When my grandparents warned me in mid January that New Hope is like a holiday camp in February, I couldn’t imagine how right they would be. Sandi, the lady who coordinates all the teams comings, goings, eatings, sleepings, restings workings and playings, has been rushed off her feet trying to keep everyone happy, fed and busy. There have been two teams that really stick out in my mind as the title suggests, so with as little offence caused as possible I would like to share a few things that make me chuckle about these teams.
The first two weeks of February was devoted to a mammoth team of over twenty heroes from North Dakota that I cam e to lovingly think of in my head as the Cowboys. The name wasn’t particularly hard to come by. Every male on the team without exception would never be seen without utility belt on, big leather boots laced and buckled, sunglasses donned, mustaches combed, faded jeans on and uncomfortably tight allowing little or no ventilation whatsoever, flannel shirts on and missing the top two buttons, all important cowboy hat placed lovingly the appropriate distance above the eyes and essential gum placed between the teeth and being chewed al-la cud. And of course when all the gear was in place they would strut around New Hope campus in packs, nodding to those they passed and talking business, business, business.
The women on the team, about a quarter of the total population spent the days walking with the children holding hands and doing sewing and cake decorating lessons. One of the men on the team, Sid the snake man (your guess is as good as mine) somehow got pneumonia half way through the week. Now I realize this isn’t the first time I have bragged my medical layman status but pneumonia? Pneumonia? I was under the impression that you get pneumonia in countries like oh I don’t know, Antarctica not on the equator…However the mysterious pneumonia case only helped to cement my lasting memory of the Cowboys into place and that is this…the Cowboys can achieve anything.
And I mean absolutely anything, the pneumonia in sub-Saharan Africa is living proof. When the team arrived in the night is was like a rumor. No one was quite sure if they were here or not and if they really were here, what do they look like? Did they bring those silly hats again this year? We all discovered the very next morning that yes they did bring those silly hats again this year and oh by the way, these guys are here to work. It just so happens that the first week of the Cowboys stay coincided with P7 week so a few mornings I was up at stupid o’clock organizing this and that. Even on the stupid morning when my job was to run around all the family groups in the pouring rain with the mega phone, even when Steve and I got up before the sun to spread clues for a treasure hunt, even when I was just finishing my morning tea and getting ready to go, the Cowboys were hard at work.
Allow me to explain a little. The Cowboys came out with the express purpose of saving the world one car engine, one fencing post and one sewing lesson at a time. However, though they did ultimately fail to save the world in two weeks they worked extraordinarily hard from the crack of dawn until after the sun went down and achieved an astounding amount. On guy, named Parker (Yes, Steve and I pummeled him with Jokes, all English one about driving pink limousines and being too nosey for his own good, none of which he actually got…but we thought we were hilarious) had the job of building a barbed wire fence all around the New Hope land. For any who have had the privilege of going to New Hope will know, that’s not exactly a small task. With not very much help at all this one guy constructed this fence that covers about five sixths of the Perimeter. Other achievements including building a set of swing and a roundabout completely from scratch, fixing untold amounts of cars, and all the while teaching the investment year students things like welding, design, business skills, workmanship as well as things like sewing and music. So even though it was great fun on my part to have a giggle about these Cowboys I cant help but admire their hard work and commitment. Straight after the Cowboys and bang on my Two weeks to go mark, the Englishmen arrived.
Now I am never one to judge on appearances (or at least I hope I'm not), but the second I clapped my eyes on someone from the English team, I could tell his nationality. Again I think it all comes down to the hat. Instead of the broad rimmed and insane combination of hills, dents, curves and ribbons that is the Cowboy hat, the English team (all men) were all sporting those little floppy hats that barely cast an inch of shade your granddad wears on the beach. You know the kind I mean because every self respecting British man owns one (I even do but I left it at home in favor of a slightly more cowboy-esk number but without that ridiculous dent at the top…anyway). They also, instead of wearing jeans and shirts out of pride and a will to wear a complete outfit like the Cowboys, wore much more sensible shorts, tee-shirts and those wonderful sandals every Christian male over a certain age owns. Add to that the wonderfully lily white skin only a true British gloomy winter can produce, all in all they looked like proper Brit folk. But as if that isn’t enough, as if the conglomeration of all the aforementioned factors didn’t add up to some serious UK citizens, the first day was spent with most members of the team slumped in the sun and I actually heard one say, “Cor, Blimey, it ain’t half hot…” I rest my case.
Anyway this team specializes in electrics. Apart from the odd job here and there fixing water pumps and rewiring the odd house, there main job, and I still cant really believe I'm about to write this, has been setting up a wireless internet system in New Hope…there I said it.
For those who don’t get my utter amazement, a brief explanation. At New Hope the internet is slow and sometimes isn’t at all...in fact there is no internet whatsoever at the moment as the server physically blew up yesterday. We have power every night at certain times when the generator is on…except not at the moment because the generator packs out the moment night falls around here…most annoying and no one seems to know why. On top of this if you do happen to catch the internet when the server hasn’t exploded and the power happens to be on by some miracle the connection can be painfully slow. Add to this the minor fact that New Hope, though very comfortable and developed for Uganda, is in THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE! ...Wireless internet seems so utterly out of place that it’s comical. Still, you wont here me complaining and I'm sure none of the other muzungus either.
Anyway the back of the office building now looks like some kind of World War two, behind enemy lines communications centre. There are two massive solar panels elevated eight feet off the ground, a satellite dish (I'm told though that its not big enough so an even bigger one is coming tomorrow…good grief…) a grand total of thirty-two massive batteries that live in what looks like a very secure bomb shelter underground as well as enough wiring to strangle a blue whale three times with wire to spare. I tried carrying one of the batteries…I didn’t know the universe could sustain things that phenomenally heavy.
Anyway as I was saying about the teams… Both teams have come and worked very hard and I applaud them both for this, however I think its only fair that after what is now a two page comparison on the teams I should announce which team I prefer. Now this isn’t a difficult question. Even if you suspend my patriotism, even if you forget the fact the Yankees looked so funny, even if you keep in mind how hard the Americans worked and what an amazing difference they have made to life at New Hope…its still an easy decision. The UK team wins not because they are English, not because they worked harder, not because they decided not to come in fancy dress but rather because through this team I have gained a grand total of three, count them, three bars of galaxy chocolate bars from relatives. Sorry Americans, you worked the hardest but at the end of the day, you didn’t stand a chance.
So on that rather prejudice and slightly unfair note I will sign off. I am also aware that since I have not written for so long there is a whole new post to write and after reading this I hope you feel obligated to read the other. I will do my best to make it funny, though no promises. A final apology to any Americans reading if you were offended, I love you all really, and a very big thank you to Grandma, Grandpa, Aunty Alison and the Casebow clan for the chocolate, I think I have one cube left but I'm not sure…
Daniel
