Love you all. God Bless!
Love Lauren
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Back Home Safe
I am back home safe! It took 35 hours and 5 flights to get back! But praise God I am here safe!
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Backpacking around Uganda for a week!
So- about 1 week ago my program ended and the everyone in the group flew home except for about four. Two went to Burundi, one Tanzania, and hugh and I stayed to backpack around Uganda for an extra week.
First we went to visit "Come Lets Dance" - a christian NGO that has a kids house with 60-70 kids that are orphaned or were abadoned by their parents. We spent two nights with them- a bunch of american college students who gave up their summer to help. It was awesome. We went to the slums to play with the kids there- and also spoke with women with whom the NGO is giving microfinance loans?? i dont know if i said that right. Anyways- they get a small amount of money to start their own business. It is women empowerment. We then went to the Mulago Hospital. oh my gosh.. there are patients fresh out of surgery- crammed into rooms. 27 patients in one big room. Oozing, bleeding, and miserable. The doctors do not care for the patients unless there is someone to advocate for them- which is what members of the NGO do when they are there. The last place we went a a sewing shop where women are able to sew bags and make necklaces for a living. This money goes to help the kids house as well. Also- the organization has a farm- where they grow all of their crops in order to feed the kids at the house. It is an awesome organization and we had a great time hanging out with them!
After two nights there- we went to the new taxi park and found a taxi (small van with 24 other people in it) to Jinja. Once in Jinja we happened to stumble upon the most beautiful place i have ever seen! Huts/tents looking out over the nile river. We got to stay for 20,000 shillings, which is $10 a night! We hung out at the bar/restaurant the whole night, looking over the beautiful water! What absolutely wonderful sunsets they have here!!
The next morning we went bungee jumping over the nile river! Most aazing experience ever!~
After- we took a taxi to kampala and then a bus to gulu. Long day of travel. Approximately 8 hours!
Now in Gulu- I am with my family and we have been hanging out- climbing trees- havingraces- looking at art- stayin out late under the stars- and just enjoying life! My travel partner Hugh- left today to fly home. So i am on my own for a few days!
Tomorrow i will take a taxi to kampala- spend the night in the cty and then fly out the next day aroun 8 p.m. This has absolutely been the best trip I have ever been on!
I strongly reccommend that everyone go to Africa sometime in thir life! It is more than you could ever hope for. It is amazing! and i cannot wait to come back someday!
For those of you who have looked at my blog this trip- thanks for being intersted! Love you all very much. Will write one last one when i am home safe!
God Bless
-Lauren
First we went to visit "Come Lets Dance" - a christian NGO that has a kids house with 60-70 kids that are orphaned or were abadoned by their parents. We spent two nights with them- a bunch of american college students who gave up their summer to help. It was awesome. We went to the slums to play with the kids there- and also spoke with women with whom the NGO is giving microfinance loans?? i dont know if i said that right. Anyways- they get a small amount of money to start their own business. It is women empowerment. We then went to the Mulago Hospital. oh my gosh.. there are patients fresh out of surgery- crammed into rooms. 27 patients in one big room. Oozing, bleeding, and miserable. The doctors do not care for the patients unless there is someone to advocate for them- which is what members of the NGO do when they are there. The last place we went a a sewing shop where women are able to sew bags and make necklaces for a living. This money goes to help the kids house as well. Also- the organization has a farm- where they grow all of their crops in order to feed the kids at the house. It is an awesome organization and we had a great time hanging out with them!
After two nights there- we went to the new taxi park and found a taxi (small van with 24 other people in it) to Jinja. Once in Jinja we happened to stumble upon the most beautiful place i have ever seen! Huts/tents looking out over the nile river. We got to stay for 20,000 shillings, which is $10 a night! We hung out at the bar/restaurant the whole night, looking over the beautiful water! What absolutely wonderful sunsets they have here!!
The next morning we went bungee jumping over the nile river! Most aazing experience ever!~
After- we took a taxi to kampala and then a bus to gulu. Long day of travel. Approximately 8 hours!
Now in Gulu- I am with my family and we have been hanging out- climbing trees- havingraces- looking at art- stayin out late under the stars- and just enjoying life! My travel partner Hugh- left today to fly home. So i am on my own for a few days!
Tomorrow i will take a taxi to kampala- spend the night in the cty and then fly out the next day aroun 8 p.m. This has absolutely been the best trip I have ever been on!
I strongly reccommend that everyone go to Africa sometime in thir life! It is more than you could ever hope for. It is amazing! and i cannot wait to come back someday!
For those of you who have looked at my blog this trip- thanks for being intersted! Love you all very much. Will write one last one when i am home safe!
God Bless
-Lauren
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Traveling in East Africa
So much time has passed since i last wrote!
So- spent two weeks in Rwanda- amazing place. So fun- yet surprisingly expensive.
Left Rwanda and went to Nygatare in Northern Rwanda where we met with "hutus" ( not called that anymore in rwnada- it was crazy interesting to hear them talk. They were in a program called TIG which takes perpetrators and puts them to work on community needs like building homes and stuff for their punishment regarding their deeds done during the genocide.
Then we drove to Queens National Park. AMAZING!
I saw elephants - hippos (SOO cool) crocodiles, water buffalo, african waterbacks? , two leopards, and four lions. We went on a boat ride to get close to the water animals, and then two game drives. The coolest thing ever to see these animals in their natural habitat and to be 5 feet away from them!
The last major days of the program were spent at a beautiful lake surrounded by lucious trees. We stayed in huts and spent the days hiking, laying on the dock, and processing our trip. Coolest place ever.
Drove back to kampala and now everyone on my trip is gone! I am here with two others at the moment. I will travel for part of the next week with a friend i met on the trip and the last few days i will be at it alone! how exciting!
Life is wonderful- and surprisingly i really enjoy living out of a suitcase and moving around every few days, there is just something exhilirating about it all.
Hope all is well. Cannot wait to talk to you all when i return. God Bless!
Love lauren
So- spent two weeks in Rwanda- amazing place. So fun- yet surprisingly expensive.
Left Rwanda and went to Nygatare in Northern Rwanda where we met with "hutus" ( not called that anymore in rwnada- it was crazy interesting to hear them talk. They were in a program called TIG which takes perpetrators and puts them to work on community needs like building homes and stuff for their punishment regarding their deeds done during the genocide.
Then we drove to Queens National Park. AMAZING!
I saw elephants - hippos (SOO cool) crocodiles, water buffalo, african waterbacks? , two leopards, and four lions. We went on a boat ride to get close to the water animals, and then two game drives. The coolest thing ever to see these animals in their natural habitat and to be 5 feet away from them!
The last major days of the program were spent at a beautiful lake surrounded by lucious trees. We stayed in huts and spent the days hiking, laying on the dock, and processing our trip. Coolest place ever.
Drove back to kampala and now everyone on my trip is gone! I am here with two others at the moment. I will travel for part of the next week with a friend i met on the trip and the last few days i will be at it alone! how exciting!
Life is wonderful- and surprisingly i really enjoy living out of a suitcase and moving around every few days, there is just something exhilirating about it all.
Hope all is well. Cannot wait to talk to you all when i return. God Bless!
Love lauren
Friday, July 3, 2009
God is Good
It is amazing being here. I love Rwanda. It is the most beautiful place in the world! I can't believe that I have been in Africa over a month! It is just crazy to think about. I am learning so much and growing so much. I really feel like I am becoming a person! it is very exciting.
God is Good.
Carpe Diem!
Love Lauren
Monday, June 29, 2009
Kigali
Here in Kigali- I have a new homestay family. They are awesome! My mom and dad are in their 20's and they have a little one year old. Actually the one year old is huge because they feed babies so much here! It is awesome because my family is so young that we are more like friends hanging out!
Weird observations:
-everyone eats breakfast in their towels ( not just my family)
-everyone tries to marry you off to someone
-children make a game out of touching your white skin- because they are afraid of you!
Kigali is awesome. I love it. It is much more developed here than Uganda and it is just beautiful! It is called the land of 1000 hills, and it is just breathtaking. I have been loving it here.- but it the educational part is much harder. It is just harder material that we are studying- a genocide.
We have been visiting memorials and churches. At the churches, there are skulls in rows and bones laying out. Blood soaked clothing hangs from the walls and covers the floors. It is extremely emotional. These people sought safety in churches and instead were slaughtered.
We went to the Kigali Memorial Center yesterday and here are a few things that I read:
"A militia man came up to kill me. I was astonished because he was a friend. He used to come to our house everyday. He worked for my father and played with us. He was like a brother. I asked him why he wanted to kill me when I had done nothing to hurt him. I begged him to take pity on me. He said nothing but just hit me on the head with a machete. He had bits of wood in his hand which he stuck into my face. When he thought I was dead, he left."
Uwayisenga, age 7
- literally in this situation, friends turned on friends and family turned on family. It was a mass killing craze.
'Women and children were a direct target of the genocidaires for murder,rape and mutilation. The killers were determined to ensure that a new generation of Tutsis would never emerge."
Torture Used-- cut tendons so they could not run away and had to wait to be beaten, family members had to watch each other get raped-beaten-killed, people were thrown into latrines and rocks were thrown at them one at a time until the screaming subsided, people were buried alive.
So- I have not been sleeping well. It has been very emotionally draining to be here. But it is the most wonderful thing in the world to be traveling and learning about the place that you are in while you are in it. It is SO much more real.
Love Lauren
Weird observations:
-everyone eats breakfast in their towels ( not just my family)
-everyone tries to marry you off to someone
-children make a game out of touching your white skin- because they are afraid of you!
Kigali is awesome. I love it. It is much more developed here than Uganda and it is just beautiful! It is called the land of 1000 hills, and it is just breathtaking. I have been loving it here.- but it the educational part is much harder. It is just harder material that we are studying- a genocide.
We have been visiting memorials and churches. At the churches, there are skulls in rows and bones laying out. Blood soaked clothing hangs from the walls and covers the floors. It is extremely emotional. These people sought safety in churches and instead were slaughtered.
We went to the Kigali Memorial Center yesterday and here are a few things that I read:
"A militia man came up to kill me. I was astonished because he was a friend. He used to come to our house everyday. He worked for my father and played with us. He was like a brother. I asked him why he wanted to kill me when I had done nothing to hurt him. I begged him to take pity on me. He said nothing but just hit me on the head with a machete. He had bits of wood in his hand which he stuck into my face. When he thought I was dead, he left."
Uwayisenga, age 7
- literally in this situation, friends turned on friends and family turned on family. It was a mass killing craze.
'Women and children were a direct target of the genocidaires for murder,rape and mutilation. The killers were determined to ensure that a new generation of Tutsis would never emerge."
Torture Used-- cut tendons so they could not run away and had to wait to be beaten, family members had to watch each other get raped-beaten-killed, people were thrown into latrines and rocks were thrown at them one at a time until the screaming subsided, people were buried alive.
So- I have not been sleeping well. It has been very emotionally draining to be here. But it is the most wonderful thing in the world to be traveling and learning about the place that you are in while you are in it. It is SO much more real.
Love Lauren
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Back in Kampala
We spent ten days in Gulu at a homestay with ugandan families. I learned so much and had a wonderful time! It was sooo incredibly hot though! Constantly sweating-- and now in Kampala-- i am actually wearing a sweatshirt as I write this. (but its a really random cold day).
I have really been missing american clothing and food. African food is really good, but the comfort of american food is just.. ahh :)
I have been doing a lot of thinking lately. We visited IDP camps (internally displaced persons). The conditions are horrible, the people are hungry and unable to work for a living- because they are in the camps. They are completely dependent on NGO's. the government made them move to the camps twenty years ago. people have started to go back home- but it is so bad so crazy. I can't stop thinking about the differences in the life I live back home compared to here. It is uncomparable. My biggest fear is to go back to America and not change the way I live my life. Im not sure how I could change specifically- but my life is joke compared to this.
Africa is better than i ever imagined! I am learning a lot about myself and growing in who i am. Some of it is really rough, but I am so thankful to be here, and I have made wonderful friends. Hope you are all doing well!
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