"We welcome you vis-a-tas!"

Today was an amazing, sweaty, joyous and heart wrenching day.  We woke up at 6:00am and had a great breakfast in the restaurant of the Acholi Inn Hotel, while the drivers loaded our many bags of supplies and gear into the vans.  We ate as quickly as we could so we could get on the road to drive the 1 hour to Bul Kur and see the Galileo School.  We had to make a quick stop at the petrol station to purchase some water and to air up the many soccer, volleyballs, and footballs we brought for the kids. 

As we pulled away from the town of Gulu and onto the red dirt road towards Bul Kur, you could see the transition in the landscape. The drive became sparser and the homes you did see were small, simple mud huts.  We also saw few cars and plenty of livestock on the road.  We were all anxious but Georgianna and Scott were ready to the see the school that they had poured the last year of their lives into.  After many bumpy, twisty roads, we finally saw the white dot in the distance. It was the sign for the Galileo School, and Georgianna began to beam with excitement. “I see the sign! I see the sign!” she cried.  We all were like kids at Christmas with our heads out of the windows and roof of the van.

Shaking hands - look at this line of students!

As we drove closer, we began to see the 150+ school children standing in 2 perfect lines on the front lawn of the school. Then we heard it.  We heard the song they were singing in perfect unison. With smiles from ear to ear, they were clapping and singing a song to welcome us.  Talk about overwhelming. The song was in English and the chorus was, “we welcome you visitors, we welcome you.”

It was a grand ceremony for us, and the children introduced themselves to us individually with a curtsy and their most perfectly rehearsed English. “Hello, my name is ______, I am fine.”  In the Ugandan culture the girls bow to their elders. By bow, I mean the drop to their knees while shaking my hand.  But we Americans have the custom of bending over and looking children in the eye when talking to them.  They were very confused when we would bend down to their level while they were bowing. Many giggles were heard every time we did this.  It took us a while to catch on.

3 legged race

Our day at the school started out with games in the field in front of the property. We broke up the 150+ kids into smaller teams and sent them to a game station. Nick and I were in charge of the 3-legged race station.   Luckily we each had a staff member there to help us translate the rules into Acholi for the children.  It was hilarious to see the children run a 3 legged race. I’m pretty certain they had never seen anything like this before. After we had sufficiently worn ourselves out, it was time for “Lessons from Americans”! 

The children went back to their classrooms.  Katie, the nurse, went from class to class giving valuable, life saving hygiene lessons to the children. While I went from class to class teaching songs about peeling bananas and making bracelets with the children. Valuable? No.  Silly? Yes.  Nick was hanging out with Ann, the documentary filmmaker, and learning to film incredible B roll for the film she is making about the school.  Chris and Scott went to talk with the elder men of the village about Bee keeping and the honey demand in the area.

"Eat Bananas!"

While we were working in our respective groups the desks were delivered!  It was so amazing to watch the truck, stacked sky-high, drive onto the property.

Desks are here!

 After a couple of hours we regrouped back at the van and we quickly shoved sandwiches in our mouths because it was time for the community program.  All the villagers of Bul Kur came out to put on a presentation for us.  They lined up 7 chairs for us to sit on while the rest of the villagers sat on the ground around us. For the next 2 hours they gave speeches, sang, and shared their stories.  It was one of the most touching experiences of my life.  There we were, this little team of 7 Americans, being thanked for changing the lives of the people of Bul Kur. Let me type that again for emphasis, changing the lives of people. With sincere gratefulness they told us of their struggles and the hopes for their children. Their desire to rebuild lives after the war they have lived through.  There were LRA kidnapping victims bravely sharing their stories of the hell they lived through and a brave, 14 year old orphan stood up to share her story too.

Sharing her brave story.

Dancing for us

Community leader

Then they sang and danced for us. They had written songs for us. In this Acholi community, if people write a song with your name in it, it means you are in their hearts. You have touched their lives forever. They sang songs about the Galileo School, about Pastor Jackson (the project manager in Uganda) and about the American who came to help.  It was incredible. We wrapped up our time there and packed up the vans to head back to the hotel for the night.  We were beat but so incredibly happy. 

Who here doesn't have an AK-47?

Fancy!

So today we traveled up to Gulu, which was an awesome way to see Uganda.  Traveling up the main road we passed small markets, buildings, and lots of people.  Of course as you travel farther away from the city of Kampala, the sparser and less developed the landscape became.  After about 2 or 3 hours, we reached a bridge that crossed a part of the Nile known as Karuma Falls.  This is the point that “divided” the north and the south.  It was at this point in the not too distant past that you would have needed to have a military escort with you to defend yourself in case you were attacked by the LRA.  As we passed through the checkpoint (we’ve quickly become accustomed to all the police/soldiers with AK-47s by now), we noticed the “bush” quickly became a little thicker and there were definitely less buildings.  You can easily see how “rebels” would hide out in this jungle and be so hard to track.  After another couple of hours, we reached Gulu.

No malaria for guests - bad for business.

Entrance to the market

We checked into the Acholi Inn and quickly put our personal effects in our rooms.  Then we were off to see the school!  Unfortunately, it began to rain, and it rained just long enough that we knew the dirt roads heading out to the school would be quite muddy.  Since it was already early afternoon, we couldn’t risk getting stuck out in the mud and having to walk back in the dark (it’s about 45 minutes by car to the school each way).  So we called an audible and decided to check out the local market.  Not only would it be awesome to see where the locals bought their groceries and things, but it also provided first hand research into what kinds of things the local community purchased.  You see, the Galileo School leaders are trying to find ways to make sure the school can support itself on its own.  So they are looking into local business opportunities for the school (currently, they are looking into producing and selling honey).  The local market was this twisting, winding maze of shops that sold mostly clothes or produce.  Set back behind some buildings, you wouldn’t have even known it was there unless someone (like our guide, Pastor Samuel) took you down one of the narrow alley ways leading to the market.   

A local women selling beans and millet

Local honey - note the honeycombs and bees still in it.

Once inside, our team got plenty of smiles, stares, and looks (some dirty, some good) as we traversed the maze.  Often we’d ask to take someone’s picture but were denied.  It seems many people around here think you are going to sell their photo for money, so they don’t want you taking their photos unless you give them a cut.  

No doubt all the photo journalists up here over the last 20 years have intensified this problem.   Eventually, we did end up with a few good pictures, muddy shoes, and lots of research about the local honey.  Side note, the infrastructure for roads and drainage here is pretty much non-existent.  So when it rains, you end up navigating muddy roads and walkways full of a mix of rain water and probably sewer run off. Anyways, it was a fairly productive day given the rain. Tomorrow, we’ll get up at first light to grab breakfast and head out to see the school for the first time!

Watch Out

We had a great time in Kampala today. As I may have mentioned, our team was asked to speak at a Christian conference in Kampala.  There has been much hype leading up to this conference and people were traveling to attend this conference from all over Uganda. (from Congo too!)  

Nick and I had planned to speak on 'God's Design for Marriage' and we didn't want to let these people down, so we made sure to study up on our notes during the plane ride from Brussels to Uganda.

Keeping to our 20 minute rehearsed limit, Nick and I team taught and our message was well received. We spoke in English and Pastor Jackson translated it into Swahili. We even got some "Amens"! 

Y'all, submission is a confusing word.

Then they broke it down.  They wrapped our time together with a little praise and worship.

Watch out! These people know how to praise it up.  

Tomorrow we take the long drive and head up to Gulu/Bul Kur region to see the new school.  We are so excited to meet the kiddos and the villagers. It's time for the Galileo School doors to open wide!

Brussels Bonus!

Because of a little glitch with the travel agent, our layover was bumped to a full day in Brussels, including a night in the COOLEST Holiday Inn in the world.

We landed in the morning, checked in to the hotel, grabbed a couple sandwiches from the hotel lobby and then found ourselves on a train to the heart of the city.

The Grand Place

This is going to sound crazy, but this city smells wonderful. We stepped off the train and the waft of sugar filled our noses. There were waffle stands on every corner! Our group of 5 got to walk around the city, eat Belgium chocolate, and drink heavenly coffee laden with whip cream.  There were street performers, flower vendors and groups of local elementary school children on field trips with their teachers. It was quite picturesque and the weather was outstanding to boot.  I’ve already started my campaign to convince Nick we should move there. THERE ARE WAFFLE STANDS ON EVERY CORNER!

This small layover also provided the opportunity to get to learn more about the people in our group. Here is some trivia for our reading audience.

Katie: I’ve given her the title “Medical Director of Galileo School trips.”  She’s a nurse, an avid runner and she has a habit of joining mission trips with people she doesn’t know. (Case in point, joining this Galileo School trip)

Georgianna: Galileo School founder. She has a serious speed reading problem. There was a time when she flew through 90 books a year. WHAT?!

Scott: Galileo School founder, married to Georgianna. When feeling spicy, this IRS software programmer can bust out some awesome boot-scooting-boogie moves.

This morning we woke up early, dined on chocolate croissants, yogurt, sausage and fresh fruit before we caught the shuttle back to the airport.  When at the airport we were instructed to head to the “Africa Travel Check-In” counter. It was here we noticed the 3 very distinct types of travelers that head to Africa.

•         The obviously native African. They have traditional dress, speak in wonderfully guttural languages and usually have boxes of appliances that they are checking as bags.
•        The older white gentlemen in safari wear.  These men are either American or western European. They are wearing monochromatic shades of tan and white and they usually have the ideal safari hat to   coordinate with their uniform.
•         Hippies. They have backpacks, a tan from their days in the sun, cool accessories such as a woven bracelet or shell necklace.  They are mostly western European and travel in pairs.

I’m not sure which category we fell into.  Nick and I have backpacks, but we don’t have the unique jewelry nor sun burned cheeks. Scott has a safari hat, but is not wearing the coordinating outfit.  Maybe we are a hybrid of the last 2. Safar-pies? Hip-aris?

We have a short layover in Rwanda and then we land in Entebbe, Uganda tonight. We will land about 9:30pm and then drive into the capital city, Kampala. Tomorrow we will hook up with the other 2 members of our team (Chris- Galileo School board member, and Ann- documentary film maker) who are flying in on a different route.

BTW- The in-flight movie on the airplane to Uganda is a nature show about leopards. Every time I look up, I get an eyeful of leopards mating. This is going to be a long 9hrs.


P.S. I wrote this post on the plane. Update: We have arrived to our hotel in Kampala & it has wifi! We are going to stay one more night here before we head north into the Gulu/Bul Kur area. 

Lately

Let me give you a quick recap of the last few weeks, via photos.

Nick had a birthday.

Then there was an end of year party with the MBAs.

Then people donated school supplies to the Galileo School.

Then it hailed on us.

Then Nick's family came over from Thailand.

Then there was a party for us May babies.

Then Stacey & Bryan got married.

Then we had our last MBA Bible Study : (

Then Nick graduated!

Now we are getting ready to fly here.

It's been a whirlwind last month, but a great one. I'm so proud of Nick and his accomplishments, and I'm so sad to say goodbye to this season of our lives.  We have had the best group of friends that grew out of his grad school network, and I'm going to miss those who are moving away for jobs all across the country.

It's 4:33am on my birthday and I'm up, trying to finish the last minute details before we leave for 3 weeks.  I am so pumped to go back to Uganda. This time with Nick! How cool.  This will be a thoroughly draining and life-giving trip for us. Did I mention Nick and I are preaching to 300 people? Yeah, pray for us - cause we are gunna need it.  

So I've packed a couple books for the flight and plan to learn how to be a great foster mom on the long flights to and from there. Remember that application I was working on? Yeah, well I'm still not finished, but luckily I'm bringing the laptop with me & will work on it on the plane. I give you permission to ask about my application progress upon my return.  I need accountability. 

Any who, it's probably time I jump in the shower & head to bed. I've got a long 3 weeks ahead of me.

Toodles.

I'm new here

Howdy! I'm Ashley- Jak's younger sister. A quick bio: I'm 26 and live in Austin, TX. I love Jesus and my family. My favorite thing is to do is laugh with my siblings.

I get to work here every day:

Recently, Jak asked me to be a guest blogger. I was excited, but there was a problem: What to write?! What to write?!? Topics I considered:

- How to Vote: A Guide to determining which candidate deserves your support in 21st century America (For those of you who don't work in government)

- How to sleep under your desk at work: Surviving the 80+ hour work week

But I settled on something more topical: Update On Your State Government and Its Recent Actions

You've all probably heard about the significant budget issues our state is facing this year. Is this real? Yes. Is it going to affect you greatly? Depends.

A LOT of people are wondering how the budget issues, or more specifically, budget cuts will affect public education. The biggest impact you will probably notice at your school is increased class sizes, which means, there will be teacher lay-offs. How many layoffs? Too soon to tell and it depends on the school district size. While we receive a lot of phone calls daily from interested parties asking us to spare public education in our budget cutting process, it's not that simple. Education and health care services (services the federal government requires we provide) make up 2/3s of our entire state budget. So, there is not enough fiscal savings in cutting everything but education.

Now you're probably wondering, "how did we get into this situation?" Easy Answer: Our state budget is highly dependent on sales tax revenue. Due to the economic recession, people stopped buying goods, so the amount of sales taxes collected was significantly lower. Also, our state constitution requires that we balance our budget, so we can't pull a move like the feds and borrow money to balance it.

Are you going to be taxed more to off-set the revenue short falls? Probably not anytime soon. Tax increases are too risky right now for state politicians.

Other things you need to be aware of: Redistricting- occurs every 10 years and it is happening now. After each federal census, the boundaries lines for your state representative and state senator are redrawn to make sure each member represents an equal number of people. You can find out who your state representative and senator is here: http://www.house.state.tx.us/members/find-your-representative/ Although be sure to look again in January 2013 because the new map will go into effect by then.

Also of note, there are 181 members of your Texas Legislature. 31 Senators and 150 House Members. You and your neighbors elect them.

I took pictures of the House floor one day while watching the members debate legislation. Those big boards in the back are the voting boards, so you can watch how members vote on bills. I hope you enjoyed your civics lesson! Thanks for having me!

Happy Easter