I was going to begin blogging about my trip to Uganda next week when the plane took off from Philadelphia. But why wait when making the arrangements is so interesting? And so I begin.
The British Airways plane takes off Tuesday with me, photographer Michael Wirtz, and Ugandan 16-year-old Jennifer Anyayo onboard. She has been in the United States for about 17 months getting medical treatment for horrid burns she suffered in a rebel attack when she was about nine years old. The war in northern Uganda has been flaring for 21 years, though peace talks have replaced most of the violence with hope - for now.
I am spending this week making sure Jennifer sees various doctors for final checks, helping her organize for packing, and trying to set up tentative meetings in Uganda with kids from the north and groups that work with them. Because of the seven-hour time difference, I try to make all my calls by noon to be polite. I spoke this morning with my friend Abitimo Odongkara, a Ugandan-Philadelphian who just returned to northern Uganda two weeks ago. I think I am going to rely on her to find me a cheap car (we'll need a mini-van with all the luggage we'll have) to pick us up from the airport and drive us to the town of Gulu, where Jennifer lives and attends Abitimo's school.
We'll make a brief stop on the way in a town called Lira to visit another Ugandan girl, Evaline, who returned to Uganda a couple of months ago after a year in the U.S. She has had some difficulties readjusting to Uganda and we expect Jennifer to experience a culture shock as well. It will be interesting to talk to Evaline and see how she is handling it after having been home a while.
Oops. I've got to get going. I have a tradition when I go overseas to get a traveler's blessing from my rabbi. When I blog again, I will be so blessed.
