Service Above Self - Fellowship Through Service

I had the great opportunity to go to Sesse Islands with the Rotary Club of Kampala-Sesse Islands. The service project was a medical outreach to a rural/remote village on one of the islands. To be honest with you, the island reminded me much of Jurassic Park with the giant ants thick forest. It was great though getting to know the Rotarians and Rotaractors that came on the trip.  There was a big turnout at the medical outreach. For many, this was their first time going to a doctor since the last medical outreach only because it’s too expensive to go to the mainland for a doctor or they can’t afford the medication.  I was also delighted to see World Vision with Rotary as well as some pro bono doctors.  The phrase service above self reaches beyond Rotary and extends to other NGO’s and volunteers that believe in helping those that are in the most need.

Getting to Sesse Islands was actually an adventure in itself! We took a 4 hour ferry ride to the main island. Being on Lake Victoria felt like being in the middle of the ocean.  There were plenty of over islands in the distance, some with beach coast and some with cliff coast, but overall, it reminded me of being in California looking out to the Pacific at Catalina Island.  I definitely had some childhood memories come back while on the ferry.

Once on the island, we were greeted by the owner of the resort with refreshments and snacks.  We were all quite tired but managed to figure out our rooms and come back for a bon fire. At the fireside, I decided that this was a great time to get to know some of the Rotaractors that came on the trip.  They were all so friendly and I was able to make fast friends with them while dancing. Dancing in Africa is so different from dancing back home. I realized that they had incorporated some traditional dance moves while dancing to some modern reggae music. I was highly impressed! They were also quite impressed with how I danced.  For some reason, they think Americans are uptight and don’t know how to have a good time. But I’m proud to say that I represented the U.S. very well.

The next morning we set off to the medical outreach village, however, it was raining so hard that we had to wait for the rain to pass on our island as well as the island we were heading to. Once the rain slowed stopped, we all got on a boat that I was extremely doubtful could hold all of us. It took about an hour for us to get to the other island, which wasn’t bad compared to the ferry to the first island. We docked, carried supplies to the village, and without any hesitation, we were helping the community. There was a family planning room, dental care room, pharmaceutical room, and a room to see the doctors if you had any problems.  Without a doubt, the most crowded room was the one with the doctors.  These people didn’t see a doctor often if at all. In some cases, the only time that they did see the doctor was when the Rotary Clubs had a medical outreach to their location.

Because I don’t know Luganda, I was in charge of registration with Rotarian Justine and Rotarian Florence. I was handing out the numbers, but was still shocked at what I saw. The people had to state their name, age, and which village they were coming from. What shocked me was how young some of the mothers were and how some people looked to be about 60 but were actually 40. There could be a number of reasons for this inconsistency in age and how the person actually looked. I didn’t take any pictures of the patients because of my background with HIPAA for Fairfax County. It felt unethical to snap a picture without them knowing where it was going to be posted and used for. All in all, I could see the importance of Rotary here in Uganda. The Rotarians are important to their society because when the government doesn’t provide for the people, Rotary steps in and makes sure the basic needs are met with the help of other NGOs. That was quite inspiring to witness. I am very happy to be a part of such an organization.

Music & Culture – When Passions Collide

Music is certainly still the key to my heart.  My interest in music and culture was really sparked by my late band director Laura McBride who gave me private music theory lessons. She told me that all over the world, travelers realized that there were common motifs in music, common pitches that were used and rhythms; however, none of the civilizations that were encountered had any contact with one another. So, I was absolutely amazed to hear Gregorian music and West African music sound so similar! She even told me that the universe is made of music since all of the stars and planets vibrate – however, I’ll save my interest for astronomy, music, and culture for another post.  This post is about how my two loves, music and culture, have found a common ground in Uganda.

 As many may know, I didn’t start out on this human rights career path, I actually was heavily involved in music and aspired to be a music teacher. People have many passions in life, but just because I am not pursuing a career in music doesn’t mean that I’ve abandoned it. I’ve just felt more of a calling towards being an advocate for human rights than being a music teacher.  But my reason for enjoying music is still the same reason as in why I have such a strong interest in human rights - the culture.  Culture can be reflected in the music, and human rights are shaped by the culture as well – whether for the better or the worse.

This is a clip from the video, couldn't crop
it for some reason.

Since the purpose of me being here is to observe the culture, I can’t ignore the one thing that has such a cultural influence! No matter where I go in the world, I always want to hear the traditional music and modern music, and ask questions about the story behind the song. For the most part, there is a story about love and hope, but in some cases, the music is just meant to be felt rather than tell a story. The gentleman playing the instruments in the picture (I will hopefully upload the video soon) actually said that the story to this song was about a man who travelled the world looking for the woman of his dreams. He went everywhere, and when he returned home to his village, he realized that she was right there all along. I suppose the moral to that story was you don’t need to travel all over the world to find something that completes you, it’s most likely right in front of you.

One of my goals since I was younger was to collect instruments from all over the world that represent the culture. I started my collection with some wooden flutes from Native Americans in Nevada, then a didgeridoo from Australia that my dad brought back, now I’m excited to pick up a few instruments from Uganda and East Africa. But one thing that I am for certain about when it comes to culture, one must encompass all aspects of how the culture is represented, whether it’s the food, they style of dance, the clothes, and even the music, when observing culture, you have to look at the big picture. If you don’t, you’re not really paying attention.

 

 

It's the simple things

The theme for this week is best said in the words of India Arie’s song “There’s Hope”.  It’s the simple things in life that are worthwhile. There’s no need for the big cars, fancy gadgets (since they don’t work without power or wifi!), but the best things in life are all around us. Now! This isn’t to say that every person that I’ve come across so far has that mentality, that’s just my realization.  An example of this is the wedding I attended a couple of weeks back. It was really pretty and fun!  But what I really took from that wedding was, no matter how much I look Mugandan (a Ugandan from the Buganda Kingdom), I am still American. I had quite a few embarrassing moments while being a part of the wedding. For one, the girls come out dressed in the same Gomez and receive gifts from the groom’s family. When the girls come out, they must kneel, which turns into a dance down to the floor situation – not bad right? WRONG! Only because I don’t understand Lugandan, so when the M.C. said only the first three girls start dancing to the kneeling position, me being the fourth girl, started dancing too. So in front of more than 100 people, it was revealed that I wasn’t Mugandan or even Ugandan. I’m pretty good about blending in but it’s moments like that where I completely embarrass myself that the truth is revealed. Even after the M.C. kept telling me to stand back up (in Lugandan) and I kept dancing to the floor, I should have noticed that something was wrong when I realized everyone looking at me.  It’s okay to laugh at my awkward moment at the wedding because I’m still laughing at myself.

But I digress from my point that it’s the simple things in life that matter. The wedding was anything but simple. When I talked to some Rotarians about the wedding, they explained to me that the introduction has become more westernized and flashy to show how much money the family has (the reason the bride changes her dress many times throughout the day). The actual traditional introduction is low key and very short (and private). I would have preferred the actual traditional wedding to the one I went to. Not that it was bad or anything, but the amount of time and money spent into that event didn’t seem quite worth it to me. I just kept thinking “Isn’t the actual marriage more important than the wedding itself? All this money being spent on the celebration could be put towards building a house or even saving for the future”.  It’s not just the Ugandan culture that has these types of weddings and celebrations, it’s the same way in the U.S.!   I thought I would be flashy coming to Uganda with my gadgets and what not, but I’ve come to realize that I’m just as laid back as I am (usually) at home and Ugandan’s put more into their appearance than I do. On campus, I usually wear my jeans and a button down shirt, and boy! Do I look out of place! Most students wear business suits or sundresses for the ladies. And I keep wondering “Why? Why are you wearing high heels, madame? Why are you wearing that business suit, sir?” I don’t have an answer yet, but when I get one from the students, then I will be sure to have a response post.

And as I started this post, it’s the simple things in life that make one very happy. For me, it’s the various types of coffee that I’ve been tasting (and even hot chocolate). I’m determined to go on a coffee tour before I leave and bring a lot of sample bags for my host club. This way, they too can have a taste of Uganda.