Ugandan dawn over the pitch. There are up to 25 players in my morning workouts, so the coach splits us into two groups for the drills and exercises. The other group wore the fluorescent green bibs.
I followed these two cute kids the other day…
Hump day It’s hard to believe in some ways, but Friday, July 15, was Hump Day. I have been in Uganda for 13 ½ months, and 13 ½ months remain in my service. They always say the process of integration and adjustment can take a year. I am hopeful I can make a better and more lasting impact on my community before I leave. It’s hard to appreciate changes I might be influencing on the farmers’ customary sustenance-only approach, but I will continue to monitor this. You hope to change the behavior of early-adapters, show success, and then the rest of the village will buy in. The grant I was awarded to teach sack gardens is small, and the Peace Corps says I can’t get another grant until that money is consumed (i.e. construct 19-20 sack gardens, plus evaluations of their adaptation by the villages).
In the meantime, I hope to help the Bugiri Rotary Club achieve at least one major project. The Bugiri community has so many needs, and the Club needs to tap into Rotary International Foundation funding. It must develop international partnerships with other Clubs. There is a bit a stumbling, as this new club finds its way.
Dizzy in the head…In an effort to learn why I have occasional spells of dizziness, I’ve had occasion to go to Kampala twice in recent weeks for further tests, including ultrasound scans of my thyroid, an MRI of my brain, and seeing two outside specialists. The Peace Corps Medical Office is top notch, and very aggressive in trying to figure this out. The consensus conclusion is that I have Benign Positional Vertigo. In other words, none of the scans showed anything scary, and it’s probably not harmful. It’s just something I have to get used to. In fact, I do think it is better, with less frequent episodes.
Aruna update While I was in Kampala last week, I was pleased to spend time with my friend Aruna, one of the Lost Boys of Sudan, whose story I told over a year ago, and whose refugee camp we recently visited. Aruna had just returned from his home in Portland Maine, where he got surgery for a torn MCL. He injured it on a four hour bicycle ride. He was gone for nearly the 45 day maximum time you are allowed to recuperate before Peace Corps “Early Terminates” you.
In the two years preceding the Peace Corps, Aruna sent his earnings to South Sudan to pay for building a new home for his parents in their family’s village. The home had been destroyed in fighting when Aruna was child, leading to his epic tale of survival with his brothers, eventually walking to Uganda where he lived in a camp until being relocated to Portland. South Sudan is on the brink of civil war again. As I write this, there is a fragile cease fire. Uganda has evacuated its citizens, and tens of thousands of new refugees have crossed the northern border of Uganda. Unfortunately, while Aruna was in Portland, there was fighting in his family’s village again, and the new house was heavily damaged. His parents were temporarily relocated to yet another camp, but now have returned to the village, which is now under control of the South Sudanese army. They think they can repair the house. A brother who did not relocate to Portland is available to assist them. Aruna says it was probably for the best he was back in Maine while this was happening. He would have been tempted to join the fighting “now that I am not a child”. But as I quizzed him with my limited understanding of the situation, he admitted he wasn’t sure which side he would join. Probably determined by clan or tribe, I suppose.
Malaria update- In the last few weeks, Matthews, and three of the kids (one came home from school) that live on my compound got malaria. It is so common for everyone. I switched meds as part of my anti-dizziness regimen. So far, half way through service, no malaria, although I wonder what the drugs are doing to my liver as they kill the parasites. I worry more about getting hit by a boda boda.
Refuse burning day in my neighborhood. Gag.
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Heh- they interrupted a class so they could interview the Educate Club’s patron Martin (my adult from Youth Technical Training) with a class in the background. D.U. grad Rachel holds the mic.
The film crew learns about RUMPS
Sign on a tree at Bukooli College. Would this sign be posted in an American High School?
I was happy to find a great Mexican restaurant, Que Pasa, near my hostel in Kampala. It had been a long time since I had Mexican food, and this place would fit right in at Capital Hill or Boulder. It is owned by an Australian!
A touch of my past: ReMax in Uganda! Jan was a ReMax broker for 15 years before she was a nurse.
A very pregnant lady in one of my villages.