Week 7 - Children of Uganda

Over the weeks here, I have seen many children, and I have noticed some of the differences between childhood in Uganda and childhood in the United States. Now, I do not intend to generalize my observations to all children in Uganda and all children in the United States. Rather I will describe some situations involving children in Uganda that surprised me or struck me as different than what I am used to seeing in the United States.

There are a lot of children here. Whether you are in Kampala city or driving through rural Uganda, you will see a large number of children playing together, walking home from school together, or doing chores together. This is not really that surprising once you remember that most families in Uganda have seven children on average.

Young children seem quite open to interacting with strangers. There is a sort of paranoia in the United States about children talking to or playing with strangers, but in Uganda, young kids will interact with strangers without the supervision of their parents. This does not mean that Ugandan children are not shy or cautious, though. I am specifically thinking of the time when we got a flat tire in Kakooge. A large number of children gathered at the gas station to see what was going on. We tried to talk to them, but they mostly laughed and kidded with each other. Eventually, though, they began to talk to us, and we ended up playing games together while we waited for the bus to be fixed. Outside of this experience, though, children often greet our group, ask us questions, and are generally quite open.

Children are given responsibility at a young age. I have seen very many young children carrying large jugs of water from the well to their homes. I have seen kids around six-years-old using a large blade to cut the grass around their homes. Furthermore, I have seen many kids actually working. For example, children often sell fruits and vegetables on the roadside (particularly in rural areas). In Sesse, I accompanied Joel to a small shop to buy some soda, and a young girl helped us get the sodas and took our money.

Some children live on the streets. This has been one of the most shocking experiences here in Uganda. It is not entirely unusual to see adults asking for money or living on the streets in the United States, but one does not normally see street children. Frequently, I walk by children sitting on the sidewalk with their hands extended in the air. Sometimes even toddlers are left to sit alone on the sidewalk. Some children are bolder, and they walk next to you or approach your car window. I have been told that many of these children come from Northern Uganda, and they have been displaced. I think Olivia, one of our dance instructors and friend, put it most poignantly when she said, You can't really tell them to go home because they can't.

These are just a few of the differences between the activities of some children in Uganda and those of some children in the United States that I have noticed in my time here. Of course, there are many similarities, as well. Children frequently play, and they do so in groups. They go to school and walk hand-in-hand with their parents. They are inquisitive and generally happy.

Overall, the children of Uganda have been some of the most welcoming and accepting people we have met. If you get past the, "Hi Muzungu! Hi Muzungu!" you can often have a very rewarding experience with the kids.

Location: Kampala, Kakooge, rural Uganda

Week 1 - Religion in Uganda

Location: MISR, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda

Since arriving in Kampala, my expectations have been met in some ways and completely defied in others. Having had some experience in Africa before, I am surprised at the sheer number of things that I had not anticipated about Ugandan life. While I had indeed expected the people of Uganda to be fairly religious, for example, I had greatly underestimated the utter centrality of religion to Ugandan life: Religion is absolutely everywhere here. In fact, just this evening I was surprised to see a portrait of the Pope printed on the bottle opener that a waiter used to remove the cap from my Schweppes Novida. Though I certainly had not expected that Benedict would be joining me for my meal, this had not been the first time that religion had made an appearance at dinner during our time in Kampala. Indeed, this feature of Ugandan life was made quite clear to me very early on. We had been here for less than a day, in fact, when our friend and guide Ronald Mukasa asked that I pray before the group enjoyed its first authentic Ugandan meal. Though I often pray with my family before meals at home, I was rather uncomfortable with praying in front of the group, especially because I knew little of their own stances on religion at this point so early on in the program.

My reluctance may in part be attributed to the fact that religion seems to be a much more private feature of an individual’s life in the States. At least where I am from, people really try to avoid bringing up their religion on a regular basis out of a fear that they may disaffect those who do not share in their own beliefs. Even at Northwestern where students seem to be fairly tolerant of religion, discussions of faith are often confined within the walls of student group meetings and church services. Although my own background had made me uncomfortable with doing so, I proceeded to pray in front of my peers to avoid the possibility of offending Ron.

Though I was initially uncomfortable with how open Ugandans are with expressing their religious beliefs, I was given a much better understanding of this feature of Ugandan life when a flat tire left our group stranded in rural Kakooge. When some of my colleagues attempted to speak to a group of local children, the children initially refused to respond, letting on that they had no knowledge of the English language. Though Kirabo attempted to overcome this language barrier by employing some of the limited Luganda that we had learned up until that point, even her greetings were met with silence. After the children were able to overcome their shyness, however, their behavior took a complete turnaround and they invited the group to join them in playing games and revealed that they were in fact able to speak our language. The centrality of religion to Ugandan life once again became apparent when, after those in our group who accepted the invitation were exhausted, the children of Kakooge asked if they could pray for us. Though a number of us were clearly taken aback by their question, we of course accepted their offer. The importance of religion to the people of Kakooge became apparent again after I began to explore the town further with a few other group members. A man wearing a kufi approached us, and, after we told him a little about the program and ourselves, he said something along the lines of, “May Allah bless you.” Though I had been uncomfortable with praying in front of the group because I wanted to avoid disrespecting my peers, my brief time in Kakooge suggested that Ugandans are so willing to share their religion precisely because it is one of the most powerful ways that they can show their respect of others. Indeed, thought they were reluctant to share even a few words with us at first, the children of Kakooge successfully conveyed their newly established approval by offering to share their faith. While in the United States we are pressed to avoid bringing up prayer and faith in a public setting to circumvent the possibility of excluding others, the people of Uganda seem to perceive religions openness as a powerful tool of inclusion.

Week 1- Impressions

This first week seems to have gone by at lighting speed and we fit an incredible number of new people, places, and experiences into our first few days here. There has definitely been culture shock, starting as soon as we got into the bus at the airport, but it seems to be getting better every day that we're here. Hopefully, as time continues to pass we'll feel less like foreign tourists and more like we belong here. It may never be our permanent home, but at least we might be comfortable and fit in. Here are some of my experiences and impressions from our first 7 days.

Once we landed in Uganda following our 24 hours of travel, we took about a 45 minute bus ride from the airport in Entebbe to Makerere University in Kampala. We got to see part of the city at night and it was a bit of a shock to pass through portions of the Kampala that were pitch black. Since city street lights are such a common occurrence at home, the ability to see the stars was a welcome change. The reality, however, was slightly unexpected. Professor Stewart told us that, although there are power lines running through the area, people in these parts of town can't afford electricity. Something as simple as the ability to see where you're walking at night, which I take hugely for granted at home, is not a luxury that many people here in Uganda have. I think that was my first official wake up call as to how I couldn't expect life in the U.S. and here to necessarily be comparable.

On a more trivial note, the lack of internet, hot water, and water pressure, combined with the need for mosquito nets and bottled water, definitely made me rethink and appreciate more the life that I live in the States. Most days seem to bring a new challenge that we must face in our living situation, but at the end of this experience I think looking back on our accomplishments will be well worth it.

Once our group settled in and started touring the city of Kampala, it was hard to ignore all of the people who looked at us. Driving down the street in the big University van everyone turns and stares, which is a rather uncomfortable feeling. Hopefully I will get more used to the fact that the color of my skin is seen as a novelty by many, but this was definitely one of the first times where I felt particularly out of place or like I stood out. Perhaps over time we'll start to feel a bit more Ugandan and less like silly tourists, but it seems like no amount of adjustment will change what people see when they look at our skin.

As we explore the area around the University, one of the first places we have frequented is Wandegaya, a market just a few minutes walk down the street. But, walking down the side of the busy street is a feat in itself. Trying not to get hit by cars, accosted by the taxi and boda boda (motor bike taxi) drivers, and watching your footing at night is quite tricky. Once we reached the market, though, the walk was worth it because the place is fascinating. The combination of tiny convenience stores, hole in the wall restaurants, hair-braiding salons, and the fruit and vegetable market is a site unlike anything at home. Stores and people are on top of each other, but in this market it seems like you can find just about anything you might need.

One of the most memorable experiences of the first week was the three hours we spent at a tiny gas station along the side of the road in a town called Kakooge. After a blown tire on our way to our safari at Murchison Falls, we waited at the gas station for the tire to be fixed. As soon as we got off the bus an ever-growing group of children started to gather around. At first our group and the kids stood around rather awkwardly. We tried to smile and wake, but the kids seemed to be very shy. But, once we took out our cameras and started taking pictures of and with them, they opened up, started posing, and interacted more. They absolutely loved when we showed them the picture of themselves on the little digital screen. We learned that some of the older kids spoke very basic English so we were able to communicate a bit. As we continued to wait for the tires to come back, the kids decided to teach us some circle games which was very fun. They were basically cat and mouse games and dancing while the group sang a little song. Very fun and much less awkward since everyone was closer to being on the same level! 3 hours later, the tires were repaired and we were on our way again. The experience at the gas station was our first real interaction with children and it was truly enlightening. They were all very curious about us and wanted to interact. I feel like spending time with children was easier than adults because we can relate more to each other, there is less judgment, and more acceptance.

After our first week I think we've seen many surprises and experienced things I didn't think possible before this trip. As the tourist feeling wears off and we continue to settle in, I look forward to our first week of classes and our site visits to different NGOs around the city.

Location: Entebbe, Makerere University, Wandegaya, Kakooge