boars, monkeys, oh- and how could I forget- Lions! My favorite though was the giraffes and the hippos. I saw a giraffe running, and it was so graceful I think my heart skipped. And hippos are just awesome. If you disagree, check some out whenever you have a chance. And the Sky! For a while I just sat in our open topped van and just could not get enough of the beautiful bright blue flanked by clouds. Its kind of hard to say, but I cried a little as I tried to take it all in here.


If either now or later after reflection you want to learn more about Habitat- please either ask me (I love talking about it) or check out www.habitat.org/
I also spent some of my summer of 2005 on a GV trip in Sri Lanka, and if you’re interested in reading about that trip, here is a letter I sent out afterwards:

Hello Everyone,
Want to read about my Habitat global village trip to Sri Lanka? Read on then.
This summer I went on a two week trip, its amazing how much we were able to build and see in that short time. The way habitat works in Sri Lanka is twelve or so families will get together and save money (about 20 cents a day) and make monthly payments to habitat. Once four houses are half paid for, taking about 4 years to raise the $350, they build those, then repeat till everyone has a house. After that, all the families continue to save money till the houses are completely paid for. It’s a great system because these people, who are all mostly cash crop farmers, couldn’t do this alone- and as a bonus it strengthens village ties. When we got here the whole village came to welcome us- we all sat in a circle and the schoolchildren put on a traditional dance- in costume- and we heard words of thanks from the family members and the local monk (who was happy we weren’t there to convert people!)
Then we went to our hotel. Let me start by saying I was expecting at best a barracks style room for everyone to sleep in- with plenty of mosquitoes just like in Louisiana. Instead we were put up in several two person bungalows with a back porch that looks out over the lake our hotel is next to. We had three multi-course meals a day, a far cry from the tasty, yet ever-present peanut butter and jelly I am used to for lunches on Habitat trips.
Ok, so you must be wondering if we actually work, or just enjoy our accommodations right? Well, we work. Everything we did is manual labor- its impressive almost the lack of tools they need to build these brick houses. The first day, we moved bricks all day. Think about that for just a minute. All of our backs were wiped out- but we had all this enthusiasm because it was the first day, so it wasn’t a problem. Day two and three though, those were hard. We kept doing work that required bending over- but without as much enthusiasm and with an already sore body. Luckily starting the third day, they realized we weren’t complete nincompoops (which we almost are in their world) and we sometimes did more complicated jobs. I mixed mortar for probably 30 hours and have gotten quite good with the tool of choice- an oversized hoe.
When we’re not working, we learn about the country. One think I love about this trip is that since we are here to help people- everyone is happy to see us all the time and our days off we’re taken around by locals who speak English and have our best interests in mind. I often worry about traveling in other countries that I am seeing the wrong things or overpaying- but that fear is gone being with Habitat.
We saw several Buddhist temples and a mountain fortress. We had a joke going that everything of interest in Sri Lanka is at the top of a hill! Its cool cause we don’t feel as much like tourists having maybe earned our way a little bit first.
In the second week we all kind of shifted jobs, with another guy and myself assigned to dig a cesspool. That might not sound like too much fun, but we welcomed the opportunity. After a half day of digging the 6 foot diameter hole we still hadn’t gotten through the topsoil- that’s how fertile the ground is. The next day at 3 feet down we hit a layer or crystal that was about a foot thick, and then it was clay. By this point “the hole” had consumed our minds- we named our tools, talked about it constantly, and loved to admire the layers we had dug through. By the time we finished we moved over 900 cubic feet of soil, crystal, and clay; it was awesome.
There were several times we got together as a group and talked about why we came, and for a little while I and some other people were worried that it might have done more good to have just sent the money we spent getting to and staying in Sri Lanka. But the reality is the people needed and welcomed our help. One of the houses, the family had built the foundation seven years ago, and had bought all the materials already- but had been putting off building the house because their daughter got sick and they didn’t think they could both care for her and build the house even with the workers Habitat hires. With us there, we got that house and two others within three days of completion. The fourth family was the poorest of them all. They had been able to save to get a two room house, but were stalled because they had to use the tin roof and doorframes from their nearby mud house on the new one. With us there they knew they could make that transition quickly, and not get stuck between the two houses. It was that home that I helped dig the cesspool for, and we all participated in the dedication for that home at the end of our trip.I guess I am sending this to a lot of people because I had an amazing time so wanted to tell out- and also to have a basis for you to ask questions. If you want, check out the pictures on my facebook profile.
I would say my only regret it that I did not have a prior interest in the local language. Had I studied Sinhalese, I would have come away much more proficient because all day, all the two weeks we were there- everyone wanted to talk to us and get to know us. It was so different from being on a term abroad or something because people are much more forgiving for mistakes and cultural errors simply because they know what we were there for. So if you are learning a language especially, or if the prospect interests you- think about going on a Global Village trip sometime!

If this sparks the slightest interest, and you have questions about Global Village just e-mail me back and I will enjoy telling you whatever you want to know.
Also, here is a link to the Habitat website where you can find information too: http://www.habitat.org/

Thanks for reading this far, and I hope to hear from you!