Ugandan Environmentalism?

In Bugembe, roaming animals are a part of life and something you see every day. Herds of cattle, flocks(?) of chickens, and goats tethered to the roadside fill the landscape. People will often let their cows and chickens roam the neighborhood during the day, trusting them to return to their rightful home by nightfall. The first week I didn't quite understand this (silly Mzungu I am) and thought that Caesar owned chickens because there were several families of chickens meandering through our yards and trying (unsuccessfully) to enter the house. I eventually realized that their home was just down the road and they were only searching for a tasty snack. It really gives a new meaning to the term "free range".

Skills Plus also enjoys the company of numerous chickens that seem to enjoy the delicacies of its compound. The chickens are there practically each day but it is a special day when some of the local cattle pay a visit. They not only add to the scenery but they usually mow the lawn pretty effectively.

These seem pretty "environment friendly" but overall I don't think environmentalism has hit Uganda (does this really surprise anyone?). I think it's hard for people to be overly concerned about damaging the environment (it's difficult to see short term effects) when people are overwhelmed by the poverty and disease before your very eyes. Ugandans seem very comfortable with dumping trash anywhere (no hesitation tossing bottles outside of a taxi window or dumping trash at very beautiful waterfalls) and seem happy to burn the trash they do collect. I don't mind tossing banana peels or corn cobs into a field because they decompose relatively quickly. But plastic bottles? I do my best not to "integrate" too much into the local practices but sometimes things are outside my control.

This past weekend I went on a trip with the other FSD interns and staff to the east, to Sippi Falls, which is maybe 50 or 60 km from the Kenyan border. It was beautiful, relaxing, and I found my first salsa in Uganda!

The verdict? Honestly, it was good but a bit of a disappointment. Ugandans in general don't like spicy foods so it was very very mild (think ketchup). Fortunately, the guacamole was excellent (think Chipotle but better). On Saturday we decided to make "Ugandan burritos" which consisted of white rice, steamed vegetables, salsa, guacamole, and g-nut sauce all rolled into a chapati. It was pretty excellent, probably my favorite meal in Uganda.

Another fun fact about this weekend was that I had the most amazing shower. I'm serious. It probably made my top 5 list for the weekend. I know that back in the U.S. I take showers for granted, but it was my first "real" shower (there was running water, a shower head, and warm water!) since London (5 and half weeks ago). I had forgotten how glorious they are. And for a few hours at least, I was actually clean...

In other news, my work at Skills Plus is progressing but power continues to be a problem. We have been without power for a week (since last Monday, the 14th) and have had no power for 11 of the 21 days I have been at for work. It has become slightly absurd as most days (like today) the businesses across the street (perhaps 100 meters away) will have power while we still do not. The location of our building is partly to blame (it is on a different power line) but I think its clear Bugembe/Uganda needs a better electricity company. From everything I can tell, electricity used to be provided by the federal government but due to US/IMF pressures (among others) Uganda privatized the industry in the 1990s. However, they did not privatize it very well as after privatization only one large electricity company emerged with virtually no competition. They own a virtual monopoly on the Ugandan market and its services are pretty bad as a result.
It's probably a bit more complex than this simple portrait but it's all I've been able to piece together thus far.

Sorry if this post wasn't very funny. It's hard to top the green men story....

Green Men?

I learned something very interesting today. Apparently, there are green men living in the United States that originally came from Mars and are behind the advanced technology of our country. They are difficult to see but they work diligently underground with U.S. and Israeli officials to develop these technologies.

Did something happen in the last five weeks that I should know about?

Anyways, the person telling me this "truth" was not some random stranger but the leading financier of my organization, a local politician, and the deputy headmaster (deputy principal) of a local secondary school. He was also the man who invited me to the Introduction Ceremony last weekend. He cited reading several article from a reliable magazine (the name slipped his mind) and he confidently assured me that one of his friends had checked the internet and confirmed that the story was true. The people sitting around the lunch table also seemed familiar with this fact.

He gave me the strangest of looks when I told him I'd never heard of the story. I think he now believes that I'm not very knowledgeable about my own country. Imagine! There are green people living in your country and you don't know! Poor soul, that Mzungu...

When I tried to gently convince him that not everything on the internet is true (check the source) and that there are no green men (i think) in the U.S. , he waved away my answers convinced of the truth within his mind. It was one of those situations where in the moment I ask myself,"is this really happening?"

I have a favor to ask. If anyone can find an article or website online that supports this claim could you please pass it along? I would appreciate it much.

Pool update: I won 4 games yesterday and lost 2. Caesar and I will trade off when we are winning. For example, yesterday he won 1, then I won 3, then he won 2, then I dropped the ball and lost. I really like the pool hall.

A day in Uganda

I just realized people might not know what I exactly "do" every day. Well here is a "typical" day in Uganda for Jon....

6:30-7:30 AM- Wake up under my very nice mosquito net with larger than mosquito size holes. Go Iron clothes for the day with a coal burning Iron. Take bucket shower in dark room with the only light coming from holes in the wall between the shower room and where I sleep.

7:40 AM take breakfast with Caesar. This usually G-nuts, bread, or if I'm lucky Chapati. These go with the tea (Dry or African. Dry is without milk, African is obviously with milk).

7:55 leave for work

8:15 Arrive at Skills Plus after the pleasant 20 minute walk. Admire Lake Victoria from Caesar's porch.

8:30-10:00 If power is on at work, then I work on the computer. If power is off I honestly can't do much. I try to talk to Ugandans.

10:00 Take Morning Tea (usually similar foods and tea to breakfast)

10:45-2(sometimes 3) Do random work. Sometimes talk with people. Other times go with Hakim (my supervisor) on visits to the field. I've been working on a grant proposal for a while so that has been keeping me busy. And the power has been working better of late (I think it has been out only 6 of my 16 days here, but 5 of my first 10)

2:00-3:00 Take Lunch (sometimes good:Posho with beans. Other times bad: green eggplant sauce with tiny fishes that stare at me)

3:00-5:00 usually people are visiting and I meet people from the community that Skills Plus either helps or who are financial/technical/administrative support for the organization. People love meeting and talking with Mzungu's (particularly one whose major is Political Science). Everyone seems to have an opinion on politics here.

5:00-7:00 I usually either go to town (Jinja) to meet some of the other western interns, check internet, continue talking with people, take evening tea (like breakfast and morning tea), or just read.

7:15 meet Caesar to play pool at the local pub called Silver Sands. If we play well we will leave at 9:00 or 9:30. If we play bad, we leave by 8:00-8:30.

9:30-Foot (walk) up the hill to Caesar's house.

10:00-10:30 eat supper. Matooke is a necessity. As is Envuluga sauce. And botunda. Botunda is one of their passion fruits and actually the juice is delicious. Better than any juice I've had in the U.S.

11:00-Write down random thoughts and go to bed.

I hope someone enjoyed this.

Anyways, the Introduction this past weekend was good. I was in a very rural village in the Mayuge district, right by Lake Victoria. The area we were in was surrounded on three sides by the Lake. (Peninsula, anyone?) Anyways, people there were literally shocked to see a mzungu. As in so shocked that almost no one chanted Mzungu. Instead they just would stop what they were doing and stare. I sat in a chair to talk with one of the Ugandans I knew and a literal circle of little kids surrounded us until some adult shooed them away. Also when I walked down to the lake, literally 15 kids tried to mob me.

Overall, the ceremony was interesting. I bought a traditional Ugandan ceremony garment called a Kanzu. It it a long white robe looking thing and I wore a suit coat to go with it. People thought it was hilarious and commented that "Mzungu is very smart" (well dressed) and that I "looked like Jesus".

After the ceremony we had the classy beverages of Coke, Sprite, and Fanta to celebrate (I will never understand how these are "classy" drinks here. People usually only drink them at graduations, introductions, or other celebrations)

Also, today a man wanted to name the secondary school he was building after me. I tried to convince him otherwise but he seemed pretty sincere. I don't know if he thought this would irrevocably tie me to the school and force me to support it or if he just really liked me...

Kale Ssebo...

This is usually my response when I have no idea what someone is saying to me. It means: "It's ok Sir". It basically means I agree with what they are saying even though I usually have no idea.

So far I've been able to visit the homes of two of the other interns. Their families are pretty sweet, but no one else's host father plays pool every night...

Lisa's Uncle is probably the best educated Ugandan I have meet. He studied at the University of Edinburgh in the U.K. and speaks like he is lecturing a university class. I dubbed him "the professor" in my mind. Anyways we had a two hour conversation about politics and I think he was doing 90% of the talking. Apparently he liked our conversation because Lisa was telling me that he wants to buy me a radio so we can listen to political talk shows together...

Erica's house is very very nice. Electricity, indoor plumbing, running water, a big (Ugandan relative) tv, and nice couches. I went over there with some of the other interns and we watched the Bourne Identity yesterday. I almost forgot we were in Uganda until the electricity cut out towards the climax of the film. Ah, reality sometimes jumps out and bites you.

Awkward questions seem rampant and growing. Yesterday, an old lady after introducing me to her daughter asked me: "Are you married". Subtlety is not a strong suit in Uganda. Also, I've learned that the easiest joke I can tell is to say to someone that I am the youngest in my family. They seem to think this is hilarious and always laugh uncontrollably. I haven't yet gotten someone to explain why.

I'm going to buy a Kanzu today for a wedding introduction on Saturday. Should be sweet.

Is Ohio really hotter than Uganda?

I'm pretty sure the answer is yes - right now at least. But no one here seems to believe me. When I try to argue they seem to just roll their eyes and ignore the poor confused Mzungu. But I swear its true. In the sun it might hit 85 here and in the shade it can't be any hotter than 75. At night I swear its in the low 60s if not high 50s. My room here is cool enough that I have not only sheets but a blanket as well.

Good news at the pool hall. After usually getting beaten badly (I think I won 4 times over the first two weeks and probably lost 9 or 10) I broke through yesterday winning 5 games until I finally lost. My best performance by far. I'm improving, which is good.

Also, have I mentioned that I have earthen floors in my home? Well, I do. And they are actually pretty sweet at times. Washing my face has never been so much fun. Why go to a sink when you can sit in your room and wash your face there. And showers? Who needs a bathroom when you can shower in any room? (I use our shower room. But I could just shower in my room if I wanted...)

A little girl on the bus the other was fascinated with my arm. At first I thought it was my white skin but her father told me she was fascinated by the hair. Apparently Ugandans (even men) don't have much if any hair on their arms. Another baby was fascinated by my beard and kept trying to hang from it.

O, I haven't shaved since June 9th. But it's ok because there isn't a mirror in my house. I usually will go 5-6 days without seeing my reflection, which is probably ok. Wanting to know what I looked like, the other day I took a picture of myself and then zoomed in on the photo to see.

I attended Caesar's sister's gradation last Saturday. It was all in Lusoga but they were blaring U.S. music before and after from two large speakers hooked up to a computer. Mixing bad boyband pop music (I swear I heard backstreet boys. not that I would recognize them...) with rap. Hearing 50 cent cursing loudly at a graduation ceremony in Ugandan was slightly hilarious. Also, I got the opportunity to address all the guests (apparently it is traditional to allow guests to speak) so I impressed them with a handful of the lusoga words I know. They enjoyed my effort but then Caesar has to shoot me down and inform me that I had mixed a Lugandan word with my Lusoga greeting. It's ok. I got him back by beating him in pool yesterday.

I'm learning to iron my clothes to prevent Mango Fly episode number 2. It's going well, I'm using a hot coal heated iron. Matooke with envuluga is getting a bit old.

Viva Obama!

When I'm meeting new people (which is often) and I struggle at thinking of topics to talk about, I have discovered an easy way to talk forever: mention Obama. People here love him like a son and he has become an almost myth-like figure. People confidently tell me that he's "an African" and "one of us" despite his white mother and the fact he grew up in Indonesia and Hawaii (both of which are certainly not Uganda).

Anyways, there are numerous funny stories concerning Obama, but I thought this one was good. Last weekend I was attending a function for my organization and there were a handful of local politicians bumming about, smooching with the locals. One approached me (he is a candidate for mayor) and we starting talking. Of course Obama came up in our conversation and the man asked me why I supported him. I started explaining about Obama's work for the poor as a community organizer, that I tend to lean democratic in my politics, and that he an inspirational figure. The man stopped me halfway through, pulled our his phone, turned on its video setting, and then asked me to begin again. He went on to record my longer-than-necessary answer to his question.

Why he wanted a videotape of some Mzungu he had never met and will never meet again I don't know. But I imagine it was fun for him to have a videotape of a "real American" saying why he supported Obama.

Another thing that has surprised me (although it probably shouldn't have) is how Ugandan English is different from U.S. English. For example, here, my home state is not pronounced "O-HI-O" but rather "O-HE-O". Luganda pronounces the letters "h-i" as "he". So if I say I'm from O-hi-o people look confused. But if I say O-he-o, they understand.

Also, the way Ugandans eat reminds me of Hobbits. Every day I have breakfast, morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea, and then supper. The food tastes good (for the most part. I'm not a fan of eggplant with fish that still are staring at you) but in quantities that just are not possible to eat. Over the past few weeks I have learned that it is just not possible for me to clean my plate (meanwhile, i get to watch Ugandans around me devour everything in sight...) The Ugandans always laugh, but they seem to accept that I'm a Mzungu and can't eat as much

My organization is very kind to me and I don't think they see the irony of this but there is this nice plastic porch-table type chair that they always bring out for me to sit in. Nice of them to do, but it happens to be the only white object among their many stools, benches, and chairs. Giving the white guy a white chair to sit in? Sometimes I wonder if it is as funny to them as it is to me...

Today Ivy waved to me when I left the house. She has come a long way from screaming bloody murder when I arrived.

A 6 foot long tree branch fell today during lunch, crushing my neighbors food. Because it was a bowl of not too tasty green eggplant sauce with fishes with beady eyes I was a bit disappointed it didn't land in mine...

I think I will go try to catch some pool with Caesar. Sula Bulunge!

No Malaria Yet...

But I have succeeded in getting Mango Flies. These fun creatures apparently love to lay eggs in clothes as they are drying. The larvae then find juicy meat (my lower back) and then make themselves a home. I was host to three such creatures until about two hours ago when a kind doctor removed them. Of course I asked to see them, and trust me they were pretty disgusting. The biggest on was the size of my pointer finger-nail and about 1/3 of the width. Not very comforting to know that these critters had made my back their home, but fortunately there is no lasting damage.

Last week at Skills Plus, I conducted a needs assessment of the organization, trying to note both its strengths and weaknesses. This week I have begun creating a work plan to deal with what I have perceived as areas where I can help the organization. I think I will be helping them create databases of their clients and and excel spreadsheets of their finances (they now have poorly kept records that it would take forever to answer a question as simple as how many people are currently in their computer program?)

I will be personally helping to create these items as well as training people in how to create and maintain them. I also hope to hold a grant writing workshop and leave print materials that will help the organization apply for grants in the future. The organization has many good programs and seems to have its head on its shoulders but it lacks finances in every area. Being able to document what they do and successfully apply for grants will help them tremendously.

The two Kadama kids have slowly taken a liking to me. Ivy (8 months) at first was terrified of me because I don't think she had ever seen a white person before. I think she thought I was a monster. But she is warming up to me now and really enjoys playing with my pens and pieces of paper. Evan, 3.5, (pronounced Ivan. In Lusoga they pronounce 'e' as 'i') practically worships me, but he speaks English worse that I speak Lusoga. I think he at first thought I spoke Lusoga too because I would greet the family in Lusoga. He loves to jabber to me in Lusoga, but I have no idea what he is saying. I know he likes me because he tries to imitate literally everything I do from taking anti-malarial pills (I stopped him), to reading books (he can't speak English much less read the books I brought), to writing in a notebook (I gave him a sheet of paper...he's too little to write).

I found out today that Notre Dame has truly invaded Uganda. There are four former Notre Dame students living in my village working with the congregation of the Holy Cross in Bugembe. I know them through people (mostly Mangulo), but I think people know Patrick Corrigan? I don't, but he is apparently nearby with three others. They have been in Uganda for one year and are staying for one more. I'm sure I will run into them again.

I need to go, Caesar is done with pool and I need to head back to the house. Sula Bulunge!