Kayaking on the Nile during Nile River Fest in Jinja
Last month, I took a nine day trip, staying at six different places for two different functions. I hate living out of my backpack.
First, I traveled to the town of Kazo, in Western Uganda. Kazo is the home of the Blue House, which is a girls orphanage supported by my sister Karen for many years.
The Blue House was founded by a native Ugandan, Beatrice, who was living with her husband in St. Paul MN. After being away 17 years, she made a few trips back to her hometown of Kazo. She came to bury her brothers, and was appalled by the scourge of AIDs in her community. Several little girls in town were particularly vulnerable – orphaned with no family support or shelter. Beatrice found an old shop for them, made repairs, and hired a caretaker. With an estimated 200 needy orphans in the vicinity, Beatrice decided to build dorms, a kitchen, dining hall and latrines. She purchased eight acres outside of town for this purpose.
Beatrice returned to America to raise funds, utilizing her St. Paul church and local connections. In 2004, just as this was underway, Beatrice suddenly and unexpectedly died. The USA Board of Directors decided not to let her passing deter their efforts. Today, the Blue House supports 40 orphaned girls. The ones who live at the dorm walk to the local schools and their school fees are covered. The Blue House also pays the school fees for eight others, who live in town with their relatives. Further, it still supports a few girls who grew up at the Blue House and are now at University or vocational schools. Blue House also built a vocational sewing school on its land, with 22 students from Kazo town, including one from Blue House..
Karen has just completed her term as the President of the USA Board, and has visited the Blue House twice. She is coming to Uganda next week with her husband Dave (his first trip to here) to visit me in Bugiri, and then we travel to Kazo.
I have recruited four other Peace Corps volunteers.to meet us in Kazo. We are going to meet with local Kazo farmers, do some financial literacy lessons, and dig a town demonstration permagarden. We will also teach how to make Reusable Menstrual Pads (RUMPs) at the vocational sewing school. The next day, we will put on a day camp for the Blue House girls, including RUMPs lessons for the older girls, and dig another permagarden.
I am so grateful to get the help from other PCVs. We are all in the same cohort and they are all good friends. We are on our last six or so months, so this will be a fun weekend for us too.
My preview visit last month was to find potential permagarden locations, meet the staff and girls (precious-each one came up and curtseyed) and get introduced to town leaders to explain our plans and get their support. I spent one night in each of the local guesthouses to pick one for our “muzungu invasion”. The director of Blue House, Aine, said I was “like John the Baptist, preparing the way.”
When our time in Kazo is finished, Karen, Dave and I plan to travel another week in Western Uganda on vacation, with visits to many places I haven’t been able to see yet. So the rest of March is going to be exciting.
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After my scouting trip to Kazo, I returned to Kampala to participate in a panel and a workshop for the entire Peace Corps Uganda staff, and representatives from volunteer support groups in Diversity, Peer Support, LGBTQ, and Sexual Harassment. It was called Intercultural Diversity and Inclusion (ICD&I) training. In other words, sensitivity training, (I can just sense some eye rolls out there). It was really cool, actually. We can all use some self-awareness enlightenment.
I am an elected representative from my cohort for one of the four support groups. However, the Country Director Sean wanted my panel participation to be from the perspective of an older volunteer. My cohort friend Aruna represented first generation Americans (In my cohort besides Aruna from Sudan, we’ve had volunteers born in India, Sri Lanka, Nigeria and Belarus- more than the number of elder volunteers.)
I almost didn’t post this. I look so fat. I am still 30 pounds lighter than diabetes weight, but 20 more than my skinny low a year ago. It looks like man boobs too. This was my panel. CD Sean is upper left. Aruna is front right, and next to him is Sam from Littleton and CSU. Back row second from right is Anita from Denver. She went to a magnet school at DPS. Three out ten from Colorado!
Panelists were asked to speak about how they were marginalized or empowered by Peace Corps staff, other volunteers and/or in the country. There were some heartbreaking presentations. Hearing a school assembly chant “Kill the Gays”… the constant sexual harassment of the female PCVs (100% here- I admire their courage for what they have to endure here- although they are not unique from Ugandan women.)…. a black volunteer being a disappointment to his assigned town and marginalized because it did not get a white American… If you are an Asian-American volunteer, people shout “Jackie Chan” or “Ching Chong” and want you to show off your martial arts moves.
Teaching youth in a village while a mom next to me makes a mat.
Well as a panelist, amidst these stories, what could I say? Paul Sulley, who just became the Country Director in Jamaica, once met with the older volunteers during training (The Fossils!). He said we probably would not be invited for certain social events, but we had an opportunity to be a positive influence on these ‘kids’. So yes, there have been some comparatively minor slights, likely not intentional (that’s where the sensitivity training comes in!), and I try to be a good, but cool, “in loco parentis.”
But in fact, I have not really been marginalized. The younger volunteers and Ugandan staff treat me well. In my town and throughout Uganda I have massive privilege as an older white American male. I am a celebrity with the neighbor kids. I attract good parental turnout when I speak to schools. More farmers show up to listen. On the crowded taxis, the elderly are often ushered up to the coveted front row by the conductor. (I admit I exploit this, because my knees take a beating otherwise). Sometimes before I can get in a food line at a dinner, someone brings a plate to my seat. I received immediate respect from my org and my supervisor. Of course I try not to act like a condescending jerk either. The other white male PCVs are generally privileged too, except fresh out of college, they might have to earn some respect from the older men in their communities. So I was honest on the panel about my status, and saw a lot of nodding in agreement by the Ugandan staff. I can’t feel bad, it is what it is. Sean thought it was a good.
I also enjoyed different conversations that particular weekend with our Country Director Sean, the new Deputy Director Karen, and my supervisor Meital, about possible Peace Corps- related options for me when it is time for my service to end in six months. I am really trying to get my impending future figured out, since time is slipping away.
Local kids play video games at a shop near my house.