Kids and getting around on my own!

July 6

This missive may or may not accompany pictures. I am having computer adventures when it comes to sending pictures.

Today I am working on setting up a fundraising plan for BoHU. I am altering what I would normally do in a plan in order to fit the cultural and country differences of which I am aware. Once complete it can be discussed between Isaac, Ronnie, Tony and Helen to make changes and decide upon. This alone is a real adventure for me, and I am enjoying it.

The more I know of Isaac and the more I HEAR about Isaac, the more impressed I become. I’ve heard several stories of how he has visited schools, medical clinics, etc., only to find that the services that are supposed to be free from the government become available to rural villagers only for a fee. Most villagers can’t afford services or medicine. For instance, there was to be money to repair school buildings that have not been repaired. There is supposed to be money for free AIDS medicine, doxycycline for malaria, etc., but the people are charged for it. Again, they have no money so receive no medicine. Corruption is rampant. So Isaac goes to these places occasionally and pretends to be a villager asking for a free service or medicine. He never confronts the individual asking him for the money. Instead he quietly leaves and then goes directly to the Minister of Health or the Minister of Education and asks why these things are not being done or why medications are no longer free. When the Ministers inquire down the line to the person who asked Isaac for the money, they of course deny having asked for a fee. It seems one of the people so identified by a Minister tracked Isaac down and asked why--if he already knew that asking for money was a scam--he didn’t just ask the scammer for “quiet money”. Isaac told him he was an NGO doing charitable work, not a criminal. People in this village and surrounding villages adore him. (Do we need to be reminded that he is only 22 years old?)

Hair. I need to wash my hair more than every 4^th day, especially given the ever present red dust from the roads. I do not exaggerate when I say that my pillow has red dust on it each morning. So…my choices are going to the salon for a shampoo or going to a hotel to purchase a shower. Time being short today I went to the salon in Mukono only to find Hadisha, my earlier hairdresser gone, and a young woman I had never seen there. She agreed to shampoo my hair. I didn’t have my own shampoo and conditioner with me this time so she used her own. I knew I was in trouble as soon as she applied the conditioner. Clearly this conditioner belongs on African hair, not Muzungu hair. Still, I didn’t want to be rude so I said nothing. She wanted to do a nice job so she insisted on drying it and styling it. I told her no curlers (which they love!). So she dried my hair and before I knew what was happening, she had a fist full of the grease/oil they put on their own hair to hold it down. She rubbed it all over my head and then lovingly sculpted my hair into something resembling a plastic helmet. She was delighted with the outcome. I gave her a nice tip and left with more oil in my hair than I had arrived with.

Alice. Sixteen year old Alice is an Eating Machine. She has spent a lifetime not knowing when she gets to eat next so she is catching up now while she is living here. Alice FILLS her plate at least twice at each of our three daily meals and out eats all of us.

Each time I am in Mukono I stop at the grocery store and buy something Isaac and Scovia would never buy for themselves, like yogurt or biscuits. In the evenings I always share whatever I have purchased during the day with Isaac, Scovia, Alice, and Viola. Alice greets me at the road every time I return and slyly checks the bag to see what I have purchased. Last night Alice came to my house and sat down and ate a small bag of Chinese noodles and then hinted that she would like to try my bottled water. During this time we managed to piece together some information about her (remember she doesn’t speak much English and I don’t speak much Luganda). She told me that she has no money for school but that if she did she would want to become a nurse. She has no boyfriend (this makes her blush) and that she wants to be “happy with George someday”. She points at my wedding ring and says “George”. She means that she would like to be “happy with a marriage someday”. So George, if you are reading this, you are now a new American word to be used by hopeful young girls in Nassuuti VillageJ

Today I stopped and purchased Alice her very own roll of biscuits that have chocolate icing on the inside. When I gave them to her she squealed and grinned and held them to her chest as though someone had handed her a gold mine. The biscuits disappeared into the space she shares with Viola at night. I adore Alice and wish I could bottle her up and take her back home with me.

She wants to visit her mother and siblings but it costs more to get to her village even by boda boda than she will earn for a long time. She would like Scovia and I to go with her so that her mother can meet us. She has started calling Scovia “Auntie”. I remain Muzungu or May-Lan. I am certain that she knows that by inviting me, she will get there faster because the muzungu will pay for it.

I took my first and second boda boda ride side-saddle today because I was wearing a dress and could not ride like a man. YeeeeeHAAaaaaa! Side Saddle Motorcycle Woman!!! (I hope not to have to do that again any time soon. I have even higher admiration for all the women I see doing it side-saddle while carrying a baby and a bundle of banana leaves, flying over pot holes at 45MPH!!!) My driver started laughing as he heard me continuously say “Mpola mpola mpola mpola”. Finally, he reached back, took my right arm, wrapped it around his middle…and drove as carefully around pot holes as I ever could have asked for.

Schedule: I will be working in Bushenyi in Western Uganda from Monday July 20 through Friday July 24^th, assisting with a needs assessment on an orphanage over there. Isaac had to close his orphanages due to lack of funds and has placed several of his children with an orphanage in Bushenyi. BoHU continues to pay for and support the orphans there and in Gomba until such time as we can build another facility here. Anyway, we are going over to do a needs assessment on the children. I suspect he also wants to make certain they are all being fed and treated well. I don’t know the state of phone or email communications in Bushenyi so don’t panic if Im not in contact that week.

We will be doing a similar trip August 10 through 14 to Gomba in Central Uganda.

We will do a third trip August 24 through 26^th to Gulu. This trip we will be delivering food and clothing to the people in displacement camps. I may need to beg off of this trip depending on the situation at that time between the Uganda army and a supposed new rebel group based in Acholi called the Uganda People’s Front. The UG government recently found documents on Gulu’s Chairman indicating this new group (the UPF) plans to overthrow the Museveni government. President Museveni is still quietly assessing the threat and considering the response. Hopefully he will let it slide but if he decides to send in the Army to take care of the rebels, then I wont go. As a side note, one of the rebels captured--and one of the principal organizers--has a residence in San Diego. He is Ugandan, received a PhD in political science from the university, and appears to be one of the master minds.

Final quick story: One of my neighbor children returned home from school. He is I am guessing about 8 years old and is learning English and only knows very basic phrases like hello, thank you, good bye. Today I asked him what he learned in school and he gave me this sentence: Science is the study of everything human and all living things. Pretty big jump from hello, good bye, and thank you!

July 7, 2009

Hair again. I have washed it twice now since visiting the salon. It still looks and feels like I have polished my head with WD-40.

Village School. We went to Takajjunge Village for a presentation to the primary school. There were several signs placed in various places around the school yard saying things like “Warning! Anyone can sexually abuse you” and “Sex CAN wait until marriage”. The school yard is very nice with large trees and three school buildings. The school buildings are red clay brick with two large glassless windows on each side. Inside there are early 100 students in each building (we may put 25 in the same space) sitting shoulder to shoulder, feet crossed at the ankle, hands folded in front of them, posture perfect. The desks are about 11” wide and perhaps 5 feet long., each stamped “Hamburg Germany" and crowd 6-9 children to a desk. The kids were from 5^th to 7^th grade.

I am told that Uganda is in such desperate need for teachers that college is free for those becoming teachers. What this policy has produced are a lot of teachers who don’t like children or teaching, are bored, angry, or apathetic. All are highly regimented. Enter Isaac, Ronnie and Tony…all 22 to 24 years old…bent on teaching important subjects not available in the schools and making learning fun. Ronnie teaches personal hygiene, nutrition and malaria prevention—all in the space of about 40 minutes. Isaac teaches life skills--different skills for different age groups, and Ronnie teaches HIV/AIDS prevention.

As I am introduced to the class, they all clap—five hand claps all done in unison. As I stand to introduce myself, the entire class stands. It is difficult for them to stand given their crowded condition. All are in blue uniforms and all have their heads shaved making it difficult to tell girls from boys until they stand, exposing either trousers or skirt. I ask them to sit, talk to them about what I am doing with Beacon of Hope, and sit down. Again…five hand claps all in unison.

Ronnie begins his presentation and the students are all attentive, backs straight/hands folded/ankles crossed. Ronnie asks the class who knows what causes malaria. Obviously a few know but no one raises their hands out of shyness in front of these strangers. From the corner Tony (our AIDS prevention instructor) raises his hand, and Ronnie calls on him. Tony stands, pretends to be shy, and in a falsetto voice answers, “mosquitos”. The class giggles a bit. They loosened up slightly from there and interacted with Ronnie a bit more.

Next it is Isaac’s turn. If Isaac and Tony weren’t doing what they do now, they would have to be comedians. Although all was in Luganda with tiny bits of English thrown in, I could tell by his body language, the faces he made, voice intonations, etc. that he was making a lot of jokes as he taught. The kids are now all jumping up to answer questions and laughing out loud. Isaac tore a single piece of notebook paper into 20 small pieces and gave the pieces to 20 of the children. (That single sheet of paper at had to be accounted for at the BoHU office!) The kids were asked to write down something they would like to have someone else in the room to do for them, and then fold the paper and hand their request to Isaac. As he silently read through the requests he started to make faces and laugh, and the classroom laughed back because some knew what others had secretly written. He then called the authors up one by one to stand in the front of the class. The trick was on the kids…They had to do for the entire class what they had intended to ask someone to do for them. (This is Isaac’s lesson of the day…don’t ask anyone to do anything that you would not do yourself either in school or in work). What most of them had written was, “I want the muzungu to sing and dance for us.” With the tables turned, they had to sing and dance for me in front of the class and it was hysterical. Some just shook their bums at the class, some did their 12 year old version of rap music. The class was screaming and laughing. Very un-school like in Uganda and exactly what these three young men had intended.

Tony was third with his AIDS presentation talk which was also highly interactive. Isaac ended our visit with a group prayer and then instructed them all to stand and face away from us and concentrate on a spot on the roof. Once they were all looking the other way, the four of us ducked and ran from the classroom. When the kids saw us outside they realized they had been tricked and crowded to the windows to wave and yell goodbye.

There is an innocence here that would never be found in American schools or American children. Innocence, a deep regard for authority, and an overwhelming desire to learn. For the most part, American children are lacking those things on one level or another.

Girls stuff. Scovia came over yesterday to deliver my clean clothes and noticed all of the paraphernalia I have sitting on top of my suitcase. (I use my suitcase as a table for lack of any furniture). In truth, what is sitting out is my soap, toothbush, moisturizer, vitamins, etc. But Scovia asked, “your makeup?” I told her no, and pulled out the little bag of make up I brought with me but had not yet opened. Scovia sat down for a visit and asked to see what I have—eye shadow, eye pencil, lipstick, brushes, and face powder. We put the eye shadow on her and she liked it. Then she took the powder brush and ran it all over her face. I handed her the powder and told her it would be too light but that she was welcome to try it. The cover to the powder is clear plastic. Scovia proceeded to dab the brush on the plastic cover and then run the brush over her face. When I opened the cover for her she was slightly embarrassed. She said she would like to wear my makeup when the two of us go shopping in Kampala, and she would like to apply it herself. (I told her previously that she and I would go to Kampala and I will buy her a pair of sunglasses. She has so much trouble with dust in her eyes that I have already given her my eye wash and eye moisturizer. I think wearing glasses while on the road will help her a lot. Then we will have lunch in a restaurant.) Anyway, in coming weeks there will be a newly glamorized Scovia going to Kampala. I may even wear makeup myself

July 8

I am walking into Mukono by myself today…my first solo venture! Isaac is gone, Scovia has stomach pains, and Alice is afraid the boys will tease her if she is be seen with the Muzungu. I’ve made the trip often enough now that I know how to do this. So….Hasta la bye-bye amigos!

My solo flight: My first solo trip into town was uneventful with a couple of exceptions. The locals--especially the boda boda guys-- try to charge me double or triple because being white, I am obviously rich to them. When I am with Scovia I sometimes pay the higher fee so that there is no trouble. When I am with Isaac, they rarely try to charge more money. The one time a boda boda man tried charging too much, Isaac seemed to physically grow in size. Isaac told him no and when the man protested, he simply stared him down as if to say “don’t even think of causing trouble’” So after I did my shopping I decided to bargain with a driver before I hopped on. I knew that the trip should cost about 50 Ush, but the drivers all wanted 2,000. I started to walk home. Finally several started yelling “okay okay okay” which I assumed meant someone would take my 1,000 Ush offer. The driver was happy with his 1000 Ush rider. He should be. I still paid at least double.

I went to buy phone time and one of the young men in the store told me he was going to America. When I asked when, he said he didn’t know. When I asked him where in America he was visiting, he said he was going with me to wherever I live. I told him my husband would not be happy. He said he understood and asked for my husband’s telephone number. Don’t worry George, I didn’t give it to him.

I guess the moral of the story is that if a female muzungu is moving about alone in Uganda she should be prepared to stand her ground with boda boda drivers and telephone phone card salesmen.

Here is the best: I bought an old, used Danielle Steel book to read in the evenings. The others all get together and gossip in Luganda and I have nothing to do for several hours each evening. I am tired of the newspaper as it is all political threats and name calling. So tonight I will climb into bed with my headlamp and read my love story published in 1991J

We left at 2p to talk with a group of about 120 children at Nsambwe Village Primary School which was held in the Nsambwe Village Church of Uganda chapel—about 6 miles away. The team rewards the children for getting some of the answers right and since there is so little to reward them with…one of the children won a dinner with the Muzungu and another won attendance at Isaac’s birthday party next Wednesday. One little girl asked how she could get an American friend. I have her name (Nabitaka Jowanita), age (10), and village, but there is no mail delivery to the village. If I can match her with an American girl perhaps we can use BoHU postal address for delivery. Ill ask.

Each visit to a school concludes with our team sneaking out. This visit was difficult as we were in a chapel and the exit was at the back of the room. Isaac said a closing prayer with the kids and then told them to keep their eyes closed and send good thoughts to the family of Michael Jackson. All had their eyes closed and we nearly made it out of the church before we were caught. Mayhem! Once outside we met with some of the children who’s school fees are paid by BoHU.

We left the church and hiked low into the valley to deliver a bag containing some rice and sugar to a young mother with AIDS. This woman saw us coming and met us at the road in front of her hut. She gave us all a giant hug (Ugandan style) and then led us into her yard.. She went inside and brought out a small straw mat for us to sit on. My heart hurts for her and her children. She has six tiny children who were all cuter than Cute! Tony works to get her drugs and Isaac works to keep them in food, but there are never enough of either. Isaac chatted with her for awhile and then she walked with us to the water well that BoHU had dug for the village. Everyone walked slowly so that she could keep up…followed by her six little children. It was only about two blocks to the well but we were worried about her getting back home. Again, giant hugs from her as we left her.

The walk back home was all uphill out of the valley and long and dark. Arrived home truly tired. Alice brought me a cup of hot porridge and a dinner roll smeared with g-nut sauce, all topped with her ever present grin. After I ate she placed a small bowl of warmish water, complete with a cup so that I can pour the water over my head, at the top of the hill so that I could bathe. I can think of no better pick-me-up after a long day. Between the water and the breeze I was cooling down. My stomach was full of Scovia’s hot porridge, and I was standing naked in the dark somewhere in the middle of Africa with chickens at my feet. I felt like laughing out loud.

Tony won’t be with us tomorrow. One of his young AIDS clients died this afternoon. He will go retrieve the body, rent a car, and drive it to the young man’s village.