Q & A

I received some emails with a bunch of questions, and I decided instead of just responding back to that one person, I’ll do the occasional Q & A blog because maybe you all would like to know the answers too.  :)  So here we go.

What are Ugandan people like?  What is their view of Americans?

It’s a difficult question to answer, because it varies by region/tribe.  During training in Wakiso, the people saw us ‘Muzungus’ (white people) as 'money.'  We noticed that during our first week in town, the prices went up in almost all of the stores.  Random people would even walk up to us on the street and say, “You give me money.” 

I cannot say that I felt welcome there.  People would mock us, glare at us, and occasionally try to hit us with a boda-boda (motorcycle taxi).  (*Obviously this was not everybody – my homestay family was fantastic.  This was just a general feeling when walking around town.)  But then I also understand that we were the 6^th group of Peace Corps Volunteers to stay in Wakiso and not work on development there.  The people are kind of fed up that the Peace Corps will come for training but won't stay to help.

Now I'm in Arua and it’s completely different.  I can feel a stronger sense of community here – more interacting and helping each other.  At the hospital/school compound, it’s the norm to say “Hello, how are you?” to everyone you pass and shake hands frequently with the people you know.  Even in Arua town, I feel more accepted – on the street I get called “Sister” instead of “Muzungu.”

And the few Lugbara phrases I know go a long way in bridging the cultures.  When I go to local market stands to buy eggs or veggies, I greet the women with "Mi ngoni?"  They laugh hysterically and say "AH!  You are speaking Lugbara!!!"  I may not know much, but the effort is very much appreciated.

*I feel I will revisit this question later in my service too.

What is the religion of the people in your area?  Do you go to church with them? 

The major religions are Catholic, Protestant, and Muslim.  My school is Catholic and there are prayers every morning from 8:00am-8:30am.  I went a few times while I was staying with Sister Anne but haven’t really gone since then.  It’s difficult to go to the Ugandan church services on Sundays because it’s all in Lugbara.  But the other PCVs in the area have invited me to their bible study group and I think I might check it out.  I feel like I’m missing out on something by not being a part of the religious community here.  It’s a BIG part of their lives.

Why does the power go out so much in Uganda?

I’ve asked this question myself and never really got a definite answer . . . so I Googled it.  “Uganda faces power cuts lasting 12 hours daily due to government's failure to pay power subsidies amounting to Ush200 billion (US$76.9 million).” 

What kind of meals do you make for yourself?

As I wrote in the last blog entry, meals are kind of difficult.  So far I’ve eaten: scrambled eggs and omelets, sautéed greens, boiled sweet potatoes, French toast w/ honey (no maple syrup in Uganda), peanut butter & jelly sandwiches, spaghetti w/ some not-so-great sauce, and fruit (apples, bananas, pineapple, avocado, tomato slices, and mango season should be coming soon!)  I bought some rice but just haven’t cooked it yet.  I’ve also been living off of the wonderful American food I received in my care packages – instant oatmeal, granola bars, protein bars, trail mix, and cookies.  :)

What do you do at night?

After school, I’ll cook a little something and go on the internet/computer, read, or journal.  My neighbor Jimmy has been coming over a lot to use the internet and he’ll stay and visit for a couple of hours.  The sun sets between 6:30pm-7:00pm and I’m usually in bed by 8:30pm.  But before bed, I have to boil enough water for a hot bucket bath and drinking water the next day.  (I have a giant thermos to keep the bathing water hot.)  And I desperately need to start a yoga routine after school.  These hardwood chairs are killing my back!

Do you think you'd like a Kindle?  Do you have enough reading material?  What can you get there?

So far, I have not experienced the boredom that other PCVs have blogged about.  Maybe it’s because I have electricity and internet pretty much all day.  But on the rare occasion when the power does go out, reading is the #1 activity.  Right now, I don’t need a Kindle.  I brought a few books and Mom is sending a few more.  That should keep me busy for a while.  But the so-called Peace Corps Library is a joke – there’s nothing good there.  And, it’s in Kampala (8 hours away), which I’m not allowed to go to unless I have special permission.  But I hear that there is frequent book trading among the volunteers – I guess that’s where all the good books are.

Have you used your duct tape for anything yet?

Yes.  The first time was to patch a hole in the mosquito net over my bed in Banana Village.  The second time was a few weeks ago . . . I needed it to fix my house – here’s the story.  I woke up one Saturday morning to find a massive ant infestation all over my living room, bathroom, and kitchen.  They were everywhere – on the floors and on the walls.  (My house is less than perfect, with huge cracks in the walls, termite damage, and major gaps between the outside doors and the floors.)  As I was spraying Doom and sweeping ants out of my house, there were just so many that they started crawling up my legs and biting me.  It was a rough morning.  Eventually, I got rid of them all and tried to think of how to fix the cracks/holes in my walls.  There’s no Home Depot in Uganda and looking for some kind of sealant is futile.  Then I remembered my duct tape!!!  (Yes Dad, duct tape is holding my house together.  Ha ha.)  I have silver streams of duct tape on the walls in my kitchen to keep the ants out . . . and it works like a charm.

After I posted pictures of my "critters," a family member requested a picture of the spiders.  I sent one picture back in an email, but here’s a few more for everyone to see!  Ha ha.

This is one of the big, freaky African spiders I’ve been talking about.  Ick.

This gem is of a spider killing a cockroach.  I was washing my face before bed one night and wiped the soap from eyes to see this hanging right above my head.  I felt the need to capture the moment.

Ok, this one is a spider at a zoo in Uganda.  Nevertheless, it’s free-roaming and freakin’ HUGE!

Amviko

This morning I started writing a blog all about my (slow-going) cultural integration in the village of Kuluva.  But today is special and I’m changing my topic.  Yes, it’s my birthday, but also I have a new friend, Amviko.  Well, ok . . . she’s the woman I hired to help clean my house . . . let me explain.  :)

Within the first two days of arriving at Kuluva, Sister Anne told me I should think about hiring some help for around the house.  I wasn’t really interested – after all, I’ve been living by myself for almost 10 years and I’m a pretty clean person.  Then Dr. Anne told me that there is a woman who has been cleaning my house for years and now that I have moved in, she is out of work.  (Ouch – guilt trip.)  This issue was brought up several times each week by Sister Anne and Dr. Anne, reiterating that I will be working 5 days a week, and therefore will be too tired to clean or cook when I get home.  *I should also mention that having house-help is the way of life here.  When the plumber came to fix my sink, he was shocked that I hadn’t hired anyone yet.  I told Sister Anne and Dr. Anne that I’d try living on my own first and decide later about hiring someone. 

Well it’s four weeks later now and I’m doing ok with the cleaning (or maybe I just don’t care how dirty my floors are).  I’ve accepted my roommates – the spiders and lizards – and hoped we could live peacefully together.  The cooking, however, is my biggest issue.  I have no time to cook and my food is spoiling faster than I can eat it.  During my one-hour lunch break I have to: buy the food from the local market stands, go home, wash it, prep it, cook it, eat it, and clean up.  One hour is not enough time.  I usually just end up eating scrambled eggs with tomato slices and then run back to school.  For dinner, I pick whichever vegetable is not too moldy and cook it . . . somehow.  All of my recipes from home are useless because the ingredients are not available and/or I don’t have an oven, toaster, or microwave.  I am not starving by any means – I consume plenty of apples, tomatoes, eggs, and bread – but I have absolutely NO Ugandan cooking skills.

So, I decided to hire some help.  I met with Amviko on Saturday to talk about what kind of help I needed and what days she should come over.  We decided on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 9:00am-noon just for cleaning and washing, no cooking . . . yet. 

Today she was her first day and I went home at lunch to see the house.  Can I just say, WOW.  I don’t know how she did it but ALL OF THE SPIDERS ARE GONE!!!!!!!  And I do see the difference now in having a clean floor.  And the house just seemed brighter and smelled better.  And my stinky sweatshirt is clean and hanging on the line outside.  Life is good.  :)

Amviko keeps mentioning that she wants to cook for me (she needs the work and the $$$.)  She can cook anything – if I want rice and leafy greens, then she’ll make it.  If I want beans and eggplant, then she’ll make that.  She also said she can bake bread and cakes (from scratch) over a charcoal stove.  (Oh my gosh!)  And she said she could go town and do some of my shopping at the market.  This is especially appealing since I don’t have a bike yet, Paul the school driver isn’t always available, and the Peace Corps doesn’t allow me to ride boda-bodas (motorcycle taxis).  It would be a HUGE help to have someone pick up things at the market for me.

So I will adapt to the Ugandan lifestyle of having help around the house.  And I will contribute to the Ugandan economy by giving Amviko a job.

When I signed up for the Peace Corps, I did not imagine that I’d have a cell phone, internet, electricity, running water, and house-help!

P.S. Thank you to everyone who sent me birthday cards!  It was a nice little birthday celebration.  :)  Thank you.

My Career at Kuluva

Now that I’m settling into my site, I’m getting a better idea of what my workdays will be like.  Sister Anne gave me a modified job description that she made after my visit in September.  (I gave her my resume during my site visit, so the work could be more specific to my knowledge and experience.)   Well now my job title includes: Data Officer, School Administrative Assistant, and teacher for the social psychology and computer training courses.

So basically, what I’ll be doing is creating databases to track student records and school financial records (because everything is handwritten in binders right now); writing quarterly school reports and summaries; project and proposal writing for community outreach; creating school brochures; analyzing the school’s strategic plan; and teaching classes.  And if I have free time, the Kuluva Hospital would like me to help with their Health Management Information System (kind of the same thing I was doing at CDPHE).  My workload is full!

My schedule follows the school hours:

Monday-Friday 8:30am-4:30pm

Morning tea break 10:30am-11:00am (Uganda was a British colony until 1962, so they still have morning and evening tea times!)

Lunch 1:00pm-2:00pm

The nursing school has four sets of students on rotating class schedules (or tracks) – so there is no summer vacation.  I’m okay with that because I’m not sure what I would do with an entire summer off.  (*The Peace Corps is my official employer and provides two vacation days per month that are accrued.  So even if the school has summers off, I would not be allowed to leave my site unless I used my Peace Corps vacation days.  It’s kind of messed up . . . but irrelevant.)  And for those of you who don’t know, I am saving all of my vacation days during my first year so that I can fly back to the states for Scott & Kailey’s wedding next year!!

Anyway, the teaching staff had a meeting on Tuesday about the next student set, who start school on November 21^st.  My social psychology class will be Tuesday mornings 8:30-10:30, and the computer class is tentatively scheduled for Thursday afternoons.  (We’re still working on the teaching schedule.)

Overall, I’m pretty happy with my job description.  (It’s slightly odd to be in Africa working on a computer for most of the day.)  But since I don’t have a medical or clinical background, I wouldn’t be very helpful teaching nursing classes or doing field visits.  And I still get to coordinate community outreaches for the students, so I can contribute to the local public health that way.  There are also several non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Arua that I can work with for secondary projects.

And the staff at the school are all fantastic.  :)  They’re just the nicest, friendliest group of people.  Look at the note they printed for me when I arrived!  :)

I’ll write more about them later – after I take their photos!