Tears of Joy & Sorrow

My trip has been filled with intense moments of sheer joy and utter sorrow:

-while at the acholi slums, a mother asked my friend to please take her baby

-the singing that greeted us as we met the acholi quarter leaders

-listening to a woman from the acholi slums speak of losing three children to HIV and contracting the disease herself from caring for their wounds

-when the workers at the birthing center building site followed us out with laughter & fun after days of building bricks/structures together

-meeting the 92-year old woman that walks to the birthing center site each week to help dig & plant a garden with the other volunteer women

-sharing traditional african fare of matoke (boiled/masked plaintain), greens, potatoes, rice, beans and g-nut sauce (peanut-like sauce) with the women at the birting center site

-unloading and sorting through our 20 humungo duffle bags of donations for distribution to the slums/birthing center/orphanage/school

-peering into a dank, dark room where all 125 HIV orphans sleep on less than 80 beds and replacing the disgusting "mattresses"

-realizing that the gaping sores on an orphan's leg were not scrapes but telltale HIV sores that will cover his body in days to come

-writing my name in the orphanage's guest-book under a woman's comment "brought in my child"

-Abdi's smile

My Second Angel

My second angel was at the birthing clinic for HIV women. There, the women learn to make beads/necklaces/bracelets & purses/bags for income to support each other and their families.

My second angel was a little boy named Abdi. He has a beautiful smile and shiny, happy eyes. His grandma was one of the first women I noticed--so tall and stately in her finest purple & gold embossed dress.

She introduced me to her grandson stating simply "This one is deaf." He came up to my shoulder, but was bent over with a curved spine that gave him a limp. Though I could not always understand his sign language, we communicated just fine. We played clapping games, took pictures of people and each other, and practiced yoga from our chairs, following the women and children from the sidelines. At the end of the day, he picked out a beautiful beaded bracelet for me that his grandma made.

Like the little girl in the Acholi slums, Abdi's joy and spirit captured my heart. Naturally then I worry about these children's future. What will become of Abdi when his grandma passes? How long will my little spitfire's eyes gleam with spunk and spirit? I don't know the answers to these questions and when I get too far ahead of myself, I try to return to the present, to the now. In this moment, they are alright & happy.

We are bringing them, their families, and communities both immediate and longer term assistance--food & medicine for today & buildings/clean water systems/shelter/schools for tomorrow--with the goal that these projects will ensure a better chance for a healthy & happy future.

My sincerest thanks to all the people that supported these project and my angels!

My First Angel

My first angel lives in the Acholi slums. The slums are located on the outskirts of Kampala and are inhabitated by 1000 families that have been mainly displaced from Northern Uganda. Most of the families fled the north years ago because the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) was pillaging villages, killing thousands, and kidnapping children to populate the "child army."

Although the violence in the north has subsided with the LRA's retreat to Sudan, the people of the Acholi slums cannot return to the north for lack of livelihood. To do so would also require that they start over and rebuild their homes. In addition, they fear the return of the LRA.

We visited the slums bringing rices, beans, sugar, flour, soap and worm pills for distribution to the families. We also brought books, toys, and clothes for the chidren.

The slums are like nothing that I had ever seen/smelled or imagined. Clay homes, no bigger than the size of my hotel bathroom, house entire families. Hundreds of these homes sit within a couple of yards from each other on a steep clay hillside, and dirty water trickles between them down the incline.

And amongst it all this, I saw my first angel. I little spitfire with a twinkle in her eye and new stickers on her forehead. She was about six years old and had the loveliest brown eyes. She picked me and wouldn't let go of my hand. When I eventually had to board the bus, she glared at me with angry eyes that said "You are leaving me here." My heart broke. I stared back saying "I cannot take you." So that I didn't cry in front of her, I did something to make her laugh.

I say she was my angel because she still has hope & spirit in a place where squalor, filth, and poverty unceasingly reign.

Blogs on Oprah & Yoga Journal

You can read about our Africa trip on Oprah's oprah.com in the SPIRIT section. There, trip leader and OTM founder Seane Corn is blogging about the project. We are also posting blogs from our group on Yoga Journal's website.

Yes, I am in Africa!

I have been in Africa for about a week and finally have computer access! Not that it mattered because the first five days, I couldn't put my experiences into words. It has taken me some time to process--there have been moments of utter sorrow, those of fun and laughter, and of course, tears. I will write about it here in the days to come!

Megan

Breakin' ground!

Thanks to all my donors/supporters, I am prepping for my February trip to Uganda--getting my final round of shots, gathering birthing blankets/books for the birthing center & orphanage, and finalizing my travel arrangements. I will be blogging for Yoga Journal throughout my stay in Africa, but wanted to share the pix of the school ground-breaking with you now.

Many thanks and all my best this New Year!

Megan

We Did It!!!

Together we raised $22,356.50 for African children infected/orphaned/affected by HIV & AIDs. Add that to the other project participants' contributions, and together we raised $500,000!

I want to thank each and every person who lent their support to me this year through their donations, time, and kind words! There is no way I could have journeyed this far without you and I will never forget your support.

Though I will be traveling to Africa to work with these children, and help build the school & birthing center, I will be sure that they know of the many friends back home that care about them as well.

I will be blogging for Yoga Journal throughout my stay so you can see the wonderful work you made possible!!

Megan