Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Wednesday, June 17, 2009
HAPPY BIRTHDAY SCOTT!

Roosters crowing a 5 a.m., trucks on the highway and then the military marching by at 6:10 chanting a march song – time to rise and meet another day in this country of contrasts. Another cold buffet breakfast with the ability to place an order for eggs is served in the main building – a good time for our team to gather and share their evening and thoughts of the day before. We load Frank’s photos onto my MacBook and watch a slide show that is stunning. Frank’s talents are immediately apparent, he catches through pictures what are imaginations are only dreaming of. The quality of pictures, the color, the composition all stands these photos miles apart from our shots. What a gift it will be to be able to share this experience through these photographs!

Allan, Peter and Anthony arrive in the MTI vehicles. Allan confers with a group of men who work for the wireless company. I have been able to connect to the Internet only one time and they spend some time trying to figure out why to no avail. Off we go, my laptop in hand to an orientation at the MTI headquarters. So much for posting to our Blog daily! I write in Word application and I will cut and paste into the Blog once we find a way to connect!

Felix Omodi! This larger than life man who heads MTI Uganda greets us at the front of the headquarters building– his smile is infectious, his hugs show that he is genuinely happy to see us. He greets Joe and Megan in a way that shows us how important these two are to MTI Uganda. The staff comes out to meet us and we tour the building. Small offices surround a courtyard with a 6” drainage ditch around the perimeter to drain the rainwater. Everyone is gracious and obviously happy to see us. This office is impressively organized and obviously run with precision. The records are clearly kept meticulously so that Joe can follow what is going on from his office in Portland. There are Dell computers and flat screen monitors, newer HP printers, rows of labeled notebooks. A top-notch operation!


Felix leads us to the newly furbished conference room that he is obviously very proud of and begins an orientation program. The slide show and the talk by both Felix and David are eye opening. There are slides of men, women and children who have been slaughtered and are lying together – innocent victims of the Joseph Kony’s reign of terror. Northern Ugandan was torn apart, families destroyed, farms abandoned, villages deserted. The diseases that were increased by the devastation are just one of the areas that this amazing organization are dealing with daily. The tasks are daunting and the hope inspiring. They methodically approach each goal with thought, the Department of Health and the government, the Church, all are players in helping Uganda to restore and transform. It is overwhelming to hear about yet these amazing people are not overwhelmed. Their personal stories are even hard to hear but they have risen out of their own experiences and now use their strength and determination to help bring change to their beloved Uganda. Their visions are grand and to be admired. We can help their dreams become realities through our support. The money we raise at our auction will SAVE LIVES – to think that $30 we raise will translate to over $3500. In support aid seems suddenly so easy compared to the daily tasks of this MTI force. They need our help and we can do it – together!

Now to the Ogur Youth center - a project funded through the generosity of the Grieger Family of Portland, Oregon. “The goal of this project is to decrease HIV infections among youth and increase access to treatment services through provision of youth friendly services and behavior change communication strategies in Erute North HSD, Lira district by 2010.” HIV statistics show a raise in the numbers of people infected. Counseling, testing and treatment are available at this first of its kind center in the Lango (district) sub-region. The drive brings us through small villages with groups gathered together, sitting on the ground, men (few women) riding past on bicycles, women carrying huge water canteens balanced on their heads or bundles of farm produce. That is if they don’t have a baby tied to their backs and we notice that most do have babies. Birth control is one of the project objectives. Then we are here – we can see a group of single story buildings down a long drive. The first are a care center and a maternity ward – they are not part of MTI but are the same style of building so I am sure that many associate the three as being together. Again, the staff comes out to greet us warmly, hands are shaken and we are directed to sit in a circle of chairs set up in a field near the center. George, the center’s director passes out an orientation sheet and then explains the project objectives and the services offered. We try to listen intently but are distracted by the trail of people walking down the path to the water pump nearby. The women and children carry water jugs – most balanced on their heads. Debra quietly leaves the circle to take a movie of the scene around the public water pump. The adults are all smiles, the children not so sure… soon Debra has the group gathered around her so they can see movies of themselves! Imagine if you had probably never seen your own image clearly and now you see yourself in a movie! A young mother fills a round rub with water and brings her nude little boy over and scrubs him with a bar of soap in spite of his vocal protests. Children giggle and prod each other exclaiming over having seen themselves in a movie. Again, we can hardly wait to share this experience with the help of our cameras. Frank is clicking constantly!

George, the Centre director urges us to follow him into the centre for the next part of his program. He leads us through a waiting room of pregnant Mothers – one small baby spots us an immediately bursts into tears. Guess this group of white people must be scary to her. The lab is basic but the technician is knowledgeable and dedicated – she shows us the procedures available and shares that they need some more equipment in order to be able to do more intensive testing. Next we visit the staff offices (youth counselor, program director, health director) and then meet the pharmacy staff person. She has already dispensed 24 prescriptions and it is just 2 in the afternoon. Even the Tylenol requires a prescription before they are filled. George then leads a Reverend and us to a large room with about 100 men seated at the podium. This is a group of local pastors who have previously been trained in how to educate their youth in HIV/AIDS prevention. We are introduced and Joe thanks the Pastors for their support and tells them how important they are in helping to decrease the incidence of infection. A round of appreciative applause and we are directed out to a group of children seated in front of a semi-circle of white plastic yard chairs. The staff person is handing our biscuits but we don’t see smiles greeting us from this group of 16. In fact, I immediately spot a tear running down they cheek of one of the girls who appears to be about 8 (the same age as one of Scott’s and my grand daughters). We are told that all of these children have AIDS, most were born with this disease but a few contracted it because of their own uneducated life choices. A little girl who was not yet walking was seated at the feet of an older girl; we were told she was found abandoned living in a chicken coop. Her family didn’t want her – they might contract AIDS if they were around her. A generous hearted villager has taken her in but with no money for treatment all of these children will soon die. They know this; they come together to share their realities, to be comforted by each other and by the staff. They are encouraged to go to school, to join in the activities of the center and then to meet to discuss their feelings with a center counselor. Two of the youth stood to share their stories. First a young girl about 12 began to speak in her native Longay tribal language – we couldn’t understand her but when she began to cry we felt her pain. I looked down the row and our entire team had tears streaming down their faces. George translated her story – her parents were both dead and she lived with a stepmother who treated her like a leper. The children were told to stay away from her for hear of being infected themselves. She couldn’t go to school because she didn’t have a uniform. She didn’t feel hugs or love except when she came to the center. Next was a young very stoic young man about 16 years old. He fell in love while in the sixth grade and his girl friend had AIDS. These children live in such tight quarters with their entire family in one small hut that they often see their parents having relations. There is no sex education from school or parents so they thinks this is part of how everyone is – when they are old enough to feel the desire they act on those biological feeling never knowing that this could be their death sentence. A young lady is seated on a gym mat on the ground – apparently unable to stand because she is so thin and ill. Her story is that she has AIDS, her husband was killed; she has two children who are eight and two years old. The children have been tested and by grace of God are not HIV positive. She will soon be gone and we all wonder what will become of her children. Counselors talk with these children about dying, about going to heaven, about enjoying their days on earth! The emotion is enormous – our entire group is stunned to silence but we stand immediately and approach each child with hugs and love.

Next we are to drive to the massacre site at Barlonyo. We steel ourselves for what we know lies down this beautiful country road lined with fields of vegetables and children playing in the dust. The marble memorial is ahead – there are semi-circles of cement about 5 feet deep extending about 200’ out on each side of the memorial. These are mass graves to bury the 350 or more villagers who were massacred right in their own safe village. The horde of children that desended on us were a saving distraction. Megan soon had a group of at least 20 surrounding her on top of the cement mass grave walk – she did the traditional handshake and greeted them in Luo. Peter translated that they were talking about her waist long blonde hair so she bent down and invited them to touch it – one said, “it is like the tail of our cow”. Poor Megan may never hear that end of that description. Felix joined the group and led them in song – it was so beautiful as these innocent faces sang out their own traditional song. Another contrast in Uganda – we stand at the sight of unfathomable tragedy yet are raised up by the light in the eyes of the children. Again, we know we have to help to save them. They need us and we can make a difference – each of know we have been given a mission.

The team is waiting to leave for Ogur so I need to end so we can start Thursday! A stop at the headquarters building to see if we can get my computer on to the internet and we head back to our hotel. Dinner was by candle light (power went out) and iPod tunes in the conference room - Scott’s surprise birthday cake complete with candles and song! A beautiful end to a day that challenged our hearts and spirits!