Happy Birthday to Me

I have arrived.  I am solidly 30 years old.  I honestly can't believe it's been a full decade since my twentieth birthday, but there you have it.  My week off was wonderful, I got so much done.  I got those curtains hung, I fixed and organized my closet,  I got Ivy's ear mites problem taken care of (hopefully!), I painted my toes and finished Modern Family Season 2.  I read another of the Anne books (finally reading Anne of Green Gables.  Still dreaming of my very own Gilbert Blythe.)  I had some capris mended and played plenty of guitar.  And I got really close to finishing knitting that baby sweater!  The whole week was full of doing those things that should be done, but never get done.  They're almost all done now!  Lovely.

My friends Charity, Elizabeth and I decided we should do my celebrate-Morgan's-twenties dinner the night before my birthday at KSP - it's a hotel here in town - one of the few four-story buildings in town - and they have a a rooftop restaurant.  It's not a popular restaurant for one reason only - notoriously slow service.  And if you are abandoning a place here in Gulu because of slow service, you know it's bad.  Fast food is a completely foreign concept in every way.  You just figure they really ARE killing the chicken out back.  But the rooftop has great atmosphere and the food at KSP really is quite good.  So I went in a few days in advance and asked them to prepare a few dishes for 12 people to eat, and really, they didn't do a bad job!  It was no slower than any other Gulu restaurant.  (No faster either, but we're not lookin' for a miracle here people.)  And the coconut curry chicken was delicious!!

Friends at dinner - Grace, Me, Elizabeth, Sarah, Hilary, Tom, Jon, Paul, Chris, and Charity.  

We headed to the pub for trivia night afterwards, and happy birthday to me!  We won!  First place team gets a crate of beer....which isn't all that exciting for me, but winning is always fun!

Yeah!  Free....beer?  Oh well.  

The next morning (my actual birthday) Charity, Elizabeth and I woke up early and headed down to Kampala via the Post Bus.  Correction, Elizabeth overslept and didn't make it to the Post Bus.  So she took another random bus down and met us in the city a few hours later.  First we got massages (full-body, hour-long massages for about $10.  Sometimes I do love Kampala) and then headed to a new Thai restaurant that had opened in town.  It was super nice, and the food was incredible.  Honestly, I felt like I could have been in any city anywhere in the world that evening.  Which is kind of exactly what I needed.

Me and Charity in all our morning glory.  Elizabeth is conspicuously missing....  

At the Thai restaurant - post massage, sauna and food.  We are glowing!  

We woke up early again the next morning (Elizabeth in tow this time) and took the shuttle to Jinja - one of the towns located right on the Nile - for our kayaking extravaganza!!  You see, last year I went white-water rafting with some friends.  It was a perfect day on the river.  The rapids were a blast, there were long stretches of calm water where we could hop out and swim through the Nile - swimming in the Nile! - I felt like the coolest person alive.  Until I looked over and saw the kayakers, and I realized they were just a little bit cooler than me.  So this year I was not to be outdone.

We spent the morning learning how to wield our own personal kayaks, and then in the afternoon we hit the rapids.  Truthfully, it was just an amazing day.  Again, the weather was awesome, the water was so warm, we were all bad at kayaking but got better, we all managed to stay upright on some rapids and flipped on a few, and we just laughed and laughed and laughed.  I was so exhausted at the end of the day though that I literally almost face planted in my dinner.  I was back in my room ready for bed with lights out at 9:50pm.  For those who know me well, you know that has got to be some kind of personal early-to-bed record.

Yep, I got the purple kayak!  Don't we look so hardcore in our super-cool skirts?  

Charity is a yoga instructor, and a few weeks before she had been talking about wanting to do a grand mala - 108 Sun Salutations.  I didn't even really know what a Sun Salutation was, but I've been taking Charity's yoga classes the last few months and have really enjoyed it, so I decided Sunday morning was the perfect time to try doing this short series of poses 108 times in a row.  On the banks of the Nile.  Sounds murderous, I know, but in reality it was amazing.  I thought it took me just over an hour, but when we looked at the clock once we were done, we realize it was nearly three hours.  It was just medatative and relaxing with an incredible view and I had an awesome playlist on my iPod.  I just felt so settled about my age and my life (both of which I've suffered through more than one panic attack over in the last few months) and so grateful for that moment.

Starting the Sun Salutation together.  

The view we looked out on.  How could you not enjoy that?  

108 paper beads - made by the lovely women I worked with last year - so I could keep track of how may salutations I had done.  

All finished!  

All in all it was a perfect week.  Great friends, good food, beautiful surroundings and so much laughter.  If being 30 allows me to still have that much fun, I'll take it.

On the way back to Kampala from Jinja we hopped in a mutatu taxi - I got the front seat, but Charity and Elizabeth were squished in the back.  

The Final Stretch

Sometimes things just don't turn out.  Last year when my friend Pilgrim was here helping me get things started with Recycling for Hope, he brought our prototype boxes to this John guy at a friend's recommendation to get the stenciling/printing done.  John made it happen in a couple days, and they looked fantastic, with the promise that they would look even better when we were ready to make the real thing for a large amount of boxes.  It was such a relief to know when I got back here and was trying to get everything set in motion that I already knew who I could use for the stencils.  He was good at what he did, he was the friend of a friend, he worked quickly.  Only he doesn't work quickly.  He did once.  He doesn't now.  It's been two and a half months.  He's telling me this chemical he needs isn't around, he can't get it sent to him, blah blah blah.  I have a hard time believing NO one in Uganda has it.  And John (stencil guy) has just been SO unreliable.  He'll tell me he'll have my stuff tomorrow, and he doesn't have it.  He'll tell me he'll call me on Wedensday and I won't hear from him.  He'll say to meet at his shop and he won't be there.  So finally I got sick of it.  I gave him an ultimatum last Wednesday.

"John, I want you to tell me what day you can have this stuff ready for me.  And this is your last chance.  If it's not ready, I will go find someone else to make these stencils for me."

"Please madam, it's different cultures, I had to be in the village."

"I understand you had to be in the village, but you should have at least called.  So tell me what day I will hear from you."

"Let it be Monday."

"OK, Monday.  I will talk to you Monday.  And if I don't hear from you, I will take my business elsewhere."

"No, no.  You will hear from me."

But I didn't.  So Monday evening I called Tom (the friend that introduced Pilgrim to John last year) and asked for advice.  He said he would go to John's office and talk to him and see what the deal was.  He got back to me yesterday and told me I should just move on.  John was being stubborn and a bad business man and I should teach him a lesson.  But I decided to give him one more chance.  I went to his office yesterday afternoon and he was less than excited to see me.

"John, why didn't I hear from you on Monday?"

"Because I didn't have everything ready."

"But I told you if I didn't hear from you on Monday I would take my business elsewhere.  So when I didn't hear from you it sent a clear message that you didn't care about my business and that you want me to go somewhere else.  Is that the case?"

He didn't say much, and when I pressed him for an answer he told me I should probably go someplace else. So I walked away.

And now I'm tired of fighting, I'm tired of waiting.  I just want to get it done.  So I'm heading to Kampala to get it done.

BUT.  I am changing decades next week.  Yes, it is time for me to hit the big three-oh.  Wow, wow, wow.  How did that happen?  Where did the last five years go?  Anyway, I'm planning a trip to Kampala for the weekend to celebrate anyway, and I really don't want to spoil my birthday with arguing with people in Kampala, (it's always an argument in Kampala,) so I have decided to work on the stenciling the week after my birthday.  So what am I going to do the rest of next week?  Well, I will tell you.  I am going to take the week off.  The whole week.  I am going to celebrate the last week of my twenties and prepare to usher in my thirties.  I am going to get my curtains hung properly in my bedroom.  I am going to finish knitting the baby sweater for my friend.  I am going to go to the pool and lounge rather than just exercise and run away.   I'm going to finish reading my book.  And I don't know what else, but other great things.  And I'm going to do it all guilt free.  So anyone who thinks I am being lazy or unnecessarily indulgent, keep it to yourself please.  I am going to do this.  You probably won't hear from me on the blog until it's over.  So the next time I post, I will be a real adult who is 30 and ready to work hard and face challenges and have no more fun.  Because people who are 30 don't have fun, right?

Now since I have had a rather frustrating week, I have no pictures of progress to show.  But I organized an awesome sleepover with the teenage girls at my church last weekend, so I'll show you photos of that instead.

We started out with a swim party.  

Most the girls had never been in a pool before.  

They were all brave, they all got in, and they ALL had a blast.  

We came back to the church, ate pizza for dinner (a first for many as well,) and watched  my personal favorite Disney movie  - Aladdin.

Aladdin was also a first for all of them.  They chowed down on candy, popcorn , chips and soda as well.  I figured since they have an American handy, they might as well have a bit of an American experience.  That means unhealthy food, all around!  

Lights out at midnight.  They were pretty good and all fell asleep by 1:00am.  

I made them a pancake breakfast in the morning, complete with yummy Canadian maple syrup!

We ended things with a testimony meeting outside.  

18 of my all-time favorite girls, right here!  Such a fun weekend!

Backwards and Forwards

Hey folks, just a quick one today - I'm feeling slightly deflated and buoyed up at the same time.....

First attempts.

I finally convinced Mr. Stencil Man to meet me on Saturday (after he'd stood me up three times already) to teach me how to print logos on boxes.  But he didn't bring the rest of supplies I needed, so I'm still missing one ink color and two large stencils.  And then as we started the printing process, we realized three of the smaller stencils he'd made me didn't work properly.  So he took them with him at the end of the day, promising me that by Tuesday he would call me and would give me everything else I needed.  Well, it's nearly 5:00 on Tuesday and he hasn't called.  And his phone is off when I try to call.  So I stopped by his shop, prepared to give him a piece of my mind.  Lucky for him he wasn't around.  So I told his co-worker, Steven, what that "piece of my mind" was, and Steven said, "I will tell him.  It's as though I've recorded it and when John comes back I will hit play."  Haha, awesome.  Let's hope the playback is effective....

Good news though, I've hired my first employee!  His name is Lenox - you've seen photos of him on here before.  He's supposed to be working for my roommate, but she's gone all the time and he doesn't have enough to do to keep him occupied.  He's chomping at the bit wanting to do more, so I am giving him more! Only ten hours a week to start - that's all either of us can afford at this moment....but I have high hopes for Lenox.  He's truthfully one of the smartest and most honest Ugandans I've met.  Fingers crossed over time he'll be able to start doing more for Recycling for Hope.

Lenox Ojok!!

Crappy photo taken at night, but you get the idea.

Lastly, this town is growing.  Relatively soon (20-50 years) it will be a small city and then a city.  And while the town officials are beginning to think about garbage removal a bit more, it's still on way too small a scale.  Currently, the city has only two skips - the really large garbage bins commonly found outside large buildings in western countries.  But they don't have a truck to hook the skips up to and haul the garbage away.  And they don't have anywhere to haul the garbage to, even if they had a truck.  I've heard rumor the town plans to invest in a few more skips and trucks in the next few years.  Let's hope they're also coming up with something to do with all the garbage.  This isn't nearly enough, but I suppose it's a start.  I've had conversations with many Ugandans lately about garbage and the environment.  They want thier country clean, they have a lot of pride in Acholiland.  They need to be provided with a way to do so.  I feel as though RfH may have landed in this town at just the right time.  Keep your fingers crossed for me....  In the meantime, these little green garbage bins have sprung up all over the town center.  I've seen them in Kampala before, but they're new here in Gulu.  They seem to be actually being used.  I'm trying to track down who is responsible for these little bins so I can learn a bit more about the up and coming waste removal system.

Who thinks about garbage this much??

Blue Ivy and Me

Miracle of all miracles has occurred!!  My boxes have arrived!  They actually made it up to Gulu last Sunday, and as predicted, I got my brochures printed and the stencils completed in the same week.  How exciting!!  Of course there's a snag and I'm not off and running yet...but more about that in a minute.  First!

Ebola and al-Shabab update: Ebola seems to be under control.  People are still a bit wary, lots of jokes are being made about it, but for the most part we all feel mostly relieved.  There have been a few more deaths, but those were people known to already have the disease.  There haven't been any new confirmed cases or outbreaks, so while we are still in the middle of a ridiculously long 28-day incubation period - we all feel quite hopeful the worst is behind us.  And there have been no terrorist scares in the last few weeks.  So all has mostly returned to normal in this town - which includes a fair amount of craziness without help from fatal diseases and bomb scares.

500 boxes, lids and trays.  That's a lot of boxes!

OK, so much to my surprise, my boxes were finished last Saturday.  And then the manager told me I needed  to get them out of their warehouse that day.  Right.  They took a good month longer to finish the things than they told me they would, and the second the boxes are done they expect me to have a truck pick them up?  Do they live in this country?  But, amazingly, Philip (Mr. Boxes Manager) found someone to put them on a truck that very evening.  Of course they didn't communicate that to me (dead phone batteries are a serious problem here....) until about 8:00pm that night and they were coming in the next morning at 7:00.  Oy.  So I called the place I'll be storing them and they arranged to have their security guard come in five hours earlier than his normal shift, and it seemed all would be well.  Until it was 8:00am Sunday morning and I still hadn't heard from the truck driver.  I tracked down his number and had several frustrating conversations with the man, but finally thought we'd come to an understanding.  So I headed to the storage place at about 9:00am to wait for them, and Lenox went to town to find the truck and show the drivers where they were going.  Two hours later, Lenox still can't find the truck and now they aren't answering their phone.  Just before noon he calls to tell me he has found my boxes....they are sitting on the ground, the truck has left for Kampala and they are saying I'm going to have to pay another truck to get them to storage.  You know, I can keep my cool waiting for two months for boxes to be made, I can keep my cool waiting five hours for the truck to arrive, but finding out they lied to me and dumped my boxes on the side of the road?  I lost it.  I flew over to where Lenox said he was, got off my boda and promptly started berating people who were telling me I should just be happy the boxes were in Gulu.  Lenox, bless his heart, pulled me aside and told me to cool down, which I did, and he said he would talk to these people.  The next thing I know, calm patient Lenox is yelling at the truck driver (who has magically reappeared with his truck) "YOU ARE A STUPID, STUPID MAN!  STUPID!"  And then I started laughing.  If dear Lenox looses his temper, you know we are wading in ridiculousness.  Long story longer - they all knew I was American (and therefore made of money) and figured they could somehow squeeze another 100 thousand shillings or so out me.  So they had just dumped $2,500 worth of boxes on the muddy ground expecting me to pay an off-loading fee, another on-loading fee, a new truck fee, transportation costs, and yet another off-loading fee once we actually got to the storage area.  Thanks to Lenox (and my stubbornness,) they didn't get anymore money from me than what they were owed, and now my boxes are safely in Gulu, and stored at a Living Hope compound.  Whew.

Also of note - I found a place in Gulu to print my stuff.  They were more expensive than I would have liked, but they did an awesome job.  And I think it was worth it to support Gulu's economy and save myself the trip and expense of Kampala.  I'm sure I'll use them again.

Kind of a dark photo - power was out and the sun was setting.  But they turned out nicely, don't you think?  

And!  Most excitingly!  This is a photo of the first payment Recycling for Hope has received:

It's 200 Ugandan Shillings, which is equivalent to about $.08.  But it represents a whole lot more.  And the most exciting part to me is that it didn't come from pickup fees, paper or plastic - it came from a couple tin cans (purchased during my processed-food-only Ebola scare.)  There is a place in town that turns old tin cans into kerosene lamps or other small metal objects.  When I brought my cans by I was hoping to just be able to donate them, but he told me he'd pay me for them - 100 Shillings a piece - and asked why I didn't have more?  So I said I would love to bring more - how many could he handle?

"As many as you bring."
"What if I bring you 100 cans?"
"Great, no problem, I will pay you for them."
"What if I bring you 1,000 cans?"
"You bring 1,000 or 2,000 it doesn't matter, I will take them all."

So guess what is being added to my list of household recyclables??  You better believe it!  Tin cans!  Now I just have to get a household on board....  But since I finally have boxes to give a household, that will be a lot easier!  I'm now just waiting on the stencil guy to get me the rest of the printing supplies and come show me how to do the painting on the boxes.  He insisted this last Sunday was the only day he could do it, but of course he hasn't answered his phone for three days now....  Sigh.  Soon though, I really think it's all happening soon.

Lovely little stack of stencils.  

A few other fun things this week - there is a restaurant here called Sankofa that is a western-ish restaurant, run by an American guy, and place a lot of expats hang out. Sankofa was forced to move locations and business hasn't been great since it moved.  A friend of mine asked if I'd be willing to participate in a little acoustic concert to bring people out and put it back on the map.  A chance to sing?  Of course I agreed.  So I got together with a couple guys out here - Coy, an awesome guitarist, and Ben, a classically trained cellist - and we put together a couple hours worth of music.  We had a little local group do a few numbers as well - they were fantastic - and Sankofa served an all-you-can-eat pizza buffet for a cover charge.  It was a hit!  About 75 people showed up.  The biggest problem was, we musicians didn't think we'd have more than a dozen or so in our audience, so we chose not to be amplified.  With that many people's usual dinner chatter it was a bit hard to hear.  But still a load of fun, and we decided we need to do it again soon.  We're hoping to  start monthly or bi-monthly acoustic evenings.  Fun, right??  (And a perfect place to put in a little plug for RfH....) Oh I do miss performing.

(Photos coming soon....check back!)

And lastly - I got a dog!  Some irresponsible expat thought it would be neat to have a puppy for a few months while she was here - but then she left and never really arranged for the dog to be taken care of.  My friend Kathleen has been looking after her - and doing a great job for having had the dog unwillingly dumped in her lap - but she's leaving next week.  So I decided I'd take her on.  Her name is Ivy (actually it's Blue Ivy, like Beyonce and Jay-Z's baby - but "Blue" is promptly being dropped - and yes I am making harsh judgments about the caliber of person her first owner was based on that fact....)  She's super gentle and submissive, completely untrained, but quite smart, has only been allowed to live outside for the last few months so is flea bitten everywhere, and is an unknown number of months old.  I think about nine or ten months.  So I've bathed her with flea shampoo (though I'm not sure yet whether it's actually worked,) and let her sleep on the floor next to my bed and have been watching innumerable training videos on YouTube (my pay-as-you-go internet is suffering dearly....)  But she's learning fairly quickly for an older puppy, and she's just so darn cute.  The biggest problem is that she chases the turkeys.  I wouldn't really mind letting her have one for dinner one night - I hate those noisy things - but my roommate would be quite put out.  So I am keeping her inside a lot and trying desperately to convince her she doesn't actually want that turkey.  But she's been quite successful in de-feathering the tail-ends of a few, and the way she sits and chews on those feathers....I'm not sure I'm not fighting a losing battle.  But I'll keep fighting.  I'm determined she will become a well-trained dog.  It's been enjoyable having her around, and thankfully all my roommates like dogs as well.    I will try very hard not to become the annoying pet owner who posts obscene amounts of photos....but most certainly you'll get a few in the future.

Ebola and al-Shabab

Alright, late post from last week, and early post from this week.  I'm condensing the two into one.  There's a lot going on here in Uganda, and so I'm chilling out a bit for the next couple weeks.  But here's a full update:

I had a fairly productive week last week.  I met with a primary school deputy and a secondary school head master on separate occasions to discuss doing environmental programs in schools in the Gulu area.  They were both very enthusiastic about the idea and want me to start with their schools right away.  I wish!  Hopefully soon....  In any case they gave me some very valuable information which makes me excited to get started!  Still waiting on the boxes however....

After seven weeks of trying, I was finally able to bring stencils home with me.  As my new roommate pointed out, I could have made these ones myself, (frustrating,) but the ones I want, the ones I thought I ordered, I cannot make myself.  I felt bad for the time and effort he spent making these ones, so I bought them from him anyway, and now he's assuring me the ones I really want will be ready tomorrow.  I've been assured very many things in the last two months, however, so I'm not betting on it.  But it would be rather nice if I could actually get one thing accomplished the way I had planned....even if it does take seven weeks.

Lastly, I went with Living Hope to distribute some maka pads (made from the recycled paper!) to Pece Pawel Primary School.  It was exciting and fulfilling and energizing to see the end result of all our combined efforts.  There were two women from Living Hope, and the first thing they did was take one of the female teachers in charge of such things to the bathroom area.  They proceeded to have really important conversations about sanitation, water accessibility, proper waste disposal, etc.   These bathrooms were in pretty dire straights, but since they follow up monthly, I'm hopeful that some of these changes will actually be implemented.

Next they gathered all the girls in the primary school together and had more great discussions about hygiene and respecting yourself and modesty.  They didn't mince any words, and they taught in both English and Acholi so all could understand.  Of course since Living Hope is under an evangelical church, they discussed the gospel with them as well.

The girls sat as they do, staring blankly through much of it, giggling at the uncomfortable parts, and sometimes standing to answer questions in a very formal and polite manner.  They also sang us a few songs and smiled sheepishly at the weird white woman who had come along.  And then the Living Hope women passed out two packets of pads (each containing 10 pads,) to each of the girls.  They were happily accepted and I fully believe they will be used.  One of my friends told me this week that in some schools teachers do actually discuss this issue with the students, but often the girls have no means of feminine hygiene, so they will stay out of any public area for one week of every month.  Living Hope is changing that for at least a few women.

Painted on the side of a building at Pece Pawell Primary School

Early this week an older missionary couple from my church called and said they were going to Chobe Lodge for dinner, and would I like to join to pick up bottles?  I guess they had gone a few months before for their anniversary and had a discussion with the general manager about recycling.  He said he always takes his bottles to Kampala for recycling which is sometimes a difficult task for him to accomplish.  The missionaries told him about my project, and consequently, the lodge has been calling them regularly ever since to try to get us to come get bottles.  It's nearly a two hour drive away, so it is fairly unfeasible for RfH to take them on as a regular customer.  But it made for a really awesome evening, picking up a hefty load of bottles, eating some great food, and having an amazing view at that - all to the soundtrack of hippos laughing.

The room at Chobe Lodge housing all the waste bottles.  

The beginnings of loading the truck bed.  

Handsome Ugandan man hauling empty bottles.

Truck's full!  Thanks guys!

What kind of five-star lodge would this be without three swimming pools?  I'll admit, I kinda wanted to jump in....

The sun started to set as we were exploring the river before dinner.  

My friend Brenda and me, you know, hanging out with the Nile.  

Sunset on the Nile River. 

View at dinner.  

The hippos are now where we were 15 minutes before.  They seriously sound like laughing pigs, it's amazing.  

Sister Woods off-loading the bottles at St Monica's the next morning.  

Adding to the pile!

In other news, there was a HUGE Christian crusade in town last week.  I haven't seen so much hype (ie large trucks with over-sized speakers blaring music whilst driving all around town) since the presidential election last year.  They did it in this big open field, and had two evangelists from the western world, they set up an enormous stage and lots of lights and screamed about the devil and pronounced blessings and miracles for a nominal fee.  For FIVE days.  People bused in from surrounding towns to witness the saving grace of God as exemplified in a couple rich white dudes.  Because of this fever pitch and massive crowd gathering, we also had an al-Shabab scare.  Those are the Somali terrorists that bombed the Ethiopian restaurant in Kampala during the world cup two years ago.  The police raided this local pub here in and town and then illegally rounded up a bunch of street kids in town and stuck them in prison for the week since apparently they are a common target for al-Shabab to plant stuff on.  So me and everyone I know avoided public places for the week.  I don't know if they were actually in town, or if there was just a scare.  But better safe than sorry, right?

And it just keeps getting better.  Now we have Ebola in the country.  All the victims have been in the south, several hours from here, so most people in the north don't have much to fear at this point.  Solid numbers are hard to come by, but I've heard between 25 and 36 people have been diagnosed with the disease, and between 14 and 18 have died.  Lots of people have been quarantined, and we are keeping our fingers crossed that means it has been contained.  The World Health Organization and the CDC are here trying to get it under control because the Ugandan Ministry of Health seems to have been fairly useless.  The US embassy released a statement a couple days ago to be cautious and not to touch people at funerals, etc, and certainly not to come in contact with anyone showing symptoms - but as yet there are no travel bans or anything.  So yesterday I bought as much processed food as I could stomach and/or afford.  I'm not really afraid I'll get it through fresh produce shipped up from the south....but I don't really want to chance it either.  A couple friends and I are joking about quarantining ourselves together in a house eating food only grown and packaged in another country and not leaving until things are under control.  It's really a joke.  We all joke about it.  But we're all a little nervous as well.

Oh the unexpected adventures in Uganda.  I was going to head to Kampala this weekend to get my brochures printed off (there isn't anywhere to do it in Gulu - I searched,) and put the pressure on my box-making guys.  But I think I'm going to go ahead and wait out the weekend and see what the Ebola temperature is like next week.  I've been waiting all this time for the boxes, I can wait another week.....

The Water Bottle - UG vs US

My celebration earlier this week about my boxes being done.....was a bit premature.  Sigh.  Machine broke, behind schedule, blah, blah, blah.  Philip has ASSURED me they will be done by next Friday.  Did I already say sigh?  So my fingers are crossed for next week, but I'm not really holding my breath.

However!  Things are shaping up despite that.  Meet Jimmy:

Jimmy is my hero of the week.  He owns the popular local pub that does a trivia night every Thursday.  A couple weeks ago I had a conversation with him about my recycling project and he was very supportive and told me to come his way when I was ready.  Well, Wednesday night I got a phone call from him; "Morgan, I have very many bottles for you.  And tomorrow is a big night, so I don't think I'll be able to store them any longer. Do you think you can come get them, or should I dispose of them?"

Jimmy is quite proud of his pub's grounds - he is considering changing the name of the pub to The Green House  

"You're already saving them for me?  Amazing!  I will come get them tomorrow for sure."  So I arranged with St Monicas to meet me at the pub in the afternoon, I brought my gigantic sack, (see last week's post) we filled it with bottles, and they were carted off to become bricks for a new hut.  Awesome, right?  I'm just so happy that it's working already, before I can even put as much energy into as I would like.

Jimmy and an employee tossing the empty bottles into my over-sized bag.  They're storing them in that broken freezer.  Awesome.  

My friend Elizabeth - who works at St Monicas - was surprised by how many bottles were collected in one week by one establishment, and said, "Oh man, we're going to have to hire more people to start filling bottles!"  Which thing I could not be happier to hear.  That's the idea, right?  Build the economy, protect the environment, strengthen the people.  I can't tell you how happy that makes my heart.

That is a lot of bottles!  You can't really tell from the photo - but that enormous sack is about  one-third full.  

I can say however, looking at all those bottles got me thinking.  And here is where I get just a bit preachy, so if you want to check out now, feel free.  Here in Gulu there are very limited options for safe drinking water.  It's inconvenient not to use bottled water at best, and impossible at worst.  But in the States, when is the last time you heard about someone getting sick because they drank tap water?  OK, so all my siblings and I did get sick once as kids drinking from a pump at a park that had a sewage leak....ew...but that is the RAREST case.  In fact, I'm willing to bet I am now one of the only people you know that has ever been sick from drinking water in the US.  So what I am asking is why do we feel the need to drink so much bottled water when we have such abundant safe drinking water already available?  People will argue that there are other things in their water they don't want to ingest: rust, chlorine, yadda, yadda, yadda.  Guess what?  Bottled water contains all kinds of other things you don't want to ingest: the plastic leaches all sorts of nastiness into the water, (including arsenic?!?) particularly if it's had a day in the sun or a hot car.  Also, did you know that nearly all bottled water in America comes straight from your tap-water source anyway?  In nearly every state it's just filtered from tap water - and then put in toxic bottles and sold to you when  you could be drinking it free!  (Without arsenic!)  So why not just filter your own water!?  And if you want the toxins, you can store it in your own plastic bottle for free!  :-)  Or you can use glass or a stainless steal water bottle.

 Seriously though, I'm going to ask for another couple favors; A. Look into your local water source and see what the water contains.  If it's clean, drink up!  B. If there's stuff you'd rather not have in your own water, use a tap filter.  C. If you have to use bottled water (which if you're like me and carry a water bottle with you everywhere will be a very rare occasion,) please don't let my efforts here be in vain and recycle that little bottle!  (Maybe even after reusing it!)  If I haven't convinced you, you should really check out the documentary Tapped and let them try.  I watched it via instant stream on Netflix (oh, the days I used to have Netflix accessibility....)

OK, done preaching.  Thanks for sticking with me through that.  Now, leave me some awesome actually-I-did-get-sick-from-tap-water stories in the comments, or, even better, let me know of your very valiant efforts not to use bottled water.  Thanks for reading!