Watch New Short Film Ani Wa Sa (We Are One) Set in Garamba National Park on Vimeo

Ani Wa Sa, www.dceff.org.

Invisible Children, the organization that created the documentary film "Kony 2012", has released a narrative twenty-eight minute film created for their Mobile Cinema program in central Africa.

Ani Wa Sa

"Ani Wa Sa" (We Are One) was produced by Invisible Children in collaboration with international filmmakers and community partners. It is set in Garamba National Park in Democratic Republic of Congo on the border with South Sudan. The park has been managed by nonprofit organization African Parks in partnership with the Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature (Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation) (ICCN) since 2005.

Elephants in Garamba National Park by Nuria Ortega, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

Garamba National Park is known for poaching wars. In the 1970's there were 22,000 elephants in the park. Poachers made up of South Sudanese armed groups, the Lords Resistance Army (LRA) and others have brought that number down to less than 1,200 elephants today.

"Ani Wa Sa" focuses on the relationship between wildlife exploitation and violent conflict. It highlights the ways Invisible Children, central African communities, and conservation actors are working together to promote peace and security.

Novo summarized the plot, writing, "Two brothers who come from a line of central African Zande hunters, seek to protect their local forest from seemingly opposing avenues: one through family tradition and the other as part of a national park ranger team. Though their relationship has fractured, an advancing rebel group seeking to poach and traffic elephant ivory poses a mutual threat and the brothers may need each other to protect the people and wildlife of their homeland for generations to come."

Watch the short film "Ani Wa Sa" for free on the Novo Vimeo channel.



Mobile Cinema Program

Invisible Children has a Mobile Cinema program that uses the power of film to bring people in vulnerable communities together to brainstorm ideas for the role the community can play in ending violent conflict and promoting peace in their own communities. "Ani Wa Sa" has been screened in more than 65 communities in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo and Central African Republic, reaching more than 27,400 people.

It also screened at the DC Environmental Film Festival in 2020. (Watch many films that have screened at the film festival in past years.)

Mobile Cinema program, Invisible Children newsletter.

Invisible Children

"In 2015, after 11 years of advocacy and awareness campaigns that brought the LRA crisis to the attention of the world and its leaders, Invisible Children was restructured to focus more intensively on our programs in the border region of the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and South Sudan, where multiple armed groups like the LRA continue to operate with impunity. The area is particularly prone to violence because of its severe isolation and lack of governance.

"Our commitment to our founding mission remains as strong as ever. Joseph Kony remains at large, and after more than 30 years of brutal crimes, his impunity continues to be one of the most tragic examples of our world’s failure to treat every human life as equally valuable and worthy of protection.

"Today, we are taking the lessons we’ve learned from more than a decade of working with central African communities to stop LRA violence, and we are expanding our work for an even greater impact. We work with central African communities directly affected by armed group violence to develop locally-led violence prevention strategies, reunite families affected by conflict, and provide world-class conflict analysis."

Continue reading about Invisible Children on www.invisiblechildren.com.

Nepal Adventure: Last 5 Days in Nepal

My bags are packed, and I am now waiting for the taxi that will take me from Kopan Monastery to the Kathmandu airport. The past five days went by so quickly – it is amazing how much you can get done, when you know you are about to leave a country.

On Monday afternoon, December 15 a friend from my November course Discussion Group, Alana and I visited the Boudha stupa to do some circumambulations of the stupa. It is a 30 minute walk downhill from Kopan Monastery, through the streets of the neighboring Kapan Village. That means the walk back up to Kopan requires a bit more energy.

Kapan Village.

Alana and I made it back up to Kopan in time for my 5pm meeting with the Canadian nun, Ani Joan who does the live transcription of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s teachings. I had offered to help Ani Joan with her projects while I had some extra time. We reviewed a project during 5pm tea break in the dining hall, and then I started work on the project that night. It felt great to be doing something that challenged my brain in a different way, as opposed to all of the more academic style studying we had been doing during the November course.

I later learned that 160 FPMT monks and nuns from Kopan and the FPMT nunnery on the hill below the monastery left for His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s teachings in south India, while Alana and I were at the stupa. They are traveling from Kathmandu to south India overland, which is going to be a long trip. I am looking forward to hopefully recognizing some more familiar faces in the room of what will likely be tens of thousands of people, when His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s teaching starts in a few days.

My Brazilian roommate, Stella left at 5am on Tuesday morning, December 16. It was great interacting with her. She learned to speak English by watching ten years of episodes of the TV show Friends, so speaks with a New York accent and mannerisms. I loved it. She always made me smile. Now, it’s just my Australian roommate, Vanessa and I left in what was a room of ten girls during the November course. Vanessa is doing the Silent Lam-Rim Meditation Retreat, that I opted not to do. The retreat ends today.

I got in touch with Room to Read – Nepal before the November course started, to see if I could join in on one of the non-profit’s regular tours. Normally, visitors get to visit one of the sites where Room to Read works, in Nepal. The December tour was cancelled, but a member of Room to Read – Nepal’s staff, Rishi very kindly offered to have me over to the Room to Read office, to take a look around and learn more about their work.

Rishi gave me public transit instructions from Kopan to Room to Read. The directions involved taking a public bus to the bus terminal I am familiar with, then taking a “tempo” to the office. I stopped some teenage school girls dressed in school uniforms on the side of the road at the bus terminal, to ask them what a “tempo” is. I pointed to a mini van that drove by us on the road, and asked if that was a “tempo”. They got a kick out of my question, and pointed out a tempo. It is a three wheeled vehicle that roughly looks like a covered tractor and wheelbarrow. I thoroughly enjoyed my first tempo ride.

When I got to the office, I found that Teach for Nepal was just across the street from Room to Read. When I had visited the US Education Foundation office in Kathmandu, the staff there had mentioned Teach for Nepal had recently opened. I was happy to stumble upon the office.

When I arrived at Room to Read, I took a tour of the office lobby and corridors, and read some of the children’s books that the nonprofit has created and published for use in Nepal’s government schools. Rishi then invited me into the conference room and gave me the power point presentation that he usually gives visitors. It was fantastic.

Rishi in front of the Room to Read office.

Room to Read was founded as a result of John Wood’s 1998 trek in Nepal. When he passed through Nepali communities on his trek, he found that the Nepali schools had few books for the students to read. In 2010, the organization he founded as a result celebrated its 10^th anniversary and the opening of its 10,000^th library. It was so cool to visit the organization’s first office, here in Nepal, and to learn about what they do.

In Nepal, the team runs four programs that provides support to students attending the government-run “government schools”. Room to Read – Nepal programs include reading and writing instruction to bring primary school students who attend government schools up to government literacy standards, building and expanding school libraries in government schools, publishing children’s pictorial books that develop  students’ lifelong love of reading, and building or adding onto government schools.

In addition to Nepal, Room to Read now runs literacy and gender equality education programs in Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Laos, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Zambia, and Tanzania. Room to Read is headquartered in San Francisco. Rishi visited the San Francisco office last year regarding his role as the storyteller of the Nepal office. It was fun to talk about storytelling, my work in Nairobi, and to learn a little bit about how Room to Read handles their storytelling. I was also really impressed by the emphasis Room to Read places on measuring the impact of the organization’s work, and the strong emphasis the organization places on partnerships with local communities and the Nepali government.

In talking about the Girls’ Education Program, Rishi and I got to talking about the kamalari, young Nepali girls who are illegally forced to leave school to become indentured servants in exchange for land their families can then till in the community. Nepal’s kamalaris are profiled in the documentary Girl Rising.

I learned from Rishi that Room to Read partnered with two nonprofit organizations working in one Nepali community in order to rescue the girls, the kamalaris, and to bring the girls back to school. Some of the girls have been out of school, working as kamalaris for eight years. Room to Read’s Girl Mobilizers work with the rescued girls, to help them catch up on what they missed in school. One of Rishi’s favorite moments happened when he visited the program. It was so great to meet Rishi, and to experience his enthusiasm for his work. It was such a great visit.

Rishi encouraged me to follow up on my interest, and stop by the Teach for Nepal office, which is located just across the street from Room to Read.

Teach for Nepal office in Kathmandu.

I learned these shocking statistics from a bold sign posted on the front lawn, before I even walked through the Teach for Nepal doorway:

“About 72% of students who attended public schools failed [the national exam last year]. 87% of private school students passed.”

A quick perusal of the bulletin board hanging outside of the office door let me know that Teach for Nepal was actively recruiting for their new cohort of teaching fellows.

I walked into an office lobby full of energy, and happened to get to sit down for a chat with the founder of Teach for Nepal. I learned he started Teach for Nepal in April 2013, after seeing Nepali students attending government schools were failing the exam sections that cover English, Math, and Science. Teach for Nepal has thus far sent two cohorts of 49 teachers into some of Nepal’s neediest government schools to help the students. He said that they cannot meet demand from the communities who would like a Teach for Nepal fellow in their school, and that they have received an extremely large number of applications from Nepalis interested in joining the next cohort. It is so exciting.

The organization is holding a big fundraising event in Kathmandu today. The event culminates in a performance by a student band, and a well known Nepali band. If you are interested in learning more then check out the Teach for Nepal Facebook page, which I was told is the best way to keep abreast of the organization’s work.

I then adventured back to Kopan Monastery via public transit, arriving in time to participate in our celebration of the annual Tibetan Buddhist holiday, Lama Tsongkhapa Day. The monastery’s three gompas were draped in beautiful colored lights that were reminiscent of Christmas light displays. It was beautiful. We joined the monks and Lama Zopa Rinpoche in the main gompa from late afternoon until late into the night, following along as we did the Heruka Lama Choepa. It was beautiful, and so nice to get to sit with Lama Zopa Rinpoche again. The youngest monks – some of whom looked to be about age five – participated, too. They sat in the back of the gompa across the aisle from me. They were very cute to watch.

We ended the night by decorating the front of the gompa and the plaza with candles, and walking in a procession around the monastery grounds, led by Lama Zopa Rinpoche. The two stupas in the stupa garden were surrounded by candles that the monks and western students placed there during the celebration. It was gorgeous.

Lama Tsongkhapa Day puja in the gompa with Lama Zopa Rinpoche.

Two of the gompas covered in lights.

I finally got into bed sometime after midnight, which is very late at Kopan. That explains my following morning, this past Wednesday, December 17. I did laundry in the morning, and coordinated some advance logistics for India from the comfort of what was a beautiful, sunny day at the monastery.

I was sitting on the front steps of the gompa plaza, just inside of the monastery’s front gate, when the main teacher in Portland, Oregon, Yangsi Rinpoche, appeared in front of me. I had not seen him since the fall, when I sat in on two of his teachings in Portland. It was amazing to see him all the way here, at Kopan.

I then closed my Kopan Library card account with the very kind and wonderful monk who works in the library as well as the Kopan gift/book shop. I am sure there will be many more books to borrow and read from other libraries in India, but it was sad to close this library account – I really enjoyed perusing the Kopan library shelves, and the books I read while staying here.

That afternoon Alana and I walked back down the hill from Kopan to volunteer at the Street Dog Care center, which is across the street from the Boudha stupa. Alana had not interacted with Street Dog Care before, so it was fun to see her enjoying her conversation with Jasmin, the organization’s Belgian Project Manager, and meeting the dogs. I enjoyed giving the dogs that live at the center some attention, and catching up on the dogs I had not seen since my last visit to the center, before the November course began over a month prior. One dog that had been in my thoughts during the November course is looking significantly better.

I enjoyed meeting three of the center’s newer international volunteers, while helping the volunteers and staff feed the dogs their dinner. After this experience I can confidently say that dogs in Nepal share American dogs’ enthusiasm for a good, home cooked dinner.

Dinner time at Street Dog Care.

The following day, Thursday, December 18 began with a gathering in front of the Reception office, to say goodbye to our November course Discussion Group leader, Nita. Nita was on her way to Malaysia to attend a family wedding before returning to her home in Byron Bay, Australia. It meant a lot to me that Sarah, Alana, and I got to send our fantastic Discussion Group leader off with hugs.

Nita, Alana, me, Sarah, and our teacher Venerable Gyatso.

Sarah then went to a meditation session, while Alana and I began our adventure to the tourist hot spot, Kathmandu Durbar Square. We were joined by another Australian, Peter who had also taken the November course, and had planned to visit Durbar Square that day, too. We took the bus that stops in Kapan Village just below the monastery, and then walked through the old part of Kathmandu until we found Durbar Square.

After paying a hefty westerner tourist fee of 750 Nepali rupees ($7.50) to enter Durbar Square, we began exploring the plaza. The profusion of unusual old buildings was overwhelmingly fantastic and so engaging.

Kathmandu Durbar Square.

My Durbar Square entrance ticket included a visit to the Hanuman Dhoka (Old Royal Palace). I am so glad that I took advantage of that, and went to check it out. The Old Royal Palace’s oldest, eastern wings date from the mid-seventeenth centry, but my Rough Guide to Nepal says that there was probably a palace on this spot even before then. Although only a fraction of the five-acre palace is open to the public, the part that I was able to walk through was fantastic.

One of the courtyards, Mohan Chawk, also known as Mohanakalichowk was only opened to the public within the past six years. It was constructed by King Pratap Malla in 1648. I overheard a Nepali tour guide tell his western tour group that Nepal wants to make sure that the amazing stone and wood carvings in the courtyard remain intact, and in Nepal.

There was a sunken bath in the middle of the courtyard, which was used by the king. It is ornately decorated in gorgeous, ornately carved stone statues. The spout of the bath was a shining gold colored sculpture that was spilling water out of its spout while I was there. Beautiful. Photography was prohibited, unfortunately and for good measure there were signs hanging up saying visitors were being filmed.

I later learned through one of the Mohan Chawk’s three museums that this courtyard was “one of the richest courtyards because of all of the stone, metal, wooden art and paintings. This courtyard is meant to breathe the last for all Kings and his family members during the Malla period. The special portion made for that purpose is in the northern façade of the courtyard that lies behind the water fountain. The courtyard used to be vibrant with religion activities during the Malla period.”

After exploring the three courtyards that are open to the public, including the largest courtyard in the palace complex, the Nasal Chowk. I read in one of the museums that “this was the place for the Malla kings to receive their subjects during all the occasions. After the Gorkha conquest it became the palace of ascending the Throne and coronation as well.” The gorgeous throne is on display in a recessed area, behind glass, inside the courtyard.

I then headed towards the tall dark brown wood building in the far corner of the Nasal Chowk because there was a small sign on the wall next to the door, saying something about a nine-story tower. This was the Basantapur Tower, which is also called Nautele Durbar, or Nine-Storey Palace. Basantapur means “palace of spring” and refers to Kathmandu itself. It was a fairly small building with a fairly steep wooden staircase that takes you up nine floors to an enclosed viewing area on the roof. For all of the traffic this building must see daily, it feels like you are one of the first persons to get to explore this tower.

Basantapur Tower.

There are views, through lattice work and small windows, on many of the floors. My first sighting of one of Nepal’s famous snow covered peaks had an indescribable effect on me. By the time I got to the ninth story and could see out to Durbar Square below, beyond that to Kathmandu, and the mountains beyond, I think my huge smile was in danger of injuring my cheeks. Climbing that tower – and exploring Hanuman Dhoka – was the highlight of the day.

View from Basantapur Tower of the courtyard and mountains.

I stumbled upon Hanuman Dhoka’s three museums while descending the Basantapur Tower steps. The museums are crowded with black and white photographs of Nepali rulers and their families, stunningly gorgeous wedding outfits, military uniforms, certificates and gifts given to the royal family by many countries – including amazing musical instruments from Zambia and Myanmar. A king’s wedding tunic’s cuffs were fixed with beautifully handcrafted buttons that were painted with a lion’s face. A walk through the museums provided a crash course in Nepali royal history. I loved it.

I then wandered about Durbar Square, gazing in amazement at the unique buildings and people watching. The square was teeming with Nepalis and a handful of western tourists who were lounging about, enjoying the beautiful day.

Kathmandu Durbar Square.

I also saw a skinny dog with a missing hair and a skin condition, standing and then lying down in the middle of the square. I later tried but could not find help. Please keep this dog in your thoughts.

I made my way over to Freak Street, where the hippies gathered back in the day, and got a local referral to Kumari’s Restaurant where I enjoyed a lunch of vegetable chow mein. The later part of the meal was enjoyed in semi-darkness because the electricity went out, and Kathmandu’s “old city” streets are narrow and dark, with the sun crowded out by the multi-story buildings. It was all good. After paying to go online in an internet café (paying the “generator power” price because the power was still out and the computer was being powered by a costly generator), I went to see the real Kumari.

Kumari Chowk is a building in Durbar Square, located between Hanuman Dhoka and Freak Street. It is gilded cage of Kathmandu’s Raj Kumari, the pre-eminent living goddess in Kathmandu Valley. The Kumari is a prepubescent girl worshiped as a living incarnation of the goddess Taleju. The practice of identifying a girl and worshiping her as a living goddess until she reaches puberty probably goes back to the Middle Ages. My Rough Guide to Nepal says “Jaya Prakash, the last Malla king of Kathmandu, institutionalized the practice when he built the Kumari Chowk in 1757. According to legend, Jaya Prakash, a particularly paranoid and weak king, offended Taleju by lusting after her, and to atone for his sin she ordered him to select a virgin girl in whom the goddess could dwell.” Kumari is a Hindu goddess, but since she is chosen from the Buddhist Shakya clan of goldsmiths, and the girl is chosen through a selection process in which candidates are examined for 32 auspicious signs, the Kumari is said to be a good example of the adaptable nature of religion in Nepal.

Sadly, the girl chosen as the Kumari is only carried outside of the Kumari Chowk, and on her throne because her feet are never allowed to touch the ground, during a handful of festivals. Taleju’s spirit leaves the girl when she reaches puberty. The current Kumari is approximately nine years old. She can be seen for a few minutes daily, beginning at 4pm, if you stand in the interior courtyard of the Kumari Chowk at that time. She briefly appears in a window on the third story of the Kumari Chowk, and looks out at the courtyard. I got to see the spectacle myself, with about 50 other tourists. Cameras were not allowed but I saw her face on a postcard available for sale in a shop, yesterday. The girl was wearing heavy dark eye makeup, a fancy red top, and had her hair done. But the most striking thing was her expression of boredom.

Perhaps a little disillusioned at this point with my tourism activities, I made my way back to the monastery via another new form of public transit – the minivan converted into a bus. I exited at Bodha stupa, which I visited as often as possible to make prayers, watch the Tibetans circumambulating the stupa, and overall to just enjoy the great energy and environment of the stupa and the Boudha neighborhood. I walked back up the hill the monastery, making it just in time for the 6:45pm dinner.

After dinner, I joined the Silent Meditation Retreat crew in one of the smaller gompas, the Chenrizig Gompa, where the Meditation Retreat is taking place, to watch a movie. We watched a video recording of a teaching Lama Yeshe gave in 1980, somewhere in the west. I have read books by Lama Yeshe, but had never seen him speak on video. It was amazing to have him there, in front of us, giving advice to western students, in this video. Lama Yeshe died in 1984, so I am very grateful for all of the efforts past students made to archive his teachings. Finally getting to watch him speak, and hear his voice, and hear Ani Karin introduce the video by sharing her heartfelt thoughts about Lama Yeshe was the perfect way to wrap up my time at Kopan.

I started off yesterday, Friday December 19 with great focus, making last minute preparations for today’s departure and His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s week of teachings in south India. Sarah and I walked down the hill towards the stupa, so that I could introduce her to a street dog that lives about a 10 minute walk from the stupa. Sarah is going to volunteer at the Street Dog Care Saturday clinic at the stupa today, and is going to help get that dog to the clinic so it can receive care. It makes me so happy that Sarah is going to get to experience the clinic today, and that this poor pup is going to receive some medical attention and attention. Big thanks to Sarah and Street Dog Care.

Sarah with our friend.

After visiting with the dog, Sarah and I went to the western audience oriented Flavors Café, which sits on the edge of the stupa. We enjoyed brunch with Gilad, who just finished a week’s worth of exams at the white gompa, and Sumi, a young German woman that Gilad and I both met at the Root Institute in Bodhgaya, India earlier this year. Sumi arrived in Nepal yesterday, and reconnected with Gilad.

The four of us had a great time chatting about meditation courses in Lumbini, Nepal (birthplace of Buddha), Gilad’s solo expedition to Lower Mustang, a region of Nepal that borders Tibet, and other interesting places to visit in Nepal. I am happy for Sarah and Sumi, because they are staying on in Nepal for a while, and have the opportunity to continue exploring. (And, I should add that my $2.70 tofu scramble with toast and tea was delicious.)

Following brunch, Sumi and I stopped off at the Street Dog Care clinic so I could wrap some things up, and we then headed by bus to Swayambhu, also known as Swayambhunath, or “monkey temple”. I visited Swayambhu with the November course, on the afternoon that we went on pilgrimage. However we did not have time to walk up to the top of the hill during the pilgrimage, so did not get to explore the ancient stupa on top of the hill that dates to the fifth century.

My Rough Guide to Nepal says “there’s reason to believe the hill was used for animist rites even before Buddhism arrived in [Kathmandu] Valley 2,000 years ago. Tantric Buddhists consider it the chief ‘power point’ of the Kathmandu Valley; one chronicle states an act of worship here carries 13 billion times more merit than anywhere else.”

According to Buddhism, Swayambhu (“self-created”) formed when Manjusrhi, the bodhisattva of knowledge cut a gorge using his sword, to make a snake-infested lake recede, so humans could worship Swayambhu. The water receded, and a lotus settled on top of the hill. Manjusrhi established a shrine there, to it.

Sumi and I climbed the dramatic stairway – composed of 300 steep, centuries old steps – to reach the top of the hill and the stupa. Statues line the stairway, including a pair of 17^th century Buddha statues.

Climbing the steps to the top of the hill and the stupa.

 We were amazed at what we found, when we reached the top of the hill. The stupa and all of the statues around the stupa, as well as the panoramic view of Kathmandu Valley and the snow covered peaks beyond, were gorgeous.

Swayambhu stupa at the top of the hill.

We circumambulated the stupa, particularly admiring the images of Buddha that appear in cave like recesses within the stupa, set at regular intervals around the stupa’s base, at approximately eye level (for a taller person, not for me). We visited the Dongak Chhyoling Monastery’s temple next to the stupa, made offerings, and received cookies and tea from the monks, along with the Tibetans who were also inside of the temple, making offerings. The whole afternoon was fantastic.

Sumi and I in front of the stupa. I am wearing one of my two Invisible Children t-shirts.

After descending the steps, we completed our circumambulation of the base of the hill, spinning the prayer wheels that circle the base of the hill. I loved the varied mediums used to create the Buddhist art that was displayed behind on the walls behind the prayer wheels. Some of the artwork was etched stone, some were paintings, and some sculptures. Some of the prayer wheels were painted bright colors, too.

prayer wheels at the stupa.

We then took two buses back to the Bodha stupa where we had started our day’s adventure, with brunch at Flavor’s café. I said goodbye to Suri, and spent some time at the stupa, circumambulating and making prayers. The stupa was decorated with lights. I caught the end of sunset. It was the perfect way to spend my last night in Nepal.

I then returned to Kopan to pack for India … write this post, and select these photos.

I am traveling from Kathmandu to Bangalore with another American student from the November course, named Laura. My friend, Dee is picking us up at the airport, and the three of us will be traveling together from Bodhgaya to His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s teaching in Mundgod together, via a train that departs Bangalore at 6am on Sunday.

5635  - laura at stupa with me

I do not expect to be online again until I return to Bangalore sometime in early January. I will celebrate Christmas during His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s teachings, which begin on December 23, and will celebrate New Year’s Eve at the monastery after His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s teachings end on December 30. So happy holidays, all and Happy 2015.

East Africa: Who What Where Why?

This post is an attempt to summarize what I have begun to refer to as my "self-funded, self-directed fellowship" ... otherwise known as my "East Africa Summer" - May 14 through Aug 22, 2011.

It all started with my Lehigh Comparative Politics class. Our TA Brian had spent a semester abroad in Kenya, and used to meet with a small group of interested students once a week, to show us photographs and tell us stories about Kenya. Years later two close friends, Sharon and Eric left at about the same time for Tanzania, to volunteer for extended amounts of time. I got to experience Tanzania vicariously through them. Then in January 2010 I watched the first Invisible Children documentary about the Lord's Resistance Army and Joseph Kony. I was really touched by Jacob's story, one of the Ugandan boys in the film, and started following Invisible Children's work. Over the course of the rest of 2010, things just kept piling on top of each other. I read Jacqueline Novogratz's book The Blue Sweater, and began going to Acumen Fund events. I started meeting people from San Francisco's social entrepreneurship community, while also reading about other young social entrepreneurs. I wanted my own experience, and I wanted to meet the social entrepreneurs in East Africa and hear their stories in person. Fortunately things culminated in my life in such a way that I was able to just jump in with both feet, and I began to plan an East Africa Summer.

The next part wasn't quite as easy. Invisible Children doesn't have a volunteer program in their Gulu, Uganda office. I had missed the Kiva Fellowship Program application deadline. I hadn't been to East Africa before and didn't have any friends there; I needed to plan out where I would be volunteering, and my return date. I remembered that the Daraja Academy of Kenya had invited me to volunteer at their campus in Kenya, after the successful athletic shoe drive that Caitie and I had organized the previous summer. I applied to volunteer at Daraja for a month beginning on May 14, and was accepted. Next, I needed to propose a project to be completed during my month's stay on campus. I am very interested in access to higher education and love mentoring my Level Playing Field Summer Math & Science Honors Academy students, so I proposed serving as a guidance counselor on campus, for the month. Daraja had a better idea - they needed help researching post-graduation opportunities for the students. Daraja is a young school - the oldest students are in Form 3 (high school juniors). So I would get to do some planning work, which sounded exciting! While I was quitting my job and giving up my San Francisco apartment, I figured that I might as well stay in East Africa for the summer. I reached out to one of the Lost Boys of Sudan, who I had met several months prior to see if he had any suggestions. Garang said that he could use my help with a particular project in East Africa, and we decided that I would return to the USA on August 22. So I was all set! I gave notice, gave away a lot of my stuff, packed what was left, drove that stuff and my dog to my mom's in NY, and then I was off to the airport.

I lived on Daraja's campus outside of Nanyuki, near Mount Kenya from May 14 through June 14. I spent most of my time conducting online research, interviewing civil servants (Nanyuki is the Laikipia District seat so there is a government compound in town), helping students prepare for the Music Festival competition, attending Sunday student-run religious services, ran a Blue Sweater Book Club using twenty-five copies of the book that had been donated by the Acumen Fund, participating in the sports program, sitting in on the Women of Integrity Strength and Hope (WISH) classes, and in general trying to get to know the students and the Kenyan education system as well as possible.

I had trouble reaching Garang of New Scholars while I was at Daraja, due to poor telecommunications infrastructure in South Sudan. So at this point it was time to re-invent the summer plans! From Daraja I proceeded to Jinja, Uganda to visit an old friend, Meghan who was volunteering with Light Gives Heat for the summer. I spent about a week in Jinja learning about Meghan's work and meeting her fellow volunteers and the organization's staff, went to Sipi Falls, Bujagali Falls, went white water rafting on the Nile, and spent a lot of time meeting staff and guests at the hostel where I was staying, which is where I learned so much about Ugandan culture, the education system, credit, and development. From there I headed onto Kampala, the capital of Uganda where I was invited to stay with a fellow Pace Law Environmental Program alum, Elaine who was on a Fulbright and was living on the Makarere University Campus. Thanks to Elaine and a Kiva Fellow I met, Michele, got to know the expat community and life in Kampala. I also got to meet the founders of one of my favorite social ventures, AFRIpads! While in Kampala I also explored the city, and learned that Jacqueline Novogratz had tweeted about me! I left Kampala for a few days, to track chimps in Kibale National Park. While there I realized that the water filter that I brought with me from the USA was not working and began to drink bottled water, not realizing that my body was already fighting water-borne illnesses. I'd met two Australian travelers on my first day in Uganda, who had invited me to go up to Gulu, Uganda with them to visit the Invisible Children office. I'd also met Tom, a Ugandan who attends university in Michigan and is active with his campus' Invisible Children Club but was home for summer break, at a coffee shop in Jinja. Tom had introduced me to someone who works in the Invisible Children Gulu office. Visiting Gulu, meeting the Invisible Children staff, staying at one of the Invisible Children staff houses, going to Krochet Kids' compound ... I learned so much! I wrapped up my three and a half weeks in Uganda with one final Nile rafting trip, and goodbye-for-now's to my friends at the hostel, and Meghan. Leaving Uganda ... crossing the border back into Kenya ... that was hard. I loved Uganda.

I headed right back to Nairobi, to begin the third and final part of my East Africa Summer. I stayed at a hostel (Upper Hill Campsite) that had been recommended by my Australian friends, as well as a San Francisco Surfrider friend Jules, who had been through Nairobi recently. I met some people who had been traveling all over Africa, and had interesting stories to tell. Thanks to Michele's roommate in Kampala, I quickly found a room in a Western apartment to sublet, in the heart of Nairobi. I spent most of the next six weeks in Nairobi itself, doing work. Even though I had technically already finished my project for Daraja, I decided to continue my research, independently. I felt as if I was just beginning to scratch the surface of understanding, when I left Daraja. There was (and still is) so much to learn. But it wasn't all work - I took side trips to Maasai Mara National Park "on safari", up to Daraja's campus for a quick weekend to meet Daraja co-founder Jenni who had been out of the country while I was living at Daraja, and to Mombasa and Diani Beach on the Kenyan coast. I met some great fellow travelers white water rafting and on safari, who I later caught up with in Nairobi - Maria, Elien and Jan. I also did a few "day trips" within Nairobi's city limits - to the David Sheldrick Baby Elephant and Rhino Orphanage for the public daily milk feeding and then for the tuck-in, and to Nairobi National Park. I got connected to two Georgetown alums in Nairobi, Angela and Laney, and another American living in Nairobi, Karen. I had so much fun hanging out with them, getting advice about health care when my illnesses started keeping me down, and helping Angela out with the Amanai Art Club that she started for Nairobi street boys. I got to meet two of my friend Sharon's Kenyan friends, two Kiva Fellows in Nairobi, Richard and Nila, and my friend Sowmya's friends from her International Peace Masters Program, Wilson and Edith. I also got to meet Acumen Fund Nairobi office team member Suraj, who invited me to the launch of the Acumen East Africa Fellows Program where I got to meet Jacqueline Novogratz, and to TEDxKibera. Lehigh young alum Freedom warmly welcomed me to Kenya, and helped me plan and run a Lehigh Alumni Happy Hour in Nairobi. I mentioned that one of my plans for my summer was to meet inspiring social entrepreneurs, and to get to hear their stories. I got to meet Jessica Posner, who has been an inspiration to me from the time that I first learned of her work with Shining Hope for Communities. I also got to reconnect with Garang from New Scholars, while he was in Nairobi from South Sudan, and learned how I can help him with his work. I remain so passionate about the work that needs to be done - and opportunities - in South Sudan.

In addition to all of these activities, and learning Nairobi I continued on with the research that I began at Daraja. While touring social ventures in Uganda, I noticed that every venture had social workers on staff. I began to consider that bursaries (college scholarships) were not quite enough - the students need mentors, too. While in Uganda I got to meet with a US Embassy employee who helps Ugandan students access US universities, and then got to meet staff in Kenya who are doing a similar thing. I set up appointments and dropped in on nonprofits and corporate operations that empower Kenyan students via both bursaries and mentoring programs, including Akili Dada, KenSAP, and Equity Bank. (I was invited to attend the two-week long second annual Equity Bank Congress on Kenyatta University's campus, which was an amazing experience - got to meet inspiring students, and was able to collaborate with fantastic bank employees.) While conducting my research at Daraja I learned about some of Kenya's top students, and found that many attended two "national" boarding schools for girls, both located in Nairobi - Precious Blood Riruta and Kenya High School. I was invited to visit both campuses, and learned so much from meeting the Precious Blood students and Principal, and staff at Kenya High School. Meeting John, one of the current Acumen East Africa Fellows, turned some of my thoughts upside down. Wow - one of the best things from my summer was people's willingness to go out of their way to teach me, and help me with my work.

I left Nairobi on August 22, to fly back to the States feeling as if my work was just beginning. I'm still trying to draw conclusions from all that I saw, experienced, and learned this past summer. I remind myself of Jacqueline Novogratz's keynote at the East Africa Fellows launch event, when she reminded us that she has been doing this work for twenty-five years. I can't expect to have figured everything out in three and a half months. And yet ... the best thing is just to begin. Thanks to Sanergy, a eco-sanitation solution social venture in Nairobi, I found out about Kevin Starr's PopTech talk.



It's given me a lot to think about. I also learned a lot from a conversation that I had with Saul Garlick at SOCAP11 (Social Capital Markets Conference) last month. What do I care most about? What is the problem that I want to solve? Forget about the rest of it. Just start with this. I'm working on it, and will update here when I'm ready! But the main theme is empowering young East African women to create change in their communities through mentoring, education, travel and extended service learning.

Thanks to everyone who followed along with my adventures by reading my East Africa blog posts, and checking in with me. It meant a lot!

East Africa Day 59 (Mon July 11): Leaving Uganda

I was up late last night packing up my things for the last time, and saying goodbye to Charlie, Annette and Nikki. Nash let me switch dorm rooms, so that the four of us could stay together in our own room.

Nikki and Annette were up at 5am today, and were then picked up by a private hire (taxi) which took them back to Kampala. From Kampala, Nikki took the Post Bus back up to Gulu to finish up her Invisible Children internship, and Annette headed to the Entebbe, Uganda airport (the main airport in Uganda) to catch her flight back to Australia. Annette’s next semester begins in a matter of days. Charlie is staying on in Jinja for another two weeks, before returning to Australia to continue her studies. So we all parted ways early this AM. I hope that we’ll meet again – I really enjoyed traveling and hanging out with them.

I walked through Backpackers’ doors for the last time at 7:30am, and headed via my last Uganda boda ride to the Jinja Akamba bus station. I met a Catholic Nun there who was also waiting for the bus. The bus, which was supposed to pick us up at 8am, finally showed up a little after 9am. Africa time! I took the Akamba “Royal” bus this time, which was 15,000 UGX more expensive than the regular bus (approx $7), because I was hoping that it would be a shorter trip, thereby getting us into Nairobi before sundown. Ah, no such luck, though the bus was more comfortable than the “Executive” (regular) Akamba bus that I took to Uganda last month. We didn’t pull into Nairobi until 9pm.

Our first stop from Jinja to Nairobi was Busia, for the border crossing. Now, I had been under the impression that the Kenya visa that I received when I arrived in Nairobi on May 14 would not get me back into Kenya from Uganda – that I would need to purchase a new Kenya visa, for $25. Firstly, when I got to the Kenya Immigration Center window, the Kenya Visa Officer told me that I did not need to get a new Kenya Visa – that the visa that I received when I landed in Nairobi on May 14 was still good. However, that visa expires on Aug 14, and I don’t fly out until Aug 22. So I still need to get a new Kenya Visa at some point before Aug 14. Secondly, I learn that just like the Uganda National Park Admission Prices, the Kenya Visa prices went up on July 1 (beginning of the Uganda and Kenya fiscal years) from $25 for a Single Entry Visa, to $50.

So with a long line behind me, I was given the option of either walking across the border using my original Kenya Visa, and then renewing it in Nairobi at a later date for what I was told would be 2,000 KSH (approx $25), or paying $50 and getting it over with a the border by buying a new Kenya Visa. Very conscious off the lack of time between this moment and when my bus might depart for Nairobi, from the other side of the border fence possibly without me (I’ve heard this happens), I made a split second decision to get this whole thing over as fast as possible, and to just walk through with my initial Kenya Visa. So I handed over the paperwork that I’d completed on the bus, and got my passport stamped with the Kenya re-entry Visa stamp. I then had to show a man dressed in a doctor’s uniform my (yellow) Yellow Fever card. Hum I guess it’s a good thing that I had it:) I then walked across the border with heavy steps, focusing my gaze on the “Welcome to Kenya” sign, wishing I could take a photo but not wanting to stop and do it. Wishing I didn’t have to leave Uganda today, yet knowing that I can always come back – and definitely will. I then ran through the crowds of buses, matatus, and vendors selling snacks and water, in search of my Akamba bus. I found it, and jumped on board to find that ummm there were many East Africans who were still not yet back on the bus:)

Having that extra minute to think about the Visa situation, I decided that I’d made the wrong decision, and ran back to the Kenya Immigration Center to purchase my second Kenya Visa. The Immigration Officials remembered me from a few moments before (the benefit of being a young muzungu, I think) and kindly gave me a new Kenya Visa Stamp, without making me re-complete the paperwork. I then got back on the bus perspiring but with my second Kenya Visa Stamp!

The bus ride through Western Kenya is absolutely beautiful. The bus window was dirty, but I snapped a few photos of the scenery before we arrived at our next stop, the Western Kenyan city of Kisumu.




photo: roadside shops - likely selling an assortment of non-perishable goods, and perhaps perishable goods, too - often shops selling raw meat look like this. On this route from Uganda to Nairobi I was struck by the number of small buildings with signs painted on them that advertised the building as a butchery and a hotel.


photo: roadside fruit and vegetable stands, at an intersection with the main road.

The birthplace of President Obama’s father is north of Kisumu. In May I had considered getting off of the bus here in Kisumu on my way back into Kenya, to visit his father’s village, but at this point I was just ready to get back to Nairobi. Unfortunately I picked a slight head cold up somewhere, and wasn’t feeling great today. Itchy throat, and sniffling. So when we got to Kisumu for our 15 minute break, I just ran to the grocery store to purchase some juice and according-to-the-ingredients-printed-on-the-box vegan cookies (oh, the essentials.)

The bus conductor kindly came and told me when we were 30 minutes outside of Nairobi, at about 8:30pm. Since my cell phone now lives at the bottom of an eco-toilet in Kampala, and I was waiting to buy a Kenya phone when I got back to Nairobi, the Catholic Nun sitting in front of me let me use her phone to call the hostel where I am staying tonight, to ask them to send a private hire to pick me up at the Akamba Bus Station. The bus conductor, Catholic Nun, and the owner of the hostel were so helpful and nice – I have met such wonderful people!

When I got off of the bus on River Road, it didn’t appear nearly as sketchy as I’d anticipated it would be. There were a good number of people exiting Akamba buses, and waiting for rides. The private hire driver that the hostel had sent immediately found me – I only saw one other muzungu outside of the bus station, and it was a man, so I guess I was pretty easy to find! We threw my stuff into the trunk of his car (not within view, on the back seats!), I rolled up my window, and we were off.

The guard at the hostel compound’s gate let us onto the grounds, and the driver carried my pack inside for me. At this point I noticed that my legs (I’d been wearing shorts) had collected more than a handful of itchy, raised bug bites. I start hoping that it’s true that you cannot get malaria in Nairobi, and wondering if these are in fact spider bites. (I asked the hostel owner the next morning, and yes they are spider bites, I am allergic to them, and I finally had a reason to use the Benadryl that I’ve been schleping around with me:) I then spy a plump-looking dog asleep, curled up on the couch, and I decide that I’m in the right place:)

East Africa Day 53 (Tues July 5): MEND Tour & Krochet Kids

I’ve gotten probably too comfortable riding bodas. This AM I ate a peanut butter sandwich while sitting on the back of a boda, heading to Barclay’s in Gulu town:) It entertained Charlie, who was riding on a boda behind me. While traveling down Juba road towards Gulu town, we passed bright yellow UN World Food Program tents on the right-hand side of the road, inside a fenced in compound. Nikki later said that there used to be something like six when she first arrived, but only one or two are left. I hope that’s a good sign? When we got to Barclays, I found a sick and poorly looking small retriever-type dog in the yard. It finished off what was left of my peanut butter sandwich.

We then headed out of town to the Invisible Children MEND compound, where the women that IC pays to make the MEND bags work. Nikki said that the women used to work in a smaller building. This building has a lot of windows, and a concrete floor.


photo: the MEND building, taken from the front yard after entering through the compound gate.

When you first enter the building you find yourself in a large room containing rows of sewing machines. The MEND women were sitting at the black metal singer-style sewing machines that I’ve seen all over East Africa, smiling and working on their projects. The room was full of good energy.




Head to the back of the room and you’ll find a smaller room where women were doing another step in the process, on table tops. Then hang a right and you are in another small room where a Ugandan man was cutting the pieces for the bags from larger pieces of fabric. I watched him bang nail holes into certain parts of the drawn-on outline, and then use a machine to actually cut the fabric.



After passing through that room you'll find the room that holds all of the canvas and cotton fabrics that the women use to make the bags, the supervisor Richard's office, the social worker's office, a bathroom with a USA style toilet bowl and sink, and then at the end of the hallway is a sort of storage room, where finished bags and materials that are included inside the bags are stacked, and laid out on tables.





photo: Richard, me, and MEND's social worker - ah, I forgot her name!

Charlie, Annette and I each picked out a MEND bag to purchase.


photo: We all got the same style bag - not this one, but this was the other style available for purchase.

Each MEND bag contains a tag, sewn into the bag, with the name of the woman who made the bag printed on it. Each bag also comes with a postcard inside, that tells the story of the woman who made the bag, with a photo of her included. We got REALLY, really lucky and got to meet and take photos with the women who made our bags! My bag was made by Betty.




photo: Charlie and the woman who made her bag


photo: Annette and the woman who sewed the bag that she bought.


photo: Betty and I with the bag that she made, now mine!

After taking the MEND tour we went to the Krochet Kids compound, which isn't far from Nikki's house.


photo: upon entering the KK compound.

I first learned about Krochet Kids at San Francisco's Treasure Island Music Festival last fall. The organization had a booth set up. I was attracted to a t-shirt that had their label printed on it, which was hanging up in front of the booth. It says "LIVE" with the "I" being a map of Africa. I had forgotten that the organization works in Gulu, Uganda - with the corporate HQ being in Costa Mesa, CA. (San Diego area.) I was so excited to get to tour the KK compound!

When we walked through the gate - same style door as all of the compounds I've seen in Uganda - we found several buildings, rented by KK. But most striking were all of the women and their young children, sitting underneath a mango tree in the yard, and under a tin roof on a concrete floor, adjacent to one of the buildings, that KK recently constructed for the women.



Sean, who arrived in Gulu 1.5 months ago from CA I think, gave us a great tour.



We met Cody, who is interning with KK for 6 months. I think he arrived about a week ago. He's a college student at a school in So Cal - ahh, I forget which school. He was really, really nice and filled in some details for me.


photo: Cody, Sean and the ladies.

I think KK's women are broken up into groups. Each group is assigned a hat style (and maybe a color) for each week. The women then make their hats, and put them in their cubby with their respective name on it, in one of the buildings. We looked through the hats and tried some of them on.

Then the hats are checked for quality control four times - one step involves Cody trying on every single hat! The hats that will be sold then receive their labels. Each hat gets a KK label on the outside. The women sew a label with their name on it, inside of the hat. They sew the labels on themselves, using one of the two sewing machines in the same room as the cubbies.







The hats that have been sold to companies (like Nordstrom) are shipped from Kampala to the purchaser. The other hats are sent to the Costa Mesa office for final quality check.



We got to go through boxes of hats that didn't make it through quality control. While we were having fun with the hats, Cody told us about how he found out about KK. His friend's boyfriend has something to do with KK. He and Sean were so nice!

After the KK Tour, we met up with Hillary at the Lebanese restaurant in town, for lunch. We got to meet Lizzie, who is joining Hillary in the IC office for a month. Lizzie is from England, where she has been working on child soldier and LRA issues for a while - organizing like-minded groups together into a coalition, and trying to reach England's elected officials. She told me that IC had an office in London from early 2009 through the end of 2009, when it closed. She was volunteering with IC in London. When she decided to do some fieldwork, she was eventually connected to an organization in Uganda HEALS run by Jolly from IC, where Lizzie is working in the community. She's helping Hillary with metrics for a month where she's looking forward to learning about IC's programming in Gulu. She was really nice!

Following lunch we went to the Bus Park in town. Parts of the first IC film were shot at the Bus Park. The children used to sleep in the Bus Park, with armed guards posted at the entrances and exists, to protect the children from being abducted by the LRA. Nikki told us that the youth had to be where ever they were going by 3pm. It wasn't safe to be out after 3pm. THREE PM! Where were you at 3pm and thereafter today?

East Africa Day 52 (Mon July 4): Invisible Children Office Tour & Gulu, Uganda 4th of July Party!

Such an exciting day! We checked out of the hotel, dropped our bags off at Nikki’s house, and then headed over to the Invisible Children office on the other side of town. We found the IC compound at the end of a road, marked by a white sign.


photo: this was taken later. Nikki wasn't with us at the time that we first walked in ...

Entered the compound, walked by a covered area with bodas parked under it, and entered the building in front of us. We were met by two glass wall cases full of IC merch. I know where we are!



Nikki’s office that she shares with the Media Team was right in front of us, next to Reception.


photo: Nikki's office is at the end of the hall, here. Looking through the Reception room.

She took us into the Conference Room next to her office, for the intro. First thing I noticed was two round clocks on the wall – one showing San Diego time, the other showing Uganda time. Loved it!


photo: Charlie, Nikki

We sat down and talked about the IC East Africa programs – all of which are run by Ugandans.

Village Savings and Loan Groups: IC works with community leaders in communities around Gulu. The community leaders get a lock box, to be used to set up and run Village Savings and Loan Groups. The community leaders have been trained in business and literacy skills, which they then teach to their fellow community members. This program is called Functional Adult Literacy.



LSP – Scholarship Program: Secondary (high) school and university students from all over Uganda can apply for IC scholarships. The funding helps vulnerable children who demonstrate academic excellence continue their education. The students can apply for university in the USA. Later in the day I met one of the USA University IC Scholars, who told me that the students attend USA Universities that partner with IC. I was SO excited to meet her! Each IC Scholar is assigned to a mentor. The mentors visit the students at home and in school, using the bodas with IC logos that I saw in the central courtyard when I first entered the IC compound. I later got to meet the IC mechanics who takes care of the IC vehicles!



Schools For Schools: USA high school students fundraise and support Uganda secondary (high) schools. IC has two programs within Schools For Schools – Hardware and Software. Hardware are structural improvements. (I later met two of the IC Engineers who ensure that the construction projects are sound.) Software are teacher trainings, textbooks, etc. One example of Software is KOBS – Knowledge of Behavior and Self. Meetings are held where students are provided with guidance to help them determine what makes them happy and sad, how to handle conflict, etc so that the students can do better in school.

Teacher Exchange: USA teachers are in Gulu right now – for a total of six weeks - exchanging knowledge with their peers – Ugandan teachers. Later the Ugandan teachers will travel to the USA to continue the work.

MEND – IC employs Ugandan women who have been affected by the conflict to make a variety of bags which are then sold on the IC website and on the IC USA tours. The women have been working together for years and have developed close relationships. IC employs a counselor to provide the women with extra support. Later in the day today we learned that we will get to visit the MEND Center tomorrow! It’s usually closed to the public, but Nikki was able to get us in!

Congo – We also learned about IC’s work in Congo (DRC). The last IC tour, spring 2011 semester, was dedicated to raising funds for an IC Congo program – FM radio towers. IC constructed the towers so that communities can alert their neighbors when the LRA is on the move. Speaking of the tours, I learned that any IC Uganda employee can apply to represent the org on one of the USA tours. The Scholarship Students are also eligible to apply to represent the org on tour.

After learning about the programs, Nikki walked us through the three IC buildings on the IC campus –one for Administration, one for the Mentors, and one for Schools for Schools.

Our guide, Nikki ... love this photo!




photo: backside of the Admin building


photo: Mentors office - view from the courtyard that connects the 3 buildings.


photo: the courtyard, walking towards the backside of the Admin building.

In the Mentors building I got to meet Richard, who had been my contact at the IC Gulu office, via Tom who I’d met in Jinja. I also got to meet the two program administrators, Leo and Betty. Leo was a teacher in Uganda, then became an IC Mentor, was then hired to work for IC in Betty’s current position, and was then promoted to his current role. I love it!


photo: Betty, me, Leo in their office

Leo and Betty – and everyone else we met at the offices – were so nice and welcoming! I was amazed at how warmly we were received, given how busy everyone is. I was also amazed to learn that IC’s Gulu office has ninety employees, only three of which are from the USA. Mallory, who is from MD and works in the PR office, Nikki’s housemate Bergen who runs MEND, and a guy who wasn’t in town while I was there. In addition to that, the only other two Americans in the Gulu office are Nikki, who is an Intern, and Hillary, who is a Princeton in Africa Fellow. I don’t know what I was expecting, but it was really great to see that many of the Uganda programs are staffed and run by Ugandans.

In addition to visiting the Mentors building, we got to visit the Schools for Schools building (where I met two engineers) and some other staff members.


photo: Schools for Schools staff member at her desk!

We also walked through the Administration Building where I got to meet a woman who runs the Schools For Schools program – the one I was most familiar with before our tour, because that program was the beneficiary for the first IC Tour that I attended, on the University of San Francisco campus Fall 2010 semester.

We finished up our tour by snapping some photos in the reception lobby and outside of the building.


photo: right outside of the compound, as if you are approaching from the road.


photo: right inside of the compound doors, looking towards reception in the Admin building.


photo: our tour group:)Charlie, me, Nikki, Annette in the compound entrance area.

I couldn’t help but snap some photos as we walked down the road away from the IC compound, too – who knows when I’ll be this way again. But I feel SO LUCKY that I got to visit – who would’ve thought that I’d get to see it!!!


photo: walking away from the IC office, which is at the very end of a dead end road.

After the IC tour we took bodas out of town to the Gulu Recreation Center, the home of “the fake zoo”, a playground for adults, and a lake that is big enough to sail on in a canoe. Nikki had been here once before.


photo: I snapped this while sitting on the back of a boda. That's Charlie on the boda ahead of me, in the red shirt. On the way to the Gulu Recreation Center.

We spent a few hours hanging out. I got to swing on a swing set. It brought me back to my high school days, when I had an afterschool job working as an Assistant Teacher at the YMCA Afterschool Progam at the elementary school I had attended. After homework and snack, we used to take the elementary school students to the school gym or outside to the playground. I used to hang out with the little girls – one of whom later attended Frost Valley!



photo: Annette, Charlie, Nikki

In the evening we went over to a bar in Gulu for a 4th of July Party. The bar is owned by an American who hosted the party. He threw out USA trivia questions and showed Independence Day with Will Smith. We left before it was over and headed back to the house. The electricity went out so we pulled out the candles. I had such a nice time lounging on one of the landlord’s overstuffed couches in the living room, hanging out with Charlie, Annette, Nikki and Hillary. Annette brought her guitar to East Africa with her, and played us three original songs that she’d written. The first was about a girl with cerebral palsy that she’d met in South Africa. It’s not included in the song, but Annette told us that she’d fundraised to purchase a year’s worth of diapers for the eight year old girl, who was previously laying on concrete in her own waste all day. Annette doesn’t have any videos of her playing music online, or I’d link to it here:) Overall, a fantastic day!!