Pictures

This is a picture of typical food in Uganda. It may not look very good, b/c I had already started eating it before taking the picture. It was actually very good...cassava -like potatoes only not, meat, chipate, pea and carrots, avocado, and this mashed banana thing, which looks like mashed potatoes in the picture, but actually doesn't taste like bananas.
THis is a picture of Lubiri Secondary School in Kampala. This is the school that Jacob goes to, and is a school without a lot of money, but which is like 10th in the nation. It was great to visit. But very different from the school I am working at in Gulu. I will post more pictures as I can, but it just takes a long time to upload them.

Shear Force, IDP's and Mentors

Thursday June 28, 2007

I cannot believe that I have been in Gulu for just over a week. It feels like so much longer! The last two days have been really great. Awere SS (secondary school) has been having testing all week, so our coordinator Amy had set up a couple other opportunities for us in the past few days, in order to keep us busy, and not just sitting around. And I have definitely been busy.

Shear Force

Tuesday I spent the whole day, from 9 am until 4pm going over the test which we gave to one of the classes. It was a 50 question test, and it was actually really, really difficult (and my Seniors at UMAHS thought they had it bad). It covered a very wide base of physics concepts, some very basic and others which would be covered in a University physics course in the States.
African time is definitely very different because we worked very slow, and literally spent THE WHOLE DAY just choosing the correct answers on the test, in order to make a marking guide (answer sheet). At one point I was ready to jump out of my skin. But, it was also good because Sheargold (I found out that I was misspelling his name) and I have been able to connect a lot and spend a lot of time talking. He had asked me if I could help him set up an email account, so of course I told him I could definitely go to the internet café with him. I told him that he needed to think about what his email address should be, and so I wrote out my whole name, and showed him what my email address is at gmail. He then wrote out his name, which I then found out was Sheargold, not Shagold. We talked about it, and he said, “No, it is not Shagold, but Sheargold. Like shear force, in physics.” Jokingly I then added, “So your email address should be shearforce@ gmail.com He thought that was hilarious, and we both laughed.

IDP Camps

On Wednesday I spent the morning at school actually not doing much of anything. Everyday my teacher has said that he will be at the school at 9am, but he shows up sometime between 10am and 10:15am. But T.I.A. (This Is Africa). That’s what we say to one another when we come across something which is culturally very different, but typically we use it in reference to time. So enough about that, I left the school in the afternoon, and went to Awer IDP Camp (pronounced Away Camp). We went with Walter, who is the Bracelet Program manager for the Awer Camp. It was definitely an experience I won’t soon forget. Just a ton of grass huts in the middle of nowhere really. It is really just like a small town. As we drove out to the camp, Walter told us a lot about the camps, and the history of the camps. Apparently the road we drove out on (which was probably in the worst condition of all the roads I've been on) use to be very very unsafe, and many people were abducted or killed while traveling on that road. It became very easy to understand how the LRA can easily hide only 1,2, 3 or so meters from the road, and no one would know they were there. Once we got into the camp we were asked to sign in at two different locations. At one of the locations, the Director of the camp gave us this whole speech in Lwo. Walter then translated it into English for us. The director told us that we needed to go home, and tell people about what we saw. That maybe since we have seen with our own eyes, people will believe, b/c they do not believe the newspapers. And it truly was a very powerful experience, and a great place to see with my own eyes. We walked through the camp, and so many children followed us through the camp. It was like we were the pied pipers. We didn’t even ask for it, they just followed us, and we very quickly turned into a parade. The kids would just come up to you and grab your hand, and walk beside you. It was crazy. We then had time to sit inside the hut where the bracelet makers worked, and we watched them make some bracelets, and then they showed us how they are made. I sat with a woman named Filder. She was really great, and her son Emmy was totally cute. They make about 8-10 a day, but they can only make 40 a week. From there, the bracelets go through quality control, and the makers are only paid for the ones that pass quality control. Visiting the camp was an experience I will never forget. Did I mention that I won’t forget my visit to Awer Camp?

Mentors

Today (Thursday) I began my day at school, starting to mark papers. There are so many papers to mark, and honestly I’ve only done about a ¼ of one out of three classes. But anyway, I left school after a few hours, and went over to the IC offices to meet up with a mentor. Then I had the opportunity to shadow an Invisible Children Education Program Mentor. Every child which receives a scholarship for school through IC, also is assigned a mentor who guides them through issues like school, health, affects from the war, growing up, and life in general. They sort of act like a Guidance Counselor b/c schools here do not have counselors (yeah LC!). It was great b/c we visited many houses and our mentor Stella was so great. I actually went to a house of one of my students, and even though she was not there, it was wonderful to meet her parents. They were so proud to be able to invite “the American teacher who teaches our daughter” into their home (read grass hut).

Basically I have had a couple of very amazing days, despite not being in the classroom yet. It will be very weird b/c we will only have 3 weeks in the classroom, while other teachers would’ve had the chance to have 4 weeks in the classroom. I am hoping that I will still have a great experience, as things are still going very well. Oh yeah, and today Komakech Sheargold (my Ugandan teacher) invited me to go visit his village in just over a week. I cannot wait to go. It shall be really great!

Wanen lachen. (See you later)

The Good, the Bad, and Fall Out Boy…

June 26th, Tuesday
Yes, you did read that correctly. No, I do not think that Fall Out Boy is ugly. You must read on to hear about Fall Out Boy.

The Good…

Community

Being in Gulu has been amazing. Besides it being half-way across the world, the culture is of course completely different. I have begun to get an idea of what community means here, and how it is built into their way of living. As you ride on a boda (motorcycle) (if you are my parents reading this, I am speaking hypothetical and I have not rode on a boda, and if you are not my parents, I have rode on one many times)… Anyway, if you ride through town, you pass by areas of plant overgrowth, and then every 15 yards or so, there is a small group of huts, all placed together, creating a sort of Acholi housing development. Well, not really, but it does create this really great little group of 5-10 huts. This gives instant community, as the children play together outside between the huts, parents are able to watch many children, and have them be watched by others in return. They hang their laundry up together, they probably share meals, and of course they share in one another’s lives. Meanwhile in America, we lock ourselves into our houses, communicate over the phone and computer, we put up fences to claim our land, and keep others out of our lives. Ok, so that was a little pessimistic, but many ideals which are highly regarded here become the things which are stepped upon in order to pull ourselves to the top of the ladder.

Children

While walking the streets of Gulu, any munu (pronounced moo noo- meaning white person) is an instant celebrity. There are a good number of white people living/visiting Gulu, but while out in town, or walking to school, chances are that you won’t really run into another one, or maybe you’ll see just one. Well, unless you’re at the internet place. There’s always munu’s there. So I was walking home from school (.5mil) and I have to pass another primary school. All of the kids were outside, all sitting around a few teachers who were probably doing an end of the day announcement or something. Next thing I knew, just like it would happen in America, one of the teachers said something to dismiss the kids, and Acholi children all grabbed their bags and started running away, ecstatic to be done for the day. As soon as they saw me, it was like an instant curiousity/excitement/nervousness. They want to know what this munu is, but they don’t know what to do/say. I started to talk to them in Lwo saying things like Hello, What’s up?, how are you?, etc. They love it, and started to laugh so hard. I just kept walking, and maybe 20 seconds later I realized that there was a group of 10-15 children behind me, following me. It just made me laugh outloud, which made them laugh. I feel like a rock star sometimes (but not like Fall Out Boy). Then one boy came up to me, stuck out his hand for me to shake it, and said “Apwoyo” (A-foy-yo -Hello) I shook his hand and said Apwoyo back. Instant laughter from all of the kids behind me. It seemed as though someone had dared him to “go and shake the munu’s hand” or either he played the brave one and told them that he would go do it. A few more kids then had the guts to come up and shake my hand, but it’s just so funny. Their laughs and smiles are so beautiful.

Aid

In Africa, Aid from the US comes in many different forms. There are organizations here in Gulu ALL over the place. Down every street is another office for another NGO or CBO(Community Based Organization- Invisible Children is actually a CBO not an NGO- they are working on NGO status). You can see aluminum cans that use to hold food in them, they have USA written on them and then have been cut flat and nailed up, covering the doors of people’s huts. People around town wear shirts and clothes which are most definitely from the states. And as you’ve just read, children and many other people are excited to meet Americans. There seems to be like seriously 20 different U.N. organizations (Unicef being the most well known in America), and many faith-based organizations. But with the good is the bad. Not everyone here likes Americans.

The Bad…

Aid

It’s easy to see the differences in how people react to Americans. Some are excited to meet you, and get to hear a little bit about you. Others just pass by without saying anything. They are not typically outright rude, but you can tell that they’ve seen the bad side of munu’s in Gulu. We have to be careful how we spend our money, so that we’re not driving up the prices, thus making it difficult to impossible for locals to buy food/other items. The ‘white hand-out’ is also a problem. We are not allowed to give out any money or anything while we are here. People in Africa totally assume that any white person has money, and so they try to find a way to get some of that money. If someone is given money from a munu, then the assumption is perpetuated that white people have money, and that they can just rely on our hand-outs and they don’t have to work to receive help. Thus, no matter how badly we want to give a child a little money when they ask, or help someone out in a similar manner, we just have to say no. It’s been weird, and difficult at times, and other times I can really understand the reasoning.

Colonialism

It was described to us as, “We have become half British, and remained half Acholi. We are two halves and a whole of nothing.” In a nutshell, that is approx. what colonialism has done for the acholi people. They have reaped many benefits of medicine, sanitation, importance of health care, and other similar things. But at the cost of losing some of their culture, having a culturally irrelevant educational curriculum/system forced upon their children, and only giving those with money the chance at a successful life. Arguably the worst is that a dream of having a safe, successful, loving, joyful, educated, and stable life has been shown to them only to then be ripped away, out of their reach. I’m not sure how I feel about that, I think I still need time to process that thought.

War

Really, do I need to say more? Ok so maybe a little. Many of the problems occurring today concerning the LRA and the rebel army derives from a longer history of the North and the South not getting along. It’s weird how people here do not discriminate on the basis of skin color rather it is where you are from, or your tribe. Although generally there is a dislike between people from Northern Uganda (like Gulu), and Southern (like Kampala) Uganda. This is of course a general statement and would be like saying that all Americans are racist. Just as that is not true, also many Ugandans are not tribalist- I just made that up. Anyway, even without the war, the North and South did not get along very well. For the past 20 years this inability to see eye to eye has just made things worse, thus perpetuating many of the war issues.

The Fall Out Boy…(what you’ve all been waiting for)

So in a few weeks Fall Out Boy is coming here to Gulu, and they will be filming a music video for their next single. And speaking of the good and the bad, many of the American's here are not sure that having them come will be a good thing. American's really have to be careful when interacting with locals here, and they may not bring many positive things. Such as there is a rumor that they want to film their music video in an IDP camp. THat would be awful! I cannot even imagine. It will be weird to have them here, and I'm interested to hear a lot of what the IC American staff here have to say. We'll see. I have no idea if I will get to see any them, or if I will even get to meet them. I am sure that they will meet with Invisible Children, and many of the people who work at the office here in Gulu. I wish that I had more info on Fall Out Boy for you all, but I don’t. So I guess if for no other reason, you should continue to visit my blog in order to find out if I’ve met Fall Out Boy. And since you’ll be reading my blog, you should then comment. I love it when people comment!

( a big THANKS to all who've commented. I love hearing from you! )

The curse I can't shake...

Sunday Morning 6/24

I just met my teacher at dinner on Friday night. His name is Komokech (komo-catch) Shagold (pronounced like it looks). His first name is actually Shagold, and his Acholi name is Komokech. The Acholi give their children a name at birth which tells of something that is happening around his/her birth or something having to do with their birth. For example, there is a little boy maybe 6yrs old who lives across the street. His name is Munzungo Christopher. You may remember that muzungo means white person. He is in fact a little acholi boy, but he was delivered by a white midwife, so his mother named him muzungo. I think that is hilarious!

Komokech actually means unlucky. Names here are different than in America. No American parent in their right mind would name their child unlucky, but it’s different here. When Komokech was explaining his name to me at dinner on Friday, he said that his name means unlucky, but now that he would work/teach with me his name should be very lucky. It was really touching, and one of those really cool moments. (they come often here.) He actually told me the word for very lucky, but I can’t remember. Sorry.

I met with Shagold again yesterday, on Saturday at Awere. There are 5 American teachers at Awere, including myself. We all walked over to the school, which is really close to where we live. The headmaster, Matthew, gave us a tour, and showed us around. There are some boys who board there, and live there all the time, so there were still some students around on a Saturday. Actually, there was even a chemistry class which was meeting, and there were about 60-70 students present. We all went into the class, and introduced ourselves. It was fun, and all the kids laughed a lot. They were so excited to see us. We then discussed how the reaction of American students would be drastically different if a Ugandan teacher came to America, and how many students would probably just sit apathically in their seats when introduced to the Ugandan teacher.

So, on to the title of my posting. It’s a little more dramatic than it needs to be. Anyway…

When I was meeting with Shagold yesterday, he informed me that he was going to have another child. I was shocked and confused b/c the night before he told me that he had a 4 yr old daughter, and a 2 year old son, and he mentioned nothing about his wife being pregnant. He then explained that he had taken his sister to the hospital the night before b/c she had gone into labor. Of course his sister is not giving birth to his actual son, but here in Uganda, they don’t have a name for cousin or niece or nephew…they are all just apart of the same family. I am also unsure if his sister is married to the father of the child, b/c it seems as though she lives with Shagold. So on Saturday after he and I met and started some preliminary planning, he had to go back to the hospital to see if his sister had given birth yet. It was just ironic and I couldn’t help but think that every teacher I’ve worked closely with so far, has had a newborn baby in his house. So just as Scott, my co-op at Upper Merion, didn’t get much sleep b/c of his son Liam…now Shagold will probably not get much sleep b/c of his sister’s new child. So I guess if you don’t want a newborn baby, don’t sign up to co-teach with me! :o)

Oh, and I almost forgot, the best was that Shagold didn’t know if his sister had a boy or girl. So we both made a bet, and then I told him that sometimes in America people find out the sex of their baby before it is born. He was totally shocked, and definitely looked at me in disbelief. I then tried to explain how an ultrasound machine works (thanks TFI), and how sometimes doctors can tell if the baby is a boy or girl. I am hoping that he doesn’t think American medicine is something crazy and miraculous…but you know, I guess sometimes it is! (right rah rah?)

That’s about it for now. It’s 6am here, but that means it is 11pm back home…so, Goodnight! Good morning!

Gulu Day 3 (Friday)

So, it's about 3:30 in the afternoon here, which means it's only 8:30am over in PA. I realized that in my last posting I forgot to mention a few great things.

While we were in Kampala on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, we were able to visit a school down there. It will be good to compare education in Northern Uganda to education in Southern Uganda. Apparently they are totally different. The school is called Lubiri (Loo-Beer-ie) Secondary School, and it is actually where Jacob goes to school. So we did get to meet him, but only for a second, as he had to head off to another class. He was sent down to that school b/c it is one of the best in the country, and the schools up in the north are not very good.
Speaking of schools in the north, I am going to be teaching at a school called Awere (Ah-where-a) Secondary School. It is a displaced school, which means that originally the school runs from the town of Awere, about 1.5 hours outside of Gulu. When the people were forced to move into IDP camps, the school moved to Gulu also.
It is going to be eye opening, as the "buildings" are just made of sticks with cut logs stacked as walls. I haven't officially been there yet, but another teacher and I walked by it yesterday. Although it is a very poor school, as it relates to buildings, etc...it is run by a great head master, who has a great vision for the school. Invisible Children (IC) is working with the school b/c they are like the 10th best school in Gulu district (larger area around Gulu town). IC is helping them raise money, so that they can go back to their own town, and rebuild the school out there.
I also found out last night that Joseph Kony (leader of LRA) actually comes from the area where Awere SS is actually from, and where it will return in a few years (?).

Well, I must go get ready to meet my teacher. I'm excited!

Gulu, Day 1 & 2

I have arrived in Gulu. It really is another world, but an amazing one at that. We rented 2 Mutatas and drove up to Gulu, which is about 6 hours from Kampala. Everyone said it was really bumpy, but it didn’t seem too bad to me. Yes, it was bumpy, but I didn’t hit my head on the roof of the mutata, which was a plus!

The road up to Gulu was something else…just bush and jungle, and about every 20 mins. or so we would pass by a tiny, tiny village of sorts. We did pass through a larger town (but nothing close to the size of Gulu). This one town was pretty funny. We slowed down as we drove through, b/c of traffic and potholes. People came up to the car, offering all sorts of food to us, which had been cooked on the side of the road. Some kids offered us bottled water, and my favorite was one guy, who was with these guys selling meat on a stick. He said to all of us, “I would like to kiss you, muzungo.” That was HILARIOUS! (muzungo=white person).

Then we passed by, and right over the Nile River. It was crazy! Whitewater rapids everywhere. (Hello Tut!) Although we will be rafting much farther south, I cannot wait to go at the end of July. We also saw monkeys by the side of the road.

Then, we arrived in Gulu. Or at least I knew we were close once we started passing the IDP camps (Internally Displaced Persons). It was really surreal. Strange. Acres and acres of little huts, placed really close to one another, just outside of the town of Gulu. I only saw them from the road though, passing by at about 70 mph, or should I say ~110km/h.

It was honestly a little scary as we entered Gulu. I kept thinking, “well, this is where I will be living for the next 4/5 weeks, and I don’t know if I am ready for this…”

But now as it has been a few days that I’ve been here, I love it. Although I’ve spent a lot of time at the IC Volunteer house, which has been described as a little America, inside of Gulu. It has been fun walking around town, and doing the little bit of exploring we’ve been able to do so far. We’ve even rode boda bodas around town a few times. They are basically motorcycle taxis. They are fun, and Cole, maybe once I come home I will feel confident enough to ride with you on your motorcycle. Although maybe Louie is a safer bet!

We haven’t had much free time for exploring though, as we’ve had a lot of meetings with people who run various programs here, learning Lwo, and meeting Jolly. That was amazing. Although she looks very different in person than what she looks like in the videos. Tomorrow we meet our Acholi teachers, and then the next day we spend all day with them at their houses. It should be an experience. Oh, and didn’t mention, I’m teaching at Awere Secondary School. I’m totally stoked!

And now I will reward those of you who’ve been patient enough to read the whole posting. There are 10 teachers in Group 2 including myself. This afternoon we rode from the house, to the IC office, which is essentially from one side of Gulu to another. It was like this big Muzungo Boda parade. Like 7 Bodas following one another through town, all with white people on them. As we got closer to the office, I heard this weird screeching, and saw a bunch of black crows. Well I thought they were a bunch of crows flying out from these really tall trees lining the road. They weren’t crows. They were bats. At just about the time I realized it was a huge (flock, herd, school, gaggle, pod…??) group of bats, some Acholi school girls started to hold their notebooks over their heads, and ran away, screaming. It took about a micro-second to realize that the bats were pooping, and we were about to drive right into it. Yum! I think some hit me, but it didn’t get stuck in my hair or anything which was really good. So, those of you who’ve worked at Gretna Glen with me now know that not only has a bat flown into me, but it’s poop has also! :o) Sweet!

Well, this posting has been long enough. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading. Getting to the internet connection is not easy, so I will probably only post once or twice a week. Hope you all are enjoying your summer. God Bless!

American Giant

Hello All. I am now in Gulu, and it is great! Unfortunately I cannot make this blog very long...more will come later. Gulu is beautiful. The people are so great.
The best times I've had so far are walking into and back out of town. The best is that there is a teacher w/ us from St Louis, who is 7'1" tall. John's huge! People are already calling him the American Giant, and I am sure that soon all of the town will know who he is!

There are so many children that you pass by, and they all give you stare/scared look. So far the best feeling has come from saying "Apwoyo" (Ah-foy-yo) to the children. Their faces instantly light up, and you can see the excitement in their eyes. I can't wait to meet my teacher tomorrow, and get into the classroom on Monday!
Always an adventure!

Planes, Taxis and … Mutatas

If you thought the phrase was “planes, trains, and automobiles” you were mistaken. I have finally arrived in Entebbe Uganda, after about 30 hours of travel. Honestly I have lost track due to the whole time changes, etc. I hopped on a 777 airplane at JFK with 9 other teachers, and we sat for the next 13 hours on the plane. Except it was impossible to be bored on this plane. There were 500 movie and TV channels, and then another 300 music channels. It was insane. And yes, Heidi, there was even a Friends channel…all Friends, all the time! What could be better than that?! Well, actually I got 3 “free” meals to go with my 800 channel choices, and anybody who knows me, knows that free meals are the best.

After we arrived in Dubai, we quickly found out that the hotel reservation we were told was made for the 10 of us, wasn’t really finalized. But we managed to still get a taxi to that Hotel, and they had enough rooms for each of us to get our own bed. But before going to bed, we took a quick tour of Dubai around 10pm. Yes, Dad, we did stick together. But crazy enough, there were like NO women out on the streets at all. That was a little weird. So after walking, or should I say swimming through the streets, we came back inside the A/C and went to bed. It was so humid that I think God made a mistake and gave Dubai the same weather that occurs in Hell. No joke, it was awful, and usually humidity and heat don’t bother me too bad (just ask Christine).

The next morning we left Dubai, flew to Ethiopia for a quick refueling, and then it was off to Entebbe. There we bought our Visas, hopped in a Mutata (like a minivan with lots of seats, which does business like a taxi), and then arrived at the Backpacker’s Hostel where we will stay for two nights. Tomorrow we get to go visit a school just down the street. That’s where Jacob goes to school, so we’ll get to meet him tomorrow. If you don’t know who Jacob is, then watch the Rough Cut documentary.

Well, that’s about it for now. I’ve been keeping bug spray on, and I’ve been told that getting a hot shower here at the Hostel is a must…b/c it’s unlikely I’ll get one in Gulu. I’m not so sure about that…

Oh, but Pete, you were wrong. The weather here is really nice. Only highs of around 80* F, 27*C or so, just like weather underground says. (Check out the weather link on the right).

Thanks for reading! Pictures will follow in a few days. It's taking too long to upload them.

Apwoyo

Thank you, Good bye, Hello.
(pronounced Afoyo- accent on 2nd syllable)

Apwoyo has various meanings in Gulu, yet they all seem quite fitting at this point. I will be hopping on the plane in just over 24 hours..."I'm leavin' on a jet plane..."
Anyway, first of all Thank you all for your overwhelming support. Without your donations I would not be able to take this journey. Also, I truly appreciate all of your donations to the Ugandan school I will be teaching at. I have received over $600, and it will be exciting to share this gift with the school from all of you.
Secondly, Good bye! I will miss you all, and I cannot wait to return and share a million stories. I promise that you'll be so sick of me talking about it, that you'll have to ask me repeatedly to "stop talking about Gulu!"
Lastly, Hello Africa. Hello Gulu. Hello Acholi.

Relativistic Safety?

Ok, so the level of a person's safety cannot be contracted or dialated depending on the speed at which they travel, but I have come to realize that safety is a relative concept. Since we are on the topic of traveling and safety...
(Too bad I can't travel at the speed of light over to Gulu. Instead it will take me approx. 32 hours to get there.)
With only a week to go, my mind has been filled with thoughts of Uganda more and more. This week at school I could not help but think about my safety while abroad.
Anyway, I have quickly found out this week that although Gulu is not the most safe place to be, schools in America cannot guarantee safety either. While student teaching this past week, I learned that no matter how hard a school tries, there are times when the safest thing to do is to send students home. After a former student who made threats to current students was identified in the school building, the whole school went into lock-down. It was handled really well, and all the proper procedures were followed. I was really proud of all the students! Everything turned out just fine, but thinking about the possibility of someone w/ a gun in the class right next door really gave me a wake up call about the reality of traveling over to a war torn country.

Then later in the week, when I thought things wouldn't get any worse, I learned that a "plume of Sulfur Dioxide" (KYW 1060) had risen above a tractor trailer that crashed on a major highway off-ramp. Of course this plume was rising above some of the communities where students from the same school (mentioned above) currently live. Although I do not mean to make light of our level of safety, nor do I mean to trivialize the situation in Northern Uganda, it has allowed me to think more about what it means to be safe.

I have realized that I can only rely so much on worldly safety, and I must always remember the safety Jesus provides.
Psalm 4:8
I will lie down and sleep in peace,
for you alone, O LORD,
make me dwell in safety.

May the people and children of Uganda soon be able to confidently speak these words...