At first, life in Uganda was a harsh reality for me to face.
It was not exactly what I was expecting which forced me to face many challenges
and hardships. Now, I feel as though I have become accustomed to all of the
changes and I have accepted this temporary way of life. Although it is hard, I
have learned and grown more these past 4 weeks than I have in my entire life. I
have met remarkable people, developed new habits, stepped outside my comfort
zone, eaten gross foods, learned new cultural things, discovered a parasite was
living in my stomach, become humbled more each day, and have learned new life
lessons that will continue with me forever.

Last week was a rough week here in Lugazi. Everyone was
feeling under the weather which made the week drag on for what seemed like
years. I was recognized as being one of the last three people not to fall ill
in our group of 25. I was proud of myself but was still encouraged to go to the
doctor to make sure all was going well.. JUST IN CASE. I went to the local
Muslim Health Center (noted to be the best in our village) and after a stool
sample, I sure enough reflected positive! I was stunned. I have had sharp pains
in my stomach for a couple weeks but assumed it was from my Malaria medicine
and not from a parasite! After the doctors appointment my head has had a
constant migraine. I am on medication and will be fine but let me tell you
this… being sick in a developing country is quite possibly the worst thing
ever! There were so many times all I want is my mom and air conditioning.

Today, we had the grand opening of Musana Jewelry! Yesterday
we worked hard scrubbing down the walls, hanging up our frames we made and
getting the store ready to look brand new. A difficulty we faced was the fact
that the walls here are literally made of sand so every nail we put in made the
wall crumble. We also didn’t have paint to cover up our mistakes but it added a
real great rustic look J

This morning we planned on having the grand opening at 10.
The company bringing the DJ, tents and chairs were supposed to come at 8 and
strolled in around 10. Lovely! Granted that we are in Uganda, they have no
sense of time whatsoever, so it began close to noon. The mayor, town council
members, and woman counselor of Lugazi came which was a huge honor. We sang the
Ugandan National Anthem, USA’s anthem and opening was underway. Melissa spoke
about the vision of Musana, the ladies behind it and me, Maren, Elise, Karli,
and Taylor were recognized for the store design. Then we performed our dance we
taught the ladies to none other than “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun”. The crowd
loved it and all 7 of the Musana ladies looked stunning and I am so happy their
jewelry is now officially for sale in their village.

One Musana lady that sticks out to me especially is Harriet.
Harriet’s husband died 10 years ago shortly after telling her that he had AIDS
and that she was now infected. She has two twin daughters in their early
twenties and one beautiful grand-baby. Elise, Karli and I took her to that
doctors last week in Jinja for an appointment for her AIDS and that was an
experience I will never forget. She usually doesn’t travel to her appointments
due to costs so I was thrilled I could pay her way and be there with her. I
could write a whole novel on my feelings towards that day but due to time constraints,
I will just say this… be fully grateful for American healthcare! It was a
complete zoo and the doctors could not have been ruder. We took Harriet to
lunch after her appointment and bought her the medications she couldn’t afford
at the pharmacy. I talked to Melissa (Musana director) and we have added the
shilling amount she needs to be able to travel to her appointments and
medication costs in the future in her paychecks. She will always have a special
place in my heart.

 harriett and i 🙂

This weekend is SAFARI TIME. I am stoked about it. Love and
miss you all! Xoxo

The other day we all had a conversation about what we were missing and what we were surprised we were doing okay without. After thinking about this for a while, I thought it would make for a neat blog post. Enjoy!

10 THINGS I HAVE LEARNED I CAN LIVE WITHOUT

• My phone. Being unreachable is actually kinda of fun. I feel so mysterious.
• A mirror. We all looked in a mirror in Kampala this weekend and started laughing because we were clueless at how horrible we all looked.
• A toilet. Using the latrine isn’t so bad! I am getting really strong thighs so that’s a plus, right?
• Make-up. I can rub my eyes with no black stuff appearing under my eyes! It’s awesome. Everyone should go for the natural look. It’s quite refreshing and can potentially be a money saver.
• An alarm clock. It’s actually kind of bad.. We get around 10 hours of sleep every night here. We go to bed at sun down and wake up to the roosters and sunlight. I have never had so much sleep in my whole life! It’s bomb.
• Television. I haven’t missed TV once. But that’s unfair because I never even watch TV at home. But still, who needs TV seriously?
• I can definitely live without being forced to take Malaria Pills. Well, I probably wouldn’t live if I didn’t. But I hate taking medications! Especially when they cramp my stomach all day long. And to make matter worse, I have to take them 4 weeks after I leave Africa to prevent getting Malaria!
• I can live without Matooke. It’s nasty. Fried bananas? Yeah, I would be fine never eating you again.
• “Mzungu” prices. I can live without being jipped just because I’m white. Safari for a white person: $325. Safari for a African: $30. I am considering painting myself black for a day.
• Being busy 24/7. It took me so long to accept that not being busy is OKAY. During the school year I have school, cougarettes, a social life, AND  job so I hardly ever time to just sit. If I watched a movie, I would have to be doing my nails or stretching or something so I wouldn’t go crazy. Here, I have learned to accept that it’s okay not to be busy and having something planned every second of every day. Don’t know if this is good or bad.

10 THINGS I HAVE LEARNED I CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT

• My family. Not being with them for Isabelle’s farewell was one of the hardest things ever.
• Hand Sanitizer. I have become a tad bit of a clean freak. I hand sanitize probably 20 times a day. Can’t be TOO safe, right?
• Sonic Diet Coke. Oh what I would do! THAT ICE. THOSE LIMES. AHHHH. (hint to my mother of what I want at the airport waiting 🙂
• Apples. I went from eating 2 apples a day with Peanut Butter to none at all. That’s like taking away drugs that weren’t even harmful to the patient! It’s straight up rude.
• Music. It’s amazing how music can connect so many people. We hear American music all the time here but I have also loved to learn their cultural music. Music also really helps when you can’t sleep because of the monsoon rainstorms… plug in your ipod… tune out the storm…and your set.
• CHOCOLATE/SWEETS. They don’t eat dessert here! What kind of sick society is this?!
• Dance! I am dying not being able to take like a technique class or a dance class. I dance with the little kids, but teaching them how to jerk isn’t really cuttin’ it for me.
• Pictures! When I am lonely, pictures comfort me more than anything else!
• The Church! Going to church here is the highlight of my week. I look so forward to it. And reading my scriptures really helps me fall asleep when I can’t. Just kidding,……………………..but kind of?
• Last but most definitely not least, variety in foods. Each restaurant here has the EXACT same menu! How they survive is a mystery to me. They only have matooke, potatoes, rice, beans, fish, cassava, peas, and meat. Yesterday when I asked Karli where she wanted to go to lunch she was like “ZUPAS” and we just started laughing. Oh what we would do for a variety of restaurants! Be grateful for that! It is also funny because when you go to order “beans and peas” , for example, they reply saying “Sorry, we are out of beans and peas.” You have to order by saying “What DO you have?!” Because there is a 9/10 chance they don’t have what you want to order.

Can’t live without these kids! My dad made me promise him I wouldn’t bring one home, but aren’t they so cute?! They had never seen a Mzungu before. Look at them stare! So hilarious.

Hope you all have a happy week! XOXO

Many people have been asking what I have been doing in Africa
so here is a post dedicated to informing you all on what I am doing exactly
here.

I am participating with a service group called HELP
International. They are currently serving in 7 different countries and I chose
to travel to Uganda! I live in a village called Nakazedde in Lugazi which is
about an hour outside the capital, Kampala. I didn’t quite know what to expect
coming here but I have always known that Africa was somewhere I would love to come
serve.

When I arrived here my eyes were opened QUICK to how different
Uganda truly is. The poverty is indescribable and the living is definitely not
easy. We all had a hard time digesting how hard life really is here but after
accepting this lifestyle, life in Uganda has become something I truly do love.
I have accepted the cold bucket showers, hole to go the restroom in (I am
getting really strong thighs if anyone cares), same staple foods for every
meal, monsoon rainstorms in the middle of the night, power out 5 times a week
and other complications, but this is an experience that is worth every bit of
that because I love every second of this.

Okay so to what I do all day….Different projects are
implemented in every country that participants work on all summer long. I am
focusing on two projects here that are keeping me busy.

The first project I am working on is with the ladies behind
Musana Jewelry. These ladies are the most hard working and fun ladies ever!
Melissa, a HELP volunteer from 2009, established a jewelry business when she
was here and it is still continuing today! Each Musana woman has either a
financial, family, or health struggle which makes each of them even more
special to work with. They asked Melissa if anyone could help them exercise for
20 minutes twice a week and Karli, Elise and I willingly accepted that offer.
After the first day they told us it was mandatory for us to come everyday
because they loved it so much. It has become something I truly look forward to
every morning. At the end of every practice we teach them a little bit of a
dance and they love it. Then they ask us questions about their bodies and how they
can take better care of them. It is so interesting to hear their questions
regarding their bodies and the many things they are misinformed of.

Along with Musana exercise classes, Maren, Elise, Taylor and
Karli and I have the project of helping make their space into an actual
storefront. Currently, they are working on the floor beading their necklaces in
a little shop where no one even knows they exist. This project is right up my
alley! We have searched Lugazi and have crafted many things to put into their
store. We are throwing them a grand opening party soon and I can’t wait to
attract customers that can buy their jewelry! It really is beautiful stuff so
everyone should CHECK IT OUT

http://www.musanajewelry.org/

Another project I am working on is with Karli which is more
related to my major which is Public Health. We have been doing visits with
Ashley Rogers who was a director with HELP in 2009 and is still living here
doing an internship with Global Health Core. We have gone with her on various
health outreaches where there is HIV/AIDS testing, lectures on protected sex
and de-worming of children. As mine and Karli’s project, we have the funds to
buy the de-worming pill (Abendezole) and distribute them to the children on
various health outreaches on our own. This pill kills worms in children’s
stomachs which helps them live much healthier lives. To ensure this project is
sustainable, we have a curriculum that we teach the mothers of the children
regarding sanitation and many other public health issues that integrate into
their health.

When I am not working on these projects, I am keeping busy
doing crafts for local schools, visiting with HIV/AIDS positive people at the
hospital and volunteering, interacting with the local community, and
participating in other volunteers projects. A project I love to participate in
is PROUD TO BE A GIRL. We go to schools and have assemblies with the girls
(ages 10 and up) about their menstrual cycles,  unprotected sex, sexually transmitted diseases, confidence
and any other questions these girls have.

Life in Uganda is amazing and I finally feel like I am
adjusting! After a little jog or creative work out in the morning, a cold
bucket shower, and a rolex (eggs and chapatti) for breakfast I am ready to work
hard! We have the weekends off, so tomorrow we are going into Kampala (the
capital) to stay at a hostel and explore the town. It’s so cheap here! Spend
the nights for 5 American Dollars? I’m in! I have already learned so much here
and can’t wait to share many more experiences with you all!  Miss you all and Sonic Diet Coke more
than you know… XOXO

Being in Uganda I have learned quickly that just about every
thing is different. From the food to the landscape to the government to the
people… almost nothing is the same. However, the feeling I receive walking into
church here is unbelievable. Growing up, my parents have always taken us to church
while we have been away on family vacations and I have learned through experience that the church is the
same everywhere you go…no matter what. It is a constant feeling that I always receive when I walk in the doors. I feel at home. I feel comfortable. There
is a special light around LDS members that no one else in the world has.  The members are
so friendly and truly do radiate happiness. It is comforting to know that I can
always feel the spirit no matter where I am and I LOVE that by living our gospel,
people truly are happier.

 cute Bella and i at church

 i love missionaries! (elder rennie on the right knows the gochnours)

great billboard outside the church

Thursday night we were all feeling a little homesick and were
talking about our time here and how much longer we still have. We were all
talking about the food we missed, the family we longed for and all the things
America had that Uganda didn’t. As I was laying in my bed that night I came
across this scripture in Alma… it read;

     “ And now behold, my beloved brethren, I say
unto you, do not suppose that this is all; for after ye have done all these
things, if ye turn away the needy, and the naked, and visit not the sick and
afflicted, and impart of your substance, if ye have, to those who stand in need
I say unto you, if ye do not any of these things, behold your prayer is vain,
and availeth you to nothing, and ye are as hypocrites who do deny the faith.”
Alma 34:28

After reading this scripture, my thoughts went wild thinking
of how selfish I was missing home and longing to be somewhere else. As a
faithful servant of my Heavenly Father I am fulfilling his commandment by
serving and visiting the sick and afflicted.  By serving the people here, I am serving
Him! I am so grateful this changed my outlook quick! I never want to avail to nothing and am so happy to be here trying to make a difference in this world.

The book I started to read today is called “A Return to Virtue”
by Elaine S. Dalton. After opening up my e-mail last week to find out I was
picked in the lottery to run the St. George Marathon in October, this book began to provide a whole new meaning to me!  Throughout this book, Sister Dalton shares her experiences
related to running her marathons and weaves them into analogies of virtue. Today
I loved this part that read;

 “Why a return to virtue? Why a marathon analogy?
Why now? Why me? Perhaps it is because I have learned that the marathon of life
will require all that we have. It will require quick training. It will require
that we help others along our path. It will require strength beyond our own,
and this will require purity and virtue.”

I am so excited to read this book and am intrigued because this meaning is hitting home for me right now! I loved thinking of the analogy of life and a marathon and how it is going to require all that we have. Like i said earlier, between the scripture verse in Alma and this chapter in her book, I am going to give all that I have to help others along my path and serve those who stand in need. I am grateful for this opportunity and life-changing experience. It is changing me everyday for the better and can’t wait to start seeing results in my projects!

Sorry this is a random post. It is basically my brain pouring out my thoughts and not much of an “update” of my weekend. In a short sum, it was amazing!  Bunjee jumping and rafting the Nile river calls for an adventurous, exhilarating, and amazing weekend!  We slept over Saturday night in a hostel off the Nile and this is a picture at sunset. Oh, and I ate pizza. And got to face time my family. Yep, GOOD WEEKEND! Love you all!!! XOXO