4 August - DETA

This morning began with two full group sessions – another inspirational scholar from the University of Pretoria (Prof. Jonathan Jansen), and a panel on using OERs (open education sources, available online, on CDs/DVDs, and in print form) to train teachers, especially those who cannot attend a university. There are many opportunities and challenges with this method, including issues of access and lots of curriculum development from outside of Africa. Prof. Jansen spoke of qualities of true leaders – conscious decision-making, credibility, courage, counter-culture vision, compassion, self-criticism, and commitment. It could have been given and equally received in a US context. So many issues are the same on many levels – political rhetoric without backbone, improper treatment of students, lack of care, teaching to the test, even. Jansen gave many examples of excellent teacher and administrative leaders who dared to think and act outside the problematic boxes we often find ourselves in. One quote I especially liked: “You cannot teach if you cannot feel.”

Cornelius and I gave our presentation on the role of parents during and after the war in Northern Uganda, and I added an update on our current work. It was well received. I also met others from Makerere. One, Peter, is the dean of the higher learning dept in the College of Education. He is interested in networking opportunities with USF and Makerere.

Long day, and much longer one tomorrow as I make my way back to the US. It’s been a wonderful opportunity to immerse myself in the amazing warmth of African cultures, learn from everyone I met, and get a better sense of the work I expect to do over the next many years.

3 August - Start of DETA Conference

This morning I made my way from my hotel to Universidad Eduardo Mondale, where the Distance Education and Teacher Training in Africa (DETA) conference was being held. The majority of attendees were from Mozambique and South Africa, with plenty of African representation also from the areas areas of the continent. There were a handful of Europeans and I was one of 3 or 4 from the US. I spotted Cornelius, and we sat together for lunch along with delegates from other countries.

For me, the highlight was the afternoon keynote speaker, Graca Machel. She is a well-known social activist who has been instrumental on bringing child soldiers to the attention of the UN over the past 10 or more years. She was married to the former president of Mozambique (who was assassinated) and is now wife of Mandela. Her speech was inspiring. It is fascinating to hear the voices of so many layers of African society – from local citizens affected by war to middle class people, those who live in the quiet of the bush, and well-educated, informed scholars and activists. Too much for a blog (I’ve already written too much), but important and valuable to me as I continue my work in Africa.

2 August - Bye ZA; on to Maputo

I got up early and ready for my last game ride prior to boarding another plane for Maputo. I was first for tea and worried that my new companions would be late, but they arrived about 10 minutes later, bundled and complaining loudly about the cold. At one point the Mom said, “But it’s worth it, isn’t it?” and she looked at me. I’m afraid my thoughts came tumbling out of my mouth: “If I had the money to bring my kids here, they’d be kissing my boots. They wouldn’t be complaining.” Again, that issue of privilege and taking it for granted. I later sat by the mom on the game ride and told her about my work, explaining that it taught me not to complain much when I think of what so many people have endured and how little they have. She wasn’t upset, and seemed to appreciate my comment.

We got a couple quick glances at leopards, then the highlight of the morning ride: a whole pride of lions getting their fill after killing a cape buffalo. The males had already gorged themselves and were crashed in the grass while one of the females and the cubs were eating. Typically I turn away at scenes like that even on documentaries, but I sat mesmerized. Just a couple days ago when we found the females with the cubs, Rob and Ron were concerned with the low weight of the lions. Now they would be full and healthy. It’s hardly different than people’s eating of cows, chickens, and pigs, except that the wild animals aren’t wasteful. Most of us were busy snapping pics and filming the scene. When there was no breeze, the smell was pretty strong. I imagined the reverse, with lions wandering out to watch us eat around the boma, pulling out their cameras to photograph the exotic animals covered in cloths and using weird metal tools to pull at the meat. The cubs would probably take a sniff and find the smell of burned flesh disgusting!


I had a quick breakfast and enjoyed a vervit monkey who stole an orange from the buffet and enjoyed it in a branch. Then my ride back to the airport arrived.

The same young woman who brought me to Idube also drove me back to the airport. I told her about my challenges with the young US young women, and we had a pleasant conversation on the 2-hour drive back to Nelspruit. Johanna told me that middle class South Africans can’t afford time at the private reserves. It was certainly a rare treat for me, too, something I couldn’t typically afford, and am very grateful to have had that opportunity.

1 August - A Happy Birthday!

I woke up at 5:30am so was ready to roll before 6:30. There was another beautiful sunrise, and it was a bit warmer this morning. We tracked for a long time and saw only occasional impalas, nyalas, babbons, warthogs, mongoose, and birds. We also found the elephants we watched the other day. But it seemed no one had found any cats or rhinos. We stopped for a coffee break in the grassland and decided we’d try to go in where others had heard lions but not been able to find them. Finally, we
saw a lioness, and soon after, her sister and their three cubs. The females were beautiful, and the cubs were adorable, especially the one that is just a couple
months old. The moms would get up and walk, and the cubs would eventually get up and follow. Rob said they looked a bit thin and were in need of a kill. What a perfect Leo present for me to see the lions!

On our way back, we again saw the leopard from yesterday, but today she was sound asleep near the road. It ended up a great morning, and I got some wonderful photos. I had a filing breakfast and am now sitting on my porch just taking in the beautiful weather, scenery, and quiet. I do have to grade papers, but what a setting for it! Today is warm enough to use my private outdoor shower, and I will enjoy it!

This afternoon, seven people arrived – a couple working in Angola (she’s from Brazil, and he from ZA); and five Americans. From what I can gather, the parents also work in Angola, and their three young adult girls are visiting. I have to admit, I enjoyed it much more when I didn’t have to listen to silly US girl talk on the game rides, so I’m glad I had that time to myself before.


On the afternoon/evening ride, we saw several rhino (seven, I think), about 4 bull elephants (one that dared us on a bridge while crossing through the river!), a giraffe, a leopard, mongoose, water buck, and three sleeping male lions (one of whom woke up long enough to give us some great photos). It was much warmer today, though the girls were complaining that they were freezing. Again, we could see the Milky Way on the ride back, though there was a crescent moon out tonight, so it wasn’t quite as brilliant.

For dinner I tried eland, ZA’s largest antelope. It was good, but tough compared to the ostrich. Melinda and the staff came out at the end singing “Happy birthday” to me and carrying in a chocolate cake covered with strawberries and kiwi. Altogether, it’s been a rare and wonderful mini-vacation.

31 July

After a sound night’s sleep, staff knocked on my door at 6am for the morning game drive. It was only about 8 degrees (Celsius), so I was glad I bought a fleece yesterday. Armed in four layers of clothes, I joined the others for a quick cup of tea and hopped into one of the large open jeeps. We stopped to watch two female elephants with their three babies for a while. It’s amazing how close they walked towards the jeep (about 5 feet away)! Next we saw a medium-sized rhino.


After that, my first cat! The oldest lion of the pride, at 13. He was more interested in sleeping than paying attention to us. I few minutes later, we tracked two younger males (10 and 11) in search of a female in their pride who did not yet have cubs. It was thrilling to watch them in the wild. We saw rhino in a watering hole, a brown snake eagle, and impala. Then we found a female leopard and stayed with her for a while. She was beautiful. On our way back, we watched nine elephant (four young ones – we think the ones we saw this morning along with four others). We also saw a male, but he was well hidden in the bush.


We came back for breakfast around 10, then I went for a nature walk with Rob. He showed me prints of elephants, hyenas, jackals, rhinos, and mongoose. At a camellia tree, Rob told me that the tree has significance in South Africa because clan medicine men use parts of it in rituals. They also believe that it can make women heavy (and they like their women heavy), so they have their girls pray under the trees so that they will grow up heavy. So maybe I can blame my camellia bush in Georgia!

Rob showed me around matted pile of rhino dung and told me that the males mark their territory by stamping their dung into a round pile. The females defecate around his pile but do not stamp theirs. If another male rhino wants to challenge the original, it defecates in the middle of the circle but does not stamp it down (like throwing down the gauntlet). However, a white rhino male can mess in a black rhino’s spot and vice versa, because they are not a challenge to one another.
When impalas are in season, the male will spread his dung in a large pile, then pursue as many females as he can. However, he is too busy to groom himself, so he will acquire up to 6 times more parasites than the other males, which means he tires quickly, sometimes within 24-48 hours. Then, another male steps in and adds to the pile, taking over until he is too weary from parasites. By the end of the season, the pile is huge!

Rob also told me wonderful stories of biodiversity and ways in which the trees and the animals support life for one another. For instance, all impala give birth within a two-week period, right after the first rains come in the spring. If an impala was impregnated late in the mating season, she gives birth to a small baby; one with a longer gestation gives birth to a larger baby. This is because there is less chance of the babies being killed if they are born and stay together in a huge group. If there will be a drought, the impalas all spontaneously abort the fetuses, because they could not take care of themselves and babies without water. Regarding the termite hills, trees grow on them because they do not eat living cellulose. The hills provide space to create fungus from dead wood, and the termites eat the fungus. The roots of the tree create favorable conditions by drawing water, and each termite carries a drop at a time to the dead wood to make the fungus. If it gets too hot or too dry, they can open or close their some of their numerous tunnels to keep the conditions just right.

It seems that the folks who were to join us this afternoon missed their plane, so it is to be me for the rest of the day. It’s so peaceful. I’m sitting on my porch with nyalas, warthogs, and vervit monkeys all around me. The monkeys jump onto my roof, then leap to the trees, race down, and run across the lawn. Sometimes there will be a loud chattering of some kind of animal in the distance, and the nyala will become watchful for a moment, then go back to grazing. Then there is just the sound of the wind as it rustles through the leaves, and the sound movements of nyala hooves as the animals move to graze.

Melissa, one of the managers, ate lunch with me. She’s having ostrich prepared for our dinner, and she and her husband Rudy will eat with me. I left with Rob and Ron (the trackers; actually, they are both excellent trackers) shortly after for the afternoon game drive. This time we found the elephants again, along with water buck, a zebra, giraffes, and kudu. We also spotted a beautiful older kudu male with gorgeous horns. We tracked two lionesses and their three cubs for a while, but it got dark before we could find them. Maybe tomorrow.

Rob showed me the Southern Cross and Scorpio constellations as it was dusk. When we were driving back, it became dark, and I looked up and saw the brilliance of stars that can only be seen when one is completely away from the electricity of cities and towns. I also thought I saw a light patch across the sky. I asked Rob, “Can you see the Milky Way in the Southern hemisphere?” He asked Ron to turn off his flashlight, and Rob turned off the lights on the vehicle. There it was, a white steak across the sky, the first time I had ever seen it.

Back at camp, we had a delicious meal of giant shrimp, ostrich with potatoes and carrots, and a crepe with cream and strawberries for desert while sitting by the fire. I’m back in my room now, warmed from the outside cold, catching up my blog entries (I’ll have to post when I get to Maputo; there’s not really service here to do it). I’ll grade a few more papers before getting to bed.

27-30 July

Solomon and Martin brought us back to Kampala after we had a morning meeting with Bwonyo Bosco, the District Educational Administrator for Lira. I met with him last November and felt he was a very good administrator. We had another positive meeting on this morning, and he was happy about the concepts and plans of the Unity Project.
We returned to the Fairway, as it is a reasonably priced hotel. Fortunately, this trip took the expected 5, and not 13, hours of travel!

On Thursday, John had several meetings with people who could potentially help us figure out partial funding. I went with Solomon and Martin to the Curriculum Development Office and picked up the teacher’s curriculum objectives for English, history, biology, and entrepreneurship (the latter I gave to John) to begin looking at ways in which we might integrate the Unity concepts with the curriculum. In the evening, we met Cornelius and Betty from Makerere University for dinner to review how our past week went. They are also interested in learning more when we return.

Friday morning, John and I met with some of his friends in Kampala who took us to my hotel in Entebbe. They also have some contacts and ideas for funding. It was a pleasure to rest in the quiet of the Boma and try to catch up and review our work over the past two weeks and plans from here. John expressed his gratitude for the trip, and we talked about how we would continue once we had a chance to catch our breath and review what we found on this trip. He left just after 8pm for his return flight, and I got an early bedtime, as I leave at 5:15am for South Africa in the morning.


Saturday: Travel to Jo’burg was uneventful, and I arrived at Nelspruit at mid-day for a couple days of r&r before continuing to the educational conference in Maputo. Being so close to South Africa’s famed Kruger Game Park from Maputo, I decided to pay for a mini-vacation of 2 ½ days on safari. The drive to Sabi Sands was lovely. In the beginning, it reminded me so much of New England, with the rolling hills, small mountains, lakes, and trees. There were hectares and hectares of Cyprus trees planted for paper, followed by pines, then banana trees, citrus trees, and occasional palms. Then we came to the bush. En route we saw some impalas and other deer-like animals.

Idube Game Reserve is quite beautiful, and also quite back to basics. Yes, I have hot water! And a beautiful room. But only the briefest internet access, and no radio or tv in my room. It will be refreshing. Tonight I ate with 12 others around the boma. Most are leaving tomorrow afternoon – I hope others replace them! For now, I am dead tired after another full day of travel and look forward to just crashing for a good night’s sleep.

26 July - final workshop

This morning we had 48 participants as we continued to explain the principles of the Unity Project and hold more group exercises. We began just before 10 and went until about 3pm, finishing with the organizations explaining their strengths, challenges, and opportunities. We asked them to continue with the exercises, extending them to their entire organizations and to determine one challenge to focus on for the next three months. We explained that these two meetings were more of an orientation to the UP and that more in-depth trainings will begin when we return. It was a very productive meeting. We have many partners already - Children of Hope Uganda,the Barlonya School, Alternatives to Violence (AVCOH), St. Katherine's School for girls, Rachele Secondary School, Friedi's Rehabilitation Center, Te-Cwoa, and one more - a counseling center that is based at Rachele. It is far more than we hoped for, and it shows us how excited the organizations and schools are to work together. Everyone in attendance was so warm and inviting.

One more meeting tomorrow, and we will return to Kampala.

25 July - Many meetings!

Our morning started at Rachele Secondary School, a school that began as a rehabilitation Centre during the war. The principal brought together a couple teachers and staff to meet as he described the history of Rachele and we talked about ways in which the Unity Project might be of assistance. It went very well!


From there we went to AVCOH, an NGO that works on gender-based violence, HIV/AIDS training and support, and water issues. Most of the staff are volunteer (if not all). What big hearts they have - all the time they put in when they must be in need of making money for themselves. Some of the stories, circumstances, and statistics they gave us regarding the sex trade, unwanted children, HIV testing, and water issues made me cry. Most of these terrible conditions are linked to the abject poverty many people in the area live with. Education is needed, but there must also be conditions that permit parents to value education and their children (especially the girls)and for them to afford fees along with the basics of housing, food, and sanitation.



Next we went to Te-Cwao, where the women greeted us with ululations and song. What a welcome! There we talked with Ester and the director about this CBO's history and purpose. Similar to COHU, it is to support local people with their hanidwork as well as returned children. Their work is beautiful, but there is little market in Lira. We hope to help the organization with selling their work online and/or in the US. We watched the women and a couple men as they rolled and strung paper beads, woven baskets, and wove purses out of banana leaves. Nearby is an IDP camp, mostly emptied now, but with a few families still there. Abject poverty comes to mind.



Our last meeting was at St. Katherine's Secondary School for Girls. We met with Emma, a teacher and counselor, who told us that of the school's 1000 girls, near 200 were former abducted girls. She said that psycho-social issues, parents, early pregancy, and HIV/AIDS were among the challenges faced by the school. We attended an assembly of all the girls after and spoke briefly to them. They presented a skit about being a good friend and HIV/AIDS prevention as well as a news report. We invited Emma to attend our workshop tomorrow.

We are learning so much it is hard to process it all. Thank goodness for storage devices like digital recorders, cameras, and videos.

24 Sunday - Radio Wa and Teens Magazine

Back to work! At 10, Martin (whom we have nicknamed “dogola,” Lao for “the doorway,” as he has made sure we get where we need to be, have materials we need, brings together our partners, etc., etc.) had his parents meet us at the hotel. They bicycled 20 kilometres from their village just to meet us! They were such gracious people. Martin also invited a friend of his, named Emma. Who is a counselor at St. Katherine’s School for Girls. It was the place where I had my bests intereviews with students in November, so we were thrilled to meet her. She invited us to an assembly at the school on Monday afternoon, so one more appointment to squeeze in!



From there we went to Radio Wa to meet with Emmanuel (also called Emma). He and a group of volunteers are doing wonderful work at schools and with drop outs with presentations about social skills. We showed us the development plan for his work. He also creates a bi-weekly program for the radio which is produced in the native language. He called it a “radio soap,” in which he and his volunteers put on a verbal skit about some social issue, then invite comment from listeners. Emma mentioned that violence, teen sex and pregnancy, HIV, and drugs/alcohol are all problems among youth. About 30-40% of children/young people are not in school for various reasons.

Emma lives on 150,000 Ugandan shillings/month (about $40 US). He is very intelligent. He had only one semester of university before his support dried up. He told us that he decided if he could not attend university, he could return to Lira and give back to his community. Emma’s parents died when he was young, and he was raised by people in the community.

So many pieces are coming together , fitting perfectly into a Unity Project. It’s more than we hoped for. Next week is also jam packed with meetings, another workshop, and presentations. We need more time!!

Fortunately, we did not have afternoon meetings scheduled, so we are now at Sankofa trying to catch everything up before we hit the ground running on Monday. Funny note inside the bathroom door: I’m sure it is meant to be “Push door and lock.” It says, however, “Push door, and luck.” Indeed!!

23 July - Murchison Falls Game Reserve

Martin and Solomon wanted to take us to Murchison Falls Game Park today. It was wonderful, but also very tiring, as we were away for about 15 hours. We drove through the south entrance of the park which is heavily forested. There we saw lots of baboons. There are also opportunities to trek for chimpanzees (we did not have time). We drove to the top of Murchison Falls) – it is probably the most powerful falls I have ever seen. Then we took the ferry over the Victoria Nile to the north side of the park (Paraa). We ate at the lodge were I stayed in November, then found a game trekker to ride with us to find animals. We saw many giraffes, some elephants, water buck, Jackson’s herdabeasts, kobs, hippos, water buffalo, wart hogs, jackals, and beautiful birds. As we traveled, we got to know more about each other and talked about the workshop and more details of our project.

22 July - Unity workshop

We were up and prepared to begin our morning workshop at the facilities at the hotel at 9am. We also need to adjust to African time. 9am means 10 or so. We originally expected 10-15 participants. 44 showed up from all the organizations we are beginning our work with! It was terrific. John explained the origins and underpinnings of the Unity Project. We have already seen how it fits into Lira over the past two days of meetings. There was great consensus among the participants that this would be an important project for the community. They are all doing such good work, and we have a few elements that we believe can help students and adults by using experiential exercises and problem solving groups of student action groups forming a Unity Council, and adults as a Unity Assembly to help support the children’s work. John, in particular, is brainstorming connections and ways in which to market the community goods for the members to increase their financial security.

After our tea break, we did a couple exercises with the group to help them recognize their own strengths, both individual and community. John has said a number of times, “There is nothing wrong with Uganda that cannot be fixed by what is right with Uganda.” We are intent on helping the community recognize the richness within it to solve its problems together.

Mid-afternoon, we came to Sankova Café (where we can use the internet) and got some work done. We also briefly met Eunice, whose program with women and children we will visit on Tuesday afternoon. I also met her in November 2010. It was a long, but exciting day.

21 July - COHU and the Barlonya school

Today was such a moving day. We began at the COHU office, meeting Esther and Solomon. Esther told us about the beginnings of COHU, under a tree, with no building or resources. She had been an elementary school teacher, but after the war, she just wanted to find a way to help the children and women who were so affected by the war. COHU now has many programs that help the children and widows. The grandmothers received training to make beads, baskets, toy animals, and clothing. They sell the products to receive money to support themselves and orphan children they agree to take in. some also receive seeds or livestock or ox plows to support themselves in exchange for supporting the children of COHU. Esther showed us a project she did with the children in which they drew pictures of before and after being supported by the women and/or the Barlonya School. The before pictures are filled with guns, soldiers, hangings, fighting, coffins. The after are happy pictures.

We then traveled to Barlonya, the site of the largest massacre of the war. It was an IDP camp, and the rebels entered on Jul 27, 2006(?) in the evening. It was a day of a national holiday, so all the village was celebrating. Rebels forced over 300 people into the huts and burned them alive, forcing the rest of the village to watch. They also killed people with machetes. There is a memorial there (though the number of those killed is inaccurate, at just over 100). The caretaker of the memorial said that bones are still appearing as they dig near the mass grave, and they had to close one of their water pumps because human remains were found close by.



The students at Barlonya are teens and young 20-s who were either in IDP camps or were abducted. They have very few resources and are in need of classrooms, provisions and dorms for teachers, and a kitchen (they feed all the children using a large pot over an open fire-see photo; this is a problem on rainy days). The total school populations is about 399, but not all students show up regularly because they must often search for food.



The widows of Barlonya offered us a program in which they danced and sang. The first was about the terrors of the war and moving past that tragedy. The second was about HIV and protection. Then all the students arrived. A group of girls began by singing two songs. The first was “We march together, we march together as a family – We march together…with additional verses on we sing, we pray, we work, we dance, etc. John has added captions to his video on this song for a You Tube and Unity Project video explaining what the children and women endured. Then a boy drummed on a plastic water bucket and other students danced. John, Solomon, and I all spoke to the students and women, thanking them for their beautiful performance. It was very moving.



When we returned to Lira, we were invited by Consy to dinner with the family. Consy, her husband Richard, Grace, the grandmother, and the children there were so welcoming. We ate, and then Consy, Richard, and Grace all told parts of the story. We did not probe into the details of Grace’s 8 years of captivity, but we did hear the details of how she escaped and was reunited with her family. Grace is now quite a leader at Gulu University, where she heads the group of formerly abducted girls at the university and does other peace-building work. She has a 7-year old daughter (her son died during their captivity; both children were fathered by the rebel to whom she was given as a “wife”).

From a moving day, John and I returned to Suites 291 (our hotel) where we were greeted by thousands of “white ants” hovering by our doorways. It reminded me of Hitchcock’s “The Birds”! So, again, we ended up laughing hysterically as we each battling our ways into our respective rooms. Mine was far worse, as my porch light was left on, and I couldn’t escape entering with a battalion of them. Laughing like crazy, I armed myself with my insect repellent and must have used half the bottle killing them, then sweeping them into a wet pile on the floor before taking my cold evening shower. It is great to travel with John, because he is also able to be completely patient and see both the humor and the lesson in everything that happens like this. Cold shower? Big deal – so many have no clean water at all. Bugs in the rooms? Hey, at least we have a rooms for protection against the rain. We’re picking up the local phrase, ‘s ok, that basically means “no worries; all is ok.”

20 July - Friedis Rehabilitation Centre, Lira

A phone call woke me up. It was 9 am!! I am sure all the adrenalin I used up on Tuesday just knocked me out. Martin and John were waiting. Martin wanted up to try another hotel. It was good advice. We each have a small apartment for the equivalent of $40/night, and though it is not in town, they will drive us where we want to go.



Next, we headed off to Freidis Rehabilitation Center. We were greeted by the director, Christopher, and two other staff members. Christopher told us the story of founding the Centre, a dream of his Norwegian wife (who died in 2009) and himself. Then Joseph gave us detailed information about the programs run by the center. They focus their work on disabled children, war affected children, parent groups, and micro-financing adults. John explained the Unity Project approach, and we saw so much opportunity for collaboration. We spent at least 5 hours there. We are brainstorming ways to make the psycho-social and educational aspects become self-sufficient through business done by those involved.

We waited to meet with a USAID officer, but he did not arrive. It was ok; we were tired after the travel day, and we also had to move to other rooms after we had each settled into a room: John because he was getting two for the price of one (electricity when trying to take a shower – not good!), and me, because my electricity stopped working altogether. I was pleased, because my original room was right next to the generator (there is never 24 hours of continuous town power), and it was very noisy. Tomorrow is very busy, meeting with Esther (director of Children of Hope Uganda), her husband Solomon (director of the Barlonya Technical School), and Grace Akan and her mother Consy (Grace was abducted for 8 years, and her mother was a leader of the Concerned Parents Association).

19 July - en route to Lira

We checked out and proceeded at 9am with our 13+ hour that was supposed to take 5 hours trip to Lira. You don't want the details. The last major mishap occurred because our driver decided to take a "short cut." It was a rough dirt road in a car that couldn't take it. We bottomed out on a major bump and had to "crawl" into a tiny village at about 5 mph where we ended up waiting for five hours (could've made it to Lira again in that time), first to repair the car (it didn't happen). Then for another car to get us and continue the journey. We arrived in Lira after 10pm, exhausted. fortunately, Martin's smiling face was at the Pan Afric Hotel to greet us. The staff were kind enough to feed us a late dinner. Martin has been doing so much work to make everything run smoothly.

So crash to bed for a full day tomorrow.

18 July 2011 - Kampala

Our morning meeting with UNICEF was a bit of a bomb. The director with whom John communicated for a couple weeks via email and to whom he sent information about our work and received a 10am appointment for this morning, left before we got there to fly to Nairobi. His secretary, with whom John also communicated several times, did not seem to remember anything about it. We were sent to speak with a different official who knew nothing about us and who seemed totally disinterested and condescending. I explained to John that this has been my experience with the international ngo's. To some extent, I understand that they probably receive many people who want to do something but don't really have much of a plan. This is not the case with us, and John sent a plan along with our backgrounds and experience. But the official who received it was not there for the appointment.

We had a 4pm appointment with a political science lecturer who prefers to be anonymous, and several hours to fill. I suggested that we simply go to the US Embassy, as John had tried numerous times to email and call them, with no response. So we took a taxi there. It was a pretty ominous place with signs all along its gates that read, "No photos, no stopping, no - something else." We explained our purpose and finally received a phone number that had not been published on the website, tried it, got a secretary who said no one was available, but she would try to contact someone for us. About 20 minutes later, we got a call from an official who said he would be in Lira on Wednesday and we could meet then.

We decided we would leave for Lira tomorrow instead of Wednesday. The political science lecturer arrived at 4 and spoke with us until about 7. We got a great deal of historical and political background about the country. We decided we couldn't take another day of the restaurant food, so we went to Centenary Park , where there are at least a half dozen restaurants in a pretty outdoor setting and we could get something besides Indian food. At that time, I received a call from a partner in Lira telling me she cannot wait for the two of us to arrive. I have received so many email greetings from the folks in Lira. It will be nice to get there tomorrow.

17 July - Full Day!

As I began my day with a warm shower - ah! - my first at this hotel! I thought about precious things we so take for granted in the US. Things like expecting we will have hot water for bathing and safe water to drink. When I pour from my big water bottle into more portable16 oz. bottles, I get upset when I miss and lose precious spills onto a counter top. At home, such things are trivial; here they are important.

We had plans to meet our colleagues from Makerere University in the late afternoon, so we had our morning open. Religion is a major part of Ugandan life, with over 80% of the people identifying as Christian. Neither John or I are Christian, and we were in the interesting situation in which there was only one of our religious assemblies in the whole of the country, both located in Kampala. Sadly, for mine, Unitarian Universalists, the minister has had to flee the country because of the UU support for GLBT people. The government of Uganda has long tried to implement a law that would sanction death for those found "guilty" of being gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender. Always, the international community has threatened withdrawal of support if such a bill were to pass. Still, being non-heterosexual can land a person in jail in this country. Because Unitarians support the GLBT community, the church in Uganda has been under attack. With the minister curerntly in the US, the congregation seems to have stopped its meetings at present.



John is a Ba'hia, and one of the five temples in the world is situated in Kampala. So we went there for the Sunday service. It was similar to a Quaker meeting, though not as spontaneous. It was nice to see the position of importance children were given in the service. Between the readings, there was such beautiful music in many part harmony made by a 15-member choir. Music and readings were given in four languages.

Afterwards, we were invited to the temple director's home for "tea," which ended up being a lovely Ethiopean meal. We spoke about our work and learned about possible connections with people in the country with a similar vision.

We returned to our hotel about a half hour before Betty and Cornelius from Makerere arrived. This was another very fruitful meeting in which we had the benefit of their wisdom on the local post-war situations, and they got to hear our thoughts for creating a program that was really built on the ideas of the people and students in Lira. We talked about the instinctual "fight or flight" mind of people, and how we can gain, through mindfulness, a compassionate response to problems based on awareness and intentionality. It was a very good meeting.

Tomorrow, we meet with UNESCO in the morning and a political science lecturer at Makerere in the afternoon, who will give us a better perspective on the political history of the conflict and present-day challenges. For now, I am exhausted! and in great need of rest. So much to process.

15-16 July: Jinja,Entebbe, Kampala

I rose early to get in the half day of rafting one of world's most exciting rapids - those of the White Nile, the source of the Nile, in Jinja. En route, I sat next to a young woman going for her Ph.D. in forced migration (small world)! So I gave her my card, and she said she would be in contact with me. She is from Oregon but lives in Norway, and we thought we might write a comparative paper on policies for resettled refugees in our countries. (Even relaxation can include work!)



I was surprised that the Nile level is up, given the terrible drought in the lakes region. We did two level 5s and two level 3s. The one that was the worst was our third rapid, a level 3, because it was slow moving, so hard to get out of when we capsized the boat! (see our picture). The last one, called "the bad place," is situated alongside a level 6 - not to be ventured by amateurs. It looked like our raft was heading straight for the gaping hole in the middle! I've never paddled so hard in my life. But we came out clear and no one fell overboard.

Good thing I settled for half-day: the traffic in Kampala was so bad that it took over three hours to get back (should take 2 tops). Three hours later, I was back in a car to meet my project and research partner, John Woodall. John and I met when I was still at CNN and he at Harvard, and we have wanted to do a project like this for 15 years. We are so excited to begin, and we spent much of Saturday morning and early afternoon solidifying the plans. We hope to meet with our Makarere colleagues tomorrow.

13-14 july - In transit

Sue and Hope got me to the Accra Airport for my noon flight. It was about 7 hours to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to catch the next plane to Entebbe. I wish I'd had time to shop in the duty-free there. The women's gauze-like clothing was beautiful.

Got to Entebbe at 2am and went to a nearby hotel to crash for the night. In the morning, April, the manager (originally from Oregon) gave me lots of tips and advice. The Boma is a low-cost, but nice hotel about 5 minutes from the airport so will be a stoppiong place again.

My Kampala driver arrived a couple hours late, but I had no appointments for today, so it was fine. I'm now at the Fair Way in Kampala where my colleague John and I will stay for 6 days to begin meeting with potential funders for the continuance of the project and also with our colleagues at Makerere University. He arrives tomorrow night, so tomorrow morning, I will return to Jinja for a personal morning to white water raft the Nile. Unfortunately, I won't have time to do the full day (and the largest, last rapid), but morning will be good and still give me time to return, do some work, and meet John back at Entebbe.

12 July - Buduburam Refugee Camp

This morning, Hope and I set off for the refugee camp mid-morning. The traffic in Accra was – well, you have to see it to believe it! I had to keep reminding myself to breathe. I told Hope I would never drive there. He laughed at me. We talked about his children and the situation with Joseph. Hope is obviously a caring and ethical man. When we arrived at the camp, he decided to park at the UN office and follow with me for the day. I’m glad he did, as he was not aware of the camp, and it ended up a learning experience for him, too.




Tom was waiting for me at the office. It was a cheerful meeting! After signing in with the camp officer, Tom led Hope and me through a labyrinth of tiny dwellings until we reached his home. There I met his mother, who has so happy to meet me and thanked me for helping her son. Tom was THRILLED at my gift of a laptop (which he partially paid for by what he has made through my sales of his artwork). Their entryway barely contained the three of us, and at 5’2”, I had to duck to go inside. Tom led us around the back of the home to the entrance to his small bedroom. It is packed with his amazing artwork, and he does much of his work there by dim light. He showed us many of his works, showing his development over the past couple years. Tom is 17, and he began painting at 14. I gave his mother a candle, and I also gave Tom computer CDs and some art supplies. He was so grateful. Tom is a gentle, quiet, but thoughtful young man. He just passed his exams and must look for a secondary school for the next term.


Then he led us to Philip’s home, about 10 minutes through narrow paths boarded by small dwellings everywhere. Philip’s home is a bit bigger, but also inhabited by more family members and children. When his mother saw me, she just put her arms around me and said “thank you, thank you,” over and over. She looked weaker than Tom’s mother. Both women are tiny. Then I met the family members and handed out the same presents, equally joyfully received. I knew there were small children in Philip’s family, so I also brought a couple stuffed animals, which the little girls were thrilled with. I am sure they are the only toys like that they have ever had.

Tom and Philip took Hope and me about a half hour’s walk to a quiet hotel where we could sit outside with cold water and conduct our interview. I was surprised at how strongly the boys want to return to Liberia after their education and help to rebuild their country. Both of them had to leave Liberia as toddlers, by car or bus. Philip’s father died in Liberia from disease, and his mother was ill. His older brothers got them to Cote d’Ivroire where they stayed at a camp for a couple years. An older brother took his mom onto Buduburam when she became ill later, and Philip followed about a year later. Tom’s family came directly to Buduburam, but his father remained in Liberia, where he is still. So many women are left to care for their children on their own, and they often do not have the skills or health to earn wages through jobs. They live on meager handouts from the UN (which has drastically cut rations in the past several years), moneys sent from relatives who are abroad, their children’s assistance, ngo’s, and people like me.

Both boys are passionate about their artwork, and they are the closest of friends. I was quite surprised that Philip was more articulate than Tom, as the boys’ emails have led me to believe that Tom is the more mature of the two. They are both equally remarkable in their grace, their motivation, and their dedication to their families, their education, and their studies. Philip was a t the top of his class in this year’s exams. I hope their friendship stays so close if one succeeds more at art than the other. They are clearly a support for one another, and they expressed strong motivation (and better life values) as a result of their art and their amazing encouragement by their mothers.



We went back to the UN office, and Tom and Philip went to get their artwork they want me to bring back to the States and their mothers (I had told them in email that I wanted to take them and their mothers to lunch. Hope and I waited for about an hour when they began to arrive. I took not only their mothers, but their brothers and sisters for lunch! It ended up 12 of us. For 12 chicken and rice meals, it only cost me 96 Gh cedis (so, about $75US). They were big meals; I couldn’t begin to eat all of mine. We pooled the leftovers into plastic bags for the families to take back for later. I knew they had a couple good, healthy meals out of the day. They were all very warm and appreciative. While we waited, everyone was so quiet that I worried I had made a mistake about the meal. But we eventually felt more comfortable with one another.

Goodbyes were hard, but I am so grateful to have had the day with the boys and their families and learn more detail about their lives. Traffic returning in Accra was just as bad and it took nearly 3 hours. Sue cooked dinner, and I showed Phil and her the artwork. There is one large painting by Tom that I think could result in a sale of a few thousand dollars. It is a beautiful , colorful, joyful piece of a man playing a xylophone. It exudes so much joy and movement. I am bringing back about 10 canvases. I will look for an African gallery to sell them and send back the proceeds.

11 July 2011 Akwaaba from Accra

The plane departing Newark was a couple hours late, but it was the best overseas flight I’ve had in my life. I used miles to upgrade to business, and the seats converted to flat beds, so I slept 7.5 hours straight and felt great when Sue and their driver, Hope, collected me. It’s been wet in Uganda, so while the temp is cool (around 80), it is also muggy.

Met Sue and Phil Mandy on my last trip in 2010 when I stayed with Peter and Grace French, formally at USF. They are wonderful hosts, and I felt at home. We had dinner of shrimp and rice at the Guest House restaurant, then went back to their university home. It’s an interesting place – built in a square around a lovely open-to-air enclosure; all the rooms are behind the hallways that enclose the garden.

Before Phil returned from work, Sue and I chatted about what had been going on since I last met them. Sue told me about trying to volunteer at the Basic Primary School on the university and her huge dismay when she saw children practicing their writing with their left hand tied behind their back if they were left-inclined (even at the university, it was not tolerated), lack of provisions for special needs, and her witnessing of a young child being severely beaten by an older student who was told to take over the classroom for an absent teacher. She said there is high absenteeism among teachers, and though the university is aware of the conditions, it turns a blind eye to it, and the professors send their children to expensive private schools, leaving the university school to children of staff. I told her this procedure sounds similar to that in poor districts in the US (without the extreme child treatment).

She told me of an abandoned child who she and Phil have been trying to help. Joseph started showing up near their home when they first arrived in Ghana. She discovered he had been given to a divorced 60-year old woman through her church, and she used him as a servant. He rarely went to school and would show up to Sue with bleeding hands from the canings he received. She has done some battle with social services and finally was able to have him placed in a good orphanage in Accra with a good school supporting it.

Tomorrow I set out for Buduburam. It feels good to be here again!

7 days countdown

I'm sitting in the quiet of my Bradenton, FL home, aware that just 7 days from now I will begin my 20-hour return to Ghana, where I will reconnect with friends I met via Peter and Grace French in Jan 2010 as well as the two young artists I help in Buduburam Refugee Camp. After my two trips in 2010, I know much more what to expect, so I am excited and not apprehensive. It will be like a reunion in Ghana and Uganda. I will take one day off in the first two weeks to raft the Nile again. It was so amazing the first time I did this in Nov 2010 with co-researchers Jan and Marc; I hardly believe I will have the good fortune to challenge these huge white rapids yet again.

The first week will involve interviews with the boys in Buduburam and meeting their families and taking them to lunch, then two weeks in Kampala and Lira, Uganda working on what my co-worker, John Woodall, and I hope will become a multi-year project to create improved networking and relations between community members and former child soldiers in the northern town of Lira.

I get to spend my birthday on safari at Sabi Sands, a private game reserve bordering Kruger in South Africa. I've done four safaris - parks further south in South Africa and in Murchison Falls in Uganda, but not one known for sightings of big cats, so I'm hopeful. From there, on to an education conference in Maputo, Mozambique, to present a paper with a co-researcher from Makerere University (we will also work together in Uganda).

I blogged the other two trips (jlmcbrien.blogspot.com, and jlmuganda.blogspot.com. I like to write when everything is fresh in my mind. I had a few friends ask me if I would blog again so they could follow along. This will be the place!