Tag Archive: adversity

Like John the Baptist

Author: March 10, 2017

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.

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RUMPs

Author: March 10, 2017

During Training (so long ago) Matthews sews RUMPs. He is very good with the needle.

As I start this, it is International Woman’s Day, a public holiday throughout much of the world. So I get to stay home and finally get to some chores and my blog.  It also seems appropriate for me to discuss something about Women, I am certainly not an expert on…Menstruation, or more precisely, menstrual pads, or even more precisely Reusable Menstrual Pads (RUMPs).   (Sorry Stones you still don’t get the obvious blog title. I’ve had sensitivity training.) Due to the fact this topic is typically addressed by our Health Volunteers,  I will quote other sources.

As I’ve written before, (worth reading those statistics again) Ugandan girls face many hurdles to getting an education. This video discusses the Peace Corps support for the initiative “Let Girls Learn”  and supplies recent statistics.

A major hurdle for girls is menstruation. If their family can’t afford tampons or pads, the girls miss school, up to 20% of their classes each year, an absenteeism that leads to a much higher dropout rate than boys.

A report on NPR states:

The girls reported a range of concerns about their periods, including, says Sommer, “fear, shame, embarrassment, impact on feelings of confidence.”

In a lot of cases, the girls said, they don’t have access to products like pads and tampons, toilets at school, even basic information. So going to class during the menstrual period was a challenge.

“It’s like the straw that breaks the camel’s back,” says Sommer. “There are many things that make going to school difficult, and it’s one more thing.”

That’s a major concern, because compared with boys, a much larger share of girls in poor countries drop out of high school.

As stated by the social business Afripads, a maker of Re-Usable Menstrual Pads (RUMPs) in Southwest Uganda,

Unable to afford or access proper menstrual products, many girls and women rely on crude, improvised materials like scraps of old clothing, pieces of foam mattress, toilet paper, leaves, and banana fibres to manage their menstruation – all of which are unhygienic, ineffective, and uncomfortable.  This is hardly what we would consider a “solution”.    

Faced with frequent, embarrassing leaks and a susceptibility to recurrent infections, the impact is that millions of girls and women experience their monthly period  as something that prevents them from engaging in daily life – whether this is going to school or work, or carrying out their normal domestic responsibilities.

And just this week, an advocacy group reminded President Museveni’s wife, the Education minister, about a campaign promise..

Education minister, also First Lady Janet Kataaha Museveni has come under severe criticism over government’s failure to provide sanitary towels to school girls.

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In the run up to the last presidential campaigns, President Yoweri Museveni who was seeking and controversially won a fifth presidential term, promised to provide sanitary pads, computers and text books to students if reelected back in office. It was expected that the promise would come to fruition in FY 2017/18.

President Museveni said:

“I want all our daughters to attend school and remain there until they complete their studies. One of the reasons that force our daughters out of school, is that when their periods start, they do not have sanitary pads. When they are in class, they soil their dresses. So they run away from school.”

But, appearing before a parliamentary committee on education last month to discuss the FY 2017/18 Shs 2.6 trillion sector budget last month, Mrs Museveni told MPs that funding for the purchase of sanitary towels was not available. A packet of quality sanitary towels goes for about Shs 4,000.

Now, women rights activists are angry at Mrs Museveni for failing to task her husband to keep his campaign promise. Flavia Kalule Nabagabe, an activist with Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) Ugandan Chapter says the young people feel let down by the president and the minister of education.

The government hasn’t been completely silent, but there is some not-so-mandatory language in this article from the Irish Times:

In recent years, however, the Ugandan government has taken significant steps to encourage more widespread use of sanitary pads. In 2009, after pressure from female members of parliament, pads were declared VAT exempt, in an effort to make them more affordable. In 2013 there was a further push from women MPs for a lift on importation tax, which the government has agreed to implement, according to Ugandan media.

Since 2014 the ministry of education and sports has also taken steps regarding young girls’ menstrual health, by integrating menstrual hygiene management into the school curriculum, and suggesting that schools keep emergency supplies for girls, including spare uniforms and sanitary pads.

Furthermore, on international Menstrual Hygiene Day last May, parliament issued a charter on menstrual hygiene management that stated all schools should create separate toilets for girls and boys and have adequate sanitation and wash facilities. It also stated that girls should be equipped with life skills to manage their menstruation, including being able to make their own sanitary pads.

The  Peace Corps is on board with Health volunteers teaching Ugandans how to make Re-Usable Menstrual Pads (RUMPs).  RUMPs can be washed. They rest in a fabric pocket. They cost but a fraction of the commercial sanitary products. Some youth groups learn to make RUMPs and sell them in their community as an Income Generating Activity.

At the Blue House Orphanage, having adequate pads and tampons is a funding priority. But the girls won’t be there forever, and selling RUMPs can make them money. Kelly from my cohort has become the Queen of RUMPs and will be one of the Peace Corps volunteers at the Blue House, (discussed in a contemporaneous blog entry) teaching both a vocational sewing school, and the secondary age Blue House girls how to sew RUMPs.

Speaking of empowering women, Sharon is on the left. She is in her third semester of nursing school, sponsored by my Rotary Club. I felt bad about neglecting my other homestay sister Edith, (another dependent orphan, however with minimal education and English skills) so she is starting Hairdressing school, courtesy of my children donating part of their inheritance. Thanks kids!

Blair has finished her chemotherapy. A few days ago she learned she will not need radiation. No cancer in the scans. I look forward to seeing her pixie hair-style soon!

Imran joins me sometimes when I read in front of my place at dusk. You can see him swipe my kindle, then my tea, here.

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November

Author: December 4, 2016

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Who needs a truck when you have a boda boda?

Sorry to be negligent about the blog recently. I’ve been a bit sick and had some low mental energy. It’s normal according to Peace Corps. Perhaps while I was gone for three weeks, my mind minimized some of the frustrations of my experience here. There is also distress about current events back home, a very late but moderate rainy season being so disruptive to the town’s grid and my meetings, and the challenge finding my niche in our new project to help youth groups. Its hard to ignore the internet, but reading books is a good distraction..

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I finally gave up on my smart phone, replacing it with new cheap one which I hope will get me through to the end of service. Photography might suffer, although I might still use my crippled phone for that. This Phone Doctor place in Jinja had my phone for a week. I lost a great picture of a lady transferring the SIM card that didn’t work on my phone to test it in her own phone, all the while nursing her baby.

ATEFO’s new contract required us to put in place nearly 600 “backyard gardens” This an ideal opportunity to spread the gospel of permagardens. However, the approach by the field staff is to get out there and slap gardens down, without the little bit of extra work to dig a permagarden, which ultimately will mean less work to maintain over the long haul and more resiliency during dry season. My counterpart and master gardener Matthews says the permagardens we dug recently are thriving. I chide Adams a bit, but ultimately what ATEFO does is a business, and profit trumps what would be best for the beneficiaries. There are many boxes the trainers will have to tick off to complete the contract, so corners will get cut.

While Matthews runs around spraying pesticides, I have gone out to visit the youth groups with a different counterpart, Amos. Each group has chosen a business, such as tomato growing, poultry rearing, vegetable selling, and candle or soap making. ATEFO provides funds to each group for start-up capital, but before they get it, I worked with a few of them to make a budget, and teach them to keep a cash book to account for it. These kids are usually very deficient in education, and not surprising, some of the money has not been accounted for very well. Amos is easier to understand as a translator, but he prefers to summarize a long conversation to real time translations,

Meanwhile I press forward to facilitate Rotary grant funding to renovate Hindocha Primary School, basically by nudging the relevant actors in the Clubs in Bugiri, Colorado and California. I really want to show something for my effort before the end of next summer, but it’s a bit of a slog.My cohort has passed the 2/3 mark, 18 months down, 9 to go. The PCVs of the Education cohort from the Fall of 2014 are starting to go home this month. It’s hard to believe my own cohort will soon to be the most experienced.

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These are coffee beans getting scooped up into bags.

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Carpenter shops. On the left beds to sleep, on the right coffins for that final sleep.


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Cute kids outside my place

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More cute kids.

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I haven’t published too many pictures of other volunteers. Some of us celebrated a pot luck Thanksgiving in Jinja. All three guys from my cohort on the right have not cut their hair since arrival. Coy in the middle is a “no shave in 2016” guy.

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Peace Corps Ladies. Carm in the middle is leaving soon, she’s been filling out applications for grad school.

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Birds land in front of my mirrored window and can’t see me.

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First picture with the new phone. A selfie in Kampala with Aine, the director of the Blue House girls orphanage in Kazo which my sister Karen and I are planning to visit next year. We might do a Peace Corps camp there. I picked up a new pair of glasses while I was there. Each PCV gets a new pair during service. The dust and grit scratch them horribly. Forget about contact lenses.

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Blair’s treatments are going quite well, based on a recent PET scan to evaluate it. She sent me this photo from a recent chemo session. Her last chemo is February 2. She will be happy to stop being sick every two weeks, and looks forward to growing her hair back.

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Detours

Author: October 12, 2016

It was my intention to return to the USA only upon the end of my service in September 2017. Only three scenarios could change that…civil unrest in Uganda; something happening to my physical well-being; or a serious issue affecting one of my children.

Unfortunately in late August, scans revealed a large tumor “wrapped around” my daughter Blair’s heart. After a biopsy and further tests, she was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, a form of cancer. Notwithstanding that it is Stage 4, and in a scary location, her oncologist assures me she has a very good prognosis. A tried and true treatment regimen has been established for Hodgkin’s, making it one of the most curable forms of cancer.

Blair will require chemotherapy every two weeks for six months, possibly followed by radiation treatment. Similar to my wife Jan’s breast cancer in 2001, each chemo session really knocks her down for a few days (fatigue and nausea), followed by recovery, then chemo, recovery, chemo, etc. I recall that Jan’s chemo lasted 3-4 months. At six months, this will be a challenging phase of Blair’s life.

Blair is lucky she won the “birth lottery” and can get the treatment she needs. Recall I participated in the Uganda Rotary Cancer walk to replace the only radiation treatment machine in Uganda (And there are now controversies about that).

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We stayed a couple of nights at a cabin in the foothills, as guests of her boyfriend’s family. Blair figured if she would going to lose her hair in a few weeks, she would first dye it purple!

I wanted to go home to support Blair through her initial chemo treatments. The Peace Corps has been very supportive, advancing my unearned vacation time to me. My new country director Sean (from Pittsburgh) sent me a YouTube link showing Mario Lemieux (of Pittsburgh) scoring his first goal after missing three seasons with Hodgkin’s. (I guess they have gradually improved the treatment regimen since Lemieux’s case. Eric Berry of the Kansas City Chiefs recently had Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, missed only one season, and was All-Pro upon his return last year.)

Sexual intimacy is a very delicate matter and it hurts their ego too. viagra on sale cheapest http://cute-n-tiny.com/cute-animals/dog-loves-spaghetti/ Now I only need to think about hypnotic viagra australia price and I get an erection like an 18 year old boy. They work by helping your body create better blood circulation to your sex organ, which http://cute-n-tiny.com/cute-animals/tiny-kitten-in-shirt-collar/ buy cheap viagra controls the occurrence of erections. The new Women’s Interventional Cardiology Diagnostic Program is designed for women with symptoms typical of angina or other symptoms strongly suggestive of ischemic heart disease who have: Symptoms of ischemic heart disease, positive stress test, and “normal” cardiac angiogram; Symptoms of ischemic heart disease, positive stress test, and continued symptoms despite medical therapy; Symptoms of purchased here generic cialis viagra ischemic heart disease, positive stress test, and “normal” cardiac angiogram; Symptoms of ischemic heart disease, positive stress. I arrived home on Sunday, September 11 (flying from D.C. on 9/11!), and Blair’s first treatment was the next morning. I stayed through her first two cycles of chemo, for a total of three weeks. With a few exceptions, only my family knew I was home. I didn’t want distractions. She has good supportive friends and relations to help her through this, so I flew back to Uganda a week and a half ago.

Before her first chemo session Monday morning, Blair went early to her office at Colorado Coalition for the Homeless, where she works as a case manager. She was tying up loose ends before taking the week off. While I sat there waiting, everyone on the staff was very solicitous of me, offering coffee and muffins. Blair said, with my beard and shaggy Ugandan haircut, they thought I was one of her homeless clients!

Excuse the indulgence to brag a bit about my daughter. Blair’s supervisor told me Blair was someone she “never had to worry about” (Leave that to her dad, who is uncomfortable she interacts in the field with so many people with drug, alcohol and mental problems). Blair has worked at the Coalition for less than a year, so she is not protected under the Family Medical Leave Act. However, the Coalition values her enough to keep her on a part-time schedule to work when she gets her strength back between chemo sessions. Her future sessions were switched to Thursdays, so the following weekend will absorb the brunt of each recovery. It will also help keep her health coverage. Her immune system will be compromised, so she needs to be careful in the field. She will be able do more administrative tasks for her team from home.

My visit gave me insight into Blair’s current employment. Her team works with homeless clients to place them in permanent accommodations. It is sort of like the “third world” of Denver. They have to go into their clients’ environment and make sure they get to necessary medical and counseling appointments, take advantage of job opportunities, and receive whatever other assistance is necessary, culminating in having a place to live in dignity as productive members of society. It is fighting a rising tide, but without this help there will be more crime, more panhandlers, more harmful drugs, and other deleterious impacts and burdens on the community. Blair has succeeded in placing dozens of homeless people in accommodations. Like many jobs in the social sector, our so-called free market economy does not compensate enough for this valuable work.

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The Saturday before I left was the annual “Walk to Defeat ALS” at Sloan’s Lake. I volunteered at 6 a.m. to help with set-up. I was happy to greet my dear friends from the Rocky Mountain ALS staff again (they all subscribe to my blog). Blair rustled up some “Jan’s Fans” to represent her memory and continue to support a cure. I got interviewed on Channel 9 (which was actually shown on Channel 20- anyone see me?)

This interlude was a rare opportunity to interact with Blair, who has grown up into a confident, independent, humorous, fascinating, lovely 27 year old lady. Her mother would be so proud. Blair has shown good spirits, and is resilient. She is ready to take on the challenge of this journey. Originally I wanted Blair to take a vacation trip to Uganda and Cape Town in November. Instead, we will target that trip for next September upon Cessation of Service.

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Cat-astrophe

Author: July 25, 2016

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What was left of the glue trap. I wish I had video of what Azedy saw..

I had been vexed by a mouse or mice for weeks. He nibbled through food packages, left tiny turds everywhere and really annoyed me. However, right before I crawled into bed Sunday night, he finally got stuck on a glue trap under my desk, next to my bed. I decided I would dispose of him in the morning. During my nightly 3 a.m. pee break, I could hear the little guy still struggling to escape the glue. It made it hard to sleep, so I placed it outside next to my door. low cialis cost Due to its embarrassing nature and the shame felt by sufferers. Proficient group of wellbeing spebrand viagra pfizer view thists will deal with every one of them is dealing with a phase of incapability to ejaculate during interaction a mate with negative thought embarrassing panic of affection, anger, enslavement or sensation of rejection a female with pregnancy & lactating holding with mental health concerns such as depression, anxiety, low self-desire pressure a person taking over dose of alcohol &street drugs. The same should you do if cases of diarrhea and also constipation are persistent and ensure that your cat is absolutely battered. cost of viagra 100mg If you want more information or develop any side effect or symptom you are concerned about, call your doctor.PRECAUTIONS :Your overnight shipping of cialis doctor should determine if your heart is healthy enough. I was feeling sort of bad about his certain fate in my pit latrine. As I dozed off, I heard a bit of noise, but it failed to rouse me sufficiently. In the morning as I left for the soccer group workout, I was surprised to see the trap and mouse was gone. Azedy got up to unlock the compound for me, and told me he was awakened by noise in his courtyard at 4 a.m. What he found was a cat jumping about with the glue trap attached to its face! He tried to approach the cat, but it got away with the trap still attached. When I returned from soccer, Azedy had found half the trap, which you see, with blonde fur on it. That meal was not so easy for that cat! I will do a thorough cleaning of my shelves and hope there are no mice relatives about. Notice I am hoping it was a solo he mouse.

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One

Author: June 3, 2016

Selfie June 3

June 3, 2016. A bit older, grayer, but lighter.

Selfie October 2014

October, 2014, soon after submitting my Peace Corps application

Today is June 3, 2016, Martyrs Day, a Public Holiday. While most Ugandans understand the martyrs died for their Christian faith, the story is a bit more involved than that, as you will learn if you follow the link. It might explain a huge cultural bias here.

Today also marks the one year anniversary of my cohort’s arrival in Uganda. So much has transpired, and there is more than a year to go. When my USA Rotary Club hosted exchange students, I would always ask: What are the most surprising things you did not anticipate? The whole cohort arrived thinking they would live in mud and grass huts with no utilities; but Peace Corps has housing standards to provide security. It is easy to imagine break-ins without such secure housing. Most of us have utilities, they are just not consistent. Power goes out a lot and water has to be boiled or filtered. Of course many of the villages I visit to teach are indeed compounds of mud and grass huts, with no utilities. Some don’t even have pit latrines (they just go out to the bushes).

I naively imagined at least few more wild animals, but my environment is too urban. I see baboons on the road sometimes. Also not anticipated: Even more kids than I imagined; the surprising sameness of almost every town; and the lack of food variety.
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Some of you ask if I am homesick. I use WhatsApp here, which is way bigger here than in the USA. I communicate in a group with my four siblings way more than I ever did at home. I can’t imagine it changing when I return, and recommend it to you. Besides a siblings group, I have a group with my kids of course, a sports teams group, my Lusoga Language Group, and the Bugiri Rotary Club. Of course you can also WhatsApp individually too. So this stunts any homesickness. I have lots of imaginary conversations with Jan. She would have been annoyed by a mouse who has eluded me. He/she has eaten two pieces of expensive cheese right off the trap. I am switching to a sticky book.

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There used to be a big chunk of cheese there. Where is Meowri?

I’ve had very little to worry about healthwise. I’ve had some foot issues that now appear under control. Recently, I’ve had a spell of dizziness starting Sunday. It started when I blew off dinner on Saturday night, and I forgot my malaria drug needs me to eat steadily. I remember when Jan would get hungry; eating would become the number one priority because she would get dizzy. The Peace Corps doctor requested I get a glucose test, and while I was at a local clinic, they also tested for Malaria and Typhoid, Everything was good. Azedy accompanied me to his clinic and negotiated a good price for my three tests, because the technician had been one of his students in primary school. I am going to be examined at headquarters before heading to Entebbe for my vacation flight to meet my son at the Seychelles.
I don’t anticipate blogging again until I return after the 19th. I don’t think Seychelles vacation pictures are appropriate for this blog, but we’ll see.

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Odds and Sods

Author: April 2, 2016

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The display table for Bukooli College Educate Group. Could’ve used a better graphics guy. Their main product is the liquid soap in the middle. Also arts and crafts using recycled materials. Judges come by and ask the team questions as part of the competition. Everything was taking so long and late, I left before it was over. Sorry.

It’s been awhile! Rainy season is starting to come back! It’s not fun avoiding mud and puddles, especially wearing open toed sandals with socks (Doctor’s orders for toe problems) The power goes out a lot more during rain storms, so I have to make sure any home cooking and boiling is finished . I have resisted using gas or coal. On the other hand, during dry season, the heat and dusty roads are not pleasant either and my community bore hole dries up. So I suppose it’s good to switch seasons for variety.

Following a four day holiday for Easter, Matthews has been gone all week due to a child’s illness. Now I have been allowed to use his nephew Faizon to help with transport. Still, we have had some cancellations of my programs due to things like burials and deaths, which usually take up the attention of the entire village. Other times there isn’t money for fuel or an available motorcycle to take me. It’s always something.These issues are common among Agri-business volunteers, because we typically travel to different villages. Most Health volunteers or Education volunteers have static hospitals or schools. I did get finished with a round about budgeting to control household expenses. I’s almost time to start a round of Gender talks with my groups.

I am also accepting referrals to give more motivational talks to parents and children at other schools.

Here is a mish-mash of topics .I’ve written a bit  about some of them.before. The first two items “bug” me .

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Some little bugs (not termites) are drilling pinholes in my desk, My carpenter says to use paraffin against them.

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I heard constant honking outside my window. A local town ‘character’ was standing in front of the bus and wouldn’t move. Somehow it eventually got around him.

Hence it provides effective results to treat cialis prescriptions one’s erection issue. So before consuming this drug you should inform your physician all about rx viagra online your health situations and take the exact dosage recommended by him by following up all safety instructions. April is Pet First Aid Awareness Month, and we can’t let May arrive without blogging order generic viagra about some pet first aid tips! Unexpected dog or cat emergencies can happen at any time, and we hope you’ll take a moment to read through these important safety points and first aid items. The classifications are postural, derangement, and viagra online no rx dysfunction. Spiders and their webs– I suppose it comes with living in this climate, but the corner of every room will get spider webs two days after you get rid of them. If there is any gap a spider web will appear. The ceilings in dark pit latrines too. You feel the webs on the top of your head if you aren’t careful. You eventually get sensitive to the touch of webs on your bare arms or hair.
Tiny ants– Tiny ants might be the most annoying thing about living here. We called them sugar ants back home. They attack any used dish or utensil or crumbs you leave out on a table for a few minutes. I keep my dirty dishes in a basin with another basin upside down on top to keep them sealed, but sometimes they get in there anyway. When I wash, there is a huge tiny ant drowning. I double wrap things and try to keep most food stored in my fridge but they sometimes show up anyway. Any more, I just brush or blow dozens of them off of my rolls or skim them off the surface of other food and then eat it. I can’t waste it. Fortunately they don’t bother ground nuts, so I can keep a bowl out.
Guns.. They are held by police or the hired security who screen us entering banks and certain shopping areas.. I’m no expert, but they look like old-fashioned carbine rifles to me Some police have semi-automatic weapons. Guns are rare among the general public. When you hear about weapons used in batteries or robberies here, they almost always involve knives.

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A rafter of turkeys came by my office. Not a common sight.

Greetings. When I get back to America, it will be hard not to greet everyone I see on the street.. Some Ugandans have told me they don’t greet everyone, but I feel like I am insulting people if I don’t greet them, at least with a little wave when I pass by. It’s always mutual, initiated either way. Also, if you start any conversation with a merchant, you must first exchange greetings. The most common morning greeting is Watsu se otia?. (How was your night?) Then, How is your home? or I’ll get asked, How is Bugiri? You don’t just point and say “Sente amica?” (How much does this cost?) Greetings are pretty much all I retain from language learning, but it’s thrilling enough for the farmers.

Not just Queen Elizabeth, but my Mom, Katherine, is 90 years old. She lives in Thornton in the house I was raised, shovels up to 4 inches of snow, and can still drive to the library, grocery store, and church. She reads more than a book a week. Loves watching Jeopardy. Photo shows her with my daughter Blair from a nice birthday party with family last night. Happy birthday Mom, I promise to be there for your 100th birthday.

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I wrapped rope around a table leg for a scratching post for Meowri. Oh why didn’t I clip his nails while I had the chance during the vet’s visit?

Lack of Time management- “African” or “Ugandan Time” is worse than “Mexican Time”. My local Rotary Club president always wants to start at 6 pm and end at 7 pm sundown, but it rarely gets underway  before 6:30, or he would be speaking to two other people. The farmer groups never start on time. Today, the Bakooli College Educate Club had competition up the road against eight other Educate Clubs. I wanted to watch, and arrived on my own at 9 a.m. the supposed starting time. Seven teams came between 9:30 until 11 including my school. .  I think they should penalize them.

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Early Morning, Cold Taxi

Author: August 25, 2015

This is how we get between towns. The Taxis have four rows of 4-5 people behind the front row, everyone all crammed together, plus the conductor who is shown here trying to get passengers. IMAG1475With a back pack jammed on my lap, it’s not real comfortable. Best place is the front row with leg room and only three across. The taxi’s linger around until they are pretty jammed before leaving.

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I took this a couple of months ago while it was still filling up. That’s the conductor in front of me.Sometimes you wind up on the crack between the fold up and bench seat.

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Jam city. I am on the second row sitting second from left. Drivers are on the right side. That’s the conductor, practically sitting on the lap of the unseen lady to the left of me. It’s hard to show this photographically

A trip to PC Headquarters in Kampala last week (they will send a car to the stop) took me 3 1/2 hours to get there, 5 1/2 coming back.(Partly my fault because I was taking advantage of their free w-fi and stayed a bit too late, hitting traffic) It would be an hour on our road system. I was transferred to three different taxis before arriving at 9 p.m. You pay the first one when you transfer and somehow the conductors work it all out with each other. PC is unhappy when you are out after dark (sorry Meital if you read this) , but it was so cool to see the nightlife in the passing towns. Part of the adventure! I got out in a busy lighted intersection in Bugiri and plunged into the my neighborhood with my phone torch on, and was safely in my home within minutes. Whenever you stop in a town, vendors start shoving food through the window they want you to buy. Meat on sticks, bottled water, bags of crunchy carbs. I should have taken a picture of this. Sorry!

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Mukazi Wange (My Wife)

Author: August 6, 2015

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Lake MIchigan (Chicago) August 2011

Please indulge me a bit.

I am now in the middle of a nearly five year journey I could not have predicted a mere 2 1/2 years ago. This first week in August covers the date of my 61st birthday and the first anniversary of my wife Jan’s passing on August 6. That week a year ago was terribly difficult and sad for my children and myself, as Jan was in home hospice then.

So I wanted to take this opportunity to remember Jan. Many of you knew her, many of you did not. As a few in my family know, I haven’t really been homesick here in Uganda, but I’ve had the occasional bout of missing Jan, particularly when I think about how cool it would have been to do this experience with her. I have not completely escaped the grief.

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September 23, 1983

Jan and I were married in 1983. We made a good team. We worked hard, raised our children, enjoyed our friends, and many activities together. We also tolerated each other’s dissimilar interests. I always said that our marriage survived because we let each other do what they wanted to do. With that came complete trust and of course, love.

Shortly after Jan passed, my wonderful niece commented on our marriage. I was so pleased with what she said. This is an excerpt-
Being around you two, I kind of got marriage for the first time. I could see how you loved each other so much, and how you seemed to understand each other so deeply. I saw how two people can completely share a life, and show up for each other every single day, in small unglamorous ways, and how special and real that is.

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With Blair 1990

I’ll never, ever forget my time spent with the both of you. You’re the faces of married love for me now. You were in the thick of it and still your love was impossible not to see.

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She loved our Sunday hikes in the foothills


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As I deal with comparatively easier challenges here in Uganda, I draw inspiration from the way Jan handled her own adversities and challenges. In 2001 when she had breast cancer, not only did she deal with the downside of the surgeries and the misery of chemotherapy, and the drugs, but after 15 years as a Realtor, she emerged with a new career. At the age of 48 she decided to become a nurse. She spent endless hours in our guest bedroom studying. I’m not sure how much her example inspired my children, but it impressed the heck out of me. She received many accolades from Kaiser, including Float Pool Nurse of the year. She was also a union steward, and committed herself to that job full bore, like everything else she did.

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Tri For the Cure August 2011

In 2011, Jan decided to celebrate 10 cancer-free years by competing in the Tri for the Cure, a mini-triathlon involving swimming, biking and running. All summer she trained for it, and ultimately she placed high in her age group. A proud moment.

Finally, there was her final battle, one we knew she could not win, against ALS. Some people tell me I am courageous to do the Peace Corps (I don’t think of it that way- and if you were here among these people, you wouldn’t either), but real courage was Jan facing a terminal illness with an accepting attitude and stoic manner, as gradually (and more quickly than we had hoped) the disease progressed, and she became more debilitated. She never complained, and showed inspiring spirit until the end. I don’t know if I could have handled it so well if our roles had been reversed.

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Clark’s graduation- May 2014

Of course, the primary legacy of our marriage is our children. We were able to see them grow up, complete college, and become responsible independent adults. There were trials to be sure (Blair as a teenager- yikes!) But when my Realtor tells me last month, “Clark is such a gem”, and when Blair earns high praise from her employer for her efforts handling her stressful job, my heart swells with much pride. I can’t imagine having a better relationship than we did, and I do now, with Blair and Clark. Jan has left her mark!

I should also note, that when I going through things when moving out of our home last spring, I found her journal she kept sporadically from ages 16- 28. She had let me read it during another move many years ago, nothing too personal is in it. Anyway, when she was 25, a few years before we met, she made a pro and con list about whether she should join the Peace Corps. I had forgotten about this entry of course.

So raise a toast to Jan, my inspiration, my best lifelong friend, and the love of my life!

Thanks for letting me share this with you.

By the way, Wange is “my”, and Mukazi is “wife”. Getting the words in the right order is as hard as memorizing them!

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School’s Out For Summer! / Future Days II

Author: July 25, 2015

Yes, I even borrow from Alice Cooper. Pull up a chair, this is a long one. Two for the price of one.

IMAG1233The photo was taken today at a local hotel with a pool after our Language Proficiency Interview (LPI) Friday morning. To my friend Jay: You have a similar photo that inspired thisl My stomach doesn’t really look that way, I was trying to look skinny. Beer and swimming!

I needed to score Intermediate Low to avoid a requirement to hire a tutor in Bugiri for 14 hours (at Peace Corps expense) I have already decided to hire a tutor anyway, which also permitted. In the next three weeks I’ll forget half of this stuff anyway!

My LPI was a one-on-one dialogue with Ken and a recorder. I had to 1) exchange greetings; -it’s always important to exchange a few greetings or you are considered rude. (How was your night/day? Thanks for the work you do. How’s the family back home? What’s news? How is your health?) No one wants to hear anything except OK, thank you , not much etc. It’s a ritual. 2) Introduce myself, where I am from, what I did for work in America, why I am in Uganda, what work I will do, what does the Peace Corps do. 3) Talk about family, in my case, including my two children, wife, mother, four brothers and sisters- where do they live, what work do they do. I lied and said Mark was a cook because his real job was too hard to remember. I also added that Karen helps orphans in Kazo. 4) Answer questions: How old I am, what are foods I like/dislike in Uganda and America; What do I like about Uganda, and 5) Do a Role Play- what do I say in a restaurant, including bargaining, assuming they don’t have a menu. The interviewer asks harder and harder questions until he breaks me and thus establishes my level. I broke pretty early, but the bar is sort of low for Intermediate Low- Be able to greet and tell about your background.

Ken makes his own determinations and sends off the tape to a third party somewhere, who listens and draws his conclusions. Sometimes he consults yet another person if it’s borderline. Then they read Ken’s conclusion and see if there is a consensus. So I won’t know for sure until later but I am expecting to pass with Intermediate Low. Not bad for someone with only two years of Latin in 1968-69. Also not bad for three weeks plus one week to review. It was said we did the equivalent of a a semester and a half in college. I probably put excessive pressure on myself, because the brains of my younger mates are much more “spongier” and I hated being the worst student. Of course my classmates also passed, and two are in the running for Intermediate High. I called my fellow “fossils”, ages 66 and 56, in other parts of Uganda. They are less optimistic than I am. We fossils all had the same problem: we could understand it as presented, but had problems making it stick.

Here is the thing (Sorry Peace Corps if you reads this): I learned today that we will be tested two more times, in a year, and right before end of service (EOS). Apparently 90% fail their LPI’s at EOS. This because 90% of the time, all they do is exchange greetings. Ugandans, who learn English all through school, are excited to speak in English to Americans. Plus I will usually have an interpreter, such as my counterpart. When volunteers came through our training site and seemed so fluent, all they were doing were repeating numerous greetings. I didn’t know that then. So I guess I will see.

I will miss the fist bumps at the fence as they shout in unison "Charley, Charley"

I will miss the fist bumps at the fence as the kids shout in unison “Charley, Charley”

Before getting to my future schedule I wanted to interject a couple of comments about appreciation. First, I appreciate so much the efforts of Sharon, the 18 year old orphan who is a dependent in my family. She does so many chores, yet always was available to help me with my language training. She played the role of my interviewer all week as I endlessly repeated various statements I knew I needed to memorize. Sharon is smart as a whip and the exact type of person who deserves to be empowered. Unfortunately her schooling has stopped for now, two years short of finishing the equivalent of senior high, because they don’t have enough school and boarding fees. Innocent and Peace are starting to require fees, and Adrian is not far behind. The young ones go to Simon’s school across the street, but get no break. The Headmaster is Simon’s first wife and she wants the children of the second wife to pay. Hmmm. The victim of this family dynamic is Sharon. She wants to eventually study engineering but is stalemated at this time. I think of Cinderella. She is overqualified to be just washing clothes and cooking. I gave out gifts to my family tonight and gave Sharon the only paperback I brought, and wrote a dedication to her thanking her.

The second comment is the way Ugandans appreciate us. I am not shy about interacting, particularly when I am approached (“Who are you who walk by my stand every morning?”) Sometimes I’ll go up to a couple of men lounging around and tell them I am working on language. Just greeting them in Lasoga blows them away. (Then it’s often “Are you a missionary/preacher?”) Not all have heard of the Peace Corps, but I represent an country that they love and appreciate for what we have done for them (unlike the Chinese, who are also a presence in Uganda- maybe worthy of an another blog post). When they understand that an old greybeard actually wants to help them for two years, they thank me profusely. This is very fulfilling to me, and motivates me to represent my country well.

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Future Days II

Saturday there will be tents at our learning site for our Home Stay farewell party. Our Home Stay families and Iganga dignitaries will attend. We will throw out some Lasoga lines at them and each of us will make a little speech.

My Home Stay Family was terrific!

My Home Stay Family was terrific!

Sunday we go to Jinga for a day to present programs and act as counselors for a “GROW and BRO” camp (Girls Leading Our World/Boys Reaching Out) at a large local school that is the base for an Education volunteer, Vanessa. Nick and I will do a program about saving money. After the stress of the language test Friday, and the farewell party for our Home Stay families on Saturday we had hoped for a last day off before our busy weeks ahead, but it was not to be. I don’t think I have had a complete day off since I got to Uganda.

Our “Future Home Visit” begins on Monday, for four nights. Simon and Hellen insist on taking me- Bugiri is only about 1/2 hour east with no traffic. I have a lot of stuff to lug, so I appreciate it. The organization (ATEFOUG) will supply the bed frame but I will have to buy a new mattress the first day, since my home will be ready for me then. Many volunteers will stay at hotels because their homes are not yet ready.

Here is the website of the organization , African Trainers & Entrepreneurs Forum (ATEFO) I will work with. My Supervisor is Adams and my counterpart will be Matthews. Both plural first names. My PC supervisor Maitel met them recently and says they and their staff is very energetic. They were supposed to have a big staff meeting this week but it was postponed until next week so I can attend. Maitell thinks Adams has most of my time planned. Maitel also told me that my place will have electricity, but in Uganda sometimes it can go out, even for a week or more. But I am on the town’s grid. I will not have running water, but the tap is nearby. That’s the same situation as I have had at home stay. It just means I have to boil or filter the water first, and I have gotten used to bucket bathing. (With the so little rain lately, the tap in our courtyard went dry tonight. Simon went somewhere else for water.- Maybe an issue in Bugiri too?)  I won’t have any cooking stuff until I return for good on August 14. So I will be getting acquainted with the local restaurants. Adams probably will also take me to dinner.

During the next two years, my counterpart Matthews will be allowed to drive a Boda Boda with me on it. Carson’s counterpart is a progressive woman who will be permitted to drive him. I have yet to see a woman driving a Boda Boda in Uganda.

After I am at my future home for four nights, its off to Kibali, on the western side of Uganda, for a week of something called “Tech Immersion”. PC is very vague what this means. It’s whatever the volunteer in charge decides. I will be with three from my language class (all the guys, not Becky) plus two other guys and one of the Katies (There are four Katies in my PC class). All Ag volunteers. We will stay in relative comfort in a hotel or guest house. So I can leave my mosquito net and bathing bucket in Bugiri. After the tech immersion, all 46 of us will be reunited with our org supervisors for three days of “Supervisor Workshops” at some location between Entebbe and Kampala. Then we all get sworn in at the US Embassy on August 13 and disperse on the 14th to our new homes.

So, the adventure continues….

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