World Aids Day +Ctrl + Alt + Shift

World Aids Day was Monday...... in honour of that, we went to a performance called +Ctrl+Alt+Shift+ here in London, with striking movement based performance to get messages across about the HIV/AIDS awareness. Here is a short clip of one of the performances....

Cost of living

Ever since I was born
Everyones been complaining
how the cost of living
just keeps soaring;

Tea from Ceylon
Rice from Burma
Sugar from Jamaica
Meat from the Argentine
Yes, there's no denying
the cost of living
has been rising
ever since I was born.

Yet I haven't heard
a single complaint
since the day I arrived
how the price of human lives
has been taking a nose-dive:
in Hiroshima,
Stalin's Russia,
Hitler's Reich
in Vietnam,
Kampuchea,
Uganda,
South Africa,
Guatemala,
El Salvador...

Ever since I was born
the cost of living
has been getting rather steep.
The cost of a life
has never been cheaper.

by Cecil Rajendra

Anna and I adventuring London

My dear sweet friend, Anna (we met working in Patongo IDP Camp), was back in London for about 5 days. We had many giggles, cakes, walking around London.

London by tube, train and foot

We attended the Emerging Artists and Residents in London over the weekend, and this was one of the performers-on his flute making some amazing music !

Hey World, Don't Give Up

Music by Micheal Franti & Spearhead

Autumn joys

England is smelling like Autumn, the fresh leaves, cool air and even some sunny skies to complement..
The canal near Kafero's house Swans and houseboats along the canal
Denis, a good Ugandan friend who also worked with Medair in Patongo IDP camp, has just arrived in England to study his Masters at Cranfield University. Wonderful to visit with him and hear his first impressions of life outside Africa!
Sheep grazing under the moon in the English countryside

Wild horses

Kafero and I spent the weekend camping in New Forest National Park, a few hours south of London. A gorgeous moss covered forest with tranquil winding rivers, and to make the fairytale surroundings come alive; wild horses and ponies running about !

a day with Eli

So hey everybody, I'm 2 years old now, and I'm styling now. Also now that I'm 2, I'm tons of fun to take out on little adventures around town and I love being outside ! So, who wants to hang out with me for the day? 'Auntie Kate' ofcourse!

Autumn sunrises in the backyard
Riding my bike
braving the slide

Grandpa on his lunch break, showing me how to work this cool toy at the park
Eli and 'Auntie Kate'

Oregon...can it get more beautiful?

It was the only place in the forest to camp
Could you wake up in a more beautiful place? Cliffs, fresh woods, and the Pacific ocean
Alissa and I, reunited under a shining sun

Liz and I demonstrating beach stretching

Portland friends reunited at the beach for another great weekend together ( there were 8 dogs , but apparently only 2 made it for the photo !)

How sweet it is to be with family, friends and the beauty here ....

Eli drinking his water like a little man at Tiffanys wedding !
Mom and Dad walking their Grandson to the beach
Leah and Eli at Teal Lake
Eli collecting rocks !

Grandma Withers and I at Mackinac Island taking a carriage tour
Amanda and I on our way to Wheatland Music Fesitval in Lower Michigan, this was taken when we ran out of gas on the side of the road !
Lovella, Carrie and I; reconnecting after 2 years of being on different sides of the globe.
Rainbow on Lake Superior at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, 10 minutes after this Amanda and I drove through a hail storm.

Home sweet home; our backyard on a Saturday morning ; relaxing peaceful and tranquil

cancer to freedom

Then to Now

reflect

CANCER-FREE

live, die, live

anger to relief
scar to survive

knowns and unknowns

accept-ance

time to moments

life to living

embrace

Journey home, for a bit....

Micheal Franti & Spearhead....Kafero and I attended the most exhilarating, energetic and alive show I've ever been to ! Danced so hard I bruised the bottom of both my feet, yelled so much I lost my voice, was so explosive with energy I couldn't sleep that night and danced til my flight left London in the morning...(did I mention I got a hug and kiss on the forehead from him?!)..hows that for luck ?!

Flew to Paris last week on that rainy Friday morning and had an exploring day of trains and found delicious crepes and tea before getting on my flight for USA...
From the chaos of Africa, with a complete spaghetti pile of cars, motorcycles, bicycles, people walking, potholed roads, no traffic markings, animals roaming, and with no zoning laws, buildings of all sorts and all materials everywhere. Now, Welcome back to America...the word that comes to mind when I stepped onto this in the Detroit aiport..ORGANIZED...electronic devices so you don't even have to move your body to walk, it does it for you, and on these moving walkways, its organized in a 'walk' and 'stand' section, divided by a yellow center line, and labeled about ever 3 feet or so. Now both get you to the same place, the end, where that nice ladies voice informs you its about to end, prepare to move your body again. Also, the fear that feels absorbed by the mind when the loudspeaker warnings in the background of the airport beep every 3 minutes, "security threat level orange"beep. "remember, 3 in 1, three liquids in one bag" beep "do not leave your luggage unattended" beep "do not accept gifts from strangers". I felt like looking for the written aisle on the floor that said 'run', but I could only see 'walk' and 'stand' so thats what I did.
It does feel great to be home, like a big hug to be in the Upper Peninsula again. Eli is the exploring little being that keeps everyone entertained and brings so much life. The fresh trees, blue waters, sandy beaches, sitting under the stars and pure skies, so special.

August discoveries

So, after my parents and Kafero left Uganda, I had several weeks to eat mangoes, drink tea in the morning air and explore more volunteer opportunity possibilities for when I return to Uganda.

I travelled to Northern Uganda by a typical crowded bus with chickens, mattresses, bags of charcoal, cassava, lots of people, stopping a lot, potholed roads, waiting on the bus for 5 hours before it left, and finally arrived in the hub of the north, Gulu. The center of a lot of displacement camps and many agencies trying to address their needs. After wandering around the Northern town of Gulu, and taking several leads from the district Education officer, I found a special needs classroom, actually the only one, at the Gulu Prison Primary School and a few days meeting with the director, teacher and lovely students. What a joy to be around them !I also met with GUSCO, a national NGO, whose projects I had heard about for about a year now. They were originally the reception center for abducted child soldiers from the LRA. When they would escape, they would come here for about a month of rehabilitation and networking to reintegrate them into their homes, or if there was no existing family; setting up some sort of reintegration process and vocational skills/education setting to get them started. Because there have been no returnees for a while they currently are doing vocational training for formerly abducted children and for the child mothers. Also the new program, funded by the EU is working on the continued reintegration needed in the camps for returnees. When I return to Uganda, I plan to work with them on that project; currently in 8 sub-counties around Gulu.

Meanwhile, back in Kampala......yes, Nagawa makes her water debut...running at full speed....
I accompanied her on the school trip she attended to the zoo, now her second visit, but the biggest surprise was her taking to the water! She was quite terrified last time we were near the water; but second time around; she was thrilled! So great to see! She joined the other kids in the water and was just crazy about running and playing on the shores of Lake Victoria! This was actually my birthday, what a joyous way to spend a 27th birthday!
Nagawa on the left with her little school friends.

Her little friends.Nagawa and I making faces!
Her joyful giggles in the water.
Happy happy !Hospice Care in Uganda in limited ; but fortunately there are some services. This particular day I visited the Childrens Cancer Care. These little ones have cancer and are receiving chemotherapy along with others. The play therapy is set up to help them cope with the being in the hospital setting and a bit of normal child's play. I felt a special connection with these kids; and hope they have an opportunity for the same outcome as my cancer.

Flying from Uganda last week, I met Kafero in London and we travelled up to Nottingham to visit my sweet friend Anna. Wonderful moments and sharing; and strange for the 3 of us to be in England together; since most of our time together has been in East Africa; so a very different culture here!
Some luxuries though such as vegetarian restaurants....and spending whole days in Anna's garden....relaxing way to transition heading back to the US for some lovely family visits and more medical scans, tests and bloodwork. Fly out of London tomorrow, spend the day in Paris, and then back to Michigan.