The New Crew:

As you may or may not have noticed my blogging has become a little less common. Firstly, I apologize. Secondly, I must say it is a good thing for me; because it means that I have too many better things to do. As, we continue in our transition from our summer crew to our fall crew, a lot more responsibility falls into my hands. And maybe for the first time, I think I know what I’m doing. I am really thankful I’ve had the opportunity to be here for five months rather than the intended two. It seems that after two months I am just beginning to cross barriers I didn’t realize existed. Additionally, I know I wouldn’t have been comfortable with my impact here or lack thereof, if I had to go home after two months.

Now to the new crew: first came, Miss Rachel


Rachel and I already tend to embarrassingly say things in unison in our sweet but painfully obvious American accents. Americans generally like to say, “please, thank you and your welcome” for everything and that’s not bad, but just not so normal…here. Rachel has got an eye for running Maple, almost as much as she’s got an eye for the latest fashion. As you can imagine after two months in the same clothes, this diva is excited to have a few new dresses to steal out of Rachel’s closet. But for more than just Rachel’s good taste in clothes, as a founding member of Maple, Rachel is a very valuable new member to Maple Uganda and I for one am super excited to have her here.

Next came B-Rad….



He is true to his name. Friday night the boys and I hit up Mbale town and Brad proved how rad he can be. I knew the Ugandan liquor, “Waragi” could make me dance pretty awesome, but I had no idea of its potential until Brad came along and knocked me out of the water and off of the dance floor. Brad is going to take lead on our Maple work in Lira and in his free time he tosses the American football around with the excited local munchkins and lights up everyone’s day with his big contagious smile.

And then there was Jo-el:



Joel: “smile…go file,”
Me: “what?”
Who doesn’t love random comments here n there….well, with Joel they are everywhere. And so far, it’s great. I almost forgot I snort sometimes when I laugh, but these guys have me laughing enough that it’s impossible to forget. Joel is going to be in charge of finding Maple a village to work with, so when he isn’t organizing that, Joel enjoys rambling non sense (sometimes even in Spanish or Arabic), crosswords (sometimes both at the same time) and beating me at Yahtzee.

Well that’s the crew and it seems that we have about as many corks as we do charms, so we are in for anything but a boring few months!

Chaos in Kampala....

I don't know if our news here has hit home...but if it hasn't, Uganda isn't in the best shape right now. As tensions raised between Uganda's Bagandan King and President Yoweri Museveni a rumor spread, via text message, that the King was incarcerated and rioters very quickly formed to defend the honor of their king. This rumor not only caused havoc and destruction all across Kampala, Uganda's capital city. But the death toll has reached 14 (mostly from stray bullets fired by police) and at one point, 20 women were stripped and beaten by an angry mob. No matter what news source you read, it seems like they all have a different version of what is going on, but that seems to generally be the norm with the news here. But one thing is consistent,the uproar came so quickly, everyone seemed to be about as confused as they were distressed.

So where was I planning to travel tomorrow? Kampala. Don't worry though, things have calmed down drastically and the American embassy as well as friends in Kampala tell us that we should be fine if we just wait until Monday. It just so happens that our new MAPLE members, Brad and Joel arrive Monday and Wednesday in Entebbe. Welcome to Uganda.

First Training

Eleven women attended our first business training. We fit comfortably in Chairwoman Vironica’s outside patio area, where we arranged chairs in a half circle around our teacher Christine. The training began with a skit performed by the three women who arrived to the training on time and was presented when we began 45 minutes after schedule (gotta run on African time). The skit was a perfect ice breaker and made the training feel fun. The group felt very comfortable, and weren’t shy to express their opinions and ask questions. Even though the training lasted until 5pm instead of 4 pm, none of the women left early. We didn't have as many women attend as we hoped, but it sounds like more might be coming this Saturday...sometimes you just have to bug them enough. This week, following up, I am meeting two of the women who couldn't attend and I will be going over the curriculum with them individually. I'm looking forward to working with the women but I'm nervous they will think I know all the answers to their business problems.

Last week, as the house goes through the transition of losing Emily and kind of Pat, Luke and I had the house to ourselves. It is really weird to go from seven people mulling around to two. But don't get me wrong it was great. Until the transformer blew in the middle of the night and we though we were being sabotaged. The light bulb in between Luke's room and my room exploded outside our windows and I was sure thieves were unloading fire on us. Then in my sleepy stupor the paranoia of people plotting to rob the two Muzungos (white people) crept into my mind...and apparently I wasn't alone on that thought. The next morning Luke admitted he didn't get much sleep after the power went out, because he was also certain, there was a plot to get us. Now, before we sound too crazy, you must understand our neighbors have been robbed twice. (Not to scare you ma) But lucky for us, it was just the power.

This week, still in transition as Luke and Pat travel off to Kenya and Rachel (a newbie to the house) and I wait for our new comers who will arrive by Wednesday. The house is again down to two. Rachel and I are definitely taking advantage of the peace of an empty house before it fills up again. I love Mbale, but I am looking forward to getting back to Kampala to pick up the guys. There is a certain stress and pressure from our work that doesn't leave me when I'm in Mbale, so getting away here n there is always a treat.