Saturday Afternoon at Mukono - 5-17-08

Came to Mukono this afternoon to do some shopping - can't get essentials like Peanut Butter, cheese, coffee, a broom....in Nkoko. Also stopped at the P.O. and got packages for me and Shari - filled my backpack w/o even shopping! Thought about stopping at the craft area to get a wicker bookshelf, in my desperate attempt to be organized, but already have enough stuff to haul on the matatu. Will save for another day.



Sometimes I use the bakery computer, but it has a lot of demands on it's time - the convent sister, priests, actual work, etc. so thought for the BIG things I'd come here. Have been and gone once - first time the power went out twice and the internet went off once....This Is Africa (TIA).



My move into the apt. tomorrow.....the painters finished. Not a great job but it's O.K. Top is soft white and the bottom is saffron (two colors is big here)....it's really bright. Got some material at the market and one of the gals at PH (Providence House) hemmed it for me and sewed on the rings and got them up - really getting there. Unfortunately, the guy making my wardrobe and table is REALLY stalling....made the mistake of giving him all the $ upfront so he could buy timber and he's in no rush. I talk to him frequently and he's always just ready to start! Sometimes I wish I hadn't decided to re-do the apt., but it's been a good experience in dealing w. Ugandans. They are 90% honest and great people but time is relative. Also, you do get the "muzungo factor" (we're white therefore rich).



Will try to chronicle the week....it's been busy and lots of variety! Life here is never dull....I've actually only read one book since I've come to PH (Dick, the one you sent Petals of Blood - I'm actually re-reading it - better the 2nd time!).



Last Thursday the nurse came from Kampala for the Epilepsy Clinic. She sees patients we choose (up to 25) and dispenses free meds. courtest of Katelemwa Hospital. About 10 were PH kids and we have to select the most deperate from the rest of the community...it's HARD! There is a lot of epilepsy here...she said it's because of the many high fevers caused in children by malaria, typhoid, etc. People actually were about 2 hours early for the clinic.....they are desperate.



Friday afternoon I took off for Masaka to see Maria - great trip despite having to go to Kampala and through the old taxi park (where Mukono taxis come) to the new taxi park through the maze of streets and out to Masaka. I'd never been west and the roads are great....trip went very well and had a great time. Had lots of great food....ate at a bakery there w. meat pies and mini pizzas (lots of cheese and veggies) heated in a microwave!!! Had hot showers and TV (one channel but who's complaining...saw Temples of Doom!). On Sat. we walked around town and went to a really nice hotel and went swimming (5000 sh). Met some other Americans who work there for Foundation for Sustainable Development and ate dinner w. them at a restaurant run by a Danish aid organization....cheeseburger and Danish meatballs! So good to see Maria -her experience is much different from mine. HOPE International has $ and distributes it to people who have organized Income Generating Activities (IGA - a big word here)...like beekeepers, passion fruit growers, crafters, etc. She travels quite a lot. Also, it's COLD out in the west - they wear coats!



Trip back was a breeze - sometimes in Uganda things work and when they do it's SO much fun! Was the last person on a bus out of Masaka so no wait, got a matatu to the mall quickly and got my painting supplies, got a quick ride to Mukono and then the taxi to Nkoko - it all worked like a charm!



Sunday nite Holly and Shari made me a special Mother's Day dinner....it was great! Vegetable curry and for dessert a chocolate layer cake w. orange icing!! You can actually cook cakes on the gas burner by using two lg. pans and putting the cake pan inside (well, they can). Very thoughtful of them to do that for me.



Monday was a crazy day - the painters started. They were actualy there at 8:15 (said 8:00 but for Uganda that is WAY early). I was short one can of paint so gave the young man money to go to Mukono to get another.....supplies are short in Nkoko. I bought 2 litres of thinner and wiped out the town's supply! I was supposed to stay w. them (since it's at the convent) but Sisters Juliet and Veronica were gone so I worked at PH....Sister J always has things lined up for me to do. Taking lots of paint to cover the dark green/blue but it really lightens up the room.



Shari went to Mukono on Tuesday and I got the package from Gail she mailed in March (boxes take 6-8 weeks; envelopes 2 weeks or less). Got my black ECCO sandals....I only had the brown pair and lived in fear that they would break! Only sandals I've worn for years.....and I am a creature of habit! Also got another pair of pants - yea. We wear them on weekends and to Kampala/Mukono.....seeing more and more of them, especially on the younger girls.



Thanks again for all my "treat" bags....love them and share them. I have to admit I've given some to the kids.....started a "random treat for work" program....if I catch them doing something w/o being asked - like doing the food bowls, getting water, etc. I sometimes give them a treat.....seems to be catching on! But it's very random....makes them try harder.



We had ABC class Monday and Tuesday since Shari couldn't come Monday and the kids were so disappointed. They are really getting it and trying hard - problem is the range of abilities is enormous. But, even the really impaired ones sit down now and try to write letters....we drew pictures on Tuesday - a fun change.



Tuesday Sr. J asked me to skip CBR (Moses and Kinene can run it) and attend a meeting w. her at PH - Cheshire Homes is offering some assistance to try an Inclusive Education project - having disabled kids in the regular classroom. Since the Sisters already do that, they are working with them in Nkoko and up north in Budaka. There were about 7 nuns there and they are powerhouses! I'm SO impressed w. those women. Sister J appointed me Secretary so I get to do minutes, etc. Hope they like American minutes (actually, she went over my rough draft and corrected a few things...not bad tho').



Weds. the painters finished up (there was a funeral at the convent Tuesday so they couldn't be there...lots of sisters all over). The convent is across the street and up the hill from PH - there's a large building for sisters, a noviate building and a building for older, retired nuns, plus a school for girls. That's where the guest house is and the Sister's chapel. The hospital is across the street at the top of the hill....we're down the hill on the hospital side.



Didn't do much on Weds....kept checking on the painters. Had lunch w. Holly - chipatis w. avacado, tomato and cabbage - very good. (we do eat well). We talked about these slow days and how we feel so guilty. We both have that mid-western work ethic....at a job you should be working all the time. Forget that walking down the street saying "Hi", or talking to people is PC "work" too. We both were sort of down that day - bad weather day - hot and sticky - one of those "23 months to go?" days. But, when I got back to PH Sister Melody was taking a bunch of kids to go pull beans at the garden so I went along (Shari had loaned me her gum boots - black rubber pull on boots). It was a blast - hot and dirty, but really fun to do physical work and the kids are so glad to leave PH they work hard! We pulled two pick up loads full and brought them back.



Thursday a.m. I painted part of my floor - piled the furniture that's there - bed, bookcases, chairs, in the middle and scrubbed and painted. In the afternoon we had a huge "bean shelling"....all the beans we'd collected Weds. had to be shelled. Bet there were 30 people working....the elderly love it, the kids join in and the disabled can sit and do it too. They are always so grateful when I help - little do they know it's fun for me!



Friday I talked to the carpenter and had to run down the painter since he didn't return my brushes and rollers.....got some back, but still have to have him return some other stuff (another instance of paying in full too soon). Now he's gone for 5 days to a funeral....people are always going to take care of sick relatives or going to funerals...think it's a way of life here (or a great excuse). Fortunately the guy that recommended him to me helps around PH and is on his case, too.



We had some Cheshire Foundation visitors and Sr. J always puts me on the welcoming committee...she'd rather be working! On Monday the International Director will be at PH for a few hours and they were the advance team. After they left I finished the floor - takes a good two days to dry - oil paint. Hope it's all dry by Sunday so I can move in. Course I'll still be in suitcases - he promised the wardrobe would be done Monday (also, promised it May 10 and 15)...no one here is in a hurry. Time just stretches on and on...."what's the rush?". " BECAUSE I'M AN AMERICAN" doesn't really work....wonder if in time I'll get used to it. Did sit for an hour and a half on the matatu before it left Nkoko today and was O.K. (reading). Maybe I am coming around!



This a.m. was a riot. Last nite Sister J got 150 chickens (she bought them but was having them fed somewhere else because we had diseased ones last time). She went w. the truck and brought them back and this a.m. we had a chicken butchering!! She went out at 5 a.m. but I waited till 6 hoping they'd at least be dead by then and they were. My mother must be laughing because when she killed chickens I hid! (Julie, you're laughing, too) Did participate in the feather pulling...they had quite a system - again about 30 people helping. Sister J dipped them in boiling water and we all pulled....I washed chickens rather than do guts tho'. Never thought I'd do it, but it's all part of PH. They were actually pretty nice for Ugandan chickens...she wanted them over a kilo (2.2 lbs) and they were - some were bigger. Remember when Sue and I raised chickens and dressed weight was 6-7 lbs. I can't remember the last time I even bought a whole chicken!! The kids again worked hard and the elderly and disabled did too! The sad thing was they couldn't even have porridge this a.m. (no ground meal). Hopefully, with the chicken money Sister can bring some home.....they took the cleaned chickens to a buyer in Kampala....along w. another nun who needed a ride, a resident who needed to go to the orthopedic hospital in Kampala and the shoemaker who went along to bargain w. the chicken people since Sister J and the driver were going on to the airport to take Evenlyn (Holland)'s parents to catch a flight! Oh, yes, the swing set got in the ground and cemented this week, too.



I know the place sounds crazy and it is, but somehow it works. Food is always the biggest problem. People donate, but they like to do projects that are tangible....makes PH look wealthy, but day to day operation is really tight. Food for a month for everyone is about $600 if anyone is interested. China and Paul are hoping when they get back to the US to work on some funding for that but it's hard. I feel really guilty painting and buying furniture, but have to remember that I have to live here for two years and I can't help everyone. I'm getting some info together for a grant for a piggery when PC give the O.K. and we have some other projects in the works but it's all SLOW! Trying to get sustainable projects (IGAs) that can make PH self sustaining....I think it's doable over time. Also working to get some money out of the World Food Program...they pulled out prematurely last winter to work in the north, but apparently they still have a signed agreement w. PH if PH keeps a PCV! Going through the PC office on that one. Lots of things to think about.



One more week of school break and then everyone comes back....and school starts. This week I need to set the shoemaking and tailoring teachers down and work out a class syllabus and schedule....and one for me for the remedial English and Math. Got some good books at a bookstore in Masaka to start with.....have to copy pages which is a little expensive, but it will be O.K. for once a week.



I know I'm missing lots of stuff to say.....but the computer has stayed on for an hour and I can't hope for more. Left for a bit and got my groceries so now I have a full backpack (envelopes from Gail and Anne), a box (thanks Murrays), a big bag of groceries and a broom! Should be quite the event on the matatu...actually, not, no chicken!



It's really going well. If I didn't miss the little ones so much it would be great, but it's working. I really like my site and that helps. There is lots to do and lots of variety which I need considering my ADD. I'm tired at night and sleep well....except when a mosquito gets into my net - and they do when I go to the bathroom. Spray inside the net with Doom (their spray) - probably not healthy but I hate buzzing mosquitoes. I can hear them outside the net! At 5:30 a.m. the Muslims broadcast (and I mean w. loudspeakers) their call to prayer...the one good thing about no electricity is that they can't broadcast! I get up about 6-6:30, have coffee in my room and read the Bible and then go out to meet the day. I usually bathe at night now - pretty dirty from the day's activities.....and it's actually cool in the a.m....a shocker to pour on a pitcher of cold water!



Thanks Gail for putting on the pictures - I didn't look, but assume that's swearing in, etc. So now you know what Holly, Shari and Maria look like at long last. I sent another batch that should arrive soon but few pictures of me - I am the least interesting thing here.

GUY ACCIDENTLY DISCONNECTED ME...thank God this saves a draft. I'm posting now before something else happens. Thanks again for all your kind thoughts an prayers. Seriously, any of you could do this.....well, maybe not the chickens.