Give One. Get One

Some of you know that my new project in Uganda is to get a group of "total orphans" (here that means they've lost both parents) set up to go to school through an organization I was recently connected with here (Teso Widows Development Initiative, or TEWIDI). But that's another blog. As I'm researching all the possibilities, wanting to develop the technological exposure and education of the next generation, my mind was brought back to the One Laptop Per Child vision. It's a very exciting opportunity, bringing not just a laptop, but a whole new look at education and creativity and indeed the world to some very isolated and deprived (in many ways) children. It's certainly something I'd like to look into for the future of the school. But in the mean-time, you have an awesome oppotunity to donate one of these laptops to a child in one of the countries participating in the program at this still early stage. If you opt for the "Give One. Get One." choice, you recieve a laptop and a child in Afghanistan, Rwanda, Haiti, Cambodia, or Mongolia will recieve one. I know it's a little late in the season for gift buying (the whole idea of Christmas is just starting to sink in for me here on the equator, where it feels more like July than December), but it's certainly not too late, and the Give One. Get One. campaign runs till Dec.31. So check it out, even if you can't buy one today it's really interesting stuff--and worth knowing about to consider in the future.

Sensory Experience

A couple days ago I was making my way through the center of town. At one point I had to walk through the old taxi park ("taxi" here refers to vans that serve as buses, a.k.a. matatus; the taxi park being the center point of departure for locations throughout the city and beyond), across a busy round-a-bout intersection, through a gas station and then across a supermarket parking lot. This involves weaving through a throng of taxis--so packed in that I don't even know how it's possible they are moving--and trying to avoid the boda-bodas (aka motorcycles) cutting through the mass. At the road I jump into a space between vehicles I feel brave enough to traverse before getting hit by whatever is coming (much like a game of frogger), which is only complicated by the occasional boda-boda driving on the wrong side of the road and my tendency to look the wrong way for oncoming traffic (because they drive on the left side). Believe it or not cutting across the gas station is even more complicated than the road, since there is absolutely no order to things and any vehicle could be coming from any direction, and the boda-bodas in particular seem to have no qualms about running you over. If accomplishing this weren't hard enough, I also have to be particluarly aware of my belongings because in the crowd is the easiest environment for pick-pockets to operate in.

Simultaneous to this whole experience I realize that the song playing on my Ipod is "La Valse D'Amelie" from the Amelie soundtrack, and I had to laugh out loud. What a contradiction! If I didn't think that I would be killed in the process, I would try to film the whole experience, add the Amelie soundtrack, and post a little mini-movie so that all of you could enjoy my oh-so-contradictory sensory experience of the noise and rush and adrenaline in the streets of Kampala, accompanied by perky, peaceful, French music. I find it highly amusing, but maybe you had to be there ;)

I would like to note, that no matter how crowded the streets get, I have never been bumped or pushed or shoved. This is not something I can say about Korea, where I'm pretty sure they make an effort to do so (especially those ajumas!). For this, I would like to thank the people of Uganda (as well as apologize for when my asian-conditioning occasionally reveals itself!).

Happiness or Freedom?

Recently I was having a philosophical discussion with some other expats: which would you choose if you had to pick one, happiness or freedom?

It turned into a semantics debate, because really it depends on how you define happiness, and freedom for that matter. If happiness to you requires security and comfort and being surrounded by the familiar, then it's obvious that none of us (this group of expats) has chosen happiness. On the other hand, for us, remaining home and living the life that society generally expects (and understands) in many ways is not happiness. Our freedom, to explore the unknown and pursue a life that we find more satisfying (as challenging and uncomfortable and even dangerous as it may be), is our happiness. Of course this is only the beginning of the debate, as people aren't necessarily choosing between freedom and happiness, they might be pursuing power or love or any number of things.

This is part of why I love putting myself in new environments, it forces you to think about things (like your motivations in life) that it's easy to take for granted in the comfort of home. I've met several people here who seem distinctly unhappy, and through my conversations with them I've learned that they've chosen this life, despite how much they may hate it, because they are doing something they feel is important or valuable--something they think they couldn't necessarily do in an environment they would find more pleasurable. Believe it or not I found this surprising. In my mind. living in a "developing" country (where things aren't convienant--to put it mildly--and it's dirty and there is a whole new world of disease, submersed in a culture so very different from my own, where I'm forever perceived to be an ATM machine) does not equal unhappiness. Not that these things don't bother me, I hate assuming that any man who talks to me is only interested in a visa to the U.S. True my primary motivation in coming here is similar to those unhappy philanthropists: a desire to influence positive changes. But the fact is that you can do that at home (North America and Europe need just as much positive change as everyone else, it just looks different). So what else is motivating them to come and to stay?

I suppose it's part of the natural cycle of expat life and at some point I may feel the same way. I think no matter where you are or what you're doing there are always going to be highlights and drawbacks, and it's just a question of whether the highlights outweigh the drawbacks, and if the drawbacks are things you're willing to live with.

The Amazing Powers of Tea Tree Oil

Tea Tree Oil is a natural anti-septic that I have used in the past on cuts and I've found it works so effectively that I don't even bother with other things like neosporin. I came to this conclusion after Pentaport Rock Festival in Korea. It was held outside, it was the rainy season, and the grounds were turned into a giant mud-pit, complete with bits of asphalt and rocks and who-knows-what. If you've ever tried to walk through 6 inch deep mud you know that the suction power is incredibly strong--making shoes just ridiculous. Over the course of 3 days our feet got cut up pretty badly, and I can only imagine what horrors were living in that mud. The only thing I had with me to treat the cuts on my feet was tea tree oil, which I applied evening and morning. One of my friends did not. Whereas my cuts did not get infected and healed quite quickly, hers did not. I always travel now with tea-tree oil.

My recent tea tree oil discovery was when I haphazardly decided to put it on my mosquito bites when I had it out to put on a cut and some mysterious cluster of bites on my knee. A few days later someone asked if I had gotten any mosquito bites (we were talking about malaria medications). I realized that since I applied the tea tree oil I hadn't scratched those bites, and they were even healed! I never before even considered putting tea-tree oil on insect bites, but I'm so glad I did! I know it's now winter in most parts of the world, and mosquitoes aren't much of an issue, but come next summer give the tea tree oil a try!

Some other tid-bits about tea tree oil, it's safe to use on your skin, but DON'T get it in your eyes or mouth. Also, it's a dry oil, so you can apply it to your face for things like pimples and eczema and it's absorbed instantly without making your skin oily. You can find it at health food stores like Whole Foods and Vitamin Cottage, but as grocery stores have started carrying more organic items you may find it there too. Happy Healing! (too bad itwon't save me from Ebola!)

Malwa!

Lisandro is a Peace Corps volunteer that I got in touch with through a mutual friend. He is fabulously lucky to be living in a picturesque little village in the eastern mountains of Uganda--it's true, even without water and electricity I consider him lucky! After our Thanksgiving weekend I followed him home to get a glimpse in the life a first month Peace Corps Volunteer. He's working as a health educator, but has a lot of freedom to do basically whatever work he desires, related to his assignment or not. He has encountered the problem that everyone living and/or working in Uganda faces nearly everyday: corruption. I've heard some say that the corruption in Uganda is the worst in all of Africa. I've had few conversations where it hasn't come up. Everyone suffers from it--in the government, the schools, the NGOs, the churches, the justice system, even among friends, few aspects of life are not impaired by it. Everyone knows it's happening, but few (if anyone) do anything to stop it. This is the main complaint I hear from people about President Museveni, that he's done nothing to curb the corruption. It's a huge constraint on the economics of the country, it under-powers many well meaning organizations, and it creates a general atmosphere of mistrust and helplessness. When I've asked locals how they think the problem can be solved, they all say there needs to be a change of government.

Museveni has been in power over 20 years, he came into power through a coup and made many promises as an interim government working towards a democracy. There have been three elections since he's led the country, but there are many who feel they were far from free and fair. I don't believe that you can consider a country a democracy when there has never been a peaceful transfer of power, the ruling government changes laws and even the constitution in order to retain power, and essentially throws any opposition into jail. So while many citizens in Uganda feel a change of governing leadership is necessary, few have confidence that they can make it happen. The activist in me screams that you have to stand up for what you want, protest, write letters, sign petitions, boycott! But people don't want to stir up any trouble or violence (recent history has created a great deal of fear towards acting against the government), they don't want to go to jail, so they accept the status quo and just go on with their life.

Apparently Ugandans like to talk politics while they drink, so I had a long talk at a birthday party (over Malwa, a local millet based brew, which frankly looks like disgusting sludge, but actually isn't that bad) with a young man who was put in jail for working for the opposition during the last election. It scared him sufficiently that he stopped working for the party and voted for Museveni. He felt that the only way to make anything happen was war, and he didn't want that, so what could he do? I told him about Martin Luther King and the civil rights movement, Gandhi and the independence movement, Nepal's protests to oust their king, and Burma's recent protests against their government. He seemed intrigued and encouraged.

The fact is that many of the people here feel helpless to change things. They're riddled with handouts from NGO's and manipulated by the government until they're convinced there's not much they can do for themselves. They even respect the medical opinion of a white man who's not a doctor (despite their mistrust of the west) over that of a local nurse. (Lisandro and I encountered this at a visit to a health center--the people were worried about giving their children vaccines. In the past western pharmaceuticals came and tested drugs in Africa, often to the detriment of their well-being, so this is a legitimate concern. We assured them that they were getting the same vaccines that we ourselves had as babies.* There was also a rumour that Americans thought Africans were having too many babies, so we were giving them these "vaccines" to strelize them. We pointed out that since these vaccines started being used in Uganda 20 years ago the birth rate has gone up!) I have long felt that empowerment is the key to creating positive changes--for the individual as well as the nation--and everything I see here tells me that's precisely what's missing. The question is how to organize the masses, educate them, and give them confidence to stand as a community to peacefully demand an accountable and democratic government. I feel I need many more Malwa induced discussions before I find that answer!

*You may remember that I posted a blog questioning the use of the flu vaccine a while back. I want to point out that while my concerns about many vaccines are still firmly in place, that doesn't mean I'm against vaccination on the whole--these babies need to be getting the polio, hepatitis, diptheria, tetanus, diptheria, etc, because the fact is that some of them are getting these diseases before they are even old enough to get the vaccine. The situation is desperate and the people working to make sure these children get the vaccines they need to survive deserve our praise.

Thanksgiving?

I had a totally unexpected and totally American Thanksgiving last weekend! Back on November 22, the official Thanksgiving day, I didn't even remember that it was Thanksgiving! My Australian friend reminded me in the evening after we had spent the day at the Uganda Museum getting a little taste of the many different local tribal cultures. After wishing me a happy Thanksgiving she asked "What's that holiday all about anyway?" It was very amusing. Anyway, the following week I got in touch with Lisandro, a friend of a friend back home, who's a Peace Corps volunteer in eastern Uganda. He invited me to their belated Thanksgiving bash, and I was happy to get out of Kampala and meet some more people--I got way more than I expected!

On the 4 hour matatu (a.k.a. taxi, which is the local public transport) ride to Mbale through a few other towns and lots of dust over bumpy roads, I saw some hilarious signs that I just have to share:
"Nice Peaceful Butchery"
"Uganda Martyrs College"
"God's Will Shop"
(the musings are endless!)
Then after another 2 hour matatu ride up into the mountains to Chiholo, I arrived at the "Mizungu Guest House." It was actually just the home of another Peace Corps Volunteer, but because it's unusually large for a PCV house (4 bedrooms!) and it was filled with foreigners (or mizungus), everyone jokes that it's the Mizungu Guest House.

After being introduced to a dozen people (all PCV's) I was pleasantly surprised to learn we would be having not only turkey for dinner, but also mashed sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, stuffing, corn bread, fruit salad and pumpkin pie! Everyone was busily helping with the preperations, luckily I had just missed the turkey slaughter, but was in time to catch a few photos of the cleaning and cutting. It had to be chopped into smaller pieces becuase it wouldn't fit into the pot to be fried otherwise. I can't say that I was much help with the cooking, but I will say this was one of the most fabulous Thanksgiving dinners I've ever had. Rene worked some magic injecting the turkey with spices and then frying it--I've never had tastier turkey! Sharing such a delicious meal with a crowd of new friends (by candlelight, no less!), was a wonderful treat. We all stuffed ourselves and then sat around chatting under the stars (which are incredible in the mountains with NO light pollution).










The next day a few of us decided to work off all those extra holiday pounds by climbing a mountain. I did not know what I was getting myself into! Lisandro pointed to a peak not too far in the distance and said "that's Mt. Nusu, let's go there" so we did. We were told by some locals after several inquiries that if we follwed the road it would go around to the back of hte mountain and then up. We decided to take a more direct route, so we veered off the road, down a hill, across a stream, and then up. And we kept going up, very steeply up, for the next 2.5 hours or so. I'm so out of shape, and even though I started out determined to make it to the top, I began to wonder if our eager party could make it. We ended up connecting ot another path, which led through people's little plots of crops and passed thier homes. We stopped to say hello and ask if the path led to the top--I'm sure that most of them were completely perplexed why this group of mizungus was asking about a path to the top of the mountain. I don't think hiking is common past-time among the locals. When we were running low on water they provided some for us--which we were certain wasn't treated but we drank anyway, as far as I know no one got sick, pretty amazing. Close to the top a man decided he would guide us, which was very generous, especially considering what we encountered towards the top. After Fred (our guide) joined us, I noticed that slowly other younger boys were also following us, pangas (machetes) in hand. I figured they all had nothing better to do on a sunday afternoon so why not amuse themselves at how winded these mizungus were on our mountain. Seriously these boys were running around and jumping from rocks (all the while with panga in hand) like it was nothing, and all of us could barely breathe! At this point we couldn't even climb for more than 5 minutes without stopping for a breather. Then all the panga weilding members of the party ran to the front and I quickly learned why they come along. The path was no more, instead we were in a jungle of overgrown bushes and grasses, and our guides were cutting a path with their pangas. Pushing our way through the undergrowth we finally reached our pointy peak and the view was amazing. I passed my camera to one of our guides and he hastily snapped a few shots, one of which managed to get all of us in it. After basking in the glory of our feat, we decided we had better head back down, to my dread! It didn't take long for my thighs to start shaking with each step, man was it painful! Our glorious reward at the bottom was a dip in the stream. The water was freezing and possibly pathogenic, but it felt so damn good! Luckily we made it home before the rain began, becuase it would have been nothing more than sliding down the mud and rocks on my butt if we were on that mountain in the rain. 5 days later my legs finally aren't screaming in pain with every movement, and I'm ready to take on another mountain!

EBOLA KILLS 16

This was the headline I spotted as I jumped into a Matatu headed into town. If you've read "The Hot Zone" fear ran through your veins as it did mine when you saw that title. Apparently the outbreak started in August in a district in the west (on the border with DR Congo) but was only identified (via samples sent to be tested in the US) yesterday. The numbers in the article seem conflicting to me (you may be able to read it at http://www.newvision.co.ug/), but there are something like 51 people infected. The WHO (World Health Organization, not the band!) is involved to contain it, and it's a good distance away from Kamapala (and I'm headed further east this weekend anyway), but it was a striking headline and definately something I'll be paying attention to. My internet time is about to run out, so I'll just leave you with that frightening news, haha! I had the brilliant idea of typing up blogs on my laptop at home and then transferring them to my blog as I've found a few places with a wireless connection, but as of yet that hasn't worked out too well. So at some point you'll be innundated with postdated blogs. Oh! Another shocking read in the paper today was a letter to the editor about how colonialism was a positive thing for Africa! This was not somethign I ever expected to hear from an African. Personally I think his arguements about the introduction of the english language and that curious people "deserve colonies" both severly underestimate the African people and seem erronious. Anyway, I found it shocking. But like I said, internet time running out, so more thoughts later!