Somewhere in the world with Hinda and Peter Schnurman
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Email 9 Uganda 2008
Dear Friends and Family.
So, once again we are learning that all good things must come to an end, but as Tevye might say, “On the other hand, there is a silver lining in every cloud”, and the silver lining is of course that we will be leaving in just a week to return to many of you.
For Peter, he is already beginning to exhibit separation anxiety, and does not look forward to saying goodbye to so many good friends we have made here. Although Hinda acts more stoically, the same is true for her, whether she admits it or not.
OK, here is the wrap up:
As for work, before we left for a very nice week on safari, we worked very hard, and when we return to work tomorrow, Peter will be doing 2 workshop trainings a day through Saturday, and Hinda will help with a couple of them, but she will be pretty busy with her tying up her own loose ends. We have worked very hard here, but we really have accomplished a lot, and we already see many results, both with some of the individuals we have worked with and the organization itself. While we know that not everything we did will be cast in stone, quite a lot of it will. We really believe in teaching someone how to fish and not give them a fish every day forever, and while it can be slow and frustrating, it does work and it is very gratifying and those who learn how to fish are left with all of their dignity because they are not getting a handout.
In sum we have helped develop and taught how to do job descriptions, a number of organizational policies, computer training, internet system upgrade, medical department review and recommendations, slide show and video training and production, fundraising mentoring, and lot and lots of problem solving as well as participating in most of the management meetings that have been held during the past 3 ½ months that we have been here. We are proud and satisfied, and without a doubt this has been our best volunteer experience, and at least on a par with a previously very productive one – interestingly enough, right here in Kampala four years ago.
Having said all of this however, we feel that even though we have given much, we have received much more in return from the people we work with and the culture we are immersed in. We old dogs are still learning!
For the past 6 days we have been on a safari that took us to Western Uganda near the Congo border. We spent two nights in Ishasha were there are a number of tree climbing lions, and we have a photo here to show you. We think there is only one other place where this culturally learned behavior exists. At Ishasha we stayed in a very remote wilderness tented camp on a river with baboons, monkeys, and hippos making lots of noise all night long.
The next two nights were at Queen Elizabeth Park where we saw many elephants and about a 9 foot long rock python, and lots of antelope, Cape Buffalo, and stayed in a very nice lodge.
The next night we stayed in a 100 year old tea plantation “banda” (traditional African house) where we trekked for chimpanzees and finally found them. Much bigger than we thought, and just finding them with our guide “Silver” was a real learning experience. It was quite dark in the forest, but we got a good photo which we are displaying here.
Finally, the last night we stayed at Semliki national park right on the Congo border and saw lots of Uganda Kob and learned a lot about their mating behavior. On the way back to the lodge we were able to photograph a spitting cobra which we lit up with a spotlight. We were able to observe Black and White Colobus monkeys including an all white baby.
Peter is called “Papa” by his new daughter Atyero – a woman we work with who has a 1 ½ year old son, so now we are grandparents again, and also have a daughter for the first time. It is a very nice custom to be adopted into a clan, (Lugave/porcupine for Peter, mushroom for Hinda), a tribe, (Muganda) and be named Katende and Nabuusa.
Anyway, time to end and go back to work tomorrow, and before we know it we will be home. We have just learned that there will be a small get together for us next Thursday and we are looking forward to saying goodbye to our new and dear friends here in Kampala.
Love and hugs,
Katende ne Nabuusa, a woman of substance
Sharon's Israel Adventure... by Sharon Lintz
Sunday, April 27, 2008Survival
Whenever something goes really wrong with a reservation or service, it is frequently too easy to shrug it off and say “Well, it is Israel…” For example when Anne’s family, like my family, had complications with the car rental agency, Anne’s natural response to her parents was, “Well, now you have seen the real Israel.”
Similarly, when something really strange happens, or we see someone doing something really strange, we also attribute the occurrence to the fact that we are in Israel. For better or for worse, it helps me take things with a grain of salt when I put it on Israel’s tab.
Example? Last Saturday I was reading on the beach with Lauren and Anne when a French film crew set up shop merely a few meters from us down the beach to conduct and interview with someone seemingly important. That in itself is not so strange. A few moments later a man with long curly hair sat beside us who’s entrance was a line asking us if we have ever seen the Israeli Survivor TV show. After we told him that, indeed, we have never seen an episode he proceeded to tell us that he was the first contender eliminated but the show was “fixed”.
…Of course he would have won the competition had there been no politics involved because he was the most fit for the competition blah blah blah. Of course. He then turned to Anne and asked her, quite sincerely and with a thick Israeli accent, “Anne, can I survival you?” I don’t think he realized the grammatical mistake he made, but everything about this exchange made me burst into laughter. And it continues…
Moments later one of the many people who walk up and down the beach with a cooler strapped to their chest yelling “Vanilla, chocolate, limone…” to sell their delicious ice cream loot they carry all day comes and sits with the three of us plus The Survivor. What? We don’t know him. Finally Lauren sits up, looks around, and asks the question running through all of our minds: Are we on TV right now? What is going on? Of course I bust into more raging cackling laughter, we pack up our bags and call it a day. Only in Tel Aviv.
anonymous jew by Jenn Carmen
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Beer Sheva, Rehovot, Israel
I'm just starting to wind down from a week-long visit with my brother, Evan. We spent some time down here, on the kibbutz, and then we went back up for a few days in Tel Aviv/Jerusalem. Some highlights and perty pictures:
Having visitors is always a great excuse to do touristy stuff and so I finally made it to Ein Gedi, which I've been dying to go to since I got to Israel. It turns out, the place is just as beautiful as everyone made it out to be. Coming from a place that has more Starbucks than trees, it's easy to forget that there are still naturally beautiful places in the world.
Ein Gedi.After our stop in Ein Gedi, we made our way down to Ketura. Evan didn't exactly take to kibbutz life like I have. I spent a lot of time teasing him about his inability to relax and peel himself away from the internet. But we had a nice time, nonetheless. Besides visiting Eilat, we took a short hike behind the kibbutz to get a cool mountaintop view of the place, and we also visited the nearby Yotvata Nature Reserve to do this fun drive-thru safari thing.
Evan, admiring the kibbutz's security system.
mountaintop view of Kibbutz Ketura.Yotvata Nature Reserve.
The one thing we did in Tel Aviv that stood out was a free (I heart free things) Bauhaus architecture tour around the Rothschild area, a really pretty area of Tel Aviv. While I wasn't a huge fan of the architecture (it's all very blocked and "practical" and what I think is nondescript) we learned some cool Israeli history that I didn't know about.
Evan and me on Rothschild, Tel Aviv.
Gotta wake up early to make some 500 pancakes...
neshikote & falafels,
ג׳ן
P.S. Hebrew word of the week: free (chinam)... free
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
...and 10 more things I love about Minsk:
1. I can use my balcony as an extra refrigerator.
2. Diminutives. Even cars here are called "Mazdachkas" and "Toyotichkas."
3. The food. If you smile at your plate of beets, pickles, noodles, and mystery cutlet, it will smile back.
4. Adults (and I) shamelessly collect stuffed animals!
5. BelaKola, the "Belarusian People's Cola!"
6. Frolicking in the snow.
7. Pickled everything
8. Going to the banya (Russian sauna) and being beaten with birch leaves to "improve circulation." Where else could you get this VIP spa treatment?
9. Fur for all!
10. The Jewish community, of course!
