Happy Holiday

This year's Christmas Ornament Fundraiser is well underway, and we are very excited to report that all of our ornaments have been sold all the way from Wyoming to Texas to right here in Georgia. As just a little seedling of an organization, we are so grateful that you have recognized the mission of Global Ties as a meaningful way to invest your Dollars for Good. With that being said, I wanted to share with you the impacts that our investments have had on Hope Primary School and the refugee community.

Since January 2010, Hope Primary School has:

• Increased enrollment by 30% from 166 students to 215 students,

• Increased revenue generated from school facilities by 65% from 4,981,000 USH ($2,180) to 8,114,000 USH ($3,550) per term,

• Improved teacher compensation, which has led to a significant improvement of student performance across all grades,

• Decreased student absenteeism,

• Inspired an increase in contributions from refugee parents and families, AND

• Acquired recognition from the Ugandan Department of Education.

Thank you for working with us to improve the quality of education for refugee children.

Education is Opportunity!

Let's Finish It

Hello Everyone! We hope you have all had a wonderful fall and are ready to take on another winter. Last year this time Mollie and I were living in Ndejje, Uganda working with Hope Primary School and the refugee community. This year we are excited to be making things happen back at home in Athens, GA. Thanks to all of you we were able to do some incredible things for Hope Primary School and the refugee community of Ndejje. The director, Jacques, of Hope Primary School wrote a report on the progress that was made and we wanted to share it with all of you.

"During their six month stay with us, Global Ties was able to come up with the following realizations thanks to a successful fundraising campaign:

1. Access to water was developed along with the construction of a water harvesting system next to the toilets to allow for good toilet habitats  at school.

2. A school canteen was constructed adjacent to the 4 classroom building to supply the children and the surrounding community with food supplies and other goods, which gives the school an additional stream of revenue.

3. The much needed remaining three classrooms were constructed finally making Hope School a complete school since it's creation in 2001.

4. The original 4 classrooms were nicely floored.

5. An order was placed at Kamba Cooperative to sew different types of bags, napkins, and bowties made of 'Kitenge' fabric from the D. R. Congo. 

The amount of money invested in the above projects is more that USD 10,000. Obviously it is an unimaginable amount of money for our school to realize and more so all the above mentioned to be realized in just six month."

These are amazing improvements, and as Jacques said, an unimaginable amount of money in just six months. Working with Hope School and the refugee community has been such a gift to us, and we are excited to carry our mission forward. This year we are launching our second annual Christmas Ornament Fundraiser and the proceeds will go to finishing what we started. We still need windows, doors, and cement to plaster the walls to finish the classrooms. I know we can do it! Let's finish it!

We are selling our ornaments again this year for just $5. These were hand made by the Kamba Shop Cooperative. We have a limited number so if you are interested you can comment on this post or you can email me directly at jimbograves@gmail.com.

One Way to Help

 http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1379306641249&ref=mf

 Jean Luc and William

Refugees from North Kivu, Congo

Since we have been working with Congolese refugees in Uganda, we have been learning more about the activity going on in their home country, the Congo. We were able to do a few personal interviews with the help of Jacques who speaks fluent English, Swahili and several other languages, which we will write about at a later time. We were able to learn from the interviews that most of our Congolese friends ran from their homes, their lives, and their families because militias in North Kivu Provence, eastern Congo, were raping women, killing men, and stealing everything there was to steal. 

It is amazing that we have had the chance to live side by side with people that have witnessed the atrocities that have occurred in their homes and in their neighborhoods. It is even more exciting to be able to respond to the need that these people face in their efforts to rebuild their stolen lives. Many factors play into the brutal conflict that plagues this isolated and forgotten part of the world. Attention from the international community is one, attention from leaders of the most powerful nations in the world is another, and a slightly smaller but economically responsible party is the entire electronic industry from supplier to consumer. There is a very cool video spoof of the "I am a Mac/I am a PC" commercial that has just been put on facebook and youtube. It is straight forward and helpful to those that don't already know about what's going on.  Check out the link at the top of the post. 

We can do something.

Greasing the Wheels for Global Ties

I have not fully described the on-going relationship that we are working to sustain with our friends in Uganda now that we are home. When we were there, we saw very clearly that the members of Kamba Cooperative were very skilled tailors. The CoOp's main members are all refugees coming from the Democratic Republic of Congo, and it is widely believed that the Congolese are in fact the most highly skilled tailors in eastern Africa.  That being said, after we finished our Christmas ornament fundraiser, we got to work designing a few items that we thought might be attractive to people living in other parts of the world. 

Here are a few examples from our first product line.

Bow Ties 

Beach Bags

Shoulder Satchels

Napkin Sets

Tote Bags

 Yoga Bags

All of these items are being sewn by our friends at the Kamba Shop, and we are committed to reinvesting the money generated from this partnership back into their community to develop more opportunity for more people. These products represent an opportunity for consumers all over the world to get involved in educating the poor and disadvantaged youth of the developing world.

Education is hope. Education is progress.

If anyone is interested in learning more about our product line, please email us at jimbograves@gmail.com

Hello Again

I just kind of stopped blogging. Sorry. It was way to easy to just stop. When you get home from an adventure like going to Uganda, it is easy to think that your writing is over, and it certainly could be, but I kind of want to keep writing. I'm curious where it might lead. Plus, I'm not finished.

Our time in Uganda is still shaping the decisions we are making for our future. We have been asked on a few occasions, "Now what?" Well...

I don't know! What do you do after a trip like the one we just shared? Where do you go from there? The big question that I keep asking myself, and have been asking since maybe forever, is the very practical and seemingly endless, "What do I want to do with my life?" Well for me this is like arm wrestling with the Hulk over and over again. Slam, Slam, Slam. This question is entirely too broad, too big. It's perfectly fine to ask. I need to ask because sometimes I need to hear myself think, but I have to remember that it is highly unlikely that I'm going to think my way to the answer.

So instead, why not ask, "What do I want to do today?" Does that change things? Yes. I read the other day in a cool little devotional handbook, "The most important thing to determine is what to do right now." The wise ones say live in the reality that you want to live in because that is where reality comes from...within. When I ask myself what I should do with my life, I'm guessing, creating a reality that doesn't exist. It's stressful.

I love when I work myself up. I do it so easily. "What should I do" runs through my head like mice in a cage and the fear wells up in my eyes. I can't be anywhere. I feel over caffeinated but blank...crazy. I'm obviously stressed. Anybody can see it. It doesn't last too long. Sometimes minutes, sometimes a day or two. And then I let go. Something shifts inside and I readjust my thinking, or maybe it's just that I stop all the thinking. What do I want to do today? I can get there.

So I went down the street to a place I had thought about going to for days and simply asked if they would like any help. They said of course so now I'm volunteering at Hope for Haiti. I'm calling it interning. I don't have to feel like I'm waiting for the next thing. Every step counts.

Luckily since I've been back, I've been able to snatch up a few gigs working for my old employer, You've Got It Coming, a catering outfit for Naples' well-to-do. The job paints an interesting reality for me. On one side you have multimillion dollar mansions, fancy cars, and face lifts and on the other side you have malaria. Just to run the point home, here are a few pictures juxtaposing what two very different worlds look like.

 

Back Patio.

Front Patio?

 

A house.

A house.

A kitchen.

 

A kitchen

A living room.

A living room.

The world is certainly a crazy place. Having the chance for a birds eye view into these very different scenarios has been an immensely humbling experience.

Camp Refugees

  So we made it to a refugee camp - Kayaka II Settlement. Urban refugees to not live like Camp refugees. The ones here in Ndejje are integrating and developing opportunities because a city can offer that. In a camp they have one option: farming. Unfortunately Monday, the day we arrived, was a public holiday so the action at the camp was very quiet. It was Women's Day and they were gathering to celebrate with traditional songs and dances. Fortunately for us Jacques was able to accompany us to the camp which gave us a very intimate feeling of the people and the place. 

In 2005 he conducted research with a Harvard Graduate Student, Sarah Dryden, on educational integration for refugees. They worked very closely with a number of families and students living inside the camps. For 2 years, they sponsored secondary education for a number of girls. As it happens though, the funds became unavailable and these girls had to return to life in the camp. As we were walking along the road, the respondents from many years back came running out of their huts immediately recognizing Jacques. The excitement was flattering. One family invited us inside their home, a small traditional mud hut sleeping at least 8, where we chatted for a few minutes and then upon leaving offered us one of their live chickens. This is a sign of high honor around here which was simply amazing to witness: refugees with next to nothing handing over precious food to a man they hadn't seen in 5 years. Sometimes people with very little to give surprise you with how much they can give. 

Life on the camp is a purely agricultural existence. The problems: they have no fertilizer, very little land, and no storage facilities for their crops. When they take their crops on foot to the market miles away, they have very little bargaining power because their yield is small and because of who they are. Farming will not be enough to lift these folks from the poverty they experience. 

NGOs have not yet come to educate them on the newest ag sciences and techniques. The government would rather see that aid going to nationals. Camp refugees are therefore left to wait for handouts. Monthly rations of beans, rice, and cooking oil helps but it is never enough. They are constantly living in instability. They are not allowed certain permanent things like metal roofing sheets, bricks or cement. They can't cultivate banana plantations which would significanlty improve their income because the government doesn't allow it. They perpetuate this belief that these refugees are temporary visitors when many of them have lived in the same place for over a decade. This mentality is crippling. They give them land. Why not allow them to develop as any other village would? Economic integration would benefit all parties, nationals and refugees. Unfortunately the government doesn't see it that way. There is just one secondary school at Kayak that from my understanding is a last resort learning opportunity that still costs too much for these families. 

I would really enjoy seeing some changes take place especially for young, aspiring adults. Lets us pray that Global Ties can be successful. Lord, thank you for opening my eyes a little wider each day.

A Traditional Buganda Introduction

We were invited to the wedding introduction of our friend Jacob. He is the math teacher at Hope Primary School and a friend of ours. He is also a Buganda, and so is his fiancee, Grace. An introduction is a HUGE deal here. It is the very first time that Jacob meets Grace's father, brother's, and entire family. It is when Jacob presents the dowry, and a ring to Grace. It is like the party before the wedding...maybe similar to an engagement party. There are a lot of cultural do's and don'ts, and we tried to adhere to all of them. First, because Jacob invited us to sit on his side, he decided to present us as brothers and sisters, which meant we had to be on our best behavior...AND in traditional clothes. Jimbo wore Kanzu, and I wore Annet's Gomez: traditional party clothes for the Buganda. We started getting dressed at 10am (yes, it takes a while to dress the gomez) and the party was to begin at 12pm. However, like any real African gathering the ceremony was about 4 hours late and so the party went on until about 11pm. I did a lot of kneeling and greeting, Jimbo presented a chicken to Grace's father on behalf of Jacob, and I carried baskets of gifts on my head and presented them to the family. It was a truely unique experience and we were so happy to be a part of it. Here are some pics for you!

The best looking couple at the party.

Just a bunch of regular ole' Bugandans.

Waiting for Jacob, the groom, so we can caravan to the bride's father's home.

A little entertainment while we wait. Someone locked the keys in the car with the car running...the car that was supposed to take the groom!

The Introduction is very formal and this is us waiting in line to be welcomed before we can enter.

The groom being dressed by Grace's aunt. He cannot talk directly to any family memeber except the Aunt.

The BRIDE finally appears. After hours of all different friends and family members greeting us, the bride finally comes and greets. She danced her way out in front of us and you can see the excitement in the crowd!

Masai Mara Wonderland

Well, we are back in Kampala from our journey to Kenya. I have been dying to take Jimbo to Kenya since I studied there in 2003, and we finally made it. And it was just as amazing as expected! We arrived in Nairobi early Monday morning and had a full day in the city. We spent an hour with 19 baby elephants at the David Sheldrick Animal Orphanage, fed Rothschild giraffes at the giraffe sanctuary, ate at the famous Carnivore (though of course I took no part in the carnivorous feasting), and spent the afternoon in Nairobi National Park soaking in the view and spotting wildlife. The next morning we drove 6 hours to the Masai Mara and spent the next four nights in the park, going on game drives and hanging in the nearby Masai villages. We slept to the sounds of lions, hyenas, and the occassional hippo. Needless to say, I loved it and Jimbo loved it just as much. The Mara is just a magical place and we had a fabulous time taking it all in. Here are a few pics from the trip.

Arriving in the Mara.

Cheetah - "Sheeba". First game drive.

The big boy.

Dinner time.

Really grubbin' on the Topek.

  Leopard. And a lot of tourists...way too many, poor leopard.

The Majestic Mara.

Hippo Pool.

  I spy...a giraffe.

Someone looks afraid. Kissing giraffes at the giraffe sanctuary in Nairobi. He didn't try this in the bush.

Jimbo's new favorite. The Cameleon.

Mollie and the Masai women.

What do you think TD? Jimbo looks pretty good as a Masai Warrior.

Cooking in Africa

It has been brought to my attention that we have not been such good bloggers lately. Maybe because we are heading towards the end of our trip, maybe because we have become seriously tired of slow internet cafes and have been trying  to get out of them as quickly as possible, or maybe we have gotten lazy. I don’t know, but we apologize. Just because you haven’t heard from us does not mean that we haven’t been having amazing experiences and making huge accomplishments for hope school, kamba, and having fun times with our friends here in Uganda.

Cooking here in Uganda has been one of the harder adjustments for me to make.  Charcoal and kerosene stoves, no refrigerator, no cutting boards, only the bare essentials of cutlery, I’m telling you, fixing a meal here is not so easy.  But somehow I have managed to figure it out and I have actually come to enjoy the challenge of making new dishes and creating new meals for our menu.  

So last Sunday, our very good friend Annett invited us over for an African dinner cooking lesson.  Jimbo and I shopped and bargained for foods we wanted to learn how to cook in the crazy Owino market in Kampala, and headed over to Annett’s around 3pm. 

The stoves were already warming up when we arrived and we were greeted by annet’s fiancé, niece, cousin, and sister.  Annet has become a very close friend to both jimbo and myself and we have fallen in love with her fiancé, family, and friends so it was a wonderful surprise to have them join the party.  That is just the way it is in Africa, people just show up to your house for a visit and it is something that people look forward to everyday. Really, everyday they hope that someone may just stop by.  I don’t think it works like that in the u.s.  But here it is even rude not to drop by your friends homes for visits at least once a week.

So grace, annet’s fiancé, taught jimbo how to make juice. Jimbo diligently squeezed oranges, passion fruits, and another fruit similar to tangerines, while I sat outside with the girls and learned how to use banana leaves to cook.  We sat on a mat outside and cut and peeled vegetables. We told stories of our childhoods and they laughed at how differently we grew up.  They laughed at me when I went to fill the jerry can, saying ‘do you ever fill jerry cans in the u.s.’ and I explained that half of Americans probably don’t even know what jerry cans are. Africans know how to fetch water as soon as they are old enough to walk. For hours we cooked and simply enjoyed each other’s company. 

(Millet)

The menu consisted of – pumpkin, sweet potatoes, nakate greens, rice, cow peas, millet, g’nut sauce, avocados, and juice. It was the absolute best meal that we have had since we have been here, probably because of the company, but we actually really enjoyed the food.  And millet has become my new favorite.  I think it is because you get to eat it with your hands…no you HAVE to eat it with your hands.  And I love that I am allowed to eat with my hands…..sorry mom.  Anyway, it was a perfect day and we wanted to share the pics with you so you could get a better understanding of the normal parts of life, like cooking, are over here.