10 Days Later

So here I am 10 days later without the words to really express what has happened since my last entry. I have been wanting to write for a while now but nothing I can ever think to write about really can adequately put to words the things I have seen and experienced since I have been on continent, a place that is so rich in a lot of ways, but also just so so poor. I have to write something...so here is my feeble attempt at an update.

The last time I wrote, we were stuck in Greece for an extra 12 hours. Looking back it feels like it has been so much longer than 10 days ago since we were in Athens. We ended up flying into Cairo at 3am and we had to catch an 11 pm flight to Nairobi, so we had 20 hours in Egypt to see everything and attempt to catch up on the 8 hours of sleep we had lost flying through the night. To make a really long story short, we ended up renting camels right before sunrise to go watch the sunrise from a place where you can see the whole city of Cairo and three of the pyramids all in one. This was incredible, definitely one of those experiences I will remember forever. After that I was able to go back to the hotel and sleep for the majority of the day and get to the airport before we missed our flight to Nairobi. It was pretty incredible being in Cairo, but it was kind of weird to think that we were technically already in Africa. Africa is such an vastly enormous continents, each country has such a different feel, and Egypt just feels so much like the middle east. When I stepped off the plane it really felt like we had touched down in Jerusalem or something. I guess I just never realized how much of a middle eastern influence there is there.

From Cairo we went straight on to Nairobi where we met up with some of Sandy's friends who she had met on a previous trip to Nairobi. A guy named Moses picked us up from the airport. Moses was so excited to hear that I am from northeast Ohio... because after talking a bit I found out that ironically, he has been to Medina in the past to partner with a youth pastor in th area. How on earth do I run into a guy half way across the world, who it just so happens has been my little hometown in Ohio? So crazy! Moses dropped us off at the house of a missionary lady named Vicky. Vicky was so generous to escort us around Nairobi where there and let us crash at her house for a while. As soon as we got there we started talking about Invisible Children and Vicky told me that she actually lives in the house where Jason, Bobby and Laren first stayed at in 2003 when they first came to Kenya, before they found out about norther Uganda. I had only been in Kenya for an hour and things just kept getting more and more out of control. The next couple of days were spent in Nairobi going around the city to check the orphanages where the camp will be held and getting details put together with the people there. We met with a number of missionaries in the area and we got the chance to visit with a pastor who runs a church right on the edge of the second largest slum in Nairobi, a place where 50,000 live in a valley, slammed together literally like sardines, each family living in a tiny tin-roof hut. A place where tiny children can be found making bootleg gin in the trash filled streams of the slums. The largest slum in Nairobi is a place that 100,000 people call home; it is also where the majority of the violence broke out in Kenya earlier this year. Words really can't describe the disparity that that exists here, a lot of times Nairobi feels like a somewhat westernized city; but it is just so hard to believe when your drive down the road, where on one side you see average homes where people with money live and on the other side you can see across and entire valley of slums, rusty tin huts one after another just stacked on top of each other.

When we left Nairobi we went on to Uganda, the place I have dreamed of visiting for so long now. When you fly into Entebe Airport in southern Uganda, it is such an incredible view. Coming in over Lake Victoria with lush grass and forests for as far as the eye can see. What an incredible welcoming as you fly in to Uganda... this place must truly be the Pearl of Africa. We were picked up at the airport by Robert, our driver who would be with us for the remainder of our time in Uganda. We got back to the hotel where we would be staying in Kampa for a few days before going up to Gulu. When we got to the hotel I remembered that I was supposed call my friends who happened to be in town. A group of roadies who came over with Invisible Children, had been here for a week and they were on their way out of the country, but I could see them for a day. It was so good to see some familiar faces. I just couldn't believe that I was in Uganda hanging out with some of my best friends, who I had just spent the past7 months working at IC with. A few of them stayed in town for a few days so I was able to hang out with them on and off for the next few days. This was so great, it gave me the opportunity to go out and really get into the heart of the city... exploring around a bit, eating some of the best food in town, and of course taking my first ride on a boda (what a sight having three guys packed on a sketchy moped weaving in and out of traffic). It is so great meeting up with friends like that, people that you know so well, you can just be around them and they know what you are thinking. It is difficult to be on a trip like this without someone who knows what you are thinking about and going through. I guess it has made me rely that much more on God.

On Monday we left Kampala and hit the road for Gulu. The legendary road to Gulu...one that I have heard so so many people complain as being the worst road in the world. So I knew the road was going to be bad, but I didn't know how bad. I must say thought that I got pretty luck; most people take the big bumpy bus to Gulu, but we had Robert take us up in his little car. A car gives much better opportunity to dodge all of the potholes and speed bumps that constantly litter the road along the way. What a gorgeous drive though...a lot of the road is just incredible countryside where trees and grass sprout up out of Uganda's fertile soil. It made for a lot of great pictures along the way. The road is also scattered with small towns along the way where people try to bum rush your car with varies of food and drink to sell you when you slow down the slightest bit.

After a 6 hour journey, we were finally here... Gulu! I had made it to the city I have been learning about for such along time, but we only have a full 4 days to spend here...definitely not enough time. Since I have been here I have been able to see so much of the city and meet so many of the incredible Acholi people who live here. The Acholi culture is so rich and the people are so loving, it really breaks my heart how they have been so ravaged by this war for the past 22 years. I have been able to visit a number of schools, orphanages, and IDP camps while here. It has been great to talk with a bunch of different people who are working in different ways to bring relief to the the people of northern Uganda. It was especially so great for me to go and visit Invisible Children's operations over here; it so great to actually see the programs that I have been teaching people in the US about for the past few months, it just brings a whole new level of meaning that I can't describe. When I went to meet some of the bracelet makers, I sat with them as they made the bracelets and before I knew it they taught me how to make one for myself. Which they won't tell you this, but it is no easy task to make one of these bracelets. There is so much that I have learned from the people here that I will take with me for like. As far as I can tell it is nearly impossible to come back from a trip like this without having been changed in so many ways; with such a new perspective on life and so so much to think about.

Sorry this is so long but it really is just scratching the surface of my journey over the past 10 days. I love you all so much!

C Waite