Kitgum!

Last Wednesday we set off for Kitgum.  It was a long, hot, bumpy ride out here, and when we arrive, it was only hotter.  It is a smaller town more north of Gulu, very dusty and dry.  We thought they were joking when they told us it would be hotter, but really, its much, much hotter!  Good for drying laundry though.

The first few nights we stayed at a nice hotel just out of town called Little Palace.  There we had our classes and meals and occasional internet service!  However, since there are not enough rooms to accommodate all 14 of us, 6 of us, including myself, were told we would stay in the “annex, just around the back.”  However, when we put on our backpacks to see our new rooms, we were told to hop in the Land Cruiser, because this was somewhere we could not walk to.  Turns out the “annex, just around the back” is a completely different hotel in another part of town, maybe 3 K away!  It’s also called Little Palace, run by the same management, but really such a joke.  Where the rooms at Little Palace One had nice closets, beds, hot showers, mosquito nets, we were finding rooms with no electricity, smelly water, maybe no bathroom even or lock on the door!  We could only laugh at the situation. Luckily, we are all friends so we still had fun being far away from the rest of the group.

During this time at the hotel, we took a trip out to Corner Ogwech Memorial Site in Lamwo District.  This is where 417 people were massacred by Idi Amin and Joseph Lagu, leader of the then Anyanya fighting group from Sudan in April 1971.  These people were taken captive because they had tried to go into a military training camp with an intention of coming back to overthrow Amin’s government.  Unfortunately, they were captured on their way back by Lagu’s men who brought them to this site to be killed.

As I’m realizing here, there is not a centimeter of land that does not have history.  Though everything may appear nice at first glace, when asking a few questions, you learn that things are not so perfect.  What looks like an overgrown garden actually turned out to be a mass grave.

On Saturday, we moved into our rural home stays.  For this, we were paired in a team so we could conduct research about local resources.  Olivia and I were in the home of Okello Moses Francis.   He is 25, the oldest of his seven brothers, who all live in a compound of four huts in the middle of a field.  They live with their widowed mother who speaks no English at all, but who I would have many extensive conversations with, her in Acholi, me in English.  I like to think that we knew what the other was saying.  The family actually turned out  to be very surprised to find that both Olivia and my parents are all living.  Unfortunately, after our focus group, Olivia was too sick to continue in the home stay, but I enjoyed the rest of the time getting to know the family.

I became closest with Michael, the second oldest.  He has lost the use of both legs, but is not slowed by this in any way.  He makes the 40 minute walk to church on his bicycle that he has made to peddle with his hands.  He is quite the inspiration.  He told me all about Acholi culture, why they live in the compound the way they do, why the neighbors and them share literally everything, etc.  He even told me about the conflict. For someone who is so completely down to Earth, it’s hard to believe that he used to have to commute every single night to a hospital to hide from the rebel attacks.  He told me about the humiliation that his family suffered when they could not even grow their own food, relying on food distribution to eat only once every few days.  Even now, he told me, they are forced to live in this compound on the edge of town because their village is not ready for them to return too, they are still too dependent on outside help and the resources in town.  He hopes that they can soon move back to where their ancestors lived, but he does not see it happening soon.

Other than the two older boys, no one spoke English, except for Joyce, a sixteen-year-old girl who lived next door.  She did everything for us, her family, and our family.  She cooked, she washed, and at the same time, she is a full time student.  Usually women here want to marry and have security when they turn 18, but Joyce made it clear to me that she wants to be independent.  She wants to go to university and get a good job then she wants to bring a man back to her family.   This goes against tradition, and when she told me this, she was ridiculed by Francis and Michael.

Even though this was a short stay, I feel like this family really accepted us quickly.  It wasn’t as hard as with my Gulu family to become a part of activities or dive into deeper discussions.  Although I was treated as a guest, I think the family began to understand by the end of my time that I am not the weak muzungu they initially thought I was.

Baker's Fort

On Friday, our group visited Patiko, Baker’s Fort.  It was a bumpy, 1.5 hour drive out there but so worth the views we got!  Unfortunatly, a few of us got a little sick from the ride, but so is life.

Fort Patiko is about 32 K north of Gulu.  The first road we tried actually ended up not working out because the rains had flooded it too much that there was a truck stuck in the mud.  The 137-year-old fort was built in 1872 by Sir Samuel Baker, a British explorer and anti-slave trade campaigner.  It’s a scenic place on top of a hill in Ajulu Parish that looks out across the plains toward South Sudan.

Good People

Uganda is full of wonderful people!  Acholi, Buganda, Wazungu, they’re all great.  I’m enjoying making new friends here and am learning to appreciate never having a moment alone.  Last night I went with a friend to his friend’s house to celebrate his birthday.  He’s 25 and it’s the first time he has ever celebrated.  After presents and cake, he gave a short speech and it made me realize how special birthdays really are, even though often taken as just something we “just do” in the U.S.  All his life, his birthday was just another day, but this time it was actually celebrating that he is alive and doing things with his life.  It was an acknowledgment of his presence.   Its funny how the little things make you see the big picture so differently.

    On Monday, Francesca, Elliot, his friend Hillary, and I went to our friend Jimmy’s house to cook dinner.  He definitely has a nice place and we enjoyed cooking veggie fried rice for dinner in the fancy kitchen.  Again, bonding over food.  Jimmy had invited a couple wazungus into his house to cook a meal and hang out.  There is such a sincerity of the culture here, when normally I may feel I am imposing on someone if I had done this.  Instead, Jimmy was more than happy to invite us into his home and share food with us!

One of the Family

     I think the hardest part of traveling is finding your place.  Especially during an extended stay, there is a grey area between tourist and resident (for lack of better word).  Living with a family is great, but also a challenge.  I get the comforts of living in a home and being cared for by other people, but knowing my own role isn’t so simple.  When they cook, sometimes they want to teach me and sometimes they want me to sit back and relax.  Sometimes its okay to wash my own clothes, and other times its insulting to not let them care for me.  Its all about testing the water and seeing what works when and what doesn’t.  The fear is in messing up, but in reality, its never a big deal.

    Last night I think I went from being a guest to part of the family.  Mama was in Kampala and Dad was waiting out to pick her at the bus stop later on.  So it was just me and the youngins…  By the time 9:30 rolled around I was ready for sleep but since Janice hadn’t given them any instruction to settle down, the four year old twins were bouncing off the walls, quite literally.  Usually I just let it go and eventually someone will put them to bed, but around 10 I realized that just wasn’t going to happen.  They were so over tired they couldn’t even form words and were just crying and fighting each other.  So I decided maybe I should step in.  I’m still unsure of what my role is in this family but it was clear that nothing was going to happen if I didn’t do something.   I sat down on the coach, got Merina under one arm, Michelle on my lap, talked quietly, and in 5 minutes they were passed out.  It was so simple, but my sense of accomplishment was high because I actually felt like a participant in the family!

    Since I had a cooking lesson on Sunday, and also cooked dinner at a local friend’s house on Monday, Mama is giving me this Sunday to cook for the family.  She says its my turn.  Sharing food is such a bonding experience and so I feel that I have very high standards to meet. This could be the ultimate in to the family though so I hope whatever I attempt comes out to meet their taste!

A view from the runway of Gulu Airport

Tie-dye at a women's cooperative

Huts in the center of Gulu

My twin sisters playing with their wind-up bug toys I brought for them

Family in Uganda

Currently sitting on a balcony overlooking  a side street in Gulu.  Aside from the jackhammer, its quite peaceful up here, away from the hussle and bussle of busy Gulu Town.  For the past week we have been exploring and getting situated with the area both with the group and on our own.  We have taken both a driving tour and done a “drop off” activity where we are on a mission to investigate an assigned topic.   For mine, Eliza and I were paired up to investigate clinics and health centers.  We found a ton of smaller places along the road, but their credibility was skeptical.  However, there were more trusted places, like the hospital and a large HIV/AIDS counseling/treatment center that are reputable.  A large problem here is that despite the numerous clinics, there is a great mistrust in the professional places so people often turn to the more ‘witch’ type doctors, resulting in poor care, infection and death.

                             My current view from the balcony

            So last night, after 4 days of acclamation to Gulu, we were introduced to our families!  My household roughly has 5 people living there.  My “Dad” is named Jon Bosco.  Aside from being the Director of CARITAS, a Catholic relief organization (called CRS in the US), he is also the home-stay coordinator for SIT in Gulu.  I am their 7^th student to live with him and his wife so they are very comfortable and open with me about their rules and expectations.  Rose, my “Mama” has her own organization that focuses on helping children in at-risk situations, like domestic violence, street children, etc.  Rose is so kind and has been introducing me as her “first born” as her children are all younger than me.  She also is very outgoing, different from many women here, and jokes about everything.   She is from the South so does not speak much Acholi.

My new roommates are also very nice.  First there is the niece.  She is 18 named Janice.  She enjoys having secret phone calls throughout the night with her friends.... Right now, she’s living with the family while she teaches in a school in preparation to become a real teacher later on.  In exchange for the bed, she does all the cooking, cleaning, and child care in the house.  Then there are the twins.  Marina and Michelle are four and full of energy.  Everyone asked me why my hands are covered in blue ink and I just responded “4 year old twins.”  They really got a kick out of drawing all over me with permanent ink.  There is also a 7 year old, named Bridget, who goes to boarding school in Kampala.  I may get to meet her later in the program.

Now I’m getting ready for the weekend with them.  They are fun people so I look forward to what we will do!  Last night we had an adventure when our trip to the grocery ended up across town.  We ran out of gas so obviously the logical thing to do would be to sit and have soda with friends in a nearby store until someone can take us home.  All in all, Rose and Bosco are very friendly, fun people, and I'm looking forward to the time with their family!

The first few days

iri maber larema!

We just had our first Acholi class, and I’m feeling like I might actually be in Africa!  Its strange how something so different from Litchfield, CT or Burlington, VT can feel so natural to live in.  I arrived midday on Saturday and stayed the night in Kampala, but already that seems like weeks ago.  I’m starting to remember the Uganda time; long days filled with so many things its hard to keep track of what happened and when.

I had a bit of déjà vu on my way over.  Same flight pattern as last time with a12 hour layover.  I was missing my mazungu friends though when we didn’t get to venture out and take a tour of the city in the middle of the night!  But with internet here and there, it wasn’t so bad.  However, I decided to take a quick nap at 5 am (their time) before my flight and woke up to a bright, busy airport!  My first thought was I overslept and missed my flight.  I got up and ran to the screen to check the time, then realized my gate was not even posted yet and I had only been asleep for 35 minutes… needless to say, I did not try to nap after that.  Instead I enjoyed touring the terminal in the airport, probably walking a few miles in total.

           Areal View of Dubai, tallest building in the world!

And  a quick 4 hour (ish) flight later, I was arriving and Entabbe, shaking Erik;s hand, our new AD.  He is a local man from Gulu town where we are mainly studying.  He is extremely friendly and made me feel very welcome.  We waited for 2 other students to arrive then headed toward the capital city.  The first night was in there in Kampala.  Only 4 of us arrived before 12, but adventuring a little around our hotel turned out to be exiting.  Kampala is a huge city that is so busy.  Everyone seems so friendly and helpful.  When just asking for a simple direction to a hotel that turned out to be only about a block away, the two women were more than helpful, even offering us ideas of places to visit.

The next day when the group was all together, we packed up for Gulu.  Apparently dehydration makes you vomit, so I had to get that out of my system before the 8 hour trip.  But hey, I wouldn’t feel like I was traveling if I didn’t get sick.  An Uganda time runs slow anyway, so I was feeling better long before our departure at 12 (originally estimated for 9).  The drive was great though!  So scenic.  We saw the White Nile at the border of the North and South.  Baboons like to hang out there on a bridge that overlooks some beautiful waterfalls.  Sorry I can’t offer a picture, but its illegal to take them of this spot…

                               View from the balcony!

So now we are settling in Gulu. (I’m not really sure what to write about in a blog or how to construct this so I’m sorry if it’s a little disorganized).  We are staying in a hotel and my top-floor room has a balcony that overlooks this part of Gulu.  Right across the way are mud huts with goats grazing and farm plots everywhere.  Our first Acholi lesson was intense.  We learned all sorts of greetings, 19 to be exact!  Our teacher, Charles, is really funny and you can tell he just loves what he does.  Even if we butcherd our pronuncian he would just laugh and tell us our effort makes him so happy!  He also said we will know Acholi very well by the end of the semester because it is a very easy language to pick up… I don’t know about that but I’m definitely going to give it a try! However, I did find myself wanting to ask questions in Spanish, maybe enough time hasn’t passed between Guatemala and now, I hope I don’t get confused when talking to my family!  Who, by the way, I meet on Thursday!  I’m just too excited.  I love it here.  I love Uganda. Our group is great. I think this semester is going to be better than I can imagine right now.

Dong wu dong!