Bungee Vid!

Video of my jump, as taken from the top by Lauren!

Taking the Plunge

This post is totally out of order, but it'll probably be the coolest one in my entire blog so I don't care.

Before driving to Entebbe for our Wednesday night flight out of Uganda, the entire group (sans Jacques) went to Jinja for white-water rafting (which everyone did) and bungee jumping (which only three people were going to do originally--myself included--but ended up with seven of nine people deciding to jump).

Let me just say that these two days--the jump Monday afternoon, rafting all day Tuesday--were probably two of the best/most exciting days of my life. Both activities are SO MUCH FUN, and I highly recommend either of them if you ever get a chance. Never mind that I drank more water from the Nile River than is probably healthy or that the risks of bungee jumping include eye trauma, uterine prolapse, and dislocations [source]. Bottom line is that I'm perfectly fine and that I would do either again in a heartbeat. (I might add that I never, ever felt like my well-being was in danger in either situation. Yes, it's a little ridiculous jumping off the platform, but I trusted the equipment since Adrift holds themselves to international safety regulations. On the rafting side, there were 10-15 guys in individual kayaks whose job it was to come fetch people who fell out of the boats. So I was worried at first, but those fears dissipated quickly.)

Here are some pictures and videos from the jump. No pictures from rafting, unfortunately, since (1) we couldn't bring our cameras onto the raft (or I suppose we could have; they would just be soaked with water) and (2) we couldn't get the rafting DVD or photo CD in time since we were in hurry to reach Entebbe the same night.

In case you're interested, here's a video of other people rafting with Adrift on the Nile. These are the same rapids we did (11 total, three of which were Class 5), but these people apparently aren't very good. We had a great guide, so we only flipped once and I think only three people fell out of our raft the entire time (and were subsequently rescued by either the kayaks or another raft full of Italians). I might mention that I was not one of the three--although I expected to be, since this was my first time ever rafting--and I managed to hang onto both the raft and my oar when we flipped. However, I popped out of the water and didn't see anyone else on my side of the raft, so for a few panicked seconds, I thought everyone else had fallen off and that I was drifting away, alone and on an upside down inflatable raft, down the Nile River. A few moments later, Josh (our guide) appeared on the top of our raft and laughed at me. I think because I was the only one still on my side, but who knows.

Okay, pictures for real now:

I'll get the video up if I can post it, but there were issues with the uploader just now so I'll try again later!

Kabale: Post and pics!

[NOTE: I have a lot of catching up to do with my blog, now that I'm home (YAY) and have high speed internet again. Bear with me...]

Monday, Aug. 2, 2010

Lauren, Bean, Rachel, Sophie, and I decided to visit Kabale for the weekend since it's our second to last weekend here. We took a "taxi" for the two-hour drive up to (and back from) the mountain town, which draws tourists for its proximity to Lake Bunyonyi. By "taxi," I mean a small Toyota sedan that, at one point, contained 12 people total--four people squeezed into each of the three rows of seats. The driver himself shared his seat with another grown man and shifted gears over his leg. Oh, Uganda.

The weekend was probably one of the most enjoyable thus far. We stayed at the Amagara Guest House, a popular hostel for backpackers, and had breakfast both days at a delightful little cafe/restaurant called The Nest, where you climb up a ladder-stair contraption to reach the dining area. The dining area itself was extremely cozy and had sofas arranged around coffee tables. What more could you ask for? Ah, right... the food. The food was not only delicious, but it was extremely inexpensive. Honey-drizzled pancakes with bananas the first day, an egg and tomato rolex (egg and tomato wrapped in a chipatte) the second. Blissful.

I got some souvenir shopping done before our afternoon trip to the lake, where we canoed 20-30 minutes to reach the main island with a swimming dock and a restaurant on it. Thankfully, we had a guide to help us paddle!

Check out the pictures:

[Craftstore where I bought a bajillion gifts. The Nest was in the same building.]

[Walking back to the hostel, which is right down the road, from breakfast the first morning. You can see "The Nest" painted on the side of the building and the arrow pointing up to where the seating is.]

[Canoes! And legit dugout canoes at that.]

[Leaving the dock, blissfully unaware of just how long we're going to need to paddle.]

[Getting my arm workout for the day.]

[The other canoe.]

[On the island with the dock and restaurant.]

[Tongue-in-cheek sign on the dock.]

[Serenity. What a great trip.]

Laptop Down - Back in a Week!

My laptop died this morning, so no more blog posts until I'm back in the States. But never fear--I'm home soon (Aug. 12). Look forward to several blogs then. I'll have photos from my weekend trip to Kabale, final project updates, and stories from white water rafting on the Nile River!

Breaking an Addiction

Before I came to Uganda, I thought a summer with limited internet connectivity would be a nice change from my daily routine in the U.S. It’ll teach me that constant connectedness isn’t necessary, I thought. And while that’s true--I don’t need to check my email 24/7--it has also made me long for and appreciate that connectedness much more than I did before my trip.

We connect to the internet here through a small USB modem, and ten people are sharing one single modem, so I get the internet once every few days, on average. It’s not too bad, but it’s just enough that we’re just connected, yet not to the extent that we’re accustomed to at Duke, where there is high-speed internet just about everywhere on campus, whenever we want.

Also, I miss my phone. While we have phones here, calls are fairly expensive, and it’s a pay-as-you-go system, which I’m not used to in the U.S. If you run out of airtime in the middle of a call, tough luck--your call gets cut off. We’re constantly buying more minutes to “recharge” our phones.

Ultimately, I’m looking forward to landing in DC, where I can turn my Blackberry back on and re-enter the world of connectedness. Imagine that--being able to call my parents whenever I want (instead of having to wait for the internet every few days for Skype); the ability to look up something on the internet, whenever I want; receiving important emails almost instantaneously, instead of a few days to a week after they’re sent.

... So much for cracking the habit.

The Seven-Week Mark

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Yesterday (Monday) marked seven weeks since we left the States on June 7. I remember it well--getting very little sleep the night before, being sent to the airport by my parents, and watching first Charleston, then DC, disappear from sight.

It hasn’t always been easy (Lesson #1: Nothing ever goes according to plan in the field. Lesson #2: Stuff works out anyway.), but we’ve accomplished a lot and I think we will all be proud looking back. WSH finished our last four primary school education talks yesterday and met today with all of the CVCs to discuss future plans--tank openings, adult education talks, and the tank user committee structure. One of the CVCs yesterday also gave us an enormous bag of avocados--yum!

Weekend Consumerism

On Saturday, Becky took the girls to town to buy fabrics to take to the seamstress, Sarah, who made dresses, skirts, and purses for last year’s DE group. For now, I’m just having a simple dress made, but I’ll likely get a skirt and top as well. (I thought I’d let some of the other girls be the guinea pigs with the skirts and tops; we’ll see how the dress turns out.)

I then went to a sandal maker (where I already bought two pairs of shoes) to order these beautiful white shell-decorated sandals that some girls on the trip bought a few weeks ago. They initially told me that it would be two weeks before the shoes would be ready (they had run out of shells due to the high demand), but I received a phone call yesterday and the shoes are there, yay!

Lauren, Claire, and I visited an organic restaurant for lunch, where I had avocado and fruit (and beets with the fruit), and then we headed to “California Nails” for $5 pedicures for myself and Claire and a $5 massage for Lauren. The prices don’t represent the quality at all; pedis and massages are just that cheap here! (Now, if only souvenirs were equally inexpensive...) They use OPI polishes, and the $5 so-called “half treatment” includes a soak, trim, shaping, buff, and polish. Mine was pretty until I went running too soon after and slightly messed it up. Oh well.

Otherwise, I did the typical reading and movie/TV show watching at Tank Hill. Watched Enchanted for the first time (sappy but cute), parts of Mamma Mia (which I saw in theatres with Elisa--Pierce Brosnan is no better at singing the second time around, FYI), and worked my way through the first season of Friends, which has really grown on me.

I never thought I’d miss shopping while in Uganda, but the market here is just so different from that of Western countries--fewer high-quality goods and far fewer choices. The shops we visit are relatively small and basic compared to those in the U.S., and even Sarah, the seamstress, was just located at the end of an alleyway with a cluster of other seamstresses, all working outside on their foot-pumped sewing machines.

Never Take For Granted... #59: Contacts

Contact lenses, I should specify, not “contacts” as in acquaintances, although you should never take those for granted either.

On Tuesday, someone’s contact fell out in our water van. The Ugandans with us--Bob, one of our translators, and Joram, a surveyor who has been working with us on the water education talks--were first shocked, then a little freaked out, then curious (while still a bit perturbed that some foreign object just came out of someone’s eye). Everyone laughed about the event ten minutes later, but think about it: wouldn’t you be a bit surprised too?

I feel like the Duke students on this trip take our contact lenses for granted. I don’t know how many of us are wearing them on the trip (off the top of my mind, at least five of the 10 students here), but all of the students in the van at the time wore contacts, myself included. Do we actually think about how blessed we are with the technology--medical or not--available to us in the States? We’re working in a country where Bob and Joram had never even heard of contacts before, let alone seen them, and we’re wearing dailies, contacts you wear ONCE and throw out after a single day.

I’ve probably visited 15 or so schools and spoken to at least 1,500 students by this point. Maybe more, even; Tuesday alone, we presented to approximately 500 students. Not once have I seen a child wearing glasses. Why would they be? Where are the means? When these communities are worrying about a lack of clean water during the dry season and battling diarrheal diseases, typhoid, and malaria, I think 20/20 vision ranks pretty low on the priority sheet.

I can’t even imagine how someone would deal with contacts here (at least out in Kashongi; it’s probably somewhat easier in towns and cities, but maybe not by much). How do you ensure that you’re washing your hands with clean water before you touch the lens that enters your eye? Who has the capacity to care for eye infections, should they arise?

Waiting for Museveni

Disclaimer: I’m no expert on Ugandan politics, so my impressions could be totally misinformed, but they are exactly that--impressions. Also, cameras weren’t permitted at the event, so no pictures. :(

Yesterday, the president of Uganda, Yoweri Museveni, happened to be in Kashongi to give a speech on farming. Coincidentally, Kashongi is where our interventions take place, so we were able to go see him... which was cool and an amazing opportunity, to be sure, but also had its own frustrations and downsides as well.

We were told that the event started at 2 PM, so we walked over to the field with Jordan B. around 1:45 PM. Dr. Mugerwa--who is friends with the president (Museveni attended the opening ceremony for MMH a few years ago)--joined us later. Since nothing actually starts on time in Uganda, we figured we would have to wait around. We just didn’t know how long.

Jordan B. led us down the middle aisle that separated the standing crowd down the middle, leading us up to the "VIP" area in front where chairs were lined up under white tents. It was definitely an interesting dynamic since we were the ONLY bazungu there, but we were told that Dr. Mugerwa had said we were coming and that sub-county officials wanted to acknowledge our efforts in the area. Indeed, we were asked to stand during the introductory remarks given to President Museveni by a sub-country official.

Ultimately, despite the excitement of seeing the president speak (albeit in Runyankole, so we mostly had no idea what he was saying), I’m left with some less than favorable sentiments towards him.

First of all, he didn’t even show up until 5:30 PM, 3.5 hours after the scheduled time. (Does this happen in the States as well? How long do people wait to see Obama speak? I don't mean waiting in line but actually waiting for him to take the podium.) Some people had been waiting since 1 PM to see him; shouldn’t he be concerned about the productivity of his people? Something tells me that if he leaves them waiting for hours, they aren’t getting anything done. Also, the time you make people wait should be directly inverse to the time you yourself are allowed to speak.

Moreover, he seemed extremely apathetic and indifferent, not to mention slightly out of touch with the needs of the people (although who am I to judge?). He hardly acknowledged anyone, and in his speech--which was on modern farming (using better seeds, practicing crop diversification, etc.)--he promised the community certain improvements, like paved roads... but only if the government had money. Are paved roads really the top priority? What about healthcare? Providing safe water? Education?

I don’t want to sound like I’m not grateful for the opportunity to hear President Museveni because I certainly am. Let’s just say I was glad the ordeal was over at the end.

Never Take For Granted... #36: Paved Roads

Think back to your last road trip, or any moderately long drive. What was it like?

Personally, I’m thinking of my most recent commute from Durham to Charleston, a 4.5 hour drive I typically enjoy. I listened to some music, talked to my parents, read a little bit until the motion sickness got to me. Oh, and I slept. Lots of sleep.

Until this summer, I had never traveled to an area without widespread paved roads. I knew the roads were going to be bumpy and I expected lots of dust, but I don’t think anything could have adequately prepared me for this. We have great drivers who know how to make the ride a smooth as possible--really, the maneuvering they do is truly something to behold--but there’s only so much to be done when some of the roads are simply riddled with sunken holes and trenches.

At first, the roads didn’t really bother me. They’re just bumpy. That’s all. But by this point in the trip, I’ve realized all the comforts that accompany paved roads--a smooth journey, relative silence, clean shoes/clothes/bodies from a lack of dust, the ability to read, nap, or write in one’s journal.

I’ve frequently found myself wondering what I’ll be thinking on the drive home from the airport when I’m finally back in Charleston after three flights over two days of travel. Am I going to be bedazzled by all the lit streets and businesses so late at night? Am I going to find the silence and stillness of the journey uncanny? Or worst, am I going just sink comfortably back, into the silence, the stillness, and the air-conditioned vehicle, forgetting everything I had just left behind?

Tom & Jerry

Went into the dining area to grab a chipatte for lunch a little while ago, and two little kids were sitting there watching Tom & Jerry on the television. It always amazes me when I think about how much American culture permeates other nations. More examples: Hearing familiar music on the radio (Top 40 hits [or at least the ones that were Top 40 before I left for Uganda], John Legend, Black Eyed Peas, etc.) and seeing ads for Grey's Anatomy on the TV.

As a side note: I'm currently reading Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder. It's a FANTASTIC book. Those of you who don't know much about Paul Farmer should pick up a copy! I still can't believe I shook his hand last year. GHTA + Neha = awesome. /giddy

Happy Birthday, Jenny!

I hope you have a happy happy birthday! Sorry I can't be there to surprise you with an ice cream cake, but I'll try to find cool souvenirs to bring home! Speaking of which, cake... yummmm! I could totally go for some strawberry or french vanilla ice cream cake right now. Add that to my list of cravings.

Cannot wait to be home--just a little more than three weeks now! So close, yet so far. Two more weeks in the field and one more week of office work.

Primary School Educations

Tuesday, June 13, 2010

In the midst of the uncertainty following the Kampala bombings, our work continues. Yesterday, SM began its follow-ups with some of the pregnant women who had visited the intervention and been diagnosed with complicated pregnancies. Meanwhile, I’ve spent the past three days at Kashongi primary schools, working with the CVCs to give education talks on water, sanitation, and hygiene.

The school structures themselves are typically pretty crude--buildings made of mud, brick, and/or concrete. The doors and windows tend to be gaps in the wall, and when a school doesn’t have a room large enough to accommodate its collected pupils, we often give the talks outside, under the shade of a large tree as the students gather on the grass. The students themselves have been wonderful listeners and participants, and they are always so intensely curious about the muzungo who show up at their schools.

One of my favorite parts of the presentation is when we relate drinking water, nutritious foods, exercise, and sanitation to famous footballers. The students love talking about football, and when we ask them about their favorite teams and players, we get a lot of Manchester United and Wayne Rooney. Slightly less Arsenal and Chelsea; other players that get named are Lampard, van Persie, Fabragas, and Didier Drogba, the Ivory Coast star who plays for Chelsea, of course. We almost always hear teams in the English Premier League--very rarely do we hear of any African teams.

My second favorite part is quickly becoming our introductions; I was able to introduce myself entirely in Runyankole for the first time today! Thus far, I can say: "Good afternoon everyone. Thank you for coming. My name is Tina and I'm from Duke University, America. I'm happy to be here." And at the very end, I say, "Thank you for having us." The language is pretty complicated, but I’m hoping to pick up more as the days pass!

[Images from a P/S talk.]

[A plastic tank at a school.]

Queen Elizabeth Nat'l Park: Pictures

[Our two safari vehicles. I was in the green one for the night drive and the tan one for the sunrise drive.]

[Some of the doubles at Kingfisher Lodge... such a charming place to stay. Photo courtesy of Claire.]

[The walkway and view leading down to our triple room. Photo courtesy of Claire.]

[The sophomore girls on the balcony of their double rooms. So cute! Photo courtesy of Claire.]

[Claire, me, and Lauren in front of the view overlooking the park.]

[Inside our triple. The two "non-loft" beds.]

[More from inside our room. The ladder leading up to the "loft" (poor Claire), the bathroom door, and our small table.]

[We encountered baboons on the way to our night drive! There was a group of them just chilling on the side of the road... pretty cool.]

[Queen Elizabeth's gorge. I would love to come back one day and go chimp-tracking there; apparently, it's one of the better places to go tracking, with a fairly high chance of seeing chimps.]

[Pictures from our night drive...]

[We saw lions! No males, though; only lionesses. The first one we saw was just chilling in a tree, and then we saw a few in the grass. This one only began moving because another safari vehicle (not one of our cars) drove up on the plain after them. A BIG no-no, and a violation that carries a $150 USD fine if caught. These rules are in place for a reason...]

[Me, Heidi, and Claire in the backseat of the safari vehicle during the sunrise drive.]

[Elephant crossing during the sunrise drive. We were so close!]

[... Except we got a little bit too close here. The elephant in front turned back and began stomping to warn us off.]

[Beautiful waterbucks.]

[Claire and me at the hotel on QE park premises. Another GORGEOUS view.]

[While we had coffee at the QE hotel, a little birdie came down to say hi to us!]

[Elephants on the boat ride. We also saw buffaloes, hippos, and alligators, but I'm personally partial to elephants, hence all the pictures. I'm totally rediscovering my love for elephants on this trip.]

[More elephants at a watering hole.]

[More elephants. Look at the little one! Soooo cute.]

[Claire and me before the boat ride.]

[Sitting on the balcony of our triple. QE is beautiful! Photo courtesy of Claire.]

Cravings

Sweet tea (this one hit me first, about two weeks into the trip, and has probably been the hardest)
My mom’s food
My dad’s food
Pizza
Sushi
A salad (particularly the spinach and balsamic salad I had at Cuban Revolution before Wicked)
Bubble tea
Fuji apples from Costco
Guacamole
Crab & artichoke dip from the WaDuke
An Oreo Cookout milkshake
Cookout hushpuppies
Cookout coleslaw
Barbeque
Dim sum (also an odd and random craving for congee?)
More sweet tea
Chama’s
Fettuccine alfredo
Macaroni and cheese.

Foods I Have Been Eating a Lot But Still Enjoy: Chipatte. Fruits (pineapples, watermelons, bananas, the like). Rice. Avocado. “Coleslaw.”

Foods I Have Been Eating a Lot and Will Probably Never Eat Again: Vegetable samosas. Clif bars.

Bombings in Kampala

This morning during breakfast, we found out that there had been two bombings last night in Kampala, the capitol city of Uganda, which is located approximately five hours (driving) from Mbarara.

We had an impromptu meeting, and what will happen--whether or not we’ll be pulled out of the country, that is--remains to be seen. It depends on the situation in Kampala and by DE’s assessment of our risk here. As I mentioned, we’re quite some ways from Kampala, but at the same time, I think we would rather be safe than sorry, and I don’t think DE wants 10 undergraduates to be stuck in Uganda if anything else happens. So we’ll see how things progress in the next few days.

I wanted to make it explicit that I am in a pretty safe area despite everything and that I’m not particularly worried about my well-being in Mbarara (or in Kashongi, which is far more rural). I’m careful, yes, but not paranoid, and I also trust that DE will remove us from the country if necessary. From what I’ve read so far, I feel like these bombings were an isolated event, but who knows? I trust that we’re in good hands, though, so don’t worry! We will all be home before you know it.

On a happier note: We spent a wonderful weekend at Queen Elizabeth National Park! It wasn’t exactly restful (we woke up at 5:40 AM Sunday morning for a sunrise game drive), but it was fun nevertheless. Pictures soon.

The Good Ol’ (Caffeinated) U.S. of A.

I am never drinking coffee after 5 PM again.

Here’s the back story: Yesterday, we went to an U.S. Embassy meet-and-greet event at Lakeview (the nice hotel in the area where we went for my birthday dinner). The U.S. ambassador to Kampala was there, along with some people from USAID, which was great for Lauren and me since we may take a trip to Kampala to meet with the USAID office for future project plans. About 20 people turned out--9 of which were, well, us. Nevertheless, it was a great opportunity to meet other Americans in the area, which is always fun. Also, no one questioned my American citizenship... amazing!

At the event, they served some light refreshments--samosas, cookies, tea (and African tea), and coffee. Nearly all coffee here tends to be instant, so I pounced at the chance to drink some "real" coffee. Besides, I was exhausted by the end of the day and had already been nodding off in the van. So I happily drank two cups of coffee and felt great.

I should have known something was off when I stayed up for the entire Germany-Spain World Cup game, instead of going to bed at halftime. I was still feeling good after the game, but since Lauren and I had plans to run in the morning, I decided to go to bed. Well, that didn’t happen. I tossed and turned until 4 A.M. Running didn’t happen this morning, so I think I'm about to go run in a little bit!

Like I said... never drinking coffee again after 5 PM.

On Race (Part Two): Awkwardness and Hilarity

During one of the first office days at MMHF, I went down to ask some foundation staff if they could help us translate some documents. We started talking, and they asked me: "How are you related to Eddie?" (Eddie is another Duke student who was here for a month, administering the WSH survey and setting up the groundwork for our interventions; he left shortly before we arrived.) He also happens to be Asian. We are not related.

And then again--in reference to my first blog post on race--this happened just yesterday, during our first visit to a primary school for an education talk...
Teacher/administrator: [to me] "From Korea? Or Japan?"
Me: "Neither..."
T/A: [laughs and moves on]

Later, poor Sophie was confronted by two other people from the school who asked her how I could possibly be American. After she tried to explain that people of different ethnicities are American citizens (and gave up), they then asked her to employ them.

Halfway In, Halfway Out

"Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right, here I am--stuck in the middle with you." -Stealers Wheel

Today marks the midpoint of my time in Uganda--four and a half weeks have passed, and four and a half weeks remain.

I certainly miss home, so part of me rejoices that I’ve made it this far. Yet, from a projects standpoint--especially with regards to the sustainability of the rainwater harvesting (RWH) project--four weeks seems shockingly short. We still need to complete the primary school education campaign (we're visiting our first three schools today), determine how to best organize and implement these tank committees (who will theoretically provide oversight and management for the tanks), and decide how we will fund the operation and annual maintenance costs. Lauren and I also have plenty of preliminary work to do for our future projects.

Oh, and I almost forgot: We have a ton of work left for our documentary efforts. I started two weeks ago, but there are still many staff members, CVCs, and community members to interview and interventions to videotape. Okay, so now four weeks feels much shorter, but regardless, I’m leaving Uganda August 11, so I guess we’re just going to have to finish everything before then.

Ready, set, work!

Disaster Averted!

I nearly lost all my work this afternoon. All of it. My USB was, for all intensive purposes, wiped clean of WSH and anything to do with DukeEngage.

The ordeal began when, after a long day of translations and re-formatting, I plugged my thumb drive into a desktop at the foundation to print off the remaining documents for Jordan to proofread by hand. Big mistake. The antivirus/antispyware program on the computer really didn't like my USB and somehow deleted ALL of my folders and all of my work. I was in shock. It's not just my work--it's the work of Jordan and Becky and all the other translators as well, who have spent countless hours translating and back-translating these documents, which we continue to edit and revise, making even more work for them.

Thankfully, I had the modem with me, so I began frantically Googling "how to recover deleted files from USB." I was able to recover two of my most important files--both the English and Runyankole versions of the CVC education curriculum--but I was still missing three sets of scripts (tank openings, primary schools, and adult education) and a CVC cover letter that had been translated.

Just as I was about to lose hope, my knight in shining armor (read: Adam) called me via Skype and talked me through my panic/stress/self-loathing. But it doesn't stop there: His wonderful parents were kind enough to take time from their day off to help me with my problem, and thanks to their IT skills, I had 3 file recovery links waiting for me in my inbox when I checked my e-mail after dinner. Thank you, Gretchen and Roger!

The happy ending to this story is that I've been able to recover all but one of the documents! (That single document also happens to be the easiest to replace.) My day went from extremely upsetting to much, much better. And aside from the documents, I am incredibly thankful to know that I have people who care about me so much in my life!

On Race: Part One

"Oh, you must be halfbred." -An election official at Thursday’s SM location to me

It’s interesting being Asian in Mbarara and Kashongi. I don’t think there are many (although I’ve seen two in the past week--a record), and it can be doubly alienating to be (1) part of a large group of obvious foreigners and (2) different even from all of the other foreigners, since I’m the only Asian in the DE group this year. I don’t necessarily mind it or dislike it; it has just made me much more aware of my race, something I don’t even really have to think about at Duke or when I’m back home.

Many people seem baffled by the idea that I am American ("But where are you from?"), and we’ve had to assert several times, "Yes, yes... we are ALL from America!" (well, except for Sophie, who is actually Australian, but that’s beside the point). Personally, I didn’t expect such bewilderment. After all, I always thought that the United States was the ‘promised land,’ where people can emigrate to start a new life and pursue the American dream. So wouldn’t it make sense that people of different hair colors and skin tones could all consider themselves American?

Curiously, many people first ask me if I’m Korean (no) or Japanese (also no). I wasn’t sure why this was happening at first, especially since such a large portion of the world is Chinese that statistically, it seems like the best bet, right? But here’s my theory: Football is huge here. China does not have a major presence in global football, but Korea and Japan do. This could be totally off the mark, but hey, it’s a guess.

Training and Empowerment

Last week, we spent Tuesday through Thursday at the Kashongi sub-county offices training the CVCs (Community Volunteer Counselors) on the education talks they will be giving later this summer. It was a huge success, and I’ve very pleased with our work.

We trained 14 CVCs (2 for each of the 7 parishes) with the help of Jordan B. and two great health educators, Arthur and Abel. We had prepared individual folders containing all of the material--our complete curriculum on water, sanitation, and hygiene, copies of the posters we’re getting printed this weekend, three different scripts for the different types of talks they’ll be giving, and pen and paper for note-taking.

I was so impressed with both the quality of the teaching from Arthur and Abel and with the work ethic of the CVCs themselves. Not only did Arthur and Abel do a wonderful job covering the curriculum and eliciting further ideas from the CVCs for inclusion, but they even brought their own educational materials to help reinforce the messages, such as an illustration of the “safe water chain” and flashcards for the CVCs to describe as either positive or negative safe water and hygiene practices.

As for the CVCs, everyone was incredibly attentive, diligent, and extremely hardworking. It’s easy to see that these individuals are quite smart and eager to learn to better their communities, and it gives me hope for the success of our work here. As I’ve expressed before, we’re here to serve them and help them empower themselves so that they can carry on once we leave in a few weeks. Of course, disseminating the information throughout the community is the next important step following training, but it’s still amazing to see the process we’ve made since the beginning of the summer.

[Some of the folders we prepared.]

[Arthur teaching about the use of rainwater.]

[Abel teaching the CVCs about nutrition.]

Power Outage in Mbarara

There's no power in all of Mbarara right now.

Last night, on the way back from dinner, we stopped by a supermarket because some girls wanted chocolate. Initially we thought it was closed because it was so dark (it was around 9:30 PM), but the power was just out. The girls were given candles inside the store and happily completed their shopping by candlelight.

We lost power at Tank Hill shortly before I went to bed last night, and I hope we get it back soon! My laptop battery is already running low, and I happen to like my weekend Glee sessions. At least it's now daylight so I no longer need to wear my headlamp!

P.S. We've had power outages 3-4 times already, but they usually only lasted a few hours. At least the water is still on (for now, at least)...

Birth and Death

I spent Friday morning at the Mbarara University of Science & Technology (MUST) visiting the antenatal, postnatal, gynecological, and labour wards. As part of our DE program, we're using four Friday mornings to alternate visits between two different hospitals--MUST, which is public and is usually extremely busy, and Mayanja Memorial Hospital (MMHF, our local partner, is the non-profit branch of MMH), which is private and has nicer facilities but fewer patients due to the higher cost.

We were first taken around to the different wards by an extremely informative first-year resident, who explained the types of patients admitted to each ward, common cases seen and complications encountered, and the challenges faced by the staff in dealing with patients (only having one operating theatre at MUST, for example). Afterward, we observed in the labour ward, where we witnessed a live delivery!

More from our visit:

-MUST handles 15-25 deliveries a day. Of those, 6-10 will be Caesareans, a higher number than I expected. However, there is also a huge fear of infections spreading in the postnatal ward. Because beds or cots are all kept together in one room 2-3 feet apart (no separated rooms), a woman who becomes septic is always placed in the back corner, while those newly out of surgery are kept at the front of the ward, as far away as possible. Sidenote: Those who visited MUST the first week saw some of the C-section wounds, and they all said it was not a pretty sight--large incisions and jagged stitches. MMH patients, we're told, fared better with neater handiwork. Yet another dichotomy between private and public facilities.

-The gynecology ward sees many complications from botched abortions. Abortions are illegal here, save for medical reasons, but many women don't want more children at all or specifically don't want girls. A perforated uterus is often just removed--it's easier to prevent infections this way than attempting to repair it.

-Some women actually want their tubes tied as a means of preventing future pregnancies, but since there's only one theatre, such operations are low on the priority list. Women frequently get pregnant again before they can have the procedure done.

-The last case we saw was a woman who had attempted an abortion at 24 weeks. The fetus had been decapitated (to try to remove the rest of the body from the woman), but the rest of the extraction had been unsuccessful and the woman had come to MUST. The resident told us he could feel bones sticking out of her cervix and that these abortions could also result in a perforated uterus if the rest of the body was not removed promptly. She was given pills to induce contractions and dilation and was then sent outside to wait for the drugs to take effect in approximately two hours.

It is heartbreaking to hear about and see some of these women who suffer so much. They often don't want any more children (on average, a Ugandan woman will bear 7 children), but husbands are often resistant to using condoms or other family planning methods, leading to these drastic measures.

Pineapples and Happiness

On Mondays, the SM location is right next to a bustling village market, so the students will frequently go get banana “pancakes” (fried slices of banana) and pineapple. When you buy a pineapple there, it costs 400 shillings (~20 cents) and the vendors skin and slice it into quarters for you on the spot. (For price comparison, we [the students] can buy pineapple here in Mbarara for 2,000 shillings, or 1 USD. When we told our translator Becky, a local university student, about our great price, she shook her head and said that she pays 1,000 shillings.)

With this in mind, I had Claire bring me back an uncut pineapple this Monday. We can get it cut for us at Tank Hill (they take the pineapple and do it for us, even though my mom already conveniently taught me how to cut a pineapple over the phone), and we ate it with dinner today. Claire and I offered some to other people, but I’m pretty sure we ate a fair share of it.

Can you really blame us?? Yummmm pineapple-y goodness.

Lake Mburo

On Saturday, we took a day trip to Lake Mburo National Park. It’s approximately a two hour drive from Mbarara, so we left at 6 AM and came back around 8 PM, just in time for dinner.

[Becky, Claire, and me in front of the entrance sign! Photo credit to Claire.]

For the first time in my life, I saw zebras, impalas, buffalos (from a distance), elands, hippos, and monkeys in the wild. When we got there in the morning, we started with a "nature walk," a 1.5 hour guided tour where we tracked animals by foot. I think many people (myself included) expected some sort of trail, but we were literally trekking through brush and tall grasses. At one point during the walk, we paused in the grass to take some pictures of nearby impalas, and people started getting attacked by vicious looking ants. (Even those in pants got bitten, not just people wearing shorts or capris.)

[Luckily, none on me! Our guide told us to keep checking ourselves and other people. I had one small ant on me, but none of these monstrosities. Photo credit of Google Images.]

As you can see, they have HUGE heads and pincers. One girl was bleeding from her bites. Ugh, so painful looking.

After the walk, we had lunch (pineapple, watermelon, banana, and passionfruit tropical fruit salad for me--why can’t I just eat this for all my meals?) before going on a boat tour on the lake at 3:30 PM. We were supposed to go at 2 PM, but it literally took us two hours for us to get our food (slow service is pretty common here; they’re in no rush), hence the delay. We saw so many hippos from the boat! Also, we got surprisingly close to them--much closer than I had anticipated.

[Photo credit to Claire.]

[Screencap from one of my FlipCam videos.]

Lake Mburo was a great experience (even though I returned exhausted and subsequently slept in until 7:30 AM Monday... even after taking a nap Sunday afternoon). I’m looking forward to our safari at Queen Elizabeth National Park even more now!

More pics:

[Becky looking out over the lake.]

[Photo credit to Claire.]

[Photo credit to Claire.]

[There was a monkey in our van! It was eating the muffins Gordon had given us to for breakfast before we got too close and it ran off. Photo credit to Claire.]

[Photo credit to Claire.]

[Photo credit to Claire.]