I am HIV Negative

Oli otya! Hope everyone celebrated 7/11 on Saturday, that is such a
great holiday. We had quite the celebration in Lugazi...called the
Lugazi Mega Youth Festival aka the kristie archer inspired 1st annual
aids extravaganza! It went SO well, thanks for the idea Kris! There
was a big parade in the morning all throughout lugazi to advertise to
the whole town, and then the performances actually started around 11.
Tons of schools came and performed their traditional songs/dances and
songs about AIDS. The mayor came and spoke, the minister of health
spoke, some youth counselor guy spoke, and the Youth Outreach guys
spoke who helped us put on the extravaganza. Eight or so of us in the
group did a traditional African dance with some of our youth outreach
friends and that was an absolute blast, oh my I loved it. We had
practices all last week learning the different moves, shaking your
hips like they do is haaard! We got to wear the traditional skirts and
furs, so you have the skirt, then a layer of hula skirt-ish stuff, and
then a thing that goes around your waist that has fake human hair on
it and shakes like crazy when you move your hips. Weird I know, but it
looks cool when you dance. The crowd went CRAZY when we were on stage,
everyone loved it! So many people came to the backstage door when we
were finished to shake our hands and give us hugs and tell us "well
done" or "you look so smart". We were like celebrities! I also did a
modern dance with one of our country directors, Melissa, who has done
modern her whole life. We choreographed it in our living room that
morning and our performance was the second time we had danced with the
music. It turned out really well though, and I was so excited to use
dance in Uganda. One girl here just got her degree in acting at BYU so
she wrote a short monologue that basically just said things like I
will not fear, I will protect my body, I will not be a statistic. So
she said the monologue and then we started dancing, and it was
supposed to be about 2 women who find out they have AIDS and are sad
at first but then support each other and live positively. I don't know
if the message came across to the audience at all, but it was still
cool to do. Everyone that talked to us said they had never seen dance
like that before, so it was probably even weirder to them than modern
usually is to people. Outside we had free HIV/AIDS testing and family
planning stations, so I got tested for HIV and..............I'm
negative. Were you nervous? Don't worry the needle was safe, we
watched the nurse take it out of the packet. Most of the group left
for kampala/the second trip to gulu so there were only three of us
left at the extravaganza to close up shop. tons of people were waiting
for the test results, so they had us give them their results and do
counseling with them. That was so cool. We started out by asking them
what they thought their status was and why. One girl who was probably
around 12 started crying and said she thought she was positive because
she never protects herself when she has sex...so sad. Then we ask if
you are negative, what will you do to stay negative and if you are
positive, what will you do to live a healthy life. Then we gave them
their results, and all of the people we counseled were negative (thank
goodness, I don't know what I would have done if they were positive).
They were so so so relieved and so happy when we told them, they would
give us hugs and then run out and show their friends their results. It
is crazy that it is even a concern for them. Three people came out
positive from the testing, one was 15, one was 23, and the last one
was a breast feeding mother which means that she could be passing it
on to her baby. So so sad. It was a really cool experience though, and
now I know my status!

We also did the big eye camp last week. Over 100 people got free
surgeries and we screened over 2,000 people and gave them medicine.
One man had cataracts in both eyes and hadn't been able to see for 10
years and could finally see after the surgery. He was so happy and
everyone was so excited for him, it was way cool.

We had our friend Dennis who is in the Jinga Branch come to our house
and talk to us on Wednesday. He is from Gulu and used to be in the
LRA. He had such a crazy story. When he was young the LRA came and
raided his house and told him to kill his father. He refused and ran
away and they shot at him but just hit his arm. He laid in the grass
in fear for a while after they shot him, and then went back to his
house because he didn't know what to do. When he went back to his
house the LRA had tied his dad and his 2 wives to trees with their
arms and legs spread open. Then one by one they cut open their bodies
down the middle and pulled all of their insides out, while Dennis and
his brother watched. Dennis drew a picture of it and brought it to
show us, it was disturbing. Then the LRA took him and he was with them
for 7 or 8 years. He said they made them do terrible things, like eat
human flesh or they would kill someone and make the boys sit on the
bodies while they ate their dinner. He also said they would go days
without food walking from town to town and were treated terribly. He
escaped one night when the LRA and ugandan army or something were
fighting, but he had no where to go. So he lived on the streets for a
while, eating out of trash and doing random labor jobs to make money.
He has no family and still has no home. He met a professor from BYU in
2007 who was doing research in gulu and they became good friends. When
the professor went home he told dennis to research the church on
mormon.org and lds.org so he did and then he met the missionaries and
joined the church last october. The professor sponsors Dennis, meaning
he pays for his school fees, so Dennis goes to school in Jinga but on
holidays goes back to gulu and has no where to live. He just goes to
his old IDP camp and stays with friends if they let him. He said that
sometimes when he thinks about his life and what has happened to him
he feels like he has nothing to live for and shouldn't be alive, so
sad. A lot of other crazy things have happened to him, but he is still
such a great guy and has such a sweet countenance. Hearing the gospel
and the plan of happiness must have been such an amazing thing for
him. I recorded most of what he said, it would be cool if you watched
it sometime. Its crazy stuff. OH he also said that he has been around
Joseph Kony, the leader of the LRA, and he believes that he is
possessed by evil spirits. I agree with him, that is a sick sick man.
He also said that invisible children interviewed him so that is kind
of cool, but they never did anything with his story so I guess that is not as
cool.

I now have huge cuts on both knees from running incidents in Jinga. First one I was running to Ozzies before it closed to get a cinnamon roll and completely face planted and skid all by myself. Second one I was carrying Andrew on my back down the middle of the road, he readjusted, I lost balance and down we went. I fall a lot. Not as much as brooke though, she wins.

Speaking of falling, I have totally fallen in love with this place. We only have a week left and I am getting so sad. I'm worn out and ready to relax at home but so sad to leave these amazing people, knowing that I very well might never come back. That is the worst part. This has been an absolutely incredible experience and I can't believe it is ending. One more week in the most beautiful place in the world, its going to be great!

ps if you have seen The Last King of Scotland, some of it was filmed in our town Lugazi. So watch the movie and it will be like you are here with me