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.

Homestay and NGO Placement Finalized

I have heard back about my final placements for both my homestay and organization and I am very happy with where I've been put! My home away from home will be with Margaret Namagembe and her family. As detailed by FSD:      

"Margaret’s family home is located in Bwala, Katwe Butego, which is about ten minutes walk from Kitovu Mobile offices where you will be working.  Their house is a permanent one with indoor plumbing and electricity. There are three bedrooms, an indoor kitchen, and sitting room and dining area.  It is in easy reach of Masaka town."

From this description it sounds like I won't be directly in town, but in one of the neighbouring village areas. I will have indoor plumbing, but I'm not really sure what that means in the African context. It could mean that there will be some running water in the sinks, but I doubt that would extend to a shower or flushing toilet. In addition, though there is electricity running to the house, by all accounts there are frequent power outages throughout Uganda so it will not be as prevalent as it appears on paper. 

 Margaret's family consists of herself (a single mother) and her two children (a daughter aged 11 and a son aged 6). She also cares for two dependants who are both students, a boy aged 18 and a girl aged 16. The final member of the household is a 24 year old house helper. I can't wait to meet them and learn about Ugandan life and culture from them. I am sure there will be so much to learn and take in and I hope I'll prove useful around the house.

As for my work situation, as mentioned above I have been placed with an organization called Kitovu Mobile AIDS Organization (check out their website here and FSD's description here). It is a well-established NGO (it was started in 1987) with about 65 employees. They have three main branches: health, community development, and youth and education. I am assuming I will likely work with one or both of the latter as I don't have much health care experience. This is exactly the type of organization I was hoping to be involved with. I think that its size and experience will provide me with a lot of information about development practice, and they are diverse enough that I will be able to try out a few different things to get a feel for different areas of development. 

 The community development branch focuses on farm schools (teaching youth sustainable agricultural practices) as well as organizing and facilitating self-help groups. The youth and education branch is focused on providing support for OVCs (orphaned and vulnerable children) through care and education. 

The organizations broad objectives are listed as:

Kitovu Mobile aims to create an empowered community with the ability to cope with HIV/AIDS and its impact.  To improve the quality of life of people affected by HIV and AIDS, Kitovu Mobile works with communities in the areas of prevention, care, support and capacity building.  Their specific objectives are the following:

i. Improve the health of people living with HIV and AIDS 

ii. Improve the coping mechanisms of HIV positive people

iii. Improve the standard of living in the organizations targeted areas 

iv. Improve access to counseling services for traumatized orphans and vulnerable children (OVCs) 

v. Build stronger resilience among OVCs through education and life skills

vi. Improve agricultural production and use of available natural resources among households with OVCs that have dropped out of school 

vii. Strengthen ability of target groups to deal with the psycho-social and economic consequences of HIV/AIDS 

Pretty good goals, don't you think?

Now that all of these logistics have been settled, it is starting to feel much more real. Before, I was going to Masaka, Uganda to stay somewhere and do something. Now, I'm going to Masaka, Uganda to stay with Margaret's family and work to improve the lives of people living with HIV/AIDS through Kitovu Mobile.

Let the adventure begin!

Leaving China

I've been so caught up in the excitement and curiosity of moving to Uganda that I didn't fully realize that it means leaving China, my home for the past two and a half years. It's kind of a surreal feeling. I've truly made a life here for myself (and a great one at that) and it's amazing that in about a month, it will all be a memory.

  A couple of my friends have asked me if I'm happy to leave China and I reply with 'yes and no'. I've never felt as strongly about China as many of my other expat friends. Some really don't enjoy living here and find it really difficult to adjust. On the opposite spectrum, I have friends who have adjusted phenomenally and will likely spend a good amount of their adult lives here. I find myself somewhere in the middle. I don't find China a particularly challenging place to live although I think that has a lot to do with my grasp of the language. I can understand how frustrating it could be to live in a place and lack the ability to communicate easily and I am so glad I put in the effort to learn Chinese. Yes, things are different here than they were in Langley but different is not always bad.

 I decided to compile two lists to illustrate my love and frustration about living here:

What I Will Miss

Public Transportation
  The bus and subway routes here cover the entire city and are incredibly cheap and highly functional. Trains can have you from Shenzhen to Beijing in just over a day for a very reasonable price and there are taxis and motorbike taxis galore. The motorbike/scooter taxis are really great for short rides as they are often the fastest way to get somewhere for a little more than bus fare. The convenience and quality of the Chinese public transport system has been one of the most surprising things that I've come across here and I use it often. Some people will disagree with me about the quality and convenience, but they don't come from Langley where public transportation is next to nil and the only way to get across the country is to drive or pay $500 for a 45 minute flight!

Food 
  The variety and freshness of the food available here is great. I can walk five minutes in any direction and come upon dozens of fresh fruit and vegetable sellers, butcher stalls, and noodle stands. In the morning, the streets are lined with baozi, jiaozi, wraps, pastries, and noodles, all ready to fill your stomach for less than 50 cents. The markets and supermarkets have fruits and vegetables I've never seen before and it's rare to find packaged meats. Vegetables are incredibly cheap here and are prominent in Chinese cooking. Compared to back home where veggies tend to be steamed, the vegetables here are simmered, sauteed, fried, and cooked so they are just as flavorful and delicious as everything else. I have come to love cabbage, green beans, eggplant, and mushrooms (none of which I ate in Canada).

Speaking Chinese
  Not a lot of my friends here in Shenzhen can speak Chinese (or want to) so they may think I'm crazy for including this, but I really will miss speaking it and hearing it on a daily basis. It's become my personal lingua franca because whenever I'm not with friends or at work, that's what I'm speaking. I was so excited and proud of myself when I went on a two week solo trip to Southwestern China and spoke only Chinese for 3 straight days. I am so proud of the progress I've made with this difficult language and am sad that I may lose some of that ability. On the plus side, I hear there are a lot of Chinese businessmen in Uganda (and most of Africa) so maybe I'll get to practice after all!

Location
  Living in Southern Asia is so convenient for almost anywhere that I want to travel (other than back home, of course). I can reach Cambodia in 5 hours, Uganda in 8, Hong Kong in less than one, and Europe in 7. Flights are insanely cheap for the popular routes and sales are common.

Exploring
  It is true that you don't often explore your own backyard. A friend of mine once told me he didn't want to travel abroad until he had the chance to explore Canada and I understand what he means. I have been to most of the western provinces but haven't explored any in any real depth. I know the Lower Mainland well and have been up the coast, but I haven't really gotten under the skin and seen the sights people visit Canada to see. That being said, I've truly tried to do that here. I have been to over 10 provinces in China (not to mention all the Asian countries I've managed to visit) and have seen some of its most famous sights. Even within Shenyang and Shenzhen, I actively sought out the museums, attractions, parks, and mountains. I have tried to see as much as possible in my adopted backyard and am thankful that I have.

Cost of Living
  Vancouver is consistently ranked one of the most expensive places to live in Canada and no one who lives there is surprised. When I was living in Shenyang, I managed to live comfortably on about $275 a month (the cost of rent was covered by my company). Here in Shenzhen, I can live comfortably on about $600 a month (and that includes rent, and travel, and some luxuries) and, if diligent, I could save about $750 a month. Try doing that in Canada! My rent was $750 alone! Obviously rent is much cheaper here (I live in a three bedroom apartment and pay $500 between my boyfriend and I) and I already mentioned the transportation and food. In almost every regard, other than (authentic) brand name goods and electronics, China is significantly cheaper than Canada and with a good salary, you can put away a lot of money.

Walking
  Just about all of my friends in Shenzhen live within a 20 minute walk from me. I walk everywhere that is near enough; for dinner, to hang out with friends, to do banking, to send things via post, to explore. I love having the freedom to walk everywhere, and the availability of things within walking distance. Some of you may think of this as a silly thing to enjoy or to miss, but I grew up on the Valley where you have to drive to get anywhere! It's nice not having to rely on a car (although I do miss driving...) and get outside more.

Friends and Family
  This is the obvious one but I think I'd get some flak if I didn't include it. It takes a certain kind of person to leave their life behind and move to another country and the people I've met here and befriended are wonderful. Both in Shenyang and Shenzhen, I have made what I hope to be lifelong friends. We have commiserated about life in China, the woes of living abroad, homesickness, and relationship troubles. We've explored our adopted country and seen fantastic things. You may question why I added 'family' when all my family is in Canada, but that's not true; I've made a wonderful family here with my boyfriend and the dogs (and a cat for a few months) in this last two and a half years and that will be the hardest thing to say goodbye to. We've survived freezing winters in a house with no heating, sicknesses, triumphs, trips, and arguments. I owe so much of my strength, drive, and confidence to my boyfriend and I wouldn't change a thing about it.

What I Won't Miss

Disclaimer: I am fully aware I will likely come across a lot of these in Uganda as well...

Sidewalk Etiquette
  It was worse in Shenyang, but Chinese people have no qualms about spitting, vomiting, peeing, or pooing on the sidewalk (or malls, or restaurants, or the middle of the street...). I read once that the Chinese have a belief that if you hold in something that wants to come out, in can create bad energy within you. That's why they will cough, sneeze, spit, etc as soon as they get the urge (and often without covering their mouth). Walking on sidewalks in China is like an epic game of Frogger. You have to dodge not only Chinese people, touts handing out flyers, bicycles, cars (sidewalks are used as excess parking lanes), garbage, discarded food, and stray dogs, but also the things excreted by all of the above. It is a common sight in all Chinese cities to see young children (even in the freezing cold!) wearing crotchless pants and popping a squat on the sidewalk. Even grown men and women will go when nature calls, regardless of who is walking past. Another common sight is a crusty vomit pile from a night of too much baijiu. Biohazard? Who cares! A final gripe about sidewalk etiquette is the tendency of two people to magically take up the entire sidewalk, and then walk slower than slugs. Now multiply those two people by 50 and you can imagine my frustration.

Food
  I am aware that I have this on both lists. As much as I enjoy Chinese food, I also grow sick of certain things quite quickly: namely barbeque and fried noodles. Both are so ubiquitous and cheap in my neighborhood that it's the default dinner. You can only eat so much oily noodle without going crazy!

Teaching
  I have reached the end of my teaching career and I am not at all sad to let it go. Of course there are students that I think are wonderful and who I will miss dearly, but teaching is certainly not my calling. I don't get joy from teaching and I don't feel challenged in my work. The past two and a half years of teaching has given me some new skills and new perspectives that I am very happy about, but I am also happy it's almost at its end!

White Person Syndrome (WPS)
  In a country as homogenized by appearance as China, there is no doubt that I stand out as different. The effect was worse in Shenyang because their foreign population was so much smaller, but I also experience it here in Shenzhen. The typical symptoms include staring, pointing, discussing with a friend, taking photos of said white person, and the uncontrollable urge to shout, "Heeelllllooooo?". The latter seems to affect the old as well as the college-age male the most. A group of young men will stare at said white person approaching, egg each other on, and one will get up the courage to yell the greeting in a drawn out, Valley Girl accent. The white person has 3 choices: say hello back and continue on their way, ignore the greeting as it wasn't actually intended for you anyway, or respond in Chinese by asking what they want. The latter is the most fun but may cause a loss of face. Grandparents, especially ones with small grandchildren in tow, will say hello in a high-pitched voice repeatedly while waving the child's hand in the white person's direction. Since a child is involved, the suggested reaction is for the white person to smile nicely, say hello back, and continue on his/her way.
  In some cases you may feel like a celebrity (people want to take photos of you and with you, and they sometimes act like paparazzi, following you around and whispering) and in others you feel like a zoo animal (as in the case of the college boys). White person syndrome can also work positively for the white person in that they will be given special treatment (being given a better table or seat or being bumped to the front of the line). I must note, that this syndrome is definitely 'average white person' specific, not foreigner specific. Many people of different skin colour are looked on differently by the Chinese. Black people, in particular, are not always warmly welcomed. In addition, people who are overweight are often recipients of pointing, whispering, and flat-out insults.

Smog
  I hate waking up and praying that the film I see outside is fog, not smog, but unfortunately that's rarely the case. Again, Shenzhen is much better than Shenyang, but each one is prone to a number of hazy days a year. Every time I leave China for another country and then return, I end up getting sick with a head cold and sore throat. Day to day living doesn't bother me much but my body sure notices the smog when I return from a place with cleaner air.

Honking
  There is a stereotype that Asians are bad drivers and I can tell you, I understand where it comes from. The streets of China are crazy and you have to be a crazy driver to navigate them efficiently. .A good taxi driver is one that burns through yellow lights, speeds to all hell, and cuts others off because that's what you have to do to get anywhere. Chinese drivers take a lot of risks when they drive but they also are very aware of their own skill, as well as their surroundings. Obviously accidents happen, but they are so accustomed to the apparent madness, that they actually do quite well. The thing I will not miss, though, is the incessant honking. Cars, trucks, vans, and scooters all compete for the most annoying honkers. Vehicles will honk for any manner of reasons and at all hours.

Lack of 'please'
  Call me a stereotypical Canadian if you want, but it drives me crazy not being able to say 'please' in everyday speech. The Chinese have a couple words for please but they are often too formal to be appropriate. When I first came to China, I started adding 'bitte' (German for please) at the end of everything because the need was so strong! Chinese people often don't include please because it is expected that you should be doing your job rather than asking for a favour. I understand that, but it still makes me crazy!

Bathroom Issues
  I love me a good Western-style sit-down toilet. I understand the hygienic reasons for using squat toilets as well as the economic and space-saving reasons, but when you gotta poo, you want to sit down!
  I also hate the lack of water pressure and just general crappiness of the showers here. The bathroom is a one-stop shop because everything is placed so close together. You can be peeing, showering, and brushing your teeth all at the same time without moving from one position. Convenient? Yes. Desirable? No.

Limited Heating
  Those who know me even a bit know that I get cold very easily and very often. I'm the girl who brings a sweater everywhere in the middle of summer because if a place has A/C, or if there is a slight breeze while I'm sitting outside, I'll be cold. In Shenyang, the apartments I lived in had crappy crappy heating. And Shenyang was COOOOOOLD! I would literally wear four pants and 6 layers on top to keep warm in that weather and it was just as bad inside. All Chinese buildings are constructed from concrete. They're designed to keep in the cold for the hot summer months, but it also does that in the winter! Even in Shenzhen the cold got to me because the heating systems are so inefficient.

Hang-Drying
  Thank god I didn't have to wash clothes by hand, but it's almost as bad to have to hang-dry everything. Oh how I miss dryers! The worst is when it's winter and the weather is either so cold, or so humid, that things take 3-4 days to dry; at which point they smell mildewy and have to be washed again!

Chinese Internet and the Great Firewall
  Chinese internet is slow but manageable. Even though we have our own line and connection, when a lot of people in our building are using the internet, the whole system slows down noticeably. As I write this, I am using a VPN (virtual proxy network; essentially a program that changes my IP address so it looks like I'm in a different part of the world) because China has deemed Blogspot inappropriate/dangerous/too Western/or who knows what. To access Facebook, Google (often), and even the BBC sometimes you have to use a VPN. It can be a pain in the butt to have to rely on so I won't miss that.

Umbrellas
  For an area of the world where it rains A LOT, people in the Lower Mainland don't use umbrellas all that much. We have rain coats and we're just generally not too fussed about getting a little wet. People (especially women) seem to have an umbrella constantly in hand. They not only use them for rainy days (and we're talking even if a slight sprinkle starts up, they instantly go up), but for the sunny ones as well. The risk of getting my eye gauged out by a wild umbrella end goes up exponentially depending on the level of rain/sun. People will wait til the very last second before closing their umbrellas so you're trying to get on the bus while the person in front of you is trying to finagle her umbrella through the door. It's just madness.

Well, that's a bit of a novel for you but I hope it gives you an idea of what I'm leaving behind.