Friday, August 21, 2009

There's no place like home

This is my final blog post, I'm home now and to be honest, it was great at first to have running water and TV but that stuff gets old after a few days or so. I know I have to move on with life but I miss it in Lugazi. I miss my friends I made there and the, somewhat, worry free life. It was one of the best experiences of my life and I will cherish the time I had to work with the people there. I hope this experience is just the first of many in my life and I'm look forward to going back there one day. Thanks to all those that followed my blog and if I ever do one again, I'll try to be better about updating it. Webale Nyo!

P.S. nows your time to make any final comments, I would love to hear what you thought.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Too soon!!


Well today is my last day in Uganda and I have such a mixture of emotions. I'm sad to leave the friends I've made and say goodbye to the people I've met but I feel like I need to be going. 3 months is long time to be away from home and modern convenience so I'm excited to get back to all my friends. But I know I'll miss Lugazi once I get home. I guess that just means I'll have to come back soon.

Thursday, August 6, 2009

To So. Hem and Back Again


Whats "So. Hem" you ask, well it stand for Southern Hemisphere and that's where I went last week, Rwanda to be more precise. First of all I have to say that Rwanda is way different than Uganda, they have a better, more stable government which means the roads a paved and there isn't trash everywhere. Uganda is beautiful but I would never say clean so it was really nice to be in a place that seemed more developed. The streets are lined with trees and their transportation system is fare and efficient. I was able to go to the Kigali Memorial Center, the official genocide museum, and that was such a moving experience. I think everyone knows about the horrific genocide of the Tutsi people in 1994, where almost 1 million people were brutally killed, but what was the most interesting was the time and effort it took to carry out the genocide. It wasn't just a random attack it was very well thought out and planned. There were signs well before it ever happened and what is the most disturbing is all the way that it could have easily been stopped but it never did.
We also went to two churches where thousands of people were killed. They have all the clothes laid out across the pew as well as open tombs with coffins and bones. It was moving to think about how the people had gone there for refuge but were killed sometimes even by the people they thought were protecting them. In one of churches you can still see the dark stain where they would throw the infants and children against the wall to kill them. I don't know how to describe the emotion that was there and the amount of sadness that you feel. Although it was a tragic scene the people who lived though it a strong and they are moved on and looking forward to the future.
On a lighter note we convinced our bus driver to stop at the equator, so I have been in both hemispheres at the same time (beat that Mandy Moore).