A Weekend On The Nile

Hello friends and family! I want you all to know that I am healthy and well! All of us survived the epidemic and we’re all strong and back to work. This past weekend we did probably one of the scariest most amazing things I’ve ever done. We white water rafted the Nile. We went up to Jinja the night before and stayed at the Adrift campground in dorm style rooms. Adrift is an Australian owned company with a plethora of attractive Australian white water rafting men (just a small perk to the fabulous weekend).  The rooms were fairly small with bunk beds that were four beds high! It was like sleeping in a jungle gym! We got up on Saturday morning and had breakfast at the campground bar that sits on a cliff overlooking the Nile. I had eggs and hash browns for a whopping $2.00. Then some people from our group bungee jumped over the Nile. We then loaded all of our gear, minus our sunscreen, onto the pick up bus and then got fitted in our life jackets and helmets. Our group had about 17 people and then there were a bunch of other Muzungus rafting that day as well. Nine of us loaded into our raft and after a small set of class one rapids our Ugandan, with an acquired Australian accent, (unfortunately not one of the Australian tour guys) instructed us on how to row and what to do if we were thrown out or if the raft tipped over. Before every rapid and during our instruction he kept saying whatever you do don’t panic, even if you get sucked under the rapids for minutes don’t panic, remain calm. Not comforting words. Our tour guide’s name was Owlo and despite his dirty mouth was an absolutely fabulous guide. He’d been a guide on the Nile for over a year and a half and had to do a year of training before he was a guide. So he’s basically a pro. We spent the morning going over class 3-5 rapids and we all successfully stayed in the boat except for when one of the class 4 rapids when we flipped (I’m pretty sure Owlo flipped it on purpose). I’m not going to lie; I was pretty scared after the first flip. I lost my helmet almost instantaneously and all I could think about as I was being tossed around in the water is that I hope I don’t hit my head on anything. I was fortunate and was fine helmetless. When I finally got out of the rapids one of the safety kayakers (there were about 15 of them that followed us to pluck people out of the water) picked me up and took me back to my raft. After a few more rapids we came to a class five rapid with a twenty-foot waterfall at the end. I was praying all the way down the rapids that if I fell out or if we flipped, that it would happen after we went over the waterfall. Fortunately, I got lucky and stayed in the boat for the rest of the morning. Going over the waterfall was crazy! I really can’t even describe the sheer terror and adrenaline. Ahhhh!! It was a good thing that you can’t really see the rapids or the waterfall before you’re into them or I would’ve yelled uncle before I ever went over any of those rapids. After a wild morning we stopped off at literally, a tropical island in the middle of the Nile where they fed us the most fabulous lunch. We had ham and salami sandwiches with a million different toppings, potato salad, pineapple, and watermelon. That may not sound very gourmet to you guys but it was like heaven to us. After lunch we hit some more serious rapids. One of the funny things that our guide did was that after we went down crazy rapids he’d give us a lollipop and we’d do a little cheer. The last rapid of the day was a class six, which rafts are no longer allowed to attempt. Our guide Owlo did it in a raft with a bunch of other guides and ended up in the hospital for a month afterward. So now the kayakers are the only ones allowed to go down the class six rapids. We parked the raft and walked around the class six area and would normally jump in where it’s a class five, but the water level was a little low and it would be super dangerous if we were to flip. So we went back in at the class four area and lo and behold we flipped. I’m convinced our guide flipped us on purpose again, but I guess we’ll have to watch the video to see if he did. The second flip wasn’t as bad, but there was one point after I had been twirling around in the water after what felt like forever when I finally came up and thought it was over, only to see one of the biggest waves I’ve ever seen right in front of me. So I screamed and down I went. Finally, me and my trusty life vest (which I had the guide tighten repeatedly throughout the day) popped up and I was retrieved way down the river by a kayaker. I was way far away from the raft and had to swim behind the kayak to the rest of the group. To say the least it was an absolutely wild day and I’m so glad I did it!
Today we went to church back in Jinja where I got to teach nursery to a bunch of munchkins who don’t speak English. English is the primary language here, but the children don’t learn it until they go to school. To say the least it was an interesting lesson. We then took a packed taxi van, which we shared with 33 chickens, to Mukono, where the branch president and his family fed us an amazing meal! We ate chicken, which I haven’t had since I’ve been here and it was so good. They also fed us chocolate cake for dessert! The branch president got his master and doctorate degrees at BYU and now teaches at the university in Kampala. One of his daughters will start at BYU this fall! They live in the nicest home I’ve seen since I’ve been here and for the first time in Africa I took my shoes off and walked around in their house barefoot. In our house, we all were our “house slippers” because it’s not quite clean enough to go barefoot.
A couple of weeks ago the branch president in our little Jinja Branch read a letter from the first Presidency. The church is funding measles vaccinations for all its members in Uganda. They’re doing it for three days in June and I signed up to volunteer all three days. I’m excited to be a part of such an amazing cause. Measles will be eradicated among the members in Uganda. What a miracle.
I received the blue prints at the end of last week for the hand washing stations and I have an appointment to meet up with Robert, one of the college students from Kampala, who we’re working with the HIV/AIDS prevention campaign. He’s such a great leader in the community here and has worked on hygiene and sanitation projects in the past. I’m excited to work with him and I hope that he’ll be able to continue the work we start this summer long after I leave. The blue prints we’re working off of were created by another BYU student and professor and implemented with great success in South Africa last summer. Tomorrow is research day, as I will pick Robert’s brain to see if he thinks these hand-washing stations in the local produce market will be successful. My team and I will also go around the market tomorrow and talk to the local sellers to see if they would be interested in having a hand washing station and if it would be used. If my results after tomorrow’s research look promising then I’ll write a project proposal and will submit it to the HELP Office for the necessary funds. If not, we’ll rework our ideas and blue prints. We’re also scheduling some school visits to teach HIV/AIDS prevention, hygiene and sanitation, as well as drug abuse.
I love love love you all and I love love love Uganda! I miss you guys! XOXO