Slow down & Smell the Roses

What a week! Physically, mentally, and emotionally, I am exhausted! All the travelling and running around caught up to me this week. I should start with last Saturday, the wedding. Apparently love is in the air in Uganda…or perhaps just weddings. But whatever the case, it was more than I could handle. The wedding I attended last Saturday was too extravagant for my taste (and not to mention extremely long).  I have come to find that I truly am a simple person, especially compared to the weddings over here. There isn’t much of a difference in the wedding industry with the fancy cakes and big dresses, but usually there are two parts to the wedding: the introduction (where the bride introduces the man she is going to marry to her clan and to her father for approval) and the “western” wedding (in a church with the white dress). I’ll explain more on the wedding in another post, this post has a lot more to do with the differences in lifestyles.

If Saturday didn’t do me in, then Sunday and Monday certainly did! The Uganda Rotary Clubs hosted the Rotary run on Saturday which was quite successful in raising 100 milling Ugandan Shillings! All going to the cancer ward at a hospital. I was too tired to run (since I was at a wedding all day the day before) so I walked with my co-host Rotarian Florence. It was a good way to see the city and take in some fresh air without the exhaust from Boda Bodas and cars. But shortly after we completed the run, she and I went home and I slept. Apparently it wasn’t good sleep because I woke up the next morning even more tired, with a long day ahead of me. I wasn’t expecting to stay on Makerere’s campus all day, but that’s what happened. It was a good thing and bad thing to be on campus that long. It seems that everywhere I go, something is contributing to my research. I was able to observe gender relations between the college age students on campus and in that one day, I learned a lot. 

By that night, when attending my host Rotary Club’s meeting, I began to feel really weird. Cold sweats, headache, aching muscles but brushed it off as dehydration. Even though the day was long, the evening ended very well with fellowship with my host Rotarians and receiving some beautiful Rose Tubers.  They smell amazing! Few people know this but, I adore flowers. Back home, I started to grow flowers and tend to them every day like a spiritual ritual. My host club figured this out from my bio that I sent them and connected me with a Rotarian that has a flower farm. As great as the Rose Tubers were to my morale, they didn’t help me sleep that night. Tuesday evening, I met with my new roommate and had some hot chocolate with her. And I should have known then that something was wrong, because I almost fell asleep while talking to her.  But I pressed forward and attended the Bukoto Rotary Club fellowship where I started to feel extremely sick. I told one of the Rotarians from my host club (that drove me to the fellowship) and he took me to the local clinic. We just wanted to make sure that I didn’t contract Malaria, we all suspected I didn’t but just wanted to confirm. As it turns out, I was suffering from fatigue. I’ve had this before, but I feel as though I actually learned a lesson with this one…there’s no need to do everything all at once, during the same week, or even the same month. I need to slow down and smell the Rose Tubers, take in what’s around me and not stress out. Things will get done in due time.

I have many friends and colleages back home that run around stressed out as much as I do, but do they actually pay attention to what’s going on around them? I know I didn’t every time I was running around. As I’ve come to realize over these past few weeks, it’s extremely unhealthy. Ugandans call cancer and diabetes “western” diseases because it’s very rare for someone to develop these diseases with the typical Ugandan way of life. It’s usually the Ugandans that adopt the “western” lifestyle that get those types of diseases. They think that westerns put themselves through unnecessary stress, and I suppose this week I’ve proved them right! So now that I’m recuperating from my exhaustion of the past couple of weeks, I’ve adopted the mentality of slowing down and smelling the roses. I'm sure I'll be able to take in more of the culture that way too.

 

The Animal Kingdom in My Room

I don’t actually have the entire animal kingdom in my room but I certainly feel like I do. Every morning I wake up to different sounds and every day I see something different! Sunday morning started out pretty interesting! Waking up to no electricity (I’m getting used to that), and headed off to church at 7 AM. The church service was much like how I experienced church in the states. There was nothing too special about it except that I was in Uganda. It was a cold and wet morning since it had rained all night, but enjoyable nonetheless. When we arrived back home, I was pleasantly surprised to find that I had a roommate! A little green lizard had been rummaging through my belongings and apparently was trying to find a way out of the room. Florence and I got him out of the room, but as I was doing some research for my paper, I noticed him in the middle of the floor staring at me. I would have taken a picture of my new roommate, but he’s camera shy. He’s also very noisy! Anywhere he goes, he’s running into something. I haven’t named him since he comes in and out of my room so I view him more of a housemate than a roommate but he’s harmless. There are many bugs and animals running around that I’ve become pretty immune to them. The only roommates I would object to are snakes, mosquito's, rats and mice – none of which I have seen lately even though I know they’re around somewhere.

She's about to make some rice (arabic style)

Saturday, I was able to help (mainly watch) cook for a big dinner that Florence was hosting. It is quite interesting to see how everything is made by hand and from their farm. I really wanted to make the Chapati but I watched instead. I didn’t need anyone getting sick over something that I cooked incorrectly. But it definitely takes a village to put on a big feast!  One thing I have really enjoyed is the conservation of energy here! In the states, we don’t usually have switches to turn off and on the sockets or use very little water to wash the dishes or wash our hands. Here, because resources may be plentiful but you don’t know when the next time is that you’ll have power or hot water, everyone is very conservative!

I named the one looking at me Babe

I also had a great revelation! I’ve mainly been eating vegetables! I am turning into a vegetarian by coincidence rather than on purpose. There are a few reasons for that: first, most of the meals I have with Florence’s family are vegetable based and very good! Second, I usually don’t eat meat back home and that habit has carried over to Uganda.  And lastly, since waking up to baby chicks chirping, a cow mooing, pigs squealing, and goats baahing, I’ve grown to really see them as living creatures rather than food. Yesterday, Florence’s niece took me to see the pigs and I was shocked! Not because of how they looked, no my friend, I’ve seen a pig before. But rather because of how they looked at me. I know pigs are smart, but unlike other farm animals that I’ve been around, I felt as though the pig was looking at me to try to understand me rather than to see if I had food in my hands. I suppose I can relate this feeling to dogs.  How my two dogs look at me is how I saw the pigs (and piglets) looking at me. That shocked me more than anything so far.

 

During the week, I was able to go to Eastern Uganda and go hiking while Florence monitored a training. I wasn't just amazed at the beautiful waterfalls and vegetation, but I was also amazed to find that in that particular area, there were some cultural practices that are now illegal that directly harmed women. Its as though everywhere I go in Uganda, it contributes to my research either through the law or through the cultural practices that harm women. I don't want to go into detail about the cultural practices in that particular area, but if you are interested in learning more, just email me and I will be glad to share with you in more detail the things I learned while near Mbale and hiking near Mt. Elgon.

 

But now! I'm safely back in Kampala and working on my research. I have an opportunity to present my proposal to the faculty and staff of the Gender and Women Studies department next week and get some feedback.  Overall, this past week has been good and very eye-opening. I'm looking forward to the rest of the year! I just hope I don't have anymore roommates when I move into my new flat. :)

 

Welcome to Uganda!!!

I have arrived safely in Uganda on Monday morning. I was greeted by my host counselor Ronald at Entebbe. It wasn't hard to spot him with his Paul Harris Fellow pin and Peace Through Service pin on his suit jacket lapel. My dad had travelled with me to see what all the hype over Uganda was all about, so the three of us travelled to my host home until I find a flat of my own. Florence, another Rotarian, was kind enough to open her home to me and my dad. We greatly appreciated it since we had a long layover in London.  We were able to see the marathon and even saw Uganda win it's first gold medal in years (talk about making history)! We had no idea as we were watching the event that it was history in the making or even that the man leading the group was Ugandan! He was running quite fast at the 40 kilometers mark. In fact, Ronald was the one to deliver the news that the Ugandan Marathoner had won gold. Such an exciting moment for the country.

After resting for a few hours, I was soon off to meet my host rotary club and the District Governor (DG) Geeta. She is called the Alpha and Omega because she is the first female DG for the 9200 district and will be the last DG for the district because starting next Rotary New Year (July 1, 2013) the district will be split into two. My host Rotary club didn't waste anytime with a service project. I was instantly taken to a water pump that had been installed and was to be officially open to the children at the school once the DG blessed it. What a way to kick off my scholarship year, Aye? The DG is such an encouraging woman and I can tell that she is a huge inspiration to many female rotarians in the district and rotaractors.

The next morning, my dad and I accompanied Florence to Kabale. Florence works for a nonprofit organization that helps young school girls go to school.  She works directly with the girls but more so with the teachers and volunteers that try to solve issues of girls education.  Right up my alley! so I decided to join her for her travels for work every now and to assist my research on gender equality and culture.  This is also a great opportunity to see the country side and the entire country.

In one of the towns, I was able to sit in on the trainings and listen to some of the issues presented to the females.  These issues are so interesting yet sad!  The most basic physical barriers or cultural barriers (which aren't simple most of the time) can cause a female student to not attend school.  From listening to Florence and the teachers/volunteers, I have been thinking that this would make a good service project.  But I'm going to think about it more and see how feasible it is with one the local rotary clubs.

The gender issues are so evident in Uganda.  I had almost forgotten the major differences that the genders have in the rural areas.  Traveling outside of Kampala has been a great experience and I look forward to travelling to the rest of East Africa in the district as well. My dad had the opportunity to see the many people of Uganda - from the city to the rural areas. He left on Friday morning and says he will be back. I'm glad he enjoyed himself and seeing the Pearl of Africa has inspired him to do some great humanitarian work. I hope that my experience in East Africa opens many people diversity of the world and inspire them to help those in need.

This first week has been so eventful, I can only imagine what the next 10 months will be like.

There and Back (pt 2) - Better late than never!

It's been a while since I've posted but I haven't forgotten that there is a part two to this "There and Back" post. Since I'm about one month away from heading to Uganda, I have been doing a lot of thinking and reflecting on what it was like while I was there. One this is for sure, it wasn't as hot as it is here in the D.C. area.  We had an Ozone Alert yesterday which meant I stayed in the house for the better part of the day. Since I don't predict the temperature to reach over 100 degrees Fahrenheit, then it is safe to say that I can pack for the usual summer that we have in the D.C. area (minus the humidity).



The Nile

I have also been planning to reconnect with some great people that I met while in Kampala in March. Hopefully, I'll be able to do more historic tours like I did at the Nile (and maybe even swim in it), as well as tour the rest of the 9200 district. I'm also looking forward to possibly going to a football match (soccer) and getting a Ugandan jersey.  Even though I used to play soccer up till the age of about 11 or so, I haven't really watched any professional matches (besides the occasional game on T.V.).


The Mandela National Stadium





I'm really starting to look forward to this new adventure. Now, that's not to say that I wasn't looking forward to it before, but as I'm starting to do more research for my project this year as well as think about community service and where I want to visit in the district, I'm starting to realize that...Toto, I won't be in the U.S. anymore, I'll be in a place that's rich with history, has a very unique culture, and will be the start of more to come.






Orange Soda...It's supposed to say Mirinda in Arabic

Theo other side of the soda can

There are a couple of things that might take some time getting used to, such as the multiple languages (such as Lugandan and English and even Arabic).  Another scholar headed to Kampala is actually going to be taking language courses in Lugandan while there. I considered it but I think I also want to learn Swahili (at some point while I'm in East Africa). Even though in the D.C. area there is a sense of a melting pot with many cultures and languages, so the idea of being around multiple languages isn't a hard concept to grasp. It's when people begin to speak these local languages to me that I may have to get used to or just learn (which should be fun!).



One thing I'm really looking forward to getting used to is the food! During my visit in March, I tried so many different foods that had Indian and Ugandan influence. But since I will be travelling around the district to speak to different Rotary Clubs in each country, I'm going to try to get a taste of each country through a cultural dish as well!

I'm bound to write one more post before departing for this adventure. So until next time!

There and Back (pt 1)

I am so glad I got to go to Uganda before my scholarship year began. I now know what to pack, what local languages I should learn, and a little more about the cutlure since I was there on the ground.  The biggest shock I got was how many people had mistaken me for a Ugandan. It was a pleasant surprise as many people tried to speak Lugandan to me, even when I was boarding the plane to head home.

The first day that we were there we visited EDAPO. This is the organization that the Crystal-City/Pentagon Club is doing as their international community service project.  It was so amazing to see the children and the teachers at the location. We were greeted, shown around the location, and even witnessed some traditional dances. That was my favorite part. Each dance had a story and purpose to it that sort of took me by surprise.



Going to the location was such a difference from staying in Kampala. The city isn't as developed as Washington D.C. but it still had a little New York City feel with people walking around at night and socializing at the local cafes. It was a pleasant surprise! Kampala is certainly the melting pot for the different districts in Uganda as well as internationally. There were people from all over the world in that one city and I was quite amazed at how many people visited or did business in Uganda. I think that's a good sign that Uganda is indeed on it's way to becoming more developed and maintaining its status as the Pearl of Africa. The picture to the right is outside of Kampala. In the U.S. we would call this the suburbs or a major city, however in Uganda, they don't consider it Kampala at all! It's a totally different place. The reason I took this picture is beause I kept seeing these types of shops with the words "Authorised Dealer" somewhere on the building. It was just a reminder to me that the Republic of Uganda has a different type of government and standards than the U.S. It was actually pretty interesting and not a bad idea to have that on the buildings because as you go out to the more rural areas as we did when going to Jinja, there are people who are not authorised dealers who try to sell you a product.

One thing I was really looking forward to was the food haha! It was pretty good! I got to try Matooke (the mashed stuff on my plate), Peanut sauce (the brown stuff on my plate), and plenty of differently types of fish and seasoned chicken. There is a strong Indian influence in the food. Goodness! There was so much that I did in one week, I can't possibly put it in one post! So until next time!!

Finally! An Update!

It has been such a LONG TIME since I've written a post! I'm sorry everyone for the delay in updating you about my adventures before heading to Uganda. There is so much to tell you that I don't know where to begin! HAHA! Well, since my last post the first big event that happened was the....

Ambassadorial Scholar Orientation:

It was so great to meet different Ambassadorial Scholars and learn where they are headed in this upcoming academic year. I met some great people who weren't even Ambassadorial Scholars but were apart of a Global Study Exchange Team. That particular program is for older professionals (who are younger than 40 though) who go to another country for about a month and exchange ideas within their trade or career field. How awesome is that? And people thought exchange programs were for high school and college students. :)

The mirror on the table is reflecting on us haha!

The pin on the right is the Rotary 2011-2012 logo for "Embrace Humanity Within"
The pin on the left for the Rotary Foundation Ambassadorial Scholar

I was also able to meet the other Ambassadorial Scholar from my district. She is absolutely wonderful and I'm glad I was able to meet her. She's actually headed to China for her academic year.  The one thing that I have taken away from that weekend is how the sense of helping others was with everyone. The Rotarians were all so helpful and a pleasure to be around and I could see that the GSE (Global Study Exchange) Teams and Ambassadorial Scholars were the next generations of Rotarians. I am extremely happy to have been apart of this event and more importantly this organization.


Rotaract:

Since the beginning of the new year, I've made it a point to get more involved with Rotaract. I was a member of my university's Rotaract club but I decided to go to a couple of meetings and social events of one the Washington D.C.'s community based Rotaract Clubs. And boy oh boy! Was it great to meet a group of young poeple like them!

After a meeting with the Metro Washington, D.C. Rotaract Club

Ice Skating in DC with the Metro Washington, D.C. Rotaract Club

They are all so energetic, willing to help, and FUNNY! After every Rotaract event, I was on fire and ready to get more involved and make some new friends. They all have different interest but come together to serve the community, gain professional development, and just hang out with different people. Conversations with Rotaractors are never dull HAHA!

I also did a community service event with a couple of Rotarians for the DC Rotaract Club. It was quite an enjoyable evening. On one of the coldest nights, we helped the Salvation Army give warm food and hot chocolate to the homeless. I haven't done something like that since I was in Girl Scouts and even then we just prepared the food. 

Uganda Action:

In the past couple of months, there has been a little progress with Uganda Action. The biggest step was confirming that the small group (Rotarians from the Crystal-City/Pentagon club and me) was able to go travel to Uganda in the month of March. Now we are currently trying to raise more awareness about EDAPO and the needs in Uganda. This particular update deserves its own post so I will make the next post all about the Uganda Action Project and EDAPO.

I am excited to go visit the location and Kampala. Every now and then the group recieves a picture from the president of EDAPO such as the one above and it warms my heart to see the children. But since the trip has been set in stone, I have been doing so much research on Uganda and have contacted so many people who are Ugandan or have been there in order to get a grasp of what to expect.

Since the trip is about 2 weeks away, you can expect a lot of pictures and more information on the Uganda Action project. I haven't been to Africa before so this is going to be quite an adventure!

 Until next time everyone!

Africa and the Media

Every now and then I come across something that stricks me as interesting or worth sharing with others. This pariticular blog post from The New Yorker I found to be very interesting. With the negative stereotypes about Africa from the news or even people who do not bother to try to learn more about African countries, this post highlights some important things that were not mentioned in great detail in the American media. Check it out!

10 Biggest Positive Africa Stories of 2011