February Recap 2: A trip to Lake Bunyonyi and some work

...continued from Feb Recap 1:

Because of my late return to Lyantonde and prior plans to meet a few friends for the weekend, I was only home for a day before leaving again for another weekend trip. So, the third weekend (February 20 – 23) was spent relaxing in Kabale and Lake Bunyonyi…only about 30 minutes from the Rwandan border. Kabale is a really nice town with a much cooler temperature than I am used to in Uganda. And Lake Bunyonyi definitely lived up to all I had heard…namely that it is one of the most gorgeous, if not most gorgeous, destinations in the country. I spent the weekend with 3 other Americans on a small island in the middle of the lake. We used dug-out canoes (from eucalyptus trees) to get to our “hotel”; about a 40 minute paddle of which we were meant to assist in the paddling and gladly did. My friend Kristen had booked us beds in one of the “Geo-domes” which is an open air hut on a platform overlooking the lake. So in the early mornings, as we slept under our mosquito nets, we could hear thousands of birds chirping and look out to see the hills on the other side of the lake and the world reflected on the water. It was so stunning and tranquil…such a perfect weekend getaway. And besides a quick swim in the water (much cooler than the warm Nile), we did little more than sit around chatting or reading and eating the delicious food.

And finally, to close out the month (February 27 – March 3), I returned to Kampala for a dance festival and a tutorial on website editing/design. The dance performance was really great, showcasing different types of modern dance and including a performance by four westerners and three Ugandans entitled, “Life After Obama”. Watching them dance and hearing one of them sing and then perform a few monologues was really inspiring. The way they expressed themselves and their feelings about this new chapter in American and World History was so creative…it really made me reflect, which is what art is all about. Speaking of Obama, although I was sad to miss the inauguration festivities in Washington, DC, it was really great to be a part of the world’s audience here in Uganda. I watched the Inauguration on a big screen at one of the “western” restaurants in Jinja, surrounded by Ugandans and some other westerners (although few Americans). The atmosphere was very positive; even people continents away from the states were excited and full of hope for what is to come in the future.

I mentioned a tutorial on website editing and design. So FINALLY, we are making some progress in updating the RACOBAO website. I arrived in Uganda for the first time a year ago today (March 3) with the determination to fix the organization’s website as requested…even though that meant teaching myself how to do so. However, due to a huge lack in communication from our Internet Service Provider, it took us 11 months just to get all of the information needed (just the username, password and IP address) and gain access to make any changes to the website. When we finally received the needed information last month, I tried to teach myself how to make the edits, but quickly realized it would be best to be taught by someone more versed website design and editing. Fortunately, luck stepped in and introduced me to Kristen’s brother, Ryan, while we were relaxing on that island in Lake Bunyonyi. Ryan happens to be an experienced website designer who is here in Uganda visiting his sister and hoping to volunteer some of his services. So I took it upon myself to call on those services and set up a 2 day tutorial session in Kampala. Having just returned from that session this evening, I am feeling quite hopeful and confident that the website will finally be updated! This is the perfect project for me to work on while we continue to wait for our proposal to be approved by one of our biggest donors so that we can move forward with our field projects. So, for the first time in a long time, I have some real work to keep me busy and an end goal to strive to reach before leaving next month.