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.

My Counterpart

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

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 3^rd 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 19^th 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 19^th, 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 19^th, 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!