Homestay living

I had my first bucket shower today and it was…awkward. It’s going to take some practice to get it down to a fine science I think but we’ll see how it goes. I have continued to have really great talks with Feli and she even read me some stories today. She was also telling me about cases in a cousin’s school of children committing suicide before exams, and children convulsing after beatings. It’s terrible that a girl of 11 should be exposed to this kind of thing on a regular basis, and talk so causally about it.

Tendo is still very curious about me so I catch him spying into my room or staring at me as I go about doing things. I am trying to learn Luganda quickly so I can communicate with him and the house helper better. Margaret told me that the helper can understand some English but I haven’t heard her speak any yet. She often speaks to me in Luganda (mostly greetings, I think) so it’s another good reason to learn.

The food has been OK but it is quite bland. The main focus is on starchy foods like matoke (mashed plantain), posho (mashed maize), potatoes, and rice. Additionally at home there tends to be a small amount of greens (something similar to spinach) with a little sauce and sometimes meat. I think I will likely get sick of it quickly but I’m trying to stay positive. Meal times are quite extended here as well so breakfast (usually a little fruit or toast) is served before you leave for work and lunch is usually around 1pm. After my mother and I return from work, we have afternoon tea (some milk tea or coffee and toast) and then we don’t eat until 9:30-10:00pm. It’s really late and I find myself having a difficult time keeping my eyes open waiting for it to arrive. I’ve been going to bed shortly after dinner as I’m still adjusting to the new time zone.

The walk from my house to the town takes about 10 minutes (down a hill) and then another 10 or so to the FSD offices. It’s located on the side of a hill and has a great view of the surrounding valley. It is on a red dirt road with countless pot holes but I’m certainly getting my exercise trekking up it every day. The weather has been warm with only a little sporadic rain. So far, so good!

First day in Masaka

On Monday, I walked to downtown Masaka with my host mom and then continued on to FSD. We had a Luganda lesson in the morning and then discussed Ugandan history and politics before having lunch and taking a walking tour of Masaka. Luganda isn’t too difficult so far but there are just lots of new words to learn. My host family seems eager to help me so I hope I’ll pick it up quickly. We continued with the rest of orientation the same way and learned about grant writing, doing our needs assessments, and how to formulate our work plans.

Masaka Town proper has two main streets that are crowded with small shops and a some more smaller peripheral streets. It is probably the size of downtown Aldergrove. It has a market, a bakery, a few cafes, many restaurants, and just general stores. The streets don’t have too many cars but they are flooded with motorcycle taxis (boda bodas) so crossing is still a hazard. Add in the fact that they (somewhat) adhere to British driving rules, I continue to look the wrong way when crossing. The weather so far has been quite good, with cool mornings and only a little rain.

After returning home most days this week, I spend time with my host siblings. I had a good chat with my host sister, Feli, about her school. She told me that at their schools here, if they make a mistake, they are beaten on the bum with a stick. If they fail an exam, each teacher takes a turn hitting them. She was surprised that it doesn’t happen in Canada. She also was telling me (quite nonchalantly) about some students at a nearby school committing suicide due to exam stress. She later told me that they had been very excited to hear that they would be hosting a foreigner but they had been expecting me on the 15th for some reason so by the 22nd when I actually arrived, they didn’t think I was coming anymore! She is a really smart girl and her English is excellent. I look forward to having more chats with her. Tendo, the little boy, cannot speak English very well yet but he can understand somewhat. When I first arrived he was very nervous around me but the next day he greeted me when I came home and later grabbed a book and sat on the couch, showing me the pictures and the words he knows (all nouns). He pointed and looked questioningly at me at the pictures he didn’t know so I taught him those words. I was nervous about living with children but so far it has been great!

Kampala and meeting my homestay family

On Sunday (September 22) we went to a mall in Kampala and got SIM cards and looked around, visited a local market, and had our first taste of the rainy season before beginning the 3 hour car trip to Masaka. Joining us was Anita’s five year old granddaughter Rorya. She was quite shy at first but soon warmed to Renate and I and enjoyed sitting with us in the back counting goats, chatting, taking photos, and sleeping on me. We made a stop at the Equator and took the obligatory touristy photos. It was quite funny because I had been telling Renate about my time in China and how Chinese people would often ask for photos of/with me. She hadn’t really believed me but when we were taking our own photos, a Chinese man came up and asked for one with me! It was quite funny.

We finally arrived in Masaka around 5 and went to meet my host family. There are two children, Feli (11) and Tendo (6) who live at home while they attend school and my host mother is Margaret who works for a local microfinance organization as an administrator. There is also a house helper and myself now living in the three bedroom house. Margaret has two other dependents who are both away at boarding school so we will likely go visit them at a later time. The house is quite nice and bigger than I was expecting. It is located midway up one of the hills that surround this area and has a small backyard and front garden where the family grows beans and maize. There is a pet cat and also a two month old puppy! They’re training him to be an outside dog now and he’s very unhappy about not being allowed in the house anymore. My room is small but functional and my bed is pretty comfortable. I’m a bit jet-lagged so I have been sleeping well. There is a flushable toilet, but it’s a squat toilet (thank god China prepared me so well).

I gave the children their presents: notebooks, pens, pencils, Canadian pins, modeling clay, glow sticks, a soccer ball, and glitter glue. They loved the latter four and have been playing with them and using them non-stop! That made me feel pretty great. I would consider my first night a success!

My first day in Uganda

After an hour long stay-on-the-plane (scheduled) stopover in Rwanda, we arrived at Uganda’s Entebbe airport around 2:45am. With my fresh 90 day visa in my passport, I waited with baited breath until my bags finally showed. After heading to the exit, I discovered that my name wasn’t displayed on any of the signs being held up against the door. Panic. I waited half an hour and figured my guesthouse had either forgotten me, or left early for some reason. I (thankfully) found an open phone shop and bought a SIM card. A European woman approached me and asked if I needed a ride because she had noticed I’d been waiting for a while. It turns out that she also lives and works in Masaka for a similar agency! After calling the guesthouse though, they assured me it would be best to take a taxi to them. At 4am I finally arrived at the guesthouse and immediately went to sleep (I had to be up by about 8:30).

Robert (the international volunteer coordinator for FSD) was to meet me at 10am that day so I got up, ate some breakfast and sat chatting to some of the guesthouse employees. At 10:30, I was informed the FSD staff would be a little late so I set off to the lake with the chef to buy some fish. Lake Victoria is massive and there are many women set up along the shore selling fresh fish. We made our selection and chatted a bit about what I first thought about Uganda.

Robert and Anita (the program director) finally arrived at noon and we were on our way to Kampala, the capital, to meet the only other intern with me, Renate. We met her at a popular hostel there and went for lunch. We had a mini-orientation chat and a delicious meal and then went back to the hotel for some more orientation (culture shock and living with a homestay family preparation). Most of the night we switched between orientation and staring at the news blaring on the TV updating everyone on the attack in Nairobi. A Somali group, anxious for Kenya to pull out of their country, attacked a popular mall and endured a four day stand-off with hostages and over 70 dead (including 2 Canadians). Kampala was put on alert and the second day we were there, there were noticeably more police about. Robert told us we’re likely in no danger and that this group has threatened this attack for awhile.

The Journey

I am finally in Uganda! After 6 flights, over 3 days in transit across countless time zones, and with a quick overnight stop in Amsterdam, it feels nice to finally be here. My journey started on September 18^th with a flight from Vancouver to Chicago. In Chicago, a storm decided to roll in and there was thunder and lightning right over the airport for over an hour. All planes were grounded and the flight left two hours late for Dublin. Unfortunately, my connection in Dublin was only two hours long so although we ended up arriving only one hour later than expected, and although I made the plane in the nick of time, my bags did not. I arrived the next day in Amsterdam and found that several people were in the same boat as me; unfortunately, unlike them, I was leaving Amsterdam (and Europe) the next day. I waited around for my aunt’s flight to arrive, made a report, and headed to our hotel. Luckily we were staying at the airport so the moment my bags arrived, I would be able to get them. We took the train shortly after into Amsterdam and walked around the old district; amongst canals, smoke shops, bars, and the red light ladies. We ate dinner (cheese fondue!) at a great little restaurant and headed back with fingers crossed that my bags had arrived on one of the two flights expected. Of course not! My flight to Istanbul left at noon on September 20^th and my bags arrived at 9:30. I was so anxious but it all worked out! I transferred for the last time in Istanbul and was finally flying towards Africa!

On the Precipice

Here I am: leaving tomorrow for Uganda. In a way, it still seems surreal that I'm actually going. The only times I've visited Canada, I've always left to return to China, so I feel like that's where I'm going. I've almost finished packing and am checking and re-checking everything. I am not looking forward to my extensive list of flights in the next few days but hopefully I and all my belongings arrive in one piece. My brain is mush right now so I'll leave off here and hopefully write up something in Amsterdam or once I arrive in Uganda!

Canada

I've been back in Canada visiting family and friends for two days now and I thought I'd share some thoughts on what I've noticed or enjoyed about being back.

Big skies. Clear roads. Crisp, clean air. Family. Friends. Driving. Laughter. Changes. Construction. Clothes washed and dried in less than 2 hours. Rain. Wildlife. TV. Running into people you know. Driving. Not throwing the toilet paper in the trash. Water pressure. Carpet. Home cooking. Family pets. Garden-fresh veggies. Backyards. Ethnic diversity. 'Eh'. Tim Horton's. Grass. Road trips. Cheese. Soft beds. Being home.