Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Halloween Fun

As soon as we got back from Dire Dawa, Halloween was upon us. I was also blessed by a visit from Dennis. Here's a few pics:

Pic- Mark and Dennis grace our housewarming party with a charming duet


Pic- Dennis and Elissa helped Mark don his Halloween costume. In case you could guess, he went as 'God's gift to women.'


Pic- Dennis, Elyssa, Lyndsay and I stayed in to carve pumpkins and watch a creepy movie!




Pics- Dennis and I took a day trip to Hell's Gate National Park, about 1.5 hours from Nairobi (costs about $3 by matatu!). It's the only park in the country where you can ride a bike or walk, since there aren't any lions (most of the time anyway!). We took a little trek through some canyons, lead by a Masai guide who painted our faces like Masai. He also encouraged me to try my hand...er head...at carrying firewood like a true Masai girl. On our way out, the heavens unleashed a torrent of rain on us, making for a memorable end to an awesome day!














Fun times in Dire Dawa

All work and now play makes for a long circuit ride! Here's a few pics that capture some of the fun times that team had during our Sundays off.

Pic- a visit to Harar, an ancient walled city about about 1.5 hours from Dire Dawa.
Harar is perhaps most famous for its hyenas! Apparently the founders of the city made a pact with the leaders of the hyenas that they would give them access to the city and feed them each night, as long as the hyenas refrained from making a meal out of their kids! Apparently it has worked, and the hyenas and townspeople continue to have a solid relationship even today! We weren't able to stay long enough to see the feeding, but we did see the little hyena-sized holes in the city wall that guarantee open access for the four-legged friends. We also enjoyed a local museum and a walk along the city wall.






Pics- Dire Dawa Marathon Route
Doreen, our team leader, had been training for the Nairobi marathon, but was unable to run in it because of the trip. So, she decided to run, by herself, in the first ever Dire Dawa marathon. She mapped out the route with the help of our driver, and then she was off. The rest of us turned out to cheer her on, and the few local people that didn't think we were completely crazy joined in!






Pic - Last Day Fun
The interpreters enjoy some frisbee while we finish up work on our last day. Our fearless leader Doreen also treated us all to some 'thank you bunna.' That's delicious local coffee. She also hosted us for a goodbye dinner with some of our IOM colleagues.


Doing Dire Dawa

Well, I returned from my first circuit ride about a week ago, and it was some experience! It all got kicked off when our team of about 10 people met up at Jomo Kenyatta airport. We immediately started loading up the huge blue metallic trunks containing the file of each case to be processed during the trip.

We also loaded our own luggage. Many of the others had brought huge bags, mostly filled up with snacks and goodies. If there's I learned during my first trip, it's that snacks are perhaps the most important item on the packing list, especially when you've had enough injara (ethiopian sour bread staple) for one day! Peanut butter in particular is a must!

After a lengthy check in process and some hefty overweight fees, we boarded the two-hour flight to Addis Ababa. When we arrived, we were detained for a little while by some overzealous customs officials who wanted to charge a heavy duty because we had more laptops than people! However, after a lot of arguing (and a little prayer on my part!) we were allowed to pass. We spent the night in Addis, and then woke up bright and early, around 4:30am, for our flight to Dire Dawa.

Pic - boarding Ethiopian Air


Dire Dawa is the second largest city in Ethiopia, and it's actually a pretty little town. Culturally, it's a bit different than other parts of Ethiopia, being mostly Muslim (rather than Orthodox), and having a large Somali speaking population. It's actually located not too far from the Somali border. We arrived around 9am, loaded up our trunks, and followed our UN escort to the hotel, where we had just enough time to stow our bags before heading to the worksite.

Pic - looking out at the refugee shelter at the worksite



Our worksite was a small community center on the other side of town. When we arrived, we found quite a large number of Somali refugees gathered, as well as a several interpreters. We worked quickly to set up our computer and photo equipment, and then got to work.


Pic: Me ready to dive into some files!



The population we worked with in Dire Dawa had mainly been brought in from the Kebribeya Refugee Camp. Most of them had been living there since fleeing Somalia during the political crisis in 1991- that's 18 years! Many of the younger refugees have actually been born there, and don't know any other life besides camp life. Being Somali families, the groups were often quite large- and average of 5-8 children per family. I learned quite a lot about the political situation in Somalia, and Somali culture by interacting with people and having to ask all kinds of questions about their families and why they had fled Somalia.

For the first week, Lindsay and I (the newbies) did formfilling and casework training, and helped out a bit with taking photos of each refugee. That was pretty hilarious at times, especially when there was a tiny baby that just started screaming its little lungs out. At that point everybody- photo takers, interpreters, and refugees alike- would join together in making fools of ourselves in an effort to provoke a little smile. We were very fortunate in that our team leader and colleagues were very patient and encouraging in helping us learn.

I have to confess that the learning process was frustrating at times- between being so new to the process, and dealing with difficult working conditions and technological difficulties- patience and humility are required in high supply!

Pic - trying to get a smile!


By the time the second week of the circuit ride rolled around, Lindsay and I were thrown into doing the full load of four casework interviews per day. These interviews are the final stage in the JVA process before the case is adjudicated by US immigration, so they are pretty important. In the first part, we verify with the refugee that all of the information that we have for them in our files is correct. In the second part, we speak with the principal applicant (usually the family head) about why they had to flee Somalia.

The main task for the caseworker is to capture background information about the refugee, as well as the story of why they had to flee, how they fled, and why they cannot go back. The 'claim' stated at the end of the case history, is the key element. It's basically a summary of why the refugee is unable to return to their home country based on their fear of persecution on one of the five grounds recognized by the US government: race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a social group.

Getting these stories can be quite an experience- emotional, draining, tedious, frustrating, even humorous! I had one case where it was 6pm, and most of my co-workers had already finished for the day. For some reason, I just couldn't find a way to get the refugee to express that he had a legitimate fear of returning to Somalia. I knew I couldn't let him go until I had done so, or his case would certainly be denied. Even the translator got frustrated and asked to be switched out with someone else. I finally ended up explaining to him about the five claims, and saying, "so, which one is it?" He went with race, and I think we were both equally glad to have the interview finally concluded.

Another day, Lindsay was questioning a woman in detail about how her father had been killed, in order to capture evidence of 'past persecution.' If you heard us questioning people, you might actually be shocked, because we do it so matter-of-factly- "Who killed him? How did they do it? Did you see him die?" We simply have to get the claim, regardless of how painful the memories might be. In this case, the woman finally told Lindsay, "if you ask me any more questions about my father, I'm going to cry."

I had another case one morning that had been pretty serious and straight forward. As we came to the end, and I was trying to get the refugee to state why he feared returning to Somalia. He had already mentioned a radical Muslim group that makes you kill if you join, and kills you if you don't. A very scary group, but I was happy because this group's name was like the 'magic word.' It made for a very solid claim on the basis of religion. I just needed the refugee to be a bit more clear about why he wouldn't join, so I blurted out, "explain this to me...why don't you want to kill people???" The refugee understood a little English, and he just started laughing. The translator also started cracking up, and even I was soon dying. It was just such a ridiculous question that it struck all of our funny bones! I had trouble keeping a straight face for the rest of that interview...

Our team processed about 2-300 cases during our 3.5 week circuit ride. My impression so far is that I really enjoy this work. It can be incredibly draining (as evidenced by the team's average bedtime of 8:30pm!) but I really enjoy the mix of detail-oriented procedures and personal interaction with the refugees. You also feel that you one link in a chain that will hopefully connect the refugee, who has often been through so much trauma, to a peaceful life and new opportunities. Dust, heat, flies, long hours, frustrating interviews and all- I am glad to be part of it!

Pic- me at my desk takin' care of business.

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Fun, Forms and Feelings

I've now completed about two weeks of work at the JVA Nairobi office. It's about a 30 minute/two matatu commute from my apartment, depending on traffic. The security is quite tight because of the nature of work we do, but the guards are all super friendly, as long as you have your identification badge! I have never worked at a place where the day was so precisely scheduled, and where all staff so willingly break off work for lunch and quitting time. It goes- 8:00am, clock in; 10:15- tea break; 1:15-lunch; 4:15- outta there!

It seems that Mark, Lyndsay and I came on board at a good time, because during my first full week, there was an all staff training for the field team. Apparently, it is extremely rare to see all of the Kenyan and expat staff that do the circuit rides together in one room at the same time. Even if most of the training was so detailed that it went right over our heads, we had a nice time getting to know everyone. The training week culminated in a 'wellness' day for all Nairobi staff. ('Wellness day' = staff party, except with lots more organized teambuilding activities!)
Pic - some of the staff during training

Pic - staff scaling an inflatable slide during a relay activity. My team, the red team just happened to take home the top honors of the day! :)

After taking the weekend to recover from our wellness day, we reported to work bright and early Monday morning. Mark and Rosie were due to head to the field early that week, where they would receive further on the job training. With most of the other staff either traveling or on out of the office comp time, it was just Lyndsay and I who were there training with Njeri, one of the Kenyan staff, and a great lady. She taught us one of three types of interviews we will be conducting with the refugees- Formfilling. We will learn the others- prescreening and casework- later in the field. These are the three interviews JVA does with all refugees to prepare their cases for review by US immigration officers for approval or denial.

Formfilling is generally done by Kenyan staff, but caseworkers are required to learn both so we understand it, and can help out if necessary. I won't go into the millions and millions of details and codes involved. Suffice it to say that there are many many different forms and database pages, as well as 47 pages of codes to use in filling them out. Gotta love government processes!

At first I was mostly just nervous to be face to face with the refugees, asking them questions. I quickly got over that, but then I was sure I would go absolutely crazy trying to document all of their answers. Njeri says it takes the average formfiller about an hour to fill in all the paperwork and data after the interview- it is taking me about 4 at the moment! Ah well, I guess practice makes perfect. And it had certainly better- one little error by us could cause the refugee's case to be delayed by months...or years...! No pressure or anything.

So, there's this heavy detail-oriented/administrative side to the job. But on the other end of the spectrum is the refugee, and their story. Even asking them routine questions about the whereabouts of their relatives can be very intense and emotional. The most common code for these is, "UNK = unknown." Parents, siblings, kids- since fleeing their country, many people have no idea where any of them are, or how they're doing. There are also some really difficult stories of persecution at the hands of various groups in the country of origin- detention, rape, death threats...one man we interviewed this week actually broke down in tears as he showed us the injuries he had suffered due to expressing his political opinions.

All in all, the "fun, forms, and feelings" of the first two weeks at work made for quite an intense learning experience. Now, I begin the next phase as I leave for my first trip to the field this afternoon. I'll be spending 3.5 weeks in Ethiopia, helping to process cases there. I look forward to updating you on how it goes, and in the meantime, enjoy your October!

Blessings,
Tammie

That's sooo vanilla!

Greetings from Kileleshwa! That’s the name of my new neighborhood in Nairobi! It’s pretty residential with lots of trees and ‘luxury’ apartment complexes. And guess what? I somehow find myself staying in one of those! It has two balconies, wood floors, a ‘servants quarters’ (that’s the room I’m staying in by the way!), a pool, an electric fence, and 24-hour guards. We’re also very fortunate to have a matatu stage (stop) right in front of our building, so getting to work isn’t too hard, except for the infamous Nairobi traffic!
Pic - Me in front of the apartment complex. Can you believe the name of it is 'Vanilla Park'?? Oh, the irony. Actually, we're the only wazungu there...


Somehow, having four other roommates (Mark, Elyssa, Lindsay, Rosie, and myself, all new JVA caseworkers) has made it remarkably affordable, even if we have to enjoy it au natural for awhile until we can afford furniture! There are no appliances or furniture, so we’ve been having an interesting time over the last two weeks negotiating with each other and the carpenters/salespeople on prices and models of things. The good news is that this process has been a very nice bonding experience for the roommates.
Pic: Me, Lindsay, and Mark amusing ourselves by playing jump rope with the clothesline in our empty living room. "Hot fudge, call the judge, mama's gonna have a baby!" (Remember that one?)


Now, something we've found out already is that here in Nairobi, even a luxury apartment complex is not immune to its fair share of 'issues.' There are a number of problems we’ve been working for days with the property manager to resolve, including the fact that the place was never properly cleaned (as in mud an inch deep in the laundry sink), and that the water often does not work (as in about 50% of the time), and that some of the fixtures aren't too sturdy (as in gaping hole in the cement where the toilet paper holder once was). My first ‘shower’ here was actually with a bucket, just like back in good old Masaka. Seems the developers unfortunately were more into appearances than quality of materials!

Despite its quirks, it looks like Vanilla Park is going to a nice place to recuperate after our 3 week stints in the field. The roommates are also a great blessing- it’s worked out so well so far to be able to share our new experiences in adjusting to life in Nairobi. It’s always nice to have great people to share new experiences with!
Pic - Mark, Elissa, me and Lyndsay just after signing the lease. Rosie arrived about a week later.

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Planes, trains, and matatus

Habari! Well, these (dirty!) little feet have found themselves in quite some interesting places over the last week! Last Friday, I took the Greyhound from Rochester to NYC, commuter train to JFK, and then luxurious Emirates airlines to luxurious Dubai. After spending the night there, I finally flew into Entebbe airport in Uganda via Addis Ababa. (By the way, in case you're looking for a cute movie to kill some time, I enjoyed both The Proposal and Ramen Girl on the plane!)
Pic- the view over United Arab Emirates. In a word- sandy!


Grubby and a little bit grouchy after claiming my luggage, I stepped out into that hot equatorial sun and was completely (and pleasantly!) surprised to find that Dennis and three of his siblings had come to meet me at the airport. In case I haven't mentioned to some of you yet, Dennis is the amazing guy I am seeing (and I don't just say that because he will likely be reading this!)

From the airport, we headed to Masaka, and from Sunday to Wednesday I got to visit all the great people and places I've been missing over the last few months. Besides being told, "well be back," I was also informed that I look 'different' after my time in the States (translation = whiter and fatter!) I actually felt quite disoriented that first day back- like I didn't remember how to properly greet people and cross the street! I did get to see Mukiibi, who enjoyed baptizing my new camera with fingerprints and blurry snapshots!

Pic - Mukiibi at the help of my camera once again. Just like old times!



Wednesday, I began the journey to Nairobi. I have to admit that I was a little nervous to be traveling overland by minivan, boda, bus, and taxi with all my worldly possessions for the next 12 months! I was also nervous about the midnight border crossing. However, I was really blessed by kind and helpful people along the way, and arrived without any major incident to the apartment of some fellow caseworkers out in the Westlands area of Nairobi (where our office is.) I'll be crashing with them until I find a place.

Luckily, there are tons of places, and tons of new caseworkers looking for roommates, so it's just a matter of finding the right fit. Yesterday a couple other caseworkers and I spent the day walking and taking matatus around to see different possibilities. (Matatus are the minivans used for public transport around Nairobi. With their blaring music, you can think of them kind of like a discotec on wheels!) It looks like the accommodations will be quite a few steps up from my lovely, but basic 'flat' in Nyendo last year. Most compounds in the area have electric fences, guards, and even swimming pools!

When I got home, man were my feet filthy. Unfortunately, for the second day in a row, the water was not working. Having not washed my hair since thursday, I was starting to feel desperate and was even rationing my water strictly for toothbrushing. I think water shortages are definitely an issue in this part of the world, even in Nairobi (though certainly not as extreme as in other areas.)This morning, I was finally saved by the fact that the compound's pool and pool shower are functional!

I had my first day at the office last Friday, and it consisted mainly of getting to know some of the 100+ Kenyan and expat staff, and filling out loads of paperwork. It really feels good to have medical insurance again! Next week, after having Monday off for the Muslim holiday of Ede, all of the caseworkers will be back from their circuit rides for some training, and then I'll have another week in the office before my first ride, which will be a three week stint at a camp in Ethiopia (mostly Somalis there I think.)

I'll keep you posted as I learn more and get settled in. It seems the work I'm doing will be rather sensitive, so I'm not sure how many details I'll be able to share about that, but I'll still try to communicate the flavor of it all!


Have a great week!
Tammie

Friday, September 11, 2009

On the Open Seas - Africa Edition: Part Deux!

Hello all,

After a delightful summer hiatus, I am back on board! I have to admit that the job search wasn’t always easy, and many of you know that I applied to quite a few jobs, from Sudan, to Burundi, to Cambodia before finally getting a bite! However, I am now happy to report that I will get to spend some more time around East Africa this coming year!

When I say, “around” East Africa, I really mean it! I will be working as a caseworker with Church World Service’s Joint Voluntary Agency (JVA). Though I’ll be based in Nairobi, this position will take me on “circuit rides” to refugee camps all around East and Southern Africa. My job will be to compile case histories for potential refugees to the U.S.

JVA/Kenya is an “Overseas Processing Entity” whose aim is to manage the resettlement of refugees to the U.S. from these areas.

Some info on JVA:
Since 1990, the Overseas Processing Entity has assisted more than 136,316 refugees from 22 countries in Africa to resettle in the United States. In FY 2007, the OPE/Nairobi resettled 13,386 refugees to the United States. OPE/Nairobi implements the resettlement program through a Cooperative Agreement with the U.S. Department of State. OPE/Nairobi is responsible for processing refugees located in Eastern and Southern Africa, and for providing cultural orientation for those accepted for U.S. resettlement. (For more info, see the website link at the right.)

I start work exactly a week from today, on September 18, which means I need to move myself and my stuff to East Africa like yesterday! Actually, it will be today- I depart this evening, connecting through Dubai. I’ll spend a couple quick days saying ‘jabale ko’ to friends in Uganda, and then head to Nairobi middle of next week.

Though I’ve had a lovely gap, which involved awesome time with family and friends (and lots of tv and American fast food) I consider this stint in Nairobi to be all part of the same story that God started back in ‘Boston Harbor,’almost exactly a year ago as I embarked for Uganda.

To be sure, I’m much less ‘green’ this time around, having lots of adventures under my belt from last year, but I have a feeling there’s much to be learned, and many ways to bless and be blessed in the year ahead. I look forward to sharing it all with you!

Blessings,
Tammie

Monday, June 8, 2009

Almaz in Ethiopia

Many of you may know Almaz, a fabulous woman and former roommate of mine who followed God's call a couple years ago to begin working with orphans in Ethiopia. I visited her in January 2007, and at that point she was just getting started so we spent a lot of time furniture shopping for cribs and little toddler chairs. This time around, operations are in full swing at Hannah's Hope, a home for children waiting to be adopted through All God's Children International.

Over the last two and half years, Almaz and AGCI have placed over 200 children with adoptive parents from the US. There are currently about 25 small babies and 35 toddlers and older kids living at Hannah's Hope as their adoptions are processed.
I actually got to see as four sets of parents picked up their kids- it was very emotional on all sides, as it is a long road for both the children and the parents. Besides adoption, the agency also has a sponsorship program to support poor families.

Almaz expressed that she sometimes feels she is 'getting eaten up' by the job, with its heavy demands and responsibilities. However, she also said that the story of any one of those 200 kids makes it all worthwhile!

Besides helping out feeding babies and playing with the older kids, I also just got to enjoy some fun with Almaz. We got a lot of coffee and Italian food around town, took a little weekend trip to a resort/lake south of Addis Ababa, went running together (just like the old days), and just generally enjoyed some good laughs and girl talk. Needless to say, I am very very proud of my old roomie!

Pics:
Just another day at the office for Almaz!


Running buddies reunited



Lots of mouths to feed!



Baking banana bread with the older kids

Tanzania/Zanzibar

Group capacity building in Mbale

On my way to Tanzania in mid May, I had the opportunity to stop off in Mbale, in eastern Uganda. Aida, my colleague from Buddukiro, had asked me if I would be willing to travel there to visit a few projects that her friend Joseph was working on. I stayed at Joseph's place in the village, about a 10 km boda ride from town. We had a whirlwind Saturday where we met with a youth group, a women's group, and a church group one after the other to take them through some strategic planning. Here's a few pics:

Youth Group -
Because a lot of the youth are out of school and/or unemployed, delinquency can be a problem. This group was formed to give the youth around Mbale a productive outlet for their time an energy. They've done a lot of dramas to educate the community about HIV/AIDS, and have several income generating projects to raise money for schools fees for their members and other needy youth in the area. These include things like raising chickens and cultivating seedlings. As with each of the other groups, I took them through an exercise to identify the main accomplishments of their group so far, the areas of needed improvement, and their goals for the future. We then identified some key goals and made a more detailed workplan to flesh out a strategy for achieving them.


Women's Group - These 40 ladies gave me pretty much the most energetic welcome of my whole life when I arrived to the field where they usually meet- singing, dancing, hugging... the royal treatment! They were so excited to have an outsider show interest in what they've been doing- who can resist the urge to show off a bit when you've been working hard?! They formed to save money together and do income generating projects. They've also had some other training, such as in the production of energy efficient stoves.


Church Group -
Joseph is the pastor of this awesome little village church. Though small in number and themselves poor, they have started up a project that helps dozens of orphans in the area. One of the things we discussed with them was their desire to build a bigger henhouse to house their chicken rearing project. They are also trying to build a new church, so we hit on the idea of focusing first on building the new church, and then using the old church as the henhouse. It was a special experience on Sunday worshipping with them in that little mud building, listening to the African drums during worship. After Joseph finished his sermon on 'Who is God?', I got to deliver a little 'word' myself about 'Who am I?' (basically about how we very beautifully and wonderfully made, and loved by God, the maker of the whole universe!)


Building God's House -
Sunday morning after the service, the pastor asked the whole congregation (about 40 adults, kids and babies), to help out with the new building by helping to move the brick pile over to the building site. Even the little ones got their hands dirty helping out!

Rwanda/Burundi Pics

Gisenyi, Rwanda - A nice view of Gisenyi, a small resort town a walkable distance from the DRC border/Goma. It's about a three hour ride from Kigali through beautiful winding green hills. In the background is the very active volcano that sometimes disrupts life there!


Southwestern Uganda - Amie standing outside the bus around 6:00am. We were waiting in a line of traffic for a few hours for an overturned truck to be cleared so we could make it to the border with Rwanda. Unfortunately, the accident caused a backlog at the border, which made for a hectic immigration experience. The buses will leave you if you take too long, and unfortunately we had to deal with an insane number of blatant 'queue jumpers.' Amie is usually the confrontational one, but I shocked even myself by raising quite a stink after like 10 guys in a row cut us at the front of the line on the Rwanda side. It started with my blocking the line with my body, escalated to me getting in their faces in French and yelling, 'back, back, back' as I gestured to the back of the line with my thumb, and culminated in Amie, me, and a Ugandan lady teaming up to cut all of them back! (After that move by us, the line pretty much disintegrated all together!)



Kigali, Rwanda - Overlooking Kigali, which is basically sprawled around hills overlooking a valley. It was an incredibly clean, orderly city with great roads, which I think can be partly attributed to all the reconstruction work following the genocide. I could hardly believe it's been 15 years since that was going on, and could hardly believe that it went on in these very streets. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to visit the genocide memorial this trip- perhaps next time.

Here's a few pics from my trip to Rwanda/DRC/Burundi. I went with a Amie, not only a great roommate but a great travel buddy as well!

Goma, DRC - Me standing in front of Lake Kivu in Goma. That's the UN compound behind me. It was a bit of a weird place- physically beautiful, but an odd mix of big NGO houses and vehicles, and incredibly poor people and evidence of the conflict that is still ongoing in many ways. Having just applied for a job with World Vision in Goma, I was trying to get a vibe for the place, and get a sense of whether I could see myself living there. While there, we stayed with a friend of a friend who works for Diane Fossey Gorilla fund, which was pretty cool! (This hilly border area between Uganda, DRC, and Rwanda is prime gorilla habitat). Sadly, that ubiquitous blue shirt I'm wearing in the photo was lost to me forever when I accidentally left it behind at the 'Sky Hotel' in Kigali :(


Bujumbura, Burundi -
Here's a view from where I sat chillin' on the shores of Lake Tanganika in Bujumubura. You can see that I approve of the view! I liked Burundi- it was full of beautiful green hills and amazing produce (including strawberries!). There were also bakeries, and a more relaxed vibe than Kigali. I enjoyed dusting off my French as well!

The last leg

I cannot believe it is currently June 8, 1 day before my departure back to the U.S.! Where has the time gone?! I thought I'd better post a few updates before (yay!) seeing many of you in person later this week. My departure from Masaka has been happening kind of gradually over the last month. Here's a rundown of what I've been up to since my last post:

Wrapping up: I officially ended my World Vision internship at the end of April, and wrapped up a few loose ends with my other projects shortly thereafter.

Moving out: At the end of April, I moved out of the room that served so well for the previous three months. I've been a bit of a nomad ever since, sleeping either in hotels, on buses, or at Jenipher's place (during my stops back in Masaka).

Hitting the road:
Because I wanted to focus on project activities, I kind of saved up my remaining travel for the month of May. The last 5 weeks have been a bit of a whirlwind as I've been to Rwanda, DRC (Goma), Burundi, Kenya, Tanzania (Zanzibar), and Ethiopia. Some crazy travel stories to be told, for sure!

Holding babies:
For the last two weeks of May, I visited Almaz at Hannah's Hope in Ethiopia. This is a home for orphans in the process of being adopted by American families through All God's Children International. We had such a great time together, and it was so inspiring to see the developments since my last trip, when things were just getting started.

Looking ahead:
I have been giving a lot of thought and prayer to where/what God's leading me to next. I'm thinking that I'd like to be in Africa again next year, and also that I'd like to earn a salary so I can begin paying down my grad school loans. I've applied for a couple jobs so far, including a position with World Vision in DRC. I've had a few phone interviews with them so far, but still waiting for the final decision. If that doesn't come through, I'll be more than happy to job search from the comfort of my parents' home as I cuddle my new nephew Caleb!

Saying goodbyes:
The last several days have been a whirlwind of goodbyes. I'm feeling mixed emotions as I prepare to move on from Masaka- excitement to return home and see friends and family, but sadness at the thought that this chapter is closed, and it's now time to leave behind all the great people I've met here. Praise God that it is a bit painful to go, because it's a sign of how deeply He's blessed me with friends and meaningful work to do during my time here!

Friday, April 17, 2009

The joys of independent living

Here, as a follow up to my entry on 'Adventures in Real Estate' are a few pics of the place I've been staying since moving out of the host family in late January. Despite breaking one of my windows the first day there, and getting unsolicited laundry lessons from the neighbor, it's been a wonderful experience overall- so great to have the independence to sleep in late with no judgment, or cook whatever mzungu food our hearts have desired (within reason!)

Front of our place-
We have the end room in a row of rooms. It's nice and new, and freshly painted. The door was tricky at first though- you have to reach in the hole to unlock/lock the bars from the inside, and in the beginning that process took several minutes and left me with bruises all over the upper part of my arm. Just a wee bit embarrassing to struggle like that in front of the new neighbors!


My 'bedroom.' I sprang for the 25,000 Ush/$13.00 mattress which has been not not only comfortable, but also an important buffer against the creepy crawlies on the floor. The net also helps- I'm a big fan! We used lesu for curtains (cloth that ladies usually wrap around to protect their clothes while cleaning). Do me a favor and try not to notice how dirty my feet are in this pic- it's almost impossible to keep them clean during rainy season!


My roomie Amie (former international program coordinator for FSD, now volunteering with Right to Play), stands near our 'kitchen area' and in front of the doorway to her room. She was awesome to live with, I'm so glad that it worked out that our schedules matched up!


Brock and Hagar in the 'living room.'
Since Brock and Hagar moved into a place nearby, we often came over to each other's places to cook dinner and enjoy music together. Notice the floor mats woven by Jenipher, and the sheet making a closet to hide anything unsightly (such as undergarments drying on the line!)


Our 'facilities.'
I've spared you the internal view of the pit latrine and bath room. They are quite adequate, though we have to share them with a swarm of flies by day and giant cockroaches by night...


View of the compound - Nice and private. You can see the water tap toward the front- that's where we would fill our jerry cans for bathing, cooking, and washing water. Sometimes we also harvested rainwater using our various pots and basins.