First Impressions

A 3 1/2 hour treacherous drive through Ugandan cities, towns and country side is a little overwhelming to take in all at once; especially given the driving style of the locals. I’m not a nervous passenger but there were definitely a few moments where I was sure there would be contact made between car and car/car and bike/car and leg… We were even pulled over by a traffic cop on a motorbike. The reason, you ask? Totally bogus based completely on the fact that there was a white passenger in the front seat; in other words…money. I asked Job, our driver, point blank if we were getting picked on because of me and he admitted it so. His first ticket in 32 years…as driving people around is what he does to care for his wife and 8 children, there was no way I was letting him pay for that ticket.

I wasn’t supposed to take this picture. As we were about to leave, the policeman on the left saw me holding my camera in my lap and asked if I’d taken any photos. I acted as though I didn’t understand the question as I could see that Job was just getting ready to pull away and after he said something quick in Lugandan, we did just that. In hindsight, it may not have been the wisest thing to do.

This place is wonderful and crazy. After just a minute of sitting with the kids, I had one attached at the hip and those that could speak very quickly adopted the appendage of “auntie” to my name as they do for all the workers here and even those that showed a certain degree of shyness were soon vying for my attention with their calls of “Auntie! Auntie!”; it’ll take some reminding before they have a solid grip on my name, though. There are quite a few “mommas” who also take on the roles of cook, laundress and house cleaner which gives the place such a laid back atmosphere. The volunteer guidelines specified particular hours that we were expected to work, but that was just a guideline. If we’re particularly tired and need to lie down, need to make a phone call or whatever, there’s no judging. As long as you’re involved and carrying your weight, that’s all that’s required. And that afternoon nap the kids all take provides the couple hours of quiet time that make the absolutely craziness that happens after dinner a little easier to deal with.

I’m sharing a room with the three other volunteers that are currently here. Jessica from Georgia, who’s been here a month and is planning to be here for 3 more and Rachel and Becky from Cambridge, England who are 4 days into a two week stay. All three are wonderful along with all the house staff and the two Emily’s that established the orphanage.

My first full day was as expected, comfortable but a little uncertain. Nam (see http://ekisainternational.blogspot.com/2011/08/beauty-in-broken.html) bought us all raw sugar cane which was promptly and efficiently stripped of its bark and quartered using rather large sharp knives that caused bits of sugar cane to fling about around us as the raw cane was hacked. It’s enjoyed by chewing on the soft, yet crunchy inner part of the cane so to extract all the sugary juices. It was quite wonderful to all sit around, children, staff and volunteers, enjoying the treat together.

And just in case I made it sound too cushy with all the staff and the laid back atmosphere, let me share with you a few not-so-glamorous aspects to my African home. There are bugs everywhere, even in my toothbrush (I always look before putting it in my mouth), there isn't a proper seat on the toilet (always a frightening situation), the toilet sometimes needs to be flushed with a bucket of water (sometimes we just don’t bother), certain faucets in the house (especially the shower) give off a pretty good electric charge when you grab them and it’s been known to come through the water when your showering (something to look forward to), and even though the mommas do 99% of the diaper changing, due to the use of cloth diapers, I get peed on at least once a day (there's a fan in our room so I just turn it on and stand in front of it for a few minutes).

Today was my first trip on a Boda-Boda into town, but I’ll save that for my next entry.