Our First Blog in Uganda (Adriana)

Wasuze otyano (good morning)Welcome to our first BLOG in UGANDA!

After a 9 hour flight into London, an 8 hour stop over at the airport and another 8 hour flight into Entebbe, Uganda we finally arrived. We left Monday, April 26th 8:30pm Vancouver time and arrived in Uganda on April 28th 7:30 am Uganda time. So we basically spent 2 full days of traveling. In our favor, both of our flights were at night time, so some of us were able to fall asleep on the plane, while others were not so fortunate.

The airplane into Entebbe was almost empty, so some of us were even luckier to fold up the arm rests and sprawl out onto the seats next to us and get some real R & R (I was one of those people).

Since the plane was almost empty, I was able to jump into a window seat during our landing and get a good look at the land we were landing down on; and it was beautiful. I instantly became the most thankful I have been so far for this adventure. All around was thick, beautiful, lush greenery and so many birds. Big birds, little birds, medium sized birds, and they were everywhere.

I first noticed the change in temperature when we stepped off the plane and started walking towards the very small airport. The atmosphere felt heavy and the air felt thick. At this point my mind and body were both fairly exhausted but I was enjoying every minute of it.

The ride into our small town Masaka was very VERY long and tiresome. It took us 3 hours to get from the airport to Masaka town. While I was literally sleep walking during our time from the airport to our new town, my senses where heightened and I felt alive. The drive was an experience all in itself. Driving through the capital city of Kampala was a bit over whelming and incredibly amazing at the same time. That seems to be the theme for me here: bitter sweet. There were people all over the streets of Kampala. There were sounds & smells that were all so new to me, faces, streets, everything was just mind blowing. (its hard for me to think about what to go into detail as I could literally go into detail about every last little thing).

We arrived in our small town at approx 2:30pm Uganda time. I didn’t know what to think at that time. I was tired, uncomfortable from the long ride (in a very tight van packed with all of our bags) and I felt like I was dragging my body around until I could find a place to rest it. Little did I know at that time that we had no time to rest (at all). After checking into our Annex we had to go into town to purchase food, exchange money and get some basic necessities – as if we didn’t pack enough. I was running on over drive at this point and everything felt surreal.

I think we finally went to bed around 11pm Uganda time – wow! And the next morning we were all set to start our first day at our work experience places! (nothing like jumping right in, right Bob  which to my surprise was just fine)
On a side note before I sign off I would make note of some of the things I have noticed since I have been here. I have noticed the most beautiful birds and plants. The streets are filled with “boda boda’s” which are motor bikes that carry up to four people at a time with out a helmet, many cars and people all over the place and massive pot holes. For the most part, people are most friendly to us and the children always smile and wave. There has not been a day yet where I have not heard “Hey Muzungo” shouted at me at least 5 times in a day (muzungo = white person). Everywhere I look is green, lovely, beautiful greenery and I swear the sky is a more beautiful blue here than anywhere I have seen before.

Most of what I have witnessed and paid close attention to are the children. I am in love with the children. I have seen children have the most fun with only a couple sticks and a make shift ball out of banana leaves. I see older children consistently take care of the younger children with an innate sense of nurturance towards one another. For the most part, I have only seen smiles and heard laughter come from the children here – and I am volunteering with the less fortunate children from this part of Africa.

As for our living space, I feel it safe to say that the four of us feel very secure in our little Annex that we have made our home. At night time we are locked in nice and tight and there is virtually no way for an intruder to come in when we are not paying attention to our tall metal gate (which locks tight). The four of us have been getting along very well and taking care of each other like we need. I feel our four different personalities compliment each others consistently and very appropriately.

I also wanted to mention that we have finally received the internet at our Annex and will now be able to update our BLOG more consistently. We have all been so busy that we have not had a chance as of yet to get online and write – but we will be from this point forward so please continue to check it out!

My last note – I wanted to mention a great big THANK YOU to all of the faculty and staff at Douglas College who have made this possible for the four of us. I know there have been many people at the college who have participated in helping this come to fruitation – people who some of us have not even met – THANK YOU! This has been a dream come true for all of us and we are more than grateful for this experience. And THANK YOU SO MUCH BOB! I know we give you a hard time once in a while ;) but we do really appreciate all that you have done for us here and I know we will miss you when you leave at the end of the week. Thanks again everyone! And to our dear friend Malia – we think about you often and know you are here with us!

Kindly,
Muzungo Adriana

(and for the English majors, please ignore my spelling mistakes and incorrect grammar)