"Never buy shoes in Uganda after dark" Robert, GHSP Nurse Educator

Robert was born in Uganda but raised in the US and allowed me to share his quote. I am hopeful that it doesn't extend to cars as well!

And this friends is what happiness feels like. I got my car. This was the one that I found on Sunday (dream car pictured previously). I have been wading through parking lots, met at least twenty sincere owners and sellers of cars, walked through mud and dust, discussed tax ID numbers, log books, insurance and heard hilarious stories about how Ugandan’s “don’t use AC because it is too hot, radio’s in cars are not safe, etc.” It was in the end a great cultural experience as people selling cars are pretty much the same everywhere. I know having just sold one. As it was I ended up with all of those unnecessary things.  Bargaining on a very short budget helps. I had nowhere to go but down. The fact that this car was on a website advertising cars in Uganda gave me a baseline to bargain from. 

For now, I love my car, which has been affectionately named: Lefty 2. In America, Brian and I named the car Lefty 7 which was on my vanity plates, me for political reasons and 7 is his favorite number and I thought this new one should also be a Lefty. This car is sweet, or as sweet as a 1999 car that started out in Japan and ended up on a lot in Uganda can be. The fact that changing the oil filter and making all other repairs is on me is okay and standard practice.

The chance that I could have purchased and can have this car brought back to drive without Adam is zero.  I most certainly won’t drive to Lira on these roads.  They aren’t as bad as Viet Nam or India but I’m not driving there either. Adam the driver accompanied me through three car sale adventures yesterday, all done in the parking lot mainly with three or four people crowded in the vehicle while I sat there saying, “Sir I really don’t want this car at any price.”  When we went to Western Union to pick up my funds that Sue sent Adam, who isn’t exactly a small dude, and three other guys running from large to larger, accompanied me. The man at WU asked me if I wanted an escort to the car with my three thousand bucks I shrugged and told him I was going in their car. He nodded with a bit of a perplexed look. Who goes inside WU with 4 people?

Shout out to my sister Sue for always, always being there for me though Viet Nam, India and now Kampala, she hopped on line and transferred the money so I could buy this baby in record time. Sue, I love you.

We went out to meet the regular volunteers yesterday; they are a great group and some of them referred to themselves as the “fossils.” They are above 50 and joining volunteers who are mostly in their 20’s. Met some great people who will join us for swearing in today.  I moved on to the important things and met a Bronco’s fan that is going to a site in Southern Uganda.  He is also from Colorado and found a café in his village where they live stream Bronco games. The owner has returned to Uganda to live and brought the spirit with her, he tells me that she shows every game and that she airs them at any time day or night, he is worried about his curfew as he is outside the city. My data plan is exploding so I need to try to change it before heading back to Lira tomorrow. Clark family members when in Viet Nam, Indonesia, Thailand, Mexico, India, the UK, the US, Costa Rica, Palestine or Israel don’t let other family members miss the game.

As for this “privilege” of buying a car in Uganda. So grateful that Lefty 2 and I are on this journey. The University is at least 10 kilometers from my house and despite my passion and my desire to make this work, I can't manage that. The idea that I have arrived, that I can do this, that I can make this happen is so real for me. The fact that one of the great enemies that I face is Malaria and HIV I am ready to get out there and make try to make a difference. I have already seen one kid too many die of something that should not even be on the radar. To ask me to come fight malaria was a great idea and I am so blessed to be here. Seeing several children arrive in wards when it is already too late is jut not acceptable These kids do not fir the profile of what you might imagine, they are well nourished children who arrived for care too late, most with something viral that should have been prevented.

I met young PC volunteers yesterday who will be far more vulnerable that I am who are going to be living way outside of Lira without a walled compound surrounding them, even though I feel that even with my limitations I could scale that wall. Easily. The PC volunteers are the people who are making an amazing contribution and will utilise public transport and live at a very local level as I worry about if the radio on the car is working. (It does).   I can make this journey happen in part because I have wheels. I am so fortunate that my time came just as SEED was developing this program. To quote Hesse in Siddhartha,  “there is no such thing as chance.”   

We took out oath this morning, it was touching and we will swear in after just a few more hours. I am excited, happy, expectant, ready and willing to move in to whatever position now awaits me.  We had a Skype call with Seed yesterday; I summed up how things are going.  It was great to hear the voices of those who have been following our journey. Much has happened since then, I have jumped into the owners seat while preparing to be the driver.

Our GHSP group swearing in at the US Ambassador's house. 

My brief introduction to Lira gave me the opportunity to meet some students and this is all incredibly important. Our visit to the hospital here in Kampala was informative and taught me a few things.  I can walk for four hours, climb steep slopes, and not lag behind or fall over in the Kampala sunshine.  We actually made several trips up and down the same flight of stairs and … I made it. My internal thermostat is no longer working at optimal condition, so it took me a bit of time to cool down after the time spent in the hospital but I wasn’t alone.  I am enjoying this journey so much and it has only just begun.