This week, a fair number of my cohort, and some of the education cohort before us, found ourselves in Kampala, at the Pope Paul Memorial Hotel for Grass Roots Soccer training. The week was busy, with a certified trainer from the GRS headquarters in South Africa. She was also a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer; now her service has taken her to an ideal career opportunity. For a lot of my friends: she’s become a light at the end of the tunnel, showing what worth can come from their difficult times.
My coworker Richard, and one of the Musoto Christian teachers named Rose, worked together to bring mixed gender, exclusive boys’ teams, and exclusive girls’ teams. It was a week jam packed with information and supplies. It was also a week filled with allergies. Apparently, it is in Kampala that my allergies wait for me. So much dust, so much pollution, and all the winds from all four corners blowing everything pollen into my body… But it didn’t stop the fun times, and some nights on the town with my friends.
Warning: People in the Photograph do not Adequately Reflect the SHEER NUMBER of Guests.
February 16 – 22, 2020
This week was spent in the office, back home in Mbale. It was a lot of logistical work, and a lot of administrative work. There was, and is, a significant amount of preparation still to go to make GRS happen at Musoto Christian Primary School. But, we have the faculty and staff on board, and many projects to make this happen have been completed, so we’ll be ready to move forward once I return from another Peace Corps training for a DREAMS club.
A beautiful bride on her special day!
I also attended my largest wedding to date: the ceremony was one thing, but the reception easily had over FIVE HUNDRED people in attendance. While it was a beautiful ceremony, and the reception was a lot of fun, I only knew a grand total of five people, including the two who invited me, so it was understandingly overwhelming…
From our Ridar rooms in Mukono District.
February 23 – 29, 2020
This week was in Mukono (the District just outside of Kampala) at the Ridar Hotel. Many of my same fellow volunteers were at this training as well, and it was once more a busy week, full of important and useful information to make a difference in the lives of adolescent girls and young women. Because, that’s what DREAMS is all about. Determined, Resilient, Empowered, AIDS-Free, Mentored, and Safe women and girls. I went with another co-worker, named Beatrice, so we can also bring these services and opportunities to the students of Musoto Christian Primary School.
March 1 – 7, 2020
Another logistical week, with not much to report. Preparing for GRS and DREAMS, as well as community outreaches for the upcoming Malaria month in April, has consumed all of my work time. We will be having meetings and plans with the schools, clinics, district offices, and more to move forward with these plans. So, unfortunately, not much else to share this week. That being said, thank you all so much for reading! And until next time: Be Well, Be Wise, and Be Good to One Another!
The stories to tell in this blog installment will be doubtless a little less enthralling than past passages, but thanks for sticking with me all the same. This week was spent in the office. I completed a grant proposal for the Japanese Embassy, compiled a number of documents for my organization, and even wrote a short story and a poem – both on the theme of “Rain” – for an African Anthology project I was invited to participate in. The collaboration was for writers and creatives around the continent. If anything exciting for the project comes to my attention as we go through beta-reading and the like, I’ll be sure to keep you posted.
But speaking of rain: an unprecedented season of rainfall has come to the region. It’s thrown a number of wrenches into the works. I was also lucky enough to meet with two American women, living and working in Kampala with PEPFAR (the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief). It was a fine dinner and networking opportunity, and a fine way to shake up my usual Thursday routine. Other than that, this week as been quiet, and comfortable in the office, completing some assignments I’ve had on my plate.
January 26 – February 1, 2020
Another quiet week – but a busy one – in the office. We sent off our grant application to the Japanese Embassy, first of all. And the rest of the work was divided between meetings, and preparing for a whole cadre of activities this year. The team spent our week diligently working, planning, designing, and budgeting proposals for seven different health related events spread among all five our sub-county parishes. This was for a board meeting at the end of the week. It was a fine start, and also the beginning of some really exciting outreaches and services come our way!
February 2 – February 8, 2020
Tororo town.
Sunday saw the arrival of the first of several visitors from the UK. The first two were a husband and wife team, responsible for the patient management system that we use at the clinic. We went over our suggestions and updates that will be rolled out with the program update. It was a very pleasant and productive opportunity. Tuesday also had visitors from the UK. Specifically, from the newly founded UK-Uganda Health Alliance, and Priory Medical. Two experts from the NHS of the UK came to see where and with whom they will be partnering. We’re looking forward to the work we will do together.
Working with the District!
The rest of the week was spent in the Tororo district for three days, on a surprise, spontaneous meeting with the district’s nutrition team. We spent the days developing a five-year work plan for advancing and continuing nutrition support throughout our area. After presenting the portion assigned for me today – as a Spotlight representative – tomorrow will involve the usual errands and a few chores. But not all of them… Come Sunday, I am traveling to Kampala for a Peace Corps training on Grass Roots Soccer. Stay tuned for that and more, my lovely readers! Until next time: be well, be wise, and be good to one another!
As we approached the week before Christmas, the office was finalizing any work for the rest of the year; the office would be closed until halfway through the month of January. Naturally, I will not be lounging about this whole time, but with the apparent tradition of everyone hosting everything – from introductions, to weddings, to end of the year parties, to the holidays – there’s not going to be much time for serious working for a while.
An Introduction, and a Wedding!
Now, I realize that I haven’t explained what an introduction ceremony is, so here’s a brief synopsis. An introduction is like a pre-wedding celebration – a party that can often be more lavish, entertaining, and food-filled than the actual ceremony and reception. At an introduction, the bride-to-be brings her whole family to meet her future groom and his family. The two then “size each other up,” with pranks, jokes, and well-meaning insults and games to ensure their daughter is marrying into a proper and upstanding family. There are gifts galore, as this is a country where bride-wealth payments, or dowry, is still practiced. There is food, music, dancing, gossiping, and much more. More so than even the wedding, which is often a much more serious affair. Since I’ve become something of a veteran of these events, I can tell each of you dear readers, that they can be as joyous and fun as they can be tedious – we still run on Ugandan time, after all.
A Vibrant, Musical Celebration! …just to say ‘hello’
We also had more visitors from the UK this week, a graduation ceremony for those in the community who completed either the carpentry or tailoring trade programs, and the official opening of the tailoring facility situated near the health clinic. Mbale district also held their end of the year/Christmas party – to which I was invited with Spotlight on Africa. There was also the end of the year meetings in the office, as well as checking in with the Community Health Promoters (CHPs) before the New Year. It’s been a busy week, to put it mildly.
December 22 – 28, 2019
The week of Christmas, and it starts with Christmas shopping! Well, Christmas cookie shopping. I’ve bought a large amount of Christmas treats for everyone who’s made my life in Uganda so wonderful thus far, and it seemed a lot easier than buying individual gifts. And everyone seemed very touched, so I’m pleased with the results. I also got my own Christmas present from home, with snacks and gifts galore!
The Plains of Africa in the afternoon sun on Christmas Day.
Christmas Eve, the Big Day, and the day after were spent in the village of Bukedea. This is my boss’ childhood village, and their get-away home-in-progress, so we worshiped in their small church, we ate way too much, we hiked with friends new and old, and I introduced the Ugandans to the wonders of the classic Christmas movie “White Christmas.” They very much enjoyed themselves. After returning to the city, I took my homestay mother from language training out to a nice dinner at a fancy hotel. It was a quiet and pleasant Christmas; one to remember.
And I hope all of you enjoyed your holy days – whichever you may celebrate!
Did you know you deserved a kitten picture? Cause you do.
The week is closed out with a trip to Jinja, and the source of the Nile, for New Year Celebrations with Peace Corps friends. We’re staying at the Nile River Explorers Basecamp, with plenty of enjoyable activities, amenities, and adventures at affordable prices. You know, should you find yourself in my neck of the woods…
It is such as joy to relax with good friends, to explore new places, to spend perhaps a little too much money, and to laugh harder than you have in quite a while. And the vacation is only beginning.
Entertainment is everywhere in this Wonderland.
December 29, 2019 – January 4, 2020
Honestly, I never thought that I’d be experiencing the Nile when I wasn’t in Egypt, but I’m sure that’s something that many people just assume, considering what most people know about the great river. The river runs through four different countries, after all. To be near the water, in the water, on the water – it doesn’t much matter – water is my aesthetic, so I’m a happy man in this Ugandan town. We cruised the Nile for a short while. Visited the Source – where the Nile leaves from the great Lake Victoria. We went to a small zoo, and we went shopping – as visitors are want to do.
Some of our Animal friends, and: ALL HAIL CAROL!! Chosen Consort of Sobek, Crocodile God and Keeper of the Nile!
Welcoming in the New Year was spent in a modest party crawl around the city, and along the water. We danced and cheered and enjoyed a fireworks display over the Nile. We had a wonderful time – ushering in the next bout of the Roaring Twenties! Hard to imagine that was a century ago… And we all agreed to live in the spirit of our ancestors of a hundred years past: challenge the status quo, resist oppressive authority, speak truth to power, and live our best to better our species and our world!
Sunset Cruise on the Source of the Nile, with some wonderful people to boot!
I hope you all do as well. A Very Happy New Year to You All!
After returning home, I’ve relaxed, done some shopping and some chores, and waited for the new week to begin. I’ll be finishing up my projects – currently in stasis – at the health clinic until the office opens again. Then, I’ll have a grant proposal to compose, a health curriculum to design, and a report to send on all my work to the Peace Corps as the New Year kicks off with a bang!
A Bunch of Muzungus (Bazungus) Ringing in the Roaring Twenties!!
January 6 – 11, 2020
This week was spent in the clinic, working as much and as thoroughly as I could to complete the training with the staff. Joined by a surprise visit by representatives from the District Health Office, as well as a very enjoyable visit from the Peace Corps Country Director: James Ham, most everyone was successfully briefed on the basics of typing and computer literacy. Everyone proved to be enthusiastic and capable students; they took to the information very quickly, with an eagerness to continue their own private practices. This was a welcome experience, as there are more projects and plans that require my attention moving forward.
Me and the Boss Man!
The visit from the Peace Corps Country Director was a very productive meeting. Director James Ham seems very pleased with my progress, and he seems to be an excellent professional reference and peer to have in my life as we both continue our professional careers. No spoilers – as there’s nothing to spoil – but his connections could prove very useful. Not only for my future, but all of us serving here in country.
I have also spent the week composing, researching, and drafting the proposal for a grassroots level grant, sponsored by the Japanese Embassy. It is a simple enough design, and if we managed to secure their help with funding our imminently constructed new maternity clinic, we would consider that a massive success.
The Nile… That is all.
January 12 – 18, 2020
This week was divided between the clinic and the office, and was a very productive week to be sure. Everyone in the clinic has been trained in the basics of typing and computer interface. I have completed my cursory assessment of our patient database, and made contact with the developer to pass on my suggestions. I met with the head teachers of Musoto Primary School and secured our second coach for the upcoming Grass Roots Soccer training. I completed, and began accumulating feedback on, the grant proposal to the Japanese Embassy. I compiled the end of the year reports for Spotlight into a single document. I started my quarterly report for the Peace Corps, and I continued progress on a couple writing projects, even planning for a few new meetings in the coming weeks.
And with that, we have the conclusion of a busy month’s worth of days, fun, and work. I trust every one of you has been well these past weeks. As always, I thank you all for taking this journey with me, and I hope you all continue to Be Well, Be Wise, and Be Good to One Another. Until next time…
We stayed at the Lacam Lodge, five of us from the Lumasaaba
group, and we spent the weekend in one of the most beautiful natural settings
I’ve ever known. The hike was relatively
easy, despite the muddy paths, and the waterfalls were among the most powerful
and breath-taking feats of Mother Nature I’ve had the pleasure to be drenched
by. This posting is more than likely
just going to be pictures of that trip, but it’s well worth it in my
opinion. Should you ever find yourself
in the Eastern Region of Uganda, make your way to Sipi, and if you’re here when
I’m here, I’m more than happy to take you!
The week featured the return of the nursing students from
the Mbale School of Nursing and Midwifery, and with their tireless efforts to
help our facility run smoothly, I was free to work on completing the storage
room redesign. But to my surprise: we
received our overdue shipment of drugs, medication, and supplies! And we were completely swamped because of it…
Earlier, in another posting, we talked about how word
travels fast; so, when we have medication on hand, the people come
running. We used hundreds of pills,
hundreds of injections, hundreds of gloves all in one day. But I was encouraged to keep working on the
stock room, reworking everything, putting relevant items together (HIV/AIDS
treatments, injectables, family planning and pregnancy kits, etc.). By the end of my time, we have a clean,
orderly, and easily navigated storage area.
But it still took up a vast majority of my days at the clinic.
And since we’re seeing so many patients every day, due to
our shipment arrival, the clinic staff came to the agreement that we should
hold off on the one-on-one tech trainings until we’ve settled down once
again. It’s a little depressing knowing
that we’ll be returning to a slower state due to a lack of supplies; it’s also
depressing that that state is the status quo most of the time, but we have to
work with what we have. Now is the time
to put patients first, because we actually have the full ability to do so now.
Since I had to leave early Friday morning to make my way to
the Peace Corps In-Service Training (IST), my work at the office was rather
sparse, but by the end of the week, I packed my bags, and ventured forth to
Mukono with my friends for IST.
October 20 – 26, 2019
A week spent at a nice hotel with friends and good food is
always a welcome experience. However,
with a majority of the sessions of IST, I found myself looking at my watch, and
thinking about the work I would be doing if I was back home with Mbale. But it wasn’t all that lacking, either. We learned more about specifically targeted
interventions, such as HIV/AIDS prevention among youth and the Bodaboda riders,
nutrition for all age groups (and targeted by region), as well as unique Income
Generating Activities (IGAs).
It was wonderful to reconnect with friends, and to spend
time with our counterparts. Richard
Mutambuli, the man, myth, and the legend, was able to come out with us to
Mukono, and he found the IST experience very useful. His work is more on the agricultural and
business side of Spotlight on Africa; his expertise is on combatting climate
change and developing agricultural techniques.
And on another positive side: I have been able to get so
much writing done! And not just for this
blog. I’ve been steeped in the middle of
“Preptober.” Since next month is Novel
Writing Month, October is the time to prepare.
I’ve almost completed Part One of my current work in progress, and
NaNoWriMo will be spent writing Part Two.
Once I’ve sorted some logistics out, I’m hoping to have at least four
projects in their alpha stages finished by the end of the calendar year. They will all be different genres, literary
styles, and explore various themes.
October 27, 2019 – November 2, 2019
It’s good to be home.
The drive back to Mbale was the longest – and hardest – yet; countless
stops and the one time we switched vehicles made the relief of being back all
the more enjoyable. Saturday evening and
Sunday were spent running the necessary errands, and doing the washing and the
cleaning. I was ready to get back into
the rhythm of work.
Monday, I learned that we have a new batch of nursing
students, and still an almost overwhelming number of patients. Even if it’s Monday, by the end of the day,
we were all very tired. I also learned,
through a series of conversations, how difficult it can be to explain the
difference between fantasy and reality to someone not prone to experiencing
them, the minor crisis that will need addressing at the monthly staff meeting,
and the plight current Ugandan prison system.
American prisons are very bad, but Ugandan prisons are even worse. It made my newly discovered
off-the-beaten-trail path to and from the clinic a bit of a downer, despite the
scenic views.
I have to spend the majority of the week in the office, in
order to prepare for the staff meeting this Thursday.
Happy Halloween! And
a Blessed All-Hallows-Eve to You All!
Friday afternoon, I’ll be catching another taxi to go up
north. Fellow volunteers and I will be
celebrating Gulu-ween.
November 3 – 9, 2019
Gulu is a great little town.
It is clean and well structured from a planning perspective. The people are friendly, and there’s plenty
of great places to eat and shop. Also,
having a majority of your Peace Corps friends there can make the experience a
highly positive one. Folks from the East
took a bus service up to the North; it was much nicer and faster than going by
a small taxi. Still, it was over a
seven-hour drive, so we had to be getting up very early in the mornings when we
traveled.
And while it was a fun weekend full of food, festivities,
and friends, there were a few instances late at night that simply served to
show that no matter where you are in the world, nothing good happens after two
in the morning.
The week was rather uneventful, but was still jam packed
with meetings. Meetings at the office,
meetings at the clinic, meetings at the District Health Office. It also served to show something very
important: I am not here to change the system, I am here for the people, and I’ll
need to be conscious of that when choosing my projects moving forward. I am a Community Health Specialist, not a
personnel manager. It was conclusion I
had to come to, so as not to spend my whole service sitting stagnant in meetings,
going around and around, never moving forward.
November 10 – 16, 2019
This week saw a return to the original schedule: many more
people at the clinic were training with me on technology and computer
skills. Which also meant the medicines
and drugs have run low once more, as predicted, but now there’s time for capacity
building. Especially with the new
ambulance drivers that we’ve had trained and certified! They’re great guys, hard workers, and we’ll
be getting the bodambulances on the road for patients hopefully in the next
week or so! When the garage for the
vehicles is completed, I’ll have a picture for you all as well.
We’re also a little frenzied at the moment, building a
series of events out in the community for the up-coming World AIDS Day. We will be going to five villages over five
days for screening, testing, activities, and educational sessions. Then during the Mbale District celebration
the first week of December, we will have a larger event targeting a whole
sub-county. Plenty more information and pictures
about those days to follow!
Sorry for the delay getting this update to you all; there
was actually a significant stretch of time – not including how busy we all were
– where we were utterly without power and internet in the office. Otherwise, hopefully, we’ll be back on a
proper schedule, with another upload coming to you before Christmas. I’ve also been ahead of my NaNoWriMo novel
writing project, which is another first for me!
So until next we meet: Be Well, Be Wise, and Be Good to One Another!!!
You see matooke trees with flowers around, and you know there’s a celebration happening there!
September 22-28, 2019
It’s Sunday, and suddenly I’m called into an impromptu
meeting with the District Health Officer at the Health Center to discuss the
upcoming events. Naturally, this
happened right when I’m in the middle of all my washing and cleaning, but
Director Richard is out of town, and I’ve been requested in his place. So, despite my dirty and filthy state, I met
with the head of the Mbale health office, Dr. Jonathan, Sister Agnes from the
clinic, and Christine from Spotlight.
We’re meeting because this coming Tuesday is a very big deal in the
history of our organization. Afterwards,
Agnes and the security team of Bukasakya Health Center III helped me to
reorganize the clinic space according to my design. This will hopefully help to aid with time
management, space maximization, and patient care.
And the celebration’s here!
Monday was a whole twelve-hour work day; at the clinic from
before opening to well past closing. The
new process for handling patients and increasing the effectiveness of the
workplace has already proven a vast improvement. Even my fellow health workers have noticed
the positive change we’re making. After
the long day – with many new patients as is the case with every Monday – we
focused on preparing the space for tomorrow.
We worked past sundown, and even after I left, a whole team continued
into the night.
It’s not a party in Uganda without the right kind of music and dancing! (all from the hips)
Tuesday was a spectacular day; even though it was another
long thirteen-hour day. After starting
off at the office for a little more prep time, I journeyed to the clinic in
Bukasakya, and found the festivities all ready for the big day! Today was the long awaited ground breaking
and dedication ceremony for the new Maternity clinic, our vocational institute,
and the new motorcycle ambulances (I call them ‘bodambulances’)! There was singing, dancing, wonderful
speeches, and – of course – the symbolic breaking of the ground. We were able to see some of the work the
tailor students were capable of, and see the very fair, possibly too cheap,
prices of their products. The buildings
and grounds were beautiful. More than
three hundred people were in attendance.
I was able to meet the sponsors from Harpenden Spotlight on Africa in
the UK, as well as a member of the British Parliament, the Honorable Bim
Afolami! They are all wonderful
people. We had enough traditional
Ugandan cuisine to feed everyone a nutritious meal, and then some. And despite the line for that meal bringing
me physically closer to the other hungry people – closer even than some past
intimate encounters – everyone was fed, happy, and had a wonderful time!
Our new bodambulances!!
When I returned to work at the clinic on Wednesday, I was so
proud to learn that the staff had continued to work using the new layout and
procedures I had designed, even when I wasn’t there. And it ran smoothly to boot! They are happy with the ease and comfort that
the new stages have afforded them. So,
Wednesday was a rather relaxed day – albeit with a significant number of new
patients. As I was walking home,
expecting an easy nine-hour day as usual, I was surprised by our visitors from
the UK! They wrangled me into a series
of productive meetings over drinks at their hotel, and then a dinner with the
board members of the Spotlight on Africa – Uganda Foundation. And thus, ended another long, productive, and
unexpectedly enjoyable day on this very busy week!
The Honorable Minister of Health, Dr. Aceng, breaking the ground on our new maternity clinic!
Thursday, we had to be up at 5:00 in the morning, because we
were all driving to Kampala! We have to
be at the residence of the British High Commissioner for evening tea, and a
fundraiser for Spotlight on Africa! And
we made it, despite the short delay from a flat tire on the road to Iganga, and
the repairing of the tire in Jinja.
Since every dark cloud has a silver lining, my new friends from the UK
bought me a bacon cheeseburger for lunch while we waited in Java House for the
repairs! I’d been craving one for some
time now, and yes: it was wonderful. We
arrived in Kampala at our destined location close to the time of our tea and
fundraiser, and the event itself was a smashing success! High Commissioner Alison Blackburn has a
beautiful house, with some breathtaking gardens, and we were welcomed with open
arms to gather as friends and co-workers.
We discussed the future of our work in the healthcare field for
Spotlight on Africa, and we ensured everyone would be on the same page going
forward. I even gave a short
presentation myself, impressing the political members of those in attendance;
they said I was a natural public speaker.
Afterwards, we drove through the maddening Kampala traffic to take our
friends from the UK to Entebbe airport.
After a friendly farewell, and a promise to meet again in a few more
months, the remainder of us made the long, long, LONG trip back to Mbale. In terms of kilometers, it wasn’t that long;
but for a twenty-hour day of mostly travel: it most certainly was long…
An afternoon tea and fundraiser at the British High Commissioner’s!
Friday was a day of recovery. And the weekend was relatively
uneventful. Just the usual chores and
errands. But there was another surprise
meeting on Sunday evening with a district official, so that was something. All in all, this week was exceedingly busy,
but an undeniable triumph for us and the work we do with Spotlight on Africa.
The High Commissioner’s gardens.
Now, I know some of you have reached out, wondering about
possible donations to Spotlight. This
is, currently, difficult to do, as the website is only accepting the British
pound. But I’ve talked with the members
from the UK, and we should be able to change that to include American dollars
in the relatively near future. So, look
out for that update, and give when you’re feeling generous!
September 29, 2019 – October 5, 2019
We also celebrated the opening of our new tailoring vocational building!
And with the end of the highly productive, stressful,
wonderful, crazy busy week, it is back to the usual grind. Monday at the health center made it clear
that it was time to start the next phase of capacity building for the staff and
the workings of the clinic. I started
planning for my one-on-one lessons with each member of the team, and how I
would build their typing proficiency as well as showing them how best to use
the computers provided by Harpenden Spotlight UK. Our monthly staff meeting was beneficial in
many ways, allowing for me to get most all of the staff on board with where our
work together would be going next.
In just a few years, all of this will be filled with buildings, making a complete sub-county hospital!
Wednesday also made it clear that the clinic still has some
major hurdles to overcome with regards to communication. My one-on-one lessons will provide ample
opportunity for this; it really just needs to be hammered in how important it
is to tell others on the team where you will be, what you are doing, etc. That way we can best ensure all stations and
departments are covered at all times when we are open.
My days in the office turned out to be much more complex
than I thought. Both days had me running
from the office to the district health office and back and forth so we can work
on getting the new motorcycle ambulances certified and working as soon as
possible. I also spent time revamping
the schedule for the health center, prepping for my lessons, working on the
quarterly report for the Peace Corps, and potentially become part of the
National Malaria Think Tank to which I was invited to apply.
My homestay brother, the new Doctor Dennis, and his friend and classmate!
Thursday was another day of celebration! My homestay brother, Dennis, graduated from
medical school, and I was lucky enough to celebrate with him, friends, family,
and lots of food. All in all, I would
say this week was another highly productive week! And it gave me a chance to start Prep-tober. Working a month ahead of time in preparation
for NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month!
Stay tuned for more about that as I try to write a novel in a month and
steadily lose my sanity!
A Writer’s Clock…
The weekend, starting on Friday, was hit by some of the
harshest storms, thunder, and rainfall that I’ve experiences since coming to
this country. It let up enough to allow
for work, errands, chores, etc. but during the evening and nightly hours, the
storms were at their worst. So, with the
roads being in such bad, and worsening, condition from all the rain, I still
have not been able to get my bicycle’s rear tire fixed. But good news: I finally have a large
rotating fan for my living room, and I have my small refridgerator! Now I need to start getting some actual
furniture and decorative pieces over the next few months/years…
Family and friends came from all over the country, and some from beyond, to celebrate!
There was cake, and as always: sooo much food!
October 6 – 12, 2019
With even more rain carried over from the weekend, a
pleasant surprise was waiting at the clinic, and would remain for several
weeks: nursing students! Which meant
there were able-bodied and minded humans to handle patient intake and
management; freeing me to start work on other projects at the center that had
been bothering me for a while. For
example, the storage room: it was in need of some serious consolidation,
maintenance, attention, cleaning, updates, and more. So that’s what my Monday, Tuesday, and part
of Wednesday were about. All and all, I
freed up two whole shelves worth of space, separated the supplies, drugs,
equipment, etc. into their own specified sections, and I’ve started the task of
updating the inventory. The work is not
finished, but it’s a solid start.
It will also make things much easier once we’ve received our
next quarterly shipment of drugs and supplies… Which is already late… By
several months… Another problem that happens here – it happens all over the
world, but here it can be rather frequent.
So, you just have the make due with what you have.
October 9th is the day when England granted the emancipation
of Uganda to its own sovereign state after centuries of colonial
occupation. To celebrate, I attended a
nationally sponsored training session on Measles and Rubella vaccination
efforts. You see, unlike some
Americans, Ugandans are aware of the importance of vaccinations – we have them
for free here everyday at our clinic.
Taking that to heart, you can now tell any “anti-vax supporters” that
you meet that they can look forward to complications, bills, and potential
sorrow, while the folks in Uganda just continue to build healthier and better
lives.
(Note: at the training, when I told them, the participants
were in utter shock and disbelief that some Americans were actually
rejecting the uses and benefits of vaccinations; they were also very, very
worried about the children living with such parents who refused their
life-saving medicines)
Thursday and Friday have been in the office, as per
usual. I’ve completed my first reporting
of activities to the Peace Corps, and I’ve been working on finalizing the
lesson plans for the folks at the clinic.
I also continued working on a few outlying projects, and continued
researching for the CHP health education expansion. This busy week will be concluded with a
relaxing weekend with friends. The
Lumasaaba crew is heading up to the Sipi Falls for the weekend, so be on the
lookout for many gorgeous photos in the next installment.
Once again, my wonderful readers, thank you for joining me
on this journey! And until next time: be
well, be wise, and be good to one another!
Happy International Day of the Girl-Child! (October 11th) Here’s to all the girls who’ll be saving the world as Wonder Women, one day! Or even today!
Just a pretty field. Oh! But there’s actually a stream hidden somewhere here! Can you find it?
September 1-7, 2019
Well, the weekend did not go as planned. I don’t have my mini-fridge, my fan, or my
bicycle. This was due to an unexpectedly
copious amount of rainfall, and ATM services being completely down. But this is Uganda. And in Uganda – like anywhere else in the
world – things happen. Which is why the
mentality here is along the lines of “the work will get done… eventually.” I’ll get what I need and what I’d like to
have eventually, but not necessarily when planned. So, in the meantime, you just have to greet
these changes with a positive attitude, and find other work and activities to
occupy your time.
Bukasakya Health Center III Exterior
And Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday were… an experience. Monday and Tuesday with more than 150
patients each, and Wednesday with around 75 patients… to put it very
mildly. While it was an extremely
informative three days at the health center, there’s clearly a very large
amount of work to be done. When we have
an influx of patients (sometimes as many as fifty in an hour), the center
devolves into absolutely chaos. Somehow
every patient is seen, and somehow the nurses make it work, but there are
opportunities for space maximization, resource allocation, time management, and
more. I’ve already started planning a
nearly complete restructuring of the floorplan, and we’ll be working on putting
that into practice moving forward. I’m
also going to need to practice my Lumasaaba, but with twenty-one possible
languages spoken in all of the villages served, there are many more language
barriers that need to be traversed. It
was also a fine three days getting to know new co-workers and healthcare
professionals.
Quite a small space for such a large population, isn’t it?
Thursday and Friday were slow days in the office. I spent the time drawing up an outline of the
individual subjects for the health promotors’ curriculum expansion, and
researching the first topic. I’ve been
preparing a draft, one that should be ready for adjustment, critique, and
improvement by the end of next week. We
can then work on moving forward with all of the topics, as well as what is next
on our leadership training for the month’s coming CHP leaders meeting.
September 8-14, 2019
This weekend was the right – and the wrong – time to buy a
bicycle. The shop owner is a wonderful
man, who sells used bikes at very reasonable prices. They are sturdy, strong, and solid. So, I bought mine, and began to ride it home
on Sunday. I made it further than
three-fourths of the way back to my house… when the rear tire exploded. Literally, it sounded like a loud rifle
blast, and it was most likely due to over inflation, which I was told is a
common problem for bicycles, motorcycles, and cars in this country. Regardless, I have a bike, and it will be
repaired for free, but it is currently out of commission.
Generalized Topographical Map of the area we serve at the health center.
This week, during my days at the health center, Monday was
completely madness once more – seeing more than one hundred and fifty patients
come through. But Tuesday and Wednesday
were much slower. As it turns out, word
can travel very fast when a clinic is out of medication for particular – highly
recurring – illnesses in the community.
When it comes to diarrhea, malaria, flu, and the like, we’ve run out of
medication for treating them, and so the number of patients coming through
dropped to less than fifty patients a day.
If anything, this speaks to the clear and present need for better
prevention strategies and interventions in the community. Like in America, people have become too
reliant on medications, instead of focusing on keeping themselves healthy before
they become sick with something that is preventable.
Wednesday was also the day when I caught a cold working at
the Health Center. Not all that
surprising, considering every other patient presents with cold, flu, and
coughing symptoms. Which they then cough
and sneeze in our general direction all day long. But I don’t have malaria, and I feel strong
enough to continue working, while resting earlier and longer while home.
Thursday, I felt stronger, so I spent the day at the office,
as was the plan. I met with Joseph, a
member of the Peace Corps staff here in Uganda, and he was very excited about
the work that I’ve been doing and the work I will be doing here at
Spotlight. He is also considering me for
a position on a new regional committee of volunteers that the Peace Corps is
building, so that’s pretty exciting.
Joseph is also a gosh dang superhero!
That’s very important for you all to know…
See? That single red line means you’re Malaria-free!
I took a malaria test, to prove that my sickness wasn’t
malaria, and I was right!
But that didn’t stop me being more or less completely
bedridden for all of Friday… Only cold showers could really break my fever and
there was a lot of resting and recovery.
Everyone in this country (exaggeration for the win!) seems to have this
cold, so even my neighbors were sick, and we were all miserable together.
I felt strong enough to make my way into town on Saturday to
buy food, because I need food and food is important. But as soon as I got home, my fever had
spiked back up and it was time to stand under cold water for a while!
It’s been an interesting week… We feel so proud when we go
for a such a long time without getting sick (five years!) but then when we do,
it hits us like a an unpredictably moving car.
Oh well, another week, another experience…
September 15-21, 2019
Something interesting that I’ve noticed, I’ve been in this
town long enough now, and I’ve met and have gotten to know enough people, that
I find myself running into friends, acquaintances, and co-workers every time I go
into town. I know there’s not a whole
lot of people in this city, but it’s still a nice feeling to have, and a nice
realization to make.
The Maternity and Post-Natal half of the Health Center.
This week was relatively uneventful; spent much of the time
recovering from my cold. I did go to work,
however, just not at the health center. I
refused to stay in my house as I recovered.
Just not the kind of guy I am. But
it is the smarter option not to risk re-infection, or catching something
entirely new with a compromised immune system.
So, my week was spent in the office, and even there it was a mad scramble
for much of the week.
There is something very big – several somethings, actually –
that will be taking place next week. And
since I’m feeling puckishly cheeky, what with being healthy and strong again, I’ll
be leaving you on a cliffhanger to find out what happens when I release the
next post.
Once again, thank you all for your time and coming with me
on this journey! It means the world that
so many of you find enjoyment and education from this: our shared experience. So, until next time, dear readers: be well,
be wise, and be good to one another!
No real story here, just the gorgeous mountain within walking distance of my office.
Week of: August 12-17, 2019
Hello Readers!
So, we’re going to try a new format for the blog. Instead of going day-by-day – since there’s
not going to be much in the way of new beyond the happenings of the job – we’ll
go in a week-by-week style. If it’s not
ideal, or we want to change it back, I will.
Just something to keep in mind as we go forward on this adventure.
And to start off: this week was amazing! I wanted a job
where I could just dive right in, start working right away, and just be cooped
up inside my house for the first three months of service, and I got it! I got what I wanted! And, I Love It!
First off, I know Monday will be a bit of a recap, but here
we go! Monday, I started off by reading
more about the work done here at Spotlight on Africa – Uganda Foundation, and
then we journeyed to a different Health Center III to take a look at their new
maternity ward, open to the public less than two years ago. The combine an ingenious design to maximize
airflow and cooling the interior with traditional Ugandan architecture. We’re planning to use elements of that in our
new maternity ward in Bukasakya sub-county.
Which, by the way, we’re breaking ground on next month, and will be
completed and open to the public before I am finished with my service here in
Uganda! I am so excited!
Tuesday, was a rather slow day at the office. We went over budget reports, and planning for
the future of the organization and the institutions we support. Afterwards, we had a meeting on adding the
cooling architecture to the maternity ward once construction begins and it was
very well received.
Wednesday, we had an impromptu meeting at the Mbale District
Health Office concerning the planning and implementation of a currently
District wide Community Health Promoter (or Volunteer Health Teacher/Trainer)
database, that could potentially be adopted by the whole of Uganda in the
future. This will help with tracking,
continued training, and sending the best to where they are needed most, to name
a few. I also had the chance to meet
many of my peers, also working for NGOs in the Mbale District. After the meeting, I also started researching
Public-Private Partnerships, at the request of my supervisor, for a
presentation to the District Health Officer on Friday.
Thursday, was a day at the office. I worked on the handout, the presentation,
and the follow-up participant questionnaire all day, getting that ready for the
meeting tomorrow.
Friday, we had the meeting at the Bukasakya Health Center
that we sponsor. Naturally, with Ugandan
time, we started significantly later than planned, and we didn’t have as many
participants as we invited, and we ended well into the start of the night, but
it was still a very successful event.
The representatives from the district were very receptive to our
discussions and goals for the future of our partnership. Far from using empty words, talks of
immediate action were taken, and I am excited to see where the future takes us
for the citizens of Bukasakya sub-county.
Saturday, I spent much the morning shopping for more
supplies for my house, and planning for what else I’ll need to buy over the
coming months. At the moment, my kitchen
and bathroom are more or less completed and stocked, and for the rest of my
house, there’s really only the larger sized purchases – furniture, appliances,
etc. – to worry about. Afterwards, my
fellow Lumasaaba volunteers and I met for an afternoon at (where else?) Mt.
Elgon Hotel. It was nice to see everyone
and learn more about what we’ve been doing the past week. And, at my friend’s insistence, I was able to
find a very scenic, nature-filled alternative path back to Mbale for my walk
home.
Week of: August 18-24, 2019
This week was spent working, almost exclusive, at the
Bukasakya Health Center. All day, every
day this week, I was there, working with the Senior Clinical Officer (she’s in
charge of the whole facility) on designing an annual work plan for the Health
Center III. We focused on designing
annual and quarterly goals, compiling population data relating to health trends
and concerns, rules and roles of key stakeholders and funding sources, staffing
needs, referral behaviors for the past year, budgeting, achievements and
challenges, and finally, we planned how to address the District’s health objectives
for the year.
There was a lot to do, obviously. But we managed to get that done in a week, so
I’m pretty proud of myself. And my
co-workers are rather impressed as well.
The weekend was a rather lazy weekend. Got my chores and errands done, cleaned my
house, washed my clothes, got some writing done, and just relaxed. It was a good way to prepare for my next –
very big – project with Spotlight that could take several months to complete. And I’m going to need those several months,
to say the least, because I’ve never designed a district-wide standardized
health education curriculum before…
Meeting with the CHP Leaders.
Week of: August 25-31, 2019
This week was a rather slow one, spent almost exclusively in
the office. I was given my first two large-scale
assignments, and I’ll be officially starting both next week. For the first half of each week, for the rest
of the calendar year, I’ll be working at the Bukasakya Health Center in an
administrative role. As an active team
member, I’ll be able to use my skills as an applied anthropologist as well as a
healthcare professional in order to observe and participate. The goal will be to improve and build upon
the capacity of the staff as well as the operations of the facility as a
whole. We will work to improve
technological ability, patient care and safety, and expanding our resources to
account for the growing status of the community as well as the center itself.
The later half of the week will be spent in the office. I’ve been assigned the task of designing a
Community Health Promoters curriculum meant to improve upon the knowledge and skills
of the volunteers we have in the surrounding villages. I have a whole list of topics. I have a whole list of expectations. I have the rest of the year to produce a
product worth ushering into the new year.
It’s daunting, exciting, and carries a suitable amount of pressure. I’ve already started the research and
gathering some materials, so I’ve made an appropriate start.
We did have one big event this week. On Wednesday, Spotlight met with a majority
of their Community Health Promotion Leaders.
This happens once a week, and we will be working on building their
leadership and mentoring skills to bring to their teams in the villages. The meeting went well; they were all very
engaged and a wonderful group of people.
I’m excited to meet them all in a more personal capacity as we all work
to better ourselves and the work that we do.
“The Best Things in the World are Felt with the Heart.”
And while I am posting this on a Friday, I’ll share the plan
for tomorrow as well. My supervisor will
be helping me with the first round of larger item shopping. I’ll be paying for my mini-fridge, a large
fan, and my bicycle this weekend. It’s a
wonderful thing: having a supervisor with transportation to help lug these
bigger pieces back to the house.
So, until next time my lovely readers: be well,
be wise, and be good to one another. I
hope you’ve all had a great close to your month of August. Have a wonderful start to September!
Up the mountain from my hometown, Mbale. No big deal, or anything.
July 22 – 25, 2019
For the whole duration of this week, our focus has been on
preparing, practicing, and studying for the real Language Proficiency Interview
(LPI). As such, not a whole lot of
import or excitement happened to report.
There was just a lot of preparing, practicing, and studying Lumasaaba. However, I am feeling better about my use and
understanding on the language. So, I’m
not all that worried about the exam. For
now…
July 26, 2019
Well, I took the LPI exam, and… it actually went fairly
fine, as it turns out. I can only say
that from what I felt about the experience, and if it turns out that I actually
did horribly, I’m going to be very disappointed. That being said, I was able to answer in
complete sentences, make coherent paragraphs, use descriptive adjectives,
various tenses, and understand all but one of the questions. So, if I did poorly, I will be disappointed
and surprised.
I was lucky enough to finish my exam early, so I headed into
town to buy some sweets from a fantastic bakery and café as thanks for my
homestay family for housing and caring for me these past five weeks. I bought enough for us to enjoy tonight and
tomorrow night. Our last night of
homestay. So we will have a veritable
feast – which we were preparing some of tonight – sweets, and another movie
night.
July 27, 2019
As a way of Peace Corps giving thanks to the family’s who
took us in the past month, we invited our families to a send off and
celebration of our time together. We
shared a meal. We shared words of love
and praise. We shared our time. But naturally there was more to do.
Many of us seemed to have a similar idea of a final night surprise
for our host families. But where some
bought pizzas for dinner, I had my cookies and sweets. They were very well received, as well as a
comedy for movie night, plus the oh-so-necessary Indian soap operas. Thus, did our final night together – at least
for now – had wrapped up smoothly and happily.
Through the forests and the trees.
July 28, 2019
We’ve travelled to the boarder town of Busia, and to use a
proper but cliched metaphor: it’s like a whole different world. Where Mbale is a city of hills, trees,
sidewalks, and buildings sometimes as high as five stories; Busia is flat, with
very few trees, no sidewalks, and short buildings. It also borders Kenya, so while we’ve not set
foot in Kenya just yet, we did set tires in the country, so we’re counting it
as a visit. No matter how arbitrary and
derived entirely from semantics. Also,
the palpable disconnect from not being able to use the language we’ve been
trained in for five weeks has rendered me temporarily mute. Uganda is a nation with over fifty spoken
languages, and leaving our small area has opened the door for five new, and
completely foreign, tongues.
We’ve also split into two groups: the four health volunteers
together, and the four agricultural-business volunteers. We health volunteers met with our two current
volunteer trainers: Alyssa and Madison, who will be taking us through Technical
Immersion, while we stay at the Maryland Inn of Busia. One of the last two weeks of training before
we are officially sworn in as Peace Corps Volunteers.
Masafu Hospital Exterior, Main Entrance
July 29, 2019
There was exploring.
There was learning. There was
meeting new people. There was
eating. There was planning. There was meeting new people. Alyssa and Madison took us to both of their sites,
introduced us to their co-workers, showed us some of their active projects, and,
of course, fed us and answered our seemingly endless array of questions. Our hosts have been so wonderful and patient
so far in our time together, and they’re very ready to help us dive into our
group and individual facilitations among the communities they serve.
One of the locations we visited was the Busia District Hospital, Masafu. Now, in Uganda, the healthcare system is entirely government supported. For those who don’t know, that means that Uganda provides universal healthcare for all of its citizens, and they pay no cost for services, treatment, laboratory investigations, surgeries, anything. But the biggest issue seems to come from a national struggle to actual reach the people and to get them to use these services than most anything else.
Single Building Health Center II. Often sees more patients daily than the hospitals.
The same number of patients, or more, would visit a much
smaller Health Center II or III, simply because those facilities were closer,
even though they only offer a third of the potential services and
expertise. Only when a Health Center
reaches a Level IV do you actually have a certified physician on duty, so the
lower the number, the less there is, but the people come for the help and
healing that they need. It is a
difficult situation, and far more complicated and nuanced than this explanation
is offering, but I am going to be working in one city of one district of one
region. Not on the national stage. I will focus on what I can focus on.
A two building Health Center III
July 30, 2019
It was a day of needs assessments, fantastic food, and new
animal friends! Groups of two of us
conducted needs assessments of two sites today.
And we designed a lesson to address those needs today as well. One group – not mine – worked with secondary
school aged girls to learn what they new of teenage pregnancy, sexual and
reproductive health, their menstrual cycles, etc. The other group of two – mine – visited a
primary school, to speak with a couple classes on what they knew of HIV/AIDS.
Afterwards, we retired to Alyssa’s house, and she prepared
us a feast of macaroni and cheese, brownies, dozens of different tea options,
fresh fruit, and a vegetable salad. We
played with her dog and two cats while working on our presentations, which we
will bring to the communities tomorrow.
July 31, 2019
No doubt you all would understand that somehow making a
connection in less than an hour with a group of over eighty or so children on a
dour and serious topic like HIV/AIDS can be a struggle. When I work with the two schools sponsored by
Spotlight on Africa in Mbale, I will naturally – but very much deliberately –
take more time with the students before even beginning to assess needs or make
changes. But still, that is what we
did. It was like pulling teeth, but it
was still a valuable educational experience for both us and the students.
August 1, 2019
Now was the time for even more community needs assessments,
within new communities, one for each of the four of us. We would individually be facilitating for
four different groups. One would teach
and train a group of community trainers on RUMPs (Re-Usable Menstrual Pads),
one would investigate the needs for nutrition among village mothers, one would
also be working with RUMPs with Secondary School-aged girls. And one – that would be me – would speak with
a Women’s Group in the village of Musafu about malaria.
Compound of a Rural Secondary School
After completing this, we were once again treated at the
best restaurant in Busia: Alyssa’s House!
She made fish tacos! Being
spoiled like this is going to ruin my own culinary failures all the more. No, I cannot really cook, but two years of
practice… has to do something, right?
Nothing Like a Joyous Welcome of Singing and Dancing to Get You Excited about your Work!
August 2, 2019
Well, my facilitation with the women’s group regarding Malaria was a rousing success! As we pulled up, and as they waited, the women were all singing and dancing, wearing countless infectious smiles on their faces. My translator, Lilian, told me that they were celebrating our return, expressing their gratitude in joyous song. We learned together, played games together, answered questions and distributed mosquito nets together. In one two-hour session, eighty families had a new mosquito net for their home. In two hours, I was able to share relevant, and potentially life saving information, to eighty women to share with their families. In two hours, Alyssa and Madison gave me an opportunity to make a real difference. This is what makes Peace Corps something special; this is what makes work like this worthwhile.
Lush Green Plains and Hills.A Fancy Modern Bridge.The Famed Nile River!
August 3-4, 2019
Well, it was time to travel back to Kampala! We piled into a mutatu (taxi van) and drove a
beautiful, if a little cramped, five hours from Busia back to the capital. The eight of us Lumasaaba bazungu (plural for
muzungu) grabbed lunch at a local brewery and Japanese restaurant. It is Restaurant Week here in Kampala, so
there were a few deals that we took advantage of before catching a ride with an
Uber to Paul Paul VI Memorial Hotel.
The next day, a couple friends from the other language
groups in our cohort, and myself were given the freedom to explore some of Kampala
before being back at the hotel for dinner.
We journeyed to the arts and crafts market, and then to a trendy café called
“1000 Cups” for snack and caffeine. It
was nice to catch up with friends we’ve been separated from for over a month
and a half, and it was good to get away from the hotel for a couple hours. The arts and crafts were plentiful, but often
repeating. Still, there were beautiful,
unashamedly African, and gave us plenty of ideas for decorating our future
homes.
August 5-7, 2019
The days here were pretty uneventful. Mandatory sessions, more waiting, more
sitting, more reconnecting. The
anticipation was palpable to say the least.
It was fair to say that a significant number of us were very much ready
to begin our services.
Look at that official invitation! Look at that Official Seal!
August 8, 2019
We did it! We’re
volunteers! It’s official! Finally…
The ceremony – which was quite a lot of fun, as well as
exciting – was held at the home of the United States Ambassador to Uganda. A kindly, matronly woman – named Deborah Malac
– who could still command great respect and authority, despite her petite
figure. She and the Guest of Honor, Dr.
Jane Aceng, were delighted by our presentations, our dances, our songs and
speeches. There was laughter,
photographs, and colorful kitenge all around.
Good food, good people, in a beautiful setting; it was such a welcomed
and delightful day.
The Honorable Ambassador to Uganda: Deborah Malac.
And, since we would all soon be apart for quite some time,
naturally we volunteers stayed up well past our bedtimes to celebrate and spend
a night of joyful revelry. For tomorrow,
the real work begins!
My Lumasaaba Language Teachers: the Beautiful Beatrice, and the Manly Maango Francis.
August 9, 2019
Driving, driving, driving across country… It takes a while
to get out of Kampala and Mukono district.
Like three and a half hours, long.
Yeah. And that wouldn’t even be
considered bad by the standards of Uganda!
Because at least we were moving every once and a while. A truly bad traffic jam is to be stuck in
place for at least an hour and a half, not making any progress at all. The public transport drivers will even leave
their vehicles to socialize and spend the time, leaving their passengers
inside. Because if you, a passenger,
leaves, someone else can very easily take your seat.
Still, we made our way, over the course of eight or so
hours, to Mbale. And so, it is time to
sleep.
August 10-11, 2019
It takes time and money to make a house into a home, and
despite the best efforts of the infrastructure of Mbale city, I was able to
collect everything that I need for my kitchen, and all the cleaning supplies I
required. One of the struggles of living
in Africa, as opposed to the United States is: sometimes the phone companies
are down and you’re unable to settle accounts or acquire new services,
sometimes the ATMs are out of money, sometimes the internet is down or the
establishments that offer it are closed.
Any number of things can happen, and for me they just all happened at
the same time.
Not that this is an inherently bad thing. It gives one more time to explore, to meet
new people, and to navigate new contacts in the city. Still, with a frankly staggering amount of
walking, shopping, cleaning, washing, talking, and more these past couple days,
I am tired. Very tired. But tomorrow, I start working. And that is something that every part of me
can get behind.
A Recently Renovated Health Center III outside Mbale.
August 12, 2019
Today was my very first day.
After collecting some additional funds for groceries this afternoon, I
ventured to the office in order to manage some logistical and administrative
responsibilities. Afterwards, my
counterpart Richard and I walked the rather long distance to the sponsored
health center – thank goodness for overcast days with a cool breeze. I was able to reconnect with the staff of the
health center, as well as go over plans and schedules for the first few months
here at site and with Spotlight on Africa (SoA).
Sometimes I cannot believe the beauty of this country; and I’ve only been to the East!
Myself, three Richards
affiliated with SoA, and one Dr. Edith visited another health facility in a
truly gorgeous area around Mbale. It was
as much a professional visit as it was an investigative visit. You see, SoA is planning on breaking ground
on the second building of its health center next month! And the center we visited today had a
remarkably cool and comfortable interior – temperature wise. This was achieved through ingenious local Ugandan
means of ventilation and space maximization.
It was certainly a very education and worthwhile visit with my new co-workers…
But… it really didn’t leave any time for grocery and supply
shopping. I mean, I could go out at
night and visit the night markets, but I was very tired from all the walking
and the traveling and whatnot. So,
instead, Richard and I made a quick round for some necessities and a bushel of
bananas for my breakfasts this week.
Hopefully tomorrow I’ll be able to get some real food shopping
done. So, until our next conversation,
dear readers, be well, be wise, and be good to one another.
Today, I studied and reviewed my Lumasaaba very thoroughly
because tomorrow we have a mock Language Proficiency Interview (LPI) and
examination. It isn’t something that I’m
looking forward to, because how proficient can someone really be after only two
weeks of learning a language? Still, it
is something that must be done, and I’ve been memorizing my daily verbs, my
vocabulary words, and my conjugations for various tenses. I’ve been reviewing and practicing so much
that I feel like my brain is going to leak out of my ears. But at least there was some distraction when
I got home to help my homestay sister Stella prepare dinner. I learned a lot about how to prepare and cook
the local foods that I’ve been coming to love, so having that as a reprieve
before reviewing more Lumasaaba was extremely welcome.
July 9, 2019
Well, that mock LPI was a complete and utter disaster, no
matter what my teachers might tell me.
Out of nowhere they decided to spring a voice recorder on us, and it
must have put me in an extremely anxious state.
I couldn’t get hardly any words out of my mouth, let alone form a
complete sentence. And despite the
encouragement of my instructor, Beatrice, to make mistakes and to not worry so
much about being perfect… well, it’s rather rare for me not be good to great at
most anything I try. Language was always
something that I never had any talent in, no matter the drive or the ease of
the language itself. Still, with
agreements with Beatrice and Maango, I will be practicing with them one-on-one
everyday as well as with friends I’ve made here in Mbale and with my family,
while trying not to care about making mistakes… wonder how long it will last.
July 10, 2019
We got our language assessments back, and just like I
thought, I’ve got a long way to go.
Luckily, my teachers are confident in my potential, and I’ve assumed a
new strategy for learning and practice.
With plenty of new flashcards, and with all the practicing with others
I’ll be doing, I’m sure progress will be made.
Outside the Bethel Institute of Health Sciences, Mbale.
After lunch, we visited the Mbale chapter of the Bethel
Institute of Health Sciences. The Health
Volunteers and I met with some of the staff as well as some of the
students. This facility of higher
learning focuses on being certified in skills such as laboratory sciences,
medical record keeping, and patient case management. All of which are professional skills
desperately needed within the medical sectors of Uganda, but there are a
variety of societal and structural factors that keep those necessary positions
from being filled. Still, the drive and
the ambition of the students was very promising, and the entrepreneurial
philanthrope of the doctor, nurse practitioner, and the public health official
who started the institute are very inspiring.
It is often you will see the services/products/courses listed on the side of an establishment.
Afterwards, back at home, the family and I (but really my
Ugandan siblings and I) had our very first movie night! Maayi Katherine was away for work, but I was
happy to introduce some good American cinema to them on my laptop’s tiny
screen. It was a nice bonding
experience, and Katherine said she would be home for another movie tomorrow,
before she left to go pray until the sun rises in the morning.
July 11, 2019
“Wonder Woman 1984” comes out next year! Have you even seen anything so delightfully ’80s?
Sent a birthday message to my father before heading to more
language training and practice. Progress
does feel like it’s being made, but there’s less focus on sentence structure as
we learn more about numbers, finances, and communicating the time of day. But watching Wonder Woman was definitely the
highlight of the evening. The family had
an early dinner before the show, and with tea and snacks in hand. I smiled, chuckled, and very much enjoyed the
entertaining reactions my family had to one of my favorite movies, and my
favorite superhero.
“How is that woman so strong?!”
“She will have to get used to people telling her what she
can’t do.” “…Oh, never mind.”
“That is a very bad man.
Diana will have to stop him soon.”
“Stop shooting! You
can’t stop her; you don’t know what she is!”
“Oh, my God… She is so strong!”
It was another successful movie night, to say the least.
July 12, 2019
Turns out, I’m going to be staying right here in Mbale! My site is actually – possibly – less than two
kilometers away from downtown. I’ll be
working with ‘Spotlight on Africa.’ They
are an NGO, non-profit registered in partnership with the UK and in Uganda. Their focus on health, water, education, and
economic empowerment. The organization
has multiple establishments. There is a
school – both nursery-level and primary-level – with around 1,000 students
enrolled. A health center, and a team of
Community Health Promoters (CHPS), work to motivate and encourage members to
access their free health services. They
have secured access to both clean and potable water to more than ten thousand
citizens. And they support economic
empowerment activities that benefit the CHPS, women, widows, orphans, urban
forgotten dwellers, and other disadvantaged individuals.
Some of my responsibilities will potentially include:
Conducting HIV/AIDS training and HIV risk
assessments
Participating in activities aimed at promoting
compliance and adherence to patient treatment
Training in water and proper sanitation and
hygiene activities
For Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC),
July 13, 2019
Today, we met our Supervisors and Counterparts. Today, we met our bosses and our peers. Today, we were better able to learn about
where we will be working, and what we will be doing, and with whom. My supervisor and my counterpart, both named
Richard, are kind, welcoming, ambitious and driven. They jokingly – but still somewhat seriously
– remarked that with me on their team, the entirety of Spotlight on Africa will
have to be restructured. Whatever the
case, though, whatever the work, I am more than ready to begin.
July 14, 2019
First thing in the morning was church, at Mbale First
Baptist, with a Sunday school lesson among the congregants. Not a single one of them laughed as I
introduced myself in Lumasaaba as best as I could. They even applauded me when I finished, and
the minister raved about ‘this muzungu fluent in Lugisu.’ While it was certainly embarrassing, it was
also rather heartening. My comfort in
the language is growing, and I’ll have to keep at it.
Since I’ll be staying here in Mbale, my future home is
within leisurely walking distance of my homestay house. It is a separate structure – the interior
still unfinished – but is next to my supervisor’s home. Richard, and his wife Carol, have welcomed me
with all the hospitality that I’ve come to know in Uganda. Their home is cozy and warm, filled with the
love of their many children, birthed and adopted. They are two people who have devoted their
lives to service. Richard at Spotlight,
and Carol working with street children.
The exterior of my lovely future house!
My home is, well, wonderful!
A large, open living room, a spacious bedroom, a small cooking nook, and
a bathroom. With electricity and running
water as well! I have a flushing toilet,
a shower, two sinks (one in the kitchen), as well as space for a double-burner
gas stove. It is more than I could’ve
hoped for, to live with all this for two years.
The exterior is modern, but also natural, and the neighborhood is really
quite charming. Richard has even told me
that the fancy Wash and Wills hotel – a prime establishment in the center of
the neighborhood – has a modern gym with a monthly membership program! So, I’ll be looking into that too.
Internet, meet Geraldine: the Unrepentant Jacaranda Tree!
This afternoon, I met Sam, an agricultural business partner with Spotlight, and he took me to a future expansion site for the organization. Together, we planted a tree: I have named her Geraldine, the Unrepentant Jacaranda Tree, and she will grow there for two hundred years! Her leaves, bark, roots, and flowers will serve as naturally occurring anti-inflammatories, anti-biotics, and anti-parasitics for people in the communities for generations to come. She will bear witness to the new facilities, the new gardens, the new opportunities. She will stand tall and strong as a reminder of me in the community! …or so Sam would enthusiastically say, again and again.
The night was quiet, full of introductory conversations, but
tomorrow will be a full day of travel, visiting and meeting many more new
people.
July 15, 2019
What. A. Day.
Outside the Musoto compound.
My counterpart Richard came to collect me, and we walked to
the first of our stops. The Musoto
Christian Primary and Nursery School is one sponsored by Spotlight on
Africa. As per usual, the sight of a
muzungu was enough to turn every little head, calling in chorus for his
attention. And the muzungu responded
often, but other times conversation or observation captured his attention too
much to wave in greeting. We met the
headmaster and some of the administrative staff of the educational institute
boasting more than 1,000 students.
Interestingly, through the partnership with the United Kingdom, as well
as other donations, the Musoto School can stay afloat and prosper with
significantly less school-fees from the student’s parents. The compound holds several buildings,
employing a dozen or so instructors and faculty. The bathrooms have flush toilets, water and
soap are available, and every child receives a hot nutritious meal for lunch…
sometimes the only meal they might have that day.
A list of the many services offered at my new health center.
Afterwards, we walked to the local Health Center, supported
by Spotlight on Africa. This is a Health
Center III, and was originally opened only for immunization services. However, the community members kept coming
back, requesting more and more, and now the team employed with the small
still-under-construction building provides dozens of services, seeing upwards
of one thousand patients a month. And in
a community of around 33,000 residents, that is a staggering amount of people
treated a month and every day.
Next to the health center, there is the still-very-much-under-construction
building for the vocational trainings held by Spotlight. Interestingly, in a complete round-about from
ways of the United States, the contractors and their teams were actually ahead of schedule in constructing the
building. Not only that, they actually startedbuildingbefore they’d been
paid any money! It seems impossible,
but I was told that straight from my supervisor, Richard, the executive officer
of Spotlight on Africa.
Then, I was encouraged to go into the field with a Volunteer
Health Trainer (VHT), named Ahmed. He
was going “into the bush” to interview a handful of pregnant women on the
nature, status, and treatment of their pregnancies on behalf of the health
center. We drove into a rather rural
outlying village of Mbale City, and had some very educational, and influencial
conversations with the women Ahmed was assigned to speak with. While these families lived in very obvious
poverty, each of them had power lines running to their houses, every house was
clean and orderly, and all the people very hospitable. And Ahmed was shocked and exhilarated to hear
how much Lumasaaba I was capable of speaking and understanding. He was so impressed that eventually every
woman in the village was stopped, and Ahmed egged me on to introduce myself to
them again and again.
Following a quick lunch of local, traditional Ugandan pork –
and making a new feline friend who lived at the restaurant – it was time to
finally end the day at the Spotlight on Africa office. Now, there’s a Shell gas station that is on
our route into town, but also on the same road that my homestay family lives
on. The third floor up from the ground,
on the same land of that Shell station that I’ve walked past dozens of times by
now, is the administrative office for Spotlight on Africa! I spent the rest of the work day getting to
know all my co-workers in the office, before returning to Richard’s home for
dinner and some well-deserved rest.
After all, I had tons of ideas, possible ideas, and general musings in
my head from all that I’d seen and learned, so compartmentalization was
necessary.
July 16, 2019
Nashisa Primary School.
Tuesday was meant to wrap up the Future Site Visits and to
travel back to Mbale. But I already live
here, so I actually spent more of the day meeting and working with new people
all about the community. First, Richard,
Richard, and I visited another educational institute that Spotlight partners
with: Nashisa Primary School. And after
speaking with the headmisteress, and from my time at Musoto yesterday, I’m
beginning to suspect that these school want me to help them design an entire
health curriculum for their students.
It’s something I don’t have the slightest idea where to begin, but I’ll
just add it to the list of exciting future prospects while working with
Spotlight.
Outside the Bukasakya Sub-County Local Government Administration office.
Afterwards, we traveled to the Bukasakya Sub-County Local
Government Administration Block. There
we met the Parish Chief, and the Sub-County Chief – who are both women! Two kind, driven, intelligent women, elected
to their positions by the people they serve, who are passionate about the work
we do with Spotlight! They seemed to
have a fraction of the excitement of working with me as I do with them, so that
combination will be more than enough to get great things done!
We ended our day in the office once more, visiting with the
workers of Spotlight for short while, before meeting my returned fellow
volunteers for tea and sharing our experiences.
Most seemed very positive, and we were all very excited.
July 20, 2019
Seriously, check out the Mt. Elgon Hotel, here in Mbale.
Today is a friend’s birthday, and we’re celebrating at the Mt Elgon Hotel and Spa! As I wrote in an earlier entry, we can get a good meal, good drinks, and a pristine pool to enjoy for the whole day at a very reasonable price. Today is a rather warm day, so being able to cool off after such a long walk. In addition to a hilariously difficult and preposterously cheap mini-golf course, and the good times with friends, I haven’t forgotten about all of you, my Wonderful Readers. I’ve uploaded a few pictures to better stimulate your envy, but until next time: be well, be wise, and be good to one another!
The Mukono Zonal Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MUZARDI)
Date: 06/01/2019-06/04/2019
You know how people tend to write off long distance
travel? Like, how those people will say:
“Jetlag doesn’t really get to me,” or “I can fly all day, and sleep the whole
gosh-diddily-ding-dong time?” We all
know people, or at the very least some-one
like that. And I can say, with
conviction that I am NOT one of them.
Leaving behind two loving and supportive parents (the mother
in that parental set was very strong I must say; I was very proud), I stepped
onto the first of several planes headed toward Philadelphia. Hence the previous post. Afterward, we rose – if we could sleep at all
– to board a bus, driving from two in the morning until five thirty when we
arrived at JFK in Queens, New York. When
the Qatar Airlines check-in personnel arrived to begin their shifts at seven,
checking bags and getting through security was relatively painless. And if you haven’t flown on Qatar Airlines, I
highly recommend that you do! There’s a
reason they’ve been ranked the number one airline for so many years. It was also a welcome bit of luxury, even
flying Economy class, that we figured we would have much of.
There was a layover in Doha, Qatar, arriving around
six-o-clock in the morning their time.
Doha International Airport was gigantic, quiet, and very clean. The employees were all very patient and
kind. And we even got to step foot on
Qatar soil, since we had to be shuttled to our next flight.
Little more than five hours later, we arrived in Entebee,
just fifty or so kilometers from the capital city of Uganda: Kampala. We were exhausted. We were excited. We were diligent in the collection of our
belongings and truthful in our customs’ statements that we were not carriers of
Ebola. And there were a fair number of
us in desperate need of the restroom as we bused our group to our Pre-Service
Training site: Muzardi.
Outside the Main Hall at Muzardi, proudly showing off the Peace Corps partnership
Pictures do this agricultural research site some justice,
but only slightly. Lush and green, with
chickens, pigs, and the employees’ pets all about, the simple, but ingenious
innovations of the research projects were all around us. And that only made the wonder of this private
space all the more special.
As it turns out, there were still some surprising luxuries
that awaited us here. Beds adorned with
treated mosquito nets, a small writing desk – one for each room’s resident, a
standing closet, with fresh sheets, towels, and the offering of daily cleaning
and turndown service, if we so chose.
Meals are prepared by a team of wonderful cooks, and these ladies know
how to make a staple food into a scrumptious and highly anticipated treat for
us to enjoy.
Gorgeous views with practical agricultural research projects are an everyday thing in Muzardi.
Our evenings are spent together, shared among drinks, or
pool, or music, or simply sitting out in the night-time air. The evenings can be surprisingly relaxing,
and I find it humorous how my fellow trainees think the balmy, breezy day-light
hours are too hot, and the cool and comfortable nights are too cold. But me?
This is wonderful. It’d be
paradise if a new round of allergic reactions to all this green didn’t waste
anytime getting to me upon our arrival.
06/05/2019
Well, so much for not being able to contact home for at
least three weeks after arrival in country.
Peace Corps surprised us with minutes on our work phones to call
home. And I was lucky enough to call my
mom on her birthday. Afterwards, we were
instructed on how to handwash our clothes and how to use and maintain the
cleanliness of pit latrines. Pit
latrines are quite the common sight, here and all around the world. And let’s just say that I’m glad I don’t skip
leg day, because all those squats will come in handy. We also covered – very briefly – the four
primary objectives of the 2019-2026 health initiative and where we, as Peace
Corps volunteers, will fit in it. They
include: Maternal and Child Health, OVC (Orphaned and Vulnerable Children),
Youth and HIV, and Capacity Building.
06/07/2019
Today was the day of my interview with the Program Manager
and Program Facilitator for the Health sector of the Peace Corps for finalizing
site placement and language. Of the
regions that we would potentially occupy, I would prefer to be near water, such
as a river or a lake, or in the district that is more mountainous. I suspect I will be living in a compound from
what the discussion of the interview was leading toward. From the sound of it, my primary health
objective will be the fourth listed above: Capacity Building. The potential compound sound like its own
town, with schools, vocational training establishments, and medical facilities
that specialize in certain types of healthcare.
It’s pretty exciting to think about, but nothing is final until the site
announcement. Which is still several
weeks away.
The lecture hall where the Healthcare volunteers met for our sessions.
06/08/2019
Near Muzardi is the town of Mukoro, where we spent part of
the day as we collected our sim cards for our personal cell phones. But that was where we encountered some
hurdles to overcome. I jokingly said
that, with so many issues with our passports and fingerprints, that they had to
call the State Department, but I learned that that was somewhat the case. They did have to get new copies of our
passports and visas, because the ones they were given before were
insufficient. After returning for
lessons, we covered social norms and some basic survival skills. We also had a couple very powerful
thunderstorms, which were very much appreciated, if they didn’t force us to
keep our clothes on the drying line all the longer. The cooks of Muzardi surprised us with French
fries and fried chicken, and I’m becoming a big fan of African milk tea,
samosas, their bran muffins, fried plantains (matooke), and pretty much most of
the food I’ve come across. Things have
been good thus far.
06/09/2019
Today was a day with an abundance of free time and more plenty
more rain to continue preventing our laundry from drying. To escape the now-familiar face of Muzardi,
we were invited to the Chakig Eco-Tourism Center. While there we were involved in a spectacular
nature walk, an active working farm, and a fertile herbal garden, which were
all helped to get off the ground by two former Peace Corps Volunteers. It was nice and inspiring to see sustainable
projects built by volunteers like us, still in effect years after they returned
home. In the evening, a group of us walked
around Mukoro town, waving to all kinds of children, walking with them, all beaming
impossibly infectious smiles, before watching a short live football match. It was a good way to close out a good day.
Chakig Eco-Tourism Center
06/11/2019
The adventures of getting a working personal phone has been
trying, to put it lightly. Though it
wasn’t in any fault of the Airtel employees.
Representatives from Airtel arrived in Muzardi around four in the
afternoon. Every person who did not receive an activation text since our visit
to the local Airtel store had to have their documents, fingerprints, and
photographs taken another two times (at least). Fortunately, they did not take our money for
data and calling services until an activation code was received and all
remaining necessary info was texted to their servers. This took until well past eight in the evening
and not everyone had their phones activated.
They would have to wait until another day.
Following this, there were several interesting conversations
among us as to who would be the first to drop out of the Peace Corps early. To be honest, this possibility never crossed
my mind until it was brought up tonight.
This led to a series of discussions on patience and how we needed to
adapt and adjust in order to keep up – ironically – with how things are done
here in Uganda. This was ironic because
time is very much relative in this country.
Basically, it boils down to: the work will get done, but don’t rely on
schedules too much, because life happens.
But the work will still get done. So, we Americans will need to slow down to
keep up with the people of Uganda. This
might be as difficult and as important a task as learning our languages and
cultural integration.
06/13/2019
The health volunteers went on a field trip to the Mukono
Health Center IV in Mukono town today. It
was there that we learned about their family planning services, immunization
services, and antenatal and postnatal services. Some interesting facts about Uganda’s
government sponsored healthcare for women and children: everything is free! Many, MANY of the same birth control options
that we have in the states are available here. The main problems encountered include running
out of supplies, and compliance/patient retention when it comes to routine immunizations
and the like. The hospital personnel are
also not able to reach everyone in the community that they’d like to. That being said, they still do amazing work. The nurses/midwives/sisters were all wonderful
hosts, giving throughout and potent answers to our questions. It was also interesting how accepted it was
(even by the patients) for us to literally just barge in on their sessions, led
by our hospital hosts, of course. We saw
newborns resting with their mothers following delivery and in recovery. The nurses also offered an interesting idea
for reaching the predominantly Catholic population regarding family planning
options: go into the communities for something different, such as cancer
screening, and run a logical tangent into the conversations to tell them about
their options – the point is to help them make an informed decision about all
of their options.
One of the many posters and images around the health center, used to promote healthy behavior.
06/15/2019
FINALLY! We finally have
our language assignments! We will be
having our introductory courses during our last week here in Muzardi in the
language of Lumasaaba! Lumasaaba is spoken
in the far east of Uganda in a land of “great mountains, crystal-clear waters,
cool climates, fresh fruits, and gorgeous nature.” So yeah, pretty damn lucky and pretty damn
excited!
06/16/2019
Today was our group journey to capital city: Kampala. We toured important landmarks and locations with
a current Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV). Our guide showed the various PC approved and
vetted hostels – which were very cool and very much my style, the mall which
was large and quite lovely, but very, very expensive. As we learned, anything you could want could
be purchased from the supermarket across the street from the mall, which was
well evidenced by how busy it was. Everything
in this supermarket was at least half-off what was priced in the mall. We walked to the PC Uganda HQ, relaxed in the volunteer
lounge for a bit, and toured a few more of the exteriors of the variety of foreign
embassies, but no photographs were allowed.
We ate a late lunch at the Bush Pig hostel, and then took a taxi to the
REAL Kampala. Everything in that first district
we visited was practically lifeless compared to the Old and New Taxi parks. Milling through the chaotic marketplaces, there
was attention and attractions in every direction. Despite all the tall buildings around us, I
have absolutely no idea how anyone living or working inside them could even get
inside. Riding in the taxis was an
experience – it took over 20 minutes just to get out of the taxi park, but the
ride back to Muzardi was relatively uneventful.
The journey back was also very cheap, and despite it being in the
afternoon, we were all rather sun-tired at that point, and so we called it a
day rather early.
06/17/2019
Today the Health trainees had sessions devoted to Sexual and
Reproductive Health and Safety lessons.
To better facilitate, and to demonstrate fun and engaging ways to teach
these lessons to children and youths in Uganda. We played a game of handball to teach how
irresponsible behavior can impact more than one member of the community, we
held a relay race of proper condom application and removal, and we made our own
RUMPS (Re-Usable Menstrual Pads). These
are cost effective, environmentally friendly, and sustainable methods of
maintaining menstrual hygiene. They help
to keep girls in schools (since the stigma and stereotypes surrounding
menstruation often force girls out of their education), but it also empowers
them to have control over their own bodies and their own wallets.
Unfortunately, there’s no picture of my finished product because I failed
miserably in the process of making my own RUMPS, but I’m sure I’ll have plenty
of other opportunities in the coming two years.
06/18/2019
Five of us were assigned to St. Paul’s Boarding and Primary
School outside of Mukono town to perform a needs assessment on a group of 7th
graders, and their knowledge of personal hygiene. The kids were all looking sharp in their
bright red uniforms, and the walls inside and outside the classroom were
decorated with images, diagrams, and insightful pictures concerning subjects
that we didn’t learn in the states until high school. They were all exceptionally well-behaved,
respectful, and highly intelligent. They
were actively engaged to answer our questions, and were exceptionally
knowledgeable on many, many aspects of keeping themselves clean and
healthy. They just lacked the
opportunities to do so (i.e. no tippy-taps outside the latrines and shower
areas).
06/19/2019
We returned to the same school, with the same kids, with an
educational session on proper handwashing techniques and the benefits that we
prepared for around two hours as a group.
The session went extremely well, and the kids were all having fun, and
willing to participate in the lectures, the demonstrations, and the games. Some of them were even better at hand washing
than I was! Turns out that they taught
me something about proper handwashing technique. The kids were all actively engaged yet again
and having fun. It turned out to be a
very positive experience for the five of us, especially when one of the girls
asked if we would be coming back to teach them, and have fun with them, some
more. It helped to bring all of us
volunteer trainers closer together, realize how well, and how easily we work
together, and how even a lesson prepared in less than a day can still have a
big impact. We concluded our time there
by giving the headmaster some resources to build a few tippy-taps for his
school, and congratulated the headmaster on the terrific work he was doing and
how he should be very proud.
Students from St. Paul playing an educational game with us Volunteers
06/20/2019
Today, we went into Kampala town to get our banking and ATM
cards squared away, but the major event happened once we returned to
MUZARDI. The Peace Corps Volunteer
Trainers organized a truly touching and emotionally-bonding event for all of
us. We sat in a circle, but with our
backs to each other, and closed our eyes.
Four or five individuals were selected per six or seven scenarios to tap
the shoulders of those who matched the positive and inspirational affirmation
that the leader recited. They ranged
from “tap the shoulder of someone who made you smile today,” to “tap the
shoulder of someone who inspires you,” to “tap someone who you’ve shared a
secret with,” to “tap someone who you wish you knew more about,” to “tap
someone on the shoulder you know will be a great Peace Corps Volunteer.” It was all anonymous. It was all wonderful. To be honest, I was feeling like I hadn’t
bonded with many of my cohort here in Uganda, and that hampered my
relationships with them as a result. But
for every four to five “tappers,” for every six or seven questions, I was
tapped at least two, three, or even four times.
It was extremely uplifting, touching, and powerful. It absolutely brought us all closer together. We continued our bonding with music, and the
USA v. Sweden football match broadcasted on a big, projected screen.
06/22/2019
Muzardi threw us a wonderful going-away party with food,
music, dancing, and drinks. One last
hurrah before we departed to our regions.
It was naturally a lot of fun, but a fair few of us headed to bed at a
reasonable hour as we had to finish packing and preparing for traveling.
The nights were even cool enough to gather around a bonfire.
06/23/2019
We headed to the Bugisu region in the east, and the capital
city of Mbale. We actually ended up crossing
the Nile, which originates from a mountain near Jinja town. Never thought I’d see the Nile without actually
being in Egypt. We crossed and saw beautiful
bridge and beautiful waters, with promised plans for returning for various
water-based activities. Traveling to
Mbale was around a five-plus hour journey from Kampala, but much of the trip
was very smooth and uneventful. We passed
through forested stretches, plains, and mountains. The first thing we noticed about Mbale was it
is rather posh compared the other towns and cities we’ve visited/been a part
of. Large sidewalks, the population is
not so congested, and the city layout is well designed compared to others. We met met our homestay families: mine
includes Pastor and Matriarch Katherine, and her relatives. Son Demas, Nephew E.D., Niece Stella, and
Nephew Sam. She also has three other
children, two working in Kampala and one starting his career as a local doctor:
Derek, Deliverance, and Dennis, respectively.
All of them are lovely, with a splendid home. Three bedrooms (one of which is mine),
running water, electricity, a television, and a refrigerator for our boiled and
purified water. The family is very proud
of their family accomplishments: weddings and graduations adorn the walls and
furnishings.
Beautiful bridges crossing the mouth of the Nile near Jinja town.
06/24/2019
First official eight-hour day of Lumasaaba language
training, focusing on greeting and identifying oneself in Lumasaaba. Today was actually relatively uneventful, and
certainly not challenging just yet. I returned home, and ate dinner alone, as
families in Uganda typically eat very late, just before bed. Katherine’s son, the doctor Dennis, came to
visit and met me. He was very sweet,
smart, and offered me a standing invitation to the health center he’s working
to open. I am excited to better learn
about the work being done in this particular region with this particular
population. We watched the All Nations
Africa Cup of Nations with the family for a while before studying a bit before
bed
06/25/2019
Language is getting harder to learn, verbs and their complex
conjugations seem at times unnecessary, but it’s only day two. And while that is meant to be a comfort, it
is also rather disconcerting, personally – it is only day two and I am
struggling with language this much already… Regardless, we press on and
eventually, these things will just click.
Pastor Katherine had to travel into Kampala with family for the day, so
for the first time, my homestay brothers, sister, and I ate dinner together,
while watching more football on TV. I
didn’t get much studying done, since I did laundry and did some shopping in
town after classes were concluded. But
it was still a very nice evening at home.
06/26/2019
Language isn’t getting any easier, but we were able to build
a spreadsheet, after a fashion, of the verbs and how they are conjugated in the
tenses we’ve learned so far, and practiced as a group, so that was helpful. We went into Mbale town to officially meet
and introduce ourselves as Peace Corps volunteers to the LC-III and chief of
police. The LC system of local
governance was created by the current president of Uganda as a way of
empowering and providing a people’s government that works from the bottom of
society and makes its way up. LCs start
at the local village level, ten members of that particular community are
elected, and move up the population ladder.
LC-I is village, LC-II is parish, LC-III is sub-county, LC-IV is county,
and LC-V is district. It is just good
manners to be known by your leaders, not as tourists, but as legitimate members
of your community. At home, my family
and I worked on a series of assignments to be completed, watched the Uganda –
Zimbabwe Cup of Nation’s match, and then bed.
06/28/2019
My host family matron is also a pastor, and I was surprised
to learn, that it is all too commonplace and accepted for certain protestant
congregations to come together for prayer sessions… from 10 o’clock in at night
until 3 o’clock in the morning!!! I
don’t know how she was awake in the morning, but she was, so if anything, that
should speak to the power of routine and habits in influencing human
behavior. After learning more about
religious behavior, I am all the more excited to visit her church and meet her
congregation on Sunday!
06/29/2019
We, the Lumasaaba crew, were invited to meet with a couple
current Peace Corps volunteers at the Mount Elgon Hotel, within walking
distance of our homes and classroom. The
hotel is lovely, the pool is cool and very welcome on this hot day, plus some
good food at reasonable prices! There
was also quite an energetic wedding going on while we were at the hotel, and we
also took that opportunity to learn more about the people, by the people, with
the people. It was nice to have some
more insight into living in this region, as well as being a Peace Corps
Volunteer, without the looming oversight of staff and training expectations.
06/30/2019
Not many Sundays can I boast a five-and-a-half-hour church
visit, but here in Africa, it really is just another day! Seriously, I mean five-and-a-half-hours for
one service, and this being something that happens most every day of the week. After the service, and being partially deaf
in my right ear (the minister preaching with my homestay mother Katherine was
very interesting and charismatic, but let’s just say he really didn’t need a
microphone), Katherine took myself and my homestay siblings for a local lunch
of pork, plantains, and vegetables at a local venue, within walking distance of
her church. The afternoon was spent
doing the washing and studying more Lumasaaba.
And we ended the day watching the Uganda vs. Egypt football match.
07/01/2019
Goodness gracious, am I struggling with language now. I had absolutely no confidence today; it felt
like I knew absolutely nothing, and was genuinely paralyzed by the fact that I
could understand and translate most everything that was said during practices,
but couldn’t formulate a single word to speak myself. After lunch, it was pretty much all
self-study for me: working on being more confident in what I should – what I do
– know. After coming back to the
homestay, I relaxed a bit in bed, thinking about other things, before diving
into memorizing more verbs and vocabulary.
07/04/2019
Happy Fourth of July (American Independence Day) to you all! Or belated, as is obviously the case. Today, was more or less a day off from language training for the group. So, we took the day to come together and cook for each other and our host families. There was quite a spread, of both American and Ugandan cuisine. I learned a lot about food preparation and the actual process of cooking with the resources that we have on hand in this country. It was also a fine opportunity to get to know each other a bit more and to bond a bit deeper. The host families have been so warm and welcome and patient with us. Their goodness seems to be without end. And while the others may – or may not – have had a day off from language, I most certainly did not. I worked on a little side project for myself, as another of the photos will attest. Let no one ever say that I am not taking this language learning and responsibility seriously!
I’m like, super serious, you guys…
07/06/2019
Saturdays are our shorter days, so I’ve found my way to an
internet café – at an excellent price!
Less than a dollar American to use for the whole day! Before I explain the epic escapade that
resulted in my finally, FINALLY being able to post this long blog post, after
really studying, practicing, and having some one-on-one time with our
instructors, Francis and Beatrice, I actually feel some measure of comfort with
Lumasaaba. We have a mock interview to
measure our proficiency next week. This
is to serve as practice before our official Language Proficiency Interview that
takes place our last week of language training.
So, please: wish me luck!
Now, for the epic conclusion of “The Epic Adventures in Wifi
Searching and Social Media Posting!”
Yes, I know… the title needs work… Regardless, to put things simply:
here in Uganda, the government has imposed a tax on social media. Basically, for any device that can
potentially access the internet, you must pay the OTT tax – daily, weekly, or
monthly – to access, interact, and post on those sites. And while it makes sense now, in hindsight,
how blogging sites are also a part of social media, but the problem became that
I couldn’t pay the social media tax for my computer. And we’ve been so busy, and the options for
wireless internet access – with an acceptable connection – were so few and far
between.
But for now, I’ve found a fast internet connection, for a
very good price. I’ve updated and
restarted my computer. I’ve downloaded
and have started using a secure VPN, and now here we are. I want to thank everyone of you for your
patience. Thank you so much for thinking
of me, and asking after me. I hope you
find this long post to be educational, entertaining, endearing, and potentially
inspiring. Inspiring for you to take the
step towards visiting this beautiful, vibrant, and friendly country!
The next post is still up in the air; I am not
sure when it will be. But with Mbale as
my main city center in the region of Bugisu, doubtless I will be able to post
at this venue with some measure of frequency.
So, until then Wonderful Readers: be well, be wise, be productive and
happy, and I look forward to sharing with you again.
Peace, Love, and Uganda 