Lala, the Savior

What's Happening Everyone?

If you're reading this, it's become obvious that I've survived my first weekend in Gulu, and there are two things that I've come to realize thus far. One, I need to take more pictures. Two, I need to be better about posting twice a week. It's harder than you think, though, and I'm very tempted to steal Josh's and Clara's pictures and post them to my blog. Of course they would be given all due credit, but that's the lazy man's way out. I'm not a lazy man, at least most of the time.

We didn't really do much on Friday night because we were all exhausted from work and traveling around the town. My big achievement of the day, following the IIRR and CVAP meetings, was that I finally managed to get my phone "registered" after work. When I got back to the hotel, we grabbed dinner then I proceeded to fall asleep after reading some Game of Thrones.

On Saturday, we all took the opportunity to walk around Gulu a bit more. We explored the marketplaces and some of Gulu's local supermarkets, may favorite of which was Uchumi, a market that had everything a white person needs for survival. The best part was finding a place where Josh and I ordered custom made shirts. Pictures of them will be posted soon, but let me say first that it is really colorful, button down, long-sleeved, and awesome looking. Let's just say I'll be wearing that to any club and bar from now until the shirt gets worn down too much to war it. After we ordered our shirts, we went out for lunch at this place called The Kitchen. For 12,000 UGX, or just over 5 dollars, we got to enjoy an all you can eat buffet full of delicious chicken, beans, and rice. When we finished, traveled back to the Hotel Diamond, where we all spent the rest of our day successfully doing our laundry for the first time. Thankfully, everything was still in place after I had left it unwatched for a few hours. At night, Clara and I went to Francis's house to celebrate his 40th birthday, which was the first time that he has ever celebrated the occasion. Everyone called him "Baby Francis", and he credited me with coming up with the idea of celebrating it before his actual birthday. We met a lot of great people, including the governor of the Gulu district, ate some delicious local foods, drank a little, and ate cake.

Sunday, we took it easy and went to a local coffee hut to abuse their free wireless internet. After checking our emails and getting something to eat, we went back to the hotel. It was a slow day, sure, and I managed to get closer to finishing GoT, but it marked the end to a successful first weekend. We were all alive and well.

Monday, we got to work and were given our Acholi names. Julia was named Abé, or beautiful, Josh was named Otim, or foreigner, Clara was named Lanyero for "always happy". Their names were nothing compared to mine, however. I was given the name Lala, which means "savior" in Acholi. We spent the day hanging out for the most part because working was difficult as we lacked wifi at the office. Without it, we were not able to access many of our planning google docs and budget sheets, so we just sat around for a bit, tanning outside and listening to some hardcore rap. We later had the opportunity to go to a funeral. Pamela, one of the officers at HAU, had just recently lost a nephew, which meant that she had also lost her own son according to tradition. It composed of preaching, viewing the body, and burying the coffin under piles of dirt that was thrown in by each of the guests. It was a very peaceful ceremony, and was quite similar to our own funerals back in the US. Afterwards, we went back to the hot and relaxed for the rest of the day.

Tuesday, we all went out on field visits to interview and follow up with seven HIV positive mothers who were recipients of our Mama Kits. It was one of the most inspiring experiences that I personally have ever witnessed thus far, as each mother thanked us for our support and told us that their very young children are HIV negative. It was also the first time that our team has visibly seen the impact that our fundraising has had in the local communities surrounding Gulu. We spent several hours moving from house to house, interviewing the mothers, and playing with the local kids. When we got back, our team split up. Clara and Julia went to visit Rosemary, one of our scholarship recipients, while Josh and I picked up our custom shirts. We wore them to the coffee shop, and we got a lot of head nods. One guy in particular ran over to us, got us both in a headlock, and expressed his love. Even the HAU staff appreciated their glory! Following this, I  traveled to speak with GWED-G's program director, Pamela. GWED-G is local NGO and partner of GlobeMed at Columbia University. Although she had recently gotten into an accident in Kampala, she was willing to talk to me about the nature of her partnership with Columbia. I learned a lot about their partnership, how strong their relationship has been, and how much of an impact they've had in the community.

After I headed back to the hotel, Josh convinced me to have a couple of drinks with him after a long day of work. It wasn't hard, and next thing we knew we were talking to a guy named Christopher, who made it clear to us that he spoke English really well (multiple times) and worked for the local government. It was a lively conversation about politics and the demographics of the north and south, and we made a good friend in the process

Today we've been spending a lot of time planning out our budget and our work plan to present to  Carol and the rest of the HAU staff. We've budgeted everything for the Youth Development Program, the Mama Kits, and the Scholarship program, with money left over for an internet subscription and other activities like the Sports Gala and fuel for HAU. Hopefully they'll accept it!

Alright, that's it for now. I'll try to keep up with blog posts more often, and I hope you guys continue to read them. Until next time!

Zach

GoT: Finished the second book in the series, and I have to say...It was amazing! So many things were different: the House of the Undying, Harrenhal, the Battle of Blackwater Bay, and Arya's more daring character. I've loved every second of it, though I think I've spent too much time blitzing through the books. Started book three, and I've loved it so far, and I'm also looking forward to the rest of season three!