Uganda!!!!......and our adventures.

OUR SITE!!!!!!

2006-09-30T18:33:00.000-07:00

Ok everyone,
Praise the Lord!!! Mukama Yebazibuei!!!
awesome news! Through our awesome friend, Brandon Paddock, we have two official sites! They link up to the same exact content... but it's so sweet!!!! the two sites are www.stao-us.com and www.stao-us.org

The status of the sites are: work in progress, so they don't have all the links or information yet... but check it out and pray for STAO, and of course our amazing sites! We're so excited... so spread the word... STAO-us is going to be a reality! :)

sarah

We're home........

2006-09-17T06:37:00.000-07:00

Back in the U.S. (and Canada,for Jenny) indeed. The flights were........long. And saying goodbyes was one of the harder things I've done in awhile. I wish I could be writing a really eloquent recap of the trip for ya'll, but honestly I don't have one just yet.

Mostly in writing this blog, aside from feeling slightly self-centered, I wanted to help answer the inevitable "how was africa?" question. Not to say that we don't want to be asked about the trip.......I know I will love to talk about it at some point. But for now, I'm a jumble of thoughts and experiences and if they don't come out in a way that makes sense in talking with me, I apologize. Maybe someday I'll sort everything out enough to be able to write a nice little summary about it. Or probably not.

So, seeing as I am extremely jet-lagged and not very coherent right now, I'll write a real "we're home" update sometime in the next couple days =)

-k

Dwindling days....

2006-09-10T23:39:00.000-07:00

A quick response to a comment from the previous post....
the address is: Sue Abegg, PO BOX 1985 Sumas, WA 98295....thanks!

So we have 4 days left here....it's been pretty quiet as of late. The building is coming along nicely! Our last church service in Mafubira was bittersweet yesterday. All I can say is...leaving is going to be TOUGH.

We're mostly just getting ready to leave (and trying to figure out how the HECK we are bringing all of your souvineirs home....). Jenny is sick for like the 86th time since we've been here. I am fairly convinced that I have something growing in my left foot. And Sarah is in the middle of her series of rabies prevention shots after being bit by a wild kitty last week (which I have now affectionately named "rabies"). So, needless to say, american doctors will be an exciting and perhaps useful blessing when we get home =)

I say all that lightheartedly because really, we are fine overall, and just feel fortunate that we haven't been too seriously ill since we've been here.

By the way....baby sam is finally out of the hospital. Though we are keeping a pretty close eye on him. It's exciting still.

peace....

kate

The Building!

2006-09-05T01:04:00.000-07:00

Hey all--

Construction continues! We've been blessed with a couple donations that have allowed us to continue buying construction supplies for the time being, it's coming along nicely....we are SO EXCITED to get this building finished. It is going to be such a wonderful new home for so many kids. Thanks again to all of you that've helped us.....I've been extremely humbled by the generosity we've received.

Not a lot has happened since we've been home from Gulu. I think we've unofficially began the "ohshootwehavetoleavesoon" realization, which for me is a pretty overwhleming prospect....not that I'm not looking forward to hot showers, pizza(among other foods...), paved roads, electricity, espresso, and other comforts of home....but leaving will definetly be very tough. I am, however, very excited to see ya'll when I get back to California and then Seattle...

much love,

kate

Gulu

2006-08-31T08:58:00.000-07:00

Well. We went. We saw. We are back safe and sound in Jinja.

So we've been in Gulu for the past 2 days....for those unfamiliar, Gulu is in Northern Uganda where the Invisible Children movie was filmed, and where many of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps are for the 2 million people who have been forced out of their homes in the past 20 years because of the war between the Ugandan Goverment and the LRA rebel soldiers in the north.

It was safer than it sounds, I promise. We were never in danger. There were soldiers everywhere, but the town of Gulu itself has actually been pretty safe and free from LRA activity for the past year or two. Also, the peace talks between the LRA and the Ugandan Government that started a month or so ago have been going well and there is a cease-fire between the two in effect right now.

We were there to meet with some pastors regarding opening a branch of STAO in Gulu, and to do an informal "needs assessment" of the people, the children, the schools, etc. We got in Tuesday night after the longest hottest busride in the entire universe....let's just say Ugandan public transportation isn't any of our favorite....heh. We saw a few of the displacement camps along the road on the way, and many houses that had been abandoned by people after the LRA had come through the area. Anyhow, we met the pastors who were hosting us, found our really nice 5$ a night guesthouse (seriously, it was sweet), and went to bed....

Early Wednesday morning we went to the World Vision Children of War Rehabilitation Centre....for kids who had recently (within 6 weeks) either escaped or been rescued from captivity of the LRA (hey if all this LRA talk is confusing, invisiblechildren.com will explain it for ya....) soldiers. We got to sit with them for their morning devotions and prayers and worship...there were only about 20 kids staying there at the moment, many had recently returned to their villages, but it was really insane being able to meet these kids of whom, we were later told, many have been forced to kill their own parents, siblings, friends, and the young girls are used as sex slaves for the older LRA commanders. I could see the visible scars on many of them....wounds from machetes mostly , a couple were missing limbs, but most of their trauma is psychological. Yet, they sing and dance like normal kids...I was pretty amazed. There is another program that WV runs for child mothers...there were about 50 or so young girls(13-18) that were used as sex slaves and now have young babies as a result....so after their escapes, WV helps them with caring for their kids, getting job skills, counseling, etc. But the best part, for us, was to watch them all sing songs and run around playing games (which we got to join in...wait till you see the pictures)...the staff told us it's to help their psychological trauma. Really great time for us though...how they ran around with their babies on thier backs still baffles me.

After WV we got to go tour the Invisible Children offices. I actually ran into one of the guys, chris, who I had worked with in Seattle on the IC night commute in April....I didn't know he was coming to gulu, so it was neat to see him. But we met with a girl named Katie, whom I've heard about for probably 2 years now since I first got involved with IC, she gave us a run-down on exactly what IC is doing in Gulu, how effective their new programs have been, etc. I won't go into detail, but talk to me when we get back if you're interested....but they are doing some GREAT things in gulu, so that was really exciting to see.

After the IC offices we got to tour one of the IDP camps. Little did we know at the time, but we were being taken there by Uganda's President Museveni's sister-in-law. The camp had about 20,000 people...pretty big. It actually wasn't as bad as I expected.....though, we were told we were at the "nicest" camp of them all, I sort of wish we had gotten to see the worse ones, but we would've had to pay to have soldiers come with us (roads further out from gulu are still not completely safe from LRA). There were just thousands of huts packed together....kids everywhere....the camps are really unsanitary though, because of the congestion, also there are almost no jobs for the people, so they are mostly reliant on aid organizations for food and other necessities. Still, there were malnourished and sick kids at this camp, and we were told that many more people are starving to death and dying of malaria in the other camps.

Wednesday night we got to go visit an organization called AMAREF, which has a compound for the child night commuters that have not been able to sleep at home for fear of being captured by the rebels. So, they walk there every night and go home every morning. There were only a little over 100 kids (down from over 1500) , because technically it is supposed to be safe for them to sleep at home now, but many still choose to come to the center out of fear, and many are homeless. We sang with them and talked with them a little, they are really precious kids and it kills me when I think of what they've gone through....

Today we came home in a much cooler but cockroach infested bus, and we shared our foot room with crowing roosters (thats africa for you...). We are so, so glad we got to go to Gulu. Everything I wrote really doesn't begin to explain the experience, it was so amazing to see this place, and there is so much hope for peace and rebuilding there.....it was cool. I feel really blessed that we got to go experience it a little.

Anyhow, now we're really tired and ready for bed.

love and miss you guys....

kate :)

update from kate

2006-08-27T23:42:00.000-07:00

hey all--

so I wrote a long update and the computer deleted it....so you are getting the cliff notes version now.

-sarah didn't get to bungee. next saturday is the new plan.

-went and saw bujagali falls, though, and canoed across the nile and explored a ugandan jungle......pretty sweet.

-baby sam is in the hospital with malaria. he's not doing so well. we visit a lot.

-jenny and I went and visited the village of mayuge last week, and got to see the best little dancers, dang they were precious and most were HIV positive which broke our hearts, but God has put this spirit of joy in them when they dance that is so awesome to watch. we felt really blessed.

-we're doing well, I'm missing home a bit lately, but at the same time Uganda is beginning to feel like home.....

-we're off to do another village visit today...pastor nelson's home village, actually. should be interesting ;)

OK i think that's most of it....

peace--

kate

BUNGEE!!!

2006-08-26T00:48:00.000-07:00

Doing it today!!! Turns out, out of the 3 of us, I'll be the only doing it. I'm going to do it 3 times, just to make it up for the other two (for the record.. they're not scared.. they just don't want to do it).

Building update:

The building is still on the go. We've purchased wood, for the roof. However, we still desperately need the funds to continue to flow in, because we need to purchase the iron sheets for the roof as well, yet at the moment we don't have the funds. Construction can only continue if the funds keep rolling in. Pray that our efforts in raising our goal amount is reached.

Thank you for donating if you already have, we (the 3 of us, STAO staff, and children) appreciate your love.

Sarah <3

Make up your own title....

2006-08-20T06:35:00.000-07:00

Raising money for the building here is fun... but sometime very discouraging.. especially when no responds. But when someone does.. even if it is one email.. and a small donation.. jenny, kate, and I.... we go crazy happy!! So, for those who haven't responded.. but were planning to before this update... thanks.. and we'll be so excited for your contribution. For those who didn't hear about it.. well this is your chance to make a difference. For those who did hear about it, and didn't think to do anythying about... well please reconsider and just look into your hearts and see if you can spare any amount for these children who depend on us for assistance. I know that if everyone gives a little, and asks a little from those they know.. raising 5000$ is nothing!.. but this only works.. if you give and share the news! Help us to make a difference in this community.. help us to help Africa. Help Africa help Africa. This is a Ugandan based NGO.. lets help them succeed in taking children off the streets and giving them a chance at life!!!

Thanks!!!!

We're now done with our fourth week in UGANDA. Things are starting to get more and more familiar. Just today, William (friend who's housing us), invited us to his church in Kampala: Kampala Pentacostal Church (KPC). This is where the Watoto Children's Choir comes from. Have you heard of them? They are quite famous in the states and canada. They were leaving for the states as we were coming into the airport. They are awesome.. and we're going to see them next sunday in Kampala.

We tried to bungee jump yesterday... but the man in charge of the bungee jump won't be available until next week.. so Jenny and I will bungee and raft on the same day, SAT. They have a combo package... Kate will just raft... the bungee jumpers are just me, jenny, pastor nelson, and pastor ivan. The rafters will be me, jenny, kate, and our very good friend wyclef. It'll be very fun weekend.

so instead of bungee jumping we decided to swim in the Nile. (Jenny and I couldn't believe that we haven't swam in any real good body of water yet.. and right in our back yard there is the NILE and VICTORIA!!!) So we swam in the Nile, swimming against the currents and letting it carry us down. I tried to canoe out there.. but I got lazy and drifted for a while...realizing that it was really stupid of me.. cause getting back was a trial. Simon our other very good friend had to help me paddle back to shore... OOPS!!

Do you guys want to hear a real lame story? Well if you don't just skip over this part.. you're prob really tired of reading this anyways if you are... So, I'm taking this GEN ST 350 course offered at UW while I'm here. I'm unofficially an intern here as well.. anyways.. they told me before I left that I don't have to write my paper until after my internship/volunteering at STAO was over.. but they emailed me on thursday saying that my evaluation and paper was due friday!!! LOL!!! I haven't even heard from my academic advisor all this time!! I bet she's forgotten me... that or she just doesn't check her mail. So anyways I was very stressed. Out of all the places to have to write a paper.. here in AFRICA!!!... I spent an all nighter (practically) writing a 10 page paper using limited sources I was lucky enough to find at the Jinja Hospital.. thanks to GOD's amazing grace!!! If William wasn't the care taker of that library.. I would have had no sources and I wouldn't have been able to write anything. Sometimes.. God gives me stress.. but he always manages to pull me through! I asked for an extension.. which they did give me.. but I wrote the paper just in case they didn't. Now I have time to revise it an whatnot. At least I don't have to write one when I get back. That's a blessing, yeah? Pray that my advisor reads her emails and responds. I'm desperate. thanks.

Monday I start volunteering at the Jinja hospital. That'll be interesting.. but on monday jenny and kate are going to go visit the orphans at Mayuge. They were the orphans who welcomed us with traditional music and dance the first day we arived. I am so sad that I'll be missing the chance to see them again. I'll have fun watching people get tested and get negative results(hopefully)!!! yeah!!! Anyways.. the labratories here are really primitive.. more than primitive.. practically ancient. Really old and falling apart. Not very sanitary either. Because of Uganda's electricity problem... every other day the refridgerator that keeps the blood cold doesn't have power. Things are very frustrating for them and they are just so good at just dealing with it and working with what they have. God bless them.

Construction excitement

2006-08-19T02:47:00.000-07:00

This is Wyclef and I in the village of Maga Maga, where we went on a construction supplies run.....

So....construction is under way on the finishing of the orphans' housing building. We are more excited about this than can be explained! We've mostly spent the week in big trucks going to neighboring villages and districts to retreive bricks, sand, stones, and other building supplies...

update on the kids- we survived our time with baby sam. though, not much sleep was had by any of us. he's doing a little better but is still sick and very small.

sara (girl who had been burned) had her surgery a few days ago and is recovering. namaishya is in the hospital off and on still but we hear she's feeling better after the treatments they've been giving her.

other than that.....we've had a pretty chill week, especially in comparison to the week before :) I think we needed it. we're taking the stao staff out to an american restaurant in jinja tonight....there will be pizza. as much as I love african food....well lets just say we're all excited for a little taste of home.

peace all,

kate

the girls at STAO

2006-08-13T04:00:00.000-07:00

I can't explain the joy these girls give us. they are amazing, awesome kids.

Baby

2006-08-13T03:04:00.000-07:00

we have a nocturnal baby.

Sam, the 2 month old who we thought had malaria actually just has a combination of the flu and extreme malnourishment. So-we have been to the childrens hospital with him and he's now on meds and is eating--both good signs. However, Sam's aunt,his caregiver, had to suddenly go to Kamuli(neighboring district) to visit her sick mom....so Sam is staying at our house for a couple days until she gets back. 3 relatively clueless in baby care college students makes for an interesting time with a sick 2 month old. Basically no one sleeps much. But, Sam is adorable, and I think this experience will make all of us not want kids for a very long time.....hehe.

The children's hospital. Just when we think we've seen the worst.....but I think so far that has been it. Starving babies.....honestly at this point I can't imagine worse. I wasn't a fan of eating for a couple days after that. It still hits me occaisonally. Somehow we are getting pretty good at this coping thing, though. Learning to see horrible, sick, disturbing things that make us feel like punching walls and then still being able to joke and laugh and enjoy the kids at STAO.....I'm sort of proud of us, oddly enough.

It was a rough couple days after I wrote that last post so I decided to take some time off of writing....but we are doing fine now overall. Sarah is starting her work at the local clinics, which seems exciting....and everyone STILL thinks shes from China...

thanks SO MUCH for those of you that've donated money for the finishing of the building....we are starting(well, continuing) construction TOMORROW! Pretty much all I can think about is how insanely awesome it is going to be to have it finished and be able to take about 50 more kids in from the streets and other horrible living conditions and get them food and education and love. Oh dang, are we excited. So far we have about 1000$.....4000 more to go. Anyone bored and wanting to work on fundraising projects?! =) let us know.

love and miss ya'll.

kate

Thoughts....a lot of them.

2006-08-07T06:38:00.000-07:00

Hey all.

This is going to be long. Bear with me.

So--I've been thinking. A lot. We all have. I feel like I've been a bit fluffy when I write sometimes and now I feel like being a little more real...so here goes....

There are some days that are better than others here....we go through so many emotions sometimes I feel like crawling in a hole because everywhere I look there is so much suffering.

But I think yesterday hit ALL of us hard.

I'll start with Namaishya. She is a little 6 yr old girl who was born HIV positive and has probably had full blown AIDS since she was about 4. All of her brothers and sisters cme to STAO and we know them, but N is too sick to come play or go to school so she mostly stays home. She had to be taken to the hospital on Saturday because of a high fever but when they got there they discovered what they think are multiple brain tumors....we got to meet her yesterday. She doesn't talk (its too painful) or even look up--ever. We're going to make sure she has surgery to remove the rumors, f ossible, and also get her started on ARV drugs. She's watched her parents and little brother die already, and in reality doesn't have long to live herself.

Around lunchtime after church we went down to the main part of Mafubira to get food--there, we saw a boy probably about 13 years old on the side of the road who kept collapsing and was too sick and in too much pain to even stand. He was on his way to the hospital, but obviously in a ton of pain. We're still not sure what he was sick with.

Yesterday evening we traveled to a village called Kamuli, about an hour (or 3, if you run out of gas on the way home....) from Mafubira. We were there to do AIDS sensitization for the community. There was a crowd of about 200 kids, widows, and men...the introduced us and then asked if the kids who've been orphaned by AIDS would stand. Every single kid stood up--about a hundred or so of them. EVERY ONE. There is no orphanage in this village and very little aid work being done. We were told that the kids often go without food and that there are as many as 18 kids living in a single foster home. I think that's when it really hit me---AIDS has completely ravished this country.

One of the orphans in Kamuli, a little girl about 8 years old, who had been badly burned, and has no use of her right arm as a result. The surgery to fix her arm is relatively simple, but they haven't had the money to pay for it. We are happy that we are able to help her.....75$ for the surgery. thats it.

Needless to say, I cried a lot yesterday.

I will try to get some pictures of the Kamuli kids up soon. We brought them pencils and crayons and stickers and it still amazes me that such simple things can break out big smiles and shrieks from the kids.

The other thing about the Kamuli kids is that, if STAO gets the 5,000$ to finish the orphanage, many kids will be able to be moved to Mafubira and live at STAO and get education, 3 meals a day, and a lot of love, because that's what STAO does.

I know Jenny already mentioned this previously, and hate is not strong enough a word for how I feel about asking for money(and because we know a lot of you have already helped fund this trip and we are really grateful).....but we are asking.

I know how hard it is to fund something halfway across the world that you can't see tangibly--and how easy it is to think that someone else will take care of it so that it doesn't really matter if you send 5 dollars or 100 dollars.

I am going to bluntly ask you to not pay attention to those thoughts and to trust us that the money will be used to help these kids more than you will know. This is an amazing opportunity to affect real change in this village.

Please consider this. The 3 of us have heavy burdens on our hearts to raise this money. As wonderful as STAO is, they are still a very small NGO and have very few donors.

Sending money--can be sent to Jenny's Mom, scroll down to Jenny's previous post for instructions on how. We are in the process of making STAO a registered non-profit in the US (it already is in Uganda and Norway) so that all donations will be tax-deductible.

A sidenote--STAO's main focus is sustainable development, one of the things we love and admire about them.

Please email me (kate87@u.washington.edu) or Jenny or Sarah with any questions or to tell us an amount you're donating so we can keep track.

Lastly--we need prayer. A lot of it.

Thank you so much. We are so grateful.

much love,
kate, jenny, and sarah.

kampala and other adventures

2006-08-04T07:21:00.000-07:00

hey all,

thanks for the comments, by the way. its fun to hear from ya'll.

we ventured to kampala to visit a nursery school yesterday. CUTE kids. but kampala is absolutely insane! cars and people everywhere....and the roads don't really have speed limits, or lanes, or even pavement sometimes, so the drive was an adventure in itself (kampala is about an hour away). the ugandan countryside is so gorgeous though. brillant green for as far as you can see.

we've been mostly hanging out with the kids, and visiting homes. we went and met a widow who is caring for her 2 month old niece who's mom died the day after she gave birth...and the baby has malaria right now. hard to see something so small suffering...

we've had some really neat opportunities lately, though. jenny's mom bought 4 sowing machines for some of the widows here, and we got to deliver them today. they were SO excited....it's going to provide a really needed source of income for them. and we are paying to get a water line put into part of the village that doesn't have one near them, and that's really going to help out those people too....so, exciting stuff. really insane what not much money can do here.

i am slowly getting photos uploaded onto my photobucket site (posting them on here takes wayyyyy too long) so,there are only a few as of yet, but you can check them out: www.photobucket.com/albums/a183/Kate_Harris_ and click on the Africa 2006 page=)

Jenny is getting her head braided right now (sarah and I will also)...so we are off to find dinner. Our favorite are the roadside stands (dangerous we know, but so far only jenny has gotten sick from them...) where we can get awesome dinners for about 25 cents....thats american money. crazy. though, I am starting to think in shillings, kilometers, celsius, and everything else african. let's just hope I don't drive on the left side of the road when I get home.......

love you guys....or as they say here "kwagalano,"

kate

Update from kate

2006-08-01T00:54:00.000-07:00

So Sarah and I are sitting here updating at the same time so you get 2 posts in one day....madness. Sometimes the blog site doesn't like to work, sorry for the lack of updates lately.

On Monday Jenny and I (sarah was busy drawing blood from some wayyy too trusting patients at the clinic...heh) went to the village of Mayuge a couple hours from Mafubira...the car ride in itself resembled one of those old wooden roller coasters that you are sure are going to break down just as they go down a big hill...but anyways, we and the STAO staff were there to visit an orphanage called RAVO that STAO supports. It was pretty insane....they had a whole town meeting just for us and the kids danced and sang for us....dang, can they dance. The first song was a killer, though...through translation we figuered out why about half of the 40 kids were crying, some sobbing, as they sang....they were singing a song about what AIDS does to families and the staff told us that the kids cry when they sing this song because they are remembering the deaths of their own parents and siblings.....

Overall the visit was really great, though. Everyone is so appreciative of us being there that sometimes I really don't understand it, but it's nice to know that we're maybe uplifting them in some small way. We toured the orphanage where the kids sleep....cut my bedroom at home(medium sized) in half and put 15 kids sleeping on the floor in it, with dirt floors and brick walls, and you have their living conditions. They, like the other orphanages we've visited, sometimes go on very little food.

Tuesday we got a call that baby sam was being admitted to the hospital....turns out he has severe malaria....so he'll be there awhile. We've been visiting him everyday, though, and they say he's improving so far...

Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, were sort of a blur....Sarah was working at the clinic....jenny visited another village....not too sure what I did....spent time in the hospital with baby sam, I guess. Anyways, some how it's saturday and we are on our way to bujagali falls for sarah's bungee jumping.

love ya'll.

kate

monday, monday....

2006-07-31T07:12:00.000-07:00

hm. I've been asked to clear up a few logistical things-I guess we tend to ramble about people and places and not really explain sometimes, so here goes--

we are living at a house in Jinja. Jinja is a decent size town (second biggest in Uganda, but still pretty small). Our house has running water (we are learning to love cold showers), but Uganda has an electricity shortage so we get 24hrs of electricity and then 24 hours of none. So, its interesting. I kind of like it though.

STAO, the orphanage, is in a village called Mafubira. Mafubira is about a 15 minute boda-boda ride from Jinja. Boda-boda's are motorbikes that we ride on the back of. Boda-boda's are, for me, like getting a shot of adrenaline every single morning. They terrify me, but are SO much fun. I think they will be the most dangerous thing we do while we're here....if you saw them (and the roads) you'd understand....they're a blast, though.

Hope that helps.

Anyhow, not too much else is new here since the others updated. Oh, thanks to Tim for putting that picture up of some of the kids. We'll try to get pictures up every once in awhile. those are some of the kids in front of the STAO office....we try not to play favorites....but little Jonah (middle, no teeth) has captured all our hearts. A LOT of them have, actually....

mirembe-

kate

kids

2006-07-30T22:09:00.000-07:00

we're such muzungus

2006-07-29T07:36:00.000-07:00

hello cyberspace...this is jenny reporting.

i must say that i have no idea what to write about, but sarah lee and kate insisted that i make an appearance on the blog. summing up stuff is so difficult for me, especially when every day (slash every hour) i experience something new and crazy. but i'll make my effort.

we just got back from swimming - sarah lee and i begged to go in lake victoria (the 2nd largest lake in the world) but Wyclef, our bodyguard, insisted that it was too dangerous. whatever, we plan to do it tomorrow morning. =) so anyway, Wyclef took us to a local pool (which was an experience in itself) and we swam there. Wyclef is pretty much our tour guide, bodyguard, chauffeur, and amazing friend, all in one. he is a university student here, and works with STAO in the summer. we hang out with him and his friends all the time during our freetime, and it's been the coolest thing to have local friends. he took us to a crazy ugandan concert last night...there were tons of performers and the main act, Ragga Dee, didn't even come on until 2 AM. supposedly he's one of the most popular singers in uganda. he was dressed as saddam hussein, and his dancers were wearing george bush masks. ??? it was a crazy concert, with crazy dancing (these people sure can shake it), and fun to hang out with a bunch of ugandans.

as for the real reason why we're here...i'm enjoying hanging out with the children so much! really, i can't find words to express the joy it get from them and the amount of fun i have with them. somehow the language barrier means nothing, and we just laugh and play all the time. they call me "muzungowange," a combination of the lugandan word for "white person," and "sister." it's hard for me to realize their circmstances when i'm with them because they're so full of joy, and sometimes i wonder why my heart isn't breaking more for them. i have to keep reminding myself that these kids have lost their parents to AIDS, and many of them have the disease themselves. it's so so so sad, yet so cool that they can be so joyful through it all.

for my faithful ultimate teammates who are reading this - the ugandans have the claire suver finger snap thing down to a t. it's amazing! hopefully when i come back i'll be able to show you a little of my skills.

READ THIS PART - IT'S IMPORTANT: STAO is in great need of money to finish a building on their property that will serve to house about 50 more orphans. This is such a tangible way to help this amazing ministry. We want to collect $5000 US to provide the materials necessary to finish this project. Will you help us? If you're interested in giving, send checks to my lovely mother, Susan Abegg. Here's the addresses:

In Canada:
2277 Olympia Place
Abbotsford, BC V2S 7R5

In the USA:
PO BOX 1985
Sumas, WA 98295

kwagalagno. (i love you very much.) really, i do. thanks for reading!!!

2006-07-28T05:52:00.000-07:00

BODA BODA!!! The coolest way of transportation ever! They are mortorcycles that take you anywhere for less than a dollar! We rode them today to the orphanage.

We're loving it here! the children are so precious, and they love playing with us, and we love playing with them...even though it gets exhausting after running around all day. When we go back later today, we will have an art/crafts session, where they will color with the crayons we got them.

We are learning new words everyday. We have already learned a chorus to the most popular song here in Uganda. It's a Christian song, sang by an artist named Judith Babiria. We sing it for everyone here. They just love it! and laugh everytime we sing for them. By the time we get back we will be able to speak lugandan. There is also a certain way people shake hands as well. We'll probably show how it's done when we come back.

The funniest story as of yet...
Jenny has already been hit on! Just yesterday, a young man came up to her and asked, "Can you help me pick out a card for someone you REALLY love?" Jenny couldn't find one, so instead she picked out a card for a friend. He said, "No! That is not for someone you REALLY LOVE!" So, Jenny was so stumped. He then tells her, "It needs to be special because the one I love is....YOU!" LOL! She tell him, "I don't even know you." He tells her that he doesn't care and that he still loves her and that they should meet while she is here. But, she kept telling him that she will have no time because she will be busy with the orphans, and he kept insisting that they should meet. He finally left saying, "I still love you... and we will meet again!" Kate and I told her that she should give him props for using such original lines to pick up a girl.
Not only that but earlier in the day... a group of dancer came around and they started to grind on her from all sides (grinding, meanin, dancing around REALLY closely). She was traumatized twice in one day! It's the blonde hair!!!

We learned and experience new things everyday! This is going to be a packed 2 months! Until next time... I MISS AND LOVE YOU ALL... we all do!

Wei-laba (goodbye),
Sarah

2006-07-25T09:44:00.000-07:00

Hard day. There was a burial service for a widow in the village who died of AIDS today. We went....along with the rest of the village. a few hundred. Apparently they are really common....for kids, too.

Internet is slower than slow so pictures might not happen, but the kids are enthralled with the toys we brought. I wish you guys could see what a can of bubbles does to these kids.

We are still adjusting to life here....slow paced. Somehow Sarah and Jenny got over jet lag right away....but I'm still on California time, so its a little interesting!

ahh have to go. more later...i hope. love you guys.

kate

Heartbroken......but filled with joy. Is this possible?

2006-07-23T23:33:00.000-07:00

So much to say. There aren't words that'll do everything we're seeing any justice....but i'll try. pictures later, too.

1. The trip

Loooooong. Exhausting. Dubai was a blast. We all have found a new love in falafels. 120 degree weather is not my favorite for sure.

2. The kids

AMAZING. simply amazing. they are so beautiful and there are so many it's overwhelming.....we met them at church yesterday morning at STAO. best churh service I've EVER been to, by far. They don't know what to do with the white skin, so theres on average about 3 of them hanging on each of us at a time but we LOVE it. very strange though, feeling like celebrities almost. they held a performance for us last night and sang and danced tribal dances (ohhh so cute). I had kids all over me, and was loving the show, and then I remembered....they had told us earlier that over half of the kids performing are HIV positive, without access to ARV drugs. heartbroken .They are SO JOY FILLED, though. I have never seen anything like it. we are SO IN LOVE with these kids.

3. GOD and STAO

I feel like if God had to choose an address, he would put STAO as his primary residence. That's how much He is working there. We are all in awe....and we've only spent a day there so far. Just getting to see it is.....so awesome. These kids know they're loved.

4. Us

doing well. jenny still a bit sick but other than that, just getting adusted to life.
we are staying actually at a house, our host is a great man named William, a close friend of Pastor Nelson's.

5. other, randomness

-I ate Goat's meat.
-Roads here! ohmygosh! worse than costa rica hehe.
-weather is great
-we are on our way to deliver some of the toys to the kids right now. so excited.
-hardly any skeeters

sorry this is short, will try to find a time to update more later, but know that we are absolutely thrilled with everything so far. As upbeat as this post is, we are seeing some pretty tough stuff, so please pray. the poverty here....no one could've imagined, i don't think. but, there is hope and joy in there too. more to come about that later.

jenny and sarah send love. (and so do i!)

mirembe, (peace in luganda)
kate

Why?

2006-07-17T08:37:00.000-07:00

Hey guys...Jenny here.

So lately, I've been thinking a lot about why the heck I'm going to Uganda. It's not a negative thing—it's just that as our day of departure approaches (3 days!!!) I've started to think more and more about my motive and reasons and...yeah. I think I've come up with 3 reasons that encompass why I want to go to Africa, and here they are:

I'M CURIOUS: yup, that dang curiosity. Everyone talks about Africa, about how beautiful it is, about the hearts of the people there, about their joy in the face of serious suffering...and I want to see it! I want to see the way these people live and view the world and where they find their hope to get through each day.

I WANT TO SEE WHAT GOD IS DOING: So another thing I hear about Africa is that God is doing amazing things there. I hear about and see evidence of these people's joy...and it blows my mind. They have next to nothing and many have experienced the death of close family members, but they have a reason to get up every morning. Sometimes it's really hard for me to see God in our rich, materialistic Western culture. He's way more apparent to me when I'm in East Van (the poorer part of Vancouver) and I think He's going to be pretty real in Africa. Here's what Bono (who, in my opinion, is the man) said,

I mean, God may well be with us in our mansions on the hill. I hope so... But the one thing we can all agree, all faiths and ideologies, is that God is with the vulnerable and poor.

God is in the slums, in the cardboard boxes where the poor play house. God is in the silence of a mother who has infected her child with a virus that will end both their lives. God is in the cries heard under the rubble of war. God is in the debris of wasted opportunity and lives, and God is with us if we are with them.

I WANT TO HELP: okay, so I know it's lame for some white, American kid to think she can go over to Africa and make a difference. It's not like I'm going to solve the AIDS problem or anything, but I know that God has given me a heart that loves to serve the poor and the broken and the needy, and I'm going to use it. Even if it’s just giving...I think that in our affluence, we have the responsibility to share our wealth...I'm bringing to STAO 2 computers, a hard drive, a camera, and a flash drive (most of which my ultimate team donated!!!), and I think that's going to help in it's own little way too. In 2001, only 7% of Evangelicals polled thought they needed to respond to the AIDS emergency. That's disgusting. I want to respond. You can't ignore everything in the Bible that talks about helping the oppressed...my personal favorite:

Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?
Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe him,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
-Isaiah 58:6-7

So this will be my introduction to Africa. I want to get to know these people, and hear their stories, and share life with them. I want to come to an understanding of their culture and worldview and the way they see God. I hope to come home from Africa with a better understanding of what I can do to help these people and the problems they face.

And that's why I want to go.

Now, more on to the difficult question that I've had to field a lot lately: "What are you going to be doing in Uganda?" I have no idea. Stay tuned to find out.

If you read all that, congratulations. Thanks for sticking with me friends. =)

Oh yeah, and if you have time, or are interested, Bono has some amazing things to say about Africa and our need to respond. Read his speech from the 2006 National Prayer Breakfast. Amazing.

prayers...

2006-07-16T21:27:00.000-07:00

.....pray that all of this makes it to africa somehow....

I think my parents will be excited to be able to walk in the living room again when myself and all these toys/school supplies are gone =) With that said, I'm really excited with everything that we're bringing for the kids(this stuff being only a third of it). A big thank you to everyone who supported this trip financially, allowing us to buy all this and a lot more.

prayer requests--

-Health. health. health. no malaria. no major illness or injuries.
- Safety. That we would be smart in the choices we make as far as traveling and interacting with people we meet.
- Cultural awareness and sensitivity. This is a big one for me. I don't want to be a tourist. Yet, I know that there are many, many customs, traditions, formalities, etc that we will not be able to follow until we learn them and are aware of them. Pray that we would be able to step out of our ingrained American mindsets and adapt to an African way of life.
- the plane rides. (those of you who have been unfortunate enough to ride on a plane with me will understand this one). also, that we will make all our connections, etc.
-That we will not be completely overwhelmed. I'm not sure if this can be helped....but it's worth praying for....

Possibly more to come from Jenny and Sarah....(who are recovering from strep throat and in the middle of summer school finals, respectively.) pray that all that goes well for them, also, if you would.

Thanks everyone!!!! Feel free to comment on the posts, too....we'd love to hear from you!

peace,

kate=)

13 days......oh shoot!!

2006-07-07T12:06:00.000-07:00

Friends, Family, and other people we love--

Our first post! All 3 of us are going to be posting on here throughout the trip, so ya'll don't have to be checking 3 different sites. Also, we won't be sending out emails with updates or when we update the blog, so just check back often as we'll probably be updating regularly to keep our parents from worrying as much as possible =)

We are currently entering frantic mode as far as getting ready for the trip goes. I went to Michaels yesterday to buy crayons....ya'll should've seen the look the cashier gave me as she rang up 100 boxes of 64 pack crayons. It was pretty priceless. Buying toys, school supplies, books, and other stuff for these kids has been REALLY exciting. Anyhow, I know the trip is finally becoming more of a reality for me as it gets closer and closer, which is really exciting/nerveracking at the same time.

For the record....stao-uganda.org is where we will be. We can't receive any post mail while we're there because it takes too long to get there, so we'll be pretty much only communicating on here. Though, we will be checking our individual emails so feel free to contact us that way, too.

Prayer request posts will be coming soon!

peace,

kate =)