Beach Weekend

A few weekends ago, a bunch of PCVs got together to enjoy a nice beach vacation to celebrate the previously mentioned one-year in country anniversary. About 20 of us traveled to Ssese islands on Lake Victoria to enjoy the sand and sun. We relaxed on the beach, avoided the water like the plague (that darn schistosomiasis), and even played capture the flag. All in all, a fabulous time.

Cormac the mermaid!

Snoozing in a hammock (complete with mosquito net!)

Peace Corps goal 2: teaching Ugandans how to build sand castles

Reading on the beach

Bonfire!

This is definitely still Africa :)

ttfn! :)

Wow, I've been here a year already!

So one year ago today I left the grand ol’ U S of A for Uganda. I feel like such a important anniversary deserves a blog post, but I don’t know what to write that will do justice to the occasion. Instead, I will create a short list of memorable moments of the past year:

1. Watching a small baby cry hysterically as older children offered her to me for eating (there is a myth that whites eat African babies)
2. The first time I could go to the market and bargain for my food with out having to use English
3. My first Christmas abroad with a fabulous friend, Lisa – Christmas miracles and Christmas crumble
4. Playing yahtzee by candlelight with other volunteers
5. Watching the last Harry Potter movies in the one theater in Uganda
6. Busoga girls nights with the lovely Lusoga Ladies
7. Days of eating – where we spend the day restaurant hopping in Jinja
8. Having my co-workers tell other mzungus that they are visitors, but that I am now a Musoga
9. Getting lost on our way to an Indian restaurant in Kigali, and then finally eating the best Indian food I’ve had in a year
10. Watching Drew struggle through about a dozen power outages to bake delicious cookies in his new electric oven (also called Drew’s easy-bake oven)

All in all, it's great to be able to look back one year later and know that we’ve got a truly amazing PC group, full of great people and great friends – and that all 45 of us are still here! :)

ttfn!

So Peace Corps isn’t ALL fun and games…

I know I mostly post about vacations/non-work related things, but that’s mostly because I figure those posts make for a more interesting read. Also, I think pictures make for more interesting posts :) However, I realize it may come across as if I don’t ever work. So I wanted to make it clear that while the work here is slow and very often punctuated by fun and games, there is still work.

Case in point: I’ve been teaching life skills/health/whatever at a local secondary school. Since the kids are often shy around the muzungu (and in front of their classmates), I thought it would better to set up an anonymous questions box, where students can ask questions about health, etc. without having to ask them in front of everyone. Well, no one else seemed as excited about this idea as I was, so I thought the box would just be forgotten about, or maybe even stolen by a trouble-making student. Imagine my surprise when I came back to the school two days after setting up the box to find it overstuffed with questions. I was a bit overwhelmed by the volume of questions posed to me, so I told the students to let me take them home and prepare my answers for next week. Well, here are some of the questions that I got:

• If you have sex during your menstruation, do you get pregnant?
• Is it true that if you kiss someone who has HIV, you’ll also get HIV?
• There are some boys who disturb me during my leisure time, but if I see them I feel like vomiting. What can I do, please help me? 
• Is it true that if young people play sex before menstruation begins you can still get pregnant?
• How can I know when playing sex that sperm is coming through the penis?
• Is it true that if you delay having sex you become an abnormal person?
• Is it bad to practice homosexuality?
• People usually tell us to have sex when we are still young in order to become perfect in sex. What is the meaning of perfect in sex?
• I am 17, but my fellow students say that I can’t get somebody pregnant because I do not erect. What am I going to do? Because I like studying more than playing sex.
• Is it true that menstruation breaks your virginity?
• How many times can you use a condom before it gets destroyed?
• If your uncle admired you and you stay in the same house and he pays your school fees and his intention is to fall in love with you, how can I avoid that?
• If you are disliked at home because you were raped by a certain man you don’t know, and your guardians and neighbors are harsh, and you are shy, what knowledge do you give to that person who is in such a condition?
• If your father takes drugs, how can you avoid that problem if you want to study?
• If I am a boy and I have not experienced wet dreams, am I infertile?
• I am a girl of 12 years. I have aborted 2 pregnancies. Can I manage to give birth the next time?
• I have AIDS, but I feel like I’m in injury of playing sex. What can I do?

This is just a sampling of the questions I received after two days. TWO DAYS. Some of the questions can be addressed with sessions on facts about HIV, menstruation, safe sex practices, etc., but some of the questions are more difficult. How do I address the issue of homosexuality in a country where it is illegal, and gay activists get beaten to death? There are still discussions of passing a bill penalizing practicing homosexuals in Uganda with the death penalty. How do I address questions of rape and stigmatization, drug use, and a relative who wants sexual favors in exchange for school fees? Good grief! Well, that’s the challenge of the day, and only time will tell what questions I’ll get next time!

On another note, I recently visited an orphanage near my town. My presence was requested by the orphanage’s director, who saw me at an event at my health center. After making it clear that, although I’m white, I’m not hear to give their organization money, I went for a visit. While it’s still a new organization, I was shocked (and I thought I was over being shocked in this country) by what I saw. The students have class under a wall-less temporary structure (so of course, no class when it rains). They sleep 40 students per room, with no mattresses, on a dirt floor. They fetch their water (for washing, drinking, cooking) from an open pond with gray water a 15 minute walk away. On the weekends they have to work in the garden to grow their own food to eat. Sometimes they perform songs/dances/skits about HIV and family planning around the district to earn money for the organization. They walk miles each way to the performances because they can’t afford transport. When I talked to the kids, one girl asked me to be her mother.

The director told me they need money to fix the place up (no-duh). Since the students perform (they performed at my health center) to make money, I was a bit confused about where the money went. Are the kids seeing any benefit from the money? Why are they still sleeping on a dirt floor then? I told them I would try and help the organization develop some income generating activities (clearly not something I know much about though) if I could have full access to their financial reports. We’ll see how this turns out!

ttfn :)

The Cleanest Place on Earth

This past week, I went on vacation to Rwanda with some other volunteers, and we had a blast. Rwanda borders Uganda in the very southwest of the country, so Lisa and I, being the only ones to come from out east, had the longest to travel. The trip started out a bit rocky: we sat on the bus in Kampala for almost 3 hours before it filled up enough to leave the bus park. Luckily, we did meet an up-and-coming rap artistic named Rastor Pastor on the bus selling photos of famous people. He even gave us pictures of himself so we wouldn’t forget his visit to the bus.

Finally, the bus takes off for the west, but only 20 kms outside the city the bus breaks down. While we’re waiting for the mechanic to come and fix the bus, what else should happen but a hailstorm. That’s right, a hailstorm on the equator. The storm does pass, only for us to find out that the bus can’t be fixed, and the bus driver had lied to us about calling back to Kampala for another bus to pick up all the stranded passengers. At this point, it’s been over five hours since we arrived in Kampala, and we’ve only made it 20 kms west of the city. Well, this is Africa.

Lisa and I decide maybe we’ll have better luck hitching a ride in one of the local aid vehicles passing by. Not 30 seconds after we make this decision, a vehicle headed to Mbarara (our destination for the night) pulls up behind the bus. We’re saved! The kind drivers take pity on the two stranded mzungus and we get a free ride into Mbarara in the much more comfy car.

On the way to Mbarara we do actually pass right through the equator. Of course, we had to document the moment:

The Equator!

The next day, after meeting up with some other volunteers/travel buddies, we continue our journey south towards Rwanda. We finally make it to Kigali, and we discover that it’s the cleanest place on earth! Or at least it’s the cleanest place we’ve seen a long long time. Apparently, once a month the entire country has a community day to clean up the country. All businesses shut down for the morning, the police put spikes in the street to prevent taxis from driving around, and people actually go around cleaning the city. The event did make it difficult for us tourists to get breakfast, transport around, or access to museums, etc., but it was astonishing to witness the program in action. What was even more astonishing was comparing this beautifully maintained city to Kampala, where the roads and sidewalks are all covered with potholes and trash.

The deserted city center during community day

Waiting until the city opens again

Pretty Kigali

Once the city was finished cleaning and opened again, we went and had lunch at Hotel Des Mille Collines, the hotel that was the inspiration for the movie Hotel Rwanda. After the European managers of the hotel were evacuated, the Rwandan manager Paul Rusesabagina provided shelter to over 1,200 Rwandans escaping the genocide. The four-star hotel still operates as normal today:

Hotel - poolside

Our group

Afterwards, we went to visit the Kigali Genocide Memorial, a beautifully done museum and memorial for the victims of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, where about 250,000 of the genocide victims are buried in mass graves.

Kigali Memorial Center - the flame is lit for the 100 days of mourning

Mass graves at Kigali Memorial Center

We also visited a memorial a little outside the city in Nyamata. This memorial was set up in a church where over 10,000 victims died in one attack during the genocide: 5,000 died inside the church itself and the other 5,000 who couldn’t fit in the church perished in the surrounding areas. The experience was very emotional. The church is filled with the clothing of the victims, and the sheer mass of them gives some indication of the multitude of people who were killed here. In the crypts out back there are piles and rows of skulls and femur bones of the victims. It’s a very graphic memorial, but it really imparts upon you the magnitude of what happened.

After experiencing the “big city,” we decided to go and relax along the shores of Lake Kivu. Yes, it really is paradise:

Lake Kivu

Enjoying the lake

A cool lizard-dude with cool flowers

ttfn! :)

Standfast...again

You may remember that the presidential elections in Uganda were held in February, and they went off rather peacefully, with the ruling president winning another term. Well, now that the elections are over, the opposition parties have started holding “walk to work” demonstrations twice a week in Kampala and some other large towns to protest the rising costs of goods in the country. These demonstrations are, to say the least, NOT going off peacefully. There have been riots, tear gas, firing of rubber and real bullets, and just all-out chaos, particularly in Kampala. As one Ugandan colleague says: “Kampala is on fire!” I, of course, thought this literally meant people were burning the city. In fact, it just means more tear gas and rioting. You know, the usual. (Sidenote: as I learned later, the news coverage does show people burning tires and things in the streets in Kampala, so I guess the city is really on fire).

As a result, when things have been getting particularly bad, Peace Corps has been putting us on standfast, meaning that we have to stay put and not leave our sites. Not to worry though, my small town is very quiet, and I often don’t even hear about the violence except when Peace Corps updates us. Keep your fingers crossed that things calm down!

ttfn - ta ta for now! :)

Happy Easter!

In Uganda, both Good Friday and Easter Monday are national holidays, so the long weekend was a perfect excuse to get together with some other volunteers to celebrate the holiday.

Not only did we get to eat delicious food (including chicken mole, pizza, and pancakes), but we also got to visit some waterfalls and enjoy a nice picnic lunch: 

For Easter dinner, we had a lovely pork dinner, and in Uganda that means slaughtering your own pig and grilling it over a fire pit on a metal bed frame. My role in the dinner cooking involved grating cabbage and carrots for the coleslaw rather than killing the pig, but observing was quite the experience. About halfway through the kill, one PCV yells "IT'S DYING!! IT'S DYING!!" to which another PCV responds "that's not the same as dead!":

The before shot

The after shot

Just grilling up some pork on a bedframe

World Malaria Day 2011

After Easter, I traveled back to my site to celebrate World Malaria Day with an event I coordinated at the health center III in my town. A local NGO came to conduct an education session about malaria and sell long-lasting insecticide treated mosquito nets at a reduced price. After their session, we wrapped up by playing a malaria jeopardy game testing the crowd’s knowledge of malaria.

Women and babies watching the malaria presentation

Teaching people about malaria

What better way to show people how to use a mosquito than to put children under one!

People lining up to buy mosquito nets

Malaria jeopardy

ttfn - ta ta for now! :)

Live like a PCV challenge

Can you hack it and “Live Like a Peace Corps Volunteer” for a week?  Check out this innovative Challenge launched by a team of currently serving Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs) around the world, along with the growing support of others including the National Peace Corps Association. The "Live Like a Peace Corps Volunteer Challenge" started with a simple dare to a PCV’s family to give up a microwave for a week.  That dare wasn't accepted, but the story of it inspired another Volunteer to make a game of the whole thing and tie it into the 50th anniversary of Peace Corps and the 20th anniversary of Peace Corps/ Mongolia where this all started.

The goal of this project is to raise awareness of Peace Corps in America and give those participating in the Challenge a small taste of Peace Corps life, hopefully while having some fun. PCVs in Kenya adapted the challenge to reflect realities of serving in Kenya.  The challenge celebrates our 50th anniversary while at the same time addressing our 3rd goal.  Perhaps the only things missing from this challenge, things that are extremely difficult to replicate in other settings, are the inherent benefits of service- the sense of accomplishment in mastering your new language, the joy of making a new friend in spite of massive cultural differences, the beauty of the environments in which we serve… Nevertheless, this is a great activity for stimulating discussion about how two-thirds of the world lives. 

The Challenge: Kenyan Rules (There are no Ugandan-specific rules yet)

For one week you are asked to give up some of the everyday conveniences that we PCVs and our communities do without. The levels are arranged from more common to less common living conditions of PCVs in Kenya while also taking into account the difficulty of completing the challenge in the US.  So while none of us here have a car, it ranks quite high in the challenge as it is much more difficult to do without one in the states.  Kenya is known for its beautiful safaris in which you can spot the “The Big Five” animals, for which we’ve named our levels (they are in order of rareness in the Mara).

First, decide which month you want to participate.  The first week of the month you choose (the 1st-7th) will be when you need to forgo certain items.

Next, look through the list below and decide which one of the five levels of difficulty you want to take on, and which items you will abstain from  (although your items may come from multiple difficulty levels you are only trying to complete one level, the most difficult you think you can manage).

Finally, let us know that you’ve taken up the challenge by completing the Accept the Challenge section of the general “Live Like a PCV”  at www.LiveLikeaPCV.org

Lion: Difficulty Level I

(choose two)

• Forgo the use of the microwave.
• No checks, no debit cards or credit cards, cash only all week.
• No washing machine or dish washers - plus you must attempt laundry by hand once. (Let’s be honest you probably have enough clothes to easily go a week without washing.)
• Cook dinner by candlelight.
• Keep a journal or write a handwritten letter to a friend about your experiences this week.

Buffalo: Difficulty Level II

(choose two plus one item from Level I)

• No television (This includes Hulu and Adult Swim online, they are not available outside the US)--You can listen to the radio and read local newspapers.
• Baths or showers allowed only every other day-  You can wash yourself at the sink with a cloth each day.
• No fast food, no restaurants (this includes coffee places, bars, and delivery).
• Internet only every other day. (You can use the internet for your job but you're on the honor system here.)
• Start and finish a book this week.
• Buy your fruits and vegetables for the week locally.
• Wild Animals! You can't leave your yard between 7:30 PM and 6:30 AM unless accompanied by 3 or more people.

Elephant: Difficulty Level III

(choose two plus one item from Level II or two items from Level I)

• You can use your toilet but you must manually fill the tank or do a bucket flush. (Turn off the water to the toilet.)
• Lack of temperature control - No heater or air conditioner in your car.
• Greet everyone you know with a handshake and genuine questions about their family, home, and health.
• You can only use one burner on your stove and no oven.
• Ration your water to only 10 gallons a day.  This includes cooking, drinking, bathing, and washing clothes.
• Teach someone the 4 ways the HIV virus is transmitted

Leopard: Difficulty Level IV

(choose two plus one item from Level III, or two items from Level II, or three items from Level I)

• Reduced living space.  You may only use your living room, bathroom and kitchen.
• Bathe only once this week. (You may wash yourself with a cloth at the sink each day.)
• No driving.  You can use public transport, bicycle, and walking.
• Internet one day this week.  (Again, you can use it for your work only.)
• Power outage.  Throw a dice (6 sides) every day for how many hours you will be without power sometime between 5.00pm -11.00pm (turn off your power breakers).

Rhino: Difficulty Level V

(choose one item from each Level)

• No running water from your house, you must go fetch it from somewhere else (a neighbor’s house is fine).
• No English for the entire week.  (You can speak English at work only.)
• You can’t use any toilet in your house, you must go somewhere else or improvise.
• No refrigerator.
• Spend the whole weekend in one room of your house. Using no electricity - you are allowed 3 books and the battery life of your computer (no recharging).

Questions for Reflection:

• How did you find this challenge- difficult?  Easier than you had anticipated?
• What surprised you about participating in this challenge?
• What did this challenge teach about how people in developing countries live? 

When you’ve successfully completed your Challenge check out our “Show Support” page at www.LiveLikeaPCV.org  for gear to let others know of your triumph and help us spread the word.