Heavy Mettle

On to the next journey

One of my favorite taglines to say around here is "Uganda: Where Anything Is Possible" (second only to "Uganda: The World Is Your Toilet"). Just when you think, "There's no way that can work," someone finds a way. This can be both a blessing and a curse. I've been stuffed in car taxis where the driver will manage to cram 10 people into a Toyota Corolla (this includes what I like to call a "Siamese ssebo" or two people in the driver's seat) and someone literally sitting on the hood of a traveling car. Anything is possible! Bed frames to bicycles to other motorcycles carried on the back of a motorcycle. Anything is possible! Just stole over $60 million from the government in fraudulent road contracts? Again, anything is possible!

This will be my last post as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Uganda. Last words are always the hardest to write, they are a time of self-reflection and lessons learned. I've struggled with how to reflect on my last two years here in Uganda. Anyone who has ever served in the Peace Corps knows that it can be one of the most challenging yet rewarding experiences. This sounds trite since everyone loves to quote "The hardest job you'll ever love". This has certainly been a tough two years, a time filled with self-doubt, frustration, personal loss and illness. But in the meantime, I've learned about self-reliance, flexibility and how to smile during difficult times.

During my last week at school, I was talking with some of the teachers, who were curious about when I would start having children. I explained that I wanted to wait until I was in my 30s, giving Jim and I some time to enjoy married life. One of the teachers asked, "But what about when Jim wants to have kids? He will decide." We talked about how culturally a man in Uganda decides when he wants children and how many he wants. This was a stark reminder of several things: a) you learn something new everyday b) there are certain cultural aspects with which I will never be ok and c) I like sharing my point of view. I told my staff that with most American couples, they decide together when to start a family and the number of children. I also talked about how it's my body, therefore shouldn't a woman have the power to decide? There will just be some things we don't agree on, and I've finally learned that's alright.

I'm looking forward to visiting Uganda in a few years and seeing how things have developed. Uganda is one of the world's youngest countries, with over half the population under the age of 15. With this explosion in population, it will be interesting to see how politics and development progress in Uganda. I've learned countless lessons from Ugandans, including a whole new meaning of community, an unwavering faith in God, the true meaning of humility, and astounding resourcefulness and adaptability. 

5 Things I will miss about Uganda:

1. Kabale's weather

2. Laughter

3. Bakiga dance

4. Drumbeats on Sunday morning

5. The rope-swing at Lake Bunyonyi

5 Things I will certainly not miss:

1. That high-pitched, nasal "How are you?!"

2. Weird meat

3. Public transport

4. Posho

5. Church

A big thank you to everyone who has read and supported my blog over the years, and for your contribution in sending me to Washington, D.C. in September for a transformative week. I'll continue to write once I get home, so stay tuned. 

Thank you for the care packages, the phone calls and emails, the sympathy hugs and to those who came to visit. And a big thank you to my fiancé Jim who has seen me through so many ups and downs. #jimandjulia2015 !

Thank you Uganda for so many things. It's been a wild ride.

Until next time

50 Years of Peace Corps in Uganda

Ambassador DeLisi speaking about Peace Corps' 50 years in Uganda

This week our Peace Corps post celebrated 50 years in country. That's right, Peace Corps has been working in Uganda since 1964, with a few hiccups. Volunteers were evacuated in 1971 due to an unstable political climate (this guy) and again in 1999 due to major security threats. We had a regional celebration down here in Kisoro, or what I like to call Uganda's back pocket. 

About 50 volunteers from the southwest and western regions came down for the event. Our volunteers organized an awesome event, including a visit from the US Ambassador to Uganda, Scott DeLisi, and other prominent community figures. A highlight of the day was going to Mutolere Secondary School with our friend Carl, who was a Peace Corps volunteer back in 1970-71. This was his first time returning to his school where he taught over 40 years ago. He encountered his old colleagues and students, and saw his old stomping grounds. Ambassador DeLisi read a story to some primary school students and planted some tree seedlings at the school.
Afterwards, we went to Virunga Engineering Works' workshop to see the expanded workshop and see how the improved cookstoves are manufactured. Jim and Bruce (VEW's new Peace Corps volunteer) talked about how many hectares of forest is saved a year using this technology in large-scale cooking operations, such as schools and refugee centers. Peace Corps Volunteers at Virunga Engineering have worked with over 20 schools in the last year, saving the schools, on average, 1.5 million shillings per term and preserving about 476 hectares of forest or the equivalent of an area 1.5 times the size of New York’s Central Park. Check out my post here for more information on VEW.
Next we headed to Kisoro's Tourist Hotel for speeches and entertainment. We had a performance by some local secondary school students who performed some songs and local Bufumbira dancing. We heard from the LC5 Chairman and Ambassador DeLisi, who spoke about Peace Corps 50 years in Uganda and the numerous projects that we've done as volunteers. He gave an awesome shout-out to Jim and Bruce working at Virunga Engineering Works, as well as projects like Bwindi's gorilla trekking and Bukhonzo joint coffee co-op and youth camp this August.
We also welcomed our new Volunteers for our ritual Welcome Weekend for newly sworn-in Volunteers in the region. We celebrated with a barbecue down at Lake Mutanda.

Max Gold talking about the VEW cookstove project

Audrey reading to a group of students at St. George primary school

David from Nyanz'ibiri (The Cave) with his new gorilla!

Touring the VEW workshop

Ambassador DeLisi and his wife picking out their gorillas!

Loucine, Audrey and PCV Carl at his old school Mutolere

Sheba

Leija and me!

Hikers climbing to the top of the crater

Mt. Mukaino in Congo at dusk (photos by Jim Tanton)

Camp LION and a Tidal Wave of Good News

Camp LION
(photos by Jim Tanton)

Well, my eye is still twitching from lack of sleep after directing Camp LION, if that's any indication of that week. I've now had two weeks to recover and catch up on sleep (and my blog), but my lower lashes are still twitching and I officially look like a crazy person.
Whew.
Camp LION (Leaders In Our Nation) is the first of its kind, directed by four PCVs and one Ugandan co-director. Eric, Matthew, Cindy, Immaculate and I wanted a leadership camp that emphasized and developed leadership skills for Ugandan youth. And that's exactly what we did.
Camp LION is a regional camp, meaning that our campers (both male and female, between the ages of 15-19) came from eastern Uganda, including Mbale, Soroti, Kumi, Tororo and Jinja district. A brief history of camps in Peace Corps Uganda: the typical model is to have a girls' camp (GLOW-Girls Leading Our World) and boys' camp (BUILD- Boys of Uganda In Leadership Development) operating simultaneously but separately during school break, and then coming together on the last day for Gender Equality Day. These camps usually focus on life skills, reproductive health, malaria, RUMPs (reusable menstrual pads) and HIV/AIDS awareness, but with relatively little emphasis on how to "take camp home" and affect others in their communities.
That's where our brainchild for Camp LION came in, to have sessions that focused on skills that make a leader, such as public speaking, goal setting, money management, as well as a big emphasis on community service. The highlight of our camp was an unprecedented activity: Volunteer Day. Matthew Raymond, my co-director, envisioned having our campers go out in the community and volunteer for the morning, such as planting trees, cleaning up rubbish and volunteering at a local hospital and an orphanage. Our first two days of camp were focused around sessions on leadership, IGAs (Income-Generating Activities) and reproductive health (from condom demonstrations to menstrual cycles to sexual health discussions). On Wednesday morning, we went out into the community and volunteered all morning.

Volunteer Day: tree-planting around Mbale

Volunteer Day: volunteering at Mbale Hospital Children's Ward

Our campers generated a lot of interest from the locals, who would stop and say, "What are you doing? What are you planting those trees for?" In some cases, some people decided to even join in. We were so excited by the notion that if this much interest in community service could be generated in one morning, imagine what these kids could do back home. That morning, I went with a group of campers to children's home for orphans and vulnerable children. We spent the morning playing games, reading books, doing arts and crafts and singing songs. I was so proud of our campers who really took initiative, bonded with the children and by the end were leading their own camp-style "Reflection" session with the kids.

Thursday was another block of sessions, and then Friday was our "Presentation Day." Campers were able to choose a topic from the week's sessions and come up with an "elevator speech" to pitch to their communities. We wanted campers to feel prepared to go back to their communities and present a topic to the community leadership, such as the Parent-Teacher Association, the LC1 or community elders. After spending a week honing their leadership skills and doing community service, they were able to practice how to "take camp home" and pitch an idea to the community. For example, some campers, including males, enjoyed the session on how to make RUMPs (reusable menstrual pads). Many girls in Uganda (and elsewhere) miss a significant amount of school when they have their menstrual periods. The boys knew that while they couldn't use RUMPs for themselves, they were useful for sisters, friends, mothers and aunts. It is also an Income-Generating Activity to sew a pad from old fabric and sell it to the community, so they got to practice how they would "pitch" this idea to people back home.

Another innovation to our camp was the creation of a Counselor-In-Training (CIT) program. I had been a CIT back during my summer camp days, but it had never crossed my mind to do at a Ugandan youth leadership camp. Another one of Matthew's million-dollar ideas. We had three CITs in our program, all former campers and who were on their way to be counselors. Theresa, Semu and Brian were stellar CITs, always willing to help and interact with campers. They helped with logistics and got to shadow each camper group. The CIT program was great for another reason-- we had one of Ugandan counselors drop out during camp, and Brian was able to step in as a counselor.

As a note, I'm feeling very proud of our Peace Corps post during these last round of camps- as Volunteers, we put together three innovative camps unique to Uganda. Camp LION, Camp Omwani (an Ag camp focused on coffee production and facilitated by Bukonzo Joint) and Girl Tech (a science camp for girls).

In between sessions, we had a lot of fun. There was cheering, chanting, dancing within our eight camper groups. We had relay races, team-building activities, Afrikan yoga sessions with Ife, drumming circles, bonfires, and night art. Night Art is a great activity led by our three InMovement facilitators, where they have campers doing interactive creative art. That night we were all the in the dining hall, the tables were covered in cloth and markers, crayons, and paintbrushes were strewn across all the tables. We had music and dancing, while the campers and counselors were given prompts for what to draw. For example, I got to pose with two other counselors and the campers had to draw us in one minute. Jim went up with two other bearded men and they had to draw their beards. Another was to draw the person in front of you in 5 years, without looking down.

The last activity of Night Art, little did I know that my life was about to change. For all those who wanted to know the background of that night, here it is. Jim got called up to the center, and then I got called up too. Bagonza, the night's MC, asked us both to strike a pose. I did my best yoga Dancer Pose while Jim goes down on one knee. Hmmm, I thought. What kind of weird pose is he doing? Are we doing some sort of couples' pose, Dirty Dancing style?

It took me a full five seconds to realize what was happening and that Jim was proposing. He told me that he had already called my parents to ask for their blessing and then said those four magic words. I really don't remember the rest, I don't think I even said yes or remembered that there was some sort of ring involved. I just remember feeling so much love that night, as I looked around at all my friends crying, hugging us both and saying congratulations. I happened to be the only dry eyes in the room that night, I was just too excited! And then we had the most epic, monster dance party as we jumped about the room, everybody cheering us on. It was an incredible night. Not many camps witness a proposal--some of the campers didn't even believe it was real, and asked their counselors the next morning if we were reenacting a scene from a movie. Ha! In a place where love and marriage is very different than our culture, it was nice to have a scene of true love, an engagement and a healthy, loving relationship.

Jim and I met in here in the Peace Corps, as many of you know, but never in my wildest dreams did I expect to get engaged here. I can't imagine a more perfect way to begin our lives together.

And when it rains, it pours! One last piece of good news. Thanks to everyone's help, I am a winner for Peace Corps' Blog It Home contest and will be going to D.C. for a week of events in September. Thank you again to everyone for the votes and for passing it on. I will be sharing a bit about Uganda and life on this side of the world.

Ife leading a.m. warm-up Afrikan yoga session

Country Director Loucine visits Camp LION for the day and gets her groove on

Brainstorming: campers had 5 minutes to design and make
the tallest structure out of straws and masking tape

Eric "Fixer" Grayson jumping in on a session on HIV stigma

RELAY RACE! My favorite. 

Jenna helping to answer questions during a session on myths about HIV

Volunteer Day: reading to sick children at Mbale Hospital

Our Volunteer Day list of accomplishments

Sulai, a local businessman and community activist, talks to our campers about community service

Checking out the materials to make reusable menstrual pads (RUMPs)

Proper condom use demonstration

Bonfire and dancing. A lot of dancing.

Camp LION's ballin' team of directors.

Our Wall of Leaders for Camp LION's staff and counselors.
We each wrote our favorite leader who inspires us and why.

Immaculate and me, co-directors and co-goofballs.

Our t-shirts. Courtesy of yours truly.

Camp LION

Mandala-making.

Night Art

"Now draw with your neighbor's right hand" -- Night Art.

LIVE from Camp Lion!

Bagonza from InMovement warming up our staff

Reporting live from Camp LION! Things are buzzing right now from the Staff room at Grace Primary School where I am co-directing Camp LION (Leaders In Our Nation) in Mbale, in eastern Uganda.

Our camp is focused on developing leaders from neighboring communities in a week-long, jam-packed camp with sessions on community organizing, youth development, HIV/AIDS awareness, public speaking and the importance of volunteering. Peace Corps volunteers have been running youth leadership camp for girls (GLOW-Girls Leading Our World) and boys (BUILD- Boys of Uganda in Leadership Development) for years now, as a way of directing reaching out to youth and giving them a safe space to discuss issues like reproductive health, sex, condom demos and HIV, as well as developing their leadership, public speaking, and self-esteem skills. Our staff and camp counselors ranges from Peace Corps Volunteers to teachers at primary schools, youth and health workers and a few members from BPU. We are also working with InMovement, a youth organisation for social change through the arts. They're known for doing amazing youth work through dance, drama, circus, poetry and art.

Our InMovement facilitators (Ife, Bagonza, Mark and Tara) helped lead our staff training to prepare for a powerhouse week of camp. We discussed and practiced facilitation skills, how to engage youth in a meaningful way, gender-equitable practices and how to make camp FUN!
Tomorrow our campers arrive from Tororo, Mbale, Soroti, Kumi districts and our camp will officially kick off! The day I'm looking forward to most is our Volunteer Day on Wednesday, where our campers will go out and do community service work in Mbale, such as tree-planting, street sweeping, and volunteering at the local hospital and orphanage. I'll keep everyone posted!

As for Peace Corps' Blog It Home contest, tomorrow is the last day to vote on Facebook to help my blog win the contest! Send me to DC by going to this link, and Clicking "Like". Please share the photo as well and encourage your friends to vote. Thanks!

Ife, one of our InMovement facilitators, leading a session on Reflections

Teambuilding with our camp staff and counselors

Bagonza from InMovement!

Patrick, one of our staff members, here to teach conflict resolution

Practicing facilitation

Playing the game "Crazy Taxi"