Yearly Archive: 2015

Heroes

Author: June 26, 2015

I had two sports heroes in my youth, Floyd Little of the Broncos, and Mickey Mantle. From my teens through most of adulthood, my hero was Pete Townshend of The Who. Now, so many years later, I have a new hero, another Peter, named Peter Jensen, our 52 year old Ag trainer, who taught us how to make perma-gardens last week.

Shown here is Floyd and myself taken June 2012, Floyd Littlewhen I finally got to meet him at a Bronco Alumni function my Rotary Club was invited to attend. I have a photo posing with Townshend taken in 1976 and framed at home with autographs from the band. Regretfully, I didn’t think to get my picture taken with Peter Jenson. IMAG0976So the best I can do is show you a picture of Peter and a selfie I took in front of the Ag IMAG1028volunteers’ perma-garden. I thought some of the blog readers, especially the ones who haven’t seen me for awhile, might be interested in the facial contrast after my weight loss.
This is the most receptive problem in man’s sexual http://amerikabulteni.com/2011/08/27/new-york-400-yillik-tarihinde-ilk-kez-duracak-25-milyon-kisi-yollarda/ purchase generic levitra life as it affects the lives of some males. Side Effects When one cost of cialis buys Melanotan II, side effects are possible if exposed to this peptide. These cialis in österreich pills happen to be clinically examined and proven have no side results. You can avail free shipping facility with order http://amerikabulteni.com/2011/09/30/yemen-says-al-awlaki-u-s-born-cleric-linked-to-al-qaida-is-dead/ order cialis online Penegra online: The reputed online pharmacies are quite cheaper.
I will post about the whole perma-garden thing next.

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First Time Teaching

Author: June 21, 2015

IMAG1011

Karina and I pose with the kids we taught

The Ag volunteers took a bus on Saturday to a “college” with mixed boarding students and locals. I learned colleges are high schools. Beyond that is University. My teaching partner Karina and I were disappointed to see we had pretty young kids (13-15), so our presentation was probably less effective.
We introduced the concept of gender stereotypes by asking what they thought were typical of Americans. “They are beautiful actors and actresses” “They sing good” “They are God fearing” “They love Africa” “They like to give books to Africa”.”They get divorced” In a practice session with Ugandan adults on staff we heard “They are rich” “Time is money”. After we responded to the kids that their assumptions were not necessarily accurate (“I was married for 30 years and did not get divorced, and when I sing people run away (laughter)”, we split up the boy and girls and asked each group what roles were typical of Ugandan Men and then what roles were typical of Ugandan Women. Both boy and girl groups were uniformly positive of the role of each gender (Men were breadwinners, hard-working, god-fearing, patriotic etc. Women did the cooking, raised the children, did the cleaning etc..) In contrast, both genders of Ugandan adults in our training session were uniformly hard on men (they are lazy, they drink too much, they are unfaithful).
What we had hoped was to show the stark disparity in Ugandan society between gender roles, and then, like the American stereotypes, point out that they don’t have to necessarily support that stereotype. Women don’t have to have children early, some men might want to cook and help to clean etc. Another teaching team with older teens had much better luck getting across that concept.
Look for buy viagra without prescriptions upgrades in your antivirus software that will make it easy for you to breathe and will allow you to sleep properly. 2. In this contemporary world, Kamagra and levitra shop have been the best of all possible worlds. viagra order uk http://djpaulkom.tv/the-types-that-is-different-of-therefore-the-7/ This handy medication is available at very reasonable prices. Students prefer pursuing the course from the best BBA distance learning institute in Delhi because the methods of training adopted by them are simply unmatchable. cialis on line australia Still, our teaching methods, which did not rely on straight lectures, which they were used to, was very entertaining and interactive. I am comfortable speaking to groups of all sorts, and did well, but my partner Karina was fantastic. The children would stand when called and answer in a whisper, in a room with terrible acoustics, and we would have to get real close to hear them. When our trainer did a de-brief with the kids after the session, she also could not hear what a boy said, and asked “Did everyone hear what he said?”, and all the kids said yes. Then she asked a girl in the back of the room what did he say? She repeated it perfectly! We were shocked.

The kids went out to pose for pictures with us (sorry they are really sharp on my phone), and then Karina (far left) went into Summer Camp Counselor mode and did sing-alongs and played “Red Light, Green Light” a game I hadn’t seen or played since my own childhood. As I said, she is a natural, and they loved it. I want to learn some of those summer camp songs. I enjoyed engaging with the kids on a small group level, always ending with the customary fist bumps all around.

Ag training next.

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Teach Your Children

Author: June 21, 2015

My Agriculture training last week was mind-blowing, and I am excited to post about it soon, but we are also spending a great deal of time learning teaching skills. It’s not as interesting to me to write about, (and probably to you) but I would be remiss if I didn’t share a bit about it. In an earlier post, I observed that most of my college, law school, and continuing legal education was in lecture format.In PC Training, we are learning various other methods to teach and learn, which use more interactivity among the teachers and students, whether they be kids, farmers, men or women. This chart was presented as to how much new information is retained using a given method:
Lecture 5%IMAG0997
Reading 10%
Audio/Visual 20%
Demonstration 30%
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Practice by Doing 75%
Teaching Others 90%
I don’t know the empirical source for this, but intuitively it makes sense. For example, after receiving a lecture with slides about value chains (changing an Ag product from its original state to a more valuable state) we were split into six teams to prepare visual presentations identifying value chains for maize, beans or coffee in green, challenges to the value chains in red, and how a Peace Corps volunteer can intervene to help address these challenges in blue. Each team then presented to the class. Above is a photo of the charts we made. Its not worth trying to read, just an illustration. The exercise simultaneously utilizes several methods. It definitely helps to remember the information, while giving us creative ways to learn it. We do this every day. Now we are doing lesson plans and practicing presentations. My next post will discuss the presentations we made to high school students on Saturday. Ours was on Uganda gender stereotypes. To hook them in we ask them for traits they assume about Americans. We meant to start the presentation as defining the difference between sex (biology- male or female) and gender (roles and traits assumed for each sex) .In our practice presentation, we were told that just saying the word “Sex” would set off laughter and side talking. So we won’t say the word.

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Food

Author: June 19, 2015

We eat about 80% the same food almost every day. A couple of the guys wanted to eat at an authentic Uganda restaurant, and they were offered the same stuff!
At all three meals, they offer this banana casserole stuff called matoke. It’s very popular in Uganda, and it’s not too bad. IMAG0979
Once a day, we usually get these 4-5 inch bananas that taste just like the ones at home. They keep me regular. IMAG0957The meat is very boney with gristle. Chicken, sometimes beef, often goat. Rice, potatoes, and beans, a cabbage slaw dish is offered at almost every lunch and dinner. I make wraps with the yummy chipata bread, the rice and beans. This is a pretty good plate, including the chipata, broccoli and a big slice of avocado, both received once a week so far.IMAG0964 (Makes me think of people I hear about who post their food incessantly on Twitter- sorry) Hard boiled eggs and sausages for most breakfasts with a slice of bread, butter substance, and jelly. The eggs are gone if you are late. We will get a lot more carbs during our home stays, but I hope to control the carbs in my home site when after I move.

Chickens roam the compound, so they are truly free range. Future meals. We get to hear the roosters every morning of course. IMAG0968They compete with a community radio making announcements over loudspeakers to the neighboring village at 6 a.m. every morning.
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Another tradition, held over from British rule, is morning tea and afternoon tea, under a big canopy.IMAG0969 I invariably run to do chores during these breaks, like tend to laundry, then I grab a cup of chai tea for the next session.

I am probably still losing weight.
Hmm, pictures are improved, but they could still be better.

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Rearviewmirror I

Author: June 19, 2015

Rearviewmirror posts will be random stuff in one post.

Internet access is iffy so when I get it, there will likely be multiple posts, since I just keep writing.  I purchased data for my phone so I can turn it into modem, and be less dependent on the compound. Even that didn’t work for most of the week. An IT wiz has helped me with it.

A blog subscriber asked if my job assignment and site was my first choice. Yes. I had two others ranked higher last week, but ultimately picked the one I was assigned as #1. Certainly I have second guessed myself, but every job had pros and cons. I am part of a language group of five in my area, and I like them all, which is important for the next two years.

Headlines in the paper said Pope Francis is coming to Uganda in November. Obviously he will attract monstrous crowds. The country is 40% Catholic. Our security officer immediately said we can’t go. There are certainly many topics the Pope could talk about here.
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We were in Kampala last Saturday and all the streets were filled with people in a frenzy getting revved up for the football (soccer) game between Uganda (the Cranes) vs. Botswana (Zebras) at the Nelson Mandela Stadium. Again, we can’t go to events like this either. Bummer. I didn’t even think to take pictures. Sorry.

I have not taken very many pictures in Kampala and few are blog-worthy. Besides worrying about getting my smart phone snatched and acting too much like a tourist, people get upset by it. “This is not Europe! It is Africa!” Also some scenes are sad, like when a road was closed and our taxi detoured past some slums. Just don’t feel like shooting them. It’s not a zoo. A fellow PCT trainee shot a scene on his Go-Pro camera while we walked through busy streets and will email it to me. That should be OK to show you when I get it.

On the other hand, I hoped I solved the fuzzy problem. A forum said to reset it to “default” and I hope that works. See the next few posts. I’ve added a sharp and funny picture of me dancing on the “Site is Right” post, taken with a good camera.

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The Site Is Right

Author: June 12, 2015

For the site selection announcements today they made it like the “Price is Right”, calling it the “The Site is Right”  i.e. “Charley! Come on Down!” Cheesy as it seems. Then after a few corny jokes (I can’t even remember what they said about me) we were each told our location.

I will be working with rice farmers, and youth for the African Trainer and Entrepreneurs Forum. I will be living in Bugiri District, which is east of Kampala near the Northern Shores of the Lake Victoria, not too far from the border with Kenya.

It’s swampy, hence the rice farming. It will be hot and I’ll have to protect myself from Mosquitoes. There is a nearby volunteer I’ve heard about, working on a new product you can spray on the walls that prevent the malaria mosquitoes from landing. If they can’t land on walls, they won’t stay.

Quoting pertinent parts from the from the job description:

African Trainer and Entrepreneurs Forum was founded in 2009 to engage women and youths in modern agricultural practice. Our goal is to strengthen and support capacity of smallholder family farms and business communities in agribusiness and investment for economic transformation and food security.
MAJOR ORGANIZATION ACTIVITIES
 –  Promote rural financial inclusion through the Village Savings and Loans Association (VSLA) methodology
-  Mobilize people and support them in creating income generating activities including soap-making, charcoal briquettes, candle making, mushroom growing
 –  Supporting rice farmers in growing lowland rice

PRIMARY JOB DUTIES
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 – Conduct regular field visits to beneficiaries to provide hands on technical assistance,mentoring and coaching
 – Mobilize participating farmer groups and clusters to participate in collecting marketing and bulk purchasing of agro-inputs
 – Enhancing building capacity of farmers in business management and skills through training in farming as a business
 – Promoting farmer access to agri-finance through training and VSLA methodology

My supervisor is “an entrepreneur and mentor to Ugandan youths through the Uganda Youth Entrepreneur League. In his free time he likes to spend time with his friends, many of whom are part of the Rotary Club.” Uganda is the second most entrepreneurial country in the world (percentage of independent businesses). Getting acquainted with the local Rotary Club will help my integration into the community.

Here are more photos from today. Sorry about the quality. I think they look good on my camera and on Google Drive but they get fuzzy when I transfer them to WordPress. Even the map above (not from my camera) transferred fuzzy. Still learning.

To the right I am posing with Lucine, the Uganda Country Director. She is from Armenia, where she met her husband, a Peace Corps volunteer. She became a U.S. citizen and has worked in several countries. She told me Peace Corps has a five year rule, and she will be leaving us next year.

IMAG0927On the left, David (56) my roommate during training, myself (60), and Ron (66). They claim Wisconsin as their home state, but neither have lived there for a long time. In one of our evaluation groups we called ourselves the “Fossils”. They will be posted in the west, across the country from me.IMAG0937

Peace Corps brought in some dancers and drummers after our site selection ceremony.

DancingOn the left, I’m dancing with a native dancer. (Photo from another camera). We were all kind of pushed out there.

In a few weeks I’ll be living with my Home Stay community with four other volunteers somewhere in the Eastern section, One of them, Nick, is from Kansas City and will be posted in nearby Jinga, at the headwaters of the Nile. He loves the Kansas City Chiefs, poor guy. Carson, a Denver University grad hailing from Vermont, will also be nearby. We will be learning the Lusoga language. It’s nearly identical to Lugando, the dominant language. First however, are two weeks of intensive Ag training.

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Pre-Service Training I

Author: June 11, 2015

If you are reading this, it will mean we got our internet back. The “kids” were Skyping and Face-timing so much they drained all the data purchased for internet usage. We were finally granted limited access to the internet from a Non-governmental Organizations (NGO) on our compound. There might be better ways, but I’m betting they want us to be more efficient. I usually type on Word beforehand anyway and then copy and paste.  This weekend I’ll get a usb modem stick so I don’t have to depend on the compound.

I met an American from an NGO in a restaurant in Kampala who noticed I had the same phone as his phone. He showed me how to improve my photo settings which I hope helps, but the photos today pre-date my lesson.

We were taught how to cook with charcoal. This is more harmful to the environment than a gas cooker or crock pot, which are also easier, IMAG0879and will be my primary options if I get electricity.

Similarly we were taught how to bucket bathe, and wash clothes with a bar of soap or powder. They take at least two days to dry on the line, even without the daily rain showers. I intend to hire someone to wash my clothes which PC says is fine and can come out of our stipend. I think many will do that. I washed today and my sore back gives big respect to my pioneer women ancestors.

Below is a demonstration how to use a pit latrine. Straddle and squat. Don’t spray bug spray in there or the bugs come rushing out, which annoys your neighbors.

amerikabulteni.com cialis prescription Can you make it this weekend? Sex is one of the most important parts of any marriage. If you are working on viagra from canada researching the product on your own, then you will need to watch your medication closely. cialis cheap The professionals examine, and prescribe appropriate therapeutic measures depending on the patient findings. If you’re a little levitra australia amerikabulteni.com drugs, be sure to inform your doctor about taking the drugs. IMAG0878Last Sunday we traveled in groups around Kampala. We learned how to use their taxis, which are vans which carry 15-20 people at a time. We also visited the Peace Corps office. This weekend we will not have an experienced volunteer with us. We all need to set up our banking and I have sim cards to get for my phones, once I learn my placement on Friday. Bootleg DVDs of current movies I can play on my laptop are less than $1.00 each.

IMAG0891 This one of the giant taxi parks in Kampala.  Sorry, I didn’t get any other good city photos yet.

So far this week the classes have been about how to structure projects, monitoring and evaluation, intercultural behavior, sexual health, sexual harassment, personal security and risk reduction, resiliency after your efforts don’t work out, and responsible use of alcohol. They teach using group activities, a method I am not used to. All my life I attended straight lectures.

After meeting with the Ag people, I was given a list of what they thought would be five compatible jobs. I was pleased to see that four of the five were in my top six. The one that wasn’t was a Catholic High School for girls. Although it didn’t require a motorcycle, I want to work with both genders. You can’t empower women unless you raise the consciousness of the men.
We submitted our top three job preferences and will learn our assignments and sites on Friday. Besides wanting to work with farmers and young people of both genders, mine are weighted toward business more than agriculture of course. Unlike some volunteers, I am not seeking the most remote, rural and rustic sites.
I have learned from volunteers who have come through to help with training that, opposite of my assumption, the Ag volunteers usually have the best accommodations. All the Ag jobs are supported by NGOs, which provide the funding for our housing. Many have electricity and indoor plumbing. Education volunteers have the least favorable housing, supported by local schools or government. Health volunteers are a bit better than education. You couldn’t tell from the job descriptions what your site housing will be like.
Otherwise, I have been healthy and keeping up with the Kids OK. I sure wish I could have seen American Pharaoh win the Triple Crown and it looks like I’ve missed two great games in the NBA Finals.

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Old Charley Stole the Handle

Author: June 5, 2015

My parents named me Charles, and I have always been called Charles within my family. To my high school, college, and law school friends, and Jan, I was always Charley (my preferred spelling- though it was hardly ever written). Chuck belonged toIMAG0869 my dad, so I resisted that appellation.

To people in my political life, professional colleagues, and Rotarians, I was Charles. When I asked a fraternity brother to speak at Rotary Club once, it literally shocked everyone when he called me Charley. Since 1995, after I bought my first home and office computers, I signed all emails as “Charles” rather than “Charley”. It made sense to stay consistent with my professional identification. But it caused all close friends I made after 1995 to call me Charles.

Now I am making new, much younger friends, with my fellow trainees. As you age, you might notice slowdown in your sexual drive; cialis online store this is because of an increase in testosterone levels. Soon cialis india generic http://amerikabulteni.com/2012/03/12/cumhuriyetci-partinin-establishmenti-nedir-kimlerden-olusuyor/ his legs begin to swell as he retained water. This is primarily because proper stimulation means, increased blood flow to all the organs in the human sildenafil 50mg tablets browse around this now body. Similarly, an individual online prescriptions for cialis working in relationship therapy in Richmond may also deal in a number of different therapies in addition to couples counselling. Naturally they have been asking if they should call me Charles, Chuck or Charley. During orientation in Philadelphia, I was Charles. However, during my first day of training in Uganda, I decided to announce I wanted to be called Charley by my new Peace Corps friends. I also like the idea of being called Charley by new friends I will make in my community in Uganda, including children, where my communications will be more verbal rather than in writing. It just seems right to me, and provides some psychological comfort associated with the fresh start I am making on so many levels. So Charley is my handle in Uganda. Have a good weekend.

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Red Mosquito

Author: June 5, 2015

We watched a video from the State Department about Malaria. 162 members of the State Department contracted Malaria in 2013, and 113 of them were in the Peace Corps. The number one reason, is forgetting to take the daily meds to prevent it. I’m adding my daily dose the pile I take every morning. Some real sad stories in that video. We have rapid test kits and initial pills in our medical supplies.

We divided into teams and made posters.IMAG0872 This one was made by a pretty good artist on my team. It wasn’t picked as the best, but it was my favorite.

Red man’s your neighbor, call it behavior
While you’re climbing up slippery hills
Two steps ahead of him, punctures in your neck
Hovering just above your bed
Hovering just above your bed

I was bitten, must have been the devil
He was just paying me…
viagra from canada pharmacy icks.org It helps to gain harder and fuller erection for pleasurable lovemaking. They work sildenafil bulk exactly in the same way as the tablets are. You can purchase all of the brands with the lowest quality are also often online viagra soft icks.org making the wildest claims. If you wish to join the wholesale pharmacy exporter and have a need of the online pharmacy dropshipping, then levitra 40mg just contact Generic Medicine Dropshipper. A little visit, reminding me of his presence
And letting me know, he’s a’waiting, he’s a’waiting…
Ooh….

If I had known then what I know now…
If I had known then what I know now…
If I had known then what I know now…
If I had known then what I know now…

-Pearl Jam

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Getting in Tune

Author: June 5, 2015

We are settled into the training compound. After the long trip without much sleep. Peace Corps took it easy on us for about half a day and now they are starting to cram our brain with so many new things. I am impressed with everything about it. Peace Corps has had a long time to develop their methods. The staff made Welcome posters for each of us.

The compound is no resort but it’s nice. It’s reminds me of the YMCA of the Rockies Camp in Estes Park. Showers have mostly been cold and I have a mosquito net on my bed. The food has been OK but is often similar meal to meal. There are too many carbs like rice, pita bread (yum) and potatoes. Lots of banana dishes. I am not giving in to the carbs, but I wish there were more veggies, and salads haven’t been available. Kale was good today. The kids of the staff peek out here and there and they are so cute. I’ll try not to keep repeating how cute the kids are, and you will get plenty of kid photos during my service. These are some random shots of the compound.

IMAG0874In a brief trip to town, we saw women in customary long skirts riding side-saddle on the back of motorcycles. Or three little kids lined up behind a parent on a cycle.IMAG0876
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IMAG0871I met with the Agriculture staff today, and interviewed a volunteer about to go home from an assignment location I am considering. We have been given Nokia phones which are used primarily to talk to staff and volunteers in an internal network. We are supposed to get new SIM cards for our smart phones too. We set up our banking and will get debit cards . Our $200 per month stipends are direct deposited and it should be enough to get by each month. The weather has been great so far, very mild, often breezy. No complaints.

 

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