ON STRIKE!

I'm not sure this blog was a good idea after all .... I give news but don't receive much from you guys except from my family (but again, they are my family and are obliged to love me and keep me posted! )

So I'm on strike and not writing in here anymore until I get a couple of emails with YOUR updates.... Where are you, what you been up to... you know.... News and updates aren't fun if they only go one way....

You have my email address, so no excuses, email!!!!

Wikileaks

I haven't had the pleasure to browse through this site much yet but check it out:

http://wikileaks.org/

Bye bye Uganda....

There we go again..... It's my last night in Uganda and not too joyful about it.... I know I'm repeating myself but I loved this country, I fell at ease here. The first week is dis-orienting as your bearrings are flipped upside down; I didn't know what to do with myself the first week or so... how do I manage? and it was great being put back on my toes, remembering that I was iving in a routine and too comfortable, this is it, this is why I want to keep on travelling because you get thrown out of this comfort zone you so dearly hang on to.....

A dear one told me not long ago the important isn't the destination, it's the journey.... It's true... To be honest I haven't see anything of Uganda! I stayed in Kampala for most of it and my plans to go see the Sipi Falls, Murchison Falls and all the rest fell apart very quickly. I didn't want to rush in this country, I liked getting to know the people around me, Kampala, the smell and feel of the city and it's great! Now I know I will come back to see slowly the rest of the country, take my time.... I think Uganda is a country I will happily come visit regularly if I have the chance to....

And I end Uganda on a wonderful story..... I had lunch today with a girl I met at the retreat; we chatted away for a while until I mentioned fistula victims. She jumped up and said, oh wow, this is what I am currently working on!!! Her project at work right now is to find an after fistula life to these patients and what could be done to re-insert them in society! Exactly what i'm looking into!! It was great sharing ideas AND she's already done her research and field work so she is going to help me out.... Now I'm thinking she is far more knowledgable than me in the field PLUS she already works for an organization that has the funding, so, I might see if her company would be ok me doing the field research in Ethiopia and then according to my results extend their project to Ethiopia or if they can't ask for some kind of partnership of some sort.... Anyway, this chat was out of this world it was such a coincidence although, I have to say, it's been a couple of months now, I don't believe in coincidences anymore, things always happen for a reason, and they always will so look out for signs and think twice about these random moments you had; they held a sign... they usually do.....



Hussein and his engine



Anyways, sorry  it's late and I'm blaberring.... So yes, I've said bye bye to my joyful Hussein and trying as hard as I can to part from this view and feel of Kampala...... Goodbyes with Vik tomorrow might be tough as well.....



Tomorrow this time I will be in Addis in a hotel as I am not going straight away to the convent. I'll go there fresh next morning to face a new city, a new lifestyle and new kids!!! eheheh

Again I'm turning a page...... See you in Ethiopia...

PS: There is still a lot I haven't spoken about regarding the Uganda part of this trip so I will be going back and forth in my thoughts. So apologies in advance for any confusion this might cause....

Ruhanga - Cont.

This is what I have noted for 24.11 in Ruhanga:

Today was the big day; introduction to the kiddos and the school…. We all met around breakfast at 8 and probably hanged around chatting till 9. By then we got ready slowly to face the monsters! Only to find out on my way there that today’s sports morning...

So, we have to participate, run with the kids, exercise,… Great! Me who always hated sports! But it was fun, all the kids around (150 kids are schooled there) in a circle exercise together and that was fun. At some point Ian had to run off after a kid for some kind of game and fell in a small ditch. I took the opportunity to convert myself from a teacher wannabe to a first aider! So I finally used my beautiful first aid kit (luckily for something very small!). Ah but the kids have this song they sing when a student’s done well or to thank the teachers, I hope I can get it on video it’s the most amazing thing on Earth, it’s hilarious! The lyrics are:

“Teacher teacher [or whoever’s name] you’re so good, please come back another day” (!!!!) And meanwhile, the person praised will stand in the middle of the circle doing circles with their hips. It’s brilliant!!

So after sports, I was placed in P1 class to help them read their books while the teacher filled in their report cards (yes, it’s the end of the semester!). The kids are bright and the names!! Precious, Blessed are the most popular amongst the girls; as for boys the most interesting one I’ve heard so far is Innocent!

Anyway, the day passed like that playing with the kids, watching them rehearse their songs for their parent’s meeting day next week. One song is Farewell farewell my parents. This is because they will be moving schools to the opposite hill across the road (so for them it’s further out, its worth a farewell!!) it’s great!

Around 4-ish we went to the local improvised stadium for a football game between Ruhanga (sponsored by the Lodge) and another team…. So Wendy, Ian, Mike and I go there, relax on the grass with our beers waiting for the other team to show up; an hour or more later, no sign of the team but a threatening black cloud over our heads. With Ian limping we decided it was safer to start walking back as we had no cover there… In the space of 10 minutes the wind was blowing hard and you could feel heavy rain coming up. Luckily a nice pick up car stopped and offered us a ride back to the lodge which was highly appreciated because as we got off the car and walked a couple of meters to the sheltered area of the lodge, we were drenched already!

The evening was nice and peaceful, after dinner we warmed ourselves around a fire and chatted. It was fun, Ann and the rest just kept bringing back funny stories about the lodge it was good…

Children of Ruhanga

I promise to speak a bit more about the kids, school, projects of Ruhanga Development Network as they are doing a fabuluous job out there and really need help with all of it either financial or volunteering out there. But not tonight, I'm too tired and the thought of not seeing these kids tomorrow already puts me down...
Yes, coming from the girl who never liked kids..... I adored these kids, they had a spark of wittiness, extremely bright and quick learners. They were great and tough. The life they have is impressive, but I will not go into the whole poor African children because deep inside, I envy them more than I envy our XBox/iPod kids. So anyways, before going to bed, I would like to spend a couple of minutes introducing some of them and I will continue later but for now just for me to feel a bit closer to them.... (Yes, I actually really miss them already!!!)

First, I don't know all their names first because you constantly have 150 kids around buzzing second because when you ask them their name they start super well with a loud MY NAME IS... and then it goes into mumbles for some reason so you never catch their names (unless you manage to catch a teacher on time to point at the kid -if he hasn't run off meanwhile!-).

Ossana

Kennedy

My all time favorite girl is Ossana... Beautifully quiet... The first day she buzzed around me without really daring to approach but the second day and afterwards she was a little shadow... Wonderful girl..... 

This is Kennedy; had Polio a while back and now has a limp. Somehow when you look at him and the way he acts, he's a normal kid full of life. He's funny but will also come running towards you for a hug.

Duncan

 This is Duncan, very cute smile, usually wearing his red-ish pyjama top (that day we had taken him in for a new shirt and a badge to be put on!). He is one of the first kids that stopped calling me Muzungu and called me Haba. It was great not to be just a muzungu anymore but a person.... And I sponsored him, so now I support Duncan so he can have porridge at school (really not that much but it is usually the only decent nutritious meal they'll have). About the sponsoring, I will also dedicate a page to that as it is important if you guys can to help... We're talking 3.50 British Pounds per month here by the way so its not an amount that should even be regarded!! More on that later.. But yeah that's Duncan!


Ok more children tomorrow as really tired... Off to bed....

RUHANGA Beautiful RUHANGA! Day One!

I am now back in Kampala (which all of a sudden seems noisy, boring, ugly.... erm.... Did I already give away my impressio of Ruhanga?!)

This is what I wrote in my diary on the 23rd of November once I arrived there:

So first night in the bush.. eheheh it is really in the bush…




My shower area



After a hectic bus ride from 8AM till 3PM (!!!!) I finally made it to Ruhanga and man it’s worth it… the lodge itself isn’t something spectacular, you know, just very very basic rooms (sometimes just about clean) but the rest makes the lodge a detail you quickly forget… So I arrive there to be welcomed by a really nice man called Amon (who is the IT instructor ) he takes me for a tour around the plantations (I finally saw an avocado tree!!!) and learnt a lot (I saw peanuts plants!) then we went on to the school where the kids (all between 3-7) arrive running at you (they look like little bulls charging at you!) and squeeze your knees (that’s as high as they can grab you!). I’m not a fan of kids but they are attaching!

So anyways, I get settled into my room and then get introduced to the rest of the volunteers; Tracy & Tracy who are the daughter and friend of Ann (co-founder), Wendy, Ian, Mike and Menishia (she’s leaving tomorrow morning unfortunately!). Really nice bunch, very down to earth. Wendy, Ian and Mike go on walks every evening, so I joined. Man it’s no a walk, it’s a one hour hike! What’s great is how it feels when you’re hiking around the area: the teachers paying individual visits to the students and parents and it’s great. The kids come running, the parents welcome the teachers in the house. It’s brilliant! And the view, I wont even bother to try to explain as it’s out of this world (yes, AGAIN!!) I’ve taken a few photos so I’ll see if I can attach them… for now I don’t even have internet!!





View from the top of our hill where we walk



So I’ve landed in another piece of heaven, great spot and wonderful crowd I think it’s going to be a good week… a very good week!!



By the way, while playing with a 6 year old this evening, he managed ALONE to pick me up!!! And the heights he could grab me by were the knees!! Incredible!!



Tomorrow there’s a football game between two local teams we’re going to support!!

I love this place already and already regret not staying longer……. 


Erm.. Corridor?!



My bed + shelf

The retreat feedback

So the retreat….. Very interesting three days..


It started pretty hectic as my taxi driver never showed up (couldn’t take a boda-boda as I had a tent and all). So Vik took me downtown and from there found a taxi… The guy (Jason) confirmed he knew where he was going only to find out half way through that not only he has not one clue where we’re going but also, he has zero notion of English. So after stopping at a couple of Bodaboda stations, ask for someone who speaks English to explain to Jason what I am looking for and translate directions.


Hornbill (photo taken from Wikipedia)



I arrive at this place (just a bit further south than Entebbe in a village called Garuga); a unbelievably quiet place, lush green, the view on the lake, crazy place. So already you feel at peace just by being there. It’s on a high plateau overlooking the lake but before your eyes can hit the lake you have a thick green forest part and right behind the camping area, high trees full of monkeys (you know the ones with white crown around their heads?) jumping from tree to tree;

I saw hornbills which are impressive creatures and they are such heavy birds that when they fly above your head it sounds like a bicycle coming at full speed (the sound of the wind in the wheels!). I’ll find a photo online to attach to that…. Unfortunately because it was a retreat I didn’t take my camera thus have no photos of this peaceful haven…..

So the ‘noble silence’ was respected for 3 days and it taught me a lot; because I spent three days with the same people, not even knowing their names, but somehow you know them, you know their habits, you get a vibe of their personality; you already know the ones you’ll get along with once the silence is broken. And when we finally broke the silence, it was great to be able to exchange names and a couple of sentences (as unfortunately we had to leave 30mins after we broke silence). So it was nice having a couple of lovely girls giving me their numbers to meet up in Kampala if I have the time or stay in touch for the next time. It was great….

As for meditation, well, our first one was at 5.30 in the morning and I have to say, it was the best meditation sessions I had on both days. The first day was incredible, a high of colours, a buzz and y body started rocking back and forth; I was aware of it but was unable to control it. About the colours, ok, please don’t laugh but, it felt like a fountain of colours exploding from the top of my head and I could feel each colour falling back to its respective chakra. Then, I was exhausted for the rest of the day; this first 45 minute meditation drained me. The rest of the meditations were ok, I couldn’t focus much and to be honest, doing 45 minutes mediation session 5 times a day (without counting the standing and walking meditation sessions) was too much for me…. I’m not big on meditation I realized… but great experience really enriching…

And yes, my closed pack of cigarettes was handed out to the retreat manager and I symbolically left it there (still closed!) when I left the center. So now it’s my third day with no cigarettes; it feels good, I am missing the habit more than the need for nicotine. But I’ll be honest, I feel a part of me is missing, sad but true; the cigarette was part of me… Hopefully to never come back in my life… I am not taking any with me to Ruhanga anyways so….

Tomorrow Hussein is coming to pick me up at 6.30am to be at the bus station at 7!! I promised him a Bounty if he’s on time!! I found his weak spot!!! Heheh So getting ready for a 5 hours drive tomorrow… Should be fun…

Cravings....

Day three with no nicotine in me.... Cravings! ... Erm.... Keeping myself super busy (even decided to hand wash my clothes to keep busy!!)

More details about the retreat tonight.... Was great...... Going Ruhanga tomorrow so unpacking to repack...

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nearly a month now..... Back to biting my nails..... eheheh

Silent Retreat coming up....

So… this retreat at the Uganda Buddhist Center is coming close…


We received an email with the guidelines; it turned out Vik cannot make it, so I am going alone. Vik gave me a nice little tent to pitch at the center. I’ve already tested the setup and packing in the garden, and like a good camper (this is ironic by the way!!) it worked out well….

So I’m all prepared for Friday except that it tuned out to be a silent retreat and not really a yoga one… Hehhehe so the details we received are as below:

Retreat Schedule
* A typical meditation and yoga retreat daily schedule starts at 7:00am and ends at 9:00pm. The day is spent in silent practice comprising alternate periods of sitting and walking meditation, as well as a approximately 45 minutes work period and 45 minutes yoga period. Comprehensive Insight meditation instructions and talks about the mental development are offered each day.
* In addition, group discussion with the teachers take place at regular intervals.
* The 45 minutes of daily work period is an opportunity to practice mindfulness in everyday activities, such as chopping vegetables, washing dishes, cleaning the center. This voluntary service helps us to offer our courses at affordable rates or free of charge.

Noble Silence
* Once the retreat begins, you will be asked to retreat and honor, "noble silence" - a quieting of the body and voice that helps cultivate a calm and peaceful retreat environment . Noble silence also encompasses avoiding reading, writing, texting messages, using the telephone, or otherwise keeping busy and distracted. By leaving at home the many activities and communications that worldly life entails, you offer yourself the gift of stillness and peace.
* Silence is broken at the end of the retreat, in time to allow you to talk and share your experience with other participants.

*** This is where it gets interesting……

Smoking

* If you are a smoker and feel you must smoke while you are on a retreat, please contact us before coming and we will find a way of accommodating your needs.

What I did here was to email then, telling them I am a smoker, willing to try not to smoke for 3 days and that my only pack will be handed to a member of the UBC team. This way I will have to ask for a cigarette everytime I want one… But I’m aiming at not smoking at all…. (Erm… let me light one right now to compensate!!)

So you won’t hear of me starting Friday till Sunday or Monday… Have a thought for me… This looks tough!!!

Relaxing, Crafts, Chilling

Ki Kati! (Hello in Luganda)



Gabba road from Vik's towards city center


Maybe it’s about time I write a bit more in here….. Well….. Shopping was great, so many things to see and buy, the colours, textures, shapes!! Incredible!!!

The next day it was also crafts day, but this time at home do-your-own…. So we went from necklaces to bracelets passing by crocodile key chains!! Was fun and peaceful at home…

What else… days are passing so quickly and peacefully it’s great… One of these days we went to the club, Vik played tennis with her friends and I had the whole swimming pool to myself!! Laps laps laps… Was great….

Today I had a stroll around the area, met up with the shoe maker for a few things and wondered around… I was impressed that the only sign of acknowledgement I received were big smiles and hello. No kids jumping at you, no starring (in fact everytime I happened to have eye contact with someone they immediately look elsewhere….). But man, what a walk, Vik’s house is uphill (very steep hill) and the way back was a painful one!! Then Hussein picked me up for grocery shopping; very funny guy, we agreed every ride he teaches me Luganda and I teach him French and Arabic. I think I’m gonna have fun rides with him!

Tomorrow’s city center again for few errands here and there AND buy my bus ticket to Ruhanga… Really excited about getting there….

For those wondering about Ethiopia

Before being a travel blog this is meant to be my evolution towards something more important; thus to you wondering what happened to my project in Ethiopia, it's still there....

Already got two hospitals  located and semi green light to visit and have a chat with the suspervisors there...

So crossing fingers, we're getting there slowly but hopefully surely....

Uganda is still as enjoyable..... Except Abdou my boda-boda buddy bailed out on me today... So tomorrow I'm trying my luck with Hussein....

Ciao ciao....

Old Kampala

Right, so today was old Kampala…

I started with the Mengo palace which is where the kings of Buganda used to live. But before that, little anecdote, I chatted with a boda boda driver, when I told him I was from Jordan, he jumped up telling me people from the Middle East scare him! So I had to convince him we are not all scary ones!

Anyways, the Mengo palace was ok, not much to see as the building itself is closed but the surroundings are impressive… One very uncomfortable place to be is the tunnel… (Picture enclosed), inside the tunnel is a path with small rooms a bit higher up (second picture enclosed) now, during Idi Amin’s time, the palace was used as a army casern. This tunnel was where arrested people (some of them) used to be kept… 

This is how it worked:

People were brought in there and placed in the rooms above. The pathway has a couple of centimeters of water in. From time to time, soldiers would come in the rooms, stand there and push people into the pathway where high voltage (or depending on their mood I guess) electricity was passed to electrocute them…. Not a nice feeling to be in there. This was in the 70s during Amin’s rule. Obote who came back to power afterwards still used it. It was finally closed ONLY in 1985….

But on the light side of things, the view from the Mengo hill is beautiful!

 

Then we went to the Namirembe cathedral (Angelican). It is up another hill, beautiful view and the building is quite nice as well (picture enclosed as well!). There was a wedding in there so couldn’t get far into the cathedral but again, wide grass patches all around the church where people were just laying down, reading, meditating… Great vibe….

We wanted to see this famous mosque that Idi Amin has started building and left to rot unfinished for years due to the lack of funds… And in such cases, who comes to rescue?! Kaddafi!! So the mosque could be finished when Kaddafi pumped in money to make what looks like a piece of crap in the middle of a beautiful grass patch! It hideous!! (Picture from far enclosed as well). We didn’t even stop to try to get in, too ugly!

Then home sweet home, I cooked a Ugandan style mjadarah, had dinner on the balcony and tried to organise the coming days....

Tomorrow is pure shopping; craft market, flower pots, and another open day crafts market at an international school... And who knows, if we have money left, we’ll continue!! Ehhehe This part worries me a bit as there is so much local crafts I’d love to buy!!! They have wonderful things! So make it quick if you have requests!!!

Anyways, I will have to go now... ciao ciao!!!

Interesting facts about Uganda

• Muzungu which is what they call white men literally means ‘He who walks fast.’

• Smoking is not permitted in public, by law, even on the streets (although, usually they turn a blind eye)

Viktoria at her local shoe repair

• The Buganda king only walks in straight lines, thus the roundabout near the palace have grids in the middle that can be lifted when the king passes.

• Within the Ugandan Republic you have a kingdom called Buganda with a king still present and active



• “Ampala” means antelopes, when the Europeans arrived, there was a hill full of antelopes thus they decided not to build on it and leave it for the antelope ‘Ka’ means for. Thus Kampala means for the antelopes.

More to come!



First day around Kampala

So here we are, day two….

The view from Vik's garden

After a nice chilling morning in the house (were I have to admit I am being super spoilt!) I went around town with my new best friend, Abdou! Abdou is a brilliant boda-boda driver and he agreed to take me around town for the afternoon. 

So one the back on this little motorcycle (he told me its name, I forgot, I like the name Lilly!) We started at Zain (telecom company) for some internet top-up in order for me to have a connection in the house. Met Patrick, a very sweet man with who I chatted a bit technical (a geek remains a geek sorry!).

Our second stop was the National Museum; a well done little thing but the most amazing part is that outside they have a huge piece of land where they re-created the various huts of Uganda with the utensils and all… Man the space you have in there is incredible! With partitions and all, they’re great. My favorite one is the Kigezi hut (the area where I’m going to teach so I hope to have the opportunity to visit a lived in one!). I’ll put photos up as well promise. In the museum a lady invited me to sit on a bench next to her and sing a song for me “I want to go back to Mukunya, if I don’t have money for the bus I have my goats…” It was nice…. I had to rush a bit as I had told Abdou an hour and it had been far more than that!

Next direction, the Baha’i temple; it tooks us forever to find it as it is in a remote part of town on Gayyaza road. It is a great area, you pass on a dirt track along all the car mechanics, the veg market and the kids around. You take some little uphill dirt tracks and get to this superbe green dome temple with a huge park to sit and mediate. I had barely stepped off Lilly that a guy came to speak to me. His name was Pot, told me a bit about the temple but that I should really come back tomorrow for a big Baha’i ceremony. As I walked uphill and stood there infront of this temple, another man who seemed to work there came by, I asked him whether it was ok for me to hang around for a bit; he was more than happy for me to be there and opened the door to the temple inviting me to go in, walk around, pray if I wanted to and then go back to him for questions.

A little Q&A (I didn’t invent anything, these are the answers I was given in summary!):

• Is Baha’i considered to be a branch of Islam?

No, Baha’i believe in that Mohammad, Jesus, Moses and all prophets were messengers of God who were there to carry out a message to their people in due time. Baha’is also believe each religion has its time and each one should come and go as to evolve with our era.

• Is your prayer similar to Islam?

No, Baha’is only wash their face and hands before praying a sign of respect and can pray standing up, sitting down or however. There is no kneeling obliged or any gesture.

Unfortunately, just then we heard storms and a black cloud showed up, considering I had an hour to get back home to Monyonyo, I apologized to this man for cutting this discussion short. But he gave me his number as he works in Kampala center and comes up to the temple in the afternoons so he kindly offer to meet me in Kampala one day and bring me back with him to the temple for a further discussion.

Of course, 10 mins after we left, we ended up under a shower of rain, so like most boda-boda and pedestrians, we found refuge next the gas pumps of a gas station, chilling there for a good 30 mins before we got home.

Home was dinner while watching The Last King of Scotland to refresh my memory on the history of Uganda (yes, that was about Uganda I had forgotten!)

That’s my story so far! Ugandans are super friendly, smiley and as opposed to Ethiopia, a white person can still walk around without being super starred at or followed by a football team who want something. I like Uganda…. Tomorrow’s the old Kampala….  

PS: I can't seem to upload photos so maybe later.... ciao ciao!

My Intro to a piece of heaven

I arrived well to Kampala; after a couple of crazy Emirates airways loopings… This company seems like they have a trademark in crazy landings…. To a point during our landing in Dubai a guy sitting two rows ahead felt the need to come sit closer to me and keep me talking and offering me mints! But then, the two other landings in Addis and Entebbe were ok, I took on me to be strong…. Ehhe

And…. That was really worth it…. Uganda made me smile the minute I landed… While waiting for Viktoria, a couple of taxi drivers kept me busy chatting and one even offered to call Vik from his phone. Kind hearted people… 

So there we were on our way to Kampala; but we had a stop in Entebbe on the lake shores for a drink. A Waragi (local Gin) and coke overlooking the Ssese Islands…

Ok, my idea of driving in Kampala is already over.. Heheh If you think Cairo or Lebanon is bad, think twice, I found worse.. I’ll take a video of it at some point as I cannot explain it! So my new best friends to be will be the Boda-Boda, these motorcycle taxis. Interesting fact, Boda-Boda comes from Border to Border. As these were the means of transportation from Uganda to neighboring countries ‘borders.

10.Nov.2010


My bouquet of recycled flowers



After an amazing night here, full of thunder and lightning (beautiful!!!), I am now sitting on this wonderful terrace with a garden overlooking the city center and the Victoria lake, we have a 360 degree view uphill, in company of Vik, Helen (the helper), Shasha & Bobby (the two beautiful adorable Labradors). Today is just running a couple of errands with Vik around town to get to know the city. More later… Ciao ciao!