Returning to the Source

Well, we took the orphans to Sipi Falls...and it went off without a hitch! Who knew it could be possible? Nothing ever really goes exactly as planned, especially in Africa. Well this did. We took over 70 people on a rented bus and drove them an hour outside of Mbale. The bus even had music! Those kids felt like town celebrities. Everybody stopped what they were doing to gawk at us. The kids loved it. They could have just driven back and forth from Mbale all day and been psyched!
It was fun to see the students interact with the local kids from Sipi. Some memorable moments were one female student refusing to come over and talk to an older boy who was calling her over by saying "No, I will not come because you are only interested in playing sex." I guess the woman's group is paying off. Another smooth conversation starter was "So...do you have cows?" One student rattled off a long fast sentence in Ligisu knowing full well that the young boy he was speaking to spoke an entirely different language. After he finished, he said "how are you?" in English. After the young boy dutifully and enthusiastically responded, our student replied with "Well at least you know something!"
I love these kids. They all did their best to look their best. They brought their fliest jackets and their Sunday church shoes. Many of them quickly kicked them off once we started hiking because they were better off without them. They were so cute.
Our contact Sam gave us a royal welcome. He provided us with a guide and hosted us at his home, which overlooked the plains below and one of the Falls. Beautiful! He also provided us with a lunch fit for kings and queens. We were very grateful and appreciative. In the end, we left with everyone we brought and in the words of the wise and ancient Bruce Saxman "There was no loss or gain of life." Wakinyala! (Well done!).
Our trip to Sipi was not the end of our adventure this weekend. Oh no! The bus dropped us off at Mbale and we hunted for a ride to Jinja, the headwaters of the great Nile River. We found a bus by 5:30 pm and it left when we were full, 7 pm. The impetus of our trip to Jinja, the "adventure capital of Uganda", was for a little R &R. Therese and I went to raft the Nile! We didn't tell our families because we new what they would think. Crazy? Maybe so, when you factor in that the Nile River has some of the fiercest whitewater in the world. I have been rafting before. You are a cattle on the way to market. You are a passenger not crew, and the ride is very fun but rarely dangerous. The Nile is an all together different story! I have never seen water with such fury in my life! Consistent Class V with mandatory portages of extremely technical and deadly waterfalls. One of which was called the Dead Dutchmen, named after a man who was attempting to paddle from Source to Sea. He allegedly opted to run the class VI and died after only traveling a half day. Bummer.
Our 1st rapid, Class V, was directly beside the Dead Dutchmen, and it was an eight foot waterfall with a ridiculous amount of water pounding over it. Our guide Paulo felt compelled to take us over backwards. Therese and I were in the bow and swam immediately. It was like being in an angry washer machine! That 1st rapid injured three different people and two had to be evacuated to the nearest medical center (a scary adventure in itself). Our boat ran the rest of the day with four people. We hit the meat every time; and got worked, every time! It was honestly the most fun I have had in a long time. And I am glad that no one I love (Therese) was hurt. It was very exciting being on such a historic river and yes, I was worried about snakes and crocs. Paulo assured us that the crocs in the Nile were all vegetarians. Likely not. We also saw something called a Mountain River Lizard? It looked like a Kimono Dragon.
At the end of the day it was nice to take a shower (my first in almost 6 weeks), have a beer (Nile Special of course) and eat a meal that did not consist of chapatti, rice, beans, cabbage or eggplant. I am refreshed and ready to return to work. Today I helped make concrete and move bricks at the new site. I love working with my hands. It is such a change from the intangible work done with teaching and counseling. We work hard and say very little, but their is mutual respect there that does not need language. What a wonderful place this is!