Week One

Well, I have some pictures, but those will come later! I will try to keep all my postings brief so that you stay interested in checking in! :) Week one has been very busy, but great. It is nice (and interesting) being back.

I got to the airport looking for Jessie- expecting a white woman and didn't realize she had sent a private driver with a sign. Ooops! After 40 minutes I saw the sign :/ oops! The drive to Kampala was quick and the hotel we stayed at was nice enough- but hot! Next day Jessie and I had cappuccino at a 'muzungu' establishment in town before taking a ride (private road- soooo luxurious compared to the taxi ride we will be taking this afternoon). It was a 5 hour ride to the north. I stayed at The White House Hotel on the first night to get one last shower in before moving to Mama Santa's home with Jess. That night I dreamt that Joe Biden was my neighbor. Bah! The next morning was an early start and we went to visit Barlonyo. We held  3 focus groups, 2 with women and 1 with the local leaders and former camp leader (Barlonyo used to be an  Internally Displaced Persons camp with 11,000 people). It is no longer a camp, but there are some who stayed. If you would like more information about their history and horror they have lived through please read this: The Barlonyo Remembrance Book.

The following day we traveled to Abia town. This is the home of Victor, the Director of AYINET, our partner organization. More on them later! We traveled about 40 minutes and arrived ready for interview groups! Victor is building a new home for his father and one for his aunt. We were able to see the construction in its first phase- I look forward to seeing it completed shortly! The town, Abia, became a camp in the height of the war- with over 30,000 people living on the land. To witness the construction of a new home, and Victor's father herding his cattle as the sun set, provided a moment of pause. It is a beautiful thing to see the peaceful place now, but that much more unsettling considering when you let yourself imagine what was an IDP camp just years ago. 

The weekend was spent in Gulu. It has become a buzzing hotspot for NGO's, and as such there was a lot of cappuccino:) We watched the soccer game at a bar with a gal who works for GuluWalk (in fact I remember her sending me boxes of materials for the walks in Dayton). It was a great trip- with a taxi van yesterday, hot, bumpy, but good- thanks for updating my Ipod Mitch- it was clutch for the 2 hour trip!

Love to all!!! Don't be afraid to leave a comment...