Sunday March 16th

Tonight the internet has been unbearably slow but I need to constantly remind myself that that fact that we have internet here when we don’t have so many of the other modern conveniences is a tremendous blessing. I tried posting the last few nights, but alas.

With malaria pills quickly diminishing, and knowing that my departure in May is coming with what I feel is increasing speed, I have been trying to take every experience I can as I may not have another chance.

On Thursday, I got the opportunity to receive an official tour of the New Hope Vocational Institute, which is located about 3 km from Kasana. I was able to see how cloth was designed and woven on a loom. After taking a textile class last semester, my interest in material has definitely increased and I was absolutely fascinated by the whole process.

Last night I went to the family group for fun night. It was kind a spur of the moment decision to go and to stay as late as I did. I was planning on leaving about 10 minutes before sundown so that I could make it back home at a safe time, but I was having so much fun that I ended up staying much after the sun had disappeared in the sky. Usually for fun night, the kids play games but they wanted to just keep singing for their fun night. They were having so much fun laughing and singing at the top of their lungs. There was this one little clown who would belt out the opening words to a song whenever there was a moment of silence. We all would crack up at her which in-turn fueled her fire to start entertaining us with a little special dancing. It is times like this that I realize that these children are no different that any other child. Yes, many of these kids have gone through more and seen more than the average person, but they still know how to make people laugh, still have an imagination, still are just kids.

For Easter, I will be going away to Jinja, which is at the source of the River Nile. With teams and visitors coming back to back for the next month, the realization of a little vacation to get our minds in order is becoming a reality. I am really looking forward to seeing another part of Uganda and experiencing “public transportation.” The taxis in Uganda are vans and their occupancy rate is yet to be determined. I just asked my roommate, Ann, what she though the average number of passengers is and she thought the number was between 20 or 30. So now try to imagine 20-30 people (and possibly a live chicken or two) stuffed inside a minivan. Chickens are allowed to be taken inside taxis, but if you want to bring home a fish, it has to ride on the outside.

The next team that will be arriving to Kasana will be from Russia. It is hard to think that the team won’t be jet-lagged because they are in the exact same time zone as we are right now (8 hours ahead of Central Time). I just marvel at how blessed I am to be getting the opportunity to meet so many people from all over the world. I wonder if by the time I leave, my 6 degrees of separation will be knocked down to 5?