For anyone wanting some more information on the EDGE Project and also some more updates on what everyone's been doing here is the address for the EDGE Project's blog: http://wisconsinedgeproject.blogspot.com/
Three of our beloved members are flying back to the US tonight and when they get home they will be doing a big update.
I am in Nairobi right now! We took a 12 hour night bus from Jinja and arrived here at 5:30 in the morning. We hung out at a little breakfast place until it was light out and are now hanging out and getting ready to see the city. yay! I'm very excited and happy to be here. It already feels very different from Kampala. It seems like it was planned much better. There are sidewalks and it's not quite as congested and crazy, and there are even some pretty green spaces.
okay, bye bye
Monday, August 3, 2009
Monday, July 27, 2009
The EDGE Ladies
Okay, so it's been about two weeks since I last updated this and while in normal life not very much happens in two weeks, this past two weeks there has been quite a lot of very new stuff going on!
The rest of the "EDGE girls" (our nickname on the island) came on the night of Monday July 13th. Marissa, Kelsi and I had planned out a full day for them in Kampala on Tuesday. We split up into small groups and the three of us lead little tours around the city, then we ate traditional food for lunch, and then went to Kamokwya to visit Brandon - the artist that I met who I bought stuff from who also invited me to his workshop to learn how to make things. It was so exciting for everyone because his art is really cool and the girls were really excited to buy stuff, and it was SO exciting for him because his shop is in this horrible location in the slums of Kampala where tourists never go, so I don't think he gets very much buisness. Between the 11 of us we pretty much bought out his whole shop, and then put in an order for a bunch of stuff to take back to the US and sell there. It was also cool for everyone because usually when you go to craft markets everything is shipped from all different parts of East Africa so you don't really know where the stuff came from or who made it or where the profits go, but in this case everyone got to meet the artist, talk to him, and then directly support his work. It was really neat.
The next day we took a bus to Jinja and then a very crowded boat to Lingira Island. The island is really, really beautiful. There are areas that are forested, and there's this huge hill that you can walk up and get a view of the whole island and some of the other neighboring islands. It is divided into three main camps which are very condensed areas where people live in small huts made out of termite wood and thatched straw roofs. It's amazing to just sit in the camps and look around because there is so much going on around you. Little kids running around, goats and chickens wandering around looking for food, women cooking, men sitting around playing some sort of game, women roasting maize to sell, etc. We aren't staying in any of the camps but in a seperate area where Shepherad's Heart has built a small guesthouse, a very small and modest house for the American couple that started and runs the organization, a small area for the SHIM staff, a cooking area, an outdoor dish washing station, pit latrines, and enclosed spaces for bucket showers. There is also a secondary school on the island that Shepherad's Heart started and a government run primary school. A different organization called YWAM (Youth with a Mission) runs the only clinic on the island and they also have a small area for their staff and volunteers. I've heard different estimates, but I think the island has about 3,000 people.
We have several different projects going on right now and it would take a while to explain each of them, so I'll just focus on what I've been working on. The original plan was to focus on nutrition for women and children - specifically run an exclusive breastfeeding campaign because a lot of women stop breastfeeding too early, or feed their children other things like soda and posho at a very young age and there's a lot of malnutrition. On our second night on the island we hosted a little get together party for community leaders and I talked to some of the midwives about breastfeeding practices and started to realize that women may run out of milk early because they are not spacing their children and they get pregnant again too soon. Immediately after this conversation I talked to the headmaster of the secondary school and as soon as he heard that I was in nursing school he started talking about how badly the island needs family planning. This was reiterated by several other people.
The next day the whole group went to visit the YWAM clinic and meet Cornelius, the nurse that runs it, and Sarah, the midwife/social worker. To our surprise we saw that they have condoms and the depovera shot there! I talked to them about it and they said how desperately they needed more education about the methods and also about the importance of birth spacing and family planning in general, so I met with them the next day and we started to lay down a plan. We started by writing invitation leaders to community leaders - the midwives, the 2 government representatives, the headmaster, two teachers, the YWAM staff - inviting them to come to a community discussion on family planning. That meeting was on Saturday and I was so nervous about it I didn't know what to do with myself but it went SO WELL!!! Before hand we met with Cornelius, Sarah, and Tony (a Ugandan YWAM volunteer) to plan it but I still had no idea what to expect. It was awesome though because they really ran the whole meeting. The EDGE girls there were me, Michelle, and Isha, and each of us had a small role but most of the meeting was really a community discussion. The most exciting part was how it ended - there is now a family planning committee on the island!! I can't believe it, it's so exciting.
The whole comittee is meeting again on Thursday for a training on the different methods and to then discuss next steps. Before that I have to meet with Cornelius and Sarah again to make sure that they feel comfortable teaching that training. The problem is that there is no one around to make sure that I feel comfortable teaching them!! haha. I went to Jinja last week to make a bunch of photocopies and print outs of family planning material and put it together in a booklet, so I have the information, it's just that I've never done anything like this before and I'm really just pretending that I know what I'm doing. So far it's working out but it is still pretty nerve racking.
Another highlight from my time on the island was going with the YWAM staff and two American midwives who are here volunteering for one month to do village health visits. Three times a week they take a boat to different island villages around Lingira because they are the only clinic in the area. They go to about 15 different villages and are able to see each village about once a month. It was really interesting to see how it worked. We went to two different islands on the day that I went with them. When we got there we got some benches and set them up under a tree and then waited for people to come. Women came with their babies to get them weighed and to get polio vaccines for them, and then pregnant women came for prenatal checkups. Before starting anything, Sarah does a small educational teaching on a different topic each month. She had Isha and I help lead an exclusive breastfeeding teaching when we were there. Then everyone gets their shots, and the pregnant women take turns going into a little hut where they have their checkups. I was able to go with them and it was really cool to see. The American midwives were really great and they explained everything that they were doing.
I am in Jinja now to use the internet. We really can't use it on the island even though we bought a modem. It is just unbearably slow - it takes about 10 minutes just to load one page. Yesterday we went white water rafting which was so, so much fun!! It was a really good break for everyone.
So that's basically what's going on with me! We have another week on the island ahead of us and then we are going to the AGOA conference in Nairobi for about four days and then coming back to the island for one more week. I come home August 15th, so I'm starting to mentally prepare for that. I am excited to see everyone! I hope you are doing well :)
love, shelly
The rest of the "EDGE girls" (our nickname on the island) came on the night of Monday July 13th. Marissa, Kelsi and I had planned out a full day for them in Kampala on Tuesday. We split up into small groups and the three of us lead little tours around the city, then we ate traditional food for lunch, and then went to Kamokwya to visit Brandon - the artist that I met who I bought stuff from who also invited me to his workshop to learn how to make things. It was so exciting for everyone because his art is really cool and the girls were really excited to buy stuff, and it was SO exciting for him because his shop is in this horrible location in the slums of Kampala where tourists never go, so I don't think he gets very much buisness. Between the 11 of us we pretty much bought out his whole shop, and then put in an order for a bunch of stuff to take back to the US and sell there. It was also cool for everyone because usually when you go to craft markets everything is shipped from all different parts of East Africa so you don't really know where the stuff came from or who made it or where the profits go, but in this case everyone got to meet the artist, talk to him, and then directly support his work. It was really neat.
The next day we took a bus to Jinja and then a very crowded boat to Lingira Island. The island is really, really beautiful. There are areas that are forested, and there's this huge hill that you can walk up and get a view of the whole island and some of the other neighboring islands. It is divided into three main camps which are very condensed areas where people live in small huts made out of termite wood and thatched straw roofs. It's amazing to just sit in the camps and look around because there is so much going on around you. Little kids running around, goats and chickens wandering around looking for food, women cooking, men sitting around playing some sort of game, women roasting maize to sell, etc. We aren't staying in any of the camps but in a seperate area where Shepherad's Heart has built a small guesthouse, a very small and modest house for the American couple that started and runs the organization, a small area for the SHIM staff, a cooking area, an outdoor dish washing station, pit latrines, and enclosed spaces for bucket showers. There is also a secondary school on the island that Shepherad's Heart started and a government run primary school. A different organization called YWAM (Youth with a Mission) runs the only clinic on the island and they also have a small area for their staff and volunteers. I've heard different estimates, but I think the island has about 3,000 people.
We have several different projects going on right now and it would take a while to explain each of them, so I'll just focus on what I've been working on. The original plan was to focus on nutrition for women and children - specifically run an exclusive breastfeeding campaign because a lot of women stop breastfeeding too early, or feed their children other things like soda and posho at a very young age and there's a lot of malnutrition. On our second night on the island we hosted a little get together party for community leaders and I talked to some of the midwives about breastfeeding practices and started to realize that women may run out of milk early because they are not spacing their children and they get pregnant again too soon. Immediately after this conversation I talked to the headmaster of the secondary school and as soon as he heard that I was in nursing school he started talking about how badly the island needs family planning. This was reiterated by several other people.
The next day the whole group went to visit the YWAM clinic and meet Cornelius, the nurse that runs it, and Sarah, the midwife/social worker. To our surprise we saw that they have condoms and the depovera shot there! I talked to them about it and they said how desperately they needed more education about the methods and also about the importance of birth spacing and family planning in general, so I met with them the next day and we started to lay down a plan. We started by writing invitation leaders to community leaders - the midwives, the 2 government representatives, the headmaster, two teachers, the YWAM staff - inviting them to come to a community discussion on family planning. That meeting was on Saturday and I was so nervous about it I didn't know what to do with myself but it went SO WELL!!! Before hand we met with Cornelius, Sarah, and Tony (a Ugandan YWAM volunteer) to plan it but I still had no idea what to expect. It was awesome though because they really ran the whole meeting. The EDGE girls there were me, Michelle, and Isha, and each of us had a small role but most of the meeting was really a community discussion. The most exciting part was how it ended - there is now a family planning committee on the island!! I can't believe it, it's so exciting.
The whole comittee is meeting again on Thursday for a training on the different methods and to then discuss next steps. Before that I have to meet with Cornelius and Sarah again to make sure that they feel comfortable teaching that training. The problem is that there is no one around to make sure that I feel comfortable teaching them!! haha. I went to Jinja last week to make a bunch of photocopies and print outs of family planning material and put it together in a booklet, so I have the information, it's just that I've never done anything like this before and I'm really just pretending that I know what I'm doing. So far it's working out but it is still pretty nerve racking.
Another highlight from my time on the island was going with the YWAM staff and two American midwives who are here volunteering for one month to do village health visits. Three times a week they take a boat to different island villages around Lingira because they are the only clinic in the area. They go to about 15 different villages and are able to see each village about once a month. It was really interesting to see how it worked. We went to two different islands on the day that I went with them. When we got there we got some benches and set them up under a tree and then waited for people to come. Women came with their babies to get them weighed and to get polio vaccines for them, and then pregnant women came for prenatal checkups. Before starting anything, Sarah does a small educational teaching on a different topic each month. She had Isha and I help lead an exclusive breastfeeding teaching when we were there. Then everyone gets their shots, and the pregnant women take turns going into a little hut where they have their checkups. I was able to go with them and it was really cool to see. The American midwives were really great and they explained everything that they were doing.
I am in Jinja now to use the internet. We really can't use it on the island even though we bought a modem. It is just unbearably slow - it takes about 10 minutes just to load one page. Yesterday we went white water rafting which was so, so much fun!! It was a really good break for everyone.
So that's basically what's going on with me! We have another week on the island ahead of us and then we are going to the AGOA conference in Nairobi for about four days and then coming back to the island for one more week. I come home August 15th, so I'm starting to mentally prepare for that. I am excited to see everyone! I hope you are doing well :)
love, shelly
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Nabosa
Hi!
I am really happy right now...I am with Kelsi and Marissa in this unbelievable compound that belongs to some missionaries who went back to the US for a couple months. That's not why I'm really happy...I have spent the last two days talking to these girls and then also talking to Kiki and Andy (the people who started Shepherad's Heart) about our projects on the island and I am so excited!! AH! It's just so exciting!!! I really love Kiki. She is a nurse who's been here for six years now and she has some amazing stories and experiences, and is 100% fluent in Luganda. She has such an understanding of community development and health problems and it's really inspiring. She gave me a lot of great ideas of what our group can do related to health and nutrition and I just can't wait.
On another note, there is one thing that I forgot to mention in my last post.
Every morning at the KCCC, the whole staff starts the day by meeting in this one room and everyone greets each other, then there's a short song prayer which is really nice because there are drums and everyone has such a beautiful voice, and then there are some announcements and things. Every single morning, this group of older women was just absolutely delighted that I could greet them in Luganda. They would all laugh and hug me and be so happy every single day just because I could say "good morning Mrs." Finally they said that I need a Baganda tribal name, so they have named me Nabosa which means that I am a Baganda from the sheep tribe. hah!
Ah! It's so hard to explain everything that's going through my head right now. This has been such a great two months but it's also been SO MUCH! There were moments, like during the music festival, where I was just like "wow! This is so awesome! I can't believe I'm here..." but then I've also had times where I felt like I was really just going through the motions because it was so much to process and it was only afterwards that I could look back and think about it and be like, "wow." Like during the home visits. I talked to these families and these women about a lot of things, but it wasn't until later that night when I was reading the book The End of Poverty that I all of a sudden started crying because of everything that I had seen during the day, and the way that it tied into the book. I probably won't be able to fully process everything until I get home and am able to look back on it all.
I am so happy though. The people here are so friendly, open, and have just amazing capacities for laughter. The African time system is laid back and friendly and makes you focus more on the people you're with. The hospitality makes you feel so special. And I've learned so, so much. I've learned not to fight so much or be so bothered about people ripping me off, or yelling "mazungu! mazungu!"
anyways...now a whole new adventure is about to start. Two days for last minute organizing and details and then everyone will be here!!
lots of love,
shelly
I am really happy right now...I am with Kelsi and Marissa in this unbelievable compound that belongs to some missionaries who went back to the US for a couple months. That's not why I'm really happy...I have spent the last two days talking to these girls and then also talking to Kiki and Andy (the people who started Shepherad's Heart) about our projects on the island and I am so excited!! AH! It's just so exciting!!! I really love Kiki. She is a nurse who's been here for six years now and she has some amazing stories and experiences, and is 100% fluent in Luganda. She has such an understanding of community development and health problems and it's really inspiring. She gave me a lot of great ideas of what our group can do related to health and nutrition and I just can't wait.
On another note, there is one thing that I forgot to mention in my last post.
Every morning at the KCCC, the whole staff starts the day by meeting in this one room and everyone greets each other, then there's a short song prayer which is really nice because there are drums and everyone has such a beautiful voice, and then there are some announcements and things. Every single morning, this group of older women was just absolutely delighted that I could greet them in Luganda. They would all laugh and hug me and be so happy every single day just because I could say "good morning Mrs." Finally they said that I need a Baganda tribal name, so they have named me Nabosa which means that I am a Baganda from the sheep tribe. hah!
Ah! It's so hard to explain everything that's going through my head right now. This has been such a great two months but it's also been SO MUCH! There were moments, like during the music festival, where I was just like "wow! This is so awesome! I can't believe I'm here..." but then I've also had times where I felt like I was really just going through the motions because it was so much to process and it was only afterwards that I could look back and think about it and be like, "wow." Like during the home visits. I talked to these families and these women about a lot of things, but it wasn't until later that night when I was reading the book The End of Poverty that I all of a sudden started crying because of everything that I had seen during the day, and the way that it tied into the book. I probably won't be able to fully process everything until I get home and am able to look back on it all.
I am so happy though. The people here are so friendly, open, and have just amazing capacities for laughter. The African time system is laid back and friendly and makes you focus more on the people you're with. The hospitality makes you feel so special. And I've learned so, so much. I've learned not to fight so much or be so bothered about people ripping me off, or yelling "mazungu! mazungu!"
anyways...now a whole new adventure is about to start. Two days for last minute organizing and details and then everyone will be here!!
lots of love,
shelly
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Bobbi Wine's VIP van
Hi!
I think staying in one place for a while was the best thing that I could've done. I've been able to meet Ugandans and hang out with them and I've finally been able to really experience Kampala. Being on the course we were really sheltered and tucked away in the university so it was hard to get a feel for things, and then when I was traveling and staying in hostels I was only meeting other Mazungus which was fun for a while, but they are all really doing the same things so it just got old after a while. So it's taken a while to get to this point, but now that I'm no longer overwhelmed and fearing for my life when I cross the street and all that stuff I have come to love the chaos of Kampala. When you walk down the street a lot of the little shops are blasting music, and there's always so, so much going on. It just feels like a party all the time.
On Sunday, I went to a local music festival with some of the Ugandan peer counselor volunteers at the KCCC. There were hundreds and hundreds of people there and it started around 12 and lasted all night. A couple highlights:
- Skipping the whole line (which was huge) and going straight up to the ticket counter where policemen were swatting bats around to prevent anyone from getting too close. We then gave our money to people in line so that they would buy tickets for us.
- people drinking beer out of gourds
- everyone wearing bright yellow MTN t-shirts and head scarfs because they sponsored the event
- One of the guys having connections that lead to us spending a couple hours hanging out in Bobbi Wine's (one of the musicians) buses where famous musicians kept wandering in and out. We had a great view of the stage and of the crowds of people.
- And of course dancing! Dancing here is just a blast because everyone is such a good dancer and even guys have no problem dancing in public and with each other.
On Monday I went to KCCC's microfinance instituion to go into the field with one of the social workers. Before giving any loans the social workers visit the person and write up a report on their living situation, the number of dependents, source of income, purpose for the loan, etc. and then use that to decide whether or not to give the loan. I thought I would be going on one of these visits but instead I ended up tagging along for the exact opposite thing - going to arrest someone!! It was really pretty awful...one of the rougher days I've had here. We showed up at this guy's office and took him to court where I then sat around for four hours while his boss negotiated with the KCCC people. Eventually, I just left, but the whole thing was very strange.
Tuesday was much better. There's a group of Norweigan volunteers here who are with an organization so they have a lot of money for projects. Tuesday they sponsored "health day" at the youth center. They bough about 150 mosquito nets and then sold them at a much cheaper price and they organized an activity for the young people. They had a huge white banner which they hung up and then had kids dip their hands in one of 3 different colors of paint and put their hand print on the banner. Green stood for "say no to drugs," Red was "say no to cross-generational sex," and blue was "say no to violence." As you can imagine, there were hundreds and hundreds of kids and they just kept on coming and coming, so it was really crazy. I spent most of the day entertaining the kids waiting in line and practicing my Luganda by asking them their names and ages and writing them next to their handprint. It was really fun but also very exhausting.
Yesterday and today I worked at the mental health clinic. I love the doctor there, he is this really happy, jolly guy but he is also so passionate about mental health. Yesterday I went on home visits with the nurse and today I helped her give out medications during the weekly clinic they have.
Yesterday after the home visits I went to the guy's workshop who sold me 2 prints; I think I mentioned him in a previous post. It was SO cool!! He literally taught me how to paint one of the images he had drawn. He would do part of it and then have me do some, and then kind of fix what I did until we had finished it, and then he had me sign my name and keep it! I felt like I was a little kid at summer camp. It made me think about Grandma. She would've just been so excited. As nice as it was, I think what he really wants is for me to help him sell his stuff in the U.S. I'm going to try to help him, I contacted JD about it already, so maybe he can get hooked up to fair trade world. We'll see, I hope something works out, his stuff is really special.
Oh! That reminds me. Alex - you asked me what guys are like here. Not just guys, but everyone here laughs so much easier than we do in the U.S. I think a lot of times at home people think something is funny but they won't necessarily laugh out loud about it, but here people laugh out loud at everything. It's really great, I'm trying to pick it up.
What else? Tomorrow I'm going to Jinja to meet Kelsi and Marissa and chat about what their week at the island was like. We'll stay overnight there and then go to Kampala on Saturday and get ready for all YOU wonderful EDGE ladies to come!!! I'm so, so excited! It's going to be great :)
I think staying in one place for a while was the best thing that I could've done. I've been able to meet Ugandans and hang out with them and I've finally been able to really experience Kampala. Being on the course we were really sheltered and tucked away in the university so it was hard to get a feel for things, and then when I was traveling and staying in hostels I was only meeting other Mazungus which was fun for a while, but they are all really doing the same things so it just got old after a while. So it's taken a while to get to this point, but now that I'm no longer overwhelmed and fearing for my life when I cross the street and all that stuff I have come to love the chaos of Kampala. When you walk down the street a lot of the little shops are blasting music, and there's always so, so much going on. It just feels like a party all the time.
On Sunday, I went to a local music festival with some of the Ugandan peer counselor volunteers at the KCCC. There were hundreds and hundreds of people there and it started around 12 and lasted all night. A couple highlights:
- Skipping the whole line (which was huge) and going straight up to the ticket counter where policemen were swatting bats around to prevent anyone from getting too close. We then gave our money to people in line so that they would buy tickets for us.
- people drinking beer out of gourds
- everyone wearing bright yellow MTN t-shirts and head scarfs because they sponsored the event
- One of the guys having connections that lead to us spending a couple hours hanging out in Bobbi Wine's (one of the musicians) buses where famous musicians kept wandering in and out. We had a great view of the stage and of the crowds of people.
- And of course dancing! Dancing here is just a blast because everyone is such a good dancer and even guys have no problem dancing in public and with each other.
On Monday I went to KCCC's microfinance instituion to go into the field with one of the social workers. Before giving any loans the social workers visit the person and write up a report on their living situation, the number of dependents, source of income, purpose for the loan, etc. and then use that to decide whether or not to give the loan. I thought I would be going on one of these visits but instead I ended up tagging along for the exact opposite thing - going to arrest someone!! It was really pretty awful...one of the rougher days I've had here. We showed up at this guy's office and took him to court where I then sat around for four hours while his boss negotiated with the KCCC people. Eventually, I just left, but the whole thing was very strange.
Tuesday was much better. There's a group of Norweigan volunteers here who are with an organization so they have a lot of money for projects. Tuesday they sponsored "health day" at the youth center. They bough about 150 mosquito nets and then sold them at a much cheaper price and they organized an activity for the young people. They had a huge white banner which they hung up and then had kids dip their hands in one of 3 different colors of paint and put their hand print on the banner. Green stood for "say no to drugs," Red was "say no to cross-generational sex," and blue was "say no to violence." As you can imagine, there were hundreds and hundreds of kids and they just kept on coming and coming, so it was really crazy. I spent most of the day entertaining the kids waiting in line and practicing my Luganda by asking them their names and ages and writing them next to their handprint. It was really fun but also very exhausting.
Yesterday and today I worked at the mental health clinic. I love the doctor there, he is this really happy, jolly guy but he is also so passionate about mental health. Yesterday I went on home visits with the nurse and today I helped her give out medications during the weekly clinic they have.
Yesterday after the home visits I went to the guy's workshop who sold me 2 prints; I think I mentioned him in a previous post. It was SO cool!! He literally taught me how to paint one of the images he had drawn. He would do part of it and then have me do some, and then kind of fix what I did until we had finished it, and then he had me sign my name and keep it! I felt like I was a little kid at summer camp. It made me think about Grandma. She would've just been so excited. As nice as it was, I think what he really wants is for me to help him sell his stuff in the U.S. I'm going to try to help him, I contacted JD about it already, so maybe he can get hooked up to fair trade world. We'll see, I hope something works out, his stuff is really special.
Oh! That reminds me. Alex - you asked me what guys are like here. Not just guys, but everyone here laughs so much easier than we do in the U.S. I think a lot of times at home people think something is funny but they won't necessarily laugh out loud about it, but here people laugh out loud at everything. It's really great, I'm trying to pick it up.
What else? Tomorrow I'm going to Jinja to meet Kelsi and Marissa and chat about what their week at the island was like. We'll stay overnight there and then go to Kampala on Saturday and get ready for all YOU wonderful EDGE ladies to come!!! I'm so, so excited! It's going to be great :)
Friday, July 3, 2009
Bat Man police
Yay! People read this :)
Oh man, I have some really funny stories.
here is my favorite, which I just have to start things off with. I don't know if I mentioned this or not, but I am currently staying with a Ugandan girl named Angella. I met her here when I was on the course. She's a doctor in her late 20's and she's great. So anyway, we went out the other night with some of her friends and her friend Dennis was driving us both home after we had all picked up a late night snack. He made an illegal u-turn and out of nowhere, these two police wearing black capes and carrying huge guns appeared on the side of the road and apparently pulled him over. They said that he made an illegal turn, and Dennis was SO smooth it was hilarious. He said that he was from Mbarara and had just come to Kampala for the night to visit some friends, and he didnt' know, and he's so sorry, and on and on. Of course, this doesn't really make a difference, and the police then proceed to get into the back seat of the car with me. Angella and Dennis were in front, so I was sitting there with two policeman wearing black capes and holding huge guns in their laps. It was pretty surreal. They told Dennis to drive to the police station where they were going to write him a ticket for 80,000 shillings (about $40). Dennis continues to be unbelievably smooth and talk about how he doesn't know the city very well and he's so sorry, and he just doesn't have 80,000 shillings. The policemen were also very smooth and I didn't even realize until afterwards that Dennis was bribing them, to me it seemed like they were bargaining about the price of the ticket.
Basically, if we had done things officially and gone to the station and gotten an official ticket, the money would have gone straight to the government and the policemen wouldn't have seen any of it. Instead, Dennis paid the policemen directly...through his exceptional patience and bargaining skills the price of this bribe went from 60,000 shillings to 20,000. It was very impressive, and the whole thing was SO funny, I had to bite my lip to stop myself from bursting out in laughter, and as soon as they got out of the car we all just died laughing. Dennis lied his ass off the whole time about being from Mbarara and the policemen acted like they were doing him the biggest favor by taking his bribe and not making him pay 80,000 shillings. Everyone was so nice to each other and it was all so corrupt... anyways, it was a pretty great thing to experience.
Other things: the KCCC has been pretty good. They have a campaign right now in secondary schools where they are going all over Kampala and the surrounding area showing videos against cross-generational sex which happens because when students can't afford their school fees they find a sugar mommy or sugar daddy who pays for them in exchange for sex. It's a major cause of HIV/AIDS spread in Uganda right now. The only problem with the KCCC campaign is that it doesn't really provide an alternative option to these kids. It's either no school, or the sugar daddies and mommies. I went to one of the schools with them and helped register the students and stuff. It was really interesting. There were 1,500 students gathered to watch this video. Unfortunately, a lot of them weren't really able to see, but the ones that were really loved the video and were laughing and really engaged the whole time. I wasn't able to see it because there were so many people, but they said they'll give me a copy to take home. I also spent half a day at the mental health clinic which was cool because there were also Ugandan social work and nursing students there visiting for the day the same way that I was and it was nice to be able to talk to them. Afterwards we all had lunch together, and they said that until going to that clinic they didn't know that you could be an educated person and have a mental illness. They said everything they read about mental illness was about poor, uneducated villagers. I asked them about services for people that have mild social problems like anxiety disorders, obsessive compulsiveness, etc. and they said that there's nothing...It was kind of embarassing for me actually, because I think they were almost annoyed at my question. They were just like, "this is Africa. we don't have that kind of stuff."
Every single day a million things remind me how much I have.
I am starting to love it here though, like really love it. This morning I had such a high - it's this feeling that I had all the time in Israel when you're in a place that's foreign but you're comfortable. You know how to get around, you understand what's going on around you, and then when you're alone in that kind of environment but also confident, you just meet SO many people. Everyone talks to you and shows you things and I ended up all over the place today and it was just great. I bought some really cool art from a guy at the KCCC who said he'll show me how he makes it next week! I have learned to have absolutely no expectations about things, but I'm really hoping that that works out because it could be really cool.
oh! I also found out some more information about the islands because Marissa and Kelsi got there yesterday. I wasn't sure what phone and internet access would be like, but turns out, both will be readily available. They sound really excited about things there and so now I'm really excited to go! I have a lot of work to do this week in Kampala with getting things ready for the group to come and finishing up the things I want to do at the KCCC, but I think it will be good. I told Angella about my soup business so this weekend I am going to try to make her lentil soup. We'll see how it goes. OH! But she taught me how to make chapati! It was so exciting!
hm, I feel like I'm babbling a bit. sorry. This may not have been the best post.
I really miss everyone a lot. I am having a really great time but it will be so great to come home, which reminds me - I'm officially half way through! I don't know how I feel about that...I am excited to go home, but it is also a bit nerve racking to think about for some reason.
okay toodles! Thanks again for your comments. I feel a bit out of touch here sometimes, so it's nice to feel connected once in a while.
lots of love,
shelly
Oh man, I have some really funny stories.
here is my favorite, which I just have to start things off with. I don't know if I mentioned this or not, but I am currently staying with a Ugandan girl named Angella. I met her here when I was on the course. She's a doctor in her late 20's and she's great. So anyway, we went out the other night with some of her friends and her friend Dennis was driving us both home after we had all picked up a late night snack. He made an illegal u-turn and out of nowhere, these two police wearing black capes and carrying huge guns appeared on the side of the road and apparently pulled him over. They said that he made an illegal turn, and Dennis was SO smooth it was hilarious. He said that he was from Mbarara and had just come to Kampala for the night to visit some friends, and he didnt' know, and he's so sorry, and on and on. Of course, this doesn't really make a difference, and the police then proceed to get into the back seat of the car with me. Angella and Dennis were in front, so I was sitting there with two policeman wearing black capes and holding huge guns in their laps. It was pretty surreal. They told Dennis to drive to the police station where they were going to write him a ticket for 80,000 shillings (about $40). Dennis continues to be unbelievably smooth and talk about how he doesn't know the city very well and he's so sorry, and he just doesn't have 80,000 shillings. The policemen were also very smooth and I didn't even realize until afterwards that Dennis was bribing them, to me it seemed like they were bargaining about the price of the ticket.
Basically, if we had done things officially and gone to the station and gotten an official ticket, the money would have gone straight to the government and the policemen wouldn't have seen any of it. Instead, Dennis paid the policemen directly...through his exceptional patience and bargaining skills the price of this bribe went from 60,000 shillings to 20,000. It was very impressive, and the whole thing was SO funny, I had to bite my lip to stop myself from bursting out in laughter, and as soon as they got out of the car we all just died laughing. Dennis lied his ass off the whole time about being from Mbarara and the policemen acted like they were doing him the biggest favor by taking his bribe and not making him pay 80,000 shillings. Everyone was so nice to each other and it was all so corrupt... anyways, it was a pretty great thing to experience.
Other things: the KCCC has been pretty good. They have a campaign right now in secondary schools where they are going all over Kampala and the surrounding area showing videos against cross-generational sex which happens because when students can't afford their school fees they find a sugar mommy or sugar daddy who pays for them in exchange for sex. It's a major cause of HIV/AIDS spread in Uganda right now. The only problem with the KCCC campaign is that it doesn't really provide an alternative option to these kids. It's either no school, or the sugar daddies and mommies. I went to one of the schools with them and helped register the students and stuff. It was really interesting. There were 1,500 students gathered to watch this video. Unfortunately, a lot of them weren't really able to see, but the ones that were really loved the video and were laughing and really engaged the whole time. I wasn't able to see it because there were so many people, but they said they'll give me a copy to take home. I also spent half a day at the mental health clinic which was cool because there were also Ugandan social work and nursing students there visiting for the day the same way that I was and it was nice to be able to talk to them. Afterwards we all had lunch together, and they said that until going to that clinic they didn't know that you could be an educated person and have a mental illness. They said everything they read about mental illness was about poor, uneducated villagers. I asked them about services for people that have mild social problems like anxiety disorders, obsessive compulsiveness, etc. and they said that there's nothing...It was kind of embarassing for me actually, because I think they were almost annoyed at my question. They were just like, "this is Africa. we don't have that kind of stuff."
Every single day a million things remind me how much I have.
I am starting to love it here though, like really love it. This morning I had such a high - it's this feeling that I had all the time in Israel when you're in a place that's foreign but you're comfortable. You know how to get around, you understand what's going on around you, and then when you're alone in that kind of environment but also confident, you just meet SO many people. Everyone talks to you and shows you things and I ended up all over the place today and it was just great. I bought some really cool art from a guy at the KCCC who said he'll show me how he makes it next week! I have learned to have absolutely no expectations about things, but I'm really hoping that that works out because it could be really cool.
oh! I also found out some more information about the islands because Marissa and Kelsi got there yesterday. I wasn't sure what phone and internet access would be like, but turns out, both will be readily available. They sound really excited about things there and so now I'm really excited to go! I have a lot of work to do this week in Kampala with getting things ready for the group to come and finishing up the things I want to do at the KCCC, but I think it will be good. I told Angella about my soup business so this weekend I am going to try to make her lentil soup. We'll see how it goes. OH! But she taught me how to make chapati! It was so exciting!
hm, I feel like I'm babbling a bit. sorry. This may not have been the best post.
I really miss everyone a lot. I am having a really great time but it will be so great to come home, which reminds me - I'm officially half way through! I don't know how I feel about that...I am excited to go home, but it is also a bit nerve racking to think about for some reason.
okay toodles! Thanks again for your comments. I feel a bit out of touch here sometimes, so it's nice to feel connected once in a while.
lots of love,
shelly
Monday, June 29, 2009
where can I go for a short call?
yay! Thanks for commenting Robyn! I was thinking about ending this whole blog thing because nobody ever comments so I didn't think anyone was actually reading it and I felt kind of silly like I was just talking to myself, but then lately a couple people told me that they're reading it...some comments would be nice though!
I started volunteering at the Kamwokya Christian Caring Community today and my first day there was awesome. I worked in the Child Welfare Department and got to go to a couple home visits with Pamela, who works for KCCC and with this woman named Olivia who is a community volunteer trained by the KCCC to lead support groups for children. Afterwards, they had me write up a report on the different families and their situations and what I reccomend for KCCC to do to help them. It was nice because I didn't expect to feel useful, but I actually did.
The second family we saw just broke my heart. It was a 20 year old girl who has twin girls who are 2 months old, and her boyfriend left her once he found out that she was pregnant with twins. Her family is from the Western part of the country so she is trying to raise these kids alone but can't make enough money to pay her rent. Her landlord has been lenient the past couple months because he knows her situation, but now is saying that if she can't pay the 35,000 shillings (about $18) for July rent then she has to leave. KCCC was going to pay for her transportation to Western Uganda so her relatives could help her care for her babies, but her families culture believes that twins have to be raised where they were born or with their father's family, so they won't help her...even though she has nowhere else to go. Her boyfriend's family won't help her because they can't be sure that their son is the father. She really has no options, but she is healthy and hard-working so I'm really hoping that the KCCC will pay for her rent for a couple months until her children are a little older and she has more time to earn a living. It was really, really sad to see.
The other families were also sad...the whole community is really. The dirt roads are absolute crap so after it rains there are huge puddles everywhere, (it rained last night) and during the rainy season all the little shops alongside the road flood, as do the houses. There is no drainage system, and no garbage disposal system, so you can try to imagine what it's like.
The rest of the week I will be going to a different part of the KCCC everyday to learn about what they do, and then I'm hoping that I can volunteer for one more week in one specific area that I liked the most. I moved out of the hostel and am now staying with Angella, a Ugandan girl that I met while I was on the nursing program. She is really great and I love hanging out with her, but her house is very tiny so I don't know how long it's really appropriate for me to stay. I am totally fine there, but I don't want to be a burden for her.
The title for this post comes from her. I asked someone at the post office the other day where the bathroom was and he started laughing and looked really uncomfortable and like he didn't know what to do. He told me to ask this other guy, so I did and he pointed me in the right direction. I told Angella this and she would not stop laughing! She said the guy probably thought that I wanted to take a shower. From now on I need to always ask for a place to go for a "short call." I knew that already, I just feel weird saying it, but now I will.
Ohh...there's so much else I could write about, I just don't even know what to say really. Lake Mburo was really nice. We went on a guided walking safari and saw zebras and antelope and buffalo. Our guide was really cool and told us really great stories and little tid bits about animals which was neat.
Another little note on Uganda: the only thing I like about taking the buses here is that when you stop along the way to drop people off or whatever a bunch of people will come RUNNING up to the bus with meat on a stick, roasted plaintains, water, roasted maize, soda, chapati, bananas, etc. etc. to try to sell it to you. Then people on the bus open the windows and lean out of the bus to get what they want and give money. Sometimes the bus will start moving in the middle of this transaction and the person selling stuff will have to run to get his money or to give you your food or whatever. It is a really entertaining thing to watch and to be part of. I looove the roasted plantains.
okay toodles. I'm going to try to cook for Angella tonight but I have no idea what to make! I haven't cooked in so, so long! I am going to go to the grocery store and take a looksie.
comment people! especially if you want me to keep this thing up!
love, shelly
I started volunteering at the Kamwokya Christian Caring Community today and my first day there was awesome. I worked in the Child Welfare Department and got to go to a couple home visits with Pamela, who works for KCCC and with this woman named Olivia who is a community volunteer trained by the KCCC to lead support groups for children. Afterwards, they had me write up a report on the different families and their situations and what I reccomend for KCCC to do to help them. It was nice because I didn't expect to feel useful, but I actually did.
The second family we saw just broke my heart. It was a 20 year old girl who has twin girls who are 2 months old, and her boyfriend left her once he found out that she was pregnant with twins. Her family is from the Western part of the country so she is trying to raise these kids alone but can't make enough money to pay her rent. Her landlord has been lenient the past couple months because he knows her situation, but now is saying that if she can't pay the 35,000 shillings (about $18) for July rent then she has to leave. KCCC was going to pay for her transportation to Western Uganda so her relatives could help her care for her babies, but her families culture believes that twins have to be raised where they were born or with their father's family, so they won't help her...even though she has nowhere else to go. Her boyfriend's family won't help her because they can't be sure that their son is the father. She really has no options, but she is healthy and hard-working so I'm really hoping that the KCCC will pay for her rent for a couple months until her children are a little older and she has more time to earn a living. It was really, really sad to see.
The other families were also sad...the whole community is really. The dirt roads are absolute crap so after it rains there are huge puddles everywhere, (it rained last night) and during the rainy season all the little shops alongside the road flood, as do the houses. There is no drainage system, and no garbage disposal system, so you can try to imagine what it's like.
The rest of the week I will be going to a different part of the KCCC everyday to learn about what they do, and then I'm hoping that I can volunteer for one more week in one specific area that I liked the most. I moved out of the hostel and am now staying with Angella, a Ugandan girl that I met while I was on the nursing program. She is really great and I love hanging out with her, but her house is very tiny so I don't know how long it's really appropriate for me to stay. I am totally fine there, but I don't want to be a burden for her.
The title for this post comes from her. I asked someone at the post office the other day where the bathroom was and he started laughing and looked really uncomfortable and like he didn't know what to do. He told me to ask this other guy, so I did and he pointed me in the right direction. I told Angella this and she would not stop laughing! She said the guy probably thought that I wanted to take a shower. From now on I need to always ask for a place to go for a "short call." I knew that already, I just feel weird saying it, but now I will.
Ohh...there's so much else I could write about, I just don't even know what to say really. Lake Mburo was really nice. We went on a guided walking safari and saw zebras and antelope and buffalo. Our guide was really cool and told us really great stories and little tid bits about animals which was neat.
Another little note on Uganda: the only thing I like about taking the buses here is that when you stop along the way to drop people off or whatever a bunch of people will come RUNNING up to the bus with meat on a stick, roasted plaintains, water, roasted maize, soda, chapati, bananas, etc. etc. to try to sell it to you. Then people on the bus open the windows and lean out of the bus to get what they want and give money. Sometimes the bus will start moving in the middle of this transaction and the person selling stuff will have to run to get his money or to give you your food or whatever. It is a really entertaining thing to watch and to be part of. I looove the roasted plantains.
okay toodles. I'm going to try to cook for Angella tonight but I have no idea what to make! I haven't cooked in so, so long! I am going to go to the grocery store and take a looksie.
comment people! especially if you want me to keep this thing up!
love, shelly
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Mazungu! Where are you going?!
Hello!
I'm sorry I haven't posted in while. You see, after Gulu I kind of lost momentum because I know longer had a plan. There are still places that I'd like to go and see like Sipi Falls and Lake Mburo, and I still wanted to volunteer at the KCCC but I was waiting for Marissa and Kelsi to come and I had NO idea what we were going to be doing for the next THREE weeks until the rest of the EDGE people come. It's not very easy to be in a very foreign place alone and not know what you're doing for the next three weeks, so it was a funky time and I didn't want to post and worry anyone. :)
I am fine though. I actually had a fabulous day today. I finally feel like I can get around this city! I'm not even really that scared to cross the roads anymore, and I'm getting much better at ignoring the cries of Mazungu! How are you? Where are you going? I love you! Give me your number! etc. It's pretty funny really. But I was so, so proud the last couple days at how well I've been able to get around using only public transportation and walking.
I met with Godfrey from the KCCC today and we made a plan for me to volunteer there starting Monday next week until Friday. Marissa and Kesli plan to go to the island July 1st (although this hasn't exactly been confirmed yet) so I'll meet them there. If I am absolutely loving it at KCCC I can stay longer, they are very flexible. I'm really excited about the chance to spend a week there. I'll be rotating around to see all the different programs they do, so I'll really be more of a shadow than a volunteer, but I am totally okay with that. I think I'll learn a lot and hopefully get some ideas for Lingira (the island).
As for updates since my last post I went to Gulu to visit my friend Boaz who I met two years ago when I did the Ulpan in Israel and haven't seen since. It was fun to see him and I got to hang out with him and the five other Brown students he's with. I also got really lucky because they had a trip to Murchison Falls planned and already had a van and a driver that their NGO provided, so I got to go with them and a trip that usually costs about $200 was only about $50! The best part was seeing giraffes!!! We got really close to them too...I really, really love giraffes. The rest of the trip was pretty similar to Queen Elizabeth National Park - we did a game drive and a boat ride and saw elephants, hippos, antelope, waterbuck, water buffalo, etc. It was really cool.
After that I spent two days in Gulu just sort of hanging out, walking around, and meeting people. I made one friend named Tony who is a nurse at Gulu Hospital and who invited me over and told me his whole amazing life story one afternoon. Gulu was very, very different then Kampala. It felt MUCH smaller and easier and more laid back.
So anyways, that's bascially what's going on. I accidentally drank coffee today so I'm wired out of my mind and probably won't be able to sleep at all tonight, which is not very fun when you're sleeping in the dorms with like 15 other people...
OH! Also, we don't really have plans for the weekend. The organizations that the other girls want to meet with will be out of comission for the weekend as well the KCCC, so I am trying to plan a little weekend trip for us. I am hoping we can go to Lake Mburo where you can do forest walks and see zebras!! I'm not sure though, it might be a little too far. There is a different forest reserve called Mpanga which might be more realistic. We'll see. Okay! well I hope that all is well with all of you!!
Love!
Shelly
I'm sorry I haven't posted in while. You see, after Gulu I kind of lost momentum because I know longer had a plan. There are still places that I'd like to go and see like Sipi Falls and Lake Mburo, and I still wanted to volunteer at the KCCC but I was waiting for Marissa and Kelsi to come and I had NO idea what we were going to be doing for the next THREE weeks until the rest of the EDGE people come. It's not very easy to be in a very foreign place alone and not know what you're doing for the next three weeks, so it was a funky time and I didn't want to post and worry anyone. :)
I am fine though. I actually had a fabulous day today. I finally feel like I can get around this city! I'm not even really that scared to cross the roads anymore, and I'm getting much better at ignoring the cries of Mazungu! How are you? Where are you going? I love you! Give me your number! etc. It's pretty funny really. But I was so, so proud the last couple days at how well I've been able to get around using only public transportation and walking.
I met with Godfrey from the KCCC today and we made a plan for me to volunteer there starting Monday next week until Friday. Marissa and Kesli plan to go to the island July 1st (although this hasn't exactly been confirmed yet) so I'll meet them there. If I am absolutely loving it at KCCC I can stay longer, they are very flexible. I'm really excited about the chance to spend a week there. I'll be rotating around to see all the different programs they do, so I'll really be more of a shadow than a volunteer, but I am totally okay with that. I think I'll learn a lot and hopefully get some ideas for Lingira (the island).
As for updates since my last post I went to Gulu to visit my friend Boaz who I met two years ago when I did the Ulpan in Israel and haven't seen since. It was fun to see him and I got to hang out with him and the five other Brown students he's with. I also got really lucky because they had a trip to Murchison Falls planned and already had a van and a driver that their NGO provided, so I got to go with them and a trip that usually costs about $200 was only about $50! The best part was seeing giraffes!!! We got really close to them too...I really, really love giraffes. The rest of the trip was pretty similar to Queen Elizabeth National Park - we did a game drive and a boat ride and saw elephants, hippos, antelope, waterbuck, water buffalo, etc. It was really cool.
After that I spent two days in Gulu just sort of hanging out, walking around, and meeting people. I made one friend named Tony who is a nurse at Gulu Hospital and who invited me over and told me his whole amazing life story one afternoon. Gulu was very, very different then Kampala. It felt MUCH smaller and easier and more laid back.
So anyways, that's bascially what's going on. I accidentally drank coffee today so I'm wired out of my mind and probably won't be able to sleep at all tonight, which is not very fun when you're sleeping in the dorms with like 15 other people...
OH! Also, we don't really have plans for the weekend. The organizations that the other girls want to meet with will be out of comission for the weekend as well the KCCC, so I am trying to plan a little weekend trip for us. I am hoping we can go to Lake Mburo where you can do forest walks and see zebras!! I'm not sure though, it might be a little too far. There is a different forest reserve called Mpanga which might be more realistic. We'll see. Okay! well I hope that all is well with all of you!!
Love!
Shelly
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Rwanda and things
Hello!!! (to the maybe four people reading this :) )
I can't believe it's only been a week since the group went home, I feel like I've done a lot in a short amount of time. Jessie and I rode with the group from Kampala to Entebbe where the airport is, but got out at this cute little hostel and then the next morning we took a ferry to the Ssese Islands which are a cluster of touristy, beach islands in lake Victoria. The place we stayed was just wonderful, it was called Camp Hornbill or something like that and was owned by this German and Dutch couple were just total hippies. The place itself was so, so relaxing and such a welcome break from Kampala. There were hammocks hanging everywhere and it was right on the beach, which the forest on either side, which meant that there were a lot of monkeys and birds around. I literally spent like half a day one day sitting on a hammock watching this family of monkeys play and bathe and stuff. There wasn't a whole lot to do besides walk around the island and explore and read and watch monkeys. You can't go swimming in the water because of bilhazia. But there was this other girl staying there who was also traveling alone and we had a really good time together.
I decided to take a different ferry to leave the Ssesse Islands and go to Masaka, where I stayed for one night and then went farther west on a 6 hour bus ride to Kabale, then I took a motorcycle to Lake Bunyonyi, and THEN I took a dugout canoe to the island that I was staying on. This place was amazing!! SOO beautiful and peaceful, and the food is probably the best that I've had the whole time that I was here, and the best part was that the water is bilhazia free so it's safe to swim. I planned on staying here for a couple days, but the truth is that after spending a couple of days just sort of relaxing and hanging out at the Sesse Islands, I was feeling a little bit restless, and then I met this couple that had just come back from Rwanda and they were talking about it with me and a couple other people, and saying how amazing it was. So me, a young couple from the UK, and another English woman in her 50s decided we just had to do it! I had just enough time at Lake Bunyonyi to take some pictures, go for a swim, eat some yummy food, and relax on the dock before we took a motorboat back to the lakeshore and then a taxi back to Kabale. Then the next day we crossed the border into Rwanda and made our way to Kigali, the capital city.
I don't even know how to describe how amazingly wonderful our short two days in Kigali was. I was so taken aback by how completely different it was from Uganda, and especially from Kampala. First of all there's the roads which are so good! They are paved as opposed to the red dirt roads in Uganda, which make Kampala a horribly dusty city which is very unpleasant to walk around in. Also the motorcycle taxi drivers all wear helmets AND have helmets for the passengers, there were also sidewalks...yeah, you get the idea. There is actually a ban on plastic bags in Rwanda, which also helps make things cleaner. It is also such a beautiful country. It's known as the land of a thousand hills and you can really see why. It is so, so green and hilly and it's really beautiful. Even in the city which is really densely populated and it looks like houses are just on top of each other, they are all kind of like terraces into the hills and it's really lovely.
Anways, we really had a jam packed two days. After checking into our hotel, (Rwanda is going for low density, high class tourism so there are no hostels or campsites, only hotels) we went to the Genocide Memorial museum which was really, really good, but obviously very sad. That night we went to this really yummy Senegalese restaurant for dinner. The next day we went to two different churches where massive massacres occured and that have been preserved as memorials. It was so chilling and awful really. Both of them were full of the clothes of people who were killed and also had the skulls and bones on display. It was very hard to see. Afterwards we went to the actual Hotel Rwanda (the movie itself was shot in South Africa). The hotel is really, really expensive so we each split a passionfruit juice, got a feel for the place, took some pictures and left.
The best part of the experience we fell upon by pure luck. In one of the taxis, this guy with really good English asked where we were from, and when I said I was from the U.S he started listing off all the differet cities he's been to in the U.S. When I asked what he was doing traveling around so much there he started telling me about the incredible work that he does and he could tell that I was really interested, so he invited us all to his house to talk about it more. Later in the day he met his at the hotel and then walked with us to his home where he showed us the powerpoint that he presents in the United States. He is working with a couple different organizations that are doing work for genocide survivors - both the victims and the participants - helping them get over the trauma and fear that they have so that they can not only move on with their lives, but so that they can forgive the people that have done these horrible atrocities (which are often their neighbors and sometimes even relatives) so that Rwanda can move forward. It is so hard to believe, but he talked about and showed us pictures of people who had experienced awful things and then met and forgiven the same people that had caused them so much harm and suffering. The program is all based on living in the present and eliminating the damaging thoughts from your head. He said he talks to people and says, "what would it be like if you didn't have this horrible thought about your neighbor killing your husband." And the people then respond, well then I could carry on with my life. Then he talks to them about how everytime they think about their husband getting killed, they are killing their husband in their minds. Then he talks to the participants of the genocide and asks about their biggest problems and they say that they are living in fear because they are neighbors with this person whose husband they've killed, and so they may be just hiding out in their house and not living at all. Anyway, through a long process, he helps these people meet and forgive each other so that they can get on with their lives. Usually this also will involve the participant doing some huge favor for the person whose life they harmed. Like one man burnt down the house of this woman and also killed some of her family members and is now building her a new house. It was really, really moving to talk to this man. It's also so amazing how the genocide was only 15 years ago and Rwandans are already not identifying by Hutu and Tutsi anymore but just Rwandan. They just seem so determined to put that horrible time in the past, and they really seem to be succeeding.
It's funny, I've been in Uganda for a month now and it's been really great and I've really enjoyed it but I still don't LOVE Uganda. I think I could have really loved Rwanda if we had been able to stay longer. I will have to come back...
Tomorrow morning I am in for another horribly long bus ride from Kabale to Kampala. 9 wonderful hours on bumpy roads. can't wait! After that I have to get to Gulu, so I'll spend the night in Kampala and then go for another 4 hours to Gulu.
I miss you all!!!!
lots of love!
shelly
I can't believe it's only been a week since the group went home, I feel like I've done a lot in a short amount of time. Jessie and I rode with the group from Kampala to Entebbe where the airport is, but got out at this cute little hostel and then the next morning we took a ferry to the Ssese Islands which are a cluster of touristy, beach islands in lake Victoria. The place we stayed was just wonderful, it was called Camp Hornbill or something like that and was owned by this German and Dutch couple were just total hippies. The place itself was so, so relaxing and such a welcome break from Kampala. There were hammocks hanging everywhere and it was right on the beach, which the forest on either side, which meant that there were a lot of monkeys and birds around. I literally spent like half a day one day sitting on a hammock watching this family of monkeys play and bathe and stuff. There wasn't a whole lot to do besides walk around the island and explore and read and watch monkeys. You can't go swimming in the water because of bilhazia. But there was this other girl staying there who was also traveling alone and we had a really good time together.
I decided to take a different ferry to leave the Ssesse Islands and go to Masaka, where I stayed for one night and then went farther west on a 6 hour bus ride to Kabale, then I took a motorcycle to Lake Bunyonyi, and THEN I took a dugout canoe to the island that I was staying on. This place was amazing!! SOO beautiful and peaceful, and the food is probably the best that I've had the whole time that I was here, and the best part was that the water is bilhazia free so it's safe to swim. I planned on staying here for a couple days, but the truth is that after spending a couple of days just sort of relaxing and hanging out at the Sesse Islands, I was feeling a little bit restless, and then I met this couple that had just come back from Rwanda and they were talking about it with me and a couple other people, and saying how amazing it was. So me, a young couple from the UK, and another English woman in her 50s decided we just had to do it! I had just enough time at Lake Bunyonyi to take some pictures, go for a swim, eat some yummy food, and relax on the dock before we took a motorboat back to the lakeshore and then a taxi back to Kabale. Then the next day we crossed the border into Rwanda and made our way to Kigali, the capital city.
I don't even know how to describe how amazingly wonderful our short two days in Kigali was. I was so taken aback by how completely different it was from Uganda, and especially from Kampala. First of all there's the roads which are so good! They are paved as opposed to the red dirt roads in Uganda, which make Kampala a horribly dusty city which is very unpleasant to walk around in. Also the motorcycle taxi drivers all wear helmets AND have helmets for the passengers, there were also sidewalks...yeah, you get the idea. There is actually a ban on plastic bags in Rwanda, which also helps make things cleaner. It is also such a beautiful country. It's known as the land of a thousand hills and you can really see why. It is so, so green and hilly and it's really beautiful. Even in the city which is really densely populated and it looks like houses are just on top of each other, they are all kind of like terraces into the hills and it's really lovely.
Anways, we really had a jam packed two days. After checking into our hotel, (Rwanda is going for low density, high class tourism so there are no hostels or campsites, only hotels) we went to the Genocide Memorial museum which was really, really good, but obviously very sad. That night we went to this really yummy Senegalese restaurant for dinner. The next day we went to two different churches where massive massacres occured and that have been preserved as memorials. It was so chilling and awful really. Both of them were full of the clothes of people who were killed and also had the skulls and bones on display. It was very hard to see. Afterwards we went to the actual Hotel Rwanda (the movie itself was shot in South Africa). The hotel is really, really expensive so we each split a passionfruit juice, got a feel for the place, took some pictures and left.
The best part of the experience we fell upon by pure luck. In one of the taxis, this guy with really good English asked where we were from, and when I said I was from the U.S he started listing off all the differet cities he's been to in the U.S. When I asked what he was doing traveling around so much there he started telling me about the incredible work that he does and he could tell that I was really interested, so he invited us all to his house to talk about it more. Later in the day he met his at the hotel and then walked with us to his home where he showed us the powerpoint that he presents in the United States. He is working with a couple different organizations that are doing work for genocide survivors - both the victims and the participants - helping them get over the trauma and fear that they have so that they can not only move on with their lives, but so that they can forgive the people that have done these horrible atrocities (which are often their neighbors and sometimes even relatives) so that Rwanda can move forward. It is so hard to believe, but he talked about and showed us pictures of people who had experienced awful things and then met and forgiven the same people that had caused them so much harm and suffering. The program is all based on living in the present and eliminating the damaging thoughts from your head. He said he talks to people and says, "what would it be like if you didn't have this horrible thought about your neighbor killing your husband." And the people then respond, well then I could carry on with my life. Then he talks to them about how everytime they think about their husband getting killed, they are killing their husband in their minds. Then he talks to the participants of the genocide and asks about their biggest problems and they say that they are living in fear because they are neighbors with this person whose husband they've killed, and so they may be just hiding out in their house and not living at all. Anyway, through a long process, he helps these people meet and forgive each other so that they can get on with their lives. Usually this also will involve the participant doing some huge favor for the person whose life they harmed. Like one man burnt down the house of this woman and also killed some of her family members and is now building her a new house. It was really, really moving to talk to this man. It's also so amazing how the genocide was only 15 years ago and Rwandans are already not identifying by Hutu and Tutsi anymore but just Rwandan. They just seem so determined to put that horrible time in the past, and they really seem to be succeeding.
It's funny, I've been in Uganda for a month now and it's been really great and I've really enjoyed it but I still don't LOVE Uganda. I think I could have really loved Rwanda if we had been able to stay longer. I will have to come back...
Tomorrow morning I am in for another horribly long bus ride from Kabale to Kampala. 9 wonderful hours on bumpy roads. can't wait! After that I have to get to Gulu, so I'll spend the night in Kampala and then go for another 4 hours to Gulu.
I miss you all!!!!
lots of love!
shelly
Saturday, June 6, 2009
The end of the course
Hi everyone,
okay...so I know that this is a blog and not e-mails so it's pretty impersonal, but I feel so disconnected from everyone and I would love to hear what is going on in your lives and how your summers are. please e-mail me! :) I will e-mail you back, even if not right away.
So the group trip is wrapping up, everyone leaves tomorrow! It's hard to believe, but I am SO happy to be staying here for the rest of the summer. I feel like I am only just beginning to understand how to get around. Since getting back from our trip out west things have been much more low key. We've had our first couple days of free time which has been a nice change. We had a visit to KCCC - the Kamokwa (sp?) Christian Caring Community which is an unbelievably amazing place that you should google if you are interested. They are in the slums of Kampala and have an incredible amount of services available that are very organized and very well run. They have a school which is mostly for street children and orphans, they have a vocational school for people from the ages of 15 to 30 to learn either tailoring, construction work, shoe making, etc. They also have a PEPFAR clinic, youth outreach which includes sports teams, a micro-finance place, and a mental health clinic. It's amazing! I am planning on going back there to volunteer for at least a week and maybe longer.
Other than that, things have been pretty relaxing. We had a party last night at the house where we're staying and all the people that have helped us out along the way came. It was catered by KCCC (part of their vocational school includes catering), and the food was really good. Oh, let me update you on my travel plans which are constantly changing. haha. Jessie, a friend who I met here, is leaving on the 10th for Kenya, so the two of us will travel together until she leaves. We plan on going to the beach of Lake Victoria in Entebbe and possible to Sesse Islands which are supposed to be pretty and relaxing. As soon as she leaves I am getting on a bus and going to Lake Bunyoni. Look up pictures! it is supposed to be SO beautiful. I am really excited. I will probably head back to Kampala around June 20th to meet Kelsi and Marissa and help them out with EDGE stuff, and then volunteer with KCCC.
So yeah, that's about all I have for now. I can't wait to hear from you!
lots of love,
shelly
okay...so I know that this is a blog and not e-mails so it's pretty impersonal, but I feel so disconnected from everyone and I would love to hear what is going on in your lives and how your summers are. please e-mail me! :) I will e-mail you back, even if not right away.
So the group trip is wrapping up, everyone leaves tomorrow! It's hard to believe, but I am SO happy to be staying here for the rest of the summer. I feel like I am only just beginning to understand how to get around. Since getting back from our trip out west things have been much more low key. We've had our first couple days of free time which has been a nice change. We had a visit to KCCC - the Kamokwa (sp?) Christian Caring Community which is an unbelievably amazing place that you should google if you are interested. They are in the slums of Kampala and have an incredible amount of services available that are very organized and very well run. They have a school which is mostly for street children and orphans, they have a vocational school for people from the ages of 15 to 30 to learn either tailoring, construction work, shoe making, etc. They also have a PEPFAR clinic, youth outreach which includes sports teams, a micro-finance place, and a mental health clinic. It's amazing! I am planning on going back there to volunteer for at least a week and maybe longer.
Other than that, things have been pretty relaxing. We had a party last night at the house where we're staying and all the people that have helped us out along the way came. It was catered by KCCC (part of their vocational school includes catering), and the food was really good. Oh, let me update you on my travel plans which are constantly changing. haha. Jessie, a friend who I met here, is leaving on the 10th for Kenya, so the two of us will travel together until she leaves. We plan on going to the beach of Lake Victoria in Entebbe and possible to Sesse Islands which are supposed to be pretty and relaxing. As soon as she leaves I am getting on a bus and going to Lake Bunyoni. Look up pictures! it is supposed to be SO beautiful. I am really excited. I will probably head back to Kampala around June 20th to meet Kelsi and Marissa and help them out with EDGE stuff, and then volunteer with KCCC.
So yeah, that's about all I have for now. I can't wait to hear from you!
lots of love,
shelly
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
ah!
Oh my gosh, I have so much to say I do not know where to start.
So, I will start with a very overdue apology: I am so sorry to everyone that I didn't get a chance to say goodbye to, AND also to say congratulations on graduation! I was so overwhelmed with exams, subletters, moving out of my room, and packing for this trip that I was totally in my own little bubble and I'm sorry about that. So, CONGRATULATIONS!
okay. so now an update.
The group of 13 of us students split up for a week to go to more rural sites and work in the health center which was a great experience. I was with three other girls and we bonded so much and just had a blast together. The best part was that we stayed with a wonderful Ugandan family that cooked really yummy food for us, and really welcomed us into their home. It was nice to see how Ugandans actually live, although they were pretty wealthy compared to the average Ugandan. The work we did at the health center was eye opening, frustrating, and very sad. It is absolutely impossible to compare the clinics here from the ones in the US. The system is: first you wait in line to see the "clinical manager," (I don't think we had any doctors there, I think they were all nurses). Three or four people are in same room with you while you then have your "exam" which is not an exam. They don't even take vital signs, it was basically a verbal report of signs and symptoms, and then the nurse prescribes your drugs and injections, and maybe blood or urine tests. so then you wait in line for the lab for your tests. then you go back in line to see the doctor again, then you go back in line for your injections, and then back in line again for your medications. AND, maybe you need gloves? or a special syringe? You have to go buy it somewhere and come back and wait in line again. Also, we didn't have enough medication to give everyone there full doses, so we gave what we could and then they have to go buy the rest.Of course, many of them won't....antibiotic resistance anyone?
It was very hard to see.
But being in Ndejje was great! We made friends with a shop keeper and had lunch at his shop everyday, we went out to the one bar in the town, and hung out with the family a lot. The family was all women - the mom, her three daughters, and then two granddaughters. One granddaughter was named Shellina and was about 4 and very cute. The other was a little baby named Frank.
When everyone came back from their communities, we went on a little "vacation" to the Southwestern part of the country, which was an 8 hour car ride on some very bumpy roads. Adi, you would've yakked. :) First we went to Kibale National park which was sooo beautiful. We saw lots of different kinds of monkeys and heard about really cool research happening there that has to do with the links between animal health, human health and conservation. Then we drove to Queen Elizabeth National Park and went on a boat ride where we saw hippos, water buffalo, waterbuck, crocodile, and elephants! the next day we went on a game ride and saw babboons, elephants, antelope, waterbuck, waterhogs, guinea fowl, AND a lion!! it was so nice to get out of the city for a while and relax in beautiful places. I am taking a lot of pictures, but so is everyone else, and when they get back they are going to make a website to post all the pictures on. I will share that link so everyone can see those pictures before I come home! Kibale also felt very luxurious because we had hot showers (not buckets) and flush toilets!
For my "travel time" I am planning on going to Sipi Falls and Mount Elgon in the east,and I also want to go to Lake Bunyone (I'm spelling that very wrong), and to Lake Mbonge (also spelled wrong) where there are supposed to be zebras. But then there's also this international music festival in Kampala, and Linda (my professor) wants me to work for a couple days at the diabetes clinic where she is doing her research, and said that she'll pay for me to do that, AND I also want to see Gulu in the North, which every Ugandan, including our high-strung professor here says is extremely safe now. As expected, I have tons of options and am getting really excited to explore on my own, although I will miss this group. Kenya is looking less likely because Jesse can't figure out her plans..but we'll see, everything is open!
All in all, I am having a great time here. It is hard to feel so disconnected from everyone at home, and unlocking my phone is proving to be extremely unsuccesful, which is frusterating. If it doesn't work soon, I will buy a new phone here. Okay, that's all for now.
I love you all, and I miss everyone a lot!!
love, shelly
So, I will start with a very overdue apology: I am so sorry to everyone that I didn't get a chance to say goodbye to, AND also to say congratulations on graduation! I was so overwhelmed with exams, subletters, moving out of my room, and packing for this trip that I was totally in my own little bubble and I'm sorry about that. So, CONGRATULATIONS!
okay. so now an update.
The group of 13 of us students split up for a week to go to more rural sites and work in the health center which was a great experience. I was with three other girls and we bonded so much and just had a blast together. The best part was that we stayed with a wonderful Ugandan family that cooked really yummy food for us, and really welcomed us into their home. It was nice to see how Ugandans actually live, although they were pretty wealthy compared to the average Ugandan. The work we did at the health center was eye opening, frustrating, and very sad. It is absolutely impossible to compare the clinics here from the ones in the US. The system is: first you wait in line to see the "clinical manager," (I don't think we had any doctors there, I think they were all nurses). Three or four people are in same room with you while you then have your "exam" which is not an exam. They don't even take vital signs, it was basically a verbal report of signs and symptoms, and then the nurse prescribes your drugs and injections, and maybe blood or urine tests. so then you wait in line for the lab for your tests. then you go back in line to see the doctor again, then you go back in line for your injections, and then back in line again for your medications. AND, maybe you need gloves? or a special syringe? You have to go buy it somewhere and come back and wait in line again. Also, we didn't have enough medication to give everyone there full doses, so we gave what we could and then they have to go buy the rest.Of course, many of them won't....antibiotic resistance anyone?
It was very hard to see.
But being in Ndejje was great! We made friends with a shop keeper and had lunch at his shop everyday, we went out to the one bar in the town, and hung out with the family a lot. The family was all women - the mom, her three daughters, and then two granddaughters. One granddaughter was named Shellina and was about 4 and very cute. The other was a little baby named Frank.
When everyone came back from their communities, we went on a little "vacation" to the Southwestern part of the country, which was an 8 hour car ride on some very bumpy roads. Adi, you would've yakked. :) First we went to Kibale National park which was sooo beautiful. We saw lots of different kinds of monkeys and heard about really cool research happening there that has to do with the links between animal health, human health and conservation. Then we drove to Queen Elizabeth National Park and went on a boat ride where we saw hippos, water buffalo, waterbuck, crocodile, and elephants! the next day we went on a game ride and saw babboons, elephants, antelope, waterbuck, waterhogs, guinea fowl, AND a lion!! it was so nice to get out of the city for a while and relax in beautiful places. I am taking a lot of pictures, but so is everyone else, and when they get back they are going to make a website to post all the pictures on. I will share that link so everyone can see those pictures before I come home! Kibale also felt very luxurious because we had hot showers (not buckets) and flush toilets!
For my "travel time" I am planning on going to Sipi Falls and Mount Elgon in the east,and I also want to go to Lake Bunyone (I'm spelling that very wrong), and to Lake Mbonge (also spelled wrong) where there are supposed to be zebras. But then there's also this international music festival in Kampala, and Linda (my professor) wants me to work for a couple days at the diabetes clinic where she is doing her research, and said that she'll pay for me to do that, AND I also want to see Gulu in the North, which every Ugandan, including our high-strung professor here says is extremely safe now. As expected, I have tons of options and am getting really excited to explore on my own, although I will miss this group. Kenya is looking less likely because Jesse can't figure out her plans..but we'll see, everything is open!
All in all, I am having a great time here. It is hard to feel so disconnected from everyone at home, and unlocking my phone is proving to be extremely unsuccesful, which is frusterating. If it doesn't work soon, I will buy a new phone here. Okay, that's all for now.
I love you all, and I miss everyone a lot!!
love, shelly
Friday, May 22, 2009
Kampala
Sorry I haven't posted yet!
It's been hard because I'm on the schedule of a group of 13 other students.
I will try to summarize quickly because I only have a little bit of internet time left. Kampala is a very, very hectic overwhelming city. The first time I walked around I thought I would die probably a million times. There is no where to cross the street, you just have to go and hope that someone stops. The sidewalks are full of lots of pedestrians, but also of people selling things - eveything you can imagine - beads, bags, shirts, peanuts, fruit, everything.
BUT, this is also a very lush and beautiful country. There are beautiful trees and flowers and everything is so green. We have already done so much! we toured the big hospital - Mulago, but they didn't let us see inside the actual wards. We went to a malnutrition clinic where they teach the moms how to cook for their children by having them do all the cooking while the kids are there. I loved that! They also taught us how to weight the children and how to measure their arms to determine how malnourished they are. We saw the maternity ward which was also very interesting, and we also went to an AIDS support group. Some of the patient's there put on a performance for us about AIDS.
Today we saw three different traditional healers - an herbalist, a bonesetter, and a spiritual man. That was my favorite part of the trip so far. The spiritual guy had a pet monkey! what else? oh there's so much!!
We went to Jinja and saw two different waterfalls and went on a small walk. We also went to the source of the Nile, the place where Lake Victoria becomes the Nile, and took a little boat ride.
Okay, I have to go! I love everyone, more soon.
love, shelly
It's been hard because I'm on the schedule of a group of 13 other students.
I will try to summarize quickly because I only have a little bit of internet time left. Kampala is a very, very hectic overwhelming city. The first time I walked around I thought I would die probably a million times. There is no where to cross the street, you just have to go and hope that someone stops. The sidewalks are full of lots of pedestrians, but also of people selling things - eveything you can imagine - beads, bags, shirts, peanuts, fruit, everything.
BUT, this is also a very lush and beautiful country. There are beautiful trees and flowers and everything is so green. We have already done so much! we toured the big hospital - Mulago, but they didn't let us see inside the actual wards. We went to a malnutrition clinic where they teach the moms how to cook for their children by having them do all the cooking while the kids are there. I loved that! They also taught us how to weight the children and how to measure their arms to determine how malnourished they are. We saw the maternity ward which was also very interesting, and we also went to an AIDS support group. Some of the patient's there put on a performance for us about AIDS.
Today we saw three different traditional healers - an herbalist, a bonesetter, and a spiritual man. That was my favorite part of the trip so far. The spiritual guy had a pet monkey! what else? oh there's so much!!
We went to Jinja and saw two different waterfalls and went on a small walk. We also went to the source of the Nile, the place where Lake Victoria becomes the Nile, and took a little boat ride.
Okay, I have to go! I love everyone, more soon.
love, shelly
Friday, April 17, 2009
The First Post
Michelle just showed me how to set up a blog! I'm very excited. Now I can update everyone on what is going on when I'm away this summer. That way, no long and annoying e-mails!
okay bye
okay bye
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