Technical Immersion, Final Training Weeks, African Observations

On Tech Immersion in Kasese District

OK I am convinced Peace Corps has a hidden agenda to make training so grueling and so stressful that by the time you find yourself alone in a remote village you think its bliss. My 10-week Training has alternately been exhausting (we go all day Mon-Sat, walk an hour each way to get to class, live in Ugandan homes without indoor plumbing, and are expected to do homework and hand-wash our clothes in buckets, - basically borderline abusive) and then exhilarating.  The exhilarating parts come in fits and spurts and mostly it’s a grind to attend hour after hour of classes. I admit the classes have me prepared to live here for 2 years. If I had been placed in the field without training, I would have never made it. So yes the content is valuable – I just think it could be consolidated and delivered more efficiently so as to get both Saturday and Sunday off. Maybe it’s an age thing…but in my defense the 20-somethings look tired too!

Technical Immersion

Kids & Coffee Beans

So the exhilarating parts come when we actually get to interact with Ugandans in the field. I have visited really interesting places and love getting to see the real deal. Classroom theory can only hold your attention so long.  I returned last Friday from western Uganda where a group of 10 of us visited a coffee cooperative in the highlands outside of Kasese…not far from the Congo border.  The most amazing thing is that in this remote area that has no electric power and only 2% of the people can read, the entire culture is being changed by a coffee cooperative. The cooperative does typical things like educating farmers on ways to improve their crop yield, but they also deliver comprehensive social services by sending trainers up into the mountains to talk about gender equality, rights of women and children, domestic violence, and addiction. They teach all people to draw their vision of a better life and then draw the steps they need to take to get there. They also draw pictures of the opportunities and threats that might arise along the way. It was phenomenal to see every peasant we met take out their notebooks to show us their drawings.  The cooperative has 3,500 farmers and its own micro finance organization. (http://bukonzocoop.com/index.html)

Highlands of Western Uganda

Ok, did I mention that the western region of Uganda is the area with more tourist attractions like game preserves and also one of the most picturesque! We passed through Fort Portal which is known for its tea estates – we saw miles of green tea fields – it was something to see. http://pearlsofuganda.org/  http://www.visituganda.com/ 

Final Training Weeks

Alright – On to my final weeks of training – We had a mock language proficiency interview to prepare us for the actual test coming at the end of this week. I am not going to win any awards in speaking Acholi, but I plan to pass by the skin of my teeth. So keep your fingers crossed for me!!! We also had a round robin verbal exam where we moved from one table to another answering question regarding things such as safety, community development, HIV Aids, malaria, cross cultural issues, personal medical topics, economic development principles, etc  - basically all we learned over the last 9 weeks. It was empowering to see how much we have covered, and that I have retained a great deal of it.  

This week we will say goodbye to our host families with an event on Saturday Oct 8^th. We will have American picnic games for the kids as well as a demonstration on how to make American Pizza. We will also have a lunch with traditional Ugandan and American meals. Vegetable Spaghetti will be the American fare. I helped do the research on locating tomato paste – like almost everything here it comes from China!!! African Fare will be Matooke (green bananas steamed or boiled and then mashed) Posho (some kind of corn based starch with the consistency of very hard mashed potatoes), G-nut sauce (a peanut sauce they put over the Matooke and Posho), meat cooked in a sauce to put over rice, and most likely avocados and pineapple which grow everywhere here.

Me carrying water for bathing, cooking, washing

I of course will greatly miss my host sister and brother. We have become a close family. They have taken care of me and I have tried to reciprocate in ways that I can. Today Florence surprised me with a bolt of Congolese made Kitende fabric and then escorted me to a tailor to have a custom African dress made for me. I plan to wear it on Saturday to the host family thank you event.  I will post pictures later of my incredible fashion moment!

My Brother filling water at spring nearby

On Tuesday Oct 11, we will move to Kampala for 3 days of PC policy and safety training. We will be joined by our assigned organization supervisors and we will jointly plan what each Peace Corps Volunteer will focus on over the next couple of years. Basically this is to help educate our host organizations on what they can expect from us and to reiterate what is required from them. On Thursday Oct 13, we will sworn-in as official Peace Corps Volunteers and will drop the word “trainee” from our titles. Basically its graduation from bootcamp! Then there is a celebration before we leave the next am for our various sites.  Each person now has all the luggage they flew over with plus what they accumulated from 10 weeks of various Ugandan shopping experiences. Imagine the Beverly Hill Billies moving out across Uganda.

African Observations

Yes it sounds like Africa here. There are more exotic birds squawking everywhere you go, than you would imagine. There are hug storks and large yelling birds and gentle lovely little songbirds. Some birds make you think you are in a Jurassic Park movie – they resemble pterodactyls.  There are roosters, hens, pigs, cows and goats everywhere. In my homestay we have 10 plus chickens, roosters and chicks that are kept inside at night next to our kitchen. We also have 5 piglets that are rapidly becoming fat pigs. They shriek when it’s feeding time. You would be amazed at the ruckus they create.  Much of the sounds of Africa are man-made. Ugandans like all media played on high volume. So you can hear everyone’s TVs, radios, church service etc. If the electricity is on, the entire neighborhood is competing to burst your eardrums!! Makes it a blessing when the electricity goes out!!

Whats really surprising to me is how well dressed many Ugandans are every day. The ladies wear skirts and professional blouses and the men wear trousers and nice shirts. Whereas we Americans often look like hippies or just barely presentable in comparison.  

What is also amusing is that all the used clothing from the US and Europe ends up here. I even saw a Tennessee Titans sweatshirt walking down the streets of Wakiso a couple weeks back. All our t-shirts for family reunions and bank openings are alive and well in a Ugandan home.  My host mom uses a 3XL Penn State Nittany Lion t-shirt as our bathing room floor mat. I am sure my in-laws would be surprised at this situation. (Yes its typical to use old clothing as an area rug or door mat.) My host brother broke out a European Ski team jacket yesrday when the temperature fell to about 60 degrees. That’s really cold here and therefore necessitates a parka! However fairly often you can see an African woman wearing a shiny sequined prom dress or ball gown; and though we think it’s rather funny, they are considered very stylish and smart looking.  

Boys with homemade pool table

Another Ugandan custom is that men can have multiple wives and have even more mistresses on the side…they are called side-dishes. Most American men I know would not want that many women, but maybe it’s because US women have rights and opinions.  Here it is very unusual for women to own property and men can divorce you if you become “stubborn”. I am pretty sure I would not have made it to my 1^st year anniversary if I had married a Ugandan.  Where I come from “stubborn women” are revered J.  Also if a Ugandan man divorces his wife, he keeps the children. They are considered his property.  This makes it very hard for women to complain or to fight back against mental or physical abuse. Needless to say this is not Kansas anymore Toto!!

A BIG Thanks

So that’s my latest update on my Ugandan Vision Quest. I am still glad to be here and happy to report my husband is still very supportive of my journey to Africa to find myself. We talk every other day and are enjoying learning of the other’s daily activities. I hear my sons and dogs are also well, so I am secure in knowing we are all growing into ourselves very nicely.

Finally thanks to my friends and family for the numerous packages that are waiting for me when I leave the comfort of my training class and venture out alone to my 3 room hut at School in Koro Abili in Gulu District.  Feel free to send your own list of items, as surprises are also fun. Also keep sending me emails and letters – I don’t want to be forgotten while I am scampering across Uganda.  Peace to you all - Karla