Outreach, Vacation and Peace Camp

Dear Everyone,

Hope all the Father’s had a great Father’s Day!  Mother’s you too!  I did!  Shelley, Linda and I went to the Nile Porch for Mother’s day and spend 4 nights.  It was beautiful and relaxing.  Hope you saw the pictures on facebook!  

Well, only 2 1/2 months left in Uganda before my close of service (COS).  I will be glad to get home and see everyone.  I feel like I have missed so much with Ryan’s, and Catie’s wedding, Austin’s graduation and all the holidays, birthdays and events.  So it will be good to get back into the swing of things in the US.  My COS date is still October 19th.  I will leave Uganda and go to Egypt, then to Thailand, and finish in India with a 24 day meditation retreat before returning to the US.  I will fly back to VA before getting back home to CA.  Future plans are to look into applying for a Respond Peace Corps position that is only 6 to 1 year commitment.  Or work with Healing Touch International teaching HTI courses overseas.   I really enjoy International Development!

After Mother’s Day weekend in Jinja I traveled to Kampala for TOT.  Then off to Gulu (6 hour trip on public bus) for the Peace Camp meeting before returning to Iceme (only 52 kms, but takes 2 hours on public transport).  I actually traveled to Gulu twice in May for the Peace Camp meetings.  The Rainbow Peace Ambassador’s did another drama for the community in May.  

We had alittle excitement in Iceme with one of the community males who came off his mental health medications.  He was disturbing the health center patients, hanging out at the H/C and knocking on my door at 12:30 at night...wanting sex!   Boy, he must need glasses...to not notice that I am old ):.  Anyway, the Peace Corps Security had to intervene with the local Police.  Hopefully, he got the help he needed.

In June, I traveled alot, but I was able to make outreach visits to end stage AIDS patients.  We really are so blessed in the US with Hospice, these people die with such extreme discomfort.  It really breaks my heart, you just do what you can.  

I visited a HIV Support group to do a presentation and will go back next month to teach them how to cook Moringa seeds and leaves.  It grows all over in Uganda and it is so nutritious and builds the immune system and they have it Free!  I also did an outreach for Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLA).

On June 23rd I flew out of Entebbe airport to Cape Town, South Africa for vacation.  I had a fantastic time!  One day though, PC sent me to Pretoria, SA (2 hour flight from CT) to see a plastic surgeon.  I had a basal cell carcinoma behind my ear.  It was great, I flew up that morning, had it removed and flew back that night!   The plane going back to CT from Pretoria had us all board and then said that a passenger had put his luggage on, but did not get on the plane.  So we all had to get off the plane and identify our luggage!  They said it was a security risk and that never happened before.  So they found the luggage and we were off.   I got back to CT around 1 am.  But that did not stop me!  I was lucky because I went during there off season (rainy) so it was real cheap!  I really got some great deals!  They said that the worst time to go is Oct to Dec.  Prices are real high, it is there prime time and hot.  The accommodations that I got would have been 4 x’s what I paid for them and you would not get to do a whole lot because the lines would be long.  They also said that the real best time to go is February because it is not rainy and it is after prime season, warm and still really nice...no lines and kids are back in school.  I was able to go to City Central, the Winery’s (great wine by the way), Robben’s Island, drove down the Chapman’s parkway along the west coast (just gorgeous), horseback riding on the white sandy deserted beaches, then drove down to the east coast and saw the African Penquins, went down to Cape of Good Hope and the Cape Point, Camp’s Bay, Hout’s Marina, the famous gardens, Table Mountain and I got to Abesail 112 meters down the 3rd wonder of the world...Table Mountain!  So all in all I did alot!  I also looked into volunteer work in CT at an orphanage, which I may come back some day and volunteer at.   One thing that everyone will get a good laugh at was that I went to the Nelson Mandela Hotel and got an exclusive massage.  Well, part of the massage is that they do a Body Stat on your skin with a machine.  Now, with my age, weight and height I am 6.1% TOO FAT!  I lost alot of weight here in Uganda, approximately 19 lbs..which I was happy about!  So I was 57 Kgs and normal weight for me to them was between 50-55 kgs, so I was already 2 kgs over (5 lbs over, but really should be 15 lbs less).  So my body fat should be 22-30% and I am 36%...over from 14 to 6%!  So I guess I have alot of work to do...but the worst part was that I gained all my weight back that I had lost in Uganda in SA!!!!  How about that!  Now more weight to lose :).  Anyway, CT was great and I will be back, hopefully with family that can come in the future!

Once I got back to Uganda I went directly to Pre Service Training (PST) and did two inservices to the the new group that is coming in.  My presentations were on HIV/AIDS Community Outreach and Behavior Prevention Support (Village Health Teams).  Washington has now standardized all the presentation for pre service training for new volunteers coming into country.  So we must follow there competencies that have been distributed.  So it was not too bad!  

I then left and went to Close of Service (COS) training in Munyonyo.  It was held at the 5 star Speke Resort Hotel and Conference Center for Uganda July 10th to the 13th.  COS is designed to assist us in reflecting on our service-to-date, to look toward the final few months of our service, what we still want to accomplish as well as help us plan for the future after Peace Corps.  I got my COS date....OCTOBER 19th I will be officially no longer a Peace Corps Volunteer!

I then traveled back to Gulu for a Peace Camp meeting.  I am Director of the Peace Camp Greater North 2012!  So I have been planning this now for about 4 months and the time is getting closer.  I have to stay in Gulu for about 2 to 4 nights to get things done, everytime I come in for a meeting.  It is so different from the States here in Uganda when you are putting on an event.  It takes so much more time, energy and money to get things accomplished.  For example: to arrange for a meeting people have to travel up to 100 kms on public transport.  Everytime you call someone to arrange something...it cost you airtime, so you have to talk fast and repeat yourself many times.  Just to get applications in (no internet or computer access for the majority of people) you need to go into the villages and have them fill in the application with you.  You need to go first about 48 kms in order to print out the applications just so you have them, which takes almost a day on public transport.  So things are not easily done here.  You need to constantly call the Ugandan staff to make sure they are coming and have completed everything that they are suppose to do.  It really is a monumental effort!  

I then traveled back to Iceme for 2 weeks before going back to Gulu for another Peace Camp meeting.  In Iceme, I was able to do some Outreach and work with the youth groups.

I was happy to find out that I won 3rd place in the Alicia Keys Peace Corps AIDS-Free Generation Photo Contest.   Alicia Keys chose the photo entitled “Outreach HIV Testing” as the third place winner of Category Two: Treatment, Care, and Support.   They announced the winners of the Peace Corps AIDS-Free Generation Photo Contest on Thursday, July 19!   Singer/songwriter Alicia Keys, co-founder and global ambassador of Keep a Child Alive, selected the winning photos and she broke the news via Twitter.   Photo’s were chosen due to there creativity, photographic quality, and effectiveness in representing Peace Corps work in the field of HIV/AIDS, concentrating in treatment, care, and support.  They also  announced to your local media. The winning photos were on display at the Convention Center in Washington, D.C. during the 2012 International AIDS Conference, July 22-27, and exhibited across the street at the Carnegie Library from July 23-26.   Shawn and Kenny went to the conference and were able to see the display and took pictures.  They had blown the photo up to half the size of Kenny!  All in all I was pretty happy about that.

I am sure you heard about our Ebola outbreak here in Uganda.  It was mainly in the West and in Central Uganda.  On August 13, 2012 it was reported to us that there have been six (6) confirmed SEBOV cases (3 of which have died), 4 convalescent cases, 16 total deaths (3 confirmed SEBOV), 1 patient currently in the convalescent ward and 7 in the isolation facility at Kagadi Hospital (2 of which are confirmed SEBOV), 408 (165 under follow up and 243 that have completed the 21 day follow up) cases from Kibaale District that are currently healthy, but potentially had contact with an infected case, are being monitored, and 13 cases from Kampala’s Mulago Hospital that are currently healthy but had contact with a probable case, are under home quarantine and are being monitored.  They were telling people not to shake hands and get in close contact with body fluids!  Well that is close to impossible here in Uganda, because in public transport you are just about on top of each other...so alot of sweaty people are brushing up aside of you!  

In August, I traveled back up to Gulu for another Peace Camp meeting.  The first week of August was very stressful, I did not know if I was going to have to cancel the Peace Camp or not, because a new Policy was implemented at PC Uganda after my VAST grant was approved.  It was that PCV’s would need to open a join account with there partners for any grants.  Well, opening an account is a very difficult job here in Uganda.  It is not like going to the bank in America and opening an account!  Well, anyway the bank account, we thought was opened...however the account was placed on hold because they wanted an Introduction Letter.  The Introduction letter has to come from the partners and they submitted a letter 4 times and it was never satisfactory to the bank.  So the bank placed the account on hold and never told us.  When the money came in from the US, the Ugandan bank sent it back to the US!  So hence, no money for camp!  In order to send it back to Uganda the money would not arrive until after the Peace Camp.  So we got a small advance from Peace Corps and other PCV’s and myself put there money together in order to start the camp.   Also, some of the vendors told me I could pay them later when the money arrived, which was great!

Still stressed and worried that we would not have enough money, I started preparing to receive all the PCV’s and Ugandan Counselors for orientation of the Peace Camp on August 10th.  The campers were scheduled to arrive on August 12th!     So we were preparing Ocer Champion Jesuit College for the youth.  

Peace Camp is about the residents in the northern and northeastern regions of Uganda that were unwilling victims of a 20+ year conflict. The proposed Peace Camp was an attempt to address some of the issues facing mid-to late adolescent young people who reside in areas impacted by the trauma and violence of this war.  Peace Camp provided them an opportunity for Ugandan youth affected by the conflict with the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) to begin developing the peace-building skills necessary to establish and maintain violence-free homes and communities. The vision of Peace Camp Uganda was to engender in the participants respect, compassion, the ability and willingness to listen, openness to learning, and the skills needed to resolve differences through peaceful means.  As well as to develop the basic peace-building skills necessary to establish and maintain violence-free homes and communities. We strived to push participants out of their comfort zones, help them reflect on their experiences, and to find ways to use their unique perspectives to bring about peace building in their country, their communities, their schools, their families and their hearts.   Peace Camp brought together 80 youths from four tribes—Eteso, Acholi, Lango and Alur—in the Greater North between the ages of 17 and 25 for a 6-day residential experience in Gulu District at Ocer Champion College, August 12 - 18, 2012.  The four tribes were evenly distributed.  The Peace Camp focused on moving forward and building on the strength of all those who have survived the tragedies of the past.  The program was very interactive in order to channel the energy of this age group.   An important aspect of the Camp was the daily Reflection/Counselor groups and the Forgiveness and reconciliation ceremony.  All in all it was a very successful camp!  

I started writing this blog August 1st, now it is the 19th, after camp.   So I am so proud of all my CoDirectors, Staff and Counselors!  The Peace Camp 2012 was a hugh success!

So now I will finalize reports and get back to Iceme for outreach.  It has been a great and challenging three months!  I am so looking forward to travel after COS and getting home in December!  

I will try to get a blog out close to my COS, but in the meantime.....Stay safe and Happy!

Love & Light,
Mari 

Happy Mother's and Father's Day!!!

Dear Everyone,

I want to wish all the Mother’s out there a wonderful Mother’s Day!  I really hope your Easter was great.  Also,  I know that Father’s Day will be in June and I am not sure that I will get another blog out before then...So Happy Father’s Day to all the Dad’s out there early!

I can not believe that I only have 6 months left, they will fly by!  Before you know it, I will be going to COS (Close of Service) Conference, which is in July.  My COS date is October 19th.  I am planning to travel after COS to Thailand, and India.  I also plan to travel to Egypt if I don‘t get there before my 90 days prior to COS.  We are not allowed to go out of country 90 days before COS.

I really will miss the work I am doing here because it is so diverse.  But it will be good to get back to the US.  Many PCV’s have gone home once or twice...but I have remained in country and it really feels like a long time.

I am also going to miss the phases that the Ugandan’s said, like “it is over,” “somehow,” “you are lost,” “it is raining, too much,” "you first come," "extend."   “How is home.” "Greet everyone for me," "Send my greetings," Every conversation starts with Thank you, how was the night or day depending. On the other hand, I will not miss "You give me money." "I am suffering, you give me money."  "Life is hard, You just help me, you just help me with money."  "Now, Now!"  I will not miss the way they are not polite.  I don't think that they were ever taught, Please, patience or "God Bless you" when you sneeze.

Anyway, I had a great February,  I went to Zanzibar for 7 days and just really Loved the beach.  I don’t know wheather you have been following my facebook pictures or not, but I tried to put the pictures up there.  The white sand and turquoise water of the Indian Ocean are fabulous.  Everyday I went walking on the beach and found many beautiful shells that you don’t usually get in the US.  We got fresh seafood daily.  Saw one of the fisherman with a large red snapper, half my size!  Saw them bring in calamari and octopus to cook fresh.  The environment is so peaceful, I really would like to go back there and live for 4 to 6 months sometime.  It is still a 3rd world country, so you don’t have alot to do.  But I was able to go scuba diving and snorkeling.  The fishing boat that we went snorkeling on had a sail made out of rice sacks that were sown together!  The boat itself is made out of trees.  It was really great to see how inventive they are.  

Out in the Ocean they had seaweed farms that were being harvested, they sell the seaweed to China and Japan for food, creams and soaps.  I really did not want to leave.  When Angel left in January it was hard to get back to work, so I was ready to go to Zanzibar the end of February!  

January I spent alot of time getting everything hooked up for the network and the 3 laptop computers up and running for Iceme Health Center.  Now we have internet access on 3 laptop computers and they can print from anyone of the H/C buildings.  It is really something, the staff was so happy.  They were saying that now they are in the 21st century.  Most of the staff has never used a computer.  The Health Center did not have any, so I spent alot of time the last few months teaching the Iceme Health Center staff basic computer skills.   However, I am in Uganda, so you have to remember that staff only come for their lessons 1/2 of the time, or they come 1 hour late!  I will be teaching computer skills until I leave!

My Peace Camp group in Iceme, “The Rainbow Peace Ambassadors,” I am so proud of the work they are doing.  In the community they have done alot a drama’s on domestic violence, conflict resolution, alcohol and drugs.  They have slashed the grass at the Health Center as community work.  Now they want to start doing their drama to earn money and go to other parishes and do the dramas.  The teens are really alot of fun and have so much energy.  When they do a drama, they put together the entire play from nothing.  They ab lib and do all the scene’s.  It is really remarkable to see the talent and passion that they have and the plays are really good!

February, I started planning Peace Camp 2012.  I wanted to increase the age groups because the adolescents that were abducted in the LRA war are now in the early 20‘s.  So the age group I am targeting is going to be 17-25 years old.  Both male and female of 4 tribes: Lango, Acholi, Teso, and Alur.  So I also started writing my grant.  We are going to partner with Comboni Good Samaritan Organization this year.  However, $10,000 will come from the Peace Corps.  I was not sure if I wanted to do Peace Camp this year since I was COSing in October...but decided to go ahead with it.  It will be held August 12-18, 2012.

Unfortunately, I got food poisoning twice since January.  Once on February 14th (my fault) and once in April.  No fun, especially when you are using a latrine!

I am still doing Lifeskills at the Secondary School and this semester was really fun with the girls. 

On March 8th, Women’s Day, all the men on staff at the Health Center made all of the women dinner.  It was suppose to be ready at 2, but it was 5:30 pm when we ate.  However, I was really impressed!  They killed the chicken, cooked it, rice (which the stones had to be picked out of the rice) and other stuff in 3 different kitchens.  Now kitchens here are different than your kitchens in the states.  Here you have to build the fire, cut the wood, do everything from start to finish!  It took them all day to cook everything for us.  And of course in Uganda, everything has an agenda for the program.  I was asked to talk about Women’s Day about 1 hour before I was to speak.  But it was really alot of fun.  After we ate they put on  a CD of religious music and everyone watched the TV.  The only TV at the health center.  

I am also working with the Heifer Organization and a Veterinary MD to get more cattle up here in the North.  But before you get accepted with the Heifer Organization and fund raise in the states, you have to have a committee that has met, minutes, a constitution and everything has to be stamped by the District.  We have written a concept paper, proposal and submitted a budget...so now I think everything is done so we are just waiting for the okay to start raising funds.  My friend Cheryl in the US is going to help with the fundraising.  So I hope that I can see the first of “pass on the gift” before I leave.  It really will benefit the villages and the community at large if the project takes off.  It has been done already here in Uganda with much success.  It is a gender balanced, project with HIV patient’s, Orphans and widows, as well as other poor community members.  I really like the Veterinarian I am working with, he is sharp and active.  Once the farmer gets the cattle, they are already 4 months pregnant, then when the calf is born after they can leave the mother, the calf is given to another community farmer and then the gift is passed on!  A great Concept!

In March I went into the Kampala slums and taught Lifeskills with another PCV.  It was challenging and the kids (8-11 years old) were really interested.  We talked about Decision Making.  It  was hard to see how and in what conditions these people live.  The paper the other day said that 39 people in the slums died from contaminated water after the rains in Kampala.  They get their water from the ditch, that is also contaminated.  It is sad to see.  I had to wondered if any of the kids I was with were part of the 39.  I felt like I really did not do anything, when you look at the big picture.

Here in Uganda the Ministry of Health has as a guideline to prevent spreading of HIV, Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision VMMC.  The reason is because it decreases the risk of HIV infection 60%.  So I am working with the district to come do an Outreach here at Iceme.  It was scheduled for April 18 & 19, however it rained those days.  No one travels on rainy days because the roads are so bad.  So I am hoping to reschedule that sometime in June.  

The end of April I was staff for Northern Camp Build.  It was a leadership camp for the boys in the North that were 15-18 years old.  It was also a week long.  At camp I met one of the boys, Simon Peter, that had been abducted by the LRA and was with them for 2 years.  He said that he wanted to write a book about his experiences and he had already started.  After camp we got together and I typed his story....Wow, how do people endure such tragedies and come out so loving is beyond me.  Simon had also written some songs and he wants to put them to music on a CD and sell them.  So we are working on that...I think it will be a good IGA for him.  My brother, Dennis the musician said that he will put some of Simon’s songs to music.  So I can not wait to here how it goes.  Simon will also produce some.  

Anyway,  Camp Build was alot of fun and exhausting.  I also taught Lifeskills on HIV, Condom demonstration and Reproductive Health with another PCV.  

Recently, I just got back from Kampala after working with Peace Corps office on the new PST (Pre Service Training) Focus In initiative.  PST is the training for the new volunteers that are coming in May and we were setting up the training schedule for them.  I will go back down to Kampala to also do the Train the Trainer (TOT) for all the PCV’s that are going to train for PST.  Before that though, I plan to meet  up with Shelley and Linda and go to Nile Porch for Mother’s Day weekend.  It should be relaxing.

I do want to try to make it to Egypt in June...but not sure if that will happen or not.

Well, I think that is all I have for now.   

Take care of yourselves, and stay safe.

Love & Light, 

Mari

Christmas 2011 and New Year's 2012, Angel's trip to Uganda

Dear Everyone,

HAPPY NEW YEAR and May You be Blessed with all the Love, Compassion and Prosperity that you deserve!

I hope everyone had a Great Christmas and a Delightful New Year! I certainly did! I was really busy November and December. Angel came to visit me in Uganda for Christmas and New Years...and we had a great time! So alittle run down on what has happened since before Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving, I met up with about 40 other PCV’s in Gulu for Dinner. We cooked Thanksgiving dinner at the Ethiopian Restaurant where the manager let us use his kitchen! It was alot of fun, you can see pictures on facebook! About 10 of us went to Murchison Falls National Park the day after for a safari. It was good to be able to see the Park before Angel’s trip, so now I knew what we had to look forward to in December.

After Thanksgiving I traveled to Kampala for my yearly medical, only this time Waca Martin traveled with me. We were both summons to the President’s State House. One of my real Joy’s and Excitements in November was Waca Martin. Don’t know if you remember him from previous blogs or facebook pictures...but. To my surprise, Waca Martin who built the airplane model that was HUGH for President Museveni was called to the State House to be presented with a letter from Museveni. Because I typed the letter and mailed it, I was also summons to President Museveni’s. The President thanked Martin for his talent and told him that he was going to be calling him and wanted to know what he could do to help him pursue his talents. Waca Martin was so happy, it really gave me alot of joy just watching him! He had only been in Kampala a couple of times from the village, so it was great taking him around and being able to be with him during the presentation in Parliament.

Then my travels took me down to Entebbe for camp BUILD. Camp BUILD (Boy’s of Uganda in Leadership Development) was December 4th to the 10th and had 150 boys, ages 12-15 years old. I was a counselor for 10 of the boys and taught Lifeskills on HIV/AIDS and Malaria. It was alot of fun and a very successful camp! The focus was on developing leadership.

From Entebbe I traveled to West Uganda. I was asked by Peace Corps to go to West Uganda for training to Train-the-Trainer (TOT) in the Village Health Teams (VHT). They are planning to train the VHT’s in Northern Uganda. So right after Camp BUILD from December 11th to the 17th I went to Bushenyi. The training took place in Nyakasiro Sub-County in Mitoma District and was facilitated by Peace Corps in partnership with a USAID implementing partner Uganda Health Co-operative. There was about 29 VHT members that were taken though various sessions. So the VHT Coordinator for Oyam District and I went to Bushenyi together to learn. The idea was to come back up North and train the VHT’s in the North. Our plan will be to start with the VHT’s in Oyam District. There are about 3,000, so I think that we will set up a TOT and train about 250 if we can get sponsors.

After TOT I traveled back up to Northern Uganda to my site in Iceme. By this time I only had about 3 days to clean the bugs, dust and dirt, wash everything and spray before traveling back down to Entebbe to pick Angel up. When I am gone from site for more than 3 days the place needs a real good cleaning. I found my office had been taken over by termites! They had built there mounds high up the walls and they had eaten a leg off the bench, as well as my straw mats! They really enjoyed themselves....so we had to buy poison and I had alot of cleaning to do.

Needless to say, by the time I got to Entebbe, those 3 days exhausted me! But I was excited that Angel was on her way to Uganda!

The Rainbow Peace Ambassadors have really been working hard and doing it without me! So that means they are sustainable! The have put on 2 Drama's and did sports and activities, and also spoke to the community on Alcohol and Drugs and Conflict Resolution. I am so proud of them.

I have posted pictures and will post more when I have good internet access from our trip. But, all in all I think that we had a great time!

Angel flew in December 24th and, Shelley, I and Angel stayed at the Entebbe Zoo over night. Now, where in the US could you ever sleep with the animals in the zoo? It was a different experience to be able to walk the zoo when no one else was around and watch the animals get feed. Some of the monkey’s wanted to feed on Angel’s feet! Aside from the kids that were running the halls until 3 am....it was great. Christmas day Angel and I went to the Gately Hotel....really nice. Shelley and I went for a pedicure, while Angel rested. Christmas dinner was really nice at the Gately and Shelley joined us. Good Food, just a really nice Christmas dinner!

The next morning Whitecrest Tour Guide picked Angel and I up for our vacation trip. They were great...they made all the reservations for all the hotels, parks, cruises, safari’s, food, accommodations, fuel and driver from December 26th to January 3rd. I did not have to worry about anything...they took care of everything, all I had to do is show up, relax and have fun!!! Wish I did!

On the 26th of December we headed out driving the south western direction to Queen Elizabeth National Park which is Uganda’s second largest park and covers nearly 2,000 square kilometers via Fort portal. Queen Elizabeth National Park is a stunning location on the rift valley floor between Lakes Edward and George where a mosaic of habitats supports 95 mammal species and a remarkable 612 species of birds, 57 vegetation types including forest, grasslands, Acacia woodlands, lakeshore and swamp vegetation. We enjoyed an evening game drive as we proceeded to Mweya Peninsula where we stayed for two nights at the Mweya Safari Lodge. It was fabulous and we were able to have some relaxing pool time in between safari’s and a cruise along the Kazinga Channel! Also, I had an aromatherapy massage and Angel had a swedish massage and pedicure! Nothing like pampering yourself! During the safari and cruise we got to see huge herds of elephant, buffalo, kob, bushbucks, waterbucks, warthogs and antelope. I have a video of the elephant herd that is really neat! The elephants felt threatened at one time, so they made a circle with all the babies on the inside. Then when they realized no one was going to hurt them, they just walked off. Hopefully, I can get that posted someday. On the waterway we saw hippos galore, elephants, crocodile and thousands of shorebirds – pelicans, cormorants, stilts, storks, jacanas, gulls, and sandpipers, and african fish eagles. Pictures are on facebook. The food at Mweya Safari Lodge was fantastic and the hotel was gorgeous!

On the 28th we headed out for Bwindi Impenetrable Forrest where we stayed at Travellers Rest Inn in Kisoro. The Travellers Rest was really cozy with a fireplace and we stayed there 2 nights! Yes, it was cold for Uganda and we had a fire in the fireplace....I loved it! We were up in the mountains. We had planned to go Gorilla trekking in Rwanda, but our tickets fell though, so we went in Uganda. Gorilla trekking was a REAL Challenge! We hiked up and down the mountain for 4 1/2 hours to see the gorilla’s and then finally got 1 hour with them before we had to hike back for another 4 1/2 hours. I want to tell you that was a very strenuous hike! I would call that hike a hike for very advanced hikers! You did not even have a foot length sideways before you would slide down the cliff! It rained and there were alot of muddy slippery spots. It is not a hike for everyone! But the Gorilla’s were great when we reach our destination! I saw 2 Silverbacks and a large family. They say that Uganda is home to seven (one group is only 4 months old being trekked in Uganda) habituated gorilla groups. The Rushegura, Habinyabnja and Mubare gorilla groups roam the forrest around the primary tourism site at Buhoma.

Then we headed back up North East to Lake Mburo National Park. It is a real gem; it receives far fewer visitors than Uganda’s big parks, but boasts wildlife found nowhere else in the country such as impala, Cape buffalo, Burchell’s zebra and eland. No lions though. We saw acacia trees. But the highlight was horseback riding for the safari and being able to be with all the animals! It was alot of fun! We stayed at the Kimbla Montana Tent lodge, which was a really big, beautiful tent. I posted pictures on facebook. Also, the lodge itself was all opened and overlooking the safari grounds. We were only there one night.

On New Year’s Eve we drove up to Kampala and stopped at the Equator. Did you know that here you can walk from the northern hemisphere to the southern hemisphere and revel in the fact that you weigh 2% less. You’re also rotating faster than anyplace on earth and the water right on the Equator line does not drain clockwise or counter clockwise, but straight down. On the Northern hemisphere water flows clockwise and on the Southern hemisphere it flows counterclockwise. Amazing! New Year’s Eve we stayed at the Whitecrest Guest House in Kampala and watched the Fireworks!

In the morning on January 1st, 2012 we headed up North to the Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary and then to Murchison Falls National Park. The Ziwa Rhino Sanctuary was neat! We only had to walk about 10 minutes and then we were right there with a Rhino Mom and her baby. What powerful creatures! We then had lunch in Masindi where Angel and Abbey (our driver) played a few games of pool. We drove from South Murchison Falls National Park to the ferry over the Nile River and took a ferry to North Murchison where we stayed at Paraa Safari Lodge for two nights. But before the ferry ride on the south side we stopped and got out of the truck to look at the most incredible falls with rainbow’s flowing down over rocks and ledges! A huge natural flow of water plunging from a lofty precipice through a narrow gorge. The entire Nile River cascades 43 meters in a savage fury to the waters below. The waters are so rich and so violent are the hydraulics of the falls that foam floats like snow and ice for a mile or so down the river. It was beautiful!

Paraa Safari Lodge was also just as gorgeous as the Mweya Lodge. They have this pool overlooking the Safari plains, service is excellent and I did not want to leave. The next day was a game drive in our vehicle that allows you to stand up through openings in the roof. The park has 72 mammal species including the elegant Rothchild’s giraffe and large herds of hartebeest. We saw elephants, waterbucks, bushbucks, lions (we only saw 2 up in a tree trying to cool off, if you look hard you will see them on facebook), rock pythons and a wealth of antelope species. Near the Nile River delta hippos and many water birds were seen along the shores of Lake Albert. We also had some pool time before our cruise trip up the Nile River to the base of Murchison Falls. This had to be rated as one of the best ever! There are literally thousands of hippos in these rich waters and Nile crocodiles in profusion – the largest reptiles on earth. Elephants and countless grazers congregate along the riverbank to bathe and drink while bird life is prolific. Over 450 species of birds are found here with some spectacular displays, like an entire colony of brilliant colored bee-eaters nesting in carved out hollows of an eroded river bank, you can see those hollows on facebook. Angel was sorry she did not bring her bird book...so she took lots of pictures to look them up later. The food at Paraa Lodge was great!

January 3rd we left Murchison and headed to my site in Iceme. We were there for 3 nights and I think that Angel was ready to go! It is hard for someone when you are not use to no electricity, sinks, running water and have to go in a Latrine! Not to mention all the bugs! But she was able to attend one of my War Victims Support Groups, and see my village and meet some of the community. She also got to meet Waca Martin and see his latest model plane! We went to Lira one day and Gulu for 1 night before we headed back down to Entebbe where we stayed 2 nights at the Victoria Hotel...it was like a 5 star hotel in the US....It was great and a really nice ending to our vacation! It was hard to see Angel leave.

I was not back at site long when I had to get things ready for Northern All Vol in Kitgum. I was preparing a presentation on Grant writing. When I went though Kampala with Whitecrest I picked up Iceme’s Computers that I bought with the grant money...so I had to work on getting them hooked up to the Printer network and made sure everything was running okay. I will start to teach staff basic computer skills and copier/printer function when I return from Kitgum.

So on January 22nd I traveled to Kitgum for Northern All Vol, which is a training session for all the PC volunteers in the North and all the presenters are PC volunteers. There was about 25 of us and it was alot of fun, there were alot of volunteers that made some really good food. One morning one of the volunteers made cinnamon rolls with icing! It was great! Now I am back at site cleaning again!!!!

Well, that brings you up to date. Hopefully, I can get these blogs out sooner. At least this time it was only 2 months and not 3!

Take care of yourselves, and stay safe.

Love & Light,
Mari

Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas and Have a Fabulous 2012!

Dear Everyone,
Hope everyone had a great Halloween and your Thanksgiving and Christmas plans are well in the works! It was a really good day today. Angel told me today that she bought her tickets to come visit me in Uganda. Christmas Eve she will arrive. YEA I am so excited!

Over the last 2 months, it seems that I have been able to make alot of progress. After the Peace Camp the Lango teens in the Iceme area (about 23 of them) got together and we developed a Peace Club. The sustainability for the Peace Camp was that the teens would go back to there community and form Peace Clubs.
I really am so proud of them...they have really taken off! They selected their club name, “Rainbow Peace Ambassadors,” a vision, goals, set up there meeting schedule for the next year and what each meeting was going to be about. They came up with that name because at Peace Camp they all were given different color t-shirts, so when they got together in Iceme they all had different color shirts. They will alternated between Drama, Community Service, Conflict Resolution, Activities (games and sports) for teamwork building, and Lifeskills. In October they did a Domestic Violence drama (both in the family and at school) for the community. It was a great success and I will post pictures on facebook. Next time they did Community Service and collected rubbage from the Health Center and slashed the grass. You do realize here there is no lawnmowers in Uganda....it takes weeks to slash the grass at the Health Center. Yesterday, they did a drama on conflict resolution and then talked to the community about Alcohol and Drug use. They really are great actors and they Love doing Drama! They are well on there way to being a real asset to the community.

The end of September I had 7, not 5 like I thought, Peace Corps Trainee’s (PCT) and Instructor come to my site for Emersion Week. One of the girls said, “Oh now I appreciate how far you have to travel to come teach us at RACO.” It is a long way to Wakiso from the North! It was hard hosting that many people when you have no hotels, running water or electricity. They were spread thin, but they were great FUN! It took me 2 hours to make breakfast for everyone (one meal at a time). But they got to see the HIV/AIDS support group and the War Victims support group that I have. Also, they attended my Secondary Girl’s School Lifeskills class. We did a game called the “Best Response.” The PCT’s were the judges, so everyone had fun. We also got a chance to go down to the market in Ngai. Ngai is about 9Kms from Iceme, we took a Taxi down and walked along way back before getting a ride. So we were really tired when we got back. They were also fortunate to see the airplane model that Waca Martin made from local materials. I have posted on facebook. He is so talented!
So I want to help him do this as an Income Generating Project...he can make any type of model you want. So if you know anyone out there that wants to help a talented, hard working youth make some money for school...let me know and let me know what model you would like made. I have posted the plane on facebook, it is made of Sorghum stem! So if you want a model of a plane you fly...or of a person you know...or a truck you drive...or a guitar you play....or of anything else you want made, that is homemade from Ugandan just let me know!
While I was in Kampala, I started to market his talent to African Craft shops and I will take a model with me next time I go. The plane that is hugh posted on facebook was to be given to Museveni during Independence Day. But security did not let them though.

We had our Mid-Service Training in October...WOW can you believe 1 year is up???? It was held in Masaka, which is south of Kampala about 2 1/2 hour drive (past the Equator line). It is only 18 kms from Lake Nagabuga. So another PCV and I went down the weekend before and spent a really nice time at the Lake just relaxing. It was very clean and the cottages were new, the customer service was excellent. But, you are really away from everything!

After mid-service I went to Entebbe for training for Camp BUILD (Boy’s of Uganda in Leadership Development). The camp will have 150 boys, ages 12-15 years old. It will be December 4-10, 2011. I will be a counselor and teach Lifeskills on HIV/AIDS and Malaria. It should be fun! However, the focus is on developing leadership rather than on the focus that the Peace Camp had; which was on Forgiveness and Reconciliation.

It was good to get back to Iceme! Remember that my grant for Informatic Technology that was approved? The money is now in the bank! One day the company that I had ordered the copier/printer showed up. I had no idea that he was coming, so I had no money for him. I would have to go to Gulu or Lira and transfer money. However, the job did not get completed because the network cables were not put down...they did not bring enough cables. So that was almost 2 weeks ago and the work still has not gotten done. What did I expect! I am in Uganda! Anyway, the copier works but no printer yet. I did order my computers for Iceme, however they have not been delivered yet either??? Next year when everything is up and running, I will train the Iceme staff in computers.

For Thanksgiving I will meet up with about 30 other PCV’s in Gulu. We are going to cook Thanksgiving dinner at the Ethiopian Restaurant. The manager is going to let us use his kitchen! It should be fun! So I want to wish you all a wonderful and Happy Thanksgiving. I have so much to be thankful for and I realize it more and more every day. I so appreciate every moment, my family and my friends and I hope that you are able to find that appreciation for Life and the things we have this Thanksgiving!

1st of December I will be back down to Kampala for my Mid-Service Medical. We get a dental exam and a workup to make sure we are still okay!!!
I go right from there to BUILD camp. After BUILD I will go to West Uganda for training to train the Village Health Teams (VHT) in Northern Uganda. I am not sure yet, but I think that I will be traveling alot to teach VHT’s in the North.

I will only be back for 3 days before I go back to Entebbe to pick Angel up from the airport. We are going to go on a 9 day trip for my vacation down to Rwanda to see the gorilla’s, then to Queen Elizabeth National Park, and then horseback ride in Mbule National park, up to Murchsion National Park before ending our trip in Iceme. So she will get to see my site and my community! Sometime before she leaves I will take her to Gulu. I am really looking forward to Christmas with her!

So I want to wish everyone a Very Merry Christmas and a Safe New Year filled with much Joy and Happiness. 2012 almost here!!!!
Don’t Stress....Be Happy!
Take care of yourselves, and stay safe.
Love & Light, 
Mari

4 Months of Busy Work and Travel

Dear Everyone,

WOW, I can not believe it has been 4 months since I entered a blog update! I hope everyone is doing well and that All the Father’s out there had a great Father’s Day!

I have tried to keep the photos coming on Facebook, but it seems like forever for them to load...so only a few at a time. Every month I continue to do some of the same things in Iceme that I have been doing when I am there. The last 3 months I have been traveling at least 10 days to 14 days out of the month.

So that said, I will fill you in on my travels under the months, and this is what I have continued to do when I am in Iceme.

I still work with my HIV support group and the War Victims support group. It really is something that when the Ugandan’s come to anything, they expect money or to be feed. So my first meeting with them, I explained the purpose of the support group and that no money was coming, and no food....only water, information and sharing! Well, it took a while, but they found out. My first HIV/AIDS meeting there were 46 people and the War Victims we had 25. Because of no food or money, I was really surprised when the next meeting came, I thought that 1 or 2 people might come. But, we had 83 people for the HIV/AIDS and 28 for the War Victims. They are really hungry for information. I always thought that they were well educated in that area because of all the NGO’s putting money into HIV/AIDS...but not so. The basics they do not know. So I will continue even if 1 person comes to the groups. I am still doing Basic Life Skills at the Iceme Secondary Girls School when they are in session. They just started a new term. I continue to go on Outreach to the villages to follow up with patients that have been sent home on Hospice. Boy, we have it great in the States with Palliative Care and Hospice! I met one 18 year old girl with AIDS that was about 70 lbs, nothing but bones. She was sent home on “Hospice,” however the father did not buy any pain medication for the girl, because he said that he did not have any money. This is not the first case I have seen that children and adults are dying in Severe pain...and I am sure it will not be the last. But this case really hit me.

I am still working on my secondary projects. I did get the Grant written for 3 computers, copier/printer, internet airtime, and lying cables at the Health Center. The Grant was approved for $10,000. Once the money comes I will go to Kampala and buy the computers and start training the H/C staff. The borehole is now fixed and they have had another NGO fund a second borehole. So we will no longer be without water when the electricity goes out. I still need to meet with the Local Council 3 of Iceme and the Farmers Chairperson to fill out a proposal to submit to the Heifer International. I would like to get some more Livestock in Oyam District!

The project that has taken most of my time was the Peace Camp in Ocer, outside of Gulu. This was a great success, I will talk about it in the August section! I also applied to work on the Boy’s Camp called BUILD in December and have done a little with the curriculum committee.

I am still showing movies to the kids when I am in Iceme, the joy that they get out of watching the animated cartoon’s are great. Angel, my daughter sent me the Karate Kid movie and they LOVED IT! They were laughing, and really got into supporting the boy and cheering him on. It was not too violent for them and taught them a good lesson in teamwork, and that discipline and practice will help you be successful in life. It was a real hit! We have had many movie nights, I try to combine it with some HIV education. But it is really a highlight for me to watch their faces, the projector was the best investment I could have made!

I have started teaching the young kids (7-13 yrs) that come for the movie about HIV/AIDS and Sex while I am setting up the movie, then we watch the movie. It really took me by surprise that the next day I was working in the office and here comes 5 of the boys...wanting to know more about what I had said. They had in there hands a booklet called, “Making Healthy Choices ‘Using lifeskills education in managing our sexuality and controlling HIV/AIDS,’”and wanted me to go over it with them! I thought that was really great, just another verification that they are hungry for education!

Someone in the States ask me if they could send eye glasses and the answer is Yes, they need them here and if you want to send them my address is on the right side of this blog.

I have to apologize about not getting back to people who have sent me emails.....Thank you so much. I do read them. Because alot of time when I have internet, I don’t have electricity and when I have electricity, I don’t have internet. So I try to get on the computer and off as fast as I can. I will have to contact Apple when I get back....you all know that I bought this computer mainly for the 10 hours battery life....well I have NEVER gotten 10 hours. Now I only get 4 hours of battery life, sometimes I think it is even less. It is only 1 year old! Anyway....so I am sorry if I have not gotten back to you.

So when I am Iceme, I work on the above, but now for my travels!

In June I went to Rakai for a HIV/AIDS mural painting. Rakai is south of Kampala, so it took me about 6 hours to get to Kampala and then another 2 1/2 or 3 hours to get to Rakai. Alot of PCV’s and the community also came to paint HIV scenarios on the walls. I taught Lifeskills to about 120 teens on HIV definition, transmission, prevention, STD’s and Disease Progression and Positive Behaviors. We had condoms there and a model for them to do a return demonstration on how to apply the condom.....it really was great to see them and be able to correct them when they were putting the condom on the model wrong. The kids really had great questions and stayed for 3 hours even though the STD pictures were graphic! Some of the questions were...what do I do with a condom after I use it? You may have seen pictures on facebook on the Rakai trip. Also, in June I traveled to Gulu a couple of times for the Peace Camp meetings.

July was a busy month of activities and travel. But I did take a rest with other PCVs over the weekend at Sesse Island. I really had a great time of just relaxing and spending time with my friends. It did take a long time to get there. I took a bus to Kampala (6 hours), then a taxi to Entebbe (45 minutes due to traffic), then a 4 hour ferry ride to the Island! But it was great. Then off to Mbale (5 hours on bus from Kampala) for a mandatory community health Malaria training. The PC, Uganda Ministry of Health and Uganda Government formed a PMI (Preventive Malaria Initiative) collaborative to decrease Malaria 70% by 2014. So now that initiative is added to my projects. I do plan to submit another Grant request for Education, pregnant mothers/children, mobilizing the community and community involvement, as well as purchasing mosquito nets for the Health Center and the Iceme Girls Boarding School (they have no nets currently.) No one here takes malaria prevention meds because they can not afford it. So I just finished collecting data from 2010 to now on positive malaria test at Iceme. Northern Uganda has the highest rate of Malaria in Uganda, with Apac and Oyam districts having 1,564 cases/year; 63% of children are affected in the North and 75% with anemia related to Malaria. 25% of all admissions to the hospital are from Malaria, 20% of child deaths in the hospital are from Malaria. Northern Uganda has an endemic of Malaria. Did you know that 658 Million US dollars are spent annually on Malaria (all the interventions.) Because the North is so high, they did IRS (Indoor Residual Insecticide Spraying), which cost 14.5 million! Since it is so expensive to do, only the North got IRS. IRS has to be sprayed every 4 to 6 months. The government only planned to do it 2 times because of the expense. The data that I collected shows a significant decrease in the Iceme area after IRS in Jan and June.

After Mbale I went to visit Linda in Soroti about 2 hours away for the weekend before heading back down to Lweza (6 hours away) for Train the Trainer workshop. We all have to attend if we are going to train the PCT's.

Then off to Gulu for another Peace camp meeting. I had been receiving alot of applications from the teens to go to the Peace camp. The applications are out for the Ugandan and PCVs who would like to help also. They went out this month.

So I was gone almost 2 1/2 weeks from Iceme this month...”I was lost,” they say.

August, I also was lost 2 1/2 weeks. I made a trip up to Gulu for a Peace Camp meeting....camp was getting closer (August 21-27, 2011) so the last minute details had to be worked out. Peace Camp was for war victims (abducted, defilement, physical abuse, raped, child soldiers, or saw their parents or brothers/sisters murdered) ages 15-19 years old. We decided to have the 4 tribes in Northern Uganda that were involved in the LRA (Lord’s Resistance Army) war to begin peace-building skills in order to establish and maintain a violence-free home and community. The Lango, Acholi, Teso and the Alur tribes participated. There were 4 of us PCV’s that were putting this together (Mary Beth, Me, Bina and Chelsea). You would be surprised, there is so much hostility between the tribes because they blame each other for the acts of violence on their tribe. Not just the LRA, but each other. You see, the youth were abducted and forced to go into the other tribes and kill. So this was really going to be a heavy camp and we were prepared for alot of PTSD. I am really proud of how the camp turned out and how the teens rose to the challenges of facing trauma and starting the act of forgiveness between each other. Yes, we did have a number of teens that had PTSD episodes. The week was geared towards ongoing healing, building on the theme of the day before, and ending with a celebration dance. It was a week long of 80 teens, divided into 8 groups of 10 with 1 Uganda Counselor and 1 PCV Counselor. We had lectures, lifeskills, drama, arts/crafts, a rope course nightly rituals, reflection time and sports. Prior to the camp each tribe met and practiced their traditional dance and song. Lango (my tribe), of course was the Best! Each tribe performed for their Cultural Leaders. Hopefully, I will be able to upload that video to facebook someday, also I plan to upload the slideshow that was made of the camp...it really was great! The teens are to go back to their villages and start a Peace Club. We will meet in Iceme next Monday night to start the first Peace Club. I had 88 applications for only 30 Lango teens for the Peace Camp. So it was really hard to tell the others that they had to wait for the Peace Club and could not go to the camp. All in all, the camp was a success, so the Peace Club should be able to benefit from the week at Camp!

Then I was off to Seeta (another 6 1/2 hours bus trip from Gulu) for the PC All Volunteer Conference, which was really inspiring. I was able to get some great ideas from volunteers about Income Generating Activities (IGA’s). Plus, I got to be with other PCV’s.

September. Next stop was Wakiso to train the Peace Corps Trainees (PCT) in Mental Health/Stress/Alcohol and Drugs with the Medical Team. Finally, I headed back to Iceme from Kampala on the 7th. It was not a good trip. I got on the bus at 7:30 am, but we did not leave until 9 am. Then it took us 2 hours to get just alittle outside of Kampala. We were close to Luwero when the bus broke down. We waited 3 hours for another to come and pick us up. But that was not the worst...when the bus came, everyone got up and started gathering their things. A 9 year old boy saw that the bus arrived and ran across the road and was hit by a car and died. It really was tragic. Please pray for the family, the mother had 3 other children with her.

I will go back to Wakiso around the 20th to teach the PCT’s Sex Assault with other PCVs and Medical. At the end of the month, PC will send 5 PCT’s to my site for me to work with them on Emersion Week. I have alot planned for them, but I was shocked when they told me that it was 5 people instead of 1 or 2! I reminded them that there are no hotels or restaurants here in Iceme! Anyway, during Emersion Week they see if they are going to like staying here in Uganda.

The US Embassy is hosting a 50th Celebration for the Peace Corps Volunteers next week in Kampala. However, I think that might be too much traveling for me, so I will not go. I did want to meet everyone at the Embassy though.

I found out that Healing Touch International published my article in the HTI Perspectives Newsletter about my classes earlier this year. I was so pleased and shared it with the new Country Director and Program Managers.

When I got back to Iceme this time, my counterpart did some work in my garden and planted some beans. YEA!

Do you know that fuel in Uganda now is 3900 UGX, which is about $2.00/gallon? That is alot for Uganda. Also, prices on food have skyrocketed. Inflation has gotten really bad here. The teachers wanted to strike because they are not getting paid enough, however Museveni said if they do not go to school they will get fired, so all the teachers are going in to school, but not teaching. Inflation really is getting bad here.

Well, this is long enough and I hope that I will do a better job updating my blog sooner in the future. Hopefully, I will be able to post the pictures that have not been posted yet. In the meantime, take care of yourselves and stay safe!

Love & Light,
Mari