Update: Traveling to Uganda

Here are some pictures of when Elliot and I took his bike to Dar to catch the bus to Kampala: It started sleeting on us shortly after these pictures were taken.

Ulonge Swing Set

One of the last things that Elliot and I did before heading North was to fix the swing set at the Ulonge school. The problem was that the U-bolt that the chain was attached to had worn out. So after purchasing a new U-bolt in town we figured the rest would be pretty easy. However, the first problem was getting up to the top of the swing set. After scrounging around we managed to find this ladder: It was mostly rotted but it did the trick, as I managed to claw my way to the top of the swing set. First I removed the old U-bolt... ...and then Elliot brought the tire... ...and after some grunting and groaning the new swing was in place. Then Elliot tried out the swing to make sure that everything worked out ok and that we wouldn't injure any kids. And finally my graceful dismount... Here are the kids playing on both swings:

Bike Trip to Ibofwe

Here are the videos from when Elliot, Abbas and I attempted to ride Elliot's bike up the steep ridge to the village of Ibofwe. The video doesn't show how steep the road really is, but it is quite steep. So steep that the bike was stalling out. After the bike continued to stall out, Elliot convinced Abbas to help him push it through the sandy part. The transcript is Elliot asking (in an exasperated tone) "Are you pushing?" Which is followed by my laughter. They eventually did manage to push the bike through the sandy part while I watched.

Neighborhood Kids

Here are some pictures of some of the kids that Elliot and I lived near once the rest of the group left and we moved into Iringa. We moved into a small apartment complex that had 5 apartments, plus a latrine and a cooking area with a courtyard in the middle surrounded by an exterior wall. Abbas lived in the apartment next to ours in the compound. These kids greeted us with great enthusiasm everyday as we returned home from being in the village. The little girl in the yellow is named Rosa and she also lived in our compound. The girl in the middle has on the goggles that we wear when we ride on the motorcycle, and that is her little brother in the picture as well(They live down the road from the apartment). It is a sign of respect for children to carry the belongings of an adult, which is why the children below are carrying our helmets into our apartment. It is of such importance that children do this that they would insist on carrying whatever we had, no matter how heavy, all the way to our door. As a result we needed to be careful how many bottles of water we purchased at the store so as to prevent the little children from developing hernias.