Sometimes... Your life is amazing.

So... today I saw Harry Potter 7.2. In uganda. Yeah. I know I'm cool.

We took a 2 hour bus to Kampala, the capitol of Uganda. Stopped at a couple big shopping malls (where between the two of them... I was only able to find one bottle of conditioner...) and ate at a little cafe. Grilled cheese and ham, but it was the nastiest thing I've ever eaten. Somethin about the cheese here... barf. Then we walked over to the craft market. COOLEST THING EVER. There's so many little trinkets, bracelets, bags, african masks, shirts, carvings, weavings, wooden bowls and practically every other kitchen utensil you could think of. All this random stuff... and everything costs like practically nothing. Because 2,000 shillings in Uganda = 1 US dollar. So approximate costs for things in Uganda...

-40 minute taxi ride: 75 cents

-2 hour taxi ride: $1.50

-16 oz water bottle: 80 cents

-chippatti (like a thick tortilla): 15 cents

-banana: 5 cents

The only things that cost more are like US made products, like nutella, peanut butter, shampoo, conditioner... I went to a store today, and they were selling Aussie shampoo for 60K. Which is like 30 bucks. They cost like 7 bucks at target, haha. I thought it was kinda funny.

Anyway, after the craft market, harry potter! The theatre sound like had a pulse, which sucked, but other than that, great movie!

On the bus ride home, I was talking to this guy who works at a hotel in Kampala, and we were just kind of chatting about differences between the US and Uganda. He said 30% of Ugandans are below the poverty line. As for Americans, he said, none of them are below the poverty line... they are just at the poverty line. I had never heard anyone say "at the poverty line" before. But in a way, I think it probably is kind of true. As I've learned with a lot of these projects, there are just some things that have no solution. Either that, or they do, but there are so many complex layers that its almost impossible. He also talked about how people in the US have white collar jobs... But here, people actually own land, farm for themselves, and sell what they don't need to eat. He noted that the country was finally understanding the importance of education (he was a college graduate), and that maybe someday, this might change things. He talked about how one time he went to South Africa, and he could hardly believe that it was actually apart of Africa... because they had everything. Nothing like Uganda. I said to him, "Well, they can't have always been like that? So things can change?" Hoping that this might give him hope in his own country. He replied with, "Yes, but they were also under complete control by whites until 1994." Obviously haven't studied a ton on South Africa. So how does a country change? Is there a good example of a complete change in a country's poverty levels without the control of another country? How does this happen? As I have been working on this project, the more I have come to realize how pointless it is to buy starving people food, or give them clothes. What happens when they're done eating the food? What happens when their clothes are worn? They are right back where they started. That's why its so important to provide the people with skills to be able to get these things for themselves. Our projects have mainly been teaching, building classrooms, setting up programs, and other things that will last. Invisible children is doing a program right now where you can pay for a year of student's tuition. Which is really great; this is something that will actually stay with them for the rest of their lives. Right now we're working on a fundraiser for a school that we recently built a classroom for. The woman who started this school never turns children away, has 8 orphans that live with her, her four children, and her husband, a local pastor, and tries to feed all the ones who don't have enough food! This woman is incredible. And what we're trying to do for her now, is provide her with money to buy land so that they can grow food to feed all the children that are hungry at the school. Here's the link: http://fundly.com/helpinternationalchildfeedingprogram

Anyway, life is good. be happy, because there's so much to be grateful for! (Like cold water)...(and american conditioner) (oh, and normal tasting cheese) (showers every day?) (and underwear that you dont have to hang outside and let flies lay eggs in them...........) ttfn