I took the day off today while the rest of the office went out to survey a project site. After working so much during the last couple weeks of the "summer break" and working to finish up my semester project while participating in orientation last week and this weekend, it was great to have a day to relax and catch up on life. I spent the day journaling, emailing, and making a coffee cake. =)
I recently emailed out a summary update of the last 3 months. If you did not receive it and would like me to add you to my update list, just let me know!
Monday, August 30, 2010
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Fall Semester
Our Fall Semester has officially begun. The 3 new interns arrived on the 25th (which was pretty funny because for months now, we thought they were arriving on the 24th). It's been a whirlwind orientation week, while Megan and I have been trying to finish publishing our UCU report. Today we all went to Jinja to visit the 3 construction projects that Megan will be working on, and then we dropped her off with the Hoyts, an EMI staff family who just moved out there. We've had 6 girls in our 3-bedroom apartment for the last 2 weeks, so it will be a little less crowded now, but I'm sad that Megan is now gone. But I'm excited to start up a new semester and get going on various projects. (Well, I guess I'm going straight from one project to another, but I'm taking Monday off, so I think that will help.) =)
At the beginning of the week, the water was off for over 48 hours. That was not fun. It was the first time the water has been off that long since I've been here. Everyone here has a water tank that fills and then is used when the city water is turned off, but this was the first time that we actually used up all the tank water. So that meant no flushing toilets, so washing hands, no taking showers, no doing dishes, etc. We were really only without water for a day, and even then we could use the office bathroom because that tank hadn't emptied yet, but even that little inconvenience really made me appreciate the constant availability of running water!! As soon as the water came back on, the power went off for several hours, but that seemed like nothing compared to having no running water!
At the beginning of the week, the water was off for over 48 hours. That was not fun. It was the first time the water has been off that long since I've been here. Everyone here has a water tank that fills and then is used when the city water is turned off, but this was the first time that we actually used up all the tank water. So that meant no flushing toilets, so washing hands, no taking showers, no doing dishes, etc. We were really only without water for a day, and even then we could use the office bathroom because that tank hadn't emptied yet, but even that little inconvenience really made me appreciate the constant availability of running water!! As soon as the water came back on, the power went off for several hours, but that seemed like nothing compared to having no running water!
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Bread Flop
I recently got this giant bread encyclopedia with recipes for breads from around the world. I'm excited to try them, but they all seem like a lot of work, since I've never made anything that requires kneading or rising before. This weekend, I attempted to make a French brioche (a sweet, fluffy french bread), but I didn't really understand the directions, so I made it incorrectly, but continued with the 2-day-long, 2-risings process just in case. It didn't turn out the way it was supposed to, and unfortunately tasted too much like yeast to really be "good anyway," although my roommates and I enjoyed picking at the crust a little.... Oh well, it's a learning experience, right?
Our water has been off all day, and our power was out for half the day, thanks to a big thunderstorm this afternoon. Fortunately we can still cook with our gas stove! And we appreciated that the power came back on just before dark!
Our water has been off all day, and our power was out for half the day, thanks to a big thunderstorm this afternoon. Fortunately we can still cook with our gas stove! And we appreciated that the power came back on just before dark!
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Midigo
I traveled with Pat and Janet (two of our staff) to Midigo to visit our Fall project site. We spent 7 hours in a bus (fortunately we got ONE bathroom stop) to a small city, followed by 3 hours in a car on a bumpy dirt road to a small town, followed by 20 minutes into the middle of nowhere. =) (Then we repeated that trip, but longer because of traffic, two days later!)
Safe Harbor Midigo is a great ministry and has been doing a lot to make a difference in their region. They have a medical clinic, child-sponsorship program, mentoring program, church, primary school with K&1st grade, and a small farm. We are going to design the expansion of their farm and the building of facilities to process, store, and package the food, and a training center so that they can use the farm to employ and train people from the community in farming practices. We stayed on a compound with the head pastor (he and his wife are the only two doctors that the clinic has) and a few staff. They were all super nice (including their incredibly-energetic two kids), and the food was amazing. It was kind of like camping with electricity...and flushing toilets. It was really helpful to check it out ahead of time to get to meet the staff in person and see the site ourselves so we can get a better idea of what our project will entail.
Unfortunately, I got kind of sick while I was there, so the many many hours of traveling were not so fun. I don't think it's anything serious, but I'm not really sure what it is/was. I was really ache-y all over, exhausted, sometimes weak, dizzy, and nauseous, and I still have a semi-constant stomach ache. I had a slight fever Tuesday morning, but feel a lot better now. Since we were in the West Nile region, I started to wonder if it was West Nile virus. =) I really doubt it though, because I started feeling bad the morning after we got there, and I would think that would be too soon. It's probably just a combination of traveling in a bus for 10 hours without drinking anything, standing out in the hot sun all morning surveying, and eating something that irritated my stomach. This is probably the most interesting thing that has happened to me health-wise while I've been here, which is pretty miraculous, but I'm still sorry that it took up a whole paragraph of my blog. =)
Safe Harbor Midigo is a great ministry and has been doing a lot to make a difference in their region. They have a medical clinic, child-sponsorship program, mentoring program, church, primary school with K&1st grade, and a small farm. We are going to design the expansion of their farm and the building of facilities to process, store, and package the food, and a training center so that they can use the farm to employ and train people from the community in farming practices. We stayed on a compound with the head pastor (he and his wife are the only two doctors that the clinic has) and a few staff. They were all super nice (including their incredibly-energetic two kids), and the food was amazing. It was kind of like camping with electricity...and flushing toilets. It was really helpful to check it out ahead of time to get to meet the staff in person and see the site ourselves so we can get a better idea of what our project will entail.
Unfortunately, I got kind of sick while I was there, so the many many hours of traveling were not so fun. I don't think it's anything serious, but I'm not really sure what it is/was. I was really ache-y all over, exhausted, sometimes weak, dizzy, and nauseous, and I still have a semi-constant stomach ache. I had a slight fever Tuesday morning, but feel a lot better now. Since we were in the West Nile region, I started to wonder if it was West Nile virus. =) I really doubt it though, because I started feeling bad the morning after we got there, and I would think that would be too soon. It's probably just a combination of traveling in a bus for 10 hours without drinking anything, standing out in the hot sun all morning surveying, and eating something that irritated my stomach. This is probably the most interesting thing that has happened to me health-wise while I've been here, which is pretty miraculous, but I'm still sorry that it took up a whole paragraph of my blog. =)
Thursday, August 12, 2010
"In-Between Time"
Well, this in-between time (between the summer and fall semesters) has been a lot more eventful than I had thought it would be. I thought the 5 weeks would feel like a long time, and I would start to feel lonely, but they've just flown by! (And it's been great having fellow-intern Megan still around.) My mom left Tuesday. We spent the last few days of her visit going shopping for various items for my apartment/office and for crafts and gifts for her to take home. We went down to Entebbe (an hour from Kampala, where the airport is) the day before she left and went to the zoo and stayed at a nice bed and breakfast. The craziest part was that they had satellite TV, so we watched American movies and TV shows! Occasionally, random little experiences like that (or like going to see Inception at the theater on Saturday) will put me mentally back in the US, and it's really weird to try to get my head around the fact that I'm still in Uganda. I'm really glad my mom got to visit me and see where I live and what it's like here, as well as give me the opportunity to do some fun things around here that I otherwise wouldn't have done. (Thanks mom!)
I'm now back in the office working hard. We're still working on finishing up our summer project (drainage and landscaping design for Uganda Christian University), which means I've been working non-stop on AutoCAD drawings of the drainage plan. We're hoping to print and bind the final report by the 20th. A couple weeks ago, I also reviewed the wastewater section of the report for the Kijabe Hospital project (which I traveled to Kenya to be a part of in February and June). It's exciting to see these design projects coming together! (My project in the Spring was an "as-built" report, and didn't involve much design. I also wasn't part of publishing the final product, since the project was based out of the Colorado office, so I've enjoyed being in the thick of things this semester.)
I found out that my Fall project will be in Midigo, way up in the NW corner of Uganda. Our "client" is Safe Harbor International, an evangelical relief organization. In addition to working in many other countries, they focus on serving people groups in Southern Sudan and NW Uganda (a primarily Muslim region) that have been affected by civil war and disease. They have been moving more towards focusing on long-term development solutions. Their Midigo ministry includes a church, hospital, and primary school, but they want to add an agricultural element. They have recently obtained 90 acres of land, and our project will be to help them develop a working farm and training center that can be used to train the local community in agricultural production and processing. It will also be a potential source of funding for the church, hospital, and primary school. This sounds like an exciting project. (See this link for more information about the project.)
On Sunday, I get to go up to visit the project site with the project co-leaders, Pat and Janet, so that we can be somewhat familiar with the site and possibly do some preliminary surveying. We're going to take public transportation, which means probably a 10 hour bus ride, but it should be a neat experience to get to go on a pre-trip site visit!
And then the next weekend, I might go do some surveying for an orphanage project a few hours away, while all the staff are at their annual staff retreat. And then the new interns will arrive on the 24th, and there is a lot to do to prepare for their arrival. So all that to say, I certainly am keeping busy!
It's important to take time for fun, too, so last night we had a Pride and Prejudice night. We were going to watch the first 2 hours of the 6 hour BBC version, but we couldn't find the DVD, so we watched the newest 2-hour version instead. We had 8 people total, and I made pineapple upside-down cake from scratch (and a fresh pineapple)! The night was a lot of fun.
I'm now back in the office working hard. We're still working on finishing up our summer project (drainage and landscaping design for Uganda Christian University), which means I've been working non-stop on AutoCAD drawings of the drainage plan. We're hoping to print and bind the final report by the 20th. A couple weeks ago, I also reviewed the wastewater section of the report for the Kijabe Hospital project (which I traveled to Kenya to be a part of in February and June). It's exciting to see these design projects coming together! (My project in the Spring was an "as-built" report, and didn't involve much design. I also wasn't part of publishing the final product, since the project was based out of the Colorado office, so I've enjoyed being in the thick of things this semester.)
I found out that my Fall project will be in Midigo, way up in the NW corner of Uganda. Our "client" is Safe Harbor International, an evangelical relief organization. In addition to working in many other countries, they focus on serving people groups in Southern Sudan and NW Uganda (a primarily Muslim region) that have been affected by civil war and disease. They have been moving more towards focusing on long-term development solutions. Their Midigo ministry includes a church, hospital, and primary school, but they want to add an agricultural element. They have recently obtained 90 acres of land, and our project will be to help them develop a working farm and training center that can be used to train the local community in agricultural production and processing. It will also be a potential source of funding for the church, hospital, and primary school. This sounds like an exciting project. (See this link for more information about the project.)
On Sunday, I get to go up to visit the project site with the project co-leaders, Pat and Janet, so that we can be somewhat familiar with the site and possibly do some preliminary surveying. We're going to take public transportation, which means probably a 10 hour bus ride, but it should be a neat experience to get to go on a pre-trip site visit!
And then the next weekend, I might go do some surveying for an orphanage project a few hours away, while all the staff are at their annual staff retreat. And then the new interns will arrive on the 24th, and there is a lot to do to prepare for their arrival. So all that to say, I certainly am keeping busy!
It's important to take time for fun, too, so last night we had a Pride and Prejudice night. We were going to watch the first 2 hours of the 6 hour BBC version, but we couldn't find the DVD, so we watched the newest 2-hour version instead. We had 8 people total, and I made pineapple upside-down cake from scratch (and a fresh pineapple)! The night was a lot of fun.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Mom's Visit and Kenya
My mom has been here for the last couple weeks. I had to move rooms in my apartment, so it was almost like she was here helping me move into my college dorm or something. =) She even helped me shop for some furniture. The first furniture I've purchased in Africa! (Just a couple bookshelf-type things for better storage.)
We spent 2 nights in Jinja, the small touristy town about 2 hours east of Kampala. We did a lot of craft/gift shopping there, especially at The Source, a non-profit cafe/gift shop who's procedes go to help the local communities. We stayed on Lake Victoria (the 2nd largest lake in the world), just a short walk from The Source of the Nile (where Lake Victoria feeds into the Victoria Nile, which eventually finds its way down to Egypt).
We just got back from 5 days in Kenya. We spent one day in Nairobi visiting two girls that my mom has helped support for several years now, especially since their mom passed away. It was really neat to get to spend time with them in person (I had met one of them before), and we even got to eat at the local restaurant that the older sister owns!! The next day we did a one-day safari to Lake Nakuru (where I went in June, see pics in previous blog), which is only two hours from Nairobi. We went with the two girls and Danielle and her husband Jon. Danielle is a friend of mine from college, and we actually traveled to Kenya together way back in 2001! She and Jon just happened to be in Nairobi doing research for her phd, so it was great to get to meet up with them and spend the day with them!
Then Megan (a fellow EMI intern) met up with my mom and I and we headed down to the Masai Mara for a 3-day safari! The Masai Mara is supposed to be one of the best places for an African safari, so we were so grateful for the amazing opportunity to visit. (The Masai Mara and Serengeti are basically the same thing. The Masai Mara is the part in Kenya and the Serengeti is the part in Tanzania.) We stayed at an amazing lodge in the middle of the park (a 1.5 hour drive from the park gate), and had lots of amazing animal sightings. We got to see lions, hippos, giraffe, antelope, gazelles, crocodiles, jackals, foxes, vultures, elephants, warthogs, and many other beautiful creatures.
Also, we happened to go during the great wildebeest migration, so we got to see hundreds of wildebeest and zebras that aren't always there in the park. We also got to see some of them cross the Mara River twice, which is the highlight of "the great migration." The park and surrounding countryside was absolutely beautiful, a testament to God's beauty, creativity, and majesty.
Also, to complete the experience of a lifetime, we took a sunrise hot air balloon ride over the plains! We watched the wildebeest running below, and we even went right over a pair of lions! What an amazing trip. I know I am so blessed to be able to experience something like that and see that part of God's creation, especially knowing that the majority of Kenyans have never been to the park.
I'll post photos soon!
We spent 2 nights in Jinja, the small touristy town about 2 hours east of Kampala. We did a lot of craft/gift shopping there, especially at The Source, a non-profit cafe/gift shop who's procedes go to help the local communities. We stayed on Lake Victoria (the 2nd largest lake in the world), just a short walk from The Source of the Nile (where Lake Victoria feeds into the Victoria Nile, which eventually finds its way down to Egypt).
We just got back from 5 days in Kenya. We spent one day in Nairobi visiting two girls that my mom has helped support for several years now, especially since their mom passed away. It was really neat to get to spend time with them in person (I had met one of them before), and we even got to eat at the local restaurant that the older sister owns!! The next day we did a one-day safari to Lake Nakuru (where I went in June, see pics in previous blog), which is only two hours from Nairobi. We went with the two girls and Danielle and her husband Jon. Danielle is a friend of mine from college, and we actually traveled to Kenya together way back in 2001! She and Jon just happened to be in Nairobi doing research for her phd, so it was great to get to meet up with them and spend the day with them!
Then Megan (a fellow EMI intern) met up with my mom and I and we headed down to the Masai Mara for a 3-day safari! The Masai Mara is supposed to be one of the best places for an African safari, so we were so grateful for the amazing opportunity to visit. (The Masai Mara and Serengeti are basically the same thing. The Masai Mara is the part in Kenya and the Serengeti is the part in Tanzania.) We stayed at an amazing lodge in the middle of the park (a 1.5 hour drive from the park gate), and had lots of amazing animal sightings. We got to see lions, hippos, giraffe, antelope, gazelles, crocodiles, jackals, foxes, vultures, elephants, warthogs, and many other beautiful creatures.
Also, we happened to go during the great wildebeest migration, so we got to see hundreds of wildebeest and zebras that aren't always there in the park. We also got to see some of them cross the Mara River twice, which is the highlight of "the great migration." The park and surrounding countryside was absolutely beautiful, a testament to God's beauty, creativity, and majesty.
Also, to complete the experience of a lifetime, we took a sunrise hot air balloon ride over the plains! We watched the wildebeest running below, and we even went right over a pair of lions! What an amazing trip. I know I am so blessed to be able to experience something like that and see that part of God's creation, especially knowing that the majority of Kenyans have never been to the park.
I'll post photos soon!
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