Well hello from a much more relaxed Ally; after having absorbed and meditated on last weekends current events.
Oh but please may I interrupt to mention that I just had an Oreo cookie sent from Oregon (yum, oh my yum) and that I've been accepted for the next level of interviews for the Page Program, meaning possibility of first year paid for (but an unfortunate few more hours trying to look up all canadian current events for the past month...).
But back to Africa!
This week has been so so entertaining. Although it was shortened, I enjoyed it imensly.
Firstly, on Wednesday night I was preping my lesson for my Sex Ed class in NDESE. At the end of classes I have students write down some questions they have. Mostly it's things like "what is sex?" Which is such a BS question to ask because now I have given a definition and explained in such detail that the only next step would be to get a demonstration; and that ain't going to happen! Anyway, I'm sitting on my bed reading out the current questions to my roomate Yvonne. "What is sex?" "What is Menstration?" "What is ejaculation?" "When I pee on a fire does my pubic hair grow?". OKay wait! What? Backtrack... "When I pee on a fire does my pubic hair grow?" Oh, My, God! Where on earth did this come from? Of course in my excitement and on the floor laughing I feel it nessecary to text message everyone I know. The response from Leslie, who runs the Real Uganda, was that "witchcraft is alive and well in Naggalama!". She is probably right. But man alive was it the funniest thing I've ever red. Naturally i'm framing that question upon arrival to Canada.
But this isn't even the funniest thing to happen to me this week. Yeah, it was a good week.
So along comes Thursday. Ahh, Thursday. This is the day I go and teach Sex Ed. at NDESE. I love it to death, really trully. Naturally, I felt it was important to do a condom demonstration for the kids. There are many misconceptions here, like wearing 3 condoms (not 2 or 4) is most effective... Barriers and myths to break down.
A now gone volunteer named Brian made a "condom hat" to encourage safe sex and HIV/AIDS awareness. Naturally I bring it. It is basically a paper mached condom on a straw hat. It's beautiful. I put it on. Walk into the class and begin my lesson. First we do some notes, talk about the diffent kinds of contraceptives, some myths, good decisions and bad decisions. Eventually, the moment arrives. After breaking the ice by using my wooden condom as a pointing stick to explain my notes I prepare the class for the oh so darn excting condom demontration. First, I hand out a pack per table so that they can see the box, inspect the outside of the packaging. I have my hat on, of course, my wooden penis in my left hand, my condom in the right, my rather lenghthly explanation about checking the due date and pressure, not keeping a condom in your pocket, so such...
A knock at the door, a stranger enters holding a box, followed by another teacher.
"Good morning class, how are you" says the well groomed stranger.
"Good morning sir, we are fine" says the class of 60 P7ers, standing in unison.
"Today, I am here to hand out bibles to you all"
BIBLES?!?!?!??!
What the heck?!?
I think I can honestly say I have never had something so funny happen to me in my entire life. I have never wanted to cry my self to suffocation through laughter so badly in my entire life. Just imagine the muzungu all ready with her condom, and in enters the man who hands out free bibles. It was too much.
He looks at my hat, then me. He turns to the class and begins to preech.
Of course by this point it is too late for me to leave. It would be a sincere impoliteness. I settle by taking a bible; it's the least I could do. A good souvenir for the most helarious moment of my life. Once he left I just laughed and tried to contain myself before continuing. The students, were thouroughly confused.
Lastly, the past night. There was a Thunderstorm, and I mean THUNDERSTORM. I have never heard anything like this before. At one point I only counted to two between Lightning and Thunder. Now I don't know what that means exactly, but I know it isn't good! Terrified by the lightning crashing through the window right in front of my bed I call out to my roomate; also awake, also scared. We stay like this with my flashlight providing minimal light for a few minutes. Finally I convince her to let me go to her bed. Clutching eachother we wait out the storm. I was so scared she'd be hit my lightning, I dind't know what to do!! Well, of course I played out the situation in my head, but still! Needless to say, she was less scared then I was by far, but let's be honest; you can't see the window from her bed so she could only hear.
Eventually I made it back to my bed as the thunderstorm wraped itself up, only to begin again in full force about 15 minutes later. It was really scary, I didn't sleep much and man am I glad to have had a roomate there to clutch in fear. Of course, it is now about 35C and sunny as all hell.
Ahh living in Uganda. It's living the good life; I will not lie!!!
Friday, March 30, 2007
Monday, March 26, 2007
Kitgum learning
Hello to everybody from a weary traveller just returned from the North.
This weekend I went to Kitgum, which is up in Northern Uganda, a war zone... it is about 60 miles from Sudan. ... Actually we climed a big hill and could see into Sudan. It was a beautiful and powerful sight to see beacuse I can only imagine the suffering that was happening under the illusion of the green grass and setting sun.
A quick update to you about Northern Uganda, for those who don't much. Even for those who do, this might be interesting to read, it was news to me too!
In Northern Uganda there has been fighting since the 80's. This fighting has led to the death of many through gun wounds, landmine victims, poverty, etc.. It is really really devestating. All that is happening is happening to the Acholi people. The Acholi people live in Northern Uganda and Southern Sudan. They hate Museveni (current President, current meaning the past 20years) because he is Buganda (the tribe where i am living) and doesn't care much for the nothern people. However, it is always like this. The Acholi love Idi Amin beacuse he was from the north... so on and so forth. It's all very tribal.
But this is how it all started. A very long time ago the Bugandan people and the Acholi people were at war. The Bugandans sent an evil spirit on the Acholi people. This spirit was captured on a hill. This spirit has caused many problems between the people in the years. Joseph Kony, the man leading the Lords Republic Army (LRA) through this war has been posesed by this evil spirit. Which is why he is so terrible to the Acholi people even though he is one. This spirit controls him and is the reason for his evil actions. So basically, it is not him, and hte people of the north believe that Kony is in fact a good person when not possesed. Recently a peace treaty has been signed and the people believe that this means end for real because Kony has been in Sudan and he has not had a chance to back to the hill for the spirit to rejuvinate (it must return every two years to the hill and has not for 3 years or so). According to a past child soldier I spoke with Kony would sometimes get very very afraid and would go into the woods and not talk to anyone. This is because the spirit would leave him and he would become afraid of what he was doing. He cannot just stop the spirit because if he does the spirit will threaten to kill you. Furthermore, the only way to get rid of the spirit is to use Witch Doctors. Lastly, terror is spread amongst his soldiers because apparently this spirit gives special powers to read peoples minds.
I went up with other volunteers and was shown around by the family of this woman Rose who runs a program called P-Tek for women in the north (check out grassrootsuganda.com). She is superb and it was wonderful to be fed and shown around by her family.
First we spoke with women in her group who make bracelets and necklaces as there only source of income.
The first woman was a landmine victim. She has lost her leg digging in the field. She was in her 40's and HIV positive, but had only one husband. She had 7 kids, all alive; an uncommon occurence. Her biggest challenge is working as a landmine survivor. She cannot do the same work she could do before and must get most support from her husband. Her children are older but the youngest is only 7, meaning that she gave birth after her accident and that she must care for very young children. After she was hit the only support she was given was from a local hospital (not NGO). Now she recieves food from the World Food Programme, but it is not enough to feed her family of 4 boys and 3 girls.
The second woman was HIV positive and had two of her 8 children (6 alive) abducted by the LRA. The first was six and while he was a child soldier he was forced to carry 25 kg of maize on his head. Okay, that's hard. Please try, i have, i almost died. Sure it's really common, but not for a 6 year old... His entire body began to swell and they asked him if he wanted a break. He siad yes. They chopped off his head right there and his brother was forced to carry it for about 10 kilometers to make an example. Again, he was 6. The other is now 16 and escaped when he was 13. He was a soldier for 7 years. He has horror stories of the people he killed. 15 directly, cold murder. Others with no count because when you enter a village you just shoot. He has now returned and is sponsored by a fellow volunteer named Lee. The mother is HIV positive and in her late 40's. Her husband died 3 years ago and her youngest is 1 years old. She got HIV from her husband who was unfaitful to her.
The third was this woman who was in her 40's and was also HIV positive. She was abducted herslef. The autrocities she experienced made me just cry and cry and after hearing so many other brutal stories not much of what she said is imprinted in my memory in order. I know that she also was one of many wives and that her husband was unfaituful. She gets no help from NGO's but has much help from the hospital and is receiving medical care. Her family is a rare case because they have all been tested and are all getting help. Most here don't test because if they do and are positive they believe they will die the next day. Her children are many but are all very young. With no husband and no income she is suffering imensly.
Amos was our guide. He has a hand problem. When he was a baby he fell in the fire and so his hands are crushed and burned up. This saved his life. When he was in primary school his school bus was coming back home when the LRA stoped them and came on board. They took every child on that bus. All, except Amos. They said he was useless as he could not carry or shoot a gun. He was whiped to "open his ears" as they told him what he must tell his village upon his return. This was his life being spared. All his friends were taken and he hears through returnees that now many have reached high positions. He is bright and finished secondary school but could not finish university as a med student because he was told he could do nothing as a doctor because of his hands. He is being sponsored however by a woman who opened an orphanage in Kitgum named Lois to get his hands fixed. So that is fantastic.
Amos took us to many places. One was an Internally Displaced Peoples camp. Here children walk through a landmine field to get to school everyday and woman dig there as there is no other work to be done. Many, many have died. I met two survivors, both missing one leg. The camp was partially burned down when some kids were playing with fire. All the huts are almost touching and with straw roofs you can imagine how fast they go up into flames. The camp is very poor and only recieves help from WFP. People die here everyday for many reasons. There is no hope. On the outside of the camp are a few other huts for the soldiers who protect them. The last time they had a problem was about 4 months ago from the rebels. The people here believe in the peace talks.
We also visited a school belonging to a woman named Theresa, or sister. She used to be a nun and was trained in working with children with disabilities. Here if you have a disability you are worth nothing. It is hard enough to find food and water and so it is difficult to give any of that to children who are crippled or have mental retardation. This woman is just inspirational and so so brave to do what she is doing. The Noregian Refugee Foundation built her a building, UNICEF gave her tents and WPF feeds her kids. Other then that she was getting donations from a young italian who has recently died. This means that she often feels the want to give up; and almost did just last week. I'm glad she didn't however, becuase her project needs to be known. She keeps 145 children on sight. 4 blind, many deaf, crippled, mentally handicapped, or abductees. She has 135 children offsight. She showed pictures. The kids who have Ceribro-paulsy (okay bad spelling) are just completely forgotten and starved to death. There was a picture of one under a bunch of WFP bags, once the wood of the shelf crushed she would be crushed also and would die. It was really fasinating and such a good project. But her, like many others, needs help as well.
Lastly, Kitgum was freaking NGO heaven for an NGO nerd like me. But I have to point out that I dind't see any in action, except moderately from Sisters house, and I did my best to talk to locals and ask as many questions as possible as this is a special interst of mine. The UN had some pristine white trucks and some beautiful headquarters. The WFP seems to do alot, but now they are out of funding, so it may stop. (although todays article says the UK is donating 1.2BillionUsh so that's good). UNICEF also had a few worn down tents here and there. Red Cross wins for most vehicles and seemed to be doing there best. But it's the Ugandan Red Cross, run and funded by Uganda. MSF or Doctors without Boraders and many trucks as well, although I saw the same on many times and the others were all parked. Their headquarters were less upscale but I don't know there direct contribution. World Vision had many institutions and I'm sure is doing good work. However, apparently the only kids who are sponsored are those who have the most brain potential and are not HIV positive. This means that the majority of kids I played with in the village will not be sponsored because they are positive. But, nobody wants to sponsor a kid who is going to die right? Lastly Oxfam had many signs all over the place and a glorious headquarters. Other then that, don't know what they were doing.
This is most but not all of my experience. Some is better left told in person. Plus I'm sure this is all very overwelming and I myself am swelling up with emotion again.
I was overwhelmed to see so much happening in Kitgum and just in disbelief of being in a war zone. The moment we reached Gulu to transfer busses to Kitgum it was obvious we were in a war zone. My books have become a reality... my education is coming to life. Only, when such things are tangible it becomes knowledge which hurts alot more to know.
Peace and Afuma Matek (Thank you, very much)
This weekend I went to Kitgum, which is up in Northern Uganda, a war zone... it is about 60 miles from Sudan. ... Actually we climed a big hill and could see into Sudan. It was a beautiful and powerful sight to see beacuse I can only imagine the suffering that was happening under the illusion of the green grass and setting sun.
A quick update to you about Northern Uganda, for those who don't much. Even for those who do, this might be interesting to read, it was news to me too!
In Northern Uganda there has been fighting since the 80's. This fighting has led to the death of many through gun wounds, landmine victims, poverty, etc.. It is really really devestating. All that is happening is happening to the Acholi people. The Acholi people live in Northern Uganda and Southern Sudan. They hate Museveni (current President, current meaning the past 20years) because he is Buganda (the tribe where i am living) and doesn't care much for the nothern people. However, it is always like this. The Acholi love Idi Amin beacuse he was from the north... so on and so forth. It's all very tribal.
But this is how it all started. A very long time ago the Bugandan people and the Acholi people were at war. The Bugandans sent an evil spirit on the Acholi people. This spirit was captured on a hill. This spirit has caused many problems between the people in the years. Joseph Kony, the man leading the Lords Republic Army (LRA) through this war has been posesed by this evil spirit. Which is why he is so terrible to the Acholi people even though he is one. This spirit controls him and is the reason for his evil actions. So basically, it is not him, and hte people of the north believe that Kony is in fact a good person when not possesed. Recently a peace treaty has been signed and the people believe that this means end for real because Kony has been in Sudan and he has not had a chance to back to the hill for the spirit to rejuvinate (it must return every two years to the hill and has not for 3 years or so). According to a past child soldier I spoke with Kony would sometimes get very very afraid and would go into the woods and not talk to anyone. This is because the spirit would leave him and he would become afraid of what he was doing. He cannot just stop the spirit because if he does the spirit will threaten to kill you. Furthermore, the only way to get rid of the spirit is to use Witch Doctors. Lastly, terror is spread amongst his soldiers because apparently this spirit gives special powers to read peoples minds.
I went up with other volunteers and was shown around by the family of this woman Rose who runs a program called P-Tek for women in the north (check out grassrootsuganda.com). She is superb and it was wonderful to be fed and shown around by her family.
First we spoke with women in her group who make bracelets and necklaces as there only source of income.
The first woman was a landmine victim. She has lost her leg digging in the field. She was in her 40's and HIV positive, but had only one husband. She had 7 kids, all alive; an uncommon occurence. Her biggest challenge is working as a landmine survivor. She cannot do the same work she could do before and must get most support from her husband. Her children are older but the youngest is only 7, meaning that she gave birth after her accident and that she must care for very young children. After she was hit the only support she was given was from a local hospital (not NGO). Now she recieves food from the World Food Programme, but it is not enough to feed her family of 4 boys and 3 girls.
The second woman was HIV positive and had two of her 8 children (6 alive) abducted by the LRA. The first was six and while he was a child soldier he was forced to carry 25 kg of maize on his head. Okay, that's hard. Please try, i have, i almost died. Sure it's really common, but not for a 6 year old... His entire body began to swell and they asked him if he wanted a break. He siad yes. They chopped off his head right there and his brother was forced to carry it for about 10 kilometers to make an example. Again, he was 6. The other is now 16 and escaped when he was 13. He was a soldier for 7 years. He has horror stories of the people he killed. 15 directly, cold murder. Others with no count because when you enter a village you just shoot. He has now returned and is sponsored by a fellow volunteer named Lee. The mother is HIV positive and in her late 40's. Her husband died 3 years ago and her youngest is 1 years old. She got HIV from her husband who was unfaitful to her.
The third was this woman who was in her 40's and was also HIV positive. She was abducted herslef. The autrocities she experienced made me just cry and cry and after hearing so many other brutal stories not much of what she said is imprinted in my memory in order. I know that she also was one of many wives and that her husband was unfaituful. She gets no help from NGO's but has much help from the hospital and is receiving medical care. Her family is a rare case because they have all been tested and are all getting help. Most here don't test because if they do and are positive they believe they will die the next day. Her children are many but are all very young. With no husband and no income she is suffering imensly.
Amos was our guide. He has a hand problem. When he was a baby he fell in the fire and so his hands are crushed and burned up. This saved his life. When he was in primary school his school bus was coming back home when the LRA stoped them and came on board. They took every child on that bus. All, except Amos. They said he was useless as he could not carry or shoot a gun. He was whiped to "open his ears" as they told him what he must tell his village upon his return. This was his life being spared. All his friends were taken and he hears through returnees that now many have reached high positions. He is bright and finished secondary school but could not finish university as a med student because he was told he could do nothing as a doctor because of his hands. He is being sponsored however by a woman who opened an orphanage in Kitgum named Lois to get his hands fixed. So that is fantastic.
Amos took us to many places. One was an Internally Displaced Peoples camp. Here children walk through a landmine field to get to school everyday and woman dig there as there is no other work to be done. Many, many have died. I met two survivors, both missing one leg. The camp was partially burned down when some kids were playing with fire. All the huts are almost touching and with straw roofs you can imagine how fast they go up into flames. The camp is very poor and only recieves help from WFP. People die here everyday for many reasons. There is no hope. On the outside of the camp are a few other huts for the soldiers who protect them. The last time they had a problem was about 4 months ago from the rebels. The people here believe in the peace talks.
We also visited a school belonging to a woman named Theresa, or sister. She used to be a nun and was trained in working with children with disabilities. Here if you have a disability you are worth nothing. It is hard enough to find food and water and so it is difficult to give any of that to children who are crippled or have mental retardation. This woman is just inspirational and so so brave to do what she is doing. The Noregian Refugee Foundation built her a building, UNICEF gave her tents and WPF feeds her kids. Other then that she was getting donations from a young italian who has recently died. This means that she often feels the want to give up; and almost did just last week. I'm glad she didn't however, becuase her project needs to be known. She keeps 145 children on sight. 4 blind, many deaf, crippled, mentally handicapped, or abductees. She has 135 children offsight. She showed pictures. The kids who have Ceribro-paulsy (okay bad spelling) are just completely forgotten and starved to death. There was a picture of one under a bunch of WFP bags, once the wood of the shelf crushed she would be crushed also and would die. It was really fasinating and such a good project. But her, like many others, needs help as well.
Lastly, Kitgum was freaking NGO heaven for an NGO nerd like me. But I have to point out that I dind't see any in action, except moderately from Sisters house, and I did my best to talk to locals and ask as many questions as possible as this is a special interst of mine. The UN had some pristine white trucks and some beautiful headquarters. The WFP seems to do alot, but now they are out of funding, so it may stop. (although todays article says the UK is donating 1.2BillionUsh so that's good). UNICEF also had a few worn down tents here and there. Red Cross wins for most vehicles and seemed to be doing there best. But it's the Ugandan Red Cross, run and funded by Uganda. MSF or Doctors without Boraders and many trucks as well, although I saw the same on many times and the others were all parked. Their headquarters were less upscale but I don't know there direct contribution. World Vision had many institutions and I'm sure is doing good work. However, apparently the only kids who are sponsored are those who have the most brain potential and are not HIV positive. This means that the majority of kids I played with in the village will not be sponsored because they are positive. But, nobody wants to sponsor a kid who is going to die right? Lastly Oxfam had many signs all over the place and a glorious headquarters. Other then that, don't know what they were doing.
This is most but not all of my experience. Some is better left told in person. Plus I'm sure this is all very overwelming and I myself am swelling up with emotion again.
I was overwhelmed to see so much happening in Kitgum and just in disbelief of being in a war zone. The moment we reached Gulu to transfer busses to Kitgum it was obvious we were in a war zone. My books have become a reality... my education is coming to life. Only, when such things are tangible it becomes knowledge which hurts alot more to know.
Peace and Afuma Matek (Thank you, very much)
Friday, March 16, 2007
Sex Ed in Naggalama
Today is overcast with a bit of sun pocking through.
Ahh, the first official week in Naggalama, where I am working at my own schedule is over. This week was definitely out of the ordinary fantastic.
Firstly however, I must delve my two current frustrations. Now, it is most likely that I just need a shower and am just having a bad day, but I will delve anyways. To begin, being called “Mzungu, Muzungu” about 50 times a day is not all it’s cracked up to be. I am not completely enjoying it anymore. I know I am a Muzungu. I will be a Muzungu today, tomorrow and probably the day after that. I do recognize that there have only been about 9 volunteers (one of which was Ugandan, so 8 whites) in Naggalama, so it’s really exciting to kids their but it is always the same kids calling me and Yvonne that. All day, all the time. It’s not always nice to be pointed at because you’re different. Secondly, we have come back into Mukono for the night to use the internet. I feel as though I am going through some mini culture shock. One of the girls is really rich and brought her laptop (among other fine technology). There are also about 4 official residents at the guest house, which is in a city. They were watching LOST (season 2) as we came in, and then they were talking about things that to me seem (already) trivial. It was very tiring. Then they got mad because Yvonne and I decided to skip the Luganda lesson. This is frustrating because we only get the internet once a week, and have picked up a lot in the village… where as they just hang out all day and speak English. Plus this girl has bought so much cool stuff already, and I will be honest in saying I’m jealous that I can’t just dish out money to buy 3 drums that I would really really love to have and play with.
Okay, but that is all for ranting. Let’s follow the Ugandan spirit and be happy eh?
Firstly, my tan has come quite far. Ugandans are very funny. They say “Kali Bambi” (so sorry) when they feel bad for you. I will take off my watch and show my impressive watch tan but they don’t understand why my skin is changing and will say in the most sympathetic African voice “Kali Bambi.” It is sort of Canadian, and makes me laugh very much.
So Sunday, upon arrival to the guest house and after about 5 hours of the Ugandan game (a card game similar to UNO, but better) it began to rain. I was so excited, and so in the mood to get some beer from the gas station near by that to convince my unenthused roommate I put on her yellow poncho (which we have no deemed the condom suit) and my rainbow toque. This convinced her to put on my clear plastic poncho and her rainbow sweater as we set out to the gas station. It was a jolly good night. Here people drink everything with a straw. So I put my straw into my beer and of course, overflow of foam. Of course, I couldn’t think straight I was laughing so hard and Yvonne was yelling “drink it drink it!” which I did. In short, foam everywhere. Now our apartment smells like beer. It was good fun, but then the bottle broke by the end of the night. Here you must always return your bottles. Hmm… So I brought back the one good bottle and then told the gas station manager about the mishap with the other. He yelled, I paid. Needless to say, we will be getting our beer from somewhere else from now on.
The week was really great. I absolutely adore NDESE (this private school in a near by village called Nakifuma … pronounced Nachifuma). I teach reproductive health (three cheers for talking about sex all day!) and computer classes to the teachers. I really really love it. After a second long lesson on Thursday (as now I will be going twice a week… Monday and Thursday) I proposed the idea of a more creative kind of project. So basically, I will teach half a class and then the other half they can do creative stuff, something they don’t often do. The P7 class will perform skits in groups of 4 (there are about 50 students). The P6 class however is 90 students (one of which is… get this… 87, and is now my official hero as he only wanted to go back to school!) so they will simply write creative projects instead of presenting. However, they have never done skits so it might be an interesting process; oh well worth a go!
Suubi, the nursery school, is just fantastic. The kids are so funny. On Wednesday I had a nice shower, got nice and clean… hmm, mistake? I got to the school and was chased by about 60 dirty African kids under the age of 7 (who can run about as fast as me by the way). My newly cleaned t-shirt was covered in dirt and who knows what. I was also sweaty as hell and dirty as hell. Doesn’t help that kids here don’t have toilet paper so they pretty much just wipe and then wipe on the wall… if you know what I mean.
The Youth Group is especially great. We might get some money for them to get started on a bigger income generating project. Well, there is a Pig Farm another volunteer started, but when she left MUMYO sorta gave up on it. So now it is getting finished slowly. Turns out the man who owns the pigs is forcing MUMYO to take them. So we (Yvonne and I) told the youth that if they finished it then they could get some money. They are going to finish it by next Wednesday! Yay! And the Pig Farm is to make money for MUMYO so that they can finally finish the orphanage they also never finished. That way the 230 orphans in Naggalama will have a home and food, maybe even school!! This is the accomplishment of the week; and I will tell you more about the final product next week! Woop! Best of all however is that even the Muslims are going to work on the farm. It will be great to see Muslims and Christians working hand in hand to finish a pig farm for the greater good. Peace in a teamwork, it's a beautiful thing.
Yesterday there was a grasshopper with only one leg in my clothing. After much jumping and screaming I killed it. It then, in a final furry for life, jumped out into the air and back onto the ground behind my clothing sitting on my backpack. After some more freak out Yvonne and I pushed my backpack back and just decided to forget about it. That is when I picked up the book I had used to kill it and got grasshopper goop all over my hands. This made me jump across our little compound, grab onto the door and start fake crying to Yvonnes continuous also freak outs. Good fun. Good fun.
Oh and before i forget, i was proposed to! My boss at MUMYO (Lawrence) took off one of my bracelets and then proceded to put it back on me saying that in some tribes in the Buganda area that this means the man is proposing. Kind of awkward, but now i get to tell him to dress up and be around the office, since, you know, I am his fiance and all...
Enjoy the break to all those who have now stumbled upon this joyous time. Africa is great, I would take peeing in a hole in the ground and putting up with cockroaches the size of my hand over school in Canada any day.
Ahh, the first official week in Naggalama, where I am working at my own schedule is over. This week was definitely out of the ordinary fantastic.
Firstly however, I must delve my two current frustrations. Now, it is most likely that I just need a shower and am just having a bad day, but I will delve anyways. To begin, being called “Mzungu, Muzungu” about 50 times a day is not all it’s cracked up to be. I am not completely enjoying it anymore. I know I am a Muzungu. I will be a Muzungu today, tomorrow and probably the day after that. I do recognize that there have only been about 9 volunteers (one of which was Ugandan, so 8 whites) in Naggalama, so it’s really exciting to kids their but it is always the same kids calling me and Yvonne that. All day, all the time. It’s not always nice to be pointed at because you’re different. Secondly, we have come back into Mukono for the night to use the internet. I feel as though I am going through some mini culture shock. One of the girls is really rich and brought her laptop (among other fine technology). There are also about 4 official residents at the guest house, which is in a city. They were watching LOST (season 2) as we came in, and then they were talking about things that to me seem (already) trivial. It was very tiring. Then they got mad because Yvonne and I decided to skip the Luganda lesson. This is frustrating because we only get the internet once a week, and have picked up a lot in the village… where as they just hang out all day and speak English. Plus this girl has bought so much cool stuff already, and I will be honest in saying I’m jealous that I can’t just dish out money to buy 3 drums that I would really really love to have and play with.
Okay, but that is all for ranting. Let’s follow the Ugandan spirit and be happy eh?
Firstly, my tan has come quite far. Ugandans are very funny. They say “Kali Bambi” (so sorry) when they feel bad for you. I will take off my watch and show my impressive watch tan but they don’t understand why my skin is changing and will say in the most sympathetic African voice “Kali Bambi.” It is sort of Canadian, and makes me laugh very much.
So Sunday, upon arrival to the guest house and after about 5 hours of the Ugandan game (a card game similar to UNO, but better) it began to rain. I was so excited, and so in the mood to get some beer from the gas station near by that to convince my unenthused roommate I put on her yellow poncho (which we have no deemed the condom suit) and my rainbow toque. This convinced her to put on my clear plastic poncho and her rainbow sweater as we set out to the gas station. It was a jolly good night. Here people drink everything with a straw. So I put my straw into my beer and of course, overflow of foam. Of course, I couldn’t think straight I was laughing so hard and Yvonne was yelling “drink it drink it!” which I did. In short, foam everywhere. Now our apartment smells like beer. It was good fun, but then the bottle broke by the end of the night. Here you must always return your bottles. Hmm… So I brought back the one good bottle and then told the gas station manager about the mishap with the other. He yelled, I paid. Needless to say, we will be getting our beer from somewhere else from now on.
The week was really great. I absolutely adore NDESE (this private school in a near by village called Nakifuma … pronounced Nachifuma). I teach reproductive health (three cheers for talking about sex all day!) and computer classes to the teachers. I really really love it. After a second long lesson on Thursday (as now I will be going twice a week… Monday and Thursday) I proposed the idea of a more creative kind of project. So basically, I will teach half a class and then the other half they can do creative stuff, something they don’t often do. The P7 class will perform skits in groups of 4 (there are about 50 students). The P6 class however is 90 students (one of which is… get this… 87, and is now my official hero as he only wanted to go back to school!) so they will simply write creative projects instead of presenting. However, they have never done skits so it might be an interesting process; oh well worth a go!
Suubi, the nursery school, is just fantastic. The kids are so funny. On Wednesday I had a nice shower, got nice and clean… hmm, mistake? I got to the school and was chased by about 60 dirty African kids under the age of 7 (who can run about as fast as me by the way). My newly cleaned t-shirt was covered in dirt and who knows what. I was also sweaty as hell and dirty as hell. Doesn’t help that kids here don’t have toilet paper so they pretty much just wipe and then wipe on the wall… if you know what I mean.
The Youth Group is especially great. We might get some money for them to get started on a bigger income generating project. Well, there is a Pig Farm another volunteer started, but when she left MUMYO sorta gave up on it. So now it is getting finished slowly. Turns out the man who owns the pigs is forcing MUMYO to take them. So we (Yvonne and I) told the youth that if they finished it then they could get some money. They are going to finish it by next Wednesday! Yay! And the Pig Farm is to make money for MUMYO so that they can finally finish the orphanage they also never finished. That way the 230 orphans in Naggalama will have a home and food, maybe even school!! This is the accomplishment of the week; and I will tell you more about the final product next week! Woop! Best of all however is that even the Muslims are going to work on the farm. It will be great to see Muslims and Christians working hand in hand to finish a pig farm for the greater good. Peace in a teamwork, it's a beautiful thing.
Yesterday there was a grasshopper with only one leg in my clothing. After much jumping and screaming I killed it. It then, in a final furry for life, jumped out into the air and back onto the ground behind my clothing sitting on my backpack. After some more freak out Yvonne and I pushed my backpack back and just decided to forget about it. That is when I picked up the book I had used to kill it and got grasshopper goop all over my hands. This made me jump across our little compound, grab onto the door and start fake crying to Yvonnes continuous also freak outs. Good fun. Good fun.
Oh and before i forget, i was proposed to! My boss at MUMYO (Lawrence) took off one of my bracelets and then proceded to put it back on me saying that in some tribes in the Buganda area that this means the man is proposing. Kind of awkward, but now i get to tell him to dress up and be around the office, since, you know, I am his fiance and all...
Enjoy the break to all those who have now stumbled upon this joyous time. Africa is great, I would take peeing in a hole in the ground and putting up with cockroaches the size of my hand over school in Canada any day.
Saturday, March 10, 2007
Naggalama Best-o-rama
Wassasotia. Meaning Good Morning, How are you?
Down here in Africa Global Warming is sending a hit. Hmm crazy how that works eh? I am here during the rainy season but it is about 40C plus everyday. And no rain. None. But I do have a mad tan already so maybe that’s okay…
The internet and power has gone out everynight this past week so I hope very much that this makes it. Okay here we go…
This week was absolutely amazing. I went up (finally) to the village of Naggalama. It is super small but on the side of the main road… which is weird.
I am staying with this girl Yvonne and she is really stupendous. We sat all day on Sunday and talked for about 12 hours, exchanged life stories, and now we are quite close. I think she was getting lonely because she had been their for a month by herself. I will be to, but at the end of my placement, which won’t be so hard.
As we were driving into Naggalama I felt so overwhelmed with a feeling of belonging. I knew I would love it and I do. This week was really intense. I went around to all the different programs that MUMYO runs. Trhey run a nursery. It is for babies (3 and 4), top class (kindergarten) and P1 and P2. There we jut take a few kids out from the Top class and help them with shapes and ABC’s and so such. They are really good at repeating because that is how they are taught… but not so good on the whole thinking for themselves idea. They look at me like I’m crazy when I sing or laugh… its just not how they are taught. But they are really good to hang out with. Get this. The teacher who teaches them has 50 kids, in a classroom half the size of those at home, all ages 3-5, enough for 1 pencil a kid and 1 note book for all top class students. She also brings in a new kid every few hours to the office to let them sleep (they have malaria and have some of the scariest malaria dreams) and has about 3 kids clearly suffering from HIV but not brought in for testing, therefore not actually being treated.
Then twice a week Yvonne and I bring about 5 kids back from the P1 and P2 class (because they are ignored all day by their teacher who could care less) to our home. Feed them lunch and let them colour and be creative. One day we walked them home since we had nothing for the afternoon. These kids walk probably about an hour to get to school. They live in literally mud huts with straw roofs. Some lucky ones have homes of brick with tin roofs. They don’t have clean drinking water by any means. The last girl to go home lived way way out their. We were invited in. Her brother was clearly dying of what seemed to be malaria. It looked like the absolutely most painful thing in the world. He was about 4. The mother was going to feed them this soup they make from boiling roots and giving what comes out. It has no nutrition whatsoever. They lived with the moms brother who was crazy. And very old. Everybody here is old or very young. About 70% of the pop is under 15. What Stephen Lewis says about grandmas taking care of everybody is true. They are everywhere. They are the strongest.
I went to the hospital and was introduced to about a billion people. All in Luganda, most suffering from HIV. You don’t know life until you see someone who is about to die from the most life sucking disease I have ever witnessed. I hope to work with the Hospital more when my placement is over. It will be councelling, meaning filling out paper work in English for the councelors. Also they have 2 years of data none of which is organized. I might immersme myself in that and get a proposal started for the hospital. It is a very sad place to work but I know I will learn so much. Especially on the day when they do free HIV testing and I will get to hand out condoms and mosquito nets that’s always fun!
Then there is the Youth Group. A group of well meaning youth (youth here means anywhere between 13 – 30). They cant afford to go to school and want some income generating projects. Eventually they want to open up a tailor shop but to do that they need initial projects. Yvonne and I were thinking about a Chicken Coup but their might not be a market for that. Any ideas? I would be desperate for any… e-mail them to me please (life_z_good@hotmail.com). This is going to be my biggest project, but I don’t have much info yet. Although we did spend the afternoon doing condom demonstrations on a wonderful wooded penis. It was really fun. … Plus its cool being the Muzungu that can get rid of beliefs like “can I get rid of HIV if I have sex with a virgin?” Ahh breaking down myths.
Then there is a school with Child Rights debates on Tuesday afternoons. I look forward to those. P6 and P7. Apparently we also participate in the debates! Im really excited to see how they picture their rights. I know there are insane propoganda posters everyone depicting their rights… but its all in Luganda, so I can only understand the pictures. Wonder if any stories will come out of this… wouldn’t be surprised.
Finally Ndese. It is a school, private, for older kids. Their I hope to teach some English and Reproductive Health. I’m super excited about that but I know it will be hard since most don’t know the western teaching method, and I certainly don’t know theirs! It will be good to learn about both and maybe combine the two? I really hope to do some in class discussions to get some people thinking for themselves. This will be my Mondays, and if I love it I’ll go twice a week until term ends on April 20th.
Loving the village. Go to the store to get Passionfruit juice and its great. Rode the bike we have around and got hit on more then usual (Ugandan men are very unashamed/friendly). But suddenly it wasn’t “how are you? Can I get your phoneee number?” but “oh what a pretty Muzungu. What a lovely girl… look at you” sort of stuff. It took me a while to realize that here girls DO NOT ride bikes. So I am a girl/Muzungu riding a bike. People went crazy.
Also, my name is Ally. When I am introduced people look at me funny and start talking to each other in Luganda. Blah blah blah Ally, blah blah blah Ally. I couldn’t figure out why. Actually had one guy look me up and down and say Neda (no). Then, upon looking at the sign for the Islamic quarters of Naggalama (a huge part of the population in our village) I realized. Ally, or Ali is a very Islamic name for boys. Hahahaha!! Now I have to introduce myself and be ilke “I swear I’m not a muslim boy! I swear!” It doesn’t help much that nobody knows the name Alexandra, so its not like explaining that it is a nick name really clears things up.
I’m sorry I didn’t upload any pictures this week. I forgot my USB cord in the village. But I can tell you about an epic picture I took…
School where the debates will be (st josephs). They put up these weird motivational sayings like “keep your virginity” or “repent now and you will be forgiven” or “girls are too young to have sex.” Anyway…
On the side of one building was a saying “I want education give me chance.” What is so beautiful is that in the picture is a little boy looking through the window into the classroom. Ahh priceless. I’ll post this and others soon.
Up to Jinja tonight for a volunteer goodbye party and some traditionally African dancing from the north.
Oh must pardon what I placed last time. Kony’s men are actually in Sudan, so yeah Sudan should make a militia. Also it has been debated… to give Kony pardon or not? Answer, people of the north just want peace. That’s all they want. Now you know what the people think, what do we in the West think? To punish this man properly as no true African leader has been? But does western justice even translate into their society? I do not know.
Keep sending the comments. Loving them always.
And Dano:
Ally MacAdams
C/o Leslie Weighill
637 Mukono Town, Uganda, East Africa
I think…
Africa is beautiful. I fall more in love everyday.Saturday, March 3, 2007
Hot and Happy
Oli otya and greetings from Mukono Town.
I realize now that 30 minutes will not be long enough to list all my adventures of the past few days, but I’m sure that I’ll get the best ones down and for some of you tell the others in person!
Firstly, the New Vision (the main newspaper today) reads “Sudan makes Militia to stop Kone.” Well that is very nice and all Sudan, but isn’t Sudan having it’s own problems it should be dealing with? Just a queery. Oh and as well, yeah, people just walk around with guns here. Not anyone sure, but we live down the street from a prison, so all the guards have guns. Plus every morning the prisoners go together (tied up) down the way to fetch water for the day. It’s weird however how already, none of this really fazes me.
Okay I don’t know really where to begin. I met Yvonne yesterday (the girl I will be working with in Naggalama, the smaller village where I will be volunteering, about 40 minutes from Mukono Town). She is super rad and I know we’ll get along.
Last night, we went into Kampala to watch… get this… Blood Diamonds. It was really weird being like, “hey I’m watching Blood Diamonds in Africa!” We actually went to go and see the Last King of Scotland, but it was sold out, go figure! It’s are really really big deal to the Ugandans, and I can see why. They love it, and I think it’s gone back up in popularity because Forest Witiker won an Oscar.
So that was really great. Then today, after a chill morning and pinapple (yum, oh my, yum) we decided to go and check out Brian’s project.
Brian is this Vancouverite who came last year for four months, found this Skateboarding project, fell in love and then has been here for a year now. Too funny. He’s awesome, and he had some skateboards to bring over so I brought them. Today I got to go dwon (with some other volunteers and a Ugandan from our complex named Scarlet) to where it is. The kids are so amazing at skateboarding. It’s actually kinda scary. I got to try as well, but of course am no good. It was fun though, Scarlet made me do it and we had a blast.
Okay I’m feeling like I’m editing out too much of how amazing Uganda is, but only main points right? So hard!! Okay… but keep in mind that Uganda absolutely is amazing. There is something really crazy about being a Muzungu as well. Just being chased, pointed at, and touched by all these crazy kids. Its something else.
Anyway, after skateboarding we went into the shade (turns out I’m pretty much officially a pink Muzungu now, but whatever… that will pass). Scarlet (who lives in our compound, will be finishing college in her last semester starting next week and then wants to go into social work, which basically pays nothing here… she is also awesome beyond belief. I love her already). Anyway, we talked about soo much about the differences between Whites and Blacks. She asked if people in Canada point and call out “Black, Black” when they see an African walking down the street. A logical question if you ask me. She said she always thought so. But then we got into the differences between our two cultures. But the similarities. For example: I told her that I have never met a single African or Black person (no matter from where) who is not absolutely georgeous. She responded with… no! our skin is black! It is the Muzungus who are beautiful! Hahaha! So funny! Then we talked about hair, and how much Africans envy our hair because it can grow long and their hair does not grow. It turns out the reason girls all cut their hair is because hair in schools can not be longer then 1 inch. Then I told her about tanning, and how much we try to get darker. She looked at me with the weirdest look! Here, Africans … get this… dye their skin white with bleach!! They scrub and scrub and scrub with bleach so that their skin becomes lighter. This is so that they can be more beautiful like Muzungus.
Okay running out of time. Here are some other topics of discussion:
01. Albinos. Not accepted; they try and look like Muzungus with wigs and contacts
02. Canada. Ugandans adore beyond belief Canada because of all the aid we send. You don’t understand how much that has already helped me!
03. White teeth on Africans, how that makes them beautiful.
I also talked to this guy who was a complete alcoholic and couldn’t skateboard because as he told me “I drink too much.” He worked in the UNAMIR mission (for Rwanda, genocide) and learned about French and Canada so we talked about that.
Also met the Captain. He is this man who was an awesome soldier. During Idi Amin time killed two isralies. (as is portrayed in Last King… yeah that was him). He then hid in the bathroom as the westerners were looking to kill him. Got away, and then was promoted to Captain. He then went on to kill many others. He is a well respected man.
Okay, but Brian’s project. It is absolutely amazing you don’t’ understand. Seriously. It is this beautiful skate park in the middle of this tiny village. It is stupendous that he put this together. I am so proud of him and the others. They were so so thankful for all the skateboards and so such. It was fantastic. I have pictures I’ll send along or bring home… plus he has a website which one day I will find and post. Its crazy… skateboarding in the middle of Uganda. Oh, plus Tony Hawk is in contact with them and going to come down to visit. How rad is that?
Now we are back in Mukono, and it is getting cooler. Cooler meaning like 25 degrees. Man alive I love this place. I asked about the vegetation to this woman who runs a program called “House of Hope” Her name is Jennifer and is Ugandan and runs this school. Unfortunately it is way out there and she gets no volunteers. Debating visitng and spending my last month there. She said that the vegetation is all imported from other countries, so she didn’t know the names of trees. Too strange. Well that’s what you get from colonizing I guess!
Tomorrow, I will meet Lawrence, my director at MUMYO and then go into Naggalama with Yvonne. I will commence work! Haha! So excited to meet some African children, it will be really great. The kids here are super great… all of them. Muzungus are very well accepted here, so I am lucky
Lastly, the projects are stupendous. I’m already getting more involved. I will add more details when I have more time and more details. One woman however, Rose, comes from up North and takes volunteers there. So, Mom, Dad and others… Looks like I’m going up North. You talk to Child Soldiers, visit an IDP (internally Displaced People’s) camp and basically learn about some horrors up there. It will be insane but so important. I will take pictures and share my knowledge when I get home
Next weekend we will go to Jinja for a goodbye party for one of the volunteers. Meet Rose and see traditional African dance! Too exciting.
More updates to follow, for sure.
Keeping it safe and real here on the East Coast. Avoiding Tracey’s Scholarship e-mails, loving every moment of Africa and wishing I could write more. Every one is beautiful, everything is beautiful. I can feel myself falling in love, and that is hard because I know the end will come.
Jabale Ko (“thank you for your work” or like, keep it up!) heard that N1KD went well, please send details. Peace and Love… keep your thoughts on Africa and all the work left to be done.
Oh, PS… excitement has just erupted on the street as the desired team has won the football game! Cheers
PPS rode a "taxi" (14 pps to a van... and when they say 14 they mean like 20) for the first few tiems... hahah. ooooh my.
I realize now that 30 minutes will not be long enough to list all my adventures of the past few days, but I’m sure that I’ll get the best ones down and for some of you tell the others in person!
Firstly, the New Vision (the main newspaper today) reads “Sudan makes Militia to stop Kone.” Well that is very nice and all Sudan, but isn’t Sudan having it’s own problems it should be dealing with? Just a queery. Oh and as well, yeah, people just walk around with guns here. Not anyone sure, but we live down the street from a prison, so all the guards have guns. Plus every morning the prisoners go together (tied up) down the way to fetch water for the day. It’s weird however how already, none of this really fazes me.
Okay I don’t know really where to begin. I met Yvonne yesterday (the girl I will be working with in Naggalama, the smaller village where I will be volunteering, about 40 minutes from Mukono Town). She is super rad and I know we’ll get along.
Last night, we went into Kampala to watch… get this… Blood Diamonds. It was really weird being like, “hey I’m watching Blood Diamonds in Africa!” We actually went to go and see the Last King of Scotland, but it was sold out, go figure! It’s are really really big deal to the Ugandans, and I can see why. They love it, and I think it’s gone back up in popularity because Forest Witiker won an Oscar.
So that was really great. Then today, after a chill morning and pinapple (yum, oh my, yum) we decided to go and check out Brian’s project.
Brian is this Vancouverite who came last year for four months, found this Skateboarding project, fell in love and then has been here for a year now. Too funny. He’s awesome, and he had some skateboards to bring over so I brought them. Today I got to go dwon (with some other volunteers and a Ugandan from our complex named Scarlet) to where it is. The kids are so amazing at skateboarding. It’s actually kinda scary. I got to try as well, but of course am no good. It was fun though, Scarlet made me do it and we had a blast.
Okay I’m feeling like I’m editing out too much of how amazing Uganda is, but only main points right? So hard!! Okay… but keep in mind that Uganda absolutely is amazing. There is something really crazy about being a Muzungu as well. Just being chased, pointed at, and touched by all these crazy kids. Its something else.
Anyway, after skateboarding we went into the shade (turns out I’m pretty much officially a pink Muzungu now, but whatever… that will pass). Scarlet (who lives in our compound, will be finishing college in her last semester starting next week and then wants to go into social work, which basically pays nothing here… she is also awesome beyond belief. I love her already). Anyway, we talked about soo much about the differences between Whites and Blacks. She asked if people in Canada point and call out “Black, Black” when they see an African walking down the street. A logical question if you ask me. She said she always thought so. But then we got into the differences between our two cultures. But the similarities. For example: I told her that I have never met a single African or Black person (no matter from where) who is not absolutely georgeous. She responded with… no! our skin is black! It is the Muzungus who are beautiful! Hahaha! So funny! Then we talked about hair, and how much Africans envy our hair because it can grow long and their hair does not grow. It turns out the reason girls all cut their hair is because hair in schools can not be longer then 1 inch. Then I told her about tanning, and how much we try to get darker. She looked at me with the weirdest look! Here, Africans … get this… dye their skin white with bleach!! They scrub and scrub and scrub with bleach so that their skin becomes lighter. This is so that they can be more beautiful like Muzungus.
Okay running out of time. Here are some other topics of discussion:
01. Albinos. Not accepted; they try and look like Muzungus with wigs and contacts
02. Canada. Ugandans adore beyond belief Canada because of all the aid we send. You don’t understand how much that has already helped me!
03. White teeth on Africans, how that makes them beautiful.
I also talked to this guy who was a complete alcoholic and couldn’t skateboard because as he told me “I drink too much.” He worked in the UNAMIR mission (for Rwanda, genocide) and learned about French and Canada so we talked about that.
Also met the Captain. He is this man who was an awesome soldier. During Idi Amin time killed two isralies. (as is portrayed in Last King… yeah that was him). He then hid in the bathroom as the westerners were looking to kill him. Got away, and then was promoted to Captain. He then went on to kill many others. He is a well respected man.
Okay, but Brian’s project. It is absolutely amazing you don’t’ understand. Seriously. It is this beautiful skate park in the middle of this tiny village. It is stupendous that he put this together. I am so proud of him and the others. They were so so thankful for all the skateboards and so such. It was fantastic. I have pictures I’ll send along or bring home… plus he has a website which one day I will find and post. Its crazy… skateboarding in the middle of Uganda. Oh, plus Tony Hawk is in contact with them and going to come down to visit. How rad is that?
Now we are back in Mukono, and it is getting cooler. Cooler meaning like 25 degrees. Man alive I love this place. I asked about the vegetation to this woman who runs a program called “House of Hope” Her name is Jennifer and is Ugandan and runs this school. Unfortunately it is way out there and she gets no volunteers. Debating visitng and spending my last month there. She said that the vegetation is all imported from other countries, so she didn’t know the names of trees. Too strange. Well that’s what you get from colonizing I guess!
Tomorrow, I will meet Lawrence, my director at MUMYO and then go into Naggalama with Yvonne. I will commence work! Haha! So excited to meet some African children, it will be really great. The kids here are super great… all of them. Muzungus are very well accepted here, so I am lucky
Lastly, the projects are stupendous. I’m already getting more involved. I will add more details when I have more time and more details. One woman however, Rose, comes from up North and takes volunteers there. So, Mom, Dad and others… Looks like I’m going up North. You talk to Child Soldiers, visit an IDP (internally Displaced People’s) camp and basically learn about some horrors up there. It will be insane but so important. I will take pictures and share my knowledge when I get home
Next weekend we will go to Jinja for a goodbye party for one of the volunteers. Meet Rose and see traditional African dance! Too exciting.
More updates to follow, for sure.
Keeping it safe and real here on the East Coast. Avoiding Tracey’s Scholarship e-mails, loving every moment of Africa and wishing I could write more. Every one is beautiful, everything is beautiful. I can feel myself falling in love, and that is hard because I know the end will come.
Jabale Ko (“thank you for your work” or like, keep it up!) heard that N1KD went well, please send details. Peace and Love… keep your thoughts on Africa and all the work left to be done.
Oh, PS… excitement has just erupted on the street as the desired team has won the football game! Cheers
PPS rode a "taxi" (14 pps to a van... and when they say 14 they mean like 20) for the first few tiems... hahah. ooooh my.
Thursday, March 1, 2007
Mukono Town
well, i'm here. crazy. crazy is the only way to describe it
I wish I could describe Africa, but it's undescribable. You know how in movies you see trafic jams and old buildings and you think, well that's probably what parts of Africa look like sure! Well no, thats what all of Africa looks like. Really, it's impossible to imagine because it's exactly how you would imagine it to be.
Firstly, everybody is soooo friendly. I walked around with Leslie (woman running the program) for maybe like 20 minutes and people asked "hey Mzengu, how's it going?" more times then I can count. Seriously. oh, and by the say, Mzengu is Lugandan for "white person"
In Nairobi (where I had a 4 hour layover) i was just exhausted and sat in this little shop thing and downed as much water as i could. Well low and behold i got about three phone numbers. Just really nice random africans who talked about where they were from, and i showed interest, and they gave me contact information in case I ever want to come and visit. Apparently being a foriegner automatically makes you everybodies favorite... that is if you're nice and friendly. which i am. Oh and what is crazy is that there is this NGO in Rwanda that I looked up when i was searching for places to work. Well, it had to do with just computers so it didn't really interest me. Well guess who talks to me about his life in the genocide, escaping to LA and his love for Africa? Um, that would be the guy who started it. What a small world eh?
Trafic is insane in Kampala. You have no idea. People just do whatever the hell they want. The guy who picked me up, Paul, and I had a great conversation about religion and politics of Uganda. What he said was that in Uganda (*and i've heard this before) there is no hatred what so ever between Religions. Everybody is just happy to be whoever they want to be and respect each other for that. Plus Uganda is full of every religion imaginable. We had this long chat about developement. We sort of came to the conclusion that yeah, there isn't much structral development in Uganda, but the social developement is far superior to that of the Western world. So in finding materialistic development you loose out on social development. It's really intersting. He has alot of hope for less corruption in the future, it's really cool. Oh and he supports Bushes act thing to get African countries to supply the US. He says that if Uganda came about it the right way and exported fruits it would be awesome. And contrary to what some may think, and what i thought, everybody in Uganda is well fed. There is soo much food to go around that everybody is just fine... so why not export some surpluses?
Mukono guest house is pretty bare. But I feel in my element you know? THe bathroom is a hole with two cinderblocks to stand on. Shower is putting water into a bassin and then doing your thing. It's nice though, a friendly place. And lets face it, the point isn't to live comfterbly is it? Everybody lives like this. Personally, I love it... just like I love going on trip for days and days in the outdoors. But who knows, as i get more and more worndown that could change.
Finally, and this is because i'm running out of time, i have to mention how much i'm sweating. Yeah its rainy season but it gets above 40C every day. Why did i bring my big coat again?
Anyway, i hope that i don't die in a puddle of my own sweat and hope that Night of a Thousand Dinners goes well tonight.
Africa is beautiful, and if its possible, more wonderful and exciting then I thought it would be. Great adventures are to come
I wish I could describe Africa, but it's undescribable. You know how in movies you see trafic jams and old buildings and you think, well that's probably what parts of Africa look like sure! Well no, thats what all of Africa looks like. Really, it's impossible to imagine because it's exactly how you would imagine it to be.
Firstly, everybody is soooo friendly. I walked around with Leslie (woman running the program) for maybe like 20 minutes and people asked "hey Mzengu, how's it going?" more times then I can count. Seriously. oh, and by the say, Mzengu is Lugandan for "white person"
In Nairobi (where I had a 4 hour layover) i was just exhausted and sat in this little shop thing and downed as much water as i could. Well low and behold i got about three phone numbers. Just really nice random africans who talked about where they were from, and i showed interest, and they gave me contact information in case I ever want to come and visit. Apparently being a foriegner automatically makes you everybodies favorite... that is if you're nice and friendly. which i am. Oh and what is crazy is that there is this NGO in Rwanda that I looked up when i was searching for places to work. Well, it had to do with just computers so it didn't really interest me. Well guess who talks to me about his life in the genocide, escaping to LA and his love for Africa? Um, that would be the guy who started it. What a small world eh?
Trafic is insane in Kampala. You have no idea. People just do whatever the hell they want. The guy who picked me up, Paul, and I had a great conversation about religion and politics of Uganda. What he said was that in Uganda (*and i've heard this before) there is no hatred what so ever between Religions. Everybody is just happy to be whoever they want to be and respect each other for that. Plus Uganda is full of every religion imaginable. We had this long chat about developement. We sort of came to the conclusion that yeah, there isn't much structral development in Uganda, but the social developement is far superior to that of the Western world. So in finding materialistic development you loose out on social development. It's really intersting. He has alot of hope for less corruption in the future, it's really cool. Oh and he supports Bushes act thing to get African countries to supply the US. He says that if Uganda came about it the right way and exported fruits it would be awesome. And contrary to what some may think, and what i thought, everybody in Uganda is well fed. There is soo much food to go around that everybody is just fine... so why not export some surpluses?
Mukono guest house is pretty bare. But I feel in my element you know? THe bathroom is a hole with two cinderblocks to stand on. Shower is putting water into a bassin and then doing your thing. It's nice though, a friendly place. And lets face it, the point isn't to live comfterbly is it? Everybody lives like this. Personally, I love it... just like I love going on trip for days and days in the outdoors. But who knows, as i get more and more worndown that could change.
Finally, and this is because i'm running out of time, i have to mention how much i'm sweating. Yeah its rainy season but it gets above 40C every day. Why did i bring my big coat again?
Anyway, i hope that i don't die in a puddle of my own sweat and hope that Night of a Thousand Dinners goes well tonight.
Africa is beautiful, and if its possible, more wonderful and exciting then I thought it would be. Great adventures are to come
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