Uganda Read This!: May 2014

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

He’s Back!

In recent months you might have read a couple of posts about our Safety and Security Officer Fred, My Friend Fred and Update About Fred.

Well people…

He’s back!

While I was in the office two weeks ago, I happened to peek my head in on a meeting, hoping to get the attention of another staff member. My attention was soon diverted as I noticed another person in the corner who resembled Fred.

I blinked again and again to make sure I was not in a dream and when I realized that it really was him, I had to wipe away the tears of joy streaming down my face.

To see him back, his eyes full of life and his smile stretching from ear to ear, I could tell just how happy he was to be back on his feet and interacting with his Volunteers.

Throughout the day I myself could not stop smiling and counting my blessings to have Fred back. I shared with him the blog posts I wrote about him and he kept saying how lucky he was to have a supportive group of Volunteers who care so much about saving his life.

He kept telling me how especially thankful he is to have friends, some of whom we may never get the chance to meet, who donated whatever they had to help, whether that me faith, prayers, money, or sharing his story.

From Fred, “Thank you.”

From me, “I have the best family and friends ever. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you!”

A Tale of Two Cities

Kampala is every Peace Corps Volunteer’s dream…

Multigrain bread, cheese, good restaurants, pedicures with the massaging chairs, large supermarkets that somehow resemble Wal-Mart, malls, casinos, bowling alleys, hot water, and steady electricity and if no electricity, there are generators to power the whole city.

While we avoid the congested taxi parks at all cost, we take up residence at Mokka Terrace where we can order an iced coffee and use up their free Wi-Fi to watch the newest episodes of our favorite television shows.

Kampala recently opened The Acacia Mall, a 3-story, air-conditioned galleria with delicious restaurants, gelato stands, a KFC, a 3-D movie theater, hip clothing shops, children’s play areas, toy stores, a food court, a fitness center, and a rooftop salon where you can sip fresh squeezed passion fruit juice while hanging out in a swing until your massage is ready.

Now wait just a second.

Are we still in Uganda?

Earlier this month I was in this muzungu friendly city helping Peace Corps while waiting for another training to begin. I ended up staying at a friends house with another PCV to avoid having to stay in a hotel that Peace Corps would have to reimburse. Ironically this house is located next door to the Peace Corps office and a convenient 15-minute walk from The Acacia Mall.

The house had a full size refrigerator that chilled our coffee and Amarula while keeping our lettuce and string beans crisp.

The mattresses on the beds did not pit in the middle, allowing for a good nights sleep.

The dog we shared the space with was not infested with ticks or fleas, like the ones you find in the village.

Again. Where was I?

Spending this time in Kampala started to make me think…

Make me think about the vast disparities that lie within this country.

How can it be that a mere 10-hours away from Kampala is my home where my neighbors can barely afford beans and maize flour to mingle posho for dinner?

How can it be that while families are Instagramming pictures of their children eating out of buckets of Kentucky Fried Chicken, there are children who have to dig in the garden all day because their parents cannot afford school fees.

How can it be that while I sit in a steam bath for 20 minutes, using 2 gallons of water, families in Kitgum have to live off of one, 20-liter jerrycan of water for bathing, laundry, and dishes.

As I was sitting near the water fountain, eating gelato out of a waffle cone, waiting for my toenails to dry, I became extremely guilty.

And confused.

I know these disparities exist everywhere but for once in my life I felt like I was somehow living in both extremes. While in Kampala, I soak up all these amenities and when I make the journey back home to Kitgum, I get back into the routine of living in rural, Northern Uganda.

With this being said, I am eager and excited for America. I am beyond enthusiastic about seeing my family, friends, and new additions to our family. I am pumped for the gym, spin classes, and banana, spinach smoothies.

Now with all that being said, I am beyond nervous for the readjustment process.

I mean, if I am feeling like this living in a place 257 miles from the capital, how will I feel when I make the long 9,168-mile journey home?

Saturday, May 17, 2014

BUILDer Brian

At Northern BUILD I got the wonderful privilege to have two visually impaired students in my group.

Both 20 years of age, Daniel became partially blind about six years ago and now can see shapes of objects but lacks color and detail. Brian on the other hand has been completely blind for two years due to nerve damage.

This post is about Brian.

Now I do not know what I was expecting. I knew I would be responsible for guiding him around and assisting in activities but little did I know how independent he would be.

Brian was incredibly active in every class; responding to questions, leading discussions, initiating ideas, and leading the way. It didn’t matter if he was learning a new dance, creating a sack garden, sewing up a tear in a mosquito net, or learning to put on a condom, he did not let his lack of vision inhibit him.

Plus Brian was the funniest and most intuitive kid around.

Example include…

- Staff demonstrating how to do an activity where you sit up and down together in a circle without letting go of your teammates hands and Brian called them out for not sitting down.

- When presenting about taking pregnant women to the health centers for IPTp, intermittent preventive (prophylaxis) treatment in pregnancy, he said, “Men. If you are going to score the goal, you have to follow the rules.”

- As I took Brian and Daniel to do the condom demonstration, I had them feel the wooden penis model. Daniel felt first and figured out pretty simply what it was. I then had Brian feel it and he goes, “Tara. Daniel is wrong.” “Are you sure Brian?” “Yes! The penis is circumcised! I do come from Mbale, the circumcision capital of Uganda!”

- As we danced it out one morning, Brian managed to pick up on the four, 8-count moves with simple explanations and feeling the beat of the drums.

- Climbing the rock wall like he knew exactly where every grip was.

- Watching him conquer his fear of the zip line and navigate up the tree with the help of his team then fly to the other side.

It was an inspiration to see everyone, from Co-Directors, Counselors, Staff and other campers from different groups, pull together to allow Brian the opportunity to shine.

Priceless

BUILDing a Brighter Future

My greatest passion in Uganda is working with youth.

Especially girls since they are they are marginalized when compared to their male counterparts.

As the first term break came, so did the camps. As applications filled my inbox, I contemplated whether or not to work at BUILD, Boys of Uganda in Leadership Development, or GLOW, Girls Leading Our World. Up until this point, I had worked at four GLOWs in various capacities, as a Counselor, Staff, or Co-Director.

As the due dates neared I finalized my decision to apply for a Counselor position at Northern BUILD, where 88 boys from the region would come together for a week of life skills, games, and fun. The decision came from me wanting to find out why the young men think the way they do and to help educate them from a strong, woman’s perspective.

I arrived to Gulu for training to find nine other eager Peace Corps Volunteers and Ugandans ready for a week of learning, laughing, and new experiences. We spent a couple days together learning about our roles and making welcome posters for our groups.

The theme for this year’s BUILD was heroes, as that is what we were hoping to build out of them. Who was my hero you ask?

Schindler.

Fittingly, our camp sign was titled “Schindler’s List”.

As I glittered my shirt to make it more me, I could hear the matatus roll in with the campers. We welcomed them with smiles, shirts, manuals, and a bag. I soon found out that in my group I would have two visually impaired students, one of which I will write more about in a following post.

The week included sessions on leadership, public speaking, imagination, dance, gender, HIV/AIDS, malaria, nutrition, water and sanitation, and agribusiness. Staff members were responsible to facilitating the lessons and they did an incredible job doing so. Classes were taught in a way that the children were not familiar with, including creative and critical thinking.

During the week we took a day trip to The Recreation Project, an outdoor facility that inspires resilience through adventure and sports. The campers climbed the rock wall, zip lined, completed a challenge course, and participated in teambuilding activities. It was an inspirational day to see the Schindler boys pull together to support one another and successfully accomplish each activity, despite some fears and inhibitions.

The week wrapped up with each hero group doing mini presentations on various topics that they could then take back to their respective community.

Oh and a dance with the girl’s.

Needless to say I felt like a mom when I had to tell the youth to stop dancing so close and to make room for Jesus.

All in all it was a successful week and I was happy I got the chance to work with these young gentlemen. I do believe that this camp prepared them for their future, a way forward, and how to successfully BUILD a positive and progressive Uganda with their GLOWing female equivalents.