ISP struggles

A little update.  I’ve been enjoying living at the new house.  Missing my family but it’s nice to be on my own schedule and to not feel bad about coming and going as I need.  We’ve started out with a few funny obstacles, like clogged drains, broken toilets, leaky spickets, but it also gives us a sense of really living here.  And let’s be real, I’m at my famiy’s house all the time, Mama’s cooking is too good to stay away. Also, since my home in Ariaga Central had solar panels, I never really was too affected by the power in Gulu Town being out for days at a time…I understand now.

I’ve been going to my internship also, but things there have been a bit frustrating.  I’ve had to learn what it is to work in the pace here, which has been a challenge.  The week before last, I was supposed to go to the field 4 out of 5 days, but unfortunately only made it out once, after waiting in the office for hours thinking we would be leaving “in just some few minutes.”  Going to the field also proved frustrating because when arriving, people were not so ready to receive us.  We did finally have a debate in the Koc Goma primary school.  I was impressed by the students, but worried that they did not fully understand the topic of their role in preventing sexual and gender based violence (SGBV).  Also, the critique after from teaches was focused mostly on pronunciation and grammar rather then on content.  It was evident that the lack of funds in this school takes a toll on both the students and teachers motivation levels.  This past week, however, we made it out to Alero on Tuesday for a debate in the primary school there.  This was much more successful and very inspiring.  The children took clear sides on the topic, arguing if it is children’s role to stop or adult’s.  The girls there also spoke with conviction and confidence, which was great to see in a society where normally girls are shy and repressed.  The teachers were very motivated here and clearly cared about their students, and so the effects of this were very positive.

Primary 7 student in Koc Goma giving his argument in the debate

Other than going to the field for the debates, I have been attending a training session for establishing IGAs (income generating activities) in rural communities.  It long and redundant, but kind of interesting.  The “students” are mostly community-based facilitators from the surrounding area who are there to learn to train the locals in their communities.  Since many places are so rural and literacy rates are low, we were taught to teach with a visual approach.  During this time I made a few friends.  I’ve never been so challenged to make friends, but I think everyone was too focused on the training to think about that.  My first friend, Sarah, told me her born-again church will save me, and my other friend, Pamela, told me I need a weave so I can really look Acholi.  Hmmm.

Unfortunately, my placement for internship is not working out too well since I am supposed to be focusing on women’s empowerment and have not yet done anything regarding this specifically.  The office is working on a proposal from Saturday to Saturday, so instead of participating (more like sitting there and doing nothing), I will be taking matters into my own hands and visiting places and people in Gulu focusing on women’s empowerment.  Tomorrow I am supposed to meet with a woman named Simprosa.  She was abducted by the LRA and after returning has decided to make it her life’s work to help other formerly abducted girls generate livelihoods by making handcrafts.  I hope to be able to spend a few days with her.  It’s unfortunate that my internship was not what I hoped, but it has taught me a lot about the struggles organizations here face, such as poor funding, impossibility of clear communication, lack of motivation, etc.

One of the obstacles going to the field faces.  This day we went in a CARE truck (since they are VISO's main donor, and after 30 minutes of driving on a very, very narrow road, we came  to a huge truck stuck going across the path. Not sure how it got like that, but we spent the next bit of time clearing a path to make it around.  Comical to look back on, but it also made us late for the debate.

So I’m looking forward to this week and making productive use of my time.  Even though I now have to make critical analysis of VISO and compare and contrast to other organizations in the area, I don’t regret being placed there.  It’s all part of the learning experience.