Uganda - the Pearl of Africa

Ki Kati (Hello)!
I realize that we have not posted and told you anything about Uganda!  We've told many stories about our projects, the people, but why not the country?

Well, let's change that and give you some fun and interesting facts about Uganda - the Pearl of Africa (Winston Churchill called Uganda the "Pearl of Africa").

• The official Name is the Republic of Uganda.
• The capital of Uganda is Kampala.
• The area of the country is slightly smaller than Oregon.
• Uganda is the source of the Nile so it has some of the best white-water rafting in the world! (and yes, we have all rafted the Nile - it was the best!)
• The Entebbe International Airport is famous for the 1976 Israeli air raid to free Israeli hostages.
• The equator passes thru Uganda so the climate is nice and warm :)
• Uganda is home to the highest mountain range in Africa - the Rwenzoris (or the Mountains of the Moon).
• Uganda is a land-locked country and has borders with 5 countries - Sudan (North), Kenya (East), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (West), Rwanda (Southwest), and Tanzania (South).
• Uganda gained independence from the UK on October 9, 1962.  They have adopted much of the UK lifestyle (driving on the left side of the road with a right side steering wheel).
• Uganda's national symbol is the Grey Crowned Crane which is known for its gentle nature.
• The flag of Uganda features six stripes.  Top - Black.  2nd - Yellow.  3rd - Red. (then it is repeated).  The three colors all have a different meaning.  The black stripes represent the African people.  They yellow represents the sunshine prevalent in Africa.  The red stripes represents brotherhood.  The red means blood, and it is believed by some that all Africans are connected through blood, like a brotherhood.
• The people of Uganda are some of the nicest people you will ever meet in Africa.

There ya go!  That is Uganda in a nutshell :)
Welaba (Goodbye)!  Siiba Bulungi (Have a nice day)! :)

Meet Sam, Our Guard

Modi Samuel of Namirembe Village (in Kayunga District, Busaana Sub Country) travels 6 long hours on bike each day to Nakazedde Village (in Buikwe District) to guard for us.  He lives about 70km away from our house.  That is one long bike ride!
As I have gotten to know Sam, I have found out he is an awesome guy.  Super funny and full of joy and life.  He is great!  He guards us with his bow and arrow.  One morning, we had a pleasant surprise of finding rats in the cupboard.  We hurried to grab Sam, and he came in with his bow and arrow and shot that rat at point-blank.  That rat was history!
Today I decided to interview Sam to learn more about him.:)

Sam is a family man.  He has a wonderful family and a beautiful wife.  They have 7 kids - the eldest is 22.  Then the next is 19, 16, 14, 12, 10, and the youngest is 7.  Sam himself is 43 years old.
To earn money, Sam farms and guards.  His main income is farming; guarding is only a small scale.
When Sam is not working he likes to visit friends and relatives.
His favorite color is black and his favorite animal is a cow.
Sam's dream is to "educate my children for the good of their future." He said that that is his only dream and he has a personal message to you:

"I greet Americans and I thank them for the work they have given me as a guard and if, at all, they have any organization which deals in sponsorships, I request them to at least help me by sponsoring some of my children - either two or three. I would be very grateful if my request will pass through.

"Let Almighty God bless the American Country.

"And if any organizations come to Uganda and needs a guard, I will work for them because they are so kind."

Hakuna Matata

Hakuna Matata.
It means no worries.
What would life be like in Lugazi, Uganda if they had no worries?  If they didn't have to worry about having a job to make money to keep food on the table?  If they didn't have to worry about finding shelter to sleep under if homeless?  If they didn't have to worry about trying to survive for just one more day - living life one day at a time, never knowing if they will be alive for tomorrow?

HELP International's aim is to fight poverty and empower people.  We try to make Hakuna Matata somewhat of a reality for them.  We want these people to have no worries.   We want them to feel like they have control of their life and that they don't have to live life day by day, hoping to have enough money to feed their family, or hoping to live for tomorrow.
We want to change and improve their lives.

That is why we are here, right?
The summer is over halfway over.  We have one more month to make ripples.  Ripples that start small at first, but then grow.  Grow and grow until it makes a change in the lives of these amazing people.  We are here to start these ripples.  Ripples to create Hakuna Matata for the people.

Quote of the day!
"Wars of nations are fought to change maps.  But wars of poverty are fought to map change." - Muhammad Ali

Let's Get Down to Business!

Everything for the business classes is seriously awesome!  We are closing in on the end of the semester.  We have just had our first graduation in Nagojje and will have another one in Naggalama tomorrow.  The students absolutely loved the certificates and pictures, handshakes and the whole shebang.  They didn’t stop smiling or dancing the whole time.

It really has been awesome at the Lugazi classes as well.  The students are extremely committed and have recently been learning about the different kinds of records to be kept in a business.  It has been awesome to see their progression.  Their interest has really grown, over the last couple weeks, as well as their knowledge.  They are really bright and continue to surprise us with their ability to understand what is taught in class. 

We have also formed a board of advisory members to help guide the direction and growth of the business academy.  They are super committed members and extremely selfless.  We are on the verge of finding a new location for the classes!  Yahoo!!

Working Hard to Play Hard!

After seeing the amazing progress that we have been able to make these last couple of weeks, we decided that a realistic finishing date for the school would be August 1, 2012. When we talked to the construction workers, they also thought that date was a reasonable one. We have about two more weeks before the deadline, and we are on track to now finish the school within the next week! We have been going to Seya almost every day, and it has made such a huge difference. All the construction workers are very dedicated and work for about 8 hours each day. That is why we were able to build the structure so quickly!

Seya School - July 10th,2012

The HELP volunteers have mostly been helping to fill the ground in the structure so that it is level with the foundation. We do this while the construction workers build up the walls, and it has been a group effort to get everything done. Thankfully the kids that go to school in Seya are very willing to help us volunteers; they work like machines! Sometimes we feel like it would just be easier to get out of there way and let them do work. We are grateful that they allow us to give them a hand :) We love Seya School!

The school now has it's walls up and we are now working on the beams of the roof! This school will be built in no time:)

Seya School - July 15th, 2012

Since we had been working so hard, we decided to take a good break this weekend and head to Jinja to raft the Nile River.  A group of about 12 people went whitewater rafting down the Nile River and also bungee jumped over the Nile!  They all had a great time.

Bungee Jumping!

 Rafting!

But now, it's the start of a new week and we are working hard again. :)

Proud to be American

Happy 4th of July (yesterday) from Africa!!! :)

We are so grateful to be Americans.  Especially after living in Africa for a little while - it makes us even more grateful.  It was different, but a very neat experience.  If you have never experienced the 4th of July in a 3rd world country, where things are very under-developed, I suggest you go (with HELP! :) or some other organization) and experience it for yourself!  We are proud to be Americans!

Here are some projet updates from the past week.
I am Proud:
 Many men and women in Uganda lack knowledge on how to prevent getting HIV, how to have safe sex, and many other topics that relate to their health, gender roles, and gender psychology. We want to empower and teach young men and women these important facts, instill self –confidence, and help them to have faith in themselves.

We have been going to many different schools around Lugazi speaking to men and women about these important facts. We have now been able to have the opportunity to expand the “I am Proud” project. We are now revisiting the schools and making it more of a detailed program. I feel that our team has had the opportunity to influence many of the youth’s lives. Not only do we feel that we are inspiring these youth, but they are inspiring us as well.

Happy Child:

In the area around Lugazi there are many children that do not have parents, whether it is from abandonment or death.  Our goal for happy child is to obviously make every child smile but we also want to make them feel important and let them know we care about them.  Every Sunday we work with a man named Francis and teach children new, fun and educational games.  We are also helping to redo the Happy Child office so that it is more professional and hopefully they can get more funding.  We also work with a wonderful woman named Betty who supports five amazing orphaned children. Their names are Egesa, Kitra, Dinah, Earnest, and Baby Betty. We go to their house every Tuesday and Thursday and they are always so happy to see us.  Recently we have had a hard time getting Dinah to smile and be happy for us.  This week when we went on Thursday Dinah smiled so much for us. We figured out that she loves to play outside, be tickled, and thrown in the air.  Seeing the kids smile is always the best part of my week.

God Bless the U.S.A.!

TIA - This is Africa

Kerri, a volunteer from the first wave, made this video and just sent it to me.

We love Africa and will never forget it. :)
Thank you Kerri for the video.