Home!

I landed in the concrete jungle known as JFK on Tuesday. It felt strange to be back, but wonderful to see m again. Some nasty African stomach bug hitchhiked back home with me, so I've been sleeping on the couch, resting, and drinking clear fluids, just like Mom always told me to do.

I want to thank you all for following me on this grand adventure of my past three months. Thank you for supporting me and sharing my experience. You might never know how much it has meant.

Just because I am home doesn't mean that I am going away! On the contrary, I have found that it was nearly impossible to process and share most of my time in Uganda on this blog in real time. Too time consuming, too overwhelming. That is why, as I readjust to life here, I will continue to share photos and stories from my time in Uganda, as well as current events that deserve our attention. So please stay connected, and let me know what you think, or what you'd like to hear more about. Love to you all....

Aimee

So Little Time

Dear Friends,

It's hard to believe that I will be leaving Gulu in just two days, and home within the week. I am overflowing with stories, news, and photos to share, both beautiful and horrifying. I will return with these packed carefully and tightly as I consider what may be my next steps for (and within?) this area I have come to love deeply.

A quick update, with more to follow...

• Guess who is home, playing with the neighborhood kids, and enrolled in pre-school? Yup, Joyce! If there was ever reason to hope, I have found it in the form of a 3 year old girl picking out her first school bag (purple blue with flowers).
• Northern Uganda is in the midst of a severe food crisis. The UN has cut rations in the camps, (which were originally only enough to meet minimum needs for survival -- not health) in HALF. I have been spending a lot of my time in the camps and will share my impressions and understanding of this once I get home. Suffice to say, this is catastrophic, and worse, the people living there have only learned of these cuts in the past two days. Please, read more here.

Much love to all,

Aimee

Gulu Town Snapshots

Women's Day at Awer IDP Camp

We Love To Read!

Hungry?

I pass this restaurant all the time, and yesterday I snapped a photo. It's my favorite. I haven't dined there, but it makes me smile every time.

Abductions and Agony - 20 Years

Gulu Town

A Big HELLO to You from Africa!

Joyce will be leaving the hospital sooooo soon. We are (clearly) very excited!

Assessment and Community Development Meeting at Pabo Secondary School

• Pabo's teachers lounge.
• After school study session
• Measuring the area for a new block of classrooms.
• Students move the bricks that their parents made for the new construction.
  

Pabo is the only secondary school in the district that has not physically relocated in the past 10 years. It serves the largest IDP camp, which has the same name. For now, only pictures. Words will come later.... they are too many and require more time and thought than I have here.

Love to all, A.