UNDERWAY

So I'm in London passing the time in the airport! I'm tired and my back hurts, but I just read my brother's blog about the patience necessary to survive and thrive in Uganda, and I'm reminded of the amazing patience, resilience and quiet Grace of the poeple I'm going to live amongst for the next 5 weeks. My prayer now is that I will be able to live in the moment, be fully present, and experience Beauty and Grace of my surroundings no matter where I am or how my body feels. So, I thank God for the pain in my back, for the incredible generosity of those who were able to contribute to my trip, and for the adventure that is before me. For now, I'm waiting in the airport. I think I'll catch up on my knowledge of infectious disease. I brought some great books. Until we meet again, please, send emails, pray, and don't be a stranger! I love you all. Many of you will be in my heart as I once again travel the red earth and the green fields of Uganda. Peace, Nathan

JUST A FEW DAYS TO PLAN!!!

WOW! Ok, I just found a ticket to Uganda for a thousand bucks, and if I can raise it, I'll be meeting Fr. Leonsyo in Kampala and traveling to Gulu to rendezvous with the now "DR FRANCIS" (now called "DR" thanks to your donations), and my brother Patrick. But I NEED YOUR HELP! Anything you can give will help. This year, as I travel to Uganda, my focus is entirely on learning tropical medicine, learning about the lives of Ugandans, and the strengths, weaknesses, challenges, and resources of the poor communities of northern Uganda. One thing I saw on my last journey was that many of us westerners travel to the poor with our OWN mission, instead of waiting for one to be given to us. Sometimes people with such preplanned missions do wonderful things. But I feel personally called to simply go and make myself available. Francis has arranged for me to work in the hospital outside Gulu, called St. Mary's Lacor. There, I will simply do whatever I'm asked to do. As a 3rd year med student, I will be more prepared to learn effective medicine from my Ugandan colleagues than I was as a second year, since I already have some clinical experience under my belt.
So, I travel to Uganda with your help as a simple student. I do not go with any lofty goals, but simply to open my ears, eyes, and my heart to God and to the people of Uganda. Please click the button on the right to donate. I have only a few days to plan, so if I may be so bold as to ask you not to wait...
Thank you, and bless you ALL!!!
If you cannot give financially, PLEASE send your prayers and positive thoughts and or emails to me, to Father Leonsyo, Dr. Francis, and the people of Uganda and of DMP. Stay well and stay in touch! I'll update this blog when I can!
Peace, Nathan

Let's do this!

In just a couple hours, we've already made it a fifth of the way there! 100 bucks and counting! Thanks, and keep em coming!! Let's tell Francis he's graduating tomorrow!

My Friend Francis

Dear Friends. On the right of the screen, you will see a picture of Francis, a dear friend of Evan's and mine, and a medical student in Uganda in his final semester. He is so close to being a doctor, but yet quite far, because he can't afford the tuition he must pay in order to take his qualifying exams. This is a man who often spends weekends in refugee camps caring for people even poorer than he is, all day long, for zero pay. He is dedicated to serving his people through medicine. He is a good guy, and it's a crime that he's not better taken care of. He lives in a single room, and when I was there, he had no electricity. So he studies by candlelight. To become an MD, he needs exactly 1,089,000UGX. That is 558.46USD, at the rate of 1USD=1950UGX today. Please take this amazing opportunity to have a hand in helping Francis to become a physician. In only 2 minutes, you can change a life forever by clicking on the paypal link at the right and donating. I will send everything donated, and pay the transfer fee myself. ANd it's urgent. He's in dire straights. Thank you, and bless you. Peace, Nathan

PS this is my personal paypal account for the record.
PPS, I'm also sending Francis a note with all of your first names so he knows how many people are supporting him. If you want to opt out, let me know.

The Kidz

I met Agik Joan yesterday, our first girl in the DMP to make it to secondary school. We and the people of the Dwon Madiki Partnership (and YOU, our donors over the years, participants in the IC Plunge, etc) have been supporting her education for three years now. After a four hour journey, talking our way past guards at 4 boarding schools, only to find that she wasn't AT these schools, we made it to a school where the guard told us that Agik Joan was indeed inside, but that it was impossible for us to see her, as it was very late and past visiting hours. We argued for twenty minutes to no avail.

I had with me a bag of clothes given to me for Agik by her cousin in Chicago. It had traveled from Chicago to London to Entebbe to Kampala to Mbale to Sipi to Gulu to Lacor to Gulu to Kampala to Entebbe back to Kampala, to four of the wrong schools, and finally found its way to her school, only to be turned away. But Elena and I did not take no for an answer. We had to drive down the road to fill our phone back up with credit (it had run out during the day's journey as we tried to locate Agik), call the vice principle whose number the guard gave to us after promising we wouldn't tell where we got it.

We called the VP, and were apparently persuasive enough. I handed the phone to the guard and he opened the gate. When we finally found Agik outside the dining hall, everything was still for a moment. we were standing on a hillside overlooking lush palm covered landscape soaked in warrm orange sunset, and accompanied by the songs of parrots and other tropical birds. The children at the school were laughing and all had their own styles. Agik Joan, who is in her 2nd year of secondary school (high school) was wearing JEANS. This was the first female I had seen wearing jeans in this country that I can remember. The school was clearly providing an intense level of education that would be impossible in the wartorn public schools of the north.

We gave her the clothes, gave her greetings from her family in the states and in Gulu, told her we were proud of her, chatted about school (she says it is hard to learn with boys in the classroom), and were cut short by the vice principle who came to tell us Agik needed to go study for her exams. This was incredible, as in many places, our Muzungu status would obviate any possiblity of such an interruption. But here, our desire to see Joan was secondary to her need to be educated. We were VERY encouraged by this demonstration that education was given the highest priority here.

Now I'm off to Fort Portal with Elena and Evan to hang out with Ashis and learn about public health education in Uganda... Then on to DR COngo...

PEACE to you all. I am alive here, and living more honestly than I ever have before. Thanks for your support and prayers...

I miss and love you all dearly

Okaaaaay.
Wow.
How do I start?

First off, I'm fine.... On second thought I'm not just fine: I feel like I've finally come home in some ways, and I'm thriving in Lacor, just outside of Gulu in the north of Uganda. I am already in love with this country, with the people and the land. Today, I watched as the new Ugandan board of the Dwon Madiki Partnership revised our old mission and vision, and took full owndership of their organization. It was beautiful. I've had the opportunity to use the camera equipment donated by Kevin Sites to document the re-birth of this truly community based devleopment organization (the DMP) headed entirely by local Ugandans. Today we sat in a meeting for 5 hours, with only a couple crackers and a cup of water for each of our board members.

I also attended grand rounds at Lacor Hospital today (the hospital featured in the film Invisible Children where the night commuting children fled every night to escape the LRA rebels), and took a tour. I saw terrible things, and incredbile things. The ability of the people here to thrive in the face of terrifyingly stark conditions blows my mind.

I am inspired. I know if people here can thrive, find generosity and kindness in their hearts, and never give up on hope, there is hope for me, for this world, and for all of us.

Evan arrives in 10 days, and we're off to hang out with Dr. Ashis Brahma.

I love and miss all of you. Curt, you were right about how I'd feel about medicine...

My deepest gratitude to all of you who supported me with donations, prayers and support. You have no idea how great it is to know you are supporting me. I have recieved a deep soul-level confirmation that I am stepping into the beginning of my vocation.

Dear friends,
I leave in 11 days! Thanks to all of you who have donated, and who are still planning on donating;) I have been in contact with some friends in western Uganda who work in DRC, and it looks like I'll have an opportunity to meet a Batwa (pygmie) tribe in Congo. They live outside the Ituri forest, which has been a major site of conflict, as well as a region rich in culture and natural resources. Please help make this trip effective by clicking the button to the right and donating what you can.
Thank you all for supporting me, with your money, friendship and prayers. Any form of support is welcome. It's coming down to the wire, and I could still really use about a thousand more dollars if I am to make it to Bukavu. As of now, Bukavu may be out of reach. But there are many stories to tell in Uganda and Bunia (eastern DRC), and I will do what I can.
If you can donate anything, please click on the link to the right. If you don't feel you have the resources, or you're already committed elsewhere, please think of me, email me, pray for me, or support me in whatever way you can. Money is only one way to do it. Finally, there are many many great causes in this world, just as there is much brokenness. Please, if you don't feel like supporting me financially is a good match for you, donate elsewhere. We are so favored and privileged here in the West, and with great privilege comes great opportunity to live truly rich lives. A truly rich and fully lived life involves sharing what we have with others and allowing our talents and resources to be used to bless the world. Learning this simple truth changed my life forever.
One might ask, "why should I support your project when I could give my money elsewhere to greater effect?" I must confess that this is true. Your money would have a more widespread and immediate impact if given elsewhere. But consider this: I am in training. To donate here is an investment in the future. In Africa, I will be learning from doctors who provide health care in unimaginably resource poor settings, and from people who survive and maintain hope even in the face of death and poverty. The more money I raise, the more I will be able to see and learn (travel, room and board costs money), and the more stories I will be able to tell to the world. By donating to this trip, you expand my horizons and experiences by making me more mobile and increasing the number of places I can visit. Most importantly, this will expand the variety and number of people I can meet and introduce to all of you through film. This will give me a more complete understanding of what causes oppression and poverty, and thus enable me to address these causes more effectively in my career.
Your support will also enable all of us to undertand humanity better through film. I want to come back with a rich trove of stories to share with you. I have so many questions... What do we have in common with victims of rape in Bukavu? What dreams do we share with pygmie tribes in the Ituri forest? What do kids in Gulu fear when they wake up in the morning, and hope for as they lie down to sleep at night? What goes through a doctor's head when he knows he is the only provider for 25,000 refugees? And why have 6 million people died in eastern DR Congo in a decade without the world so much as flinching? How can northern Uganda rebuild after twenty years of devestation? What does development and aid really do? What works? What doesn't? Who IS my neighbor in this new global village, and what does it mean to love her? These questions and a thousand more I long to ask, and to share what I find with all of you through the film we create.
I believe that in supporting this work, you empower me to move forward in my career with purpose and understanding that will make me a more effective agent of justice and peace. This will multiply the impact we can have on the world together. This is very likely my last chance to travel to Africa before I complete my medical and pastoral training. If you feel so moved, please click on the link to the right to donate whatever you can through paypal. It's very fast.
But the most imporant thing is simply that we do share our resources. Please support one of these other incredible projects if you don't support mine:

KIVA: http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=home
Africa Faith and Justice Network: http://afjn.org/
Invisible Children: invisiblechildren.com
Resolve Uganda: http://www.resolveuganda.org/
Friends of the Congo: http://www.friendsofthecongo.org/action/index.php