I am back home in Chapel Hill safely! I arrived about a week ago, and I feel like not a minute has gone by when I haven’t thought about Uganda. I try to explain what I experienced to my friends and family, and although it is not as hard as when I returned from Rwanda last summer, I still have trouble putting into words how everything that I felt, saw, and did while I was there changed me.
The day after I got home, one of my friends asked me what the most important thing I learned was. I was a little caught off-guard, because so many thoughts flew through my mind. There were so many things I learned about myself, about Uganda, and about the world. One important thing I really realized is that you can be "poor," but still be happy and live a fulfilled life. Of course, I wish no one had to live in the utter poverty that exists around the world, and it makes me flat-out angry that people have to struggle every day just to survive. But the longer I spent in Uganda, the more I began to question the meaning of poverty. It's true that most people in Katosi have very little money, no running water, and maybe not many opportunities for education. And that is awful; it must change. But they do have a lot of other things; they have a community, they have passion, and they have hope.
I think it was that hope that has filled me with an overwhelming sense of love for the wonderful people I met in Katosi. They weren't just acquaintances, and they weren't just friends, they became my family. And I miss my family. I miss the neighbors who I would eat dinner with, make paper beads with, and watch Fresh Prince of Bell-air with (which everyone LOVED!!). I miss the hilarious yet incredibly dedicated primary school teachers who worked tirelessly to make their communities healthier, cleaner, and just better in general. I miss the family I lived with, and the endless waves of random people who came to, and sometimes slept in, our home. I miss the woman across the street, who would give me painfully hard Luganda lessons every time I went to buy a Fanta. I miss the man at the Chapatti stand, who would always gave me free samples of food when I was waiting to pay for my dinner. I miss my porch children, who I would color and play hide and seek with every afternoon, that made each day a little bit brighter. And most of all, I miss the students in Sanitation Club, who came to school every day with positive attitudes, no matter how hard things might have been at home. Every time I think about them, I can't help but smile.
I am sad that this is my last blog post, because it makes me realize that I really am back in the United States. But Katosi and Uganda will always be on my mind and in my heart; I know this is not the end of my experience. I am so glad I get to continue the Kicks for Katosi program for the next few terms, and who knows, maybe next summer I'll be able to deliver the shoes to the kids in Katosi myself:)
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Last week in Katosi
This last week in Katosi has been absolutely wonderful. It is when I started to see everything I have been working on for the past two months come together and actually produce something tangible; it is hard to describe how awesome that is.
Most importantly, I finished and printed the booklet for school sanitation clubs that Avery and I have been working on. We got the idea because we didn't have time to do all the projects we wanted to while we were here, especially with the St. john bosco primary school sanitation club that we helped to start. So we decided to leave instructions on how to do projects, like building school gardens, making tippy taps where students can wash their hands, and even for painting murals and doing solar water purification projects. Then we also decided to have sections on physical education and discussion topics like HIV/AIDS, and some tips for starting and expanding sanitation clubs. We also asked about four schools what would be helpful to include in the book, and what challenges they face as a health club so that we could try to include some solutions in the book! Then we decided to print it and leave a copy with St. John Bosco and also the 15 other primary schools that have been given rainwater tanks by Katosi women development trust. I was going to have to leave some of the books with people in Katosi to deliver for us, since some of the schools are really far away. But then we decided to hold a training on sanitation for all the schools to attend, and at the end I presented and gave everyone a copy of the book. It was incredibly awesome.
At the meeting we talked about how students can be agents for change in their communities, because they can take what they have learned from sanitation club to their homes and their families. They were a very active group of people to discuss sanitation/ community issues with, and I really learned a lot from what they had to say and even from their questions. I think that Avery and I will have to make a second edition of our book and update it with what they had to say!
This last week I also helped finish keyhole gardens at St. John Bosco and at a school called Kikubo. We couldn't plant seeds yet, because it is still the dry season, but the kids were still excited and proud to have worked so hard and gotten tangible results. And let me tell you, they did work hard. Building a garden where there are rocks and weeds and junk all over the place took a really long time, and it is hot. Not to mention the students pretty much have no water to drink. Actually I don't think they have any at all at St. John Bosco. They get porridge twice a day, but still. In fact one of the topics at the training we had was about water. When leader asked the teachers how many of their schools have enough drinking water (boiled or treated) they have for their students and none of the teachers raised their hands, I realized how lucky schools in the US are, and how ridiculous it is to complain about certain little things.
Anyway, I had promised to give shoes to a certain number of the third and fourth grade students at St. John Bosco that worked really hard in sanitation club. It was part of my intern project (Kicks for Katosi)that I would give the students a reward for the kids who helped build gardens, build tippy taps, and paint a mural. But then by the end of the summer I was really conflicted. There were 100 students in the club and they had all worked so hard (of course some more than others. but as teacher martin told me, "there are some lazy people in every country you go to"). But I did not have enough money to buy them all shoes; with the intern money I helped raise over the past semester, I only had enough for like 30 pairs. I did not want to give some students shoes and not give some students shoes. I had to make a decision though, with teacher martin of course. Martin proposed that I buy 15 pairs of shoes (for the 15 students he chose who worked the hardest) and that I buy a notebook and pen for everybody else, which they really need. So that is what I did! And I still have enough money to leave 15 extra pair of shoes with Heidi, the peace corps volunteer in Katosi, to give to 15 more students who participate in the club for next school term. Hopefully Kicks for Katosi will even keep going to the next and next terms, my dad has even offered to pay for more shoes in the future (thanks daddd, that means so much!!!). So we will see how things go, but I know leaving will not mean I am done with projects in Katosi!
So yesterday, I went to deliver the shoes/notebooks/etc at St. John Bosco. It was actually soooo sad, because I was late and the kids had gone home early! (I had been running around frantically doing so many things like Keep Katosi Clean, a trash-cleanup day with refreshments afterwords!!). Luckily, about half of the students were still around and saw me coming, so they brought their friends back to St. John Bosco. But even though I knew I could leave the rest of the shoes and presents there for Martin to give them monday, I still felt like I was letting them down. I started crying, because I wasn't going to get to say goodbye (I had been planning to leave Katosi the next day), and I had not really fulfilled my promise; the students probably went home thinking I was just lying about bringing them rewards for their hard work. I was literally sobbing like a baby. But then I had an idea! My flight is not until 4 oclock monday, so I am going to stay in Katosi for the weekend, go to school and say goodbye at 7:30 monday morning, and then peace out to the airport. I hope hope hope it works out, because I really really love that school and those kids. They have made my summer amazing more than anything else has.
Most importantly, I finished and printed the booklet for school sanitation clubs that Avery and I have been working on. We got the idea because we didn't have time to do all the projects we wanted to while we were here, especially with the St. john bosco primary school sanitation club that we helped to start. So we decided to leave instructions on how to do projects, like building school gardens, making tippy taps where students can wash their hands, and even for painting murals and doing solar water purification projects. Then we also decided to have sections on physical education and discussion topics like HIV/AIDS, and some tips for starting and expanding sanitation clubs. We also asked about four schools what would be helpful to include in the book, and what challenges they face as a health club so that we could try to include some solutions in the book! Then we decided to print it and leave a copy with St. John Bosco and also the 15 other primary schools that have been given rainwater tanks by Katosi women development trust. I was going to have to leave some of the books with people in Katosi to deliver for us, since some of the schools are really far away. But then we decided to hold a training on sanitation for all the schools to attend, and at the end I presented and gave everyone a copy of the book. It was incredibly awesome.
At the meeting we talked about how students can be agents for change in their communities, because they can take what they have learned from sanitation club to their homes and their families. They were a very active group of people to discuss sanitation/ community issues with, and I really learned a lot from what they had to say and even from their questions. I think that Avery and I will have to make a second edition of our book and update it with what they had to say!
This last week I also helped finish keyhole gardens at St. John Bosco and at a school called Kikubo. We couldn't plant seeds yet, because it is still the dry season, but the kids were still excited and proud to have worked so hard and gotten tangible results. And let me tell you, they did work hard. Building a garden where there are rocks and weeds and junk all over the place took a really long time, and it is hot. Not to mention the students pretty much have no water to drink. Actually I don't think they have any at all at St. John Bosco. They get porridge twice a day, but still. In fact one of the topics at the training we had was about water. When leader asked the teachers how many of their schools have enough drinking water (boiled or treated) they have for their students and none of the teachers raised their hands, I realized how lucky schools in the US are, and how ridiculous it is to complain about certain little things.
Anyway, I had promised to give shoes to a certain number of the third and fourth grade students at St. John Bosco that worked really hard in sanitation club. It was part of my intern project (Kicks for Katosi)that I would give the students a reward for the kids who helped build gardens, build tippy taps, and paint a mural. But then by the end of the summer I was really conflicted. There were 100 students in the club and they had all worked so hard (of course some more than others. but as teacher martin told me, "there are some lazy people in every country you go to"). But I did not have enough money to buy them all shoes; with the intern money I helped raise over the past semester, I only had enough for like 30 pairs. I did not want to give some students shoes and not give some students shoes. I had to make a decision though, with teacher martin of course. Martin proposed that I buy 15 pairs of shoes (for the 15 students he chose who worked the hardest) and that I buy a notebook and pen for everybody else, which they really need. So that is what I did! And I still have enough money to leave 15 extra pair of shoes with Heidi, the peace corps volunteer in Katosi, to give to 15 more students who participate in the club for next school term. Hopefully Kicks for Katosi will even keep going to the next and next terms, my dad has even offered to pay for more shoes in the future (thanks daddd, that means so much!!!). So we will see how things go, but I know leaving will not mean I am done with projects in Katosi!
So yesterday, I went to deliver the shoes/notebooks/etc at St. John Bosco. It was actually soooo sad, because I was late and the kids had gone home early! (I had been running around frantically doing so many things like Keep Katosi Clean, a trash-cleanup day with refreshments afterwords!!). Luckily, about half of the students were still around and saw me coming, so they brought their friends back to St. John Bosco. But even though I knew I could leave the rest of the shoes and presents there for Martin to give them monday, I still felt like I was letting them down. I started crying, because I wasn't going to get to say goodbye (I had been planning to leave Katosi the next day), and I had not really fulfilled my promise; the students probably went home thinking I was just lying about bringing them rewards for their hard work. I was literally sobbing like a baby. But then I had an idea! My flight is not until 4 oclock monday, so I am going to stay in Katosi for the weekend, go to school and say goodbye at 7:30 monday morning, and then peace out to the airport. I hope hope hope it works out, because I really really love that school and those kids. They have made my summer amazing more than anything else has.
porch children, football, matooke
A lot of random things have happened over the past few weeks that I really don't want to forget, even though are very small and may not actually sound that exciting. But have been part of my wonderful experience, so I thought I would write about it!
My favorite thing about the past two weeks has been coloring with the kids in my neighborhood. Of course, all of the kids know who I am, since I am the funny "muzungu" that lives next door. So they started showing up on my porch every afternoon, and it is really hard to shooo them away even though I think Maama Gertrude doesn't like them hanging around too much. So one day I just brought them some things to do, since they literally have no toys to play with (although they are pretty innovative with coming up with games and making play cars from old jerry can bottles). Anyway, I have been bringing them some paper and crayons almost everyday for the past two weeks. At first they didn't know what to do with them; I don't think they are used to having resources like that. But after a few days, they got the hang of it and started drawing pictures of everything they could think of. They would draw a picture of like maybe a house or a pineapple, and then I would show them how to write the word. It was like a little primary school write on my porch and it was awesome! Except they always bring their baby brothers and sisters (since even though the kids are like five, they have to take care of their siblings);but the babies always pee and poop on the porch, and I have to clean it up!
I still love them though, they are sooo cute. If maama gertrude is on the porch and they are afraid she will yell at them, they just come to my window and whisper and then we hold our primary school classes through the window. They always say "Colleennnnaa, assist me with your paper!" or "Colleeennnaa, assist me with your biscweeeetts (biscuits)!" One time a kid just said "give me your paper," and the rest shouted at them because they said that was rude. And in you are wondering, they add an "a" at the end of my name, because every single word in Luganda ends in a vowel. It's so cute, like in class the students call me "madamuuu" instead of madam.
I have also been having fun because I have been watching and playing soccer! The towns play each other, and everyone comes to watch. Its pretty cool, they are pretty baller at soccer. Even the primary school I work at had a field day where all of the kids played soccer against the other schools. They were like middle school age, but they could probably have beated a high school team in the US. At the end of one of the games, some of my friends asked me if I play soccer. They didn't believe that a girl could be tough, so I went and took two penalty kicks in front of everyone and they were both AWESOME and they both went in. Everyone thought that was sooo funny! But then I actually played with them one day, and I did absolutely horribly. That's when I remembered that I hate soccer, and I hate being bad at certain sports. It makes me really mad since I think I am really competitive when it comes to beating people, especially guys.
I have also had fun hanging around with other people in my town, like my friend Dorothy. Her family has taken me in, and they are like my Katosi family. I have been eating dinner with them almost every night lately, and then we always talk about life. Dorothy wants to come to the united states to work, and I think she would be wonderful for that (her major is microfinance, how cool is that!!). Dorothy's brother Elijah has not gone to university yet, because their family cannot afford it. He has worked so hard for the past few years, and he is about to start his own business, which I admire so so much. He told me about his childhood dream too, to build a garden with a lot of flowers, fruit, and pretty trees (flowers are VERY uncommon in Uganda, so this made me happy!) He asked me what he should plant for me, and I said blue flowers and sweet potatoes! and I told him I would be checking to make sure they are there the next time I come to Uganda. Anyway, every night after dinner we have been watching my season of Fresh Prince that I brought. They absolutely LOVE it, and so do I. God, I love Fresh Prince.
I have also hung out with my friend peter and his family lately too (it has been lonely since Avery left!). One day I went to his house, and he had cooked me literally a feast of matooke (steamed bananas)and g-nut sauce. My favorite! I think i might have lost some weight, because LITERALLY all they eat here are bananas. Many different forms of bananas; regular ones, steamed ones, roasted ones, ones with sauce, ones in cake, etc etc. Anyway, Peter's mom got all dressed up and had a photographer come over to take our pictures. It was literally the cutest thing I have ever seen. Then Peter showed me his photo album, which was really cool. Except that after he pointed to pretty much every person, he said "oh, they have died." He said one of his friends died because a witch killed him with a spell. Apparently he was brought to the hospital, but the doctors couldn't find what was wrong with him, and then he died. I told peter that people in the US would not believe that spell had killed him, but I he is a university educated man, and he still truly believes it. I guess you never know, it could have happened! But you should have seen the look on his face when I told him that aliens and vampires do not really exist, that they are just in movies. He was so surprised and sort of mad because he said that americans had been lying to him and that it was neocolonialism. I told him that some people do actually believe in aliens, but that mostly movies were just for fun.
All of this has been so much fun! But it has also been sad, because I have known that I have to leave sooo soon! I was trying to think of how I can describe Katosi to people once I get home, but I don't know if that will really be possible! I guess the main area of the village is sort of like an African version of Franklin street, where everyone walks and there are so many shops (most of which sell the exact same things, haha) and people just going about their business (also children under one years old crawling around anywhere they want)! But the dirt-road franklin street is also mixed with a farm and a jungle. Like there are random cows, pigs, and chickens wandering around the street, even without someone herding them. The cows hang out on the street corner where the two roads intersect, just chilling all day and then apparently finding their way home at night. weird. Then if you take ten steps off of the main road, you are in the middle of the hilly grassland/jungle with monkeys and such. But there are still houses and people scattered everywhere. Its strange, but I love it; it has really become my home. It took awhile to get there; looking back, the first few weeks were harder than I had thought at the time. But I really know how much I am going to miss it.
My favorite thing about the past two weeks has been coloring with the kids in my neighborhood. Of course, all of the kids know who I am, since I am the funny "muzungu" that lives next door. So they started showing up on my porch every afternoon, and it is really hard to shooo them away even though I think Maama Gertrude doesn't like them hanging around too much. So one day I just brought them some things to do, since they literally have no toys to play with (although they are pretty innovative with coming up with games and making play cars from old jerry can bottles). Anyway, I have been bringing them some paper and crayons almost everyday for the past two weeks. At first they didn't know what to do with them; I don't think they are used to having resources like that. But after a few days, they got the hang of it and started drawing pictures of everything they could think of. They would draw a picture of like maybe a house or a pineapple, and then I would show them how to write the word. It was like a little primary school write on my porch and it was awesome! Except they always bring their baby brothers and sisters (since even though the kids are like five, they have to take care of their siblings);but the babies always pee and poop on the porch, and I have to clean it up!
I still love them though, they are sooo cute. If maama gertrude is on the porch and they are afraid she will yell at them, they just come to my window and whisper and then we hold our primary school classes through the window. They always say "Colleennnnaa, assist me with your paper!" or "Colleeennnaa, assist me with your biscweeeetts (biscuits)!" One time a kid just said "give me your paper," and the rest shouted at them because they said that was rude. And in you are wondering, they add an "a" at the end of my name, because every single word in Luganda ends in a vowel. It's so cute, like in class the students call me "madamuuu" instead of madam.
I have also been having fun because I have been watching and playing soccer! The towns play each other, and everyone comes to watch. Its pretty cool, they are pretty baller at soccer. Even the primary school I work at had a field day where all of the kids played soccer against the other schools. They were like middle school age, but they could probably have beated a high school team in the US. At the end of one of the games, some of my friends asked me if I play soccer. They didn't believe that a girl could be tough, so I went and took two penalty kicks in front of everyone and they were both AWESOME and they both went in. Everyone thought that was sooo funny! But then I actually played with them one day, and I did absolutely horribly. That's when I remembered that I hate soccer, and I hate being bad at certain sports. It makes me really mad since I think I am really competitive when it comes to beating people, especially guys.
I have also had fun hanging around with other people in my town, like my friend Dorothy. Her family has taken me in, and they are like my Katosi family. I have been eating dinner with them almost every night lately, and then we always talk about life. Dorothy wants to come to the united states to work, and I think she would be wonderful for that (her major is microfinance, how cool is that!!). Dorothy's brother Elijah has not gone to university yet, because their family cannot afford it. He has worked so hard for the past few years, and he is about to start his own business, which I admire so so much. He told me about his childhood dream too, to build a garden with a lot of flowers, fruit, and pretty trees (flowers are VERY uncommon in Uganda, so this made me happy!) He asked me what he should plant for me, and I said blue flowers and sweet potatoes! and I told him I would be checking to make sure they are there the next time I come to Uganda. Anyway, every night after dinner we have been watching my season of Fresh Prince that I brought. They absolutely LOVE it, and so do I. God, I love Fresh Prince.
I have also hung out with my friend peter and his family lately too (it has been lonely since Avery left!). One day I went to his house, and he had cooked me literally a feast of matooke (steamed bananas)and g-nut sauce. My favorite! I think i might have lost some weight, because LITERALLY all they eat here are bananas. Many different forms of bananas; regular ones, steamed ones, roasted ones, ones with sauce, ones in cake, etc etc. Anyway, Peter's mom got all dressed up and had a photographer come over to take our pictures. It was literally the cutest thing I have ever seen. Then Peter showed me his photo album, which was really cool. Except that after he pointed to pretty much every person, he said "oh, they have died." He said one of his friends died because a witch killed him with a spell. Apparently he was brought to the hospital, but the doctors couldn't find what was wrong with him, and then he died. I told peter that people in the US would not believe that spell had killed him, but I he is a university educated man, and he still truly believes it. I guess you never know, it could have happened! But you should have seen the look on his face when I told him that aliens and vampires do not really exist, that they are just in movies. He was so surprised and sort of mad because he said that americans had been lying to him and that it was neocolonialism. I told him that some people do actually believe in aliens, but that mostly movies were just for fun.
All of this has been so much fun! But it has also been sad, because I have known that I have to leave sooo soon! I was trying to think of how I can describe Katosi to people once I get home, but I don't know if that will really be possible! I guess the main area of the village is sort of like an African version of Franklin street, where everyone walks and there are so many shops (most of which sell the exact same things, haha) and people just going about their business (also children under one years old crawling around anywhere they want)! But the dirt-road franklin street is also mixed with a farm and a jungle. Like there are random cows, pigs, and chickens wandering around the street, even without someone herding them. The cows hang out on the street corner where the two roads intersect, just chilling all day and then apparently finding their way home at night. weird. Then if you take ten steps off of the main road, you are in the middle of the hilly grassland/jungle with monkeys and such. But there are still houses and people scattered everywhere. Its strange, but I love it; it has really become my home. It took awhile to get there; looking back, the first few weeks were harder than I had thought at the time. But I really know how much I am going to miss it.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
bombings
Wow, there is soooo much to write about, I don’t even know where to start. But I guess I will start with the most important thing, and probably what most people are wondering about most: the terrorist attacks.
I honestly probably know less about what exactly happened than people in the United States do, and I feel a bit too far removed from the whole thing to act like I am an expert on it. In fact, my sister was the first person to tell me that something happened; I was in Katosi at the time (thanks Lauren!!). After she text messaged me that the New York Times said there was a bombing in Kampala, Avery and I went outside to ask Maama Gertrude if it was true. Maama Gertrude looked at me funny, then non-chalantly said “oh yes, there were bombs. People died” And then she turned and walked away, and Avery and I were like WHAT THE HECK!!?
I know that al-Shabaab, a group from Somalia, claimed responsibility for the attacks; the leader even said whatever makes Ugandans cry makes him happy. Uganda is one of the African Union countries (along with Burundi) that has sent troops to Somalia to try to fix the utter anarchy that has occurred there. Al-Shabaab (which apparently has links to al-qaeda) is clearly opposed to that; they basically “declared war” on Uganda. Three bombs went off, two at a rugby stadium (where I had actually been thinking about watching world cup finals) and one at an Ethiopian restaurant. Another one was supposed to go off at a club, but apparently it didn’t work. They found a bag with a bunch of bomb vests there a few days after the attacks.
I have been trying to pay attention to get a sense of how people are feeling about the attacks. It seems like people in Kampala are scared, and people in Katosi are not. I have not been to Kampala since the bombings, but people I have talked to said there is a lot of uncertainty and everyone is nervous. People in Katosi are sad that such a thing happened, that innocent people died. But even just a few days after the bombing, people stopped talking about it here. I guess the sad truth is that things like that happen here, whether it is from political violence, rebel attacks, or even disease. I mean, I guess it just happens everywhere. But it shouldn’t be like that; it makes me mad.
I’m mad because it is cutting my summer short. I am mad because my parents had to pay a lot of money to change my plane ticket. But mostly I am mad that so many people died; so many people that just wanted to enjoy the world cup finals. The newspapers showed the stadium after the attacks. There were people walking around wearing “Africa United” t-shirts and carrying vuvuzelas, wondering what to do. There were dead people, still sitting in plastic chairs with beers in between their knees, with blood all over there chests (newspapers here like to show pictures of dead people, for some reason). If there was no blood, they would have looked like they were still watching the game. It was nauseating. Why did they have to die? They were just trying to have fun! They were just trying to have fun.
And now people in Uganda, especially in Kampala, have to live in fear. The day after the bombs, apparently hardly anyone left their homes. Then almost every day the next week, the news would talk about how there was a bomb scare, where people thought they saw a bomb every time they saw something shiny (like in an ice cream container). There are so many crowded places where something else could happen, and it is scary.
Anyway, the whole internship kind of went up in the air for a few days, because everyone in my group from UNC was trying to figure out what to do. Five people have left Uganda already, including Avery (the girl who was in Katosi with me)! Her parents called last Wednesday, and told her she had to leave on Friday. So now I am alone in Katosi. I feel totally safe though. If anything happened here, I would be floored. My parents want me to come home early too, since everyone else is. I don’t want to leave, because I love it here and I really feel like it is my home. But I guess I don’t want to be here alone for too long, in case something crazy happens. So I am coming home early, at the end of July. Come visit me!!!
Love colleen
I honestly probably know less about what exactly happened than people in the United States do, and I feel a bit too far removed from the whole thing to act like I am an expert on it. In fact, my sister was the first person to tell me that something happened; I was in Katosi at the time (thanks Lauren!!). After she text messaged me that the New York Times said there was a bombing in Kampala, Avery and I went outside to ask Maama Gertrude if it was true. Maama Gertrude looked at me funny, then non-chalantly said “oh yes, there were bombs. People died” And then she turned and walked away, and Avery and I were like WHAT THE HECK!!?
I know that al-Shabaab, a group from Somalia, claimed responsibility for the attacks; the leader even said whatever makes Ugandans cry makes him happy. Uganda is one of the African Union countries (along with Burundi) that has sent troops to Somalia to try to fix the utter anarchy that has occurred there. Al-Shabaab (which apparently has links to al-qaeda) is clearly opposed to that; they basically “declared war” on Uganda. Three bombs went off, two at a rugby stadium (where I had actually been thinking about watching world cup finals) and one at an Ethiopian restaurant. Another one was supposed to go off at a club, but apparently it didn’t work. They found a bag with a bunch of bomb vests there a few days after the attacks.
I have been trying to pay attention to get a sense of how people are feeling about the attacks. It seems like people in Kampala are scared, and people in Katosi are not. I have not been to Kampala since the bombings, but people I have talked to said there is a lot of uncertainty and everyone is nervous. People in Katosi are sad that such a thing happened, that innocent people died. But even just a few days after the bombing, people stopped talking about it here. I guess the sad truth is that things like that happen here, whether it is from political violence, rebel attacks, or even disease. I mean, I guess it just happens everywhere. But it shouldn’t be like that; it makes me mad.
I’m mad because it is cutting my summer short. I am mad because my parents had to pay a lot of money to change my plane ticket. But mostly I am mad that so many people died; so many people that just wanted to enjoy the world cup finals. The newspapers showed the stadium after the attacks. There were people walking around wearing “Africa United” t-shirts and carrying vuvuzelas, wondering what to do. There were dead people, still sitting in plastic chairs with beers in between their knees, with blood all over there chests (newspapers here like to show pictures of dead people, for some reason). If there was no blood, they would have looked like they were still watching the game. It was nauseating. Why did they have to die? They were just trying to have fun! They were just trying to have fun.
And now people in Uganda, especially in Kampala, have to live in fear. The day after the bombs, apparently hardly anyone left their homes. Then almost every day the next week, the news would talk about how there was a bomb scare, where people thought they saw a bomb every time they saw something shiny (like in an ice cream container). There are so many crowded places where something else could happen, and it is scary.
Anyway, the whole internship kind of went up in the air for a few days, because everyone in my group from UNC was trying to figure out what to do. Five people have left Uganda already, including Avery (the girl who was in Katosi with me)! Her parents called last Wednesday, and told her she had to leave on Friday. So now I am alone in Katosi. I feel totally safe though. If anything happened here, I would be floored. My parents want me to come home early too, since everyone else is. I don’t want to leave, because I love it here and I really feel like it is my home. But I guess I don’t want to be here alone for too long, in case something crazy happens. So I am coming home early, at the end of July. Come visit me!!!
Love colleen
Friday, July 9, 2010
World Cup, MP’s, fireworks, and thieves
World Cup, MP’s, fireworks, and thieves
Last weekend was a great weekend! I went to Kampala, not really knowing what I was going to do. Some the other interns were going to Kampala so that they could celebrate fourth of July at the US embassy, but I thought I would just go and see where the wind took me! So I called Margaret, the Katosi Women Organization’s coordinator, and asked her if I could stay at her house. Then I packed my bags and headed into the city!
The most awesome, exciting, frustrating, and sad part of the weekend was the Ghana world cup game. I wanted Ghana to win, even though Uruguay is cool too. It just would have meant so much for Africa as a continent and as a group of people to have a team go to the semi-finals for the first time in history. Even though Ghana lost, Africa should still be proud; they fought so hard and played with such determination that even people cheering against Ghana had to admire it. The team just sort of got unlucky. To me, the game sort of parallels life in Africa as a whole. Most people work so hard to fight through such hard circumstances like poverty and violence, but history has not always been on their side. Yet at the same time, Ghana’s soccer team proved they mean something and should not be disregarded by anyone; they had a lot to contribute to the world cup, just like the African continent has a lot to contribute to the world. I just hope we can all help change Africa’s future.
So anyway, even though the Ghana game made me sad, it was still really fun to watch (I watched with Margaret, her family, and the two other interns in the Kampala office. We were all screaming and jumping up and down most of the time!!). That night, Margaret invited us to a celebration the following day. We were excited to go to another traditional Ugandan ceremony, and even more excited (and surprised) when we found out it was a ceremony for Margaret’s husband, who is a member of parliament!! What…WHAT??! We have been working at Katosi Women Trust for six weeks, and I have spent numerous days and weekends with Margaret and her family; but I never knew her husband was in parliament! CRAZY! But at the same time, it sort of explains a lot. Margaret is awesome and she definitely works really really hard, but she is also sort of a diva…a pretty wealthy one too. Because Margaret’s husband is in parliament, though all of the people that voted for him expect him to give them money out of his salary for things that they need. The MP’s don’t get much money from the government to do projects, so I guess people just expect everything they need to come from the MP’s themselves! Margaret says people line up at their home, asking for everything from medicine to money to fix their motorcycles. I guess politics are complicated everywhere!
So the celebration itself was pretty cool! It seemed like a combination of John (Margaret husband) campaigning for the next elections and the community thanking him for what he has done. There was a lot of singing, dancing, and hugging. Of course, it was all in Luganda but it was still fun! John sort of has an aura like what I imagine Obama to have. I also made a friend, I think. A four-year old girl, in the middle of the ceremony, bolted across the “stage” and right into my lap. Then she sat there for the rest of the ceremony, counting the beauty marks on my arms. It was so funny!
The way home from the ceremony was almost as good as the ceremony itself. First, we stopped at the equator! There was a little monument, and we took lots of pictures. It was really cool to stand in two hemispheres at once. Have you ever done that???? Then about half-hour outside Kampala, there was the most gigantic traffic jam I have ever seen. And it just kept getting worse, because people behind us kept driving past us on the side of the road (which made Margaret SO mad, haha), so we pretty much were in a dead stop for god knows how many hours. Eventually, we got out and walked next to the car, which was actually really fun. I probably could have gone shopping if I wanted to, but soon it got dark! So Cathy, Margaret’s daughter, and I listened to music on my ipod. I let her choose the songs, and it was cool seeing what kind of music she liked. We have a similar taste in music, so when we got home she told me she would put some really “hip” music on my ipod for me. I was expecting a few awesome Ugandan songs, but when I looked at my ipod, Cathy had put on 135 songs, 134 of which were American. Hahahah!
The rest of the weekend was eventful too, although nothing enormous happened. Margaret thought the noise from the fireworks at the US embassy on fourth of July were gunshots, which I actually don’t blame her for. That is what they sounded like! I had never thought of the fact that our firework celebrations could evoke a totally different feeling (like fear) among other people, especially that has a huge potential to face violence.
Another event of last weekend has to do with thieves! Scarlet, another intern, and I were walking down the really busy park of Kampala to catch a bus back to Katosi. The street was so crowded with cars, and the sidewalk was so crowded with people that we were all bumping into each other and it was kind of making me dizzy. At one point, I looked behind me because I thought I lost Scarlet. She was still right behind me, but I saw her spin in a circle, grab someone’s wrist, and yell “give it back!!” Then this random guy that had been walking next to us looked mad and then handed her something he had stolen out of her backpack. Normally, the whole thing would make me mad, but it was just so awesome how Scarlet reacted. She is this tiny, soft-spoken Chinese girl, but she totally used her kung-fu assertiveness to scare away a pick-pocketer. It was so awesome!
That is pretty much it about interesting events! (oh yeah, except when I walking around in Katosi and I was cerenated by a parade of people that were dancing and singing. They pretty much surrounded me, so I danced with them for a bit and everyone thought it was funny. Then later I found out it was a rite of passage circumcision ceremony, dang!) These last few weeks in Katosi are going to be busy. I have gardens to plant, murals to paint, and books to write! (Avery and I are making booklets with ideas and instructions for Sanitation Club projects for schools in Katosi. They other day, we went around to three schools and met with teachers asking them what sort of sanitation projects they needed and what would be useful for their schools, so we can include that in the book). And I love teaching; it is just so awesome watching students learn right before your eyes.
I hope I am making a difference in Katosi, even if it is a really small one.
Last weekend was a great weekend! I went to Kampala, not really knowing what I was going to do. Some the other interns were going to Kampala so that they could celebrate fourth of July at the US embassy, but I thought I would just go and see where the wind took me! So I called Margaret, the Katosi Women Organization’s coordinator, and asked her if I could stay at her house. Then I packed my bags and headed into the city!
The most awesome, exciting, frustrating, and sad part of the weekend was the Ghana world cup game. I wanted Ghana to win, even though Uruguay is cool too. It just would have meant so much for Africa as a continent and as a group of people to have a team go to the semi-finals for the first time in history. Even though Ghana lost, Africa should still be proud; they fought so hard and played with such determination that even people cheering against Ghana had to admire it. The team just sort of got unlucky. To me, the game sort of parallels life in Africa as a whole. Most people work so hard to fight through such hard circumstances like poverty and violence, but history has not always been on their side. Yet at the same time, Ghana’s soccer team proved they mean something and should not be disregarded by anyone; they had a lot to contribute to the world cup, just like the African continent has a lot to contribute to the world. I just hope we can all help change Africa’s future.
So anyway, even though the Ghana game made me sad, it was still really fun to watch (I watched with Margaret, her family, and the two other interns in the Kampala office. We were all screaming and jumping up and down most of the time!!). That night, Margaret invited us to a celebration the following day. We were excited to go to another traditional Ugandan ceremony, and even more excited (and surprised) when we found out it was a ceremony for Margaret’s husband, who is a member of parliament!! What…WHAT??! We have been working at Katosi Women Trust for six weeks, and I have spent numerous days and weekends with Margaret and her family; but I never knew her husband was in parliament! CRAZY! But at the same time, it sort of explains a lot. Margaret is awesome and she definitely works really really hard, but she is also sort of a diva…a pretty wealthy one too. Because Margaret’s husband is in parliament, though all of the people that voted for him expect him to give them money out of his salary for things that they need. The MP’s don’t get much money from the government to do projects, so I guess people just expect everything they need to come from the MP’s themselves! Margaret says people line up at their home, asking for everything from medicine to money to fix their motorcycles. I guess politics are complicated everywhere!
So the celebration itself was pretty cool! It seemed like a combination of John (Margaret husband) campaigning for the next elections and the community thanking him for what he has done. There was a lot of singing, dancing, and hugging. Of course, it was all in Luganda but it was still fun! John sort of has an aura like what I imagine Obama to have. I also made a friend, I think. A four-year old girl, in the middle of the ceremony, bolted across the “stage” and right into my lap. Then she sat there for the rest of the ceremony, counting the beauty marks on my arms. It was so funny!
The way home from the ceremony was almost as good as the ceremony itself. First, we stopped at the equator! There was a little monument, and we took lots of pictures. It was really cool to stand in two hemispheres at once. Have you ever done that???? Then about half-hour outside Kampala, there was the most gigantic traffic jam I have ever seen. And it just kept getting worse, because people behind us kept driving past us on the side of the road (which made Margaret SO mad, haha), so we pretty much were in a dead stop for god knows how many hours. Eventually, we got out and walked next to the car, which was actually really fun. I probably could have gone shopping if I wanted to, but soon it got dark! So Cathy, Margaret’s daughter, and I listened to music on my ipod. I let her choose the songs, and it was cool seeing what kind of music she liked. We have a similar taste in music, so when we got home she told me she would put some really “hip” music on my ipod for me. I was expecting a few awesome Ugandan songs, but when I looked at my ipod, Cathy had put on 135 songs, 134 of which were American. Hahahah!
The rest of the weekend was eventful too, although nothing enormous happened. Margaret thought the noise from the fireworks at the US embassy on fourth of July were gunshots, which I actually don’t blame her for. That is what they sounded like! I had never thought of the fact that our firework celebrations could evoke a totally different feeling (like fear) among other people, especially that has a huge potential to face violence.
Another event of last weekend has to do with thieves! Scarlet, another intern, and I were walking down the really busy park of Kampala to catch a bus back to Katosi. The street was so crowded with cars, and the sidewalk was so crowded with people that we were all bumping into each other and it was kind of making me dizzy. At one point, I looked behind me because I thought I lost Scarlet. She was still right behind me, but I saw her spin in a circle, grab someone’s wrist, and yell “give it back!!” Then this random guy that had been walking next to us looked mad and then handed her something he had stolen out of her backpack. Normally, the whole thing would make me mad, but it was just so awesome how Scarlet reacted. She is this tiny, soft-spoken Chinese girl, but she totally used her kung-fu assertiveness to scare away a pick-pocketer. It was so awesome!
That is pretty much it about interesting events! (oh yeah, except when I walking around in Katosi and I was cerenated by a parade of people that were dancing and singing. They pretty much surrounded me, so I danced with them for a bit and everyone thought it was funny. Then later I found out it was a rite of passage circumcision ceremony, dang!) These last few weeks in Katosi are going to be busy. I have gardens to plant, murals to paint, and books to write! (Avery and I are making booklets with ideas and instructions for Sanitation Club projects for schools in Katosi. They other day, we went around to three schools and met with teachers asking them what sort of sanitation projects they needed and what would be useful for their schools, so we can include that in the book). And I love teaching; it is just so awesome watching students learn right before your eyes.
I hope I am making a difference in Katosi, even if it is a really small one.
Saturday, July 3, 2010
A vist with Kevin
A few days ago, Avery and I went to visit one of the Ugandan friends we met, Kevin, who lives in the village next to Katosi with his mom and his 18 siblings! Kevins's mom had 18 children with two different men, yet neither one of the men has stayed around the home (Kevin's dad actually died because he was shot by the police in a land dispute. Kevin still has such a good atitude, and he smiles all the time no matter what goes wrong. I really admire him.) Marriage here is actually quite interesting, and I honestly dont really get how it works. I honestly have seen like one family that has two parents living together. I think the men often just "marry" women, have kids and then move on to another woman leaving the first wife alone to raise their children. And that is pretty much the best case scenario. Margaret, the Katosi organization's director, told me that she was proud that her father only had one wife at a time, even though he had many wives over his lifetime. I guess that is better than having many wives at once, but i still don't think it is fair to the women!!
Anyway, Avery and I had a long conversation with Kevin about life and politics in Uganda, and it was really quite interesting. We talked about Mussevini and the elections that are coming up next summer. Kevin, as well as every single other Ugandan I have talked to, are worried and frankly almost terrified about election time. Although Kevin recognized that Mussevini has done a lot of good things for Uganda, he said the younger generation doesn't really like him that much because he has been in power for too long. But he did say the older Ugandans, even if they may not like Mussevini, will vote for him because they want to avoid war. Mussevini has apparently said that he came to power through a gun, and that is the only way he will leave power. Even the Ugandans are going to get the heck out of Kampala during election time.
Then I started to wonder what people here think about Idi Amin. It seems like Amin's dictatorship is hardly in the public memory at all, at least not openly. Even though Amin killed pretty much anyone that threatened his power, it seems like the violence really depended on who you were and what region of Uganda you lived in. I guess people in Southern Uganda, where I am now, were not as badly affected during Amin. Raymond, my homestay brother, was reading my Uganda guidebook one day, which has a little history about the country at the beginning. I asked him if the history was interesting to read, and he told me that he was surprised because he had no idea Amin killed so many people. Raymond also said that Amin is not really in the public memory because Ugandans are good at forgetting. Would that be a good thing?
Another political issue that I have found interesting is Uganda's relationship with Sudan. I read the Ugandan newspaper almost everyday, and I LOVE it because it is full of all of the interesting things that only take up a tiny section of newspapers in the US. Some of Uganda's government ministers wrote to the newspaper about how the west is only trying to villify Sudan by issuing arrest warrants for president Al-bashir, like the one by the ICC, in order to "pave the way for the ultimate usupation of Sudan's vast and rich resources." I would have to disagree with that! And it is quite interesting because the African Union is set to meet in Kampala this month. At first Mussevini told Al-bashir he could not come (since Uganda is a member of the ICC), but then he had to re-invite Al-bashir since Uganda is also a member of the african Union which voted to ignore the ICC's arrest warrant. I wonder what is going to happen!!
Anyway, Avery and I had a long conversation with Kevin about life and politics in Uganda, and it was really quite interesting. We talked about Mussevini and the elections that are coming up next summer. Kevin, as well as every single other Ugandan I have talked to, are worried and frankly almost terrified about election time. Although Kevin recognized that Mussevini has done a lot of good things for Uganda, he said the younger generation doesn't really like him that much because he has been in power for too long. But he did say the older Ugandans, even if they may not like Mussevini, will vote for him because they want to avoid war. Mussevini has apparently said that he came to power through a gun, and that is the only way he will leave power. Even the Ugandans are going to get the heck out of Kampala during election time.
Then I started to wonder what people here think about Idi Amin. It seems like Amin's dictatorship is hardly in the public memory at all, at least not openly. Even though Amin killed pretty much anyone that threatened his power, it seems like the violence really depended on who you were and what region of Uganda you lived in. I guess people in Southern Uganda, where I am now, were not as badly affected during Amin. Raymond, my homestay brother, was reading my Uganda guidebook one day, which has a little history about the country at the beginning. I asked him if the history was interesting to read, and he told me that he was surprised because he had no idea Amin killed so many people. Raymond also said that Amin is not really in the public memory because Ugandans are good at forgetting. Would that be a good thing?
Another political issue that I have found interesting is Uganda's relationship with Sudan. I read the Ugandan newspaper almost everyday, and I LOVE it because it is full of all of the interesting things that only take up a tiny section of newspapers in the US. Some of Uganda's government ministers wrote to the newspaper about how the west is only trying to villify Sudan by issuing arrest warrants for president Al-bashir, like the one by the ICC, in order to "pave the way for the ultimate usupation of Sudan's vast and rich resources." I would have to disagree with that! And it is quite interesting because the African Union is set to meet in Kampala this month. At first Mussevini told Al-bashir he could not come (since Uganda is a member of the ICC), but then he had to re-invite Al-bashir since Uganda is also a member of the african Union which voted to ignore the ICC's arrest warrant. I wonder what is going to happen!!
Tippy Taps, stars, and a rhino named obama
Last week was one of the best weeks in Uganda so far! Avery and I helped start a sanitation and health club at the school we have been teaching at, St. John Bosco. Most of the schools in Uganda have Sanitation Clubs, but St. John Bosco is a school for orphans, and they don't have much extra money to dedicate to clubs and things like that, even though sanitation is so important!
Anyway, so we asked the P4 (fourth grade) teacher if he thought a sanitation club would be a good idea, and if he did, if he would be willing to be the lead teacher of the club. He agreed! But first we had to see if the students were interested, which they were (about 75 out of 80 kids in the 3rd and 4th grade wanted to join!), and then we had to get the approval from the headmaster and the elder of the school since we don't want to be imposing anything on the school. The headmaster was really open to the idea, but the elder was a little worried that we would be taking away too much classtime from the students (which is definitely understandable!). But we compromised so that we take a little class time each week, and a little of their break time each week for anyone that wants to to meet for sanitation club!
Our first project was to build tippy taps, which are really cool contraption things that are an easy and clean way for kids to wash their hands (it is basically a can of water hanging from a structure of sticks, attached to a string and piece of wood that act like a pedal). St. John Bosco only had one bucket of dirty water for over 300 students to wash their hands before our tippy tap project started. Now they have five clean places to wash their hands! First, we demonstrated how to build a tippy tap and everyone watched quietly and attentively while Teacher Martin translated for us. Then we divided the students into groups with each of the four interns as the leaders (it was a little chaotic at first, since there were like 80 kids!). We sent them to collect sticks, dig holes in the ground so the sticks could stand up, and tie string to the water can to make a pedal. It ended up taking only about 30 minutes to build four tippy taps!
The students probably never really needed our help in the first place; they just needed some guidance and resources. Everyone, even kids, are so resourceful here and they can pretty much figure out how to do anything they need to do (one group even invented a drainage system for the extra water, and the boys used the leftover sticks to builds their own soccer goals!). Everyone seemed really excited to participate, it was one of the coolest things I have ever been a part of. It helped that we gave the students some incentives, like for my intern project called Kicks for Katosi I am going to give out shoes to the students who participate most actively in Sanitation Club. I really like my shoe idea, especially because last year the interns gave kids shoes based on their grades in school (eek!!). But I am also a bit worried about having to decide who to give shoes to! Teacher Martin said he would pay attention to who was participating and tell me who to give shoes to, and I plan on leaving some shoes so that next term when I am gone the students that work hard can still get shoes. still though, i dont think i can give shoes to just a few kids, i wish i had enough money to buy 80 pairs of shoes!! I am applying for a grant from an American youth organization that gives out $500 every week, but if I dont get it, i am going to have to figure something else out. Any ideas???
Anyway, I thought the Tippy Taps were really successful! By the end of the day, everyone was using them because the big kids had taught the little kids how to use them too! Now perhaps the kids will go home and build Tippy Taps for their families and communities to use! This week for sanitation club, we are going to start school gardens so that students can grow their own food and eat it for lunch! The week after that, we are going to paint murals about the importance of health and sanitation. At the end of the summer, Avery and I are going to type up a booklet with instructions for a lot of sanitation projects and donate them to as many schools as possible in Katosi. I hope it goes well!
That night after the tippy taps, Lauren, Avery and I celebrated by looking at the stars! The stars are seriously SO beautiful in Katosi, I honestly felt like I was at the Morehead Planetarium. We could see the southern cross, which is apparently like the big dipper of the southern hemisphere (even though we are not quite in the southern hemisphere..?), and we could even see the bands of the milkyway! Um, and this is even cooler...we could see satellites rotating around the earth! The look basically like stars, but they are just moving slowly and steadily across the sky. It was a pretty baller night!
Oh yeah, and last weekend I went on a safari in Murchison Falls National Parks. Everything was absolutely awesome, aside from the tsetse flies that were biting us (they really really hurt!). We saw waterfalls and a lot of really cool animals like hippos, giraffes, elephants, and leopards! Then we went rhino tracking, where we had to walk through the grassland/jungle and search for two rhinos, one of which was named obama! The baby rhino we saw was named obama because his rhino mother was from Animal Kingdom/Disneyworld in America and his rhino father was from kenya. Just like the president obama's mom was from the US and dad was from Kenya! I wonder if Obama know he has a kick-ass rhino in Uganda named after him...?!
Anyway, so we asked the P4 (fourth grade) teacher if he thought a sanitation club would be a good idea, and if he did, if he would be willing to be the lead teacher of the club. He agreed! But first we had to see if the students were interested, which they were (about 75 out of 80 kids in the 3rd and 4th grade wanted to join!), and then we had to get the approval from the headmaster and the elder of the school since we don't want to be imposing anything on the school. The headmaster was really open to the idea, but the elder was a little worried that we would be taking away too much classtime from the students (which is definitely understandable!). But we compromised so that we take a little class time each week, and a little of their break time each week for anyone that wants to to meet for sanitation club!
Our first project was to build tippy taps, which are really cool contraption things that are an easy and clean way for kids to wash their hands (it is basically a can of water hanging from a structure of sticks, attached to a string and piece of wood that act like a pedal). St. John Bosco only had one bucket of dirty water for over 300 students to wash their hands before our tippy tap project started. Now they have five clean places to wash their hands! First, we demonstrated how to build a tippy tap and everyone watched quietly and attentively while Teacher Martin translated for us. Then we divided the students into groups with each of the four interns as the leaders (it was a little chaotic at first, since there were like 80 kids!). We sent them to collect sticks, dig holes in the ground so the sticks could stand up, and tie string to the water can to make a pedal. It ended up taking only about 30 minutes to build four tippy taps!
The students probably never really needed our help in the first place; they just needed some guidance and resources. Everyone, even kids, are so resourceful here and they can pretty much figure out how to do anything they need to do (one group even invented a drainage system for the extra water, and the boys used the leftover sticks to builds their own soccer goals!). Everyone seemed really excited to participate, it was one of the coolest things I have ever been a part of. It helped that we gave the students some incentives, like for my intern project called Kicks for Katosi I am going to give out shoes to the students who participate most actively in Sanitation Club. I really like my shoe idea, especially because last year the interns gave kids shoes based on their grades in school (eek!!). But I am also a bit worried about having to decide who to give shoes to! Teacher Martin said he would pay attention to who was participating and tell me who to give shoes to, and I plan on leaving some shoes so that next term when I am gone the students that work hard can still get shoes. still though, i dont think i can give shoes to just a few kids, i wish i had enough money to buy 80 pairs of shoes!! I am applying for a grant from an American youth organization that gives out $500 every week, but if I dont get it, i am going to have to figure something else out. Any ideas???
Anyway, I thought the Tippy Taps were really successful! By the end of the day, everyone was using them because the big kids had taught the little kids how to use them too! Now perhaps the kids will go home and build Tippy Taps for their families and communities to use! This week for sanitation club, we are going to start school gardens so that students can grow their own food and eat it for lunch! The week after that, we are going to paint murals about the importance of health and sanitation. At the end of the summer, Avery and I are going to type up a booklet with instructions for a lot of sanitation projects and donate them to as many schools as possible in Katosi. I hope it goes well!
That night after the tippy taps, Lauren, Avery and I celebrated by looking at the stars! The stars are seriously SO beautiful in Katosi, I honestly felt like I was at the Morehead Planetarium. We could see the southern cross, which is apparently like the big dipper of the southern hemisphere (even though we are not quite in the southern hemisphere..?), and we could even see the bands of the milkyway! Um, and this is even cooler...we could see satellites rotating around the earth! The look basically like stars, but they are just moving slowly and steadily across the sky. It was a pretty baller night!
Oh yeah, and last weekend I went on a safari in Murchison Falls National Parks. Everything was absolutely awesome, aside from the tsetse flies that were biting us (they really really hurt!). We saw waterfalls and a lot of really cool animals like hippos, giraffes, elephants, and leopards! Then we went rhino tracking, where we had to walk through the grassland/jungle and search for two rhinos, one of which was named obama! The baby rhino we saw was named obama because his rhino mother was from Animal Kingdom/Disneyworld in America and his rhino father was from kenya. Just like the president obama's mom was from the US and dad was from Kenya! I wonder if Obama know he has a kick-ass rhino in Uganda named after him...?!
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Fort Portal, and an incident
Last weekend, the other interns and I went to a town a few hours away from kampala called Fort Portal, where the Rwenzori Mountain chain begins! It was definitely an adventure, and I feel like I became more in tune with nature haha. The first night we arrived, we went to watch the US vs. Slovenia game in an Italian Pizzeria. There were mostly white people there, but it was still fun, especially when the Ugandan bar tender taped up an American flag next to the TV!! Too bad we didn’t win, eeek!
The next day, we rented seven bikes (which were probably from like 1960) and we biked for a RIDICULOUSLY long journey through the mountains. The roads were dirt and they had a gazillion potholes in them (like pretty much everywhere in Uganda, haha). I pretty much almost got run over quite a few times, especially one time when a huge truck with a motorcycle next to it were zooming towards me and honking (“which means get the heck out of the road, because I am not stopping”). So I swerved onto the side of the road and crashed into a hill, but it’s all good because I am still alive! Haha
The mountains were beautiful. We left our bikes and took a hike through the jungle to a waterfall. It literally looked like the amazon rainforest or something, there were so many trees and we were dodging so many vines that we basically had to bend over the whole time. We also went to some caves, which happen to be the home of some African killer bees. Lovely! Then we left the jungle and hiked to a crater lake that was in between the mountains. We climbed to the top of the hill that was next to the crater lake…I felt like I was climbing mount everest. But then we just got to sit on the top and enjoy the AWESOME view. I definitely felt more like a hippie afterward!
That is mostly all we did in Fort Portal (besides when I bought an awesome Ugandan hiphop CD), and we were sitting at the bus stop about to head home when something crazy happened. All of the sudden, when we were just sitting there, we heard like 3 or 4 loud pops that kind of sounded like a tire had blown out. I didn’t really think anything of it…until then there were at least 4 or 5 more pops and a lot of the Ugandans started to look scared. We peered down the street, and I could see a man frantically running around a white SUV and opening all of the doors. Then we realized the loud noises had been gunshots!! So we ran to hide in the bus station, and the women was about to close the doors and lock us in so that no one could come get us, but then things started to calm down a little. A huge crowd started to form where the gunshots came from, and eventually we got to ask people what happened. It turns out that the people in the SUV were smugglers from the DRC (which is like 40 miles from Fort Portal). They had apparently hired a Ugandan driver to take them across the border into Uganda, and they refused to stop for the police because they didn’t want to pay taxes on what they were smuggling (which apparently were African purses, but I really think the purses must have been lined with cocaine or something…because why would they risk getting shot over some bags??). Anyway, so the police had ended up shooting the driver in the legs 8 times to get the car to stop ( I am guessing the smugglers were threatening the driver and telling him NOT to stop…I do not know what I would have done in that situation eek). Then they dragged the smugglers to jail and sent the driver to the hospital.
It was quite interesting being so close to an even like that and it was sort of a “cool” experience, although I hate that I actually thought that since people obviously got hurt. I did definitely feel strange when the police, who I assume had done the shooting, were walking non-chalantly away from the scene. And even though I don’t agree with shooting people, I don’t know enough about what goes on here to criticize what the police do. Uganda has been amazingly safe for me so far, so the police and Ugandan citizens are obviously doing something right. But it still reminded me that nowhere is completely safe, no matter how comfortable or at home I feel. Dang!
So that was Fort Portal! It was definitely really cool, and I rediscovered my desire to go to Congo (where the smugglers were from). But I suppose that can wait for awhile, hopefully it will become a safer country for everyone. There was another really sad part of my journey back from Fort Portal, besides the shooting. We were driving back through Kampala, in an area where there are a lot of street children. One little kid, maybe about seven, came up to our window and just stared inside at us. I have never seen such utter sadness in someone’s eyes in my life. Ever. I sort of wanted to cry. I could tell he was supposed to be begging for money on the street, and probably would have to give whatever money he made either to his family or to someone who exploits him. My heart hurt, so much, so I looked in my purse and looked for something I thought HE could use for himself. I ended up just giving him a half-full water bottle, which I know isn’t much. But I did see, just for a moment, a little bit of that sadness disappear from his face, right before he chugged he water in about 2 seconds and afterward held onto the bottle like he would die if something happened to it. I hope it made his day just a little bit better.
The next day, we rented seven bikes (which were probably from like 1960) and we biked for a RIDICULOUSLY long journey through the mountains. The roads were dirt and they had a gazillion potholes in them (like pretty much everywhere in Uganda, haha). I pretty much almost got run over quite a few times, especially one time when a huge truck with a motorcycle next to it were zooming towards me and honking (“which means get the heck out of the road, because I am not stopping”). So I swerved onto the side of the road and crashed into a hill, but it’s all good because I am still alive! Haha
The mountains were beautiful. We left our bikes and took a hike through the jungle to a waterfall. It literally looked like the amazon rainforest or something, there were so many trees and we were dodging so many vines that we basically had to bend over the whole time. We also went to some caves, which happen to be the home of some African killer bees. Lovely! Then we left the jungle and hiked to a crater lake that was in between the mountains. We climbed to the top of the hill that was next to the crater lake…I felt like I was climbing mount everest. But then we just got to sit on the top and enjoy the AWESOME view. I definitely felt more like a hippie afterward!
That is mostly all we did in Fort Portal (besides when I bought an awesome Ugandan hiphop CD), and we were sitting at the bus stop about to head home when something crazy happened. All of the sudden, when we were just sitting there, we heard like 3 or 4 loud pops that kind of sounded like a tire had blown out. I didn’t really think anything of it…until then there were at least 4 or 5 more pops and a lot of the Ugandans started to look scared. We peered down the street, and I could see a man frantically running around a white SUV and opening all of the doors. Then we realized the loud noises had been gunshots!! So we ran to hide in the bus station, and the women was about to close the doors and lock us in so that no one could come get us, but then things started to calm down a little. A huge crowd started to form where the gunshots came from, and eventually we got to ask people what happened. It turns out that the people in the SUV were smugglers from the DRC (which is like 40 miles from Fort Portal). They had apparently hired a Ugandan driver to take them across the border into Uganda, and they refused to stop for the police because they didn’t want to pay taxes on what they were smuggling (which apparently were African purses, but I really think the purses must have been lined with cocaine or something…because why would they risk getting shot over some bags??). Anyway, so the police had ended up shooting the driver in the legs 8 times to get the car to stop ( I am guessing the smugglers were threatening the driver and telling him NOT to stop…I do not know what I would have done in that situation eek). Then they dragged the smugglers to jail and sent the driver to the hospital.
It was quite interesting being so close to an even like that and it was sort of a “cool” experience, although I hate that I actually thought that since people obviously got hurt. I did definitely feel strange when the police, who I assume had done the shooting, were walking non-chalantly away from the scene. And even though I don’t agree with shooting people, I don’t know enough about what goes on here to criticize what the police do. Uganda has been amazingly safe for me so far, so the police and Ugandan citizens are obviously doing something right. But it still reminded me that nowhere is completely safe, no matter how comfortable or at home I feel. Dang!
So that was Fort Portal! It was definitely really cool, and I rediscovered my desire to go to Congo (where the smugglers were from). But I suppose that can wait for awhile, hopefully it will become a safer country for everyone. There was another really sad part of my journey back from Fort Portal, besides the shooting. We were driving back through Kampala, in an area where there are a lot of street children. One little kid, maybe about seven, came up to our window and just stared inside at us. I have never seen such utter sadness in someone’s eyes in my life. Ever. I sort of wanted to cry. I could tell he was supposed to be begging for money on the street, and probably would have to give whatever money he made either to his family or to someone who exploits him. My heart hurt, so much, so I looked in my purse and looked for something I thought HE could use for himself. I ended up just giving him a half-full water bottle, which I know isn’t much. But I did see, just for a moment, a little bit of that sadness disappear from his face, right before he chugged he water in about 2 seconds and afterward held onto the bottle like he would die if something happened to it. I hope it made his day just a little bit better.
Monday, June 14, 2010
Mubende, engagement ceremony
This weekend was amazing! Two of the other interns and I went with our "boss" to a traditional engagement ceremony in Mubende, which is about 2 hours outside of Kampala. The drive over was beautiful, and I was glad I got to see more of what Uganda looks like, especially in places where there is less clay and dirt and lots of pretty trees! The only not so fun, but still interesting part of our ride over to Mubende was peeing in the bush on the side of the road! I suppose it was a good experience, haha, since Margaret (our boss) says "that is how we do it in Africa!" It is probably more clean than using a latrine, so it was fine until a bunch of people walked by me...eekk!
Mubende was a cool place to see, especially because Lauren (another intern) and I decided that no muzungus had ever been there (instead of waving and yelling muzungu, most people just stared in awe at us. Some people even called Scarlet, an intern from China, Jackie Chan!!!). Mubende is apparently surrounded by 99 hills, so it is a really beautiful place. Our hotel was literally on top of a mountain, how beautiful! We got to visit a special tree, called Nakayima tree, that is a very sacred place in Ugandan culture. It was HUGE, and i may have been imagining things but I felt like it did actually possess something sacred. The tree trunk even looks like a face, and the roots are so big that you can walk in them like a room (each one is dedicated to a different god). We made a donation and prayed with an old woman who was the caretacker of the tree. It was a really cool experience, but it was sort of awkward because there were Ugandans who were actually on a pilgrimage to the tree while we were just sitting there taking pictures. Is that bad??
Anyway, the next day we went to the engagement ceremony, which was for Margaret's niece, Joan. The ceremony is supposed to be a formal introduction of the bride and groom to each other's parents, before the wedding a few months later (it ended up sort of being like a wedding reception in the US). The bride gets to pick one of her aunts to put on the ceremony, so Margaret was in charge of everything, and we got VIP treatment! In fact, we were actually in the ceremony....awesomely and sort of awkwardly. We wore traditional ugandan dresses called Gomesi, which are these dresses made of cool fabric with crazy pointed sleeves. It was cool to wear them, even though I probably looked incredibly strange, haha (the brides maids got to wear really cool strapless dresses, which Margaret said were the original Ugandan fashion until European missionaries came and told Ugandans they were too scandalous). We sat in the front row, and had to greet the grooms family when they came (in Luganda, of course). I think everyone thought it was a hoot! haha. I definitely had fun learning a little more luganda, except when I was walking and greeting the family and I hit my head on a jackfruit hanging from a tree...TWICE! everyone laughed:) We also got to parade out with the friends of the bride and dance to african music while everyone watched. oh goodness. They handed out "candy" to thank us for participating, but the candy actually ended up being cough drops...bahaha.
The rest of the ceremony was definitely interesting/ cool to watch, although it was in Luganda and INCREDIBLY long (like 9 hours, at least). During most of the time, the families just make jokes to each other back and forth, and then the grooms sister "looks" for the bride (pretending not to know who it is), and the bride's aunt "looks" for the groom. Then after they have been formally introduced, the grooms family brings a LOT of presents for the bride's family...sort of like a dowry I guess. The family lined up and carried in their gifts, which were all very practical things (like salt, cooking oil, some chickens, and a cow leg!!...which wast chilling in a bad with its hoof sticking out). Then we all danced the night away to African music under the stars..it was so cool!
It was such a good experience, and I cannot imagine what the wedding would be like if the engagement ceremony is so elaborate! But it also made me wonder about a couple of things...like can most people afford parties like that?? It made me realize that there are different socio-economic classes of Ugandans, even though sometimes it doesn't really look like it from the outside. Apparently engagement ceremonies are actually quite rare, because most people cannot afford them. It was sort of a weird feeling experiencing the more "upper class" side of Uganda for the weekend. While I was seeing that some Ugandans could live comfortable lives, I was getting more and more mad that most people couldn't. Whenever we drove through town and saw people who were obviosuly struggling to survive and feed/take care of their families, I would actually get mad...like almost pissed off. Like if a bus carrying a lot of people drove through town, all of the street vendors (even if they were like 60 years old) would literally sprint to the bus almost in desperation to try to make some money. But I still can't really articulate what or who I was mad at... i mean whose fault is it that so many people have to live in such utter poverty? Maybe instead of looking at it that way, we all need to realize that it is everyone's responsibility to help out in every way we can.
At the same time, I do have to remind myself that even if someone is poor in terms of money and resources, they still could be more satisfied emotionally, spiritually, and especially regarding relationships than the richest person in the United States could ever be. One evening I had a conversation with Raymond about how we really want all of the bad things in the world to change (and we want to help change them), but so much of the world's problems are insanely complex, and many times people think their interests conflict. And how are we supposed to change anything if true evil does really exist, and people continue to commit horrible atrocities against each other? It's almost too overwhelming to think about. Raymond and I both acknowledged that this kind of thing is what makes us wonder if any sort of god really exists.
Mubende was a cool place to see, especially because Lauren (another intern) and I decided that no muzungus had ever been there (instead of waving and yelling muzungu, most people just stared in awe at us. Some people even called Scarlet, an intern from China, Jackie Chan!!!). Mubende is apparently surrounded by 99 hills, so it is a really beautiful place. Our hotel was literally on top of a mountain, how beautiful! We got to visit a special tree, called Nakayima tree, that is a very sacred place in Ugandan culture. It was HUGE, and i may have been imagining things but I felt like it did actually possess something sacred. The tree trunk even looks like a face, and the roots are so big that you can walk in them like a room (each one is dedicated to a different god). We made a donation and prayed with an old woman who was the caretacker of the tree. It was a really cool experience, but it was sort of awkward because there were Ugandans who were actually on a pilgrimage to the tree while we were just sitting there taking pictures. Is that bad??
Anyway, the next day we went to the engagement ceremony, which was for Margaret's niece, Joan. The ceremony is supposed to be a formal introduction of the bride and groom to each other's parents, before the wedding a few months later (it ended up sort of being like a wedding reception in the US). The bride gets to pick one of her aunts to put on the ceremony, so Margaret was in charge of everything, and we got VIP treatment! In fact, we were actually in the ceremony....awesomely and sort of awkwardly. We wore traditional ugandan dresses called Gomesi, which are these dresses made of cool fabric with crazy pointed sleeves. It was cool to wear them, even though I probably looked incredibly strange, haha (the brides maids got to wear really cool strapless dresses, which Margaret said were the original Ugandan fashion until European missionaries came and told Ugandans they were too scandalous). We sat in the front row, and had to greet the grooms family when they came (in Luganda, of course). I think everyone thought it was a hoot! haha. I definitely had fun learning a little more luganda, except when I was walking and greeting the family and I hit my head on a jackfruit hanging from a tree...TWICE! everyone laughed:) We also got to parade out with the friends of the bride and dance to african music while everyone watched. oh goodness. They handed out "candy" to thank us for participating, but the candy actually ended up being cough drops...bahaha.
The rest of the ceremony was definitely interesting/ cool to watch, although it was in Luganda and INCREDIBLY long (like 9 hours, at least). During most of the time, the families just make jokes to each other back and forth, and then the grooms sister "looks" for the bride (pretending not to know who it is), and the bride's aunt "looks" for the groom. Then after they have been formally introduced, the grooms family brings a LOT of presents for the bride's family...sort of like a dowry I guess. The family lined up and carried in their gifts, which were all very practical things (like salt, cooking oil, some chickens, and a cow leg!!...which wast chilling in a bad with its hoof sticking out). Then we all danced the night away to African music under the stars..it was so cool!
It was such a good experience, and I cannot imagine what the wedding would be like if the engagement ceremony is so elaborate! But it also made me wonder about a couple of things...like can most people afford parties like that?? It made me realize that there are different socio-economic classes of Ugandans, even though sometimes it doesn't really look like it from the outside. Apparently engagement ceremonies are actually quite rare, because most people cannot afford them. It was sort of a weird feeling experiencing the more "upper class" side of Uganda for the weekend. While I was seeing that some Ugandans could live comfortable lives, I was getting more and more mad that most people couldn't. Whenever we drove through town and saw people who were obviosuly struggling to survive and feed/take care of their families, I would actually get mad...like almost pissed off. Like if a bus carrying a lot of people drove through town, all of the street vendors (even if they were like 60 years old) would literally sprint to the bus almost in desperation to try to make some money. But I still can't really articulate what or who I was mad at... i mean whose fault is it that so many people have to live in such utter poverty? Maybe instead of looking at it that way, we all need to realize that it is everyone's responsibility to help out in every way we can.
At the same time, I do have to remind myself that even if someone is poor in terms of money and resources, they still could be more satisfied emotionally, spiritually, and especially regarding relationships than the richest person in the United States could ever be. One evening I had a conversation with Raymond about how we really want all of the bad things in the world to change (and we want to help change them), but so much of the world's problems are insanely complex, and many times people think their interests conflict. And how are we supposed to change anything if true evil does really exist, and people continue to commit horrible atrocities against each other? It's almost too overwhelming to think about. Raymond and I both acknowledged that this kind of thing is what makes us wonder if any sort of god really exists.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Church, fishing, and stolen ipods!
Sunday morning, I went to church in Katosi with Heidi, the peace corps volunteer. I don't usually go to church, but I wanted to see what it was like in Uganda and I thought it would be a good cultural experience. It was! there is something spiritual/ a little haunting about listening to people singing and praying in another language. maybe that is why priests in the US used to do it in latin?? Anyway, it was nice to hear, but at the same time it reminded me of rwanda. I had not been in a small african church like that since going to two churches in Rwanda, where tens of thousands of people were killed during the genocide. The churches became memorials, and there were hundreds of skulls lined up all around, with bones and bloody clothing in piles on the floor.
So when I was sitting in church in Katosi, in a church that looked exactly like rwanda's genocide memorials, i almost started to hyperventilate. I started to wonder if everyone in katosi tried to take refuge in that church during some horrible violence or something, what would happen? Could the people that were praying and singing so beautifully next to me be slaughtered by their neighbors? Could I be?... Even if I was not in Rwanda, things like that can happen anywhere under the right circumstances (and yes, even in the US), and that is scary. But I decided I would just have to have faith in people (and be careful, of course) and do everything I can to make sure nothing like that ever happens to anyone ever again.
On a lighter note, yesterday afternoon I went fishing! Raymond, Heidi, Avery, and I took a boat across Lake Victoria to a little peninsula in the area, and then we stood on some rocks and tried to catch fish. We had these gigantic wooden sticks to use as poles (they were at least 3 times my height!) and we dug up worms to use as bait. It was an absolute failure; None of us caught anything, and i never even saw one fish in the water. That is one problem in Katosi. it has historically been a fishing village, but there has been so much overfishing that there are hardly any left. That is why the women in the area founded the organization I work at, in order to empower the women to find alternate sources of income.
Anyway, even though I caught no fish, it was seriously so much fun. I kept trying to throw my bait in the water, but the hook kept getting caught on the trees behind me, and i kept almost falling in the water. Some villagers came to watch, and of course they thought it was hilarious...which it was! I had so much fun I do not even care that I probably got schistosomaisis again. ok i do care, oh hell! I kept getting splashed by the waves, and eventually my entire feet were soaked and so were most of my legs. Then later that night, my feet started to itch, just like last year when I got schisto. this time, we could even SEE the snails that the parasite lives in floating around the lake, so great. but oh well, at least i know it is curable! On the way home, the sun was setting over the lake, and it was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen.
Another ridiculous thing that happened...we had our first encounter with theft! Avery and I have a window in our room that we have open when we are home. Even though there are bars in front of it so that no one can climb in, we found out that that does not stop people from reaching in the window with sticks to steal our things. Avery had left her ipod on her bed while she was in the living room, and the window was open. When she came back, her ipod was gone, even though it had been at least four feet from the window! we looked around for it and finally we told raymond that is was missing, and he guessed it was stolen. Avery was sad, but figured she would never see it again. But Raymond told the man across the street (who has a loudspeaker) to announce a reward for whoever would return the ipod! a little kid (who apparently used two sticks to reach in a grab the ipod throw the window) returned it to the loudspeaker man apparently because he was afraid there was some tracking device inside it.
So we were very happy when we found this out! except then the loudspeaker man told us we had to pay him for the ipod. WHAT?? thats right. he made avery buy back HER OWN IPOD (which even had her name engraved on it). How ridiculous, haha! and then he acted like he was the good guy, and said "i will address the boy who stole the ipod and fix the problem." but HE is part of the problem, right?? he made avery buy her own ipod when he knew it had been stolen from her. That is just how they do it here though, and at least we got it back! Avery asked if it would have been good to go to the police, but Raymond said that would probably make things worse (one of my friends was mugged by the police when he was in Uganda...haha). They even do mob justice here, as opposed to going to the police. Like the other day on the way home from teaching, we saw a big crowd with people fighting in the middle. We later found out that the crowd was beating up a man that had stolen something! It was interesting though, because the atmosphere was not this aggressive, dangerous feeling that you might expect. it was more people were laughing and doing what they believe is the right thing to do. it even seemed like the guy getting beaten up felt like that too. It was interesting, but I could not stay and watch.
I hope everyone is doing well,
love colleen
So when I was sitting in church in Katosi, in a church that looked exactly like rwanda's genocide memorials, i almost started to hyperventilate. I started to wonder if everyone in katosi tried to take refuge in that church during some horrible violence or something, what would happen? Could the people that were praying and singing so beautifully next to me be slaughtered by their neighbors? Could I be?... Even if I was not in Rwanda, things like that can happen anywhere under the right circumstances (and yes, even in the US), and that is scary. But I decided I would just have to have faith in people (and be careful, of course) and do everything I can to make sure nothing like that ever happens to anyone ever again.
On a lighter note, yesterday afternoon I went fishing! Raymond, Heidi, Avery, and I took a boat across Lake Victoria to a little peninsula in the area, and then we stood on some rocks and tried to catch fish. We had these gigantic wooden sticks to use as poles (they were at least 3 times my height!) and we dug up worms to use as bait. It was an absolute failure; None of us caught anything, and i never even saw one fish in the water. That is one problem in Katosi. it has historically been a fishing village, but there has been so much overfishing that there are hardly any left. That is why the women in the area founded the organization I work at, in order to empower the women to find alternate sources of income.
Anyway, even though I caught no fish, it was seriously so much fun. I kept trying to throw my bait in the water, but the hook kept getting caught on the trees behind me, and i kept almost falling in the water. Some villagers came to watch, and of course they thought it was hilarious...which it was! I had so much fun I do not even care that I probably got schistosomaisis again. ok i do care, oh hell! I kept getting splashed by the waves, and eventually my entire feet were soaked and so were most of my legs. Then later that night, my feet started to itch, just like last year when I got schisto. this time, we could even SEE the snails that the parasite lives in floating around the lake, so great. but oh well, at least i know it is curable! On the way home, the sun was setting over the lake, and it was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen.
Another ridiculous thing that happened...we had our first encounter with theft! Avery and I have a window in our room that we have open when we are home. Even though there are bars in front of it so that no one can climb in, we found out that that does not stop people from reaching in the window with sticks to steal our things. Avery had left her ipod on her bed while she was in the living room, and the window was open. When she came back, her ipod was gone, even though it had been at least four feet from the window! we looked around for it and finally we told raymond that is was missing, and he guessed it was stolen. Avery was sad, but figured she would never see it again. But Raymond told the man across the street (who has a loudspeaker) to announce a reward for whoever would return the ipod! a little kid (who apparently used two sticks to reach in a grab the ipod throw the window) returned it to the loudspeaker man apparently because he was afraid there was some tracking device inside it.
So we were very happy when we found this out! except then the loudspeaker man told us we had to pay him for the ipod. WHAT?? thats right. he made avery buy back HER OWN IPOD (which even had her name engraved on it). How ridiculous, haha! and then he acted like he was the good guy, and said "i will address the boy who stole the ipod and fix the problem." but HE is part of the problem, right?? he made avery buy her own ipod when he knew it had been stolen from her. That is just how they do it here though, and at least we got it back! Avery asked if it would have been good to go to the police, but Raymond said that would probably make things worse (one of my friends was mugged by the police when he was in Uganda...haha). They even do mob justice here, as opposed to going to the police. Like the other day on the way home from teaching, we saw a big crowd with people fighting in the middle. We later found out that the crowd was beating up a man that had stolen something! It was interesting though, because the atmosphere was not this aggressive, dangerous feeling that you might expect. it was more people were laughing and doing what they believe is the right thing to do. it even seemed like the guy getting beaten up felt like that too. It was interesting, but I could not stay and watch.
I hope everyone is doing well,
love colleen
St. John Bosco
This past week in uganda has been awesome!
Avery and I started to get more involved in the community, especially in the schools. Every monday and wednesday, we spend half a day (which actually ends up being about six hours) teaching at the primary school called St. Johnny Bosco that is about an hour walk from Katosi. We have been teaching together in the 4th grade classroom everyday so far, and I think that is working well because even though we are only working with one class, i think we are much more effective together (teaching is harder than I thought, especially because i am not the best at explaining things, haha). The way they teach here in Uganda is a little different in the US, especially because the schools pretty much have NO access to resources. There is a chalkboard in every room, rows of benches (the kids have to kneel on the dirt ground and use the bench as a table when they are taking a test), no electricity or water, and each kid only has one notebook. Each teacher only has one or two workbooks that they can teach out of, and apparently all the teachers at St Johnny bosco are volunteers (very dedicated ones!). So basically in order to learn something, the teacher says a sentence to the class, and then repeats part of the sentence again and the students finish it. Like for example, in one social studies lesson we watched, the teacher said "ok class, the advantages of a nuclear family are that children are more likely to have access to basic needs." and then he repeated "the advantages of a nuclear family are that children are more likely to have access to basic what?" and then the class said "basic needs!" in unison. Even though it is hard to tell if the kids are actually learning the meaning of some things as opposed to simply repeating what the teacher says, I think it is the best option they have. It is also slightly funny, one of the other interns said she went to a conference on domestic violence, and at the beginning the leader said "So today we are going to discuss domestic violence. Today we are going to discuss domestic what?" and then everyone repeated "domestic violence!" That just seems a little ridiculous, but baller nonetheless! (especially since the women here clearly work to empower each other).
Anyway, so the yesterday at St. Johnny bosco, we taught math and social studies (which was more like geography because we were learning about physical features of Uganda, yay!!). Then, when the kids were looking a bit bored, we decided it was time for physical education so we went outside and played duck duck goose. They had never played before, so it took awhile to get started, but they absolutely LOVED it. I think they thought it was cool because it gave them an excuse to chase each other, haha. and I am pretty sure they were saying "dog dog goose" instead of duck duck goose, but hey, that works too!! I also brought out my frisbee, and I showed them how to throw it around for a few minutes! they were sooo excited, i felt like i was throwing a bouquet at a wedding because they all crowded in front of me and when i threw it they would scream in their little high pitched voices and all try to catch it! then i had to go inside for something, and when i game back it had been broken into two pieces! but luckily i brought like five, haha.
I am also helping the peace corps volunteer build a community garden at another primary school. I am going to learn how it works and everything, and then I am going to introduce the idea to st. Johnny bosco. I think it would be cool because it will help the kids work together and also give them some extra food to eat at lunch. right now, the school can only provide them with pourage (i have no idea how to spell that word haha). You can plant cabbage, carrots, tomatoes and things like that in key hole gardens, and you use compost and dirty water and things like that to make the plants grow. I also might have each class come up with a mural design to paint in their class rooms! a lot of schools and buildings have murals, but st johnny bosco just opened, so it does not have any yet.
I also have some other projects that I want to do, although they all may not actually work out. but anyway, I am going to host a kickball tournament at one school, and at another I am going to teach the kids how to play field hockey! The headmaster asked me what my favorite sport was, and i told him field hockey but i didnt think i could teach them because I did not bring any sticks! but he said, "we can MAKE field hockey sticks!!" so I guess that is what we shall do!...perhaps out of dead trees?? hahaha, we will see.
And I am going to talk to Katosi's town clerk on thursday, because I heard he wished there was a map of Katosi!....I am going to see if he wants me to try to make one (which is perfect, seeing as how I love maps!) I do not know how that will work, but i think any map is better than nothing.
Anyway, I think everything is going well, even though it is still going slowly. But last night when I went to buy an egg, I ran into the headmaster of St Johnny bosco. He was not at school yesterday, but he said the teachers told him Avery and I were really good teachers, and that they want us to come back as much as we can. It felt good to hear that!!
Avery and I started to get more involved in the community, especially in the schools. Every monday and wednesday, we spend half a day (which actually ends up being about six hours) teaching at the primary school called St. Johnny Bosco that is about an hour walk from Katosi. We have been teaching together in the 4th grade classroom everyday so far, and I think that is working well because even though we are only working with one class, i think we are much more effective together (teaching is harder than I thought, especially because i am not the best at explaining things, haha). The way they teach here in Uganda is a little different in the US, especially because the schools pretty much have NO access to resources. There is a chalkboard in every room, rows of benches (the kids have to kneel on the dirt ground and use the bench as a table when they are taking a test), no electricity or water, and each kid only has one notebook. Each teacher only has one or two workbooks that they can teach out of, and apparently all the teachers at St Johnny bosco are volunteers (very dedicated ones!). So basically in order to learn something, the teacher says a sentence to the class, and then repeats part of the sentence again and the students finish it. Like for example, in one social studies lesson we watched, the teacher said "ok class, the advantages of a nuclear family are that children are more likely to have access to basic needs." and then he repeated "the advantages of a nuclear family are that children are more likely to have access to basic what?" and then the class said "basic needs!" in unison. Even though it is hard to tell if the kids are actually learning the meaning of some things as opposed to simply repeating what the teacher says, I think it is the best option they have. It is also slightly funny, one of the other interns said she went to a conference on domestic violence, and at the beginning the leader said "So today we are going to discuss domestic violence. Today we are going to discuss domestic what?" and then everyone repeated "domestic violence!" That just seems a little ridiculous, but baller nonetheless! (especially since the women here clearly work to empower each other).
Anyway, so the yesterday at St. Johnny bosco, we taught math and social studies (which was more like geography because we were learning about physical features of Uganda, yay!!). Then, when the kids were looking a bit bored, we decided it was time for physical education so we went outside and played duck duck goose. They had never played before, so it took awhile to get started, but they absolutely LOVED it. I think they thought it was cool because it gave them an excuse to chase each other, haha. and I am pretty sure they were saying "dog dog goose" instead of duck duck goose, but hey, that works too!! I also brought out my frisbee, and I showed them how to throw it around for a few minutes! they were sooo excited, i felt like i was throwing a bouquet at a wedding because they all crowded in front of me and when i threw it they would scream in their little high pitched voices and all try to catch it! then i had to go inside for something, and when i game back it had been broken into two pieces! but luckily i brought like five, haha.
I am also helping the peace corps volunteer build a community garden at another primary school. I am going to learn how it works and everything, and then I am going to introduce the idea to st. Johnny bosco. I think it would be cool because it will help the kids work together and also give them some extra food to eat at lunch. right now, the school can only provide them with pourage (i have no idea how to spell that word haha). You can plant cabbage, carrots, tomatoes and things like that in key hole gardens, and you use compost and dirty water and things like that to make the plants grow. I also might have each class come up with a mural design to paint in their class rooms! a lot of schools and buildings have murals, but st johnny bosco just opened, so it does not have any yet.
I also have some other projects that I want to do, although they all may not actually work out. but anyway, I am going to host a kickball tournament at one school, and at another I am going to teach the kids how to play field hockey! The headmaster asked me what my favorite sport was, and i told him field hockey but i didnt think i could teach them because I did not bring any sticks! but he said, "we can MAKE field hockey sticks!!" so I guess that is what we shall do!...perhaps out of dead trees?? hahaha, we will see.
And I am going to talk to Katosi's town clerk on thursday, because I heard he wished there was a map of Katosi!....I am going to see if he wants me to try to make one (which is perfect, seeing as how I love maps!) I do not know how that will work, but i think any map is better than nothing.
Anyway, I think everything is going well, even though it is still going slowly. But last night when I went to buy an egg, I ran into the headmaster of St Johnny bosco. He was not at school yesterday, but he said the teachers told him Avery and I were really good teachers, and that they want us to come back as much as we can. It felt good to hear that!!
Thursday, June 3, 2010
water, volunteering, raymond
This week in Katosi has been busy, but also not busy at the same time. Avery and I have been resting and getting adjusted a lot of the time, but i feel like that also takes a lot of energy! Like this morning, we had to walk about two blocks to get water. Usually they have a gigantic rainwater collector right on the compound where we live, but it has not rained in a really long time here. So we ventured down the road to a shallow well, and filled up like 5 jerrycans of water. All of the children around were laughing at me, because they said I pumped the water so peacefully...haha! The cans were sooo heavy, I could only carry one at a time, and on the way home the entire village was laughing at me because I was struggling and spilling water all over myself. I guess it would be funny to see a tall american girl who is much weaker than the children here who can carry two at a time or the women who carry the cans on their heads! That made me realize even more how hard it is in a rural village to just do the tasks you need to survive (when I did my laundry from a bucket the other day, it literally took me an hour and a half). And it made me realize how important it is not to waste water! (if you take a bath out of a bucket, you'd be surprised that you only need like one bowl full of water!)
I also have really liked just walking around the village. All of the kids run after me, and I feel like everywhere I go I have a crew of children following me! I have waved at so many people that the other day, I almost waved at a goat. it was a cute goat though, haha.
Yesterday, I had my first experience volunteering! Avery, Heidi (the peace corps volunteer) and I got up really early and walked to one of the new primary schools outside Katosi. It took us an hour to walk there, and then Avery and I taught a few subjects to a fourth grade class! Math went well, we just did practice problems and things like that! But when I tried to teach about the solar system, everyone just looked at me like I was crazy! Maybe we could make a solar system as a class project...out of oranges or something..!? Avery and I are going to go back to the school two days a week! It was SO exhausting, and when i got home I thought I might die of thirst and my feet were dirty and swollen. I can't imagine having to walk so many miles barefoot everyday like most of the children in the area. but even though I was exhausted, it was definitely worth it. On the way home, we saw a spring where the neighboring village gets drinking water and washes their clothes. It was probably the size of two bathtubs, and it was so dirty. It made me sad, so I gave some of the little kids following us my bottle of water.
There is also a Ugandan guy, named Raymond, who is staying in our house for a couple of weeks. He is really cool, and he speaks english so we have had some interesting conversations! He taught me a lot about Ugandan ethnic groups, and he said that even though Africa has many different nationalities and ethnic groups, it is made up of one people. We talked a little about Ugandan politics too, especially about how a lot of the country has been happy with Museveni's rule but they still want him to step down and not run in the next election. Raymond said he likes Museveni, and thinks he should stay in power even though he has been ruling for about 20 years, because it would impossible to get anything done if the country changed leaders as often as the US. We also started talking about the Nile for some reason, and I commented on the fact that both Rwanda and Uganda claim to have the source of the Nile. I thought Uganda was right because the Nile starts at lake victoria, which isn't even in Rwanda! Raymond said that Rwanda claims one of its rivers that runs into lake victoria is the source, because when bodies were thrown into that river during the genocide, they were found in Uganda..even in the capital city. jesus.
But anyway, it has been fun to have raymond around, we have been playing cards and scrabble (although he likes to make up words and say "I just have a feeling that this should be a word!") haha. Avery and I are going with him and Heidi to Kampala next week to watch the opening match of the world cup!!!
-colleen
p.s. the man sitting next to me in the internet cafe has one of obama's speeches as his ringtone. how baller!
I also have really liked just walking around the village. All of the kids run after me, and I feel like everywhere I go I have a crew of children following me! I have waved at so many people that the other day, I almost waved at a goat. it was a cute goat though, haha.
Yesterday, I had my first experience volunteering! Avery, Heidi (the peace corps volunteer) and I got up really early and walked to one of the new primary schools outside Katosi. It took us an hour to walk there, and then Avery and I taught a few subjects to a fourth grade class! Math went well, we just did practice problems and things like that! But when I tried to teach about the solar system, everyone just looked at me like I was crazy! Maybe we could make a solar system as a class project...out of oranges or something..!? Avery and I are going to go back to the school two days a week! It was SO exhausting, and when i got home I thought I might die of thirst and my feet were dirty and swollen. I can't imagine having to walk so many miles barefoot everyday like most of the children in the area. but even though I was exhausted, it was definitely worth it. On the way home, we saw a spring where the neighboring village gets drinking water and washes their clothes. It was probably the size of two bathtubs, and it was so dirty. It made me sad, so I gave some of the little kids following us my bottle of water.
There is also a Ugandan guy, named Raymond, who is staying in our house for a couple of weeks. He is really cool, and he speaks english so we have had some interesting conversations! He taught me a lot about Ugandan ethnic groups, and he said that even though Africa has many different nationalities and ethnic groups, it is made up of one people. We talked a little about Ugandan politics too, especially about how a lot of the country has been happy with Museveni's rule but they still want him to step down and not run in the next election. Raymond said he likes Museveni, and thinks he should stay in power even though he has been ruling for about 20 years, because it would impossible to get anything done if the country changed leaders as often as the US. We also started talking about the Nile for some reason, and I commented on the fact that both Rwanda and Uganda claim to have the source of the Nile. I thought Uganda was right because the Nile starts at lake victoria, which isn't even in Rwanda! Raymond said that Rwanda claims one of its rivers that runs into lake victoria is the source, because when bodies were thrown into that river during the genocide, they were found in Uganda..even in the capital city. jesus.
But anyway, it has been fun to have raymond around, we have been playing cards and scrabble (although he likes to make up words and say "I just have a feeling that this should be a word!") haha. Avery and I are going with him and Heidi to Kampala next week to watch the opening match of the world cup!!!
-colleen
p.s. the man sitting next to me in the internet cafe has one of obama's speeches as his ringtone. how baller!
Monday, May 31, 2010
Katosi
Yesterday, Avery (the other UNC intern) and I arrived in the village we are going to spend the summer in, Katosi! I really really like the town, because it already feels like home. It is right on Lake Victoria, and it is so incredibly beautiful! I hope I can go on a boatride sometime, but I will not go swimming I promise!
I really like the house we are staying in! It is right behind the Katosi Women's development office, and is the home of one of the founders of the organization. We call her mama Gertrude! The house is really nice, even though we have no running water and no electricity (it may come back on sometime in June!!). It gets so ridiculously dark here, and at night I sort of feel like I am floating among the stars! I swear I actually saw the milky way. We also have to pee in a whole in the ground and shower outside, but we are getting used to it!
We also have some chicken and two cows, one is named Anna. They kind of scare me, because they are so huge, but today I fed Anna a banana peel, and now I think he likes me. There are women hanging around the house and patio pretty much all the time, and I can tell they are really hard workers and really care about the community.
After we settled in, we walked around the village! There are a lot of shops and markets, and I think I already made friends with a lady who owns one of them. I might go to her shop every day and drink lime fanta! There are also a lot of schools around the area, so hopefully I will get to work with as many of them as I can!
We walked to the top of a gigantic hill (maybe even a mountain) and saw the view of the lake and everything around it. The peace corps volunteer who is also working at Katosi Women Development Trust thought we could see all the way to Kampala!Katosi is pretty much a little village surrounded by the jungle, and I love it! We went to go feed some wild monkeys, but they refused to eat the banana I was trying to give them! it sort of hurt my feelings:) haha
A few days ago, we had our internship training to learn more about Katosi Women Development Trust. It was really interested and informative, and the more I learn about it, the more awesome I think it is. Basically the organization is made up of 13 groups of women around the Mukono district. The leaders figure out what the women need and then implement things like training sessions, agricultural programs, microfinance/loans, and water and sanitation programs. They try to break the traditional gender roles, but in a way that doesn't cause any problems (like they teach women how to construct gigantic cement rainwater collectors, even though women do not traditionally work in construction).
I can tell things are going to move sort of slowly here, but it is obvious that the development trust does get things done. I hope I can work on some of the community gardens and also implement the kicks for katosi (and maybe expand that to kicks for kampala) internship project!
So everything is going really well! The only hard thing is trying to cook, haha, which I am not very good at in the first place. Basically the only food here is rice, fruit, and vegetables. and some bread. I am a horrible cook in the first place, but with no microwavable food (there is a gas stove), I am even worse. Last night, Avery and I cooked Spagetti. It was yummy, but it took us over an hour to make! And this morning for breakfast, I ate the leftover cold spagetti with my fingers. until i found a dead mosquito in it. then i stopped, haha.
I love Uganda, and I will try to update everyone more soon!
I really like the house we are staying in! It is right behind the Katosi Women's development office, and is the home of one of the founders of the organization. We call her mama Gertrude! The house is really nice, even though we have no running water and no electricity (it may come back on sometime in June!!). It gets so ridiculously dark here, and at night I sort of feel like I am floating among the stars! I swear I actually saw the milky way. We also have to pee in a whole in the ground and shower outside, but we are getting used to it!
We also have some chicken and two cows, one is named Anna. They kind of scare me, because they are so huge, but today I fed Anna a banana peel, and now I think he likes me. There are women hanging around the house and patio pretty much all the time, and I can tell they are really hard workers and really care about the community.
After we settled in, we walked around the village! There are a lot of shops and markets, and I think I already made friends with a lady who owns one of them. I might go to her shop every day and drink lime fanta! There are also a lot of schools around the area, so hopefully I will get to work with as many of them as I can!
We walked to the top of a gigantic hill (maybe even a mountain) and saw the view of the lake and everything around it. The peace corps volunteer who is also working at Katosi Women Development Trust thought we could see all the way to Kampala!Katosi is pretty much a little village surrounded by the jungle, and I love it! We went to go feed some wild monkeys, but they refused to eat the banana I was trying to give them! it sort of hurt my feelings:) haha
A few days ago, we had our internship training to learn more about Katosi Women Development Trust. It was really interested and informative, and the more I learn about it, the more awesome I think it is. Basically the organization is made up of 13 groups of women around the Mukono district. The leaders figure out what the women need and then implement things like training sessions, agricultural programs, microfinance/loans, and water and sanitation programs. They try to break the traditional gender roles, but in a way that doesn't cause any problems (like they teach women how to construct gigantic cement rainwater collectors, even though women do not traditionally work in construction).
I can tell things are going to move sort of slowly here, but it is obvious that the development trust does get things done. I hope I can work on some of the community gardens and also implement the kicks for katosi (and maybe expand that to kicks for kampala) internship project!
So everything is going really well! The only hard thing is trying to cook, haha, which I am not very good at in the first place. Basically the only food here is rice, fruit, and vegetables. and some bread. I am a horrible cook in the first place, but with no microwavable food (there is a gas stove), I am even worse. Last night, Avery and I cooked Spagetti. It was yummy, but it took us over an hour to make! And this morning for breakfast, I ate the leftover cold spagetti with my fingers. until i found a dead mosquito in it. then i stopped, haha.
I love Uganda, and I will try to update everyone more soon!
International Criminal Court conference
It is cool being in Kampala near the time of the review conference for the International Criminal Court, though! But at the same time, I wouldn’t have known it was going on unless I had read about it back in the US. I think that is not really a good sign, but it is definitely a step in the right direction anyway! I am going to try to go to a public event, like maybe a screening of the film “The Reckoning” which is about the establishment, etc of the ICC, although I don’t think there is much the general public can do without being accredited ahead of time.
But I had an awesome conversation with the woman next to me on the airplane, who was going to present a paper on transitional justice at the conference. She was from Afghanistan and works for the country’s National Human Rights Commission. She said she mostly likes to set up conferences and meetings where victims around the country get together and work toward reconciliation and justice. I told her a little bit about Rwanda’s gacaca courts, which is the community-based justice system used after the genocide; she thought they were really interesting and I felt like maybe I contributed a little to reconciliation in Afghanistan (OK, not really, but you never know!!). She talked pretty openly about how hard forgiveness and reconciliation is in Afghanistan, especially because often the victims and perpetrators come from different ethnic groups and that are usually in different locations around the country. Or the perpetrator is the Taliban, or even international forces, and the victims are completely innocent people.
I asked her what the victims or people in general feel about the ICC, and her response was really interesting and I think was one that is probably the case in many countries around the world. The victims want justice, or at the very least they want the truth, and so they want the perpetrators to go on trial. But many people don’t actually understand what the ICC can and cannot do. Right now, the woman said the ICC is doing a preliminary investigation in Afghanistan. But it definitely does not have jurisdiction over anything that happened before 2003, when Afghanistan became a member. Maybe some more education programs or other ways to spread knowledge about the court would be useful?
I hope I get to experience some of the conference! I did drive by the national soccer stadium, where the UN secretary general, Ban Ki Moon, and the Ugandan president Musseveni were playing a game of soccer to commemorate the beginning of the conference! sadly, I couldn't stop to see it:(
But I had an awesome conversation with the woman next to me on the airplane, who was going to present a paper on transitional justice at the conference. She was from Afghanistan and works for the country’s National Human Rights Commission. She said she mostly likes to set up conferences and meetings where victims around the country get together and work toward reconciliation and justice. I told her a little bit about Rwanda’s gacaca courts, which is the community-based justice system used after the genocide; she thought they were really interesting and I felt like maybe I contributed a little to reconciliation in Afghanistan (OK, not really, but you never know!!). She talked pretty openly about how hard forgiveness and reconciliation is in Afghanistan, especially because often the victims and perpetrators come from different ethnic groups and that are usually in different locations around the country. Or the perpetrator is the Taliban, or even international forces, and the victims are completely innocent people.
I asked her what the victims or people in general feel about the ICC, and her response was really interesting and I think was one that is probably the case in many countries around the world. The victims want justice, or at the very least they want the truth, and so they want the perpetrators to go on trial. But many people don’t actually understand what the ICC can and cannot do. Right now, the woman said the ICC is doing a preliminary investigation in Afghanistan. But it definitely does not have jurisdiction over anything that happened before 2003, when Afghanistan became a member. Maybe some more education programs or other ways to spread knowledge about the court would be useful?
I hope I get to experience some of the conference! I did drive by the national soccer stadium, where the UN secretary general, Ban Ki Moon, and the Ugandan president Musseveni were playing a game of soccer to commemorate the beginning of the conference! sadly, I couldn't stop to see it:(
Lingala! And sex and the city
I have really liked walking around the city, especially when I can speak in a different language!. Yesterday, I was walking around the craft market just minding my own business, and the owner of one shop just came up to me and said “I am from the DRC!” I was soooooooooo excited, since I have been taking the language they speak there, Lingala, for a whole year (yayyyyyy molakisi mpe baninga na ngai!) Anyway, I asked him if he spoke Lingala, in Lingala of course, and we had almost a twenty minute conversation in Lingala!
It was seriously my favorite experience here so far. I think the man was so excited that a white girl could speak Lingala, haha, and my friends that I were with thought I was speaking so fast! I asked him if there were a lot of people from the DRC in Uganda, since they share a border, but he said there were not very many. He came to Kampala two years ago, from the region near Lake Kivu. I didn’t ask, but I think he must have come because of the fighting that is going on in that area of the Congo. That is the area with a lot of spillover violence from the Rwandan genocide. Anyway, our conversation was awesome, I loved being able to speak with him in Lingala! (eboto mingi, molakisi!)
Tonight, a group of us went to go see Sex and the City! It felt really different than watching it in the US, especially because it seems so much more…uhhh…graphic than what is acceptable in Uganda. It was really interesting when two gay men in the movie got married, because there were a lot of scenes/conversations about homosexuality. But in Uganda, they just passed a law that made homosexuality a criminal offense that I think could be punishable by death! So those parts were pretty awkward, I wasn’t sure whether to laugh at the jokes or not. I am surprised the government did not censor those scenes! Ido know it is kind of bad to go watch an American movie, especially since tonight is my last night in Kampala, but it was so incredibly awesome!
Tomorrow, I will leave with Avery, another intern, to go to our internship site in a really rural village named Katosi, which is about an hour or so outside Kampala. We knew there would be no running water, only bathrooms outside, and pretty spotty electricity. But we just found out the electricity has been out in the ENTIRE village for a month and a half, because a transformer blew. If that happened in the US, people would be mad if it wasn’t fixed in like two hours. But a whole month and a half! And who knows how much longer it will be out. Anyway, I may not have much access to internet for awhile, but do not worry, I can travel to a nearby town during some weekends!
It was seriously my favorite experience here so far. I think the man was so excited that a white girl could speak Lingala, haha, and my friends that I were with thought I was speaking so fast! I asked him if there were a lot of people from the DRC in Uganda, since they share a border, but he said there were not very many. He came to Kampala two years ago, from the region near Lake Kivu. I didn’t ask, but I think he must have come because of the fighting that is going on in that area of the Congo. That is the area with a lot of spillover violence from the Rwandan genocide. Anyway, our conversation was awesome, I loved being able to speak with him in Lingala! (eboto mingi, molakisi!)
Tonight, a group of us went to go see Sex and the City! It felt really different than watching it in the US, especially because it seems so much more…uhhh…graphic than what is acceptable in Uganda. It was really interesting when two gay men in the movie got married, because there were a lot of scenes/conversations about homosexuality. But in Uganda, they just passed a law that made homosexuality a criminal offense that I think could be punishable by death! So those parts were pretty awkward, I wasn’t sure whether to laugh at the jokes or not. I am surprised the government did not censor those scenes! Ido know it is kind of bad to go watch an American movie, especially since tonight is my last night in Kampala, but it was so incredibly awesome!
Tomorrow, I will leave with Avery, another intern, to go to our internship site in a really rural village named Katosi, which is about an hour or so outside Kampala. We knew there would be no running water, only bathrooms outside, and pretty spotty electricity. But we just found out the electricity has been out in the ENTIRE village for a month and a half, because a transformer blew. If that happened in the US, people would be mad if it wasn’t fixed in like two hours. But a whole month and a half! And who knows how much longer it will be out. Anyway, I may not have much access to internet for awhile, but do not worry, I can travel to a nearby town during some weekends!
Uganda! And hanging out in Kampala.
We are finally in Uganda, after a long and cool trip. I love it, and I felt at home literally as soon as I stepped out of the airport. We were picked up by a man named George that works at my internship site, Katosi, and took about an hour matatu ride (which is a mini bus) to our hotel in Kampala. Besides getting stopped by the police because we looked suspicious with most of our bus full of bags instead of people, I really liked just looking out the window during the ride from the airport. I saw an Obama Salon, which I tried with utter failure to take a picture of.
Uganda reminds me a lot of Rwanda, but of course they are different in many ways too. Kampala is definitely a bigger, and sort of more “international” city than the capital of Rwanda was. There are a lot more Muzungus (white people/foreigners) than in Rwanda, for sure. Kampala is also slightly less orderly, but even though it may look chaotic on the surface, I definitely don’t think it is. It has the same sense of orderly chaos as I felt when I was in Tanzania. Like there are not many rules, but at the same time everyone has a shared understanding of common rules. Traffic looks so busy and even dangerous, with motor taxis literally weaving in and out of cars (sometimes within inchesss) and with people going ridiculously fast but still trying to avoid the enormous potholes in the road. But it just seems to work, you know?
I did start feeling a little strange after being here a couple of days. I think I was expecting it to be as hard emotionally as being in Rwanda and hearing about the genocide and visiting horrible memorials with thousands of genocide victim’s bodies preserved in limestone and mangled in the actual position they died in. Or as hard as seeing people with machete scars on the faces. Although there hasn’t been a genocide in Uganda in the past 15 years, a lot of bad things have still happened here, and I think I was over-preparing myself for being sad and upset.
Perhaps a lot of why my time here hasn’t been as emotional is just the nature of what I am doing. I am not taking classes, and I have not started my internship yet, so I have basically been hanging out and with the other interns. It has been fun, and we have done a lot of cool things (like exploring a local, really intense market called Oweeno that is basically like a covered, winding maze with people selling second hand things). But at the same time, what we have done so far hasn’t been as genuine (maybe that’s the wrong word) as I was hoping. I think we have been living more of a westerner’s life in Uganda rather than actually experiencing a Ugandan’s life in Kampala. We have hardly made any Ugandan friends, and everyone pretty much seems to want to hang out and party with other Americans they have met rather than actually learn about Uganda and the people that live here.
Some of the Americans are definitely even rude and culturally insensitive. Like one guy thought he was like an expert on Kampala, but he would say things like “oh, none of the cultural rules and customs apply to Americans (like not wearing shorts or not having dredlocks because they are associated with the LRA). Americans are the highest class in Uganda.” I literally almost punched him in the face. Even though seeing what western life is like in Kampala is definitely interesting, I hope I can connect with Ugandan people once I go to the small village where my internship is!
The trip over! And Dubai
The trip over to Uganda was pretty much AWESOME! It started out sad, of course, saying bye to my family and then waiting to get on the airplane by myself (and, by the way, I was basically taller than the airplane!). Anyway, then I found one of the other interns going to Uganda, Julia, and I felt much better. We flew to New York, and pretty much hung out in the airport for a loooong time. Of course, when I tried to listen to my ipod, I realized my headphones were broken. Thank god I was still in New York, so I bought some awesome Carolina blue ones to keep me company! I also read my Uganda guide book, trying to learn about Uganda’s history and all the awesome things that I hope I can do while I’m there (like going on a safari and hanging out with rhinos, hiking to a waterfall and exploring caves, and going on a two day rafting trip down the Nile!)
The next part of our trip was from New York to Dubai, which was a ridiculously long flight on a ridiculously awesome plane. I got my own touch screen TV with literally over 300 movies and a LOT of TV shows. I watched like 10 episodes of Friends, and I think I may have disrupted the entire plane by laughing so much I almost cried. I slept a lot under the roof of the plane that had a “starry night” theme, and it was good because I had been staying up late packing and everything. There was a camera under the plane, so we got to see below us the whole time, which was especially cool when we were landing in Dubai. It was the perfect farewell USA plane ride.
Dubai is pretty much the coolest place ever (although I was only there for like 12 hours). It sort of reminded me of Singapore, because it is a really big, really clean, really safe, and really wealthy city (not all of it of course). We got to our hotel just in time to take the night city tour, which was so cool, although I do wish I could have seen Dubai in the day too. We saw the tallest building in the world, which was actually really really skinny. I felt like I was looking at a gigantic needle! The architecture is definitely as awesome as I had heard. On our tour, we stopped outside the sailboat-shaped hotel, which happens to change colors and cost at least $15,000 per night! I got to put my feet in the Persian Gulf too! It was insanely dark, so I couldn’t see that much. I did however, see women swimming in burqas. I also collected seashells to give to people back in the US, since I thought it would be cool to have a seashell from the Persian Gulf!
We also drove up and down the palm tree islands (which are a bunch of man-made islands that form the shape of a palm tree if you look at them from above. I got to see them from the airplane, and it was AWESOME). At the end we stopped and took pictures at the Atlantis hotel, which has rooms that cost up to $36,000 dollars a night!! What. What?!? I was talking to the lady next to me on the bus about how that is more than most people’s yearly incomes in the US, let alone soooo much more than most of the world will ever earn in their lifetime. It sort of makes me mad, all of the excess and luxuries. I mean, is a $36,000 hotel room really necessary? There are people suffering and dying all the time; that money could be put to a much better use.
There are definitely some things I found interesting about Dubai, especially what our tour guide told us. Like the fact that only 20% of Dubai’s population are actually from Dubai and the rest are foreigners! That sounds so ridiculous, but I definitely believe it. Aside from the rich neighborhoods that we drove through, I felt like there was no one there. It was sort of an eerie feeling. I also thought some of their marriage laws were interesting, because local men are allowed to marry foreign women, but local women are not allowed to marry foreign men. And if a local man marries a local woman, the government gives them $25,000! I guess that is maybe to encourage population growth and mitigate foreign influence on the local population? Of course, I still don’t like it since there are different laws for women and men. But Dubai is definitely one of the more liberal places in the Middle East. When I saw a McDonalds next to a mosque, I realized there is probably a lot of tension between “westernization” and religion and customs.
Overall, Dubai was a cool experience, and I am glad I got to see it for myself. The only bad part was when I was trying to fall asleep alone in my hotel room, and my gigantic 50 pound backpack fell off the couch. It literally scared the living daylights out of me.
The next part of our trip was from New York to Dubai, which was a ridiculously long flight on a ridiculously awesome plane. I got my own touch screen TV with literally over 300 movies and a LOT of TV shows. I watched like 10 episodes of Friends, and I think I may have disrupted the entire plane by laughing so much I almost cried. I slept a lot under the roof of the plane that had a “starry night” theme, and it was good because I had been staying up late packing and everything. There was a camera under the plane, so we got to see below us the whole time, which was especially cool when we were landing in Dubai. It was the perfect farewell USA plane ride.
Dubai is pretty much the coolest place ever (although I was only there for like 12 hours). It sort of reminded me of Singapore, because it is a really big, really clean, really safe, and really wealthy city (not all of it of course). We got to our hotel just in time to take the night city tour, which was so cool, although I do wish I could have seen Dubai in the day too. We saw the tallest building in the world, which was actually really really skinny. I felt like I was looking at a gigantic needle! The architecture is definitely as awesome as I had heard. On our tour, we stopped outside the sailboat-shaped hotel, which happens to change colors and cost at least $15,000 per night! I got to put my feet in the Persian Gulf too! It was insanely dark, so I couldn’t see that much. I did however, see women swimming in burqas. I also collected seashells to give to people back in the US, since I thought it would be cool to have a seashell from the Persian Gulf!
We also drove up and down the palm tree islands (which are a bunch of man-made islands that form the shape of a palm tree if you look at them from above. I got to see them from the airplane, and it was AWESOME). At the end we stopped and took pictures at the Atlantis hotel, which has rooms that cost up to $36,000 dollars a night!! What. What?!? I was talking to the lady next to me on the bus about how that is more than most people’s yearly incomes in the US, let alone soooo much more than most of the world will ever earn in their lifetime. It sort of makes me mad, all of the excess and luxuries. I mean, is a $36,000 hotel room really necessary? There are people suffering and dying all the time; that money could be put to a much better use.
There are definitely some things I found interesting about Dubai, especially what our tour guide told us. Like the fact that only 20% of Dubai’s population are actually from Dubai and the rest are foreigners! That sounds so ridiculous, but I definitely believe it. Aside from the rich neighborhoods that we drove through, I felt like there was no one there. It was sort of an eerie feeling. I also thought some of their marriage laws were interesting, because local men are allowed to marry foreign women, but local women are not allowed to marry foreign men. And if a local man marries a local woman, the government gives them $25,000! I guess that is maybe to encourage population growth and mitigate foreign influence on the local population? Of course, I still don’t like it since there are different laws for women and men. But Dubai is definitely one of the more liberal places in the Middle East. When I saw a McDonalds next to a mosque, I realized there is probably a lot of tension between “westernization” and religion and customs.
Overall, Dubai was a cool experience, and I am glad I got to see it for myself. The only bad part was when I was trying to fall asleep alone in my hotel room, and my gigantic 50 pound backpack fell off the couch. It literally scared the living daylights out of me.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Almost time to leave for Uganda!
Oh my gosh, I am leaving for Uganda tomorrow! I think I am still in shock from school and everything, and it hasn’t completely hit me that I am going to be halfway around the world before I know it. I’ve traveled a pretty good amount in the past (to places like Singapore, China, and Rwanda), but of course I am still really nervous about this summer. I have never really gone to another country without an adult, and I have lived my entire life in Chapel Hill. I guess spending two months in Uganda this summer with a bunch of other awesome UNC students will make me grow up a lot.
On the way to Uganda, I even get to spend the night in Dubai! I am going to arrive there pretty late, and I will probably be soooo tired from the plane ride (which is actually my favorite part of traveling because you get to just sit in one place, sleep, watch TV, and have people bring you food!). But anyway, I am for sure going to go exploring in Dubai. How could I be there and just go to sleep in my hotel?? I cannot ignore Dubai's palm tree-shaped islands and buildings with rotating floors. I do not care if I am up all night, I AM going to have an adventure in Dubai. The next morning, I am flying through Ethiopia, then I’ll arrive in Kampala and stay there about a week before I head off for my internship in Katosi. How baller!
I am going to miss Chapel Hill so much, but I think I am ready to experience something new and exciting! Since the semester ended, I have been frantically running around saying bye to my friends, hanging out with my family, and spending my entire life savings on every possible thing I could ever need in Uganda. I have a tendency to over-prepare and over-think things, especially when I am traveling. I pretty much been living with a mountain of things to pack in my room, which has almost given me a nervous breakdown a few times, haha! So at this point, I have done all the preparing anyone could possibly do. I think I am so meticulous about getting logistical things ready because I know there are so many other things I cannot possibly prepare myself for. I am going to be sad, homesick, and probably incredibly lost at some point during the summer, but I also know that, no matter what happens, I am going to learn so much.
I will update you from Uganda!
love colleen
On the way to Uganda, I even get to spend the night in Dubai! I am going to arrive there pretty late, and I will probably be soooo tired from the plane ride (which is actually my favorite part of traveling because you get to just sit in one place, sleep, watch TV, and have people bring you food!). But anyway, I am for sure going to go exploring in Dubai. How could I be there and just go to sleep in my hotel?? I cannot ignore Dubai's palm tree-shaped islands and buildings with rotating floors. I do not care if I am up all night, I AM going to have an adventure in Dubai. The next morning, I am flying through Ethiopia, then I’ll arrive in Kampala and stay there about a week before I head off for my internship in Katosi. How baller!
I am going to miss Chapel Hill so much, but I think I am ready to experience something new and exciting! Since the semester ended, I have been frantically running around saying bye to my friends, hanging out with my family, and spending my entire life savings on every possible thing I could ever need in Uganda. I have a tendency to over-prepare and over-think things, especially when I am traveling. I pretty much been living with a mountain of things to pack in my room, which has almost given me a nervous breakdown a few times, haha! So at this point, I have done all the preparing anyone could possibly do. I think I am so meticulous about getting logistical things ready because I know there are so many other things I cannot possibly prepare myself for. I am going to be sad, homesick, and probably incredibly lost at some point during the summer, but I also know that, no matter what happens, I am going to learn so much.
I will update you from Uganda!
love colleen
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