More Camps!

As you know, I was a counselor/mentor at Northern Camp GLOW (Girls Leading Our World) in Gulu.  After I got back to site [and back to working on databases], I realized just how much I loved camp and being active with the girls. 

So I applied for more.  :)  And I just found out that I’ve been accepted as a counselor/mentor again for two more camps! 

The first one is called Girl Tech.  It’s a week-long camp for girls, which focuses completely on math, science, and computers.  In order promote gender equality, we need to teach girls these subjects, which aren’t always offered to them.  While the GLOW camp focused on life skills, Girl Tech is more about professional development.  I am super excited to be a part of this camp!  The dates are August 5-11 and it’s being held in Jinja (near Kampala).

The second one is Eastern Camp GLOW.  This time the campers will be girls from the eastern region of Uganda – so no Lugbara speakers.  Because there are so many different dialects in Uganda, English is the standard language spoken at camp and the girls must have a certain level of English proficiency to attend.  Also, the girls will be 13-15 years old, which is slightly younger than the girls at Northern Camp GLOW.  Hopefully, this means that this group won’t be as rebellious as the last one.  ;)  But it’s all good – I know what to expect now and how to handle things.  It’s going to be great.  This camp is also in Jinja on August 13-18.

Yep, back-to-back camps!!  Some of my friends think I’m a little crazy, but I know that these events are the highlights of my experience in Uganda.  I’m not going to pass them up!  I applied specifically to these two camps (for women's empowerment) because the timeline worked out and they’re both in Jinja.  (There are a couple of other camps happening but with overlapping dates and long distances to travel.)  Jinja is a pretty modern town – very tourist-friendly.  So I figured when I’m finished with both camps, I can hang out, order some pizza, and get a pedicure!  The perfect way to unwind.  :)

Retail Therapy

I’ve been having a rough couple of weeks – projects at school are moving very slowly and it’s driving me nuts.  I had to wait 4 weeks just to get computer price estimates for the grant proposal, no one has even looked at the inventory database I created, and they’re still pressuring me to teach the nursing students even though my Peace Corps manager told them that’s not my job.  I’m so bored on my evenings and weekends – all I do is watch movies/TV shows.  I went out to dinner a couple of times with the Arua PCVs, but even that is awkward as I’m the only one who’s not a senior citizen.  The isolation (and millipedes) start to really bother me around the third straight week at site and I know I have to get out again.  Luckily, I had to travel to Entebbe this weekend (near Kampala) for a GAD Committee meeting.

When I arrive in the city, the first thing I always do is go to a coffee shop and get a latte or cappuccino.  As I was enjoying my drink yesterday, I heard classical music come on over the speakers.  It was the first time I heard classical music in almost a year and for some reason it reminded me of Christmas.  I was already in a downward spiral (about work issues and missing a social life) and the music just made me miss home even more – I almost started crying right there.  After a few minutes, I pulled myself together and decided to do something “American” to make me feel better.  So I went shopping (and didn’t care how much I spent).  I didn’t go to any street markets – I went to retail stores where I don’t haggle over the prices and I don’t get harassed “Hey mundu! You come here and buy this! Mundu!  Where are you going?!”  In the end, I spent a good chunk of my monthly stipend and got some jewelry, two scarves, a skirt, and a new tote bag.  Total splurge.  Of course, there were food indulgences too, like a veggie burger and peanut M&M’s.

The best part of this weekend is seeing other PCVs.  I always feel reassured after talking to other volunteers about struggles at site and how to cope with the lack of progress at work.

And it’s really nice just to go out and have a beer with friends.

Time of the Season

The rainy season is upon us and it’s not a rainy as I thought it would be.  But Sister Anne said Kuluva has not been getting the usual amount – a lot of the storms have been passing by and hitting Arua.  We get a rain storm about every other day, usually between the hours of 11:00pm and 1:00am.  The heavy downpours accompanied by massive lighting and thunder wake me up every time.

 

The morning after the thunderstorm, the temperature drops to the low 60’s.  That doesn’t sound very cold, but my house has screens for windows (the glass is there but never really closes).  With a strong wind blowing the cold, damp air through my house, I am freezing in the morning!  I layer up with a tank top, t-shirt, and sweatshirt, and long pants underneath a skirt – and sometimes a blanket on top of that!  But by noon the clouds begin to clear and the sun comes out.  This combined with all the moisture equals 100% humidity.  But at least I’m warm again.  :)

Besides the temperature change, one other major difference in my life during this season is the change of pests in my house.  Those huge African spiders that I killed on a daily basis are gone.  I’m guessing they come inside the house to stay cool during the dry season.  I haven’t seen a single one since the rain started. (The Daddy Long Legs are still hanging out.  I sweep through the house each week to get rid of them.)  Now I’m dealing with termites, millipedes, ants, and . . . mosquitoes.  Yes, the mosquitoes have arrived with a vengeance.  Now on top of my layer of sunscreen, I have to put a layer of bug repellant.  Geez.  The termites and ants are annoying and only an occasional problem – it’s the millipedes that creep me out.  They seem to crawl under my back door into my kitchen (there’s a huge gap between the door and floor; I bet small animals could get in if they tried).  And the millipedes also fall from my ceiling.  I have a straw-mat type of ceiling where the spiders, lizards, millipedes, and God knows what else nest.

 

   

(A lizard can easily climb between the ceiling and wall.)

 

Another effect of the rain is tall grass and overgrown plants around the house.  It’s nice to have everything looking so green, but it’s also the perfect place for snakes to hide.  Yep, it’s snake season.  Just yesterday I found a green mamba in my kitchen.  (Sorry, I didn’t have time to grab my camera.)  It came in through the gap at my back door – big surprise.  It’s funny – this kind of stuff doesn’t even faze me anymore.  “Shit.  There’s a venomous snake in my kitchen.  Get out!!  Shoo!!  Go away!!”  And it turned around and went right back outside.  Luckily, green mambas are very shy and generally non-aggressive.  I got the feeling that this guy just made a wrong turn somewhere and ended up in my kitchen.  As soon as he saw me, he turned around and left.

Ok, not to leave you totally creeped out, there are also good times – with the monkeys of course.  Here is a picture of a little monkey takin’ a snooze on my front porch.  Aaaawwww.  ;)

Kuluva Trading Center

My last blog post was about traveling.  To give you some perspective (about why I need to get out occasionally), here are some pictures of Kuluva's trading center.  Kuluva is so small, it's not even considered a town.  A trading center is a cluster of stores along the main road - usually near a sizable village.

This is duka.  There are about three of these located on the hospital compound.  I usually stop here to buy eggs, bread, sugar, and juice. 

 

Just outside the compound, several women sit under this tree and sell their vegetables.  Between this 'market' and the dukas, I can probably put together a meal or two.  But I usually ride to Arua and buy my food there.  If I run out of tomatoes or just need some fruit for the morning, I walk to this tree and pick up whatever's available.

This is a photo from the main road (Kampala - Arua).  This road to the hospital is very short and the tree with 'market' is at the end just before the hospital gates.

There are about 12 shops in the Kuluva trading center - and they're not always open.  But they all sell the same things (eggs, bread, margarine, sodas, sugar, etc.)  I don't really shop here - I just go to the dukas next to the hospital.

I took these pictures standing at the end of  'town'.  This is seriously all of the stores.

 

  

I hope this gives you a better picture of where I live.  And now you understand why I ride my bike to Arua Town as often as possible.  :)