Orange Trees

Although no one actually claims to get confused, after attempting to burn the trash that has built up in the back of our home and being unable to do it sufficiently due to the random pineapple tops and mango peels, I'm convinced none of the volunteers know the difference between compost, burnables, and other designations for trash. I gave up to watch it smolder and chat with David, our Ugandan guard and dear friend. No matter how they are labeled, the compost often finds its way into the burnable trash pile, making the duty of burning it virtually impossible.
*PS in Africa, plastic makes cuts for the burnable choice too. I know.

Everything here in Uganda is raw. There isn't a trash system. When you want to eat chicken, you have to butcher it yourself. There isn't a lumber yard to get supplies to build a house. You want bricks? Better start lugging water from the river in your jerry can to the adobe mud hill because it's a long process to mix it up, form it, dry it, burn it, and then use it. When our cook Mercy attempted to make Italian pasta at my direction, she bought whole tomatoes and was going to boil them and peel them and do everything herself from scratch. It never dawned on her that the lazy mzungus (aka us white folks here) would just buy a can of steamed tomatoes from the store. That cost a whole 4000 Ug shillings! (current exchange rate: 2700 shillings in one American dollar).
Life here is real. It's raw.

I'm still annoyed people cant keep compost from paper. Mostly though I'm frustrated that there is nothing you can do with the trash and I have to somehow figure it out for 30 people. The trash fills the streets and makes mounds on corners where goats and cows roam looking for something edible. It is a hard situation when you are out on the street and you have trash to throw away. Where do you put it? You know you're not going to be finding a trash can any time soon, but you cant just throw it down on the street. We came here to make things better, not worse... right? Guess Ill just wait and throw it in our backyard where I know it will get burned. Except for today. Blast those pineapple peels.

As I watch the trash smolder I watch David push little bits of wrappers and sacks into the barely there flames with a big stick. David always saves the day. When I splurged and bought a toaster for the team and it broke after a bajillion people used it every morning for a month, and three team members attempted to fix it and failed, David fixed it in a few minutes. When the fridge that had been in storage for 8 months was secretly infested with baby and mama cockroaches that poured out at me like a bad horror movie, David saved the day and got it out of our house and cleaned it ten times over until I was assured they were gone. When people attempted to break into our house he shot them with his trusty bow and arrow (ok... that last one hasn't exactly happened yet, but he is fully prepared to do so if someone makes it over the razor wire). Bottom line, David takes care of the mzungus here to take care of him.There is a small plant growing by our trash pile and as David and I chatted about what to do with the trash, where to put what, how to keep the puppy Simba out of it, he bent over and started telling me all about orange trees.

David: "Suzanne, this orange tree is doing bad. It's going to die."
Me: "What? That little plant is an orange tree?"
David with a confused look: "Yea, of course it is."
Me: "How do you know it's an orange tree?"
David with an even more confused look: "Look at the leaves."

What do I look at? I had fruit trees in my backyard when I was little and lived in Idaho. Cherries, pears, plums, whatever. But if you put a two foot fruit free in front of me, I would have no idea what it was until I read the label. We Americans are so busy we fail to learn about the world around us. The Africans I met in Uganda are brilliant. They can make anything from anything if given the opportunity to get the resources. I told David I was impressed that he could tell what kind of tree it was, and he just laughed. Of course he knows what tree it was. It amused him that I had no idea, leaves or no leaves. We started talking about what Mzungus know and don't know. I asked David if he thought it was odd to have mzungus come and tell Africans what to do. He replied no, there is lots for Africans to learn. I continued to ask David who he thought knew more, Mzungus or Africans. He thought about it for a while. He concluded by saying he thought both knew a lot, just about different things. That when Mzungus come to Africa, it is more of an exchange of ideas. Or at least it should be.

I wonder how many volunteers coming to Africa think, "I wonder what the Africans are going to teach me." We come with agendas, and plans, and what we think is best and what everyone should do. David is right, Ugandans know a ton. More than I do in a lot of areas. David has solved more problems for me this summer than I have for him. David is humble and therefore he is teachable and learns a lot as he goes about his life. Im grateful he is my friend. There is a slower pace here, a focus on relationships, an understanding of the land, and great attention given to detail. I came with lots to give, but Im leaving with lots received. True development should be an exchange of ideas. If both sides had all the answers, each country would be a perfect place. Slowly I'm figuring this all out.

Luckily, I can at least now pick out the orange trees.

therealthirdworld YouTube!

Ok, so I didnt actually get a chance to post the next day. Being in charge of 30 people in Africa is crazy busy. But check out these videos on my youtube channel!!
Here is one of them:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mb5wyOTAfts
More to come! If you have questions, either comment or message me.Posts to come soon.Promise.Really....:)

You've been lost!

Sometimes I see people on the streets of Mbale and they say this to me: "You've been lost!" Rest assured, I'm not lost in the jungles of Eastern Africa... I just very much have been crazy busy and every time I pretend that I am about to write.... something happens. A volunteer needs to be interviewed, a project proposal needs to be discussed, a survey needs to be gone over before given out in the mountain village tomorrow, a cockroach the size of my face needs to be killed (or "Doomed" as we say in Uganda since the can of bug killer is called "Doom"... fitting if you ask me!) Who knew leading 25 people on a humanitarian adventure would be so time consuming...?

Regardless, there has been no time at ALL since I got here. Or should I say since the volunteers got here. Wave one is over and the 2nd wavers of HELP International have arrived! We now have 23 people, one guard, one cook, and a puppy named Simba. He's adorable. I love him. He must come home and be my African memento for the next 12 years.... (if anyone has anyone I can bribe in the airline industry... I'm in)

I have officially lived in Africa for almost 2 months exactly. Holy Cow. How is time going so fast? I love it here more than I ever though possible. Like seriously. The volunteers are great, the Ugandans are amazing, and I am learning so much. New goal: Im posting something everyday. Get ready. I promise.... Here is the link to our HELP blog to see some of the projects (more posts coming soon! http://ugandambale.help-international.org/

If I could show in one picture how I feel about my African adventure it would be this:


I love Uganda so much... do I have to come home....?

Pictures

Mbale really is the best place ever...Whitney and I got to hang out with some of the kids while we were waiting to meet with a potential partner. They were so dang adorable! They were so excited to see us and we took lots of pictures and then showed them their adorable faces. Everyone here is so happy!



Everyone here is convinced Im something other than just plain ol' while because my hair is so dark! And people keep trying to brush the freckles off of Whitney. So great. :)
We love it here so much!
Attempting to find a home here for our team has been frustrating, but we have to get one tomorrow because everyone is getting here this weekend! Im so excited for them to come!

Well guys, T.I.A.

What time is it? I have no idea. But that could be because I have been on a whirlwind trip over three continents in the last three days. All I know is that right now, I am sitting at a computer in Mbale, Uganda and it is super dark outside. I'm sipping thick mango juice that came in a box, and it sounds like someone is playing one of those sound tapes. You know the ones - with the "sounds of the ocean" or sounds of the jungle" or whatever it is they call them. Well, right now I am for sure listening to "sounds of Africa" but it isn't on a tape - it's coming through the window.

Hahahaha I just paused this post because a giant (and I mean BIG) flying insect just flew into my head. Ick. Then I realized that they were coming in all over through a hole in the window! Like seriously, think of any movie you've seen where some creature takes over and insert me in Africa and some large random flying insect and there you go. Now I'm not usually one to run from a bug, but this very afternoon some mzungu (white person) that lives here told me that all insects in Uganda were poisonous. Awesome. Obviously I bolted into the other room to be saved by a higher power: the night guard Paul. Conveniently, Paul was aware of the bug infestation. As I peered out the glass door (we're obviously staying in a really nice house until we find our own) there was Paul, crouching down catching all of the giant attacking bugs and pinching their wings and putting them in a cup.

me: "Paul!!! What are those?! Aren't they poisonous?!"
Paul (laughing) "No, no. They are o-kay."
me (slightly confused): "They are coming in the other side of the house through the window!! Help!"
Paul continues to laugh and mock the mzungu as he makes his way to the other side where I was just attacked to "save" me from the harmless (but still big, ok?) flying creatures.

Lucky for me, Paul told me all about the flying killer (but not really) ants that come out after the African rains and how the bigger ones come out tomorrow morning. Awesome. He continued to tell me that not only were they not poisonous at all, but that he was catching them to take them home and eat them. No joke. He is legit and about to consume the very flying creature that sent me flying into the next room. Boy did I feel white, American, and gullible. I have so much to learn. Paul says he intends on taking off the wings and frying them, but as a child growing up in his village, he would just sprinkle salt on them and eat them then and there. When I was a child I ate fruit-snacks. T.I.A. = This is Africa. Paul is amazing and I love how patient he is with me as I figure out life in Uganda. Everyone here is more helpful and loving that I could have every dreamed.

I felt the post deserved an interruption about me, Paul, and the ants to let you in on a very African moment. That is just one of many that happen all the time. My world has been turned upside down more than once in the last three days. I have been more grateful than I thought possible and more blessed than I know I deserve. If you were to think of your perfect day, what would it look like? I can tell you for sure it wouldn't look like attempting to finish finals while packing up your whole house, driving to Idaho to put all said stuff away somewhere, driving back to Utah, attempting to pack everything you think you need and knowing all the things you really need you'll probably forget as you move to freaking Africa, and trying to say goodbye to everyone you've ever met. Rough. But I can tell you for sure that it WOULD look something like this:

1) Getting to see people you really love including your best friend and her baby before you go
2) Finding out that you can only have one bag checked to Africa after thinking you could have and bring three... but then having the lady just let you take them all anyway free of charge
3) Sitting by a window on every single flight all the way to Africa
4) Having friends all around the world that love you enough to come pick you up and show you all around their city and take you to your little brother who is currently serving a mission there (shout out to Rita in London!)
5) Seeing your little brother that you love more than pretty much everyone after not seeing him for an entire year
6) Going out to lunch and going to an awesome fair in Reading, England with a fore mentioned little brother - amazing rides and super legit English accents included
7) Seeing the joy on little brother's face as you hand him homemade chocolate chip cookies that your mother made you bring all the way to England because her baby boy hadn't had any in so long (did I mention you also have the most amazing parents in the world?)
8) Having all of your luggage end up in Uganda with you
9) Have three amazing Ugandan boys pick you up and take you exactly where you need to be, explaining the world of Africa to you as you go (I love you Ronnie, Moses, and Sam!)
10) Having two more amazing men pick you up and take you the rest of the way to Eastern Uganda (You too Charles and Edward!)
11) Stopping and meeting their families on the way and being treated like family by everyone who is so excited to see you for no apparent reason at all
12) Being able to somehow eat the ridiculously large head-size serving of matoke they made you for dinner - because everyone in Uganda is extremely generous and kind!
13) Having the LDS Senior missionaries open their home up to you, love you, take care of you in every possible way, and let you stay and figure out your life and realize, "holy cow, we actually just moved to Africa for 4 months"
14) Being with a great new friend the whole time
15) Having the same fabulous senior couple take you all through town, show you everything, introduce you to important local leaders, in their nice air-conditioned car
16) Walking through a nearby village while kids follow you smiling, shouting Mzungu!, and wanting to just hold your hand
17) Taking pictures with all of them and showing them their picture that many of them have never seen before
18) And guess what, you're in Uganda, the Pearl of Africa, and although you are sure things will go bad at some point, you'll get confused and think the local cuisine is a dangerous killing machine and you'll look ethnocentric and dumb, you'll say something inappropriate as you attempt to learn the tribal language, you might forget to take your malaria pills (just kidding mom...) and you might even fall off a boda-boda.... you're in Uganda. You have big plans to shake things up in a great way and help a ton of people in the process, and in a week you have 30 more people on their way to help get it all done.

Yep, that is your perfect day. And granted, that might be like three days rolled into one, but come on - you fly to a new continent and try and tell me what day it is, or where you are, or what time it is. I can't believe it took me so long to get here. Like 24 years.... but here I am, and I can already tell four months isn't going to be long enough. T.I.A.

Mountain States, USA - 4:02 PM
London, England - 11:02 PM
Mbale, Uganda - 1:02 AM

This is the DR CONGO, not the DR island in the Caribbean

Last night was the 2nd Annual Sowers of Hope and EDP Fashion Show 2011! Having only been a part of Sowers of Hope since the beginning of the year, I really didn't know what to expect as we planned and organized this awesome event held at Trolley Square in Salt Lake City, Utah. Although not connected with the non-profit I will be working with this summer in Uganda, I felt the work Sowers is doing is just too amazing to not get involved. I mean really, watch this video and tell me you don't feel the duty to help. We were raising money to help them with their school in the DR Congo. The event was a huge success and we sold out the seating on the floor for the show, raising $3,300! It was awesome, and I want to thank everyone that came out!!

I had the opportunity to run one of the doors into the event last night. This position has its ups and downs. You get to greet and see everyone that comes and feel the excitement as they line up ready to have a good time, but you also have to throw down on those select individuals that feel sneaking in, lying, or cheating is the best way to get into a charity event. I know you're probably surprised, shocked, and horrified that there are people out there that would do such things, but yes, yes it is true. But it's ok, I'm pretty sure I caught all of them last night. At least caught all those poor souls trying to sneak their way through MY door. Sometimes the convo went like this:

Me: "Welcome to the fashion show! If you haven't pre-ordered your tickets, they will be ten dollars a person."

Cheater one: "Oh.... I think my friend pre-bought one for me....."

Me: "Ok, what is their name?"

Cheater one: "Ummm.... can I just go in and find them? Then I'll come back..."

Me: "you want to go find them so you can ask their name? False. That will be ten dollars."

Or

Me: ""Welcome to the fashion show! If you haven't pre-ordered your tickets, they will be ten dollars a person."

Cheater two: "Wait, I have to pay to get into this?"

Me: "This is a charity event for the non-profit Sowers of Hope! We are helping them build a self-sustainable school in the DR Congo and are asking a minimum donation of ten dollars a person for the dessert reception, fashion show, and after party with EDP and Ryan D."

Cheater two: "I have to pay to send someone to school in the DR? That's like a freakin resort in the Caribbean. Why can't they pay for ME to go to school?"

(I'm disappointed in the American education system.)

Me: "Um, that's the Dominican Republic sir, not the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which in fact, is in Africa and not a 'freakin resort'... that will be ten dollars."

Then there were the line skippers and dodgers, the fake wrist bands, the 'I never got one, but I swear my boyfriend is in there waiting for me. It is still slightly mind boggling to me that there are people out there that want to sneak into a charity event. Like, really? But, although frustrating, there are always people that surprise me on the other end as well. The people that say:

"This is a charity event for the Congo? Here, take this extra 20."

or

"What else can I do to help? I really want to; I just don't know how."

or

"My wife isn't feeling well; she's in the car. But I wanted to come in and say thank you for doing this. Here's money for my ticket, and for my wife's. She would pay if she could come in, so I want you to have it anyway."

People want to do good. I believe that. I believe that people have good intentions that they don't know what to do with. They may not understand the cause exactly, and they may feel justified in sneaking around not wanting to pay, but I don't believe it is because they are bad people. I believe they are misinformed people.

After all, they never shot or tortured anyone in Africa, right? They never personally denied food to anyone in Central Africa who was starving. They never looked down on a kid in the Congo just because he or she never had they opportunities they had. Suffering in the Congo isn't their fault, right? Maybe... I guess you could claim that. But I kinda like to think that all the suffering in the world isn't happening as much because of bad people doing bad things. I think most of it goes back to good people doing no things. And it turns out I'm in good company.

"The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do NOTHING." - Albert Einstein

Well said Einstein, well said.

You have more power than you think you do. Don't listen to people who tell you you can't, or it's not your problem, or there isn't enough time or money right now. If you were in crisis, are those the excuses you would want the people who could help you to say? You can help. Whether it's Africa, or local, or another place in the world. You can help, and I believe you're called to.

Sometimes, It's Noteworthy...

Every now and then, something I do is worth writing about and letting someone else know. Usually my thoughts are mine, and the blogging world is yours, but sometimes I get an opportunity that would be selfish not to share. Interning at the District Attorney's office in Las Vegas, NV was one of those experiences. That was the first time I actually felt compelled to keep a blog and make sure that all of the amazing people I had the opportunity to work with and meet, and all the crazy happenings that can only take place in the Vegas courtroom and on the streets with Metro were introduced to and experienced by you as well. And now, here we are again, and I'm back to the blogging world on another adventure! Except this time im not going to be writing about living in Eastern Europe, or interning in Las Vegas. This blog is dedicated to capturing my experience as HELP International's country directer in Mbale, Uganda, AFRICA this summer from April 2011 to August 2011!

What is HELP International you ask? (Make sure you check out our website here) We are a non-profit that takes volunteers into eight different countries around the world to work on sustainable development programs, helping to eliminate poverty by empowering the people who live there. Our projects are as broad as the interests of our volunteers and our approach to development is very holistic. All the countries are going to be amazing this year, but Mbale, Uganda is by far going to be the best of them all. Believe me - our team is full of amazing, motivated, and capable people out to change the world. And who's to tell us we can't do it? We'll prove you wrong this summer if you're doubting... just follow this blog and be prepared for us to change your mind. I have faith in our small group of volunteers, but maybe that's because I really do believe what Margaret Mead said to be true: "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world: Indeed it's the only thing that ever has."

Get ready... Uganda is meeting Suzanne in 20 days.

Ready. Set. GO.