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| The mountains across the street from where I live. |
The week after all the retreats ended I headed for the hills… actually I went away from the hills. If I’d actually headed for the hills I would have gone to Kabale. But anyways! (Eventually all of you should know Ugandan Geography… perhaps I will try to add some interactive maps. However Google Map and Blogger don’t get along so well, which is strange because they are both made by the Great Google.)
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| Serious road work equipment, used to finish the road just in time for elections.. probably from China. |
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| Constant Summer |
So I headed to the flat lands of Central Uganda. I had originally planned to spend some days at Emmaus Center, catching up with both the Ugandans and also visiting with the group of visitors from Europe. However, due to the change of plans, the white visitors didn’t come. I still desperately needed a break, so I went.
I chose the WORST day to travel. That Monday was the day that all the kids were going back to (boarding) school!! The entire country was on the move! It took me 10.5 grueling hours to arrive at Emmaus Center. I was spent by the time I finally arrived. I didn’t even eat dinner, I just fell into bed.
I was given the 1st room I ever slept in in Africa! It brought back a lot of memories.
I spent the next few days visiting my great friends… talking, sharing, just being together...even learning how to do crafts! I also took a lot of time to sleep, watch movies, and write a few important emails. I was soo exhausted that doing actual work was not possible. But I did do a bit of consulting on a few projects people are running and also was able to give some encouragement for their current challenging situation. The leader, Amin, invited me to run a course for them in a few months to help them with some sustainability stuff.
A great adventure was visiting a few families farms! I got to go to 3 of them, taking motorcycles down tiny dirt tracks, deep into the “bush”. It was great to see… farming is so different here than in the states. Let’s just say they don’t believe in straight lines.
I love my family at Emmaus.
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| My best friend at Emmaus, Clemintina! She is a wonderful lady! |
After too few days I headed to Kampala. I should have given myself more time away, but there were responsibilities in Mbarara I had to get back to fairly quickly. My normal “inn” wasn’t available, so I embarked on a new adventure and stayed with my friends Charles and Stella. They live in a different part of town than I had known before. On the way to their place with Stella, the evening I arrived, my phone was stolen! Bah!! Very annoying.
Charles and Stella have a nice place, which quickly became a 2nd home in Kampala. Getting here is a bit harder than with Sus and Peter, but it’s still ok.
I came to Kampala on Thursday night. On Friday morning I had a meeting with someone I had never met, named Javis. He works for Cornerstone Leadership Development, whom I partner with, and had gotten in touch with me about some possible collaboration.
Our meeting, thought it started late, was excellent. He wants to bring a strong Character Development program in to Catholic secondary schools throughout Uganda. He felt that he had hit a bit of a wall. We broke that wall down in about 2 seconds and realized that the possibilities are endless!! With my wonderful connects, a good foundation for a program, and some random ideas, we saw that it was possible for this to actually happen!
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| Normal Life. |
I also visited my friend Fr. Henry, and went shopping at a white people grocery store for some prepackaged food. Fr. Henry managed to schedule me to give a few sessions on Communication and Discipleship to the men considering their group… the last week in March. Finally, I visited my great friends Dennis and Agnes. Dennis will be going back to Sudan soon, so now I really need to visit Agnes whenever I can because she’ll be lonely! They are great friends who are just fun, nice people. That was another adventure, finding their place.
On Saturday night, I was tired, hot and not in a mood for visiting. But Charles, my gracious host, said that I had to meet their neighbors, Didas and Martha. Didas and I ended up talking for a while… and in the end he also invited me to give a workshop for the youth he is in charge of. (Which is why I am in Kampala right now, writing this! I just finished the first part it of this weekend!)
I’ve finally realized that relationships are the most crucial part of my work here in Africa. Without maintaining strong relationships, none of my work would be able to happen… because it’s all about connections, staying in touch, and making an effort to see and work with people!
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| Elizabeth and Betty... two of my best friends at Yesu Ahuriire Community. :) |
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