Anyway I've been pretty busy these past few days. Thursday and Friday we gave both groups of women the receipts for how much money we paid them (we put it in the bank for them). It was awesome seeing their reactions, the new group apparently wasn't expecting as much as we gave them (they expected less than half of what we paid). Along with the receipts we gave them business plans that Stephanie wrote up based on the information they've been telling us during the classes. Mary was so appreciative and said how having the business plan will help her remember to keep at it, even if it seems hard, as it will help her keep an eye on her goals. It was great hearing that.
From top L: Jovia (the baby), Susan, Beatrice (a social worker intern), Hadijjah, Jack, Mary, Peace, Chanel, Sarah, Betty (another social worker), Hope (the baby), Lofia
Bottom L: Pelin, Marjani, Stephane, Jessica, Kelsey
(The photographers are missing in this photo, we plan to take one Tuesday with everyone)
Pelin brought her laptop to work Thursday, and she was editing videos. She showed Hadijjah some of the videos of her family, and Hadijjah and Susan thought it was great! Hadijjah didn't even want to walk away for an interview, even though she sees her family every day, but seeing them on screen is better. She asked if it was like a small tv, and we said yes. Even for their interviews, we mic them, which is fun, as they all laugh and don't really understand what's going on but just trust us and do what Kaliya or Pelin tells them.
Hadijjah and Pelin
A few language things: Thursday afternoon some of the kids at Child of Hope asked me what "What's up?" means... and I learned how difficult it is to describe what "slang" or "cool" are. I did manage to tell them that it's like asking how are you, but I couldn't describe the rest. They also asked my tribe, and I didn't know how to say I have no tribe without them being confused, and they wouldn't believe me that my language is English.
A photo one of the kids took
Veronica also taught me the word "mukwano". She kept calling me that so I finally asked what it meant, and apparently it's friend (in Luganda). She also told me she wanted to bring me a chicken to bring home, but I told her we're not allowed to bring them... so she said she'll make me a necklace instead.
Friday morning we went to Mary's, hoping for pictures of what she does around the house, since she doesn't have a business yet, so I wanted to photograph her every day life. Instead, we got there and her husband, Max, decided to show us around, which turned into a 3 hour walk (thank goodness I'd thought to put on sunscreen just in case, as it was HOT). None of us were quite in the mood for a 3 hour walk, but I will admit what we did was pretty cool. (All we did see was Mary cleaning the house with cow dung, which apparently is the world's best natural cement)
We stopped by a place where they grind cassava to make cassava flour, which is what Mary plans to sell, so it was actually pretty useful. Towards the end of our trip we also stopped by the actual place she plans to grind it and sell it from and store it, and we met her boss.
Jessica and Max
We also went to the sewage, where all the sewage collects in one "pond" and then it filters into the next and next, four total until it is almost clean and then goes through streams to get to Lake Victoria in Jinja. It was a bit weird to see, but they keep it pretty clean. And all around are grown lots of crops since it's such fertile land. Child of Hope even grows its own rice, though they plan to make the plot of land into a pond for fish after they harvest the rice so they can feed the kids fish instead of always giving them beans.
Jessica and Max walking between the sewage- on the left is when the sewage first comes in, the right is after one round of filtering
The man who proposed to me (right next to the sewage, how romantic) but said he was a Christian but wasn't saved and asked if that was an issue.... He proposed by asking "can I marry a mzungu?" and pointing straight at me, I thought to say "Sure, just not this one' but thought that'd be rude, so instead said I was too young
Max then brought us to a government school (public school), where two of his kids go. They didn't end up being in at the time, but it was interesting seeing the school. Apparently a normal class can have 100 students to 1 teacher, since they've grown so much. Just like us, though, all of the classes are mixed girls and boys, and they teach basically the same subjects we do, including art, phys. ed., and music. They also had pretty inspirational signs around (as do most schools we walk by).
We went by police stations (which you'd never guess until you read "Police" on the motorcycle), a prison, a slaughterhouse, people making local brew, people drinking local brew in bars (we sat at one for a while but refused offers to drink-- also remember it was like 10 am).
We learned that they make local brew from different sources, with maize being less strong than from millet. On another note, we learned that the government plans to build new roads, which will end up knocking down numerous houses and businesses, and the people will just have to find other homes and land.
I'm not sure if I've explained before, but Namatala has multiple cells/zones within it (maybe 3? I'm not positive). Each has its own councilmen/peacemakers, and leaders. I'm not sure I understand the borders and all that, but they exist.
We also went to the train station. The train apparently runs to South Sudan, and has started up again, so far only carrying goods. It comes by Mbale Wednesday mornings (though we've never seen it). They're hoping to start a passenger train eventually as well, but even the goods train is good since it helps business.
I am currently reading a book about Haiti, and realize that much of what she describes is what I've tried saying about Uganda and the people here, only the author says it much more eloquently. Maybe I'll throw in a few quotes sometime.
Overall, it was an exhausting but very educational trip, and we finally said we needed to leave because we had to get to work (all true).
After work Marjani and Jack took us out and gave us popsicles. Talk about an amazing treat! We've all been craving ice cream for who knows how long so it was perfect. Pelin, Jessica, Avery and I also played a game of pool (on a small table with the balls just 2 colors) and Avery and I won! (after a very long game that by the end we all just wanted SOMEONE to win). It was a great day for an outing after work though, we all deserved it.
The only issue ended up being that it started storming, and after a while of trying to wait it out, we finally decided to brave it and head home. It was AWFUL. Marjani gave us all scarves to try to protect ourselves. Chanel and I hopped on a boda, me squished between her and the driver. I had the scarf mostly covering my arms and then also over my head, but thankfully it was thin so I could see out to be sure to tell the driver where to turn. I was huddled against the driver, and Chanel was huddled against me, trying to block our faces and just giving in to the fact that our clothes would soak through. Thankfully Chanel had the idea to pay the driver before we left, so we wouldn't have to stand in the rain searching for money (it was also getting dark). When we got to our turn, the driver said he was out of gas... aka we had to walk the rest. We hopped off and started running, with people under overhangs watching and laughing. I gave up on keeping my head covered, more worried about my arms which were freezing. We arrived back in the casa dripping, and Aisha provided us with towels to dry off. It was quite the evening.
Unfortunately, after all that, dinner was not enough that evening, and we all were still hungry, but most of us had no interest in braving the rain to get more food. Some ended up heading out, but I just stuck to the biscuits that Max had bought for us that morning. We also discovered that the donuts that aren't so great actually taste heavenly when you dip them in nutella, almost like real chocolate iced donuts.
Today was pretty uneventful, lots of reading and we went to the pool at Mbale Resort (a good price and a much better pool than Mount Elgon Hotel). I actually swam which I haven't done since arriving.
Annette, one of the women, came for dinner, which was nice. I think she was slightly overwhelmed, but I bought her a soda and she seemed to like the food. She left quickly, but we think she had to be home in time to feed her kids.
Tomorrow I'm finally heading to Nabugoye with Avaran to go visit one of the conservative Jewish communities.
7/21
Sunday morning we finally headed out to Nabugoye Hill, probably about the same distance as Putti but a different direction. On the way we passed Hadassah Primary school. When we got there we saw a group gathered, turns out they study Talmud every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday morning. They wrapped up just as we arrived, and I met Rabbi Gershom, the rabbi of the community.
This community seems more established than Putti, with an already functioning clinic and lots of buildings. A guy named Samson showed me around. Turns out he's from Kenya but came here to help connect the communities. He said next time I come maybe he can bring me to Kenya to see the community there.
First he showed me the synagogue, which generally gets around 200 for a typical Shabbat morning. The building isn't big enough, so some have to sit outside. Apparently they hope to build a bigger synagogue to accommodate everyone. They mostly use the Sim Shalom siddur, but I don't think they have quite enough (they also pass on some books to some of the other conservative synagogues in Uganda-- he named them all for me but I don't remember). They also have the Torah translated into Luganda so that people can understand even if they don't speak English, which was really cool to see (I'm not sure if it was translated by missionaries though... I also learned from it that Eseza, a name we've heard, is the same as Esther).
In addition to the synagogue, they have a computer room, where they teach people to use computers, and it also doubles as a library for Jewish books. There is also a clinic, the Rabbi's house, and a secondary school, where Samson goes. He explained to me that you can do 4 years, like high school, but if you do 2 extra, advanced, years, you can go to college for less time, and decrease the tuition you need to pay. Also, I'm pretty sure here the secondary school is separated by gender. There's also a beautiful guest house, with a little gift shop.
On our way back, we stopped by a place where we'd heard music coming from (Samson knew what it was but I didn't). It turns out there are a lot of orphans who live on Nabugoye Hill. For now they are placed with families, but they are planning to build an orphanage. In the meantime, to distract them, they have taught the kids traditional music and dance. It was fun watching them, as they practiced for a graduation ceremony later that day. Overall it was a really nice visit and I hope next time I come I can spend a Shabbat there (maybe I'll switch back and forth between there and Putti).
When we left we went to Miryam's house in Namatala. I hadn't been there before so it was nice seeing where she stays, and eating her cooking (I also had porridge which was really good). We also stopped by Tarphon and Ruth's to say hi. I think their baby is starting to get used to me, she even let me hold her for 5 seconds without crying. One of the neighbors tried to run away though, scared off by the mzungu (that's me). I tried asking Avaran why they call us all mzungu, and he said it's because we say "blacks", only the difference he doesn't seem to understand is that's not a term I'd use to address him.
We took Miryam and continued on. I thought we were heading to Putti, but as usual, we made plenty of stops along the way. First, we stopped by Miryam and Shira's parent's house, where they grew up (and Miryam sometimes still stays there). It was nice meeting her family, and we stopped by a few of her sisters' houses too. We also stopped by the Nasinye? synagogue, another synagogue that I didn't even know existed, where apparently their parents go. This one apparently gets around 100 people every Shabbat. Unfortunately it was padlocked, so we couldn't go inside, but I got to peek in which was neat.
I'm not sure why I decided it was ok, but I let Avaran drive me for a bit. It wasn't too terrifying, except at parts, and he decided to test how fast I'd be ok going, but on the dirt roads we were on I quickly made his stop. This was the one time I decided I'd use his calling me "government property that I must protect" to my advantage.
When we finally got to Putti, Shira and Enosh were out, but it was nice saying goodbye to the kids. Avaran decided to leave and told me to stop by on the way out, though I never ended up having a chance. It was cool while we were there they were dropping off dirt to help with some sort of building for the clinic (which JJ and some other kids were using as a hill to play on and get dirty in). It's nice seeing progress each time I stop by.
While we were waiting, Miryam finally dished that she has a boyfriend (Moshe, one of the two who was sponsored to go study at Yeshiva in Israel)! She was surprised I didn't know, and told me they've been dating for 9 years I think? And they'll get married after they both finish in school, aka I've got a Ugandan wedding to prepare for!
She found out Shira was actually by his house, so we headed out there so I could say goodbye. Oh, I forgot to mention, basically everyone I met this day asked if I would sleep at their houses, so I think next time I come I might be house hopping to fulfill all my promises that I'll stay with them all next time...)
I finally learned the greeting they use (I don't remember the name of this language):
Person 1: "Kwaizeyo"
Person 2: "Tuliyo, Kwaizeyo"
Person 1: "Tuliyo"
Then there's more but I don't know how it goes.
So that was most of Sunday, a very nice day.
Monday 7/22
This week is going to be pretty crazy. Saturday we're leaving Mbale, so all our work is due Friday (hence why it's taken me so long to get this post up). Monday morning I spent doing lots of work. We all bought fabric so the women could make us scarves that we'll pay them extra for. After splitting it up between them, we sat around chatting (since there are only 2 sewing machines). We learned a LOT.
We discussed death, and they think it's weird how the Indian population burns their dead. They also told us that they burn old people alive, but we wonder if that might be a rumor that one group starts about a group they don't like so much...
Beatrice, one of the social workers, is very forward and aggressive in her opinions. She was saying something about Islam, and Hadijjah just sat there and stared. I kind of wonder what was going through her head, and if Beatrice was right or not, but Hadijjah didn't speak up. Someone female circumcision was also brought up, with all of the women being strongly against it. It's interesting since there was actually also an article in the NY Times about it yesterday: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/23/health/report-finds-gradual-fall-in-female-genital-cutting-in-africa.html?hp&_r=0
I'm kind of curious what it would have been like to talk to someone who is actually part of one of the tribes who practices female circumcision.
We also learned that polygamy is not uncommon. Even one of the women we work with is her husband's second wife. They're apparently neighbors to each other. Also marrying outside of your religion is not uncommon, and there seem to be less issues between religions overall.
And finally for today: I'm not gonna say much. It's been a lot of work today, tons of photos and all. Also, I bought an ornament and gave it to Veronica, since she loves Christmas.
Alright well we have tons of product shots and edits to do, so I'm gonna go be busy. I'll try to update again when I can, but I'm not sure when that'll be.
So interesting, thanks for sharing!
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