Peace Makers & Martyrs

I am a country girl.  I have spent most of my life surrounded by woods, far from the sounds of the city.  I may not be "outdoorsy" but I like the peace, the solitude, and the sounds of nature.  The sounds in Naayla, outside the Abba hotel, were a hybrid of city- nightclub music, traffic, voices; and country- pigs squealing, dogs fighting, roosters crowing, and even crickets if you listened close enough.  Early in the morning you could hear an Imam give the call to prayer from a mosque nearby.  That was definitely a new sound to me. I found it comforting amid the chaos.

The view from the hotel...

Our accommodations...

Try as  I might, sleep evaded me, even with ear plugs and a sleep mask!  My only option was to get up early.  At least my body got some rest, but my mind was toast.

Beginning the walk to YPO

The team was downstairs for breakfast by 7am the next morning.  Thankfully the hotel had a buffet, so we didn’t have a long wait.  We were greeted by our hosts for the next day, the Youth Passionate Organization.  Their leader Moses had brought a few members of the YPO with him. We were introduced to Micheal, Sarah, Gracy, Davis, and brothers Abdul & Abraham .  We all sat down to breakfast and I thoroughly enjoyed talking with these young people. Davis was rather shy, but that was mostly due to him having a hard time understanding our accents.  Sarah and Gracy were very sweet, they sat farther away from me and I didn’t really get a chance to connect with them, but they chatted with Marty and some others.  Micheal was very friendly and shared with each of us a song he recorded using his MP3 player and some ear buds.  What a talented young man.  I was very impressed! Abraham and Abdul sat closest to me, Ken, and John. They were great to talk to, very friendly and easy going.

Gracy

Abrham

When we arrived at the YPO base we received  a very warm welcome. Introductions were made and then Moses, one of the founders and spokesperson took us on a tour of the buildings.  The YPO rents most of the space for a small fee. The buildings are owned by the house mother, Sununa.  She and her husband  work with YPO and act as foster parents.  I have a deep admiration and respect for what they do.  The living quarters there are very cramped, but they do the best with what is available to them.  Surprisingly, one room was being used as a recording studio, it was sound proof and very well equipped.  One of the original YPO members built it and has become a producer.  He records local artists, but also uses the studio for the YPO kids who are are musicians in their own right.

When we finished with our tour the YPO kids had changed into their costumes to perform for us.  What happened next was AMAZING!!!  They played their instruments with precision, danced with passion, and sang with such power! We were all completely blown away!  Their poetry brought tears to our eyes.  What's more, their performance went on for over half an hour.  The energy they exerted left us in awe.

In the center, David, Gerald's Ugandan twin

Kuza Troupe girls: Sarah, Sharon, and Gracy

The youngest YPO member, Takshir, giving Curt lessons

Performance American style: all eyes on the lead

Fearless Abraham joins in

Then it was our turn. (GULP!)  I don't think I have ever felt so inadequate in all my life.  Americans don't dance or get overly passionate when performing folk music.  You just sing.  We sang Country Roads by John Denver first.  This was my solo.  The key was not the best for me so I didn't project that well.  Talk about pressure!!!  We sang and transitioned into This Land Was Made For You and Me, by Woody Guthrie. John and Ken sang the lead, and Curt played the harmonica. Abraham came up to join us and sing along!  That went well and the YPO kids seemed to like it. We sang I'll Fly Away, with Mary singing the lead. We were on a roll!  After that we sang Dona Nobis Pachem.  The YPO kids applauded, we did alright. Then we made a a brief trip to the secondary school (high school) next door to perform, this time we brought the house down!

Interactor club at the secondary school where we performed

Moses, leader of YPO and one of its founders

A family across the street from YPO hosted us for lunch.  There were chairs arranged in a circle under the mango trees for us to have a brief meeting.  Moses spoke first and shared about the organization. Other board members of the YPO were there, including the foster parents.  Abraham Ikiriza, who works full-time as a social worker and volunteers at YPO, spoke and shared about the relationship the youth all have with their foster mother. He spoke about her with such love and respect.  Canary chimed in.  My team was very impressed with this show of respect and admiration.

One of the BEST home cooked meals I've ever had

The meeting wrapped up and we were treated to a magnificent Ugandan feast!  Our hostess, Sarah, was so very generous!  There was matoke, beans, chicken, goat, ground nut sauce, rice, purple bananas (I'd never tasted anything like them!), avocados, and fresh fruit.  Everything was delicious, but the best part was visiting with everyone.  When the meal was over we visited some more and then the singing started.  First Ken played his flute and Chris sang along.  Then I got out my ukulele and Mary, Marty, and I started singing every little kid song we could think of for all the young children that were there!  We sang and sang, we even did hand motions.  EVERYONE knew "You Are My Sunshine"!  That was SO cool!  Then we went outside and sang SOME MORE!  We did the Hokey Pokey, Head-Shoulders-Knees-&-Toes, Father Abraham, and some other action songs until we were breathless.  We laughed and laughed!!!  Afterward, I showed videos on my phone of my kids playing in the snow.  I had recorded them doing various activities just to be able to show the properties of snow to everyone.  The kids were AMAZED!  

Madam Sarah's husband and on of her daughters

Center: Madam Sarah 

Who knew "You Are My Sunshine" is universal?!

Watching videos of  SNOW

Rotarian Charles arrived for us, so we said our goodbyes to everyone and then headed off for a small sightseeing trip.  Two young men of the YPO came with us, Abdul and Abraham, they are brothers.  Our destination: The Namugongo Martyrs Shrine.  There is WAY to much for me to describe about the shrine and its history.  You can find more information about it here:  http://www.ugandamartyrsshrine.org.ug/details.php?id=3  

We went to dinner afterward at a cafe in a nearby mall.  The cafe we ate at had some American fare on the menu. I ordered Spaghetti Carbonara, and pancakes. I really just ordered the pancakes to see if they were authentic, and surprisingly they were!  The syrup wasn't real maple syrup (not that I expected it to be) but as artificial syrup goes, it was pretty good.  While we were there, I really enjoyed getting to know Abdul and Abraham, they are wonderful young men, and very talented (Abdul sings beautifully, and Abraham drums and dances like he’s on fire!).  I appreciated their view of things.

When we got back to the hotel I was exhausted, overwhelmed and burnt to a crisp (I kept forgetting to reapply sun block!).  I took advantage of the hotel wifi and made a few video messages to Brett.  If you know me at all I am not a crier, this was about to change.  I expressed my great care for the YPO kids and their leaders.  It was overwhelming to share the great burden I had in seeing how the simplest things there, food, shelter, etc...are lacking and in a lot of cases unpredictable.  Nothing is certain and everything is a struggle.  Where do you even begin???