**Travels in the war-torn north**

PICTURES:
- a truck loaded to the brim with people and goods, the picture doesn't do it justice.
- One of the only NGO's at the camp is UAF, Uganda Australian Foundation.
- Pastor Harrison and myself.
- Some of our many loyal followers while we were there. Acholi children.
- Everyone lives in these round mud huts, which take a month or two to complete.

Rackoko (pronounced "Ratch-E-Co-Co") is in Pader district, Northern Uganda. It used to be part of Kitgum district but when it became too large, they split the districts up. It is right in the heart of the land where the LRA rebels have often attacked.

It is home to an Internally Displaced People (IDP) camp. At some points in the war with the rebels, there has been up to 17000 people living at this particular IDP camp.

So I went with Janet, an eMi staff member to do some surveying for one of our ministries. Carla is an American lady, who wants to help widows. Deaths to HIV/AIDS and the LRA have left many women as widows. So Carla wants to train them to sew etc. to be able to make money to support their families. We staked out the boundaries for her land so that she can begin construction of her centre.

LRA. I realise many of my readers will know little about the LRA. The Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) have been fighting in Northern Uganda for over 20 years. They began when President Museveni came to power and have conducted a campaign of terror ever since. They abduct young children, forcing the girls to become 'wives' (sex slaves) to the commanders and forcing the young boys to fight, often after committing atrocities against their family members or other young children (trampling them to death or beating them to death with sticks.) There are many other horrific stories. The estimates vary a lot but some are as high as 60000 children abducted. In the last several months, it has been more peaceful while peace talks have been occuring and people have been returning to their villages, building housing and clearing land.

Some of the aftermath of such violence is: severe psychological damage in children, land disputes, extreme poverty, lots of orphans and more. So while peace has returned currently, the scars will remain for a long time. The rebels are currently believed to be in the Central African Republic. I don't know what will happen, the ceasefire agreement officially ends in a few days, so I hope and pray it will last. Jospeh Kony, the rebel leader, must know his days are numbered, as he is currently the #1 wanted war criminal in the world, by the ICC.

While there is much I will never understand, standing where rebels have killed and raped people, seeing the children and families they targeted, it gives you a little more insight into the terrible pain and suffering people here have been through. Standing in the long grass/bush where children slept in fear of the rebels , it reminds me how thankful we should be to God because of the freedom and peace we enjoy.

There still remains a lot of desperation among the people, but there is a sense of joy and hope also, and an appreciation of their current reduction in fear, although some people are still too afraid to leave the camps.

I went with African Pastor Harrison to talk to people about the good news of Jesus for a few hours, and there was a lot of genuine joy and happiness among the many christians there. We spoke to quite a few people who were not saved there also, and it was interesting to hear their journey's. God can always bring good results from seemingly desperate tragedies, so it was amazing to see such hope and joy in such bleak circumstances. The pastor himself feeds his family and an additional 6 orphans with about $8 / month, which covers medical and travel expenses also.

They were generous and very community focused. If you were nearby at meal time, people would offer their food and hospitality. They feed each other's children and the many orphans in the camp are looked after as if they are their very own kids.

I spent time hanging out at night near the one television (they watch soccer each night- a game they love) and a pool table which up to 50 people might gather around to watch a game. Being white, many of them wanted to play against me, there were many good players there, but I represented Australia well.

Definately an experience which will stay with me for a long time. I would have liked to stay for a lot longer.

The trip home
We caught the bus from Lira back to Kampala, 7 hours. I stood the whole time in the central isle, at one point I was convinced we couldn't fit any more people on. They prooved me wrong by getting another 15 or so people onto the bus. So with chickens pooing on my shoes and plenty of sweat from nearby people, we got back safely. The road was built in the 60's and hasn't been redone since, so there are many dangerous potholes and jagged edges. I was least comfortable when the bus rides one side on the asphalt and one on the lower dirt shoulder, at fairly high speed. Especially since there was one overturned bus in a gully and two trucks also overturned that we saw on the way back. I'm not sure how many people died but I would be very surprised if none did in those other accidents. Long distance travel is always a bit risky over here

**A few more pictures for good measure**

So I've included 2 more snaps: this one is the master plan for Kenya Baptist, and shows the planned construction phases in different colors. It's 50 acres.


The other is a typical street scape from the 'CBD' in Kampala. The vehicle in front is a "taxi", a minivan. The Swahili word is 'Matatu', which isn't used in Kampala. You can travel several kilometers for only 40 cents. They operate on reasonably fixed routes, you just flag them down whenever they go past and tap the roof or say 'stage' to get out. Boda-boda's are motorcycle taxi's that are a little more expensive but go wherever you want. The equivalent to an Australian taxi is a "special hire", which are a car that goes wherever you want. Too expensive, although cheaper than Australia by far!

** Valentine's Day. **

Always the hopeless romantic, I thought "what better way to enjoy the day than drowning together in the Nile River". Similar to many men out there, Valentine's Day doesn't have as much signifigance for me, but I appreciated the chance to spend a day with Marianne.

She came down from Mbale for a week which was great, we had a few days together to catch up after a few months apart. She's involved with some great stuff up there which was encouraging to hear about. After being seperated a while, there is always some things to discuss together, so we spent some time doing that also.
Getting back to the drowning, we went white water rafting on the Nile. For those who are informed in these matters, level 5 rapids were the highest we rafted on. We avoided the level 6 rapids. That was a trip with several eMi team members, so it was a good day. There is nothing quite like being pounded by turbulent white water and wondering when you will be able to take another breath of air.
The rafting was one of our two planned eMi activities, the other being a dinner at the end. "Nile River Explorers" was the company we went with if you are ever near Jinja in Uganda.
PHOTOS:
Maz and the kids where she stayed in Kampala.
The Taxi Park in Kampala (at a quiet time).

** The first two weeks of Feb. **

Workwise I'm finishing another project called "Music for Life". They take children who are disadvantaged, orphaned or in poverty etc. and take them through school. Some of them, they teach into a choir and take them around the world. Apparently they are coming to Brisbane later this year. They have been a bit cramped at their current spot (a several story structure in Kampala). They are moving to a new site near Entebbe, so we are designing all the buildings/utilities etc. for them.

The weekends are a good chance to get involved with lots of things. I'm still just forming relationships. I will be playing soccer at an international school each Friday, I'm making some friends there. I also went to a baptism service for ~50 people, held on the shores of Lake Victoria. I have been to a few nearby churches, I plan to go another local church with a Ugandan friend David on Sunday. There are many ways you can be helpful over here, including little things such as tutoring someone or having a bible study. I went and played some games with kids at a local house today. They live close by and also attend the local church so I can imagine popping in there a bit.
PHOTOS:
The eMi office (where interns work).
View from the office
Baptisms at Lake Victoria.

**The Project Trip**

PICTURES: All taken on site in Limuru, Kenya.

So the last thing I wrote about was heading to Nairobi on the bus. It was a good 12 hour trip, as we passed directly through the Rift Valley, which is very beautiful. The occaional wildlife, such as a family of baboons or some wilderbeast dotted the landscape, along with herds of goats or cattle belonging to the local tribal herdsmen. The road was surprisingly passable, obviously not a western road but still quite good. Just swerve back and forth to avoid the worst potholes.
They gave us two boiled eggs for breakfast and at the half way stopover at Kisumu, I had a bowl of cow intestines which was excellent, although quite chewy. Interestingly, to get across the Ugandan/Kenyan border was 50 USD and the entire bus fare was 25 USD. Ground travel is very cheap here.
So we got into the bus park at Nairobi at night time. I don't think I've ever seen so many shady looking characters at one time. There are lots of pickpockets and conmen. The girls stayed inside the bus company lounge together while we moved our gear in (surveying instruments, bags, field tools etc.) Then a minivan from the ministry arrived. Unfortunately he locked his keys in, but it didn't take him long to break into the van. We then drove 40km's north to Limuru.
Kenya Baptist Theological College want to expand and become registered with the government. They have 50 acres of land to develope, the hope is to allow 1500 more students.

Our eMi team had 5 architects, 2 surveyors and 2 civil engineers, and me as a civil intern. A lady called Jill is married to the Civil Engineering Professor called Tom, she was a prayer supporter.

So we had pretty long hours for the week we were there, busily surveying the site, and designing the water/wastewater systems, as well as the architectural master plan and the plans for the most important buildings. A two storey admin. building, classrooms, a library, chapel, dorms & dining room, a theatre and soccer field are some of the larger components.

I met some great people there, so that was great. The site of the college is very beautiful. A training college called Brackenhurst is also at the same site and they have some great landscaping work. But in general, the country is more developed than Uganda.

So then we went back to Nairobi and most of the team went on Safari to the Masai Mara for a few days. They saw cheetahs, zebra's, lions, giraffes, elephants, a black rhino and many other animals.
Meanwhile, I kept a low profile in Nairobi, getting to know some locals, and also spending a bit of time wandering through the city markets, bargaining and being hassled. I had some good reflection time.

Then we travelled by bus back to Kampala on Feb 1st, it rained most of the way, so with mud on the windows and lots of mist, it didn't compare to the trip over. I also had a stomach ache so it wasn't so much fun. I met another Aussie girl though, the first Australian I had chatted to since leaving Melbourne airport.

PICTURES:
A town on the way to Nairobi (Kericho?)
Boy crossing ditch in Kampala
3 Rift Valley shots and a local church in Kenya.

Tea Plantations.

One thing I was thinking about before I came over here was about exploitation. How it works and why it still happens. Anyway, here are some shots of plantations, one shows eucalyptus trees for fuel, housing for the workers and tea in front. The other is "me in tea". I learnt how to pick it. They are paid around $100 AUD /month if they maintain their required production levels. Food isn't that cheap, so they struggle to get by on that. A dozen eggs would be over half that daily wage. Just thought people might be interested first hand.

** Light Hearted Stories **

Living in another culture, you always have occaision to laugh at small things that come your way.
I thought a few brief stories would be good.
The first Sunday after I left Australia, I was in a small Kenyan church for their Sunday morning service. When I went in, I thought I would sit next to a local to mix in a bit, make the effort to get to know them etc. Well I thought a young man and his brother would be ideal and culturally safe. It wasn't til after I sat down that I realised I had sat down next to a young woman and her son, no husband in sight. She took him out of the service at one point, and looking around I realised I was sitting in a ladies gallery, so I moved discretely to the other side of the church. They later assured me there was no gender divide but I was certainly sitting in 4 rows of ladies/ girls on the day.
A guy was trying to con me into buying some socks in Nairobi. He said "they're completely free from my company. Just say thank you." Standard trick to play on white tourists, to oblige them to buy. I promptly said thank you in Swahili,and laughingly followed it up with "but I don't want the socks". He thought it was a great joke and laughed to his friends.
I've some basics in swahili now, so it disarms the sales people when you use it on them. They know you are an informed Mzungu harder to rip off. They have all sorts of tricks in the markets of trying to get you to buy at high prices. They are a bartering/bargaining culture so its fun to fight over a price. You know they won't sell below their cost price, so it's good to find how muh something is worth. They all try to attract your buisness and the moment you say something they all hear and go and tell their buddies.
The instant you start conversing in Swahili, a knowing look comes over their eyes, often a toothy grin, especially if you appear to not know much initially. I think it is great fun, and they have a cackle too.
One persistent guy was funny. He was hassling me as they do, then I said to him that I am the kind of shopper that only buys if people leave me in complete silence. He promptly zipped his lip after saying equivalent to "hey, ok whatever makes you spend money is fine by me." Or in other shops, they give you the first price... and you say "no way" and turn to walk off. Then they half it almost immediately and say "we can give you a special discount". It's great fun, at least for me. Some of the team found it harder/ more uncomfortable.

** Some People I Have Met. **

I have met many interesting people, I could dedicate a day to writing about them and wouldn't do them all justice. I like meeting new people in Australia, I guess the difference over here is that people's experiences are so utterly different from my own in many cases. So I will pick just a few to briefly mention.

PASTOR GEORGE KARANJAR hosted our team in Kenya for a meal. They just have a humble piece of land with some huts. They have 3 cows and some coffee, maize and casava. His son Samuel has recently been married (after the dowry was settled of course) and George gave him a cow to get started. They live in a small hut that Samuel built on the same property and Samuel's dream is to have his own calf and a baby with his wife Rachel.
The hospitality they showed us was amazing and they spared no expense, sacrificing their own needs to provide us well. I think the equivalent hosting for us might be spending a few week's wages on a single evening for our guests. They love introductions and hearing what you do over in Kenya. I enjoyed chatting with Pastor George and hearing his dreams to see more people in his area know Christ. He wants to have enough money to send his children to school too.

WYCLIFFE is a guard at a guest house in Naiobi. He works there 72 hours per week. He lives in the slums 9 km's away, where he walks to and from each day. He only has a small lockable shack there, and his family of 5 children live in western Kenya, he gets to see them once every month or two, like many workers here in Nairobi. He is working so that they can all go to school and have enough food. He is a christian man so often reads the bible while guarding. He taught me a few hours of Swahili. He earns about $140 per month, which is for his family of 7 members.

STEVE & MELINDA.
I think these guys are a special story of God's grace and power to transform lives, so I asked if I could blog about them. Steve said that was fine, if God gets all the credit. Steve was an ardent atheist for many years, perhaps justified in his mind by the trumatic abuse he had suffered as a young child. Living completely for himself, it wasn't until a second marriage breakup that He came to an end of himself. 30 minutes after an attempted suicide, a christian friend whom he had known for quite a while rang him, wanting to tell him about Christ, not knowing anything about the breakup or desperation Steve was facing. Steve commited his life to following Jesus, and within the week, he didn't do drugs anymore. Some areas took longer to change though, and God is still at work. Although Steve has been diagnosed with a terminal illness, He keeps trusting God and is working here in Uganda for eMi as a staff member, already surprising doctors in his sustained health.
Melinda is married to him. They were young christians together and Melinda has her own story of drug and alcohol addiction for many years, which God changed after she followed Christ. They lived together unmarried for a while after becoming christians, but Melinda was convicted and told Steve that it couldn't continue, that obedience to God must come first. After some initial resentment and manipulation, Steve realised that this meant she could be trusted if she would put God first. They stopped living together and got married 3 months later. They have some kids now and have also adopted a small Ugandan girl from Jinja who is HIV positive, accepting the heartache it may bring sometime down the track. It's just great to see how God can work in any life, and works uniquely in each life according to our different needs. Steve adds "Remember, all glory to God."

As I meet people over here, each story is unsurprisingly different to my own. Many mzungu (white skin's) have quite interesting stories of why they have ended up here as missionaries or workers. You can never tell what someone's life-story is going to be like though, so I've enjoyed getting to know people and hearing their different experiences.

** Different Food to Try. **

Half the time you don't really know what you are eating, but it is simply mixed beans / vegetables etc. Lots of cabbage produces a high level of gaseous excretions from within the digestive system as our team discovered.

A bowl of cow intestines were quite tasty as we stopped at Kisumu on the bus trip, mashed squash leaves were also delicious in a Kenyan hut. Pineapples and mangoes are great, as are other fresh fruits when they are locally available. On the Project trip, local food was it except for our final dinner, which was at an Italian restaurant in Nairobi. They usually go to one called the Carnivore instead which used to serve Zebra and Giraffe etc. but doesn't anymore. Anyway the Italian was about 1/3 of the price it would be in Australia and was excellent food. I also had bamboo shoots and jew's ear Pork at a chinese place, for about $4-5. It's good to be able to eat cheap when on the road. I pretty much go what the locals like or whatever sounds most interesting when I have a choice. Haven't been sick much at all yet, although the excessive cabbage for several lunches in a row did give me a bit of stomach ache. That said, some food you eat does appear to be digestively processed rather efficiently.

** The Adventure of International Flights. **

Some of you may have wondered if I arrived safely and everything has been going alright. The answer is "Yes!"
I left on Monday afternoon and was supposed to touch down Tuesday night in Uganda ~38 hours later.
However, two cancelled flights meant I didn't actually get into Uganda until midday on Thursday. I thoroughly enjoyed the whole thing, but BIG thanks to Janet from eMi, who waited in vain for my flight until 4am the night of my cancelled flight from Nairobi. It was good to be able to offer any complexities straight to God's hands and know the peace of that in all my emotions.

PHILLIP
made the journey from Australia to Malaysia a great trip. We had long legs in common, so had managed to get exit row together. We chatted solidly for at least 6-7 hours of the 8 hour flight. He is a lawyer from the heart of London, over for the Ashes (to his dissapointment) and it was great to chat to him for so long, making the flight pass very quickly. It's great to meet friendly strangers on your travels, to learn a bit about them and hopefully keep in touch a bit too.
We spent some time together at the airport in Malaysia, although my stopover was an hour shorter so we eventually headed our seperate ways.
I boarded the 747 to Amsterdam, but there was a 20 minute delay forecast due to problems with the forward cargo hatch. After briefly chatting to the elderly Romanian couple beside me with their broken english, I went to sleep, according to my AntiJetLag theory. When I woke up 3 hours later, the 747 hadn't moved and shortly after we had to leave the aircraft. We lost our airspace window over Afghanistan, so I was content with the decision to avoid being shot down there.
I stayed at the airport for a few hours, it was a little chaotic figuring out what was happening, there are a lot of passengers on a full 747. Eventually, after sticking around to the last person, I got a new itinery to get to Uganda, as one of the flight legs which I had missed only flies once a week.

STAYING IN MALAYSIA
There were no KLM people at immigration by the time I got there, but they had left a general message to say we could stay at any hotel we wanted to, expense on them.
At 4:30am local time, I went through immigration, changed some money to RM and caught a taxi (mini van) to a hotel an hour from the airport which I knew some other passengers had gone to also.
After I was fairly convinced he was a legitimate guy and not going to knock me off in some dark alley, we struck up a happy chat in Malaysian (I learned Indonesian at Highschool) and finally arrived at the hotel. He only charged me a discounted rate and was very friendly, so if you are landing at Kuala Lumpur, let me know and I'll give you his mobile number, Kaye is his name. He does a cheap scenic tour of KL too, although I didn't take him up on that.
At 6:30am I had breakfast at the hotel, before going to sleep at 7am, setting the alarm for 12 noon. I woke up feeling refreshed and hearing the reverberating echos of the local mosque calling muslims to prayer. It was a giant mosque that echoed for about 5km's around. Later in the day I visited it with Judith. Judith works in Bristol, and had just visited her daughter in Australia. It was good to hear a bit of her life story and what's been happening in her life. I had just finished reading George Muellers autobiography before Leaving Oz, so I talked about it with her and she said the orphan buildins on Ashley downs are still there and heritage listed. I was encouraged to think about the lasting impact of this godly man and how God had used him so much.
We had buffe brekky, buffe lunch and buffe dinner thanks to KLM, so I tried a bunch of things that I didn't have a clue what they were or I would tell you.
Headed back to the airport and caught the new flight. By 1:30am or so, we were taking off and landed around 13 hours later, 6:30am in Amsterdam, my longest night ever. I slept 8 hours or so but forced myself to stay awake otherwise, praying and thinking, since all the lights were off. There was some rubbish on the inflight system, but my headphones were under my chair and I was too cramped to reach them anyway. I enjoyed the lights of Asia and Europe more anyway.

AMSTERDAM
has a huge airport so I cruised around for a while looking at things during my 4 hour stopover. The internet was very expensive so I gave it a miss. After deciding there wasn't too much of interest to me, I went and read the bible for an hour or two before the flight. Because of the cancellation they had upgraded my flight to Nairobi to Gold Class.

FIRST CLASS.
I doubt I would ever jutify it of my own choosing, but KLM World Buisness Class is pretty tops flying out of Amsterdam. They have a gourmet chef's menu which you pick your 3 course meals from and it was excellent food. You can make your chair a bed, but my AntiJetLag theory meant I chose to stay awake that whole flight. I watched a short video on Kenya, and an hour of Harry Potter 4, to discern whether it is morally good or bad. Otherwise I wasn't interested in any of the videos, although I toyed with watching "happy feet" or "open season". I ended up reading and journalling instead. They offer a large range of spirits and classy wines too. I stuck with ginger beer, coke and water. I was however, quite pleased to use the inflight email and text message utility in first class. It's kind of neat to send emails and texts from 40000 feet over Libya but cost a little bit, so only my girlfriend and parents benefitted from the gimmick. Sorry :).

NAIROBI
airport is quite a contrast to Schiphol International. They don't check passports much and the gates of flights change quite regularly, not that there are any signs to say where they are in the first place. To shorten a long story, several electrical faults delayed the flight for 3-4 hours, we boarded, the plane's lighting system was still working like a christmas tree, so the flight was cancelled and we had a night in downtown Nairobi. There are lots of suspicious looking characters in downtown Nairobi so at 4:30am in the morning, you just kept your eyes peeled. There are guards at every hotel anyway. Slept 3 hours, then a quick breakfast before heading back to the airport. I have some good videos of driving in a crowded Matatu (mini van taxi) in Kenya. The road rules are (in general), give way to a heavier vehicle than yours & tooting means "I'm here".
I received $100 for inconvenience which promptly got stolen, ah well, money I wasn't expecting I guess, but also a realistic introduction to Nairobi. Theft and violent crime are very common in Nairobi.
The flight to Entebbe was delayed as they tried to check all of us on (including our luggage) through one counter. They opened a few more eventually which sped things up.

HIDDEN BEAUTY
The flight to Entebbe (where Uganda's national airport is) was beautiful. Interesting to look at the terrain and agriculture below and also the clouds were stunning, fluffy and motionless. It was very spiritually uplifting too. I was meditating on the fact that certain beauty could only be witnessed after the invention of air travel. I reflected that God too has much hidden beauty, beauty that we haven't even imagined let alone glimpsed. Then I realised that although we only know a small amount of God's beauty, as He gazes upon one of His spiritual children, He sees the entire righteousness of Christ in all it's unveiled fullness. It really uplifted and humbled my heart.
Unfortunately my camera was in the lockers, as we were ascending still with seatbelts on. No shot I took of sunsets/sunrises/clouds did justice to them anyway.

These pictures are taken in the first leg & the stay in Malaysia. 1) The plane at Melbourne 2) a sunset shot over Malaysia 3) My hotel room on 10th floor, courtesy KLM. 4) buffe brekky, before hitting bed. 5) me in the dining room. 6) random fountain. 7) my hotel 8)the mosque 9) view from my window.

** Introductory Thoughts. **

JOURNEY IS A GREAT WORD.
It captures a sense of adventure, purpose, the unknown. To live and work in East Africa for 6 months is quite a journey for me. My first time overseas, and you don't know what to expect once you leave your comfortable home environment.
Thanks to everyone who has joined me on this journey, whether you met me on a flight or some other stange place and for those who have been journeying with me from the beginning.
I join an organisation fully staffed by volunteers, supported both by their own funds and the generous gifts of others. Engineering Ministries International (eMi) have served in over 80 different countries. Any project that both helps the poor and has the growth of God's kingdom at it's heart is likely to be considered. Hospitals & clinics, schools and universities, water supply, churches etc. have all been designed and built. Engineers, Surveyors, Architects & Project Managers are the general types of professionals that eMi largely consists of.

NOBODY REALLY CARES.
Several people have said one of the hardest things about going home is that most people don't really care about what you have experienced and aren't really interested in hearing the details. While this may be the case for some, I think it's not about uncaring people as much an unshared experience, at least for many friends. I know all the people who will read this blog regularly are interested/care a lot. But it is impossible to get it all across as some things have to be experienced. So I'll do my best to paint a good picture of my experiences, with the hope that you can partake in this journey. I'd love people to email me with what is happening in their life too, so that I can share in your journeys too, especially as I will be far away from your experiences. Every one of us has a very different story and we can grow lots by listening to others stories.

BLOG STYLE.
I aim to give everything good headings so that a quick browse can take you to the information that catches your interest, I'll try to get a good assortment of photos up too. I'm going to post things very much from my perspective at the time I saw them. There should be a mix of experiences, spiritual growth and other thoughts.