Jacob, New York, and that Free Willie Song....

Half a world away, I sometimes find my mind racing in the middle of an activity.
Tonight, we had a party for the Teacher Exchange teachers and their partner teachers with a few selected extra guests.

I made it my mission to get ice, so we could have cold beer. It was a long process with 4 of us, Tim H., Kelley M., and Joe D. from Group 1 going to a store that sells refurbished refrigerators and freezers. I think to prove to new customers that his freezers work, he makes ice. Kelley and I had gone earlier in the day, and I thought I had talked my new friend Juma into selling me all the ice he had made today, but their was a local woman who took my first batch for some fish (I did not feel chilling beer was more honorable than her cause--so I demurred). When Kelley arrived, Juma said, "Your friend George is coming back with a bucket." Tim laughed quite a bit about me being George. Juma's freezers did not quite work well enough so we gathered large chunks of half done ice and headed back to the party.

Old friends Odong Robert, Okaali John, and Aliker David Martin showed up early, so I started out by talking and sharing great stories with them. A great picture of these 2 to the right. A good start....

now skip some time...

I am now dancing with new friends and old friends in the middle of the front yard of our rental house and my mind starts to race.

On March 1, 2007 Shona Clarkson introduced me to the story of the Invisible Children. If you have not seen "The Rough Cut" let me know and we can watch it when I get back. In the middle of that movie we see the incredible moving story of a young boy named Jacob whose life has been turned upside down by the conflict in Northern Uganda.

and now I am back....Jumping up and down and dancing with Jacob who had the most wonderful smile on his face, trying his best to dance higher than I am tall, and laughing all the way (tonight in this night, I can even forgive that he was wearing a Cincinnati Reds cap). His laughter, and his triumph in school is amazing. Jacob will be going to university next year is amazing.

So I guess that is what hope looks like... and it is amazing to see it....


A little while longer we heard Empire State of Mind ( by Jay-Z and Alicia Keys) and when Alicia sings New York...New York with such power and amazement...

My mind raced again to 6 Ugandan teachers landing at JFK and beginning such an adventure in January that would touch so many of our lives. When I saw Okaali, and Robert, and Alex dancing to that song....it was almost too much...How I am so blessed to have seen so much in the last four years...to see hard work overcome violence...to see the smile and dedication of dedicated teachers end so promisingly in the classroom of Jean Fry at Nerinx and Eric LaBoube at SLUH.... to see so many of my Ugandan friends with such big smiles.

Robert and John never stopped laughing or smiling the whole night.


and then the African DJ said no more songs, it was time to go, but made a mistake and actually cued up the beginning bars of that Free Willy song,....somehow he continued to make mistakes and we heard the song about 2 and a half times.. there are 22 of my students who went to Biloxi in 2006 who will ever be intertwined with that song in my head....That trip and those 22 will always have a special place in my heart.....

and so that must be it for now, as my computer shows that I have 7 minutes left, and the other 26 teachers have gone to bed....

me I am kind of wishing this night never ended, but tonight I have my i-pod and will crank up a few good songs before I go to sleep....

and so in the words of Okaali John, "Aaaaaaaaaah! tic. tic. tic. tic. tic.

Geoffrey Alii and Ashley

Geoffrey Alii is a wonderful teacher at Pabo SS. I say he is a wonderful man, because he has worked very hard over the last 3 years to become a better teacher. When this program, Invisible Children, started for him he was set in so many of his ways. He began to listen to some of what the Teacher Exchange is designed to do...To open up communication and learn from others. I have learned so much from my Ugandan friends, and yesterday Geoffrey told us what he had learned from Americans. He learned to be more open in his thoughts and his emotions. He talked about Americans always crying when they come to his school and embrace his students. He talked about a young American high school student, opening up a building that had been paid for by donations from maybe some of you. He talked about Justine crying when she thought about what she could do for the students of Pabo. Geoffrey talked about learning how to hug more, and he said Americans are always hugging each other. He talked about hugging his granddaughter, and how she welcomes these new hugs from her Grandpa.

Yesterday, I learned that a student Ashley Tapperson had died. Ashley had such a wonderful smile. She was quiet and a little shy in my class, so it was not every day that I saw that smile out of Ashley. But when I did it made my day. Ashley was a diver, coached wonderfully by her dad. Her dad is always smiling and playful when I see him, quick with a kind word and a warm handshake. I could see his smile in Ashley's smile. Ashley had the most wonderful notebook, I have ever seen. It was neat, it was organized, it often had color in it. It looked like it was made by Prentice-Hall to accompany a textbook. I told her she should be a professional note taker in college (the job exists to help some students who cannot take notes). Ashley was a flip thrower in soccer. If you have never seen that it is an amazing talent! Ashley was a wonderful young women who will be missed by many.

So I want all of you reading this to spend today, hugging everyone you know. Let's be those Americans today that Geoffrey spoke about. Let's live in the moment and hug: good friends and total strangers. Let's hug 2 year olds we know and hug the Ashleys we know in our life.

Thanks Ashley, I saw so much life and wonderful talent in you. I saw smiles and greatness. ... and in Uganda half a world away, I want to hug you one more time. So today I will hug Kelley, my friend and fellow teacher.

No Atanga SS for Invisible Children Teacher Exchange in 2010

I was like a proud father on the way to Gulu... Telling my old friend Michelle and 2 new teacher exchange participants how much they would like Atanga SS and its students. I just found out tonight that this is not going to happen...

Details are sketchy, but their has been violence between students and the faculy... It is with a heavy heart that I ate dinner tonight.....I so wanted my colleagues to experience the wonders of Atanga.

So many bright 16 and 17 year olds throughout the world, are so close to being something ( bright young man and bright young woman). And are just a small step from greatness and then anger and passion negate rational thought and realistic plans about their future...

John

First Night, First Day in Gulu

I cannot tell you how exciting arriving in Gulu is.... Imagine a whole lot of your friends hang out in the same place, the place you have laughed with them (Da Pub) is there, and total strangers sometimes yell John or Magee as you pass by.

Now imagine that it takes 3 different planes, 3 different continents and a 5 hour ride to reach these friends. You can imagine my excitement upon arriving here. My new friends in Group I and of course, Lisa and Lindsay, were waiting inside a metal gate as we arrived. There were cheering and carrying on, when one of them saw half of my body through the gate and said, "Here comes big John!" It was a special time. I have only talked briefly with the Group 1 teachers, but they seem like incredible and kind people. So good news there.

When our business was over last night...Money, Jen, Raysa, Colleen, and I walked all the way into town.... Due to bad rumors Da Pub was open !!! The Nile Special a pint of super African business cost 2000/= or in American dollars about 88 cents. We had two beers and then began the long walk home. We decided that Colleen's first boda boda ride should not be in the dark. ON the walk home, a motor bike came up on us, and the driver said, "I want the large white man." Approximately 1.5 seconds later I heard the distinctive laughter of my friend Aliker David Martin whom I have known since 2007 and the first trip...

A great start....

feel free to comment.

What if it is only 1, and not the other 51???

What if imagination and art are not frosting at all, but the fountainhead of human experience? (Rollo May)

I am trying to think about where I first saw this quote? I think it might have been at a little club watching a women singing Edith Piaf songs in French...only Frank and Mary Hellwig could have found this place.

Also, I went to River City Casino with my brother, Tom, who stated the obvious about a game called Let It Ride, "This game you just try to break even until you hit one big hand."

What if our lives are like that, what if we are not judged on 51 weeks of the year, but instead just judged on the best week of each year? It is an interesting premise to contemplate.

I will be forever grateful to Father Christopher for an incredible act of kindness and understanding. He found me wandering between the school and the church on the morning that Matt Espiritu died. I was lost, looking for answers when there were none. What are the answers for a young man dying from an

awful disease? Maybe just a part of all tragedies, is to see beauty and kindness better. I saw it from Father Christoper that one day, in that one hour....and I remember it today.

So, I had the incredible experience of facilitating a trip to Biloxi for 97 wonderful young women. There were great moms, great dads, and great friends on this trip, but this entry is not about them. It is about Livia, and Sam and Megan, and Haley, and Emily, and Kate, and Brittany ....

If these 97 are to be judged in 2010, not by the sum of their existence, but the beauty and the kindness that the spread to the people of Mississippi and especially the residents of the Back Bay, then they have shined. They have really shined. (They hit that straight flush for Let It Ride fans). And in each of the 97 cases they used their talents in slightly different ways to be amazing. For Livia, the sophomore, her greatness was framed by just an untireless effort to the mundane awful work in front of her -- pulling weeds, but not just weeds, bamboo. For Sam and Megan, the college students, it was their wonderful way of tirelessly cooking for 126 people and adding special extra touches to every bite of food (only read this parenthetical thought, if you are not Sam and Megan -- the cooking is not really important, being a living example of humility with their lives, is what they really gave to the younger students. For a whole week, it was about giving before the received, loving before they received love in return, and it is always these small acts of humility that raise us all as a group of 126, or a community of 650 +).

Of course, I could write about all 97, and I will in a different time and a different place. But if Annie Gerker and Emily Marshall are judged by their week, their always smiling guidance and patience were always there. If you are a Nerinx student who was touched by these 2 or others, remember a simple facebook shoutout is always a great idea.

Kate, and Haley, and Jaime, and Brittany, and Lauren I will remember for their commitment to laughter and to being dorks. How can others not want to look up to such wonderfully goofy people and how can you not think of these 4 and not smile. The goofiness they share with so many is not their only story. There is never a time where they are not also doing the work of painting and scraping and building. So if these students are to be judged by this week, they receive a perfect score and of course they answered the bonus question correctly.

For Diablo, Baba, and Blampf!! that bonus question was an hour visit where age and distance melted away, and became just the conversation between 4 old friends. Proving in the laughter, the tears and the hugs, ( and watching Toby Keith chase after a ball) that we always have something to share with others. And strangers are always friends that we have just not met.

For Amelia, an amazing young woman who endures more Mr. Magee humor than any mortal should be allowed to suffer through...(I don't know who wrote that last line, I am funny)...she shined in her week by always being there when I needed help, when I needed organization.....

and for other 90+, you were never a footnote...although you are today...at 7:30 am after 3 hours of sleep, in the middle of Uganda, the names above had their own stories...if I had slept 15 more minutes... I would have stories about 10 others.. I would have talked about Maggie Hummel always smiling or Anna Chott being the master builder, or the pride and unique style in which Emily Horner took over a bathroom and refused to leave......

and so you see this story is actually about all of you... and half a world away my eyes fill with tears, because I am truly blessed to be your teacher, and your amazing talents and kindness for our world tell me that all good things are possible .... with effort, with laughter, and with 107.1 the Monkey playing in the background.

Technology Half a World Away...

So I think I now have a dial-up modem (shhh....don't jinx it, so I will be able to blog
from anywhere in the country).....

and as soon as I got this 2 year problems solved.....

I cannot hear from my phone, so.........

Not much to report yet, so hopefully will write some more interesting news
soon....

All is well in Kampala, if you do not mind your phone not working....

John

Soccer Hooligans and Kampala

This won't be long, as I need a shower, and breakfast will soon be here....and I have not really slept for 2 days....although some say I was snoring right next to Traflagar square.

It is so good to see, friends again in Uganda, James the taxi man--and my small young smiley women at Backpackers...

Everyone reached safe and sound, although at one time we thought we lost a passport, and a bag...
All is well.

Saw the mini-changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace....tried to get into a pub to see England-Germany, but could only get in an Italian restaurant... It looked like there was going to be some mayhem in the streets...

with the boys singing....

There were 10 German bombers in the air
There were 10 German bombers in the air
There were 10 German bombers
10 German bombers
10 German bombers in the air

And the RAF From England shot one down
And the RAF From England shot one down
And the RAF From England.
RAF From England
The RAF From England shot one down

There were 9 German bombers in the air......

And so on.

you get the drift.