Favorite Memories of our Trip to Africa

 I thought it would be fun to publish a collection of favorite memories from our trip to Africa.    Here are two memories written by two of my kids.   I'll publish more as they come.   :) 

Written by Emma:  
I step off the cool, air-conditioned bus, squinting in the bright African sun. There are a few village kids watching our group shyly as we make our way to the large pile of bricks and begin passing them down our human assembly line. After a sweaty hour or so hauling bricks, I take a quick water break and notice the growing group of kids again, just watching. A few other volunteers and I make our way over to say hi and high-five the little ones. Before I know it, a little girl grabs my hand and we start to throw a ball around, more kids joining in as we play. I see a small baby strapped to the back of his (also young) sister and hold my arms out to hold the baby, hoping the little girl would be able to go play without having to feel responsible for her brother, even just for a few minutes. And a few minutes was all it was before the baby started crying and his sister immediately came back to take him. 

The next few hours are a blur of “patty-cake,” nail polish, and “duck, duck, goose.” Everything we do attracts more and more kids to play with us. Others though just sit and watch, laughing at me when I slip every time I run around the circle for “duck, duck, goose.” When I go to rest under the tree, some of the moms come up to me and try to talk in broken English. I can’t understand what they’re saying, but they keep laughing and stroking my hair and my arm, so I think they must have just been wanting to touch a “mzungu”. 

As we leave the village, I reflect on what I just experienced. I keep thinking about the joy they have. They don’t have much. Pretty much just basic necessities. That’s why they got so excited even to just get a single crayon and coloring sheet. They didn’t need stuff to keep them happy. They had each other. They had us.


Written by Spencer:  
It's hard to imagine needing to overcome such simple and yet overwhelmingly important obstacles like how to collect enough water for your family or what to do with the baby while you cook dinner; yet unfailingly locals we interacted with approached these with a smile and word of encouragement to us, when by all accounts it should have been the other way around. The particularly strong example of this that comes to mind is a boy who lived in the village where we were building a school. He came up to me and wanted the same things all the other kids wanted- a hug, a shoulder ride, even just a smile or to hold our hand for a bit. But after we had introduced ourselves to all the kids and split off to work on different projects for the day, this young boy followed us around wherever we went and wanted nothing more than to help us with our work. It's so easy to look at the people we were helping and see them based on what they didn't have, but the more time we spent with them the more I realized that the list of intangibles they possessed was not only much longer, but far more valuable.

Stay tuned...more memories to come!  

What We Did on Our Humanitarian Trip to Uganda

 

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”   Margaret Mead

I've had a ton of people ask us for more details about the humanitarian trip to Uganda our family participated on this past Christmas. It was an incredible, life-changing experience, and I don't think my words or pictures could ever do it justice, but I thought I'd try to share a little glimpse of it here for those who are curious.    (Read this other post if you're interested in hearing about how this trip came to be)

We went on this trip  with high expectations and it exceeded them all.   We'd forgone our Christmas presents to help make the trip possible and I have to say that it ended up being the perfect mix of work and play, especially for the more hesitant of us in our family. Just when we were completely exhausted from the long days of service, we had the opportunity to do something fun. I thought that the organization we worked with (Family Humanitarian) has the right idea--get people to the country, introduce them to the locals, and get their feet wet in doing some good. Though the work we did was focused on a small group of people, I wholeheartedly feel that the work we did was impactful for the people we interacted with AND now they've got a whole big group of vested people who care and are looking for ways to continue to contribute and make a difference. People who have been on the ground, seen the problems first hand, and developed a love for the people are ones that are poised to make an even bigger impact in the future. 

Uganda has one of the highest birth rates in the world, and only 22% of the population has access to electricity and about 30% have access to clean water. Most of their population lives in rural, agrarian communities, and as such very few Ugandans are able to attend school for very long. They’re needed for help taking care of household tasks and with the care of their siblings (I can’t even tell you how many young kids we saw taking care of babies).

  One day we sat with a family to de-kernel corn with them--a task which was surprisingly difficult for us--and watched with amazement as their 4-year-old daughter was able to do it far more efficiently than we could! She'd clearly had plenty of practice.  And I have to say that after helping a family tote their {very heavy} water jugs from the local well about 1/2 mile away I was humbled to think how little thought we give to turning on a faucet here at home while they spend much of their time and energy getting the water their families need.    Additionally, many of the adults we talked to lamented that their families had not been able to pay their school fees and thus had their education cut much shorter than they wanted. Just like any parent anywhere, they wanted more for their children.

We had two main objectives in our service (in no particular order).

1.  help a local Uganda-based organization with clean water training and water filter installation

2.  help with projects at a school  that is being funded by Family Humanitarian but is being built primarily by local skilled labor


 Here's a glimpse in a little more detail what each of those looked like...

OBJECTIVE #1:  Clean water and hygiene training:
We worked with a Ugandan organization on this project. The local organization had a structure in place, as well as a list of who in the community hadn't received the training and the water filters yet. They had us, from Family Humanitarian, teaching a series of lessons on hygiene and clean water to small groups of locals. Because we were in small groups, we had the opportunity to be interactive and to answer questions. They shared with us some of the struggles they face accessing clean water and how heartbreaking it was for their children to be sick with diseases such as cholera, typhoid, dysentery, all of which still kill people in Africa regularly and can be prevented with better access to clean water. It was eye-opening and humbling.

After the training, we were able to work one-on-one with people and show them how to use and install a simple water filter affixed to a bucket. Though these water filters are simple, they are also durable, effective, and 100% operable and maintainable independently by the families that received the filters. They last about 10 years and filter out 99.99% of harmful pathogens. The families we left the filtration units with can simply pour their water (straight from the river, community well, or wherever) into the bucket and VOILA clean water comes out through the filter ready to drink. Family Humanitarian donates the buckets and water filters and coordinates with the Ugandan organization to distribute them. The people are absolutely thrilled to receive the filter and bucket and many expressed how much it meant to them to know that their families would have clean water now. 

OBJECTIVE #2:  Help with projects at a primary school being funded by Family Humanitarian:

"EDUCATION IS ONE OF THE MOST EFFECTIVE WAYS TO REDUCE POVERTY AND IMPROVE HEALTH, GENDER EQUALITY, PEACE AND OVERALL STABILITY." 

 Quote from Family Humanitarian website 

The school is being funded by Family Humanitarian but is actually being built by locals. We were there to help with several projects related to the construction and preparation of the school to be opened.

 

 We helped move some heavy materials to where they needed to be (many hands make light work), we helped build the latrine, built and stained some bookshelves, and most meaningful of all...got to help fill those bookshelves with books we'd brought from home! Family Humanitarian believes strongly in education over handouts and we were thrilled to be able to contribute to that school's ability to provide an education for the children in their community.

The community members were so EXCITED about that school being built and we talked to several proud parents who were thrilled that their children would have the opportunity to go to school for the first time. In fact, interacting with the members of the community that lived around the school was one of our very favorite parts about our time there. At any given time, some or all of our group was holding, entertaining, and playing with the children who swarmed us the second we stepped off the bus. We weren't allowed to give them food, candy, toys, or handouts of any kind, so they weren't clamoring for things, as much they were just clamoring to be held or talked to.  We colored together, painted their nails, played ball with them, sang songs and danced with them, read books, and just played like all kids everywhere like to play. 

 

 

 Most of the younger kids did not speak English yet and wanted to just hold our hands or jump into our arms and snuggle. Most of the older kids spoke at least a little English  and they seemed just eager to be near us and to talk to us. As a family full of introverts, being surrounded by people for so long was tiring, but our exhaustion was tempered with the awe we felt. These people had so very little--and were still glowing with happiness. 

  
I feel like I need to be honest that this trip did not come without difficult emotions. From the moment we arrived, it was painful to be confronted with our own privilege in such a stark way. It hurt to be surrounded by so many hungry children while we had backpacks full of snacks to eat between our three square meals every day. Thoughts of “are we really doing any good” were ample as we returned to our gated, guarded lodging (complete with a private chef and running water) each night while the kids we spent the whole day with went to sleep on the dirt ground. I can understand why so many people have concerns about "voluntourism" and whether humanitarian trips such as this one actually do any good. To people with those concerns, I would like to say two things:

•  We were very intentional about choosing an organization  that aligned with our ideals and did what we believed was the "right" kind of service. Family Humanitarian is very cognizant of making sure that the service they support is impactful, sustainable, and does not foster dependence. They work side-by-side with Ugandan based organizations to make sure their service is making a difference where it matters and really focus on educating and empowering the locals to improve their own lives. I loved that they hire locals to lead the expeditions. Our expedition leaders, cooks, drivers, etc. were all locals. The actual builders and director of the school they are building are locals too.

• Despite choosing the best organization we could find, we still felt our share of guilt and constantly wondered if we were really doing the most we could to help the people we were serving. I think that’s the whole point of trips like this; in battling these emotions we found an increased empathy for people who really aren’t so different from us. In the discomfort of facing our privilege, we were able to break down cultural barriers and exist with the Ugandan people in their reality as they welcomed us into their homes, communities, and lives. It is obvious that we gained just as much if not more from the people we were serving than they did… and I think that makes the importance of this trip even more obvious. We don’t serve just for others, we serve to change our own hearts.

We left our time there with blistered hands, clothes caked in the red dirt, and our hearts and eyes opened to the beautiful Ugandan people. I don't think anyone needed us to be there to accomplish the work that we did, but we needed to be there to let these experiences and people sink deep into the chambers of our hearts. We needed to see how much we take for granted in our comfortable lives. We needed to see that the people in Sub-Saharan Africa are just like the people everywhere else in the world. They are intelligent, loving, hard-working, and just want a better life for their children. We didn't change the world, but I believe that we absolutely did make a difference in the lives of the people with whom we were fortunate enough to work.   If you ever get the chance to do this kind of trip with your family, jump at it.    You'll never be the same.

“Do a little bit of good where you are. It is those little bits of 
good put together that overwhelm the world.”   Desmond Tutu

 

How Our Humanitarian Trip to Africa Came to Be

 For a long time, I've longed to take our family on a humanitarian trip.  I talked to friends and looked into many options over the years, but never found one that seemed like a good fit for our family. Then sometime last year I heard about an organization called, "Family Humanitarian."

Family Humanitarian was everything we were looking for.   They are not interested in just bandaid fixes that cover problems and don't do any real long-term good.  They strictly forbid their participants from bringing handouts and  they earnestly seek to work with local organizations and people to do projects that are sustainable and focus on education.   I loved the idea that we would be busy and engaged in doing and supporting a good cause, but in a way that did not harm the local economy or make the people we were serving more reliant on others.   The goal is education, health, and self-reliance.   Add to that that they are family friendly and include some cool sightseeing trips on the side, and it was the perfect balance of work and play we were looking for and we decided to go for it.   
Family Humanitarian offers a variety of options for locations and timing of  service expeditions.   With kids in college or working, one that hopes to leave on a mission at the end of the school year, and Glen with an intense job, we really felt like Christmas was the only option for timing for us.   Location wise we were drawn to Peru and Uganda with Uganda being our strong preference, but since only Peru had a scheduled expedition at Christmas, that's where we put our efforts.   We researched, discussed our budget and other considerations,  made the decision, and signed up.  But we were too late.   We had no idea that the trips filled so fast. 

 I had felt such strong impressions that our family needed to do this trip, it was discouraging to only be on the waiting list, but still we held out hope that something would work out.   In the meantime, we decided to keep our Christmas calendar completely open.  I didn't even buy the kids their tickets home from college, because I wanted to be sure about dates before committing to anything. 

Sure enough, somewhere along the way we were contacted and informed that, because there were so many people on the waiting list, that they were considering opening up another expedition or two at Christmastime.   We were totally thrilled when Uganda was mentioned as one of those potential add-on trips.  A trip to Guatemala was the first to get added.   We considered it, but reluctantly decided to wait to see if Uganda would open up too.  Eventually it did... but only if they could get the minimum number of participants to commit.   

At this point, the spiritual impression that this was something that our family needed to do had only grown stronger.   We jumped at the chance and hoped and prayed that other families would feel the same pull, so that the trip could happen.

We didn't hear officially that the trip was a go until mid-October, a fact which was frustrating to me as the planner and organizer of our family, but we were truly so excited that it was hard to focus on the frustrating aspect of it.   

At that point, it was full speed ahead with buying plane tickets, getting the right vaccinations, visas, preventative medications, etc...all with us living in different states.    Stay tuned for the next blogpost, which will be about some of those preparations...