Friday, July 31st

We woke up early and were surprised with pancake/crepe like food. It was a delicious change from porridge, and it also helped us get out of bed for 6:30. We arrived at the boat dock at 7:30 to depart for the island for the music/play competition. The boat ride was not ideal. About an hour or hour and half into the ride we hit a bad storm. The water turned very rough and we were thrown about a lot! Unfortunately people started to feel quite ill. I was bent over with my head between my legs while Connor rubbed my back, that really made me feel better and so I sat up, but as soon as I sat up I think the illness hit Connor and all the color fell from his face. We quickly moved him to the back of the boat where it was as bumpy and he slowly felt better. We had about another hour of the ride left and I think we all just sat there silently praying we would make it to the island without being sick.

We did make it to Ngamba Island without anyone actually getting physically sick. We stopped at the island for about 20 minutes to pick up another passenger and to have tea and coffee at the little gift shop. We then had to get back on the boat for another 10 minute ride to the adjacent island where the school was and the competition was going on.

The island has a little fishing community on the shores. We got off and walked through the community to the top of the hill where the school was and all the school groups from adjacent islands were gathered around to start the competition. We had special seats underneath a nice tent, we felt like royalty.

The presentations were absolutely amazing. We couldn’t understand what they were saying but they were so talented. Some were still in primary school and they all had so many lines but they made it look so natural. If that would have been an elementary school in the states half the kids would be running off the stage, others would forget their lines, and others just wouldn’t even show up at all. Everyone was really impressed with the whole thing. I took hundreds of pictures and videos to show you all when I get home.

Since all the schools from local islands showed up together for the first time ever and they had invited us to watch we felt like we should do something for them so we did a quick little play for them. However, we only created it on our boat ride over and practiced it once just minutes before we had to do it. S We pretty just acted out what we were doing in Africa.

We then watched some more plays and then had lunch. Lunch was an interesting affair. They had made us the staples and also provided meat. The carnivores of the group were very happy to hear this and happily accepted the beef and chicken. Jess and I quickly realized it was a mistake. The meat was impossible to break up, it was so tough we had to spit it out. We didn’t want to offend anyone by not finishing the meal (especially since food doesn’t come easy to everyone there) we had to sneak our meat into a plastic bag when no one was looking then into our book bag to take to the toilet (a porta potty with no toilet, just a hole) to dispose of the evidence.
After lunch there were a couple more hours of plays and songs to watch before the winner was announced. The winning team won a boat ride and entry into UWEC on the mainland and the second place group won a boat ride and entry fee to Ngamba island. The kids went so crazy when they called out the winners it was so fun to watch.
After all that was said and done we made it back to the lake and to our boat. All the kids were leaving at the same time so we watched them do their chants and cheers as they were all so happy from the day’s events. On the way to the boat a little girl grabbed my hand and held it for awhile. I felt really bad but she was burning up and I felt really dirty holding them. It makes you feel really bad but you have to worry sometimes when you see the condition they are in. My hand/arm was very itchy and burning for a little bit after she let go.

The boat ride home was lovely. The lake had calmed and the sun was setting. Since the boat ride is over 2 hours long we actually didn’t arrive back to the mainland until after dark. Lake Victoria is really beautiful and we were all very relaxed.
When we arrived back at UWEC, Steve (driver) and Simon (malaria patient) were kind enough to had prepared dinner for us. After dinner I took a hot shower and packed my bags up for the early journey the next morning. We have to be on the bust by 5:30am so had to get everything done the night before.

Oh when we got back to the camp Kate and Ben arrived back from the hospital. After many tests and debate over what she has they believed she had an amoeba (sp?). Probably from fecal matter getting into her drink for food. She is still in a lot of pain and has no strength but the hospital needed the bed so she was let out. They are not going to Kibale forest with us and she is not strong enough and she needs to be close to a doctor. Ben says he might be able to come out in a week if she gets better, but if it was me I would jump on a plane home as soon as I was able.
All that being said we had some frightening news about our breakfast we had that morning. After we had left for the island Steve and Simon were finishing using up the batter and cleaning the bowl when they found a fish tail at the bottom of the bowl!!! We are guessing that it was from a bird in the tree above eating a fish and it fell in. We are hoping that it fell in after we actually had our breakfast and just before we cleaned the bowl out. No one seems to be sick from it at least.