Kindness of Strangers!

I realized today that I have four weeks left of work and at least four projects I'm trying to complete. The workshop I have planned is going to be on July 16^th and I'm hoping that everyone in LUGADA pitches in for a successful workshop. The purpose of the event is to strengthen LUGADA's revolving fund and teach the loan applicants how to manage a loan and when to take the loan. We're going to give a repayment schedule and show how to write or describe a business proposal. There are tons of logistical problems, like the transportation stipend (do I give it beforehand, so the attendees can afford to travel to the site, but risk that people will forget to show up? Or do I give it once they arrive, risking that some people won't have the 1000 shilling for travel?), the cultural obsession with food, and wondering if everyone will show up.

I chose the time of 10-5 for the workshop, trusting that no one will arrive until at least 10:30 and we won't start until closer to 11:30. This way, we avoid having to give morning tea and can give only lunch. We'll give a late lunch so we won't have to give afternoon tea and can have only a water break around 3 o'clock. I'm trying to maneuver the workshop to be cheap because I have only 400,000 shillings to work with for the entire day. A friend rented me her conference hall for only 35,000 shilling and we have an expert coming to speak for 50,000. I have doubts about his expertise, but he comes with high praise from other sorts. Anyway, he knows more than I do.

Of the remaining funds, more than 60,000 shilling will be a transportation stipend so that attendees can travel the 4 kilometers to the workshop site. More than 100,000 shilling will be for lunch and the remaining money will go to purchase notebooks and pens for the attendees, as well as packets of information. I estimate that 30 people will attend and there is really no room to be wrong: I can't really afford more attendees but I can't exclude any LUGADA members from attending!

My facilitator in LUGADA gave me a terrific gift yesterday. Most group members have given me welcoming gifts of bananas, jewelry or fruit. Florence and her family adopted me and gave me a new name. I am now introduced as Sarah Angello Namugerwa and I am a member of the monkey clan, one of Uganda's 53 tribes and the most prominent in Buganda, where I live. (Side Story: my monkey-clan grandmother, Jjoja Francis, rejoiced when I told her my dad in America found a new job. She told me she had been praying for him every day and how is the rest of her American family?)

Every day, LUGADA has more great ideas about how to improve the Nyendo-Ssenyange community. I think we have twenty project ideas for the upcoming months and years and I wish I could watch them all come to fruition. Some of the ideas are enormous (Community Clean-up: Paving the main streets in Nyendo to prevent sicknesses that come from inhaling dust) and some are small and manageable, like computer literacy and empowerment training. I'm teaching computer literacy to anyone who asks. I'm teaching my two brothers typing and I'm teaching others Microsoft Office Tools and basic Internet skills.

I love comparing our skills sets here in Masaka: I can teach computer literacy and lead empowerment training, but I needed my host mom to show me how to peel a jackfruit and my colleague Maria is teaching me about medicinal herbs. My brothers are around my age (Ivan is 17 and Brian is 20), but we have very little knowledge in common. Neither of them has ever read a book, but they both have incredible knowledge of plants and basic science…although Ivan curiously asks for my help every night with his homework.

Tonight is a LUGADA meeting where I will be surprising St. Ignatius Primary School with an enormous bag of donations. The husband of an acquaintance flew into Uganda and brought several bags of school supplies, but didn't know where to donate them. I met his wife at a café in Masaka and she asked me if I had any use for a bag of school supplies: I didn't expect these supplies to actually show up at the FSD! I wish I had a name or an address where I could send my thanks and pictures of the kids using the books and supplies.

St. Ignatius Primary School, where I volunteer and work with LUGADA, has absolutely nothing. They lack everything except students. 507 students, 8 teachers. 1 desk for every 9 students. No books. No pencils. No running water.

At least they have some pencils and books now! I can't wait to distribute the supplies. I just finished writing a grant for St. Ignatius: while donations are used up and disappear, funding for the school will enable them to find their own supplies and develop the building to provide a safe and educational environment for the kids.

Where The Money Stops

Yesterday I journeyed to a village about 30 kilometers away to observe some beneficiaries of LUGADA's revolving fund at work. There were so many bizarre and ridiculous events in what should have been a straightforward day that I'm still shaking my head at the craziness.

            Because the village is far from Masaka, my facilitator Florence and I decided to leave by 10 o'clock. I was surprised by this because she's usually very busy in the morning: but ten was agreed on. I left my house at 9, got to Florence's home in Nyendo at 9:30, where I learned that Florence ran to the bank and would be home soon.

            At 12:30, Florence calls me and apologizes, saying she's on her way back right at that second. She doesn't actually arrive in Nyendo until 3:30, when I should have already been back from the trip to the village. I was frustrated and angry that I was kept waiting for over five hours, especially after we had a chat about punctuality the day before. But she was all apologies and sweetness and we set off for the village.

            I won't attempt to spell the Luganda word for the village, but it translates to "Where the Money Stops." I think the money probably stopped a few kilometers before this village. The roads were so dusty that we honestly could not see where we were driving and I think the driver just assumed he'd see another car if one were coming. The village itself consisted of shacks, garbage, a fruit market and many children who were very surprised/terrified to see me.

            Florence disappeared quickly to find our group, but I was seized by a conference from the Lutheran World Federation. Apparently, LWF was funding a workshop on savings and loans to women who had been abused. The facilitators of the workshop thought that I was their representative from America who was coming to check on my donation and see how the workshop was going. They brought me to the front of the room and heartily welcomed me to Uganda, thanked me for my donation and my time and described what they were doing. I didn't want to embarrass the leader of the workshop, so I accepted their thanks and then was called upon to deliver the Token Mzungu Speech.

            Scott the Canadian warned me about Token Mzungu Speeches, so I was prepared. Ugandan functions always include lots of speeches. Even a party will include welcome speeches, celebration speeches and farewell speeches, so naturally the auspicious occasion of a white person wandering into the wrong conference room merits a speech. The Token Mzungu Speech should address how Uganda is welcoming, development is inspirational, blah blah empowerment/global partnerships/struggle to prosperity….I delivered my token mzungu speech and then scampered off.

            Fortunately I was rewarded with a cup of tea and popcorn before I took the journey back to Masaka.  

 

Other journey? I was about ten minutes late heading home and my brother in Kampala called me "Where are you? Mom doesn't know where you are, she's worried, who are you with?" I try to calm him down, explaining that I was in the car back to the house. When I returned, I learned that my host mom thought I had been kidnapped.

                                    It was 9:45. 

These photos show the event I was at in Where the Money Stops. The women pictured are members of St. Maria Goretti Women's Group and organized a catering business. They have very little education and cooking is one of the few marketable skills they have: fortunately, there is a huge demand for catering in the area and the women reap a pretty nice profit.

The Morning Commute

So I finally figured out how to make photographs post and I will be taking advantage of this new technology. But first, a brief anecdote.
 
My new house is much closer to where I work in Nyendo and fortunately, this means I don't need to take a boda to work every day. It's about a twenty minute walk. The problem is that the walk consists of many long, winding paths that go through farms, plantations and even schools. Today was my first time walking without getting lost.
 
"You cannot get lost," explained my mom patiently. "You can't get lost because every road goes to Nyendo."
 
"That's not possible," I argued. "This road goes in two different directions. That cannot both be Nyendo."
 
"No. They both go to Nyendo."
 
So we countered this way for a long, long time. I argue that two different roads cannot go to the same place and she argued that of course they can. "Okay, they both go to Nyendo," I agree. "But which is faster?"
"They are both fast."
"...but they go in opposite directions. Which road is best?"
"They are all good roads."
 
So I was very, very frustrated. How the hell do I get to work if every road will bring me to work in the same amount of time? I tried rewording my question: which road will bring me to Nyendo in the shortest amount of time, with me exerting the smallest amount of effort?
"They will all bring you to Nyendo."
 
Well, they don't all bring me to Nyendo. I got lost and wound up in Masaka. I got lost and wound up in Nakayiba, right where I started. I got lost and wound up somewhere in the banana plantations. My mom, my entire family and every Ugandan just laughs at me: How do you get lost? All roads go to Nyendo!!
 
 
They do not. I cannot figure out if this is bizarre Ugandan humor  or if the roads just don't work for white people.

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Perhaps some photographs?

I'm hoping desperately that these photographs will post! If successful, this should be a photo from the UN Conference and the view from my bedroom window.

That Time I Presented to the UN?

UN Experience

In my last entry, I expressed how excited I was to attend a UN workshop. UN Habitat Sanitation works are all over Masaka: Masaka is part of the Lake Victoria Region Water and Sanitation Initiative and was granted a lot of money over the past few years to improve the quality of water and cleanliness. UN Habitat, with sponsoring from the Danish government, created a microcredit fund to enable residents to construct 900 toilets in the area. 500 will be in Nyendo-Ssenyange (within Masaka) and 400 will be in Northern Uganda.
So for this reason, Nyendo is positively crawling with UN Habitat workers. This isn’t always for the best: there are massive trenches dug into the sides of Nyendo streets, presumptively to provide drainage and the eventual creation of a sewer system. The silly UN thought that if they dug the trenches and left the equipment with the residents, a sewer system would magically build itself. Instead, the trenches are seen as just convenient garbage pits. Very attractive.
Anyway, to summarize: I was not attending a seminar on strengthening revolving funds, as I thought I was doing. I was actually presenting my group (LUGADA’s) expertise concerning the sustainability of a revolving fund.
Summarizing again: I had to deliver a half-hour presentation on the sustainability of a revolving fund before a room of experts, even though I was entirely unprepared and flabbergasted. Fortunately I have been blessed with a liberal arts education, meaning I can speak extensively without every saying anything especially useful.The presentation went off well enough.I have taken four classes with Dr. Marta Robertson, which has certainly prepared me for speaking at length about general ideas like “boxes” and preconceived notions. I borrowed every aspect of her teaching philosophy. “Before we talk about how to sustain ably manage a revolving fund,” I began. “What does sustainability mean to you?”
We went around the group, discussing the word sustainability.
“Great. Now, what activities aren’t sustainable? If sustainability means longevity, what activities don’t contribute to sustainability? ”
So we discuss the opposite.
I had a half hour to put together the presentation, so I covered some giant sheets of paper with bullet points and arrows. I even had a pointer to look official! Anyway, the presentation covered useless topics like “developing a multi-stakeholders forum” and “building a relationship of mutual trust and respect.” We also covered how gender is a social construct!
Dear Center for Public Service,
I am sorry for presenting your orientation lecture before UN officials without properly citing you.
Fortunately, my presentation had to be translated, so a 30 minute presentation was more like 15 or 20 because everything I said was translated into Luganda. Afterwards, I had to shake hands with every single official in the room (there were a lot of officials in the room-everyone from the mayor of Masaka to the chairperson of the entire Lake Victoria regional project) and resign myself to my name of Madame Sarah and/or Madame Angela. I’m still baffled by the names here: surnames are presented first and I introduce myself as Sarah Angello most of the time. That further confuses people because last names end with a, always. So I have become either Madame Angela Sarah or Madame Sarah Angela.
Anyway, the photographs of the presentation are quite humorous but for some reason blogger won't let me post them. When they show up, please enjoy my makeshift pointer, my awkward stance when the translator is speaking, my blackish eye and of course, the lopsided haircut. All in all, my first professional interaction with the UN was a success.
The lopsided haircut is staying: I figured if I paid 45 cents for a haircut, I deserve pieces that are two inches longer!

I have been at Cafe Fric (Masaka's refuge and haven for Mzungu: it is run by some Danish Christian missionaries and offers Western-like foods and free wireless internet) for almost 4 hours, absolutely loving and taking advantage of the internet.
However, I did just walk into a tree branch and after ascertaining that my eyeball did not squish out, I am cursing the lack of lights/indoor plumbing.
Although the indoor plumbing situation isn't the fault of Cafe Fric: Fric technically closed 2 hours ago. I'm sitting outside, stealing their internet. Oops!

Anyway, I thought this could be some good reflection time, as I just briefly contemplated life with one eye.

I feel terribly that my host family didn't work out. I know FSD works as hard as they can to mediate intern/family disputes and I think I am one of the first interns to actually move out of a family. Especially because on reflection, the family I am leaving is the type of family I am trying to encourage. Sylvia, my host mom, is a thoroughly modern woman who still embraces her Ugandan culture and heritage. She works twelve-hour days at an electronic shop and is exhausted when she comes home. True, her lifestyle doesn't really provide room for an intern, and she was completely unwavering concerning the key situation to the house. But she works so hard andwas very welcoming in her own way. She respected that I was not going to kneel to her, joked with me about all my marriage proposals (I get a lot of marriage proposals...) and offered me her perspectives on life in Uganda.
Of course, anytime I mentioned something negetive, she sighs and goes "...we have so many problems in Uganda." Even if I mention that I misplaced my flashlight! However, I realized last week that her English comprehension isn't as good as her spoken English. She answers "Yes dear..isn't that fine?" to nearly everything I say. I only realized a few days ago that she rarely understands me!
Anyway, perhaps I am a little selfish in demanding that my family changes their life to revolve around me. Sylvia and her family really could not accomodate access to their house until late at night and I was unwilling to change my mind on this. True, my current situation is more like a hotel guest or member of a homeless shelter...but these are the challenges that up and coming families struggle with (time management) and issues that every working mother knows.
My eye still hurts. My conscience points out that if I don't skulk outside of Danish christian missionaries during the night, I won't walk into trees.

Whatever, conscience. Free fast internet is not something to ignore.

sometimes we need to remember that this is AFRICA

Today’s mantra: This is AFRICA


Situation One: Last week, I met with the women of St. Margaret Goretti and arranged to visit all of their businesses. They told me to arrive at 9 am. Surprised, I asked them several times if a later time would be better because 9 am is very early for business here. No, they insisted. 9 am. So I show up for work this morning at 8:30 and get Aunt Norah, who is going to escort me. “9 am?” she laughs. “Banage, imagine we would meet at 9 am. No, I think we will meet at 2.” I point to the program: each woman has a copy of the program that we are meeting at 9 am. We compromise. 1:30. I spent the morning wandering around Nyendo meeting Aunt Norah’s friends, which while fun, was not really productive. We then went to a meeting of Aunt Norah’s catering group which should have taken 5 minutes. The members were each filling out an insurance form designed specifically for such a group: it asked for only 5 things. Name. Marital Status. Client ID Number. Beneficiary. Address.
The meeting took two hours. Oh well…TIA. The facilitator was from Foundation for International Community Assistance and she looked like she wanted to kill herself by the end of the meeting. The meeting was in a furniture warehouse.
TIA.

Situation Two: The Haircut
One of the women in LUGADA used her loan from the revolving fund to improve her hair salon. The salon is the front room of a shop and it is rather luxurious by Nyendo standards: it has electricity (meaning a hair dryer) and running water (meaning a sink to wash hair in). The salon is called WORK IS A BLESSING BEAUTY SALON. Mira, the owner, was so welcoming to me that when she asked if she could cut my hair, what else could I say?
Actually, I did say one thing. I said, “You’ve cut white people hair before, right?”
She laughed answered, “I’ve had a salon for ten years.”
What she meant by this was “I’ve had a salon for ten years and have never once touched Mzungu hair.”
Well….the haircut is definitely creative. I told her I wanted a few inches taken off and she tied a ponytail, plugged in her electric razor and just shaved off the ponytail.
“All done!” she proclaimed. “Awesome!” I said. “Hm…do you think you could make the front the same length as the back?”
After much adjusting, it is more or less even and quite short…whatever. Hair grows and this is Africa.

Situation Three: When the United Nations Met LUGADA…
Moments before I leave work, Norah hands me an envelope. “Florence wanted you to read this, she hasn’t head time.” I open it and immediately notice the letterhead. “This is from the United Nations!” I said excitedly. “Wow, terrific! They know about us!”
They know so much about us that they have invited us to a workshop on revolving funds, microfinance, and income-generating activities that are gender sensitive and environmentally sustainable. Wow. That sounds exactly like what we do!
The workshop is tomorrow. The letter was unopened since June 9.
So if the workshop starts at 9 and I have to move into my new house at 8:30 and punctuality isn’t Florence’s thing….who will be there to meet the UN? More importantly, will they hire me now or later?
….TIA.

an actual update!

Maintaining a blog in the developing world is even harder than I thought! Even when I have time to wander to the internet café, it is a huge investment of time to wait for an entry to post and load after you take the time to write it…I’m using my journal almost every night and maybe I can type some entries and backpost them.
Most things are going really well here. I absolutely love LUGADA and the people I work with in the organization. They certainly aren’t perfect—they are prone to infighting and fighting over resources, but I guess any organization that is so strapped for funds is victim to arguing among themselves. During the meeting last night, I presented my ideas for my two months here. I am going to launch their online fundraising, help them with internet, develop their microfund and rewrite/write grant applications for them. I am also hoping to volunteer at St. Ignitius Primary School. This school is partly run by LUGADA and lacks everything a school needs. They have no running water, no power, no books, no resources…the only thing they have is tons of students and committed teachers. I visited the school on Monday and the students were so welcoming and adorable. The older students had a quiz on my name, my job and where I am from. The younger students all wanted to know what foods we eat in America, if I know Obama and how I came to Uganda. The very youngest students sang a welcome song to me called ‘Thank You Teacher’ and asked me to teach them a song. I was not prepared for this but I figured somehow Dr. Gratto would find out if I couldn’t think of a song to teach on a moment’s notice. We quickly learned Twinkle, Twinkle and the kids grasped it quickly.
Ways in Which My Life Has Changed

1) Jenny and I spent nearly 20 minutes arguing over whose life is more luxurious. I say her life is more luxurious because her house has electricity and a solar powered backup. She argues that mine is more luxurious because I have a showerhead in the bathroom. We concluded that my lack of a flushing toilet cancels the greatness of a showerhead, but her electricity is canceled by the fact that she only has a bucket.
2) I went to Kampala and honestly freaked out when I saw a white person I didn’t know. It was so exciting.
3) Sleeping past 8 is absolutely indulgent.
4) If I eat half of my dinner, I reward myself with a spoonful of peanut butter.
5) Paying more than 2000 shilling for a beer is robbery.
6) I feel an instant companionship with any white person I see, even if they are escorted by the Uganda military at the bank…
7) It is risky and thrilling to be out past 8:30.
8) Riding a motorcycle without a helmet on dirt roads, through ditches and through some of the worst traffic in the world isn’t such a big deal….so what if Uganda has the highest carnage rate from accidents in the world?
9) I actually like sleeping under a mosquito net. It’s like a tent mixed with a canopy! I am definitely bringing one home.
10) I am suddenly the owner of a bushel of bananas, bags of avocados, jackfruits and at least 2 pineapples at any given time. People love to give me things!

Otherwise, I am moving out of my host family and into a new family. The Kisule family is just not working out for me: living with them is like living in a homeless shelter. I can’t return until late at night but if it is past 9, they prefer if I don’t return home at all. We must exit by 8 am and they aren’t wild about feeding me. They are really nice people and I wish them only the best….but they were definitely not the best for hosting interns. Also, my father works for the Uganda Development Agency and he doesn’t believe poverty exists here, nor does he believe that lack of universal education or the prevalence of malaria and preventable diseases are legitimate problems…

Anyway, I am definetely adapting to the Ugandan sense of humor. Someone asked me to describe my new host mom and I said "Well, she only has one leg" which is absolutely true! But this was uproariously funny and I think we laughed for about 20 minutes. Also, my meetings today were canceled because the woman I was meeting is being buried. My supervisor's quote: Our meeting with Ddembe has been postponed because she has died and will be buried tomorrow...I hope this is not inconvenient for you.

Masakan Life

Great Things About Masaka:

1) I live the life of luxury for about 75 cents each day. Another intern was telling me he lives on a dollar a day, rents a house with running water and managed to furnish it with mahogany tables.
2) Stoney Tangoweeze! I think I will return to the States only with suitcases full of this stuff: it is like ginger ale, but so much better.
3) Fresh avocado with every single meal: I made the mistake of telling Ugandans I like avocado and now I am doomed/blessed to eat an avocado the size of my head every time I sit down.
4) Mango! See above!
5) Shoebill storks flying everywhere.
6) Impossibly friendly people

What I Could Do Without:

1) Hearing MZUNGU roughly 9,0000000 times a day. I get that white people are somewhat rare, but really, how many times must we be surprised?
2) Electricity only during the sunniest hours of the day…
3) Snails and random parasites in the drinking water
4) Language Barriers
5) The slowest internet possibleMtooke. One week and already I never want to see hot mashed plantains again

exploring the jungle of LUGADA

I began work this morning cautiously and somewhat apprehensively. I am working for LUGADA, a community-based group that organizes activities aimed at poverty-reduction and empowerment of economically vulnerable people, specifically women and HIV+ victims. The objectives of LUGADA are clear and the organization boasts a constitution that I suspect was borrowed from the United Nations: the document stipulates that the General Assembly must meet completely once a year, a certain quorum must be present at each meeting, the Secretariat has certain powers, a simple majority is needed to overcome amendments but a 2/3 majority is needed for election…it is impressive, but somewhat odd for a grassroots NGO in Nyendo, Uganda!

My supervisor is the president and chairwoman, Florence. She is gracious, welcoming and full of ideas for LUGADA. She wants to expand a child sponsorship program and redevelop a revolving loan fund that began earlier in the ear. She bubbles with praise for her previous intern, a Canadian named Colleen. I’ve tracked down Colleen’s email and I’m planning on stalking her as soon as possible: the months when Colleen was here are the only months that are accounted for in any way! I spent the morning and part of the afternoon combing through the enormous binders Florence provided for me, authoritatively labeled “OFFICIAL CORRESPONDANCE.” The binders are full of emails and receipts, random budget reviews and audits, ranging from 1996 until about a year ago. A beacon of light shines through the muddle during Colleen’s six-month tenure: she organized several workshops concerning microlending and included every detail, response and survey she could find! There are even midterm reflections and a catalogue of obstacles.
But then it ends. Silence. Nothing has been entered since October.
There is a six month gap between the last intern\s documentation and anything recent…no budget account, no receipts of loans, no information on the child sponsorship program…I asked Florence to show me anything more recent, so she willingly brought me to an internet café to show me some documentation. But then she got distracted by chain letters, random correspondence and naturally we ran out of time!
Shrug. As Corrine says, TIA! TIA (This Is Africa!). have to adapt to Africa Time.

The Daughters of Africa in Canada are great sponsors of LUGADA and thought it would be beneficial to provide a computer and a printer to the office. Florence agreed and acquired first an office (LUGADA doesn’t actually have a staff and only recently opened an office), then the technology. I don’t think the computer has ever been used for real purposes!

The last hour of the day, I typed up several minutes from recent LUGADA meetings, began files on the children who are currently in the sponsorship program and sorted through mission statements and files that will hopefully go on the website I’d like to make. I believe Florence is delighted to have an intern because it means someone else is commited: she has told me that other people are so occupied with their work that they do not pay her attention, or give LUGADA the time of day.

Out of disorder…there is less disorder.