Smile because it happened

"I wanna leave my footprints on the sands of time/ Know there was something that means something that I left behind."

Beyonce

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I've been home for almost two weeks now, so I should probably let you all know what happened my final week in Uganda. It was a good one!

Well, I guess the first part of the week was a little bittersweet. We had to say goodbye to some really great friends. We lived across the street from the Mormon missionaries all summer, and Nozi and Edman got transferred to a different area. They were the two who were in Lugazi when Tessa and I first arrived, so they had been with us the whole time. It was sad to see them go, but we're really proud of them. They're doing amazing things!

From left to right: Edman, Nozi (on the ground...),
me (obviously), Ogolla, and Bokwe

I told Nozi that before he left, I had to get him and Bokwe speaking the click language on video. Nozi was a little camera shy, but I got my video anyway!

The next day was my birthday! I honestly wasn't expecting much, and I was completely okay with that. I was just looking forward to celebrating with my family when I got home. That being said, we couldn't have a birthday without cake! I had been promising the Musana women since the beginning of the summer that I would bring cake for them on my birthday. My dad offered to buy two cakes in order to feed all the women and their kids who came to the workshop. Thanks Dad! It was a huge success.

These women know how to make a girl feel loved. And they weren't the only ones who made my birthday incredible. I'm pretty sure Tina was the mastermind behind the little party. Tessa and Courtney surprised me with that sign. (I ruined the surprise a little bit... sorry for coming home in the middle of the day.) Lehla joined me on a little adventure to Jinja. Kathryn gave me lots of chocolate and Gorillos and Novida. Our neighbor Fred dropped off some sparkling cider. And Bokwe made another cake for me! Clearly I was surrounded by kind, amazing, and loving friends this summer.

I couldn't leave Africa without going on a safari, and what better time to do it than the weekend after my birthday? It rained all day, so the streets were incredibly muddy. Lehla, Courtney, and Tessa headed up to Kampala in the morning, and Kathryn and I followed a few hours later. While we were in the taxi, a flying mud ball came speeding through the window and smacked Kathryn in the face. That's probably a good omen or a sign of luck somewhere in the world, right?

I'll never be able to look at this picture without
laughing.

While trying to navigate the Kampala taxi park at night, I reached a whole new level of tourism: I actually wore my backpack on my front. I'd been able to avoid doing that throughout my travels for the first 22 years of life, but I guess there's a first time for everything.

Long story short, we survived Kampala in the dark and made it safely to our safari company's hostel. And the next morning, we were off to Murchison Falls!

We started with a boat cruise on the Nile.

There were lots of hippos. Tons.

We saw one elephant, but it was too far away to get a picture of it.

We got up close and personal with a crocodile.

And we were lucky enough to see a little National Geographic action. Yes, that is a dead hippo floating belly-up. And yes, that is a crocodile celebrating his good fortune at finding dinner.

There was no shortage of wildlife sightings the whole time. Warthogs were constantly roaming around our campground.

I've never seen a more disgusting-looking mammal.

But the most exciting visitor we had in our campground was a hippo! A full-grown hippo! She showed up after it was already dark, so I wasn't able to get a picture of her. We saw her wandering around at dinner time, and I thought she had left by the time I was ready to sleep. Lehla and I went to our tent to get ready for bed; we were having a little trouble with our lantern, so Lehla took it back to the main area of the campground to get it fixed. While I was laying there in the darkness, I heard shuffling and munching noises coming from just outside the tent. I thought it was a herd of warthogs... I was wrong. The hippo was back, and she was only 6ish feet from my tent! She eventually wandered away, and I heard Kathryn and Courtney (who were in the tent right next to mine) whispering to me. "Katie! Did you see that?" They came over to my tent and we waited for the hippo to return. She eventually came back with a group of Germans following her - they were trying to get pictures and were using the flash. I was convinced that she would get so aggravated with them, she would start stampeding. Good news, she kept her cool the whole time and just wandered off to another area of the campground.

And then came the exciting part. Lehla came back with the repaired lantern. Just as she was slipping inside the tent, we noticed that the hippo was back again. She was just a few yards behind Lehla! We left the lantern outside the tent and just watched. The hippo slowly made her way over to our tent, eating grass along the way, until she was right next to us - she was bumping the side of our tent. Her face was just inches from ours with nothing but the canvas wall of the tent in between us! A few times, she stopped eating and just listened. We all held our breath and prayed that she didn't hear us. I don't know how happy she would have been if she realized that four tiny human girls were just 6 inches from her face. It was equally terrifying and thrilling.

While Lehla was still out getting the lantern fixed, Courtney, Kathryn, and I made a video documenting our feelings about facing a hippo. Enjoy!

The next morning was much calmer. We got up pretty early and headed out on a game drive.

From left to right: Johannes, Noureddine, Kathryn, me, Courtney,
and Anna

Ready to see some African wildlife!

We saw various species of deer.

We saw whole herds of water buffalo.

The one on the right is telling us to stop staring
and keep moving. That's why his nose is up like that.

We saw quite a few giraffe, but these two year old twins were my favorite.

We even helped this other safari van get out of a ditch it had driven into.

I was hoping that our good deed would give us good karma - and good karma for me meant seeing a lion. Unfortunately I was disappointed. All the lions were hiding from us that day. I guess that just means I need to go back to Africa someday so I can see my lion in the wild.

We finished up the day by hiking to Murchison Falls.

On our last day on safari, we went to visit some rhinos. Rhinos were declared extinct in Uganda years ago, so now you have to go to a sanctuary to see them. The sanctuary we went to has 15 rhinos, but we only saw these three.

If I remember correctly, their names are Justice, Malaika, and Laloyo.

And that wrapped up our safari! I'm still pretty disappointed about the whole lion thing, but it was an amazing experience overall.

Our group: Lehla, me, Kathryn, Noureddine, Courtney, Anna, Basil,
Scott, and our guide Jumo.

 We got back to Lugazi Sunday night, and Monday was my last day.

We came together, we got sick together, we laughed
together, we left together...

I was determined to eat one weird thing in Uganda. I hoped that weird thing would be crocodile, but unfortunately that didn't happen. Luckily for me (would you consider it lucky?), Tina had some white ants for lunch on my last day.

I ate one. Just one. I ate a bug and checked that item off my bucket list. And then Tina tried to convince my mother that she should also be eating bugs:

I purposely wasn't thinking about my flight home all day because I didn't want to cry. And I was doing pretty well! I even got to the point where I could talk about going home without tearing up. But then I had to start saying goodbye. And the second I picked up Nicole, my resolve disappeared and I was sobbing. All the kids who were watching me say goodbye thought I was a little crazy.

My three months in Uganda were indescribable. I worked hard to hopefully make Lugazi a better place for these women. In between my working hours, I had so many adventures that I wouldn't trade for the world. I met amazing people who will always hold a piece of my heart. I'll admit, I experienced times of disappointment, frustration, annoyance, and homesickness. But when I look back, those little snags don't even make an impact on my experience. Instead, what comes to mind is only love and happiness. I remember blowing bubbles and playing Frisbee with the neighborhood kids. I remember game nights with the missionaries. I remember movie Saturdays with Nicole and Jonah. I remember visiting the women in their homes and how excited they were to show me where they live. I remember bantering with Tina. I remember making paper beads with the artisans. I remember bonding with my roommates. I remember feeling overwhelming love when the women thanked us for treating them as equals.

But mostly, I remember Musana: strength, determination, sacrifice, love, loyalty, sisterhood, and sunlight.

A Musana woman is a light in her community

"Life's most persistent and urgent question is: 'What are you doing for others?'"

Martin Luther King, Jr

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Up until now, I've pretty much exclusively posted about the adventures I've gone on while I've been here. Now don't get me wrong, I have loved every second of my experiences here and I'm obviously excited to share them with all of you. However I didn't come here for me. I came here for the amazing Musana women and they deserve their moment in the sun.

I can't imagine what my summer would have been like without this woman bossing me around. Tina is a force of nature. Simply put, she gets stuff done. She's a diva and a boss and a comedian and a mother and a matchmaker and a bestie... I'm going to miss her more than I can bear.

Allen works at Musana over the summer so she can pay her own way through university. Anybody with that much determination earns a world of respect in my book.

Betty effuses love. She has overcome huge struggles in her life, yet she still loves instantly and effortlessly.

This picture totally captures Cathy's spirit. She has a wonderful passion for life - she gets excited over the smallest things.

She definitely lives up to her nickname - Mama Christine. She honestly cares about everyone and wants nothing more than to see you happy.

Cissy is a natural-born leader. In some ways, she's Tina's right-hand woman. She just gets it. I know that's not very descriptive, but I really don't know how else to put it into words. She can do anything.

Eve has more sass in one strand of hair than most people have in their whole bodies. She has an unshakable positive attitude and keeps the workshop laughing throughout even the longest days.

Fina has a very calming presence. Everything about her is soothing - her voice, her aura, her smile. Everything.

Florence is up for anything. She'll work hard on new jewelry designs. She's eager to learn English. She's even ready to try out push-ups and planks in exercise class.

Harriet's quirky sense of humor comes out of left field. She's proof that first impressions aren't always accurate. I thought she was introverted... until I saw her cracking jokes that kept the Musana women in a constant fit of giggles.

Immaculate's got some killer dance moves. One minute, she's sitting serenely in her chair working on a piece of jewelry. The next minute, she's shakin' it in the middle of the dance circle.

It's easy just assume that if a person here is quiet, then than means that they don't understand English and therefore can't communicate with you. But you know what they say about assuming... Joyce A. may be quiet, but once you get her talking, you'll realize that she has quite a good grasp on the English language.

Joyce N. is SuperMom. Because her disabled husband is unable to work, she leaves her family in Jinja every week to take on the role of breadwinner. She'd sacrifice anything for her family.

I don't think the workshop would run as smoothly as it does if Madiina wasn't around. What Madiina says goes, but she never gets power-hungry. She's humble and soft-spoken and kind. Everyone loves her.

I think Monica's smile powers the African sun. There's no such thing as a bad day when Monica is around.

Prosy makes you feel like you're the most worthwhile person in the world. When she sees you, her whole face lights up like she just won the lottery.

Give Resty an inch and she'll take a mile. She invests the money she makes at Musana into a side business selling charcoal that is flourishing quite nicely. Just give her a little more time and she'll be the top charcoal tycoon in Uganda.

Beyonce wrote her hit "Run the World" after meeting Robina. Okay, I made that up. But it could be true! She's a fighter who will always stand up for herself and the people she loves.

If everyone had Rosette's work ethic, this world would be a much more productive place. She never had the opportunity to go to school, but that doesn't slow her down! She naturally and easily picks up any new skill you throw at her.

The love you take is equal to the love you make. Ruthie understands that more than anybody. It seems like everyone in Lugazi wants to be Ruthie's best friend, and it's because she so freely loves.

Specioza embodies selflessness. Here's a little anecdote to illustrate: a few years ago, her neighbor abandoned her newborn child. Specioza adopted the baby girl, no questions asked, even though she already has a large family of her own.

Susan's a great friend to have. She's fiercely loyal and has got your back no matter what. Like today for example, she chased away a creepy man who wouldn't leave me alone. Like I said, she's got my back.

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Giving credit where credit is due: all the pictures are from the Musana website. I hope I didn't break any laws or anything by putting them on my personal blog...