New country!

Today Tony and I were on our own. Isaac and Ronnie went to Entebbe to pick up the new guy who, it turned out, never turned up. They waited all day. He likely got stuck in Dubai, which was his connection from London. I am happy I did not choose to go thru Dubai as I have heard nothing good about that connection...

Anyhoo, Tony and I took what was my longest trip ever. I am guessing it was 30-40 miles out into Neverland (I cant recall the village name). We took a boda, then a taxi, then another boda. The last boda was by far the longest stretch and was once again over badly washed out roads. This boda driver drove like a bat out of hell and I was pretty concerned, thinking that this guy had about a 12 month supply of confidence. The road narrowed, had sharp hills, gullys, etc. At one point he jumped from road center to so far right that my right leg was getting clobbered by roadside bushes. Then I realized that this guy had done this road so many times that he could have done it blindfolded. He knew exactly what he was doing' I relaxed and then...

We drove through a huge tea plantation that was absolutely gorgeous. The plantation was at the top of a plateau and off in the distance there were forested mountains all around us. This was a far cry from the parched, pocked, dusty, godforsaken, Mars-like land that Alice came from. Also in the distance there were people carrying huge harvests on their heads, across the fields. How do you describe breathtakingly beautiful? That part of the trip was all too short. We actually got lost in our rubbernecking and wound up at a school out in the middle of nowhere and had to turn around and go back about 5 minutes to re-do a wrong turn. We finally landed at the correct school.

At each school we are asked to sign a guest book 2hen we arrive, and we were asked to do it here as well. I am often struck at the size of the books versus the number of visitors. Today we were visitors nos. 8 and 9...and this school is 4 years old. The headmaster tells us that the school started with 128 students but the scourge of AIDS has increased the number of children attending because they get a small stipend for orphans. This headmaster introduced me as being from Colorado USA and asked the kids who else in the USA did they like? In unison the answer is OBAMA. When he asked me what I think of Mr. Obama, I gave him a two thumbs up. The kids cheered and thought the two thumbs up gesture to their headmaster was pretty funny.

This school had painted on the outside walls of one of the buildings things like AIDS KILLS and BOTH BOYS AND GIRLS SHOULD REMAIN VIRGINS and DONT ACCEPT GIFTS IN EXCHANGE FOR SEX. We also talked to the children about these things since the headmaster told us previously that he had a high drop out rate from the girls. The girls meet sugardaddys (exchanging gifts for sex) and find themselves HIV positive...and drop out.

After the school visit the headmaster walked us the first 2 miles back to that crazy road. As we passed the houses with grass roofs he told me that the homes with grass roofs stay so cool they can be used like refrigerators. Then he pointed to all of the homes that were missing their roofs. These are homes where the people have died of AIDS and the homes turn to ruin. There were too many of them.

I liked this headmaster a lot. This one obviously loves teaching and cares deeply about the kids in this village.

There are things I wont discuss in my blogs of a political nature until I am out of here. But there is a lot happening here. The best hope for information might be BBC.

On the crazy road, six men stopped their truck in the middle of the road and stood around the truck, essentially blocking the road. I thought perhaps they needed help. Our boda driver didnt trust them evidently. He gunned the bike, pulled over to a thin strip of dirt on the far left and threatened to run down anyone in the way. The men moved aside and we kept on truckin'.

Had a meeting with Isaac and his "board" (Scovia, Ronnie, Helen and Tonny). I had completed my needs assessment and told them I would like it if they could spend some time doing some initial prioritizing. It is going to take some time. The needs are so great and the decision tree here is so full of branches, twigs, sapsuckers and leaves, it is going to take some time to weed thruogh. I know, having spent a few weeks here, that transportation will likely be a number 1 or 2 need. In order to get anywhere one must spend money on a boda or a taxi...or spend an afternoon walking.