Uganda: Day 4 (part 2) and Day 5

By Corey (sorry if some of this overlaps with Wendy's version): It was glorious to arrive at our hotel in Entebbe, Uganda and have a nice shower. Check-in was very smooth and reasonably efficient considering they require photocopies of all passports (which is almost always done in Asia and Europe), covid tests, temperatures, and vaccination data. The Best Western Premier was very nice. We tend to judge hotels based on their water pressure and air conditioning and this one passed with flying colors! I was exhausted, but the kids were starving and a 10th Cliff bar (in the past 30 hrs) wasn't going to cut it for them so they headed down to the 24-hour restaurant in the hotel with Wendy. They ordered hamburgers, pizza, and fries, but unfortunately none of it was very familiar (spoiler alert, they'd come to really crave this food later in our trip). 

 

Some samples of the food in Uganda.  Lots of beans, rice, and root vegetables, and occasionally some chicken or goat.  It was a bit hard to take at first but we all warmed up to it.  

From Entebbe to St. Bakhita's is about a 9 hr drive, but less than 350 miles. On US highways, the drive would take about 5-6 hrs. Believe me, Ugandan roads are not I-80. Even when there is a long stretch of highway, about every mile they break up the pace by using 2 rumble strips, a large table top speed bump, followed by 2 more rumble strips. 

My driver, Nassir (awesome guy, by the way) said they serve two purposes... To slow traffic in the villages, and to keep drivers awake. Ugandans are very clever though and if it is possible to go around something (literally and figuratively), they will find a way. For example, I saw some guys along the road throwing dirt into the valleys of the rumble strips to smooth them out. As the hours wore on, Nassir took to ignoring the strips and speed bumps all together, which seemed to please everyone in our van. Our motto in our van was, "anything to get us their quicker." 

A typical road in remote villages of Northern Uganda.  

Along the road from Entebbe to Gulu, at one of the many 'check points,' we were asked to pull over.  There was a lot of chattering back and forth, switching from English to Acholi and back, and some references to God, and before long it was "all sorted" and we were back on our way.  Various explanations ensued but the most logical was that the officer was telling us there was a 7:30pm curfew, after which we couldn't be on the roads (it was about 8:45p at that point).  Next stop - Gulu!

Our late-night excitement at one of the check points.

Not much to report from Gulu. Our hotel was fine and the breakfast was presented very nicely but it was taking us some time to get used to the different spices and eggs that have yokes that are off-white.  And I don't think I'll ever get used to chicken gizzards for breakfast, and that's coming from a guy who LOVES breakfast meat!  The pineapple and bananas are really delicious though so we all loaded up on those. One 'rookie' mistake we made was going to a café in Gulu and allowing the server to walk off with our credit card to process the check.  Almost everywhere, outside of the US, brings a portable credit card machine to the table so you can always see your card.  This café had one, but for some reason the waitress left with our card.  About 4 hours later I started receiving the fraud alerts.  Thank you to Chase for catching it quick and to the scammer who bought a $3,175 electric bike online and $365 work of GrubHub, I hope you end up in prison. 

Looking for something familiar. I settled on a hot, mystery-meat pie.  I didn't get sick and it filled me up - success!

Our entry into the gates of St. Bakhita's Vocational Training Center (SBVTC) will forever be etched into my memory. We were the 3rd van in the convoy but we heard the celebration long before we turned into the gates. It was almost exactly 9pm, so it was pitch black, and most of the region uses little to no light at dark, so as the headlights on our van made the turn, we were welcomed with 78 students and about a staff, waving branches and screaming and cheering and hugging and just trying to get close to us. And then they spotted Wendy in the 2nd van, and between the yelling and cheers, I heard chants of Mama, Mama, Mama...and then the tears came - for me and everyone else. Thankfully someone started to sing a St. Bakhita's welcome song so it allowed me a moment to compose myself and try to comfort my kids. It was just simply overwhelming, and I've never been prouder of anyone than I was of Wendy, at that moment.

We were thoroughly exhausted but the welcome gave us enough energy to head to the central meeting area where the girls performed traditional cultural dances and songs. It was a very long day, but it could not have ended any better. 

We are all so proud of Wendy and what she has accomplished!

Our first dinner after arriving at St. Bakhita's. 

The next morning the girls had more to welcome us including traditional dances, songs, and poems.  We 'mostly' had our emotions under control this morning but it was all still so touching and sincere.  

A common request - "take my pic, take my pic"

Oh, and the babies of St. Bakhita's.... 

African Adventure - Day 3 - December 28

We were up early to head to One Acre Farm to visit with Doctor Emma and her and to see her eco-friendly and sustainable Farm.  We loaded up, and were off.  Thankfully there was time for napping!

Along the way, a motorcycle crashed into one of our vehicles.  Luckily no one was hurt, but it was a bit unsettling for sure!

Great to see Dr. Emma again.  We visited her in 2020, and in 2021, she joined the class via Zoom.  She was busy that day so multi-tasked and inseminated pigs in the barn while chatting with us.  No joke.

It is amazing how she uses every animal by-product to produce other sources of food for other animals on the farm. Pigs, cows, chickens, tilapia, flies, maggots, you name it.  We are most interested in her tilapia farm and her piggery.

She also runs a primary school.  Kids learn about farming and how to sell products and open bank accounts.

Our ND friend Martin Lukindu joined us for the tour.  Martin helped out with the 2020 class as he wrapped up his PhD in mosquito-borne illnesses.  Now he is back in Uganda with his wife and two girls.  So great to see him!  Below is Martin, Victoria and me.

After the tour Victoria served us bananas from the farm.  Some of the best I've ever had!  Caden loved them so much he ate two!

This is the snail farm in the primary school.  The snails are as big as my hand!  They sell the slime for cosmetics.

Picking maggots for the chicken feed.

The piggery progression, from A to D = baby piglets!

Tilapia Farm

From here we travelled to Bethany Land Institute to see how my colleague from ND, Father Emmanuel, teaches agroforestry and sustainability. Here are some of the great views from the window along the way...

From here we traveled on to Bethany Land Institute to see how my colleague Father Emmanuel comer teaches agroforestry and sustainability. A few highlights from his program are the small 10 by 10m plots of land that students can use to grow and apply what they are learning to sell for profit.  They also had goats, pigs, chickens, turkeys, and pigs.

After the tour, they asked Victoria and I to each plant a tree.

After our visits we drove to Kalbega Diner, my usual stop for lunch, for fish and Niles beer :)

We travelled on to Gulu.  Right around where we crossed the Nile we were stopped, as you often are, by the police.  The COVID curfew is 7:30 PM and it was 8:30 PM.  Our driver Denis had us underway in no time with a quick slight of his hand.  We arrived at the Bomah Hotel around 9:30 PM.  The girls and I shared a triple and Corey and Caden a double.  We played a little Spot-It and went to bed.  Poor Gia could not sleep, and was kind enough to keep me informed HOURLY!