The Giving Circle Africa - Koi Koi House

2011-09-03T19:36:00.000-04:00

2011-09-03T19:11:00.000-04:00

2011-09-03T18:57:00.000-04:00

This is Mark, Momma Koi Koi yelled at to post more pics so here they come

2011-09-03T18:43:00.000-04:00

Some More Pics...

2011-09-03T18:22:00.002-04:00

Videos

2011-08-26T17:59:00.000-04:00

Just in case anyone is checking, Mark is working on all the videos of our trip that we will post here. Keep an eye out.

Thank you everyone for your support!

Love,
Mamma Koi Koi

Our Last Day...

2011-08-18T14:58:00.002-04:00

So, it's hard to believe, but it's actually our last day here in Jinja. These two weeks just flew by.

Most of the team went back to Wairaka to say goodbye for now to the villagers. This was very emotional for all especially our ugandan families.

I can't express enough how incredible these Ugandan people are, ESPECIALLY the children. They just love you unconditionally and we love them back.

We aren't really saying goodbye though, we are just going back to the US for a while and will be back when they start their first term in the fall. This is how we reconciled leaving and for the children, this worked as well.

We will post more pictures when we get home. We finished all of our projects and want you all to see them in action in the form of pictures.

Ta Ta for now ... talk again when we are back in the US.

Love,
Mamma Koi Koi, Mark and Az

A forgotten village - a forgotten people

2011-08-17T02:34:00.000-04:00

The pictures above show a village that sits behind a very large Indian-owned sugar cane plantation. No one knows this village is here. They have no sanitation, no medical supplies or support, they have nothing. Some of these people in the pictures fled from the Congo, Rowanda and from the conflicts in Northern Uganda.

Through a partnership with Grace Church in Kansas City, US, we will be able to finance the the first sanitation project for these people. They have a very dirty well for which the government is concerned about it getting polluted from where the villagers go to the bathroom on the land.

The government is working on giving us land to build a small three-room school for the children in this village. If we are able to accomplish this, the government will provide the teachers.

On The Way To The AirporT

2011-08-15T12:07:00.000-04:00

Saturday August 6^th, 2011

I am on my way to the airport. Since my father went to Guinea last Friday, I wasn’t able to get anyone to get anyone to drive me to JFK airport so I was all on my own. I took the train then now I am on the Q3 bus heading towards the airport. On the bus as I was talking to the bus operator and he was asking me where I was going, I was thinking about all of the difference that I would experience in Uganda, more especially the two cities of Kampala and Jinja. I hadn’t been in Africa since 2002, when I left Guinea in April to go to the United States. It’s been so long for me that now all I know is America. Along the way, I stared at everything that I could so that I would have something to compare the life in Uganda to. I stared at the corner groceries, buildings, highways, buses, cars, people, plants, and even the animals (pets) that were outside. I kept on thinking about what I was going to see in Jinja. I still remember Conakry, Guinea, well a little bit. Ok I barely remember anything except for little places and people. I live in the capital Conakry and my family and I made a good living and we survived as best as I could. If Conakry were like Jinja I thought, well this would be an overwhelming trip to this country.

An hour later on the Q3 bus, I finally arrive at JFK airport. Again I tried to picture what the airport in Uganda would be like. A moment later I snapped and looked at the time, and it was already 5:00pm. I started to rush and ended up going the wrong way to the A Train. At last I figured out my way and ended up at terminal 7 where I stood for an hour not realizing that The Giving Circle, the people whom I was to make the trip with were simply behind me. In my mind, I yelled where is the big sign that says:

“The Giving Circle”

A few hours later we were on our way to the line. It was time to make the trip to Uganda, but 1^st we would have to stop at London’s Heathrow Airport for 12 hours . I didn’t even get a Visa for London, and I knew that they would want to get in the city to see places.

Umaru Barrie <3

Day 10 in Uganda!

2011-08-15T11:16:00.003-04:00

Monday August 15, 2011

For a person who has never been out of the United States before this has been a zero to sixty experience that has changed my life.

I’ve been on a plane probably twice, and both were to Florida. So the two days of traveling to get to Uganda was pretty intense…but after landing and driving through the villages every materialistic concern, every selfish thought vanished. I remember writing down in my journal one sentence: “the world is so big, and most of us are so ignorant.”

My eyes were wide open for the first time and as the trip continued they just kept getting wider and wider.

I have met some of the happiest kids on the planet, and most of them live in poverty and some are very sick. It baffles me that in America a country where opportunity is around ever corner, most kids (including myself) have lived lives where nothing is ever enough and the appetite for materialistic things are never satiated, and yet here in Uganda where the opportunity…like drinking water and food…is not always there and yet you have these kids just happy with what they have.

At the Bursoga primary school we visited I met a girl named Brenda. She was 15 and preparing for secondary school. She told me of her dream to become a doctor one day. She told me that she works so hard in school to ensure that her dream becomes a reality. She was wonderful.

Her teacher told me that Brenda had lost her mother two years prior, and that she not only suffered from sickle cell anemia but she, like her mother before her, suffered from extreme scoliosis. After a few days of trying to be strong, I couldn’t hold back tears. Here was this girl with the cards stacked against her, so full of life.

I came here with the goal of trying to make a difference, and that is a goal I will most definitely continue to work on for the rest of my life. I am so grateful to be apart of such a wonderful team with dreams of making the world a better place.

One of my fellow teammates said to me on the first day that “you come here expecting to help the children, and in turn these children change your life” and they have done just that. All of these amazing people that I have met here in Uganda, and all of the things I have learned from them have touched my soul and have forever changed me.

-Jillian Langdon

2011-08-15T00:25:00.000-04:00

2011-08-14T14:28:00.002-04:00

2011-08-14T11:19:00.001-04:00

2011-08-13T14:26:00.003-04:00

2011-08-13T09:18:00.000-04:00

Greetings all, this is Mark.

I am so sorry post have not been coming fast when we combine a fully packed day, our GREAT wanting to spend every waking second the children and all of our Ugandan-And power and internet slow and/or down, please bear with us.

BUT know in time we will get you all the many photos-videos - updates and countless stories with the best ones coming from your loved ones when they return.

That being said it will be a job for our leadership team to drag your friends and family on to that plane to leaving Uganda to come home.

Uganda is called the pearl of Africa, your friends and family on this team, here for the first time now know why.

I will do my best to load some pictures, please enjoy.

Please be well ad happy from all of us here.

2011-08-12T00:33:00.000-04:00

Hello everyone, this is Deirdre and Toni. Yesterday was a really fun day and felt relaxing compared to previous days here. We went to the secondary school to talk the students about nutrition, have a yoga class, do our pad project with the girls, and watch a movie. By the end of the day we spent a lot of quality time with the students.

The first thing we started with was our nutrition lesson. We went over the food pyramid and did an activity with a color wheel. The kids got very involved and seemed to have a great time. We hope it's something that stays with them and really does help their nutrition.

The second thing we did was the pad project. We sent all the boys out of the room for this! Denise did a wonderful job of talking to the girls about getting their periods and made everyone feel comfortable. Denise gave the teacher a book called the Elephant Heart and the teacher read it to the class and we could all tell she was so touched by it. We separated into groups and taught the girls how to make the reusable pads. We really bonded with the girls through this time and just had a lot of fun.

Andrea lead a yoga class which I think the students found really funny but enjoyed it. We then tried to put a movie on but our speakers were missing. As everyone was trying to get the movie to work, we all agreed that we've never seen such patient students. They sat quietly and hopefully waiting for the movie. We were going to show Invictus but I think we're going to try again later today.

Today we're going to the primary school for the Olympic day! I think this will be so much fun for the kids. Then we're going back to the high school for a dance!! We really cannot dance at all and have been dying to have someone teach us their dances so hopefully tonight will be the night!

This has been such an indescribable experience for us. We knew what it would be like here from hearing from other team members, but I don't think we ever could've been prepared for everything. We love the kids so much and I don't think we can even imagine leaving. It's really an amazing place and the people are just unlike any other.

2011-08-11T15:07:00.000-04:00

2011-08-11T14:36:00.000-04:00

Going to Prison

2011-08-10T14:52:00.000-04:00

Hello all, Kelly Quinn here this time! Today was quite a busy day. We got to sleep in a bit but it was jam packed once we got going.

Our day started out going to a women's prison. I had no idea what to expect going into this visit but my head was spinning by the time we left. Yes, there are women there that have committed crimes, but there are also women who basically had no one to defend them when they were accused of a crime. Some are educated, some don't know how to write their names. One of the saddest parts of the prison is the children. Children have to live in prison with their mothers until either their mother is freed or when they turn 18 - whichever comes first, and sadly most of the children we met today were only a few years old or younger. There is no education for these kids, few clothes or supplies and they have to live on whatever food is provided for their mother's by the prison. We brought along some items like soap, baby clothes, chap stick (which was a huge hit!) and some toys for the kids but there is so much more they need. It was amazing to meet these women, hear their stories and help were we could but it was a very emotional visit.

After leaving the prison we headed to the village to meet the women crafters that make all the paper bead necklaces and the other items we all love to buy. Before we could even pull into the main part of the village, children were coming out of everywhere to chase the bus down the road. We could hardly make it off the bus before being snatched up by whichever kids have adopted you as their favorite. They love to be hugged and held, and even just holding their hands is so important - they will fight over your hand holding time!

After a welcome greeting of dancing and African drums we were let loose on the crafters and did some damage to our wallets. Once we bought our share of goods we spent some more time playing and getting some quality time in with the kids. It was actually hot today, so we were all pretty sweaty and dirty by the time we left. But we weren't done yet! On to Jinja Town where we continued the shopping spree with carvings, paintings, clothes and anything else you can imagine.

Eventually we made our way back to the hotel to clean up, have dinner and settle in for the night. I hope I have done justice to all that went on today.

Another amazing day in Uganda comes to a close!

First Day of Work

2011-08-10T02:06:00.003-04:00

The internet access is spotty at best! We are doing our best to keep you updated!

Today was the first day that we travelled to Jinja and visited Moses’s school. We had a wonderful tour of the school that is coed. Most of the children were out of school 3 weeks early for the term. Food prices have gone up and it was too costly to keep the children in school for the remaining 3 weeks. The children at Moses’s school perfomed the most wonderful song and dance for us to welcome us. I was so moved by the love and warmth that flowed so freely from these beautiful people. We broke into groups and some were teaching, others painting and I was cooking soup with Fred for 150 children. The children were so thankful and so happy to have this hot vegetable soup. The things we take for granted that bring these people so much joy is immeasurable. The children just wanted to be held, played with and loved. Before we could make the soup we had to take a trip to Jinja. Now that was an experience!! We had the driver with us to negotiate the price of the vegetables and bread and thank goodness for that. They saw “Mazugoo”, which means white person, and thought they “had me”! J Being I was the only white female on the street there were a few people staring!! This was an amazing experience to be in the open market and see how hard these people work to make so little money.

From there we went about 3 miles from the school to the village,Wairaka, where the bulk of the work is being done by the group. Here is where the well was drilled and the piggery built last year. The land has been cleared for the school and the playground equipment has been installed.

Driving along the streets of Africa and Jinja is an experience. We are on a bus and have a driver but the traffic and people on foot and on scooters are unbelievable. I have had a few heart attacks but have settled into the easy way everyone handles it here!!

Upon arriving at the school we were greeted by a swarm of children. I have never, ever seen such huge beautiful smiles! The all just wanted to touch, pat, rub, hang and hug on us. Here is where the bulk of our time and work will be. There are 11 tribes in this city and we hope to build a school, etc. to support all of the children of the tribes. We spent quite a bit of our day doing just that. Playing soccer, teaching the girls hop scotch, and letting them braid my hair! It was a long day but one of the most fulfilling days of my life. Then we were off to go back to the hotel where we shower, have dinner and then a group meeting to discuss the next days activities. Tomorrow we are off to the womens prison to visit and bring the children there some toys, clothes and treats.

Africa is a beautiful country with the most beautiful people. This has been an incredible life changing experience and will continue to be so. I promise to get some pictures up tomorrow. We are having incredible issues with the internet.

BTW, we stopped by the side of the road on the way here to buy some banana’s from some women. The were the most delicious banana’s I have ever tasted. It is so amazing.

Love to all,
Andrea

Arrived in Jinja, Uganda

2011-08-08T11:37:00.000-04:00

We have all arrived in Jinja, Uganda - apparently we missed the riots in London - PHEW! We are all exhausted, unpacked the supplies and about to have dinner.

We have arrived safely in London...

2011-08-07T10:34:00.003-04:00

We will be here until 9:15PM (5 hours ahead of EDT)! 14 members of the team went into London and Denise, Kelly, John and Az stayed at the Heathrow YOTEL!!

We are leaving TODAY and will be back online in TWO days!

2011-08-06T09:03:00.000-04:00

Children Playing on the Playground - TWO DAYS TO GO!!!!

2011-08-04T21:29:00.002-04:00

How awesome is this?

Playground Equipment Being Moved To It's Final Destination

2011-07-30T16:28:00.000-04:00

8 DAYS until we go to Uganda!

2011-07-29T18:23:00.001-04:00

More Progress Pics...

2011-07-27T08:05:00.001-04:00

The playground equipment is being fabricated at Moses' house and will be moved to the playground this week.

Also, the playground land is now FLAT. Check it out!

Work Pictures - PROGRESS!

2011-07-24T11:03:00.004-04:00

These pictures show the most recent work being done at Mose's school and Adam and Mwajuma's Grandparents house which will serve as a village store. The closest store for our villagers to walk to now are several miles away in Bugembe!

Hi Everyone, this is Mark...

2011-07-11T19:30:00.006-04:00

Click here for Pre-Trip Video...

Update...

2011-06-24T21:47:00.001-04:00

Since August 2010, we have:
- finalized The Giving Circle Africa (TGCA)
- created TGCA board comprised of Ugandan, UK and US members
- started micro-business for our village woman crafters
- purchased 2 additional and adjacent pieces of land

August 2011 trip will consist of:
- construction of our play ground and soccer field
- completion of all buildings on our land that were started last trip
- start the early construction stages of The Giving Circle friendship school
- expand the village woman’s crafters micro-business with sewing machines and bringing a tent to protect them from the weather
- teaching projects at Moses' school
- run the village education and recreation days
- LOVE AND SPEND LOTS OF TIME WITH OUR VILLAGERS AND CHILDREN!

Keep an eye on us, we'll keep you updated. Our trip is from August 6 through August 19, 2011.

2010-08-11T20:45:00.001-04:00

I am all set!

2010-08-11T14:47:00.001-04:00

It's been almost 4 days after I saw everyone at the airport. That big
smile on everyone's face after they saw me is one of the memories that I
will always cherish. Even after 4 days I see the green clock on my white
wall and try to think what would I be doing in Africa at this time?

I miss sitting on the red soil and getting my clothes dirty; I miss
running around with the kids and giving them infinite hugs; I miss nailing
things (for chicken coop, and pig house) and digging the ground; I miss
eating on banana leaves with dirty hands; I miss cleaning my hands with my
pants after eating oily chapattis in the car; I miss bothering Frank and
Az and asking them "why?" every minute; I miss those bumpy roads and
crashing into the person sitting next to me; I miss hearing that laughter
after I tell my stupid jokes! I know I am getting a bit emotional right
now and I will try to man-up!

When I did my laundry this week I saw all the red soil coming off my
clothes but the memories of how it got there are still left behind. I
didn't think that getting back to reality would be so difficult but it is.
I close my eyes in the middle of the day and think about all the time I
have spent with all of our 9 most beautiful and handsome team members. I
have started to smile in the bathroom while showering, walking, and eating
(not in the bathroom). I think I have fallen in love with Uganda and the
Ugandans! Missing you a lottttttttttt Julius, Irene, Bernard, Paul,
'young' Julius, Wilson, and all the wonderful kids with their magical
smiles!

Coming back to US has made me realize how fortunate I am to get know
everyone on this trip. You all made me believe in the power of love, care,
holding hands (I don't think it's cheesy anymore), and hugs of course!
Every day is a new day now and even in the worst circumstances, I will
say, "I am all set!"

Lauren's soulmate
-Nishtha

The light

2010-08-10T09:35:00.001-04:00

“Light gives of itself freely, filling all available space. It does not seek anything in return; it asks not whether you are friend or foe. It gives of itself and is not thereby diminished.” ~Michael Strassfeld

For 4.54 billion years a plot of land in what is now called Wairaka (why-lee-ca) a distant grippingly poor village in East Uganda stood; only seeing water when it rained, seeing light only when the sun shined.

On the night of August 5th 2010 at about 10 pm a group of people from 2 countries, 2 different worlds as to life experiences stood together as one family brought together through compassion, respect and love.

They stood together dissolving the illusion of “us and them” no color; no race no boarders that separate. They stood just as family.

Then with the flick of a switch the night darkness for 4.54 billion years was shattered by 4 light bulbs from the solar panel energy, lights in the farmers house building so perfectly named “The Rafiki House” the Friends house.

"I never need to see the sun again, there enough light in your eyes to light up all the world" Author Unknown

The water was always there it was just under the suffice and needed just to be sought.

The light was always there too, it was in the eyes and hearts of every single ones of our Ugandan children and family, every villager, every worker in Julius, Irene in our children and new children and in all of you. In the team that went and became family in each and every one of you who helped through your donations, help, compassion and love to get this project this far.

For us there we lived an experience words can not ever explain, felt the friendship and loving hearts of the wonderful Ugandan people. We experienced the pure love of the children of Uganda, we cried many tears being swarmed by these children hugged and got to hold and love them play games with them. So many of them dressed in rags, only some with shoes some ill with AIDS all will know malaria and all know every single day thrust and hunger.

They all desire and deserve education but not all get it such as 500 young children in OUR village of Wairaka (why-lee-ca) we will change this, we must change this.

The team that went were the privileged ones who got to experience this personally but you were all there with us and are still there through your gifts and love.

Because of you
• We have the land
• The Giving Circle/UCHF/Team Rafiki Koi Koi House and Wairaka (why-lee-ca) has water.
• The farming has started, the chicken house breeding and egg program- the piggery are built and ready in fact the piggies are there.
• The site farm house is built and has solar power and we have a very skilled farmer ready to move in and run this.

We of course have Julius ( and Irene and their team) this man is a great man who truly loves his/ our children and all the children and people of Uganda and he/ they all love you for caring about them.

We must now raise the funds to build the Koi Koi House we must get this built as soon as we can so our family can have for once their own safe home with no fears of eviction. A feeling of safety for the first time in our childrens lives and a home large enough to be home to more of the orphans of Uganda.

We can and will do this and next a school for our village and children of Wairaka (why-lee-ca) who must be educated and a clinic for a village that has none.

A smile is the light in the window of your face that tells people you're at home. ~Author Unknown

Every child we saw would smile a wide smile they just want to be loved and be seen.

Please allow me to end with this story.

The last day was hard knowing we were leaving it was the hardest thing we ever had to do.

I sat with Kelly ( Koi Koi) and Frank on the porch talking, Kelly holding one of our girls when Dennis walked over to me and sat on my lap.

He sat there motionless for almost an hour in fact I thought he had feel asleep. WE just sat there me holding him tight him being healed.

This boy who always smiles when you just look at him, this boy with the white spots on his head and bumps on his arms symptoms of his AIDS. This boy with the big smile and a life of losing his family because of AIDS a life of pain of hunger and AIDS saved by the love of Julius and Irene.

This boy just sat with me and allowed me to love him.

After about an hour Dennis just got up and walked off to the house, he was gone.

Far too soon Dennis will be gone from this world but never from my/our heart.

May you all be well and happy, lets do this lets change this village and save our children and Ugandan family.

Help us build the Koi Koi House

2010-08-09T20:17:00.001-04:00

Once again, while we brought many things to Africa, we all brought home much much more than we gave. Our hearts are filled with such joy and peace, the kind that money and things cannot buy, the kind that only people can instill in each other. Baby Mark's arrival at the very end of this trip could not be more appropriate, for this is who we work for, the children who look to all of us to help them build a safe and secure place for them to grow and learn. Looking forward to returning soon to our new family in Uganda.

- Denise

The Process....

2010-08-08T05:09:00.000-04:00

Hey everyone. Its 3 am and I'm wide awake, but tired. I'm in my apartment but not here at all...unpacking and doing laundry, started the coffee, and beginning the process of shifting back to this lifestyle and my surroundings. Thats the easy part....the physical part....what isn't so easy is the inside job....

As I begin to type, the emotion within stirs as just a short time ago we left our family in Uganda. I have been on many trips and missions to Africa, but this one was very special in a lot of ways. As we flew yesterday, I thought that somehow this transition may be easier this time...but I was so very wrong.

This team of 10 was truly wonderful. I wont go into a lot of details, but this team was truly the most wonderful group I've had the pleasure to work with. I would travel and work with them all again anywhere, anytime...they are all very special people with giant hearts and giving spirits....we shared many laughs together and we leaned on one another for support as we said our good by's to the children, women and men who we grew close with during those 11 days.

The pictures that will be posted and shared on face book will tell the story of how working hard together, much can be accomplished. How all of our collective hearts had come together working towards a common goal and the results are visible in those pictures. You can see that with your eyes....my heart wants you to know the rest....

Blogs can be lengthy and repetitive so I wont do that here. I try to be short and say to you that each Africa experience is different. The teams that go, the place where you work, the people you meet. The impact within from the experiences you are part of. You connect with that special favorite child, bond with one of the guys your digging a ditch with, or see the wisdom in the eyes of an elder who has lived the hard years of African life who has you reflect on the blessings we live with here daily.....they are our teachers....

This trip has been all that for me. An inspiration. I connected with many, learned from most, and the children have inspired me to work harder than ever and do my best back here to raise awareness and support for the Koi Koi house project. I have not looked at any pictures yet but can clearly see the 11 days as they unfolded. I can feel the hands of the kids grabbing mine from behind as I'm walking..out of the blue....not knowing where I was going...but wanting to come along with me and hold my hand along the way....they didn't know it but they were giving me so much each time they did that.....they are our teachers....

Enough for now....

Peace,

John

2010-08-07T20:24:00.000-04:00

This is Mark, some quick pics before crash..

2010-08-07T20:04:00.000-04:00

Please Meet the newest member of our Ugandan family. Julius and Irene have given me an honor I do not deserve but will always cherish as I will cherish this boy ( and our our Ugandan children and family). Please meet Mark Bertrand Lwanga

We have hand so many "signs" or "karma" or what ever you may call it related to this wonderful project, its crazy..

Now it looks almost at the very same time Irene was bringing into this life this beautiful boy my daughter was having our new granddaughter.

I'm as you all are after that crazy trip home, very tired and soon off to bed to dream about a trip I dreamed about as far back as a small child, doing what I dreamed about with people who are all a dream come true.

We did so much, experienced so much, now get some rest because we have so much more to do for and with our wonderful Ugandan family. An orphanage to build, our children to get sponsored. In time a school to educated EVERY child in our village and so much more..
falling asleep, be well and happy all

Last Days in Jinja

2010-08-07T19:46:00.000-04:00

All,

The last few days in Jinja have been very hectic. We worked our asses off (I mean our asses off) the last couple of days and we finished the Rafiki House (the caretakers house) even including the solar power! Rafiki means Friends in Swahili - how appropriate is that?

We then had a wonderful feast the last night in Jinja at Julius and Irene's, the current orphanage building. We peeled a hundred pounds of potatoes, I swear we did. Pauline, Bernard's wife, cooked for 10 hours that day! We ate very late that night and it was wonderful.

Then, Friday we were headed to the airport. I can't tell you how sad it was to leave...we all wanted to stay with our new family but knew we had to go. We all got up at 2:30am (Jinja time) and headed to Entebbe. We had some problems - poor Lauren was plagued again with her kidney stones - she was in so much pain. They almost wouldn't let her fly but we got her though (sneaky as it was, more on that later). We were told that we had to fly to Nairobi as there wasn't enough fuel to get us to London! What? Yes, it's true.

We go to Nairobi, an hour flight. On the ground while we fueled for at least 1.5 hours. Then headed to London, a 10 hour flight. We get to London to find out we missed our flight. Yep, it's true. All but Nishtha stayed in London that night. We flew home Saturday AM from London to JFK, not Newark. All travel pickups had to be re-arranged (thank you Ron) - THANK YOU MARK, JIM AND MARIA for picking us up! We got home around 7PM tonight.

Irene, Julius's wife, had her baby 3 weeks early the night we spent in London and Alyssa, Mark's daughter, had her baby at 12:12AM this AM!! Julius and Irene named their new baby boy MARK BERTRAND LWANGA! OMG, many tears over that. Much news to be had when we landed at JFK!!

I wanted to get something posted quickly. We are uploading the rest of the pictures and will update you with more information as soon as we can!!

Check back soon!

-Kelly

2010-08-07T17:31:00.001-04:00

2010-08-04T12:23:00.000-04:00

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2010-08-03T11:45:00.000-04:00

A Happy Day

2010-08-02T14:17:00.000-04:00

We picked up 'Joe Willy' (10 years old), Emma (1), Bonita (13) to get their eyes checked at the New Vision Clinic, and Prasy (18), and Olivia (16) to get the HIV test. When we got there we saw more than 100 people waiting in line to get their eyes checked or get tested for HIV. Katelynn, Nishtha, and Azurah were waiting for the doctor to get Emma's eyes checked. While Azurah was holding Emma, she kept on looking around and tried to figure out where were all the sounds coming from.
At first the doctor thought that Emma had Cataract but later diagnosed that her mother had Rubella during pregnancy. The doctor later discovered that she has squint eyes and will try to give her a chance to see the beautiful colors around. Meanwhile, Denise and Kelly were waiting with Prasy and Olivia to get them tested for HIV. The girls were trembling while their blood was drawn. The 30 minutes wait seemed never ending. Finally the results came and they were tested negative! All of us couldn't be happier!

Joe Willy, Azurah's buddy, was thought to have double vision but the doctor had some good news for us; he has good eye sight! His eye muscles are weak and his brain just sees the image with the eye that is straight.

Thanks to all the doctors and volunteers from New Vision Clinic who came all the way from England to help these beautiful people.

A Safari to Remember

2010-08-02T13:29:00.000-04:00

Four of us (Katelynn, Lauren, Nishtha, and Frank) made plans to go on a Safari this past weekend. Early Saturday morning, after a late night experiencing Jinja's nightlife, we crawled into a van, still half asleep, with Bernard and our driver, Charles who never stopped smiling. Three hours later, I awoke to the sound of Frank calling out, "Um, excuse me..." as steam poured in and around the van. Charles pulled over and, still groggy, we all climbed out of the van. We sat down on the side of the road as Charles went to fetch water from a nearby village while Bernard paced nervously. Soon, Charles was pouring water into the car and trying to start it. The car wouldn't start, and soon black liquid started pouring out of the tailpipe. When Charles, smiling as big as always, finally agreed that we needed some help, Katelynn jumped in the middle of the road to flag down a car. The car stopped and took Charles up the road to a nearby town, where he picked up a small flatbed truck to tow our van to the town. It was decided that another van would leave Jinja (three hours away!) and come to take us the rest of the way.

I'm not sure if it was because we were still too tired from the night before or if we were all just used to "African time," but we all simply got out of the van and said, "Okay," without so much as a groan. As usual, Nishtha began her search for food and soon we were sitting down to a huge meal of rice, beans, and banana mash, served by a woman cooking in large pots in the alley between two buildings. Good food and friendly people made us think that a 3 hour wait in this little town wouldn't be so bad.

...SIX HOURS later, the new van showed up. We hopped in to finish our journey to the campsite at Murchison Falls. We finally arrived sometime around 7:00pm. We visited the falls and then went to the campsite for some stir fry and goulash for dinner. After spending a grueling day together, the four of us bonded over some good old truth or dare (the only one to take a dare was, of course, Nishtha, who sang "The Wavin Flag" in front of the entire campsite).

Just before heading to bed in the tents, the lightening began and we spent the night in tents, listening to the echoing thunder as rain dripped on us. Somehow Nishtha and Frank slept through it all.

In the morning, we woke up early to head to the ferry which was out of commission. The battery was broken (we will definitely start carrying car and ferry batteries with us at all times!). On top of that, the rain still hadn't stopped. Finally, the ferry was fixed and we were on our way to the game drive.

Pretty soon, the rain stopped and the four of us and Bernard stood hanging out of the moon roof throughout the Safari. It was just magical seeing all the animals in their natural habitat. After the game drive, Lauren, Katelynn and Frank were ready to board the last ferry back across the Nile but, Nishtha, Bernard, Charles, and our VAN were no where to be found. Turns out, Bernard needed to buy more minutes for his cell phone, Charles needed to flirt with a woman, and Nishtha... who knows. Luckily, Charles arranged for a boat to pick us up on that side of the Nile and even had our lunch delivered. We ate as we went on the river boat tour where we saw hippos, hippos, and more hippos. The boat driver, James, took us right to the bottom of the falls. We got out of the boat to stand on a rock in the middle of the river to take pictures and enjoy the view.

Nothing could ruin the journey except... kidney stones. Well Lauren's kidney stones that is. But after a long journey..(and we mean long) we made it to Kampala where we were able to find a hospital that provided Lauren with the care that she needed.

Nishtha...who is always thinking about food, asked Charles if he knew of any good Indian restaurants around Kampala. So after a pit stop at the hospital, we stopped at this place called Nando's. Which turned out to be a place owned by an Indian(maybe) but served no Indian food what so ever...just pizza and chicken. While we were ordering our food the two random gentlemen that we picked up along the way waited patiently in the car probably thinking " why did we ever get into this van with the mazungus?!" As we got back into the car we picked up a pastor?...apparently Charles knew him. We finally made it back to our hotel around 1:30 with Dad aka John waiting with cold water and a big hug for each of us.

It was all worth it at the end!

-Katelynn, Lauren, and Nishtha

2010-08-01T14:21:00.000-04:00

2010-08-01T13:14:00.000-04:00

Little Adam is 2 years old and he is HIV positive. This child has captured our hearts and has a permanent place in all of our arms every day. Today the "heavy duty" wheelbarrow carrying granitelike rock broke as John and Mark were wheeling it down to the pig pen site. So we all had to carry these very heavy rocks by hand. Little Adam though set the tone for us all being one family helping each other. He ran to the rock pile and picked up the largest rock that his little hands could carry and with a big smile on his face, he headed towards the pig pens. Soon the older children joined in, and we were truly working hand in hand. It was a beautiful site to behold.

We bought fruit trees today - orange, lemon, mango and guava. Kelly for sure has the strongest muscles of the girls on our team as she was able to carry this very heavy container of water from the well down to the orchard.And there was our little Adam again, running down to help her pour the water onto the planted trees. Then as cute as could be, he curled up in Kelly's arms and fell soundly asleep.

Two days ago, I walked onto the balcony of the hotel and locked eyes with a women who was hand washing clothes for her 4 children below. They live in a very rudimentary building with no real roof and half built walls. We just stared at each other for what seemed like hours, although I am sure it was only a few seconds. I realized that every day she looks up from her very difficult work and sees a world of hotel guests who live a life quite different from hers. This morning as I watched her 7 year old Janet chop the wood for the morning fire, and the younger children search for wood, I knew that we were being called to her and her family. Mark, John and I headed down to her hut with food and kitchen cooking supplies and we were greeted with such an innocent joy. The children ran out to embrace us and Mamma soon lost her tenuous protective nature and also embraced us. Tonight we took more food and we were greeted as family. And that is what the people of Uganda are like - loving, warm and open, even to us "strangers."

The children in our village do not go to school as it is at least a 5 mile walk each way. It is not that they are not willing to walk that far; it is because so many of these children have been abducted by child traffickers. I also learned today that several of their mothers ended their own lives in the grief of their children being taken and knowing what life would now face their precious children. When we visited the schools last Friday I walked into a first grade classroom in which the teacher was using a poster to teach her students about the dangers of child trafficking. It is so very sad that this goes on in the world, and worse so that it is tolerated. These children are so precious. Building a school on our land is the only way to protect them while they are being more formally educated. I don't know how we will accomplish that yet, but I know that we will.

It is a true honor and great blessing to be working in Uganda. Team Rafiki and The Giving Circle are a strong partnership. And together we are growing our family in this village and the surrounding area.While we have provided many different kinds of tools and education here, each of us will be taking home to the US so much more than we came here with. The serenity and warmth that has infused our hearts and souls here will far outweigh the caretakers house, pig pens and chicken coops and gardens that we made. Every day I give thanks for the direction that sent me here. And every day I give thanks for my family and friends who are so supportive of our work so far from home.

Denise

2010-08-01T11:19:00.000-04:00

2010-08-01T10:56:00.000-04:00

Delays in blog postings....

2010-08-01T09:40:00.000-04:00

So, we've been working very hard these last few days. Also, there's been a stomach virus type thing hitting one of us each day along with sun poisoning, so it's been interesting to say the least. I just wanted to touch base so that you know we have not forgotten to update you. Besides these, the internet has not worked in a day or so for us to post.

The Rafiki building is more than half done, it's awesome! Also, the pig pen is almost finished. Mark will post more pictures tonight so that you can see the progress.

We planted the moringa trees, some fruit trees, beans and watermelon as well. All the villagers are so happy and great us with such love each and every day. One little boy, named Adam who is HIV positive (only 2 years old or so), was glued to me all day today (literally). He carried stone and helped me plant and water. What a cutie he is!

I wish you all could see Az with the children - as soon as they show up, they flock to him and hang off him, hold his hands and follow him around. He's a natural.

When we went to Kampala yesterday to see the Ugandan Crafters, I tried to find SGS Uganda - never know, may want to work there one day!

I have to agree with Mark, we LOVE UGANDA, especially the PEOPLE!

-Kelly

2010-07-31T00:38:00.000-04:00

A very special day in so many ways

2010-07-30T15:01:00.000-04:00

Hi, it’s Mark

Its been another day of great heat and very hard, always thirsty, sun burns and just dead tired, but far more so another day filled with my “family” more thank
Kelly and Azurah but all my family, our team who Kelly, Azurah and could not love more and our Ugandan family our children not just in our home but everywhere
and greatly so in our village, the site of the Koi Koi House and the whole project.

John and Denise have great expertise in Africa, this is far different for me than anywhere we/The Giving Circle have ever work and I am learning a great deal
from them and all that I can see. Kelly and I feel so blessed to have found them and all this team each and every one of them they are all so special and working
so hard and loving the people of Uganda, REALLY the children.

Our Village “ Why-li- ca” like all of Uganda is so profoundly poor made up of mud huts. They have greeted us as family and thank us always for coming to them,
that means each and everyone of you, they welcome and need us all.

Many of you know the story of my childhood dream to work in Africa also what I dreamed over the last 21 years of naming an orphanage of my love Kelly.

Today is our 17th wedding anniversary. For me there could be no greater joy then watching my love Kelly (Koi Koi) here loving the children and interacting with the village woman and seeing Azurah covered with children hugging them, carrying them around, it's a dream come true.

In our village there was the most beautiful little boy who fell in love with Az and Az with him. The boy in his tattered rags and no shoes and is severely crossed eyed and has the worlds biggest smile. This little one told Azurah through an interpreter “I like you because you don’t care about what I look like”.

There is a group of eve doctors here from the UK who has agreed to see this sweet boy for us.

There is nothing more I could ask for but tonight at the meal the team gave Kelly and I a great cake and gift and a card with notes that brought us such joy and tears.

The days are filled with great joy and hard work and at times, sad news, we just found the test results for one of our teen girls who has been feeling very ill.
She lost both parents to AIDS, with great sadness I must tell you her test was positive.

In our village over 500 children can not go to school because of no funds and no school clothes, the fear is too great that walking too far the children will be
stolen as many are. But with your love and help we will give her and all our children, and all to come, and this village and its people...

So yes it’s been a day crazy heat and very hard work, always thirsty, sun burns and just dead tired and also great joys, OMG I love Uganda.

I'm sorry....

2010-07-30T00:49:00.000-04:00

This is Kelly and I inadvertently rejected all your comments by accident. I've changed the settings to not moderate comments as we can't check frequently. If you don't mind, can you please re-post them? Thank you!!!

Joan Smith writes, Don't come to Africa

2010-07-29T13:47:00.000-04:00

- if you've already determined that people are poor because they are lazy.
- if you aren't moved to do something when you see abject poverty, people who are sick and have no health care providers at all, schools with no resources, school-aged children too far from public education and too poor for private education.
- if you can't tolerate no schedule, standing around waiting, daily detours for cell phones, food for others, banking and people who have so little asking for more than you have to give.
- if you're not flexible with your time, your thinking, your attitudes and your prejudices.
- if you can't see beyond the poverty and lack or resources and see the love, caring, compassion and humanity in life here.
- if your wardrobe can't tolerate red clay stuck to your shoes and clay dust clinging to everything else.
- if you don't want to be awakened by a rooster at 3:30 and 4:15 and 6:05.
- if you can't accept heartfelt gratitude for the smallest gesture of help.
- if you can't say no.

Mark again, its slow but here are more.

2010-07-29T11:49:00.001-04:00

Its slow but here are more pictures.

2010-07-29T11:11:00.000-04:00

2010-07-28T15:39:00.000-04:00

This is Mark with Some pictures from today.

2010-07-28T15:15:00.000-04:00

Village School Visits

2010-07-28T14:52:00.001-04:00

Today, we visited 5 schools in and around the village where our children live. As the vans pulled up with all of us in it, we were greeted by all the children running at the vans. When we got out of the vans, the children just swarm you and hug you. We brought them many, many school supplies (things like pencils, pens, erasers, chalk, paper, solar calculators, rulers, pencil sharpeners and more). These are very hard to come by in the schools. We gave each school a first aid kit, in all cases, it was the first first aid kit they had! In addition to the school supplies, we brought a huge duffel bag FULL of jump ropes, kick balls, soccer balls, footballs and baseballs & bats! The kids went WILD for these, literally!

All of this sounds wonderful to you reading it, but I have to tell you that being there, seeing the poverty and the suffering caused me to be greatly overcome with emotion. I had to go to to the head masters office at one point to cry because the children at this particular school were singing for us. One song they sang had to do with their past and all the suffering their families and especially, the children, went through. These children sang with such emotion, acting out the song just as it did happen, that I just couldn't get through it.

The one thing that we saw over and over again was that even though these children have absolutely nothing, they were SO full of love and had huge smiles on their faces all the time. One very small gesture gives them such hope and the feeling of being loved.

I have never been hugged so much for so long in my entire life. I can see why people love Uganda and the people here. No matter how bad it is, they are grateful and so happy to have us here.

At one school, we took pictures of 2 children that need a place in our new orphanage (who will need sponsors once we set that program up). This made these children so happy to think that they will have a place to live very soon.

This is truly a life changing trip, like all of what we do, but in a much larger way.

Love,
Kelly

The Group is Trying to Kill ME!!!

2010-07-27T15:11:00.000-04:00

After being sick all day from the poison they fed me, they were kind enough to bring me some purple "water" in a sealed Dasani bottle. Turns out its vodka... Please send a rescue team to Hotel Paridise on the Nile in Jinja. There is a 5,000 ugandan shilling reward.

But seriously, it turns out its probably not a good idea to eat jack fruit, eat strange red and black seeds, chew on sugar cane, drink well water that I'm not used to all while being dehydrated and working in the Ugandan sun. Who would have guessed?

Besides my sickness its been a great experience so far. I started to help dig the trench for the foundation of the Rafiki house where the farm hand will live. I'm feeling better now, stay tuned later in the week to see progress (on the house, and my health). Thanks for everyone reading, its with your help that this project and blog is possible.

-Frank

P.S. No cause for alarm, Mom. I'm seriously feeling better.

The Falcon

2010-07-27T14:42:00.000-04:00

This is Katelynn, Lauren, and Nishtha. Today was our second day in Jinja. We spent most of the day on the new land meeting with the villagers and digging up the land. Tomorrow we will plant the seedlings for the Moringa trees. It was great to interact with the people who will become neighbors to Julius, Irene, and the children. We loved seeing the well with clear running water for not only the orphanage but the villagers as well. We really enjoyed speaking with the women who welcomed us with a song in typical African fashion. Everyone was really happy to see us and eager to work together. We had a woman's chat and asked the women to speak about their daily lives, including the most difficult part of their day. Most agreed that paying for school fees and uniforms was the hardest part of their daily lives.

Yesterday we met two of the children in the village: a girl and her younger brother, Adam. Nishtha befriended Adam. When we returned today we came with clothes and toys for both children. Nishtha even gave Adam her favorite stuffed tiger and he gave Nishtha a necklace that he made. The girl looked beautiful in her new outfit and was beaming for the rest of the day. Soon a few other children joined us and we played catch, soccer, and hopscotch.

After spending time on the new land, we visited Julius, Irene, and the children at their current home. We brought crayons and coloring books that students from Glens Falls high school made for our trip. It was great to see them all sitting so quietly, patiently coloring inside the lines. We also traced all of the children's feet and recorded their clothing size in order to put together packages for each child. When we came back to the hotel, we filled a backpack for each child with an outfit, toys, pens and pencils, coloring books, stickers, candy, toothbrushes, and toothpaste.

All of you who know Nishtha will be happy to know that she has started to tell her jokes. Have you heard the one about the Falcon?

We made it!!!!

2010-07-26T11:48:00.000-04:00

This is John....It's Monday (I think) and we have all arrived safe and tired along with all our 31 bags of supplies which is a feat in itself. Today was truly wonderful as I reunited with the children, Julius, Irene and Bernard, and was able to enjoy the special connection between Mark and Julius as they met for the first time. We all enjoyed each other playing soccer for a bit ten headed up to the land of the future Koi Koi house. As we walked the dirt land, and Julius explained how is dream shad come true, I was reminded of what a group of dedicated people here and back home can and are doing for our family here in Uganda.

I'm cutting this short as its time to eat, and I'm a one finger typer so i will catch up a little later in the week.

Take good care,
Peace

2010-07-26T11:31:00.000-04:00

Hi Everyone, This is Denise. Ron got us to NY then we were off to London. From the deep recesses of my mind, I was able to help find our way around the city to see the sights. Nancy, nothing has changed since we were there, even the hotel is the same. We met Chris who stayed with Julius in Uganda for 6 months. It was a great day for the team. Then off for the longer flight to Uganda. All went well, but everyone was a bit tired after the long journey.

But then we met Julius and the children and all of that jet lag left us. The children were thrilled to meet us, as were Julius and his wife Irene. Julius is smart and capable and it is easy to see why these little ones are thriving under him. Irene is a vision of beauty as she enters into her last few weeks of pregnancy. Kate taught the children some new songs and they taught us the Mix It song. So much fun and laughter. And a few tears of joy.

Then off to see the land - WOW!!! It is just so lush and green and beautiful. Jackfruit, avocados, and coffee beans are already growing there. The well works great, running water is such a precious gift. We planted a tree to mark our first day in partnership, all together, everyone so thrilled to be working side by side to give these orphans a home and a farm.

We have a great team - and this is just the beginning of our adventure. Thanks for the enormous elephant- heart support from all of you back home. These children need us.

Jinja Arrival

2010-07-26T11:06:00.000-04:00

Hi, this is Kelly...I wanted to provide an update as soon as we were able on our first day in Jinja.

The Giving Circle and Team Rafiki (Koi Koi House) Team arrived in Uganda at about 1AM EDT. The trip was grueling and somewhere across the time zones we lost a day! We spent 10 hours in London and had a great time. We expected that we'd be so tired from a full day of activity after the first long leg, but NOOOOOOO we could not sleep until about 3AM Ugandan time with 4 hours left in the last leg of the flight.

Once we arrived, we gathered all 31 bags that we checked for the children, orphanage, schools, village etc. That took about 2 hours to accomplish. In total, we had 40 or so bags to transport from Entebbe to Jinja. Julius and his wife, Irene, along with Bernard met us at the airport with two vans - one for 10 of us and one for all the luggage! Once we arrived, we placed all the luggage in a special room at the hotel for sorting later. We checked in and dumped all our personal things in our rooms. Az gets his own room this trip as they didn't have any double beds in the rooms for us to share.

We then headed to the orphanage to see our children. All I can say when we got there is OMG! We were so overwhelmed with emotion. The children were all over us, just hugging us over and over again. We couldn't hug each other enough!! All we had time to bring to them was a frisbee and a soccer ball. We played for a few hours there with them, singing, dancing, playing frisbee and soccer!

After that, we headed over to the land that we all have purchased for them and to see the running water in the well. The land is awesome. It also has fruit trees already there. We planted a tree today to memorialize our first visit together!

We are back at the hotel now. It's 6 PM Jinja-time (Jinja is 7 hours ahead of the east coast). We'll have dinner at 7PM and then begin sorting the things we brought for everyone.

We'll post pictures from today shortly along with the other team members thoughts.

We have Water.

2010-07-22T21:03:00.000-04:00

The well is finished, your hard work, generosity and compassion has brought clean safe drinking water not only to the land, to Julius and the children but the whole village. Water for drinking, for the farming and livestock. No longer will our family have to walk miles every day with heavy jugs of water.

Pictures from Packing Party

2010-07-20T11:29:00.000-04:00

Welcome friends

2010-07-18T18:57:00.000-04:00

Welcome to the Koi Koi House team to our Ugandan family July/Aug 2010

Please stay tuned the stories of all of the team members and pictures and videos of this wonderful trip.

We will arrive in Uganda on the 26th of July.. Check in every day.