AGRADU Summer Internship Blog

2011-09-25T14:38:00.001-07:00

A little late for a concluding post, but I’ve recently been in touch with Rehema and Frank, my host family, so I thought I would share. Having been home from Uganda for nearly two months and with school in full swing, it’s sometimes strange to think that I spent nine weeks in Africa this past summer. It was certainly a memorable experience, I’m glad that I went and I plan to return to Africa again. Rehema is currently a few weeks into a four month stay in Switzerland after receiving a scholarship to write her thesis for her Master’s Degree, which she will complete in December. She seems to be doing well. Frank and the kids are also doing fine, evidently staying healthier than they were while we were there (both Denise and Rachel got malaria while we were living with them). Overall it seems that they are doing great. Rehema reports that our piggery project at Katosi C/U is well under way. The sty was being built when she left and she would have Vaal send pictures once it is completed. I hope the kids get to enjoy the benefits while learning a useful skill and eventually developing a profitable, self-sustaining enterprise. Upon returning home, I loaned some money through a microfinance website, Kiva, to three individuals in Uganda who needed start-up capital for a business or motorcycle and then they will repay the loan within a few months. It’s cool after having the experience that I had to now feel invested in others there in such a way. I plan to continue to stay in touch with Rehema and Frank after all the help and support they offered us this summer. Farewell Uganda, I’ll be back someday.

- Grant

Female Health and Reusable Menstrual Pads

2011-08-07T20:02:00.001-07:00

As an AGRADU intern, I was required to design and implement a project during my eight week internship. The first half of my project, based around health and sanitation education, culminated in the highly successful Keep Katosi Clean Day. I was thrilled with the community response as for the next several days members of the community were commenting on my participation and thanking me and Katosi C/U Primary School for our work.

The second half of my project focused on Female Health and Reusable Menstrual Pads. The idea of the Reusable Menstrual Pad was first designed by Lizzie Kazan, a 2009-2011 Peace Corps Volunteer. I adapted her program to be more suitable for Katosi primary and secondary school girls.

Over the past two weeks, I have worked with 75 female students in the P4 and P5 classes at St. John Bosco Primary School and the P5 class at Katosi C/U. My Female Health and Reusable Menstrual Pad program had two parts. Past One consisted of a discussion on Female Health. In this session, I taught about puberty, the reproductive system, the menstrual cycle and menstruation, what to do when a girl has her period, pregnancy, infertility, and how to take care of one’s body. After I spoke, I held a question and answer session. Knowing many of the girls would not feel comfortable asking questions in front of their peers, I provided each student with a slip of paper where she could anonymously write her question in English or Luganda and I would answer.

I received many questions this way. Several girls asked about what to do when she has her period – what should I do when I see blood, what should I wear, how many pads should I have, can I still go to school – and, surprisingly, about infertility. Some questions showed how extremely misguided the girls are – “Can I get pregnant by standing next to a boy?” (In the local culture, girls and boys do not interact outside of the classroom. Girls play with girls, boys play with boys.) Other questions I could not fully answer, such as questions about Candida, a vaginal yeast infection common in Uganda because of the hot and humid climate. However, all of the questions were appropriate to the conversation and showed me that the girls understood what I was teaching and were curious about their bodies.

Reproductive health is not a topic widely taught in the Ugandan school system. Many teachers feel uncomfortable with the topic and will shy away from questions or answer with very little detail. As I was expressing my desire to do this program at St. John Bosco, I spoke to several of the female teachers trying to find one to assist me. One was clearly very uncomfortable even with the idea of the topic and couldn’t look me in the eye as I was telling her my intentions. Thankfully, the teacher I found, Juliet, was very excited and even made a reusable pad for herself. Each school has at least one Senior Woman and Senior Man, usually a teacher, who is responsible for teaching students about reproductive health and their bodies. At Katosi C/U and St/ John Bosco, the Senior Woman assisted me with my program by translating my lesson into Luganda to ensure full comprehension. It is very important to have a respected and trusted female role model present for comfort and security of the girls.

After all questions had been answered, I demonstrated how to make the reusable menstrual pads, step by step. There are many benefits to using these reusable pads. To name a few:
1. Low cost – Made from local materials that the girls can easily access.
2. Reusable – Disposable pads can be a financial burden on a girl’s family as they are expensive and cannot be reused.
3. Environmentally friendly – Disposable pads do not biodegrade, thus they tend to clog latrines and cause them to fill up quickly, rendering the latrine unusable.
4. Hygienic alternative – Many girls who cannot afford store-bought pads will use newspapers, old rags, etc. to stop the blood, increasing their risk of infection. Reusable pads offer a safe, cheap alternative.
5. Leak free – If used correctly, girls do not need to worry about leaks and can attend school worry-free for the duration of their period. Many girls skip school for the week of the period, causing them to fall far behind in their classes and putting them at a great disadvantage.

Part Two of the program is when the girls get to make their own personal reusable menstrual pad. We made ours out of old bed sheets and 100% cotton towels (needs to be a very absorbent material. An exercise book cover was used to create the template for the pad, and needles, thread, and a button were used to put it all together. I provided the girls with a list of other local and easily accessible items they can use as well.

I created a guide and information booklet on all of the material I covered which I left with the Senior Woman at the schools. It includes photos and diagrams of the reproductive system and menstrual cycle and is written using simple terms, easily understond by primary school students. A step by step guide, loaded with diagrams, on how to make a reusable menstrual pad from scratch is provided at the end of the booklet.

The girls thanked me profusely for imparting them with knowledge about female health and teaching them how to make reusable menstrual pads. I only wish I had been able to work with more schools, though I have left a book with Heidi to use with the women’s groups and for other schools, so that my program can continue.

* * *

Beyond working extremely hard on the female health program, I have continued teaching the sanitation clubs at the schools. Last Saturday, I went with a handful of students from Katosi C/U’s Sanitation Club, Christopher, and Charles to Bukwaya, a neighboring town (45 minutes walk), to build a stove at the house of one of my students. An all day ordeal, but with the help of all who came, we built a stove from scratch using bricks, dirt dust, sawdust, wood shavings, and sticks.

* * *

A few final thoughts

Every night when I go outside to brush my teeth, I look up at the sky. It’s amazing how much light the moon provides when the electricity is out, when there is no (or little) light pollution, or when there is not a plethora of man-made objects blocking one’s view. It’s always a peaceful moment for me, taking in the beauty of the night. Early morning and late nights are the times I use for personal reflection.

The last Tuesday night was the most remarkable night. No clouds and no electricity revealed the clearest sky I have ever seen. I felt like I was floating in space, inside the Milky Way. As Maama Gertrude had just walked outside, I made her stop and appreciate the evening with me. No matter where I am in the world, there is always the sky to me connect me with my international family.

For my final week in Katosi, I have been very nostalgic, reflecting on my time and beginning the farewells. I would love to stay longer to further my relationships, to expand my Female Health and Reusable Menstrual Pad program, to live as one with a community I have only known for eight weeks and yet one to which I feel deeply connected. I don’t think the women, students, teachers, and friends know what a profound impact they have made on my life. I would not trade my experience and my relationships for anything. As hard as it is to leave, I know I am not truly leaving. A part of me will forever remain in Katosi. One day, I hope to return to Katosi, and I know that one day I will.

Keep Katosi Clean

2011-07-22T03:25:00.000-07:00

18th July 2011 marked the day of the Third Annual Keep Katosi Clean Day. This year, Katosi Church of Uganda Primary School scheduled a full day of activities to promote sanitation and hygiene in their community, homes, and schools. The day began at 8:00am as the students ensured all supplies had been gathered and prepared for their guests. Although the opening ceremony was delayed until the arrival of our guest of honor, we were honored by the visit of the Officer in Charge (O/C) of the Katosi Police Station with two fellow officers who wished the school a successful day and thanked everyone for their work in the community.

At 10:00am, the students in classes Primary Three though Primary Seven were lined up and ready to go. The students had been divided into five groups, and each group leader had been given a wheelbarrow with sixteen (16) brooms, two (2) rakes, one (1) slasher, one or two (1-2) sacks to be used as trash bags, and twenty (20) latex gloves. The first person in each line carried the Keep Katosi Clean Sanitation Club posters that the students had designed to encourage everyone to join us in keeping Katosi clean. Two students led the school to the town center by carrying the official Katosi Church of Uganda Primary School Sanitation Club banner high above their heads.

Assembled in the town center, a student led the school in singing the Uganda National Anthem, the School Anthem and the Sanitation Club Anthem. Our guest, Mukasa Jane Ssozi, the District Woman Councilor of the Local Council 5 (LC5), welcomed us all and announced that she would be leading a group. Also, the Officer in Charge Kirikumwino Janipher of the Katosi Police Post gave a speech and stayed with us throughout the day. Christopher Luwaga, the Head Sanitation Club teacher, announced the designated areas that each group was to clean and sent us off one group at a time in the direction of our area.

Assigning sections of the town of Katosi to each of the five groups ensured that all areas of Katosi were reached and cleaned during the event. Group One began in the town center, went down Bunakija Road, turned left at the junction toward the church, turned left again at Paradise Hall and continued to Mukono Road. Group Two was responsible for the section of Mukono Road from the town center to Mutebi Road and along Mutebi Road. Group Three went down Mukono Road from the town center until the Katosi C/U school sign post, then turned left and cleaned past St. Joseph’s Primary School and up to Mutebi Road. Group Four began in the town center and cleaned the road toward Katosi C/U P/S and turned right towards Mutebi Road. And finally, Group Five cleaned from the town center to the landing site and along the road to the police post. As each group stuck to their designated roads and sections of Katosi, the entire town benefited from our efforts of increasing sanitation and the awareness of the importance of maintaining cleanliness and hygiene in order to improve health and prevent diseases.

Over the course of the next hour and a half, the three hundred students in the Primary Three through Primary Seven classes, their teachers, our distinguished guests, Kristen Babirye, and Leslie Nakato swept, raked, moved, piled, and burned rubbish from the main roads and walkways of Katosi. From dirty to clean we made Katosi. Each student did his or her part in our efforts to Keep Katosi Clean. While we were cleaning, a selected member of each group carried a tin to ask for donations and support from community members as we passed by their homes and businesses. Receiving some generous donations, the students raised Ush46,900 to go toward long-term sanitation and hygiene in the school and community. The money was used to buy brushes, squeezers, and basins to be used in the cleaning of latrines.

At 12:00pm, the five sanitation groups reconvened outside the BMU Landing Site for speeches and an awards ceremony. An intercom system was set up to project our speeches so that we were more accessible to the community, the main reason why we moved our ceremony to the landing site instead of having it at the school.

The Headmaster Reverend Yosamu Kintu, O/C Kirilumwino Janipher, the Health Officer Katosi Town Board who is in charge of sanitation in the town, the Guest of Honor Katosi Town Clerk Kalagi E. Bukanya, Sir Christopher Luwaga, and Leslie Nakato gave speeches to the members of the school and the community thanking them for their work and participation while encouraging them to maintain Katosi’s cleanliness and to practice proper sanitation in their homes, schools, and community.

Additionally, awards were presented to the classes and individual students who have exhibited the best sanitation in the school. For the month leading up to Keep Katosi Clean Day, the P1-P7 classes at Katosi C/U P/S have been competing in an Inter-Class Sanitation Competition. They have been judged on the cleanliness of their classroom and assigned compound area, as well as on their personal hygiene. Points were awarded based on the extent of effort that was put into improving the condition of these three categories. After the speeches, the rankings were announced and the winners were congratulated. In second place with a score of 405 points was Primary Seven, and the winner, with 415 points, was Primary Three. Leslie Nakato and Kristen Babirye with the Headmaster Yosamu Kintu and the Guest of Honor Kalagi E. Bukenya presented a framed Outstanding Sanitation Award certificate to the Primary Three Class Monitor. Congratulations to Primary Three and thank you to all classes for participating in the competition to improve the sanitation of the school grounds and the personal hygiene of individual students! From now on, the Inter-Class Sanitation Competition will continue every term with a new winning class. This will set a good example for the numerous other schools in Katosi to follow.

In addition to acknowledging the most sanitary class, the top two students who have shown outstanding personal hygiene throughout the duration of the competition were recognized. Mutebi Lawrence and Nakabugo Juliet were awarded a new uniform tailored by a Katosi C/U parent, Joyce.

Returning to the school, students in the Primary Three through Primary Seven classes assembled in the church for the reading of student-written compositions about sanitation and a drama production performed by the students in the Sanitation Club. Seven students submitted writings to the Sanitation Writing Competition and were allowed to read their compositions to their fellow students at this assembly. Mutebi Lawrence, the Vice Chairperson of the Sanitation Club, also gave an opening speech welcoming everyone and thanking them for their participation and inviting them to join us in Keeping Katosi Clean.

The drama production, written, produced, and performed by Sanitation Club members, kept the audience engaged with its humor, songs, and phenomenal acting. A message about the importance of being knowledgeable of proper sanitation and good hygiene practices and the importance of sharing this knowledge with others was taken away from the production.

Much effort was put into making the Third Annual Keep Katosi Clean a huge success. The day ended with lunch, including the addition of sugar to the students’ porridge. It was a celebration and achievement shared by all.

Thank you to everyone who worked in the preparations for Keep Katosi Clean, who made donations, who participated in the day’s activities, and who have vowed to improve and maintain proper sanitation in the community. Thank you to our guests and our speakers for taking your time to acknowledge the importance of proper sanitation and hygiene in our homes, schools, and community by supporting our efforts of community awareness and the eradication of diseases in the town of Katosi. Thank you to the members of Katosi Church of Uganda Primary School Sanitation Club and the teachers of Katosi C/U for your hard work and support. The Third Annual Keep Katosi Clean Day would not have been successful without all of you!

Thank you,
Leslie Nakato Willis

Cleaning and Cows

2011-07-20T02:34:00.000-07:00

Today was my first day in Katosi after being sick, and I am so thrilled that it was. One of the schools that we work with, Katosi Church of Uganda School, had “Keep Katosi Clean Day”. The students made signs and marched through Katosi cleaning up trash. Leslie organized most of it and it turned out wonderfully. We had wheelbarrows, brooms, and hoes donated and the children cleaned for two hours. I donated latex gloves for everyone and we even had an escort from the police station. The program lasted from 9 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. so it was quite a long day. The school has had “Keep Katosi Clean Day” for the past three years but they said that this was definitely their best year so far. Everything from the opening ceremony to the closing assembly went smoothly and I have to admit that I got a little teary eyed watching the kids. They are really playing an active role in their community and it was wonderful to see. In addition to the cleaning of the community, Leslie and I have been judging the students for the past month on sanitation. Each class was judged on the cleanliness of their classroom, personal hygiene, and the compound area they are responsible for cleaning. The third grade won so we presented them with a plaque and the entire class received a toothbrush, pencil, pencil sharpener and notebook. They were so excited and I am glad that we could help encourage the kids to take an active role in sanitation both in their community and personally. The school decided that next year they would have the sanitation competition again and pass on the plaque we made to the winner next year. So even though we did not start the “Keep Katosi Clean Day,” we added the sanitation competition and the award in addition to organizing the program today which further legitimized the program in the minds of the community and the kids. The sanitation club did a skit on good sanitation practices at the final assembly and ten students wrote poems on sanitation and read them at the assembly as well. Needless to say it was an inspirational day and I am so glad I was able to participate. Leslie and I have been judging for the past month so it was a great close to one of our projects. I cannot believe that I only have 12 days left, but I look forward to finishing our garden, the bio sand water filters, and my sanitation guide. This has really been a wonderful experience.

And speaking of happy endings, Anna, our cow, finally had her calf today. She gave birth early this morning to a beautiful female. It was very exciting, but I feel bad for poor Anna because they put the calf in a separate pen. They do this because if Anna feeds her calf she will not let anyone milk her. They obviously want to milk her for revenue so the calf is about ten feet away in a separate pen, and Anna will not stop mooing. She is so loud! I hope that the protective mother in Anna dies down a little in the next few days or I will be getting up at 5:30 a.m. every day when she starts her symphony. I say symphony because she wakes up the rooster who wakes up the rest of the chickens as well as the people in the house that Anna did not wake up. But it is the experience right? J Until next time.

-Kristen

2011-07-18T03:39:00.000-07:00

Things are progressing right along here in Uganda. Our work in the office mainly consists of editing proposals, brochures, and various applications before they are sent off as well as browsing websites looking for potential donors with goals compatible to those of KWDT, and sending reports with information about these possibilities to our superiors, who then decide whether or not to pursue the application further. We are working with some teachers in Katosi C/U on the details of the budget for our piggery project. More goes into such an endeavor than I expected and the project will be more costly than our initial estimate (pigs require vaccination against diseases, eat quite a bit, and the cost of building a quality, sanitary pen is not insignificant), but we are working out the particulars now.

In other news, our weekends and past week’s travels have been fun. A few weekends ago we went on a safari in Murchison Falls National Park, the largest park in Uganda. The game drive yielded a number of giraffes, hippos, buffaloes, baboons, warthogs, elephants from a distance, and various antelopes. Later on the boat ride we saw some crocodiles on the shore, a lone elephant which we got quite close to, several varieties of large birds, and a nice view of the waterfall after which the park is named. The following morning’s hike around the falls resulted in some great views as well. Overall it was an excellent time. The following weekend Zach and I accompanied our host family to their Seventh Day Adventist Church, which was quite an experience. The main service was over four hours and was preceded by a smaller-group Bible Study. We headed into town after a pot-luck lunch, but Frank, Rehema, Denise, and Rachel stayed for more meetings and Children’s Church. It’s a marathon Saturday in the life of a devout Seventh Day Adventist in Uganda. Later that weekend was the US Embassy’s 4^th of July party, a rather exciting event featuring hamburgers, hot dogs, and fireworks, among other things. The next weekend we returned to the beloved Backpacker’s Hostel in Jinja for a healthy dose of adventure in the form of white-water rafting down the Nile, which was an absolute blast. It differed slightly from the white-water rafting I am familiar with in that here the depth of the river results in far less dangerous rocks near the surface, meaning that there is no problem attacking the rapid head-on, flipping the raft, and swimming halfway down. In fact this is precisely what happened for at least three out of the eight major rapids on the day. I would describe it as considerably more fun than rafting with the absolute goal of staying inside the raft.

After Jinja, Zach and I headed out on our own adventure of sorts. Due to a flurry of conferences in Rome and Paris that our KWDT staff were attending, the office was going to be virtually empty last week and commuting to work would have been challenging for us since Rehema was in Rome. So, Zach and I made a quick stop at home to pack some things on Sunday, and then turned around and headed to the southwest region of Uganda, which received substantial praise from our trusty guide book and indeed lived up to expectations. After enjoying Lake Bunyonyi in the southwest corner of the country, we moved north towards Queen Elizabeth National Park, where we saw a number of elephants from close range and three spotted hyenas dragging along an antelope they had just killed. We then set up shop in a nice campsite just outside the grounds of the national park in Rwenzori Mountains and enjoyed spectacular views and some self-directed hiking, which I do not especially recommend for reasons Zach articulated on in his post below. Finally, we proceeded to Fort Portal, a very nice mid-sized town, and crashed there for a night before getting up and taking the all-day bus ride back to Kampala yesterday.

Only two weeks remain for us in Uganda, and I hope to make the most of them. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time here thus far and expect to finish strong and help out in whatever way possible the next couple of weeks.

Travels throughout SW Uganda

2011-07-18T01:54:00.001-07:00

Over the course of the last 7 days, Grant and I took it upon us to explore southwestern Uganda and to investigate what the region had to offer. We did not come away disappointed. Coincidentally, our supervisors Margaret and Rehema had two conferences, in Paris and in Rome respectively, leaving the office empty and Grant and I without a reliable way to get to work. So…we decided it would be a convenient time to leave work and do some travelling. (In exchange for having a week off, upon returning home I will use UNC's grant database center to search for relevant foundations, and to send my findings to KWDT). Recommendations from our guidebook and random travelers quickly gave us a route to follow over the course of 6 days. As previously mentioned, we have already been to Murchison Falls for a Safari and to Jinja to do whitewater rafting. The northern parts of the country are extremely remote, lack reliable and efficient transportation, and possibly have security issues, so we instead headed South.

After a day of riding buses we arrived on the shores of Lake Bunyoni-around 6-7 hours away from Kampala and very close to the border of Rwanda and Tanzania. A mistaken text from our cell provider welcoming us to Rwanda informed us of our proximity. Lake Bunyoni-advertised as the most beautiful lake in Uganda and a fitting retreat from the hustle and bustle of Kampala, lived up to its reputation. The lake encompasses 20+ islands, nearly all accessible by a short canoe ride or even shorter boat ride, and we opted for the former to take us to our lodge where we stayed Monday and Tuesday night. We spent the next two days walking around the island, swimming in the lake (one of the few lakes where hippos, crocs, and water-born illnesses are absent) and enjoying the surroundings.

On Wednesday, with our minds set on going on another wildlife drive and hopefully spotting a lion in the wild, we headed for Queen Elizabeth National Park. We hired a local driver to take us on a 3 hour drive, and although we spotted elephants, hyenas, warthogs, and many others…the lions were nowhere to be found. Slightly disappointing….After the national park, we hopped on a minibus and made our way to Kasese and eventually to the Rwenzori Mountains. The ride to Kasese merits some comment: We are used to travelling in Uganda and have become accustomed to being crammed in minibuses that are intended to carry 14 passengers yet carry quite a few more. However, I think this bus might have been trying to set a record for carrying capacity. At one count, and the numbers are constantly fluctuating as people come and go, there were no less than 27 people in the car. We could really do nothing, literally, could not hardly move, except be thankful that the ride was only 50ish km and that this was an experience we did not have to endure often. Unfortunately, that is how the majority of Ugandans travel, and though it gets them where they need to go, it is horribly uncomfortable and a very undignified way to travel. Of course, it is also the cheapest, and in many areas, the only way to travel. Though it does provide a service that the people could not live without, it would be nice if there was another, more comfortable way for people to travel.

So…we arrived at the base of the Rwenzori mountains-Uganda's tallest mountains, peaking at 16,000 feet, and reportedly more difficult to trek than Mt. Kilimanjaro-though we did not test it out. We stayed at a great lodge, built right into the slope of the mountain, where we could enjoy fantastic views of the mountains and where we could take off on shorter day hikes to see the area. We took a 4 hr hike on a nearby mountain only to end up losing the trail, getting attacked by the most vicious ants I have been bitten by-within seconds they were in my shirt, on my legs, and in my shoes- so naturally I took off running up the trail, slapping the parts of my body I felt stinging, and throwing off my shirt to get rid of the ants biting me while jumping up and down. I imagine it would have been a funny sight to an observer. We probably should have hired a local guide to show us around…When not hiking, most of time was spent reading and hanging out.

When Saturday came around, we headed to Fort Portal-the largest commercial center in the region, to buy tickets for the most comfortable bus ride we could find for the 5-6 hour ride back to Kampala on Sunday. Now we are back in Kampala and getting reacquainted with life in the office.

We have two more weeks here in Kampala, and I suspect my next post will be up by the middle to end of next week.

-Zach

The Gift of Life

2011-07-17T03:48:00.000-07:00

This morning, as the sun was breaking through the early morning clouds, throwing a golden light on the ground, Ana, our cow, gave birth to a healthy baby girl. After an hour and a half of heavy breathing and strained mooing, Camille was born. I did not watch the birth, but I did see the calf shortly thereafter. She is a much smaller version of her mother, with the same coloring and build, and absolutely adorable. The gift of life is a glorious thing.

This week has been full of adventures. On Sunday, Kristen was diagnosed with malaria and so she has been staying in Mukono with Georgia and Njeri. She has recovered now though she is still very tired. Heidi and Raymond left on Wednesday morning to meet Heidi’s family and travel. I have been left to hold down the fort, feeding the chickens, making yogurt in the evening and morning, in addition to my daily activities at the schools.

At St. John Bosco, we, the students and I, have finished the gardens except for actually planting the eggplant and sukuma wiki (collard greens). However, I have led the students in planting the seeds in make-shift nursery beds made out of cut water bottles. Once the seeds have germinated, we will transfer them to the gardens. I have left a few members of the P5 class with the responsibility of watering the plants and storing them at night. Some of the seeds have already sprouted and so we are all very hopeful. I have also been teaching the P3 class at St. John Bosco. It’s amazing how different the schools I work with are. I feel that the 70 students in this P3 class understand my English better than the 47 students in my P5 class at Katosi C/U. However, all of the students I work with are very bright and we all recognize the difficulty my accent poses for them. Patience is virtue.

Tomorrow is Keep Katosi Clean Day. I have been spending much time preparing for this event. The Katosi C/U Sanitation Club is hosting a community-wide cleaning day where groups of students, each led by a teacher, will go around the community cleaning rubbish and promoting good sanitation and hygiene. This week we have made posters, students have written short speeches that they will read to the audience at the end of the ceremony, and a group of students have even created a drama production on sanitation. Christopher, the head teacher of the Sanitation Club, and I have delivered letters to key officials in the community asking for their support. We have also gone around to local businesses asking for donations. The Headmaster wrote an announcement that has been read over the community intercom everyday since Thursday advertising our activity and encouraging all citizens to join us. This day will also mark the end of the Inter-class Sanitation Competition. For the past month, P1-P7 have been competing to be the class with the cleanest classroom, compound area, and personal hygiene. As the judge, I have randomly gone and judged the classes on these three areas, awarding points based on how clean and sanitary they are. Yesterday, Christopher and I went to the market and bought prizes for the top two classes who will be recognized at the Keep Katosi Clean Ceremony tomorrow. Every term, Katosi will continue the Inter-class Sanitation Competition in order to maintain a healthy school ground and to improve the health of the students.

On Monday, Heidi and I visited the Nakisunga women’s group, the newest of the thirteen KWDT groups. We taught a group of twenty members how to bake the basic yellow cake. It is quite the ordeal considering we baked it over a three stone stove with the wind blowing around it. The three stone stove is made with three large rocks creating a base for the cooking pot. Firewood is placed under the pot and between the stones to heat the pots. To build our oven, we put a second pot facedown on top of the first. It took over two hours to bake the cake instead of the typical 40 minutes, but this did not stop the women and few men from being extremely excited. Once, as we took the top pot off to check on the progress of the cake, the women tried to put on the icing! Once it was ready, it was thoroughly enjoyed by all members.

Heidi and I stayed the night with Ester Margaret, the treasurer of the Nakisunga group, and an absolutely lovely, hospitable lady. I admire her for her strength and her devotion to her life. Ester Margaret has been married fourteen years to a kind, understanding man and yet she has not born any children. In a society where children are the symbol of wealth and prosperity, Ester Margaret and her husband have remained strong together. Five years ago, Ester Margaret was in a vehicle accident, and since then, she has been having pains in her chest and stomach. Although her chest pains have been relieved, her stomach pains are getting worse. The results from a scan reveal a spot in her side, possibly in her uterus, which may explain why she cannot get pregnant. The pain prevents her from carrying heavy items, including jerry cans of water. She is thus no longer able to fetch water, an activity crucial to survival in the area as it is the only way to access water. (KDWT has graciously allowed her to take out a loan to build a water tank at her house. The tank is finished and has been helping her enormously over the past year or two.) Now, she is faced with making a decision about surgery. The surgery would be quite expensive and finding the money will prove difficult. Additionally, she is also afraid of the surgery, but she values her life and desires to have children. I know that she will do what is right for her, and if she chooses to have the surgery, she and her husband will find a way to make it happen. She left us with a phrase she holds close to her heart: “Don’t tell people your problems because 1/3 will laugh at you, 1/4 will not care, and the rest have more problems than you. Tell God, He will listen.” She was not telling us her problems, she was asking for advice and support of which she received both.

Ester Margaret is a woman who fights every day for her health. She is a role model for any woman. She recognizes that life is a gift and that sometimes the choices we have to make are not easy.

I end this blog with the lyrics from a song that we all know but one that has come to have a very dear meaning to me:

Lean on me when you’re not strong
And I’ll be your friend. I’ll help you carry on
For it won’t be long
‘til I’m going to need somebody to lean on.”

Life is the most precious gift that a person can ever give or receive.

Malaria

2011-07-16T10:45:00.001-07:00

So I thought that I was doing fairly well here and I really felt like I was becoming a part of the culture by truly living here for 2 months opposed to just visiting for a few weeks. Well now I think that I can officially say that I have experienced Uganda since I discovered that I have malaria. All of the interns travelled together this past weekend and had a wonderful time, but on our way back home on Sunday I thought I was dying. We ended up going to a clinic Sunday evening and my blood test came out positive for malaria. I have to say that the past week has been very scary and uncomfortable. I am feeling much better now and I get my last blood test tomorrow to make sure that I nipped it in the bud, but this past week really stunk. I was in a clinic that was not clean by American standards and I had to be on an IV for 4 days. The nurses did not speak English and they really didn’t check on me so let’s just say that figuring out what they were giving me and going to the bathroom were not easy tasks. I will never take American Health Care for granted again, nor will I fail to appreciate the fact that malaria does not exist in the U.S. Unfortunately, 13% of adolescents under the age of 5 die in Uganda and malaria is the number one killer of children under 5. After having it I understand why it could take a toll on children. You feel like you got hit by a bus. Anyway, Georgia and Njeri, two of the interns in Mukono, have been taking great care of me. I have stayed with them for the past week since I could not be treated in the village where I am placed and I am so grateful to have had them this past week. They have been true friends and have dealt with my tears and complaining. I do not know what I would have done without them and I owe them big time. Other than that, not much is new. I have simply been in bed for the past week and I cannot wait to get back to Katosi and finish strong. I have two weeks left, which should be just enough time to finish all of our projects. I will be sad to go, but after getting sick and struggling to get better I admit that I miss home and I am very excited to see everyone soon. Until next time. I miss everyone so much and I cannot wait to see you all.

-Kristen

The Heifer Project Continued and Month One in Kyetume

2011-07-15T05:44:00.000-07:00

For families with less than three orphans, the project provides a goat in place of the Heifer and as with the cows; families are obligated to pass along the goat’s offspring if it’s a female and sell it if it’s a male.

Primary and secondary schools are also recipients of Heifers and goats. The goal of donating these animals to local schools is to teach the students valuable animal husbandry skills that they can teach to others in their neighborhoods and also to generate income to fund school projects.

Week One At Kyetume Community Based Health Care Programme

Week one at Kyetume revolved around identifying and contacting orphan families and schools that need/want Keyhole Gardens. Most of the orphan families selected were already involved in various projects with Kyetume while the majority of the schools on the list did not have any affiliation with KCBHCP. David and I settled on the ambitious goal of constructing 30 gardens in 2 months, 7 of which would be at primary and secondary schools and 23 with orphan families. There was a slight preference for working with schools over individual families as students are more apt to spread their knowledge of Keyhole garden construction to a wider base than would orphan families.

Before heading out to Kampala to purchase the seeds needed for the gardens, a general consensus was reached at the office suggesting that we purchase at least five different types of seeds to include Collard greens, Eggplants, Carrots, Watermelons and Onions.

My week concluded with a delivery of 6 goats to 6 orphan families. The first 5 had been bought by KCBHCP using donated funds; the last and smallest goat was the offspring of a goat that had been given to an orphan family. It was incredible to witness the amount of work that goes into delivering each individual goat to a family. The day began with David driving at least an hour away to purchase the goats; the animals were then brought to the office, added to the record and then the difficult task of delivering them to each family started. The latter task would have been difficult enough were the roads paved and in good condition, but here in rural Uganda, one is hard pressed to find a tarmac road so that the delivering of the goats necessarily involved hours of driving on dusty and bumpy roads to destinations that were so remote, the driver needed to stop and ask for directions when he got to the town where each family resided. In this manner, the delivery of 6 goats over a distance of less than 60 miles took almost 6 hours. But perhaps the greatest relief to the hunger and exhaustion all of us felt at the conclusion of each delivery was the bright eyes and wide smiles spread across each of the recipients’ faces as they received their goats.

“Farming is hard work, mahn”

As with most things one watches an expert do but has never attempted him/herself, I totally underestimated the skill and energy that goes into farming. My first time lifting a hoe was met with many jeers and laughter from the community members I was working with as I managed raising the hoe only half the height appropriate to make a deep hole and then proceeded to drop the it so close to my toes David cringed in horror. After watching the others and understanding that one raises the hoe high above their head and places a considerable amount of distance between where the hoe will fall and their feet, I was finally able to move on to the next lesson. Lesson three dealt with the spacing of each hole dug so that the hoe fell right where the previously dug hole had ended creating a row of holes.

The first keyhole gardens we built were at a beneficiary’s home and a primary school called Jesus is Alive Education Center. After explaining our purpose to the beneficiary and confirming that he had requested a Keyhole Garden be constructed outside his home, David and I went about the business of clearing the site of grass so that we could all begin digging. The clearing of the grass was a pleasant enough task save for the fact that the beneficiaries opted to watch David and I work rather than join us. David must have sensed my frustration as no sooner had I decided to join the watching party as he commented that the job didn’t need any supervisors watching over others but that we should ALL join in so that the grass could quickly get cleared. After that, everything went much more smoothly and we completed our first keyhole garden in less than 4 hours.

Building a keyhole garden at Jesus is Alive Education Center was perhaps the most fun I have had while toiling the earth. The students immediately joined us once we started clearing the land and those who didn’t have hoes used their hands to pull up the weeds. The students’ hard work was a welcome change to the lackluster motivation we had witnessed at the first beneficiary’s home. As we were digging, some of the students commented on how they would love to have keyhole gardens in their homes and that since they now knew how to build them now, they would only need bother about acquiring seeds. It was at this point that David turned to me and commented that there was a need for seeds, especially since some of the seeds we had bought could easily be harvested for four years straight as long as the beneficiaries/schools were taught how to properly care for them. The students’ statement was encouraging to me, as I had always hoped that community members and especially students would embrace the idea of keyhole gardens and spread their knowledge to others. But now I was confronted with the fact that while they embraced the idea, we didn’t have enough seeds to distribute to everyone who would have wanted to plant some.

Ghaddafi’s Little Bodyguards

Another interesting topic that came up while building the keyhole garden with students from Jesus is Alive Education Center revolved around Ghaddafi’s women bodyguards. As we were digging, I noticed that some of the girls were arguing about who among them was the highest ranking member of their make belief bodyguard team that guarded Libya's Ghaddafi. One would say that she was a lieutenant and another would immediately chime in and loudly declare that SHE was the general of the elite group of Ghaddafi’s protectors. It was during this exchange that it dawned on me that while the rest of the world viewed Ghaddafi as this raging maniac bent on maintaining his power irrespective of the number of human lives lost in the process, little girls in a remote village in Uganda viewed protecting him as the ultimate honor. For all that was said about Ghaddafi, he had done his small share in empowering girls to imagine a future different from marriage, housework and child bearing and rearing. As lieutenants and generals of Ghaddafi’s elite team of bodyguards, these girls were imagining a future where they held value and were revered for being the best at what was predominantly a man’s job. The point is not lost on me however, that this respect was achieved through service to a man.

“No one told you? You have to have a heavy breakfast before you come out here digging”

The next keyhole garden we built was at the home of a heifer recipient who was raising his deceased son’s multiple children. The man was excited that we would be helping him construct a keyhole garden as he had saved enough with the money he received from the sale of milk to buy 3 acres of land but had no seeds to plant in the land. Before our arrival, the man thought he would only be able to plant banana trees both to sell and for food but since we had brought him various seeds, he would be able to have a diversity of crops. David and I left the man’s house excited that the nutrition of the orphans under the old man’s care would be greatly improved by the keyhole garden we had just helped construct.

Building a keyhole garden at the next beneficiary’s home was perhaps the most tiresome and rewarding experience I have had so far. After starting our day later than usual and skipping lunch so as to be back at the office before dark, we arrived at the madam’s house around 2pm. We were immediately struck by how strongly the sun seemed to be shinning that afternoon and I almost had the mind to suggest we return the next day but was dissuaded by the long, dusty and bumpy ride I would have to endure (again) in order to make the trip back. I decided since I was already there, I might as well deliver on what I had been so excited to do the previous night. As luck would have it, it had rained the previous night, which for us meant that the dirt was loose and we wouldn’t need to exact a lot of force to dig. As we continued our digging and David and the beneficiary carried on their conversation so calmly that one would have thought they were sitting in cushy couches with their legs up on ottomans, the only thoughts on my mind were how much larger was this keyhole garden going to be and when were we going to eat?

Eventually we finished and the woman invited us back to her home to share in what she termed a small “snack” as that was the only way she could show her gratitude. The word snack apparently carried a different meaning for her than it did for David and I. For the “snack” the woman spoke of was a large plate (think a serving plate) of cooked bananas, beans, soup, and avocado with a side of passion juice. The food was so much that David (who has been known to hold his own when it came to chowing down food) asked for a smaller plate to divide his food into. I on the other hand could do nothing more than sit there staring at the food and complementing God on his incredible sense of humor; I wanted food, well, here it was.

“Don’t be rude when someone is showing their gratitude”

After eating, (I also divided my food into a smaller plate) we all sat around the woman’s small living room for an hour listening to her speak of the orphans in her care and how they fell ill so frequently and took long to recover because of poor nutrition. Upon hearing this, I immediately felt guilty as it dawned on me that this woman had probably offered us food that was intended to feed her large family for two weeks. On the long, dusty and bumpy road home, I asked David if it was okay that we ate the woman’s food knowing that she didn’t have a lot of it and when we (David and I) could have just driven down the road and bought food from a restaurant. David said to me that for that woman, that meal was the only way she could have thanked us and our refusal of her food would have been tantamount to riding into a remote village in an expensive car and giving out candy to kids all the while making sure not to touch their hands. Needless to say, after this conversation with David, I had no problem eating food and taking home gifted fruits from beneficiaries.

Reflecting on my experience so far

To date (July 15^th, 2011), David and I have built 19 keyhole gardens 16 of which have been with individual beneficiaries and 3 at primary schools. Through out the building of these gardens, I have witnessed inconceivable poverty and living conditions so terrible they could easily drive one to madness when one imagined how many resources are available in this incredibly beautiful country. But through it all, Ugandans have been resilient and refused to allow the lack of this or that or shortage of this and that, harden their generous hearts. We have yet to construct a garden in a home where we weren’t afterwards invited for dinner or lunch or where the beneficiaries didn’t gift us with something they had. One beneficiary even offered to buy us sodas in addition to the two bags of passion fruits, mangoes and jackfruits he had already gifted us. We kindly refused the sodas although it took a bit of convincing to get the man to call back the child he had sent to buy them.

I have witnessed incredible love as families opt to live in poverty together rather than abandon relatives who fall victims to HIV and AIDS. I am still at awe at the closeness strangers in Uganda share; a human bond so tight that our driver took a mango right out of his mouth and pulled over to give it to a child who was crying after receiving a whooping from his mother. The driver was sure to remind the child to apologize to his mother and to never repeat the offense that was the cause of the whooping. Only in Uganda!

Should I need more convincing as to how much the word community (this includes animals and even plants) means to Ugandans, there is always the day I watched David help a random cow give birth. We happened to be constructing a keyhole garden around the same time and in the same area that a cow owned by the local school was struggling to give birth. Without a moment’s hesitation, David rushed to the cow’s aid after noticing that the calf was not positioned correctly for a normal birth. I will spare you the details on exactly how David assisted the cow calf but needless to say, my eyes remained shut for the majority of the delivery and I tasted my lunch more times than I would have cared to.

“You can speak Luganda…. no… you speak Luganda to me”

One of my most frustrating experiences in Uganda has been the anger that some men have directed towards me for my inability to speak Luganda. My first encounter with this was in Jinja on our way back from a weekend rafting trip. While at the taxi park, a man in his twenties began speaking to me in Luganda to which I replied in English that we were not boarding the taxis but were instead going to wait for a bus. All of a sudden, the man began hurling what I recognized as insults (due to the tone of his voice and an inkling one sometimes gets about such things) claiming that I could speak Luganda but was pretending I couldn’t because I was with white people. I was able to understand that this is what he was saying because Luganda shares more than a few words with Kiswahili and Kikuyu, both of which I am fluent in. While this man didn’t manage to get much of a rise from me, the bus driver definitely got me going when he said words to the same effect because I had failed to respond to something he had said. But perhaps the worst insults came from a driver in Kyetume who was convinced that I was pretending not to speak Luganda because I was in the company of Georgia and Kristen. The man was so upset and yelling so loudly that Georgia, Kristen and I became worried and began to quickly walk away. He refused to offer us his services on the count of my PRETENDING to not speak Luganda.

The whole experience has just been puzzling to me since only people in central Uganda speak Luganda and many in other regions of Uganda cannot speak a single word of the language. Everything in me begs to ask, “Do these people think that blacks can only come from Uganda, as if the neighboring countries are not inhabited by black people? Furthermore, don’t they know that there are black people in this same Uganda who cannot speak Luganda? And if I knew Luganda, wouldn’t it be to my benefit to speak it since I would be better placed to negotiate for cheaper prices? But I try and remind myself that there are those Africans who don’t think other Africans can be successful to the point of being able to afford to travel to other countries. And even if they were able to travel, these people imagine that successful Africans would not want to come to travel to other African countries let alone a small village like Kyetume. It is also not completely lost on me that there are those Africans who after becoming successful resent others who are not as successful and even act like they can’t speak their language so as to disassociate themselves from the poor and “backwards” and link themselves with the “advanced” by using their languages. Still none of these explanations can completely erase the sting of being labeled a “sell out”.

Nsanyuse okubalaba. I am happy to see you all.

2011-07-10T01:55:00.001-07:00

It was a grave disappointment to open my flash drive and find that the previous blog I wrote had been eaten by the technology monster. At least this incident is contrary to my experience in Uganda. I have been having the most wonderful time in Katosi; I can hardly believe that in just over three weeks I will be leaving. It feels like only last week I arrived! Since my last published blog entry, I have been staying very busy—teaching, gardening, building bio-sand water filters, attending KWDT meetings, and playing with children.

On Tuesday, 21 June, I attended the Katosi Women Development Trust Coordinators Meeting. This meeting occurs every three months and brings together the leaders of the thirteen women’s group in the district. Thankfully, Maria, the Ugandan intern for KWDT, was there to translate as the entire meeting was held in Luganda. Since the joint meeting occurs only quarterly, as opposed to every two weeks like the individual group meetings, it lasted for five hours. A large portion of the meeting was devoted to discussing current and future projects, as well as to checking record books and ensuring all of the women are familiar with the necessary steps in keeping proper records of their business activities. Some of the current projects include selling agricultural products, cattle raising, and yogurt making. Future projects may include smoking fish, building latrines, and baking. Heidi has taught several of the women’s groups how to bake cakes with makeshift ovens. Kristen and I were supposed to go with her last week to teach one of the groups in a distant village, but in the end we were told not to come due to an unexpected presence of witchcraft in the village. Perhaps we will try again next time they have a meeting.

As for the yogurt, every morning I continue to help Heidi and Maama Gertrude with making Daily Dairy Yogurt. The previous day, the milk is bought from women in the group who own cows, and then it is heated and cooled to kill the bacteria. Each night we filter the whole milk and add yogurt culture. In the morning, we add sugar and flavoring (vanilla, strawberry, and orange), before scooping it into individual cups to sell in the dairy. On any given day, we may make anywhere between 20-28 liters of yogurt (60-85 cups), and more often than not, they are all sold by the end of the day. KDWT hopes to expand this enterprise to the other women groups in the organization.

The same day as the Coordinator’s Meeting was the Inter-school Sports Competition in which Katosi C/U, one of the schools at which I teach, was taking part. After the meeting, Kristen and I walked to Kalengera where we managed to catch the second half of C/U’s final football match. Katosi C/U won all three of the their football matches that day! The students were ecstatic, singing and dancing all the way back to the school where I was invited to give a congratulatory speech at the closing assembly.

Later in the week, I learned how to make soap, another income-generating activity for the women in KWDT. Kristen and I were given a step-by-step tour of the process, even learning how to tell the difference between pure soap and soap that has a lot of additives. It is incredible how much time and effort has to be put into something that is so frequently used and taken for granted. The following week, we spent much time building bio-sand water filters, a water purification system. This is part of Kristen’s project, so I will not go into much detail in my blog. Thus far we have only built the molds of the filters; however, this is no small task. We have to mix red clay dust (24 kg sifted), small stones (12 kg), larger stones (12 kg), and cement (15 kg). Then we have to screw together the frame, which can take a lot longer than one would think. The first day it took us over an hour to successfully connect the pieces of the frame. Once the cement mixture is ready, we pack it into the frame and wait 24 hours before removing it, and repeating the whole process for the next filter. It is a lot of work!

Another project I have taken on is building two keyhole gardens for St. John Bosco Primary School. The first day I visited this school, the students were sent home at mid-day because the school did not have enough flour for the porridge the students typically receive for lunch. Keyhole gardens are an easy way to grow vegetables without too much effort. I am working with the students to grow schuma (collard greens) and eggplant. The gardens are just about finished and so next week, we will plant the seeds in nursery beds with the students in the P5 class before transferring them to the garden beds once the seeds have sprouted.

In addition to teaching in classrooms during the school day, I have been working three schools’ Sanitation and Health Clubs. Katosi C/U Primary and St. Joseph Secondary currently have the most active clubs. Every week at our meetings, we discuss proper sanitation practices and health related issues, such as the importance of hand washing, bathing properly, disposing of waste (human and other), and cleaning drinking water, to name a few. With the secondary students, the focus has been more on mental health—discussing aspirations, future goals, and gender roles.

Also, once or twice I week I teach English to a small group of women who live near St. John Bosco. They are such wonderful women to be around, full of life and appreciation. One of the women, Betty, has the most contagious laugh I think I have ever heard. While the approach to teaching these women is different from working with the primary school children, I enjoy it just as much. I have found that my Luganda has improved by communicating with the women and my appreciation for their dedication to their work has increased as I have gotten to know them better. All of the women I have met and work with are incredibly strong and intelligent, regardless of their completed education level. I have learned so much from them that I never would have learned in a classroom.

This past week was been full of celebrations. Last Friday, I celebrated my birthday by going with Raymond, Heidi, and Kristen to see The Ebonies, a popular and well-known Ugandan drama production group. In a nutshell, the play was a five-hour long soap about a man who killed his wife and how the police were trying to get him to confess by imposing as his wife, a reverend, and a scatterbrained inspector whose main function was that of comic relief. There were several side stories going on at the same time and I’m not entirely sure how they all connected since it was, as usual, primarily in Luganda. (Thanks to Raymond for translating as much as he could!) Three days later, Rose’s second birthday happened to fall on USA’s Independence Day. We celebrated both with glow sticks, music, and cake in the courtyard of our compound with a few neighborhood children and our adult friends. If only I could have captured the mesmerized look on Rose’s face as she held the glow stick in one hand and a cell phone playing music in the other. She couldn’t have been happier, until the cake was brought out of course.

There are no dull moments in Katosi. I am finding a plethora of enjoyable and educational activities to fill my time, and so I am already dreading the day that I will have to leave my new home. I have come to love everyone that I work with as together we bridge the cultural divide and work towards mutual understanding and improved sanitation and hygiene in the community.

Birthdays and Bio Sand Filters

2011-07-08T11:05:00.001-07:00

Hey Everyone,

I am still having a wonderful time in Katosi with my roommate Leslie. In fact today is her birthday and we are going to attempt a cake for the occasion. Of course there are no ovens here, so we have to put two pots together on a gas stove and put the cake inside of that. This is the closest thing to an oven we are going to get in Katosi. We already made one with the Peace Core Volunteer that lives in Katosi; her name is Heidi and she has been a great help giving us advice and teaching us tricks like this one. We were supposed to help her teach one of the women’s groups how to bake cakes a few days ago, but unfortunately they canceled. Witchcraft had apparently taken place and people were supposed to die in their homes so it was not safe for us to go. Most people in Uganda are Christian; in fact 85% of the population is Christian, but the people in rural villages still believe in witchcraft and witch doctors etc. I was bummed that we couldn’t go and when I heard the explanation it took me a second to digest it. The people here are certainly more superstitious than the United States. Hopefully no spells will be cast in two weeks when we are supposed to meet with the group for the second time. Only time will tell I guess.

In other news we finally started making the bio sand water filters!!! I am so excited to finally have them started. Two were already made and we have already made two more, so hopefully in the next week we can make yet another two. I have enough money to pay for six thanks to Our Lady of Perpetual Help School. I attended this elementary school and the children there raised money for me for their Lent Projects. I am so thankful and I will send pictures of the families who are receiving the filters as soon as I can. Instead of giving them away, however, I have decided to only subsidize each one so that the families are invested in the project. My original plan was to give a bio sand water filter to all of the schools I was working for, but after attending the schools I discovered that they all have at least one and most of them have gone to waste. To maintain the filters you have to put water in them every day or they dry up and go bad over time. If you put water in them every day, however, they will last forever. Unfortunately, the people here are used to receiving things for free and they are not invested in the project. The bio sand water filters in the schools are a prime example of charity gone to waste. Thus, I announced to the women’s groups that I will subsidize half if they pay for the other half. This way the women and their families have invested in the filters and will be more motivated to maintain them and use them every day. I have to admit that I had to put on my mean face to get this project started and the get the women to show up on time to build them. I do not think that I will ever get used to Africa time. However, we are on a role now and I hope to have 6 finished before I leave, but the money I brought should pay for 12 since I am subsidizing half. The filters are quite the project, but I have really enjoyed making them. We mix cement, sand, and rocks to make the cement and then we poor it all into a mold and let it dry for 24 hours. The mixing and screwing and packing takes about three hours and the women we are working with work extremely hard. Three women were helping us named Betty, Rusty, and Gertrude and I am so thankful for all of their hard work. Leslie and I are going to paint them all and then fill them with the layers of sand and they should be ready to go. I will keep you updated, but a special thanks to OLPH for helping me pay for this project. Your donations are greatly appreciated. Until next time.

-Kristen

Updates from Kampala, Week 4??

2011-07-01T00:20:00.000-07:00

It is hard for me to believe that I have been in Uganda for a month… Although, in hindsight, time usually seems to pass quickly, so I guess this should not come as much of a surprise.
In the office we are continuing to work on the school business challenge, though we were unable to make a trip to Katosi this week (it's about a 2 hour drive from Kampala and we have gone every Tuesday except for this week) to gather the budget for the business and work on the business plan some more. Hopefully next Tuesday we can make the trip and push the project along. Business, travel, communication, and many other everyday activities take quite a bit longer here than in the U.S., and though I'd like to think I have adapted well to life in Uganda, the dramatically slower pace of life here is something that I just can't seem to get accustomed to. As Grant can attest, "African time" is certainly the source of the entirety of my frustrations, whenever they do arise. (Don't worry, it is not often).

Speaking of the slower pace of life here, Grant and I are going to join Rehema's family for church on Saturday to experience a 7th Day Adventist Church service, which is, not surprisingly, an all day affair. We have been informed that it begins at 9 and ends sometime around 5. I am not confident that I can handle such a service, as my childhood was scarred by weekly 6-7 hour long church services that have rendered me rather incapable of enduring services of such duration. We'll see how it goes….

The group (minus Maylotte and Njeri) travelled to Murchison Falls National Park last Saturday where we fulfilled our obligation as American tourists and enjoyed a safari. Hopefully someone else has the technological know-how and equipment needed to post pictures of the safari, as my description will do it little justice. It was, in my opinion, fairly awesome. Although we did not get to see the heavy hitters like lions or rhinos (understandable since I believe there are less than 15 rhinos living in the wild in Uganda), the safari was filled with giraffes, hippos, crocodiles, cape buffalo, elephants, owls, fishing eagles, wart hogs, and more gazelle and other deer-like animals than one could count. In traditional safari-style, we took a car with a pop-up roof that afforded us 360 degree views of the surrounding wild-life and scenery. The landscape honestly reminded me of rural parts of Florida, though the abundance of wildlife here makes the comparison unfitting. After the 4 hour safari we headed back to our campsite to eat lunch and rest before our boat trip later in the afternoon. The boat trip was also quite an experience. Several hundred meters down the river bank a herd of elephants had gathered, though unfortunately we were headed in the opposite direction and did not get an up-close encounter. We rode past hundreds, possibly thousands of hippos (which our guide pronounced (hippo-peaux-tay-musts), several cape buffalo, fish eagles, and spotted some small crocodiles on the shore. Murchison Falls is quite a sight, and the power of the current and the falls prevented our boat from getting to close. We enjoyed the Falls for a few minutes before heading back. The return trip took about half of time-likely the result of riding down river and not stopping so frequently. Our guides were skillful and friendly, stopping frequently to point out different animals and give us time to take pictures. Once we returned to the dock we noticed an elephant in the distance, and the guides we kind enough to let us go check it out. In the same place we had seen the elephant herd prior to departure, an enormous bull elephant was standing by the river. Probably the highlight of the animal viewing for me- it was enormous, and we were able to get within 30-40 feet of it.

Until next time.

-Zach

2011-06-22T02:00:00.000-07:00

Everything is well in Kampala after about three weeks. Zach has outlined the nature of our work, so I’m going to go ahead and chronicle some of the more unusual (in my mind) occurrences witnessed in the recent past. For me, our trip to the zoo qualifies since many of the featured animals I had never seen in my US zoo-deprived childhood. George, Zach, and I embarked on the aptly-named Forest Walk within the zoo, which was comprised of lots of large spiders, huge hoards of red ants, and eventually an accidental exit of the zoo’s grounds via exploration of several unkempt trails. Nonetheless, the zoo was a great experience overall. Other things I didn’t necessarily anticipate are as follows:

Animals everywhere – from cows holding up traffic to chickens wandering into houses, stray dogs and cats left and right, animals do just about whatever they please here. Also, in certain areas such as near the zoo and in the woods by Katosi there are these small cool-looking monkeys all over the place.

Traffic – terrible traffic jams, horrendously built dirt roads, and near-accidents are the norm here. Observed a few minor collisions, usually involving boda bodas in the congested city streets.

People swimming down rocky rapids of the Nile for money – self-explanatory

Some cultural oddities – On a trip to a very rural area to meet with a potential partner for KWDT, Zach, George and myself were treated to chairs while the women (who played such an exponentially more important role in the meeting it was laughable) including the hostesses of the home, sat on some mats on the floor. We were told that among their cultural practices was the idea that men must always be above women. Furthermore, the gathering was conducted outside and another woman who appeared to be listening sat in the dirt off in the distance. When we inquired about this later, George explained that the lady was the mother of the woman who lived there, and was not allowed on the property, although the mother of the husband would be welcomed any time. This discovery baffled me for quite some time. Imagine if one of your grandmother’s was greeted into your family’s home with open arms while the other could not set foot in your yard.

Rollerblades – did not see this one coming. On three occasions I’ve seen people on rollerblades, which is pretty much a death wish on any street in Uganda. One was clutching the back of a motorcycle moving at a decent clip, one was holding on to the back of a slow-moving truck, and one was cruising down a crowded street alone at night, which I think is a fabulous idea.

Overall, I am having a great time. Our host family is great, work is picking up, and we are all excited for our safari this weekend. Couldn’t ask for any more from the experience thus far.

- Grant

Greetings from Kampala, Weeks 2-3

2011-06-21T23:06:00.000-07:00

3 weeks in and life is good in the capital city. Grant and I are working in the main office of the Katosi Women Development Trust on the outskirts of Kampala with the 5 full-time employees of KWDT. The staff here is thoroughly enjoyable and upon arrival I quickly felt very comfortable with the office environment and the work that we have been given. Most of our responsibilities are related in one way or another to seeking grants and applying for funding from international foundations whose mission is compatible with KWDT. This can at times be a frustrating process-sometimes we will locate a promising organization who shares the values and goals of KWDT, yet, for one reason or another- either we narrowly miss a requirement or the organization is not currently accepting applications, we cannot always apply for funding. To complicate the matter, the internet here, reportedly the best available, can be painstakingly slow and internet speed often varies from minute to minute.

However, when we do find a project that fits it is very encouraging and is easy to find the motivation to pursue it. Currently Grant and I are working on a School Enterprise Challenge where schools initiate a student-run business that can be profitable and self-sustaining and can provide funding in addition to that provided by the government (which, from the looks of the schools, appears to be minimal) and by organizations like KWDT. Grant and I thought about possible profitable enterprises and quickly realized that we did not possess sufficient knowledge of the market conditions for various businesses, let alone profitable ones, and if we were to implement a business in a school based on what we knew about operating a business in Uganda (which is nothing) the business would be an utter failure and waste of funding. So we approached the school that our organization thought would be most prepared for the challenge, called Katosi Primary C/U, which was deemed qualified b/c of its long-running success with utilizing and maintaining bio-sand water filters and rain-water harvesting tanks. KWDT has installed water hygiene and sanitation instruments in nearly 30 schools, but often the schools neglect to properly care for the instruments and they end up no longer functioning-leaving the schools w/o access to drinking water and water to wash their hands with.

So we discussed the challenge with Primary C/U and decided upon opening up a pig-farming business that would be supervised by two of the teachers (also the heads of the sanitation club) and managed by six of the students. We have gathered the basic information to enter into the challenge and are currently creating a budget to assess the feasibility of the program given our funding and to create the business plan that is due in about a month. More updates on the challenge as events warrant.

The weekends are spent exploring other parts of Uganda and breaking the day-to-day routine of the work-week. In order to mentally prepare for our safari coming up this Friday (which we are very excited about) and to become familiar with African fauna, George, Grant and I headed to the zoo in Entebbe on Sunday where we got to check out some rhinos, lions, giraffes, monkeys, and quite a few more. After our visit, we certainly felt better-equipped to observe the animals in their natural habitat. The previous weekend we visited Jinja-the source of the Nile River-where we observed a group of men kayak and swim down very impressive and powerful rapids (they do it for money, and given the danger of the activity I was uncomfortable encouraging it) but fortunately I was able to free-ride and enjoy the show w/o having to pay.

Well, I think it's time to return to work. Future updates will be more frequent.

Katosi Field Site

2011-06-20T04:18:00.001-07:00

So I taught my first English class on Tuesday and it went pretty well. I have to speak extremely slow and get strict now and then to restrict the giggling, but other than that I really enjoyed it. Leslie and I also held our first sanitation club meeting this week at two schools. At the first one we concentrated on washing your hands and body and at the second we also discussed washing hands in addition to composting. The school already had a box, so we asked them to bring worms to the meeting and we officially started a compost box for the school. We explained how composting works and the benefits of composting for the environment. The amount of trash in Uganda amazes me. There is no such thing as a trashcan here (in the house or out), so the citizens either throw their trash on the ground or burn it. Both of which are terrible for the environment and the overall sanitation of the city. I have seen a few signs that read “keep or country clean”, but I have no idea where people are supposed to put their trash. I have to admit that Leslie and I have a bag of trash in our room and it is almost full and we may have to burn it because there really are no alternatives unless we start composting ourselves. Anyways, all three classes we taught were great and I am really excited to finish the sanitation guide I have been working on. I want all of our sanitation clubs to have a binder with my information guide and a notebook so they can take the minutes at each meeting. In addition, I would also like to make some hands on activities that will reinforce healthy sanitation practices. I was thinking about laminating different pictures of good and bad practices or pictures you have to put in order etc. that the kids can piece together in groups. From what I have seen so far the schools have good teachers and the material is on par with the United States, but due to the lack of money there are absolutely no hands on activities. The teacher writes on the board and the kids copy. So I would love to have some hands on activities to mix it up and really get the kid’s attention. On a slightly different note, it has been really refreshing to not be called “Mzungu” for the past couple of days. “Mzungu” means “white person” in Luganda (the local language) and I swear we get called that word one thousand times a day. However, now that we have been working with the schools a lot of the students know my Luganda name, which is Babirye. So I am actually being called by my name now (sort of) and I love that all of the children are taking the time to remember it instead of saying “Mzungu”. It is funny though how a lot of the younger children cling to Leslie and I like white on rice. They fight to hold our hands and touch our skin. They are so interested in examining our skin because they don’t understand how the color is so different. I think a lot of them think that it isn’t skin or something. We went to play with a pre-school class yesterday afternoon, but we made the mistake of going an hour before school was over. We played with them and sang some songs, which was great, but when school was over they all followed us home. I think about one hundred kids were walking with us so we intentionally went to a store because we were worried that the children would come to our house later if they knew where we were staying. It was great and they all went home when we went in the store, but it just gives you an idea of how rare white people are. I think the fascination is a combination of wanting to see how and why we look different, coupled with the stereotype that white people are rich. We have already been asked to take people to the U.S. in addition to a few marriage proposals etc. Basically, it is absolutely impossible to be inconspicuous and stay under the radar here. I struggled with that for the first few days, but now that I am more comfortable with my surroundings and know the village it is not so bad.

This is certainly a very different place compared to the United States though. One thing that strikes me is the way people carry themselves. It is very important here to be dressed well and appear professional. Everyone has a cell phone and they go off all the time just like they do in the U.S. These two things were very odd to me, however, since only 4% of the population in Uganda has electricity. Where do they charge their phones? In addition, almost everyone works outside since all of the shops and stores are open to the street. The streets are paved here and there and trash is all over the place. I guess what I am trying to say is that the people don’t match the setting in my mind. To put it in perspective, I attended one of the group meetings for the women’s center I am interning for. The meeting was outside of one of the member’s homes (a rundown brick home) and we were all sitting outside on grass mats to avoid the red clay that covers everything. The home stood alone with the forest behind it and the dirt road in front. In the middle of the meeting, one of the members phones went off and she went into the woods to answer it. It definitely caught me by surprise. I guess it makes sense that they have phones in order to get in touch with people, but I was shocked that so many people had them and I am still confused as to where they charge them. I think that it is wonderful that the citizens take pride in their appearance, but it was definitely something that I had expected to be different. I guess I thought the clothing would also be a bit cooler, but all of the men wear suits and the women wear long skirts. However, I came to Africa to learn about the culture and I have already dispelled a few stereotypes like this one. Live and learn. Thanks!

-Kristen

My New Community

2011-06-20T03:52:00.000-07:00

Settled in in Katosi, this past week Kristen and I took off running. Thus far, we have been working with four schools, three primary and one secondary, possibly adding a couple more to the agenda this coming week. In the Ugandan School System, students complete seven years of primary school, followed by six years of senior secondary, before taking exams for University. A bachelor's degree requires three years of university, instead of the typical four in the USA.

I have been in Katosi for two weeks now and already I feel included in the community. When I walk down the street, more often than not, I will hear children calling my name "Nakato!" instead of shouting the generic "Mzungu!" Yesterday, when I went to the market to buy items for lunch, I was greeted by a woman I did not know. I greeted her "Oli otya nnyabo?" "Gyendi nnyabo. Weebale. Oli otya Nakato?" I expected to be called "nnyabo" - woman - which is the formal term used in greetings, yet she surprised me by knowing and calling me by my Ugandan name. I suppose word spread quickly when there are only three white people in the town.

I have been staying busy teaching in the classrooms (Nursery, P2, P5, and S3), making yogurt for KWDT Dairy, entertaining the children of the community, leading sanitation clubs, helping with household chores, hand washing clothes and dishes, cooking two or three meals a day, keeping my daily journal, reading books, and socializing.

A few highlights of the week:
On Tuesday, after teaching P5 Math and Science at Katosi C/U Primary School, I went into the P2 classroom and taught a song with Kristen. Asked to come back on Friday to sing more songs, we did. The children, no matter what age, are always so excited when we walk into the classroom. After Row Row Row Your Boat and Mary Had a Little Lamb, the teacher told us that some of the children would like to share a word with us. We expected them to teach us a couple phrases in Luganda, but it was clarified that he meant a word from their income. We received eight tomatoes and four avocados from as many students because they wanted to show their appreciation of us.

Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, Kristen and I worked with the Nursery class at St. Mary's Primary School. One hundred 3-5 years old students circled around us as we taught songs - The Very Little Spider (The Itsy Bitsy Spider), Row Row Row Your Boat, Mary Had a Little Lamb, Wasswa and Kato (Old MacDonald) Had a Farm - and dances - The Hokey Pokey and the Chicken Dance - and more. In return, they sang songs and danced for us, overly excited that we were paying them so much attention.

On Saturday, we went with Heidi to St. Joseph's Secondary School for their Health Club. We played a few games and completed a Life Skills Activity to encourage the students to think about who they are and who they want to become. All the students were asked to draw a picture of who they currently are and another of who they want to be in the future as well as write a description of their goals and aspirations. Everyone shared their drawings and asked questions about their goals. These students were very enthusiastic and interested in what we had to share with them. With students like the ones I have had the opportunity to work with this week, it is no wonder why so many of them desire to be teachers.

As a thank you for the time we spent with her class, Harriet, the head nursery teacher at St. Mary's (there are three teachers for the 100 students), invited us to her house on Sunday for fruit. The invitation in and of itself was very kind of Harriet. However, when we arrived, she had prepared so much more than we expected. A full meal of matooke (cooked green bananas) with beans, fish, and greens and a bottle of grape Mirinda sat waiting for us to share with her and her two adorable children. She also gave us tomatoes, avocados, and lemons from her garden. She told us how several parents had contacted her to ask if it was true that two mzungus came to teach in the classroom since their children had come home telling them so. The parents are all very appreciative that we are willing to work with their children.

In Uganda, the emphasis that is placed on community and the importance of hospitality is immense. While I may feel that I not making much of a impact, I have come to realize that the smallest amount of generosity and effort goes a long way. Sometimes I wonder why I fall in love with certain places, like Katosi, but then I think about the hidden beauty of the location, especially that which is in the people, and I remember. I have traveled to many countries, yet nowhere in the US or Europe have I seen such complete selflessness and hospitality as from the people I have come to know in Uganda and Ghana.

“I still can’t believe we are in Uganda”

2011-06-12T04:54:00.001-07:00

Greetings from the beautiful village of Kyetume (pronounced Che’tume) in the South Eastern corner of Uganda about an hours drive from the Capital of Kampala. As I write, it is three o’clock in the morning here and the lights have just returned in the incredibly comfortable 2room apartment Georgia and I share (pictures forthcoming). Since we forgot to shut our bedroom window before darkness set in, mosquitoes are having the time of their lives at my expense though after about the third bite, I have become accustomed to the sting (and itch).

“Are you ready?”

My journey to Uganda began on the early morning of May 31^st 2011. Well known for my procrastination or as I like to say it “waiting for my motivation to reach its capacity”, I chose this morning to go about the business of withdrawing the cash I would need while in Uganda, shop for gifts to bring to the children here, and apply for an internship with a July deadline. As most procrastinators will testify to, the beauty of procrastination is that you know whatever needs to get done WILL get done, never mind your stress level. In any case, I finished the aforementioned tasks and loaded into a car with my mother, brother, sister and aunt bound for Logan International Airport.

“Is that a Popeyes in Istanbul?”

The flight to Istanbul was pleasant enough mostly due to my sleeping 7 out of the 9.5 hours it took to fly there and good entertainment courtesy of one lesser-known movie (and for good reason) called The Losers. I had taken a terrorism class last year and part of the lesson plan included a brief discussion on Turkey and factors affecting its entry into the European Union. Since most of the EU member states’ objection to Turkey’s entry was based on the latter’s Muslim majority, I expected Istanbul to be somewhat conservative. I could not have been more mistaken. The Ataturk airport in Turkey was as western as any other airport in a non-English speaking western country with both men and women dressed and “made-up” in distinctly western styles (this is not to discount the presence of a mosque at the airport and the prominence of Muslim names). But this surprise was nothing compared to the shock I experienced when I saw a Popeyes chicken joint. Although I was scarcely hungry after just having enjoyed a grilled chicken and rice meal on the inbound flight, I was OBLIGATED to try Turkey’s Popeyes fried chicken. It was not until after I had consumed my entire fried chicken salad (an oxymoron I know) and had thoroughly enjoyed my orange soda (made with sugarcane not high fructose corn syrup) that I realized I hadn’t the slightest clue as to how fried chicken at a Popeyes in Turkey compared to fried chicken from a Popeyes in the U.S. This was the case largely because I couldn’t recall the last time I had Popeyes in the States. Suffice it to say, I enjoyed my fried chicken salad from the Popeyes in Turkey as much as I imagine I would have from a Popeyes joint in the States.

“Breathe in, this is Entebbe”

We were wheels down in Entebbe at 1:15 in the morning of June 2^nd. AGRADU had made arrangements to have me picked up from the airport by a taxi driver working for the hotel where I would be staying the night. Everything went smoothly; I was granted an entry visa with no incident, all three of my suitcases arrived, and Dennis was standing at the exit door patiently holding a sign that read NJERI MUGURE MWANGI, SUNSET HOTEL. The first thing that came to my mind upon exiting the airport was how fresh and cooling the air felt in my lungs. There was this positive energy about Entebbe that penetrated deep into my soul triggering a strong connection with a land with which I was scarcely familiar. It’s one of the most difficult things to put to words the feeling one gets when everything is at it should be. Within a very short time, Uganda had pulled me tightly into its grasp, enticing me with its refreshing air, lush greenery and best of all, its generous people.

Sunset Hotel, Entebbe, Uganda

“Where is George?”

The plan was to meet George, a field officer at the Katosi Women Development Trust, at the airport so that together we could wait for the rest of the AGRADU interns to arrive. Unfortunately, when I got to the airport George was nowhere to be found. I desperately searched for him even resulting to asking any young men who appeared to also be searching for somebody if they were George. But none of them were. Afterabout an hour and a half (it took a while for the 7 AGRADU interns to clear customs since 2 large planes had landed at approximately the same time), the taxi driver who had driven me to the airport asked that I retrieve my luggage as he had an engagement. I unloaded my luggage and just as I was about to walk back to the arrival terminal to continue looking for George, a man came up to me and inquired as to whether I was Njeri from AGRADU. It was George! Apparently, someone had sent George a text message describing my hair and what I was wearing. I HAD FOUND GEORGE or rather George had found me! After loading my luggage into the minivan George had driven in, we returned to the arrival gates to find the AGRADU group waiting for us.

“Are there no rules for traffic here?”

The 45 minute drive from Entebbe Airport to Kampala was interesting least of which was because I was having the time of my life watching the chaotic traffic scare the daylights out of Kristen. The constant honking at people who could not be bothered, weaving in and out of traffic lanes, almost miraculous riding of boda bodas (motorcycles) in tight spaces and the sudden appearance of pedestrians crossing the road at all sorts of places was a sight like no other. While I had witnessed this kind of driving in Nairobi, I had been lucky enough to be in the backseat for most of those rides. This time however, I had front row seating. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and prayed since I wasn’t sure whether our health insurance was active upon immediate arrival in Uganda or the day after.

“Wait airtime isn’t talk time in minutes?”

Kampala was much more spread out and “less taller” than most of us had imagined. Structures were scattered over a large area and most buildings were not that high (by western standards). We spent our first few hours checking into the hotel, acquiring Ugandan currency and buying local phones and sim cards. One of the biggest problems we immediately ran into was interpreting airtime. It was explained to us that 5000 Ugandan Shillings bought you 5000 shillings worth of airtime not 5000 talk time minutes and there was no way to figure out exactly how many minutes was contained in 5000 shillings worth of airtime since it costs different to call different people depending on distance (whether in Uganda or elsewhere), type of service being used (calling or texting) and service provider. In general, the customer service rep. continued, it was cheaper to call than to text provided one was calling people within the same service provider (think in network calling from sprint to sprint). Also, one was charged for outgoing calls/texts but not for incoming ones and perhaps most obviously, calls to the US were quite expensive.

Kampala, Uganda

Orientation at Katosi Women Development Trust (KWDT)

After two days of jetlag-induced erratic sleep, we were finally ready to begin working. Our first task involved attending orientation at the KWDT site. KWDT works to empower women in developing small businesses such as farming, milking, sawing, bee keeping and cattle raising, among others. It was incredible to imagine that the three little women giving the presentation (Vaal, Rehema and another young lady whose name I sadly cannot recall) were responsible for so many projects and as a result so many lives. It also brought home the reality that we would all be living for the next 8 weeks and (should I decide to continue pursuing my goal to become a Human Rights lawyer), perhaps the rest of my life. I left Katosi encouraged by the fact that while some were busy trying to run our world to the ground, countless others were fighting to uplift it.

“Wow, this is a really small town, umm… village”

While we had enjoyed each other’s company in Kampala, we were all ready for our journey to truly begin. George picked Georgia, Leslie, Kristen and I up from the hotel at around 9AM bound for Kyetume then Katosi. The journey to Kyetume was shorter than I had imagined taking a maximum of 1hr from Kampala. Our two-room apartment was better than anything we could have imagined. It consisted of a gas stove, a small refrigerator, kitchen table and chairs, cooking utensils, two beds with mosquito nets and a porcelain in ground toilet with a shower right above it. While our apartment contained all these modern amenities, our neighbors were not quite as lucky. The children occupying the apartment to our left washed their dishes outside even though they appeared to be no more than 8 years old. The elderly woman who lived two houses down cooked outside using firewood and three stones. I was at once happy and guilty when I thought about the modern conveniences we had been so lucky to afford while others who through no fault of their own could not.

“Does Jaja speak English?”

Georgia and I had not settled in our new home even ten minutes before the elderly woman (Jaja) living two doors down knocked on our door and requested that we follow her. This was all done using hand gestures as my roommate and I understood virtually no Luganda. As soon as we walked into the main road, all the village’s children ran up to Georgia shouting “Mzungu, mzungu”. They all held onto her hands as Jaja showed us around. It almost brought tears to my eyes to see so many children made happy just by the ability to hold a white woman’s hand. I wished that happiness would continue to come so easily for them in the future!

Jaja continued the tour of her village showing us where to buy rice, potatoes, flour, cooking oil, onions, tomatoes and fruits among others. Each time we passed a native of the village, Jaja was careful to tell them that we were visitors who would be living in their village for a while. I knew this is what she was saying because she would speak, point to us, then the person she was speaking to would turn to us and nod “ahaaa”. Our first meal in our new apartment was white rice and potatoes! Before retiring for bed, Jaja stopped by our door to ask if all was well (in Luganda of course). I would have been content with the fact that she only spoke/understood Luganda if she hadn’t muttered the words“good night” as she walked out. My face quite literally fell. I waited a few minutes, picked it up and proceeded to excitedly ask Georgia if she had just heard what Jaja had said.

“We’ve been planning months for this and now we are finally here”

Our first day at work was busy to say the least. It started with a meeting with Reuben, the programme manager, where we discussed our expectations of the organization and which projects we wanted to work on. We then took a tour around the resource center and were shown around the Kyetume Community Health Center to include the wards, immunization rooms, laboratory and the theater room where minor surgery was conducted. Everyone was incredibly excited to see us and they each took the time to explain what they specialized in and how important the health center was to the community.

We also talked with a man named Beni who with the help of Kyetume had erected a keyhole garden that he credited for his good health and extra income. This was the first time I had met someone who had been directly affected by the keyhole gardens and was immediately motivated by the fact that keyhole gardens were desperately needed/wanted in this community.

After touring the health center, we made our way to the Katosi Static Center, a branch of the Kyetume Community Based Health Care Programme, which was erected for the sole purpose of serving communities that lived too far away from the main center. While not as large as the Kyetume branch, the Katosi health center provided many services and referred clients who needed more serious medical attention to the larger Kyetume center.

The Heifer Project

Before retiring for the night, David, a field officer who works for Kyetume Community Based Health Care Programme, requested that we make two quick stops to check in on two clients who had been recipients of Heifers. Heifers are mature cows that are given to families with three or more orphans with the expectation that the family will care for the cow and once it has a female calf, pass that calf along to another orphan family. According to the Heifer project guidelines, if the Heifer happens to calf a bull, the family is obligated to raise the bull up to an age when it can be sold for a good amount of money and then use the funds to buy the orphans books, uniforms, blankets or pay for school fees. David explained that he advises the orphan families to try and have the cow calf as many calves as possible while its in their possession since the project only requires the first calf (if it’s a cow) to be passed along (the family can keep any calves born after this first one has been given to another family).

With a Heifer in Katosi, Uganda

Getting to Katosi

2011-06-10T11:11:00.000-07:00

WOW!!!!! I knew what I was getting myself into, but I didn’t know what I was getting myself into. I think that this is first time that I have ever experienced culture shock. Everything is so different here that it has definitely taken me the last week to get acclimated. After having some time to get used to my new living conditions, however, I am starting to get comfortable. My landlord is Mama Gertrude and she is awesome. I would guess that she is in her 60s and her English is a little rough around the edges, but she is wonderful. I understand why everyone calls her “Mama” Gertrude. She makes sure that Leslie and I are ok 24/7 and she has really made us feel at home. We have also been shown all of the ins and outs of the village by a local named Raymond. He also boards/lives in Mama Gertrude’s house and he has been an amazing guide and friend as Leslie and I figure everything out. So in spite of my initial shock, this experience is really becoming positive. There is also a Peace Core Volunteer named Heidi and she arrived today after being at a meeting all week. She showed us around the local school today and we were introduced to all of the students. Leslie and I also sat in on a few classes and it was decided that in addition to attending and helping run the school’s sanitation club on Thursdays, we are also going to help teach at least once a week. I am teaching English and Leslie is teaching Math. I am glad to finally get started and I can’t wait to contribute to some other schools as well. Heidi says that Katosi, the school we went to today, is one of thirteen in the area, but it is the only school that really benefits from foreigners, so she asked us to work at some of the other schools too. So starting Monday, Leslie and I are going to begin exploring some of the other schools to address sanitation issues as well as to decide which schools are in the most need of bio sand water filters.

I am very excited to get started and make my small difference. I am also extremely nervous. Heidi, the Peace Core volunteer, has been here for almost two years and she has done a lot like help the school get new latrines, started composting at the school, as well as taught the Katosi Women Development Trust how to make and sell yogurt. Yet there is so much to be done and I don’t know how we will do much in 8 weeks. It is a little overwhelming and discouraging so I guess I just have to continue with my specific project (water sanitation) and hope for the best. I am also skeptical about my teaching skills. I hope that I can get the hang of teaching children who DO NOT speak English. It is a little scary, but I guess all I can do is jump and in and see how it goes. Other than that I am just thankful for this experience and I hope that I can live up to my potential here in order to help others live up to their potential even after I am gone. Until next time.

-Kristen

Week 1 in Uganda

2011-06-10T00:11:00.000-07:00

Our group embarked for Uganda about a week ago and, as mentioned by several already, we have had a number of adventures thus far. Among these include nearly missing the plane from JFK due to a quick turnaround, a 4+ hour excursion through Kampala during a crucial international soccer match, watching Leona Lewis music videos with George (which he has on DVD), eating all new yet delicious types of food, an unexpected guest making themselves at home in our hotel room in the middle of the night, a quick taste of what one can do with oil money in the exquisite city of Dubai, getting stared at everywhere we go, feeding bananas to monkeys with tails twice as long as their bodies, watching a helmetless motorcycle driver speed past us wearing a shirt proclaiming, “Use your head, wear a helmet” in huge letters, listening to stories about people with so many siblings they don’t even know all of them, etc. Our wonderful host family includes Rehema (who works at the KWDT office in Kampala with Zach and I), her husband Frank, and their daughters Denise and Rachel, age 4 and 10 months. They live in a quiet, village-like atmosphere a significant drive to the bustle of the big city of Kampala. More details about my job in the office will come in the future, as this work week featured a day trip to Katosi Tuesday to visit some field sites (areas where KWDT does their work) and we saw Leslie, Kristen, and met all of their crew, as well as a public holiday Thursday (Heroes Day, our Veterans Day equivalent) which was spent at George’s place and picking up some things in town. This weekend we are all planning to meet up in Jinja, the city famous for being the source of the Nile River. That’s all for now.

- Grant

Updates from Kampala, Week 1...

2011-06-09T05:46:00.000-07:00

Today marks our first week in Uganda, and the week's events have certainly provided plenty of topics to write about. As much as I enjoy flying and traveling, spending a day and a half in transit left me fairly exhausted and ready to arrive in Kampala for some time to unwind and adjust to living in Uganda's capital city. The group spent 2 1/2 days in Kampala taking care of a few logistical issues, namely getting cell phones and booking a safari for later in the month, and once these were taken care of we took the time to explore the city and hang out together. Some noteworthy happenings:

-A 2-3 hour adventure to find a hostel located about 4-5 miles away. Eager to stretch our legs and anticipating the hostel to be much closer than it actually was, we decided to walk to there. Unbeknownst to us, we were walking down the same road as the national stadium on the one day of the month when the Ugandan national soccer team was competing for qualification in (next year's?) African cup. Traffic in Kampala is horrific enough on a regular day (hundreds/thousands of vans spewing enough smoke obscure your vision if you are behind them, and then countless numbers of bike taxis weaving in and out of traffic (at first glance it looks extremely reckless, but after observing hundreds of what I thought to be near-collisions, I'm extremely impressed at how adept they are at navigating the traffic)), and the mass of crazed fans screaming, honking horns, and blowing vuvuzuelas made the situation all the more chaotic. We quickly tried to find an alternative route, and within about 30 minutes we found ourselves off our dinky travel book map and next no significant landmarks, as it turns out. We thought that the cattle slaughterhouse we were at would be an easily recognizable place for a taxi to pick us up, so we waited outside a gas station and called for a taxi. Then we waited for about an hour and eventually a gas attendant noticed we could use some help and arranged a ride for us. So, around 3 hours later we made it to the hostel.

-An unwelcomed visitor in the hotel room. Jeffrey, Grant and I split a three person room at the New City Annex hotel-conveniently located near the center of the city and with easy access to just about any modern convenience we could ask for. Despite the great location, the hotel itself was a bit dreary-cinder block walls masked by a thin layer of paint and window shades that couldn't quite hide the iron bars that would prevent an intruder (or escape?). I would not be surprised if sometime during the buildings history it acted as a jailhouse. The doors that could be locked from the outside further reinforced my suspicion. Though for 6 bucks a night it was a steal. So anyways, on our third and final night, unlike the previous two nights, we forgot to lock the door to our room, and when I noticed in the middle of the night the door was unlocked I could not find the key in the darkness , so I kept the door unlocked…Around 6 AM, in that state somewhere b/t sleeping and being fully conscious I sense the unmistakable (and startling) feeling of pressure being placed on the opposite side of the bed and the rustling of my sheets. I look over and see this rather large black woman, clothed only in a bath towel (fortunately it was a very large bath towel) positioned about 8 inches away from my face on the bed…Safe to say I did not see this one coming. I realized I was in a bit of dilemma, so I spent the next few minutes contemplating the various courses of action I could take and the moral desirability of each. . On one hand I could just let the situation be: The woman, now sleeping peacefully next to me, must have had a rough night and was in dire need of some sleep. Who am I to deny her that? Maybe I should just roll over, go back to sleep, and address the situation in a few hours. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you…right? In her condition, I would probably want to keep sleeping.

On the other hand, I had paid for the bed, in essence it was my property for the night, and I therefore had the right to exclude her from use. And she is a stranger, and she's in a bath towel, and this situation is really weird.

Okay, in reality, I jumped to this latter conclusion almost instantly, and I ran outside waving my arms and trying to convey the urgency of the situation to the hotel maids who could not understand my English. After a few minutes of poking her to get up and summoning the gentleman in the room next to us (whom I am assuming she was with, though I did not ask for details) the lady left the room. Mission accomplished.

This entry is getting longer than I anticipated, and I hope it does not paint a bleak picture of my travels so far. Besides a few strange occurrences, I am having a great time and am thoroughly enjoying Uganda. I will discuss more about my internship, the great family I am staying w/, and any further adventures in my next blog.

-Zach

Experiencing Uganda

2011-06-08T03:53:00.000-07:00

We have been in Kampala for 3 days now and I am still shocked when 3 and 4 year old children beg for money and food. I wonder if that is something that you can become immune to? These poor kids have begged since they could walk and they lay in the sidewalks covered in red mud day after day. Because 5 of the 8 of us are white they flock around us and will follow us for blocks. It is the worst feeling because we simply ignore them and keep walking. If we gave money to one of the children it would cause a frenzy. Today, however, one little boy was following me (I would say he was 4) and he had large lesions growing on his neck. I felt so bad that I gave him my water bottle (1.5 liters) which was almost as big as he was. I know that this story is not shocking or abnormal for a lot of African countries but it will remain sad no matter how accustomed I get to it. It breaks my heart.

On a happier note, the people here are extremely kind. Six of the eight of us went on a walk today with the intention of finding the Red Chili Hotel. We got completely and utterly lost, however, so we had to call the hotel. They sent us a cab, but after waiting for 40 minutes a gentlemen came up to me and said “you look stranded?”. I told him that our cab was taking forever and he offered to get us a cab. A cab came in less than five minutes and we were at our destination in ten. Every person that I have come across has been extremely helpful and kind just like this man. It is a very refreshing to know that people are not out to get you and that they want to help. I think everyone is Uganda is happy today, however, because the Ugandan football team (soccer) won today. The team has not qualified for the finals in 40 years so today was a big day for Ugandan citizens. Whistles, horns, and every other sound imaginable have been going off all day. I thought that the United States was vocal about sports, but the people here on another level entirely. It was really fun to see the excited faces today as the whole country cheered on their team. I saw thousands of yellow Ugandan jerseys as we attempted to get through all of the traffic.

Tomorrow we are going to our sites which are going to be very different from the bustling city of Kampala. My village is called Katosi and it is approximately 2 hours away from Kampala. Kampala has been a blast but I am excited to get to my village where it is quieter. I’m not exactly sure what to expect so I am waiting in anticipation to see what our accommodations are like as well as to see how many schools/children we will be working with. I spoke to one of the women in charge of our site, however, and they have no funding (grants) for water filters so they are very excited for my water sanitation project. I am so glad that I can fund and help build water filters for this village and I can’t wait to start. Even if I do nothing else, it feels good to know that I can make a concrete difference by building a few water filters that will last forever. That is it for now.

-Kristen

Oli otya Nakato?

2011-06-08T03:27:00.000-07:00

How are you, Nakato? My new Uganda name is Nakato, meaning the younger twin while Kristen's is Babirye, the older twin.

I have fallen in love with Katosi. A small fishing village on the shore of Lake Victoria, Katosi has a unique serenity about her, maintaining a balance between the public and private spheres of life. Kristen and I arrived Sunday afternoon, not knowing what to expect. We were immediately welcomed with open arms by Maama Gertrude, our host and mother for the next two months. She is a lovely lady with six grown children and a large friend network in the community. In the evenings, there are always people coming and going from her house, watching TV, holding conversations, and praying.

Also living at her compound is a mother with her three small children. Abraham and Dan (4 and 3) quickly warmed up to our presence. Rose (1.5), however, is still a little unsure. This is the case with a lot of children. Most will run up to us excitedly, while others will see a muzungu (white person) and start crying! Luckily, this doesn't happen often. There is also a boy named Paul who takes care of Ana, the pregnant cow. She is due in July. Cow birth anyone? And Robina, a sweet, quiet lady, who assists Maama Gertrude with the house chores.

We have meet several members of Katosi over the last three days. Notably, Raymond is a young gentleman, a student studying medicine at a university in western Uganda, who has graciously taken Kristen and I on an extensive two-day tour of Katosi. We have fed Papas monkeys bananas, learned how the fishing boats are made and their different uses, milked a cow, visited the police station to introduce ourselves, grazed a goat, learned how to make bricks, hiked to the top of the hill overlooking Katosi and the surrounding lands (gorgeous view!), played with the children, been introduced to the variety of crops grown in the area, explored the market, and traveled to Mukono, the nearest city with internet, one hour's ride from Katosi. He also showed us a few isolated locations where we can occasionally go to have some quiet time. Tomorrow, Heidi, the Peace Corps volunteer and our supervisor, will return to Katosi and we can begin working with the schools.

It has been an exciting first week. Next week, we shall settle into a routine and begin working on our projects. Yesterday, Raymond said "There is beauty in all things." I could not agree more. We were standing on a road with completely different views in opposite directions. On one side was the sand yard where sand is taken to build houses. It is a large expanse of red clay, small sand hills here and there with cliffs in the back where sand has visible been removed. One length of earth revealed the various sediments packed below the surface of the ground on which we walk. The earth contains so many hidden secrets, waiting to be discovered and noticed. On the other side was an oasis. Pools of water covered in part by water lilies and marsh grasses providing landing grounds for several different bird species, including the rarely seen national bird, the grey crowned crane. There just happened to be two standing side by side enjoying a mid-day meal and rustling their feathers. The grey crowned crane is on the endangered species list; thus, we were very fortunate to see them and so close. Beyond the water began a forest, providing shelter from the sun and a home to many more creatures.

There truly is beauty in everything. Sometimes we only need to slow down our pace of life to find it. While the pace of life is slower in Uganda, it allows time for reflection and appreciation of everything that is around me. I am ecstatic to spend these eight weeks making Katosi my home, growing, learning, and giving.

From the Middle East...to East Africa

2011-06-04T02:22:00.000-07:00

Where to start, where to start. After a beautiful night in the AMAZING city of Dubai, we finally touched down in Kampala. First off, Dubai was breathtaking! It is as if Las Vegas was just magically placed in the Middle East..but with A LOT more flavor and elegance. I got hooked up with a free night stay in a hotel and me and the gang took a night tour of the city. It is by far one of the most beautiful places I have ever been to in my life, I absolutely loved it!
We arrived in Entebbe on June 2nd and were greeted by the lively and energetic, George. His excitement to see us and work with us this summer put me at ease and made me feel so much more comfortable. George works with one of the grassroots organizations that AGRADU partners with (Katosi Women's Development Trust). He has been wonderful in assisting us adjust and get everything in order in Kampala before we are disperse to our different internships. Exploring Kampala has been exciting and exhausting. It's such a huge city...so much larger than anything I expected. The heat is real and the showers are cold, but the experience is such a blessing and I have wholeheartedly been enjoying every second of it. The lifestyle here is slow...very slow. But it really has allowed me to breathe and absorb every hour of each day. A LOT of reflection time and even more time to meditate on my intention and purpose here. I leave for Busia (New Hope) tomorrow, so this time has been wonderful and I have appreciated every minute of it.
Today is my last day in Kampala before I am off to the real deal. Mixed emotions about leaving this developed city to go to an extremely rural town..but I am ready. I am grateful for what is to come, thankful for all the experiences thus far, and most importantly I am aiming to wake up each day with the utmost intention, acceptance and openness to grow.
Hopefully, I can update you all after settling into my home in Busia.
Keep it classy, America.

-Maylott

Kampala

2011-06-04T01:09:00.000-07:00

After two days of traveling, we made it safe and sound to our hotel in Kampala. A 13 hour flight, 12 hour lay-over, 7 hour flight, and 1.5 hour drive later, exhausted, the 8 interns exchanged money, bought phones and Sim cards, and ate dinner at the restaurant at the hotel.

During our extended lay-over in Dubai, we went on a two-hour night tour of the city. The architecture was magnificent and they seem to have the tallest and largest everything in the world. We saw Atlantis Hotel (largest hotel in Dubai with an aquarium inside. The cheapest room is $500!), Burj Khalifa (tallest building in the world at 828 meters), Burj Al Arab (tallest hotel, located on strip of land in the sea), Palm Island (largest man-made island), and Dubai Mall (largest mall in the world with 1200 shops) to name a few of the highlights. The hotel, transportation, dinner, breakfast, and refreshments were all complementary through Emirates; we just had to make a reservation in advance.

Flying into Entebbe, Uganda looked so green, a lush, rich green, with brown roads splitting an abundance of trees interspersed with houses. It feels wonderful to be back in Africa, though in a different region from Ghana where I studied abroad two years ago. I am very excited for the next two months and the experiences I will have and share. I'm looking forward to arriving in Katosi tomorrow. Kampala is a bustling city with a population of 1.2 million. It seems the road on which our hotel is located is never quiet. Thursday night there was a comedy show across the street and this morning I woke to the sound of car horns and vuvuzelas.

Yesterday morning we went to the Katosi Women's Development Trust (KWDT) office for an orientation of the organization. Kristen and I will go to Katosi Sunday morning with George, dropping Njeri and Georgia at Kyetume on the way. Rehema and Vaal, two lovely ladies who work for KWDT, gave an in-depth presentation of the background and goals of the organization, as well as their expectations of the interns. The afternoon consisted of an extended nap and a walk around the city. We saw the Parliament Buildings, Independence Monument, Rwenzori Court, City Square, upmarket hotels, the police station and bus station, looping back to our hotel.

Surprisingly, I haven't heard many "muzungu" calls, a welcome relief, whereas in Ghana "obroni" was shouted constantly. Muzungu and obroni both mean white person or foreigner in Luganda and Twi respectively.

More to come after my arrival in Katosi!

2011-05-24T17:08:00.000-07:00

Just checking to make sure everything work too! First time blogger :] !

first blog

2011-05-02T14:16:00.001-07:00

Just making sure it worked.

-Kristen McAvoy

deuces, uganda.

2010-07-22T08:03:00.000-07:00

so i would just like to say thanks to all the other "interns" who MAROONED Julia, Regina, Colleen and I in Africa while they went back home to eat cookout milkshakes (Lauren). Just kidding though. I hate you, not really, but kind of. Its just four of us wolves, running around the desert together, in Eastern Africa. Meaning its obvious I am fiending to watch The Hangover.The bombings in Kampala were definitely scary to say the least. The newspapers here were very graphic, and the images made the bombings that much more real. I felt unsafe for a few days afterwards, but when we returned to our village I felt protected by our steadfast jaa jaa (friendly neighborhood grandmother). I seriously don't doubt her ability to stop even nuclear warfare.

Even though our stay was prolonged, the last weekend in our village was a great one. On Friday we went to a school competition, where schools around the area competed in athletic games, to support the kids we teach during the week. Our school made it to finals in girls netball (a rugby/basketball/volleyball like game) and boys soccer. I was so proud, and it was fun cheering on the kids that were playing. Friday night we taught our coworkers the American way to throw a party (which was really 12 people crammed in our small apartment and playing flip cup by candlelight). All in all, it was a great success. Sunday, Regina and I rescued Julia from a cassava stand in our village by delivering her her poncho when it began to hurricane for approximately 17 hours.

The saddest day was the day we told our kids at school goodbye. When they all gathered around to hug me I thought I was going to die. I gave my tennis shoes to a boy in my class that plays on the school soccer team, and the look on his face was priceless. Saying goodbye to my kids and my coworkers was difficult because they were my family this summer, even though I'm excited to come home and see my family in the US. Unfortunately, no emotion hits me until about 3 days later, so instead of crying when I left the school I cried at the end of our bootleg rented copy of Toy Story 3 last night.

Home in two days. So weird. This is the last blog until I get onto American soil...so werraba and sula belungi (goodbye and good night)!

goodbye ugandaaaaa

2010-07-22T08:02:00.000-07:00

I cant believe i am boarding a plane to leave uganda in 4 days. it really hit me how much im going to miss everything about this country, well not everything especially the latrines but the people yes. We had to say goodbye to our class at the school we teach yesterday and it was the saddest day ive had here. My teacher was amazing and gave me a sign made out of palm leaves that said "regina we love u" and i almost bursted into tears. One of the girls in my class started crying when the teacher told her it was my last day, it was the saddest thing. I love my kids so much and will miss them terribly but hopefully will be able to keep in contact with my teacher and get updates from them. I had them do a project in which they said what their dream was and many of them said lawyer, president, pilot and policemen and women. I am so happy that they have these dreams and hope they accomplish them someday. I learned alot from my teacher about the schooling system of uganda and its amazing how hard it is to go to the university and beyond. But my teacher was very optimistic about the kids in the class which was wonderful because her optimism spread to their determination to do well in school. Overall i never thought i would enjoy teaching but my class proved me wrong. I cant wait to hear about them soon.

bittersweet

final farewell

2010-07-15T06:39:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been a whirlwind of week starting with the bombings here in Kampala.
When I woke up Monday morning, I never expected the series of events that would ensue leading up to today. I didn't find out about the bombings until I opened my email at 8 am and had three emails from the US Embassy. At first I didn't even open them because I figured it was just a reminder to update my contact information or some pointless reminder about living in Uganda. I read all my other emails and then read the first email from the embassy which warned all US citizens to return home because of an "incident" at "the rugby club." The next email had more details about the two bombs and that at least 60 people were confirmed dead.

I spent all day Monday watching the news and reading articles on the terrorist attacks. I researched Al Shabab, the terrorist group from Somalia claiming responsibility for the attacks and listened to the news reports as the death toll slowly climbed higher and higher. Some of my co-workers here at the office lost friends in the explosion and everyone was concerned there would be more bombings.

I emailed friends, family, UNC officials and the Agradu coordinators back home to confirm the safety of all the interns here. Luckily, Scarlet and I are the only two who were in Kampala, and our neighborhood is located on the other side of the city from the sites of the two bombings. Our director assured us that we would be safe where we are, but after talking to my parents and different people from UNC, I have decided that the best course of action is for me to return home early.
It was actually pretty difficult to get my flight changed and Emirates made me jump through tons of hoops to finally get them to put me on a flight on Saturday afternoon. I was hesitant to change my flight right away because I wanted to wait and hear from the Embassy about their stand on the situation, but they have released no other statements since the first Warden's message on Monday releasing basic information about the bombings. After the discovery of a fourth bomb on Monday night at a local nightclub and various bomb scares all over town since then, I feel confident in my decision to leave. I actually went into town yesterday, and it was really weird. It seemed deserted, there were at most half the number of people who are usually out and the traffic was even less than that. Even though there were people were walking around, everyone seemed frightened and very wary of everyone else. Today Avery told me that as she was walking through town with her big backpacking-size backpack that people were asking her (seriously) if she had a bomb in her bag.

It's unfortunate that these are the terms on which I will leave Africa, but I don't think it will greatly tarnish all the memories I have made. I will miss Uganda, especially all the people who I have become friends with over the past two months. Rehema and Vaal gave birth to their babies today (Vaal had a boy, Ethan, and Rehema had a baby girl!) I was looking forward to seeing more of the newborns and hanging out with George and Immaculate at the office. It's been a busy 2 months here; full of grant writing, research, and intern projects. We successfully built tippy-taps, enhanced local sanitation clubs in Katosi and helped train women members of KWDT in book-keeping management and team-building. I've learned a lot being here and had some crazy cultural experiences, too many to count. Living in a foreign country where you are the only white person is an adventure everyday. Just going out to buy vegetables for dinner turns into a performance as children rush out of their houses to stare as you walk by. As much matooke and bananas as I've eaten here, it may be awhile before I even think about anything banana, but for some reason I think that I will actually one day miss it (unclear exactly when that may be)

I'm coming home laden with Uganda items and crafts and tons of pictures of all my experiences. I can't wait to see family and friends and have ice cream and strawberries and blueberries. It's been a fabulous experience Uganda, for my first trip to Africa, you didn't do too bad.

it's been real Uganda

2010-07-15T04:55:00.000-07:00

SO in a strange turn of events in the ever changing world that is Africa, I find myself abruptly leaving Uganda tomorrow, 8 weeks after I first got here.

I'm still slightly shocked with the turn of events that has happened since last Monday morning. After the Sunday night bombings in Kampala, it became the consensus between interns, parents, and UNC that we should not remain in Uganda after our internship ends, which corresponded in many scuffles with airline agencies, and everyone's changed their flights so that the last of us leave the 26th. Because of my tickets, I unfortunately could only get on a flight that leaves tomorrow, putting me state-side Saturday morning.

It's one thing to prepare yourself to leave for weeks, it's another to find out your leaving and have about 12 hours to say all your good-byes. I honestly didn't realized how attached I'd grown to Katosi, to my students, my favorite food vendors, the starry nights, shouts of "byyy-eeee mzungu", and all other aspects of the village life until I was suddenly forced with the realization that I would be leaving. This morning, Colleen and I woke up before dawn and walked to the top of the large hill to watch my last African sunrise (and we weren't disappointed...80 pictures of glowing pink blobs proves it). Without trying to sound too cliche, or corny, I'm not sure if I can describe how much my time here has affected me. Coming to Uganda to work with the KWDT, I was full of certain ideas and expectations, most of which were shattered and disproved (mostly for the better, but not always). I don't think anyone can tell you what it's like to be thanked multiple times by teachers, who work for barely any pay, 10 hours a day, 6 days a week, when your contribution feels like nothing in comparison to what they do each day. I wish I could stay for much longer, but at least I'm leaving with the certainty I'll be back. Sorry for the cheesy retrospective thoughts, but I can't think of another way to talk about how important my time here with the KWDT and all the people I've met has been to me.

Tomorrow I get on a plane, head back to air conditioning, and in a few weeks start planning for next year's AGRADU interns. While I wish I could just come again instead of picking new interns, I can't wait to let another 9 UNC students get to experience Uganda for themselves, and hope it affects them every bit as it did me. As the Ugandans say, "safe journey".

avery

I'm Leaving soon??

2010-07-15T04:52:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe that I'm leaving in less than 2 weeks. It feels like just yesterday that I arrived here and now it's already almost time to say goodbye. I have grown to love this place and the people I have met so much, and it will be very, very hard to say goodbye.
However, despite the tragedy that happened in Kampala this weekend, I am trying to make the best out of my remaining days at work. Today was my second to last day teaching at Kyetume SDA Primary School and was my favorite day thus far. The kids rarely get to do anything "artsy," so yesterday I went to Mukono and bought each of the kids in my class a pack of colored pencils. Today, they used to pencils, which they were thrilled about, to illustrate their dreams for the future. All of the kids wrote a few sentences about what they want to be when they grow up and then drew a picture of it. It was so cute to see the different responses. One girl wants to be the president of Uganda so that she can "make everyone happy." Another wants to be a policeman to "keep the law and order in Uganda and protect the people." They loved getting to tell me all about their future plans, and it was so interesting to hear them. Tomorrow the school is having its annual field day, which is a competition among local schools in various sports. I can't wait to go watch the kids and cheer them on.
Today we are also going to finish the necklaces and bracelets we have been making with the women's group. I've made a million beads, so it will be nice to finally turn them into something.
Things are winding down and it's starting to hit me how much I've learned about the world and myself this summer. I am ten thousand times more appreciative for the things I used to take for granted (i.e. a warm shower, clean water, pencils for school, shoes to wear..) and have a renewed passion for doing what I can to help make this world a little bit better. This might all sound somewhat corny and cliche, but this summer has truly meant the world to me.

Intern Project Rocks 3 (Scarlet’s P4P)

2010-07-15T04:50:00.001-07:00

On July 5th, Lauren and I went to Katosi again to complete my intern project. My intern project, Postcard for Progress, is to basically build up the initial art and postcard exchange for the students in Rwanda and Uganda(it is like a pen pal thing) . I and my partner in Rwanda acting as on-site coordinators collected around 60 postcards and songs from students and distributed those postcards and CDs to the other. In the last time we get to Katosi, Heidi and I have already talked to the teachers in Katosi C/U Primary School and Trio Primary School. They welcomed us very much to carry out the project in their schools. This time we brought the project description, Letter of Introduction, postcards, markers and music-recorder to these two schools. In Katosi C/U Primary School, Christopher, the teacher we communicated with, had already asked 25 students to prepare for their favorite songs. After we got there, 25 student had already gathered in a classroom, Lauren and Colleen helped me to guild them to create their postcards and I recorded their songs. It was a perfect first-time experience. Students there drew great pictures and write lovely introductions about themselves. The day after, we went to Trio Primary School. With the experience last time, the project went on smoothly. In total we collect 54 postcards and we are going to put them into CDs. We intended to bring some CDs back to these two schools as well as their pen pals in Rwanda. We will leave some envelops and postages for them to write letter to their pen pals in the future. Hope the students can continue their connection with their pen pals after we set up the initial exchange!

Scarlet
07/10

Intern Project Rocks 1 (Lauren’s)

2010-07-15T04:47:00.000-07:00

On June 29th, Lauren did her awesome intern project in the women meeting in Kampala. This was a meeting about record keeping. Lauren managed a trust building activity and awarded three good women record-keepers bio-sand filter. In the trust building activity we played a game called mine field. Let me explain this game first. Objects are scattered in an indoor or outdoor place. In pairs, one person verbally guides his/her partner, whose eyes are closed or blindfolded, through the "minefield". The challenge is for each blind-folded person to walk from one side of the field to the other, avoiding the "mines", by listening to the verbal instructions of their partners. After we put all “mine” on the ground, we got to show the how to play this game. I, the “blind”, followed Lauren’s instructions to cross the field. I was a little bit scared after Lauren blindfolded my eyes since I felt so insecurity within a totally dark and unfamiliar environment. And actually that is what this game emphasize, although you are in an unfamiliar environment, trust your partner and follow her instruction and then you can cross those mine. It was really funny to watch a “blind” girl avoiding stepping on the mine. Every time I following Lauren’s instruction skipped a mine, those women would burst into laugher. It is such a lovely game that every women wanted to try it. After almost every women play this mine field game, Lauren gave a speech about trust and leadership. Rehema commented that it was really a successful project. In the past when women had meeting, when one had a negative and distrustful comment, it would disappoint and distracted the goal in the whole group. After this meeting those women should learn a lot about trusting other and respecting others’ ideas.

Scarlet
06/30

Our daily life

2010-07-15T04:46:00.001-07:00

So after 4 weeks Lauren and I have already been accustomed to our office life and find a routine to follow everyday. Wake up at 7:30 and usually have some bread and butter for breakfast. Go to work around 8:30. Check email fist and them continue working on grant application. Once we finish an application, we will go to search on new grants. These days we are really productive and finished lots of application on their rainwater-harvesting project and women leadership project. We usually have lunch at 13:30 and finish our daily work around 5(obviously this week is a busy week, Margaret, Rehema and Vaal usually did not leave until 7 everyday.). Time after work everyday is my favorite part. We usually go for a walk and buy some vegetable to cook for dinner. After 4 week our neighbors finally get accustomed to 2 muzungus walk around every day. They finally did not stare at us as if we are two pumas escaping from a zoo.
After going for a walk, we go back for a rest in the office and then star to cook our dinner. Even thought I’d stayed in America for a whole year and I was craving for Chinese food so much, I never thought of cooking or tried to cook. It is such a surprise that I learn how to cook in Uganda during my internship. So far I have cooked lettuce, eggplant, fried rice and I’m sure you won’t try anything I cooked after you see them, but still, I survive by those food I cook. After dinner, we go surfing on internet a little bit and went or sleep at 11:00 or 12:00. that’s our typical day in Uganda.

Scarlet
06/20

Grant writing can be legit

2010-07-15T04:39:00.000-07:00

In the beginning of this week we saw our coordinator Margaret. She just came back from French. I thought after Margaret came back we may change our job and have something other than grant writing to do. However Margaret did not assign us any new work but just asked us to keep working on what we’re working before. At first I’m a little bit frustrated since any English writing cannot arouse my interest. However things changes after I finished several grant applications. I felt really fulfilling that I’m making contributions to KWDT! And when we get mission completed, I feel really proud of myself (yay lol)! So far I have finished the Ford Foundation Fund inquire and Open Society grant application and now working on Open Meadow Fund. Because of writing applications we need to writing bunch of background information and example proposals. Now I get familiar with so many different projects. I enjoy my job very much!

kampala

2010-07-14T05:37:00.000-07:00

the bombings this sunday were a shock to us all. Thank goodness all of us were safe but the pictures and newspapers made it seem hard to believe that all was well for the citizens of kampala. It was a suprise to know that these were acts of terrorism and that 74 people were killed. I wanted to cry seeing the pictures of people in the bombings and one of my coworker's friend was a victim in this tragedy.
Its also sad to know that im now leaving in less than two weeks. As I was talking to the people I work with and our "mom" here, it really hit me that I was going to be leaving this country that I have grown to love so soon. I dont really know what to feel since I am excited to go home to see my family yet sad to leave since there is still so much to do. It's a bittersweet emotion.

Kampala bomb blasts

2010-07-12T03:31:00.000-07:00

If you follow international news you may already know this information.
Last night, two bombs went off in Uganda's capital, Kampala. The bombings were at two bars where people were gathered to watch the final match of the 2010 World Cup. At least 64 people are confirmed dead and many others are injured. Police are still investigating the source of the attacks, though the largest suspect is a group called Al Shabab, a terrorist group from Somali that has threatened Uganda in the past.

All of the interns are safe. Scarlet and Lauren were the only two in Kampala at the time and their house is safely located on the other side of Kampala in a suburb at least 20 minutes away from the bombing sites. We are still waiting to hear from UNC and from the US Embassy if it is safe for Americans to remain in Uganda.

I wanted to let you all (friends and family) know that we are all safe and no one is any immediate danger.

shake n bake, baby

2010-07-11T01:05:00.000-07:00

Basically our cheer for this entire weekend, the reason why will remain unsaid. We are back in Jinja this weekend for the World Cup finals (go Spain!), and yesterday we saw Bujagali Falls in the Nile River.

This past week has been chill, but fun. We learned to make beads out of strips of magazine paper with the women that gather every Thursday at the resource center. I've been a bead making fiend for the past five days; its a little bit addicting. Sweet, now I'm a bead junkie. Better than any other kind of junkie, I suppose. It's quite aggravating and stressful when they start coming unraveled, but I'm improving. The women that gather are so cute, it reminds me of a Ugandan style book club/ dinner club, like the ones my mom and grandma are in.

On Friday night we had "girls night," and our 11 year old, 12 year old, and 7 year old neighbors came over to do hair and read magazines. They are seriously the greatest. We can't even really understand each other but we just laughed and sang and danced the whole time. Well...they sang. If I had tried to sing the small village children would have probably began crying.

Two more weeks in Africa; I can barely believe its almost over. I'll be happy to be home but I'll also miss the feeling of being here. It's so calm and beautiful, no one is ever in a rush and the stress level is always at a minimum (unless you are me, in which case you turn what most people would call a tranquil activity, such as bead making, into a stressful experience). Leaving is going to be bittersweet. 8 weeks, 5 pounds, and a couple of battle scars later, I've changed a lot inside and out.

Cheeseball cheesebal cheeeeeseeeballllllll, is what I am. I need to do something hardcore soon.

bead it!

2010-07-11T00:51:00.000-07:00

this week I learned how to make paper beads! there is a group of women that comes into the resource center every thursday to get together and make beads to turn into beautiful jewelry. At first when we sold the beads in chapel hill it amazed me how they were made of paper but now when i actually saw them making it, it really was a beautiful process. They cut up the strips of paper from maps and magazines and cut them with an angle to make the beads more round or long. The lady Christine that was teaching us had been making beads for years and was very nice and patient with us as we were carefully learning how to roll the paper.
I ended up making beads for hours and going back to the village and cutting magazines to try it out some more on my own. It is a very relaxing process and I felt very accomplished that I actually made them on my own. Hopefully my mom and family will appreciate it when they get it as their christmas gifts:)

Zhank-you vaaaary much!

2010-07-09T02:56:00.000-07:00

So this isn’t really work related, but it is a typical day-in-the-life story, so I thought I’d share.

Today in Katosi, Colleen and I decided to go for a run on our normal route up to the top of the cell phone tower hill. As we start to leave Mama Gertrude’s compound, we notice that there’s a lot more noise than normal coming from the streets. When we poke our heads out the main door, we notice that about 50 meters down the road there’s a huge swarm of people jumping and dancing to tribal drum music while pumping sticks up and down in the air. Perplexed, but hey, it’s Africa so not entirely surprised, we decide to do what we’ve become used to doing and just act like it’s business as normal.
Quick background, my runs here in Uganda are anything but normal. As a mzungu girl in running shorts, I’m going to get attention no matter what I’m doing, but me jogging just seems to be the greatest entertainment since color TV to some locals. So, a typical run will usually entail the women in hysterics, boda boda drivers honking and cheering, and my own personal fleet of barefoot runners aged three to ten trailing in my wake. So, that’s a typical jog.
Today, however, the Bagishu’s (a local tribe) street celebration added a new level of fun. Colleen and I slowly approach the festivities, trying our best to remain as inconspicuous as possible (which is actually impossible). Before I can comprehend what’s happening, I’ve been enveloped by a mass of people wearing banana-leaf hats and skirts, fist pumping with sticks, and doing a sort of African hip-dance. Lost beyond belief, I turn around to search for Colleen, and to even greater shock when I turn back around I have now been approached by the band (which includes drummer, dancer, and numerous other instruments). Now surrounded, people are chanting and encouraging me, the mzungu in jogging clothes, to start dancing and jumping. I fall into hysterical laughter and slowly try and extricate myself from the crowd. About sixty seconds after the entire episode began, Colleen and I find ourselves on the other side of the crowd, shrug off the incident, and take off for business as usual.
What was this celebration, you may wonder? As Mama later informed us, it was the tribe’s circumcision celebration. As an endnote, here’s an enlightening Ugandan statistic: 73% of the time, I have no idea what’s going on.

avery

green chickens?

2010-07-06T03:33:00.000-07:00

I cannot believe we only have a couple more weeks left in uganda, it makes me really sad to think about it. Sometimes i still cannot believe im here and every morning i wake up to a rooster it hits me. I am so excited that we have water again in our village! I definitely realized how I take running water for granted and that I cannot live taking bucket showers. As I was talking to my mom about it. it made me realize how many people in the world live without the basic necessities that we take for granted such as electricity and water every day.

On a lighter note, Im still teaching primary 2 for the kyetume sda primary school and today i learned to never give kids stickers. They went absolutely nuts with the stickers. I'm not sure they have ever had stickers before because they wanted every single sticker I had. It was so much fun seeing how much they loved putting stickers all over eachother and their faces.
Oh and on my way to work me and jules saw green chickens. It was very strange but our conclusion was that the owners dyed it to distinguish their chickens from the rest.

The Eets-Beets Spider

2010-07-06T03:11:00.000-07:00

After arriving home from a fun weekend in Entebbe/Kampala it was wonderful to find that water is back in Bukasa! woooo!
Every one has already talked all about the safari, so I don't need to say too much, but it was amazing! I had been dreaming of going on a safari for the good part of my 19 years on earth and last weekend it finally happened... The only thing we missed was a lion, but we saw every thing else!
Last week I got a mild case of malaria, which put a slight damper on things. I felt pretty sick for a couple days, but because I have been taking my malarone, it wasn't too bad. Besides my sickness, we had a good week at work. We taught, as usual, and worked on a newsletter for Kyetume CBHC. Even though the computer program we used was pretty frustrating, I had a lot of fun designing and organizing the newsletter. I was on the newspaper staff all 4 years in high school, so it's always been something that I've enjoyed doing.
This weekend was awesome. We went to Aero Beach with our "mom" and a 4 year old that lives near where we work named Tracy. They both were thrilled to take a day trip, and we all really enjoyed it, too. After a day at the beach we went to Kampala for the Fourth of July! I got all of my gift shopping done and am really excited about the things I got. I don't think I'm cut-throat enough for the markets... I am a bit of a push over when it comes to prices, so it was nice to have people like Regina around to help me with the whole bartering thing :).
This morning I taught my P4 class again. Their teacher was sick with malaria, so I basically was on my own for 4 hours. She wanted me to teach them a song, so I went with "The Itsy Bitsy Spider," and the kids loved it. It was SO funny to hear them try and pronounce the words "Itsy" and "Bitsy" (it came out as "eets-beets"), and they thought it was even more funny to hear me try and sing the high notes.
Afterwards, I taught them their science lesson, which was about interdependence among animals. As part of my lesson on predators and prey, I let them draw pictures of different predator/prey relationships. I didn't realize how excited they would be to have some sort of creative outlet and it was very interesting to see the different creativity levels. One kid, who the teacher has clearly identified as one of the slower kids in class, drew an amazing picture and clearly mastered the ideas of parasites, predators, and prey by being able to draw them and see a visual representation. Kids all learn in such different ways, and it is a shame that many schools don't have the materials necessary to meet the different needs of these different learning styles.
Later on today we are going to get the paint for the clinic and will hopefully start painting tomorrow. I will try to update this again later on this week, but only one computer at work has internet, so it's pretty hard to update as often as I want to.

blog happy

2010-07-05T05:52:00.000-07:00

so even though i just posted yesterday i figured i would post again because i am officially the worst blogger of all time and i always forget to do it. in continuation to rhea's story from last year...5 foot vultures do exist. a couple weeks ago when the kyetume girls were in jinja we saw one, whose beak that is the size of my entire body and was dripping with a very sinister looking liquid. all the animals here are supersized, including cockroaches, jumping spiders, and swarms of honey bees.

there is no longer any running water in bukasa, therefore im learning very quickly how it feels to take the luxurious "bucket shower." not the greatest feeling in the world. not showering for five days is also not so great. but in a sort of twisted way, im actually glad im getting the full african experience, even with the sacrifice of my personal hygiene. i better have excellent arm tone after carrying jerrycans full of water up from the well.

project paint the clinic is a go; everyone at work was really excited about the idea. we agreed on a light tan for the walls and a pretty bright green for the trim around the bottom. wearing a huge painting jumpsuit...not my best look, but you cant really have any fashion faux pas here (i.e: the cargo pantaloons i own, the green poncho size XXL given to me by my father dearest, julia's turtle-esque one piece bathing suit from 1985, etc.).

4th of July was fun, although i forgot how to party like an American. i'll need to get back in the groove when i come back to US soil. im going to discontinue blogging now before i start posting more lame words like "groove." I spent about 479237423 dollars/shillings at the craft market this weekend, but i love buying gifts....and what better way to spend money than in a real african craft market? sorry dad. the shopoholic girl in me comes out even in a 3rd world country.

tippy taps, stars, and a rhino named obama

2010-07-04T11:45:00.000-07:00

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...?!

pick which one doesnt belong: bathroom, toothbrush, hippo.

2010-07-04T00:52:00.000-07:00

soooo about the safari. it was literally one of the greatest experiences of my life. however, it turns out every time you wanted to use the restroom in the middle of the night you actually couldnt because huge hippos roam around and grunt outside your tent at night. and in the brochure for the safari it warned "not to call the emergency contact if you encounter a hippo because there is really nothing we can do about it." this upset me, because i feel like people that are constantly around creatures that apparently kill more people on land each year than crocodiles or wild cats should at least have a hippo reference book for situations such as these. if i came face to face with a hippo you better freaking believe i would have called that emergency contact faster than you can say " citrus fanta." it was also difficult to use the restroom because there were huge monsoons/ mini hurricanes that swept through the red chili safari camp every night. welcome to the wild wild west (well, east, technically).

anyways, the safari game drive was amazing. we saw tons of animals, and my two favorites, elephants and giraffes, were literally ten feet away from our van. i had to stare and drool like an idiot tourist for a good thirty seconds before i even caught my breath enough to take a picture. in the beginning i was a little overzealous about any animal i saw and so now i have about 20 million pictures of a guinea fowl (a small bird that waddles awkwardly...not so different from myself). we took a boat ride on the nile up to Murchison falls, which is one of the more scary and powerful waterfalls ive seen, and saw crocodiles, a ton of cool african birds, and even MORE hippos. plus, i got to hang out with a rhino mom and her baby. all in all, this was probably my favorite african experience so far.

tonight im ready to rep america and celebrate my country's independence 4,000 miles away. should be a good time. Happy 4th!

"Good Evening, Madame Everine, Ah-vry....Avery?"

2010-06-29T05:23:00.000-07:00

Greetings from Katosi!

Exciting things are happening this week in Katosi at St. John Bosco Primary School! We had our first official Sanitation and Health Club meeting on monday and had about 80 kids attend and sign up to be in the club!! Tomorrow, we're starting our first project and building tippy taps!! Tippy taps are hand washing stations that are pretty basic but let the kids wash their hands after they go to the bathroom, so I'm really excited to get those implemented. Lauren and Scarlette-the two KWDT interns that work in the Kampala offices, are coming tonight to help us build the tippy taps tomorrow! I can't wait, everyone at the school seemed really excited to get them built!

Life in Katosi is still great, but no signs that electricity is returning any time soon! (can you believe it Mom- 4 weeks sans electricity, doing pretty good eh?) Colleen and I have our little routine carved out and have gotten to know some of the different shops/stands, etc. We have our regular chipatti man that usually gives us a discount or free mandazi, Rachel, the world's most precious 3 year old that waits for us to walk by so she can run out and shake our hands, and finally there are enough kids that know us to call us "madame" when they see us instead of screaming "MZUUUUNGU!", which is a pretty nice change.

We went for a run yesterday to the top of the cell tower hill- and had a whole procession of kids run with us! By the time we reached the top, 6 of the kids had stayed with us and sat in our laps once we got to the top. It was one of the cutest things I've ever witnessed. It's going to be a change running at home without having my little support group behind me!

For the 4th of July, myself and some of the other interns are going to attend the American Embassy's 4th party in Kampala- pretty exciting! Hoping for a meet and greet with the ambassador, but who knows! Can't believe we have less than 4 weeks of our internship remaining! Until next time!

avery

intern project, COMPLETE

2010-06-29T04:03:00.000-07:00

It is Monday evening, 6:31 pm. And my intern project is complete! (well, almost)

Today we had a successful training for some of the leaders of the women's groups, 12 out of 13 came, 2 representatives from each. Our agenda was somewhat delayed due to a storm that hit this morning, right as we were about to get under way. All twenty four participants were shuffled inside into the garage and other random rooms. We all took "tea time", which consisted of tea and butter sandwiches (literally, bread and butter. I made them)

After the rain subsided, all the chair were moved outside again under a tent, which was there in case of more rain, but more to protect the women from the hot sun that eventually moved in. Rehema then talked to them about the program for the day and gave a talk on good records keeping. Vaal then spent most of the morning going over detailed examples of how to keep records on milk production, cows, loan payback, meeting minutes and project reports. When the workshop was over, everyone was divided into four groups and then their reports were analyzed in detail. This analysis was used to rank the book keeping ability of each of the groups and their records management. Using this information, the top three women's' groups were awarded bio-sand filters as an incentive for the other groups to improve their book keeping.

Rehema translated for me when I talked to them about the bio-sand filters and the importance of keeping good records in order to properly document current and future projects. Afterwards, I carried out a trust building activity with the women called "Mine Field." I set up some obstacles on the floor of the garage to create an obstacle course. The women were then partnered with the other participant from their respective group and one of them was blindfolded. Their partner then had to direct the blindfolded person across the "mine-field" without knocking over any of the obstacles. It sounds simple, but culture gaps make explanation difficult and I wasn't sure how grown Ugandan women would respond to such a seemingly trivial game.

The activity was a great success! While the women were hesitant at first, after seeing the first group of 3 pairs go across, they all were eager to participate. Everyone was laughing and enjoying the activity. After everyone had gotten a chance to be blindfolded we had a short de-brief where we discussed the lessons learned and how to apply the game to daily group interaction. The women took a lot away from the activity and many of them said they learned patience, listening skills and how to trust their partners. I was very impressed at their level of interaction and with the comments they had about the lessons they learned.

I used my intern funds to pay for the bio-sand filters and the transport of each filter to the respective women's groups as well as for 13 bags and folders to help the women keep their records organized. Everyone is exhausted from the long day and now we are planning to go to Katosi tomorrow afternoon to stay the night so that we can help Avery with her project on Wednesday building tippy taps!

it's just another manic monday

2010-06-28T05:17:00.000-07:00

Today is Monday and we are hosting a "Book Keeping and Records Management" workshop here at the Kampala KWDT office. 24 women from 12 of the women's groups are here for training on how to do efficient book keeping and we are checking up on all of their records for milk production, member registration, loan payback, meeting minutes and report writing. After lunch, some of the participants will share their experiences and we will examine some case studies and group reports. The final activity is a trust building game that I am putting on.

The leadership meeting last week went well, but we moved my presentation of the bio-sand filters to today so that we could judge the groups book keeping from today's meeting. After the activity, I will announce the best 3 women groups that will be awarded with bio-sand filters. The filters themselves are not here for me to hand over because they are built out in the field, but I will be announcing the recipients here and hopefully get to go out to Katosi later in July to distribute them.

Here's today's schedule!

Registration
Break tea
Welcoming remarks & Recap: Introduction to good records keeping
Group discussion / Review of records

Members data book
Registration book in meetings
Milk records
Cow records
Minutes book
Report writing

Lunch break
Sharing of experiences: 3 case studies
Comments on group reports
Trust Building activity and awarding best groups
Closure

On wednesday, Scarlet and I are planning to go out to Katosi to help Avery with her intern project, building tippy taps at St. John's Bosco school!

"It's my life...mind yo business!"

2010-06-25T13:01:00.000-07:00

I've been out of the US for a whole month! It's hard to believe. I'm going to be in shambles when I have to leave all of my babies, but I'm super excited to reach the halfway mark.

Here are some photos :

Matthew: the most stubborn baby in the world. So precious!
Joseph, just woken up from a nap....or about to take one. He and Matthew are getting adopted by a couple in Kansas in a few months. Cute!

Josephine, Junior, Stephanie (Harvard Volunteer), Sumaya, (Blessherheart I forgot her name), Miranda, and Becky outside of Ken (Director of New Hope)'s houseKen's House (aka "The Big House"). Pretty baller for Uganda. Just sayin.

Avery, Regina, RANDOM KID WITH A UNC SHIRT (GO HEELS), Emily, Julia, and Miranda in Jinja!Our typical Lunch: Rice, Potatoes, Matoke (green bananas, basically), and avocado.
Some of the kids in the Resource Center playing with coloring books
That's it for now. Bye-ee!

leetle babies

2010-06-23T03:38:00.000-07:00

today was my first day teaching at a school near the resource center and the children were absolutely adorable. I started off observing and helping the teacher of the "baby" class which was basically kids around 5 years old. Although the classroom was chaotic, some of the babies loved to run up to me touch my hand and then giggle as if i was a very strange creature. In the end they all left saying "goodbye madam regina" which broke my heart and i cant wait to go back next week to see them. I never realized how hard it was to try to teach especially children that young and i respect my elementary school teachers even though i thought they were horrible.
After lunch we are going to an outreach immunization clinic which hopefully i can learn to give immunizations myself. ive never gone to this village before so im very excited!
:)

Last Week's Failed Post

2010-06-23T03:37:00.001-07:00

This weekend Avery, Jamila, Miranda, Emily, Regina and I went to Jinja to watch the opening rounds of the World Cup together and explore the town that is known as “The Source of the Nile.” It was wonderful. We were let off of work a little bit early on Friday and caught a mutatu so that we could get there by the start of the first game.
We stayed at a little place called “Explorers Backpackers,” a popular hostel for foreigners stopping in Jinja. There were people from all over the world there and it was really interesting to hear about all of the different experiences that other foreigners are having during their stay in Uganda. Watching the World Cup there was unbelievable; even being on the same continent that the tournament is hosted on is truly wonderful.
After watching a couple of games on Friday, we spent our Saturday exploring and relaxing in the sun, which I got a bit too much of. Sunday we went to Bugadali falls with and watched all of the rafts go down the rapids.
The first couple weeks of work were a bit disorganized, but things are starting to fall into place. It’s hard adjusting to working here because there is a lot of downtime and things rarely work out as planned. However, with unreliable internet, power, and transportation, things can’t always work out perfectly and that’s just something that I am having to adjust to. We talked to our boss and let him know what we wanted to work on, so our weeks should start to be a bit busier. We will be doing more home visits and field work for the Orphan Support Programme and HIV counseling and will be making more visits to schools to help teach.
It’s hard to believe that we have already been here for 3 weeks because the time is flying by. This week we have 3 microfinance/OVC visits planned, a couple visits to Health Clubs at schools, and immunizations to do at the clinic. On Friday, some of the interns (hopefully all) are going to Fort Portal, a small, scenic town at the base of the Rwenzori mountains.

Last Week

2010-06-23T03:37:00.000-07:00

Jagala Chapatti

2010-06-21T04:04:00.000-07:00

After a couple weeks of horrible internet connections, I am finally able to post again! Last week after we got back from a weekend trip to Jinja, we had a great week at work. We re-did posters at the clinic, went to Hillside High for health club, and went on 2 full-day microfinance/OVC home visits with david.
Health club is always very interesting and eye opening. The club discusses a variety of topics, including cross-generational sex, abortion, poverty, and STD prevention. It's hard to participate in many of the discussions because the culture here is so different and the health concerns are very different. For example, in Uganda abortion is considered a sin against god, as one club member put it. When they asked for our opinion on the topic, we had to explain that in America abortion is a very controversial topic and talked about the different views that people have back home. While I love learning about the different views in Uganda, some of the teaching tactics are pretty frustrating. STDs and HIV are a fairly large problem here, so the fact that most schools only teach about abstinence and not safe sex is clearly not the most effective approach.
On Thursday, Regina and I went with David on more home visits. It was so interesting to see how Kyetume's microfinance program has helped so many people, families and businesses obtain the resources they need to get their businesses off the ground. We met several brick makers, a woman who tailors, and several families that mainly focus on farming. It's awesome to see how far small amounts of money can go for these people. For example, the woman who tailors used her grant money from Kyetume to buy her very own sewing machine and plans to use to machine to teach other women how to start their own tailoring businesses. The sewing machine itself is only about $125 USD but will help improve the lives of dozens of people.We're learning more and more Lugandan, so it's fun to try and hold basic conversations with people we meet.
After work on thursday, we headed to Fort Portal, a small town at the base of the Rwenzori mountains, for the weekend with several of the other interns. We watched the world cup (go USA!) and spent all day saturday biking, hiking and sight-seeing. Even though the bikes were pretty pathetic, it was an amazing day. The view that we saw from the top of a huge hill was breathtaking and may have been my favorite moment of my time in Uganda thus far.
This week we've got several school visits planned (yay!) and more health clubs, clinical work, and home visits. This weekend is our SAFARI, which I have been waiting for since the moment I saw Lion King as a 4 year old.

I have a post from last week that I wasn't able to upload, so I'll add that later.

hating on potholes.

2010-06-21T04:00:00.000-07:00

So, despite being in a bus on literalllyyyy the bumpiest roads of all time for a 10 hour round trip, hiking/biking through the Rwenzori mountains definitely made breaking my tailbone worth it. This weekend we went to Fort Portal, a town in the mountains, and we went on a tour through caves, a waterfall, and crater lakes. All of us had the most amazing view of the Rwenzoris near the end of the hike, on the top of a huge hill (could have been attacked by a swarm of killer bees living nearby, but hey). My lack of athleticism really showed when I could barely move any of my limbs after the 16 mile trek. Although the bikes were made in approximately 1995 and were slightly ghetto, this mountain trip was one of the the most fun I have ever been on. I was so proud of all the interns for sticking through the whole thing.

Sorry Blue Ridge Mountains, the Rwenzori Mountains definitely pwn you.

Tomorrow, the Kyetume girls are going to our first primary school of the summer to teach kids English, Math, and Health Science. When we went to visit earlier today, all of the kids rushed to the office to greet us. They looked so happy I almost cried. Leave it to me to post another corny blog, but I'm really looking forward to teaching a few days a week for the remainder of the summer. We are also looking into painting a mural on one of the schools and repainting the clinic I work in. Who would have thought a bunch of science nerds could be so crafty?

Safari this weekend; needless to say I am beyond excited. If I don't see an elephant I may punch someone, but rhino tracking should be pretty cool. Until next time, mukwanos (friends)!

mountain biking

2010-06-21T01:28:00.000-07:00

Ah this weekend was amazing! I officially survived mountain biking, which is a major accomplishment for myself. The scenery was breathtaking. After biking for 8 miles, we hiked to see caves and lakes that made Uganda seem like the most beautiful country in the world. I learned about how the lakes were formed and the view from the top of the massive hill made every second of the hike worth it.
Last week we went on multiple home visits to microfinance beneficiaries and also people part of the Heifer project which was very exciting and interesting. It was amazing to see how the businesses and farming of each beneficiary is growing and developing. Everyone we go see is very welcoming and its fascinating to see how a little money can change their lives. It has been by far the most rewarding part of working here so far and i am very excited to meet with more people and visit their homes this week.
:)

KWDT, kampala update

2010-06-20T09:42:00.000-07:00

This week marks our fourth week working for Katosi Woment Development Trust! By the end of this week, we will only have one month left. Crazy!!

So far I've worked on worked on filling on grant applications and doing some editing and research here in the office. On days we don't have internet or electricity, I read past annual reports and project summaries to try and get a better background on the various successes and challenges that KWDT has to cope with. Here's a sampling of some of the grants I've written for domestic rain water harvesting programs,
- Germany International Climate Change Initiative
- DFID Development Innovation Fund
- Japan Embassy (GGP) Grassroots
- Pepsi Co. Foundation
- Mama Cash
- Rockefeller Foundation

This week, it's back to more grant research and also officially starting my intern project! On Tuesday, KWDT is holding a follow-up leadership meeting for all the leaders among the women's groups. I plan on giving a presentation on essential leadership skills and conducting an activity to re-enforce cooperation among leaders instead of competition. I am also donating three bio-sand filters using my internship funds and presenting them to the best three leaders in the community. The criteria for selection is based on nominations from other leaders, book-keeping skills and commitment to projects. I'll post an update later in the week with how the conference goes!

In July, I hope to go out to the Katosi field site for a few days to help build a bio-sand filter with some of the women construction masons and visit a hygiene and sanitation club at one of the schools in Katosi.

Side note:
There are a ridiculous amount of bananas available in Uganda. I really don't know if I'm ever going to eat bananas again once I get home. I don't even want to know the nutritional facts for a banana, because I eat at least 5 a day (when I say at least…I mean, it's more like I eat 7-8)

Here's a small sampling of the types of bananas available:
- Matooke (steamed and mashed bananas), served literally every day. Sometimes twice a day.
- Small sweet bananas
- Large "normal" bananas
- Medium sized yellow bananas (sorry im not a banana expert, I don’t know the technical names for all of these)
- Roasted plantains (I actually LOVE these)
- Steamed plantains (I was only given one bite of these, and it was torture. I wanted to eat 3 full servings)

I've heard there are sweet potatoes here (love those), but I have yet to see/eat one. I may shout for joy and buy 10 if I ever see them at one of the produce stands near our house.
Scarlet and I are experimenting with different things to cook for breakfast and dinner, maybe sweet potatoes should be our next mission!

Real World: Katosi

2010-06-20T04:03:00.000-07:00

WOW- it's officially been 4 weeks since I left the US!!

It's strange, because though time isn't flying by, I still have a hard time believing it's been so long! Seven of the nine interns travelled to Fort Portal this weekend to do a little hiking and further sight seeing of Uganda! Fort Portal is a small but incredibly beautiful town surrounded my tea plantations and with the Rwenzori mountains as a backdrop. We got there in time to watch the US-Solvenia match at a mzungu bar with a few other fellow US travellers. Disappointing game but they had pizza where we watched it and that made up for any hard feelings. I'm finding the hardest thing in Uganda for me is the lack of cheese...you can't find it ANYWHERE!!! We also went mountain biking (on bikes circa 1980) to the caves and crater lakes and that was breath taking!

As for the internship- I'm meeting with the Katosi-Kampala staff Tuesday and possibly Thursday to discuss my intern project and what I'll be doing the remaining 5 weeks! I've pretty much settled into a routine of teaching M/W at St. John Bosco primary school (where there is now a grand total of 5 mzungus volunteering!!!) and excited to start a sanitation club there this week! W/Th I work with the Katosi c/u Primary school sanitation club and sports clubs- hoping to start a clean water project (that I learned about via a National Geographic magazine my uncle gave me the day before I left- thanks Uncle Ellis!!) this week as well!

Can't believe we're getting close to July! Hope everything stateside is well, with love from Uganda!

Avery

traditional ugandan engagement ceremony

2010-06-14T02:42:00.000-07:00

This weekend, Scarlet, Colleen and I got to experience a traditional Ugandan "introduction" ceremony. The basis of this ceremony is that the bride is introducing her fiancé to her family and asking formal permission from her father to approve him as her husband, but it is so so so much more than that.

While this is a traditional ceremony that is supposed to happen before all marriages, not many couples in Uganda still participate, so when one actually occurs, it's a huge deal. There are no American celebrations that I can really compare this too, because it is essentially the proposal, engagement party, and wedding reception all rolled into one (although, Ugandans also throw a big wedding reception after the wedding ceremony).

The celebration is a weekend-long affair, with members of the bride's and groom's family travelling across the country for this special day. Preparations begin days in advance with tents set up, chairs brought in, hundreds of pounds of matooke and rice and beef and chicken prepared for hundreds of people, traditional dresses bought and ironed and women getting all "done-up" in the salon. We arrived in Mubende on Friday evening and went straight to the home of the bride's family, where the celebration was to be held. The bride happens to be the niece of Margaret, my boss for the summer, and she invited Scarlet, Colleen and me along with her to take part in the ceremony. As soon as we arrived, we were greeted by our guests and met the bride's father, some more aunts, brothers, sisters, cousins, and many others who I can't remember. We were then officially accepted as part of the bridal party and told we would be participating in the next day's events. At this point, I was not aware that our status at the party was to be the ultimate in VIP (I think we may have stolen the spotlight from the groom's family). Before we left, we took some pictures of the preparations and of the cow that was about to be slaughtered for the next day's ceremony.

We stayed at a hotel on the side of a hill overlooking Mubende and had a beautiful view of the valley on Saturday morning as we ate our breakfast on the porch. Our escort, George, drove us to the top of the hill after breakfast to see the Nakuyima shrine, an ancient spiritual tree that people journey to for prayer and celebration.

After, we went back to iron our gomessi (the traditional Ugandan dress that most women wear here daily) and to prepare for the ceremony. We had some trouble getting the dresses on correctly, but when we arrived at the bride's house around noon, every woman there wanted to help us fix them. In all their eagerness to help, my dress was untied and re-tied at least 10 times. This may have done more harm than good, but everyone was so excited to see three "mzungu" in gomessi that I don't think they could help themselves. Everyone kept saying "you look so smart, you look so smart!"

The ceremony lasted for about 8 hours.
All of the bride's family arrived first and sat under one of the large tents. The important fathers (taatas) of the family sat under a smaller tent in the middle and across from the bride's tent was another tent set up for the groom's family. The ceremony officially begins when the groom's family arrives. They all line up outside of the tents on the other side a decorated arch with a ribbon stretched across. Before they enter, they are formally greeted by the bride's family. As the VIP, we were asked to go and greet the guests. We walked up the red carpet to the archway and I was handed a microphone. Luckily, I practiced the traditional greeting repeatively the night before;

"Tusanyuse okubalaba bassebbo. Tusanyuse okubalaba banyabo. Eladde bassebo. Eladde banyabo. "

Rough translation: "We welcome you gentlmen. We welcome you ladies. How are you gentlemen? How are you ladies?"

The groom's family was more than surprised and delighted to have been greeted in the traditional Ugandan way by a mzungu. They then cut the ribbon, and the grooms family processed down the red-carpet to their tent. For the next couple of hours, the groom's family was greeted by various members of bride's family. Men in traditional tunics and women in gomessi danced out to ugandan music, kneeled before the family, and repeated the greeting I wrote above. We also got to participate in this and danced out with all the other daughters of the family to kneel before our guests and formally greet them. ( I say all the "other" daughters, because scarlet, colleen and I are now officially daughters of the bride's family, which was confirmed on Sunday when we were toted around the small village where margaret's entire extended family lives)

The there was much presenting of gifts, and joking between the two emcees (one for the bride's family and one for the groom's family) as they built up to the identification of the groom (done by the "Auntie of honor", margaret) and the presentation of the bride. After the bride (Joannie) and groom (Godfrey) were "identified" (it's clear who each is, but each party pretends they don't know) with a bouquet of flowers and a boutonniere, the bride then formally presented her fiancé to father. He accepted, naturally, and there was much rejoicing as the groom's family all went out to their cards to retrieve the gifts.

Godfrey's (the groom) family then re-entered with hundreds of gifts for the bride's parents to show their appreciation for the father's approval of Godfrey. The gifts included but were not limited to: pineapples, melons, tobacco leaves, cooking products, coffee, sugar, bread, pictures, personal gifts, two chickens, a cow's leg, a suitcase, a bull, and kitchen cabinet set. All of these gifts were then presented formally to the bride's parents as we sat and watched.

After the gifts, dinner was served to all the guests. Delicious matooke and yams, white rice, brown rice, beef stew, pineapple, fried irish potatoes, and kale. All types of soda in glass bottles were available and guests ate and laughed in the glow of the evening sunset.

We took a short walk after dinner to "make room in our stomachs", as George said, and then returned to watch the formal proposal between Joannie and Godfrey and the presenting of the rings as they placed a "permanent mark" on each other. Then small fireworks (yes, fireworks) were lit on the cake before it was cut and distributed among the guests. The groom's family then processed out and congratulated the couple as they left. With the formal ceremony over, the after-party began soon after with dancing and laughing and rejoicing among the bride's guests.

The dancing went on all through the night and we crashed in our bed's late at night, exhausted, full and happy.

Before we headed home on Sunday, we made the rounds in Margaret's family's small village to greet all her family members. We were served tea (with milk) and steamed maize at her father's, given avocado's at her mother's, and received warmly everywhere we went. Everyone seemed excited to meet the Mzungu's who had been at the party the day before. Our final stop was the bride's family's home, where we stayed and talked for a while before we said our final goodbyes.

We packed the car full of gifts and leftovers from the party. After a three hour journey home to Kampala along some paved roads, some shambly roads, and some not-really-roads-at-all, I took my backpack out of the trunk only to find it covered in fresh cow's blood from a bag of meat that Margaret had brought home from the slaughtered cow.
No better way to end a traditional Ugandan weekend than with a little cow's blood on your belongings.

All in all, a great success.

Are You Ugandan??

2010-06-12T07:16:00.000-07:00

Uganda is amazing, but the sun is something serious. We are right near the equater so the beams are so intense. Its not muggy and unbearable here like it is back home sometimes but I am actually about 5 shades darker already. I have really bad tan lines on my feet from my sandals. Its actually hilarious.

The kids at the orphanage are so freakin adorable. There is this one kid that was abandoned from Kenya that came a couple of days ago named Oweeno. He is about two years old. He has started to warm up to everyone and had the most adorable smile ever. I am seriously going to ask my mom to consider adopting him. Anyway, I am teaching Primary 6 which is like 5 th grade English and Creative writing. Its kind of a struggle because they are so far behind and its hard for them to understand English with an American accent. I am making it work though. Thursday I taught them how to count to 10 in Spanish during the last few minutes of class and they loved it. It was like the first time I actually enjoyed Spanish. Our living situation has been interesting. At first we were living in this small hotel room. We had to move out quick because of the previous reason and it would cost way to much to stay there for the entire summer. So we found a house and rented it for about 150 dollards for the whole summer. Its pretty nice and it was just built. We're basically living large in Uganda....NOT. The day after we moved in we lost electricity,which in Busia, that means we also loose water. I was the saddest. Total darkness for 3 days, we had to bathe in bucket. I was mortified. I have learned that I am a bit of a diva when it comes to things like this. BUT, I will say that out of all my friends, Im the only one who could probably survive it. We get our meals from the directors house where these two funny women named Olivia and Faith are the housemaids that cook. I really enjoy them. There are acually alot of Ugandans and Americans our age in Busia who we get to hang out with. There are like 5 interns from Harvard and 2 from other schools. So thats pretty cool. Most Ugandans are really kind but I do get tired of people blatabntly staring at me everywhere I go. Its not rude to stare here like it is in America. Me and Jamila took a weekend trip to Jinja this weekend to meet up with some of the other interns in Uganda. They are absolutely hilarious/crazy. We just got back from a boat cruise on Lake Victoria and saw the source of the Nile River! The guy driving the boat asked me was I from Uganda. I told him, no I from the U.S. when in actuality, being an African American, I really dont know where I originally came from. I could possible be from "western Uganda." He said I favor the Mbarara people. Interesting to say the least. Last night we went clubbing. The club was nice but the music was horrible. All they played was like some bad 80s music. The club we went to in Kampala the first week here was 20 times better. I would really like to stay another night but we promised the kids at the orphanage we would be back for church tomorrow since we didnt go last week. Im cool with that though because we are going on a safari in like two weeks with the other interns!!! yay.

Finally an update from me (Jamila)

2010-06-12T07:14:00.001-07:00

Hey all. Sorry for the lack of updates-- internet access in Busia is really shady.

Here's basically a run down of my life:
Miranda and I rented a house not too far (about five blocks) from the Orphanage. There are two rooms (a "sitting" room and a "bedroom") and one bathroom. We are paying 500,000 shillings for two months, which is a little over 200 dollars. Not too bad for two people!

We eat breakfast at our house (bread with butter/bread with peanut butter and tea/coffee) or at our director (Ken)'s house.

I teach P5 (4th grade) English at New Hope. It's really frustrating because the teachers dont seem to care that much about the students, basically--and the kids are all really behind on everything. To be promoted to the next level they only need like, 30% correct on their final exams...so needless to say, they're all at the base level in all subjects. My class has 18 kids, ages 13-15. The school system here is different, explaining the ages.

Miranda and I eat lunch at Ken (director of New Hope)'s house everyday at 1pm. We have the same thing (more or less) each day- rice, beans, meat, chapati (delicious fried bread item), avocado, sweet potato, regular potato. We have the same thing for dinner most days, too. On good days we'll have pineapple or fish (or spaghetti!). They also make this BANGING passion fruit juice. What? Delicious.

In between teaching I hang out at the orphanage and play with the kids or talk to the older orphans. The youngest is 2, the oldest is about 20. They're all the best. There is a 2 year old named Joseph (I die with joy) who is getting adopted by a very white, blonde, rich young couple in Kansas (along with Matthew- the most hilarious divaest of diva babies).

There's no cold water (or ice, for that matter). I lather myself in sunscreen and mosquito repellant daily, which is actually kind of gross. My feet are perpetually covered in foreign muck.

We met up with the other volunteers from UNC this weekend to watch the opening games of the world cup. I personally dont give a what about sports, but it was kind of cool to be in AFRICA watching the world cup take place in AFRICA, you know? Today we took a boat ride in Lake Victoria and then to the source of the NILE RIVER. The circle of life type stuff. It was cool.

Random Uganda tidbit: There are goats everywhere. And chickens. "Free Range" has a whole new meaning here. Also, Every morning at 5am we hear the Muslims chanting (through their literal loudspeakers) to wake up the entire town and call everyone to the first prayer of the day. Awesome.

We were without power or water for three days last week and it was guaranteed my lowest of lows. You don't know "roughing it" until you've washed your underwear in a basin in the bathroom and then hung it beneath your mosquito net. Cute. TMI? Blame Africa.

Until next time.

St. John Bosco

2010-06-11T00:58:00.000-07:00

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 came 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!!

Blog2

2010-06-11T00:28:00.000-07:00

It is a week I have been to Uganda. On the first three days, all our nine interns stayed in Kampala downtown New City Annex Hotel. I got here one day later then other girls. I was really tired when I got here on the first day. George took me to the KWTD at Kampala office. The lady in the office, Rehema, gave me a little orientation of Katosi Women Trust Development. Also I got the chance to read the annul report of KWTD and other documents. I slept early on that day. I woke up early on the first three day at 6 and spent the early morning to explore Kampala. Around 7, there was almost nobody on the street except the newspaper-sellers. Almost all the shops in Kampala didn’t open until 8:30. Uganda used to be an英国殖民地, so in the street I saw plenty of British things: their British English-spelling such as “colour” and “honour”, their banks such as Barclays. On the second day, four Katosi interns went to get a formal orientation from KWDT. In the orientation we knew that KWDT have many different projects. Each of them has already developed really well and helped local women a lot with empowering them especially in financial parts. They emphasize a lot on water and sanitation project. With the help of KWDT, those local women built rainwater-harvesting tank and latrine, learn basic hygiene knowledge and get training for the optimal water management.
On the Sunday, every intern was taken to their office. Lauren and I are in the Kampala office. It is a nice office and a nice house. We are going to both live here and work here for two months. We went to walk around the office a little bit. Our neighborhood were all surprised to see “Mzungus” (some of them recognized me an Asian and called me “MChina”) walking around. The scene around here is really nice. Kampala is a city on seven mountains. We walked to the peak of one of the mountains near our office and we see the whole scenery of old Kampala.
Our job, mostly paperwork, in the office is to find grant and apply for them. To me it is not an easy task because I’m not interested and not good at English writing. At first I was assigned to write an application for Climate Initiative. Since I learned some basic knowledge of microcredit and attended some monthly meeting of women microcredit in Ghana, I asked whether I can search and write proposal for microfinance groups. Rehema said good but it was just a little bit hard to find grant for microcredit.
June 3rd is national holiday and we got a day off. Lauren and I took a boda-boda to town. We went to the craft market. Everything there is so cute there. I think I will buy a bunch of souvenirs from here to my family and friends on the last few days here. On the weekend we went to the town again to see Avery and Colleen and plan our trips on the rest weekends in Uganda. I can’t wait to travel in Uganda!
In Uganda, I think I have already lost a sense of time. Everyday after a days of work (5pm), in the evening, we may walk around, talk, read some books or just do nothing and sit. I like this kind of leisure life here!

Agradu Interns 2010 (plus andrew)

2010-06-11T00:00:00.000-07:00

please do not flush your dypers...

2010-06-10T01:37:00.000-07:00

says Reuben, circa 10:30 pm last night. regina, julia and i wonder what in the world Reuben means by "dypers" when 20 minutes later we realize he is actually talking about feminine products. Since weve arrived in uganda, there have been several miscommunications between us (the muzungus) and the ugandan people. these include but are not limited to: understanding the meaning of bathing costumes, confusing the lugandan word for water with the lugandan word for feces, and accidentally telling our boss that fornication is okay all the time in the united states. i feel like an idiot most/all of the time, but luckily everyone here is so welcoming that they just laugh it off.

the last week and a half in bukasa (the village we stay in) has been much different than life in kampala, the big city. we went from late night clubbing at blu haze to playing soccer with the boys in our village (who are absolutely ridiculous at it). bukasa is much more quiet, minus the roosters that crow literally every .5 seconds. at the risk of sounding incredibly cheesy, i like the village more than the city because the sunsets and starry nights are one of a kind.

last sunday mom (literally, our mom for the summer who makes the best food on the planet) taught me how to kill, pluck, and cook a chicken. needless to say, it was an interesting experience.... much like walking almost an hour to the nearest town to buy cadbury chocolate bars and renting bootleg copies of greys anatomy was. seriously, how american are we?

work is slow, but its getting more and more busy every day. today we are learning how to immunize all the little babies, and ive already learned how to identify almost every disease in the lab! even here everyone can pick up on how nerdy i am.

this weekend some of us are going to jinja for the world cup opening match, and before that regina, julia and i are going to a school in mukono to perform some sort of a hip hop dance and then do HIV testing. not sure how the two of those are related, but im excited and slightly terrified.

Tunalabagana (see you soon!)

yellow beetles

2010-06-10T01:27:00.001-07:00

I have officially been in uganda for TWO WEEKS! it has been amazing to see the beautiful scenery and the people of uganda who are extremely friendly. As of now, me and my kyetume girls have settled into our apartment in Bukasa surrounded by neighbors that have been very helpful in our quest to wash and dry our own clothes. the people I work with have also been super nice and I will be working with the resource center and the clinic during the week. so far I have drawn blood that didnt end so well since I fainted the second I saw it ha, but o well thats how it goes. I am no working in the lab but I am doing counseling with HIV patients which is very exciting. I went on a home visit to see the patients I helped counsel and their stories were amazing. It is incredible to know how much effort people in the community have to make to get to the clinic for their medicines. It really opened my eyes to the struggle these patients go through and made me really happy that I was going to be working with more patients like them.
One of the greatest aspects about Bukasa is the kids. they were so happy to see us when they first came and even today they still act like its their first time seeing us as they jump at us and love to play. As julia and emily played soccer with the local boys, me and the girls were practicing a photo shoot as every girl loves the camera, it was really precious how they imitated tyra fierece poses. And we also cheered on the mzungus playing in the field. Im loving uganda.
until next time!!:)

Real World: Katosi

2010-06-08T06:14:00.000-07:00

Week 2 in Katosi!

So Colleen and I have finally figured out a rough routine and idea for what we will be doing with our time here, and I’m slowly getting used to village life.

Still no electricity, every time you ask you get the response “yes, they are bringing it back soon” so we’ll see what soon really means. I did my laundry today- a process that took an hour and was a nice “3-cycle” wash, meaning there are 3 different buckets where you rinse and scrub your clothes. Surprisingly, hand-washing is pretty effective at getting stains out, but I think I’ll stick with my machine once I get back home. Colleen and I went to Kampala on Saturday to see the other Katosi interns, Lauren and Scarlette, and plan out what we can do together for the KWDT! We also went to Bukasa on Sunday to visit with the Kyetume interns and catch up with what they are doing (I also used them for their shower. BLISS).

Colleen and I teach twice a week at St. John Bosco Primary School. It is a brand new orphan school started in January with apparently a western benefactor named “Kathy”. We mainly teach math and social studies to the P.4s, but are slowly getting to know everyone so that we can start talking about bringing water and sanitation initiatives to the school via the KWDT. When we went on Monday, we taught the kids duck-duck-goose, and while it took a while for them to catch on, once they did they LOVED it. Cutest thing ever.

Excited for the world cup to start this weekend! Even though we won’t really be able to watch it in Katosi the excitement is definitely all around.

And one last little Uganda story: I had my iPod stolen from my room by little boys who poked sticks through the window and grabbed it. To make it even better, when the village people put out and announcement they found it, and I got to pay $25 to get it back. So yeah, I got to rebuy my own iPod. All a part of Real World: Katosi.

Over & out!

avery

Internet is Back!

2010-06-08T02:04:00.000-07:00

It's been too long since I've updated on this... the internet here is so spotty, and it has been a busy couple of weeks.
After spending a few days in Kampala, which was wonderful & busy, Regina, Emily and I moved into our little apartment in Bukasa, a small village about 40 minutes from Kampala. On the first night we arrived, we were greeted by dozens of little kids, all of which wanted to play with the brand new Mzungus in town. That night we got settled in, played some football (their kind, not ours) with the kids and went to bed early. The first week at work was awesome. Everyone was so welcoming and wanted us to feel as comfortable here as possible. We got adjusted the first day and met everyone who works at Kyetume, then I spent a few days at a domestic violence conference with Henry. I learned that 80% of women in Uganda are subjected to violence on a regular basis and 79% say that they think this violence is acceptable because it is so deeply rooted in the country's culture and history. Even though the statistics were pretty discouraging, it was very exciting to hear so many people speak out against domestic violence and commit themselves to a violence free life.
After a relaxing weekend, we came back to work yesterday, and Regina and I went on home visits to help with HIV counseling. It was probably my favorite day in Uganda thus far. The two patients we visited were in such high spirits and were so excited to have us visit them at their homes. One of the men said that he has to ride a bike about 3 hours to get to the clinic we work at to pick up his medicines every month. It's frustrating that there is no sort of system in place to help people access their medicines more easily, but every one seems to recognize the problem, so hopefully change will come soon.
I'm loving Uganda, but it is taking time to adjust to the lifestyle here. The pace of life is pretty slow and relaxed, which is a big change from how busy my life is at school and home. I've been trying to learn as much of the language as possible, and I'm making progress even though people still laugh at me on a regular basis. One of my favorite things about this place is the strong sense of community and family. Every one helps each other out, something that is not too prevalent in the United States.
Well, I have work to do now, but I will try to update again soon.
Until then, tunaalabagana!

Blog 3 (title creativity is at a minimum)

2010-06-07T06:23:00.000-07:00

It's the end of week two in Uganda and we have finished our first week of work!

Scarlet and I had an interesting first week here at the Katosi main office in Kampala. On Monday morning( at 7:30 am) we jumped right into working at our newly set up desk in the office (we are sharing one of the bigger desks in the office). I started reading through a couple of websites for potential grants for our organization and started gathering information to write a grant on expanding the community water harvesting tanks program. The first website I looked at might have had some potential, but it was very political heavy and focused mainly on setting up a program to fight corruption in government administered projects and programs (I know very little about this), so I moved on to work on other grant possibilities.

I submitted applications for the Global Giving philanthropy website in order to expand our donor base in the US and UK as well as a request for funding to the Rockefeller foundation for an Integrated Water, Sanitation and Hygiene program. The internet was down on Tuesday so I could not research for funding online and instead spent the day reading some of the past Katosi proposals, annual reports and information on water sanitation programs in Uganda.

At any given time there are different people in the office. It is always Rehema and Vaal (and me and Scarlet) and then sometimes George, or Leonard, or a variety of other people who just seem to filter in and out of the office at random. Hopefully I will figure out who they are as time goes on!

Wednesday and Friday I started working on a Coca-Cola Foundation grant, though I have not quite completed it because it needs to be reviewed by Rehema, our project/funding manager, to make sure that the budget and organization demographics are collected. Hopefully I can finish up that application early this week and get started on another one soon! Friday I also wrote up a proposal for a "Community -Led Sanitation Program" which mainly focuses on allowing the community members in any given region to design their own culturally relevant and economically feasible sanitation program. I really believe in this idea of letting communities take charge of their own development and change. Not only does it give the locals and sense of responsibility for the proposed project, but it also simply makes the most sense. I think everyone would agree that the members of a community know their community better than any outside could. By providing basic training, initial funding and the necessary educational tools, my program would support local communities in initiating a sustainable clean water and sanitation program. Margaret comes back to the office on Monday and I'm really excited to meet with her and talk more about potential projects for Katosi and how I can best help the NGO expand the work they are already doing.

Thursday was a national holiday, so we had off of work and went into Kampala for the day just to walk around and get out of the office. Scarlet and I caught a ride into town and started our day at the craft market. There was a big missions group there and one Ugandan woman and I shared a good laugh at their uniforms. For some reason they had decided that the best way to fit in in Uganda was to all wear matching BRIGHT orange polo shirts with their organizations name branded on the front, long JEAN skirts and tennis shoes. All of them, the whole group. Hahaha. Best thing. Then we walked over to 1000 cups to sit for a while before setting out on a long walk across the city to Garden city where we bought a few grocery items. I bought a soda there, but didn't have a bottle opener. I tried to open it with my hands for a long time (unsuccessfully) and eventually ended up carrying it in my bag all around Kampala until I finally broke down and bought a Manchester United bottle-opener from one of the vendors on Kampala Road.

After, we went back to 1000 cups and sat in some comfy chairs and read some magazines about Uganda. I decided that I really wanted some beaded sandals from the craft market so we went back and shopped around until I found a pair that I really liked. They are brown and black leather twisted at the top to look like a snake and I absolutely LOVE them (thanks for being so patient with me scarlet while I tried on every pair in the entire market!) I also made a mental note of all the items I want to buy for Agradu to sell, for the culture kit I am going to make to use for Carolina Navigators back in the states and for friends and family back home. I had to use a lot of self-control not to buy it all right then!

I'm getting adjusted to the laid-back pace of things here and enjoying slowing down for a bit. I read a lot here and have already devoured "The Count of Monte Cristo" by Alexandre Dumas and "Out of the Silent Planet" by C.S. Lewis. Next up is Perelandria, also by C.S. Lewis. Even if I keep up this pace of reading, I will be surprised if I finish all the books I brought. Overpacked much? Whoopsies. Oh well, whatever I don't use I will leave here for others.
If any other interns are reading this, let me know if you want to borrow any books, I've got plenty!

Tomorrow is Sunday and Scarlet and I are going to do laundry and then take a long walk up to this Anglican church on the hill across the valley from us. I'm excited to get out and explore some more. Scarlet says I am making her be more active than she has ever been, haha. Best.

Also, the World cup starts this week! We are going to Jinja on Friday to meet up with other interns to hang out, explore and watch some games. I'm going to try to make it to Bugalugi falls and hike for the day.

Hope all is well with everyone!
(Sorry my blogs are so long, I would upload pictures for entertainment purposes, but the internet really can not deal with that kind of file size capacity)

Until next time,

Lauren

Katosi

2010-05-31T06:30:00.000-07:00

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!

Spaghetti, Stars, & Strawberry Creamcheese

2010-05-31T05:56:00.000-07:00

We made it to Katosi!

Yesterday the interns officially split (sad story!) and all headed off to our work site, so me and Colleen made it into the "field" site of the KWDT in Katosi. It's a great town. Right now, they don't have electricity and haven't for a month, but they are expecting a new transformer within the month, FINGERS CROSSED!! Mama Gertrude is who we are staying with in Katosi but she is currently in the hospital with ulcers- we hope to have her back soon! There is a peace corps volunteer as well in Katosi and she has been very helpful in showing us around the town. Last night we made our first official meal, SPAGHETTI!! Actually very good since the noodles were imported from Italy!! A lot of the food is imported- my cereal is from egypt, jam from the UAE, etc. the spaghetti was amazing and very much like home it was wonderful. The night before we left kampala we all went to go see Sex and the City 2. The movie wasn't great (warning, not a sex & the city fan) but the atmosphere was heavenly, I forgot I wasn't in the US!! The stars in Katosi are incredible- I've never seen so many! There is always someone blaring loud african music next to mom's house, so its honestly like we have a soundtrack to our lives in Katosi. Today we explored the town, met the police (to let them know there are now THREE mzungus living in katosi), and fed monkeys bananas!! I'm slowly getting used to the Ugandan life, except the latrines. I will never, ever again take for granted the wonder of plumbing and running water. Time's almost up in the internet cafe, but in case you were wondering why Strawberry cream cheese is in the title, its just the one food I'm craving beyond words. Until next time!

avery

Blog I wrote when I was packing things in China

2010-05-30T02:05:00.000-07:00

So it is prepared for almost one semester and finally comes--- I’m leaving for Uganda in three days! I just got back in China two weeks ago and I am heading for another country now! Although I’m a little bit homesick (Yes I hadn’t been back in China for one year!), I’m still so thrilled for this trip! And finally today I started to pack my baggage. My trip to Ghana last time totally convinces me that I can definitely survived with 2 t-shrits and money( last time my baggage delayed for 20 days. I survived for 20 days in Wa with only my shoulder bag). Only 3 days for packing thing? I know I need to hurry up! But since I’m so excited and energetic these days, I think I can be really productive and finish this mission.
I need to prepare myself with no Chinese in following 2 months. I never lived in any no-Chinese environment for such a long time (or maybe I can expect my African friends can speak Chinese?) seriously I need to set a goal that teach all AGRADU girls with basic Chinese and ask them practice with me lol.
I don’t know what exactly I’m going to work in Uganda. However no matter what job I’m going to have, I should keep a curious mind. You can really know a lot from asking questions. I’m so excited that I can live in a totally different culture for more than 2 month. I know I will really learn a lot from this experience!
Yes yes yes I need to go back and continue my putting-everything-in-a-tiny-suitcase fight.
And yes I’m so thrilled for this trip!

Week 1 - Kampala Orientation

2010-05-30T01:46:00.000-07:00

It is now my fifth day of being in Uganda. It has been a crazy experience so far and I have been loving every minute of it. This city seems to live in a sort of organized chaos. The traffic is out of control and essentially pandemonium free-for-all, except for Sundays (which happens to be today), when the streets are almost clear of anyone.

When we first arrived at the airport, George, one of the staff members of Katosi met us and took us to out hotel in downtown Kampala. We loaded up into a taxi, called a matatu, and I was momentarily confused by the driver getting in on the right side until I remembered that Uganda was first a British colony. The city population has grown faster than it has developed and the roads are in shambles. I think there may be one or two roads here that are actually paved, the others are littered with pot-holes and bumps or simply a lack of pavement. It isn't too bad if you know what to expect, just don't come here expecting anything close to an effective and nice transportation system. Not many people drive themselves and the two main forms of transportation are matatus (van-sized taxis) and boda-bodas (a hybrid between a motocross bike and a motorcycle). The streets are full of these two vehicles and they definitely do not stop for pedestrians much less each other. "Look before crossing" has taken on a whole new meaning.

On our first day, we ate breakfast near our hotel at "The Bread and Cake Shop" and then we got escorted around Kampala by Andrew and Ben. They took us to Oweeno where we bought our cell phones and were overwhelmed by the massive market full of every type of good you could imagine. I'm sure we were a sight to see, nine American girls walking through the Oweeno market looking somewhat overwhelmed and definitely out of place. We then headed over to the crafts markets on Buganda Road and sat at nice coffee shop called 1000 Cups. It seems to generally attract only white customers and was much much calmer than the oweeno market. We then toured Garden City conveniently located near our hotel and complete with a movie theater, bowling alley and supermarket. Not what you expected? Me neither.

We stayed at the New City Annex Hotel on Dewinton Road. It is located in the heart of Kampala near some fancy hotels, banks and parliament. The staff was very accommodating and the rooms weren't bad at all. We had three to a room and access to a bathroom and toilet (note the distinction). The restaurant downstairs also had good food for all three meals and was reasonably priced.

On our second full day here, the four Katosi Womens Development Trust interns had orientation at the Katosi main office in the Lungujja district of Kampala. The office also happens to be my home for the next eight weeks. Scarlett and I will be sharing a room in the office (which really is more like a house) right across the hall from Vaal, the administrative assistant. The office is very pleasant and I'm excited to move out there tomorrow. Lungujja is not in the heart of Kampala and is much quieter and calmer than the bustling downtown. The office is situated directly next to a church and a small orphanage. In my down-time I would love to volunteer at the orphanage and attend some of the church services.
We stayed at the Katosi office all morning and then had lunch with the staff. Reheema gave us an overview of what Katosi stands for and all the ongoing projects. We then discussed the roles of the interns and talked about some of our desires and expectations for the summer. After a quick tour of the house, the three other interns and I sat outside and played with some local children while we waited for lunch to be served. It started as a simple paddy-cake game and turned into a big dancing circle with a lot of singing that I didn't quite understand and jumping around and laughing. I'm sure they all ran home after to tell their friends they had talked to and played with a Mzungo.

After talking with Reheema and Vaal today, I am excited to start working with Katosi on Monday. I am going to be helping with grant proposals, project write-ups and expanding their international donor base. I hope to work with Global Giving and set up an account for Katosi and get some of their projects up on the site. I am pumped about the possibilities for what I can get involved with and excited to learn more from these incredible women. I will be sure to keep you updated with any new events!

This morning, Scarlet and I moved into our room in the Katosi office and are getting settled in and resting. It has been a week of getting introduced to this city and I can't wait to explore it more!

Kampala..interesting to say the least

2010-05-27T06:37:00.000-07:00

So, today is day 2 in Kamapala, Uganda. We met up with two of Laurens friends, Ben and Andrew who are also here and have been for about 2 weeks. They showed us around the city and took us to some of the hot spots. We went to this huge market called Oweena (sp?) So many people were there and kept trying to get us to buy things, its ok at first but then gets a little annoying after a while. Most Ugandans get excited when they see either me or Jamila. They dont seem to call us "mzungu" or foreigner as much as the other interns. They just say "ohhh black american!..and proceed to ask if we are related to Obama. Lol. We also went to a couple of other markets that have a ton of handmade jewelery, dolls, dresses, shoes, and other handmade keepsakes. I will definately be going there to stock up on things before I leave. I had my first Ugandan meal at the hotel today. It was pretty good, pepper steak and potatoes. Not traditional Ugandan food, but made here nonetheless. I have a couple of more days to explore here before I am off to Busia. I am a little nervous because I dont know what to expest or know what I need to buy here before I go. A mosquito net it definately necessary though. Until next time...

Mzungu mzungu!! Hi hallo wasup friend

2010-05-27T06:31:00.000-07:00

Greetings from Kampala!

It’s been 2 full days here, and I can easily say Uganda is one the greatest places I’ve ever been! The lifestyle is so different- walking down the street people call out “mzungu!” meaning “white person”. All the interns are finally together and it’s been great exploring the city together. This morning we went to the biggest market “Oweena”, it was huge! You have to be so careful buying things- the people triple the prices for the “mzungus” so you have to bargain like crazy. Colleen, one of the interns, got proposed to in the market. Sadly, she had to turn him down.

Everything here is Obama-mania too. His face is on t-shirts, dresses, bolts of cloth. Any worker or taxi drive will immediately bring up Obama the second they think you are from the US. Luckily, we’ve all avoided sickness, but I still look at every meal as a game of Russian roulette with my stomach. Tomorrow all the Katosi interns are going to the Kampala office for our orientation & meet n’ greet with the staff of the KWDT- can’t wait to see what I’ll be doing! Off to Katosi on Sunday to start work Monday! Until next time!

avery

Mzungu mzungu!! Hi hallo wasup friend

2010-05-27T06:25:00.000-07:00

Almost time to leave for Uganda!!

2010-05-23T19:09:00.000-07:00

Oh my gosh, we are 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, we even get to spend the night in Dubai! We are 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.
colleen

48 Hours Until Departure!

2010-05-22T15:28:00.000-07:00

I'm leaving in less than 48 hours, and I JUST started getting my stuff together for this summer. The longest trip I've ever been on was 14 days, so I didn't anticipate how hard it would be to cram every thing I will need for the next 2 months into ONE suitcase. I'm known to pack enough stuff for a small army, even if I'm just going on a weekend trip, so condensing my life into a small bag could require a lot of strategic planning. After browsing the aisles of Target, Marshalls, and REI for a few hours, I've finally checked everything off my list of things to pack.

Like Emily, I've been eating every thing I possibly can since I got home to Durham. I'm trying to get as sick of Ice Cream and Bruegger's Bagels as I can, so I won't miss them too much this summer.

In addition to eating my body weight, I've been going through a variety of emotions over the past couple weeks. At any given time I might be nervous, excited, stressed out, or any combination of the three. The most "rugged" trip I've ever taken was a week long camping trip to Ocracoke Island, so I think I'm in for a bit of a rude awakening in a few short days. However, once I get over the initial culture shock and hot shower withdrawal, I'm positive that this will be an AMAZING experience. Even though my childhood obsession with The Lion King started my love for Africa, I know there's a lot more to it than wild animals and beautiful scenery.

At this point, I don't have many interesting things to say. Hopefully my blogging will improve once I'm there. Until then, wish me (and my luggage) luck with getting to Uganda in one piece!

packing=strugglefest.

2010-05-20T10:04:00.000-07:00

Hopefully for the 8 weeks that I'm in Uganda, my extremely awkward writing style (run on sentences are a personal favorite) won't get in the way of posting a semi-legit blog. As of right now, there are approximately four days until I leave and I've been running back and forth between my house, REI, Target, and other "prepare for a trip to Africa" places like I'm some sort of psycho whose had 5+ cups of coffee and 8 bags of sour patch kids.

I'm freaking mostly because I'm excited, and some because I'm a natural born spaz. In response to J. Reddy's blog about cutting back on her food portions, I've actually been doing the opposite and eating enough to sustain a fully grown elephant. But seriously, I've eaten like 3 chocolate milkshakes today and it's only 1:12 pm.

As a rookie traveler, I've never been anywhere with the exception of Niagra Falls in 6th grade. Needless to say I'm a travel wuss, although I'm sure Canada does have its rough spots. Basically my goals are to rid Africa of as many mosquitoes as humanly possible, to learn everything I can, to help everyone I can, and to not get stampeded by any of the numerous amounts of wild animals. We'll see how that's going when I post again next week. Uganda, you aren't gunna know what hit you.

Uganda. 7 days and counting.

2010-05-17T18:20:00.000-07:00

This time next week I will be on a flight bound for Uganda. Granted, it will then take approximately 36 hours to get there, but I will have begun the journey nonetheless.

All nine of the interns have spent over a semester preparing for this trip with weekly meetings, trainings, fundraisers and grant applications, but the time has finally come to actually board a plane and go live in Uganda. It's kind of scary and surreal to be honest because all of the sudden things that were once just discussions and handouts are now about to be real-life experiences. I don't really know what to expect. I know that I'm excited and scared and nervous and thrilled all at the same time. There are so many emotions and anticipations that sometimes I don't even know what to think.

Over the last week I've been getting together supplies and items to take to Uganda, both personal belongings as well as materials for my internship. I've managed to come up with some office supplies to donate as well as clothes and other various items. I'v trying to limit the amount of personal items I'm bringing because I have a tendency to overpack, but it's hard to try and sort through the necessities and narrow down all the random "suggested" lists that various friends and past interns have given me. In the end I know it does not really matter what I bring and all these material possessions are just a small piece of a great adventure and learning experience.

I've had the opprtunity to travel abroad many times with my family, missions trips and through study abroad, but in all my world travelling I've never been to Africa. All of my pre-trip expectations are based on other's stories, pictures and experiences and while I'm excited to travel to an unknown place, the "unknown" of it is kind of overwhelming. I'm expecting some culture-shock and I know I will feel uncomfortable at first, but I'm ready for a challenge. It's going to be especially hard to be away from friends and family and have limited contact with them. (although I will say that, like Jamilla, I will be happy to be away from all the facebook, email and internet onslaught of our culture)

I have already collected a large pile of books and journals to take for entertainment and to document my life while abroad. I plan on taking my camera, so hopefully I will be able to upload some pictures to share while I am in Kampala and working with Katosi.

In spite of my nerves, I know that this opportunity is the chance of a lifetime and will be a great stepping stone for me in my future career pursuits. I have so much to learn and I am willing and ready. Can't wait to share my adventures and new experiences with you!

Get ready Uganda, here we come.

For now,
Lauren

Warning: I'm a bad blogger

2010-05-17T08:47:00.000-07:00

I'm not actually sure if this is going to work but I hope so, so here it goes!

5 days until I leave for Uganda!! I keep going back and forth between really excited, nervous, awestruck, then excited. I've got all my "supplies" but have no idea how I'm going to fit everything into 2 backpacks....

I went and bought a TON of crayons and things to bring, so I hope the kids I see like to color! Alright, I have to get back to my packing challenge. See you in Uganda!

uganda in basically a week??

2010-05-14T14:56:00.000-07:00

So I just realized that im going to Uganda in about a week and couldn't be more excited. I can't believe its finally time to go, and no, I have not started packing. I gurantee I'm probably going to be that girl that overpacks but I am going to try my hardest to limit my packing gear. I am absolutely thrilled to be going yet nervous as my parents and family keeps telling me that I need to be careful and that I am not allowed to get sick. As you can tell, my family is not big on traveling and I am happy to be starting a new trend for us. I cant wait to send my family and friends pictures of kyetume and kampala and show them all the new people I meet. I cant wait to get started!!:)

Gettin' Reddy (get it?)

2010-05-12T16:51:00.000-07:00

Hey kids. Jamila Reddy here. So I leave for Uganda in less than two weeks, and I'm feeling more than unprepared. Moms is holding down the fort. I have no doubt that everything will be taken care of before I leave. I've been in a panic the last three weeks about my passport and visa and yellow fever immunization card, which has been held hostage at the DC Ugandan Embassy because I sent the wrong envelope. #Fail. No worries now, though. I got my Visa on Friday -_- (sent it off Monday...so much for "Express Overnight").

I have a wisdom tooth growing in (awesome timing) so I have a dentist appointment tomorrow to make sure nothing crazy goes down with it while I'm in Uganda. I'm really just excited to see what it's like, to meet the kids at New Hope and to be away from technology for a bit.

I'm racking up on my books and refurnishing my iTunes, ready for three months away from Twitter and UNC and people who move too fast. I'm sure I'll be ready to come back to it all circa August, but right now, I'm excited.

I've also started eating less....One: because that Junior 15 was not a joke and two: because I know my diet will be all kinds of buckwild in Uganda, and I don't want to get there and feel like I'm starving.

Talked to Miranda on the phone today about Mountain Shoes and water filters, feeling really positive that she's my travel buddy. :)

Welp, that's it for me. Off to a birthday potluck. Until next time.

And the Anxiety/Nervousness/Excitement begins...

2010-05-11T15:08:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

So, today is Tuesday, May 11 and I leave for Uganda in approx. two weeks. I am very anxious, nervous, and excited all in one. Currently, I have nothing packed. NO GOOD! However, me and my mom are going shopping for the essentials tomorrow. I just hope that I have everything I need. I dont want to get over there and realize I have forgot my Malaria medication! Jamilla just sent me a master list of what I need so me and my mom are going to go off that! HA! Shoutout to Jamilla! My other concern is safety, but its nothing major. Im just nervous because this is my first time out of the country. Overall, I am exited though. I cannot wait to meet so many new people and explore Uganda. I know it will be the experience of a lifetime. Until next time....

The Chicken Story

2009-10-20T16:41:00.000-07:00

So as I am working at RUHU I am living at a traveler's hostel in Kampala called Red Chili. It's a great place, full of mzungu tourists and overland safari trucks. Most people are transient, but some things never change here- the staff, my goat and her newborn, and the chickens. The chickens run Red Chili and they know it. Each is very territorial and will scare you to death if you walk to close to their domain on a dark night. One particular chicken has decided that my dorm room is his dorm room- particularly the kitchen. He is a black chicken that likes to sleep on the gas stove top at night. The light bulb in there has burnt out, so he tends to scare the unsuspecting tourist wandering into the kitchen to do their dishes. Usually I cook before it gets dark to avoid the showdown but on one particular night I got back late and was too hungry to stand down. I've seen Ugandan women grab chickens my the ankles, but I cannot understand how you do this without getting pecked. After a few attempts at picking him up I have come no closer, but look more like I am doing starting a lawnmower as I fling my arm back each time he pecks at me.

In my next attempt I grab my purse and try to nudge the chicken off the stove top. Aware that he has the upper hand, the chicken ain't budging. As I push harder and harder his squawking gets louder, but still he won't move. I figure this isn't the first time he has had to fight for the stove top bed. By now, people are walking through the kitchen staring so in an attempt to regain a little dignity I knock the chicken as hard as my conscious will allow. This sends him off of the counter squawking and flapping, and in the free fall his leg gets wrapped up in a toaster cord. Chicken and toaster hit the ground with a bang. Europeans are walking in to see if I have slaughtered my dinner yet, because it certainly sounded like it.

Victorious I walk to my luggage to get dinner ingredients, and as I walk back into the kitchen and think to myself "finally the chicken got the hint and went outside". Apparently not. Just as I am thinking this I hit something with my foot and scream at the top of my lungs, waking up the dormers. I punted, literally sent this chicken flying, across the kitchen.

** I know it's not work related, sorry. **

My Jaja

2009-10-20T16:37:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I met up with Patrick in the Kampala taxi park and we jumped onto a mutatu. After an hour and a half ride, we arrived in our destination- Mitala Maria. I think/hope that some of this got lost in translation, but Patrick told me that Ugandans believe this road to Mitala Maria is the path that brought AIDS to Uganda. Either way, all of the children I met lost their parents to AIDS and their personal status is unknown because there is no money to get them to a hospital for testing. We spent the day visiting some households that RUHU supports financially- and by support I mean 2 or 3 dollars when it can be spared. The households all have a fairly similar story; parents pass away, leaving all the children in the care of the grandparents. Most women in the area have taken in children unrelated to them as well. The primary caretakers of these households are too old to work (many are 70 and upwards, usually women) and the children are too young to help with farming. The women do what they can, but there are too many days where the children go without eating.

One woman in particular lived in a 2 room hut with walls of clay and takes care of 8 children. This past year all three of her children have died of AIDS leaving her with no money and mouths to feed. This woman should have been devastated, outraged, worried about her future, but instead she greeted me with a hug and danced with me. She laughed hysterically when I sat on the floor with her as opposed to the provided bench. When I asked how she finds the courage to take care of so many children, she stated matter-of-factly that there was no one else to do it and she knew she had to. She is known to the kids as Jaja (grandmother) and she laughed and danced with me again as I bade her goodbye, saying "Weeraba Jaja!!".

RUHU goes out to Mitala Maria weekly to meet with the grandmothers and orphaned children, holding counseling sessions and seminars about varying topics. The meetings are held on straw mats in a shady spot under a tree on the property of a jaja who takes care of eleven children. The primary focus of the talks when the kids are in attendance is living positively with HIV, talking about how to remain happy and healthy. More than anything else, these meetings are a way to keep the community united in their battle against HIV/AIDS.

Up With Hope

2009-10-20T16:35:00.000-07:00

I am proud to say that in the three days I have been looking, I have found 6 CBO's that are seeking interns and are truly making an impact in their community. All of the sites are going to be considered for the interns next year, but one made a lasting impression on me. It is also the site at which I am going to work at for the remainder of my summer.

The organization is called Raising Up Hope for Uganda (RUHU), and it was founded by a young man named Patrick. Patrick was orphaned as a child, and for years survived on the streets of Kampala with his sister and others like him. As a teen he met an American woman, who was inspired by his story and leased an apartment in Kampala for Patrick and his sister. When he was about sixteen he came across an infant tied up in a sack left to die in a pile of garbage. He felt that this child deserved a chance to live no matter the personal sacrifice on his part. He legally adopted the little girl, thus beginning RUHU. By the time he was 17 years old there were 10 street children living in his apartment. In order to get more children into a safe home Patrick made a huge sacrifice- he turned down the chance at attending university in the US. He asked his sponsor to take the money she would spend on his plane ticket and fees and write a check. He took this money and bought a house on the outskirts of Kampala to house all of his children. In Bulenga, the town in which the orphanage is located, he is affectionately known by all of the villagers as "Uncle Patrick". To even an outsider it is apparent that he is revered in his community for the difference he has made.

RUHU functions primarily as an orphanage, but there are many other ways in which the organization contributes to the community. Next week I am going to experience this firsthand, but from what I am told the founding members go out into the Kampala slums to bring new orpans and at risk children to stay at RUHU. They also go out to a region of Uganda that has a very high prevalence of HIV/AIDS, and they assist in families who are taking care of orphans. Finally, the orphanage serves as a home schooling site for the children living there. The organization does not have the funding to send the 40 children to school, so two young men are teaching six classes a day. Did I mention that all of the people leading RUHU are all 19 and 20 years old? RUHU is desparate for help, but they are doing some awe-inspiring work. In addition to housing around 40 orphans and vulnerable children, Patrick works with relatives of the children to find them a long term home. Through counseling and persistence, eventually many of the orphans are taken into the homes of Aunts, Uncle, and Grandparents. By finding a permanent home for the children, space is opened up for others in need.

Finding organizations like RUHU makes me wish I had more time in this country to get to know the wonderful people that are making a difference, and assist them in their endeavours. If you get the chance please take a look at their website: http://raisinguphope.wetpaint.com/

As the Ugandans say, "Nice Time!!"

Update from Kasese

2009-10-20T16:30:00.000-07:00

I am currently staying in a hostel in Kampala, the capital city of Uganda. Seth and I have been traveling for the past few days and although we had planned to trek back to Kasese today, we cannot bring ourselves to do it. The six hour bus ride is very hot, bumpy and crowded and we have spent most of this morning traveling on small crowded mutatus to get to the capital. Not looking forward to sticky laminated seats and chickens pecking at our ankles, we have decided to break up our travel and enjoy Kampala for a little while! In the past week we have traveled to Murchison Falls, where we went on safari. While in the park we saw elephants, warthogs, giraffes, antelope, hippos, crocodiles, lions, and much more. We also took a boat ride down the nile river, where we spotted many hippos and took pictures in front of the falls. Following our trip we went to Mukono district for a dinner with one of the organizations that AGRADU works with. The food was wonderful, and we liked the place so much we decided to stay for a day and see the city! After staying in Kyetume for a few days we went down to Katosi, which is a small fishing village in Mukono District. We visited the two girls who are working there, and they showed us around town. We went to Rhea's english class, fed monkeys on Monkey Hill, and took a boat ride with a local fisherman out on Lake Victoria! It was great to see the girls, and totally worth the bouncy rides on the mutatus to get there (mutatus are rickety vans that serve as taxis and ugandans load 20 or more people on them) It has been really interesting to see the other interns CBO's and where they are living. It is also just nice to hang out together, it is a bit of a reminder of home!

So now, Seth and I are relaxing for the day and updating our blogs. Tomorrow we are back to Kasese, and we plan to go to the local schools to begin teaching or tutoring in whatever subjects are needed. One difficulty we have faced in Uganda is that although there are programs for us to work on, they rarely fill our day. In order to take full advantage of my time here I am going to help out in the schools as much as possible in the next few weeks. I am also working with a secondary school on a health program, and with another local organization that supports children orphaned by HIV/AIDS. Many of the children have HIV themselves, and they are often teased in school for it and tend to drop out. The organization aims to counsel the children, give them ARV's, pay their school fees, and push them to get an education. I have also recently begun working with the Rwenzori Empowerment Center, an organization that is doing a lot of good work in the area. The organization has an orphanage for street children, a training center for women to learn how to sew and make a living, and a micro-finance program. R.E.C. also pays for landmine victims to travel to proper hospitals and get prosthetic limbs. I am constantly impressed by how many people are working hard to improve lives in this country. I am also surprised at just how kind Ugandans are, and how willing they are to help out whatever the situation.

I suppose that is everything that has been happening for the past few weeks, I am having a great time but also looking forward to getting home. As the weeks progress its funny how much more often the interns talk about foods we miss when we are all together. I will try to post some pictures, but Ugandan internet is quite different than the speeds we are used to.

Malaria!!!...and Typhoid??

2009-10-15T10:51:00.000-07:00

July 17, 2009
I'm sure you've heard from Mom or Dad that this week has been pretty
rough on me. Finally, it was bad enough
for me to go to a doctor where I found out that I not only had the flu
but I had malaria as well. It was pretty scary and I think it makes it
much worse that I had to run outside to the latrine everytime I felt
naseous. The people here are the absolute nicest my boss called me
multiple times a day and even brought me to her house in Kampala when
I was not getting better in the village. Although the circumstances
were horrible it was amazing to be in her house because she has
running hot water! I can't wait to take a super long shower when I get
home :) (Forget about the water bill Dad!) And everyone else has been
amazing in making me juice and cooking me meals, driving me places so
I don't have to take taxis, and just generally making me feel like I
am cared about and not alone here.

Anyway on Wednesday I went back for another blood test to make sure
that the malaria was gone and as it turns out I still had malaria and
I have typhoid which they missed in the first blood test :( I don't
want you guys to worry because they really do have amazing medicine
for these types of diseases here and I am feeling much better today.
I'm just grateful that I got sick after already being comfortable and
acclimated to this country. Anyway I'm going for a final blood test on
Tuesday and coming home on the next Monday! I can't wait to see you
all :)

Also, being here alone has again made me realize how lucky I am to
have all of you. This is the first time I've been sick that I don't
have Mippi sending me candy, Titia calling me, Kayla yelling at me not
to get her sick, or Mom making me sleep in her bed! I have so many
more stories and cool picture to show you but rather than wasting time
in an email I'll be able to tell you in person soon!