The boy with one eye, 80's techno, and a thousand more smiles

We're headed back to the hotel after another fantastic day. We first stopped at another Plan USA sponsored project that seeks to help communities create a network for raising and giving away livestock. There we met several beautiful children...one who stood out to me was the shy boy with one eye missing. He didn't want his picture taken nor did he really want to be approached, but a stick of gum and patience eventually won him over. When we left he was seen jumping up and down, waving, and chomping on that very piece of gum I had given him five minutes earlier. After an interesting stroll through the district market that hadn't seen many white people before we headed back to a lake front restaurant where we were greeted with very loud and very awesome 80's techno music. We enjoyed a more traditional African lunch right on the water...well, maybe not traditional but at least it didn't have french fries! We finished the day by making a long trek up and down and around even more hills than the day before to visit another Plan USA's sponsored project where small groups form together to participate in a savings and loan program. Was remarkable to see the poorest of poor give a little amount every week to go towards their individual savings and individual/group projects requiring loans (e.g. building a garden or buying a cow). The group we met with was comprised of young adults 35 yrs or younger who all march towards one vision...everyone owning a cow!! In fact, they named themselves "Vision" and meet one a week to donate up to US $2 towards the cause. On our way back to the main road that leads back to our hotel (which we're still on as I type this) we were once again greeted with shouts, waves and a thousand smiles by adoring children and other locals who want nothing but for us to come back tomorrow.

Hopefully no errors this time. I fixed my earlier blog errors...had little time to write, no time to proofread, and apple's damn auto-correct got me again!!