4.6.12-4.8.12

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Well, I’m here.

I arrived in Uganda Friday around 1:30 in the afternoon. I finally made it through immigration and customs about an hour and a half later…with no problems at all. I don't know why I have it in my head that I'll have a problem each time I pass through. As if they won't let me in the country because they don't like how I look or something. It seems silly but I'm nervous every time nonetheless. Once through, I was greeted by Martha, a woman who works as the program coordinator at TERREWODE. Martha, along with her baby and two others, drove me the hour and a half to a hotel in Kampala where I would be staying the night. During that hour and a half, I was once again amazed at African drivers and their insane yet safe driving. They do things that seem wildly unsafe yet somehow you feel totally at ease with their skills…or maybe you're just comfortable with their confidence. I don’t know which it is. Probably their confidence. Because if they drove like that and didn't act like it was normal or fine or safe or whatever, I think I would probably have a heart attack. Whatever the case may be, despite quick accelerations, breaks, and swerves, I think I nodded off at least 8 times. I was trying so hard to stay awake, but alas, my body had other plans after traveling for so long.

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I arrived at the hotel near 5 pm and spent some time unsuccessfully trying to connect to the internet, listening to music, reading, and getting clean. As soon as I sat on the bed to read a little, I fell asleep…at least 3 times before it hit 7 pm. It was then I finally decided that I had made it late enough into the day to allow myself to sleep and to still try and get on to the new time zone. The hotel is nice and my room was comfortable. Very little noise insulation though so I woke multiple times during the night…I was thankful that the hammering going on above my room finally stopped around the time I was actually going to bed. But one thing I didn't like...when people are opening their doors with their keys to other rooms in the hallway, the noise is so loud that it sounds like they’re opening your door. Which can be slightly nerve-wracking in the middle of the night…awakening to the sound of what you think is someone coming in your door at 2 am. I finally got up a little before 5 am as my next door neighbors were just arriving…and playing music next to the door which connects our two rooms. I guess it’s good to know how much people can hear you from their room by how much you can hear them. As they were getting into bed I heard the guy say, how are we supposed to fall asleep at 4 am?? But shortly after, there was silence. And when their alarm went off an hour later for 10 minutes straight (yes, I timed it), neither woke up. So I’m guessing they didn’t have a problem with falling (or staying) asleep.

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I had a nice quiet morning reading and organizing on Saturday. At breakfast I just sat at the table and drank my instant coffee and chai. At first, I felt lonely. Being in Uganda alone, away from family and away from any of the people I had met from TERREWODE. But as I sat thinking about taking my chai back to my room so I could read or do something else while I drank it and get my mind off of being alone, I decided to stay put and to use the opportunity to pray. And I am so glad that I did. Having God's peace flow over me and to suddenly not feel so alone was a blessing. A wonderful feeling indeed.

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I then went back to my room as I was to be picked up by Martha shortly. Well, I must have forgotten that 9 am African time is really 12 pm American time...so, not so shortly. But when she did arrive to get me, we just walked a short distance and caught a matutu into town so that I could exchange some money. We then met up with a driver from TERREWODE and Martha's partner Henry and baby Morgans. At first it felt a little awkward but soon the conversation flowed a little better. I really enjoyed hanging out with them for the day. We just went out to lunch and then to a coffee shop and sat and talked. Awkward times when you don't know the people you're with always seem to go better with babies around. It was interesting listening to some of their conversations about Engen, the oil company that isn't "for the people" because they buy their own product to up the prices, about access to water and having to dig your own tanks, and about transportation for those living outside of the city in more rural areas. Well hello OSU international health classes. Talking to Martha was also interesting as she told me that some traditions that families have in place to protect their girl children actually do more harm than good. For instance, when a girl gets pregnant out of wedlock, the family typically demands that the man marry the girl. So, you end up with two people who don't necessarily want to be married to each other, which can lead to increased divorces. Also, often times the boy's family will neglect the girl and not take her to her prenatal visits or to a hospital to deliver, so often, these girls end up with a fistula because they aren't getting the care that they need. They are subject to abuse in addition to the neglect. So, when a girl gets pregnant before she is married, she often hides the identity of the man from her family so that they cannot force marriage upon them. Martha said this is a big problem in the region where she is from (Teso) and that her parents had a hard time with her pregnancy (and still do). Fortunately for her, both she and Henry are adults and are capable of supporting themselves and the baby. Again, it made me think about class and the things we talk about regarding traditions that are harmful to health. But they're traditions...how do you change the mindset and attitude? And is culturally sensitive or ethical to do so? Is it something that is offensive...or is it a violation of human rights, one that needs to be addressed?

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We then waited for quite awhile to catch a matutu to Ntinda (a nearby town). We got off  there and went into a grocery store to buy some instant coffee and sliced bread for me for my breakfasts. No matter how many times you insist you don't need sliced bread, it doesn't matter. In the end, you still get your sliced bread. After we came out of the store, I was taken to a different car with three people in it who I hadn't yet met. Martha said goodbye, and I was off again. This time with Margaret (co-founder of TERREWODE) and Alice (founder and director as well as the woman I had been in contact with for the past several months). Again...a little uncomfortable to be shuffled around not knowing anyone but hey, you get used to it I guess. It builds character (I think that's always my answer in these situations).

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Once we had arrived at Alice's house, I was shown my room and told that I could just rest until dinner was ready. Which, let

me just say, resting is not something I do well. It probably isn't a surprise to any of you reading this. I have trouble sitting still and resting at home, let alone in an environment where my typical purpose of being there is to serve. And to do so 24/7. It's going to be a learning process just for me to live here and not feel that way. I know the expectations are different because this is an internship and that's what they expect of me, but I expect so much more of myself so I am working to find a balance between what they expect of me and what I expect of myself.

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Anyways, shortly after I went in to my room to "rest" and I began to organize my things, I had a knock at the door and Alice's children (Alvin and Emma) came asking if I had a comb. I was a bit confused and uncertain as to why they wanted my comb, but I figured, if they really wanted it or maybe needed it, I could go without for two months. I mean...my hair sometimes looks like I don't comb it anyways. So why not. But apparently, they just wanted my comb so that they could comb my hair and style it as I read them a book about a naughty doll named Amelia Jane (I don't know if you're reading this but one time (probably the 47th time I said the doll's name), I read it as Sarah Jane instead...I had been doing so well but habits are hard to break I guess. Those two names just go together in my head. So, take that as a hello and apparently I am thinking of you!) who always played pranks on all the other toys. Alice kept coming in and telling them to leave me alone but I kept insisting they were fine. Truth is, I was glad they came in to hang out. It made being in a home of then-strangers less uncomfortable. Alvin is 9 and Emma is 6. Alvin is the girl. Emma is the boy (Yea. I don't know. But I like it). They are both really sweet...unfortunately we took them back to school last night. They attend a boarding school about two hours away and come home most weekends. I will look forward to their return.

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Anyways, Sunday Alice had two women who had been visiting TERREWODE from the Fistula Foundation (a nonprofit based in the US) over for lunch so the morning was one big cooking party. I tried to help...and felt like my every move was watched closely. Which was a little embarrassing because I am not nearly as skilled with a knife as they are. But, all in all, it was fun. It was also nice to have the women from the Foundation around and be able to talk to them about their work, their time in Uganda, and things they thought I should know being an American there. It was enjoyable. Funny. Weird at first being in a house in Uganda and talking with two American women I had just met. The one lived in Norristown for awhile after college and worked in mental health. She then went and got her masters at Temple. Small world? They asked a lot of questions about me. What I do. What I'm interested in. What Phil does. Where he lives. Etc. So, through conversation, I ended up telling them Phil and I got engaged in May and are getting married in January. They were so excited! Which was really really nice. We talked wedding a little and a wedding dress and they told stories about theirs. It's interesting. I found that I really wanted to share about myself. This may be selfish but I expected people to ask more personal questions. I mean, when I meet someone I try to ask them questions about themselves to get to know them. It helps me connect and I feel like it makes someone feel good knowing that someone cares enough to ask. But maybe that's not how it is here. Because I'm not sure a single Ugandan has asked me anything about myself. And it actually feels disappointing. Like I said, maybe it is selfish of me to want someone to ask, but it would also just make things a lot easier. It would feel more relational than sitting in an office for 11 hours and not really speaking to anyone. Or asking questions and getting short replies but no flow of conversation or questions returned. But I am sure that will all come. I guess I'm just a bit impatient. Again, no surprise there.

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So today was my first day in the office. We arrived at 7:30 and it is now 6:30 and I'm still here. I think I may be getting more

than my 200 required hours. Which was what I expected...I just didn't expect to get them in 3 weeks time. Ha. Alice was gone all day so she left me with an assignment. But only one. So I finished that up and tried to do some other reading of materials I had found prior to coming and brought with me to assist me in my different tasks. But...my attention span does not work well with sitting in an office for 11 hours so I started to get a little sidetracked. If you couldn't tell considering I'm at the office and typing up a blog entry to be posted when I get internet. In fact, my attention span for this is starting to wane as well. Which means yours probably is too. So I'll wrap it up.

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Ok wait, one more thing. My attention span is back because it is now the next morning. Last night a few funny things happened that just made me think TIA. Driving home from work with Alice and the driver...Alice turns to him and says, "I have some gifts to leave with you for the white people" (speaking of the visitors from the foundation).  He looked at her confused. And she again repeated, "a gift. For those white ones". We are so concerned with calling people by the color of their skin in the US...but it's just a fact here. Yes, we're white. Later Alice exclaimed, "Loreen! Do you know they call you 'The Mzungu'?"...yes. Yes in fact I do. I'm quite used to it. Second funny thing…we're driving down their road which is awful and it's raining hard and so the dry dirt is now pure mud, and we get to one section and there are these 4 huge mounds of dirt taking up about 2/3rds of the road, one after another. Apparently they were doing some construction earlier and decided to just leave it like that at the end of the day. It just made me laugh thinking about what people would've done if they did that in America. I mean, they kind of do during road construction. But not to that extent. It just isn't the same.

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So I'll end for now with a prayer request for today (and til whenever I blog again): to live in the moment. At times, I'm already thinking about going home and seeing family and friends once again. But, although I think a yearning for that isn't in and of itself bad, I don't want to spend the next 9 weeks that way. Don't get me wrong, I'm also excited about being here and what's in store. I think it's in the slower moments that I get anxious. But nonetheless, I want to live in the moment and make the most of every opportunity here. And as Crystal would say every day to us 2 summers ago, be intentional. So, I pray that I will live in the moment, being intentional in my interactions with those around me.  Easier said than done. But with God, all things are possible. Have a great day!