Tag Archive: demographics

Wind Up

Author: June 1, 2017

This is the first of my many goodbyes. Azedy and Margaret’s four boys just went back to boarding school after the holiday break today. This is Aymed and Ayman. Margaret says they won’t be back until September. Most Ugandan students and parents of middle class means and above prefer boarding to what they believe is a the stigma of being a “desk scholar”. I struggle with this a bit. I couldn’t imagine sending my kids off to boarding school while they were so young. Well, I guess I did ‘imagine’ it a couple of times when Blair was a teenager.

Wednesday this week marked the two year anniversary of my Peace Corps service, when I arrived in Philadelphia for staging. This Saturday will be two years in Uganda. I am really winding down what I now consider the first “phase” of my Peace Corps service. My org ATEFO still goes out to youth groups but I haven’t been much of a participant lately, and that project has been winding down too. My supervisors at Peace Corps are starting pre-service training with a new batch of 53 Health and Agri-business volunteers. Nobody expects much from my cohort now as we wrap things up.

A few weeks ago, I agreed to “vet” a couple of NGOs who are expecting to receive new volunteers. I interviewed the CEO of the org and the prospective counterpart and took a few pictures of the office and the potential housing. It appears not only ATEFO will get a replacement, but another org in Bugiri will get a new volunteer. So if things work out, after I leave, the Muzungu population in Bugiri will double from one to two.

I spent last week in Kampala for the medical tests all departing and extension PCVs must undertake. I was a bit nervous, since the last time I had an extensive physical I learned I had diabetes. But after giving up some blood, piss and three different stool samples (they look for parasites) I got a clean bill of health. My blood sugar is absolutely normal notwithstanding I am struggling to keep my weight down. Ironically at the end of my week, I came down with a terrible cold, which I had avoided up until now.

The United Nations said that $ 1.4 billion was needed this year alone to help the nearly two million people who have fled war and famine in South Sudan.So far, only 14 percent of the initial $781 million appeal for 2017 has been provided. More than 100 lone children cross into Uganda each day as they flee conflict. Delphine told me the camps are 86% women and children.

While I was in Kampala, I visited the offices of CARE International, and enjoyed a visit with the Country Director, Delphine Pinault, who is French. We hit it off pretty well. She said as part of my job I would get a lot of opportunities to write about the CARE programs in the refugee camps, and will visit them with a team in a vehicle. My motorcycle riding days are coming to an end. Arua is a long eight hour bus ride from Kampala, but there is a UN plane that goes there every Monday. My CARE PCV mate Ruwani met with Delphine this week and informs me our orientation and training for two days is likely July 10 in Arua and we will likely take that plane. If so, I am excited I will get a preview of Arua before I come home for my one month leave. Hopefully I can drop off a box of my stuff then. It now appears I will be able take my month leave starting in mid-July after this orientation.

I know you are sick of permagardens, but this one from the other day is notable because I taught it by myself. Matthews needed to pick up some charcoal for it, so I said, we’ll just get started, and it was nearly finished by the time he returned.

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I was in Iganga the other day and peeked in at what I first thought was a presentation about nutrition, but I was only partially right. This was a classic multi-level marketing pitch with supplements as the main product. The presenters told me that Amway and HerbaLife is alive and well in Uganda too.

That calculates to $14,000 US per month

The is the product, made my Natures Way a U.S. company. Is MLM a sign of development in a country?

Lady jammed on a taxi with me, feeds corn to her hen in a sack at our feet.

A large structure was begun next to my compound. It is intended to have shops in it. That would be annoying for Azedy and Margaret, but who knows when it will be finished. There are a million roofless, uncompleted, structures like this all over Uganda. It’s a way people here invest.

This was a photo I posted on the blog in July 2015 of my Lusoga language cohort, during language training, still the most stressful part of service for me… Becky, Nick, Carson, Will and myself. We were so neat and clean.

Here we are recently at a mini reunion in Iganga. Missing is Will, who went home in January under the classification of “Interrupted Service.” I’ll leave it at that. He expects to attend law school at Florida State University. Due to a wedding, Nick was the first of the cohort to leave and become an RPCV after the COS conference. Becky and Carson (obscuring his man bun) will COS and come home about the same time I do. All three of them will be hunting for jobs. I have reviewed and edited about twenty resumes for my cohort.

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Fortune Teller

Author: January 22, 2017

In 2012, if a fortune teller told me that in less than five years, my boss would be Donald Trump, I would wonder what possessed me to go on The Apprentice (I’ve seen maybe half of one episode). Further, if that fortune teller said another of my bosses would recently be the CEO of Exxon, I’d be asking for my money back. But here I am; life just keeps throwing curves.

While my application to volunteer was pending, I attended a Peace Corps function at the University of Denver. The assistant to the Director was the main guest, and commented that the Peace Corps was a rare agency because “it has always has friends on both sides of the aisle”. Yet, I think we can all agree, these look like different times.

So what does Trump mean for the future of Peace Corps? Internet sleuthing doesn’t come up with anything more than speculation on Reddit. Beyond his expressed sentiment during the campaign to reduce foreign aid, as far as I could find, Trump has never mentioned the Peace Corps.

In a Kaiser Family Foundation study published in early 2015, the average respondent thought that 26 percent of the federal budget went to foreign aid. More than half of the respondents thought the United States was spending too much on foreign aid. In reality, the amount spent is slightly more than 1%– $50.1 billion out of $4.15 trillion. Of that, $18.1 billion is for Economic and Development Assistance. Seven African countries, (including Uganda) feature among the top-10 recipients of economic assistance, ranging from $400-600 million. Most of the money is funneled toward health initiatives, particularly HIV/AIDS treatment and research. I got all this info here.

The Peace Corps annual budget is $410 million, which supports 7,000 volunteers. The avowed goal has been to increase this to 10,000 volunteers. The Peace Corps three goals are education and training in interested countries for sustainable results, representing the face of America to the people we serve, and ( like my blog), to promote a better understanding of these countries to Americans. These goals are not capital intensive like buying and supplying equipment, goods, or weapons. I do have to keep track of how many people I train in my sessions, so the Peace Corps can quantify totals to justify it’s existence.

The National Peace Corps Association has been urging RPCVs to write to Trump’s transition team to explain why the Peace Corps is needed. It also gleaned some information about proposed members of his cabinet.

Most of the attention on proposed Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, the ten-year CEO of Exxon, has been about Exxon’s role on climate change, and his warm relationship with Russia. But Tillerson also oversaw ExxonMobil Foundation’s contributions to global development efforts in over 90 countries, through partnerships with a wide range of leading government agencies, NGOs and companies in development, including some which also partner with the Peace Corps. The Foundation’s international focus is on women’s economic empowerment and malaria eradication.
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Elaine Chao has been tapped to be Secretary of Transportation. She is a former Director of the Peace Corps (1991-92) and also served as President George W. Bush’s Secretary of Labor She is married to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. There might be some influence there.

Congress determines funding, but it has been pointed out that volunteers serve under the president’s discretion, so he has the power to call us all home.The director of the Peace Corps during the Obama administration, Carrie Hessler-Radele stepped down last week, when Trump was inaugurated. I suppose her replacement will offer a clue about the future of the Peace Corps. The next four years promise to be an interesting ride.

This was a photo we took after our permagarden training

This the same place today. They did grow tomatoes successfully and promised to re-plant when rainy season returns.

Hey didn’t I see you at the Women’s March yesterday?

 

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Pictures at an Exhibition

Author: May 4, 2016

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At the Tororo Rice Exhibition, a plow is demonstrated. They dug up a patch of the park! In the background is a machine that plants four lines of rice seedlings. Note the floaters on the side.

Happy May!

I went with Adams to a rice exhibition in Tororo, which is northeast of Bugiri. I had not visited there before. The main sponsor of the exhibition was International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC), a Dutch company which has partnered with many NGOs, including ATEFO.  Attendees went from booth to booth, hearing what each exhibit was about. ATEFO had a small table. There should have been more rice farmers mobilized for this, but it was still nice to see what was on display. The representative from IFDC, a gentleman from the UK who lives in Kampala, chatted with me. He reaffirmed a deep frustration that farmers do not keep records. I learned that Uganda is a net importer of rice, due to it’s ranking of 70th out of 78 countries in milled rice yield per hectare  Ugandans work hard but when the President promises to hand out 18 million hoes for election in the year 2016, it’s hard to compete. A few different people approached and told me we had met before, at one of the farmer groups, or some function. Ugh, it’s hard to remember everyone I have met!

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ATEFO’s man in Tororo talks about financial literacy

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The booths reminded me of the competitive exhibits of the Educate Club Youth Group. So there is a practical application.

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The exhibits were judged and ATEFO finished 5th. All the prizes were bags of IFDC Fertilizer.

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Red Mosquito II

Author: April 25, 2016

Today is World Malaria Day. Malaria is a preventable life-threatening disease. Mosquitoes, the source of this disease, is the deadliest animal on earth to humans, surpassing other humans.BiggestKillers_final_v8_no-logo Per Wikipedia, Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, fatigue, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases it can cause yellow skin, seizures, coma, or death. Symptoms usually begin ten to fifteen days after being bitten. If not properly treated, people may have recurrences of the disease months later. In those who have recently survived an infection, reinfection usually causes milder symptoms. This partial resistance disappears over months to years if the person has no continuing exposure to malaria. Most adults I have met have had malaria 20-50 times. malaria
The disease is most commonly transmitted by an infected female Anopheles mosquito. The mosquito bite introduces the parasites from the mosquito’s saliva into a person’s blood. The parasites travel to the liver where they mature and reproduce. The daily drug I take is supposed to kill the parasites before they mature and reproduce. My doctor says most all PCVs likely have Malaria in our livers. Malaria has been around for 500,000 years. Sickle cell anemia exists BECAUSE of Malaria (mutation).

In Uganda:
– Most prevalent disease in Uganda
– Highly endemic in 95% of the country
– 320 deaths DAILY
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– 25-40% of all outpatient visits
– Major threat to economic growth which is dependent on agriculture
A good way to avoid malaria is to use Long- Lasting Insecticide Nets (LLIN) Nets have been used since BC- even Cleopatra had one! (Since my arrival I have slept without a net only three nights.) A Universal Coverage Campaign is occurring in Uganda. Costs vary a lot Problems with LLIN include: Acceptance-People may have them, but that doesn’t mean they’re being used; Distribution and Cost Issues; Care: this is a huge problem. Nets are often over washed (wash once every three months – I haven’t washed mine yet. It doesn’t seem dirty. Dry in the shade)

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She will, rise above

Author: November 8, 2015

We finished In Service Training, spending the last week with our counterparts. Good to be home. (“Charley! You were lost!”)

My counterpart Matthews showed the Agri-Business cohort how to make an elevated garden and a sack garden. There was a great session on Climate Change as it relates to Uganda. I am backed up on things I want to blog about! I also came home to new neighbors, a seemingly large family. It doesn’t appear they speak English. The mom put up extra lines, thankfully, as we both did a ton of laundry.

Matthews and I put together a one year action plan to present to our supervisors in the Peace Corps and ATEFO. More on that when it is reviewed and approved.

Today I’ll talk about gender equality, plunge into some depressing statistics, but end on some high notes.

Gender Equality in the developing world is a major issue, which is why Peace Corps puts so much effort towards empowering women. Michelle Obama started “Let Girls Learn” which is directed at improving the educational opportunities for women throughout the developing world. I will be honest and say that my own reaction initially to all this gender stuff was that boys seemed to be getting ignored, so I would strike a balance. But the culture and evidence demonstrates a disparity. I won’t neglect the male gender which is also needy, but the imbalance has changed my attitude. I seek truth, sometimes it requires a change of mind.gender cartoon

Looking at women in agriculture,
• 90% of rural Ugandan women work in agriculture, and are the backbone of the rural economy.
• The UN estimates that African women contribute an average of 70% of food production, and over half of all farm-related labor.
• Women typically work much longer hours than men:
• “paid productive” and “unpaid reproductive and domestic” duties
• Women in Africa typically earn about half of men’s wages, and are more likely to be paid at a piecemeal rate.
One of the fastest and broadest ways to improve rural livelihoods is to increase women’s share of household income
• Encourage female participation in cooperatives and farmers orgs
 Economies of scale
 Building of confidence, skills, leadership, and security

An increase in a woman’s income of $10 achieves the same improvement in children’s nutrition and health as an increase in a man’s income of $110.

Notwithstanding these stark statistics, Female Farmers receive only 5% of all Agricultural Extension Services from 97 countries. Only 15% of the world’s extension agents are women. Only 10% of the total aid for agriculture, forestry, and fishing goes to women. (Many thanks to Katie J, who presented a program with her counterpart which presented the above)

I can say that ATEFO has encouraged leadership positions for women in our VSLA farmer groups. Matthews is on board with the idea of one program of our package for the farmer groups be devoted to gender. I keep thinking about how permagardens would help the women too.

Can you? 4.Money burning You know when to raise eyebrows if a product viagra professional price description tells a story of old Jeff and Leena. The pill likes cialis 5mg australia would work finest if guzzle using water. Takes the blood from the this link sildenafil pills patient’s own body and segregates the plasma, which is applied onto the roots of hair via injection using micro needles that cause little or no discomfort. Nitroglycerin, isosorbide dinitrate, nitroprusside (any “nitric oxide donor” medicines), cimetidine, canadian viagra generic erythromycin, azole antifungals (e.g., itraconazole, ketoconazole), mibefradil, rifamycins (e.g., rifampin) or high blood pressure in lungs then it’s safe otherwise it can be harmful. Now for some really brutal statistics:
HIV/AIDS is the second leading cause of death among adolescents, (trailing malaria).
66% of all new HIV infections are contracted by adolescent girls.
78% of primary pupils and 82% of secondary pupils have experienced sexual abuse in schools
58% of girls aged 15-19 have experienced physical or sexual violence
49% of girls are married by age 18
25% of girls age 15-19 have had a baby or are pregnant; compared to only 2.5% in America
45% of uneducated girls are pregnant compared to 16% with secondary educations.

Girls are traditionally taught the facts of life by an “auntie” (Ssenga), boys by an “uncle”. They are fonts of misinformation.

I have heard about the spread of HIV through the boda guys and truck drivers, but the shocking amount of sexual abuse suffered in school is the low point for me. It’s not hard to project my own children in these situations and get enraged. Schools should be safe. We get our predators in America but it is comparatively rare. And let’s not forget the abuse outside of school walls. Sadly, when parents learn about abuse to their children they are often mollified by a payment of money, and if their girl is pregnant, a marriage can be arranged.

These sessions make me think of the great work of the Blue House in Kazo Uganda, the girls orphanage supported by my sister Karen from St. Paul Minnesota. They have successfully raised funds to support their girls even at the university level. These orphan girls, clearly a vulnerable class of people, are getting protection, a more normal childhood, and a boost in life. Learn more about it here: http://www.hopemultipurpose.org/

Speaking of empowering women, this is a good spot to update everyone about Sharon, my home stay “sister” whom my Rotary Club is supporting for education. The High School did not work well for her. We did not know that “Victoria School” was Muslim. Sharon, a Catholic, was required to attend morning prayers in the mosque starting at 4 a.m., each day, plus the other calls to prayer. It was really distressing to her. Further, there was a misunderstanding about how much the funds we provided was going to cover, since it had been my intent to pay all the way to completion and they were telling me I was a year short.

So I told Sharon it would be OK to quit and we got a refund for about half the money. We looked for alternatives. She was invited to be an au pair for a Ugandan woman in Denmark (“Charles will that be close to your home in America?”) but decided against it. Then she successfully interviewed for the Iganga Nursing and Midwifery School pretty close to Simon and Hellen’s home. Only 25% of applicants were accepted. She shared that hearing about Jan’s nursing career is one of her inspirations. I really like the potential for this. Even if Sharon had completed Senior level, there would be a continuing need for University. And there are millions unemployed graduate at both levels. I have been encouraged with the potential nursing offers her for stable future employment, though nothing is guaranteed.  The program is five semesters, and my Rotary Club has stepped up again to pay her fees and boarding, starting with a guaranty for the first two semesters. There was also enough to cover her initial uniform and equipment costs. My heart is so gladdened by my Club’s generosity.

The school has me listed as her guardian, and Sharon wants me to take her to her first day of school and moving in on November 16. Like when I took my own kids to college! My host family is going to host another volunteer in December. A large cohort of education volunteers arrive in Uganda on November 11, and six will be placed in my eastern region. We won’t be the new guys any longer. Further, I understand that my town of Bugiri will host the Lusoga language cohort in the near future. In a year, my “celebrity” here as the only Muzungu will be diluted, at least for a month.

 

 

 

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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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Garden

Author: June 26, 2015

Peter has been training gardening to Peace Corps volunteers for 30 years. To say Peter is avid about perma-gardening is putting it mildly. I will try to encapsulate the philosophy behind it.IMAG0977 He observes that it is a common to see large NGOs and Foundations such as Gates, USA Aid, the Rockefellers etc. often boast of 10-20% increases in crop production. However, when this happens, there is a corresponding drop in child nutrition and frequent food insecurity (43% of Uganda with it’s 80% farmers, is food insecure). This seemingly counter-intuitive result is due to the “800 lb. gorilla” in the room, namely that the husband controls the family money and often does not spend it wisely.  The desire to buy new farm equipment, pressure to pay school fees, and unexpected doctor bills all contribute to Food Insecurity. (I am a bit surprised that the rampant alcoholism was not discussed in training, but the Ugandans are pretty open about it)So sometimes the family does not get a variety of nutritious food it needs. This is crazy when you consider the fertility of Uganda and all the rain. There should be plenty of food for the whole country.

Peter teaches that a Perma-garden right next to the family home is a solution to the family’s food insecurity. Perma stands for permanent (duh). Based on the annual rainfall of Uganda, a 6 x 4 roof releases 24,000 liters of rain run-off per year. Allowing for a foot path, the perma-garden would be a few feet away from the side of the house and take advantage of this run-off. You want the garden with a slight slope away from house. Of course, there is also the rain that falls directly on the garden. Taking advantage of roof run off saves “Ma Ma” literally hundreds of trips to the town pump to fetch water in heavy Jerry cans.
The particular design he uses for the garden is his own invention and is ingenious. It incorporates berms on the sides, swales acting as foot paths, and holes in the corners. The photo on the right is after construction before planting IMAG1046The soil in the garden and the berms are “double-dug” and “conditioned” for a much as four feet down, with handfuls of manure (for bacteria); and lots of brown stuff (dead leaves => carbon); green stuff (nitrogen), and charcoal (the small worthless crumbled pieces the charcoal salesman at the market lets you sweep up from his stall => oxygen).
In addition to the garden, we also built a compost pile incorporating the same ingredients.It is kept in the shade and still reaches a temperature over 130 degrees. At that point, pests and bad bacteria die, but good bacteria thrives. When you pull out the stick, and touch the bottom, it is extremely hot.

The six S’s of water management are Stop, Slow, Spread, Sink, Save and Shade. When the rain hits the garden from the roof (usually in a big rush, as I have observed, the rain here is incredibly intense) the berms stop it, slows it down and allows it to spread throughout the whole gardIMAG0984en. Extra run-off is channeled around the garden and goes into the corner holes before the excess is released. The water sinks deep into the garden and is saved. Because it was dug deep, the plants’ roots go down further than the normal 6 to 12 inches to clay. During the dry season, it can still access the deep water saved.

Now you can buy propecia online UK for online viagra india the UK customers. Even if you smoke more appalachianmagazine.com cialis viagra sale than one pack a day, you automatically increase the chance of erection issues. We effectively reverse these feelings through our proven anti-aging view for source buy viagra italy BHRT treatments. I’ve had to give up running and take up yoga and swimming instead. http://appalachianmagazine.com/2016/01/10/weather-service-issues-hazardous-weather-outlook-for-west-virginia-as-cold-weather-expected/ generic viagra rx Instead of planting in rows, he uses a triangle pattern that allows for more plants closer together. The broad leaves overlap, providing shade for the whole garden, preventing the sun from drying out the topsoil. There are innumerable leafy plants (with Vitamin A – often deficient in children) and vegetables you can plant. Peter claims a perma-garden is 400% more productive than the field farmed by Husband.

The materials for a perma-garden are free and easy to get. Once you dig it, the garden is year-round, permanent, and low maintenance. Just rotate the garden plants each season to keep the soil fertile and confuse the pests. Meanwhile, Pa Pa has to plow his 2 acre farm every season and buy fertilizer and pesticides. Our last session got rained out before we could actually plant the garden. He left the next day to teach this in Rwanda. A few of us thought we could do the planting, but Peace Corps has us scheduled pretty tight. Peter built another one (shown here) on the compound in a special training session just last April. IMAG1045It has been totally neglected ever since, and it’s pumpkins are much larger than the compound’s pumpkins, aided by drip lines.

It’s important to get both Ma Ma and Pa Pa to buy in, but a huge advantage is the empowerment it gives to Ma Ma; and no matter how bad things get, the family has food security. I knew some volunteers were planning to install a garden, but I hadn’t given it much thought. I don’t know if my site will have room for a garden, but I would dig one if I could. Peter says when you start clearing away your plot, the curious neighbors will observe this. They have been digging since they were 3 years old and will probably want to help, and rip the hoe right out of your hand. It’s only a matter of time before the early adapters influence the entire village to start their own perma-gardens. Hoeing is strenuous but I did my share. I enjoyed a lengthy conversation with Peter one afternoon, comparing notes about our similar kids and mothers. I scored 11 out of 65 on his test on the first day, and 63 on the retest on the last day.

I move to my home stay for 4 weeks starting June 27. Mostly language training then. As I predicted, early language training has been quite a challenge for me compared to the ability of the four others learning with me. I need to study and practice quite a bit more to keep up.

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Pleased to meet you…

Author: June 1, 2015

Orientation is a series of exercises with lots of interaction among volunteers, covering a variety of issues. It’s certainly been more interesting than listening to continuing legal education lectures. We had a short language lesson in Luganda, a common Uganda language, confirming my anxiety about it. There was open discussion about our aspirations and anxieties. As a result, I now have a few more things to be anxious about. 😉

iStock_000020843196_HelloWe learned Uganda is one of the first 12 countries selected for a new foreign policy initiative “Let Girls Learn”  The Peace Corps is the lead agency. Many potential jobs in my Agricultural sector are intended to empower women.

Besides the cultural divide with Uganda, there is a cultural divide between myself and the younger volunteers. In one exercise, my group enthusiastically did a presentation based upon the theme song of the “Fresh Prince of Bel Air” a TV show from the ’80s I never watched. I only know the theme to “Gilligan’s Island”. But I did contribute a couple of good couplets.

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Demographics

Author: May 14, 2015

During a conference call with my cohort of volunteers and the Uganda staff, I learned we are the largest contingent to go to Uganda. There are 49 trainees in the training class (24 in Health and 25 in Agriculture). Gender-wise 31 females and 18 males. Three are over age 50 including myself, three in their 40’s, and the remaining 33 in their 20-30’s. Known for giving up to 36 hours generico cialis on line of its effect. No one needs to passively accept the loss of sexual function as they think this condition is quite uncommon or does not even exist!&nbsp Is it for the reason that the populations of order viagra levitra many places are downing huge doses of Western medicine?&nbsp Hardly! What Triggers Hypertension? In actuality there is not absolute proof as to what causes substantial blood stress, but educated guesses show it really. Ashmariharaha: It is of great buy generic cialis use in gauging the humidity, and wetness in some various substances. Hence, sildenafil tablets australia your system is kept safe from being detected, curated and attacked. So I might be the old man of this group. As for Uganda’s demographics, it has one of the largest youth populations, over 80% under 30 years of age, out of which 54% are less than 15 years of age. No matter your specific job description, if you go to Uganda, you better like kids!

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