Eastern Excursion & Last Week in Kampala

Oli otya mikwano! Greetings from Uganda!

So this past week we were in the Eastern part of Uganda, right near the border of Kenya which is marked by Mount Elgon. The first night we stayed in a cool town called Mbale, which was fairly big and had an awesome view of Mount Elgon on the horizon. During the day I went to an organization called TASO which is the AIDS Support Organization for Uganda. It was a really great experience which enhanced the knowledge I had previously gained regarding HIV/AIDS while I was in Kenya. Unlike popular belief, or at least what I used to think, people who have contracted HIV don’t become sick extremely quickly and have to lose all physical ability and hope. The organization does an awesome job of bringing in HIV positive clients and giving them anti-retroviral medications that help offset the disease and keep them healthy. We got to talk to the “drama group” who sing songs in communities and educate rural populations, and all of them looked and acted extremely healthy despite having the disease for many years. They told us that at first they had lost all hope, but after coming to TASO they had learned about their options and that they could take the medicines and keep themselves healthy to keep living normal, healthy lives where they can work and live long lives. Also fascinating is the organization helps pregnant HIV-positive women to give birth to negative babies. I can’t remember exactly how that’s possible, but I think that’s the greatest thing ever. So on to that night, we decided to hang out on the roof of the hotel and look at the stars, and it was one of the greatest moments ever. I’ve never seen the stars like that in my life, everything was clear enough that you could see planets and the constellations. Also, you could see Mount Elgon on the horizon so it was just amazingly beautiful.

The next day we left for a little town called Kapchorwa, an hour farther east where we would stay for the rest of the week and with our rural homestay families. The nights we weren’t with our homestay families we stayed at this awesome little hotel place called Crow’s Nest. It reminded me so much of summer camp, because all of the buildings (more like cabins) are on the side of a mountain that overlooks Sipi Falls. We had about 5 people per room, which 2 sets of bunk beds in each. For showering, you had to walk back up the hill to this enclosure near the kitchen where the water came straight from the springs. Every morning here we got to wake up to the sunrise over Sipi Falls, and eat pancakes and eggs (hallelujah) while looking over the falls and the mountains. It was absolutely gorgeous. At night there we’d hike past the hotel cabins up to the top of the mountain and lay down and look at the stars. Again, I’ve never been so amazed by the stars. You could see absolutely everything, and the Milky Way was so so so visible and beautiful. The first afternoon there we also did the hour long hike down to the base of Sipi Falls, and it’s literally what paradise looks like. The area and the pool at the bottom were just absolutely beautiful.

For the last four days of the trip we lived in a rural homestay in pairs, and it was such a fun experience. Although I had expected to live in the normal grass-thatched huts of the area, we were placed in a pretty nice home. Our family, including Helen, Michael, and the nephew Immanuel, had just recently upgraded in the last 3 months to a concrete home from their previous house with mud walls. They were the greatest hosts ever, they were so incredibly kind and generous with us and were constantly making sure we were comfortable. When the dad found out we liked coffee he brought us home like six jars of Mount Elgon locally-grown coffee, and then at the end gave us some traditional gifts, including baskets and a beaded gourd. The first afternoon we got there, we brought them a chicken and a rooster as a gift, and they were so happy and grateful. Then Jason, my homestay partner, was messing around trying to catch the chickens when Helen, the mom, was like “you catch that one there and we will eat it tonight.” We thought she was kidding, but nope! When the nephew got home a little later he helped Jason catch one then told us to come over to watch. I really honestly just wanted to look away because of how much I hate blood but Jason reminded me how much of a “once in a lifetime” experience this was. So nonetheless I watched Immanuel pin its legs down and stand on them then lean the chickens neck back and slice it open. The part that was the grossest to watch was that it didn’t die immediately but still like squirmed and moved even with the head cut off. So then we boiled the body and then got to help pluck the feathers out (they come out easier when the skin is hot). A few hours later, we had the freshest chicken I’ll probably ever have in my life…check that off the bucket list.

So during the day in the homestay we were supposed to conduct a research study of our own choice. Our parents paired Jason and I up with a neighbor to be our translator and guide, and we decided to go with coffee farming because it seemed a very big aspect of the rural area. I won’t bore everyone with the details of that, but what was really cool was that we happened to meet this awesome Ugandan guy named Wilson who is in charge of the Kapchorwa Commercial Farmers Association that had just finished building this enormous warehouse, partnered with World Food Programme and USAID. A family contact got us the interview and we got to go twice to talk to him and walk around the entire complex, and it was one of the coolest experiences of my life. To simplify this to be somewhat interesting to readers, the association built this enormous building and processing station so that local farmers can raise their livelihoods and increase their agricultural productivity by selling their maize, wheat, barley, and sorghum to the center where it’s then cleaned, dried, and packaged. The cool thing then is that the association sells these huge bags of grains back to the World Food Programme, who then uses them or gives them out on their projects all over the world. For example, grains bought from Kapchorwa grown by local farmers may be used in humanitarian assistance feeding programs in Somalia, etc. Additionally, the association has a huge contract with Uganda breweries, so the grains used for beer are sold to them. Wilson pointed out that there’s obviously an endless demand for brewery grains, so the local farmers have a huge opportunity to expand their farms and produce greater yields of crops to raise their livelihoods and incomes. Being there was a great opportunity, because the theme of this whole study abroad program is development and I think institutions and systems like this are the key to development in third world countries and beyond. Making use of practical comparative advantages in order to give rural populations the opportunity to make a profit and change their situation for themselves, versus outsiders coming in and trying to change societies to be more Westernized is what I’m becoming to think is a real, more appropriate solution to these development issues.

On the way back from the East we got to stop at the source of the Nile in Jinja, and although not what I expected, was still a really cool experience. I also got to take a picture with my Terrible Towel, so that was great.

As for now, this week is our last week in Kampala doing regular classes and being together as a group. Starting Monday, we all go out on our own for our practicum periods where we can do internships, research projects, or both. I’ve decided on a mixture of the two, but it will really just evolve based on what I’m able to do and find out where I’m at. I finally got confirmation this morning that I have an internship, and I’m going to be based in Gulu in the North working on and studying the impact of the PRDP policy on the area. PRDP is basically the umbrella policy that the national government created in October 2007 to help with the post-conflict societies of the North and also bring its development levels up to those of the South (where Kampala is). So yes for all you KONY 2012 viewers, that’s the region and subject I’m going to be working in and researching. Like the video states, the LRA is now out of Uganda but there is still a lot of work to be done. So I’ll be following the implementation of this PRDP policy and trying to find where the biggest gaps and failures by the national government are. Additionally, I hope to look into the effects of these actions on the local populations, mainly the Acholi people.

On March 21^st we had Norbert Mao come and talk to us at school, which was an AMAZING experience. He is the head of the Democratic Party here in Uganda, and he ran in the 2011 elections. For clarification, elections are so ridiculously fake here, it doesn’t matter who’s running or popular, Museveni’s still going to rig all of it and win by a huge margin. Anyways….it was obviously super awesome to have him come and talk to us, and I was so impressed by everything he said. He was a parliament member earlier in his career representing the Gulu District, which is the area I’ll be based in for practicum and one of the epicenters of where Kony and the LRA used to terrorize. So he filled us in on the background of the conflict, the situation today, and his impression of Invisible Children and the Kony video. It was really great to hear his views on these topics because he’s clearly an expert, making his opinions valid and reliable. It was really interesting to learn that the LRA wasn’t the only guilty side in the decades of war. After Museveni’s bush war to come to power in 1986, his army was responsible for many deaths from forcing people into refugee camps and using force to control the volatile north. This put a new perspective on it, because Museveni wants to frame the LRA as the only guilty side of the civil war, but he himself was guilty at times as well. As for KONY 2012, he said that the people in the North are generally happy that their story has been told. He pointed out that no it’s not the full story, but we are happy that now the world knows and is educating themselves about it. He said he had been keeping up with all of the criticisms and to respond to all of the criticisms that the video frames the conflict like its still raging in Uganda, he said that there was a “clear graphic explaining that the LRA had moved out and were now in Central Africa.” I also got chills when he brought up Jason Russell, the guy who made it, because he had nothing negative to say about him and said “I think Jason has the most important human characteristic: compassion.” From a personal standpoint, I think that is so important to remember when looking at the whole KONY 2012 campaign, because no the campaign and organization isn’t perfect, but their mission and goals are so noble and like Mao said, purely compassionate. Equally awesome that he said was the fact that no Invisible Children’s spending and budgeting isn’t perfect, but neither is every other NGO or government sector. He said “if you’re going to hold them to those high standards, you need to do it with everyone else too.” This is such a true point, because yeah their spending isn’t entirely going to projects on the ground, but check the UN, WFP, Medecins sans Frontieres, Red Cross, etc, etc and you’ll find the exact same issues, if not worse.

So in general news it’s an awesome time to be in Uganda. It’s so politically active and crazy right now, so there’s so many things constantly going on. Besides the Kony video and the international attention towards it, there’s been instability with Museveni and national politics. There has been riots pretty much daily the past two weeks, and here it doesn’t matter what you’re rioting about the police use tear gas and rubber bullets to stop them. So we get calls periodically telling us to avoid certain parts of town, and everyday on the news there’s all this uproar over the latest riot and how the police beat someone in the streets. Pretty crazy. Also, opposition parliament members started the petition to get Museveni’s impeachment brought up in Parliament and that’s caused so much tension and uproar. It won’t happen yet because too many people are scared of Museveni and what he would do if they turned on him, but the fact that 53 members have signed it so far and are bringing it up is a good sign towards political change and challenging accountability and transparency in the government. So I guess Museveni got nervous this week about all this challenging of his authority, so on Tuesday the main opposition leader Besigye got arrested and the city went nuts. He’s on house arrest right now, and it’s caused all these other issues. We went to Parliament on Thursday (wow, casual) and we couldn’t meet with one of the guys because he was in an emergency meeting regarding the opposition being arrested and the riots with it. It just felt crazy to be in the middle of this going on. Then we got to sit in on the afternoon session of Parliament and it was AWESOME. They even introduced us from the balcony and we got to bow to the members. The NRM (Museveni’s party) sits on one side and all of the opposition sits on the other side, making it an interesting dynamic. Also a casual sidenote, Museveni’s wife, The First Lady, was there so we were just sitting 100 meters above her, no big deal.

On a side note, severely missing my heels and friends during March Madness. This is probably the worst part of this semester to miss, but I’m trying to manage wakng up at 2 am to watch the games. As for now, tomorrow I get to go to an engagement party with my homestay family for my last day with them. It’s a HUGE production here where the girl introduces her fiancée to her family for the first time (yes first), so it’s a surprise and it’s a huge deal. My mom made me a traditional dress too so look forward to those pics. Then Monday I head to Gulu with some friends to start practicum time!! I’m really excited to start researching and living in a new area, but I am sad to say bye to people in Kampala for awhile. Hopefully I’ll update soon from Gulu!

xoxo

Jessamy

Early March Updates

Hello everyone!

So I think this post I’m going to try and fill everyone in on stories and anecdotes I haven’t been able to share with people yet.  Firstly, for the past two weeks we’ve been in Kampala doing our normal schedules with going to class and living with our homestay families. We split up into groups for electives and have been taking these more specific, focused classes at Makerere University with Ugandan students, which has been really neat. Makerere is one of the best schools in East Africa, and its pretty nice to be on a college campus again. This week however we’ve been doing a few more site visits to see our subjects firsthand and do some interviewing. We went to Jinja (the area with the source of the Nile) and a few other rural towns a few hours outside of Kampala and talked with people in the villages about their experiences with microfinance loans, self help groups, etc. It was really nice to be in the villages and get to talk these people, everyone was so nice!

 As for acclimating, I’m becoming slowly more and more assimilated and not feeling like such an outsider/white tourist. I’ve learned the importance of knowing the local language, as it drastically affects how some Ugandans treat us. I love being able to formally and informally greet people, ask how much things cost, tell the taxi where to stop, bargain, etc etc. From my experiences, as soon as you greet someone in Luganda they just immediately brighten up and become so welcoming and talkative, as opposed to assuming you’re a tourist. Also, when you ask how much the taxi fare is going to be in Luganda I’m WAY less likely to get ripped off because it shows I know what I’m doing. Multiple times when the “conductors” have jacked up the price I tell them exactly what I’m going to pay in Luganda and then they back off. One of my favorite things ever is when I say “Masawo”, meaning “up ahead”, for where I want the taxi to stop and everyone in the cab turns around and stares because they can’t believe that just came from the white girl. I’m also a lot less likely to get harassed when I respond to people yelling “mzungu” at me with “oli otya” (“how are you”) and they’re shocked expressions are priceless. I even got told today that my Luganda pronunciation is “very good” so I’m feeling good about that aspect of getting accustomed to Uganda.

An interesting part of being here is learning about the Buganda culture, which is the largest tribe in Uganda and makes up the majority of Kampala’s population. They are still very into their old traditions and culture, and it’s been really neat to experience that. For example, they still have a Buganda king who they personally respect and admire more than the President (which isn’t hard when your president is Museveni, but anyways…). Also, they are all divided up into clans, and each clan has a totem which is your symbol and identification. For example, my family is in the Mamba (snake) clan because that’s what my dad is. You aren’t allowed to eat your totem or your mother’s totem (no worries, I wouldn’t be eating snake anyway), and you also can’t intermarry within your clan because they’re all supposed to be your cousins/aunts/uncles. Also, there’s a huge importance put on formal greetings and respect to your elders within the culture, so I’m expected to greet people formally when I have the time for it. This includes:

1. how did you spend the night/how did you spend the day

2. how are the people at home

3. thank you for the work you’re doing

I even have my favorite chapatti stand lady who I greet every morning this way on my walk to school. Also, when you greet someone formally you’re supposed to kneel to the elders and not make eye contact. Luckily, I’m not expected to do that, but my homestay sisters kneel when they serve my parents dinner or when they return home from work. I’ve also seen my homestay mom kneel to women who are her elders, and at the graduation party I went to the graduating boy kneeled to his mom in appreciation. So I don’t find it sexist or demoralizing, but I think it’s a really cool cultural practice that I’m glad has lasted through globalization.

As for the food, it is a very interesting experience being submerged in that part of the culture. For those of you who assumed I’d lose a lot of weight coming to Africa, think again. The majority of the average Ugandan’s diet is like 90% carbs and its based on the basically the same 5 things over and over again. The main staples are white rice, matooke (mashed plantains…equivalent of eating sour lime-green thick mush), posho (porridge), irish potatoes, and beans. Then if we’re lucky in my homestay we’ll get vegetables (I’ve never craved vegetables so bad in my life) and these could include tomatoes, pumpkin, sweet potato, carrots, cabbage, avocado, greens, etc. My favorite meal we’ve had in my homestay was this past Sunday when we had rice, beef (we only have meat on Sundays), sweet potato, pumpkin, and greens. Most nights its usually matooke, rice and probably beans. Sounds appetizing right? The good news is there’s lots of mzungu food in Kampala so at school we normally get delicious things for lunch. For example, one of our favorite spots is La Fontaine by school where you can get amazing chicken burritos. Thank goodness for these places or I’d probably be really cranky all the time.

A few weeks ago we had to do a village mapping assignment and paper to make sure that we understood and grasped the layout/socio-economic distribution of the village we’re living in. Luckily, my mom set me up to do the assignment with our Local Council member, Richard. (Side note: Local Councils are the decentralized government system, which I like a lot more than the corrupt national government. There’s 5 levels and they’re in charge of their zones and listening/handling the problems of their village members.) He’s the lowest Local Council level and is in charge of Mpererwe zone where I’m living. We walked around the entire village for about two and a half hours one afternoon, and it was one of the coolest experiences ever. He was so insightful and informative and he took me through the slum, the richer parts, the agricultural parts, etc. It was really interesting to compare the income levels and issues within the 2 mile by 2 mile zone and it was a cool hands-on look at development issues. When the slum area floods (every rainy season), the sewage in the drainage system floods above the banks and into people’s homes, where Richard said even some children drown in it. One thing that’s amazed me while being here is that people would rather come from the village and live in an unsanitary, dangerous slum that floods seasonally just to be close to Kampala and its job opportunities. I don’t blame them, it’s just so hard to see so many people living like this all for the chance to be closer to employment opportunities, schools, and what not.

So for anyone who hasn’t heard of Invisible Children, it’s a well-accomplished, really important organization that has aimed to end the violence and now recover and seek justice in the Northern part of Uganda where an atrocious war waged for over two decades. The atrocities were led by Joseph Kony and his Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and they are infamous for abducting child soldiers (more than 25,000) from rural areas and forcing them to work in the army, kill their own families, terrorize populations, and much more. The sad part is that while these things went on, the world was extremely ignorant on it because it was happening in such a small area of the world and Westerners commonly like to write off African wars as tribal conflicts that will just go away. I’m telling whoever reads this about it because I’m finally learning more about the conflict and feel it’s an important time to share because Invisible Children just released their new video about making Joseph Kony a household name so that he can finally be brought to justice. I highly encourage everyone to check out this video, because knowledge is power and informing ourselves on current events outside of America is really something that can change the world. Here’s the link: http://kony2012.s3-website-us-east-1.amazonaws.com/ The International Criminal Court has indicted Kony and many of his top commanders, but he is still yet to be found and punished as he hides with his exiled remaining troops in the Congo. A lot of negative press and criticisms are coming out about the organization and its dispersal of this video, but no matter what complaints are brought up, the organization is still doing something AMAZING by having that many people over the entire world watch the video and get informed. People are entitled to their opinions, but I don’t know what there is to complain about that, because all of the recruited child soldiers who had their lives destroyed finally have a chance at having a voice. Yes, the war’s height was years ago, but Kony and his army are still living as free men while Northern Uganda still has a long way to go for full recovery as thousands of people went through more traumatic atrocities than we could ever wrap our head around. In general, it’s a human rights precedent and it could set the stage for holding people who commit mass human rights atrocities accountable for their actions, so that they have to fear justice and face the punishment.

On another note, we’ve been really lucky to meet and become good friends with a few of the guys that Invisible Children has found and put a spotlight on in order for them to share their stories. A guy in our program is really involved with Invisible Children at home, and one day in Kampala he ran into Jacob who’s in several of the documentaries and we’ve all been hanging out since. For those of you who watch the Kony video above, Jacob (now much older) is the young boy who cries in the first few minutes about losing his brother. Also, we’ve become fast friends with Tony, who one of the organization's documentaries is based on. When we go out in Kampala on the weekends we go out with them and they watch out for us all night long and make sure we get home safely, which has been a huge help. I even took my first boda-boda ride (the motorcyles used here for like 50% of the transportation) last night with Tony on it as well on the way home from the bar last night. It’s safer to take them at night because there’s no traffic, and it was suchhhhh a cool experience. (Sorry mom and dad!) The link for the documentary on Tony can be found here, if anyone’s interested. http://www.invisiblechildren.com/frontline-tony-documentary Also, they live part time in Gulu in Northern Uganda, and I think that’s where a lot of us are doing our practicums/internships at the end of the semester so it will be really awesome to have them to show us around. I can’t wait to live in a smaller city where I feel like I know the whole area on my own! But all in all, its been really cool to make real friendships with Ugandans, especially with such amazing people!

Yikes, sorry for such a long post! Sunday we leave for our Eastern Excursion where we get to do our rural homestays and I absolutely cannot wait. I’m corn-rowing my hair tomorrow because I’m not sure what the bathing situation will be, and my big sister volunteered to do it. So that will really different, but exciting. We’re getting paired off and get to do our own research projects for the week, so it should be a really great experience! Also, I get to take a picture with my Terrible Towel at the source of the Nile in Jinja :).

Until next time!

Jessamy