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Beginning in the fall of 2010 and stretching throughout 2011, farmers and ranchers in the Southern Great Plains have endured one of the worst droughts since the Dust Bowl.

His name is Innocent. He's 8 years old, and his body is misshapen. In the place of arms, Innocent has short stumps, one of which has a small usable appendage. His left leg is shorter than the right by a few inches, causing him to run on his toes. When he slows, he staggers like an Old West gunslinger, sauntering down the street. But Innocent rarely slows.

Bob Hope and Bing Crosby traveled a lot of roads together. During the 1940s and 1950s, the crooning duo traversed the Road to Singapore, the Road to Zanzibar and a smattering of other exotic roads in a series of classic Hollywood films. Each road inevitably leads the pair on a wacky misadventure that inevitably includes the lovely Dorothy Lamour.

If you haven't read about Joseph Kony, let me give you the Cliffs Notes version. Kony leads the Lord's Resistance Army. (That's present tense. In other words, he's still alive and free. After you read the next few sentences, you're going to be sick that, as a species, we have not rounded up this whack-a-doo and put him in a dark hole somewhere.)

Everything I know about Africa comes from two (fairly unreliable) sources: "Feed the children" commercials and the 1982 Toto song. (Sing it with me: I bless the rains down in Africa.) Not what you'd call a deep well of knowledge.

Last night, the small club down the hill boomed 1980s and '90s music - early Whitney Houston, Bryan Adams and Boyz II Men - until the wee hours of the morning. It was like listening to the longest 8th grade dance ever. I fell asleep smiling ... and singing along.

The reality of traveling to Uganda didn't really sink in until April 4 - shot day. Before that, the process had consisted of passport paperwork and purchasing plane tickets (which someone else did for me).

The Amsterdam airport has that distinctive European feel. Slick marketing billboards strategically position their wares on every corner. Hipsters with skinny jeans and coiffed hair saunter nowhere in particular. And our party has found the airport McDonald's and Starbucks. This will be the last taste of the West for a while.

If you need to find Steve Swigert, most days he'll be working in the Noble Research Institute's Agricultural Division. Weave through the building to the back hallway and there's his office. You'll know it's his, because some of the pictures and knickknacks seemingly don't match the man or the industry.

Each day here my enthusiasm seems refreshed with the rising sun. Our small team spends the morning assisting Judy and Lorenda with some knickknack chores around Gulu guest house.