Long Overdue Pictures: Part 1

These lizards are EVERYWHERE in Uganda. This little guy made a nice home in my room. One incredible discovery: they eat cockroaches! yay!

One of the Genocide Catholic Church memorial sites in Rwanda

Having fun at home with Gloria

Notre Dame girls at the equator!

Western Uganda: simply incredible

Solar panels built in a UN Millenium Village in Western Uganda

A maternity ward in a clinic in the Development Village

Banana Plantation

Soooooo many bananas in this country!

Very hilly topography

And I'm Back!

Hey everyone!

I apologize for my long absence. It has been pretty busy around here, and with the combination of traveling and limited internet time, I regret that I have neglected my blog a bit/a lot.

The last several weeks have really been wonderful. I think it will be difficult for me to explain everything in detail, so I will start with some pictures and see how far that takes me.

First, though, I think I will try to explain how the program works. The first 8 weeks are composed of classes in Kampala supplemented by two week-long excursion. The first excursion took us to some of the western parts of Uganda and Kigali, Rwanda. We went to a refugee settlement, an UN Millenium Village, Queen Elizabeth National Park, and some genocide memorial sites in Rwanda. The second excursion allowed us to explore some of the eastern parts of Uganda. We saw the source of the Nile River and got to live in a rural village for a few days. We also got to scale mountains, venture through a couple caves, and climb to the base of a few waterfalls.

I am currently in the final stage, the "practicum period,"  or the last six weeks of the program. During this period of time, I am conducting an independent research project that I will eventually draw upon to write a research paper. For my research, I am trying to explore some of the challenges facing health care workers in a particular setting in Uganda. I will be working in a clinic outside of Kampala, and my first day of work is tomorrow!

I will post more updates soon! (promise)

til next time

Week 2 Wrap-Up

Buganda Parliament

Thursday in the afternoon my class went out for an excursion to learn about the kingdom of Buganda in the central region of Uganda. We saw the Buganda parliament, palace, and went to the Uganda Museum. It was very interesting to know that the people who are part of the Buganda Kingdom in the central region of Uganda are ruled by both the King of Buganda and the President of Uganda. 

Buganda Palace

We were not allowed to enter the palace because we are not royalty, but we did get to see the chambers that were formerly used to torture enemies of the king. It was very scary. We saw cells that were raised about 4 feet above the ground that would apparently hold hundreds of prisoners at a time. They wouldn’t feed them, so people would die every day. To ensure that the prisoners would not escape, the ground in front of the cells would be filled with about 13 inches of water, of which an electrical current was passed through so that anyone who tried to escape would be instantly killed. When people died they would roll them out of the cell into the water to get them out of the way. When people were brought there, the intention was to kill them, and no survivors have been found. However, there is a lot of controversy with this story, and some people do not believe it to be true. One of our drivers was angry we went there and claimed it was only a tourist attraction that only aimed to make money. 

Buganda Torture Chambers

On Friday we visited one of the larges slums in Kampala. About 20,000 people live there, and the conditions are incredibly deplorable. Ditches are cut through the roads and raw sewage flows everywhere, of which children play around. “Houses” are tiny and only a few inches apart. At many moments I felt like I was looking at the pages of a TIME magazine. It’s very difficult to maneuver in the slum as the ground is very uneven, the paths are small, and there is garbage and waste everywhere. Fatal disease is rampant, including malaria, yellow fever, diarrhea, typhoid, AIDS and many others. About 1/3 of the school-age children do not go to school. Most people who are born there never leave.

From the car on the way to the slums

I saw sad children and happy children, clothed and naked. Some with shoes and some without. I saw small children holding even smaller children. When they caught a glimpse of us, they were so excited and they followed us around in bunches. Some even tried to hold my hands or just touch my white skin. I don’t know what’s going to happen to all those kids. It seems like Uganda receives so much international aid and the fruits of so very many NGOs, so why are there still so many people living like this? Where is all the money going? People are literally dying of diarrhea everyday, and yet the Ugandan government has nothing to say about it. Candidates come to this slum, campaign, tell the people their lives will be better, and then forget all their promises and never think about these poor people again. It’s truly heartbreaking. 

I’ve been in the beautiful country of Uganda for two weeks now. The things I’ve learned and observed have undoubtedly opened my eyes to some of the serious issues plaguing development. Yet, somehow I don’t think stops there.

Being in Uganda has also allowed me to understand a lot of things about my own wonderful country, the US. I think we have come a long way, but we still have a lot of work to do. Some issues are very different than the ones facing Uganda, but some, I’ve realized, are not so dissimilar.

til next time

Lists

Things I miss: 

o My family and friends

o Being able to cross the street without witnessing my life flash before my eyes

o Having a mirror

o Flush-toilets

o Driving

o Traffic laws

o Eating a well-balanced meal

o Waking up 15 minutes before class

o Walking to class

o EPA-regulated air quality

o Reliable electricity

o A sink

o Showering

o Flex Points

o Understanding the language

o Blending in

o Not being overcharged because I am a Mzungu

o Not living out of a suitcase

o Not sweating constantly



Things I’m grateful for: 

o A wonderful host family and awesome new friends

o Being independent and getting (way) out of my comfort zone

o Having no idea what I look and laughing about it later

o Learning what it’s like to live without the comforts I take for granted

o Beginning to understand the root causes of particular problems in the world, and acquiring insight from their complexities

o Learning to be more patient and understanding

o A homey SIT resource center with incredibly friendly and helpful staff

o Learning how to budget wisely

o Learning a spoken language that very few foreigners know and using it to my advantage

o Bargaining, haggling, and standing firm when arguing a price

o Hand sanitizer

o Appreciating the significance of precious water (“Water is life”)

o Having a sense of humor

o Wet wipes

o No socks

o Every day is at 75 and sunny

o Being able to (almost) fully cope with my roommates: the ants, cockroaches, and lizards

o Fresh mangoes and pineapples and bananas prepared daily

o A sweet green mosquito net




Odd things that are becoming normal: 

o Watching herds of cattle with huge horns walking down the side of the road

o 3-foot tall birds flying and walking around the city

o Daily marriage proposals (“Marry me mzungu!”)

o Little kids following me around and trying to hold my hand or touch my skin

o Dodging boda bodas while making my way on the sidewalk

o Giant open manholes in the sidewalk

o Barbed wire on the sidewalk and medium

o Car-sized crators in the middle of the road

o Driving on the wrong side of the road to “maneuver” around traffic

o Eating basically the same thing every meal

o Evangelicals yelling Bible passages in Luganda to the people of my stalled taxi

o Piles of burning trash everywhere

o Four people riding a boda boda

o Carrying my backpack on my front so nothing gets stolen

o Taking a nightly shower with a flashlight in the dark

o Never understanding what people are saying

o Having a family that speaks Luganda to one another and English to me

o Knowing that people are talking about me, but not understanding the language

o Constantly being stared at wherever I go

o Waiting 2 hours to get a meal at a restaurant after ordering

o Chickens everywhere

o Hearing people yell something like, “Hello mzungu how are you?” at least 35 times a day

o Waiting to use the bathroom until I get to school in the morning

o Brushing my teeth at school

o No trash cans

o Constant misunderstanding

o Law enforcement officials that carry AK-47s

o Thousands of people selling things EVERYWHERE

o Eating dinner at 10:00pm

o Watching Mexican soap operas dubbed dually in English and Luganda on a nightly basis

o Being called by a completely different name by my host family

til next time

First few days of School

Monday was my first day of school! I woke up at 5:30am, got ready, ate breakfast (eggs with tomatoes and chapatti), and left the house with my host dad and little sister at 6:30 while it was still dark outside. Driving on the road by our house, my host dad saw his “sister” (not sure if biological or just Ugandan) walking on the side of the road, and we pulled over to give her a ride. We ended up dropping her off at a has station (I was very confused the whole time because they only spoke in Luganda together) then dropped off my sister at her primary school. We got to the SIT Resource Center, my school, at about 7:10 am. I was the first person to arrive, because school starts at 8:30 and most of the other students were riding in the crazy/unreliable taxis, but the program assistant got there moments later and we went in together.


Our school is very secure. We have a gate around it and a guard has to let us in. Sometimes he pats us down or checks our bags. We’re also really lucky to be in a nice part of Kampala. It’s very quiet and peaceful around there, and we like to call it our little oasis.


School was great. I have Luganda class from 8:30 to around 10:30, then break until 11, when I start another class until lunch around 12:30 or 1:00. Lunch ends at 2:00, when we have a guest speaker or site visit every day, and school will usually end somewhere between 3:30 and 5:00, depending on what is on the schedule. Yesterday after school my host family (Dad, Mom, and I think some clergy person) picked me up in our car. They arrived at about 5:30pm. We had a little bit of confusion because school got out at 4:30, and my host sister was coming to escort one of my classmates to her home on the taxis. We decided to all leave together in our car, so it was my host dad and the other guy in the front, and my host mom, me, my classmate, and my host sister crammed in the back seat of a little car. We then picked up my little sister from school, making it 5 people shoved into the sweaty back seat.


As I’ve mentioned before, traffic here is ridiculous. I’ve never ever seen anything even close to it. There aren’t any lanes, and people swerve in and out of incoming traffic on a regular basis. Cars and motorcycles even drive onto the sidewalks and honk at people to get out of the way. There are potholes/craters the size of sedans and speed bumps that hit the bottom of the car when you drive over them, regardless of speed. Traffic can stay at a stand-still for very long periods of time, and drivers just cut the engine to save fuel. We sat with the engine off for at least 11 minutes, and it took about 45 minutes to go 2 or 3 miles.


When we finally got home, I worked on my homework, ate my dinner, bathed, and went to bed. I was so exhausted by the end of everything.


Yesterday morning I woke up, ate breakfast, and drove with my host dad to drop my little sister off at school. I got to escort her to the gate this time and wished her a good day. At this point it was about 7:00, and my host dad told me he had to stop at a meeting then would drop me off at school.


It was actually a Rotary Club meeting, and he is about to be inducted I think. They introduced him to the whole room of people, then I was introduced as Shannon/Nalule from the US. We were only there for a short while, then he dropped me off at school around 7:45.


After school, my host sister came to escort a classmate and me home, and I rode the taxis home from school for the first time. I take two taxis to get home; one to the old taxi park, and one to my home. You never really know what you’re going to get on a taxi here. In my taxi, the conductor and a passenger got into a small fight, yelling at each other in Luganda and sort of swinging at each other as we were moving along. I was horrified, but everyone around me was laughing. I asked later, and apparently the passenger only spoke a certain dialect of Swahili.


At the taxi park, I found my taxi and rode home by myself. I was a bit nervous, but it was a very easy and surprisingly fast, about 30 minutes (no “jams” on my route!). The cost was about 1000 Ugandan shillings, which is less than $1. When I got home, my younger sisters were eagerly awaiting my arrival. I brought some bubbles with me to Uganda, so we decided to play with them outside. We had a lot of fun, as you can probably see from the pictures I posted! They were obsessed with my camera, and they loved taking and posing for pictures!


Later I brought out my computer and iPod touch, and everyone completely freaked out with excitement and curiosity as I showed them how each device worked. On my computer I showed them the pictures and videos we had just taken, as well as some of the other pictures and videos I had on my computer. On my iPod I showed them how to play music and play games. Two of them sat together, one headphone in each ear, and I laughed as they sang and danced along with the music.

til next time

Pictures!

It's really late for me and my computer is about to die, so I will save the explanations and post for tomorrow! Hope you enjoy the pictures!!

This morning I went to my host dad’s service at the church on our compound right next to my house. I had originally planned to go to the English service at 8am, but changed my mind and went to the Luganda service with my host mom at around 10. I was really interested to see what it would be like because I have never been to an Anglican service before. It was certainly very different than Catholic mass in America. First of all, it was three hours long. It was all in Luganda, so my host mom whispered to me what was going on at various points and told me when to stand, sit, and kneel. Since we are the Reverend’s family, we sit in a special place in the front in a pew sort of perpendicular to the altar. The reverend introduced me to everyone during the service, calling me his daughter. The service was composed of various energetic hymns, bible readings, sermons, recognition ceremonies, a sort of fundraiser, and other things. It was very hot in the church, and my host mother continuously told me that I could leave at any point if I was bored/tired/hot, but I decided to stay for the whole service. When I got back, I ate a delicious lunch and played with my sisters. It’s quite funny because whenever I sit on our back porch, all of the people in the other houses around the compound just stand and stare at me. It’s quite a common occurrence wherever I go, so I’m quite used to it by now.


Later on, I took a taxi with one of my older sisters to another relative’s house down the road that is hosting one of my classmates. We hung out for a little while (and I stealthily used the flushing toilet in their house), then drove to the SIT classroom building so we could time how long it would take to drive there tomorrow morning. After this, we went to the mall in Kampala. It was very nice, and at this place I saw more white people (mzungus) than I have ever seen in Uganda.


I’m about to go to sleep right now, and in the morning my host dad will drive me to the SIT building for my first day of school. Nervous, but can’t wait!

til next time