First day in Gulu!

(I'm running out of battery..and I don't have any Internet tonight...so I'm posting this in the morning!)

So last night (Thursday) was quite the adventure here at the Churchill Courts Hotel!  Being in Gulu....and true for Uganda in general....you can count on the electricity going out at least once a day....and most likely two times or more!  In fact...just as I wrote the first 4 words on here.....out it went and in Gulu the Internet doesn't work in my room so I was sitting by myself in this open air lobby.....in the dark!  And it gets really pitch black here at night!

Luckily my iPad has light so I can just continue writing until the electricity comes on again!  I have so many stories to tell but suffice it to say:  Life is an adventure here in Gulu!  Complete with power outages, torrential rain storms, giant crickets everywhere and a personal pet gecko/lizard residing in my bath room!

Remember how yesterday I thought we'd spend most of our time in at the school.....well once again our well-laid plans went in a different direction!  So instead we had the opportunity to visit two organizations that provide jobs and job training for some of the women in Northern Uganda who have been displaced from their homes and villages as a result of a ongoing, catastrophic war.  

Before the rain today we toured a place called 31 Bits....you may have heard of them. It is run by an organization of what seemed like all young people with a passion for the women of Uganda.  Have you seen the jewelry made from strips of paper??  It is an amazing process that produces not only necklaces and bracelets for women around the world to wear, but provides the women of Uganda with training to become self sufficient entrepreneurs and care for their families for hopefully generations to come!  The gal who showed us around is a 24 year old from Oregon who seems to have this passion to help change the world!

                           

    

After lunch we visited a similar place also with a heart for the women of Uganda called Krochet Kids.  And Linda fit right in!  She joined many of the women as they crocheted hats, baby booties, and more. Part of our tour took us to the knitting machine room...the only products not made by hand.  While there it began to rain.....and rain.... and rain some more!  We were in that room for about 1/2 hour until we finally made a run for it during a brief lull in the downpour.

        

   

Finishing up our day now....we had dinner tonight at an awesome place called the Iron Donkey here in Gulu!  Best tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches you will ever, ever have!  It's a little cafe in the middle of Gulu run by a pastor from Texas!

Big day tomorrow....it's graduation day for the students at Christ the Center school......hope it doesn't rain again!