Mzungu is the Lugandad word for white person. We hear adults and children alike shout it wherever we go. It’s been quite comical for us! And of course, we have perfected our regal waves from our large van windows and feel like celebrities wherever we go!

I am sorry that I have not written sooner. Truly, we have not been near an internet café, nor have we really had the time. Our schedule is extremely busy and we have all been working hard!

But since I wrote last, we have installed computers at several schools. The installations are always quite fast, but of course, we have to troubleshoot with a few computers each day. The teaching is always the most grueling and challenging part. Many of the students have never used a computer and so, as you can imagine, even teaching the concept of a mouse can be quite a task!

Aside from computer installation and training, we have also been having a great deal of fun. Yesterday we visited the Nile river. We have also been to two Ugandan weddings – one in a village and one in the city. The upcoming week will be packed with school installations and training.

Another email from Uganda:

We just came back from Kampala. We went there a couple of days to celebrate the 4th at the American Recreation Center. We were a little late because our trip to see the source of the Nile took so long. It was a three hour drive in this little VW van both ways. The Nile was awesome, though. We watched some rafters fight through the rapids, and one guy floated down the rapids on a jelly can!

The 4th of July party at the recreation center was okay... However, as we were waiting in line, prizes were being drawn for some of the people who came there. "Up next is a washing machine!" the announcer bellowed. Jesse laughed and said, "Who needs a washing machine, anyway?" Seconds afterward her name was announced as the winner of the washing machine...weird, eh?
She still has to pick it up, but she's going to give it to the Kitovu Center.

This and the previous blogs came from Biyeun's emails from Uganda:

To leave off on a funny note...In my last email, I forgot to mention the auction at the village we were at. Well, the people there held an auction in our honor to raise money for the school and stuff. We, however, did not realize this at first. They had brought a goat (live one) and set it on top of the bench. The way they were holding it, it looked like they were going to break its neck. We were like, "Oh, my God...are they going to sacrifice the goat?" Then the guy started calling out...1,000 shillings,etc. and we finally realized it was an auction. Mr. Winsnes joined in and the auction went up to 100,000 shillings...bringing forward a few gasps from the crowd. (However, 100,000 shillings is only about $50). He won the goat and we piled it into the back of the truck with the sugar cane, banannas, and put the two fish on the grill of the truck...Oh man...it was hilarious. We ended up donating the goat to one of John's brothers and named it Dr. Secretary after the experience we had at the kareoke. How fun is that?

BB's email continued: I'm now sitting at this internet cafe near the Kitova Center. Mr. Winsnes, Teep (John Nsambu's brother, who is very cool!), and I just finished talking to the manager about their Internet connection. The connect via a dish to a tower a mile or so away. The connection speed is about 64 KB. Guess how much they are paying? 1.7 million shillings a month! That's 1,000 dollars a month...for 64 KB! Insanity! On the 12th, right before we leave, Mr. Winsnes and I will meet with the Communications Chairman in Uganda (Equivalent to the FCC Chairman in the US) to talk about making Internet more widely available across the country--which is something I am very interested in. When I was training the kids, they would often ask me if they could send emails from the computer, or if the Internet worked. I sadly had to say no...It's something we take so much for granted because the Internet is everywhere in our lives. The kids only have Encarta, which in comparison is so limited.

BB's email: We just finished three schools this week.They have all been so welcoming and thankful. I feel so blessed to be able to help all of these people out. One school we went to yesterday was in the middle of a poor neighborhood. The buildings were covered with dust, the walls were made out of mud and makeshift bricks. The campus was very small for the amount of students it had. But in the middle of this school was a clean, whitewashed computer lab with individual desks set up along the power outlets on the wall...The parents had pitched in all their time, effort, and money to create this computer lab just for us to setup 15 computers. This high tech lab in the middle of a dustbowl...incredible. The staff held a celebration for us with traditional African folk dances and a couple drama performances. The fight against AIDS is really prevalent now...there are AIDS awareness posters everywhere. Even the played we saw had themes about the destructiveness of AIDS, etc.

Comment: So many here in Washington contributed to make this project possible and I hope through this they can feel part of it..