Ugandan's Are Great!

There were many Ugandan's that had an impact on my life and I enjoyed spending time with in Lugazi. These are a few who are very important to me and I think are amazing and inspiring people.

Ahkmed and Ahklam: The are brother and sister. We rented the main house the volunteers lived in from their family. They lived in the small boys quarters in the back of the house.

The mother of the family we rented from, Wouda. She did not speak very much English and I don't speak Luganda and yet we still formed a friendship. She is a very kind, giving, and extremely hardworking woman. (I seriously hate this picture of me, I had AWFUL hair in Africa!)

This is Grandma Salma. She is so beautiful and funny. She always had such a huge smile to share with everyone. I never knew what she was saying but I could always tell that it was entertaining by the way that she would say it. I always claim that it's a good joke or one liner is all about delivery, with Salma that was always true.

Irene!!! She was our cook but more importantly she is my friend! She is the most sincere, fun, enjoyable person I have ever known. She's the greatest!

Irene and Christine

Edith and Miango. They are siblings and Edith is Ahklam's best friend. They would come and visit a few times a day. Edith and Ahklam were always doing kind things for us. They would wash our shoes, clean our dishes, and more. Miango was always drawing everyone pictures and would play games and color with us. They are very fun!

This is Ivan. Ivan became all of the volunteer's good friend. He was always helping us with directions when we needed to find a new place in town, he would help us get a good deal when buying things, and he would teach us anything we wanted to know about Lugazi and Uganda. He was very valuable to have around.

This is Richard at Hope Internet. Richard ran the Internet cafe I went to the most. He was always so nice to me and helped me with anything I needed on the computers. A bunch of us went to lunch with him and it was really fun! One night the power went out in town and it was late and dark. Ashley Ward and I were nervous to walk home alone and Richard volunteered to escort us home. I thought that was cool of him especially because it was out of his way. Thanks Richard!

David our guard! David is the best! Obviously he isn't just a guard he is also I skilled basketball player. David kept us safe at the main house and he even had to shoot his gun a few times to scare away thiefs. David is hilarious and would sit and talk to us for hours! He always knew how many people were gone and where they were. It was really impressive how quickly he learned all of our names and could tell us apart quickly. It made me feel safe.

Faith and Shem. Faith is our contact for the PWD (Person's with Disabilities Group) She would go with the volunteers when we met with the disabled children and their families. She works very hard for the PWD's and their families in Lugazi. Her son Shem is an artist and made paintings and wall hangings for us. I got two awesome wall hanging that he made that remind me of the people and places in Lugazi. He is very talented and did a lot of great work for us!

This is the Women's Group in Nnacazzade. These women are hilarious! They are super fun, full of energy, and entertaining! I love going to this group because it was always an adventure and so fun! They meet in an alley between two houses. We would do an activity with them and teach them English words to go along with the activity. It was always a blast.

Shelia. She is the strongest girl I have ever met. She would give you a bonga (fist bust) and you would think she had broken your knuckles. Immediately following the bonga she would kiss her fist! It was awesome!

Molly. She speaks both English and Lugadan fairly well. She is very bright and loves to just spend time with people. She lives pretty far away from where we would meet for PWD meetings and it was a pleasure to get to walk home with her.
Diana. She is the most energetic person I have ever met. More so than me even. Wow.
Vincent. Vincent was always shy with me but he is a sweetheart. He loved to play ball with David and DJ. It was really fun to watch him open up to both of those boys.
Fiona. She might look like a cuddle bug but really she is a monkey. She climbs all over you and then holds on with her legs. She is really strong with those legs of hers. I love Fiona because she is so happy, she has a fantastic laugh, and she is a little mischievous devil. I really like that.
Sam. Sam is blind and has hydrocephalus. He is extremely smart and can tell you almost every word in English and then Luganda. He craves learning and love listening to things. Rylee was able to give him a radio and he was so excited. He has an amazing spirit about him.

Sarah owes a sewing and alterations shop. She made us bags, shirts, dresses, necklaces, and more. She is very talented and also very kind.

Daily Life in Lugazi

I have been back in Utah for 6 days now and still haven't posted pictures from Uganda. I am ready now! This is a picture walk through the common sites I would see on a normal day in Lugazi. Get ready.

The volunteers live in 2 houses because there were so many of us. There were 8 of us that lived in the boys quarters at the Mayors house. This picture is of the Mayor, Deo. I like his pimp hat.

This is Molly. She is one of the house girls hired by Deo to keep his home clean. I would see her several times every day. She is wearing the WWF wrestling towel I gave her. It was a big sacrifice to give it up but look how happy she is.

In the morning, I would go to Mike the Chapati man. He would make me my Rolex every morning (flour tortilla fried with egg wrapped in it).

This is Mike in his sweet Chapati stand.

I miss chapati.

This is a Ugandan Taxi. The would shove as many people, animals, and other goods into one of these as they could. I rode in one once with 26 other people, 3 chickens, 2 screaming babies, and a bag of beans under my feet so that I couldn't put my feet down. Pretty fun. Oh and yes... those are chickens on the roof of this picture. NBD (No Big Deal.)

The neighborhood.

Chickens, everywhere.

The Milan where I frequently ate lunch. They had delicious omelets. I don't know what DSTV is but it is the reason I went here.

Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner for 6 weeks. Rice, beans, cabbage, posho. Imagine what this diet would do to your stomach. Horrible.

Every time we came or left our house we were mobbed by the street children. They couldn't get enough of the "Muzungus".

They would wait outside our gate.
This is how I did my laundry. A bucket and a bar of soap. I was so bad at it and only kind of tried to actually clean my clothes.

Tori is trying to show me up by squatting to do her laundry the way the Africans do it. I can't help it my knees can't handle all the squatting. I'm obviosuly not a real African woman. :)This it the main house where all 24 of us hung out during the day and ate dinner together every night. It was a little squishy. The yellow containers hold our fresh drinking water.

The living room. We sat on plastic lawn chairs and there were generally people everywhere.

This is the huge and luxurious kitchen. Don't strain your eyes trying to see all the way in the back... it's just too big for that.

Our working wall. It has our monthly calendar, weekly schedule, chore chart, project assignments, etc. Also, our awesome maroon valor couch. So nice.

This is half of my bedroom at the Mayor Deo's house. I shared a room with 3 other fabulous girl. Ashley Ward (she is the one in the picture, sitting on her bed), Tori Blonquist, and Leslie Miles. We were a mess.

This shows our nightly ritual of chillin' in our messy room. Myself, Tori B., and Dan's legs are chillin' on my bed. In this picture Tori and I are probably eating peanut butter or some other delicious treat, writing fantastic song parodies while Dan tells us inappropriate jokes, and laughing so hard that Tori pees her pants. That's just how we roll.

By the end of the day my feet always looked this fantastic. I wonder why my white sheet was orange no matter how many times I washed it? Any guesses?

So as you can see Lugazi is a pretty rad place. I sure did love it!

10 Things I Miss About America...

I love it here in Africa but with 4 days left until I leave for the states I can't help but reflect on why I am excited to return to America. The reasons I miss America are...

1. Warm showers! There is nothing worse than a freezing cold shower, gross!
2. Feeling safe in a car- I have rafted the Nile here, bungee jumped, been 10 feet away from a king lion, and still the times I have felt the most in danger are when I am in a taxi or a boda boda (motorcycle). They are psycho.
3. Privacy- I would love a moment to myself, with nobody else around. Just 10 minutes would be fine.
4. High Speed Internet that is reliable. It will be nice to come home and post all the great pictures I have! Yeah!
   
5. A washer and dryer- buckets of water and soap are okay but it takes forever and line drying leaves everything stretched out and wrinkled.
6. A garbage system- We take the garbage can and garbage day system for granted in American. There is garbage everywhere and they just through it in the streets or in piles to burn.
7. My Mom and Dad (and my other family members)- DJ and Katie are here but I just need a good momma chat and Slim laughing time.
8. Cell phones that work and are reliable. You never know what will happen with ours, how much air time you'll need, or when the call will get dropped.
9. Routine- Having a routine to life is really nice and things here are pretty random and you never know what's gonna happen. I love adventure but sometimes it is nice to know what is coming next.
10. Food- So many foods I can't wait to have at home. First on the list: Chips, salsa, and guacamole. mmmm, I'm drooling.
    

10 Things I Love About Lugazi, Uganda

1. The amazing people here that are so giving and the desire they have for help and change.
2. The fruit market-Huge avocados are 10 cents! There is also the most delicious pineapple and mangos I have ever had!
3. The beautiful children. The run to us in the streets to hold our hands, play with us, and do "bonga" which is a fist pound. They yell "muzungu" everywhere we go, which means rich white person.
4. Irene- She is our cook and our friend. She is so kind to me all the time and does so much for us every day! I don't know what us "muzungus" would do without her.
5. Mosquito Nets- I always wanted a canopy bed when I was a little girl. It is also helping me not get malaria, which is good.
6. PWD meetings- Persons With Disabilities is one of the projects here. We do meeting for the mothers and fathers of children with disabilities. Somebody teaches a lesson while the rest of the volunteers play with the children. Thursdays are my favorite day of the week because of these meetings. It has been a life changing experience working with these great women and children!
7. The street vendors- I love buying scones that you watch come out of the grease, maize (cooked corn), and my favorite chipotee (a fried tortilla, we compare it to cafe rio tortillas). Kind of scary to eat all the jazz but super delicious.
8. Working with the teachers in the schools. The school life here is very different from American (duh) but the teachers are doing their very best with the little they have. It is very fun to get to go into their classrooms and work with them all on an individual basis. It is great to teach alongside them! It has been a very good learning opportunity for me.
9. How cheap everything here is. It costs 200 shillings (about 1.25) to have someone do a load of laundry for you. A medium sized pineapple is 1200 shillings (75 cents). I can get 3 fanta sodas for a dollar. It is awesome!
10. The hardworking women that carry a baby on their back in a blanket, a bowl full of items to sell on their head, and usually something else heavy in their hands. They make it look so easy and they work so hard. It is crazy!

No Big Deal... Just Free Falling!

That is right ladies and gentleman! I, Lindsi Marie Sullivan, am an official Nile River Extraordinaire! No joke! Last Saturday we went rafting on the Nile! It is some of the craziest rafting in the world and it was amazingly cool! DJ, Katie, Kelsi, Tori, Kira, Mike, Jeff, Dan, Seran, and myself went! It was a great adventure! Some people got really scared and didn't like it when we got thrown out of the raft but I found it exhilarating! We were rafting Class 3, 4, and 5 rapids all day and having a blast. Our raft which included: me, Katie, Seran, Jeff and Dan flipped 4 times because the boys really wanted it to happen. Our guide Davey thought it was great that we wanted to flip and so he helped them out. I liked flipping and getting bounced around on the rocks and through the rapids but I never had a time when I felt like I was in danger or drowning. A couple of the others with us got really scared because they felt like they were under too long and out of control. Kelsi even went into shock a little because she was so scared. That night we stayed at a campsite along the Nile. We slept in this little ghetto dorm room style place with all 10 of us in one room. When I opened my bed there were two huge geckos in my bed with me. They were my sleeping buddies for the night. that night we chilled at the bar with all the drunks and relaxed. It was beautiful! I took a shower (the first hot shower I have had in a month!) and there are doors to the shower but once you are inside it is just an open room looking out over the Nile river! It was beautiful, I basically showered in nature! The next morning we got up and went to church in Jinga. Church here is so different than in America but the spirit is the same and the people have a great love for the gospel. It is a great feeling being with the people in the branch here. That afternoon Katie got this crazy idea in her head that she wanted to go bungee jumping! I kept telling here she was nuts and Rylee and I vowed to never do it. However, as we were on the boda boda (motor scooter) ride to the bungee spot Rylee and I had a change of heart. We decided why not. You're only in aFREAKa once! So we sucked it up and did it! Honestly, it was the scariest experience of my life however it was so fun! The pictures tell the story better than I could.

They are getting me ready to jump up in the tower. Look closely at my face. How do you think I feel about this adventure?

They are making me take my hand down off the tower. I'm at risk to puke or pee my pants right now.

They are counting me down. 1,2,3 Bungee. I am trying to be brave and I'm in crouching tiger position but again... look at my facial expression. Corbin and I call this The Bulldog.

One of the first things they tell you as you are getting ready is that you should never jump out feet first because that is when you get whiplash. They tell you to make sure you dive out. Does it look like I dove? Oh no, I got scared and stepped straight off, that means I went feet first! Everyone thought I was going to die!

Yep, I'm the idiot who bungeed feet first! Looks kinda cool though!

This is my favorite picture! I feel totally Bad A**!

Swinging in the air!

I remember modesty at all times. Even when I just jumped off a tower to my possible death. I had a death grip on my shirt I guess. I don't even remember that!

In the raft and feeling victorious!

Rylee and I decided to come back for more and go tandem! So sweet!

I also love this shot! We were freaking out! Rylee kept flipping her arms around and screaming! It was awesome!

What a crazy life I lead! I need to post more about our day to day life here in Lugazi with pictures but that will have to wait until another day! Peace out from Africa!