A nice hot shower or ... not?

I called Jonathan today and interrupted him taking a shower. I called back later and asked him about his shower. The pump in the front yard was broken, so he had to go to the public well to collect a bucket of water for his "shower". Apparently, the "shower" consisted of him splashing cold water on himself. He ought to be pretty ripe after two years!

Are we In touch with reality?

Sometimes, I wonder if our western world is too sanitized. I have been following world news for several years now, reading news sites from every part of the globe, BBC, Aljazeera, China Daily, to name just a few (See links at right). My brother, who is in the news business, mentioned to me that there are many news photos and videos that can not be shown on U.S. news, that are regularly shown on foreign news. Accident scenes, severe injuries and bodies are too graphic for us. However, without these images maybe we don't realize the reality, the consequences of drinking and driving, speeding, famine and war. I remember seeing a squished Iraqi child on a foreign news site, it was shocking, but it was real. Many have to witness scenes like this everyday without the benefit of censorship. Maybe, if we had to witness these atrocities, even just through pictures, it would affect our and our legislators decisions.

Where have all the children gone?

I was reminded today of why this war horrified me right from the start.
The first civilian injuries to catch my attention were those of a 12 year old Iraqi boy. He lost his entire family and his arms. How does a child endure such physical and physicilogical pain? Ali is slowly recovering physically. However, he is just one of hundreds of thousands of children who are suffering in this world, all because of the insanity of the adults around them.

Interesting news stories from Luweero, Uganda

Police in Luweero have arrested four people for attempting to exhume the body of a relative at the Luweero Anglican Cathedral. The group also performed traditional rituals in the cathedral's compound. They reportedly stormed the compound on Friday afternoon, claiming to have been haunted by the spirit of their dead relative who was demanding to be reburied at their ancestral burial ground.


President Yoweri Museveni instructed his driver to stop in the centre of the town and emerged from his Mercedes vehicle to address the mini rally. "I have seen the potholes along this highway and I have noted it", Mr Museveni said amidst cheers from the residents.
The president has also commended Luweero residents for producing huge quantities of pineapples. He promised to construct a pineapple-processing factory in the area.


There is general unease among teachers in Luweero district after the education officer, Asuman Kamoga, announced plans to lay off primary school teachers. He said the district was given a staff ceiling of 2,270 teachers, to match the approved Government teacher to pupil ratio of 1:53, but added that there were over 250 excess teachers on the payroll. Kamoga revealed that the teachers to be affected are drunkards, defilers and perpetual absentees.

Text message from: Jonathan in Uganda

Jon in Africa during his round-the world trip in 2004.

From: Jonathan in Uganda
Sent: Mar 12, 2007 8:57 AM
Subject: Homestay is good language is very...

My Homestay is good. The language is very hard for me. Family is nice, but strong gender roles. Women don't even eat with us. I have my own room and am eating lots of banana!

Sent via Text message from T-Mobile

Note from Jon

Note from Jon:

hi all, just want to send a quick note to let you know that we're finally done with staging here in Philly. we'll be leaving for Uganda tomorrow and i can't wait! we'll be spending the first week in a place called banana village (a family run resort) about 20 minutes north of Entebe.

we'll then be moving to our staging post, which is a village called Luweero, which is north of Kampala somewhere. anyways, just wanted to let you know that not to worry if you don't hear from me for long periods especially during training, since I'm not sure what cell phone or Internet access I'll have. well gotta go have dinner now w/ my new friends! ~Jon

Time flies...

Well things have quieted down here considerably, compared to the past couple of months. First there was Thanksgiving in Highland Park, pictures below.

David and Jon talking David explaining his reasearch

Cami & David's Wedding

Above: Cami & David, the wedding party, Jon cleaned up!


Then there was Christmas, Tom's Birthday and a 3 week trip to California.

Below: Yosemite and Big Sur.


(look how tiny Jon looks next to the redwood)

and finally Jon & Anna lived with us until they both left for Africa this week.

Below: Jon backpacking in the snow, Hunter and Jon skiing and Jon and Anna frozen solid.


Below: Anna, Jon, David, and Cami. Abby looking coy.



It's a lot quieter with just the two of us, especially since all Tom does is read. Jon, Anna and I went skiing, to the movies, cooked together, to the gym or just the grocery store. It was fun having them around, I will miss them terribly! I may have to start pestering Cami and David again :)!