Sunday, June 16, 2013

First Week In Africa

                                                                            June 9th

Ice cream, toothpaste, and roosters: the first three things that remind me that I am no longer in Indianola, Iowa. After arriving in Amsterdam at about six in the morning local time, we had four hours before our next flight. We finally made it on to our final flight to Entebbe. I was absolutely exhausted. We jumped ahead a time zone or six so when my head hit the back of the airplane seat I was out. I slept through a meal and ice cream on the plane. I have decided when I get back to the States ice cream will be the first thing I eat.
            When I did finally wake, I had the chance to talk to the passengers next to me, Jonas and Harriet. Harriet works in Uganda for the Ministry of Gender. Jonas is a director of a de-mining NGO in South Sudan. They had both been travelling from the United States and were returning to their homes. Jonas and Harriet had very fascinating lives and were incredibly intelligent. Talking to them about their experiences made me excited to hit the ground in Kumuli.
            Our long flight came to an end after a stop in Kigali and a final leg to Entebbe. Getting off the plane felt so odd. We landed a bit before midnight, but due to jet lag I was relatively wide-awake. Before passing through customs I ran into another person from Indianola. It was not only coincidental, but also comforting to have a familiar person or at least something to remind me of a place that is very dear to my heart. 
            When we walked into the airport in Uganda, the first thing I noticed was that their security carried large guns held on by a small shoulder strap. It did make me a little uneasy, yet I am now used to seeing them everywhere. We were told to be wary of thieves in the airport and capital city. We had many people approach us and offer to carry out bags, yet we declined. Our long day of travel was finally coming to a close with what we were told would be an hour bus ride to our hotel.
            The second lesson I learned is that I cannot drink the water. I was obviously aware of this fact before we left the United States, yet I realized that not drinking the water also means you cannot brush your teeth with the water. This has become an interesting challenge as it involves a toothbrush, toothpaste, a water bottle, and typically a mess. It is odd to have running water and not have it considered safe, but thankfully we can use this water to shower. The hotel we stayed at had heated water, although it comes and goes (as does electricity).
            The hotel we stayed at upon our arrival in Kampala is very nice. It has beautiful scenery, wonderful service, and was spacious. Yet we were located in a city that doesn’t sleep. Kampala is home to almost seven million people and the city is always alive. Our hotel is designed with many windows to keep cool, yet with the airflow comes much noise. People are up very late, and animals very early. We had a scheduled day to sleep in and adjust to the time zone, but many of us were awake at five or six in the morning due to the calls of roosters. (I should also note that upon discussion, others experienced wake up calls thanks to wild dogs, cats, and apparently monkeys)
            Yet despite these differences and minor inconveniences, I am still in awe of this country and humbled by the reality that this is where I will call home for the next two months.
June 10th
            We awoke at almost 5 this morning to drive to Queen Elizabeth National Park. Hurry up and wait describes much of our experience. We refer to this phenomenon of setting a time to meet and showing up whenever you would like as, “Africa Time”. Therefore our anticipated seven-hour drive scheduled from 6am to 1pm actually lasted from 7am to 8pm today. We traveled across the country with our seven Makerere counterparts. We officially met them yesterday, but only briefly to discuss projects and expectations. After travelling together we have become much closer. It was interesting to discover that they had never been to the places we were visiting. I shouldn’t have been surprised because Uganda is a very large country with limited transportation. In fact, I haven’t traveled much of the United States and I would have been at a loss if they asked me to describe Los Angeles or New York.
            My first real experience with Ugandan roads was terrifying. They drive on the left side of the road. Even with little lighting, they walk incredibly close to the road. In the morning we see many motorcycles called “boda-bodas” quickly weave in and out of the traffic while often carrying women riding sidesaddle or very young children. Speed limits and driving etiquette are optional but almost all drive aggressively. My maternal instinct showed when young kids were walking to school and dodging vehicles. Yet even without the traffic I think I would be nervous just from the sheer population density of the city.
            On our way to Queen Elizabeth we drove through the equator. This was our first stop after about two hours of rough driving. Some of the roads are similar to U.S. highways while others jerk you around like you are riding a rollercoaster. Yet once you are outside of a vehicle, no one is in much of a hurry. I’ve discovered this mostly with food service, as it would take close to two hours to feed 30 people breakfast at a fast-food-like restaurant. In truth, it is understandable and I didn’t mind much because it gave us a chance to explore the local shops.
            I bartered effectively for the first time, and even more impressively with Uganda shillings. The current exchange rate is 1 USD=2,550 shillings. It is definitely in my favor as I exchanged about $100 for my stay. In perspective, tuition for the students at the school I am teaching at is 6,000 shillings a term. Although you are expected to haggle as prices are inflated, the fact that many of the workers keep their young children around made me feel very uncomfortable asking for lower prices.
            The condition that the shops and homes people own floors me. Just driving through the country seems unreal. Many of the homes and businesses are wooden sheds or made of mud. Even the nice hotel we stayed in seemed to have been built with little concern for the hilly landscape. I can’t imagine growing up in an area of such poverty; but people do. In the capital city of Kampala, people in multi-story apartments live next to one-roomed mud huts. I try not to look shocked or say much as I do not want to offend my colleagues. I am curious as to what living conditions they grew up in. I can see why development can be so difficult when people like me who come in hoping to help really have no idea what it is like to live here.


June 11-12th
            Aside from the stress of upcoming projects and work for the summer, our stay at Queen Elizabeth has been great. We have seen so many animals such as hippos, water buffalo, antelope, elephants, and lions. Although I prefer for the to remain afar, having elephants walk outside your window as you fall asleep is not a story most can tell. We had the opportunity to do a morning safari and a ferry ride across Lake Albert. I took so many pictures that I doubled the amount on my phone camera I had before I came to Africa.
            There has been so much going on and I have just tried to absorb all of it. The food here is much better than I expected. At the diner at QENP there’s a mix of what I can describe as Chinese and American food with the addition of some wonderful fresh fruit. I don’t know what to expect when we get to our compound, but for now I am just enjoying all of it.
            I think the animals are cool, but I am definitely more of a people person. I am ready to get to Kumuli to meet the community we will be working in, but I am not looking forward to another long trip in the car.
June 13th
            Uganda is a different world. I can honestly say I have never been so mesmerized or frustrated by a place. When travelling across the country over the past few days, I have seen beautiful landscapes and developed roads. Yet just as I can see this progress being made, I also see so many houses with grass roofs and trash lining the street. Often it feels as though we are travelling through what I imagine to be the old American West. Abandoned or unfinished buildings are abundant. I have been most shocked by the lack of sanitation. In addition to trash just sitting in piles alongside the road, we have also eaten dinner in a crowded city restaurant while people donated blood. The sanitation standards are non-existent. I don’t even feel comfortable describing the bathroom situations I have witnessed. The developing world in the new millennium is bizarre because the same people with dirt flooring also have cell phones. I just can’t comprehend it.
            In spite of all of this, I am enjoying my stay. When we arrived back from Queen Elizabeth to Kampala, the wireless Internet was working at the hotel. As much as I’d like to believe I am fine without technology, it is an amenity I am very thankful for. The time we arrived was convenient so I could hear from my family and Logan when it was not an obnoxious hour of the day for either of us. Although our conversations were interrupted due to faulty electricity and connections, I was able to talk for about half an hour via wifi and avoid racking up obnoxious phone bills. Even with an international plan, it costs about $2.80 per minute to talk and $.10 receive/$.50 send text messages. I guess the communication barrier will just give us a lot to talk about when I get home.
            June 14th
Today was our first trip to the schools we will be working in this summer, Namasagali and Nakynoyi. Namasagali is where the project with Iowa State began with Nakynonyi following a few years later. Namasagali serves about 300 and Nakynoyi 650 students through primary 1-8. This is equivalent to the United States elementary and junior high school.  Both of the schools are government funded. My friends from Makerere University comment that they attended private schools and that is how they are able to go to upper levels of education. We had the chance to explore the school in addition to meeting some staff and students.
Upon arrival at Nakanyoyi, the students singing and sitting outside greeted us. The staff seemed very friendly and recognized a few of our returning staff. We have been told that the students are typically well behaved and the projects that we have implemented have been well taken care of. This differs from my interpretation of Namasagali. Although buildings and set up are similar, the structures at Namasagali are in a worse shape. When we arrived at the second school, most of the children had been sent home and the staff was not all present. We learned that the government pays its workers once a month in the central city. Therefore teachers may take off early in order to get their paycheck of 200,000 shillings, which is less than $100. Many of the projects that have been in place at Namasagali have not been as well maintained due to a variety of reasons including lack of labor and theft.
This makes my project a bit complicated. I am based in Namasagali with my Makerere partners Liz, Sparks, and nutritional director Laura. This is a preexisting project that has had success in the past, but needs improvement. The school garden on school grounds provides many commission and feeding opportunities to improve the school and health of the children. The students receive one meal at school that ideally contains maize, beans, and vegetables. Our hope with this program is for the school to support itself. Currently students are expected to pay either 6,000 shillings per term (a little less than 3 dollars) or provide 3,000kg of maize or beans. Yet for a variety of reasons these are not being supplied.
 We will only come into a community where we are wanted and supported. These are the terms of agreement in order to promote self-sustainability. Finding consequences for those who do not bring the tuition or requested food is difficult, as you do not want to deny food to hungry children or turn them away from education. Because of this, there are some people who will take advantage of what they consider handouts. Some parents will not even feed their children at home because they receive a meal at school. Yet on average a cup of porridge only supplies 50 calories, not near enough to support an active child. I do not believe that this is the prominent mentality. Most of the people I have met here are incredibly hard working, but there are the exceptions, just like there are in the United States and people across the world.
Therefore, although we would like to improve the actual content being fed to the children, much of our project is dependent on parents providing the essentials, maize and beans. Liz and Sparks have a great understanding of the crops that are local, inexpensive, nutritious, and can be put in the meal. We plan to grow Soya plant and incorporate the eggs from poultry project to improve the nutrition of the meal. Much of this requires economic shuffling and deciding what is possible with our resources. I find it a shame that so much of our goals are dependent on cost rather than quality.
Another way of promoting nutrition of the kids is education. Through surveying and indexing, we would like to discover the nutritional health of the students and how many meals they receive a day. We hope to stress the importance of their health to the kids with the hope that staff and parents will feel more pressure to provide the tuition and fees. Our team must decide how much of this project is in our hands and what is out of our control to keep motivated. But for now, expectations are high and we have some ideas we are hoping to continue to develop. I’ve never been one to shy away from a challenge so hopefully we can make some positive strides in the school and the community.
                                                                        June 15th
Driving from Kamuli to the schools has been an adventure. Our 1990’s passenger vans may as well have been parade floats. Kids who may have never seen white people before yell “Muzungus!” (white), chase after our vans, and wave. As they laugh and smile, it is impossible not to join, yet I have felt like I am on the brink of tears every time we encounter these children. So many of them are not truly clothed, fed, and are covered in filth. I hope this sadness I feel can transfer into motivation to make genuine improvements to their nutrition programs at school. Yet right now, it just exhausts me.
Of the issues I have seen in Uganda thus far, health and sanitation continues to concern me the most. Next time I travel I would like to have a higher form of medical training. Many doctors, excluding the tribal doctors, are only in school beyond secondary for five years. In context of the developing world, they are making great strides, yet in the comparison to medical care in the western world, quality is definitely compromised.

            We are busy outlining and finalizing lesson plans and budgets on the weekends, but it is a different kind of busy. I am so happy not to be driving long distances and feeling moved into our compound. I finally feel caught up on sleep and adjusted to the “rise with the sun” lifestyle. It’s no five star hotel, but it has clean water, showers, beds, meals, occasional wifi and wonderful people, so I am happy. A salamander in the shower joined me the other morning, which has not been my favorite part of the trip, but I don’t think anything will phase me when I get back to Iowa.  

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