Our brief stay back in Uganda after our dizzying trip to South Sudan was definitely highlighted by all of Acen's kids being back in the home. While the place was certainly a madhouse, that is with nine kids running around all day, it was especially nice to be able to meet South Sudan Scholarship Foundation's newest student. Werro is six years old and has been in Uganda for just one term. Stunningly enough, having known no English while in Sudan, she was able to communicate perfectly with us in her knew language. She also never stopped smiling the entire time we were there. A tiny girl who was visibly still effected by the disease (she is currently under treatment for syphilis) and hunger she left in Sudan, she was constantly laughing and playing. Werro, unlike other SSSF students, does have a loving family back in Sudan. However, her mother is physically handicapped and her father is blind. Without intervention from SSSF she would have little chance of ever receiving an education let alone being able to play as any child should; two things I can assure you she is taking full advantage of today!
(Werro!)
Back in Uganda we also had the task of trying to overcome the incredible misinformation surrounding ferry travel to Tanzania. The buses heading to Tanzania would carry us around much of what we aimed to see in the country. Our first attempt was thwarted at the dock because immigration officials had left hours before the ferry was due to depart (logic need not apply) and we could not get an exit-stamp. Finally we were able to find a ride aboard a cargo ship from Jinja, Uganda to Mwanza, Tanzania. We spent the day of our departure in Jinja, a bustling colonial town and near to the source of the Nile. That night we slept aboard the ship before being jostled awake by a four in the morning departure. The sunrise on Lake Victoria proved spectacular.
(Sunrise over Lake Victoria)
While the ship did not appear all that sea-worthy, in the end, we both agreed that this leg of the trip was far and away the best travel experience yet. We were the only two passengers on the ship and we had a great bunk room in which we spent two peaceful nights. While it certainly was not overly exciting, the spaciousness, calmness and quiet were an incredible change of pace from bus travel. We were only in sight of land for the first several hours after departure from Uganda (during which we crossed the equator, unknowingly, for the third and last time), but that early scenery was beautiful with small fishing villages dotting the shores of small islands and peninsulas.
We spent the majority of our full-day aboard the ship playing cards and lying about on the deck of the ship, only being chased inside by the monstrous clouds of mosquitoes that we passed through several times. These swarms could be seen miles away and looked more like thunder clouds than masses of insects. After leaving sight of land around ten that morning we did not see another sign of human life until twelves hours later. In a Twilight Zone type of scene that first sign of life was miles and miles of fish farms. Atop each of the thousands of buoys that held up the restraining nets was a solitary bulb. These silent dots of light surrounded us for as far as the eye could see and on every side of the ship for hours.
We arrived in Mwanza, Tanzania yesterday around five in the morning. Mwanza is a beautiful town that sits atop several hills overlooking Lake Victoria. Homes are constructed on and around rocky outcroppings and smooth boulders jut out from around the hotels and restaurants in the city center. We enjoyed lunch at a second-story hotel bar right on the shore of the lake. Having not known what to expect, Mwanza has been a great surprise and has certainly added to what have been some very needed, very relaxing few days!
I have been battling a slight fever so we will spend another day here before moving on to Musoma. From there we will travel through the Serengeti (since we are traveling on a shoestring we hope to get a little bit of a safari out of this leg of the trip) to Arusha where we will visit a children's village and a school for children who would otherwise be unable to afford the cost of school fees. We also hope to visit the nearby Ngorongoro Crater, the supposed site of the inception of human life.
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