Saturday, November 30, 2013

Total Recall


I can remember exactly what I was doing a year ago to the day.  And in my opinion it marked the breakthrough in my Peace Corps service.

365 days ago I was en route to National Camp GLOW as a Counselor.  I was traveling to an experience that would later pave my way and lead me to some of my greatest accomplishments and moments as a Volunteer.

I remember arriving to the school and I, along with the fellow Counselors, embarked on the adventure that Camp is.  I remember meeting my very energetic Ugandan Counselor Eunice and us preparing for our Rhino girls to arrive.  I remember the week ending and how much fun I had and how motivated I was for the remainder of my service.  That adventure will continue to remain as vivid as ever… With songs that will never leave my memory and faces of girls who made such an impact on my life.    

Since that time I have participated in two other camps as a Counselor and staff member, Co-Directed National Camp GLOW, hiked the Impenetrable National Forest to find a family of gorillas, celebrated a Christmas, New Years, and birthday in country, had two site changes, facilitated many life skills classes in various locations ranging from classrooms with no windows to under mango trees, held RUMPS workshops for girls, and discovered my passion for teaching.

I believe that the experiences that we remember so lucidly serve as a clear reminder of what we are so fond of.

For me these range from my first Camp, the day I got touched by a mountain gorilla, walking off the plane at the Entebbe Airport tarmac and taking my first breath of Ugandan air, and remembering my last moments with my family before leaving for Staging… From Starbucks, my sisters helping with my luggage, and the hugs in the security line that I wouldn’t get for two years, that is until my Dad returned minutes later for one more embrace. 

It is hard to predict what moments one will remember but to those waiting… I look forward to meeting you.

Thursday, November 28, 2013

See Ya Next Fall


I am sure you are familiar with the saying, “I hope you had a nice trip… See ya next Fall!” when one stumbles over their feet or face plants it into the grass.

Now, I never claimed to be a person of poise but was truly hoping that this unflattering characteristic of mine would not make the journey with me to Uganda.

But oh it did.  It packed itself in my bags and chose to make an appearance once I moved up to Kitgum. 

In my four months up North I have epically fallen three times, all of which were witnessed by a handful of people. 

Fall #1.  I was on my way to work and was taking my trash to the back of the compound, where the burn pit is.  Now let me explain some landscape for you.  From my small porch you can either step off the front onto to an uneven brick step or off the side, which will lead you to the grass.  I prefer the latter.  For some odd reason on this morning, I decided to brave the brick step and instead of landing solid on my two feet, I ended up face first in the grass with my black plastic bag of trash spread over the yard.  As I graciously gathered my composure and trash, I noticed the security guards peering from the hut.  As I hobbled out of the compound I could only imagine the good laugh the guys got that morning.

Fall #2.  Peace Corps Volunteers will do almost anything for a good meal.  When Mikael was still in country she called me craving a burger.  Luckily next to my compound is a quaint little restaurant, Fugly’s, which serves the best hamburger I have had in Uganda.  Since Mikael was coming from town, I decided to head over and place our orders because Lord knows that to prepare and cook two burgers in Uganda takes two hours.  I let the early evening rain storm finish before braving the 80-yard muddy terrain to the restaurant.  I was nearing the gate but first I had to walk down a very, very slight grassy knoll.  In front of me was a man, also heading to the same place.  I attempted to follow his footsteps to avoid any embarrassment but I slipped in the process and completely biffed it.  I went into a jazz split, one leg fully extended in front with the other leg behind, bent at the knee.  Mud was found from in-between my toes all the way up my back.  The man was hesitant to help, which I cannot blame him being that he would have probably found himself in the same situation as me.  He addressed me with his sincere apologies and let me wash up before going home to change.  After a quick bucket bath I returned somehow cleaner and waited for Mikael and our delicious dinner.  Lessons learned?  Do not venture out in flip-flops and never think that you have finally conquered muddy dirt roads in this country.  Never.

Fall #3.  Northern Uganda is a much flatter landscape than the Southwest and because of this I walk up any and every inclined road.  Luckily for me, outside my compound is a hill that I would put at an incline of 10 of a treadmill.  I choose to take this route to the office but have been avoiding it for the past couple of days, allowing my knee to heal.  One Tuesday morning I made it to the top before heading down the opposite side.  Now let me explain that one side of the hill is paved, with many potholes, and the other is rocky and full of loose gravel.  I was walking down the loose gravel.  I was just coming down from the top when my untrustworthy flip-flop slipped, and I went with it.  As I braced myself with my hand (mistake), my book bag went flying in the opposite direction; all while dirt and rocks greeted my knee.  A group of Ugandans watched from the bottom of the hill as I attempted to put myself back together.  Whenever someone notices my scratched up lower extremity they are not afraid to point it out and explain that they will pray for it.  Hopefully they will pray for not another fall.  Three is enough.

Four random thoughts. 

One.  Why Uganda chooses to pave random pieces of street amongst its majority dirt roads, I will never understand.  And they truly are random… A 30-yard stretch in the most arbitrary of spots. 

Two.  Why a restaurant is named Fugly’s, I will truly never understand.  Did the owner never watch Mean Girls?

Three.  Time to break out the Chacos again.  ASAP.

Four.  I will be seeing you next Fall.  So excited… And nervous… And excited!

Thankful for RUMPS


It is estimated that a girl in Uganda spends 108,000 Shillings, $43.20USD, annually on menstrual pads.  This is outside the budget of many families and thus the child will miss school for the duration of her period and therefore tends to receive poor marks on her exams.  This is a cyclical cycle of concern in Uganda as there is no simple answer to the problem.

That is until a Peace Corps Volunteer came up with the idea of Re-Usable Menstrual Pads, RUMPS.  I feel like I have talked about this before but it is a huge issue and one that I am passionate about.

Today as my fellow PCV’s celebrate Thanksgiving and Americans set the table with Pinterest inspired centerpieces and a 20-lb turkey to last for morning leftovers, I chose to head to the Demonstration Primary School to teach a lesson on reproductive health and RUMPS to P4, P5, and P6 girl students.  Arriving to the school I was met by Ellen, a PCV who works with the Core Primary Teachers College.  As she put together the RUMPS packs, I was left with the chalk to begin the lesson.  Up on the board went my very basic drawing of a female’s reproductive system and I began.  We talked about what menstruation is and what is happening to body during this time.  We addressed rumors about safe days, days that girls believe they cannot get pregnant, and that as young girls we are abstaining from sex so that we can reach our goals, like attending university.  We came up with reasons why RUMPS are favored over Always pads, including they are environmentally friendly, they save on money, and you can make and sell them as an Income Generating Activity, IGA.



I never said I was a good artist...

As the girls sang to Rihanna and sewed their RUMP together, they were eager to finish… Knowing the possibilities that this simple pad could provide them.


Sewing away...


They were thankful and what a perfect day to share that feeling.


My helpers for the day: Aber Mercy, Auma Fiona Mukasa, and Fatuma Esther


Amono Bibiana with her finished RUMP

Monday, November 25, 2013

Dark Days


Power is never expected to be stable… Especially when living in the heart of Africa.  Once you are blessed with this amenity that assists from lighting our rooms to keeping our drinks cold and vegetables fresh in the fridge, it is difficult to adjust but you learn quickly.  You discover that a pot covering your cheese on a cold cement floor along with candles melted to every possible countertop helps in filling the gap when electricity is missing.

Umeme, Uganda’s power company, has been a hoot and a holler during my service thus far.  As expected, power goes out all the time. 

Daily. 

Often it occurs multiple times as hour. 

Sometimes it goes out for days.

But why?  I decided to inquire with some of the people that I work with. 

“Tara, it is simple.  Every time power goes out it is because a pole falls over.”

“Okay.  Can you explain then how the power goes out and then ten seconds later it returns?”

“It is because Umeme was there and able to immediately fix it.”

“Okay.  You don’t think that Umeme ever shuts off power on purpose?”

“Oh no Tara.  They would not do that.  This is not America.”

I beg to differ.

It seems that the power in Kitgum goes off as soon as everyone is finished paying his or her bills.  Ironic?

Now I tried thinking of some logical reasons for the lack of power and wanted to share these ideas to my coworkers.  Logical reasoning #1?  A rolling blackout.  I thought I would have gotten some of them to switch their thinking…

Nope.

They still believe it is the falling poles.

I can’t say for sure what causes the lack of power in Uganda and specifically the many shortages that take place up North.

I can say for now is thank gosh Meeting Point has a generator that runs for some few hours a day where I can charge everything before returning home to the cave.