A Day in the Life of Ida

I spent the last 24 hours with Ida Bazonoona...one amazing lady! I met her at the Source Cafe around noon. From the Source, Ida, Rueben (her 10 month old son), & I headed to Waliibo Village. Ida does Women's Ministries in the villages, and she is currently doing an 8 week program at Waliibo. We rode boda-bodas (bicycle taxi) to the taxi park, and then loaded onto a matatu (mini bus taxi) which we rode for 30-40 minutes. We were packed in like sardines! At one point I counted 24 people in the matutu. Then we rode a piki-piki's (motorbike taxi) on a dirt road to Waliibo.

I believe there were 19 women who attended the program. Ida taught a lesson on women being "lights of the world." Then she taught a sanitation & health lesson. Ida is extremely engaging. I was so impressed with the manner in which she kept all of the ladies attention. After the women's meeting was over, Ida & I were served a delicious lunch of sweet potatoes (white sweet potatoes...not orange like those in the U.S.) and spinach & mushrooms. Ida also took me on a tour around the village. She showed me a plot of land nearby where her husband (Richard) & her have planted maize. They are renting the plot and farming. Around 5PM, Ida, Rueben & I headed back to Jinja. We all 3 rode on a picky together and then loaded in a VERY FULL matatu when we reached the main road.

We arrived back at the Source around 6PM. Then we headed to Ida & Richard's house in a matatu. They live about 20 minutes from Jinja. We were welcomed home by Richard & Rebecca (their 8 year old daughter). They have 2 other children (in addition to Rebecca & Reuben), Rogers & Mark, who are both away at school. I toured their garden, where they are growing sweet bananas, matoke, corn and many other things. We had a snack & lemongrass chai...which was soooo good! Then I helped Rebecca peel potatoes and chop vegetables. While dinner was cooking, we enjoyed great conversation & fellowship. Ida & Richard showed me pictures from their trip to the U.S. We didn't eat dinner until 11:30PM! Ugandans eat dinner very late. Then we washed dishes & headed to bed around 12:30.

This morning we had a nice breakfast. We also walked a kilometer or so and got water. We had a big rain last night, which filled the rain-water basins; but I wanted to see where they normally get water. I carried the 10 liter jerrycan back...but I wasn't talented enough to carry it on my head :)

What a blessing it was to spend a day & night with Ida & family...they are amazing people!

PS: The internet is too slow to upload photos, but I will be posting them on facebook soon!

Jinja - week 1

I'm getting settled in to life here in Jinja. I'll start working at the Source Cafe tomorrow, helping with their accounting system and other things. In the meantime, Candice & Bobby have been great hosts and have been helping me get acclimated to life here in Jinja.

Emily Stutzman also stayed with us for a few days. SMALL, SMALL world....we had never met & found out that we are related by marriage. We have the same great uncle & aunt--how crazy! On Friday Candice took Emily & I to a cool place which does beautiful weavings. We also went to the Bujagali Falls, where Nile rafters end their journey. I will definitely go rafting while I'm here; I've heard its amazing. Then on Saturday Candice took us on the "Jinja Tour." We went to the Source of the River Nile, Hindu Temple, Fishing Village, Metal Working District, Jinja Hospital, amongst other places. We took the city transport--Boda bodas. You hop on the back of a motorbike & they take you to your destination like a taxi. Sunday we went to the Jinja Church and then had lunch with some Ugandan friends from church. Candice & I also visited a few women at the hospital. One lady we visited just had a baby & had an unexpected c-section. The hospital was quite an eye-opening experience. To all of you Americans complaining about healthcare: you have NOTHING to complain about once you visit a place like Uganda. At the hospital there are tons of family & friends hanging around with the patients. They were sitting around the beds in the wards, and then sitting outside of the wards in groups eating and just "being there together." I thought that was very impressive, how they are all there camped out with their loved ones. But while I saw many visitors there with their loved ones, I only saw one or two nurses and never saw a doctor. Anyway, very eye-opening. The Ugandans are lovely, friendly people and I look forward to learning more about their culture as my time here progresses. Posting pictures on here hasn't been that easy (I'm not a very skilled blogger), so please see my facebook page for lots of pictures.

Uganda!

I arrived in Entebbe, Uganda around 10PM last night. All I can say is I already LOVE Africa...everything I'd been told about Africa, ie: it gets under your skin-so true! I stayed the night in Entebbe. Definitely, an experience, as it was extremely hot in the room I stayed in. (perhaps hotter than those record breaking days I spent in Melbourne last January) And there were LARGE geckos on the walls. I don't have much of a fear or bugs or spiders...but little lizards have always scared me. Well, I overcame my fears last night! I think I'm ok with geckos now :) A driver took me from Entebbe to Jinja. It took about 3 or 4 hours, including a stop in Kampala (the capital). The drive was AMAZING...unlike anything I've ever seen. The landscape is gorgeous; very lush & green. There are people everywhere...walking around the streets, carrying huge loads on their bikes or heads. So much hustle & bustle around the streets. I sensed such a unique "energy." I also saw lots of extreme poverty along the drive.

I got to Jinja early afternoon & arrived at Bobby & Candice Garner's house. They've got a lovely house and are already such great hosts. Candice & I enjoyed a traditional Ugandan dish for lunch (can't remember what it was called) on their amazing porch. We hung out at the house and had a few visitors. Candice made tacos for dinner and we enjoyed some amazing cappuccino compliments of Bobby. Then I experienced my first power outage & learned how to use lanterns! I better get off to bed, since i've had about 6 hours of sleep total in the last 2 nights. Tomorrow we will head to the Source and explore Jinja. I'm very excited to meet the Source crew, whom I'll be working with during my time in Jinja.

More (including pictures) to come soon...

Off to Africa!

Well, today is the day. I'm sitting at the Little Rock airport. Thank goodness for free wi-fi! I'll fly to Chicago, then on to London and then on to Entebbe, Uganda. I'll arrive in Entebbe 10PM local time tomorrow night (Entebbe is 9 hours ahead of the central time zone). I'll stay the first night in Entebbe and then head on to Jinja on Wednesday. I'll be staying in Jinja for a month. Things went fairly smoothly checking in, with the exception of my bags being overweight. Anyone who knows me well, won't be surprised my bags were overweight! I checked two bags, one of them being a tub of food & supplies for Bobby & Candice Garner. They are missionaries in Jinja who I will be staying with. I now have a short flight to Chicago and then 2 LONG flights (8+ hours each)...More to come once I arrive in Jinja...

More of 2009...

October-December 2009: I spent most of October, November & December working with MANA in Washington DC. In between work with MANA I did a little sight-seeing. Top 2 things I did: watched an oral argument at the Supreme Court (well worth the 3 hours I waited in the freezing cold) & attended a Christmas Open House at the White House (compliments of my friend Dilen who is interning there).

In November, I got the GREAT news that I passed the Texas Bar Exam. What a relief! I made trip to Austin, Texas for my swearing-in and then spent Thanksgiving in Arkansas. After heading back to DC for a few weeks, I drove back to Arkansas for Christmas.

2009 recap...continued

August 2009: I took the bar exam at the end of July, and then spent the first few weeks of August relaxing & spending time with friends in Dallas. While I was in New Zealand, I found out that I could defer my start date at Weil, Gotshal & Manges in Dallas until January 2011! I decided this was a once in a life-time opportunity. So I officially became a nomad mid-August when I moved out of my apartment in Dallas & put (almost) everything in storage. I spent the remainder of 2009 (and will spend 2010) doing pro-bono work and traveling. I began pro-bono work with MANA (Mother Administered Nutritive Aid) in mid-August. http://mananutrition.org/ MANA is a non-profit organization working to fight malnutrition in Africa. I am also working with the Kibo Group International. http://www.kibogroup.org/ Kibo is aimed at developing creative partnerships & solutions for sustainable African development.

September 2009: In September, I took off a few weeks from my work with MANA to take a "post-bar exam" trip to Europe. I spent 2 weeks traveling through

Italy, Spain & France. Of course, Italy was my fav & where I spent most of my time...I hit Rome, Florence (with a trip to the Villa-where I studied for a semester when I was at Harding), Cinque Terre, Lake Como & Venice. Then I spent a few days in Barcelona and a few days in Paris before heading back to the USA.

Recap of 2009...a year full of blessings!

I thought I'd start my blog with a recap of 2009...it was a great year of many blessings & travels!

January 2009: I spent my last semester of law school studying in

Melbourne, Australia & Christchurch, New Zealand. After working full-time for most of law school, this was a great way to spend my final semester. It was by far the most laid-back, relaxing semester of school! Mom came over with me for 2 weeks & we traveled to Sydney & the Great Barrier Reef before my classes started in Melbourne. I did learn some Australia law, in between hikes up mountains in Tasmania (I hiked the mountain the picture above), camping under trees of koalas, and surfing lessons.

March 2009: After 2 great months of studying & traveling through Australia, I headed to New Zealand. I spent another fabulous 2 months studying in Christchurch & traveling all aro

und NZ. Besides learning NZ law, I also learned how to drive a

stick-shift ("Auto Annie") on the left side of the road! I traveled around the NZ with friends in "Auto Annie" doing amazing things such as hiking glaciers. After my last final exams (EVER...unless I decide to go back to school again), Dad came over and we traveled the South Island in "Auto-Annie". The Kiwis & Aussies are some of the most welcoming & laid-back people I have ever met!

May 2009: I returned from New Zealand just in time for SMU graduation. I was so blessed to have my family & friends come to Dallas for my graduation. Dad, Mom, Grandma, my sister Jenni, my brother Matt & sis-in-law Laura all came. My best friend (since birth!) Laurie surprised me & flew in from Denver. What a great graduation present! Brandie & Jonathan Reynolds, two of my friends from Harding, also came. It

was special to have them there because they were visiting me the weekend before I started law school & helped me carry the TONS of books I had to buy! Unfortunately, reality set in after that weekend....I started Barbri (bar exam review) classes the following week. It took a bit of adjustment to sit in Eddy Dean's Ranch and listen to law lectures May-July, after studying 4 months in Australia & NZ. Thus, May-July were pretty uneventful...spent most of my time studying for the bar exam.