Rwanda and Uganda here I come!

I haven't told very many people that I'm going to Africa so hey I'm going to Africa !  I am traveling with an organization called These Numbers Have Faces (http://www.thesenumbers.org/) founded by Justin Zoradi.  I met Justin when I worked for a year in Belfast, Northern Ireland (2004-2005).  We used to be a couple of Protestants who went down to the local Catholic community center to tutor.  I remember the first day when a 7 year old girl named Clarice (missing a few teeth) greeted me by cursing me out, calling me a c***, and threatening me that her family was in the IRA (which it probably was).  In all that, Justin was very bold with the kids and reaching across divides.  He earned their trust.  He asked what they would do to Prods and they said they would throw rocks at them.  He led them down a progression to revealing that he was a Prod and it left them in a state of shock that their trusted friend could be part of the enemy.

As part of that Internship, Justin traveled to South Africa with Northern Irish students working in the townships.  During a trip there, he was challenged to do something to help so naturally Justin started a non-profit (Wouldn't you?).  So yeah, Justin is a pretty inspiring individual who sometimes makes you wonder what are you doing with your life while he changes the World :).  I've been familiar with TNHF pretty much since the beginning and lived vicariously through Justin while he travels to Africa, expands his non-profit, wins awards, and gets featured in all kinds of magazines.

Justin is also a suffering Timbers fan who I like to talk trash with about the Sounders / Timbers rivalry.  Probably in one of those text exchanges, I think I dropped that I would be interested in going on a trip with them and that I wanted to go with Justin.  He said he was going in the Spring so I was thinking about that.  Of course, about 2 months ago, I get a call from Justin that he was actually going in October and that he was personally inviting me to go.  I also realized that Uganda is next to Rwanda and that I sponsor two students through Compassion International there and that I might be able to make a stop there.  So fast forward two months and it turns out I'm leaving on Wednesday for Rwanda and Uganda.  What?!

TNHF is about empowering African leaders from poverty stricken leaders by funding them through University (a lot of hard sciences) and a pretty cool program that ensures they give back to the community and the program.  Visit their site.  They are doing some really cool things.  I am apparently going to be teaching a class on resumes and interviewing.  Here is a picture of my time hanging out with TNHF kids in South Africa

I am also excited and pretty nervous to meet two Compassion International students I sponsor in Uganda to end my trip; I have absolutely no idea how that will go.

I'm not sure how much I will update this on my trip, but perhaps I'll get a few posts and photos up.  There are also posts on this site from my incredible World Cup, South African, and Malawi trip four years ago so feel free to check those posts out as well.