last entry

Here is my last blog entry. I wrote it while I was waiting to leave the airport in Uganda...

Today was my last day in Uganda. As I am writing this I am sitting in the airport watching an episode of the TV series LOST. Whenever you come to Kampala you load up on DVDs and TV episodes you missJ One thing I do not like about this airport is that I gets hot! I am so ready to get on that plane and feel the cold air conditioning.

Today has been a long day so far. I woke up at 5 am because my roommates were getting up to leave for Kampala and there is no such thing is “keeping quiet” in our house. I said bye to some friends in the morning and then got in the car to drive to Kampala. The original plan was to drive down on Friday but because of the riots that broke out it wasn’t possible. Travel on Saturday was advised against as well. All was calm when we came into town. It was very evident that there was quite a bit of chaos over the past few days. The area when you drive into town is always incredibly congested with market vendors, bodas, matatus, and loads of people. It all funnels into one crammed area. This was the “hot zone” of a lot of the rioting. Along the side of the road we saw the remains of cars that were burned, many burn marks with some still smoking, and loads of debris. I can’t even imagine being in this area when it broke out.
I arrived in Kampala at about 4 pm, grabbed some lunch, picked up some last minute souvenirs, and then drove to the airport. I have never seen the streets of Kampala so empty. The town has basically been shut down for most of the weekend but things are expected to get back to normal on Monday.

As I rode to the airport I went past loads of trucks carrying riot police but in the background was an awesome rainbow. It is how I will always remember Uganda, chaotic but so beautiful. It is definitely bitter sweet to leave this place that has been home for the past 9 months but I’m not too worried because I know I will be back sooner or later. Here are a few highlights that come to mind:

Things I most definitely will NOT miss…
Bodas in the rain – usually results in falling in the mud, bodas in Kampala – one time my knees got knocked on the side of truck when we were driving, weeklong stints without running water in the house, power outages, hospital sleep overs with malaria stricken roommates.

Things I will miss so much…
Running into at least 5 different people just walking a block down the road in Gulu, Sunday swimming with everyone at Acholi Inn, boda rides at night in Gulu – the stars are amazing, rainy season – the thunder storms are quite a site, showering in the runoff from the roof during a huge rain storm – definitely helpful when you are out of water, friends and colleagues I saw everyday, Stephen from the office having a conversation with me in Acholi as if I knew exactly what he was saying, the fact that when a meeting is scheduled to start at 1 pm not showing up until half past 2 and still being early, being able to read loads of books, putting relationships before everything else, coming home to ladies rolling beads in our compound with kids running around as if we run a daycare, baby Michelle.

As you can see the things I will miss far outnumber the things I strongly disliked. Thanks to everyone who has supported me over the past year with prayers. I can’t tell you how much they were appreciated. I would appreciate if the prayers kept coming as I adjust to life back at home and continue my so far unsuccessful job search.

East Africa International Business Conference 2009

This past week Uganda was privileged to hold its 1st ever Partners Worldwide East Africa Regional Conference. The theme of this year’s conference was “Soaring on Wings like an Eagle in Tough Economic Times.” The conference drew attendees from 5 countries including Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and the United States.

For 2 days, participants were able to hear from both local and international business people from around the world. They were able to seize the many opportunities that the conference provided. This included networking with other Christian business people for both personal and business growth, hearing the key fundamentals in succeeding biblically against all odds, and discovering new ways on how to better use their businesses as vehicles for preaching God’s word. Participants were also introduced to new business concepts and were energized by hearing testimonies from individuals who started out with nothing but have built successful and profitable businesses.

There was a great deal of positive feedback from participants. Benjamin Okello, of Kitgum in northern Uganda, attended with 2 others who are interested in starting a group in their area. He said, “People are hungry for this type of conference. It isn’t often when Christian business people have the opportunity to get together in order to fellowship and share their successes and struggles."

Many participants walked away from the conference feeling a sense of renewal and energy for being vessels of God’s love in the business world.

This is the conference that I have been working with the UCBP group to put together since January. I have planned a number of events in the United States but I do have to say planning an event in Uganda poses many different challenges:) I will be sure to post some pictures once I have a better internet connection (I am now back in Gulu with SLOW internet).

welcome back.

As many of you know I just got back to Uganda after a few weeks of visiting family and friends at home. It was a chance to get away for a while and re-energize. As soon as I got back I was reminded that anything that can go wrong will go wrong in Gulu. I was planning to take the Post bus up to Gulu but at the airport I ran into a friend who was driving up so she said I could catch a ride with her. We were at the half way point when the tire blew. We have absolutely no idea how to change a tire. She had just purchased the car the day before and so we were a little shocked that it happened.

We learned that prayers do get answered, some times in ways you don't expect. I always say a little prayer before we go on a big trip and it worked this time for sure. The tire could have blown in the middle of nowhere but instead it blew right down the road from a gas station/car garage. We drove the car back to the garage expecting they would have tools. That would be the logical thing to have in a car garage. Instead there are no tools. So, the man sends someone on a boda to go collect the necessary tools. Meanwhile, a man down the street sees that we need a tire and he is rolling one down for us. They fixed the tire and then give us the mzungu price so we of course have to bargain.

It's great to be back in Gulu. I did actually miss it. Even with all the struggles and problems that Gulu brings to my life there's just something about it that is wonderful.

Since I have been back I have been continuing my work on the business profiles for the UCBP group. It's always interesting to talk with people about the businesses they run. Every single person I have talked to has dreams of growing their business and most have a plan to do so. Here are just a few examples...

Kenneth Kitara: He works at Caltex fueling station in management. He has his own business in poultry farming. Currently he just sells the chickens. He eventually wants to be able to package the chicken to sell.

Stephen Kinyera: He started his first business of grinding sim sim and ground nuts. He then moved on to working at Pepsi Bottling Co. With the help of a loan he now owns his own timber company. He has recently expanded into the construction business building houses. He hopes to some day be able to open up a furniture shop.

Joyce Onguti: She owns JoJo's Restaurant. She currently has a modestly sized restaurant but is in the process of adding on to the existing building.

I am spending most of my time now in Kampala preparing for the upcoming Partners Worldwide East Africa Conference. The UCBP Kampala chapter is hosting the event. We are having attendees from around the world come so we certainly have our work cut out for us.

breakdancing in gulu?

This past Saturday we spent the afternoon watching a breakdancing competition at the Gulu Youth Center. A friend, Melissa, received a Fulbright Scholarship and is in Gulu researching the impact of western dance culture on the Acholi youth. For the past month these kids, from all different age groups, have been taking breakdancing lessons from a professional group from Kampala. Last Saturday was the big show and the kids did great! You could tell the kids were so proud to be able to show off what they had been working on for so long. It was entertaining to see some of the really advanced level kids to kids who were just starting out. There were kids as young as 2 years old getting up on stage and gettin' down.

Here are some of the advanced level kids doing their thing.This is one of the professional dancers from Kampala.Here are some of little 2 year olds showing off their moves. So cute.

There was also traditional dancing. Throughout the performances breakdancing was mixed with traditional drumming and traditional dancing was mixed with hip hop music. It was really cool. The whole point of all this was to show the kids that they don't need to forget where they come from. They were able to embrace both traditional ways and the ever growing popularity of western culture on the younger generation.

Snapshots of life 1.

I know it has been over a week since I last posted on my blog but I figure this will more than make up for it. There is a great internet connection today. This doesn’t happen very often so I decided to take full advantage of it. The following are a bunch of random pictures of things that have been happening over the past few weeks and months. It includes everything from moving houses to business training. Hope you enjoy!

With the roomies, Dana and Kallie, in Kampala having a bite to eat. It's not very often that we are all there at the same time.

This was the first business training that was held in Gulu since my time here. It took place back in April. We had a trainer from CRWRC (Christian Reformed World Relief Committee) come to Gulu to train in Results Based Management for 2 days. It was a very interactive and successful course. Skills obtained here by our members will really help us as we move forward with planning for the upcoming year.

More training.

I just wanted to show you what a great time we have with this man Timothy. He is hilarious! Yes, we do work when we are with him but we also have a pretty good time as you can see:) Dana and I have taken many road trips with him and it's always an adventure!

We took a trip to Kitgum which is about 2 hours from Gulu to visit a few business people there. This is one of the employees at a gas station. Timothy owns this station.

This was taken during my trip to Kenya. We visited a member of CHESS which is part of Partners Worldwide. This is a training school that focuses on computer training. In the picture is Andrea-staff in Grand Rapids office, Tyler-fellow PW intern in Kenya, a CHESS staff, and an employee of the school.

Snapshots of life.

Here are some more random shots of what life has been like the past few weeks. Enjoy!

Moving to Pece. We had to hire a special hire to get all our things. Some times I feel like such an American. How on earth did 3 girls accumulate all this stuff in only 3 months?!? Crazy. If you can actually believe it nothing broke even though we took the worst possible roads to get across town. We moved from Senior Quarter to Pece.

It is the rainy season but hadn't rained in about 2 weeks. As you can see form this shot mother nature made up for that! This is a shot from my office. That is Police Primary School across the way. A few of us were just about to leave for lunch when we got stuck for quite a while.

Sorry these pics uploaded out of order but here is our new house in Pece! This was taken before we built our hut in the yard. One of my roommies uses the house as her office so we always have atleast 10 ladies rolling beads in the yard with babies running and crying. It is pretty great. Maybe more pictures will follow.

This was taken on a trip to Lira which is about an hour and half away from Gulu. There are 3 UCBP members in Lira currently. They hope to form a group in the near future. This is Paskwolo and his wife Scovia. They own a small shop next to a gas station. They have been members for 3 years.

This is another member in Lira. He sells new shoes and he has two shops. This is a large part of what I do. I go around to different members and interview them. In case you were wondering what the heck we were doing:)

This is Ameto Alex. He owns a second hand shoe shop at Aweno Market in Lira. He too is a member. The two other guys in the picture are an employee and the chairman of UCBP, Timothy.

a bad day in Gulu

Last night was the storm of the century! It rained so hard and the wind was so strong. I was in town until around 7:30 pm doing some work when I headed off to Boma for dinner to meet up with some friends. I heard the thunder so I knew I needed to get to the restaurant quickly. I got there just in time but as I was going through the town the wind picked up and the dust was flying.

While at dinner it started to rain. The power was flickering on and off until finally we saw a huge spark across the street. Something had blown out. Today there is no power in Gulu. I'm guessing that's the reason. We tried to wait out the rain but it just kept coming. It finally got to almost 10 pm. Dana and I decided to just go for it. We waited outside for a while until we finally caught a boda. We gave him directions to take Kitgum Road because that is usually our safest bet when it rains. Boy were we ever wrong! What is usually a 5 minute boda ride turned into a 40 minute ride. We were going down Kitgum road, freezing cold with rain blowing at us. We saw a bunch of other bodas turning around. When we got further we found out why. A huge tree had fallen, completely blocking the road. There was a way around but it wasn't pretty. We got off the boda because the mud was too much to ride through safely with the weight of 3 people. So, Dana and I walked while the boda rode behind us lighting the way. We were up to our ankles in mud. All we could do was laugh. We were sopping wet and muddy, trying to protect our computers from the rain. We finally hopped back on the bike and got going. The rest of the road wasn't too bad but it's always scary when you feel that back tire skid to the side because there is so much mud.

We decided it was a successful night since we made it home without falling on the bike. I can't say that has been the case all the time. We have both had our fair share of boda falls in the mud (not so much fun) but have remained free from injuries beyond bruising. Some times life here feels like a movie.

This morning I was riding with Kenneth into town and he was telling me about the events of the night before. The tree that fell across the road fell on a tractor, killing the man who was driving it. There was a woman with her baby strapped to her back riding on a boda who was knocked by an oncoming truck. Both of them were killed. There was another boda who was hit by a car right in town. He was brought to the hospital but died later. Earlier that morning a man was in the bank parking lot early trying to repair his car from the night before. The security guard thought he was a robber and ended up shooting and killing him.

It was a bad day for Gulu yesterday. Please pray for all the families involved in these freak accidents and pray we don't have another storm like this.