busy busy

things have been super busy around here- and ive been a bit lazy for sure. hope you enjoy the latest digression from me..

i had the funniest thing happen to me yesterday. somehow, in the last month, all of the village kids have learned my name, so anytime i walk anywhere, i here "anna" "jambo! Anna!" its pretty entertaining, but can be a bit unnerving at times. At any rate, i was walking home from the clinic yesterday morning when two kids who are often hanging around, joseph and michael, grabbed my hands, not unusal, and said .. "Anna! Come! Home!" and then they kidnapped me, walked me down the village paths and brought me to their home, where i met their mother. after an awkward exchange, (i speak really limited lusoga, her english wasnt incredible) , - and in the typical style of ugandan hospitality, as soon as she saw me coming, she brings out a bench for me to sit on. i was glad to see that she sat next to me on the bench, instead of on the ground, as is what normally happens at follow-ups. After we greeted eachother in english and lusoga, we sat, kind of not talking for a while, at which point she dissapears into the house. i sat for a little while, and then said.. okay.. tugolole (to go back) and we started to leave, when she came out of the house, handed joseph a sack, and sent us on our way. once we got to thecampsite, i said bye to the kids, and joseph hands me the sack, containing a papaya and an avocado. Sometimes the little moments are the ones that are the most incredible. Ugandan hospitality is often remarked upon, and it is easy to see why.

ive been busy restrcturing the family planning, and after two weeks in charge, morgan and i were glad to welcome annie back. heres a funny little pic from tara, of me instructing the UKC in the family planning session we did on how to use a female condom, or femydom. (note.. they are bizarre! i had never seen

one before uganda, and i was slightly scared by them at first) I get a suprising number of questions about them though, and they are being re-introduced here . as of april 2008, the gv't aims to give out 100,000 to health clinics and pharmacys to be distributed. we will see how it works.

happy valentines day!