Rafting the nile!

Today we wnet on a rafting trip down the Nile river....up to a grade 5!!! and we only flipped on the last one (we kinda wanted to). We are going to watch the video of it tonight then buy it tomorrow along with a picture CD. SOOOO excited. Then off to Jinja to go shopping tomorrow afternoon and on to Entebbe in the evening. We fly out at 5:15 local time on Monday. In so many different ways I wish I could stay here for another month. But I have bills to pay and need to keep the way I pay them (my job). By tuesday night I will be in Detroit, MI. Such a long way for Uganda in miles, culture, pace, and a whole bunch of other ways. Can't wait to see everyone and show them all the awesome pictures we took. I have even been keeping a journal for people to read. This may be the last post I make before I am back in the States. Thanks for all the prayers!!

Last days in Africa

We went to a local villagers house last night for dinner again. His wife makes the best food! Then his sons made us all get up and tried to teach us how to dance. So I had a personal dance lesson from african locals!!! I did pretty good, I think. Carla, Lindsay and I (volunteers from Chicago) danced for quite a while. Nikia moved her feet for a couple minutes. We had sooooo much fun and Nikia has video to prove it, though I think it will prove that I am not a good dancer. Then we rode a boda home, Rashid stayed for dinner then took us home 2 at a time. It was dark with no artificial light. Lindsay and I sat out and watched the stars while waiting for everyone to get home.

Today, we went to the clinic for the last time, and again I was asked why I am not married. Then we got on a matatu and drove to Jinja (it took almost 4 hours). Now we are getting ready to go back to the dorm we are staying at because we are going rafting on the nile tomorrow. I hope I don't die or get eaten by a hippo!!!

Coffee tour

On sunday we went with a local villager to his house to watch how coffee is produced. We helped shell the beans (yes, I mean shell them). Then watched as he showed us how to roast them. The whole process took 30 minutes for one small bag. The good stuff is that we get to take the coffee we roasted home. And it cost me 5.50!!!!

My room smells soooooo good right now. Then we got rained on and had to stay at his house for a while til it stopped. We had Cheese its with us and shared them. They really liked it too. That was our sunday.

We also went down to the local village and asked for 4 corn on the cobs....it cost $2. Tjey gave us 19. Apparently we asked for 4 kg. oops. Still only two dollars.

The local District Hospital

Walking into the ward, it is a totally different experience. I followed around a med student and started IV's. When doing rounds with the dr, we were looking at a pt and I found out the diagnosis was TB......lucky me.

Hand washing does not exist. Gloves are in short supply. The patients buy their supplies, including meds and needles, and then we use them if they have them. If they can't afford it....they don't get it.

I also did a lot of HIV testing. That was an interesting process. There is a lot of counseling before and after. It was really nice.

Music Competition

We went to a music competition for elementary kids that started at 1200 noon and ended at 0530 am. I consider that way too long, but....

The school we went with is now going to Nationals!!!! I am so excited for them. We left at 8 am and got back at about 8 am the next day. These were 4-5th graders.

They competed on 9 different activites. The dance and folk songs were fantastic. We got to see 12 different schools. The culture is super cool to see. Lots of videos to show when I get home.