Saturday, January 17th and 18th, my husband and I took a brief but great weekend excursion to Hua Hin, Thailand. This small resort town is on the beach, close to four hours by 3rd class train, south of Bangkok. After a long, somewhat painful ride on the 3rd class train, we arrived into town. We walked from the Hua Hin train station through the middle of town and found ourselves a nice hotel on the beach to stay at over night. The website can be viewed at: http://www.thailandhotels24.com/huahin/laksasubha.htm#hotel

We spent the evening touring the night markets, and ate a lovely dinner outside on the street. The next morning we woke up and headed to the beach where we ate breakfast, had a nice long and lovely stroll along the beach after eating, returned back to our hotel and napped, showered and then headed to find a rental car. We obtained a car and headed out of town toward the Pulau Waterfalls. This was a beautiful drive!

Along the way we spotted a beautiful Waat visible from a bridge. We stopped to take some photos of the Waat. As we were taking photos, we noticed some young boys in the river, spear fishing. I enjoyed the opportunity to lay on the road and lean my head out of the bridge to take many photos of these cute kids!







Following are wild monkeys that we spotted on the side of the road as we drove to the Pulau Waterfalls outside of Hua Hin.







After visiting the beautiful waterfalls we headed back to Hua Hin to return the rental car and made our way back to Bangkok. It was a nice, refreshing trip over that weekend.

Hua Hin beach



Boat on the beach



Hua Hin Train Station



Looking up the falls...






This last weekend, January 24th and 25th, we spent in Bangkok. My husband played golf all of Saturday with some friends of his and I spent time exploring throughout China Town. Sunday we spent time enjoying the company of one another at home and then went to church in the afternoon. We have a favorite place to eat that we usually head to immediately after church - a little ritual of ours. We went there, ate a delicious dinner and headed back home. Another lovely, low-key weekend.

This weekend we are headed to the river Kwai, in Kanchanaburi, Thailand. We will explore the the Death Railway, hit the JEATH War Museum, visit the war cemetery, and possibly Hellfire pass on Saturday. On Sunday we will sleep at a National Park and climb up another famous waterfall known to be one of the most beautiful waterfalls in all of Thailand, the Erawan Falls. I will look forwards to updating you on the events of this upcoming weekend!

Sitting here, looking out the window of this Starbucks coffee shop window, I see blue, hot pink, yellow, lime green, red and bright orange taxi cabs, all waiting to inch their way up in the traffic line. I see a man in a striped plaid shirt standing somewhat oblivious to all the events going on around him as he rubs the sleepiness out of his eyes with a Monday morning Bangkok Post paper in hand as he waits to order breakfast from one of the many street side vendors that cook anything from fried chicken gizzards to squid on a stick or to drink, a sweetened condensed milk and coffee concoction. A woman with an armful of colorful flowers purchased from the flower vendor across the street comes walking into the coffee shop as she hurriedly purchases her coffee and is on her way out, off to a busy day in just a blink of an eye. The fish distributor sells beta fish, gold fish, tiny neon blue fish, red fish, blue fish, one fish, one hundred fish or more (!) in plastic bags stapled to a ten foot long pole that he carries throughout the streets... These men and woman, as well as American diplomats, Indian business men, Australian tourists, and Burmese beggars all pass me by as I observe the morning bustle of this busy street of Sukhumvit, here in big city of Bangkok.

These last couple of weeks has not been my traditional ‘international’ style of travel. Though - nothing has been ‘traditional’ in my life in the last many months. Wait, in reality, nothing has been ‘traditional’ in the last 28 years of my life…

Maybe nothing except my morning cup of coffee…

Tomorrow marks the first month anniversary of being married to my precious husband. Two weeks ago tomorrow marks the day my husband and I put the very last of everything we own into storage for at minimum, the next six months. Tomorrow, it will be two weeks ago that I experienced the thrill of knowing that in less then 18 hours I would feel the sensation on my own skin of at least an over 100 degree weather temperature shift… going from the frigid frozen -12 degree F weather of Anchorage, Alaska to the 80 – 90 degree F temperatures of SE Asia. Oh yes, the thought alone was invigorating. But to be here now, in Thailand, sitting in my capri work-out pants and tank top, hair pulled back in a pony-tail with sunglasses resting on my head as I finish my morning coffee and prepare to go for a run through the city park – through the warm early morning 77 degree F air, I am more then invigorated, I am renewed. Rebekah plus warmth equal aliveness, rejuvenation, an inspired soul… It is really lovely to have metamorphed as a result of thawing out since being here.

We arrived into SE Asia via Anchorage to Taiwan and Taiwan to Bangkok. The flight was uneventful overall, despite being four hours late out of Anchorage to Taiwan. This did not affect us as we had a long layover in Taiwan before proceeding to Bangkok. We arrived in Taiwan to eat a bowl of soup before proceeding on through immigration in order to get out and about and experience the culture of Taiwan during our 7-hour layover. After receiving stamps on our passport we grabbed a local city bus and toured throughout the city of Taipei. This was a quick and general re-introduction to Asian life.
We arrived back to the airport in time to catch our flight to Bangkok. Things went smoothly upon our arrival as we got a cab from the airport, checked into our hotel, freshened up a bit and headed out to walk the streets of Sukhumvit – downtown area of Bangkok. We spent a few hours walking, embracing the scents, sights, sounds…

Our first few days in Bangkok were spent exploring and acclimating to the time, weather, each other etc. Monday morning, was my husbands first day of work and beginning Tuesday night, I was on my own for four days, as he has to be away for work related events.

As I mentioned above, this is a very unique trip already for me, as rarely have I ever traveled internationally and spent time in or have I lived in the large metropolitan city, living with modern conveniences including running water, air conditioning, heck, even internet in my very own home! A more typical travel scene for me consists of travel to under-developed, war –torn, and third world countries, living in IDP camps, huts, low budget hotels or orphanages; this is indeed a role shift. As I am used to working in rehabilitation centers, with the homeless and orphans or working on behalf of an ngo writing up a grant etc. this trip in all in all very different. I am here to support my husband, experience Thai life, explore as time allows/I desire and eventually begin volunteering with an ngo part-time. In two weeks I begin going back to school for a masters degree in Professional Counseling/Psychology through a well known/respected University via distance (online) learning. This works well for me as I will do my school work throughout the day while my husband is at work, but still allows me time to volunteer part-time, embrace Thailand and travel on the weekends.

I am really excited about starting school again, especially to be moving forward in the direction I have always imagined that I would – in the area of counseling/psychology/spiritual renewal. It has been nice not doing school work since August 2008 when I graduated from Alaska Pacific University, but I am ready to proceed on in my education now.

On Saturday, we went to a weekend market where nearly anything you could imagine from small exotic turtles to fancy wooden hand carved photo frames to petunia plants were available to buy. Following the market we headed to another market called the Kings Market where primarily fruit and seafood is sold. Here you are offered samples of nearly anything you want, and have the chance to buy all of it! We bought some extra large shrimps and ate them all right on the spot. I had quite an appetite at this point in the day and had no problem devouring the shrimp, fresh pineapple, and freshly squeezed carrot/passionfruit juice dinner with dried papaya for desert.





Following this meal we took the underground railway to the train station where we obtained a schedule for the north, south and east bound trains as we are planning our upcoming weekends. So far they include the islands in Thailand to the south of us with a hop and skip over to Cambodia, a trip to Chang Mai to visit with an old time college friend from nearly 10 years ago who lives there with her husband and son. We hope to cross the border into Laos from here. Nothing is concrete, but we have a lot of options and ideas. We are certainly desiring of taking up on every opportunity.

Sunday was spent resting in the morning, enjoying a yummy breakfast together and heading off for church. We enjoyed our time at church, re-connecting with the friends we met the week before as well as meeting new friends this week. As this is an international church service, we have been meeting folks from all around the world, including Asia, Europe, Africa and South America as well as America.

We have established a tradition of eating out at our favored restaurant where we get the best most scrumptious Som Tam which is Thai Green Papaya Salad. This is our favorite traditional Thai dish… ok, we LOVE them all! (As long as they are lenient with the hot chili’s)! In addition to the Som Tam we enjoy eating the fried Asparagus with garlic and Shrimp and the Green Chicken Curry with Rice.



Green Papaya Salad, Fried Asparagus with Garlic and Shrimp, Green Chicken Curry



Not much left... !

IDP camp in Northern Uganda

updates!

Friday September 12, 2008

There are days that writing comes easy, natural and time is readily available for elaborating on the events of the day etc. Then there are weeks when if time is actually available to write out my thoughts and feelings etc., it is filled with bouts of exhaustion causing dry eyes and deep sleepiness or simply put, the attack of the killer malaria infested mosquito’s is so great that writing away on my computer would be, for lack of better terms – a sure death warrant. Most times, I allow both of those, exhaustion, dry eyes and sleepiness as well as the attack of the killer mosquito’s to hinder my writing process, however this early 4:17 Saturday morning, I do not have many other options unless I relish in my own misery in bed with the deep and inevitable irritation of scratching and slapping away those pesty little insects with thickened forewings and mouthparts adapted for piercing and sucking the blood of nonetheless, Rebekah herself. Tonight, I am like a honeysuckle for the honeybees – the mosquito’s have attacked me so intensely that I feel that I have been traumatized and no longer capable of shutting my eyes while laying prone in bed this morning. The absolutely worst part of this experience is not even the pain inflicted through the puncturing of the stinger through my skin and the itchy red welts that result, but the awful, no – horrifying ear -piercing buzz of the mosquito’s as they buzz their way directly past your ear in a parade like fashion. This sounds similar to that of military planes whizzing overhead, but with a high screech resembling nails on a chalkboard and rockets being launched… I decided after the last four and half hours of this fitful existence – it was time to get up.

So here I write, with the fan on high aimed directly at me – in the event that any mosquito’s in this room has any unsuitable ideas that are not in accordance with my sense of fairness or justice.

I am in Kampala, Uganda this morning. I arrived here a couple of days ago. Richard – the logistics director for ChildVoice International, and Natalie, an Intern with ChildVoice International and myself all drove on the PostBus from Gulu to Kampala last Thursday. Richard came down for his every two-week visit to see his wife and three children for the weekend, and Natalie came down to visit her good friends, Ernest, Dale and Simon-Peter. Ernest had 29th birthday on Thursday night, and this was a major reason for her visit. I received the opportunity to accompany her to Ernest’s birthday party – this was a very nice, low-key evening. I came to Kampala as I had a follow up meeting with the Rotary club of Kampala, with Simon once again, as well as three other special projects committee members of the Korro – Kampala Rotary Club. This was my second meeting with this club and it went well, I will explain in more details later.

Dale and Ernest are vibrant young gentlemen who own a driving/tour company called ‘Be a Blessing’ and act as the drivers for the ChildVoice teams when they need to hire vans for pick up/drop off from airport as well as when they need hired drivers throughout their stay wherever they are in Uganda. Natalie met these guys as she has been on three trips to Uganda now and has had them as her driver each trip. These two guys have me laughing hysterically each time that I am with them – they are very generous, self-less and compassionate servants who are beautiful examples of the love of Jesus to anyone who crosses their paths. Dale and Ernest made reservations for Natalie and I at the Baptist Mission. This is a nice gated compound containing offices of the Baptist Mission as well as a couple of guest-houses for those associated with this Baptist Mission or other missionaries throughout the country. The birthday party for Dale was held as a missionary (through the Baptist Mission) couple’s house who have two incredibly intelligent young children (ages 7 and 9). Ironically their youngest daughter (7 year old) is also very hard of hearing and wears a hearing aid in one ear and is deaf in the other. We connected well as she noticed the aid I was wearing. I very much enjoyed the connections I made that Thursday evening and continue to experience as I meet many other new friends throughout my stay in Kampala.

Since I wrote last on this blog, I managed to finish up with the symptoms of malaria, get back to work in the office on the grant that Natalie and I have been working together to complete for USAID, move out to the Lukodi Centre (the ChildVoice long-term rehabilitation centre where the women and their children live) and move into a hut and sleep in a hammock.

This first night in the hut and hammock proved quite unsuccessful… Between the crashing of the deeply angry thunder, the lightening bolts flashing and rain drip…drip…dripping onto my head from the leaking thatched roof of my hut and the door continuously swaying open from the wild winds, the hole in my hammock’s mosquito net that I accidentally caused by over stretching my legs, the worm I felt crawling across my belly followed by the black and green caterpillar that I found crawling towards me on the blanket I was sleeping under as I shined my headlamp onto the worm… yes, these and a few other odd evening events kept me alert and without sleep throughout my first evening in this hut home of mine. From that night on, I decided to sleep on the cement floor of the other two interns, Natalie and Kristin’s hut while keeping my possessions in my hut and using this as my base.

Living out in Lukodi with the residents of the ChildVoice Rehabilitation Center – 29 girls and their 36 children was a literal dream come true. Having the chance to see in person the work of the previous couple of years and the fruit that has resulted; the opportunity for formerly abducted child mothers and their children and other vulnerable girls/children have the opportunity to heal from years of trauma in a secure, loving, safe and advanced environment has been my prayer for the last 14 months previous to my return back to Africa. I really truly knew the specifics of what this Center for the healing of traumatized women and children would like, until I arrived back here to see it with my own eyes.

Brittany and I conducted 300 + interviews last year, April through June of 2007, with formerly abducted child mothers and their children. Of those 300 women and children, Brittany and I narrowed the applicant pool down to the 45 most vulnerable women and children before leaving back to America. Of these, twenty-five of the thirty women who are currently in the CVI program are women that we interviewed.

Brittany and I conducted over 300 quantitative interviews in five IDP camps in Gulu District over the summer of 2007. These interviews indicated significant rates of extreme poverty, various types of abuse, child neglect, family conflicts and rejection, and other needs. This interview contained a trauma assessment based on the DSM-IV definition of PTSD and depression. This questionnaire was followed up after we left the country, in the fall of 2007 with home visits to ensure accuracy in self-reports. This also built the foundation for strong relationships between ChildVoice staff and the family and larger community.

Through these interviews and home visits, ChildVoice was able to specifically identify and admit extremely vulnerable individuals, specifically those with physical injuries, child and/or mother malnutrition, illiteracy, high trauma reports, extreme poverty and/or family estrangement.

When I moved out to the Lukodi Center, my attention was irresistibly focused on the changes these women have experienced – both visibly as well as those changes that are not so evident with the naked eye. Through stories that the girls had shared with me concerning the changes in their lives since arriving to the Center, it is so obvious that God is for real – the changes in the lives of these girls are such that only He could could produce. The fact that these girls report improvements such as no longer having nightmares, living without fear of being re-possessed by evil spirits, the fact that many shared they no longer experience hatred towards those people (LRA rebel members, United People Defense Force (UPDF)– Ugandan government etc.) who had forced them into traumatic, inhumane situations, the love that they now for their children with and many other examples revealed to me that indeed, this ChildVoice Rehabilitation Center is making a valuable lasting impact in the lives of the girls and children that will make a substantial difference in the country of Uganda in the years to come.

I enjoyed, as did the girls and their children, taking hundreds of photos of the CVI facilities and the residents themselves. It was absolutely beautiful to observe how healthy they are now. I have many photos of the girls in the program from 14 months ago when I first met many of them. Comparing these photos from over a year ago to what they now look like – is comparing night and day… So healthy, eyes filled with hope, love expressed through their actions toward their children… it is a beautiful transformation.

My time in Gulu is now finished. I have come to Kampala to meet with the Rotary Club of Kampala to see if they would be interested in partnering with CVI and assisting through a matching grant process. After this previous meeting with the special projects committee, we were invited to present CVI to the entire Kampala – Korro club of 60 plus members on the evening of Tuesday September 16th.


Sunday, September 21, 2008

The meeting with the Rotary Club of Kampala went very well, the club members as well as president expressed great interest and will be informing us of their final decision to work with us sometime this week. This is very exciting for CVI as this has been a process to get to this point.

There has been a long lapse in posting for a variety of reasons… my apologies.

I have had many changes in my plans of travels and projects, there have been a number of unforeseen circumstances.

I am now in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia where I have been for the past three days. I completed my time with ChildVoice International after the meeting with Rotary of Kamapala – Korro. I arrived in Addis Ababa on the morning of Friday, September 19th. It is wonderful to be back in Addis Ababa again and I am very much enjoying the opportunity to re-acquaint myself with the culture of Ethiopia, as it is quite a significant contrast from that of Uganda.

I will continue to update this site with further details throughout the days ahead. Thank you again those of you who have continued to encourage and support me through your emails, viewing this blog and posting notes and prayers. I value your support in this process of assisting ChildVoice International and my time in Africa.

October 2, 2008

I have arrived back to America and feel fortunate to be here. Having had a few challenges throughout the process of and upon my return, I continue to be grateful that I serve a God who promises to provide for me my every need and take care of me as I continue to seek Him and His will for my life and act accordingly.

Things are going well throughout my transition back to America. I look forward to providing a more detailed update soon!

Thank you all for your assistance and continued love and support!

Every day, something new!

August 30, 2008
Gulu, Uganda

I make it my aim to go into new situations with the intent of having ‘no expectations’. Knowing that things are never in my control, I know better then to have expectations regarding how I think things will or should go…

I have been in Uganda for a little over two weeks now. On this return trip to Uganda, I must say first off… I miss Acen Brittany. Oh yes, I miss my research/investigator/companion partner, oh so very much! Wherever I go, still, even after two weeks of walking the same street day after day, I hear, ‘Apiypo, Apiyo Rebekah? Hello, you are welcome! Where is Acen? Acen Brittany, where?’

Acen and I received our African names as we were nearly inseparable when we lived here in Gulu together for a couple of months last year, April - June. Apiypo and Acen are names for female twins in the Luo language – Apiyo means the older of the twins and Acen is the younger of the twins. The name stuck – even after having been away for over 14 months – Brittany – they all love you, miss you and send their, ‘greetings’.

I have met many great people since arriving to Gulu, both locals as well as other staff members/interns with CVI.

D’Andrea, whom you have read about in my previous post, is from Alabama and is the Deputy director for CVI. D’Andrea is one of the hardest working, dedicated – faithful, compassionate, loving and practical women I have ever met. I have very much enjoyed connecting with her throughout the short time I have been here.

Lowna, from South Africa is the CVI staff member who oversees the Income Generating Projects for CVI, including teaching both the women in the CVI rehabilitation program as well as women from the village of Lukodi (where the Center is located) how to make homemade paper and then turn them into beautiful cards that will be sold as Christmas cards as a way to generate income for themselves. Lowna is a beautiful 27-year old woman, full of life – energetic, passionate, intelligent and a heckuvalot of fun!

Natalie arrived from America just a little over to weeks ago to work as an intern with CVI. She recently graduated with a Masters degree in Special Education. Natalie will be here until January 2009 working on developing individualized education plans for each woman and their child (ren), amongst many other things… Natalie has an incredible talent for technical writing, and a great analytical ability which is highly assistive in the many projects we are aiming to accomplish.

Kristin arrived from America as well just a little over two weeks ago. She has recently completed her Masters in Nutrition Science. She will be working on a variety of projects with the women both related to her degree as well as working on various projects as needed.
Jen, a 22-year old woman from America came to Uganda to spend a couple of months volunteering with the program, she has since been asked to stay on for an entire year to work as an assistant to D’Andrea. As this has been Jens dream – to live in Africa and work on behalf of a cause such as CVI, it was not even a question for her whether or not to take up on this opportunity.

These five women make up the core group of international volunteer/staff members is ie. ‘muzungu’s’, as we are called by local Ugandans.

My focus throughout the days remains to write up an unsolicited grant for USAID to submit in faith that they will be interested in receiving a complete grant proposal in which they will decide to fund CVI so that the program may be expanded as needed. Unfortunately these last four days I have been down and out with Malaria and have not been able to contribute my time to this cause.

Malaria – simply put, is absolutely miserable. Today I am feeling better after four days – thanks to the medication Coartem that I have been taking. This is my second time with Malaria – I contracted it last year while here in Gulu. I did not expect to be struck with Malaria so soon on this trip to Africa. I have taken my daily doses of Malaria medicine as instructed etc. Nevertheless, the reality, there is no absolute 100 percent preventative for this illness (at least that I am aware of). For now, I remain with a headache that provides a really odd metallic taste in my mouth, achy joints and a head cold – other then that, I am feeling better and ready to get back to work.

Those of you who had followed this blog last year are familiar with the history of the 22 year long civil war that had been fought here in Northern Uganda where over 65,000 children were abducted from their homes, schools, villages etc. and forced to become trained and operate as child soldiers. You are also familiar with the mission of ChildVoice International (CVI) and it’s intent to provide a safe haven for formerly abducted child-mothers and their children to receive spiritual, emotional/mental, physical, educational and vocational rehabilitation. For those of you who are not familiar, please take a moment to read through the article located at:

http://www.wartburg.edu/magazine/summer08/

Here you can read a detailed article written up that provides important background information about the war, as well as learn the story of Conrad Mandsager, founder/director of ChildVoice International – how he came to the decision to begin CVI, what the program currently consists of and where CVI is headed. This is a very informative article and well worth the time in reading.

I have remained in Gulu throughout this last week throughout this time of illness. On Monday I will be heading out to Lukodi (the village – approx. 30 minute drive from Gulu, where the CVI Center is located) to visit the woman as well as introduce to the CVI program, Dr. Robi Sonderegger, president/founder of Family Challenge in Australia. (www.familychallenge.com.au)

Dr. Robi Sonderegger, after assessing the traumatic situation of thousands of formerly abducted child soldiers who managed to escape back to their homes after acting as soldiers in the Lords Resistance Army during a visit to Uganda years ago, knew he must take action on behalf of these children. Dr. Robi was perplexed that there were no professional clinical services offering to help young escapees to deal with the trauma they had experienced. After only a few short weeks of rest in a rehabilitation camp, formerly abducted children are returned to their home villages or IDP camps—where surviving family members have fled. Unfortunately, these children run the risk of being re-abducted. Moreover, holding on to anger, bitterness, nightmares, deep hurt and resentment, post-traumatic stress becomes a real concern for the children, their families and the communities where they may or may not have been reintegrated. Without help to process and deal with their traumatic experiences, there is concern that these children may grow up to participate in the generation of hostility – as a cycle of violence continues.

In 2004 the Family Challenge Charitable Trust decided that it was time to stand up for these former abductees and be a voice for those who cannot speak out for themselves – offering tangible measures to end this cycle and return lost childhood to these children. Dr. Robi Sonderegger, the organizations founder, met with strategic aid agencies in Northern Uganda to discuss ways to provide effective trauma rehabilitation services for formerly abducted child soldiers. Since that time he has provided evidence based child trauma rehabilitation training for counselors, social workers, the center staff of WorldVision, Concerned Parents Association, Childcare International and Rachelle Center for Rehabilitation and Reintegration of formerly bducted children in Northern Uganda, to name a few.

Dr. Robi is currently in Gulu and I had a chance to meet him briefly last night. On Monday I and other CVI staff will have the chance to meet with him to overview his program materials to see if this counseling model may be a good fit for the women in the CVI Center. We will have the opportunity to take him out to Lukodi to view the program and meet the women and their children.

Dr. Robi’s EMPOWER Trauma Rehabilitation is an evidence-based, 13 session step by step program that helps educate and equip young people with practical strategies to combat the effects of trauma associated with war. To date hundreds of facilitators have been trained ultimately serving to benefit many thousand young war victims in Northern Uganda. With 100,000 copies of the program now in print, the objectives of EMPOWER are to rehabilitate as many x-child soldiers and refugees as possible now living in internally displaced person (IDP) camps spread throughout the war zone. Due to increasing demands for the program from Humanitarian Agencies working in Africa, Asia, Middle East, Eastern Europe, and the South Pacific, Family Challenge is dedicated to expanding EMPOWER trauma rehabilitation to people groups experiencing the effects of war and natural disaster throughout the world.

I will have the tremendous opportunity this upcoming Friday, Saturday and Sunday to attend a training on trauma and counseling put on by staff members trained in the Empower Trauma Rehabilitation counseling model. It will be hosted by an organization in Gulu called Favor of God Ministries. The training will include:

•An overview of trauma and its effects on the victim and their support system.
o Normal reactions to a traumatic event
o How a traumatic event can develop into Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

•An overview of the Brain
o How it works
o Its response to trauma

•Basic counseling skills and strategies for group dynamics
•An introduction to counseling those who have experienced both acute and chronic trauma
•A guide through the Empower program developed by Dr. Robi Sonderegger Ph.D.
•Self-care: tips and strategies to avoid burnout on the field

As counseling is the one thing above all else that I am most passionate about – I am very excited for this upcoming opportunity.

Despite my being sick, the challenges have been opportunities for growth and I continue to attempt to make the most of each minute that I have here in Uganda. God is in the midst of working in my life, encouraging, stretching and refining me. He continually provides opportunities for me to have to rely whole-heartedly on Him.

I am currently reading a book by Neil T. Anderson, Victory Over the Darkeness: Realizing the Power of Your Identity in Christ. This is an excellent book. Although I have read this book nearly 10 years ago – I believe that I could read this book 5 times a year and still learn from and solidify the foundational truths of who I am as a result of who He is in me.

Wow – the beauty of recognizing the Truth of God and the power of His resurrection – and the impact of this event in the lives of those who have chosen to accept Christ as their personal Savior. As children of God, we have inherited literally, life-giving blessings – freedom from bondage, victory over fear, guilt and shame etc. These are facts and these blessings are available for our taking, but until we begin living from these truths and practicing them in our daily lives we will never operate in the freedom, joy and power that is available to us. I am embracing learning more about my identity in Christ and enjoying the new level of relationship with him as a result. What else is there to live for then to know Him – in every way possible? What an honor…

One never knows what to expect when they choose to walk a path of faith and surrender their own desires for the greater good of the whole.

The photo above is of the team from New Hampshire who spent 3 weeks with CVI. These are most of the women and some of the children who are currently living in the CVI rehabilitation program in Lukodi, Uganda.

My time here in Uganda since updating this blog last, has been full. Each day I am busy between spending time at the ChildVoice office in Gulu throughout the day, and visiting with friends that I met last year who live here in the community of Gulu. I have visited with many friends, boda boda drivers, my local, "Ugandan family" who catered to Brittany and I last year, as well as other very important and special people I maintained contact with throughout the year since leaving last June 2007.

Last Saturday Nulda, the mother to Lowna, a CVI staff member from South Africa in charge of the Income Generating Programs, led a workshop for the Senior Management Team of CVI in order that all crucial staff members could brainstorm to streamline the operations of CVI Uganda and have the chance to consider exactly what the primary goals of ChildVoice International Uganda are, and what role each staff member plays within the overall objective of CVI. This was a full day long meeting. The results of this meeting will be utilized to write up the Master Plan for ChildVoice International, assist CVI in moving forward, including implementing the CVI rehabilitation programs in various countries, and, most importantly for me, assist me in writing up and grant for USAID. This is what I will be spending the next month that I am in Uganda working on. I am refreshing my brain on how to write up grant proposals as I research and read a plethora of various materials, and will begin this morning creating the general outline for this grant.

Saturday night I visited a family who lives close by where I stay when living in Gulu. It was fun to surprise them, as I had not let them know that I was going to be arriving back in Uganda. Susan, the daughter is 27 years old and due to have a baby any day now, Mama, who's name is Lillian, once again insisted that I stay for a large dinner she would prepare. This ended up for a long evening. It was fun to re-connect with them again.

Sunday I spent the afternoon and on into the evening visiting with another Ugandan family that has welcomed and embraced me as a daughter - literally. I spent the early afternoon washing dishes and clothes, and then on into cooking dinner with Mama. One of the family members, Florence, had a birthday on Sunday, so we had an extra special evening of celebration. The father of the home arrived late as he was visiting his brother in the hospital, this caused the home to be a very family like atmosphere. It was nice to not be in the position of a 'guest', but rather have the chance to integrate and just, 'be'. I ended up spending 6 hours there as it began raining and they are insistent that it is not acceptable that I would walk in the rain... I very much enjoyed this visit, so good to catch up; to love and to be loved.

After I finished up with the family, I met up with D'Andrea and had a lovely time of connection as we talked for a couple of hours about various things on our minds.

On Monday morning I met D'Andrea at a small coffee/bakery shop called Cafe' Maq. Here we had a small breakfast and coffee before going to her hotel room where we shared various documents with one another and researched papers such as the Millennium Goals, Strategies for Sustainable Development etc. in order to assist me in the preparation of this grant. Last night I met up again with Alice and Dennis and there plethora of children, nephews, nieces, cousins etc. They all live close by and Alice's house seems to be the local hang-out spot for the many children in the area.

I was encouraged to eat dinner that Alice had just prepared, as Dennis had not yet arrived home from work to take me the village to visit grandma. It was agreed that as it was now almost dark and late I would not go the village that night. However, when Dennis arrived home, he was insistent that we jump on his motorcycle - one that had no padding to sit on, on the back of the seat, nor did it have shocks. After forced to finish eating posho, beans, meat and 'bo' - fried greens, I promptly made my way to the motorcycle and off we went on a very bumpy, cold, dark ride into the village to visit with grandma. Upon arriving I was greeted by many village members for a celebratory dinner of my return back to Uganda and specifically their village. Once again, I ate dinner and was treated to freshly squeezed passionfruit juice that was quite lovely. It was an intense reunion. Meeting up with Ugandan friends, especially after returning from America after over a year away ( and many of these friends wondering if I would uphold my promise to return) is a beautiful process, however, at times very overwhelming and at times exhausting. I went home last night, took a very cold shower, arranged my mesquito net over my bed and crashed - once I fell asleep, I was out hard!

This morning I am back at the ChildVoice office in Gulu, preparing to work on this proposal for USAID. Thank you all who are praying for me, the staff here, as well as ChildVoice as a whole. Your prayers are coveted.

First few days back in Gulu

Saturday, August 16th, 2008

I think I fell asleep - in my sleep last night… I was more tired lat night than I remember being in a very long time…

Today was a day of re-connecting with Ivan and his family. As you have read in the past, Ivan is a friend I met the very first day I arrived in Uganda last year in April. Ivan and I have remained in very close contact since our initial meeting of one another throughout the last 15 months since we have seen each other last.

After waiting for some time to hear from a man I was supposed to have a meeting with, I decided to go ahead and spend the day with Ivan and re-visit his mother and father. They do not live together, so we first visited his father. This visit was short but fun to have the chance to re-connect with Ivan and his family.

This was my first visit with Ivan’s father. His father has dis-owned him as a son, but still speaks to him on a limited basis. This is the unfortunate result of his father being an alcoholic and making rash decisions that result in improper and disappointing circumstances. Ivan wanted me to speak visit with his father in order that I would show myself to him in person so that his father would believe that indeed, someone believes in him and is willing to support his efforts in school that he may accomplish his bigger dreams and visions. The visit was brief, but good.

After visiting Ivan’s father, Ivan took me to many different homes to visit the orphaned children that he has taken under his wing. I met six of the seven children that Ivan has taken under his wing. Last year, as most of you know, Ivan was taking care of little Julius – an orphaned boy in his village. Since arriving back to Kampala this year, Ivan has chosen to accept in 6 more children in addition to Julius. It was inspiring to see Ivan’s compassion for these orphaned children and his future desires for these kids. We took the opportunity to buy mattresses, blankets and food for the children in order that they can better survive in the conditions that they are currently in.

Following the meeting of these children, we went to Ivan’s mothers house. I did not know that she had been planning my arrival for days. When I arrived there was a feast prepared for me, Ivan’s mother had been preparing for 2 days the food we were about to eat. Ivan’s mother has been so delighted that his son was able to finish school among other things as a result of mine and others support in his life, and after not having seen her in over a year – she went all out and invited the neighborhood for a party in my honor. It was an honor. Ivan is a phenomenal singer and after partaking in the feast, we all gathered together to sing worship songs, Ivan the lead singer and his guitar teacher playing guitar. It was an emotionally and physically exhausting day – but rich in friendships, experiences and love.




Sunday, August 17th, 20

I have been working between the Anchorage East Rotary club in Alaska and the Kampala, Uganda Rotary club to see about working together to create a project to submit a Matching Grant request to the International Rotary. Today I met with Simon, the most recent president of Rotary Kampala at Hotel Namirembe for a three hour discussion. We had a great meeting, I very much enjoyed our interactions with one another and am encouraged as a result of the meeting. Simon is very interested in creating a proposal to work with ChildVoice International and is further investigating the next necessary steps and will be getting back to me soon. ChildVoice International having the opportunity to partner with Rotary International is a tremendous opportunity. I look forwards to providing updates for you when I learn more.

The rest of my day was spent in town doing last minute shopping for CVI as well as myself before heading up to Gulu in the morning.

Monday, August 18th, 2008

At 6 AM, Ivan and I arrived at the bus station to take the bus from Gulu to Kampala. I had invited Ivan to join me on the journey up to Gulu as he has never before even left Kampala. He was thrilled with the opportunity to see new parts of Uganda, go to the ‘north’ and see where all of this devastation of the Lords Resistance Army has been taking place. Also, Ivan was excited about seeing the ChildVoice facilities in Lukodi and having the chance to better understand where I work and with who. Having Ivan with me benefited me as well as I appreciated having an extra set of eyes on my luggage. It is always a risk to travel by the postal bus with luggage, as bystanders know which pieces of luggage belongs to the international passengers and assume there must be valuables in the bags - it is frequent that locals will have their eye on bags to steal when the opportunity arises.

A lovely surprise I learned of yesterday afternoon was that Richard, the Logistics co-ordinator for ChildVoice, whom I worked with last year, was in Kampala visiting his family and was headed back up to Gulu on the exact same bus as Ivan and I! This was exciting as Richard was the first man to escort me to Gulu last year. I sat between Ricahrd and Ivan near the back of the bus. We only had one somewhat minor interruption throughout the trip and that was that one of the four back tires blew out – we were sitting directly on top of that back tire and felt the furious forceful eruption. I had just fallen asleep when the tire blew. As I opened my eyes there was a thick black billow of dirt flying through the open window only to land in our eyes, down our shirts, in our laps… The eruption of the tire was so forceful that it peeled away the side of the bus. After inspecting the bus, the drivers decided to drive on the three back tires (rather then four) the 20 minutes to the next town to change the tire. As we drove to the next town, one woman had to hold a part of the bus from the inside where she sat in order to prevent the siding from dragging on the ground as we drove! It was an adventure nevertheless, we made it to the town to change the tire and managed to make it into Gulu just a few hours later then planned.

After arriving into the wet pouring rain of Gulu, we took boda boda’s to the Royal Inn where I am currently staying until I re-locate out to Lukodi. There I had the chance to re-unite with Jennifer and a few other staff members of the Royal Inn who are likened to my sisters. I spent nearly a month living at the Royal Inn last year and developed very good relationships with these women. As I arrived this time I was picked up, spun around and hugged and kissed repetitively. I felt like I was the recipient of a happy puppy’s loving… It was a lovely warm embrace.

From here we, Richard, Ivan and I walked over to the ChildVoice Uganda Headquarters office – WOW! Impressive! ChildVoice has a beautiful office in a highly convenient location that is very valuable for the management of CVI as a whole. This office is a very busy place. Seven main desks make up the office. Staff members utilizing these desks include the Program Director, Deputy Director, Deputy Director Assistant, Accountant, Logistics Manager, and the Income Generating Projects Manager. The grounds are gorgeous surrounding the office – this space is a true blessing for CVI.

I met the current interns, Kristin and Natalie, all of the office staff members, current visiting team members from New Hampshire including the secretary, Kevin. Kevin was my interpreter last year when I was here doing interviews – she now is hired through CVI and as the secretary, it was truly lovely to see her again. I am so proud of her opportunity to have this job!

After initial introductions, Richard, Kevin, Ivan and I rode out to Lukodi for a very quick turn around trip to drop off a generator to the clinic. I had less then 5 minutes at the clinic before having to leave – but it was great to at least get a quick preview of the developments since I was there last – AMAZING!

Following this the team from New Hampshire, Ivan, Kevin, and other staff members and I, all went out to dinner. It was great to have this opportunity to get to know everyone a little more and enjoy traditional Ugandan food.

Tuesday, August 19th, 2008

This morning I met up with Ivan at the ChildVoice office where he was dropped off after returning from Lukodi. Ivan received the opportunity to sleep overnight in Lukodi at the Center. Here, he would sleep in a hut in a hammock. This would be the very first time for him to do either of those two things. I was proud of him when he accepted the offer. He was a little afraid, as he was now in the previous war – zone area of Gulu, that from Kampala, he had only heard horror stories of. When Ivan returned, he was gleaming. He really appreciated the opportunity and was excited to return home to family and friends to share of his experiences. Ivan and I returned walked back to the Royal Inn and we spent an hour together before taking his to the bus station to head back to Kampala today.

From the bus station I went back the ChildVoice office to meet up with deputy director, D’Andrea. D’Andrea is the most incredibly beautiful example to me of perseverance, compassion, motivation and commitment. D’Andrea has been with ChildVoice for over a year. D’Andrea arrived in Gulu to work as an intern through ChildVoice International last year with a few other interns from School of International Training in Vermont. When her official ‘internship’ was complete the other interns went back to America, while D’Andrea remained, as she had found her calling. D’Andrea is not only Deputy Director of the program, but ‘Mummy’ to all of the girls and their children in the ChildVoice Lukodi Rehabilition Center.

This morning D’Andrea was incredibly gracious to spend the morning over-viewing the ‘big picture’ of ChildVoice for me. This ‘big picture’ includes the ultimate goal of ChildVoice, major objectives, activities that fall underneath the objectives, means of verification and monitoring, assumptions etc.

Initially I thought that I would share with you more the great details of this master plan, and at some point I will. But today I think that there are some more important things to share with you: I want to share with you my heart, my experiences since being here in Gulu - my convictions, thoughts and feelings now that I have had the chance to see the ChildVoice Center and the women and children in the program for the first time in person.

This morning I woke up ready to face the day. I was excited about preparing to go to the office and meet with D’Andrea, hear of Ivan’s experiences in Lukodi and go out to Lukodi later in the afternoon to visit the Center and the women and children who live there. I made it as far as getting to the office (which is only a 10 minute walk from the Royal Inn where I am staying in Gulu), to pick up Ivan and I received a phone call from America.

You know how beautiful it is to hear the sweet voice of ones you love when you are far away… You know the security and comfort it brings, as well as how sometimes how, just that familiar voice, providing a moment of comfort can allow feelings/emotions to rise up…

The first question from my loving friend who called was, ‘how are you?’ I could barely respond. I did not know how to sum up all that I was feeling, seeing, thinking, experiencing, questioning, concerns, and things I was entirely delighted over… I became quite teary eyed at that moment, and found myself unable to even begin to share those details, some of which I had yet even fully processed within myself.

As I was in the middle of a quick meeting, I had to request my friend to call me back at a later time. I walked Ivan back to the Royal Inn and was able to get him set up with morning tea and some food for breakfast by the time I received my return phone call.

My passion for this program, ChildVoice International runs deep. It is imbedded in me and has been since I first began working on behalf of the organization and women and children in April of 2007.

The women, their children, their futures, the condition of their hearts… These are the things that I have pondered on, prayed over, shared with others about, and dreamed to see once again over the last fourteen months since I was in Uganda last year.

When I arrived yesterday it was quite a warm welcome. I was embraced with many hugs and welcomes from local Ugandan friends, as well as current interns, CVI staff members I had not met, other volunteers etc. This was lovely.

I received a chance to briefly see the Center in Lukodi yesterday – just a quick five-minute glance as the generator needed to be taken from the office in Gulu to the Center in Lukodi. We were given explicit direction to return the generator and quickly return back to the office to meet up with other interns/volunteers and staff member in order to head off to dinner.

When I arrived at the Center, I had only enough time to get out of the car, glance my eyes around at the development of the Center and get back in the car and leave again. To my surprise and delight, one woman was waiting right where we parked the car to return the generator – I did not even recognize her. Though I had shared her story and photos with hundreds of people in America, I did not recognize her upon seeing her in person. It was Concy and her little baby boy Chris (named after one of the men on the medical team from America who was staffing the medical clinic at the time she arrived soon after delivering her baby). The very first woman that I received the chance to hug in person at the Center was my precious friend Concy of whom I had the chance to work hand in hand with/for last year. This was extra special for me. ( I will explain about Concy in further details in another update for those of you unaware of her story). By now I had to get back in the car and leave to head back to Gulu for dinner. My time at the Center yesterday was short, but enriching.

Last year there was absolutely nothing in regards to an actual long-term rehabilitation center, nor where there even women yet chosen for the program. When I left last year my research partner, Brittany, and I had just completed the 300 surveys and narrowed them down to the most vulnerable 45 women eligible for the program. Specific women had not yet been chosen for the program, the old Lukodi Primary 7 school had not even been touched yet to begin the renovations to create the Center as it stands today. Many, many beautiful changes and developments have occurred over the last 14 months…

Today there is a gated Center where 29 women and their 38 children live. There are secure rooms for each mother and their child/children to live in. The woman are provided with education; basic education, early childhood development classes, baking/catering, income generating projects such as making and selling cards made out of paper that they themselves have made, tailoring etc. They have their own garden and have planted enough crops to provide vegetables for the Center for the next year. Some of the women are working in the community catering in local fancy dining facilities in Gulu. CVI has built a new school for the community of Lukodi where local children have the opportunity to attend, as well as the children of the child-mothers. This school is in sight and walking distance from the CVI Center.

I share all of this with you before explaining to you that after receiving my return phone call yesterday and I was once again asked how I was doing, I could not do anything but cry. Here I was on the front porch of my ‘home away from home’, (last year I lived for a month and the Royal Inn hotel in Gulu, a small guest house with very friendly staff who became my sisters – lovely little place, safe, comfortable and ‘home’) talking to a very special friend and can do nothing but weep.

As I began talking through my tears, I realized that I felt entirely overwhelmed. Overwhelmed with joy of the incredible progress of CVI as a whole; the development of the Center; the obvious changes in the physical, emotional, spiritual health of these young women whom a year ago had been living in the IDP camps from their time spent in the bush as child-soldiers of the Lords Resistance Army; the fact that there is so very much more yet to do; overwhelmed with wondering where my place in it all would be and other such things.

Through discussion on the phone this morning I was encouraged to remember that I do have a role and a place in this large vision of ChildVoice International, and that I do not have to choose to take on more then I can handle. God has the whole world in His hands and he is the one who will make all ends meet. It is only as CVI staff/volunteers/interns work together as a team, each putting our talents and experiences forward that we will accomplish the bigger picture of CVI.

Following the conversation on the phone, I finished visiting with Ivan before walking him to the bus station. From there I walked to the CVI office where I met with D’Andrea. When D’Andrea and I sat down to have a meeting together, she asked me, ‘so, how are you doing, Rebekah?’ It started all over again. I became teary eyed and choked up once again. I asked if we could pray together and we did. After spending time in prayer together we began over-viewing the large-scale mission of CVI – and breaking it down into sections ie. Long-term Self-sustainable Community, Rehabilitation, etc.. As a result of our conversation I learned a lot about where ChildVoice is currently and where they are headed; what the current needs are and how we may go about re-sourcing those needs. This time was well spent as I not only learned about CVI, but had a vital time of connection, sharing and learning with D’Andrea. We shared some common thoughts and feelings and connected on a level that helped me to understand why the tears were many.

ChildVoice International is the heart of God – to care for the children and orphaned, the widows and lonely. This vision of ChildVoice International, to restore the voices of children silenced by war, is huge – HUGE, but far from impossible. God desires to see the lives of these formerly abducted child soldiers be transformed; restored and revitalized, that His name would be glorified and that his power would be known. This is happening here at the ChildVoice Center in Lukodi, Uganda. These women who once could not look you in the eye, nor could they find a reason to smile or laugh, had poor physical health and injuries that would not heal, are now happy to look you in the eye, smile as they welcome you back to Uganda with a warm embrace, are very vibrant in personality, healthy, strong; learning, growing, thriving and no longer simply surviving.

The many tears I shed throughout the day have been an expression of joy for the work that has been done, changes revealed in the women’s lives, overwhelm for the work that has yet to be done, sadness for all of the thousands and thousands of other formerly abducted child soldiers who do not have the opportunity to be the ChildVoice Center rehabilitation program or other such programs to assist them in their physical, emotional, spiritual rehabilitation from times spent as a child soldier, and gratitude that in some small ways, I get the opportunity to be a part of this process; a part of ChildVoice International, but more importantly a part of Gods plan to not only be a resource to CVI and the woman and children, but be impacted and changed as a result of their influence in my life.

God is in the midst of doing great things all around us wherever we are. It is simply a matter of keeping our eyes open to see His hand at work, our hearts willing to be moldable and receptive and our ears able to hear His voice and walk in His ways. As we trust in Him, surrender our plans, agendas and ultimately our lives to Him; as we recognize that His ways really are higher then ours and that He can and will do things that we cannot even conceive at this moment, we can be encouraged knowing that those things which seem insurmountable are not only possible, but soon to be experienced. His promises are true and He never turns his back on his children who are seeking him and walking in obedience to his ways. This, I believe has been the reason CVI has experienced the success it has, the reason that the lives of the woman have been transformed as quickly and beautifully as they have – it is the power of living and operating from a foundation in Christ.

Later in the afternoon I had the chance to go out to Lukodi again. Here I was given a full tour of the facilities – bakery, school rooms, nursery, dorm rooms, staff housing, kitchen, vocational training classrooms, offices, playground, etc. I also had the chance to meet each woman individually. It was quite a beautiful and refreshing reunion. It was wonderful to have the chance to reunite with the girls and their children, observe how incredibly joyful and healthy that they are.

Kathy Mandsager, the founder/director of CVI’s wife led a team from New Hampshire to work in the Lukodi Center. I arrived on the tail-end of this teams trip. Today a ‘good-bye’ ceremony was held for the Kathy and the team by staff of the Center and by the women and children. The women sang some beautiful songs, staff members as well as each member of the team had a few moments to share their thoughts and then gifts were given to Kathy in leu of all she has done in starting ChildVoice from the ground up, supporting her husband in this endeavor and doing the ground breaking brunt work to make the center and CVI what it is today. It was a beautiful celebration, heavy rains on the tin roof and all…

Wednesday, August 20th, 2008

Last night I was in bed by 9:30 and awake by 4:30 – this is good for me, 7 hours of sleep, I am beginning to catch up again. At 8 am I met at the Acholi Inn with the team from NH, as well as D’Andrea, and Lona – a beautiful, talented women from South Africa who is now staff for CVI, in charge of the income generating projects for CVI. We first ate breakfast then had a small staff meeting concerning how to plan for prepare and execute international teams coming to CVI to do work projects etc. The remainder of my day was spent at the office working on various odds and ends. I finished up at the office around 6:30 and walked home to the Royal Inn. It took 2 hours to go the 10 minute walking distance as the word got out the 'Apiyo' was back back in town... I engaged in much conversation along the way home - it was fun to be so warmly embraced back into Gulu.

Uganda 2008

August 15th, 2008
Kampala, Uganda
10:25 am

This morning I woke up to the reflection of the sun, shinning off of the wall into my eyes. I rolled over and proceeded to go back to sleep as my body felt the effects of very little sleep in the last couple of days. As I began to regain consciousness, I remembered and thought, ‘wait! I am in Africa now…! No wonder it was the sun that woke me up!’

I arrived into Uganda late last night, 11:30 pm and made it to Hotel Nameribe where I stay when in Kampala by 12:30 am.

My trip to Africa began on August 10th, at 2:15 am when I flew from Anchorage, Alaska to Boston, MA arriving at 6:15 pm. The plane circled over Boston for 45 minutes before landing due to an intense thunder and lightening storm that closed all of Boston International airport for over five ours, restricting all flights from flying in or out of the airport. Fortunately, the flight I was on cam in on the tail end of the storm, and after finally landing, only had to wait for 45 additional minutes on the runway before getting to a gate to make my way off the plane. This is unlike the others I spoke with in the airport who had to wait 4+ hours on the runway stuck on the airplane waiting to get to a gate to unload. This was a result of the lightning that shut down all of the grounds crew operations that prevented the planes from being directed once landing on the runway.

From the Boston airport I gathered my luggage and proceeded to wait 1.5 hours for a bus to drive me to Portmouth, NH where I met up with Conrad Mandsager, founder/director of ChildVoice International. Conrad picked me up from the airport and drove me to his house where I was treated with great hospitality over the following 2.5 days before flying out to Africa.

While in Durham, NH with Conrad, I received the opportunity to learn more about CVI, the current work being done in northern Uganda as well as future plans for the program, developed a specified mission for my upcoming time in Uganda and received a great opportunity to meet other dedicated volunteers/board members of the organization as I attended the monthly board meeting for CVI. I also had the opportunity to be re-united with Charles, a formerly abducted child-soldier from Gulu, Uganda who is currently living with Conrad in NH. Charles is training with a road biking team, as he has and will continue participating in biking events to raise awareness of the issue of child soldiers as well as raise funds for Children of the World. This was a valued time of connection to ChildVoice International a well as a foundational preparatory time for as I prepared for the upcoming next couple of moths in Uganda. Thank you Conrad and Charles for your hospitality and friendship throughout those days.

As a result of my time with Conrad, we have agreed that I will focus on doing some networking with the Kampala Rotary club to see about facilitating the application process for a Matching Grant between the Anchorage East Rotary Club and the Kampala Rotary Club. I meet today with the president of the Kampala Rotary club to begin this process. I will also focus my energies on writing up a non-solicited grant to submit to USAID, assist in developing individualized education and case management files for each of the 30 women in the ChildVoice program. Another tremendous opportunity I have, is to meet later on in the month, here in Uganda with Dr. Robi Sonderegger, Ph.D. Dr. Sonderegger (www.familychallenge.com.au) has designed and implemented a trauma rehabilitation counseling model that is currently being used in Northern Uganda as well as other countries to assist former abductees in their healing process. Conrad suggested I send an email to Dr. Robi and see if perhaps we could meet up to learn more about this counseling model from him directly. I sent off and email and less then a day later received a response stating that he would be traveling throughout Africa and would be in Uganda the end of August, first part of September. I am very encouraged about this opportunity, perhaps this will be the fit for the women in the CVI program that we are looking for!

I left Boston airport at 7:30 pm on the 14th of August, flew to Amsterdam and Nairobi, Kenya before landing at the Entebbe airport in Uganda. My flight was full of conversations and little sleep. Between Boston and Amsterdam, I sat next to an elderly man named Balbir Narain Saxena from Sahibabad near Delhi, India. We had good a conversation that allowed that time to pass relatively quickly. Between Amsterdam and Nairobi, I sat next to a 30 year-old woman from Ireland who works for Doctors Without Borders. Very little sleep on that flight! Two high-energy like-minded women in similar life situations, her and I, – the chatter was nearly non-stop!

By the time I hit Nairobi, I was feeling the effects of a lack of sleep, however, after meeting an official from the Ethiopian United Nations who is the director of the Emergency Disaster Preparedness for all of Africa, once again, the conversation took place for two hours non-stop until boarding the flight to Entebbe. I learned a lot from this man and have new resources to add to my bag of possibilities in regards to avenues to pursue to further awareness/provide opportunities for ChildVoice and the women involved in the program.

I am in Kampala at the moment at Hotel Namirembe. This hotel is known as the ‘Hotel with the Million Dollar View’. Hotel Namirembe sits up high on a hill, overlooking the city of Kampala. I am surrounded with large colorful flowers and many loud birds. The weather is moderate, 75 degrees, low humidity and partly cloudy. It has been fun being back at the hotel as many of the staff members remember me from last year when I stayed here and have provided many very warm statements of, ‘welcome home!’ followed by very tight and repetitive hugs. It’s been honoring.

Thank you all who uphold me in prayer. Knowing that you pray for me provides me with strength, hope in the more lonely times, encourages me in times of uncertainty, and gives me peace overall.

A Summer of Continuous Unexpected Events

(Pilot friend of mine - Ricky and I, out on the Homer Spit photographing Eagles - self-portrait!)>

A summer of continuous unexpected events. Despite that I thought I would be in Africa at this moment, every turn of events this summer has been a good adventure; either a new fun adventure, or perhaps challenging – but great learning opportunity. I am currently in Homer, Alaska where I have been for approximately a month now. Here I have spent my time between working on my senior project for college, working for my friend Dr. Ken at his beach cabins and working for my friend Craig out on his 40 acre homestead.




(Homer Spit - I took photo from airplane as Ricky was flying overhead)

I will graduate from Alaska Pacific University at the end of July 2008 with a degree in cross-cultural psychology. My senior project consists of designing a website that provides a step by step outline detailing how to successfully prepare for, carry out, and debrief from participating in an international volunteer relief trip. As I have been actively involved in international work for some time now, I’ve found that I spend a large portion of my time sitting with individuals/couples who are interested in pursuing the chance to work overseas in some area of service but have no clue how to begin. It appeared to me that creating a website that can guide an interested person on basic factors to consider when considering an international relief trip would be a good use of my time.

In conjunction with this travel preparation outline, I will share about my latest trip to Uganda, Africa in 2007 working with formerly abducted child soldiers, providing information about what I did on my international volunteer relief trip, what was accomplished through my service, what the current issues are today concerning child soldiers and what the future holds for this expansive international issue. I will share my own detailed account providing a personal touch to the bare bone outline that I provide as a basic template for the preparations of international relief work.

This project has already taken 2 weeks longer than I anticipated, and I am still quite a was from being finished. I have been blessed with a lovely little “hobbit hole” of a home here in Homer to live in while I work on this project. Ironically, this cabin is just one house away from where I used to live when I lived in a Homer nearly two years ago! I really like the spot because granted that the house is pretty bare bones, I feel like I am being transitioned quite smoothly towards my return to Africa as this cabin has no plumbing and I must haul all of my own water to the house. No shower, toilet, running water etc. However, I do have a fantastic view of the ocean, mountains, sunrises and sunsets (though the sun hardly ever sets this time of year!) This has been a nice little healing haven to reside in while working on this project. My friend who lives in this cabin makes jewelry and has a gallery in Chitina, Alaska (near McCarthy, AK) and resides up there in the summers, this is how I am able to live here until the middle of July.

Prior to beginning work on my senior project, I took a job with my very good friend Dr. Ken. Dr. Ken owns land in various places around Homer. One piece of land that he owns contains a series of cabins down on Bishops Beach in Homer, and the other is a series of cabins in Neptune Bay. Granted that I don’t have the time to go into great details at the moment, it has been wonderful to work for him. When I work across the Bay in Neptune Bay, I take a skiff 10-15 minutes from the Homer boat harbor, hike another mile, or take a four wheeler to the series of cabins and a sauna that sits up on a small hill overlook the “Waz” River, ocean, mountains and way off in the distance, Homer –depending what angle you are looking from.





(View from inside the cabin looking towards the Homer Spit, "Wazoo" River feeding into the ocean. Photo taken at nearly 11PM May 27th, 2008)

Here I have been working with two spectacular men, Dale and Bill, adding an addition (dining room) onto the main cabin, building a tool shed, digging post holes, preparing for the installation of a windmill, landscaping, cooking meals/cleaning up/hauling water for the guys, planning wood, making trim, windowsills etc.



(Beginning phase of building the addition onto the main cabin)

Definitely been earning my muscles this summer! Animals are abundant, Dale is an avid birder, I have been learning all about my birds this year. Moose, bear, birds, fish, sea and land otters, eagles everywhere, there are 3 eagle nests within 100 yards of the house! Though I have many favorite things about being out at Neptune Bay, one of the top 3 best moments I experience out there concern 2 blue jay birds. These birds literally follow me almost everywhere waiting to eat peanuts out of my hand! Pretty phenomenal!




(One of the two Bluejays...)

Working for Dr. Ken at his other cabin, accessible only by a four-wheel drive pick-up driven 5 miles on the beach from town at low tide, or driving on the road system 7 miles out of town, hiking down Diamond Ridge trail to the beach and walking 3 miles along the beach shores. Here I have had the opportunity to assist Dr. Ken in his incredible gardens/greenhouse, as well as doing some landscaping.




(Some of the gardens and partial view of some of the cabins on Bishops Beach - Homer, AK)



(Different view/angle of the gardens I have had the chance to assist with at the Bishops Beach cabins)

He has taught me a lot about gardening and landscaping, digging planting beds while in between taking moments out to point out various birds that fly overhead. Here I have planted/transplanted many different types of vegetables and flowers including, broccoli, snow peas, zucchini, peppers, carrots, arugala, spinach, onions, potatoes, tomatoes, many forms of lettuces, in addition to flowers such as Jacobs Ladder, Delphiniums, Lilacs, Monks Hood, Fox Glove, roses, chrysanthemums etc. Many animals - primarily land otters, moose and bear. We have had one bear consistently getting into the food storage locker, always providing a mess for us to arrive to! I have to say, these two spots may be the most beautiful places in my life. It has been a tremendous honor to spend time out there. I only wish I was completed with my senior project so that I could work more for Dr. Ken. Dr. Ken is one of the most special people in my life, he has been a major influence, has taught me so much.



(Some greens in the greenhouse at Bishops Beach cabins)