Crawdad on the Loop: Flint to Chicago to London To Entebbe/Kampala

Jim, Betsy and Gloria at Flint Bishop Airport!\

Here we ready to take off on our adventure to Uganda! We packed all of our clothing in our carry on bags and had also packed a separate bag each, loaded with dresses for the girls, toys and toothbrushes/toothpaste for the kids. Heck, what do we need! It is 75-80 degrees all year on the Equator and the Equator passes directly through Uganda.

We flew from Flint, to Chicago OHare, to London Heathrow to Entebbee Airport. 31 hours of fun!

We sat next to these two beautiful young ladies and when I asked where they were headed, we looked at each other and laughed! They are graduating from medical school in May. Lori, on the left will be an Ob/Gyn resident and Ana will be a resident in Radiology. What luck that we would meet so soon!

We arrived near midnight and loaded the bus that would be our "home" for two weeks. It was fun to meet each other, knowing we would be great friends before the adventure was complete.

I met Tommy Harris, formerly of the Chicago Bears at the airport. He came to meet us as we were traveling with Pros for Africa. His late wife's aunt, Henryne Loudan, a pediatrician was with us. His wife Ashley, died about a year ago and he is raising their two young children. Henryne raised Ashley from the time she was 14.

Betsy and I posed with Isaac on the left. Isaac is hired by the Ugandan Government to protect us. We never felt it was necessary, but the government isn't willing to chance any danger with visitors. We just got home and I can't remember who the guy was on the right! I think he was security for the Hotel in Kampala, the capital city. Kampala is located just north of Entebbe.

Each of the group members from Tulsa checked a bag full of medications. We brought Acetaminophen and Ibuprofen from Costco. When we arrived, we separated the drugs, school supplies and toys for each group we planned to visit. Big job.
Our plan was to visit 4 schools/communities. The needs for each would vary significantly.

I hope this video works because these birds are so cool! They build the nests as you see and they were swarming as we walked by. We saw many of these trees while in Uganda.

Isaac and our other policeman, Alan walked with us through the city of Kampala and we were entertained by the items for sale.

I have new found respect for the Lions and Rotary. Clubs are active in Africa doing great things. Both clubs have much to do. Never did I see ANY person wearing glasses. Many complaints we heard from community adults was they could not see to read.