Day 4 - Thread of Life

By Courtney

Today was very productive! We began the day by traveling down to the fabric market so that we could buy a number of different fabrics and the elastic that we need to make our pants with Thread of Life. We found so many beautiful patterns that it was very hard to choose which ones would be the best for our first set of samples. Downtown is so busy, it was really a shock because that’s not what I’m used to. Everyone is walking around you, and people are yelling a lot so that you’ll buy their stuff for pretty much the entire time you’re walking. The parking lot for the taxis park had so many cars in it, and I think it’s amazing that people can manage to drive here because I can barely drive in normal American traffic. Once we arrived back at Thread of Life, we worked with Mercy, Lydia, Florence, and Charles to design and produce our first pair of pants. It took Charles about an hour and a half to finish the pants, and they look amazingly professional. He’s very talented. He only wears clothes that he makes himself, and the fact that he finished a pair of pants plus a bucket hat in that time is more than I could ever do. Then, we went out for lunch to get Rolexes, which is eggs wrapped up inside of chapati, and it is easily my favorite food to ever. After lunch, we came home to relax until dinner, which was really tasty. As of right now, we still have some things to get done such as the branding for our project, other video clips for marketing and future website production, and most of all, making additional samples of the pants! I’m so excited to see this project turn into a business, and I’m so grateful that I’m able to help get this project off of the ground. 

Day 3 - Tugende and Thread of Life

By Aileen

After last night’s dance party, we woke up from a long night’s sleep ready to devour breakfast. We immediately started our day by heading out to Tugende. In Uganda, many people depend on bodas bodas, which are motorcycle taxis, as a main form of transportation. It is estimated that there are over 400,000 boda bodas in Kampala alone. Boda boda drivers typically rent their motorcycles and as a result they are in an endless cycle of debt. Ultimately, the hard earned money earned by the boda boda drivers is used to continuously paying for the motorcycles, so they gain very little money from their services. At Tugende, we were greeted by the CEO, Michael, and Paul, their operations manager. They talked with us and informed us about their struggles as a start-up and how they attempt to break the cycle of endless debt for the boda drivers. We all listened as Michael told us that he even had to fire a close friend of his that initially sparked the idea of creating Tugende. Afterwards, we ate at a local restaurant that served us traditional Ugandan food. The food was simple, but it was included filling starches such as sweet potatoes, beans, and rice. Then, we began working on our project to create our pants with Thread of Life. We decided to focus on the powerful stories of the single mothers that have battled hardships in Kampala. Also, we wanted to capture the impact that Thread of Life has created for the women. Nizhooni and Aileen interviewed Lydia, one of the women that now works for Thread of Life. Meanwhile, Mathew and Courtney interviewed Mercy and Florence about their passions and how they became part of the leadership of Thread of Life. Nizhooni, Courtney, and Aileen alternated taking pictures of the women that continuously sewed a large order of bags. As we sat outside, we bonded with the children as they called us Muzungus. The children giggled and ran at the sight of us. After our work was finished at Thread of Life, we all gathered together, bonded, and laughed at the smallest things. We ate a delicious dinner and made our way to bed after a long day of hard work. 

Day 2 - SPOUTS and Thread of Life

By Nizhooni

Our day began with visiting SPOUTS. This was the organization that the first E-ship class worked with. Prior to our journey to East Africa, we had already had the spiel about SPOUTS, its ceramic water filters and all of the hard work, time, and sweat put into making the SPOUTS become what it is today. However, seeing the SPOUTS factory in person was so much better! Kathy described it as a mess, but to all of us touring the facility, it looked like a dream come true. From last year, it was a lot larger; inventory had definitely grown. With emotion, Kathy told us the story of SPOUTS. It was intriguing to hear about Billy and Kathy’s time eating posho and beans everyday for months. Kathy informed us about fighting fleas as well as figuring how to have privacy for bathing while living with 2 other men. Kathy broke it down and presented her journey and her fight for SPOUTS rawly. It was bitter sweet to understand that passion and execution are extremely different; it takes a truly passionate person to execute, but sitting on passions alone will get you nowhere.  Everyone was on the edge of their seats leaning in for more. Kathy bluntly told us how hard the journey was and is. Although exhausted and still working, she is proud of the work she does. She believes that no one can and will do the work better than her. 

The next portion of the day was to meet Thread of Life which is the organization we are here to work for. Everyone was so excited to meet the women and see the facility. We came in with not too many ideas or direction, yet it was a good time to sit, listen, and be present. Mercy and Florence informed us of the story behind Thread of Life. It is an organization primarily for single mothers to learn the skill of tailoring all the while receiving some education in financial literacy and the English language. Many of the mothers in the Thread of Life program have traveled from the villages seeking a better life in the city of Kampala only to find that it is challenging and will often end up in the slum, Katanga. These women are struggling to provide for the children. Thread of Life is there to teach these women how to get on their feet and make a better lives for themselves. This mission resonated with me, especially experiencing a single parent home at one point. To some extent, I could emphasize with the women there.

With such a heavy day pondering about single mothers in Katanga to fighting for a clean water system, I almost forgot that it was the Fourth of July. This year there were no fireworks. There was no traditional BBQ with hamburgers and hotdogs. For me, I was not feeling too patriotic. Instead, I filled up on goat shanks, chapati, and Stoney ginger soda. GLI held a small BBQ to celebrate the Fourth, but it really just felt like a good time to relax and hang out with the new friends that we have made thus far. We taught Mercy and Florence all the most popular American line dances. Aileen and Martina even connected with their love for Latin dance and music. We all laughed so hard and just merely enjoyed each others’ presences. I think that it was one of the best Fourth’s I have ever had. Even though we come from different sides of the world, fellowship never fails to die. 

Day 1 - Makerere University, Katanga, Mulago Hospital

By Matthew

Today was our first full day in Uganda and I have already learned so much about myself and my role in the world. We first went to Makerere University, one of the best public universities in East Africa. The campus was extremely beautiful and surprisingly large. They also provide many programs that are usually provided in schools back in the United States like sororities and fraternities. Many of the stereotypes of Ugandan education I previously thought to be true were now proven wrong to me and much like in the states, your economic background usually determines the caliber of the education you will receive. Afterwards, we made our way to the largest slum in Kampala, Katanga. On our way there, I was shocked by the small groups of children that would run up to the van when we would stop to ask for food, money, or trying to sell us things. Once we arrived in Katanga and before stepping of the van Mr. Wick told us that it may be hard to process what we would see. I honestly can say that it definitely was difficult for me to process what I saw. Children ran around naked in very unsanitary conditions, the adults stared at us because no tourists dare walk through the slum, the homes were small and I couldn’t imagine how families survive in them. I began tearing up when I looked at the kids who would yell”Muzungu, Muzungu!” over and over again and ran to us with smiles. I wondered, how could these kids be so happy when they live with little to no personal possessions. They came and held our hands while looking up at us with their large smiles. The image of looking down at them is one I will always remember as one of the most beautiful moments of my life. These kids don’t have much but they still are much happier than their peers who have much more. Once we went back to the van, I remembered my life back home and wanted to cry so bad for not ever showing gratitude towards my own family’s journey to make sure my cousins, sister, and I have a better life than they did. The first thing I will do when I arrive back in Denver is thank my parents and especially my grandparents for everything they have sacrificed for my siblings and I. Those kids at the slum have taught me so much and I will make sure I continue to think of them in the future.