Many Miles, Mountains, and Malaria

There’s a trend going on—the longer I’m in Uganda and get used to my life here, the less my stories seem blog-worthy, so I’ve unfortunately fallen out of the habit. This blog, however, I owe to everyone who supported my marathon effort. With your help, I was able to raise $3010.00 and run 26.2 crazy hilly miles in the middle of Africa.  I cannot thank you enough!! So here’s how it all went down…

When I signed up for the marathon in January, I thought I’d have to go it alone. But through the magic of facebook, my friend Joel Ostdiek from Notre Dame who was doing research in Uganda saw my fundraising post and decided to sign up too! So, now we were an ND duo ready to take on our international competition.  

Joel enjoying a pre-race meal

We made sure we were all prepped for the race. Eat, hydrate, rest, repeat. Eat, hydrate, rest , repeat. I had an awful dehydration experience on a previous half marathon, so I was determined do my homework this time around. Come the night before, we were ready as we’d ever be.

The elevation map of the course

The course was daunting. It was a hilly half marathon loop of trail running. So if you didn’t like a certain hill the first go round you were bound to really hate it 13.1 miles later. Oh and there was only one bathroom on the course. Let me tell you, that’s a long time to go without a bathroom (we stuffed our shoes with toilet paper just in case). And last but not least, I had gotten diagnosed with “severe malaria” about a month before the race to help stack the odds against me haha. It was me (and Joel) vs. many miles, mountains, and malaria.

For the first half marathon, we were strong. Winding through rural towns and schools, up and down gravel slopes, and taking in the scenery. Around mile 9, nearly 700 Ugandan 10k runners come stampeding through the course. Let’s just say that Simba had it easy with those rampaging wildebeests.  

About what Joel and I felt like when the 10k runners came through

Joel peeled off to finish his half marathon, leaving me with one more loop. At the half, I was feeling strong. I had run the first half conservatively so I was ready to do the second half faster than the first. I ran for miles and miles without seeing another runner. Finally, I spotted a man in the distance at the foot of the largest hill on the course. I closed the gap and passed him on the hill, but once I reached the top I felt woozy.  My body began to tingle and my feet grew hot. Dehydration. This feeling was all too familiar. With 7 miles to go, I knew it was something I couldn’t just power through and had to stop at the medical station.

After some rehydration salts, water, and a bit of rest, I was back on track. The last several miles were a struggle and I knew I wouldn’t finish in record time, but I had to finish. I’d spent too many hours training to fizzle out when it mattered. Finally, I turned the last corner and saw the finish line. Woof. I did it!

Crossing the finish line!

Thanks again to everyone that helped me through the race. I couldn’t have done it without you!

A Weekend in Rwanda

Coming here, I had no intention of traveling to Rwanda. Just over 20 years ago, between 500,000-1,000,000 Rwandans were killed in a genocide as fighting erupted between the Hutus and Tutsis. That is what I knew about Rwanda—it wasn’t a place I’d ever come near. No way would it be a weekend destination. Fast-forward to 2015 and that’s all changed.

Compared to Uganda, Rwanda is like paradise. Corruption is almost nonexistent. Motorcycle-taxis—one of the leading causes of death in Uganda—are limited to one passenger and are required to provide them with a helmet. Plastic bags, which ubiquitously litter “the Pearl of Africa”, are banned in Rwanda. When I stepped off the bus, I was astounded by the gorgeous roads. I'm telling you, I could not get over how nice these roads were!

Magnificent roads!!!

Okay, it might not look that spectacular to you, but spend a bit of time on the pothole-ridden, traffic-congested, crumbling highways of Uganda, and you might stare in awe as well.

That’s not to say it’s all hunky-dory. These utopian changes are only possible with the iron fist of their leader President Paul Kagame. For instance, every last Saturday of the month the country closes down and citizens are required to perform community service in the morning and early afternoon. Uniformed men bearing rifles stand on the street corners to enforce the law. This was the scene I encountered as I ran through the streets of Kigali—the capital city. Big Brother was watching. I was amazed with Rwanda’s post-genocide prosperity, but as my feet pounded the pristine pavement, I began to feel uneasy. Prosperity at what cost?

Public infrastructure was fantastic but homes were overcrowded along the hillsides

After discussing the matter with Tom, my newfound friend at the hostel (a PhD student with a passion for East African history), I got the whole picture. In Tom’s opinion, it can’t last. He cited political kidnappings and killings to silence government opposition. “How long can you suppress a nation?” he asked. I wasn't so sure. In the United States, we value individual liberties above all else. But in a place where neighbors hacked each other to death just two decades ago, what would you part with for safety and prosperity?

Rwanda is a beautiful place and it is developing faster than any other country in the region by leaps and bounds. The government—controlling as it may be—appears well-intentioned. So what’s next? Is this the idyllic benevolent dictatorship that people dream about, or will Rwandans suddenly refuse to bear the oppression any longer? It seems only time will tell what the future will hold for this nation, but I, for one, am hoping for the best.   

The Perfect Valentine’s Day: Babyface Billy Is Back

It’s pretty amazing when your girlfriend comes to visit you halfway around the world. It’s even more amazing when she’s coming to visit a bearded boyfriend who has plastic tarps for windows and takes bucket showers. So to continue this amazing trend, it was only fitting that she came in on February 14^th—Valentine’s Day.

Ryan had been dropping hints about beard-removal for some time now.  I don’t want to be dating a wholly mammoth, she said. You look like Shaggy from Scooby-Doo, she said. I had decided a while back that I would shave the beard for her—she deserved to see me and all my boyish good looks—but that didn’t mean I couldn’t have a little fun with it. I talked about how much I loved the beard: that “it had really grown on me” (pun intended). I might even keep it for a few years after if I get into graduate school, I said.

Ryan welding the beard trimmer

I thought it would only be fitting that we kill the beard together, so for Valentine’s Day I boxed up my beard trimmer and a heartfelt breakup note addressed to my facial hair. Don’t worry folks. We didn’t just lop it off unceremoniously; the goatee, fu manchu, and mustache were all given a brief moment of glory.

Goatee

Fu manchu

(Blond) mustache 

When it was all said and done, the employees at SPOUTS had glowing reviews. Our cook personally thanked Ryan for her service. Another employee said that “I looked beautiful, just like a school boy.” Babyface Billy was back.

Our safari group!

After a few days at the factory, we set off on a safari at Murchison Falls National Park. We saw giraffes, hippos, baboons, rhinos, water buffaloes—you name it. The campground even came complete with ambling, wild warthogs. Unexpectedly, the highlight of our safari was the people. We met a great group of tourists from Austria, Germany, England, and Spain and became fast friends. One of them even got a nice candid shot of us at the falls.

The week was over in a flash. The next thing I knew we were standing at the departure gate at Entebbe International Airport. I honestly love working at SPOUTS in Uganda, but it’s safe to say I have some good reasons to come back home.  

Marathon Fundraiser

After a year and a half of foot injuries, I decided to make a comeback and run a Ugandan marathon in May in support of SPOUTS. Things are going well so far, the past three days I’ve run 31 miles! Until raceday, I’ll keep you updated on my training and how I’m coming with my fundraising goal. If you want to check my fundraiser, just click this link: https://www.crowdrise.com/BillyRunsforSPOUTS. Thanks!!

The Big Time

Woot woot! We are finally doing it. After relocating our factory, spending months and months of setting up a new one and getting our production just right, we are finally selling our water filters. We’ve even opened up a shop just outside of Kampala. To get to this point, we’ve had to be mechanics, microbiologists, kiln experts, production managers, grant writers, potters, log splitters, human resource workers, and now, we can add marketing and sales to the list.

Employees Tina and Stephen are all smiles next to our filter

I’ve learned firsthand that running a small business is not easy. As any budding entrepreneur will to you, to be successful you have to take risks, make mistakes, and just keep going. And hopefully, you have some great people at the helm. At SPOUTS, that is definitely the case. I can’t believe the kind of foresight, dedication, and straight up guts it took for John and Kathy (my friends and SPOUTS co-founders) to start up a social enterprise halfway across the world in Uganda.

John giving his pitch. He's so good I swear he was a used car salesman in another life. 

By no means are we out of the woods—not by a long shot—but it’s a great relief to get to this point. We’re confident in what our filters can do: they are affordable, safe, low-maintenance, and culturally acceptable. The tough part is convincing potential customers that is the case. Because ceramic water filters are a new technology in Uganda, it’ll take some time before they catch on. It’ll take a lot of wheeling and dealing, but we’re up for it!

I don't think I've ever been so happy about boxes!!

Pupdate!

So you’re probably wondering what happened to the puppy army we had over here. Well, after giving some away and a couple finding new homes on their own, we were left with a more manageable number—three precious pups: Mzungu, Mingo, and Scamp. And I loved each and every one of them. Sadly, within the a few weeks Mzungu got really really sick. He became a shell of his usual self. In a panic, I called a vet to make a house call and basically spent a month’s salary on vaccinations and vitamins. But it was no use. Mzungu passed away the next day.

The late Mzungu having a blast gnawing on his bro's elbow

Fortunately, Mingo and Scamp, are in great health! And since dog food is hard to come by here, they have me as their personal chef. Their gourmet cuisine? Sardines and sweet potatoes. We even built them a nice little dog house. Of course, they prefer tunneling into the pile of sand nearby and napping in their makeshift cave. I can’t blame ‘em. Living in a cave would be pretty sweet.

 

Scamp (right) and Mingo (left) chilling near their sand cave

A Break from the Bum Life: Chartered Planes and Safaris

Okay so I may be a bit behind schedule on this blog thing, so I’ll have to catch you all up with these next couple entries.

Christmas Vacation Part 1: Father-son Bonding

In early December, my dad came to visit me. I was extremely happy to see him again and show him a slice of Ugandan life. After a couple days at the factory, we did what all good tourists do when they go to Africa: go on safari. There were two distinct types of safaris; first, we had the savanna safari (see ‘The Lion King’) and the other was in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest to see the mountain gorillas (see ‘Tarzan’).

Other than living out my childhood dream of being in a real-life Disney movie, we also got a chance to go whitewater rafting on the source of the Nile River. We capsized more than a few times (our boat was quickly nicknamed ‘the swim team’) and had a blast doing it. It was father-son bonding at its finest.

Passing through the equator with pa!

Christmas Vacation Part Deux: Tanzania

The length of my vacation bordered on ridiculous since my dad’s visit went right up until our factory shut down for the holidays—meaning two vacations! This time it was off to Tanzania to meet up with Kathy and John (of SPOUTS) and an army of Peace Corps volunteers. After a day traveling alone in a Swahili-speaking country (my Swahili is limited to ‘Hey, how are ya?’, by the way) without a working cell phone or email I managed to find our group in a small coastal town. We boarded the ‘ferry’—I use that word loosely—and we were off.

The ferry (in the distance) and the dinky boat taking us to shore

Our destination, Mafia Island, lacking any connection to Italian gangs that the name might suggest, was an adventure. Approaching the island, we noticed it was lacking a pier. The ferry stopped and we were shuttled onto dinky fisherman’s boats which then dropped us off in a couple feet of water. With our luggage on our heads and pants rolled up to our knees, we waded the 100 yards to shore. The Peace Corps group was great and we even got to see whale sharks (the largest shark in the world) up close and personal. The island definitely had its deficiencies though. In addition to a complete lack of seafood in a place entirely surrounded by ocean, there was the whole issue of getting off the island.

Trying to book our tickets for the ferry, we learned that it hadn’t left the day before since it was too windy and the weather wasn’t getting any better. With the ferry out of the picture, we had to find another way back. We didn’t have many options so we did what all broke entrepreneurs and volunteers do—charter a single-engine aircraft to Zanzibar. After stepping off the plane and mourning the loss of a hundred bucks, we were astounded by the island paradise we saw before us. Soon, we were surrounded by great sea food, incredible spices, fresh fruits and juices, and beautiful architecture. Zanzibar was simply amazing. I would highly recommend it.

The Peace Corps crew next to our plane

Kathy, John, and me, about to board the plane

To get back to the airport in Dar es Salaam, the capital of Tanzania, we had to take yet another ferry. Our complaints about the overpriced ticket were silenced when we laid eyes on the Kilimanjaro IV. This ruby red, dual-hulled, streamlined craft was no ferry; it was more like a giant luxury speedboat.  Inside, we found business class seating and a/c on full blast (the coast of Tanzania is crazy hot). Liking the trips progression from barely-seaworthy ferries to chartered planes to a quasi-yacht, I leaned back and watched Captain Phillips fend off Somali pirates on the flat screen TVs overhead.

Zanzibar at dusk

Needless to say, the vacation was incredible through and through. From a low-budget, unpredictable adventure to an island paradise—this trip had it all. I sure am one lucky guy. Now I’m back to work and things are going well. Factory is running smoothly and we’ll be filling our first orders soon enough!

First Firing!

We just finished firing our first batches of test filters—over 500 filters—so it’s an exciting time for SPOUTS! With the help of Sammy, our kiln master from a Kenyan ceramic filter factory, everything went smoothly. After unloading our wares, our employees were proud to see the near-finished product. A photo-op was a must. And, of course, we can’t wait to get back to it after the Christmas break!

Our kiln master at work

To make the week even better, my dad came to visit! He tagged along at the factory and I gave him a taste of the good life—eating posho and beans for lunch every day and riding Ugandan public transit.

Posho and beans. Mmm...

It is safe to say my dad hates riding the bodas

I must say that he passed with flying colors; hiking the Appalachian Trail for a month back in August got him pretty used to a minimalistic lifestyle. Other than a flea epidemic of sorts which prompted a thorough cleaning of the puppies (and ourselves), things went off without a hitch.

 PUPdate:

The puppies are healthy (and now flea-free, we hope) and gnawing on anything and everything. Having eight puppies at my office is kind of like a dream come true for me. Eight full-grown dogs, however, would be a bit too much for us to handle. Luckily, our kiln master offered to take 5 pups back to Kenya which means we have happy homes for all the puppies! Phew! I was starting to get worried…

Jesus Beard:

Being the only white guy in town means I get some attention. Being a white guy with a beard in a country full of Christians means I have a new nickname: Jesus.

Here I am about to get my first haircut from ‘expert hair stylist’ and SPOUTS CEO Kathy Ku. I have to say, it wasn’t half bad.

The next few weeks I’ll be off exploring the touristy side of Uganda and spend Christmas with my pa: Bwindi Impenetrable Forest to see mountain gorillas, Queen Elizabeth National Park for some savannah action, and a bit of white water rafting on the Nile! I can’t wait!!

Puppies!!!

John, my co-worker, barged into the office with concern written on his face. He stopped in the doorway and said, “We have a problem.” My mind was racing. Is the engine on fire again? Is Kathy covered in more fleas? Is anyone hurt? He quickly led me to the abandoned shack on our compound and flung open the door. And there they were, eight furry little “problems”. We had puppies.

             

Stray dogs are fairly common in the neighborhood, and when it rains, they don’t have many places to go. More than a few times we have had dogs roaming around the compound, so when we saw another hanging around for a couple of days, we didn’t think much of it. Little did we know that this one was pregnant. There she was in the corner, looking feeble, hungry, and covered in fresh pups. How could we not let them stay a while?

So the puppies are pretty awesome. Whenever possible, they prefer to be piled up on top of each other. I mean who doesn’t appreciate a good snuggle? These little guys just have their priorities straight. 

When they aren’t in a giant heap of cuteness, they are either fighting for the best feeding spot (there’s stiff competition for that), gnawing on each other’s ears, or exploring the new world around them.

We've starting calling the mama dog Mom. Hey Mom, how ya doing? How are the pups, Mom? Not quite a replacement for our own mothers but she does the job alright. She spends most days scouting out food for her family, but we feed her a little extra when we get the chance. I don’t know what the future holds for Mom and the pups. We can only handle a couple new SPOUTS mascots, unfortunately. We’re on full alert for potential puppy owners, however, and are hoping for the best.

Who could resist those eyes?

Between long hours spent gawking at the fuzzballs, we also make filters on the side (just kidding). In all seriousness, filter production has been fantastic at the new factory! We have a great crop of new employees and we are really hitting our stride in production. Right now, we’re still in the experimental phase of our work—we have to determine the right ratio of ingredients to get the filters just how we want them—but we can’t wait to start churning out filters for sale!

To Shave or Not to Shave…

It’s not even a question—I’ve gotta keep this beard going strong! I can’t say that there have been many positive reviews of my appearance, but when is the next time I will be able to get away with this? I figure I’ve got to take the chance while I’ve got it.