Day 5: Last Morning at Camp

Kids were very sweet this morning. Lots of notes and drawings for me as
well as a few for my girlfriend, Lisa. Despite the fact that only a few
of these kids had access to computers (not to mention that most of them
live in areas with no electricity), everyone wanted my e-mail. Very
bittersweet to watch the bus drive off with the kids singing happily
inside while I'm left knowing the reality of the homes and lives they
would be returning to. Spent the drive to Kampala reminding myself that
I did do something to make things better and that's worth something.
Hard to keep from getting discouraged, however, when you look out over
the ocean of poverty that you pass by on the way back to the city. A
sea of children that says "help us, too.

Day 4: Big Night Out

Kids came to the hotel for dinner. Easily the nicest place and best food the kids have ever had. They completely overran the property sending the other guests running for their cabanas. Couldn't have been more fun. Hotel set up a DJ booth by the pool and the kids had a dance party after they ate. "The Calypso", which is the biggest pop song in Uganda this year, was played no less than 5 times. While I really tried to hold my own, some of the girls were kind enough to level that I "just wasn't much of a dancer." Thought that was a good time to call it a night (and a career).

Day 4: Talent Show/Fred's New Shoes

The afternoon was spent preparing for the talent show. Kids were incredible! Lots of local songs and dances from each of the tribes that was represented at the camp, some great "pantomimes" (their term for a lip synch, thankfully not the "walking in the wind" kind) and a spectacular fashion show in which the kids modeled their new clothes as well as some "adventurous" designs fashioned from whatever materials they could find (newspapers, paper sacks, etc.) After the show, Fred, one of the kids that had befriended me early on, told me that he had a problem, he needed money for shoes. I asked what was wrong with the shoes he had on. His response: they didn't belong to him, they had been borrowed for the camp. I was stunned. Throughout the week I had heard horrible stories from these kids about the hardships they faced. Through it all, however, I could take comfort that the kids at least looked like they were being taken care of better than the village children I saw when we drove through the country. Their clothes are better so surely they must be doing a little better, right? Well, now I was confronted with a reality I had never even considered. These clothes may not even belong to them. I still really had no idea what life was like for them back home. It totally deflated me to realize that while I thought of them in terms of soccer matches and talent shows, their real lives were deprived of basic necessities. No shoes! This really is a place beyond my understanding.

Day 4: The River of Life

Arrived at camp at 7:15 to the normal chorus of "You're late!" from the counselors. By far the most punctual people I have ever met. Don't know if that's a typical Ugandan trait or something that is specific to the EGPAF staff but these people are serious about being on time. After breakfast Joy and Rita, the two lead social workers, led a discussion about the challenges the children face. The stories the kids shared were staggering. The discussion was followed by an exercise in which the children were asked to draw a "River of Life", a timeline of their life's journey drawn to resemble the course of The Nile. With very few exceptions, the drawings began with "1. Born, 2. Father died, 3. Mother died". The stories got worse from there: periods of persistent illness, negligent or abusive relatives, hunger, homelessness. One boy admitted to an attempted suicide by overdosing on his ARVs. A girl was infected with HIV when she was raped by her stepfather at 8 years old. Another girl has been fending off the sexual advances of a 70 year old stepfather for months and was literally fighting for her life every night. I had never heard so much suffering and to see it all woven into childrens' drawings was horrific and surreal. It's one thing to hear about these tragedies on TV and assume that "life is just harder there", that the events aren't as bad for the people that suffer them as they would be for us. But to know these kids, to see that they are children just like children anywhere, then you know that there are parts of being a child that are universal to everyone. And that suffering is also universal and is felt just as keenly by everyone, no matter where they live. These drawings will haunt me forever.

Day 3: UJFA Cup Championship/Birth of The Domino Craze

The afternoon was dedicated to the much anticipated UJFA Cup Championship between long-standing rivals Jinja Arsenal (managed by yours truly) and Manchester Uganda (skippered by Willie). Needless to say, the clash of these powerhouse clubs did not disappoint despite the devastating 4-1 loss suffered by the Arsenal side. I was inconsolable. Brian played bravely despite the fact that he appears to have malaria. Heartbreaking to watch him force down dinner later that night. Despite a high fever and a total loss of appetite, these are the best meals he'll have all year and can't stand the thought of missing out. I taught the kids to play dominoes after dinner. They took to the game really quickly (maybe a little too quickly since I lost the second game to Perez).

Day 3: Field Trip

Everyone then piled into the buses and headed off to the source of The Nile and Bujagali Falls. The Falls were pretty amazing...but not as amazing as the group of wacko locals that we watched float through class 3 rapids WITH NO BOAT AND NO LIFE JACKET (They would hold on to empty water jugs as floats). Never seen anything quite so crazy. Also saw a great acrobat at the source of The Nile that put on a show the kids loved. Lots of singing in the bus on the way to and from our outing. Some of the girls tried to teach me a few words in Luganda and Swahili but I unfortunately didn't make much of a student.

Day 3: Christmas Gifts

After breakfast, the counselors gave all the children great Christmas presents: new clothes! You've never seen so many happy faces. This was followed by a solid hour of showing off and photo shoots ("now take one of the three of us", "now just me", "now just me...but with sunglasses", etc.)

Day 2: Brian's Story

Got my first glimpse into these kids' lives outside of the camp from Brian. Over dinner, he told me his story: His dad died soon after he was born, Brian assumes from AIDS but he can not be sure. His mother was a health worker who made enough money to send both he and his sister to boarding school. His mother found out that they were all HIV+ but did not tell the children (a shockingly common occurance). Brian was brought home from school when he was eight years old to watch his mother die. He was not told that he was infected until he fell sick two years later. While recuperating from one of a series of lengthy illnesses, he was sent to live with an abusive aunt that constantly complained about wasting money on a boy that was "only going to die anyway." His only respite from her was time spent on a family farm in a nearby village where he was subjected to long days of hard labor. Now he was left orphaned, periodically sick, in and out of school because of his aunt's refusal to pay the fees and shunned by all but a few of his neighbors. This was the first time that something so horrible felt so personal to me.

Day 2: Joy's Lecture

In the evening, Joy led a discussion about sex and sexuality with the children. This is uncharted territory since, until very recently, most children that were born with HIV did not survive into their adolescence. Whole new areas have been created for these kids' psychological and social support needs now that new therapies were allowing the kids to live into adulthood. Joy covered the basics of sex education and discussed necessary practices for preventing the spread of HIV. I got the feeling that this was the only place these children were going to get helpful answers as they all had stories about relatives and teachers ridiculing them or giving them nonsense information. It was heart-breaking to hear questions like "will I be able to get married?" and "will I be able to have children?" USAID and other very well-meaning and effective NGOs do all the right things to keep these kids alive but haven't adapted to the realities of support AFTER the kids survive. This was a key moment for me because I saw that the money we raised is going for the life that comes after the anti-retrovirals (ARVs) keep you alive: school fees, a stipend to get someone into a better living situation, etc. The stuff that the government money doesn't reach.

Day 2: Opening Game of UJFA Cup Tourney/Challenge Course

Day began with a big breakfast (including more matoke, of course) and some indoor activities. Crowd was getting a little restless after lunch so we headed outside for a potato sack race and some time on the challenge course that is set up next door to the main building. Kids really enjoyed it. Knowing that everyone in Uganda is absolutely crazed about soccer, I ended the day with the opening match of the United Jinja Football Association Champions Cup Tournament (otherwise known as the UJFA Cup) with Jinja Arsenal squaring off against Manchester Uganda. Arsenal took the match 3 to 1.

Day 1: Arrival at Camp

Everyone's excited to get to camp. While the facilities are simple, the setting is beautiful: a wide plain overlooking Lake Victoria that is framed on two sides by mountain ranges and vast tea plantations. I'm adopted early on by two of the boys, Eric and Brian. Everyone has trouble with my name (Seth just doesn't translate well) so I'm renamed: Mayanja. And, since this is a name associated with the Buganda tribe, I'm given a clan as well: Monkey. Kids ate a HUGE lunch that consisted of Matoke (boiled green bananas with peanut sauce, a local favorite), casava meal, sweet potatoes and beef stew. Played some "icebreaker" games after everyone got settled in their rooms. Kids finished the night with prayer and some local songs.

Day 1: On the way

Caught up with the kids' bus as we were leaving the office. Kids looked tired from a long trip (some had been in the car for 8 hrs. already!) but really excited. Drove to Jinja with Richard, the driver that picked me up for the airport; Joy, one of the social workers that works with the kids in Masaka; and Jessica, a Peace Corps volunteer from Texas who had been working on HIV/AIDS programs at a rural hospital for over a year. It was Jessica that let me know that Uganda doesn't look as developed as Kampala (which, by U.S. standards, isn't all that developed...). 75% of the country has no running water, even less have electricity, etc.

Day 1: Kampala

Didn't sleep all that well last night, lots of anxiety about the first day. Decided the best way to deploy the nervous energy was to pack, decide I didn't need half the stuff I was taking, re-pack, etc. Spent the morning in the EGPAF offices. Willie took me under his wing and introduced me around to the staff. Must be a great manager as his team all seem highly capable and highly committed (hope I can keep up!) We had a short meeting regarding the money that had been raised and decided it would be best to have the counselors from each of the districts submit a list of needs from the children they aid. Thrilled to hear that all of the funds were going exactly where they are needed.