Here's where I'm currently living. It's better than it looks. My room (which I share with Scottish Sarah, and Ugandans Lilly and Winnie) is on the opposite side. Check out the landscape!
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Humble abode
Here's where I'm currently living. It's better than it looks. My room (which I share with Scottish Sarah, and Ugandans Lilly and Winnie) is on the opposite side. Check out the landscape!
Taking a break
I’m back in Jinja for a Saturday night getaway with the other internationals. We were here last weekend too, enjoying a break from our training routine and indulging in the foods that remind of us home (cheese-based). We stay at the Backpacker’s Inn, a nice hostel with an outdoor bar that costs about $4 a night. It even has free internet.
I started feeling sick a couple days ago, and have been doing my best to fight off a head-cold. It’s not bad, but since nearly every white-skinned person has been sick this week I’d rather get better than come down with one of the other bugs floating around. Staying healthy is a top priority right now.
We find out where we’ll be placed at the end of this week, and leave for our new homes on Saturday. I’ve been nervous lately about who I’ll be placed with and how the food allowance budgeting is going to work, but the training sessions have gotten so repetitive that I think we’re all pretty ready for the next step.
Friday night was “culture night,” and the volunteers managed to put together about two hours of quality singing, dancing, and acting entertainment. The North America volunteers (all five of us) performed classic songs from our continent – Alouette for Canada, Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay for the States, and La Bamba for Mexico. Jill provided ukulele accompaniment. It went over pretty well although our Spanish left something to be desired on the last number.
We took a group trip to Ssezibwa Falls last Sunday. Legend dictates that barren women should throw an animal over the falls if they wish to conceive – if the animal dies, you get pregnant, if it lives, no luck. So you end up with either a baby or a wounded goat, depending on how your luck plays out.
I neglected to bring my mosquito net to Jinja and got devoured last night. I've always been a target for biting bugs...
I started feeling sick a couple days ago, and have been doing my best to fight off a head-cold. It’s not bad, but since nearly every white-skinned person has been sick this week I’d rather get better than come down with one of the other bugs floating around. Staying healthy is a top priority right now.
We find out where we’ll be placed at the end of this week, and leave for our new homes on Saturday. I’ve been nervous lately about who I’ll be placed with and how the food allowance budgeting is going to work, but the training sessions have gotten so repetitive that I think we’re all pretty ready for the next step.
Friday night was “culture night,” and the volunteers managed to put together about two hours of quality singing, dancing, and acting entertainment. The North America volunteers (all five of us) performed classic songs from our continent – Alouette for Canada, Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay for the States, and La Bamba for Mexico. Jill provided ukulele accompaniment. It went over pretty well although our Spanish left something to be desired on the last number.
We took a group trip to Ssezibwa Falls last Sunday. Legend dictates that barren women should throw an animal over the falls if they wish to conceive – if the animal dies, you get pregnant, if it lives, no luck. So you end up with either a baby or a wounded goat, depending on how your luck plays out.
I neglected to bring my mosquito net to Jinja and got devoured last night. I've always been a target for biting bugs...
Pic!
Finally! A photo is up! Here's me in Kasenge, with some kids that were pretty excited by my camera.
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Training days
We are into the swing of training now. The volunteer group has split into two focus areas: livelihoods and sexual reproductive health (SRH). I’m in the SRH group. While the livelihood kids spend most of the day outside learning about soil composition and farming methods, we’re indoors with Dr. Alex discussing contraception, life skills, and hygiene.
Most of the information is old news for the overseas volunteers, but it’s helpful to go over it in a lesson context so we’ll know how to teach the content when we leave for our placements on the 2nd. There have been some frustrating cultural differences. The most noticeable one is that homosexuality is illegal in Uganda, and is seen as a strictly deviant practice. The white kids all objected when it was listed as “transactional sex.” After some argument I had to accept that there aren’t consenting gay couples here – at least not open ones. The only expression of homosexuality is in the form of prostitution and rape, but it’s still upsetting that the term is met with such disgust.
There have been a few other topics that raised some eyebrows among the internationals. We were instructed to tell adolescent girls not to wear bras – to “leave them pointy,” because wearing a tight bra will make your breasts grow downward like chapattis??? There’s a practice called “pulling” that shocked the internationals, and we’re called on to give personal examples of a lot of adolescent changes which can be pretty awkward. I want to object when it feels like misinformation, but I’m learning to let it go unless I feel like it’s going to be harmful to the kids we teach.
Other than some arguments during training, the group of 40 or so volunteers is getting along pretty well. The Ugandans are indispensable when it comes to getting around and not getting ripped off (too badly) by vendors. They’ve taught us some new card games and some key Lugandan phrases. There’s still some separation between national and overseas volunteers, especially at meal times, but I think it’s more because we stick to the people we’re comfortable with than because we have any aversion to each other.
I’m one of three Americans: Jen, who’s 27 and from Pittsburg and Carson, who just graduated from UPS. There are a couple of Canadian girls too. We’re a pretty powerful front, in terms of people who say “pants” instead of “trousers” and can eat bread without Marmite.
We’re staying in Kasenge for the rest of our training at an organic farming center. It’s a tiny town with one strip of shops we can walk to, but Mukono (which has a post office and an internet café) is 5-10 minutes away by taxi. There are converted vans called matatus that shuttle people from town to town. There are always packed to capacity, and the trip to Mukono costs 1000/= (about 50 cents) if you’re white and 500/= if you’re local.
The little kids here are a riot. They chase us around shouting “Mzungu! Mzungu!” whenever we go to town, and they are fascinated by digital cameras. There are lots of funny misconceptions about white people, and I think some of the kids think we are painted. If I touch one of their hands he or she will stare at it afterward in disbelief.
I’m thinking about picking up some multivitamins, because we are stuck with a pretty starch-based diet. Our only hope for iron or fiber is the occasional pile of leafy greens. I’ve tried some new fruit here, but a lot of it is perfumey and it’s hard to eat very much.
I finally have the address where I can receive letters:
Liz Pempe
c/o SPW
P.O. Box 1208
Jinja Uganda
Packages have to go to the physical address, which is:
Plot 6 Acacia Road
(behind Cool Breeze Hotel)
Jinja Uganda
I’ll be able to get my mail about once a month, either during trips to headquarters or visits from SPW staff.
In terms of life state-side, I’ve been invited to interview at UNC. I have to miss the recruitment weekend at the end of the month, but I’m hoping I’ll be able to do some phone interviews? It’s a good sign and I’m pretty excited about it.
That’s the wrap-up for now. I miss internet access, Sunday breakfast at the parsonage, and variety in my diet. But I’m happy to be here and ready for more!
Most of the information is old news for the overseas volunteers, but it’s helpful to go over it in a lesson context so we’ll know how to teach the content when we leave for our placements on the 2nd. There have been some frustrating cultural differences. The most noticeable one is that homosexuality is illegal in Uganda, and is seen as a strictly deviant practice. The white kids all objected when it was listed as “transactional sex.” After some argument I had to accept that there aren’t consenting gay couples here – at least not open ones. The only expression of homosexuality is in the form of prostitution and rape, but it’s still upsetting that the term is met with such disgust.
There have been a few other topics that raised some eyebrows among the internationals. We were instructed to tell adolescent girls not to wear bras – to “leave them pointy,” because wearing a tight bra will make your breasts grow downward like chapattis??? There’s a practice called “pulling” that shocked the internationals, and we’re called on to give personal examples of a lot of adolescent changes which can be pretty awkward. I want to object when it feels like misinformation, but I’m learning to let it go unless I feel like it’s going to be harmful to the kids we teach.
Other than some arguments during training, the group of 40 or so volunteers is getting along pretty well. The Ugandans are indispensable when it comes to getting around and not getting ripped off (too badly) by vendors. They’ve taught us some new card games and some key Lugandan phrases. There’s still some separation between national and overseas volunteers, especially at meal times, but I think it’s more because we stick to the people we’re comfortable with than because we have any aversion to each other.
I’m one of three Americans: Jen, who’s 27 and from Pittsburg and Carson, who just graduated from UPS. There are a couple of Canadian girls too. We’re a pretty powerful front, in terms of people who say “pants” instead of “trousers” and can eat bread without Marmite.
We’re staying in Kasenge for the rest of our training at an organic farming center. It’s a tiny town with one strip of shops we can walk to, but Mukono (which has a post office and an internet café) is 5-10 minutes away by taxi. There are converted vans called matatus that shuttle people from town to town. There are always packed to capacity, and the trip to Mukono costs 1000/= (about 50 cents) if you’re white and 500/= if you’re local.
The little kids here are a riot. They chase us around shouting “Mzungu! Mzungu!” whenever we go to town, and they are fascinated by digital cameras. There are lots of funny misconceptions about white people, and I think some of the kids think we are painted. If I touch one of their hands he or she will stare at it afterward in disbelief.
I’m thinking about picking up some multivitamins, because we are stuck with a pretty starch-based diet. Our only hope for iron or fiber is the occasional pile of leafy greens. I’ve tried some new fruit here, but a lot of it is perfumey and it’s hard to eat very much.
I finally have the address where I can receive letters:
Liz Pempe
c/o SPW
P.O. Box 1208
Jinja Uganda
Packages have to go to the physical address, which is:
Plot 6 Acacia Road
(behind Cool Breeze Hotel)
Jinja Uganda
I’ll be able to get my mail about once a month, either during trips to headquarters or visits from SPW staff.
In terms of life state-side, I’ve been invited to interview at UNC. I have to miss the recruitment weekend at the end of the month, but I’m hoping I’ll be able to do some phone interviews? It’s a good sign and I’m pretty excited about it.
That’s the wrap-up for now. I miss internet access, Sunday breakfast at the parsonage, and variety in my diet. But I’m happy to be here and ready for more!
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Getting started
Hi! I'm here! Turns out that internet is pretty hard to come by, even in Jinja. I'm at an internet cafe with slow dial-up and charge by the minute, so no pictures yet.
Uganda is pretty, tropical, and fun. We train for the next three weeks or so. Right now we're staying in a "student center" (kind of like dorms) and we move to an organic farming community this weekend. There are about forty volunteers, half of which are Ugandan. The rest of us are from the US, England, Canada, Scotland, and there's a girl from Estonia. The national volunteers are great. We had to brainstorm lists of goals this morning and the Uganda guy presenting read "become less pasty" from the list and then was like, I have no idea what that means.
I love the accents, except that "guy" sounds like "gay." That's thrown me off a few times. That gay in the other room...
The food's good so far, mostly rice, potatoes, stew, corn bread. And tea between every meal.
I'm having a good time and feel fine, other than missing Tom so much I can hardly stand it. If I can get my cell phone unlocked this week I'll have a little communication relief.
More later... gotta head back for dinner!
Uganda is pretty, tropical, and fun. We train for the next three weeks or so. Right now we're staying in a "student center" (kind of like dorms) and we move to an organic farming community this weekend. There are about forty volunteers, half of which are Ugandan. The rest of us are from the US, England, Canada, Scotland, and there's a girl from Estonia. The national volunteers are great. We had to brainstorm lists of goals this morning and the Uganda guy presenting read "become less pasty" from the list and then was like, I have no idea what that means.
I love the accents, except that "guy" sounds like "gay." That's thrown me off a few times. That gay in the other room...
The food's good so far, mostly rice, potatoes, stew, corn bread. And tea between every meal.
I'm having a good time and feel fine, other than missing Tom so much I can hardly stand it. If I can get my cell phone unlocked this week I'll have a little communication relief.
More later... gotta head back for dinner!
Monday, January 7, 2008
Today's the day
Just about time to go! I fly out in six hours. I still have to finish packing, pick up the rest of my antimalarials (CVS gave me 34 out of 215 pills), get a British power adapter, and get some traveler's checks. It's doable.
Some things I'll miss:
Some things I'll miss:
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Leavin' on a jetplane
Hi everyone!
I depart for Africa in just four days. I'm excited to go and sad to leave Durham. There are a lot of things I like here.
Hopefully I'll be able to post regular updates and pictures while abroad! Until then...
I depart for Africa in just four days. I'm excited to go and sad to leave Durham. There are a lot of things I like here.
Hopefully I'll be able to post regular updates and pictures while abroad! Until then...
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