Yes, we are back!

And believe me, two days before Thanksgiving we are very grateful to be back home, especially after a journey that took almost 33 hours, door to door, including a 7-hour layover in Amsterdam where we walked around the city to stretch our legs -- unfortunately in 33 degree weather with light snow falling! We were so glad to see Sarah at the airport, and to sleep in our own comfortable bed.
This was a different sort of trip than last year's, when we had the luxury of enough time to travel around Uganda so much. It was nearly entirely work this year. That was our choice, but we would build in a little more time for fun next time. Between us, we trained nearly 350 journalists at 4 different media organizations in 2 countries, covering everything from the rudiments of punctuation to the higher-level skills of enterprise reporting and newsroom management. Whew! No wonder we were tired at the end.
One highlight of this trip was that the training truly was "we." Last year I did the bulk of it, since I had the fellowship. This year, Theresa and I did most of it together, from the organization of the sessions to their delivery. That was so wonderful. Our styles complement each other quite nicely, and simply having a partner -- and such a smart and experienced one -- made my life a lot easier! This was another experiment, to see if we could make it work as a team, and my vote is definitely in: we can! Thanks, T., you are the very best.
The other highlight of the trip was seeing Eric at work training children how to use computers. Hearing about it via e-mail can't come close to describing the impact of actually seeing him with a bank of 10 mini-computers, 10 primary-age students absolutely intent on figuring out how to make the mouse work using Eric's custom-made software. And everyone we told about his work -- from drivers to colleagues at the newspaper to old friends -- was so impressed at what he is doing for the children of Uganda, and so grateful to him for it. (You will find a link to the site for his Maendeleo Foundation over in the right-hand column of this blog. Consider it for Christmas presents!) (End of commercial interruption.)
OK, everyone. Now we move on to some very enjoyable activities back home -- catching up with the nearby family at Thanksgiving; and preparing for the VERY exciting trip back east for Liam and Meg's wedding next month. And ah, how wonderful it is to have a NEW politician's voice on the radio news every day.

Until next time, Bill and Theresa (unless Theresa decides to add a word!).