A Volunteer at Last

 On Thursday, October 13 I along with 45 colleagues was sworn in as a Peace Corps volunteer.  It was a great day for me and every other trainee as we recited our oath of office.  It was a short ceremony held at the home of the American Charge d’Affaires and attended by the supervisors of the Peace Corps volunteers, Peace Corps staff and invited guests.  Notably nearly a dozen former Peace Corps volunteers who happened to reside in Uganda also attended to show their support.  The ceremony was quick and not overblown.  Light refreshments and then the new volunteers went to a nearby hotel for dinner and self-organized celebration that went well into the night.  Starting at about 7AM the next morning Volunteers began departing to their respective work sites. 

The US Charge d'Affaires

Group photo of my class plus key members of the training staff.

At about noon on Friday my Supervisor arrived with a truck and driver to pick up my bed and other items for the trip to Nakasongola.  It was an uneventful trip.  The apartment where I will spend the next two years had been refurbished to create an inside bathing area and what had formerly been one medium sized room had now been portioned into two small rooms.  One containing my bed and a bathing area and the other containing my kitchen, dining area, and sitting room.  

Map showing Uganda Districys.  Nakasongola is in the pale pink just below the mauve-colored area.  I am in the Central Region of Uganda.

The town of Nakasongola is about 120 kilometers from Kampala.  The district bears the same name as its largest town.  The district is rural with hot dry summers and is most suited to cattle ranching and cotton farming.  One can walk the main street in 10 minutes.  Being more rural the town is more traditional than Kampala.  Consequently I was barraged by some of the major cultural differences between Uganda and the US.  Following are a few of those differences. 

• In Uganda women bow to men.  Traditionally it is a kneeling posture where either one or both knees touch the ground.  A female Ugandan friend refers to it as a form of greeting.  The first time a woman bowed (knelt) to me was in a restaurant/bar I frequented in Wakiso called the Mango Shed.  I had just finished eating and she approached my chair, knelt on both knees, and began to talk very softly to me in Lugandan.  I did not understand her and told her I was American.  She departed and returned moments later with some plant fronds and began again to speak to me.  (She was not begging.)  I asked my host brother what it meant but I could not give him enough details for him to explain the meaning of the fronds.  Since that time I have been bowed (knelt) to at least a dozen times and innumerable times have I received a Westernized bow where the head and perhaps upper body is bent toward me. 
• Time has a much different meaning.  For those of you familiar with CP time please know that I am on the continent where it was invented.  A meeting that starts 1 or 3 hours late may be considered on time in some organizations.  What a change from J&J or Abbott! 
• When it rains pedestrians stop moving and seek shelter.  In Wakiso I remember a rain shower beginning.  I donned my rain poncho, which I always carry in my backpack, and continued to proceed to my destination.  Within minutes of the first drop falling there were no pedestrians on the street.  Everyone had sought shelter in local shops and porches.  I received lots of stares as I continued on my way.  I asked my host nephew why Ugandans behaved that way.  He said when he was a child he was not allowed to be in the rain because it was felt people would get sick from the storm.  Indeed, he predicted I would have fever in a few days because I walked in the rain. 
• Mob justice is a fact here.  A Peace Corps volunteer was riding in a mutatu (a for hire van that carries up 14 passengers) that was stopped by a group of bandits.  Everyone was robbed and one individual that tried to resist was tied to a tree and beaten.  While the bandits were busy stopping another car that person escaped, ran into town, and told what was happening.  The men of the town came out, found the robbers, and began to beat them.  Typically in this situation the mob will beat them for a while and then someone will go and get fuel and the criminals will be burned to death.  As luck would have it a police car happened by just as the lighted match was going to be thrown.  Reports of mob justice are common on TV and in newspapers.  Sometime Westerners have to decide whether a theft is significant enough to call out the robber when the outcome could be a human being burned alive. 

African cows---these are bulls being herded along a street in Wakiso. 

To end on a happier note I have to tell you about my encounter with a mad cow.  We trainees often used a shortcut to walk to and from school.  The shortcut was a hike of about 1.5 miles through a lightly forested area that in sections was swampy, under cultivation (African yams) and used as a cow pasture.  The path was dominated by two hills, one near each terminus.  I now know what fathers mean when they say, “When I was your age I had to walk 5 miles to school uphill, both ways.”  There were two sets of hills so indeed I did have to walk uphill in both directions (at least part of the way).  The women felt the hills were a boon to improve their legs.  Unfortunately, the Ugandan diet is rich in carbohydrates so virtually all of the women gained 10 to 20 pounds during training.  Virtually all of the men lost weight.  Sorry ladies, I know the universe is not fair. 

Trainees taking the shortcut to class.

One afternoon I, along with some other trainees were returning from class via the shortcut.  One evening a group of us were passing along the edge of the pasture.  I was at the back of the group.  I passed a cow by walking about 20 yards behind it.  The cow turned, gave a snort, and charged.  I began to run.  The next thing I knew one of its horns had connected with the rear of my thigh, just below my left cheek and lifted me skyward.  (Maybe skyward is to strong a word.  It felt like I had been catapulted six feet into the air although in truth I am sure I rose only an inch or so.) The skin was broken.  After committing such a brazen and unwarranted daylight attack the cow stopped and began grazing again.  Both my masculinity and dignity had been damaged by the cow.  Moreover the horn had broken the skin.  I hesitate to use the term penetrated as it was a shallow puncture.  I vowed revenge. 

The next morning I found two reasonably sized bricks which I secreted near where the prior days attack had occurred.  That evening before returning from class I took two additional bricks and went looking for my attacker.  Unfortunately I did not find it.  For a city boy like me it is pretty difficult to tell one cow from another.  For the next few days I carried bricks with me in hopes of seeing my assailant again.  No luck.  

Why am I telling this story?  I tell this story just as it happened to protect future audiences against the hyperbole that will inevitably enter as this story is told and retold.  First of all the cow that attacked was not an African bull.  It was female and a mix between an African and one of the European breeds.  In fact it looked a lot like Elsie the Cow (remember Carnation Evaporated milk).  Over time I am sure the cow will morph into a gigantic bull with horns the length of King Arthur’s sword Excalibur.  It was so massive an animal that the ground shook as he stomped his massive hoofs in preparation for his charge.  As he breathed it sounded like a freight train bearing down on me.  Only my nerves of steel and lightening quick reflexes enabled me to stand my ground and dodge at the last possible moment, thus escaping with my life.  I was so close I was smacked in the face by cow spittle as the beast rushed past.  Some of the spittle landed in my eye resulting in an eye infection.  I was hospitalized for the leg injury and needed new trousers due to the damage they had sustained during my encounter.  The cow was exported to Spain where it became one of the most famous bulls in bullfighting history. 

When the story reaches that level of absurdity you may bring me to task with the truth. My future nursing home attendants should take special note. 

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These children dug a pit and constructed a pool table from clay near the back of their home.  The balls are fruits from a nearby tree and the sticks are relatively straight branches from bushes/trees.  What creativity and drive!

Elsie the cow is a copyright of the Borden company

Almost a Volunteer

I am reposting this post in hopes that everyone will be able to see the pictures.  Thanks for letting me know Fred.  By the way I was sworn into the Peace Corps on the 13th!  I will create separate post to tell that story. 
 
I have nearly completed Peace Corps training!  I will complete training in October and if successful will be inducted into the Peace Corps as a volunteer on October 13. 

The Peace Corps introduces American citizens into foreign countries at the invitation of that nation’s government.  A key strategy of the Peace Corps is that the volunteer live in the community among the people the volunteer intends to help.  To achieve that goal volunteers-to-be are trained in the local language, expected standards of behavior, including dress, and cultural norms as well training in the skills of development.  During the training candidate volunteers are considered trainees.  Only after the successful completion of the three month training period are trainees inducted into the Peace Corps as volunteers.  Training consists of classroom work, field trips, and living with a host family.  Classroom training is six days a week.  We often have homework which can be difficult given the frequent and prolonged power outages. My old eyes were not meant to read by battery powered light.  Field trips can be single or multiple day trips.  The host family assists in training by demonstrating and teaching acceptable and expected behavior as well as language.  In today’s blog I will try to give you a sense of the procedures Peace Corps uses. 

 

When we first arrived in Uganda we were given lectures on health and safety.  We also learned some basic survival skills.  Things like the following.

 

·        How to use and maintain a pit latrine.  Burning banana leaves in the pit once a month eliminates the odor, flies cockroaches and other pests, at least if the pit was properly constructed with a vent pipe.  

 

·        How to take a bucket bath.  Potable water is a precious commodity and many places do not have running water.  Often there is a community well or spring and water must be hauled from that location to ones home.  Most families collect rainwater as well as it is free and less polluted than water from springs or wells.  When one has to carry water for a mile or so one becomes very careful in its use.  Having made that statement it is also true that Ugandans are very clean.  Bucket baths twice a day and every restaurant I have ever entered had a hand washing station in the restaurant where patrons are expected to wash their hands both before and after the meal.  At my home stay the bathing area was outside.  It was enclosed on three sides by a concrete wall and open to the sky.  I was lucky enough to take a bucket bath at 5AM, in a rainstorm under a full moon.  It was great! 

My homestay 'neice' harvesting rainwater from one of the roofs in the compound.

·        How to care for our laundry.  Washing machines are a luxury in Uganda.  Laundry  must be washed by hand.  We were taught how to hand wash all of our laundry, not just delicate items, and to remove the thick layer of Ugandan dirt (mud or dirt) that accumulates on cloth.  We were also warned about mango flies and how to address the risk they pose.  Some parts of Uganda have mango flies.  The flies lay eggs in wet clothing.  When a person dons the clothing the person’s body heat will cause the eggs to hatch.  The larvae will immediately bore into the skin and begin to feed.  The person will experience local inflammation as the larvae feed.  We were cautioned to never hang clothing outdoors overnight unless we ironed the clothing before wearing.  The heat of ironing kills the eggs.  

 

·        We learned how to clean and light a kerosene lamp.  Although we were all issued a solar powered lamp I soon purchased a kerosene lamp because it provided brighter light that lasted longer than the light from the solar lamp.  It was also hot and in an enclosed space could have rendered the room uncomfortably warm. 

 

·        We learned how to protect ourselves from malaria.  Take anti-malaria medicine as prescribed and always sleep under a mosquito net.  Only the female anopheles mosquito carries the malaria protozoa.  The female bites only during the hours of ~10PM to 6AM.  During the day it rests.  (The male anopheles eats nectar.)

 

Three weeks ago the trainees were divided into groups.  Each group developed a menu consisting of both American dishes and native Ugandan dishes.  The trainees then prepared the American dishes.  My group selected grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup for the American dishes.  The Ugandan dishes were chicken, beans, rice, passion fruit juice, pineapple, and matooke (a kind of banana that is a staple of the Ugandan diet).  Cheese and butter are not readily available in Uganda so a Peace Corps staffer went into Kampala to purchase them.  Cheese is not available because it is not part of the diet.  Butter is not generally available because access to refrigeration is spotty and frequent and unpredictable power outages makes refrigeration capacity unreliable. 

 

Our group went to the market to purchase other items we needed.    We purchased two live chickens.  I grew up on the Southside of Chicago within walking distance of the city center.  My experience with ‘fresh’ chicken is that you find it in a plastic wrapped container in the freezer case at the back of the Kroger, Harris Teeter, Publix, or Wal-Mart Super Center. 

 

We shopped on Friday and on Saturday morning I learned how to kill and dress a chicken.  It was quite an educational and culinary experience for me.  Not so much for the chicken.  The goal of the exercise was to learn how to bargain in an open air market where there are no fixed prices and one most negotiate everything.  This can be challenging as Americans are considered mizungu (wealthy foreigners) and everyone in market knows we can pay well above market rates.  Potential volunteers have to learn how to negotiate for the market price and not the mizungu price. 

 

Also we learned how to evaluate and select foods and to cook in a Ugandan kitchen with Ugandan implements.  No GE, Sears, or Weber Grill products were available.

At the market

Time to learn a new skill

Next step is the pot

Last week, my language group traveled to Kayunga Uganda for what Peace Corps refers to as Language Immersion.  For several days we were to speak only in Lugandan and to stop and visit with people on the street to practice language skills.  It was tough and I did not do well but it was invaluable to become a more effective volunteer.  At the conclusion of language immersion we each traveled to visit the site where we would be stationed for the next 24 months. 

One of my language teachers and some random street kids that entered our outdoor session.

Two of my language colleagues

I will be based in a town called Nakasongola.  I will be attached to a government unit known as LC5.  The Republic of Uganda has a government system called Local Council.  The LC5 level is roughly equivalent to a state in terms of the proportion of geography it controls but it is part of the central government.  Below the LC5 are LC 4 through 1. 

 

Local Government Divisions

 

·        District (rough equivalent to a U.S. state)

 

·        County (usually 3 to 5 make up a district)

 

·        Sub-county (usually 2 to 3 make up a county)

 

·        Parish (usually around 10 make up a sub-county)

 

·        Sub-parish (usually 2 make up a parish 

  
I am still in discussion with my Supervisor regarding the projects I will work on; however, being at the LC5 level makes me confident I can have a substantial impact on Uganda.  The first project will likely be in agriculture (80% of the workforce is employed in agriculture), the second in education, and perhaps a third in forestry.  In addition once I get to my site I will do some community outreach and a needs assessment analysis to take on a secondary project outside the LC5. 

I also selected the place where I will live as a volunteer.  Learning the language is not only a key to effectively completing our projects but it is also an essential element of being safe and secure.  To the extent we integrate well into the community then to that extent the community will protect us from petty theft, breaking and entering, or worst.

 

On the day after returning from the site visit the Peace Corps Volunteers and trainees went to the US embassy in Kampala to attend the 50th anniversary celebration of the Peace Corps and US Agency for International Development.  What a great event and wonderful remarks delivered by Ambassador Lanier.  It was a great event and a chance to taste American food.  I had the two best hot dogs I have ever had in my life!  What a pleasure after two months of native foods.  I also shared a moment that any American that has traveled abroad for an extended period has experienced.  Some of my oldest friends know I was in the Army ROTC.  At the beginning of the ceremonies there was a performance of the Star Spangled Banner.  As the anthem began, I snapped to military attention and my arm was on its way to a salute which I fortunately converted to hand over the heart before my hand reached its original target.  It was an emotional moment for me. 

At the embassy

.  Traveling to a field trip 

At the equator.