Summary of the Trip

So I've had some time to process my experiences this past trip and the things I've learned while being over there, but am still processing and have a feeling its going to take awhile to realize how much I was impacted. So this blog is more of thoughts and some things I learned while being over there, so this is going to be a little jumbled up as I'm writing this down and maybe not flow so great.

The biggest thing that I learned was about the approach people/organizations take to try and help countries like Uganda. It was a mindset transformation that I have been gaining from my experiences there. The saddest part was to hear and learn how foreign aid and non government organizations have really hurt a lot of times more than they have helped, while there still are organizations that do tremendous work, but in general all this aid has crippled Uganda and built a dependency/poverty/survival mindset in Uganda that one of the biggest factors contributing to that was the war, but has created a mindset of looking to other people to give them things or provide for them. It isn't bad to receive help, but if that's what you always look to or think is your only way out of your situation, then you'll never learn to provide for yourself or in turn be able to help others.

I liked what one of my Ugandan friends mentioned casually, but really stuck with me, is that "Uganda does not need aid." It does not need aid in the traditional sense of providing free food and throwing financial aid at the country, while that may have been needed initially after the war, but more good examples of working to make a living without receiving financial aid and people to teach them and build them up. This is a form of aid but I don't think its the same as what my Ugandan friend was referring to. They need to learn life skills, for people to help them start business's with integrity, and for people to stop giving them things but help them to work for it.

While I went there to figure out how I can use engineering to help there in the future, I found my view on what to do to be even more scattered than before, but more focused at the same time. While I still don't know or have a very good idea of what I will do there in the future, my focused has changed to what will be more beneficial to Ugandans. I don't want to go there for myself to become some great person that everyone looks to for help to solve their problems or be the leader that everyone has to follow, but really what I would want most is that they don't need me at all in the future. That these business's and organizations that are building up Ugandans and helping to develop the country would be led by Ugandans and that they would get the credit and that their own people would look to each other and trust each other and not foreign aid or white people to solve their problems. As much as I have never wanted to be a teacher or sharing or in that sort of position, I found that this is one of the most essential things needed. I'm not sure if I'll even end up doing engineering there as my main project or at all even. Even though I feel more lost and overwhelmed than before, I'm at the same time sort of at peace more and I've grown and seen that God will take care of it if I just stick to it and trust in him. I don't need to know what I'm going to be doing exactly, but just that I do the task and steps in front of me to the best of my ability and the doors and opportunities will come. Even though it seems like more work, I know that there is something that I can do, where as before I had no idea if I could at all.

The feeling I have after this trip is not excitement and joy to just move there and jump in to working just anywhere. I'm more saddened and humble about working there, I've heard stories about people who get all excited an acting in the moment to rush over there and help but the plans for the long run end up hurting more than there initial intentions even if they were great ones. I have this feeling of responsibility and drive to do it the right way with intentionality, knowing that I can't just go in with my own way of doing things without regard to cause and effects of the tiniest actions I take.

There's small stories even just about the view about giving that we have without regard to the effect that it can have on the people. Such as giving candy/toys to kids, shoes, or even leaving behind clothes a lot of times. While we think we are doing a good thing, candy/toys can take the children's respect and admiration off of their parents who can never afford those things to foreigners. Giving shirts and clothing to kids a lot of times result in older stronger kids beating them up for it out on the streets. Shoes when they wear and are broken after they kid loses the calluses will get cut and bloody feet cause that's what was protecting him before.

I want to help change the view that they have that all whites are rich and don't have to work for their money, cause all they see are people on vacation just spending money and not working and life is really easy for them. Not sure how that would be possible, but just that's one of the ways that would help them have a value to work and not rely on aid if they see the people that aid them working and having struggles like them even if they aren't the exact same struggles.

In short, whatever I do or what I would want anyone else who goes there is to build the people up and teach them and do as little "giving" as possible to help them. Agriculture is a huge thing that needs to develop there. While short term mission trips have there place and I would not be doing things in Africa if I didn't go on one in the first place, they really need people to take the time to help and not just give money and spend shorts amount of time there, because there is a time concept difference and it takes a long time to get things done and short term missions trips are more for the people going than the actual help they do for the people.

There's more I feel like I would like to say but its hard to put it into words for me as I'm still processing. Its hard for me to tell stories and share and I feel like I'm not really giving a picture of how this trip as affected me or how I feel about it and the stories of what I did there when they ask me general questions, but I am trying.

Last Week

This is going to be a little brief as I don't have too much time, but I'll do a final update and recap of the trip when I get back to California.

So on Wednesday we got to visit the Village, the orphanage with 230 kids there. We played with the kids, visited the area and the farm that they had and met the people overseeing it. For the first hour being there the kids were grabbing my arms and hands wanting me to lift them up in the air, this got tiring. I got to play a soccer game with the older boys which was awesome! My team won 4-2 and I got the last two goals. That night we went to their fellowship and it was awesome to hear them sing! We stayed the night there at the village.

On thursday we got up early to drive back to Kampala. We had a 3 hour break to grab some lunch and take showers and rest a bit until we drove to the ranch that afternoon. When we got to the ranch we got settled into our room and then went to dinner with a little training facility that they have for hotel management, so the food was really good! Then we went to meet up with Wayne and talk with him, he's been living there for 21 years doing African Children's Ministry.

Friday, the next morning, we had breakfast with the same hotel management group and then we toured the ranch and talked with all the principles of the school. Then we had lunch with the boys and talked with them. That afternoon we drove back to Kampala and had about an hour and a half to relax and rest before we went to visit one of the youth homes for dinner. When we got there they had a program planned out for us and did dances, songs, a skit, and a modeling show. These girls were from the ages of 14-17 who were rescued from sexual abuse and prostitution when they were a little younger. It was amazing to see the joy in their faces.

Saturday morning we relaxed and I prepared for the sharing I was going to do with the youth home we were visiting that afternoon. I got to share on their precept that week. They do one everyone, 50 precepts of Jesus. This one was on having vision/mission for the future. It was awesome to share and hear how my last talk with all the older kids from the homes had affected some of the kids. That night we had a little more time to relax and skype all the different parts of my family. Its amazing how big my familiy and how spread out we are right now, took 2 hours to catch up with everyone as we skyped my dad, my sister's family, Zack's family, josiah, and then talked with my sister Abie on the phone.

Sunday we went to church with our friend Kacie from Chico and grabbed lunch with here. Then we went shopping in a market for some gifts with her. Then that afternoon/night we got to take Dunstan's family out to dinner as he had driven us all the way to Jinja and back and picked my family up from the airport with me. We took them to a place with a little play area and it was fun to catch up and see his wife and 4 little kids all under the age of 6.

Tomorrow on Monday we will be doing some last minute shopping (coffee) and grabbing breakfast before the office meeting at 11:30. Then after the meeting we will be getting a quick lunch and then off to the airport as I fly out at 5:15 tomorrow afternoon.

Its bittersweet, but I'm ready to be back home. Its been an awesome trip and a really good growing experience. Again I'll write another post to summarize the trip and some of the things I've learned while being here when I get back in the states.

Week 4

Its been a long time since I've been able to write a blog. This past week I have been doing a lot.

Last Week:

Wednesday I got to go to the ranch again for two nights this time. So that morning was just getting ready and making arrangements for the drive up there. When we got there some of the boys were playing volleyball after school so we joined them. That was a lot of fun to play and I'm excited to get back home and play some pool volleyball and sand volleyball after playing that. Then we had dinner with the boys at the school, rice and beans, yum!... That night we got settled into our cottage and went to bed early because there's no electricity there.

Thursday morning we woke up to a cockroach crawling on the outside of the mosquito net, luckily we have those things. Then I got to sit in on one of their math classes for their Senior 6 class which is our Senior year of high school. When that was over I caught the end of Character Development class as well. Then we had tea time. After that we sat in on the Senior 5 math class which is Junior year. After that we got to do some of the math with the boys for a little bit. At lunch I got to share with some of the boys that want to do engineering at a University when they graduate and what the programs were like in America. Then we got an official tour of the Ranch and all the programs that go on there. When we stopped by the primary school they were practicing for their music/dance regional competition as they had just won their community/area competition I believe of 4 schools. It was good to see one of their songs before we had to continue with the tour. When stopping by the secondary school we got to sit in on the small group meetings that they were having at the time and meet and talk with one of the groups. After the tour we watched the boys play a soccer game between schools for a little while and then joined them for dinner, posho (sp?) and beans. Posho is like a corn meal time thing. That night we joined the schools and ranch workers for a time of fellowship. They did 2 hours of worship and by the time they were ready to do the talk it was getting a little late and we were exhausted so we headed to bed.

Friday morning we met up with one of the guys working with ACM, Africa Children's Ministry, and took a 40 minute bike ride out to a primary school for their break time to try and teach them American Football, which is quite difficult to do... Then on our bike ride back we stopped at the guys house who took us there and he gave us some pineapple to eat right out of the ground and it was soooo good. The bike ride was pretty intense, considering they weren't the greatest of bikes to say the most and the roads were dirt and fully of bumps and holes. Then we had lunch with Wayne who oversees ACM and got to talk with him about the work he's doing and I got to get advice and ideas for working over in the future. For the way back to Kampala we got a ride back to the main rode and then from their we took a taxi. They sure do know how to pack a taxi. The ride back I was in a row for 3 and we had 4 adults, 2 kids, and the lady next to me was holding a baby on top of the two backpacks that I had with me, and I rode like this for an hour. Then we took another taxi and then a boda to get back, which was a good experience of public transportation. That night we just relaxed and had dinner at an Indian food restaurant.

On Saturday Morning we got up to do Community Service again with the homes. Picking up trash and cleaning some of their trench/gutters out. One guy while we were working kept asking who we were working for and who we were getting paid from and telling us what we really should be doing and what the area really needed. I tried to explain that these kids and myself and the other mzungus were just giving up our time to help clean up the community that one of the homes were in, but he wasn't believing that or quite getting the concept and was getting really frustrated and walked off... He was possibly looking for a job as he kept asking who was paying us. I took a much needed nap that afternoon. Then that night I visited another one of the homes. It was a boys home so we ended up playing some soccer as usual. Then as we were there one of the girls homes requested that we have dinner at their place so we went there afterwards and an older guy from our group played some guitar songs for them and then sang some songs for us and did a couple dances. We had some more rice and beans, but got to have avocado as well.

Sunday morning I prepared for the talk that I was going to give to the older kids from the homes that got moved up to that afternoon from Monday. The talk started at 4 and ended up going 4 hours as there were a couple speakers and Ugandans like to talk! The talk was like a career workshop inspiring the kids for the future and giving and advice and encouragement for challenges that they'll face. I gave my testimony in the beginning and then closed the meeting with some advice and some points that I had to give along with some verses to keep in mind. All in all the talk went very well and I think the kids got a lot out of it from the different speakers.

Monday I slept in and then went to the staff meeting that they had. After that I had to make preparations for my Mother and Sister that were coming the last week that I am here. Then that night I visited the last Youth home of the 6. It was a girls home and they have the most energy and are probably the most joyful of all the homes. It was like a party as soon as I got there till I left. We had worship and then they did some dances for us and then we shared and talked with each other and then I got a tour and gave them a ball that I had gotten for every home which made it even more like a party. Then we had a little free dancing again afterwards and then I had to leave.

Tuesday I woke up early to drive an hour to go get my sister and mother from the airport. From there we drove 3 hours to Jinja. We got into our hotel at the Crested Crane which brings back memories from the last time I was here! We took a nap and then had lunch. Then we went into town to get some supplies, went to visit the source of the Nile. Which is where the Nile starts at Lake Victoria and took a little boat ride out onto the river and lake. Then we went to see some falls that were on the Nile which was awesome to see and are amazing. Then for dinner we went to Two Friends which brings back more memories from my last trip here! Tomorrow we are visiting the Village and staying the night there, which is an orphanage with a school and about 230 kids there that Uganda Orphans Fund takes care of that I came with last time I was here but the Village hadn't been built yet. Its going to be a busy last week with my Mother and Sister but I'm excited for the adventure and to share it with them and to come back to Chico soon!

Days 19 and 20

On Monday I finally got to meet up Dunstan for lunch who I knew from the last time I came to Uganda through Uganda Orphans Fund. It was good to catch up with him and hear how things were going and some of their plans for the future. He gave me lots of good info about Uganda and some of the things that goes on here. We made some plans for visiting the Village which is one of their orphanages sites with about 230 kids there. So that will be something to look forward to. That night we visited one of the boys Youth Homes and spent time with them talking and playing some soccer.

On Tuesday in the early afternoon we got to go to a place called the Tombs. Which is where 4 of the Ugandan Kings have been buried. It was interesting to hear some of the history of Uganda and learn some of the culture that they have in the little tour that they had. After that we went to one of the girls Youth Homes and played games with them and they did a song and dance for us. I've visited 4 of the 6 homes so far and plan on visiting the last 2 soon. Then they wanted me to talk with all the older kids from the homes on Monday the 18th in like a little presentation/speech type thing. Mostly they want me to share some of my testimony/experience and motivate encourage the kids to have goals for their futures/careers/purpose for their life and why its important and then some of the things I've had to sacrifice in order to reach these goals and accomplish some of the things that I have. So if you could be praying for that as I'm preparing I would really appreciate it as I'm not the most excited about talking in front of large groups about myself, but it will be a good experience.

Days 15, 16, 17 and 18

So its been just over half way with my trip and I'm started to miss home a lot more.

This Thursday morning I got to work on a banana plantation prunning dead branches and cutting down some of the trees that were too many crowded in a cluster to give the trees room and better nutrients. It was fun to walk around with a machette like blade cutting things. The banana trees have lots of banana juice/liquid? in them so it was a pretty messy job at times. Then we had lunch and relax a bit and then helped peel a bunch of casava roots, which they eat and when boiled taste a lot like potatoes. That afternoon/night I met up with Kaben and a group of Americans to play a game of ultimate frisbee. They play every Tuesday night, but moved it to Thursday because some people couldn't make it that Tuesday. It was a pretty intense game of 5 on 5 and there were a few Ugandans that started to watch to see what we were doing. Then we all grabbed some dinner at an Indian food restraunt afterwards.

On Friday we woke up and worked in the plantation again and finished it up around lunch time. We relaxed that afternoon and took naps as we were all tired. By the time we woke up a huge thunder and lightening storm started so our plans for the afternoon to go into town were ruined. It was some of the loudest thunder I've ever heard. So we had a lazy afternoon/night, just reading and hanging out indoors. I started to really miss home that day and had some doubts of why I am here. I was feeling like I wasn't doing much here at all, but it was good to get a message from my brother Zack putting some things into perspective.


On Saturday Richard and his friends went home in the morning and I slept in a rested some more as I was getting sick with a cold type thing, just sneezing and a headache and felt weak. I met up with Kacie that afternoon at the hotel she was staying at as she was in Gulu that weekend two teaching some classes to girls. We got to go into town that afternoon and walk around in the market and shops which was fun to see and experience. Its pretty much like a thursday night market but all the time. We grabbed dinner and then just relaxed at the hotel and I rented a room for just the night.

On Sunday we packed up and checked out of the hotel. During breakfast they had the tv on playing the second Highschool Musical, which I thought was pretty interesting. We went to church at one of the places Kacie had worked before with Sports Outreach. It was a really small church with people from the village around the farm that they had. I liked the service a lot and the worship was good even though they just had drums for music. They are very enthusiastic and energetic. I got to play around with the kids afterwards while waiting for some people we were going to connect up with to drive back to Kampala and play on the drums with them. In Gulu the word for white person is Munu (I think that's how its spelled) so it was funny to hear them call me that. That afternoon we drove back to Kampala the rest of the day. When I got back to the Conerstone guest houses the power had been out the past couple days. A group of people my age had gotten there a couple days before so it was fun to meet them and we ended up playing telephone pictionary and the game of things that night with flashlights.

Days 11, 12, 13 and 14

Its been a little while since my last post. Lets see, since my last post I have done a few things.

On Sunday, I was able to attend a different church that was more African than the previous one, the pastor spoke in English or Lugandan and they had a translator for the other that he didn't speak in unlike the previous one where I went to which was all English. After that I went to visit one of the boys youth homes and got to spend some time with them and share with them. I also got a soccer ball or a net ball for each of the youth homes and got to give this home a soccer ball and we played with them for a little while. That night I got to sit in on a COSA meeting which is for all the people that graduated or went through the Cornerstone program. That was cool to see, even if everyone who went through it wasn't there, but just that they still have a community together even after they graduate.

On Monday I got to do some engineering research. I went to visit the offices of EMI, Engineering Ministries International, which was awesome to talk with them and get advice and information. They also shared with me about an internship program that they have that they encouraged me to apply to. Most likely right after I graduate in order to be the most help in the projects. That would be a good opportunity to come back to Ugandan and actually do some engineering here. After that in the afternoon I got to visit the largest University that they have in Uganda and meet with one of the Mechanical Engineering Professors there and ask questions and get advice on what masters program/course to get that would be most beneficial to Uganda. That was helpful to hear from a Ugandan Engineer. That night we tried to go bowling to celebrate the 4th of July but it ended up being closed on Mondays. When we got back to the cornerstone guest houses they were doing that TED talk group again bust this time they had a speaker that talked on the importance of Networking and good/helpful approaches to do so, which was encouraging and helpful.

On Tuesday I had the morning off and was scheduled to meet with Dunstan who helps with Uganda Orphans Fund who I went to Uganda with last time, but there was a miss communication and he thought we were meeting on Wednesday. That afternoon we went to one of the girls youth homes and spent time sharing and playing with them. They even had a song to sing to us. It was amazing to learn and I didn't really put it together until talking with some of the mentors, but all the mentors (the people who help take care and oversee the day to day lives of the boys/girls in the homes) are almost on in college and around my age. They are students as well as taking care of the kids, which is a big load. After that we got to go bowling after postponing it from Monday! You had the option to just use your socks if you didn't want to rent the shoes which I thought was interesting but fine with my if that means we didn't have to pay extra.

Today was a travel day. We took a bus north to Gulu which was about a 6 hour bus ride, after waiting 2 hours for the bus because we had missed the earlier bus. We are at St. Monica's which is a boarding school for special cases like girls who were abducted from the LRA and who returned from the bush. We are going to be doing some work for them, working on the little banana plantation that they have as well as digging some fence holes for them, along with getting some time to interact with them while we are here.

Day 10

Today was a really good day! I got up and went to one of the youth homes where everyone was meeting as we were going to do community service together in the community. We started working cleaning the sides of the roads and picking up trash. As we were working the little kids from the community kept running up to me and were wanting to hold my hand or arm and they were almost always around me which made it hard to work, but was still good. They eventually joined in working as well along with other members of the community as they saw what we were doing even though they weren't part of our group which was cool to see! They were asking if we were a part of an organization or something, but this was really just an act of community service that the youth homes started to do every other Saturday not really affiliated with Cornerstone even though they are all apart of it. After working they had the people who helped work and the little kids to the house and gave them some food and they had some songs that they sang and danced. After hanging around for awhile when they were dancing I got to show them and teach a couple of them how to Swing Dance and they were going to teach me some African dances next time I visit.

Later that day I went with Richard as we were having a scrimmage for fun against the Wolves team which has 4 teams from different ages but we were playing the men's team that they had that's affiliated with Cornerstone with ages from around 20-30. Our team was a thrown together group of some other people who have gone through the Cornerstone schools. We ended up losing 4-2 as they have been practicing with each other every day for a long time now and our thrown together group didn't really work together very well, but it was fun even so. I ended up getting a goal and an assist, but only played for the first half as I was exhausted and still getting over being sick. I surprised pretty much everyone there that a Mzungu could actually play soccer. Quite a few of them came up to me and complimented me on how I did and said they were surprised. I was the only white person on the soccer field or in the crowd watching. They took the lead early in the game, and then we tied it shortly after. They scored again a little while later and then we scored a little while afterward. The first 4 goals probably happened within the first 20 minutes or so, which by that time I was already pretty tired and out of shape. Then they scored near the end of the half. The second half they only got 1 goal, but pretty much dominated the game it seemed like. Afterwards I got to go to a place with milkshakes for dinner which tasted extremely good after a long day.

So that was my day, I also posted some more photos on Facebook if you wanted to take a look.