Jan 28, 2012 BOG, Graduation,
All-VOL, Africa Burning, Matatus, Poetry
Happy Birthday to my
one in a million Niece!
Board Inauguration
– My school is governed by a board of governors (BOG) and we have just had a change
over to a new board. This requires getting the new members together along with
the Gulu District Education Officer (DEO) who must inaugurate the board. The
meeting was scheduled to start at 10am – this means I was ready to take the
notes at my post at 10am. However the DEO did not arrive until 11:45 and one of
our new members did not arrive until 12:30. Therefore we started 2.5 hours
late. No one seemed concerned about this so I just kept practicing my new Zen
like breathing technique. Something I am mastering over the course of my Peace
corps experience. Everyone who spoke – which is most of the 13 people, started
and ended with a prayer and a bible verse. This is the way it is done in Uganda
– and it still feels weird coming from the US where this is against the law in
most business settings. We ended with a meal of rice, goat stew and cabbage
which we ate with our fingers – something I am still not very adept at - and
the locals frequently laugh at my poor eating talents.
Graduation – I attended
my Counterpart’s Graduation party on Saturday last week. She graduated from
Gulu University with her Bachelors in Business Administration. She is a married,
fulltime working mom of three and has fit in going to school on the weekends
for three years. She is truly the best of African women in my book. Anyway she and
her husband hosted a party at her home. I rode there with my supervisor and we
arrived at 4:30pm. Upon our arrival we were seated just behind the row of major
family important people. There is a serious etiquette to where you sit, and I
was surprised to be placed so close to the front of the tent. Being the only
Munu (White Person), I suppose that makes you something of a dignitary! So then
began the 5 hours of speeches. Even I was asked to say a few words. (We did get
a break to eat after 2 hours.)
There were family members from her home in West Nile and the
most senior member of her clan had a long pole with something like a goat tail
on the end of it. During the speeches he would jump up and wave the “scepter”
and hoot and holler and incite the crowd.
At 9:30 the dancing started and I was told we were expected to spend the
night there as is the custom in Acholi land. Luckily my supervisor also wanted
to sleep in her own bed and not dance all night so we quietly excused
ourselves.
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| My Counterpart |
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| Senior relative celebrating! |
Northern PC Volunteer All Vol – I went to Kitgum this last week to listen to various PCV’s speak about projects they have implemented and receive advice on assimilating into our new positions.We met under a Mango tree near a PCV's Hut. I learned of an NGO here in Uganda implementing alternative forms of discipline (to discourage caning and other abusive practices) as well use positive incentives for behavior change. My Director is interested in learning more about this. I also observed a demonstration on making liquid soap. This soap is for dishes, washing clothes and floors, etc. There is a savings group in my school that is very interested in this skill for an income generating activity – so I have asked the PCV that has been doing this to come train my school and possibly a womens group in another village. My counterpart says she wants to train her mom so she can make soap in west Nile area. I also saw a cool Metal charcoal burning stove that perhaps my school metal working dept can make. So the conference seems to have been very useful. We also learned of several upcoming camps in the Northern region for young men and women – so I plan to volunteer to work those camps in April. I also returned with Moringa tree seeds that I will plant in the wet season – it is a veritable magical tree with amazing health & nutrition properties. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moringa_oleifera
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| JoAngel-a friend I made! |
Africa Burning –
it is the Dry Season – it could also be called the burning season. Every day
there is someone nearby burning their fields to clear it for next season. This
is called bush burning and it is not good for the environment or for my lungs. All day little pieces of ash fall from the sky
and collect in my bathing area, latrine, in my house, on my desk etc. There are
small dark grey smoke columns rising up on the horizon from all directions. Some
how they seem to control these fires and keep them from spreading across the
landscape, however for the life of me I can’t tell how they are doing it.
Matatus-these are van sized taxis that have 5 rows of seats. The front seat has the driver and is supposed to seat three across. The remaining seats are also 3 across but in Matatus, the minimum across is four people. This means on any given ride there will be between 19 and 28 people squeezed into the “taxi”. Recently My friend Nancy and I took a Matatu from Kitgum back to Gulu after attending the Northern Peace corps All-Volunteer Conference. We were in the 3rd row and decided to buy three seats to insure we were not crammed in to the fullest. This is an incredibly spoiled American behavior, but I have some limits on my level of African integration. Our driver accepted our requirement of no more than 3 across our row, but that did not stop him from putting up to 6 people in the rows in front and behind us. We were traveling for 3 hours on an unpaved road. It was actually a pretty drive past villages with mud huts with chickens, cattle and goats wandering about for my entertainment!
POETRY
Bone Tired Dec
14, 2011
Tired in a way that Sleep won’t
heal
A boxer depleted on the mat
Trying to will himself back on his
feet
Though not sure he wants to try
Afraid he will have the wind
knocked out once again
Yet more afraid to give up
An exhausted spirit
With a small intense flame
Hopes to re-ignite a raging fire
Yet also praying for an illness
To surrender into
To justify not continuing to try
For all he feels is
Bone Tired
Just a Long Walk Jan
19th 2012
I keep reminding myself
It’s
just a long walk
It doesn’t take more than one step
at a time
One foot, then the other
Really that is not hard
If you take it in small pieces
Breaking it up
So that the magnitude does not overwhelm
So my coming to Africa for 2 years
Is like a long walk
And the only way to eat an African
Elephant
Is one bite at a time J
Magic Jan 19th,
2012
Sing praise for the magical powers
it has
Beloved by man, and unable to be
dissected by science
All races revere, practice, and
celebrate it
In it, Babies and elders delight
Youth carry it like armor and fling
it at the world
Sad and happy people employ it
Milestones, rites of passage, and
years are marked with it
As well as small daily increments
The sun is brighter
The wind softer
The night darker
The run easier
The touch of a lover more loving
All because of the magic of Music
Standing Still Jan
19th, 2012
Standing Still, For longer than you
imagined
So still, so you can hear your
breath, your heartbeat, the world turning
So long that you are off balance,
disoriented
So quiet that you might disappear
You stand, still listening, for
answers
Not fully knowing your questions
Hoping both are revealed in time
You left
Searching for clues, signs, smoke
signals
To gain perspective, To find
meaning
So you stand still, forgetting to
breathe
Wondering, Waiting, Watching
Not ready to move just yet
Hoping Goodness and Mercy shall
follow
The Stillness
Joy of Running to Water Jan
22, 2012
Late afternoon
In the dry season
Tethered to a tree
For hours
Full on Grass
Parched & Dry
Demanding release
Bellowing to anyone
Excitement as a farm attendant arrives
Bringing Freedom
At FULL RUN
Heels kicking
Frolicking with anticipation
Across the football pitch
Over the path
Giddy with happiness
Eyes Singing
Nose plunges into Coolness
Cow Heaven!
