So this may be the last blog entry as my trip is wrapping up. Well im now in Amsterdam and in route to Germany. Ill be there for 10 days. Of course as soon as we boarded the plane in Uganda, it was just so sad for the realization that we were actually going. Last week we were staying at a resort on the Nile for final presentations and debriefing. It was def so beautiful and we even got to swim. Of course, now that my hair was done I wasn’t swimming but yall know I had to profile poolside. Its so funny that here they all think im a diva…if only they knew! Haha. between my old facebook pic, my computer desktop and my dress that I had mad, along with other things they all have deemed me a diva. It cracks me up tho b/c I def considered myself a diva but its so funny that they all got that impression based on my pix.
Anyways, so in the last two weeks since I came back from Mbalei have been all over the place. I got back from Mbale on a Friday and went to my homestay. It was fun to be back there but I had def forgotten how crazy life in Kampala was and was homesick for Mbale. Of course after seeing all of my K’la ppl again I was good again. I spent the week between my home and the children’s home. They were great and it was def hard to say bye to the kids at the home. That weekend I had another introduction ceremony of my friend’s cousin. The introduction ceremonies are a huge deal here and pretty much introduce the bride and groom to the public and like an engagement party to the tenth power. Once again the ceremony was an ALL day affair. I got there 2 hours late and of course it hadn’t even started yet and I ended up being there for about 9 hours. It was a lot of fun though. then this time I wore my dress that I had made so I must say, I was looking good! Haha. oh yeah, I ended up sitting in the family tent b/c the aunt made me her personal guest. It was cool tough and I def had a great time just watching the cultural stuff, the food and of course dancing at the end.
The next day was full of goodbyes. It was my last day in Kisaasi so I went and tried to tell everyone goodbye but of course that was not so successful. Here there is no such thing as a quick visit so in te short time that I had for visits, def didn’t follow my schedule. It was still fine though. then that evening we had the homestay farewell party/ 10th anniversary party. Now I must say for this party I was looking “smart” as they would say. My dress came out awesome and looked great! Between that and the fact that I had had my hair braided that morning no one recognized me and they all thought I was Ugandan until I would stop them. it was so funny! The party was really fun though and we all ended up dancing. Sadly my family is a bit conservative so they didn’t dance and stuff but I had a blast with all my friends and their families. One of my personal favorites was the fact that someone’s lil sis ran up to me and greeted me with “black American!!”. Haha. it was so funny!! Like I said before, black Americans really have celebrity status here b/c they never see us. They either see black Africans or white Americans, so to explain that im a black American always just confuses the heck out of them. But like I said before, very few people here know that im black American. For the fun of it/ simplicity I tell most people that I’m either half Ugandan/ half American or Liberian.
So the last week they rounded the whole group up and we went to a town about an hour away to a resort on the Nile. We went there for our final presentations and debriefings. It was nice and def beautiful. The last day that we were there I went back to Mbale, the town that I interned in. The hospital was having their Christmas party and I had to drop things off to them anyways so I figured that it’d be the perfect time. I went there and had a great time. Their reactions were priceless as they all thought that I was gone so to surprise them was a lot of fun!
Anyways fast forward…now in Germany with the family and its been nice. Well actually, missed my flight from Amsterdam to here and I blame it on the fact that it was too cold for my brain to function after coming from Uganda! haha. I was freezing and then to make matters worse, after I missed my flight I had to spend 4 more hours in the freezing airport! Happy note was that I was able to hang out with the rest of the group that was heading back. The airport was just funny to all of us though. first to see water fountains and automatic toilets was quite amusing after using mostly latrines for the last 3 months. Then all the white people was funny to see again. Surprisingly, it hasn’t been as hard as I expected. Went to the grocery store today and did laundry yesterday and it all fell right into place. Must say though that I loved the fact that the longest part of doing laundry y-day was the folding of the clothes rather than the actual handwashing. But maybe it was mental, but actually I surprisingly felt like the clothes weren’t as clean as they had been from their 3 month handwashings. LOL. Other than that, everything has been great. Enjoying the time with the fam but definitely looking forward to coming home especially now that everyone is home for the holidays.
Well that’s all for now and this is probably the last blog. So thanks for checkin up on me here for the last 4 months here. The Lord has been more than merciful to me as Ive done many crazy things and has just kept me in the His hands as Ive seen the signs of that everywhere. Thankfully, I never got sick while there, even from the food, and now even coming back to western food, Ive adjusted fine. Theres a long list that has shown me that God had His angels all around me for the last 4 months! Well look forward to seeing you all and sharing more stories with you in person! have an awesome holiday and love you all!!!
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Breaking all the rules!! :-)
So since the last time I wrote, I’ve broken 2-3 major program rules…
Well let’s see last weekend I went white water rafting on the Nile and during the week I went to Gulu and Lira with the outreach team from the hospital here. Then this past weekend I was in the bush again. Lol. So where to begin…
Last Saturday I went to a town called Jinja which is about 2 hours from Mbale. Because it’s Africa, of course things didn’t go as planned but in the end I made it there in one piece. Well my program had forbidden us from doing any “extreme” sports like bungee jumping, white water rafting, etc because of the liabilities but I figured that it was worth me taking my chances of getting in trouble considering that it was a once in a lifetime opportunity. So about 15-16 of us took our chances on getting in trouble and went. It was definitely worth it and a blast! And guess what…I never even fell out the boat, which is quite an accomplishment! Out of the 8 in my boat, there were just 2 of us that managed to hold on for dear life and stay in the boat. At one point the boat was straight vertical and I was holding on like the water would kill me! haha. Long story short, thankfully we all finished the day in one piece! Two people were injured but thankfully it was no one from our group, because then we would’ve had some real explaining to do. That next day I left to come back to Mbale and that evening I moved in with my new home stay family. It’s a house full of boys, about 5 and 1 girl. They are pretty fun and cool. Sucky part is that they don’t have power!! Argghh!! At first I was cool with it, but by today I was so looking forward to coming to work just because there’s power! They had their power cut off earlier this year because pretty much, they’re broke. So don’t think that they are extra primitive or something! lol. They are nice but once again the stupid poverty and corruption of this country is getting to me! Once again, I was asked to help them…well at least this time they didn’t ask me for money. They make jewelry and want to take some to the states and sell it. But goodness gracious, I’m so tired of people asking me to sponsor them, help them do all sorts of things, take their children to the states, etc. that’s the one thing that I liked about living with the drs. They are educated and know what it is to have. They even took me out to eat! That was the first time that someone paid for my food in this country where most people expect me to pay for them if I ask them for company. So to say the least, I may have to go back to my oasis at the dr’s quarters to maintain my sanity. Oh shoot, well now that I’ve totally vented, I must say that other than that, the family is cool. There is always someone around and they are fun. So it’s been fun to have people around that are around my age and know my music and stuff. So that part of it is totally cool.
Then this week I went to Gulu and Lira which are towns in the north that were part of the 20 year war that sent most people into the IDP camps. If you have seen the documentary “Invisible Children” or heard about the night commuters, this is where all that was happening. The war pretty much just ended last year so with all that being said, once again, my program doesn’t want us going up there. But of course, if you know anything about me, you know that I love challenging rules. I mean it would be ridiculous to be in Uganda for 3.5 months and not see the areas that I’ve heard so much about at home. So we were up there for about 3 days for an outreach clinic. I did see some of the camps but for the most part, many of the people have begun to break down the camps and are telling people to go back to their homes. Sucky part is that many children were orphaned and grew up in the camps so they don’t even know where home is, so a lot of remaining people in the camps are children. Good news the war has ended for the most part in the north, bad news the same thing is happening in the west now and the Congo with the rebels. Arggh, how does this keep happening?!.... all in all though, it was a good trip though and it was great to go with people from the area that spoke the language rather than going as a tourist.
Then this past weekend I went back to the bush. Haha. Most people would think that one trip to the village is enough, but once again, I’m always a special case and go against the norm. Shoot, coming to Uganda was a sign that I’m def abnormal.
So I got on a mini bus and started my journey. Of course, here in Africa even the simplest things and distances become a task. Long story short, a trip that should’ve taken at most 2 hours took about 5 hours. But one thing I’ve learned is patience since I’ve been here. So finally that afternoon I got there and it was well worth it. They didn’t know I was coming, so there reactions were priceless! Just like last time, they pulled out all the stops when it came to meals. They slaughtered a chicken for me and I even helped to pluck it!! Go me!! it wasn’t nearly as bad as I had imagined!! They fed me so much it was out of control! The one thing that I’ve learned is that there’s a huge misconception about people in the village being poor. They don’t need money considering that everything they need is from the earth. Other than the salt, kerosene oil for lamps and soap we used, everything else was natural. All the food I ate was straight from the garden, the building materials were from the land, etc. to say the least, once again im fearing the first meal that I eat at home. I haven’t even had any food problems eating here but I know ill spend my first few days back home in the bathroom. Haha. Well in a nutshell, that’s what ive been up to the last two weeks. Down to 3.5 weeks left too!...cant believe that its gone by so fast! Well love you guys and check in again in about 2 weeks for another update.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
new town, new ppl, new experiences!
Dont make me leave this place!! I have totally fallen in love with this country and the people. I’m already warning you to expect a nice email from me requesting donations next year so that I can come back. Haha.
Well I began my practicum this week and have moved to a town in western Uganda called Mbale. It is right next to a mountain and waterfalls so it’s just a beautiful area. Its def much smaller than Kampala but nice. At first I was missing Kampala and all the things they have to do, but shoot it’s nice to be able to get to work in 5 minutes now rather than the hour commute I used to have, and now after only being here for just one week everywhere I go, someone that I’ve met always sees me when I’m out.
Work has been good. Can’t believe that I’ve only been there a week, well not even and its so comfortable. The hospital specializes in pediatric neurosurgery and mostly cases of hydrocephalus and fewer cases of spinal bifida and brain tumors. I can’t believe how many cases of hydrocephalus there are in this region. These little babies have these ridiculously large heads that are often bigger than the heads of their moms. It’s quite sad but the hospital is extraordinary. Its so nice because its donor funded so the treatment there is better than most hospitals here and then the families get spiritual counseling and support also which is awesome. Last week I was able to go into the OR to see a few surgeries where they drain the fluid from the heads, and that was cool. I worked with the phys ther and then spent time in the outpatient clinic too. Then most of the time I was in the ward just chatting with the mothers and helping them with their kids. These moms are so amazing because they are up against so much. Their babies require so much attn and help then on top of that they face so many challenges from their communities because of course when you have a baby with such an obvious disability you are ostracized and rejected so not only are most poor peasants but now shunned because they have these children. I cant imagine such a life. Then on top of that, most are younger girls who married and started having children young. Even today I went by the hospital after church and I was speaking to one of the moms. She’s 24 with 5 kids and was married with her first child by 15. Most of the mothers that ive met are younger and married with children and of course poor. Like I said, most of the day I just spend hanging with the moms. Of course most don’t speak English but its amazing how we’ve overcome that barrier. I’ve learned greetings in at least 6 languages this week just from speaking to them. Uganda is just ridiculous with how many tribes they have for such a small country and each tribe has a language so in the ward alone of maybe 50 beds there are at least 10 languages. This sucks for doctors and stuff to treat them because they don’t always speak their language but somehow they always manage and there’s always someone who speaks somewhat of the language. Some are even refugees from N. Uganda and Sudan and thankfully one knew English so I was able to speak to her for a while too. Their stories are always so crazy, you wouldn’t believe what they’ve been through. So all in all, I’ve been enjoying working at the hospital. The staff and doctors are so nice and welcoming I feel like I’ve know them for such a longer time. Right now I’m staying with one of the doctors and will be moving in with a family this week for another homestay. I’ve gotten comfy where I am now but I’m sure my new home will be good too so ill let ya know how that is.
Anyways, today I went to the local hospital after church with another doctor who lives next door. Of course this hospital was a world away from the hospital that ive been working at. Most hospitals here are government hospitals while CURE (the neurosurgery place) is private and donor funded. Good news is that medical care is free, bad news is that you have to pay for EVERYTHING other than medical services. This means that you have to provide your own gloves for the drs to use, bring your own medications, gauze, bandages, syringes, etc. so if you don’t have money to buy the things that they need 2 treat u, you aren’t treated. Its sad that so many die from treatable problems just because they may not have money to buy the surgical gloves so then the drs cannot operate on them. So is it truly free health care....
Anyhow, so today I saw 2 C-sections in like 1.5 hours. It was so cool because I had never seen much ob/ gyn and then of course there was no extra red tape crap like in the US. The drs did what they had to use using the very basics. The patient was gassed with ether 2 be put under, there weren’t enough gowns so not everyone could wear one and then everything was washable rather than disposable. But hey, you use what you have to get the job done and this was exactly what was done. Too ice the cake I was splashed with blood when the baby was pulled out and then when I went to CURE afterwards to visit and hang out, a baby peed on me. So all in all, it was a good day! Haha. to survive and enjoy being In a 3rd world country you must not mind “inconveniences”, getting dirty and doing things that ppl in the states would freak out about, like being splashed by blood from some woman’s uterus. Haha. I mean I figure she wasn’t HIV positive b/c the other drs weren’t freaking out about it and then he was splashed too and wasn’t buggin out so I followed suit.
I do things here that id never do in the states. Let’s see to just give you a brief picture…. so there’s the OR today, going home and staying with some guys (the dr) that I never met but have been totally amazing and welcoming that I feel like I’ve known them forever (and no worries they aren’t going to gang rape me!), and then there was the time that I went to the children’s home with the other random guys that I met at the slum outreach. I mean these are things that would lead me to a grave in the states but here its just a whole new world. Of course, I can’t be stupid about it and just go anywhere with anyone, yall raised me well enough to have common sense, but here having a rec about people from the right person usually means it’s pretty safe. So all in all, life is still great, im sad to think that ill be leaving to go next month but excited to see what else comes in the next 6 weeks and begin planning my trip to come back! :-)
Well I began my practicum this week and have moved to a town in western Uganda called Mbale. It is right next to a mountain and waterfalls so it’s just a beautiful area. Its def much smaller than Kampala but nice. At first I was missing Kampala and all the things they have to do, but shoot it’s nice to be able to get to work in 5 minutes now rather than the hour commute I used to have, and now after only being here for just one week everywhere I go, someone that I’ve met always sees me when I’m out.
Work has been good. Can’t believe that I’ve only been there a week, well not even and its so comfortable. The hospital specializes in pediatric neurosurgery and mostly cases of hydrocephalus and fewer cases of spinal bifida and brain tumors. I can’t believe how many cases of hydrocephalus there are in this region. These little babies have these ridiculously large heads that are often bigger than the heads of their moms. It’s quite sad but the hospital is extraordinary. Its so nice because its donor funded so the treatment there is better than most hospitals here and then the families get spiritual counseling and support also which is awesome. Last week I was able to go into the OR to see a few surgeries where they drain the fluid from the heads, and that was cool. I worked with the phys ther and then spent time in the outpatient clinic too. Then most of the time I was in the ward just chatting with the mothers and helping them with their kids. These moms are so amazing because they are up against so much. Their babies require so much attn and help then on top of that they face so many challenges from their communities because of course when you have a baby with such an obvious disability you are ostracized and rejected so not only are most poor peasants but now shunned because they have these children. I cant imagine such a life. Then on top of that, most are younger girls who married and started having children young. Even today I went by the hospital after church and I was speaking to one of the moms. She’s 24 with 5 kids and was married with her first child by 15. Most of the mothers that ive met are younger and married with children and of course poor. Like I said, most of the day I just spend hanging with the moms. Of course most don’t speak English but its amazing how we’ve overcome that barrier. I’ve learned greetings in at least 6 languages this week just from speaking to them. Uganda is just ridiculous with how many tribes they have for such a small country and each tribe has a language so in the ward alone of maybe 50 beds there are at least 10 languages. This sucks for doctors and stuff to treat them because they don’t always speak their language but somehow they always manage and there’s always someone who speaks somewhat of the language. Some are even refugees from N. Uganda and Sudan and thankfully one knew English so I was able to speak to her for a while too. Their stories are always so crazy, you wouldn’t believe what they’ve been through. So all in all, I’ve been enjoying working at the hospital. The staff and doctors are so nice and welcoming I feel like I’ve know them for such a longer time. Right now I’m staying with one of the doctors and will be moving in with a family this week for another homestay. I’ve gotten comfy where I am now but I’m sure my new home will be good too so ill let ya know how that is.
Anyways, today I went to the local hospital after church with another doctor who lives next door. Of course this hospital was a world away from the hospital that ive been working at. Most hospitals here are government hospitals while CURE (the neurosurgery place) is private and donor funded. Good news is that medical care is free, bad news is that you have to pay for EVERYTHING other than medical services. This means that you have to provide your own gloves for the drs to use, bring your own medications, gauze, bandages, syringes, etc. so if you don’t have money to buy the things that they need 2 treat u, you aren’t treated. Its sad that so many die from treatable problems just because they may not have money to buy the surgical gloves so then the drs cannot operate on them. So is it truly free health care....
Anyhow, so today I saw 2 C-sections in like 1.5 hours. It was so cool because I had never seen much ob/ gyn and then of course there was no extra red tape crap like in the US. The drs did what they had to use using the very basics. The patient was gassed with ether 2 be put under, there weren’t enough gowns so not everyone could wear one and then everything was washable rather than disposable. But hey, you use what you have to get the job done and this was exactly what was done. Too ice the cake I was splashed with blood when the baby was pulled out and then when I went to CURE afterwards to visit and hang out, a baby peed on me. So all in all, it was a good day! Haha. to survive and enjoy being In a 3rd world country you must not mind “inconveniences”, getting dirty and doing things that ppl in the states would freak out about, like being splashed by blood from some woman’s uterus. Haha. I mean I figure she wasn’t HIV positive b/c the other drs weren’t freaking out about it and then he was splashed too and wasn’t buggin out so I followed suit.
I do things here that id never do in the states. Let’s see to just give you a brief picture…. so there’s the OR today, going home and staying with some guys (the dr) that I never met but have been totally amazing and welcoming that I feel like I’ve known them forever (and no worries they aren’t going to gang rape me!), and then there was the time that I went to the children’s home with the other random guys that I met at the slum outreach. I mean these are things that would lead me to a grave in the states but here its just a whole new world. Of course, I can’t be stupid about it and just go anywhere with anyone, yall raised me well enough to have common sense, but here having a rec about people from the right person usually means it’s pretty safe. So all in all, life is still great, im sad to think that ill be leaving to go next month but excited to see what else comes in the next 6 weeks and begin planning my trip to come back! :-)
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
street kids, the bush, Kenya
So contrary to our “culture shock” curve in our program handbook, I am increasingly loving things here. Sorry that it’s been a while since I’ve updated yall. Well in the last two weeks I have fallen in love with children at this home that I accidentally fell upon, hung out with kids In the slum that have fallen in love with me, gone to a ten hour give away ceremony and traditional dance show, hiked up waterfalls, been to the bush, and walked to Kenya (in short). Haha
So first the orphaned street children have become a part of me after I randomly fell upon them. Three weeks ago I was planning to go to my friend’s house for a sleepover but she got sick so that plan was scratched. So I was now looking for something to do because I didn’t want to go home so I was asking my other classmates if they knew of anything I could do. I wanted to go visit a children’s home but that plan hadn’t worked out either so I was really bummed that I went from a few plans to no plans. Well one of my classmates was going to a slum outreach so I was like I’ll go. We got there and it was pretty awesome. This slum is prob what you are imagining. A whole bunch of people piled on top of each other. The group I was doing works with the street children and does a medical outreach, and just hangs out with the children and feeds them a lil something. So I was just sitting there and then asked if I could help, before I know it this little one room shack in the slums has turned into a medical clinic. We are all bandaging and cleaning the wounds of these boys who live on the streets. They appear rough at first glance but they are the sweetest kids ever. Most were about 9-15 in age and it’s crazy of what they’ve been through (like everyone else here). So I hang out with them for a while and the other people nearby and before I know it, it was time to go. Well while I was there I met these older guys who were working with the kids too. They were telling me that they have a children’s home for former street kids and were asking when I would come and visit. Well what do you know, I had extra clothes from my sleepover plans and was looking for something to do….so after talking to these people for like 20 minutes I have plans to come and crash at their children’s home that night. Before going I was going with another friend to visit a little girl at the hospital that fell in a boiling pot of water and was severely burned on 80% of her body. Sadly, she did pass last week and I ended up seeing her just a few days before she died. Anyways, so I went to the hospital and ended up not even on my way to the home till around 830 pm. So now I’m going with these guys I’ve known for all of a day to a place I’ve never her of or know where it is and its dark. You’ve got to have faith of some type to survive in the 3rd world, by the way. Haha. I mean I wasn’t even nervous and totally felt comfortable. After a decent walk in the dark after the taxi got to the village, we finally arrived to the home. I go in and meet all these children who are all so sweet!! Then I see one of classmates in my program here at the home, and it turns out that she had been working with the children there. Small world after all! Anyways, so after gazillion introductions we go back to the girls quarters’ and they were all just so much fun. We sung and danced and I just had an amazing time with them! Then they have a dance, arts and crafts program there and the children perform to support their home so the next day they performed for me after our crack of dawn training. Oh yeah! So at 6 am they woke me up for “training”. One of the “uncles” (guys that work there) trains the kids in the acrobatics and such, so every sat morning they have this work out. At 6 am they had me running, flipping, doing capoera (Brazilian martial arts) and all sorts of random physical activity. I was just cracking up at the fact that I was up at 6 am, first of all, and then at all of the stuff that they had me doing. Later that day one of the uncles taught me how to make the jewelry and the wood carvings. By the way, the “uncles” who run the home are all former street children and they are all like 18-23. These young guys started the children’s home and last week I heard a similar story of former street boys starting a home in another area. They just blew my mind by the fact that they were so young and doing such big things like running a home of 50 kids who are all in school and all. There’s a woman who comes in and helps with the girls and cooking but she doesn’t live there. So I had an amazing time and ended up spending the whole weekend there and didn’t go home until that Sunday. Haha, oh yeah then between the slums and the children’s home, I was the first black American they all had met, so that was worthwhile in itself. The reactions I got were HILARIOUS to say the least. But I’m glad that I was able to be the first they met and they got to see that we are not what they know of us from tv (ie rappers, etc). Of course, some still just miss the idea that most black Americans have no idea what tribe they are from, let alone what country so they just kept pressing me for where I’m from further back. My default answer has become Liberia and then they can move on. Haha. One of the priceless reactions I got was from the bible school teacher in the slums who’s a lil older than me. She said, “you sound like them (pointing to my white friends who I went with) but you look like us…I’m confused”. After I explained what I was, she was so excited b/c she’s never met one before. I love it!! Not 2 sound conceited but I figure I’m a pretty good first black American for them to meet. Haha. It’s sad though that there only concept of the western world is white. One asked me why more of us don’t come back to Africa like I did and I honestly couldn’t think of an legit reason… :-(
Long story short, I ended up doing the same exact thing the next weekend! Once again it was a blast and it was even better to come back to the home now that the kids had gotten to know me. Now I wasn’t just another random visitor but I was now their friend/ sister. I was glad that I was able to gain their trust b/c of course they often get foreign visitors and stuff but they see these ppl once and never again. So I was glad that I was able to show them that I really do care for them by coming back. I’m already trying to figure out how I’ll be able to see them a few more times even though ill be on the other side of the country. When I returned home that weekend, I had a “give away” ceremony to attend with my family. Pretty much the ceremony was purposed to give the bride away to the groom’s family. There are so many ceremonies here for marrying. First they have the introduction ceremony (introduce the couple to everyone), then they give away then finally the wedding. Of course too, each one is a huge affair for those that can afford it and this family has some dough so they’ve pretty much been partying every weekend in hosting all of these ceremonies. So I wrapped my kitenge fabric in a fashionable way b/c my dress wasn’t made and surprisingly, I looked legit. My mom wrapped my hair and everyone thought I was West African b/c of the style I was rocking quite amazingly that day. But I must say I have found the source of CP time. Oh man, we used to complain about CP time, African time trumps that ten times!! So the ceremony was supposed to start at 1 pm, we got there at 3 pm and it didn’t start til 6 pm!! I was cool the first bit then they fed us so I was cool but after a while I was getting quite impatient. We were leaving for an excursion the next day so I knew I still had a paper to do and packing to do and here I was sitting here doing absolutely nothing waiting for these people to come. After a while, I got over myself and just took it all in the cultural experience. Once it finally started, it turned out to be so beautiful and cool to experience part of the traditional culture. I ended up being up quite late that night getting everything done afterwards but it was worth it.
So last week we went to the east for another excursion. It was an amazing time! I ended up finalizing my practicum plans and will be interning at a pediatric neurosurgery hospital. I’m so excited because it seems so awesome. Pretty much my project is to look into the treatment and rehab of the disabled children here so ill be working with this hospital that specializes in hydrocephalitis and other disorders. Then I’m planning to check out a home for disabled children too. So im pretty psyched to see how thing work here and then seeing the surgeries and stuff too. The hospital is Christian too so that was an extra plus. It was so funny how God works. I was waiting to meet with the exec dir of the place and the secretary I was waiting with was going to the staff bible study so told me to come. I wasn’t really wanting to go b/c I wanted to meet with the guy asap but I went. So I ended up meeting some staff and that was great b/c now ill know people when I go back next week and start. Then the exec dir is American and went to Penn so he knew about Villanova, which was freaking me out. All in all I fell in love there and so excited to go work there. ill be working with the neurosurgeons, therapists and spiritual team, getting to do a lil of everything. Yay!! Then the town ill be in is about 4 hours to the east of Kampala and about 1.5 hours from Kenya. It’s so beautiful there b/c there’s mountains and waterfalls and just a totally different scene than here. Then to make a long story shorter, after that we visited a huge children’s outreach center that’s down the road from the hospital and my friend will be interning there and most likely ill be there in all my extra time. I’m hoping to find a smaller home though in the area to live and work with so we’ll see how that works. I’m def not worried thought because God just keeps working in the most mysterious ways and I always end up in the right places.
Later on we went hiking up the mountains to the waterfalls and they were absolutely beautiful. Can you believe that im getting college credits for all this?!...neither can I!! haha. we stayed at this place for two nights that just looked out on the waterfalls and it was just amazing. No other way to describe it. Well to be honest the hike sucked because walking up mountains is just a beast of a workout and quite messy after you fall a couple times and get muddy but it was more than worth it. Then of course while we’re all huffing and puffing, the locals kids are running by us and the women are carrying their goods on their heads as they walk while we are practically dying. It was hilarious!
Then after just hanging out and doing lots of other fun and random stuff in this town, it was time for our time in the bush. We were paired off and were taken into the village and pretty much dropped off. Well of course we were briefed on it so we were pretty prepared. After what seemed like forever in the vans on our way there, we finally got to our place. It was now dark and of course there was no power so it sucked to arrive at night. We were greeted and taken inside. At our place the house we stayed in was brick but the other places on the property (the kitchen, boys’ quarter, and latrine) were all clay/ mud structures w/ grass thatched roofs. This was the real deal! So that night we ate dinner by lantern and we thought we were just eating cabbage and rice, turns out there was fish in the cabbage. Well I wasn’t a big fan of it, so my theory was eat and get it over with. Nope, that planned backfired! After I finished it they were dishing out more. I was thinking NOOOOOO!! Well I did manage to eat the second serving and then we just hung out with the family. The next morn we had planned to go see our siblings’ school b/c they invited us but we ended up walking the nearby hill/ mtn. it was sweet tho! We met a lot of ppl and most were related to us somehow. Our uncle had a watermelon farm, 4 wives and 30 kids. They all lived on the same compound too! It was actually a pretty decent set up. Then we met our grnadparents and they were all just so cute and happy to have us. Everywhere we went, we were fed so we were so stuffed. Our grandma (jjaja) fed us lunch, then we went home for our mom to feed us then we had tea and eats a couple hours later then they fed us a feast for dinner! It must’ve been a game for them to see how much we could eat. The food was so good though that made our arduous task a lil easier. Haha. oh yeah, I even ate white ants! At jjaja’s they had these huge white ants that they were all eating like candy and they offered us some of course. Well I figured I was in the bush, so I might as well go 4 the legit experience so I tried one. By the time I left I had eaten 10!! Go me!! they weren’t that bad, actually but the wings were annoying to eat. Haha. By the time we left 3 days later we had dug up a few sweet potatoes, planted cassava, seen baboons and cute lil monkeys :-), visited the school, been muslim for a day and went to the mosque 4 prayers, leanred out 2 make straw mats, climbed the mini mountain and tons of other random things. Oh yeah, and we were fed what seemed like every other hour. I fell in love with this family and felt closer to these people than my family that ive lived with for 5 weeks. They just welcomed us in, and it was so great. The bush wasn’t nearly as bad as I was expecting! I actually was sad to leave after our 3 days there. I’ve already promised to go back and visit them. The town is near where I’ll be for my practicum so it’s actually feasible. The kids were just so loveable and fun. Every night we would stay up dancing, singing and playing games. They would teach us their trad dances and games and the best I could come up with were teaching them the Macarena and swing dancing. Haha. Then of course all the cousins would come by too, which seemed like half the village, so there were like 20 kids just hanging out and laughing in this home. It was so much fun!! Oh yeah, then one night I even had us beat boxing about food in lugandan. HILARIOUS once again!! So we got there wed night and that sat morn it was time for us to go. Of course it was so sad to leave and they all walked us out and we had to go say good bye to EVERYONE b4 we left and it was so sweet! Then of course our mom fed us twice in like 3 hours so we left more than full.
Then the icing on this amazing cake of living with our amazing family in the village, seeing the baboons J and everything else, we walked to Kenya the next morning. After staying up dancing and having fun the night before we woke up at 6 am the next morn to go to Kenya. The town we were in was on the border so after walking for only like 20 minutes we were in Kenya!! Of course, it didn’t look any different but it was cool to now be able to say that I’ve been there!! We of course were walking through this swamp and stuff but hey I didn’t have to pay $50 for a visa 2 go 2 Kenya!! I wonder how far we could’ve walked and gone into Kenya before being stopped. Well I’m actually planning to find out. I’m planning to go to Kenya (illegally again…hehe) and ill see how much I can see there. Since I’m black anyways I shouldn’t have any issues. Haha. But I’ll let ya know how that goes! Well that’s the short of what I’ve been up to the last 2-3 weeks and that was quite a mouthful. So I know you’re tired of reading now so ill stop here. But stay tuned for more… love yall and miss ya!
So first the orphaned street children have become a part of me after I randomly fell upon them. Three weeks ago I was planning to go to my friend’s house for a sleepover but she got sick so that plan was scratched. So I was now looking for something to do because I didn’t want to go home so I was asking my other classmates if they knew of anything I could do. I wanted to go visit a children’s home but that plan hadn’t worked out either so I was really bummed that I went from a few plans to no plans. Well one of my classmates was going to a slum outreach so I was like I’ll go. We got there and it was pretty awesome. This slum is prob what you are imagining. A whole bunch of people piled on top of each other. The group I was doing works with the street children and does a medical outreach, and just hangs out with the children and feeds them a lil something. So I was just sitting there and then asked if I could help, before I know it this little one room shack in the slums has turned into a medical clinic. We are all bandaging and cleaning the wounds of these boys who live on the streets. They appear rough at first glance but they are the sweetest kids ever. Most were about 9-15 in age and it’s crazy of what they’ve been through (like everyone else here). So I hang out with them for a while and the other people nearby and before I know it, it was time to go. Well while I was there I met these older guys who were working with the kids too. They were telling me that they have a children’s home for former street kids and were asking when I would come and visit. Well what do you know, I had extra clothes from my sleepover plans and was looking for something to do….so after talking to these people for like 20 minutes I have plans to come and crash at their children’s home that night. Before going I was going with another friend to visit a little girl at the hospital that fell in a boiling pot of water and was severely burned on 80% of her body. Sadly, she did pass last week and I ended up seeing her just a few days before she died. Anyways, so I went to the hospital and ended up not even on my way to the home till around 830 pm. So now I’m going with these guys I’ve known for all of a day to a place I’ve never her of or know where it is and its dark. You’ve got to have faith of some type to survive in the 3rd world, by the way. Haha. I mean I wasn’t even nervous and totally felt comfortable. After a decent walk in the dark after the taxi got to the village, we finally arrived to the home. I go in and meet all these children who are all so sweet!! Then I see one of classmates in my program here at the home, and it turns out that she had been working with the children there. Small world after all! Anyways, so after gazillion introductions we go back to the girls quarters’ and they were all just so much fun. We sung and danced and I just had an amazing time with them! Then they have a dance, arts and crafts program there and the children perform to support their home so the next day they performed for me after our crack of dawn training. Oh yeah! So at 6 am they woke me up for “training”. One of the “uncles” (guys that work there) trains the kids in the acrobatics and such, so every sat morning they have this work out. At 6 am they had me running, flipping, doing capoera (Brazilian martial arts) and all sorts of random physical activity. I was just cracking up at the fact that I was up at 6 am, first of all, and then at all of the stuff that they had me doing. Later that day one of the uncles taught me how to make the jewelry and the wood carvings. By the way, the “uncles” who run the home are all former street children and they are all like 18-23. These young guys started the children’s home and last week I heard a similar story of former street boys starting a home in another area. They just blew my mind by the fact that they were so young and doing such big things like running a home of 50 kids who are all in school and all. There’s a woman who comes in and helps with the girls and cooking but she doesn’t live there. So I had an amazing time and ended up spending the whole weekend there and didn’t go home until that Sunday. Haha, oh yeah then between the slums and the children’s home, I was the first black American they all had met, so that was worthwhile in itself. The reactions I got were HILARIOUS to say the least. But I’m glad that I was able to be the first they met and they got to see that we are not what they know of us from tv (ie rappers, etc). Of course, some still just miss the idea that most black Americans have no idea what tribe they are from, let alone what country so they just kept pressing me for where I’m from further back. My default answer has become Liberia and then they can move on. Haha. One of the priceless reactions I got was from the bible school teacher in the slums who’s a lil older than me. She said, “you sound like them (pointing to my white friends who I went with) but you look like us…I’m confused”. After I explained what I was, she was so excited b/c she’s never met one before. I love it!! Not 2 sound conceited but I figure I’m a pretty good first black American for them to meet. Haha. It’s sad though that there only concept of the western world is white. One asked me why more of us don’t come back to Africa like I did and I honestly couldn’t think of an legit reason… :-(
Long story short, I ended up doing the same exact thing the next weekend! Once again it was a blast and it was even better to come back to the home now that the kids had gotten to know me. Now I wasn’t just another random visitor but I was now their friend/ sister. I was glad that I was able to gain their trust b/c of course they often get foreign visitors and stuff but they see these ppl once and never again. So I was glad that I was able to show them that I really do care for them by coming back. I’m already trying to figure out how I’ll be able to see them a few more times even though ill be on the other side of the country. When I returned home that weekend, I had a “give away” ceremony to attend with my family. Pretty much the ceremony was purposed to give the bride away to the groom’s family. There are so many ceremonies here for marrying. First they have the introduction ceremony (introduce the couple to everyone), then they give away then finally the wedding. Of course too, each one is a huge affair for those that can afford it and this family has some dough so they’ve pretty much been partying every weekend in hosting all of these ceremonies. So I wrapped my kitenge fabric in a fashionable way b/c my dress wasn’t made and surprisingly, I looked legit. My mom wrapped my hair and everyone thought I was West African b/c of the style I was rocking quite amazingly that day. But I must say I have found the source of CP time. Oh man, we used to complain about CP time, African time trumps that ten times!! So the ceremony was supposed to start at 1 pm, we got there at 3 pm and it didn’t start til 6 pm!! I was cool the first bit then they fed us so I was cool but after a while I was getting quite impatient. We were leaving for an excursion the next day so I knew I still had a paper to do and packing to do and here I was sitting here doing absolutely nothing waiting for these people to come. After a while, I got over myself and just took it all in the cultural experience. Once it finally started, it turned out to be so beautiful and cool to experience part of the traditional culture. I ended up being up quite late that night getting everything done afterwards but it was worth it.
So last week we went to the east for another excursion. It was an amazing time! I ended up finalizing my practicum plans and will be interning at a pediatric neurosurgery hospital. I’m so excited because it seems so awesome. Pretty much my project is to look into the treatment and rehab of the disabled children here so ill be working with this hospital that specializes in hydrocephalitis and other disorders. Then I’m planning to check out a home for disabled children too. So im pretty psyched to see how thing work here and then seeing the surgeries and stuff too. The hospital is Christian too so that was an extra plus. It was so funny how God works. I was waiting to meet with the exec dir of the place and the secretary I was waiting with was going to the staff bible study so told me to come. I wasn’t really wanting to go b/c I wanted to meet with the guy asap but I went. So I ended up meeting some staff and that was great b/c now ill know people when I go back next week and start. Then the exec dir is American and went to Penn so he knew about Villanova, which was freaking me out. All in all I fell in love there and so excited to go work there. ill be working with the neurosurgeons, therapists and spiritual team, getting to do a lil of everything. Yay!! Then the town ill be in is about 4 hours to the east of Kampala and about 1.5 hours from Kenya. It’s so beautiful there b/c there’s mountains and waterfalls and just a totally different scene than here. Then to make a long story shorter, after that we visited a huge children’s outreach center that’s down the road from the hospital and my friend will be interning there and most likely ill be there in all my extra time. I’m hoping to find a smaller home though in the area to live and work with so we’ll see how that works. I’m def not worried thought because God just keeps working in the most mysterious ways and I always end up in the right places.
Later on we went hiking up the mountains to the waterfalls and they were absolutely beautiful. Can you believe that im getting college credits for all this?!...neither can I!! haha. we stayed at this place for two nights that just looked out on the waterfalls and it was just amazing. No other way to describe it. Well to be honest the hike sucked because walking up mountains is just a beast of a workout and quite messy after you fall a couple times and get muddy but it was more than worth it. Then of course while we’re all huffing and puffing, the locals kids are running by us and the women are carrying their goods on their heads as they walk while we are practically dying. It was hilarious!
Then after just hanging out and doing lots of other fun and random stuff in this town, it was time for our time in the bush. We were paired off and were taken into the village and pretty much dropped off. Well of course we were briefed on it so we were pretty prepared. After what seemed like forever in the vans on our way there, we finally got to our place. It was now dark and of course there was no power so it sucked to arrive at night. We were greeted and taken inside. At our place the house we stayed in was brick but the other places on the property (the kitchen, boys’ quarter, and latrine) were all clay/ mud structures w/ grass thatched roofs. This was the real deal! So that night we ate dinner by lantern and we thought we were just eating cabbage and rice, turns out there was fish in the cabbage. Well I wasn’t a big fan of it, so my theory was eat and get it over with. Nope, that planned backfired! After I finished it they were dishing out more. I was thinking NOOOOOO!! Well I did manage to eat the second serving and then we just hung out with the family. The next morn we had planned to go see our siblings’ school b/c they invited us but we ended up walking the nearby hill/ mtn. it was sweet tho! We met a lot of ppl and most were related to us somehow. Our uncle had a watermelon farm, 4 wives and 30 kids. They all lived on the same compound too! It was actually a pretty decent set up. Then we met our grnadparents and they were all just so cute and happy to have us. Everywhere we went, we were fed so we were so stuffed. Our grandma (jjaja) fed us lunch, then we went home for our mom to feed us then we had tea and eats a couple hours later then they fed us a feast for dinner! It must’ve been a game for them to see how much we could eat. The food was so good though that made our arduous task a lil easier. Haha. oh yeah, I even ate white ants! At jjaja’s they had these huge white ants that they were all eating like candy and they offered us some of course. Well I figured I was in the bush, so I might as well go 4 the legit experience so I tried one. By the time I left I had eaten 10!! Go me!! they weren’t that bad, actually but the wings were annoying to eat. Haha. By the time we left 3 days later we had dug up a few sweet potatoes, planted cassava, seen baboons and cute lil monkeys :-), visited the school, been muslim for a day and went to the mosque 4 prayers, leanred out 2 make straw mats, climbed the mini mountain and tons of other random things. Oh yeah, and we were fed what seemed like every other hour. I fell in love with this family and felt closer to these people than my family that ive lived with for 5 weeks. They just welcomed us in, and it was so great. The bush wasn’t nearly as bad as I was expecting! I actually was sad to leave after our 3 days there. I’ve already promised to go back and visit them. The town is near where I’ll be for my practicum so it’s actually feasible. The kids were just so loveable and fun. Every night we would stay up dancing, singing and playing games. They would teach us their trad dances and games and the best I could come up with were teaching them the Macarena and swing dancing. Haha. Then of course all the cousins would come by too, which seemed like half the village, so there were like 20 kids just hanging out and laughing in this home. It was so much fun!! Oh yeah, then one night I even had us beat boxing about food in lugandan. HILARIOUS once again!! So we got there wed night and that sat morn it was time for us to go. Of course it was so sad to leave and they all walked us out and we had to go say good bye to EVERYONE b4 we left and it was so sweet! Then of course our mom fed us twice in like 3 hours so we left more than full.
Then the icing on this amazing cake of living with our amazing family in the village, seeing the baboons J and everything else, we walked to Kenya the next morning. After staying up dancing and having fun the night before we woke up at 6 am the next morn to go to Kenya. The town we were in was on the border so after walking for only like 20 minutes we were in Kenya!! Of course, it didn’t look any different but it was cool to now be able to say that I’ve been there!! We of course were walking through this swamp and stuff but hey I didn’t have to pay $50 for a visa 2 go 2 Kenya!! I wonder how far we could’ve walked and gone into Kenya before being stopped. Well I’m actually planning to find out. I’m planning to go to Kenya (illegally again…hehe) and ill see how much I can see there. Since I’m black anyways I shouldn’t have any issues. Haha. But I’ll let ya know how that goes! Well that’s the short of what I’ve been up to the last 2-3 weeks and that was quite a mouthful. So I know you’re tired of reading now so ill stop here. But stay tuned for more… love yall and miss ya!
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
America Day and Rwanda
Best day ever! So we had a self declared American day! Haha. Well today was Eid al Fitr, a Muslim holiday so everything was closed. By the way, it was funny to be a country for the first time that observed a Muslim holiday rather than the Judeo-Christian holidays. Anyways, so first of all it was an amazing commute to school considering that half the city was home so I made it class in record time. It was awesome! The city was so quiet and orderly that we didn’t know how to act. Sadly we still had class because none of are muslim but on a happy note it was just a half day. So after luganda class we were free. My friend wanted pizza and was just dying to have some so this lead to our American adventure. We went to this pizza place that was expensive by both American and Ugandan standards but we treated ourselves to some American food. Then to make it even better it was buy one get one free because Ramadan had ended so we got two pizzas which was icing on our cake! So we killed both pizzas and we were in heaven! It tasted just like home! This is quite impressive considering that most people in this country have never even had pizza let alone tasted cheese before. (side story: they were showing some people making pizza on tv and my family had no idea what it was or what the white stuff was that was dripping from it was…the cheese. Cheese is like a delicacy here. Haha). so we were so happy and our hope was renewed! Hahaha. For once we did not have matooke (the staple food here…mashed plantains that they eat with EVERY meal), or beans or some other starchy food ie posho (some kind of porridge-grits look alike made of flour and water) or rice.
But considering that the day was still quite young and the city was amazingly empty because of the holiday we decided to try and find the mall. A few years ago Uganda got their first indoor mall, which I believe is the only one in East Africa. Of course though its not a place the locals frequent considering the prices and status of the place. But of course, after our pizza we couldn’t stop there, so we started trying to find this place that we had heard so much about. We had no idea how to get there and no taxis were going there so we walked. After a bit we saw the heavenly entrance into our American oasis. We went in there and freaked out! It was hilarious!! You would’ve thought that we’d never seen a mall before the way we were acting. Of course I went tourist and whipped out the camera. This western oasis had toe be documented! So we went in and the first store we see is like our Target or something. We went in there and flipped out! They had everything that I ever dreamed of!! Haha. deli meats (compared to the pieces of meat that were alive 2 hours before hanging from doorways), a produce section (with lettuce that I haven’t seen since being here), bakery, bbq sauce (which I almost bought to hook up some meals I have at home), appliances (washers and big screen tvs that I miss especially on wkends) and everything else that we have at target. All of my cosmetics, toiletries, snacks and the store was bigger than my bedroom which is a first! Haha. so we’re frolicking up and down every aisle, amazed at every product. You woiuld never guess that we used o go to such places every week back home. They prob thought we were locals that had never made it out of the village and this was just the first store that we went in. so we worked our way through the whole mall. It was amazing. I actually forgot that I was in Uganda! This place has a movie theater (didn’t know any movies there but that’s okay) and my fave part was AlleyGators. This place was like Dave and Busters and more. They have a bowling alley, arcade, ice skating rink (of some ice wanna be that isn’t even cold…haha), and my favorite….karaoke!! I fell in love instantly! But we were just scouting out so we didn’t spend too much time there but I will be going back!! It was funny to be around so many whites and non-Ugandans again. I never see them around town but its like they are all hiding there. For once we didn’t try to cover up our American accents and just frolicked around. It was like a reunion of all the non-Ugandans!! By the time we finally left I had legit forgotten what country I was in, until we walked out and my friend was like “back to reality”. But at this point we were on cloud 9 until we had to get back into Ugandan mode after a taxi almost hit us. Yup, back to reality! Haha. but we prob won’t go too often because we are in Uganda after all but it is our “happy place.” The actual shops at the mall weren’t even all that amazing but just because they were here made them extraordinary!! Go America day!
Oh yeah, so back to last week. Since last week I’ve been to western Uganda and Rwanda. It was so beautiful! The ride, of course, felt like forever, but it was at least a scenic ride! We passed through these small towns that looked they were straight out of a western movie, and then there was the countryside which was just beautiful. It would be hilarious when we drove through these small towns because all the people especially the children would scream and wave to us. Of course this wasn’t for me but for the 25 other whites that they see once a year and are amazed with. Haha. so its like we are in a parade as we just wave to all these kids. At one point, we had gone to visit a Millennium Village Project and traditional medicine village and when we left the kids prob at least a mile behind our vans just waving and screaming to us. It was hilarious! I honestly don’t know how they ran like that! It was just like a scene from a movie as hoards of children just ran behind our vans and they just kept appearing. We were local celebs! I was just exploiting the poor things and taking pics and dying laughing! Haha. I could tell so many stories on all of the random moments of the road trip but im sure you don’t wanna read all that. So moving on, finally we arrived in Rwanda. It was a whole new world! There were WORKING flash lights, people driving like humans, medians, landscaping, it was just beautiful and so much more developed. Considering their recent history, I couldn’t believe how nice it was! But that next day once again reality struck.
We went to the Genocide memorial and of course it was so somber. As beautiful as the country was, there was still large “creep” factor to it. Every place I saw I also visualized slaughtered Tutsis strewn across and every person I saw that was over 20 years of age I knew had somehow been involved or directly affected by the genocide. The first memorial site we went to was a mass burial as well as an amazing museum. It told the history of the genocide, the key players (both good and bad), the victims, and of the other genocides that have happened. I didn’t even realize that so many genocides had taken place. The ones that always come to mind are the Holocaust and Rwanda which leave out many others like Armenia, Cambodia, the Balkans (which just happened) and so many others that just don’t make headlines. It was sad and shocking reality to see that as much as the global community vows to not let such a thing happen again, we keep turning our eyes when one occurs (ie Darfur and Burma now). Arggh, it is so frustrating. We saw all of this and were so sad that such a thing even happened and lasted so long and yet feel so hopeless about stopping those that are in progress now.
So after this site we had an even crazier experience. We went to the prison where many genocide killers (both men and women) were jailed. Oh my gosh, boy oh boy did I have to think of the parables that Jesus told as we spoke to these killers. I wanted to just kill them myself for all they did and yet wore all my Christian paraphernalia reminding of the life that ive committed to living. But it was hard to think that these people were seeking forgiveness. They told us their stories and how they were involved and it was hard to even place an emotion with the event. There was sadness 4 all the victims, anger at these murderers, remorse from them, guilt that the western world and other countries let it happen and just tons of questions. The people looked so human once again and even admitted themselves that they had just been brainwashed and were in an animalistic mindset. But I still cant fathom how they did such things. It wasn’t just that they killed but they did their best to make sure the people didn’t have an easy death and for the few survivors made sure that their future wouldn’t be much better. So they are apologizing and talking about how they are sorry for what they did, etc but it was just crazy! Then even when they finished talking I couldn’t clap for them. it was like I wanted to out of habit but my mind was just In recess. So finally our time with them was up and it got even more challenging. They asked to take a picture with us. I guess it’s part of their rehab and reconciliation efforts or whatever but it was just like who wants to have a picture with these people. like that’s a pic that im dying to put on facebook…ill just tag them “spawns of Satan that killed every person that wasn’t killing alongside them”. so when moving for cameras we remembered that we had left our cameras at security…yay!...avoided that awkward situation. Not!! All of a sudden, a few people pull out cameras and say they didn’t have to turn theirs in. so now here we are, the American students and the genocide killers who are seeking forgiveness and want our “approval” of their remorse. So we gather with them and pose. But I def forgot who I was taking pix with. I was in the front row of the pic with some friends just cheesing away. I totally forgot who was in the picture and just smiled out of habit. So here I am on the front row with this big and pretty smile and yet a few people being me are serial killers. It was so troubling when it was over. Once reality snapped back, I was like “what just happened”, did we really just take a pic with them, and did I really just smile like it was all good?! Arggh!! It was so troubling! I felt so guilty and yet felt like I should be okay with forgiving them but just couldn’t and they didn’t even do anything that affected me or my family. Then I thought I was troubled, Come to find out others faced even bigger dilemmas. One lady asked one of my friends to be her pen pal and wanted to write her, another wanted to take a personal “happy go lucky pic” with one of us, another just wanted to chat. In one sense they were nice people, I mean if I didn’t know their stories, it would’ve been totally fine but of course we were all so jaded! Finally we left and we all questioned everything about our day. At lunch I found out that our translators that are college students and our age had even bigger problems.
One of them, Pearl, which is just an amazing person, was affected more than we guessed. Her dad had been killed in the genocide and here she is translating for the people that killed her dad. She said it was hard for her but while she was there, I would’ve never guessed b/c she kept it so together! So then after lunch we went to a church. This church had been a sanctuary for many Tutsis fleeing the rebels. In the previous genocide attempts the churches were respected by the killers and those that took refuge there were safe but we all that didn’t happen this past time. So this church is more than a church but also a mass grave. 10,000 people has sought refuge here and then on a fateful day in April evil struck the hearts of the hutus and they wiped out the church. 3/10000 survived. So we walk in this church and its just heavy with emotion. They left the clothes of the victims all over the church and at first glance it looked like people were inside. So we walk in and I can’t even cry. Others are tearing up by I was just in shock that I was just emotionless. So we walk around and look around the church. There’s a blood stained cloth on the altar with a blood splattered Mary. We walked down these stairs to find the first and smallest mass grave. There are skulls, bones a casket and some of the belongings of the victims. Then I go outside to walk around and it def was no better. So our translator was outside with my friend, who was crying and when she saw me coming she grabbed me to show me something. So we go to this opening in the ground and it was mass grave. I go in and it’s a large room that’s about 13 feet tall and really long. It’s just piles and piles of bones. All the skulls were in a section, all the leg bones, etc. it was surreal. There was a narrow walkway and other than everything thing was reminiscent of death. To see all the clothes was one thing but then to see all these bones was another. I was able disconnect it a little up until this point but now it was all just there. Once again, I was just emotionless. I wanted to cry because I felt like that was the only appropriate emotion but I couldn’t. I was just there. Everyone around me was tearing up but it just wasn’t happening for me. oh yeah, and remember the translator, Amanda who took me to the grave, the first thing she says when I see it is “my parents are here” but she said it with a surprising cheerfulness. Like I thought she’d be the one bawling her eyes out but she totally was the pillar. So considering her circumstance, I def couldn’t cry especially since she wasn’t crying. But it was so surreal too. While standing outside the grave, you just hear the voices of nearby children. There was a school up the road so while we were surrounded by death you hear the sounds like life. You heard laughter and children playing and it was just like out of the closing scene of a movie…life went on.
On a lighter note, like I said before the city of Kigali is really developed. I guess to try and not erase the past but make it more bearable, a lot has changed. The slums and poor areas are still crappy but the town center is pretty impressive. I even saw a lawn mower but of course it was at the US embassy, so don’t know how much that counts. But sadly we left the next day so many of my questions on life in Rwanda were left unanswered. I would’ve loved to just meet people and hear their stories. Its so crazy to think that unlike the other mass killings that we’ve learned about in school, this one was nationwide and affected every area across the country. Not just a massacre in a village or a killing in town, but this plague of death hit every household as neighbors and friends turned on each other. Its amazing though how they are trying to make amends. They have the Gacaca courts (go look it up if you don’t know what im talking about). But for the most part it allows the killers to come forward out of their niches n society, where they’ve been going unnoticed, and apologize to their victim’s family and attempt to reconcile. And believe it or not, there’s no death penalty there either so they are really making an effort to end the cycle of killing while still trying to enforce justice.
But okay on a happier note, my little brother did go off to school and the dad never did ask me about money again so its been cool. I really like the family and im getting to know and more of them as they come by and visit. I don’t know about leaving this area now because im going to miss everyone in the neighborhood and my family. If I leave in two weeks and go else where for my practicum I will not see them again til the day before I leave. So I don’t know now…
Anyways for a good laugh…so my family has unwanted pets if you catch my drift. So once we all leave the kitchen mickey and his family come out for their feast, so ive learned to not go in the kitchen after its been empty for a while. This strategy allows us to peacefully coexist. Well now that my “sister” is gone I have to prepare my own bath water. But to get the hot water for my basin bath (haha) I have to go in the kitchen to get my water off the charcoal stove. Well the last two nights, ive attempted to boycott my bath because I was scared to go in the kitchen because our bold pets don’t make a silent exit but make it apparent that they were there. So last night I just took a cold wash off, not even bath b/c I was not going in that kitchen and to top it off I saw a cockroach which is my other archnemesus so i was just too through. Then tonight I went in the kitchen preparing to be bold and make noise to scare them off but they were not checking and moved too slow for me so I was like forget it, another cold wash off tonight. But then thankfully I conned my “mom” into going into the kitchen so she did the leg work for me which of course doesn’t even phase them. my cousin was like “just go in there, theyre not going to eat you”, which of course was true but didn’t help much at the time. Haha.
Then my lil bro who’s a lil over one year is all over the place. But here diapers are heavy duty and washable and just used on outings so in my house the baby runs around free as he wants. So when he has to pee, he just does. The first time I saw him peeing, he just stood there and pee’d. Then to make it worse, my fam just laughed it off and there was no concept or effort made to disinfect and clean. They threw a rag on the floor and that was the end. Then today he peed on the carpet so the carpet did all the absorbing, eliminating the need for a rag, so that was the end of that problem. So I have this lil one year old (who happens to be so cute I must say) peeing all over the house and leaving a wonderful scent everywhere he marks his territory. On a better note, he doesn’t pee on people, so we are still on cool terms., long as he doesn’t pee on the floor in my room. Haha
Last thing, I promise, so on Sunday more fam came by the house and after they find out im black American their next question is always where did my fam come from b4 slavery. Of course, I have no idea which boggles their mind of how I don’t know where Im from. So lately for simplicity, I just say im distantly from Liberia. Its worked so well and eliminates the extra drama. Well my story is actually that im Liberian but been raised in the USA. So once they don’t think im American I don’t have to worry as much as them asking me for helping them to achieve their American dreams. So its been cool. But of course, I only use this line outside my house b/c my homestay fam knows the truth. So they were trying to “help” me trace my roots and FYI according to them I look like I could be from the Bantu tribe of East Africa and according to my friend in Rwanda I look like I could be from Ghana. So with all that being said, I guess the great mystery has been solved family. Take your pick of which you want to be of Ghanaian or bantu ancestry. Hahaha. Take that Oprah!... no need to pay all that money to have ur DNA sequenced, just move to Africa and let the locals do all the work for free! hahahahahaha
By the way, so sorry if youve tried to call me. My phone and i have technical difficulties at times so plz try again if u miss me the first time. :-)
But considering that the day was still quite young and the city was amazingly empty because of the holiday we decided to try and find the mall. A few years ago Uganda got their first indoor mall, which I believe is the only one in East Africa. Of course though its not a place the locals frequent considering the prices and status of the place. But of course, after our pizza we couldn’t stop there, so we started trying to find this place that we had heard so much about. We had no idea how to get there and no taxis were going there so we walked. After a bit we saw the heavenly entrance into our American oasis. We went in there and freaked out! It was hilarious!! You would’ve thought that we’d never seen a mall before the way we were acting. Of course I went tourist and whipped out the camera. This western oasis had toe be documented! So we went in and the first store we see is like our Target or something. We went in there and flipped out! They had everything that I ever dreamed of!! Haha. deli meats (compared to the pieces of meat that were alive 2 hours before hanging from doorways), a produce section (with lettuce that I haven’t seen since being here), bakery, bbq sauce (which I almost bought to hook up some meals I have at home), appliances (washers and big screen tvs that I miss especially on wkends) and everything else that we have at target. All of my cosmetics, toiletries, snacks and the store was bigger than my bedroom which is a first! Haha. so we’re frolicking up and down every aisle, amazed at every product. You woiuld never guess that we used o go to such places every week back home. They prob thought we were locals that had never made it out of the village and this was just the first store that we went in. so we worked our way through the whole mall. It was amazing. I actually forgot that I was in Uganda! This place has a movie theater (didn’t know any movies there but that’s okay) and my fave part was AlleyGators. This place was like Dave and Busters and more. They have a bowling alley, arcade, ice skating rink (of some ice wanna be that isn’t even cold…haha), and my favorite….karaoke!! I fell in love instantly! But we were just scouting out so we didn’t spend too much time there but I will be going back!! It was funny to be around so many whites and non-Ugandans again. I never see them around town but its like they are all hiding there. For once we didn’t try to cover up our American accents and just frolicked around. It was like a reunion of all the non-Ugandans!! By the time we finally left I had legit forgotten what country I was in, until we walked out and my friend was like “back to reality”. But at this point we were on cloud 9 until we had to get back into Ugandan mode after a taxi almost hit us. Yup, back to reality! Haha. but we prob won’t go too often because we are in Uganda after all but it is our “happy place.” The actual shops at the mall weren’t even all that amazing but just because they were here made them extraordinary!! Go America day!
Oh yeah, so back to last week. Since last week I’ve been to western Uganda and Rwanda. It was so beautiful! The ride, of course, felt like forever, but it was at least a scenic ride! We passed through these small towns that looked they were straight out of a western movie, and then there was the countryside which was just beautiful. It would be hilarious when we drove through these small towns because all the people especially the children would scream and wave to us. Of course this wasn’t for me but for the 25 other whites that they see once a year and are amazed with. Haha. so its like we are in a parade as we just wave to all these kids. At one point, we had gone to visit a Millennium Village Project and traditional medicine village and when we left the kids prob at least a mile behind our vans just waving and screaming to us. It was hilarious! I honestly don’t know how they ran like that! It was just like a scene from a movie as hoards of children just ran behind our vans and they just kept appearing. We were local celebs! I was just exploiting the poor things and taking pics and dying laughing! Haha. I could tell so many stories on all of the random moments of the road trip but im sure you don’t wanna read all that. So moving on, finally we arrived in Rwanda. It was a whole new world! There were WORKING flash lights, people driving like humans, medians, landscaping, it was just beautiful and so much more developed. Considering their recent history, I couldn’t believe how nice it was! But that next day once again reality struck.
We went to the Genocide memorial and of course it was so somber. As beautiful as the country was, there was still large “creep” factor to it. Every place I saw I also visualized slaughtered Tutsis strewn across and every person I saw that was over 20 years of age I knew had somehow been involved or directly affected by the genocide. The first memorial site we went to was a mass burial as well as an amazing museum. It told the history of the genocide, the key players (both good and bad), the victims, and of the other genocides that have happened. I didn’t even realize that so many genocides had taken place. The ones that always come to mind are the Holocaust and Rwanda which leave out many others like Armenia, Cambodia, the Balkans (which just happened) and so many others that just don’t make headlines. It was sad and shocking reality to see that as much as the global community vows to not let such a thing happen again, we keep turning our eyes when one occurs (ie Darfur and Burma now). Arggh, it is so frustrating. We saw all of this and were so sad that such a thing even happened and lasted so long and yet feel so hopeless about stopping those that are in progress now.
So after this site we had an even crazier experience. We went to the prison where many genocide killers (both men and women) were jailed. Oh my gosh, boy oh boy did I have to think of the parables that Jesus told as we spoke to these killers. I wanted to just kill them myself for all they did and yet wore all my Christian paraphernalia reminding of the life that ive committed to living. But it was hard to think that these people were seeking forgiveness. They told us their stories and how they were involved and it was hard to even place an emotion with the event. There was sadness 4 all the victims, anger at these murderers, remorse from them, guilt that the western world and other countries let it happen and just tons of questions. The people looked so human once again and even admitted themselves that they had just been brainwashed and were in an animalistic mindset. But I still cant fathom how they did such things. It wasn’t just that they killed but they did their best to make sure the people didn’t have an easy death and for the few survivors made sure that their future wouldn’t be much better. So they are apologizing and talking about how they are sorry for what they did, etc but it was just crazy! Then even when they finished talking I couldn’t clap for them. it was like I wanted to out of habit but my mind was just In recess. So finally our time with them was up and it got even more challenging. They asked to take a picture with us. I guess it’s part of their rehab and reconciliation efforts or whatever but it was just like who wants to have a picture with these people. like that’s a pic that im dying to put on facebook…ill just tag them “spawns of Satan that killed every person that wasn’t killing alongside them”. so when moving for cameras we remembered that we had left our cameras at security…yay!...avoided that awkward situation. Not!! All of a sudden, a few people pull out cameras and say they didn’t have to turn theirs in. so now here we are, the American students and the genocide killers who are seeking forgiveness and want our “approval” of their remorse. So we gather with them and pose. But I def forgot who I was taking pix with. I was in the front row of the pic with some friends just cheesing away. I totally forgot who was in the picture and just smiled out of habit. So here I am on the front row with this big and pretty smile and yet a few people being me are serial killers. It was so troubling when it was over. Once reality snapped back, I was like “what just happened”, did we really just take a pic with them, and did I really just smile like it was all good?! Arggh!! It was so troubling! I felt so guilty and yet felt like I should be okay with forgiving them but just couldn’t and they didn’t even do anything that affected me or my family. Then I thought I was troubled, Come to find out others faced even bigger dilemmas. One lady asked one of my friends to be her pen pal and wanted to write her, another wanted to take a personal “happy go lucky pic” with one of us, another just wanted to chat. In one sense they were nice people, I mean if I didn’t know their stories, it would’ve been totally fine but of course we were all so jaded! Finally we left and we all questioned everything about our day. At lunch I found out that our translators that are college students and our age had even bigger problems.
One of them, Pearl, which is just an amazing person, was affected more than we guessed. Her dad had been killed in the genocide and here she is translating for the people that killed her dad. She said it was hard for her but while she was there, I would’ve never guessed b/c she kept it so together! So then after lunch we went to a church. This church had been a sanctuary for many Tutsis fleeing the rebels. In the previous genocide attempts the churches were respected by the killers and those that took refuge there were safe but we all that didn’t happen this past time. So this church is more than a church but also a mass grave. 10,000 people has sought refuge here and then on a fateful day in April evil struck the hearts of the hutus and they wiped out the church. 3/10000 survived. So we walk in this church and its just heavy with emotion. They left the clothes of the victims all over the church and at first glance it looked like people were inside. So we walk in and I can’t even cry. Others are tearing up by I was just in shock that I was just emotionless. So we walk around and look around the church. There’s a blood stained cloth on the altar with a blood splattered Mary. We walked down these stairs to find the first and smallest mass grave. There are skulls, bones a casket and some of the belongings of the victims. Then I go outside to walk around and it def was no better. So our translator was outside with my friend, who was crying and when she saw me coming she grabbed me to show me something. So we go to this opening in the ground and it was mass grave. I go in and it’s a large room that’s about 13 feet tall and really long. It’s just piles and piles of bones. All the skulls were in a section, all the leg bones, etc. it was surreal. There was a narrow walkway and other than everything thing was reminiscent of death. To see all the clothes was one thing but then to see all these bones was another. I was able disconnect it a little up until this point but now it was all just there. Once again, I was just emotionless. I wanted to cry because I felt like that was the only appropriate emotion but I couldn’t. I was just there. Everyone around me was tearing up but it just wasn’t happening for me. oh yeah, and remember the translator, Amanda who took me to the grave, the first thing she says when I see it is “my parents are here” but she said it with a surprising cheerfulness. Like I thought she’d be the one bawling her eyes out but she totally was the pillar. So considering her circumstance, I def couldn’t cry especially since she wasn’t crying. But it was so surreal too. While standing outside the grave, you just hear the voices of nearby children. There was a school up the road so while we were surrounded by death you hear the sounds like life. You heard laughter and children playing and it was just like out of the closing scene of a movie…life went on.
On a lighter note, like I said before the city of Kigali is really developed. I guess to try and not erase the past but make it more bearable, a lot has changed. The slums and poor areas are still crappy but the town center is pretty impressive. I even saw a lawn mower but of course it was at the US embassy, so don’t know how much that counts. But sadly we left the next day so many of my questions on life in Rwanda were left unanswered. I would’ve loved to just meet people and hear their stories. Its so crazy to think that unlike the other mass killings that we’ve learned about in school, this one was nationwide and affected every area across the country. Not just a massacre in a village or a killing in town, but this plague of death hit every household as neighbors and friends turned on each other. Its amazing though how they are trying to make amends. They have the Gacaca courts (go look it up if you don’t know what im talking about). But for the most part it allows the killers to come forward out of their niches n society, where they’ve been going unnoticed, and apologize to their victim’s family and attempt to reconcile. And believe it or not, there’s no death penalty there either so they are really making an effort to end the cycle of killing while still trying to enforce justice.
But okay on a happier note, my little brother did go off to school and the dad never did ask me about money again so its been cool. I really like the family and im getting to know and more of them as they come by and visit. I don’t know about leaving this area now because im going to miss everyone in the neighborhood and my family. If I leave in two weeks and go else where for my practicum I will not see them again til the day before I leave. So I don’t know now…
Anyways for a good laugh…so my family has unwanted pets if you catch my drift. So once we all leave the kitchen mickey and his family come out for their feast, so ive learned to not go in the kitchen after its been empty for a while. This strategy allows us to peacefully coexist. Well now that my “sister” is gone I have to prepare my own bath water. But to get the hot water for my basin bath (haha) I have to go in the kitchen to get my water off the charcoal stove. Well the last two nights, ive attempted to boycott my bath because I was scared to go in the kitchen because our bold pets don’t make a silent exit but make it apparent that they were there. So last night I just took a cold wash off, not even bath b/c I was not going in that kitchen and to top it off I saw a cockroach which is my other archnemesus so i was just too through. Then tonight I went in the kitchen preparing to be bold and make noise to scare them off but they were not checking and moved too slow for me so I was like forget it, another cold wash off tonight. But then thankfully I conned my “mom” into going into the kitchen so she did the leg work for me which of course doesn’t even phase them. my cousin was like “just go in there, theyre not going to eat you”, which of course was true but didn’t help much at the time. Haha.
Then my lil bro who’s a lil over one year is all over the place. But here diapers are heavy duty and washable and just used on outings so in my house the baby runs around free as he wants. So when he has to pee, he just does. The first time I saw him peeing, he just stood there and pee’d. Then to make it worse, my fam just laughed it off and there was no concept or effort made to disinfect and clean. They threw a rag on the floor and that was the end. Then today he peed on the carpet so the carpet did all the absorbing, eliminating the need for a rag, so that was the end of that problem. So I have this lil one year old (who happens to be so cute I must say) peeing all over the house and leaving a wonderful scent everywhere he marks his territory. On a better note, he doesn’t pee on people, so we are still on cool terms., long as he doesn’t pee on the floor in my room. Haha
Last thing, I promise, so on Sunday more fam came by the house and after they find out im black American their next question is always where did my fam come from b4 slavery. Of course, I have no idea which boggles their mind of how I don’t know where Im from. So lately for simplicity, I just say im distantly from Liberia. Its worked so well and eliminates the extra drama. Well my story is actually that im Liberian but been raised in the USA. So once they don’t think im American I don’t have to worry as much as them asking me for helping them to achieve their American dreams. So its been cool. But of course, I only use this line outside my house b/c my homestay fam knows the truth. So they were trying to “help” me trace my roots and FYI according to them I look like I could be from the Bantu tribe of East Africa and according to my friend in Rwanda I look like I could be from Ghana. So with all that being said, I guess the great mystery has been solved family. Take your pick of which you want to be of Ghanaian or bantu ancestry. Hahaha. Take that Oprah!... no need to pay all that money to have ur DNA sequenced, just move to Africa and let the locals do all the work for free! hahahahahaha
By the way, so sorry if youve tried to call me. My phone and i have technical difficulties at times so plz try again if u miss me the first time. :-)
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
20 yeras old now!! 3 weeks here and still alive!! :-)
Yay, no mud falls since!! Haha. Well first, thanks to everyone for the birthday greetings!! My bday here was great. My homestay siblings were so cute and woke up to throw confetti (that the made haha) on me then before I went to school the parents sung happy birthday to me. At school, I heard Amazalibwa Amalungi (happy bday) I couple more times, had cake in class and after class stayed in town to go out with friends that night. Overall, it was a great bday!!
Saturday we went to Baha’i temple which turned out to be walking distance from my house. It was pretty awesome if not just for the fact that there’s only one on every continent so to think the one in Africa is 20 minutes away was pretty awesome. That afternoon I tacked the daunting task of laundry. Oh my gosh, it was an afternoon affair. First of all, 4 whatever reason my fam doesn’t use detergent which left me with a bar of soap to wash clothes. I was hoping they’d wash for me, as I heard may be a possibility from other students but instead they gave me a bucket and stool. Haha! I did finally finish washing sometime later but my new plan is to wash every couple days to avoid doing that much hand washing ever again. I guess it’s no big deal to them to wash all day because they have nothing else to do, but goodness gracious that was something that I have no desire to do again. I know that it constituted as a work out!
Anyways, Sunday evening after hanging out with fam and friends around, I decided that I wanted to make an American dish for them especially before the other sister left for school the next day. So we went to the local supermarket and I had all these ideas of what I’d make. Spaghetti was at the top of the list but the store had no sauce, then it was mac n cheese but this country just isn’t big on chz so couldn’t find that either, then there was always the option of baking something but then there wasn’t an oven I could use. Haha. So yeah, by the end of it I decided on pancakes, banana pancakes. But here’s the catch…So we all know, that the kitchen is not a place that I’ve spent much time. Let alone to make any food from scratch. The little cooking I do at home involves ingredients that either come in a box or simply using an oven. So now I’m trying to guess how to make these pancakes, and of course have no recipe, measuring cup and just guessed which ingredients would make good pancakes. Well evidently I did learn a lil cooking skills somewhere along the ling because they turned out pretty good. Of course making pancakes on one little charcoal stove took FOREVER but it was a good experience. Now I see why we don’t eat dinner until 10 pm every night. Everything takes twice as long here. The pan would either be too hot so we’d put ash on it to cool it down but then itd be too cool and the pancakes wouldn’t cook. It was just too funny. To say the least had a few that were a lil overcooked but it was all good. Then after I finally mastered the heat part the next challenge was flipping them. Now I’m used to working with spatulas but of course all we had were forks. Surprisingly though only one fell!! J It was all just too funny! They did enjoy them though so it was all worth it!
Oh yeah, being black with braids in Uganda allows me to blend in quite well. Today someone even asked which tribe I was! Sometimes I enjoy blending in because its just less drama but then other times I’m a little jealous of my white classmates. Haha. They get to meet so many random people just because people approach them out of curiosity but I just blend in and no one has a clue that im a foreigner til I talk. People will speak to me in lugandan sometimes or if they come by the house they will just think im a cousin. Haha, but my classmates will tell their fams about us just nonchalantly and their families are so excited to meet black Americans! So apparently we’re a hot commodity here once we’re discovered! Its all just hilarious!!
But the sucky side to be American here is the constant request for money and sponsorships. Last week my homestay dad asked me for a loan to pay the kids’ school fees and it just put me in an awkward situation. Of course, I don’t have the money to loan (which I’d never see again) him but it was just that I felt compelled to do something and felt guilty. I’m sure this will happen ten thousand more times while im here but for it to happen right in my home was surprising considering that my fam has hosted 9 other students and knows the deal. But to say the least, if you know anyone who’d want to sponsor a child in Africa, no need to wait for the tv commercials. Feel free to let me know and we can work something out. Guess this is the non glorious side about being here… somehow you have to develop a balance being charitable and desensitizing yourself. How much help to offer and when, has been the issue but thankfully I’m here with 26 other students so we all are going through it together. Then our advisors and teachers, who are all locals, are awesome so we get great advisements but still it’s just a sucky position to be put it. The little babies that are just sitting on the sidewalk (by the way I have yet 2 fig out where they come from and go, being so young) holding their hands out, or the kids that follow you and tug at you and you want to give them something but at the same time cant. Arggh! But that’s why I’m here studying development studies, to find out how to improve and under this problem from the bottom up… however to not end on a sad note, I saw monkeys yesterday on my way home. Well I think they were monkeys at least. My lil brother had no idea what I was talking about, but I know I saw monkeys which made my day! :-) By the way, there probably won’t be any updates until next week because we will heading to Rwanda this weekend!! Yay!! So keep me in your prayers and check back sometime around the end of next week for more amazing stories!! :-)
Saturday we went to Baha’i temple which turned out to be walking distance from my house. It was pretty awesome if not just for the fact that there’s only one on every continent so to think the one in Africa is 20 minutes away was pretty awesome. That afternoon I tacked the daunting task of laundry. Oh my gosh, it was an afternoon affair. First of all, 4 whatever reason my fam doesn’t use detergent which left me with a bar of soap to wash clothes. I was hoping they’d wash for me, as I heard may be a possibility from other students but instead they gave me a bucket and stool. Haha! I did finally finish washing sometime later but my new plan is to wash every couple days to avoid doing that much hand washing ever again. I guess it’s no big deal to them to wash all day because they have nothing else to do, but goodness gracious that was something that I have no desire to do again. I know that it constituted as a work out!
Anyways, Sunday evening after hanging out with fam and friends around, I decided that I wanted to make an American dish for them especially before the other sister left for school the next day. So we went to the local supermarket and I had all these ideas of what I’d make. Spaghetti was at the top of the list but the store had no sauce, then it was mac n cheese but this country just isn’t big on chz so couldn’t find that either, then there was always the option of baking something but then there wasn’t an oven I could use. Haha. So yeah, by the end of it I decided on pancakes, banana pancakes. But here’s the catch…So we all know, that the kitchen is not a place that I’ve spent much time. Let alone to make any food from scratch. The little cooking I do at home involves ingredients that either come in a box or simply using an oven. So now I’m trying to guess how to make these pancakes, and of course have no recipe, measuring cup and just guessed which ingredients would make good pancakes. Well evidently I did learn a lil cooking skills somewhere along the ling because they turned out pretty good. Of course making pancakes on one little charcoal stove took FOREVER but it was a good experience. Now I see why we don’t eat dinner until 10 pm every night. Everything takes twice as long here. The pan would either be too hot so we’d put ash on it to cool it down but then itd be too cool and the pancakes wouldn’t cook. It was just too funny. To say the least had a few that were a lil overcooked but it was all good. Then after I finally mastered the heat part the next challenge was flipping them. Now I’m used to working with spatulas but of course all we had were forks. Surprisingly though only one fell!! J It was all just too funny! They did enjoy them though so it was all worth it!
Oh yeah, being black with braids in Uganda allows me to blend in quite well. Today someone even asked which tribe I was! Sometimes I enjoy blending in because its just less drama but then other times I’m a little jealous of my white classmates. Haha. They get to meet so many random people just because people approach them out of curiosity but I just blend in and no one has a clue that im a foreigner til I talk. People will speak to me in lugandan sometimes or if they come by the house they will just think im a cousin. Haha, but my classmates will tell their fams about us just nonchalantly and their families are so excited to meet black Americans! So apparently we’re a hot commodity here once we’re discovered! Its all just hilarious!!
But the sucky side to be American here is the constant request for money and sponsorships. Last week my homestay dad asked me for a loan to pay the kids’ school fees and it just put me in an awkward situation. Of course, I don’t have the money to loan (which I’d never see again) him but it was just that I felt compelled to do something and felt guilty. I’m sure this will happen ten thousand more times while im here but for it to happen right in my home was surprising considering that my fam has hosted 9 other students and knows the deal. But to say the least, if you know anyone who’d want to sponsor a child in Africa, no need to wait for the tv commercials. Feel free to let me know and we can work something out. Guess this is the non glorious side about being here… somehow you have to develop a balance being charitable and desensitizing yourself. How much help to offer and when, has been the issue but thankfully I’m here with 26 other students so we all are going through it together. Then our advisors and teachers, who are all locals, are awesome so we get great advisements but still it’s just a sucky position to be put it. The little babies that are just sitting on the sidewalk (by the way I have yet 2 fig out where they come from and go, being so young) holding their hands out, or the kids that follow you and tug at you and you want to give them something but at the same time cant. Arggh! But that’s why I’m here studying development studies, to find out how to improve and under this problem from the bottom up… however to not end on a sad note, I saw monkeys yesterday on my way home. Well I think they were monkeys at least. My lil brother had no idea what I was talking about, but I know I saw monkeys which made my day! :-) By the way, there probably won’t be any updates until next week because we will heading to Rwanda this weekend!! Yay!! So keep me in your prayers and check back sometime around the end of next week for more amazing stories!! :-)
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Rain in Kampala!!...
So rain in Kampala is life changing. Haha. Well in a city that is covered in red dust, rain takes on a whole nother meaning. Haha. But I guess ill rewind a little. So today we had our first site visits. We went to visit the Kasumi tombs (where the kings of the Buganda tribe are buried), a museum and Buganda Parliament. It’s quite interesting to learn the history of the country and such. The kingdom stuff is pretty cool too. Kampala, the capital is in the Buganda kingdom and it’s funny how the kings still have a say even though the country has a prez.
But anyways, I moved into my homestay on Sunday and it has been goin well. One of my “sisters” left today for boarding school and the other two older ones will leave later this week. L but otherwise life here has been diff but cool. Oh yeah, and I had really fresh chicken for dinner yesterday. When I got home from school, they had just killed one of the chickens and preparing it. Another great thing about being here is that everything I eat is crazy fresh!! Haha. The chicken was actually a lil tough and I was a lil nervous about eating it, but it turned out fine. Funny that I was so nervous to eat the fresh chicken b/c it was diff compared to the chicken that I’ve been eating at home that’s more tender and pumped with all sorts of preservatives and hormones. Haha. Like I said, thank God I still haven’t had any major stomach bouts but I’m sure once I’m welcomed back into the US by our enhanced, preserved, and everything else food, I’ll be sicker at home than ill ever get here.
The pit latrines are cool and I’m getting used to them. It’s funny though how habits are hard to break. I’ll still wake up and go to the sink but quickly remember that there is no faucet. Haha. So I still get everything done but it just takes a little more work. We have a water faucet in the backyard so we fill up cans outside and use this water for everything. But we do have electricity and such so im not roughing it too much. We have a tv, radio, and I even have my own room. But there tv here is hilarious. First of all my family loves watching this telenovela that has been dubbed in English. It seems to be really popular here despite how crappy and ridiculous it is. The other shows include random Nigerian movies and American tv shows like Ugly Betty, Medium and Hanging with Mr. Cooper (but my fam ironically doesn’t even watch the American shows). Haha.
Life here is def more 3rd world now though that I’ve moved into my home. On my walk to catch my taxi (bus) for school I pass cows chillin in the road, goats, a lady weaving a basket, kids going to a well for water and so much more. It’s pretty awesome, and just what I signed up for! Haha
My homestay dad was so excited to find out that I’m Christian. They are devout so no worries bout me going to a church on Sundays. So on tues night they had this prayer session at their house for the kids going back to school and I just sat in. when the dad finally introduced me at the end, the other ladies were asking me if I wanted to be anointed like the other kids had been and I was like sure. So they anointed me and prayed over me and such. It was good but def a lil diff considering that we don’t do that at home too often. But it was still awesome to fellowship with believers on the other side of the world. On Sunday I went to church with some of my classmates and it was so cool to be singing the same praise and worship songs there. Of course it was beautiful too, to hear them singing with the accents. And it was youth Sunday too so they sung great songs and it was just awesome!
But to finish up, this story will bring laughs. So first of all, traffic here is just crazy!! If you thought nyc traffic was bad, you have to see how they drive here. First of all, I’ve only seen one functioning stop light here which just gives you a clue of how traffic works. It’s pretty much just get where you need to go without crashing or killing anyone. Haha. Like even crossing the streets here turns into an intense game of Frogger. Of course I’ve almost been hit a few times but God is protecting me! J First of all, half of the time, I look the wrong way when crossing the street b/c they drive on the other side of the road and then I forget where I am and out of habit, wait for a break in traffic or a crosswalk or something and then remember TIA (this is Africa)!! Haha. So anyways, with this in mind, imagine how non functional traffic is when it rains. The street turned into a parking lot to a degree that ive never seen. Finally once I arrived to my district I got off and started walking home as usual. But oh man, that rain and dust made and awful mud mixture. So im walking home, not raining too bad now though but this mud is impossible to maneuver! Im trying to maintain my balance and make it home asap. But despite my best efforts and after many almost slips, I finally fell in that stupid mud. Now I was already mad and now I’m just cursing the stupid mud in my head and ready to give up and just sit on the side of the road and call the US embassy to come and rescue me or something. Haha. Prob good that I was by myself though b/c I def looked crazy just talking to myself and fussing! Haha. But long story short, I alas did make it home alive with some mud on me to show the evidence of my toil. You guys would’ve been cracking up if only you saw me! In USA I would’ve comfortably been driving my car but once again TIA and just what I signed up for! J
But anyways, I moved into my homestay on Sunday and it has been goin well. One of my “sisters” left today for boarding school and the other two older ones will leave later this week. L but otherwise life here has been diff but cool. Oh yeah, and I had really fresh chicken for dinner yesterday. When I got home from school, they had just killed one of the chickens and preparing it. Another great thing about being here is that everything I eat is crazy fresh!! Haha. The chicken was actually a lil tough and I was a lil nervous about eating it, but it turned out fine. Funny that I was so nervous to eat the fresh chicken b/c it was diff compared to the chicken that I’ve been eating at home that’s more tender and pumped with all sorts of preservatives and hormones. Haha. Like I said, thank God I still haven’t had any major stomach bouts but I’m sure once I’m welcomed back into the US by our enhanced, preserved, and everything else food, I’ll be sicker at home than ill ever get here.
The pit latrines are cool and I’m getting used to them. It’s funny though how habits are hard to break. I’ll still wake up and go to the sink but quickly remember that there is no faucet. Haha. So I still get everything done but it just takes a little more work. We have a water faucet in the backyard so we fill up cans outside and use this water for everything. But we do have electricity and such so im not roughing it too much. We have a tv, radio, and I even have my own room. But there tv here is hilarious. First of all my family loves watching this telenovela that has been dubbed in English. It seems to be really popular here despite how crappy and ridiculous it is. The other shows include random Nigerian movies and American tv shows like Ugly Betty, Medium and Hanging with Mr. Cooper (but my fam ironically doesn’t even watch the American shows). Haha.
Life here is def more 3rd world now though that I’ve moved into my home. On my walk to catch my taxi (bus) for school I pass cows chillin in the road, goats, a lady weaving a basket, kids going to a well for water and so much more. It’s pretty awesome, and just what I signed up for! Haha
My homestay dad was so excited to find out that I’m Christian. They are devout so no worries bout me going to a church on Sundays. So on tues night they had this prayer session at their house for the kids going back to school and I just sat in. when the dad finally introduced me at the end, the other ladies were asking me if I wanted to be anointed like the other kids had been and I was like sure. So they anointed me and prayed over me and such. It was good but def a lil diff considering that we don’t do that at home too often. But it was still awesome to fellowship with believers on the other side of the world. On Sunday I went to church with some of my classmates and it was so cool to be singing the same praise and worship songs there. Of course it was beautiful too, to hear them singing with the accents. And it was youth Sunday too so they sung great songs and it was just awesome!
But to finish up, this story will bring laughs. So first of all, traffic here is just crazy!! If you thought nyc traffic was bad, you have to see how they drive here. First of all, I’ve only seen one functioning stop light here which just gives you a clue of how traffic works. It’s pretty much just get where you need to go without crashing or killing anyone. Haha. Like even crossing the streets here turns into an intense game of Frogger. Of course I’ve almost been hit a few times but God is protecting me! J First of all, half of the time, I look the wrong way when crossing the street b/c they drive on the other side of the road and then I forget where I am and out of habit, wait for a break in traffic or a crosswalk or something and then remember TIA (this is Africa)!! Haha. So anyways, with this in mind, imagine how non functional traffic is when it rains. The street turned into a parking lot to a degree that ive never seen. Finally once I arrived to my district I got off and started walking home as usual. But oh man, that rain and dust made and awful mud mixture. So im walking home, not raining too bad now though but this mud is impossible to maneuver! Im trying to maintain my balance and make it home asap. But despite my best efforts and after many almost slips, I finally fell in that stupid mud. Now I was already mad and now I’m just cursing the stupid mud in my head and ready to give up and just sit on the side of the road and call the US embassy to come and rescue me or something. Haha. Prob good that I was by myself though b/c I def looked crazy just talking to myself and fussing! Haha. But long story short, I alas did make it home alive with some mud on me to show the evidence of my toil. You guys would’ve been cracking up if only you saw me! In USA I would’ve comfortably been driving my car but once again TIA and just what I signed up for! J
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