Relaxing in Jinja

Alyssa, Jennie and I traveled to Jinja after saying good-bye to Jared on Saturday. There was some hubbub in Jinja because the delegates from Kampala along with Prince Charles were visiting at the same time to get a break from their meetings in the city. We went to see the “Source of the Nile” (the place where the Nile starts flowing from Lake Victoria) and were diverted because Prince Charles was going to be there “very soon.” “Very soon” turned into a couple of hours and we lost interest and decided to go to lunch until it was over. On Sunday we went to Bujagali Falls, which was absolutely gorgeous! On Monday after a wonderful TexMex lunch and some time at the pool, we took a sunset canoe ride on Lake Victoria and ended at the Source of the Nile. We kept looking around over the weekend and talking about how beautiful it was and how it felt like some kind of tropical resort. Everything was so green and the flowers were so bright. Now we are in Kampala and have checked into our guest house and got Jennie settled in her room at Medair. Alyssa and I will get on a plane to London tomorrow morning and send Jennie off to Kaabong again. It has been an incredible trip and we have had such a good time with Jennie. Tomorrow will be difficult saying good-bye, but, alas, it had to come. Pray for safe travel for all three of us and pray for Jennie as she goes back to work.

Bumpy Roads

There are many stories to tell about the last few days. After the team arrived, we spent some time relaxing and then on Wed. we went out into the camps with CPA and had what they call a "solidarity day." It's a day where we look at a day in the life of someone who lives in the camps. So, we drove to the camp...only this road felt more like a literal roller coaster with dips and turns. At one point one side of the car was at a 45 degree angle to the other side and we were all smushed on one side of the car. TIA -- This Is Africa. After arriving in the camp an HOUR later, the women were paired with other Ugandan women and had to cook and serve and clean and the men with the Ugandan men, who took them "hunting" and herding cattle. It was a LONG and hard day for all of us. We learned that women work WAY harder than the men!

Thursday we traveled as a team to Kampala and had Thanksgiving dinner with a group called Come Let's Dance. They are an orphanage based in Kampala. (www.comeletsdance.org) We had turkey and stuffing and green bean casserole and even sweet potatoes. It's good to feel closer to home.

Tomorrow the team will leave and my friends Jennie and Alyssa and I will go to this place called Jinja for a mini-vacation/de-briefing time for us. We are very much looking forward to it.

continue to pray for safe travels and that none of the crazy traffic/government stuff going on here hinders us from getting on any planes this weekend or next week.

Reunited

Yesterday was a lazy day for Jennie and me. We spent the morning listening to TNL's sermon from this past Tuesday and then hung out at the Invisible Children cafe just reading and working on homework for me.

Today we were reunited with the rest of the team from TNL, which was very good, although I know it was quite difficult for them to have to say good-bye to the people up north whom they were working with. We had lunch and are planning to spend the afternoon in the markets around Gulu. It is good to be baack together.

Pictures from the week

Here are some pictures (I hope) from this week in the camps. The first two are of some of the kids in teh first camp and the third was taken from the inside of the hut where I did my interviews. The last one is a pic just of me in the hut to actually PROVE to my parents and family that I am actually and in fact alive and kicking! : ) Hope you enjoy them!

P.S. Yes, sometimes I do just look around and think, Holy Cow! I really am in Uganda! It's kind of surreal....good but surreal.

Week's end

The rest of the week went really well. Thanks for all your prayers, even though I was not able to post here my need for them, they were really felt! Yesterday I went to the second IDP (Internally Displaced Persons) camp and finished up my interviews -- or so I thought. The last girl I was supposed to interview who had just returned from being abducted in the bush was only 16 and I need at least 18 year olds. Sad! So, I still have one more interview to do, but I don't think I will have trouble finding an Acholi woman to interview -- and I might even get to do it in English, if I'm lucky! But the week of work is over and my friend Jennie flew in today to spend the weekend and the last 10 days of the trip with me and our team. The team returns on Monday so we are spending time relaxing and enjoying Gulu this weekend. This morning we got coffee and banana pancakes at a new cafe in town. It was SOO GOOD!!!! I will try to post here as much as I can but power and internet connections are very sporadic. Thanks for your continued support and prayers.

Wednesday blog

I just finished my first round of interviews today. Due to time constraints and having to travel quite a distance to reach the camp, we (my translator and I) did four interviews today. Concerned Parents’ Association (CPA) has been wonderful to work for. (To learn more about them go to www.cpa.net) I can hardly believe that my field research is half over! I feel like the interviews went well; the women seemed very honest and were extremely hospitable. They even made us lunch and sent me home with a bag of g-nuts (kind of like small peanuts in the shell). All four of the women I interviewed were in their early twenties and had been abducted by the rebel army, some as young as age nine. One woman even conceived her first child at age 13 while she was still with the army. All of them have escaped and have been living in the camps for 4-10 years. I am so amazed at their strength and courage. And after all that they have endured, they are still able to give and love and find some joy.

Please pray for the next 2 days, as I will be continuing the interviews at a different camp and will finish with the field research on Friday. I am already feeling tired and a bit overwhelmed with everything, so pray for endurance and an extra measure of grace for myself and for the frustrating parts of being in another culture.

Day 1 with CPA

11/12/07 Blog

“Munu, Munu!!” is what I heard being called after me most of today (Monday). I started my field research today. I met with my contact at Concerned Parents’ Association this morning and we laid out a “program” for the week. I also met with Stephen, the man who will be translating for me. Then we rode on a motorbike (aka motorcycle) out to 2 IDP camps to meet with the CPA contacts there. The motorbike ride took about an hour to get to the first camp. The children flocked around us, screaming, “Hi Munu!” The camp was quite large and very cramped. It was kind of like stepping into the pages of a National Geographic. Small children running around naked. Women carrying water, baskets and firewood on their heads. Mud walls and thatched grass roofs for homes. Stephen commented that life in the camps is very hard. The people rely on outside food aid because there is nowhere for them to farm. Everyone is hoping that the peace talks, which are going on currently will bring permanent peace to the North so that everyone can return to their homelands and begin sustaining themselves again. They hope that peace will also bring better schools back into the North and that children will be safe to go to school again.

At the next camp, we had to stop at the sub-county office to get permission to be in the camp, but this was not a problem. The CPA contact at this camp seemed excited about the work being done. He agreed to help with our work and to bring a group a girls on Thursday when we are scheduled to return to that camp. We drove through the camp site so that I could see what it is like. I felt a little like I was on display. Not only were we on a motorbike in the middle of a place where more people don’t have any mode of transportation besides walking, but I am also white….or “munu” as they call us. Most people smiled and waved. The children ran after us, smiling and waving and yelling things in Lwo at the ‘munu” that I could not understand.

It’s been a good first day. Thank you for your prayers about all this. It looks as though the interviews are going to come through, after all! Pray for the women who will be interviewed – that they will be willing to share and that I will have wisdom in knowing how to care for them during our time together. I think that Stephen will be a good translator and comrade on this journey this week. Pray that he has the right words to say also. I am excited about the next few days and what they will hold and will do my best to keep you all on the other side of “the pond” (aka the Atlantic) informed as best as I can. Thank you so much for all of your support and prayers. I can both feel and see them working, even as I type this. Blessings and peace to you.

Arrived in Gulu

Yesterday the rest of my team came in. We picked them up and headed straight for Gulu. The road was bumpy but not too bad – not as bad as we were warned about. It took us about 6 hours with no mishaps. Hooray!

There was some confusion about where we were staying for the night, but were quickly able to secure rooms for all 6 of us. However, we no sooner than sat our bags in the room and the power went out! So, my first night in Gulu was without water and electricity – talk about starting out on the right foot!

This morning we had breakfast together & the team got started out for Adjumani a bit earlier than they anticipated, which is great considering the trek ahead of them.

After the team left I spent the morning wandering around Gulu to get familiar with the town and meeting some of the locals. This afternoon I went with a contact I have from Invisible Children to a place called HEALS – an after school program for kids who don’t have either parents or homes. We watched them singing and dancing, Acholi-style!

Overall its been a good first day and I’m looking forward to starting with the CPA tomorrow. Please continue to pray that the research comes together and the women to be interviewed are found. My foot’s feeling much better, thank you all for your prayers. It’s almost back to normal size, keep the prayers coming.

11.8.07

My time with Jennie is growing very short. Only one more day in Kampala and I will be heading to Gulu to begin my research. Yesterday we spent some time in the city. Jennie got a hair cut and I did some homework. We caught a ride back to the base with one of the guys at Medair and got stuck in the WORST traffic I have ever seen in my entire life!!!!! I've never seen anything like it! Traffic is usually bad in Kampala, but this was beyond my wildest dreams. It took us almost 2 hours to get from the center of the city to our base when it normally takes 10 minutes!!! At one point we were trying to go down a street, but got stuck because we were nose to nose with another car who was leading the way for a whole slew of cars behind it that were going the WRONG WAY. they were driving on the wrong side of the street and we had nowhere to go! We had to drive partway on the stinkin' sidewalk to get around them, but then we were stopped by a pile of dirt on the sidewalk that we couldn't get over. The street was a parking lot. One of the taxi drivers finally starting showing people where to scoot their cars together and back up, etc. so that they could open up the lane for our side. Good grief! It was absolutely ridiculous!! We were glad to be home and enjoyed a nice dinner in the cool of the evening outside. What a relief!

Today was pretty laid back. Jennie and I walked down to the market and had brunch. then we went to a hostel down the street to see about booking rooms for us at the end of the month when we return from Gulu, but they were full. On the way back, I stepped into one of the holes in the road and rolled my ankle. My ankle is fine, but my foot was at a funny angle in the hole and we think that when my ankle rolled one way, my foot rolled the other causing some kind of stress fracture or something. It's only a little swollen and turning slightly black and blue and hurts like crazy to walk on it right now. We're going to see how it feels in the morning and I might make a run in to the doctor tomorrow to see about getting some kind of brace or something to stablize it. I guess I won't be doing much walkig in Gulu. Sigh.

Thankful:
-- for safety in my trip so far
-- for a fantastic time with Jennie...I feel so refreshed and full after spending time with her and the people here

Prayer:
-- for the rest of our team travelling for the next couple of days
-- that my foot heals and/or we are able to find a way to make it work with our schedule (i.e. is not a hindrance)
-- that my work in Gulu is as smooth as possible
-- productivity tomorrow as it is my last day in Kampala and have much preparations to do

Hope you all are well and I would love to hear from you when you have the chance....

Pictures from Sunday

Spoiled

I'm in Africa...but it really doesn't feel like it. Yesterday Jennie and I met up with Jared (the TNL pastor who is leading the team arriving next week) who is here early as part of his Sabbatical. He helped us find a bank that would give us a good exchange rate for our money. Then we had fruit smoothies at this Western kind of place called Caffe Pap. (Jennie and I have decided to call it Caffe P because saying Pap all the time reminds us of unpleasant things. haha.) From the cafe we went to this place in Kampala called Garden City. It turns out that Garden City is some kind of mall. Jared called it the Cherry Creek of Kampala. We walked around for a while and then had dinner at this AMAZING Indian restaurant. Mmmm...it was so, SO good. It was located on the roof of the "mall" so there was a great view of the city and a nice cool breeze as the sun set behind the palm trees. Jennie and I took a taxi back to the Medair house (where we are staying) and went to bed in our cozy little bungalow -- mosquito net and all.

Today we slept late, ate lunch with the Medair staff and then walked down the street to the Italian market for some Gelato. Tonight we are going to a place called "The Diplomat" where I hear that you can order nice food and drinks and watch the sun set behind the city. I feel VERY spoiled and can't really believe that I'm actually IN Uganda. I did see the first police/army person with a gun...he was laughing and talking on the side of the road we were walking on, and was non-threatening...but it was just a little disconcerting nonetheless. But I will say that I feel much safer than I had expected to feel in Uganda all together. I realize that I'm getting much more of the secluded, sort of exotic side of things right now, but I am ok with that, considering the type of work I will be doing next week.

Sunday

Jennie and I went to church yesterday at one of the orphanages here in Kampala. It was SOOOOO GREAT! The kids were so precious. It took us 45 minutes and some 4 wheel drive maneuvering because of traffic and the biggest potholes I've ever seen....but we made it and it was totally worth it. We ate lunch with them and got to hear more of their singing and see them dance. Upon our return to the Medair base, Jennie and I enjoyed some TimTam Slams (thanks Brian!!). I'll try to upload some photos but right now it's not working. I'll keep working on it. Hope you are all doing well. Just an FYI, my hotmail account is not working right now, or at least I can't access it, so feel free to email me at my gmail account: tiffani.rathbun@gmail.com

On the docket for today is a trip to the bank and lunch with Jared (one of the pastors from my church in Denver who is also here a week before the team). Pray that money stuff goes well and things run as smoothly as possible in the middle of Africa! : )

P.S. for anyone I told they could text me -- I lied. My Tmobile phone gets absolutely zero reception here, so my text does not work and my Ugandan phone has yet to be activated...something else we're working on today. I'll let you know when that changes.

I made it!

I arrived in Entebbe airport at 8:30am Saturday morning (which is about 11pm Friday evening for you all in Denver). The trip was pretty uneventful, which in this case is probably a good thing. I met a couple of interesting people in London, one of which was a Ugandan man who was on holiday from his job in Canada. He informed me that he thought I would be “very happy” in Uganda because it is so beautiful and people are so kind and friendly, unlike the people he has come into contact with in the West. He encouraged me not to give money to the people who asked for it, but to wait and give to the people that God moves my heart toward. He was VERY nice and even offered to give me a ride into Kampala when we landed if Jennie was not there or to use his phone to call her.

I also saw a girl that went to Grand Canyon on our flight from London to Entebbe. She was a freshman when I was an RA in the dorms and played tennis. I re-introduced myself and we laughed about how totally random it was to see each other in Uganda, of all places! She and her husband are hoping to adopt a little boy from an orphanage in Kamapala, but things are still up in the air. It was good to see her and hear about her heart for orphans. So random!!

I picked up my bags – all 3 of which actually made it all the way from Denver to Entebbe, what a miracle – and proceeded through customs, which was basically a guy with a name tag looking at my passport and asking me what was in my bags. He smiled and waved me through without searching them at all. The exit was packed with people trying to get outside and I could see Jennie eagerly awaiting my arrival on the other side of the glass doors. I finally got through and got to hug her! It’s so great to see her! And then we were off. She brought me to the Medair house and we got settled in. I unpacked all the wonderful gifts everyone sent for her…it really was like Christmas in November! I showered, took a nap and we had dinner at the house of one of the married couples who works for Medair. It was wonderful!
It was a great first day and I’m looking forward to the next week here in Kampala.

Prayer: continued prayer for safety
-- pray that my time with Jennie would continue to be filling and restful
-- pray for the rest of our team as they make last minute preparations to come
-- pray that participants for my interviews next week would be divinely appointed and prepared for our time together
-- pray that my jet lag goes away soon and I adapt to the time change quicly