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Sunday, December 19, 2010 - Kampala

By Joanna Frausto

As I got out of bed this morning I looked out the window anticipating to see sunlight, instead, the sky was pitch black and i thought to myself "this jet lag is really getting to me". Granted that I chose not to bring a watch I'm guessing it was approx. 4:00 am. I jumped back into bed making sure my mosquito net was fully tucked… after tossing and turning for about 20 min I decided to do some reading on protozoal and helminthic infections. In no time, I got my 6:00 am wake up call from the lady at the front desk;It was time to start my P90 workout!

Subsequently I freshened up and sprayed on my special "African Perfume" which translates into insect repellent containing DEET. I headed towards the restaurant were I joined the rest of the team for breakfast. I have to say the pineapple here is pretty amazing. After a few minutes we all went to the Sanyou Babies Home Orphanage where we were enthusiastically greeted by the all toddlers as they tried reaching out their tiny arms and eagerly repeated "up, up, up", they all wanted to be held. We had planned for Philippe to take video, but unfortunately it wasn't allowed, instead, we captured a few pictures. We played, sang and even shared our VTT Cards with the kids as they were fascinated to see our team photo. We also met a lady from North Carolina who was adopting a beautiful 2 year old Uganda girl named Angela.

Later in the afternoon, we decided to do some sight seeing. We went to a botanical garden with a tour guide which was studying forest conservation at the Kampala University. Geoff was pointing out the medicinal plants while Philippe, Shelly, Amanda and I were taking a ton a pictures. In the meantime Chuck was asking various questions about the trees. He particularly liked the ficus ovata which has a trunk that stands tall and branches out horizontally; creating a great source of shade. The most engaging plant was the Touch-me-Not; when we touched the leaf/stem it immediately closed in protecting itself form wandering insects. Additionally we got to see different species of monkeys who were very acclimated to tourist. In fact, we were almost afraid of them jumping on our backs, but of course that didn't stop us from taking pictures. Being that I knew today was my turn to blog I wanted to do something that our audience will enjoy reading. Somehow I convinced the team to try some grasshoppers, that's right grasshoppers! They were crunchy and buttery with a hint of salt. In fact, Chuck seemed to enjoy them very much. =)

Night came and we all seemed to a bit drained. However, when we got back to the Namirembe guest house we had some work to do. Patrick and Herbert met with us to discuss some of our activities in Nkondo. As it turns out, we will be doing a lot of work focused towards Community Empowerment. I'm exited to know we are the pioneers of the VTT from Rotary District 5340 and look forward to forward to seeing the long term benefits at the Village. Thank you for staying tuned and I hope you enjoy the pictures.