first village day!

Today was our first day spent in a village. We went to Wairaka to meet with the leadership of Message of Hope Ministries (MOHM). The day started with a boda (the local alternative for a taxi....jumping on the back of a moped) ride to meet Judy and Georgette. We headed into town and went to the taxi park, where we negotiated a matatu ride out to Wairaka. A matatu is the Ugandan version of a public transport system...basically a fifteen passenger volkswagen bus-type van into which they cram as many people, bags of maize, and chickens as possible. They stop all along their path, letting people off and picking people up.

When we got to Wairaka, we headed to Sarah's (MOHM's tailoring teacher) shop, where we met up with one of her older sons, Seth....for those of you following along, Seth is Peter's older brother. We followed him to his mother's home, where we spent an hour or so, catching up, laughing, and drinking a hot poshu drink...much like drinking cream of wheat, actually. I had a great time!!! They have truly become like family to me.

We then headed across the main road to Isaac and Irene's home to officially have our meeting. They welcomed us warmly, and as we waited for Isaac to run an errand (this is called "African time"...things happen when they happen...they cannot be rushed), we got a lesson from Irene and Sarah about how the traditional "gomas" is worn. A gomas is the traditional dress for respectable women...it is definitely a ceremonial dress, and expected to be worn at funeral, weddings, etc., but is also a day-dress for many women. They start wearing it when they "are grown", as Irene put it...or when they get married, really.

Judy volunteered and was a great sport as they dressed her first in the striped underskirt, seen left, then put the dress on and tied the sash. The real test came when they stepped back and said, "now it is your turn!" She was amazing and gave it a shot...only making a few mistakes, which they quickly corrected. The picture to the right is Sarah tying the sash around...the finishing touch to Judy's gomas.

We had our meeting and discussed all aspects of the tailoring program and what our team will be doing while here, as well as this coming year and the future years. The exciting thing about MOHM is that one, they have the most amazing teacher, Sarah, who is very talented and driven, and two, they are the farthest along of our organizations, as far as the women's skills go. They spoke of Tausi, [who is quoted in our press kit, which you can find at www.sewinghope.net] and how she and 2 other ladies have taken their skills and begun to make children's dresses, selling them in local villages. This has been our hope for them, and it is gratifying to see that they have already began.

We ate a local meal with them, and then headed back to Sarah's shop. On the way, Sarah stopped and introduced us to Beatrice, who was a previous student of Sarah's, who now works in a small shop where one can buy what this muzungu (word for white person) believes is a weave. ha! Anyway, she was sitting there hand-embroidering some small table linens with beautiful flowers. Her picture is below.

It has been an exhausting, but gratifying day. It is so good to reconnect with everyone here and see their progress and be reminded of their needs. We have a day off tomorrow to rest, then will begin our seminars with MOHM on Monday. Until then....

meeting with Yusto

Yesterday, I had my first official meeting with the leadership of one of our organizations, the Orphans Rescue Mission (ORM). ORM has been working with Fount from the beginning and although Sewing Hope was able to provide them with 3 sewing machines last year, this will be the first summer to teach seminars and to "officially" partner with them. The meeting began with Yusto, the director, and his wife Joy. Then, we were later joined by the tailoring teacher, Patience, and Yusto's oldest son, Andrew.

Here is the Mission Statement for the proposal they sent to us, asking for support of their sewing program: Our mission is to equip ORM Children with skills and later, upon satisfactory process of rehabilitation and restoration, re-integrate them in our communities when they are already self-supportive and decent people.

The exciting thing about ORM is that they are not only working with adult women of the community who need a way to support their families, but also with older, teen-aged orphans who will soon be expected to support themselves entirely...age 15. Their hope is to help provide tangible life-skills, sewing and tailoring being a huge part of that, but also including skills such as baking and cleaning.

As exciting as their program is, and as dynamic as their director is, they still have a long way to get to their goals. One of the biggest goals for the immediate future is to secure a contract with a local school to make school uniforms. The school has 700 children, so this size business would be amazing for their program! But, before they can pursue a contract, Sewing Hope has started to help them be sure that they can actually sustain and follow-through with filling such a large order.

Our 5+ hour meeting consisted of not only my first truly local meal since being back in Uganda, but of meeting and creating a salary agreement for their new teacher, Patience. She will be graduating from a Kampala-based vocational school, the YWCA funny enough, at the end of August, and has agreed to teach for a full year at ORM, sharing her knowledge and skills with the women and teenagers there. Securing a consistent and qualified teacher has been a struggle up till now, and is the first step in getting ORM in a position to move forward with the rest. This program is young, but full of energy, and dynamic.... and has tons of hope to accomplish their goals! There is no doubt that given enough time and resources ORM is going to succeed. My team will be back in 3 weeks to lead our seminars. Can't wait!!!

commonalities...

So last night brought a strange phenomenon. Upon returning to the hostel with Peter last night, the television was broadcasting Michael Jackson's memorial service, live. Pretty cool, I thought, to be watching it from so far away at the same time that it was happening. We are 7 hours ahead of New York, and 10 ahead of LA, FYI. Also interesting was the fact that all the muzungus (the term used for white person here) from the US and Europe were being completely disrespectful and cracking jokes, while the Ugandans were taking it all in with wrapt attention. It was kind of ironic, I thought, but also neat that this pop culture icon really is a connector of cultures. He was/is an important presence here. When Queen Latifah talked about people watching from all around the world, I can attest that it really was true! Very cool.

Peter told me that the school where he is doing teacher training is going to have a Mass for Michael Jackson, and that they still have one every year to honor the losses of 9-11. Who knew? When was the last time our country remembered an African atrocity with any sort of regularity? Maybe it happens in small places as here, or maybe we will in the future, as our world becomes smaller and smaller....closer and closer.

I know that so far this blog has not spoken much about our work, but starting tomorrow, I will be reconnecting with the organizations and preparing for next week's seminars. It has been so great to ease back into being in the country: relearning the transportation system, connecting to my friends, and adjusting to the funny quirks. I also hope that throughout this blog I can continue to show you all the things which connect us, not just the differences.

Pictures, finally

I promise I am getting the hang of this...here are the pictures from the previous post. Next time they'll be in the same post.

Pictures, taxi park, and Makere University

Pretty soon, I will be able to post without issue, but today is my first attempt at uploading pictures from the slow-net computer lab. So, they may be small....bear with me.

The first is of one of the cool displays in the Amsterdam airport, where I had a 3 hour layover before continuing into Entebbe. I have never seen so many seed packets in one place....shelf after shelf of them...which I suppose makes alot of sense in Amsterdam, but it still took me by surprise. I resisted the urge to buy them, mostly because of my desire to save money for ugandan jewelry and fabric, but also because I know my HUGE lack of a green thumb.

The next picture is of the DREADED "old taxi park" here in Kampala. This was taken last night as Judy, Georgette, and I ran errands through town with my friend Peter. I asked him to take us to see it, but was sure to add that I only wanted to look down on it from above. I only enter this heinous place when absolutely necessary!! ha!! that sounded dramatic, but really after squeezing through the vans you see there (called Matatus. They are the public transportation system here..more on that later), which are inches apart and all moving in different directions, you either are so thankful to be alive that you never want to go again, or you simply stare and marvel at the shear brilliance of how it works....to me there is no rhyme or reason, but to them, it is organized and somewhat efficient. Oh, and a side note for those of you who are judging me and saying how I am not saavy or cool for my feelings on the taxi park, I saw an old lady hit by a Matatu in the taxi park last year....not cool!

So, I did brave actually entering the park with Peter this morning. He is in the last picture you see here. We visited Makere University, where he recently finished his degree in English literature. It is a HUGE campus, and VERY fascinating! I especially liked the art department, where there were many final projects on display and tons of sculpture around the grounds. The library and bookstore were cool too. Mostly, it was just great to get a picture of where Peter has spent the past 3 years, and what his life was like there...it is a HUGE accomplishment for him to have completed his course work!

Arrived!

At last, after about 24+ hours of travel, I have arrived in Kampala, the capital of Uganda....along with Judy and Georgette, the first of 5 amazing volunteers to come work with Sewing Hope. We have spent the last day overcoming jetlag, getting our barings in the city, and now, braving the internet cafe to send greetings out to our loved ones and supporters.

I must report, for those who have traveled with us, or in Africa in general, that the internet cafe here in Kampala is much improved....much faster and generally easier to navigate, though Georgette is having issues as I speak with her email. ha! But, even with these improvements, my brain is still not much-improved, as I have forgotten to bring the cord for my camera. So, I will have to wait till the next posting to show some of the interesting shots I have taken.

What is in store for us? Tomorrow, Waiswa Peter will be joining us for the day to work with us on our luganda and lusoga language skills and generally help us prepare for our work next week. Then, I will visit Makere University with him, where he has just finished his coursework in English literature. I am anxious to see what the university is like and what his life is like here in Kampala. He is one of Nalongo Sarah's sons...she is the teacher at MOHM, the organization we will be working with next week.

That's the news....only negatives so far have been accidentally ordering 2 egg and toast breakfasts instead of "2 eggs and toast", and seeing Georgette's life pass before my eyes while attempting to cross the treacherous streets. No harm done, really.