Our Trip To Africa…continued; Photos!

We’ve had some requests to add photos to the Blog…

This photo shows a typical “road” off the main road to a project…very bumpy. This one was in Ethiopia but they were much the same everywhere we visited. Sometimes it felt like all my internal organs were bouncing around inside and I hoped they’d all end up back in the right place!!!

No matter where we went, children loved having their picture taken. These little ones at the Blue Nile Gorge in Ethiopia came running from all directions when they saw the car.

This young boy came along just after I took the previous picture and asked me to take a picture of him. The other children moved to stand beside him and he said “No, just me!” and then struck this serious pose.

I love this picture. Dwight is showing people from the Gumz tribe a DVD recording he had just made. The Gumz live in a remote region (Debate) and have had very limited exposure to anything or anyone outside of their own tribe so this may have been the first time they’d seen anything like this. The man in the centre is one of the tribe leaders and I think his expression is wonderful!

Our first mob of cheering kids! Wow, what an experience. This was taken from the car as we were leaving a school we visited in Debate.

When stopped to visit a water well project, I attracted my own little crowd. This was where they were asking my name and laughing when I’d say “Sue”.

I don’t usually take pictures of bathrooms but I wanted to make sure I didn’t forget what they were like. A keyhole shaped opening in cement. The little jug outside the door is to dip in a rainwater barrel then “flush” away any remnants of your visit! I should mention, in case you’re planning a trip to Ethiopia, Uganda, or Malawi, that it’s BYOTP (Bring Your Own Toilet Paper) pretty much everywhere you go!

I bought some lottery tickets from this little boy in a small town on the route from Jarso to Addis. The big prize was 77,000 BIR (approx. $8,000 USD). I planned to donate it to the CPAR projects in area, if I was lucky enough to win, but unfortunately my success with lotteries in Ethiopia was the same as it is here in Canada. Compared to most other people in the area, this little boy is exceptionally well dressed…I wonder if somebody bought a winning ticket from him then came back to reward him with new clothes?!

We were often welcomed by women, who sang for us. This was a group of community volunteers who work alongside healthcare workers providing support to expectant and new mothers in northern Uganda.

This was a demonstration of an oxen yoke that a community group makes as an income generating activity (IGA). The woman, Carolina was so generous. After we left them, we walked over to look at an energy efficient stove in the area. Carolina went to a nearby store and bought us some soft drinks then ran over to give them to us for our ride back to Lira.

This group performed at the dedication ceremony, we attended, for the health centre in Uganda. They were amazing! The traditional stringed instruments are very basic but produce a beautiful sound.

When I said “Smile!” these little cuties, at an IDP Camp in northern Uganda, knew what to do!

More cuties at the same camp…

We took a day off to visit the Murchison Falls National Park in northern Uganda where we saw amazing animals like this giraffe.

This picture was taken at a school garden project in Malawi. The children take great pride in working in the garden, which provides them with a wide variety of nutritious foods and gardening skills that they share with their families.

Hundreds of children from the school were watching us from just outside the garden gates!

One of the many times on the trip when children ran after the car as we pulled away!

These children are orphans who attend a school recently built with CPAR’s assistance in the Chintheche area of Malawi.

This is a picture of Judith, whom I wrote about in my first blog posting, describing the program she is invoved with.

In all of the countries we visited there were merchants selling all sorts of things along rural roads. We stopped here to purchase Chambo and were quickly surrounded.

This picture was taken in the market in Lilongwe, where we had just purchased some wraps (material not sandwiches!). It was fun negotiating a price. I’m sure we overpayed (foreigner vs local price) but that’s okay.