Picture 1 – Judy Salosky, Mayi Jessica, Jim Pepper, Irumba Michael and me, at the farewell party for Jim and Judy at the end of April at the FDNC facility in Natondome Village.

Picture 2 – The Harambe party for Muhammad Khaendekhe, the Night Watchman at FDNC. Harambe parties are held throughout Uganda as a way to build community and help financially support the members of the Harambe group. I was invited to speak as the Guest of Honor.

Picture 3 – The Kwanjula Introduction Ceremony (traditional wedding) for my friend Nangonzi Rebecca. You can see the traditional Gomesi dresses worn by the women of some of the tribes in Uganda for important functions, and the traditional Kanzo that I am wearing underneath a sport jacket. This is worn by men at Kwanjulas and sometimes at Christian weddings as well.

Picture 4 – FDNC Mbale Brass Band, performing at the CHOGM festivities in Kampala.

Picture 5 – FDNC Hope Theater performing at CHOGM.

Mulembe (Greetings) to all of my friends and family back home!

It is a cool, but beautiful Monday morning, and I am sitting on my front porch, hearing what seems like hundreds of birds chirping, and listening to Bob Marley. (I watched I Am Legend recently and have had Bob Marley in my head for days) Today is Uganda’s Veterans Day (Heroes Day), and I am enjoying the time off. It has been raining steadily now as it is the rainy season here, and everything is green, the air is clean, and flowers are blooming. This morning I was walking through my garden, where I have planted spinach, lettuce, carrots, onions, collards, and a few other things which didn’t do so well. There is also an avocado tree in my yard that is just about to fruit, and the dogs and I always fight to see who can get to them first when they fall!

It has been quite a long time since I last wrote. Some of my best moments over these past 7 months: watching the FDNC Brass Band and Hope Theater performing at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Kampala in front of hundreds of people and cheering them on; attending the Kwanjulas (traditional weddings) of several staff members and friends; dancing to the Kododi, the traditional Bugisu circumcision music, at the local hangout on Friday nights; travelling home to the U.S. in Jan/Feb for three weeks to see my ailing grandmother (who recovered) and seeing good friends in New York, DC and San Francisco as well as at my colleagues at my former school Alta Loma; and hosting two American FDNC volunteers from the U.S. in my home – Judy Salosky and Jim Pepper. Jim and Judy, married and in their 50s, lived in my home for four months, and became lifelong friends. They provided me with limitless personal and professional advice, and moral support in difficult times, and I am deeply grateful to them.

I have news to tell everyone – I have decided not to seek a new contract with FDNC. (Although it seems strange to call it a contract when I have fundraised for my entire salary) My contract ends at the end of June, so I plan to work up until the 30^th. In the end, I decided it was the best decision for me personally, and I also felt that it was time for a new face with new energy to come in to serve as the E.D. and work with the Board of Directors to continue making the changes necessary for the organization to thrive well into the future. I can say in all honesty, that I did the absolute best job that I could given all of the circumstances and resources I had to work with. I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity I had to serve FDNC first as a consultant, and then as the Executive Director. It has been a life-changing experience in ever y way, and more than I ever could have imagined when I left San Francisco in July of 2006. I am so grateful to each of you for the unique role you played in making this experience a reality for me.

So what’s next? I have been thinking about home a lot these past few months. It has been particularly exciting watching the race for the Democratic nomination, and the prospect of Barack Obama as the next president makes the idea of living in the U.S. again much more appealing! But I don’t think my time here in Africa is quite finished yet. I still feel there is more for me to give, do, learn, and experience.

I will be busy finishing my work with FDNC, updating my resume and looking for opportunities in East Africa, exercising and recharging my mental/physical/spiritual batteries, and trying to raise the remainder of my salary fundraising goal. To date, I still need to raise $5,893. I am deeply grateful for any support that you can give. Please see www.hugsuganda.org/edsalaryfundraiser.html for info on how to easily make a contribution. These financial resources are critical for me as I try to secure a job here in Africa. I also appreciate any leads that you may have for management positions in international development in Africa.

I hope to be able to find something in the next month or two. If not, I will have to step back and reevaluate my options. Whatever life brings, however, I will embrace it with appreciation.

There are many of you I haven’t heard from in a quite some time. I hope all of you are happy and healthy, and I would love to know how you are doing.

Thank you again to everyone for walking with me in this experience in Uganda.

Signing off for now,

Papa Justin Mwambu

Pic 1 – Dave, Jason, Kerry and yours truly at Nabiri Village after building a fuel-saving stove
Pic 2 – A lecture in Buyobo Village with staff member Richard Mangali
Pic 3 – The prehistoric looking white rhino in Lake Nakuru National Park, Kenya
Pic 4 – Members of Breakdance Project Uganda after teaching a class at FDNC
Pic 5 – Tom, a student of the Special Needs School, after recent surgery to treat hydrocephalus

Hello friends,

So good to be with all of you again! It’s hard to believe that it has been 15 months now since I left San Francisco. I have been feeling swamped trying to stay on top of this new position, and have been neglecting to keep up with my blog. Between day-to-day responsibilities, preparing for and hosting volunteers, traveling with Dave, Jason and Kerry, and much more, it was pushed to the back burner. I’m still here though, pushing on with work, but missing many of you at home. And missing Thai food, and straight outta-the-oven chocolate chip cookies, renting movies that actually play without skipping, power 24 hours a day, the inner peace that comes from never hearing generators as loud as airplanes outside my office window, yoga classes, lightning fast Internet, basketball courts not covered in gravel, cell phones that are not pay as you go, mosquito free dreams, and The Family Guy. But still loving the smiles I get when I greet in Lugisu, moving around town on the motorcycle, never hearing about the absolute disaster in Iraq, my dogs Seera and Masaba playing in the yard, walking in the market everyday to buy vegetables, pretending I am Frankenstein’s monster (not much pretending there) when I play with the kids, and the kind staff and volunteers at FDNC.

Where to start?! I took over as the Executive Director of FDNC on April 1. It has been an incredibly rewarding challenge. FDNC is involved in so many different activities – education, community health and development, human rights, music and visual arts – that I am constantly wearing different hats. I rarely have enough resources to do the job at the standard I want, but we do what we can with what we have. One of the things I have done that I am very pleased with is the creation of a director level management team within the organization. We now have 6 directors, including myself at the top, who are responsible for different areas of operation. This system is helping me fulfill several goals. One, it is allowing me to build and empower Ugandan leaders within the organization who can take on more responsibility for the operations of the organization. Two, it is slowly, ever so slowly, allowing me to remove myself from daily nitty gritty so that I can focus on more strategic work. See www.fdncuganda.org/staff for our new organizational chart that we posted recently, and pictures of our entire staff.

I had a fantastic time in June with Dave, Kerry and Jason. I think I most enjoyed having them here in Mbale to see the work we are doing and spend time in the villages. We had a great day getting our hands dirty building a fuel-saving stove in Nabiri Village in the morning, and then visiting Wapondo Village in the afternoon to hear traditional music. We also had a great day hiking Mt. Wanale, which is the mountain you see to the East of Mbale, and another good day hiking through Sipi Falls. After three days in Mbale, we headed for Jinja to whitewater raft the Nile River. I think all of us got dumped except Jason, and I still laugh to myself, thinking about the image of Dave struggling in the water, his eyes wide with panic at first, and then grinning ear to ear and laughing as he realizes he isn’t going to sink to the depths. I think after four days in Uganda, DJ and K understood what a beautiful, lush country Uganda is, and how friendly the people are.

From Jinja, we trekked all over Kenya, visiting Nairobi (which wasn’t at all as bad as people make it out to be), Masai Mara, Kisumu, Lake Nakuru, Lamu Island, and Mombasa. I think the highlights for me were watching a group of lions stalking a herd of elephants in Masai Mara, seeing the white rhinos in Lake Nakuru, and having a night out on the town in Nairobi. After almost a year in Mbale, I was ready to get out and shake it! The last thing I did on the trip was tour the Kibera Slums in Nairobi with Jason. I believe that Kibera is the first or second largest slum area in Africa, and it was a great reminder for me of the most significant reason I came to Africa – to have a powerful service experience in a completely different context.

I think Dave, Jason and Kerry all had moving experiences here in East Africa. I think Jason in particular had a transformative experience climbing Mt. Kenya. I hope that some of you reading this will consider coming for a visit! I am truly grateful that the three of them came, both to witness and to enjoy, and for all of their financial and moral support for me and for FDNC’s programs. Thank you DJK!!!

After I came back from Kenya, I was right back into it with work. There was a solid group of 15 early twenties volunteers along with two great team leaders, Zoe and Kalman, from American Jewish World Service at FDNC for the summer. They were working on several construction projects, as well as doing an in-depth study of development as it relates to the concept of “healing the world” that is central to Judaism. There were also three great early twenties volunteers from the States - Fred, Ally and Emily - helping out with different programs, as well as Natasha (closer to my age), an individual volunteer with AJWS who was working closely with me to develop a proper human resources program for FDNC, as well as do some management training. She was an enormous help to me. It was great to have so many Americans (and a few Canadians) around – all committed to doing something positive in Uganda. I was privileged to work with all of them. Recently, Phil Monk, a long-time supporter of FDNC through his charity UGive2Uganda, has moved to Mbale to start a community farm, and to help push our band program forward with the goal of creating a full youth orchestra in the not-to-distant future.

I think the most interesting cultural experience I have had recently was attending the burial of Sam’s uncle, Peter. I had only met him a few times, and it was strange to be there to pay my respects as a representative of FDNC and friend of the family, but also as an observer of local customs. Peter was a local pastor, and was loved by many people from the community, so there were many hundreds who came to the service. Embalming fluid is far beyond the reach of the vast majority of Ugandans, so special nurses had to come and wrap the body to prevent swelling, plug the nostrils, and do other preparations to prevent rapid decomposition. Because there are no chemicals to preserve the body, the burial usually happens the day after the death. The open casket service was held in a large church in town, and afterwards, everyone came to his brother’s home for the burial, which was in a small family plot. The singing was beautiful, and the whole process taught me a bit about what death was like in the U.S. before great wealth and technology brought extravagant coffins and tombstones, hearses, embalming fluid, cremation, and other things we find at home. Although I thought this was a beautiful celebration of Peter’s life, it was very sad that Sam, as well as Peter’s brother David and sister-in-law Edith, were out of the country and could not attend. People die very young here in Uganda – the average life expectancy is 51 years – so it seems like every day I hear about someone going off to bury a family member or friend.

The last few months have been a bit challenging for me personally. I got rocked with a really bad case of malaria about three weeks ago. It came on me suddenly, and I couldn’t even walk under my own power into the clinic for treatment. I don’t know what happened – I was taking prophylaxis – but somehow it snuck up on me. I hadn’t had any problems for about five months. I was down for about a week and a half from this, but I am finally getting back to normal. When I first moved in this house, many of the windows were broken out, and of course, my landlord didn’t fix them. I have since fixed them all, but there are still a lot of mosquitoes, either left over, or coming in through some path I can’t find. I bought one of those electric mosquito zapping tennis rackets, and when I have it in my clutches, I am transformed into somewhat of a maniacal, rabid, foaming-at-the-mouth madman. Just before I zap each one, I think to myself, “That could be the one that gives me malaria!” and insecticide becomes veeeery easy. I really need to take some time in Kampala though, to get away and relax, and take a break from work. I think I’ve been pushing myself too hard.

I have enjoyed living in town and being more comfortable with space, and hot showers, and flush toilets! But I have also missed having Americans around after the summer ended. There are two long-term volunteers that will be here in mid-October, and I am definitely looking forward to that. I also miss being around Mai and everyone in the village. I am finding that I am spending more and more time in front of the computer corresponding with donors, doing budgets, writing performance reviews, etc., and less and less time in the villages, which is really what makes this experience so unique. This is a trend I am going to have to reverse.

But I am excited for what lies ahead. Sam is returning from a really productive trip in the U.S. in a few weeks, and I think he has drummed up a lot of new support for FDNC. Sam is a very compelling speaker, his life story is inspiring, and FDNC has a proven track record. The organization is on the move, and I’m happy to be a part of many positive developments, and pleased with what our team is accomplishing given our limited resources.

A lot of people are asking me when I am coming home. I’m not sure yet, but if I had to guess, it will be December 2008. It’s possible it could be summer 2008, or summer 2009, but it’s just too early to tell. I am determined to stay to see that the organization is in the right place, and with the right new leadership to move forward for the next five years. Working together with Sam and the Board of Directors, I think I will find the right time for me to move on to the next challenge.

Finally, I would like to thank everyone who has supported the fundraiser for my salary as the Executive Director of FDNC. As of today, we have raised $4,130 of my goal of $19,500. I have a long way to go, but I am off to a good start. FDNC could not possibly afford to pay me a salary from its existing funding, so this fundraiser is critical in enabling us to move forward through this period of transition and organizational development. Donations have come in from 23 people, ranging from $25, up to $500, and every single one will play its part in helping me and the organization to achieve our mission, which is to uplift some of the most underserved individuals and communities in the Eastern region of Uganda.

Now, if the hundred or so people reading this blog that have not yet contributed, were to give, on average, $150 each, this fundraiser will be over, and I can focus entirely on FDNC. I know that for many of you, $150 is not a struggle. For some of you though, it is. But if everyone who is not in a position to give, could just email a group of close friends and family who could give, we will hit our mark. Dear friend Aly Landy did this, and a family member of hers who had never met or even spoken to me before gave to the fundraiser! Thank you Aly! And thank you from the bottom of my heart to all of you who have made a contribution. I am working very hard every day to earn every dollar that you give. I think people understand how tough the situation is in Africa, and they want to be part of the solution, but just don’t know how or where to give. FDNC is one place you can make a difference, and I can personally guarantee you that your money is going to good use. Whether it is funding my salary, or sponsoring a student, or helping our health clinic, it is going to a good place. Ask Dave or Kerry or Jason about what they saw here. Maybe some of you feel that you don’t know me well enough to make a contribution like this. Don’t think about this just as a contribution to me, but as a positive act towards bringing about social and economic change in sub-Saharan Africa, the poorest region in the world. Whatever you can give, whether $5 or $500, it is deeply appreciated.

One last thing – every dollar you give to my salary fundraiser, or to any of FDNC’s programs, is completely tax deductible! Visit the website of HUGS Uganda, at http://hugsuganda.org/edsalaryfundraiser.html, to learn more about the fundraiser, and learn how to make a quick and easy donation that is, I say again, 100% tax deductible! HUGS is a registered 501c3 in the United States, created by former FDNC volunteers to support FDNC programs.

As I have said before, I am incredibly blessed to have such a wonderful community of people in my life, and to have been born in a country of such great wealth and opportunity, and to have the freedom to move around the world without restriction. I had a strong education, and I have good health. I don’t have to worry about many of the challenges people face here on a daily basis. I don’t feel I have any choice but to continue trying to do what I can to return this cosmic favor I have received. Thank you for continuing to be part of this experience with me.

I’ve got to get back to zapping mosquitoes now! I am so over this whole malaria thing...

Alinde, and Ubeumlayi, (Blessings, and Stay Well)

Mwambu (my latest nickname)

Welcome to the latest edition of When Uganda Go, Uganda Stay. After a lot of thought, I have decided to spend one more year in Mbale, which means I will be here until the summer of 2008. More on that later…

I hope everyone enjoyed perusing http://www.papajustin.net/! Dave needs a well-deserved break from it for a while, but keep your eyes out for additions in the coming months.

I hope you all had restful holidays, and festive New Year celebrations. I enjoyed Tanzania/Zanzibar, but the vacation was a bumpy ride at times. After a few days in Kampala, I flew to Dar es Salaam, the capital city of Tanzania. The first day I was there, I experienced my first genuine pickpocket attempt. I was walking through an outdoor market, and someone came up behind me and stuck his foot out. It felt as though I had stepped on someone’s foot, so I turned around to see what had happened. A teenage boy was standing there looking at me. I saw no problem, so I turned around to walk away, and he grabbed me and tugged on my shirt. I turned back to him, and he was pointing at his shoe. I didn’t see anything wrong with his shoe, so I turned again to walk away, and he tugged again. This happened several times, but after the third time, I felt a hand reach in my front pocket while I was turned to the boy behind me. When I felt the hand, I turned around, saw another teenager in front of me, and I shoved him off me. I think an expletive mysteriously escaped from my mouth, and then I quickly walked away, smug that I had foiled the bandits’ attempt to relieve me of my wallet and phone. Luckily the Lonely Planet had given me advanced warning about this market, or I probably would have walked back to my hotel crying like a baby!

There really wasn’t much to do in Dar. The first night I was there, I decided to go out to hear live music, and within five minutes of sitting down, I was pounced on by several ladies of the night, so I had to make a quick escape. Yes, ALONE thank you! The next day I paid to have a cultural tour of Dar, which turned out to be a fish market which was ok, a really bad museum, and stops by all of the upscale mzungu shopping malls and casinos. I think I had sucker tattooed across my forehead. Then it was off to Zanzibar. I also got conned into taking the 6-hour boat to the island rather than the 2-hour boat, but that actually turned out well, because I wrote a song on the way, and gave simple guitar lessons to a Tanzanian singer.

I enjoyed the very narrow winding streets of Stonetown in Zanzibar, and the beaches were beautiful. On the spice tour, it was interesting to see how a lot of the spices we eat grow in their natural environments. I also enjoyed one of the museums in Stonetown that explained Swahili history and culture in depth. And the food was fantastic – a very welcome change from Ugandan “cuisine.” It was also interesting being in a predominantly Islamic culture, watching women walk the streets in Burk has with only their eyes uncovered. It was strange to see the Masaai in full traditional garb at the beaches, working as busboys or selling their jewelry. But I think I went to Zanzibar expecting a much less touristy and more exotic place than what I found. I also got some sort of flu my first four days at the beach. I had managed to find a room at a good place in Kendwa, one of the nicer beaches in the north. But I was running a 103 fever almost the entire time I was there, so I barely got to enjoy it. Fortunately, I purchased Bill Clinton’s 1000 page autobiography, My Life, at the airport, so I had Slick Willie to keep me company in my feverish delirium. I’ve always wanted to read it, but never thought I could make the time to actually finish it. Bill is like one of the family now. Luckily I had good company the entire time I was in Zanzibar, with my friend Jodi from San Francisco, and then later with Seattleites Haley and her sister Autumn that I met in Gulu this fall.

Now back in Mbale, things just aren’t quite the same without hearing the drums of the circumcisions in the distance, and riding home from work to see a procession of boys marching through the village! I will have to wait until August of 2008 until they start again. But more and more, I am really enjoying the work I am doing with FDNC. Last Saturday, we went out to the Buyobo Community, which is very remote, and while de-worming a group of children, (when I first got here I thought the huge distended bellies were from malnutrition, but it turns out it is from worms) we discovered a two year old baby who was severely malnourished, and was suffering from Kwashiorkor, with swelling of the face and feet. The swelling is caused by fluid accumulating in the tissues, and the swollen areas are cold to the touch because of poor circulation. The first picture you see of Dory was taken in Buyobo when she was brought to us, and the second picture was taken after about 8 days of treatment. Now that the swelling has disappeared, you can see she is just skin and bone. We were able to take her and her mother to the Mbale hospital for treatment, and using money donated recently by a friend at home, everyday I have been bringing a little bit of cash to her mother to buy any supplies she needs over the next month while she stays with her daughter in the nutrition ward. I think the mother may be borderline mentally retarded or possibly mentally ill, and didn’t understand how to care for the child. It’s hard to tell because she doesn’t speak any English at all. The community is also highly disorganized, and didn’t seek out help for the girl or the family. Luckily someone had the sense to bring her to us while we were there. I have made it my personal mission to try and organize and develop this community while I am here in Uganda. I am finding that a combination of grassroots fieldwork and management is a great mix for me. I feel like things are really moving here at FDNC, people are energized, and there is a new sense of direction for the organization. I can’t leave with so much work left that I want to do. I was really on the fence until a few weeks after I came back from the holiday, when I realized that the obvious choice for me was to stay another year. I am getting a profound satisfaction out of the work I am doing here. There are sacrifices I have to make to stay, but I gain so many other things, and I know that in the future, I will again enjoy many of the things I am sacrificing now. When I decided to stay, a lot of stress also melted away. What is the plan for work when I come home? Will I have enough money? Where will I live in the city? Can I afford a place on my own? Can I go back to having roommates? Blah Blah Blah. I just wasn’t ready to figure those things out yet. So the plan is for me to assume the position of Executive Director on July 1, while Sam will become Founder and Trustee. Sam still hasn’t decided what his next career move will be, but he has several good options open to him, including the offer with the United Nations in New York.

On the homefront, Mai’s only cow died a few weeks ago. It had been sick for a while, but appeared to be getting better. It was eating again, and we thought it had turned a corner. One morning, I woke up to the sound of Mai wailing, and at first I thought she was crying “My child, my child.” I freaked and ran outside thinking something had happened to Sam or one of her four daughters, but she was actually crying out “My cow, my cow.” It was flopped over on the ground in its pen, dead. So they called a vet to do an autopsy, and performed it right there on the ground outside her house. I had never seen anything like that before. They turned the cow on its back, and slowly slit it down the middle from one end to the other with a dull knife. All of the internal organs were pulled out and cut open. I wasn’t sure how I would react to it, but I was glad to have watched this whole process. Only the smell bothered me. When you see all of the different complex organ systems of a large animal like that splayed out on the ground, it’s amazing to think that this entire machine evolved over millions of years and actually works as it does.

And then they ate it.

So Mai bought a Saddam Hussein calendar for her house recently. It’s comprised of a series of pictures of him throughout his life, including a shot of him being hanged. Now I love Mai, and you won’t meet a more caring person and devout Christian. Sometimes I wonder what’s going on in that head of hers though. I came home from work to find this calendar on her table, and I asked her what her plans were for this lovely item. When I learned that it was going up on the wall in the living room, I was a bit mystified. I told her that I just didn’t think I could eat dinner every night with his menacing visage staring down at me. So he was relegated to a far corner of the room. But a few weeks later, when a group of donors from the UNITED STATES of all places was here, Kubo alerted me that she had put this poster up in her special needs classroom. Sam and I raced to her room to tear it down, beating the donors there by seconds. Afterwards, I asked her why on earth she would put that in her classroom, and she said, “Well, every classroom needs a social studies section right?”

Sam and I burned it.

So everything else I have to report is mostly related to work. I am excited to have started a de-worming program for the children in our own community and in the villages we serve. I am putting a lot of energy into empowering our Community Health Workers and helping them to organize their communities. The Health Clinic continues to move forward. We will have a nurse from Australia here next week for three months, which will be a huge boost for that program. We have started construction of our new building in town that will house our offices and rental spaces for other NGOs. Conso was here in Mbale this week to start on the mural at the school. Abramz will come late Feb./early March for his break dancing workshop at the school. (Thanks Tinez!) And of course, I’m really looking forward to the DJKJ East African Road Show coming in June.

Several people have asked me about sending care packages, and I’ve changed my mind about accepting them. I’ve actually seen quite a few make it here from the States and Europe, and now that I know I will be here until the summer of 2008, I think I could use a little TLC from home. Send to:

Justin Silbaugh
C/o FDNC
PO Box 2431
Mbale, Uganda
East Africa

Thank you!

One last thing…I have a new, unwelcome guest living with me now. I call him Damien for obvious reasons. He’s a large, hairy rat. He comes inside my house at night while I am sleeping, (without permission mind you) and eats my food. He gnawed on a few bananas and apples before I caught on to his clever ruse. I cornered him in the act two nights ago, but when I turned on the light, he scurried up the wall and just before he crawled out onto the roof, he turned and laughed at me. His red beady eyes glowed with pure, unadulterated evil. I felt so emasculated.

So I put my food in a plastic bag, and the next night he ate right through that and had banana puree for dinner. The nerve.

I am going to get that rat bastard.

In fact, I am forming my own Coalition of the Willing to hunt him down, led by the charred remains of the Sadaam calendar. The irony...

Love to all!

Justin

Pic 1 – Dory when she was first brought to us suffering from Kwashiorkor
Pic 2 – Dory after 8 days of treatment-she's slowly recovering
Pic 3 – Auction at the fish market in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Pic 4 – Community Health Workers who received phones at our most recent meeting posing for the camera!
Pic 5 – Conso and students discussing the beginning stages of the design of the mural for the VS

I had planned to send this a week ago, but I got wrapped up in some projects at work, my Internet connection has been really bad lately, and then I got malaria, so I have been pretty sick for several days. Sorry to be out of touch with so many.

Happy New Year! My laptop power cord melted about a week ago and I’ve been without my computer until today when Sam sent a new cord from Kampala, so I have a lot to catch up on. But I wanted to send this out today, as it is the six month anniversary of my arrival in Uganda.

In conversation this fall, I mentioned to Dave that I wanted to have some place to post some music I was writing, and other information related to Uganda. Dave ran with it, and gave MANY hours of his time to create this site. I never asked him to do this…he saw a chance to practice his new design skills and to demonstrate again what a loyal and generous friend he is, as he has been to me for over 10 years now. There were several different versions, and each one got better and better. I am so pleased with how it turned out. When you see this man, bombard him with suffocating bear hugs, high fives and bountiful bottles of beer, preferably home brew! Thank you DC for all the work and heart that went into www.papajustin.net BTW, don’t miss the two loons bottom left! And it is best viewed in Internet Explorer.

I wrote all of the songs posted here but one in September/October when I was still fresh from home. I have music for all of them, and I am hoping to find a decent mic I can plug into my computer, and make simple recordings that I can email home, and then have them put on the site. I’m Comin’ Round is my newest one…and my favorite. The music is catchy, and the pitch is perfect for my voice.

Most of the pictures that include me are from the first circumcision ceremony I went to back in August. There are also pics of my house here in the village, children who live around my house, Stella (in my raincoat), students at the school, Mai Jessica, Lona and Kubo, some of our Community Health Workers receiving awards, Sam and his son Samson working in my house, Walter the VS Principal, pictures from some of the communities I have visited, another set of circumcision ceremonies, and several of the breakdancing workshops put on by my friend Abramz.

I hope to be able to post video I have shot, additional pictures, recorded music, and other things that come to me as time goes by. If anyone has ideas about what they would like to see, feel free to let me know. I want this to be a constantly evolving site.

I will write again soon about my trip to Tanzania, and the latest and greatest from Mbale. I hope that 07 is starting off right for everyone. Many thanks for all of your emails. I can’t tell you how nice it is to open up my Gmail account to find letters from home. I’ll be catching up from the holiday soon.

Aluta Continua,

Justin

Welcome back! This is the 8th installment of the When Uganda Go, Uganda Go Chronicles, in which Papa Justin breaks a Bugisu world record by witnessing seven circumcisions in one day, has a run in with a refrigerator with a fiery disposition, and dines with Ugandan movie stars in Gulu.

BTW - has anyone seen the new James Bond flick? Mbale, Uganda is the headquarters of the terrorist group at the beginning of the film! I couldn't believe it when I heard. Of all the millions of places worldwide!

Sweet Jesus have I seen enough circumcised man members to last me a hundred lifetimes. Yesterday was a marathon...7 in one day. Moses, one of our students, (I kid you not I have met 50 Ugandans here named Moses) and I took my motorcycle way out into the countryside to his village, Bukaya. His brother was going under the knife, and he has been asking me to come for months. There are many circumcisions going on now because school has just finished, and the time period is almost over. I really enjoyed yesterday because I was able to see more of the ritual involved in the process. One thing I had never seen before - in the early afternoon the boys were smeared with yeast, and then covered with, ok, brace yourself, goat feces. Yes, they slaughtered a goat, cut the insides open, removed the feces from the bowel and smeared it all over the boys. That greenish color you see in the picture…that’s it. The boys had to jump in place several times as the elders spoke to them, (from what I gather they were saying things like “You are about to become men, and you must be responsible for your families and your villages”) and then they all went off to march through the village. I also got to see some large quantities of local brew being imbibed. Groups of between six and 12 people sit around a large pot filled with the local brew that is made from millet and maize. They have long straws made of some sort of reed, or plastic tubing. They sit for hours and take tokes from the container. They brew is full of sediment…not pure liquid like beer we drink. I had a few pulls…it wasn’t bad! By the time the circumcisions went down around 5:00, there were many bleary eyes, but everyone in the village was extremely pleasant, and entertained by my knowledge of some of the chants, and of course, a my booty shaking. Of course.

It was surreal to spend most of my day in a rural, undeveloped village, watching boys covered in goat feces, and then that night, I was sitting in my house watching a movie on my laptop, eating crackers and cheese spread imported from Dubai, and text messaging someone halfway across the world. Surreal I tells ya.

Now our sojourn continues with my encounter with the feisty frig. I was spending the night at Sam’s house after having dinner in town. Sam had opened up the back house, and walked me into the back bedroom. I was exhausted, so I blew out the candle in my room, and was out. About two hours later, I woke up in pitch black, with a really noxious smell in the room, and as my eyes adjusted to the tiny amount of light present, I could faintly see that there was thick smoke in the air. I was disoriented, and had no idea whatsoever what was going on. I stumbled out of the bedroom to discover that the refrigerator in the corner of the other room was engulfed in flames! As I was running to the door, I smashed my shin on the couch, and was howling in pain. I got outside and started yelling for Sam, because the other part of the house was locked up so I couldn’t get to any sort of container to carry water in. I was screaming in the small window in the door, and finally after about a minute Sam came running out. When he saw the frig, he sprinted back into the house panting “Oh god! Oh god!” I couldn’t really see anything, and was completely useless, so I stood there clutching my shin as he frantically got buckets of water and extinguished the beast. Once the fire was out, the smoke kept up for at least 30 minutes. The stink was awful…if lung cancer has a smell, that was definitely it! Turns out that Sam had lit two candles - one in my room, and one in the adjoining room on top of the frig. Sam was tired, and I never noticed it, so the frig got the best of us both. The next morning, I came outside to see what was left, and all that remained was an amorphous blob of metal and plastic. For those who have heard my Mardi Gras exploding car story, you will know that fire and I have a very special relationship!

A few weeks ago I trekked up to Gulu in northern Uganda. I was going up to watch and photograph my friend Abramz from Kampala (teacher in Begonia’s NGO) teaching a breakdancing workshop to a group of disadvantaged youth. Up until the last few months, (peace talks going on now) this area has been dangerous, as there has been a civil war going on for years. The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) has been fighting government troops in the bush, mutilating villagers by cutting off their noses and lips, and abducting children to use as soldiers. It’s been a horrible situation. There are millions of Ugandans in refugee camps around the Gulu area, and because of that, there is a large relief presence. It's a different world up there, with UN trucks everywhere, and gigantic World Food Program warehouses along the road. The first day I was there, I was walking through the market, and met a young American woman who told me about a place to stay called the Invisible Children house. Turns out there was a documentary, Invisible Children, made by three San Diegans in their early twenties about the night children that would leave their homes in rural villages every afternoon to come sleep in Gulu town. The film showed the children crammed onto the floors of several large buildings, packed in like sardines. The children were so fearful of being abducted, that they would walk for hours every day to sleep in any protected spaces they could find. A whole movement has formed around this film, and the house where I eventually stayed is actually staffed by employees of the Invisible Children organization. It houses and coordinates volunteers for different projects around the Gulu area. The first night, I had dinner with about 20 Americans from many different walks of life. Missionaries, filmmakers, social workers, volunteers, etc. who were staying in the house for part or all of their stays in Uganda. The film was surprisingly good considering it was made by young twenty somethings – if any of you get your hands on it, stay with it through the first 15 minutes or so..the tone of the film changes dramatically after the intro. I also got to meet and have dinner with several of the Ugandan youths featured in the film! They are all being sponsored now, having their school fees paid by the organization. When the filmmakers were finishing their project, they promised to come back and help these kids, and they did. Although I was the oldest of the group at this house (except for a very nice gentleman who bore a striking resemblance to the late “grate” Jerry Garcia), it was nice to be around a large group of really good-hearted Americans (hey, you know, like my friends at home, eh?)

I have become the man of a thousand titles. When I first got here, I was just mzungu. As people started to get to know me, it became Papa Justin. Then, the official title that Sam and the Board came up with for me before I arrived, Program Associate/Technical Assistant, came into play. Somewhat absentmindedly, I started calling myself Technical Consultant, rather than Technical Assistant. And finally, as I have taken over many of the day to day operations of the organization, most people are calling me CEO, even though Sam is technically the CEO. It’s relaxed here. People at home are asking exactly what it is that FDNC does. Here’s a quick summary of our six thematic areas:
1. Vocational Training School – carpentry, tailoring, masonry, computers, sustainable agriculture, art and design to start next trimester
2. Special Projects – marching brass band, traditional dance troupe, and hopefully youth orchestra in the coming year!
3. Paralegal Advisory Services (PAS) – education about legal rights in prisons and juvenile detention centers
4. Kisakye Memorial Special Needs Center – school for mentally and physically disabled children 5. Youth and Community Development – child sponsorship program to pay for school fees and basic needs for very needy children and youth, community health work for health education and basic medical treatment and disease prevention, and income generation activities training and assistance, such as fuel saving stoves, beekeeping, poultry farms, piggeries, brick making, etc.
6. Finance and Administration

I would say my biggest successes so far have been sorting out the financial picture of the organization by computerizing the tracking of income and expenditure, as well as creating a simpler payment requisition system, and creating a new banking structure for the org. Also, I have opened bank accounts for all employees so salaries can be directly deposited into the bank, rather than the org having to transport large sums of cash. This will also promote saving amongst the employees. I have also made sure employees are being paid on time every month. I’ve instituted an employee of the year award, which I think Roman originally suggested, and I’ve also arranged for a Christmas bonus next week for all employees. The Vocational School now is running in the green, rather than the red which is how I found it. The Special Needs School has funding now for one salary for one year. A $25,000 grant I applied for through the Global Fund for Children has been awarded. I am most excited to start working closely with the Y & C D program, creating individualized work plans for all of the villages we serve and empowering Community Health Workers to improve the overall standard of health and living in their communities. This will also involve upgrading the health clinic at the Voc. School. We have two registered nurses coming in the next six months…one from New York, and one from Australia, so this will be a huge boost for the clinic. Most satisfying for me, however, has been the process of promoting a management culture that stresses respect and empowerment of employees, while expecting increased accountability and responsibility.

Biggest challenges: 1. Lack of consistent power significantly reduces efficiency and productivity. 2. We can’t help everyone…everyday people come in my office asking for support for their villages, and we aren’t even adequately supporting the villages we currently serve. 3. Communication – Some of our staff and most of the Community Health Workers don’t have phones, so mobilizing is very difficult. 4. Manana time to the Nth degree. NOTHING ever starts on time. It’s standard that meetings start hours late. People have started getting the message that when I am involved, that is not going to be tolerated, so things are getting better. 5. The obvious – lack of all resources. We need everything…from mobile phones, to computers, to paint for the offices, to bicycles, to mosquito nets to medicine…if you can imagine it, we need it. But things could be much worse. We have some great donors, from Global Fund for Children, to American Jewish World Service, to Church World Service, and many individuals. And the band brings in revenue, so we are not completed dependent on donations.

After finishing off 24, I rediscovered the ancient lost art of READING. I picked up Kite Runner again and finally finished that. Beautiful book. I also read the Alchemist which I have heard about for years. I read The Last King of Scotland (who saw the movie?!) about Idi Amin’s tyrannical reign, and then I delved into The End of Poverty. I had first seen this at Heidi’s months ago, so it was on my radar. It’s considered Development 101 by anyone in that world…I may be on the fringes of that world, but I don’t really consider myself part of it. Sachs’ main premise is that solving the problem of extreme poverty is well within our means as a global community, but it requires a complex differential diagnosis for each country or region that takes into account many factors, including geography, infrastructure, disease prevalence, governance, etc. He also points out that the poorest 1 billion people cannot lift themselves out of extreme poverty and get their feet on the first rung of the ladder of development without substantial help from rich countries. I strongly recommend this book…it’s easy to read, and challenges many longstanding ideas I know I had and I’m sure many of us do. I also plan to read White Man’s Burden, which is supposedly somewhat of a rebuttal of this book. Next I will read Banker to the Poor, written by Muhammad Yunus, who won the Nobel Peace Prize this year.

Other news on the home front:
-Lona has been taking her medication, and is doing well. Her mind and her smile are back.

-Conso will be coming to Mbale to do the mural in mid-January!

-Abramz will be coming to the Voc. School in Feb. to do a breakdancing workshop here!
-The Voc. School staff is slaughtering a bull on Christmas Eve for meat for everyone. He is grazing right outside my door now. We had a great run together my friend.

Details on the pictures...
1. Pre circumcision...smeared with yeast and goat doo
2. Post circumcision...first of the day I saw
3. Mother of one of the boys...smeared with yeast
4. Pre circumcision...four boys and the father of one boy in the front
5. Group drinking the local brew made of maize and millet

Here is the info on the cheap calling card that Dave has been using. My phone should work in Tanzania, so I can take calls anytime. Dial 011 256 753222298.
http://tinyurl.com/yzgrwa

Speaking of Dave...if you see him and his eyes are dilated, and he looks pale and zombified, he has been busily working away on the website, which will be ready very soon. Many thanks to you my friend. Looks fantastic! I'll blog again when it is ready. Thanks Jeff for helping out as well!

As you might imagine, I have plenty of time in the evenings to reflect, and I think of many of you. I keep you all close to my heart. I hope everyone has a peaceful, relaxing, and joyful holiday.

I am off...Zanzibar calls!

In solidarity,

Papa Justin

Well people, the end of an era has come and gone. Sadly, I finally finished the 5th season of 24 today. I had never seen a single episode until I came here. It was a long journey with Agent Bauer and his 9 (to the ninth power) lives, dodging countless thousands of knives, bullets and rocket propelled grenades, thwarting biological attacks, nuclear annihilation, and the Apocalypse and Second Coming of Christ, surviving Chloe’s personality disorder, bringing down a corrupt and really whiney president, feigning death at least thrice, and all the while, always protecting the lovely ladies. (well, except his wife, but come on, it was his wife) Ah Jack, Chloe, Edgar, Audrey, Tony, Bill, President Palmer…how I will miss you all. You’ve been like family to me. Sniffle….

It has been raining like all hell here, so the unpaved roads are a muddy mess. There were drought conditions when I first came to Mbale, but not anymore. Fortunately, it doesn’t rain all day…just pours for about two hours. Driving a street motorcycle in the mud is not a pleasant experience. It’s like a string of mini back to back heart attacks. “Steady, steady, ahhh! Ok, whew! I didn’t fall over. Ok, steady, steady, ahhhh! That was close. Ok, I am going to make it…just one more mile. One more mile! Oh god…I am finished.”

But I haven’t ditched yet…

Now for some EXCITING NEWS (echo, echo, flashing lights, sirens, exploding volcano)

Cait Collins, the art teacher at Alta Loma, and her students have raised $200 for the paint and supplies to do a large outdoor mural here at the FDNC Vocational School where I live! Thank you Cait and students!!! My friend Conso in Kampala will be doing the mural. Thank you Conso for donating your talent and your time. I think this will be the first of its kind in all of Uganda. I will send pictures when it is complete.

The Troublesome Trio of Dave, Jason and Kerry will all be flying here in June to travel with me through Uganda and Kenya for a month! This may be the end of my time in Africa on this trip, and I can’t imagine a better way to part with my year here. Time off, Africa, good friends, banter…it’s Miller Time baby. Very happy about this one.

I am heading to Zanzibar for the holidays! I think I will take about two weeks. I will be with a woman I met in Mbale a month or so ago for one of the two weeks. She is a San Franciscan, and living in Kampala for six months. She and her husband were supposed to live abroad for two years, but at the last minute he could not go. But she knew she needed to have this experience, and decided to go on her own. Her husband has been very supportive. She understood exactly when I was telling her that this time in Africa was just something I needed to have.

A few interesting cultural tidbits I’m guessing people would want to know…

1. Ugandans are big on greetings. It is considered very rude to not greet people properly. An example of a standard greeting is:
· Person 1 – Mulembe Papa or Mai (Greetings Father or Mother – Papa and Mai are terms of respect)
· Person 2 – Same response
· Person 1 – Uryena? (How are you?)
· Person 2 – Indio (I’m fine) or boliye (I’m good)
· Person 1 – Kamahua? (What’s the news?)
· Person 2 – Casila. (Nothing)
· Person 1 – Watchanyala (Well done)
· Person 2 – Kale (Ok)

2. Traditionally, Ugandan women kneel when they greet a man. More modern women won’t usually do this, but women living in villages still keep this tradition. I see it quite often. Women do it for me occasionally, but not often because I think they know the mzungus don’t really go for it.
3. Ugandans go out of their way to avoid confrontation. The only time I have seen tempers flare here are when transportation is involved, such as on buses. But the roads are the only place that life really speeds up here…so it’s not surprising!
4. Circumcision Ceremonies – I think I have said enough about that. Did I mention that if you don’t do it by age 21 or so, they will track you down and do it by force? Yikes.
5. There is tension here between the people who call themselves saved, and don’t drink, and think the circumcision ceremonies are pagan and evil, and those who hold to some of the more traditional practices.
6. Men hold hands. It is relatively common to see two men walking down the street holding hands. Not associated with homosexuality in any way. In fact, homosexuality is extremely taboo here.
7. Traditionally, for a man, the more children he has, the more respected he is. I had to stop and get my motorcycle fixed down the road the other day, and the guy who worked on it had nine children by two wives. The father of one of the students here had 17 children by two wives. There are so many children running around this country!
8. The mother-in law taboo – a man is never supposed to enter the house of his mother in law. He is NEVER supposed to touch her, or even look at her. It goes in both directions. Ugandans who are saved have abandoned this practice, but many still adhere to it. Mai Jessica teased her friends in the U.S. when she visited, because she saw mothers and sons in law hugging and kissing, and she said she had to protect them from each other!

I hear a circumcision procession in the distance right now actually. I don’t know if anyone has done a good documentary on this, but it would be a great subject. I have tried to film as much as I can, but it is difficult because of darkness sometimes, movement, rain, etc. You really need professional equipment. But I did find a subject that I want to do a little mini-film on. There is a village about 30 minutes from me that has really beautiful traditional music with great singing. I was really moved by it and the energy of the people.

Since my last entry, a lot has happened. As I mentioned previously, I was beginning to take over a lot of responsibility for day to day operations of the organization. That process has continued. Sam has increasingly pulled back, trusting me to run the show. I am making most of the financial decisions, doing development for the Board of Directors, managing all of the employees, restructuring departments, etc. It has been challenging and rewarding in many ways, and I already see a lot of positive change. What had essentially happened is that about six months ago, Sam hired several upper management people and trusted them to run the organization smoothly, but they were incompetent and corrupt, and they were running the organization into the ground. On my recommendation, the Board voted unanimously on Thursday to fire the Director of Programs. This was not a pleasant thing for me, but I am trying to do what is best for the organization, and what I believe is right. I am reversing some of the damage done, and trying to put structures and professionalism in place that will help to ensure the success of FDNC when Sam and I move on to other things. I don’t know how this experience fits into whatever my next career move is, but I know it is a valuable experience. I have been working a bit too much though, and have been starting to feel burn out coming, so I am going to cut down on my work hours, and get out and start traveling more now that things are a bit more under control. I also want to start spending more time in the field with the Paralegal team, and the Community Development Officers that work in the remote villages. I’ll keep everyone posted.

So I was assumed to be a criminal by the web hosting company that I had purchased http://www.papajustin.com/ from because the order was placed from Uganda, so they refunded my money. But I am trying to get that straightened out as we speak. Stay tuned.

People have been asking me when I am coming home. I am not sure what the future holds for me after my time in Kenya with Dave, Jason and Kerry. There are times when I feel like the work I want to do here has only started, and I would like to stay longer. Other times I feel like I will be ready to come home by that time, and start whatever the next thing will be for me. Other times I feel like this period in my life is my chance to pursue my third big life goal of becoming fluent in Spanish, and that I should go to Spain or Latin America for a while. Whatever I eventually choose, I love the freedom of this whole experience.

So if anyone would like to ring me here in Uganda for the holidays, my cell number is 011 256 753222298. Dave knows about a dirt cheap calling card. You can email him at casuto@yahoo.com for details. I’ve only given out the number to a few people, but I’m opening the flood gates now. There are many voices I would love to hear!

So I know you’re wondering about the gorgeous woman pictured at the top. Yes, that is yours truly before a mzungu party on Halloween in Ugandan drag. The wig, dress and everything are Mai Jessica’s. Sorry this one is a bit tame…the racier ones from the party were out of focus. Hey, if you can’t be in San Francisco, bring San Francisco to you. Right?

As the Ugandans say, “Keep up the spirit everyone.”

Much love,

Papa Justin

Mulembe to everyone back home! Uryena? Indio! Kamahua? Casila! (standard Ugandan greeting)

Before I begin, just want to let you know that to see the pictures I have posted, I believe you have to actually go to http://www.justininuganda.blogspot.com/, rather than reading the blog through the Feedblitz email.

The first photo is a picture of some of the marching band members taking a break between sets. They have been performing for free at the Mbale Resort Hotel (the one nice hotel in Mbale Town, with a pool) to market the band. Half have proper band uniforms that were donated from the UK, and half have sweatshirts that were also donated. The second photo was taken at the circumcision ceremony for one of my neighbors. Grown Ugandans aren’t big on smiling for photos! This is just after he was circumcised. The dancing after this ceremony was like a mosh pit…I got tossed all over the place! - THE PHOTOS NOT UPLOADING...I WILL TRY AGAIN TOMORROW!

I have recently returned from a 10 day trip to Rwanda and then to Kampala where I was running errands and relaxing at Conso’s house, which was a palace compared to my living situation here in Mbale. It’s nice to have her house as a place to come and relax. Got hot showers, power 24/7, fine livin’! With the Speke Resort so close it is definitely the place to recharge. But I’m all good in my little house in Mbale for 8 more months, and then wherever I am living next, I will return to the comfort zone. I did buy a weight set and yoga mat and set up an exercise area in an empty room in the school so I can stay in decent shape, and I will buy a few pieces of art to decorate my little place…things that I will bring home with me.

The music thing is coming along well! I’ve reserved the domain name http://www.papajustin.com/ to post what I have been doing. Dave and Jeff Dorfman are all over the web design…thanks to both! The site should be ready in a few weeks. I’ll let you know when it is up and running. I really want to buy an electric guitar and play that as well, but I’m not sure this is the wisest idea because of the cost and the lack of power every other day. I am going to sit with this for a few weeks.

Been shooting lots of photos and video…definitely going to put together some sort of multimedia show when I get home…hopefully this won’t put too many people to sleep! And afterwards, maybe a little concert? Dave doesn’t know this yet, but I am going to teach him the guitar parts and he’s going to play with me. Casuto. better dust off that 6 string, break out the velvet pants, and get ready to turn it up to eleven! Speaking of Dave…for those of you who don’t know Senior Surf was just awarded a $10,000 matching grant from the Y & H Soda Foundation to provide computer classes for needy seniors whose first language is not English. Congrats Dave, and kudos for the good work you are doing in the world. Proud of you my brotha.

So the latest news…

I had a lot of time recharge and to process my experience so far with FDNC over the 10 days I was in Rwanda and Kampala. I came back and met with Sam for about five hours, and shared many of my ideas with him. We have agreed that I will be assuming many of his responsibilities now. In essence, I will be somewhat of an acting CEO. Sam of course is still the CEO and all final decisions will be made by him, but I will be handling most of the day to day operations of the organization. I called a meeting on Monday for all of the upper level management team to introduce some new programs and action items. I am excited to take on more of a leadership role now, and allow Sam to have a little bit of a breather! He started this organization 10 years ago and he’s been going nonstop ever since. This first week in this role went very well – I am focusing a lot of energies right now on the finances of the organization, trying to get things organized and trying to weed out any potential for corruption. Sam and I will already be terminating one employee on Monday for this very reason. In my next blog I will update everyone on how things are progressing.

On the homefront…Mai’s daughter Lona was doing well for a while – we were crushing up her medication and putting it in her food for a few weeks. She went back to work, and put Stella back in school. But she discovered what we were doing and stopped eating the food unless she watched it be prepared. So now she is sick again and we are back to square one. Oh, and today, Sprite the dog mauled one of Mai’s turkeys, so this morning Mai was running around with a stick trying to kill the dog, and I was running around chasing her telling her I would take the dog somewhere far away where it couldn’t find it’s way back! We must have been a sight to see running around like crazy fools! And there is a Japanese JICA (equivalent of Peace Corps) volunteer, Kubo, living in Mai’s house now. He just got here last week, so haven’t gotten to know him that well yet.

I have had several nice getaways since I last wrote. Three weekends ago I went to Sipi Falls, about an hour from Mbale. It is a set of three waterfalls in the mountains that are spectacular. We did a four hour hike through the countryside to see all of them. Two weeks ago was the trip to Rwanda. I went with a couple of American women I met recently who live in Kampala. It was about a 9 hour bus ride through beautiful hills and mountains to get to Kigali, the capital of Rwanda. I wasn’t sure what to expect of Rwanda, but it is definitely in better shape than Uganda. Two things that immediately stood out were that the streets were much cleaner, and the motorcycle taxi drivers wore orange vests and helmets, and provided extra helmets for riders – all unlike Uganda. Our first morning we went to see the Hotel Rwanda. (Hotel Des Mille Collones – which means Hotel of a Thousand Hills) It was a relatively posh hotel, and it was difficult to imagine what happened there. We then took motorcycles over to see the Rwandan Genocide Memorial. I was impressed by how well done this was. It was about a 2 ½ hour tour that used pictures, video, and information boards in KiRwandan, French (Rwanda was first a German colony, and then Belgian after World War I) and English. It was broken into four main segments: the history leading up to the genocide, the genocide itself, the aftermath, and reconciliation. It was primarily the racial labeling of Rwandans into two distinct categories, Hutus and Tutsis, that the German colonists first imposed and then the Belgians strengthened that set the stage for the genocide. Again, it was hard to connect with the kind of face to face brutality that occurred here, even as I walked through the memorial. We then went to Rurengere to visit Volcano National Park where the mountain gorillas are. We all hope to see the gorillas next year in Uganda, so we decided instead to climb one of the volcanoes, Busikye. It was a tough climb – 3 hours straight up at 2700 meters in the mud. I was fighting a cold, didn’t eat a proper breakfast, and I’m not in the best shape of my life, so I was shot by the time we reached the top. But the crater lake at the top inside the volcano was worth it. Next we headed to the town of Kisinge on the shores of Lake Kivu, a beautiful area with hot springs and lovely hills. We also stepped into Congo, but they wanted $30 for a visa, and we only planned to stay for an hour or so, so I don’t have the stamp in my passport. But I’ve been to Congo…don’t tell me otherwise!

So what is going on in my head after almost 3 months? I definitely feel myself relaxing into a place I haven’t been for a long, long time. I’ve put so much pressure on myself for years to be responsible, work hard, be smart with money, serve different causes…blah blah blah…I haven’t cut myself much slack. But I am experiencing a growing sense of inner freedom that I have gotten little tastes of here and there over the years, but could not seem to hang on to for very long. Of course, I have had some trying times. All westerners that come here experience frustration about certain realities. But I have given myself the time and freedom to pick up my guitar and play and sing, or take my motorcycle out and just ride, or go to the pool in town, or relax with my host family, or read, and definitely get addicted to Lost and 24 and watch for hours on my laptop...whatever I need to do to unwind! At home I wouldn’t or couldn’t do many of those things to decompress. The key is how do I take this home with me? I’ll figure that out later!

As time is passing, the poverty here isn’t affecting me as much anymore. It has become part of the landscape - part of everyday life. But I am also very aware everyday that I and all of us hit the life jackpot in so many ways. It’s gravy every day for us. We can travel wherever we want whenever we want, we live in relative comfort compared to most people in the world…we’ve got it made. Yes, life is tough all over, but life’s problems are much easier to handle when there is food on the table and money in the bank. None of this is a new or profound revelation to me or any of us, but it gives one a different perspective when you are living in the middle of poverty as part of the community, and yet you know you have a free ticket out anytime. I definitely felt guilty when I left for Rwanda and said goodbye to the students. Many of them have never been out of Mbale, much less traveled to another country, and they would all love to get out and go. They can’t even afford to go home to their villages most of the time because they can’t afford transport. One student walked an entire day to get to his village recently. And that same boy hauled a bag of food back for me as a gift to thank me and all of you for the things that were donated to the boy’s hostel. It’s just a very different reality, almost surreal at times. It’s difficult because I could easily help individual students financially. I could have given a dollar to that boy, and he could have taken a minibus home. But there are problems with that, the primary one being that if I help individual students, then all expect something, and I can’t help everyone. So I have tried to put my energies into helping the organization so that it can better serve people in the community. Everyday I am grateful for the many ways that this experience is opening my eyes, and I am thankful that I created the space in my life to come here.

So I am off to meet some American visitors…I think next time I will try and talk about some of the cultural differences I’ve experienced here, such as the mother-in-law taboo. What?! More details soon!

Thank you for being here with me on this journey.

Much love,

Papa Justin Uncle Justin
PJUJ