Day 3

Day 3 was much of like day 2 but much more intense. It started with me and two other college guys bringing water from the water whole to the village. This was about a mile and a half, up hill. I decided to show my stregth and carried up two of the water jugs up the mountain. I was so exhausted and hot that by the time I had reached the village I already needed a break. Then me and Harrison dug up some of the land in front of the church to use as the pastor's floor for his house. We used the shovels and dikes to loosen up the dirt, and after that we used a wheelbarrel to transport the material to the inside of the pastor's house. This was a task that truly tested my stregth, endurance, and work ethic. We also got a big rise out of the African women, because we did the task shirtless. The entire day the team work together and was able to complete the church, and build the pastor's house about half way. We then took a break, while having a snack that the villagers provided (pineapple, soda, and sugar cane). After the break, my dad took out his scrap book and took finger prints of all the villagers writing down their names and ages. I think he is truly getting the meaning, importance, and passion for the trip. While he was doing this I danced (including popping collars, as seen in the picture) and played with the children to pass the time until we were to go home. I am amazed at these people's perserverence through poverty and strife. They have shown me that family and relationships with others is the way to true happyness in life.

Africa Day Two (church roofing)

I could not sleep last night. I woke up about 6 and ate breakfast, then we got on a bus and traveled for an 1 1/2 hours , then got out and walked an hour. We were greated by a large chanting and a stamped of people, the people charged us with tribal songs and decorations. They were so excited to see us. I have never gotten a better entrance in my life, it was truly special. The sing and chanting carried on until we got to a church, that had not had a roof in 10 years. Needless to say we sprang into action. We, mostly the actual workers with Harrison and I chiping in, built the support beams for the roof. This was one of the scariest things I have done in Africa, ever. We were on a large brick church, standing on loose bricks and a wobbly board. Harrison nailed in the beams, while I held a board for 5 min. I got down and thanked good to still be alive. While we were working on the church, most of the other people were working on the Pastors house right next door. The pastor has a 19 mile bike ride up the side of a hilly area every day just to do his work. His new house is about 20 feet away from the church, we started by getting all the bricks around the frame of the house, then my dad and the team applied the concrete to the bottom bricks. This took most of the mourning, until the people fed us. After the snack, we went and got the tin roofing from a near by house. By the end of the day the churches roof was have done, still in work. While the pastor's house had a good frame showing. The day was amazing and draining, the passion the graditude that these people show is both amazing and inspiring. I hope to one day have same amount of love for life and energy that this people display to us and a day to day basis. I am exhausted and hope to get a better sleep tonight.

AFRICA DAY ONE!

We are finally in Africa. We left London and arrived in Africa at 8 in the mourning. We walked on the plane and went through the airport (no customs). Then we had an hour bus ride to the house. We hit the ground running. We dropped the bags of and were off to build a house for a women who had 17 children (orphans because of AIDS). We started by making a line and passing/ spreading bricks around the outline of the house. After a few of us walked about ½ a mile to go fetch water for concrete. This walk was done barefoot by some of the children. We filled the yellow containers in a reservoir and headed back, most of the children were able to easily carry the containers back, and most of the muzungos (“white people”) struggled. Once we got back a school of elementary students came and sang songs of gratitude and thanks. This was an amazing thing. During the ceremony me and some of the other men (Lee, Harrison, and Brian) put on the tribal dance skirts and danced with them. This was an amazing ceremony and a great way to start the trip. We are all exhausted from two days traveling.

NEW YORK

Because of two flight delays (in Chicago and New York), we would have missed our flight to Uganda from Brussels, and the next flight would be 3 days from now. Now the plan is to stay in New York for 2 days and go from London to Uganda.
On top of the 3 day flight delay. We stayed in the airport for 7 hours, had a missing bag. Went to a hotel, supposed to be vouchered by the Airline, only to get turned away to and have to go back to the airport for two hours. Then we finally had a hotel room, but the cab driver refused to take us because we had two many bags! He drove away without us and we waited for another half an hour. Finally at 3 30 we got to the hotel, only to be the last ones to get a room.

FYI: The rest of the group become detached from us and ended up with the police on the side of the interstate for a while, and finally got a room at 5 30 in the mourning!

NO SIGN OF AFRICA, but maybe a Mets game.

A Week Before Africa

Hey Everyone,

This is my blog for my second trip to Africa, my first to Uganda. For those who dont know me, my name is Andy Bauer. I am a Illinois State University student senior, and I will be student teaching at an elementary school all of next year. I am very fortunate and thankful to have such loving and supportive family and friends. (Really I would not have been able to anything without them)

I first became aware and involved with Global Family Rescue three years ago as a senoir in high school. Ben, Melody, and Jake, had come and held a presentation in my schools auditorium, and I gave them my information carelessly, clueless of the implications. I kept in contact with them off and on, but it was not until I watched Hotel Rwanda, for a second time, that I really reflected on myself and my morals/beliefs. There is a quote in the them movie where the main character Paul is talking to a US cameraman. The camera man shows him footage of people getting slaughtered by the masses in broad day light. And Pauls says to the camera man, "You can show this to your people back in the US and they will do something". Then the camera man looks at Paul and says,"People in America will be watching this on the news, while eating dinner. They will say how horrible this is, and then go back eating their dinner like nothing happened."

This single quote in a movie changed my life. I reflected on how I could let this happen, and why I never stuck up for what I believed what was right. How could we let this happen? The Rwandan genocide happened in 1994, I was a alive then, and no one helped these people. I thought about "how we could let this happen back then". But in reality it is happening right now in many countries in Africa. (Sudan, Uganda, Congo) The war in Sudan,"Darfur", has been called a GENOCIDE by our own Governement. The USA recognizes that this is a genoicde, and when I bring up Darfur while doing a speech to high school students, I get blank stares. And you can't blame them, it is not there fault that all they see on the media is Paris Hilton's next DUI or Americas Next Top Eating Disorder (ANTED for short). In Sand and Sorrow, narrated by George Clooney (Ladies and Adam), he says that last year CBS talked for a total of 3 minutes on the GEONCIDE in Dafur. This is why no one knows that Darfur is not a "Candian Fur Trading Company", and is a section of Sudan that has/is be murdered by the hundreds of thousands. So this is my mission, to learn and share the stories of the people of Africa, and to relay these stories to anyone who is ready and willing to listen.

On this trip we will be going to Uganda, a very imporvished country, that has been war strickened for years in the Northern Region. The conflict between the rebel Lord's Resistence Army and the Ugandan Army is at the moment "semi-stable". We will be traveling over night to a the city of Gulu, where children by the thousands walk for miles to sleep together on the ground in order to protect themselves from being abducted by the LRA and being transformed into child soldiers. We will be speaking to women who had been raped, and now have children, by these rebels, and sharing their stories. We will also be visiting the sponsored families in Uganda and relief oganizations to help aid their needs.

This trip will change everyones life involved, me included. It will test everyone physically and emotionally. I am very exitcited to say that my father will be going on this trip with me. This will be an amazing oppritunity for the both of us.

Thank you to everyone that helped me get where I am today (family and friends)

Andy Bauer