Full Circle

Apologies to all for not writing the last two weeks.  I have been so busy with my final paper, presentation, and of course my last goodbyes.  Most of all I delayed this writing out of denial (not the Nile, but that is also true, we spent some time in Jinja the source of the Nile).  I didn’t want to believe that my daily life would be changing.  The fact that every time I was in a car looking out the window I would no longer have the same view of the same stores repeated shop after shop.  I would no longer see the Chapati and Rolex makers (the Ugandan version of fried pancake with egg rolled into it).  I would no longer be immune to the rapid swerving of cars to avoid pot hops, which I have become so familiar.  I no longer need to utilize the skill of sprinting across the street knowing that two lights means it’s a car, and one light means it’s a boda boda, or a car with just one headlight. 

I could not have asked for a better last few days.  I got to spend quality time with all of my friends I had been sharing this experience with.  We had two days in a convent were we got to hear everyone’s presentations on what they had been doing the 6 weeks we were apart.  Then after all the presentations we got to go to a touristy resort in Jinja and just enjoy each others company and reflect on how great its been.  When we got back, it was time for people to go their separate ways.  By Saturday everyone was gone except two other girls who had a flight around the same time as me.  The fact that everyone was gone forced the denial out of me, and transformed that emotion to nostalgia.  I stepped out of the Jeliza hotel, where the experience all started, feeling I had taken a full circle.  I reminisced about the first time I stepped out of those hotel walls terrified to walk on the street.  This final day on my way to a meeting with my advisor I felt confident, and felt that no amount of men calling Muzungu could bother me. 

I had a lovely last meeting with my advisor, which ensured me that I would bring all of my experiences from here back home with me.   Though it was an emotional goodbye, it was a goodbye until next time.  Next I made my way to my families shop where I met my whole family.  I had my last cup of Buschera (sorgum and millet drink) my families specialty drink.  Reminisced on the wonderful times we had.  They walked me out of the store, and told me not to look back… but of course I couldn’t help it. 

Lastly, made it back to my hotel to meet some Frisbee friends to find them so sad I was leaving.  At that point I had to keep my head high for their sake and mine, so of course I like my denial take over again, and created this goodbye into something humorous.  We hoped into the van with all of our stuff and waved goodbye. 

Hopped onto the plane, and it was take-off.  Luckily since it was 1am, and I had also taken some Dramamine I had no time to make this emotional and passed out.  I woke up 8 hours later landing at London Heathrow.  I stepped off of the plane and gathered my things at baggage claim, and found a bus.  The efficiency was so amazing it all took about 20 minutes!  Definitely something I was NOT used to.  I stepped outside to wait for the bus.  If anyone has seen the movie Coming to America with Eddie Murphy, it was quite a similar circumstance.  I was wearing a small, light jacket, and FLIP FLOPS!  Sadly I had no other shoes because I gave my other shoes away.  The temp shock was so overwhelming I didn’t even notice until I got on the heated bus and my feet were frozen. 

Welcome back to overdeveloped countries :) 

 My Ugandan family in the shop

one last glance out the window of Kampala

Nwa Webale (I give thanks)

Many firsts came out of this Thanksgiving day.  My first Thanksgiving away from my family, my first Thanksgiving actually cooking myself, my first Thanksgiving where a very minute fraction of the population even know what Thanksgiving is... the list can go on forever.  We had the choice to just ignore the holiday, pretend it didn’t exist, and just spend our day as a typical day in Uganda.  But, we decided to bring Thanksgiving to Uganda, for the ultimate Thanksgiving experience.  Luckily Thanksgiving is a holiday based around food, and giving thanks, which basically means the Thanksgiving atmosphere can be created anywhere in the world…just maybe in a little different way.

 Crime Scene

We started our Webale-giving off crossing the boarders between Uganda and American tradition by slaughtering some chickens.  My friends Ashley and Emily had quite the urge to slaughter their first chicken… and goodness did they pursue that urge with the greatest possible force.  I mean, if your going to choose to slaughter a chicken AND have Thanksgiving, why NOT make it special by adding both events together into one??  They went out early morning, picked them up some chickens, and brought them home live!  I proceeded drinking my morning coffee while watching Ashley stroke the chickens claiming that they taste better if they are calm before being HACKED. 

Plucked and ready to ROAST

Next was the main event… Anyone who knows my history of fainting knows that I steered clear of the crime scene, but I made sure I was sitting just a room away so I didn’t also suffer from F.O.M.O. (fear of missing out).  There were surprisingly no noises from the birds, yet some screaming and ewwing from the friends who decided to go through with the murder.  Our little newspaper reporter Nina gathered this whole event on video as she turned her head the whole time cringing… vegetarians…

Next came the feather plucking which took some time.  Then there was the gizzard pulling… in that process we found an egg!!!  That was when the word “groowel” came to formation (a combination of cool, gross, and crewel). 

We then proceeded on with our cooking festivities.  I was in charge of garlic mashed potato’s and stuffing.  Everything was going great, the potatoes were peeled, the stuffing was ready for the oven, the chickens were plucked… and the power goes out.  I was waiting for a little more Uganda to come out. 

Apple Pie

After a half hour doing the power dance (which sadly didn’t work this time) we decided to go to the wonderfully furnished apartment that we would be facilitating our giant Ugandan Thanksgiving.  A kind man named Stan, from Newton, MA whom I met in Mbale when visiting the Jews and have become close with through the past weeks, offered his humble abode for cooking and dining. 

We spent nearly all day at his house cooking, and having a ball.  The whole room actually smelled like Thanksgiving!  We stuffed and roasted the chickens, made all the side dishes… I must say, with such little resources I’m quite impressed with the results.  And, because we invited many guests that were not capable of cooking in their homes, we just told them to bring wine… and boy did our Thanksgiving have one.  It was a real American Thanksgiving!

The guests all arrived, the food was all ready, and we gorged.  I have kept repeating the fact that I had never been so full in my life, and I was not exaggerating. 

FOOD

Plate number 1

Thats just Gravvyyy

There were at least about 25 people in this little apartment in Uganda, celebrating.  We all went around sharing our thanks, and went through the whole process… cheers-ing to everything.

I remember Thanksgiving last year like it was yesterday.  I was at the pinnacle of convincing my Mother and Father to let me embark on this adventure.  I remember thanking my Mom for being so supportive and willing to let me go halfway across the world to Uganda… And look where I am today!  At that point last year I talked about coming to Uganda and never actually expected to go.  Now I’m here with 2 weeks left, wondering what the heck is happening next?

WE GO, WE GO, CHEETAHS WE GO

Yesterday was among one of the best days I have had so far in Uganda, so I apologize for the long post, but somehow I need to find the words to justify the experience I had. 

It all started the other day at Frisbee pick-up, when two Canadian’s on the team announced that there was going to be a soccer tournament for 150 kids ages 7-14 at Makerere University (right by where I live) this Saturday (yesterday), and they were looking for volunteers to coach or assist in the event.  So, naturally I asked my friend Chloe (shout out Chlo) to join me in coaching, and from there, it was history. 

 We got to the field at 8:30 AM, unaware of the destiny that was about to take place in our future.  Within an hour there were 150 Ugandan children (half recruited from slums, half just from the Kampala area), SONY speakers BLASTING music provided for casual dancing on the sidelines all day (SONY sponsored the entire event fyi), a terrifying clown who was making balloons and dancing creepily, and two moon bounces!

The event began a little slow, trying to organize 150 children into teams is quite a difficult task, but Chloe, a friend named Patricia, and I were given the team name Cheetahs… and a team that I could never replace.  At first the team was skeptical of the American girls coaching abilities, but we loosened up the team with some icebreakers and laughter and the skepticism shortly passed. 

The fields were filled with muddy water, and half the kids were playing with bare feet.  The first game was filled with slipping, sliding, and oh… a WIN!!

The cheetahs were on a roll, and we were not about to stop for anything.  Our team was pumped, and of course we started attracting other volunteers to support our team because we were just so damn good!  We had two little stars on the team who had amazing spirit and played even more amazingly!  Game two was a little bit of a slap in the butt, we tied 1-1, but nothing could hold us down… nothing.    After this game it started POORING monsoon style.  We were held under the buffet tents for about a half hour, until the rain finally deceased.  The fields, amazed at the fact that they could possibly be any worse, were pools of muddy water.  My white shoes; now completely brown.  The next game was the last game before an amazing buffet lunch, and the lunch never tasted so good, because defeat is sour, but luckily victory is SWEET (aka we won).  After lunch we preceded on to the semi finals, where… you guessed it, WE WON!  The field were so muddy children were just sliding all across the field.  The ball wouldn’t actually dribble, but in stead the kids would just kick the water until it floated into another puddle to then be kicked again. 

We then waited for about another half hour to see our competition for the finals.  We waited around, bonding with other volunteers, and pumping up our team.  Our competition was the Lion’s… in my head I was thinking, this is impossible!  How can a cheetah beat the king of the jungle?? 

The game began and we the coaches (the 3 original coaches had now grown to 10) were shaking in our boots, mostly because it was rainy and cold, but also because this was what we had been working towards all day.  The game went back and fourth, puddle-to-puddle, and no goals were to be made.  It came to half time and still no score.  We pumped up the team, and there, in that huddle, despite our cultural and language barriers, we had an understanding.  We deserved this trophy, not just because we were the most skilled team, but also because the entire team was SOO into it, jumping up and down to work the blood.  We were going to win this.  Our little star, Christopher, who hurt his knee in the first game, but continued to be the star and make all our goals the whole day, placed a foul kick strait into the net.  THE TEAM WENT WILD!  The boys ran over to the side and slid into the mud out of excitement.  But the game wasn’t over.  Me, Chloe, and 4 other coaches were so excited on the sidelines that we couldn’t help but dance.  The last three whistles blew and we went Insane!!  The kids all ran into the puddles and slid.  It was pouring and freezing, but the adrenalin of winning was keeping us fired up and okay with anything coming our way.  Even a monsoon couldn’t have stopped us!! Funny thing is, a monsoon didn’t stop us…Chloe and I ended walking home in that monsoon looking a lot like crazy people covered from head to toe in dirt. 

The award ceremony was fantastic.  Ian, one of the Frisbee guys and organizers of the tournament announced first place of the tourney.   “ I am happy to announce the winner of the seniors tournament… the CH- CH- CH- CHEETAHS!!”  The crowd went wild, and we got a huge trophy!! Oh, and I got two free t-shirts!  So, all in all, it was the greatest day ever.  For those of you folks who think volunteering is a chore, just remember that it is what you make it, and most of the time its almost as if they are volunteering to entertain you for the day. 

Frisbee players? or volunteers?  BOTH

CHEETAHS!!

 Casual dancing on the sidelines.

 NUMBER 1!!!

 After I laid out face first into a puddle. (p.s. I walked home looking like that)

Born winners.

We may not share a continent, but we share the love of the game.

I have found a miracle… In the back allies of Lugogo cricket field I found a sign that despite a world of corruption and calamity, fate and fortune still exist.  I found a group of Ugandan’s playing the sport that brings people together in coexisting values, attitudes, and a love of zanye (playing)… that sport being... Cricket…

But it was behind the cricket players where I found the Ultimate Frisbee Team of Kampala, Uganda!!!!

Well, besides the fact that I am super duper out of shape, and I have tossed about 4 times since I got here with a warped from my luggage Ruckus disc (For those of you who don’t know, Ruckus is the University of Vermont Ultimate Frisbee team I play on), I was able to crank out some good ol’ Ruckus-skills.  The discstration (equivalent to frustration, but worse) that has been bottled up inside for the past 8 weeks found me drooling with excitement (literally drooling).  The players were fantastic, there were about 20 of them, they played a simple stack force flick, and apparently have been playing at this field three times a week!!!  Where the hell have I been?? 

They opened up to me with those warm muscular Frisbee arms, and invited me to play in their hat tournament on November 20^th!!!!!  This all just happened so fast, who WOULDN’T drool??? They even told me where they go after pick-up to eat, and I happened to be going to Bubbles for trivia night anyway!!! It was true fate.

I rushed home as much as you can on a slow moving, jammed taxi, to share my experience with my roomies.  I ran inside and started screaming and jumping, and drooling, and lets just say they though that I had just solved the problem to world hunger. 

Now, for the past two weeks I have been playing every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday, making great friends, and re-learning the skills I yearned for the past 8 weeks. 

Of course, communities seem to be a theme throughout my life.  I study community development, I visited the Jewish community of Uganda, I am working with a self-help community in Mityanna for my independent study, and now I find an unlikely community of Frisbee players (40 people wide might I add) in Kampala!  The power of communities in my own life is what inspires me to work with such complex community development issues in my lifetime, and is inspiring me to continue work every day with ADAM, despite its complexities and the slowness of the process.  It takes time to develop a community to its fullest potential, but the communities I am a part of today just prove how strongly and endlessly those communities can prosper for generations to come.

Kampala is my CITYY

I have now lived in Kampala on my own for 6 days.  I have gotten my fix of cooking and eating American food in the hostel (including making chili out of the beans that the villagers had given to me).  Stir-fry, pasta and garlic bread… my friend even made chocolate pudding with gummy worms and Oreo’s on Halloween!!! (I dressed up as an American tourist in Africa; quite well actually, some people even caught on and called me Muzungu!).  Anyway, I’ve found my new taxi routes to Makerere Kiconi, normally only recognized when told to go by the MoGas station.  My hostel is wonderful.  My roommate Nina and I have made it just like home, with tapestries on the wall, desks full of books, and fully equipped with mosquito nets?  I live in the hostel with two other SIT students Nina and Ashley, and on weekends another joins the festivities.  Last weekend we explored a little by discovering a quaint touristy craft shop to spend all of our money at, a fantastic little coffee shop called 1000 Cups, and a BAGEL AND CUPCAKE (red velvet butter cream) PLACE CALLED “I <3 NEW YORK KITCHEN!” (Also known as the sudden but very timely death of my healthy living) 

As for my progress with ADAM, it is moving… mpola mpola (slowly by slowly).   The group has identified for themselves the challenges they are facing.  One of the challenges is the market.  Last Thursday Cosmas (the chairman of the group) and I went around to neighboring villages to try and sell our soap.  Though many people claimed that they needed the soap, they simply could not afford it despite its low price of 1500 UGS per bar.  The problems that the group encounters are the same problems of the people all around the rural villages… There is no money circulating in the villages, which makes it almost impossible to gain an income unless they sell to urban areas where people are more likely to have disposable income.  For this challenge we discussed a few solutions.  I suggested that maybe they sell to people according to how much money they have.  In other words, create tick marks on the bar, so that when a person is in need of soap but can only afford 500 shillings of the bar that is the amount they can get.  Or, perhaps more tangible in the future would be to sell in town centers just as Mityana town or Kampala at a higher competitive price, which would enable them to subsidize the price for local villagers.  Though, before embarking on this suggestion I think they need to focus a little more on quality.  Another challenge was participation of all the members.  It is quite apparent that only some members are committed to the soap production and selling, but the lack of motivation is truly destroying the benefits that should be coming their way if they stay committed.  My hope is to continue to mobilize them and motivate them until they begin to physically see and hold the benefits in their hands, which will then motivate themselves to expand and sustain. 

As for my challenges, communication is a large barrier.  As an outsider, I am able to give so much information and ideas to improve their situation, but the language and cultural barrier prevents me from clearly communicating with them.  Though it is frustrating, I think that in a way it is a good thing they don’t understand me fully because it gives them the chance to critically think and problem solve to help improve their own situations.  At the end of last week, I asked them to write down the challenges they face in making soap and selling it.  They wrote it down in Luganda, and I got it translated.  I was happy to find out that they are seeing the same challenges that I am seeing, and that they are aware that they need to do something about it.  Each step is an excitement to me and the group.  And as time goes on, I look forward to learning critical applications to the world of development.  

The ADAM Soap Factory

Today, I got to watch the process of how the community members make soap.  Let’s just say, it reminded me of watching a bunch of children do a science project making homemade silly puddy.  There was a bunch of yelling, a lot of gathering and watching, some guessing on measurements, and plenty of disagreement to go around.   Oh, and not to mention extremely unhygienic considering this is suppose to be SOAP!  At one point they messed up and added a chemical too early before the first substance could cool, and it overflowed everywhere on the dirt ground.  Then one of the women started scooping what fled onto the ground and putting it back into the product!  Each soap brick was made from a separate solution, and the consistency is clearly lacking, considering each block of soap is a different color/texture/shape/weight.  Also, each time they do it a different amount comes out of it… All in all, I think I’m going to have my hands full.  My main goal is to actually want to use one of these things by the end of my time here.  At this point, there is no way in hell I would clean anything with this soap… it has visible dirt on the bars. 

First things first: Type out a step by step process for making a batch of soap so there is NO MORE GUESSING!

Next, find wooden boards to make a consistent and perfect square out of the soap. 

 My new buddy Wiki

 Soap making...

 Making soap on dirt.

 Different colors, shapes, and sizes...

 Me and Wikki... BFFL

The Fam.

Hopefully after that I can attempt to explain to them the irony of making dirty soap… 

Mityanna Day 1!

It started off not quite like any other day.  The sky was ominous, and the rain came POURING down, and I mean pouring, all morning, lightning everywhere.  At first I was wondering if this was suppose to be a sign that going to Mityanna was not a good decision, but I met with Celestine and all faith was restored.  We waited some time for the rain to stop and had a nice long conversation over tea.  You know, just two colleagues talking business as usual.  The rain didn’t stop, but we decided to proceed to the taxi park to retrieve a taxi to Mityanna.  The ride was very easy, and it amazingly took almost the same amount of time it takes for me to get to school within Kampala (that says something about the roads here). 

Shortly after arriving, we were greeted at the home of the treasurer Gladys, which is where I will be staying this week.  We then went on a small venture to a house down the street that energized itself through biogas!!! (aka cow poop).  I must say, it was one of the coolest things I have ever seen.  The contraption they have built basically resembles a digestive system.  They have the first stage, which is where they stuff the cow poop underground where it then goes through a canal to the next stage.  Then the poop is held underground forming bacteria which then causes the gas that is then put through a pipe that is connected to the house for burning.  Then the poop shoots to the next stage, which is where it settles and is able to be dumped and used as fertilizer!  The most sustainable damn thing I have ever seen!!! Then they showed us the inside of their house where the gas is burned.  They are able to cook all of their food and light their house through this process.  I wish I could give this incredible innovation justice with my explanation, but that was only part of my day, so I must move on. 

We then attended a meeting with the ADAM members.  At the meeting Celestine introduced me to the group, as well as gave a nice Luganda pep talk, which I had some trouble following as I’m sure you can imagine.  The groups making soap also had a chance to brief about what they have begun doing with the production and selling of their soap, and what is going right or wrong.  They claimed that the largest problem was participation, and that not everyone is on the same page for investment on the project.

After some discussion we proceeded to the liquid soap training session.  Our technical trainer Robert (one of Celestines’ old students, also a jack of all trades) ran the session in Luganda, while I attempted to record all of the steps clearly.  After the session, I continued to write out a cost-benefit and break-even analysis of making the liquid soap as opposed to the bar soap, and came to the conclusion that liquid soap would be much more profitable to produce.  Celestine then explained the cost-benefit analysis to the group, and the group then debated if they could make both the bar soap and the liquid soap.  They decided that they would participate in making both.  Of course the day that they learn liquid soap making everyone was so eager to start, but as the weeks roll on I’m sure we will see a decrease in participation, which will disturb their ability to gain their investment back. 

So, I think I am starting to figure out my job in this project.  My first role is to motivate and encourage their involvement.  Luckily, according to Celestine, in order to do this it will not take much.  Just by being a muzungu or any outsider coming to monitor will help them realize they need to be working every day.  Next, I will make sure they are consistent in their production so that they are able to give the best quality, and in turn able to make the most income for their families.  I will also be there as a consultant if they ever have any questions on their business model.  And lastly, because I will be traveling between Kampala and the village, I will be the ingredient donkey, transporting the materials necessary to complete their process.  But my main hope, is that their reliance on me as motivation in the beginning dies out after a few weeks as they see the benefits that will come out of their participation and commitment.  

 Stage 2: the fermentation

 Stage 3: The DUMP

 Burning the gas for cooking

 It makes light too!

 ADAM group learning!

Soap Making Tutorial

HALF WAY TO THE END ALREADY??

Well, it’s been quite a busy week here in the world of SIT world learning (my program name).  Writing papers, organizing what we are going to be doing for the next SIX WEEKS!  Writing proposals, and finding a place to live all in one week!!  In America, none of this would ever manage to come together in time, but luckily we are in Africa where things like meetings, emails, transportation, cooking pasta, take for ever, but important things like internships and living situations come together in the span of one hour! 

I explained briefly explained my practicum a few posts ago, so I suggest looking back as a reference.  But, since the last post I have found out a little bit more information what I will be doing.  The job that my boss/partner (that’s how he sees it)  has planned for me is to consult a group of community members who plan to earn a steady income for their households by making and selling soap.  My boss has invested .5 million shillings into the group so lets hope I don’t mess up!! 

In my first week I will be living in the community, which is Baakijjulula village, Bulera Sub-county, Mityana district, just one hour to an hour and a half from Kampala.  The treasurer of the community will be housing me and feeding me, and hopefully will be telling me what I am suppose to be doing.  The first week I will spend working with the group, mostly observing their production of the soap.  Then I will attempt to make them guidelines to make their production more efficient, especially if they plan to grow and expand in the future.  Also in the first week I will join them in the market, and observe how they go about selling their product, and what they do to make their product stand out from the others.  My assumption based on the rest of Uganda entrepreneurs is that they don’t do anything regarding uniqueness of their product.  Most stores here are made in clusters.  The sports stores are all right next to each other, all selling the same products.  Yes, this is convenient for the customer, but I would say it is quite detrimental to the business owners. 

On Friday I will be heading back to Kampala to live in a hostel with some other SIT students for the remainder of the independent study time.  For the rest of my five weeks I will be researching community development methods to implement within the community, continue to consult the soap group by going there once a week, and I will be writing my final practicum paper which is to be presented at the end of the trip.  I really look forward to living on my own, cooking my own dinners, setting my own schedule, and of course learning learning and more learning. 

I will be sure to update as much as possible on my experiences through out my time!  Tomorrow, off to the ADAM community!  We will see what Mityanna has to offer.  

One more to go..

Friday afternoon we left the homestay to explore our ultra tourist side :)

We went to the national park and got to see.... well I think it will be best explained through pictures...

 Yup.

 Twiggas!

 Pumba!  The wart hog.

 Fantes.

 The worlds ultimate tourist.

 Crocodile 

 Murchison Falls

 Yes, The River Nile decided to fight back at me.

Nuff said.

Research in Uganda

The three days spent in Negri, of course had to have some academic purpose.  We had to find a topic, and conduct all kinds of research and utilize interviews and such to gather information.  I wasn't fully sure what my topic was going to be for the paper, but I knew I wanted to learn more about how NGO's and Government programs are benefiting the rural communities, especially in Gulu where they are still recovering from the war.  I mainly wanted to get an idea of how they are helping, and weather these programs are doing what they say they are doing.  My first interview was conducted with the LC1 chairmen who is essentially in charge of monitoring and listening to the needs of the village of Negri, and reporting that to the government.  Also, as part of security, the LC1 must know of everyone who comes in and our of the community (including me).  He seems to have a lot of responsibility, and is well liked considering he has been elected 25 years in a row.
I also spent half a day in the government central area in Gulu town (the non rural area) trying to talk to multiple people who could give me information.  Of course they were all out or busy, so that was a big waste.  Fortunately that still gave me some information on how the government runs, and what the priorities are for the government.  When we went back to the village and I somehow stumbled upon a meeting of community members who are part of the NAADS program, which is the National Agriculture Advisory Services.  It is a government run operation that gathers a group of rural community members and gives them either pigs, goats, or chickens.  They then train them to utilize them as sustainable capital generators.  They have the choice to use them either for market purposes or for community growth.  It was such a great opportunity to see how this program was benefitting these people.  Though, I was still skeptical of the motives of the government and whether it was on economic growth or on personal security of community members.
I after got to talk to a woman who benefitted from a similar program but was provided by an NGO.  It was very similar, except they gave a cow to the woman, and she was not part of a group.  She also got the training, but the difference here was that once they got the training the NGO left them the cow and never checked on them again.  At first I thought that this was a negative of the NGO, but then when I asked the woman what she thought, she explained that she was happy to have the freedom to do whatever she wanted with the cow.  The cow was now hers, and she did not have to feel like she was being monitored or anything.  All in all it was a great learning experience on many levels, though I am not very excited to pull a 10 page paper out of it.  Perhaps this blog post will serve as my introduction.

Negri Village, Gulu

Day one of the rural home-stay was easily one of the most exciting days of my life.  I met my host family and toured around their village.  We first drove into our compound through a patch of sweet potatoes which they use for their own consumption as well as for selling in town.  We then drove into a whole set of huts with grass tips and brick and mud base surrounded by so many fruit trees.  Our first tour from our britheres Charles and Kellie were of the vast amount of fruits all within 1 kilometer of our hut.  It was basically heaven.  My brother Charles is 27 years old and he started an orphanage and is trying to start an NGO for the education of people effected by the war.  He also is a teacher at the school, and he writes music for popular Ugandan artists!  Cool guy.  He played me some of the music, and the stuff is actually quite good~  I told him i wanted to help him bring his music to America and maybe help him make some money for his school, because currently he is using his own money and has no funding.  My other brother is 20 and went to school in Kampala to study community development, but is delaying it in order to send his sister to school.  They both helped a lot with my research.  I decided to make my research topic on the difference between Government development programs, and NGO's, and discovering if and how it is benefitting (or not benefitting) the rural villages and community members.

Anyway, we started off with out tour of the village where they literally showed us everything.  They showed us the market, all the free fruits and veggies and other resources that are public for the community.  Some of these include guava, potatoes, matoke, avocado, jackfruit, sugarcane, eggplant, maize, millet, sorgum, rice, beans... the list goes on forever.  all these resources were RIGHT THERE!  They showed us the school and the bishops farm.  Then we headed back to our home, and Kellie  chopped us up some fresh from the ground sugar cane and ate some... it was AMAZING.  We proceeded to talk for a few hours on just life.  Half the time I was talking I was saying, "do you realize you are living in paradise??" and he said yes it is very nice here.  In my head I kept thinking, what's the point of development of rural areas if they already have all the basic resources they need, and their lives are happy?  Possibly its the government that just has this alterior motive for their own benefit to develop the economy.  Rather, their main focus is on economic growth of the rest of the country through the ability of rural areas to produce commercial goods, rather than focusing on the peoples needs and wants. All in all, i have learned way more in half a day there than I have my whole time in Uganda.  Rural life is the good life.  I had no other thoughts in my head as we were sitting under the bright moonlight eating potatoes, beans and rice right from the ground around us.

How Gulu feel?

Sunday morning our group of 5 headed off to Gulu in northern Uganda for our weeklong rural excursion.  Gulu in the past 30 years has been through civil war, which for some reason still has yet to be completely explained to me.  All I (and the rest of Ugandan’s) really know about this war is that there was a rebel army who was trying to overthrow the government.  Why they raped and killed their own Gulu citizens in the north is still the mystery that no one can seem to answer.  I do hope to explore this a little more as we are here and living for 3 nights in Gulu homestays.  But anyway, last night and tonight we are staying in hotels getting to know the city.  It’s very nice here, and there are a lot more muzungu’s because there are a lot of NGO’s trying to help the post war rebuilding. 

Monday we went to this place called Child Voices.  It is an NGO that takes child mothers and their children, and educates them on special skills that they can use to build their own businesses, and it educates their children as well.  The NGO was very nice to see, and the girls and their children were lovely.  We got the opportunity to sit in on their weekly salon schooling. 

When we got there they greeted us with a song, which many places tend to do when visitors come, and I’m still not quite comfortable with it.  Anyway, after the song I asked the group of girls if any of them wanted to practice on Caucasian hair, and I found a few takers!  The teacher sat me down, and before I even knew it she was braiding a weave into my hair.  So, yes, I now have a weave in my hair.  I’m one step closer to being a Ugandan!  After an hour went by, it was time for my group to leave, but I was only half way through, and of course I couldn’t leave with half my hair braided with extensions!  So, my lovely friend Veronica (shout out) stayed with me, and waited for me to get the full head and a half of hair (the weave is more than half of my original hair by the way).  Two hours later my hair was done, and I got an AWESOME deal!!! Normally to get a weave it would cost like 30,000 to 40,000 Shillings, but it only cost me 7,000!!!  Totally worth it.  Well, there you have it, spontaneity at its finest!  My head is a little heavier, and my scalp a little tender, but at least I don’t have to wash it as often considering its not real hair… 

We waited an hour for a ride back to our hotel and got to play with the children, and a good time was had by all J and definitely a good story as well.  

So today (tuesday) we are off to our rural home stay for 3 nights!  I believe the only chance at cell phone reception is if I climb the highest tree on the top of the tallest hill... So goodbye for now!!  I hope these two blog posts are enough to keep you satisfied.  I'm sure I will come back with a lot to talk about as we live in the bungalows :)  

We go, we go, Uganda Cranes we go!

Saturday afternoon was quite a fun one indeed.  Our entire group went to the Uganda Crane’s vs. Kenya futball game.  In the days coming to the event, besides the terrorist threats coming from none other than the American embassy, the streets of Kampala were bustling with Crane’s fanatics.  The guys who normally stand next to the taxi jam’s selling newspaper and airtime were now selling various Crane’s jerseys, whistles, Vuvuzela horns (loudest things in the world, especially when played strait in your ear), masks, visors, Safari hats, flags… the list goes on.  After our 8:00am presentations we headed strait to the game.  The game doesn’t actually start until 5, but apparently it takes forever to get in the later you go.  So, as muzungu’s of course we left at 10.  My friend Veronica and I went separately to the game to meet everyone else.  The ride there was hilarious, and every Ugandan was so happy to see Muzungu’s like us supporting their team, and they lead us right in the direction of the stadium.  Every bota bota (motorcycle) riding past our taxi was heading to the game blowing their horns and going crazy for the game, slightly like a parade.  Sadly, Veronica and I had no idea where to go for our VIP seats, and it was so loud there that we couldn’t talk on the phone with our other SIT friends.  So the nice Ugandan’s let us in the front of the line even though there were hundreds of people waiting for hours.  Well, turns out we got in at the regular admissions gate, and when they took our ticket they never gave us a stub back that said we were in VIP, and therefore had no proof that we had VIP tickets.  The next 2 hours were spent getting ourselves from stadium person to police man to another police man to another stadium person to listen to our story and let us in VIP.  After some time and a little $1 bribe they let us in VIP.  Good thing is that we wasted 2 hours!  Bad thing was that now we weren’t allowed to leave the VIP section to get any food or drinks unless we borrowed someone else’s stub.  So, we waited 3 more hours in the stadium while everyone else from our group was nicely seated outside the stadium eating and drinking and enjoying the lovely weather.  Luckily, we got the fabulous experience of watching all the crazy Ugandans running around the field (some in traditional African attire, some ball handlers, and some naked man who I’m sure was not suppose to be part of the entertainment).  Finally, the game started and we were reunited with our group and it was awesome!  Compared to the wait and anticipation, the game did not last very long… The whole game was on the Kenyan side, and Uganda had soo many more shots on net.  But, unfortunately the game ended with 0-0 and Kenya moved on to the Africa cup… But, I was impressed with the sportsmanship of the Ugandan’s, once the game was done it was done and never spoken of again.  

Sunny skies in the Pearl of Africa!

I think this week I have finally reached a stage of comfort with Uganda.  I’ve finally got my taxi route to school down pat.  I’ve learned along the way that to get places faster you need to choose the taxi’s that are already full so that you don’t stop every 5 seconds to gather more people.  I’ve managed to cut my transportation time by half!  Also this week, in the span of 5 minutes I managed to figure out my practicum!!  For those of you who don’t know, as part of our program each student has 6 weeks to do either an independent study or a practicum/internship in whatever you are interested in.  During that time we also write a paper, and present it at the end to different supporters of our program, and sometimes even government officials. 

So, yesterday our guest speaker was a man named Celestine who is a professor of entrepreneurship at Makerere University in Kampala.  He is currently getting his PHD in community development.  He bought some land in a village about an hour from Kampala for a garden, and as he was going to his garden he realized how devastated the community was.  The community was suffering from severe poverty and HIV/AIDS.  Also, surrounding the community are 3 large tea companies who do not even employ the community members.  If they do employ community members they end up paying them “50,000” Uganda Shillings per week.  That is the equivalent of $20.  Oh, and on top of that the companies provide beans and cassava for the families… but of course that is going to cost money out of their paychecks.  The only reason that families have to take the food is because the workday is too long for them to go out to the market and buy food, so they are forced to get it through their paychecks.  Some people end up working a full week for no pay at all just to survive and provide food and shelter for their families. 

Sorry to get carried away, but back to the main point of this blog post.  Amongst the many problems this community suffers, Celestine decided he wanted to help them.  As an outsider of the community, he felt that he had the tools and skills to make this community an efficient and growing community.  Because he is a teacher, he started with gathering the community and asking them what they believed the main source of the problems facing their community were.  After blaming food security, ignorance, the tea companies, lack of resources, an old man finally said poverty.  From there, the community along with the assistance of Celestine, was able to come up with solutions to alleviate poverty in their community.  Celestine implemented the idea of “clustering”, which involves gathering groups of people to produce one thing so that the group has more capacity to sell in the market.  Celestine has also used his own money and connections with the university to bring teachers with technical skills such as soap making, piggery, craft making, and farming practices, to come and show the community members to produce more.  This has benefitted the community in so many ways, and is enabling the community to generate an income outside their everyday domestic selling.  He is also doing this all by himself, and funding this community himself.  He says that he is waiting for the community planning to be implemented and more legitimate before he gets outside funding.  He especially wants to keep government funding out in fear of political corruption and possible tensions coming from the community. Basically this man is an amazing caring man.  At the end of the presentation he asked us if we had any ideas that might have an impact on the community, and I found myself just as enthusiastic about this community as he was.  My head was churning with idea generation, and I felt I might actually be useful in a community development start up like this! 

After the presentation I went up to him and told him about our practicum, and I offered to volunteer for him, and in return I would learn from him and the community.  His excitement was so warming that I was drawn right in.  He was so excited to hear my ideas and was so open to whatever help I could bring to the community.  All in all, I think that this is the best possible opportunity, and the experience I get from this is going to go with me in whatever career I decide to pursue.  Considering he is just beginning to benefit the community, getting the opportunity to work with a startup community project rather than an already developed project is fantastic.  Though I know it will at times be frustrating and irritating, I think what it will teach me is worth it.  :)  Oh yeah, and on Saturday I'm going to the Uganda Cranes vs. Kenya Futball game!!!  I'll keep a play by play in my head to share with all of you.

Those are the most athletic Jews I have ever seen

5 Jews and 5 hours on a bus, from Kampala to Mbale, and we arrived safe and sound.  On the bus of course we met an Israeli couple going to Mbale to hike Mt. Elgon for the holiday.  (small world)

One of the boys in the group Aaron had a connection with one of the guys, Shabrach, from the Jewish community through his temple.  So the Ugandan Jew found us at the bus and took us to lunch and then to the Jewish Community.  It was about 15 minutes from town, and it was surrounded by nicely guarded fence.  As we walked in a guy at the gate said “shana tova” and his little daughter said “shana tova”.  I’m not going to lie, I never pictured a Ugandan to ever speak Hebrew to me.  It definitely took some getting used to this surreal image.  Some men walked up to us wearing beautifully knitted Kippas made by the community.  Of course we all bought one beause how else could we prove we went to Rosh Hashanah services in the middle of Uganda?  Then our friend Shabrach took us to the guest house in the community, and we met some nice muzungu’s there for the holiday.  I would say the whole experience was quite surreal, the whole time I had to keep reminding myself all these people are Jewish, and it was hard to break my mind from the typical Jewish stereotype.  The story of how these people congregated is quite interesting as well.  Apparently during the early 1900’s the village Chief started to practice the Old Testament because he simply liked it more.  Then the entire community started practicing the Old Testament.  Then one day a merchant came up to them and informed them that in fact what they were practicing was called Judaism.  And from then on, the community was Jewish!  Eventually the community expanded to around 1000 people around western Uganda.  The people in the community dated only 3 generations practicing Judaism, but converted Jews none the less. 

So its true, the Jewish community surrounds us no matter where we go! 

After settling in the guest house we went to explore.  We met some people of the community introducing themselves with such biblical names like Moshe, Shlomo, Rifka, Rachel, Issac …and so on.  The community continued to amaze me.  Then we found a soccer game between the Jewish High School and a school outside the community.  The Jewish team was winning.  Those were the most athletic Jewish people I have ever seen.* (this is a joke, not meant to be taken seriously ;)) 

At 6 we proceeded to the evening service.  We met the Rabbi who ran a beautiful short and sweet service.  All the prayers and the songs sounded amazingly the same.  I was so impressed hearing the little Ugandan children singing all the Hebrew songs.  I wish better words could explain the strange but comforting feelings of going to the service.  At the end we all got a sip of wine and apples and honey and a bite of challah.  I wish I could have thought to bring them more wine and apples and honey so people were able to get more than just a slice.  My friends and I thought of so many ways congregations from America could help support this community.  Even some team jerseys with a giant Jewish star on them, or soccer balls.  I do hope to go back there again during my stay there, and if any Jewish person somehow ends up in Africa, I highly recommend coming to experience this wonderful place.  Shana Tova, and Shalom.