August 9, 2011

August 9, 2011

          I just finished putting together my first class of yoga for Africa which will take place tomorrow.  Word got out that I am a newly minted yoga instructor, and the interest erupted, which I love.  I have tried to forewarn everyone that I may not be the best teacher yet, but I was so happy people were excited to practice that I couldn’t pass up the opportunity.  Plus, it will be great continued teaching training for me, and any donations I am given will be passed along to a worthy cause here in Uganda.  I am most thrilled about the latter, as it is a manner in which I can spread the love I have learned from yoga.

          On the work front, the last two days were spent preparing a preliminary budget for the youth center and meeting with the directors to get approval.  We haven’t officially gotten the “go ahead” yet, but I just know it is coming.  Once we have that, we will be one giant step closer to opening the doors of the facility, and I will be so proud when that day arrives.  However, much work still needs to be done, as each discussion about preparation for the opening leads to yet more and more “action items.”  It seems like a never-ending process, which now that I am thinking it through is exactly how we want it.  We never want this process to end but rather flourish and evolve.

          I, too, am evolving here.  I learn things every day which surprise me, shock me, interest me, and challenge me.  It ranges from delving internally to acknowledge and contemplate my core beliefs to being exposed externally to the parasites that lay eggs on your clothing if you hang them out to dry.  Note…if you are ever in Uganda, you must always iron your clothes before wearing them, as larvae could potentially nest in the fibers.   If they hatch as you are wearing the clothes, they can bore into your skin and become infected; the heat from ironing kills them.  As I write it, I am amazed.  Who knew?

          I went to a lovely bar-b-q last night hosted by several friends from Millennium Villages.  They made homemade chipate, guacamole, mashed potatoes, grilled pork, and sautéed pork; and, I can easily say it was the best meal I have had in Mbarara thus far.  I was so full after the dinner that I was border-line nauseous.  It was gluttony at its finest.

          While there, a few of us began to speak about Rwanda, as my friend Diana had to go back this weekend to check in with the basket weavers.  We were talking about the memorial, the genocide, and the effects the massacre has had on the country.  As we were sitting there discussing it all, Diana says she has a story to tell about her latest adventure to the MVP site.  She begins…

          She had spent the day with the women and had been very productive, even though there was still plenty of work to be done.  Night came, however, and the local people had arranged for Diana to stay in a church/guest house located next to the project.  She and Pamela, her project’s trainer, went into their separate rooms, and Diana began to work.  Time got away from her, and before she knew it, it was 2am in the morning.  She had her earphones in and was concentrating on her work when she said she heard a woman talking to her.  She took her earphones out, looked around, heard nothing, and saw nothing.  She put the earphones back in and, again, heard the voice talking in a language she did not understand.  She took the earphones out, and it stopped.  She put them back in, and it started again, in a very distinct voice.

          Diana, a woman who does not scare easily, knew it must be a spirit of some sort and simply said out loud to please leave her alone.  She said that soon after making the request her bed was pushed roughly, and with that, she was out of the room.  At 2am, Diana went to Pamela’s door and knocked until she answered; Diana slept the rest of the night on the cold floor next to Pamela.  The next morning as she was discussing the night’s occurrences, a local informed her that the church had been a site of mass killings during the genocide.  The voice was very real.

          Perhaps if people or life or relationships or love are left unresolved they will always comes back to haunt us…