Sipi Falls

I was told not to miss visiting Sipi Falls when I came, and I wasn’t disappointed. It was truthfully the most beautiful place I have ever seen. It is a hike about an hour away that has 3 big waterfalls. I was a little hesitant to hike it since I failed miserably on the last hike, but I really didn’t want to miss it. I was so glad that I went.

As we started the hike, we ran into many African children who live on these mountains, and designated themselves as our guides (much thanks to Bruno for helping us find our way). His first job as guide was to point out to us a chameleon, that I got to hold. It reminded me of the movie Tangled. J Then we hit the first waterfall: it was HUGE. You can walk right down to the base of it, but it is a really slippery, muddy trek down. Luckily though these cute African children grabbed us by the hands and took us. My little guide was named Job. He handed me a large walking stick, then took my other hand, and literally pulled me down through the mud and over rocks in his bare feet. Job was probably about ten years old. Sarah had a child on both sides of her, and she literally did slide down-it was like mud surfing! We got pretty wet as we stood at the base of the waterfall and (literally) soaked it all in. Then the kids pulled us back up again, and we were off to waterfall number 2. I couldn’t walk very well as there was so much mud in my shoes, but we found a stream to clean them and started hiking up toward a bat cave. It was pitch black in there, but really cool. There were geodes glistening in the dark and we could just barely see the outline of lots of bats flying. When we left, Paul made sure we all put on hand-sanitizer. I asked him why he was so insistent about it. He said, “because bat guano can cause a rare African disease.” Oh. Good. Apparently this rare disease turns your insides into liquid and you bleed out your eyes. Very unpleasant. I was thorough in my hand-cleansing.

We kept hiking on and eventually made it to the second waterfall, but this time we were at the top of the fall. There is a pool of water there, and many Africans washing their clothes and gathering water. I could hardly stand the beauty that these people live in. It was breathtakingly green as far as the eye could see.

One girl was holding a baby that was only 3 weeks old. I was busily adoring him when she asked me to give him something. We’ve found that to happen all the time. I typically get asked for money or food at least once a day. I was careful not to hold him so she didn’t think I owed her. After enjoying the top of the falls for a while, we tromped off to waterfall number three. I didn’t think it could get any better than what I had already seen, but I was wrong. This time we were at the base of the waterfall, and standing there I believe was similar to standing in a hurricane. It was absolutely incredible. That day we went home tired, wet, and as brown as Africans, but we were very happy campers.

That's right. I can use a machete.

Waterfall!

Us with our trusty guides

Happy Fourth of July!

Even in Uganda, we’re full of patriotism! On the Fourth of July, we went about our normal day, although I spent part of it in bed not feeling very well. But I was feeling better by the evening time. A few volunteers helped our cook, Mercy, learn how to make hamburgers and French fries. They actually turned out pretty good! Afterwards we had a dance party and then ate soda floats. There isn’t any root beer here, but strawberry fanta mixed with African-style ice cream tastes great! There is a youtube channel for our team, and you can see us being very patriotic at the following link:

http://www.youtube.com/user/TheRealThirdWorld#p/u

The Halfway Point

This last week I hit the halfway point of my time in Uganda. I wanted to write about some of the things I miss from home, as well as some of the things I know I WILL miss when I leave. Uganda has been very good to me!

The top ten things I miss (not in this order :)

-hot showers
-mexican food
-washing machines
-friends and family
-feeling clean
-alone time
-carpet
-punctuality
-road rules
-teaching without a language barrier

The top ten things I WILL miss:

-being called by my Lugishu name: Nambozo
-getting off a boda, and realizing that I’m still alive
-rolex: Ugandan breakfast burritos
-watching a room full of teachers thoroughly engaged in what I’m telling them
-the HELP team
-When Ugandans say my name and start laughing (I usually shorten it to “Ash” for simplicity’s sake)
-feeling like I am an honored guest everywhere I go
-how friendly EVERYONE is
-watching the church grow in Uganda
-the African landscape: red sun, waterfalls, and green as far as the eye can see

The Babies' Home!

On Friday I went to “the Babies Home,” aka an orphanage/school. Surprisingly, it was better than I had feared, but I was still surprised at some of the things I saw. There were 13 orphans there under the age of 3. We got there early in the morning, so we could help them to bathe and dress the babies, and then we just got to play with them for a while. The babies were darling. But once they are dressed in the morning, the pretty much spend the rest of the day in this nearly-empty room that has just two mats on the otherwise concrete floor. The women who run the orphanage are busy cooking and cleaning, and don’t get to spend much time with them. When its time to eat, all the babies who are able, hold their own sippy cup and are given porridge (cheaper than milk). In the past they’ve even been given raw eggs! (we’ve talked with them about that). I became especially attached to little Grace, who caught my eye right away. She loved to be held and cried every time you’d try to put her down. My heart went out to these little ones who receive little stimulation day in and day out, and simply lay on the floor for hours. We are so blessed. Maybe little Grace can come home with me… :)

Little Grace

Paul

Babies on the floor for hours

Darling baby

Trip to Jinja...Take 2!

Jinja is the city we went rafting in last weekend. This weekend there was district conference in Jinja, so we decided to go a day early and do a little more shopping and touring. We left late morning on Saturday, and went to eat at the Source Café again when we arrived. I had a real legit hamburger, and it was so good! I loved it. After shopping for a bit, we took bodas (motorcycles) down to the source of the Nile. They took us on a boat to where we saw the water that comes up from underground and creates the Nile River where it meets Lake Victoria. It takes 3 months for that water to travel up to Egypt. It was actually one of the coolest things I’ve done/seen so far.

That night we stayed at the same hostile we were at last weekend. While we were there our country director got in touch with the mission president. Apparently he had talked with her about organizing the first-ever youth conference in Uganda. He invited her over to discuss it, and I invited myself to tag along J. When we showed up, it turned out to be a huge dinner for all the leadership in the district. We were very underdressed, but were fed a delicious African meal and I got a chance to meet President Jackson-the mission President. I started to miss being a missionary so much I was ready to make a nametag and start contacting.

The next day we went early to help set up chairs for the conference. A choir of primary children sang the prelude music, and it was so touching it brought tears to my eyes. I was reminded of the truthfulness of the gospel in every corner of the world. I loved listening to the children sing “I am a Child of God” and “Book of Mormon Stories” complete with actions. Also while we waited for the meeting to begin, I pulled out my Ensign to read. Two little boys came and sat next to me. I pointed out pictures to them of the Prophet, Temples, and Scriptures. They loved that Ensign, and it must have entertained them for at least 30 minutes just looking at the pictures. I wondered how many books they’ve seen in their lives. They were darling.

Our weekend was complete when after the conference we watched two LDS weddings, and the opening of a mission call. It doesn’t get much better than that!

The ride home wasn’t quite as wonderful as I was squished in a car with too many people and a man with a live chicken sitting next to me… but overall, it was well worth the weekend!

Sarah and I at the source of the Nile

I'm so excited to be on the Nile

The cute boys who read the Ensign with me

I love the almost-American food in Jinja