On the Road Again

It’s been a long while since I’ve blogged, and so much has happened, I don’t even know where to start. We have travelled more in Africa on the roads than we do in the United States. I am loving it, we have seen so much and accomplished so much, the boys get tired at times of the driving, but the experience they will never forget.

We left a week ago Saturday to take the River Ranch Church Team on safari for a few days. That was such a treat for us. The first day, after about a 12 hour drive, which included a minor bus accident in which our bus hit a semi-truck on the side and knocked a window out, shattering glass all over one of the women in the group (it was either that or hit a woman on the side of the road…a VERY close call), we arrived at a lake and got in old wooden boats and crossed over to a small island, where we stayed in “luxury” tents (ha ha!) Each tent was in a beautiful secluded wooded area…did I mention we arrived after dark? Each tent was lit by lovely candles, it was very eco-friendly and had no electricity…did I mention we arrived after dark? We had lovely eco-friendly restrooms as well (the kind that have no water to flush, etc…we call them outhouses in the United States). I have to admit, we were all looking at Tim and wondering what he had gotten us into. There were some very game people along (you see, I’m used to Tim and when he had said luxury tents, I knew what he probably meant…the others…well…they’re used to him now!)

The next morning I will admit that we woke up to a beautiful view of the lake, it was very exotic. I took a shower outdoors, because that was what was offered…at least I started the next day clean.


We next headed for another “short” drive to Queen Elizabeth Park…and good news, Tim found a short cut, so the drive was only going to be 2-3 hours. TERRIFIC! Another eight hours later, we arrived at Mweya Lodge, having seen many beautiful back roads in Uganda, met many local people (as we asked them for directions), experienced a plethora of potholes, we relieved ourselves in a hole (I have an entire philosophy here in Africa that I call my “Liquid Management” plan, and I will say, I was the only person out of 19 that didn’t have to pee in a hole…the plan is working…maybe if I market it right…hmmm…) We arrived at Mweya Lodge. By this time, I think Tim realized he was about to be voted off the island, so he was sweating bullets, and Mweya Lodge was his ace in the hole…they really pulled through. We arrived, hot, tired, sweaty, and covered in red dust…did I mention this shortcut didn’t involve paved roads? They had a lovely cold wash cloth for each of us, passion fruit juice, and the Lodge was lovely. We quickly forgot our journey and basked in the relative luxury of the next two days. We woke up very early the next morning to get out in the park while the animals were active and eating breakfast. As we were leaving in our Land Cruiser (there wasn’t enough room in the safari trucks, so we sent Bransen with the group, because he had never been on safari and was excited to stand up with his head out of the roof of the vehicle!) we had a knock on our window and a fairly frantic couple from Sweden asked if they could squeeze into our car because theirs had broken down and they wanted to go out to see the animals…of course we scooted over and had a lovely morning looking at animals and working on international relations!

On Tuesday, we left our team to head back to the airport, and we continued on to the border and crossed into Rwanda. Rwanda is a country that is scarred by the massacre of almost 1 million people of the Tutsi tribe, by the other predominant tribe in the country, the Hutus. This massacre happened while the world slept, only 14 years ago. Now, they are trying to repair their nation, not only physically, but emotionally and spiritually as well. I went to Rwanda six years ago and you could feel a sadness and darkness in that land as soon as you landed on the plane. I was SHOCKED at the changes that have been made since I was last there. Rebuilding is everywhere, hope is everywhere…it was truly, truly impressive and so wonderful to see. We went to the Millennium Village projects, assessed three hospitals, met some truly wonderful people, and headed back for Uganda late in the afternoon on Thursday. We had decided that we would drive for a few hours, instead of making the 14 hour drive all in one day. All went well, until we somehow missed the turn to our hotel for the night, and realized it was 36 km back. That is WAY too far to turn around and go back on Uganda roads, so we decided to push through to the next city, another 70 km away, and hope for the best. By this time, it was about 8 p.m., we had no lunch, the kids were hot, tired, thirsty, hungry, and grouchy…honestly, I was grouchy too…and emotional…even worse. I saw a goat that somehow reminded me of my little dog Bronte whom I haven’t seen for 8 weeks now, and I burst into tears and sat in the car crying because I missed her…that went over real well in a car full of boys…no sympathy for me, I was put on notice that I needed to suck it up and act like a man…hmmm…anyway, we had a general family meltdown, finally arrived into town, followed signs to the first hotel that was advertising, our thinking being if they had enough money to advertise, they can’t be too bad…and they weren’t. The sheets looked clean, they were serving a late dinner, and we ate and all fell into bed exhausted around 11:45 p.m. At which time, a group of Mzungu’s planted themselves literally two feet from our bedroom window at tables outside our room, and laughed and visited for almost an hour. We told them they were trying to sleep, so they took it down a notch, but it was literally like they were sitting in our room, so even with them talking quiet, they didn’t realize that we could hear everything they said.

We got back to Jinja, all is well, there’s so much that could be said. Chase left us yesterday to head back home…I already miss him. It is symbolic of his life right now, he is going to be leaving the nest, and no one told me how much it was going to hurt! Today we deliver the fish out to the children’s village. We are really excited. They are doing great, growing big already, and we have worked out a solar power system that seems to be working. I will be so excited if this idea works out, it really will be about six months before we know if it becomes profitable, because that is the time the fish will start reproducing, and also the time they will be big enough to sell at market.

I have been collecting stories of the children that are living in the village…after a while, I begin to almost get numb. Story after story of children whose parents died, or one parent died, and then the other couldn’t care for them, they were hungry, beaten, abused, with no place to live, and then taken in by tremendous people, who even though they don’t have the resources or room, they welcome them. I met an adorable mother named Sarah Waisana, and when I say adorable, I mean it…she is so cute, 8 months pregnant with her ninth child (only her third biological). Sarah and her husband David just keep taking in children who need a home. They live in a house that is probably 1000 sq. feet, with 11 of them, and they are thrilled, they feel so blessed. Their home is well kept, they have beautiful plants and vegetables growing, they are truly amazing people. I feel privileged to know them.

Our time here is winding down, and while I am THRILLED to be going home, seriously the thought of sleeping in my own bed, and taking a warm shower, and washing clothes in a washing machine brings me almost to tears, I can also say that the thought of leaving here makes me feel sad as well. I’m a problem solver by nature. I want to fix the problems that are here, but I realize that these problems are so big, have been here so long, that help given is a drop in the bucket. However, every drop counts, and at some point, it only takes one drop for the bucket to overflow. When I look at Irene, or Anna, or Mercy, or Richard, or Sylvia, and think about the fact that someone in America is a drop in the bucket, sponsoring them so they can have a hope and a future, I realize that each drop is a person, both here and there, and every drop is precious, every life is priceless…let it rain!

Ciao,
Cheri