All of the Uganda study abroad alumni told us that time would fly by here, and they were right. These past nine weeks have been so much fun, and we've all learned so much. As our program comes to a close, it only seems appropriate that I recount some of my favorite moments from our study abroad experience.
I think it was the second week that we were here in Uganda and our group was still getting to know each other when we decided to order four large pizzas and a red velvet cake from a restaurant called I Love New York Kitchen. It took a very long time to track down the phone number on-line, and even then we didn't have a menu. In the end, the wait was worth it, though. I remember all of us sitting in the flat eating, laughing, talking, really just getting to know each other. This past weekend we ordered pizza from I Love New York Kitchen again, and it made me smile to see all of us back together, eating, laughing, talking - just like that first time.
I remember when we visited Mulago Bright Standard Primary School, and after the children had performed for us, Centurio chose three people to give speeches. The last student to speak simply said "Mwebale" (thank you in Luganda), and the entire place burst into applause.
And the sad tale of the rooster at Busabi. This rooster at the hotel where we were staying woke all of us up very early in the morning and then wouldn't let us get back to sleep with its incessant crowing. The next day Centurio joked with the hotel staff that we would like them to cook that rooster for dinner. But it wasn't a joke when the rooster wasn't there when we got back and we had chicken for dinner. Sure enough we had eaten the rooster. The hotel staff claimed that that was always the rooster's fate, but we still felt guilty. We did sleep better that night, though.
When I was trying to accompany the Butabika staff on an outreach event, Centurio accompanied me on the mutatu rides across Kampala. When we finally got to Ntinda, where I was to be picked up, I remember being so relieved that I gave Centurio a hug. It was in that moment that I truly realized how dedicated and kind Centurio is that he would take hours out of his day to take public transportation with me.
Ah, the frustration that came with trying to learn a Buganda dance. My hips do not move that way, but I tried.
In the first week, Dan told us at breakfast about the tiny antelope called oribe that we would see at Murchison Falls. This was my first experience with Dan's great story-telling skills.
In Zanzibar, I learned that I am not very good at bargaining. Me: "I will give you ten thousand shillings for these sandals." Salesperson: "Oh no. Fourteen." Me: "Okay." I still have not really improved upon this.
Seeing the Rakai Community Cohort Study was just really amazing. It's difficult to describe how fantastic it was to see such a large research project operating in conjunction with health service provision in rural Uganda.
This last week one of the students in our group organized a cookout with a refugee population that he had been working with. It was a powerful gathering, and I was so impressed that one of the students in our group had organized it and even more impressed that this refugee population remained so strong in the face of adversity.
There are so many more stories and experiences, but these were a few that first popped into my mind. I've truly had a wonderful time here in Uganda. I have made so many friends and experienced so much. I will never forget the time that I have spent here.
Location: Kampala, Busabi, Zanzibar, Rakai, all over Uganda
Showing posts with label Busabi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Busabi. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Week 3 - Expectations
This past weekend we traveled to Busabi to participate in a music, dance, and drama performance with a group called Hatagote. The purpose of the performance was to educate the audience about sanitation. Around 100 or more people turned up to see the show, and I felt that it went really well. Everyone got a good laugh out of our singing and dancing, and they received an important message about maintaining a clean living environment in order to stay healthy.
When we were heading back to Kampala on Sunday, Dan and Centurio decided to take us on a quick detour to see the area in Eastern Uganda that had been affected by flooding. By now the water had receded and if I hadn't been told about the flooding, I probably would not have even known that the area had been effected. That's not to say that no damage was done. We picked up some local people to show us where the flooding had the greatest impact, and they pointed out places where homes used to be. We saw skeletons of new houses being built, and the trenches that had been dug to help divert the water. If you looked more closely, you could see where the water had risen on some homes and washed away the mud that once formed the exterior walls.
At one point, we pulled off of the road in this remote area and got off of the bus to look at the river. When the bus stopped, everyone from the homes nearby came to see who we were and what we were doing in their village. People kind of kept their distance and watched as we took pictures of the river. Dan talked to us about how high the river was and told us that relief had to be airlifted to the people in the area. After a short time, we got back on the bus and drove further down the road.
It felt strange to get off of the bus in this village and to interrupt the daily activities of these people with no explanation. The feelings I had reminded me a lot of the feelings that I had when we toured Mulago Hospital. It felt like we didn't belong. We were parading past people who needed help, and we had nothing to give.
This feeling was amplified when we drove back through the same part of that village. One woman called out to Dan, and he stopped the bus. Immediately, people crowded our open windows. Dan told us that these people had lost everything in the floods and they thought we brought relief. He explained that we didn't have anything for them, and he said maybe some aid would come later. One man looked at me and asked, "What is your problem?" I understood his question to mean, 'Why are you here?' because he followed his statement with, "Just touring?" I said, "Yes." I felt terrible as we drove off, leaving these people with unmet expectations.
I see poverty and need everyday here, and I know I am not the only one who struggles with this. Some days it comes closer than others. We have been told that it takes time to fully understand your place in this new society and to figure out how you can give back in a meaningful way. It's just very difficult in the meantime.
Location: Busabi
When we were heading back to Kampala on Sunday, Dan and Centurio decided to take us on a quick detour to see the area in Eastern Uganda that had been affected by flooding. By now the water had receded and if I hadn't been told about the flooding, I probably would not have even known that the area had been effected. That's not to say that no damage was done. We picked up some local people to show us where the flooding had the greatest impact, and they pointed out places where homes used to be. We saw skeletons of new houses being built, and the trenches that had been dug to help divert the water. If you looked more closely, you could see where the water had risen on some homes and washed away the mud that once formed the exterior walls.
At one point, we pulled off of the road in this remote area and got off of the bus to look at the river. When the bus stopped, everyone from the homes nearby came to see who we were and what we were doing in their village. People kind of kept their distance and watched as we took pictures of the river. Dan talked to us about how high the river was and told us that relief had to be airlifted to the people in the area. After a short time, we got back on the bus and drove further down the road.
It felt strange to get off of the bus in this village and to interrupt the daily activities of these people with no explanation. The feelings I had reminded me a lot of the feelings that I had when we toured Mulago Hospital. It felt like we didn't belong. We were parading past people who needed help, and we had nothing to give.
This feeling was amplified when we drove back through the same part of that village. One woman called out to Dan, and he stopped the bus. Immediately, people crowded our open windows. Dan told us that these people had lost everything in the floods and they thought we brought relief. He explained that we didn't have anything for them, and he said maybe some aid would come later. One man looked at me and asked, "What is your problem?" I understood his question to mean, 'Why are you here?' because he followed his statement with, "Just touring?" I said, "Yes." I felt terrible as we drove off, leaving these people with unmet expectations.
I see poverty and need everyday here, and I know I am not the only one who struggles with this. Some days it comes closer than others. We have been told that it takes time to fully understand your place in this new society and to figure out how you can give back in a meaningful way. It's just very difficult in the meantime.
Location: Busabi
Week 3- Theater for Development
Coming to Uganda, there was only one part of the program that I was really dreading: the performance. I don't particularly like getting up on stage in front of people and the thought of learning a completely foreign performance genre did not sound exciting. Our group was informed that we would be doing a performance--singing, dancing, and a short play--to educate the community about the importance of sanitation. In theory, I really like the idea of performance for development, a technique in which important public health information is conveyed through a popular recreational outlet. But, if it had been up to me, I would not have been one of the people to actually get up and perform. Unfortunately, that was part of the program I signed up for.
For the past two weeks we've had training sessions to learn the two songs, the dance routine, and our individual parts in the play. I hate to say this, but it was my least favorite part of the day. Since I wasn't really interested in the performance, I felt like I could have been using the time to do something that was more valuable to me. I will admit, perhaps I was too quick to judge and didn't give the performance a chance. Regardless, it was a long two weeks of rehearsals that I kept wishing would end. This past weekend, it was finally time to do the real performance.
On Saturday morning we met Hatagote, the performance group that we would be joining. We did a rehearsal of all the pieces and discovered that the way we were taught was not at all the way the group performed the pieces. That meant more time trying to learn the new routine and trying to sing and move faster since we had rehearsed at too slow a speed. At first I felt incredibly awkward, inept, and annoyed. Some of the Hatagote group members were very friendly and tried to help us navigate, but others just seemed to watch us amusedly. By the end of the rehearsal I was feeling slightly more capable of performing without making a complete fool of myself, but I still wouldn't say I was looking forward to it.
After a large lunch and a thunderstorm, we headed off to Busabi, a village in the east, to do the official performance. We dressed in traditional costumes and headed into the middle of a very large circle of people. Once the performance started, it actually turned out to be more enjoyable than I expected. There was a lot of energy and the crowd was clearly enjoying it. There were moments when I felt very out of place and like everyone was staring at the 9 muzungus doing a silly dance. But, at other times I felt like a member of the Hatagote group and forgot about the differences between us and the fact that we were a spectacle. Ultimately, the performance was not the horror that I had been dreading and was definitely better than all of the rehearsals leading up to it. I fully support the idea of theater for development, and if by having 9 foreigners there it drew a few more locals to see the performance, then perhaps it was worth it. Being different usually seems to be a bad thing, but in this case I think my status as a spectacle in Uganda was worth it. Regardless of whether I felt uncomfortable or not, I helped convey a very important message about sanitation. Here's to the unexpected!
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