Bitter Sweet Goodbye

Thought of the week: Bitter Sweet Goodbye

I have had an amazing summer to say the least. I have met many incredible people, and have done some scary and thrilling things that I never would have dreamed that I would have the opportunity to do. I have to say goodbye to my family, coworkers, and new friends tomorrow, and I know it’s going to be really hard. I am terrible at saying goodbye…I just never want to. I get choked up, and I’m not afraid to admit that many times I end up crying. In this case, I know I’m going to cry because I have come to love my host family so much, and I have no idea when I will be able to see them again. I hate not knowing if and when I will see them again. I’m also really going to miss the kids and teachers at Ravo Primary School. For the most part they have been really easy to work with, and they have been essential in making our project work as well as it did. Finally, I am going to miss the staff at Busoga Trust: the Monday morning meetings, the countless laughs, trips to the field, Hussein and Emma’s driving, and Harriet, our supervisor. I know it’s time for me to return to the states and see my family and friends, and get ready to go back to school, but when it comes time for me to say goodbye tomorrow, it’s going to be a struggle. Jinja, and all the people here, have left a lasting impression on me.

Events from the past few days:

This past weekend was pretty low key. On Saturday I met some students for lunch. We went to our favorite Indian restaurant, and then went to an internet café to check our email. We went home and hung out with the family. On Saturday night, I went to Backpackers to hang out with some of the other GESI students. On Sunday, I just hung out with the family for the day.

Yesterday, Rida, Marta, and I did our presentation at Busoga Trust. The staff were all really impressed. We also went to the village for the last time and had a blast. They were beginning to build the second bathhouse, but the builder’s wife passed away, so the bathhouse was put on hold. 

The beginning of the second bathhouse!

We hung out with the kids who were around the school and took some pictures. 

Marta, Rida, Kato, and I

Kato and I!

We were there for longer than usual and it was nice to get to know the teachers and students even better. The director of the school gave us a chicken as a gift, and the kids killed and cooked it for us. That was my first time seeing a chicken killed in front of me, and I will not be disappointed if it is my last as well. 

The dead chicken!

They fed us tons of food, and we just enjoyed the last day together. I started packing last night, and it really started to sink in that I am leaving. This morning we went into Busoga Trust to write up a blurb to put on their website. We just finished editing our final reports and sent them all in!

            Tomorrow we have our exit interviews with FSD, and we have some free time to buy gifts and souvenirs to bring home. I’ll be having my last supper with my host family tomorrow night, and we’re leaving for the airport on Thursday morning!

See you all back in the states!

My Amazing Family

Thought of the week: My Amazing Family

My wonderful Jaja!

One of the most stressful and worrisome aspects about my trip to Uganda was, “What would my host family be like?” I was nervous that they wouldn’t like me, or that there wouldn’t be any kids around. Looking back on it now, there was nothing for me to worry about. My host family is amazing. Jaja, the matriarch, is a loving and accepting woman. She helps with the cooking, raises her grandchildren, and also raises chickens. She is unbelievably kind and very flexible with our trips on the weekends. Before leaving for work she always tells me to have a nice day, and upon my return she hugs me, says welcome back, and asks how the day was.  All of her grandchildren have been incredibly lucky to have her as their Jaja. She has been extremely dedicated to her family, and loves them for their gifts and their faults. Throughout my time living with Jaja, there is always a new family member checking in on their Jaja to see how she is doing.

The six grandchildren who live with Jaja have incredibly different personalities. Fred, the oldest (20 years), is quiet, yet kind. He always says hello when he is around, and he has hung out with us on the weekends a few times. Fiona, the oldest girl (20 years), is the opposite of Fred. She is always around and asking questions. She asks questions about life in America, our work here, and our families back home. We watch television with her in the evening, and she always has supper with us every night. From the very first time we met, she has had the biggest smile on her face, and has continued to have that smile the past 7 weeks. 

Fiona, Jaja, Trevor, me, and Fred!

Faith (18 years) is the most outgoing and active. She never sits still; she is always doing yard work or going for a walk. I have gone on walks with her in the evening, and I have gotten to know her the best. She has told Marion and I about boy problems, what is going on at her school, and she has introduced us to some of her friends and cousins. Her favorite phrase is “Get serious.” Whenever I am joking around with her or giving her a hard time she always says, “Get serious, Anna.” 

Faith and I

The next is Peace (15 years) who has been away at boarding school, but arrived at home about 2 weeks ago. She hangs out with Faith a lot and accompanies Faith on her walks. She is also really into music. She is always playing music or singing. Marion and I are having her write down a list of Ugandan songs that we can download when we return to the states. Her laughter is contagious, and watching Peace and Faith bicker and chase each other around is always comical. 

Marion, Peace, and I

The two youngest boys have completely opposite personalities. Kenny (14 years) is incredibly quiet, and I know the least about him. He mostly keeps to himself, but I know he loves playing pool in the market across the street from our house. Trevor, the youngest (12 years), was the most outgoing male in the house. He loved hanging around Marion and I, playing Frisbee, watching TV, and learning new games. We taught him different handshakes and played music for him so he could dance. He’s actually an amazing dancer. He also thinks he has major “swag.” He was the only other person who ate dinner with us besides Fiona. I never thought a boy his size could eat so much. The final key member of the household is Beth, the house help. She is a wonderful woman who cooks, cleans, does laundry, and helps Jaja with the chickens. She has also been deemed the diva of the house. Whenever there is music on she is dancing and singing around the house. Whenever I bring my camera out to take pictures, she strikes a pose and has a huge smile on her face. 

Beth, the diva herself :)

All in all, my family was incredible, and I’m going to miss them immensely when I leave next week.

Events from the past week:

The headmaster with the new bathhouse!

Last Friday, Marta, Rida, and I went to village and monitored the progress of the construction of the bathhouse. It is almost complete, but they need to obtain 2 more iron sheets to complete the roof. We were impressed with how quickly they were able to construct the bathhouse, and it looks really good! We were also extremely impressed with the progress they made making their own sanitary pads. We were able to see one of the completed sanitary pads that the senior female teacher made. We also delivered more materials to begin construction of 2^nd bathhouse. 

Another view of the new bathhouse!

Rev. Andrew Pearson, director of Busoga Trust,
saying mass for the 30 years of service celebration

Senior Female Teacher holding the sanitary pad that she made!

Saturday I went to the Busoga Trust 30 Years of Service Celebration with Marta and Rida at 9:00am. There was a mass said by the former bishop and also said by Rev. Andrew Pearson who is a minister in the UK and also the director of Busoga Trust. There was a lot of clapping and dancing at the service, which is different from the Catholic masses I attend in the states. I really enjoyed it and had a lot of fun. 

Also on Saturday, unexpectedly, Trevor and Fred left to spend three weeks with their respective mothers in Kampala because they are now on summer holiday. Marion and I only found out they were leaving 20 minutes before they left, and we were pretty devastated. We weren’t expecting to have to say goodbye to them for a few more weeks. It was really hard to say goodbye, but I know Trevor was really excited to see his mom. 

On Sunday, we went to a Christian mass with our sisters Faith and Peace. It was similar to the mass from the day before with a lot of singing and clapping. There was also a baptism, which was really fun to see.  The rest of the day was a pretty lazy Sunday.

This week we have been working on our final reports for FSD and GESI. This is our final full week of work, so we are trying to wrap things up. Yesterday and today we have been working on a presentation for the staff members at Busoga Trust, which we are giving on Monday.

That’s all for now. My next and last post will probably be on Tuesday, which is our last day of work because I am headed back to the states next Thursday!

Lost in Translation

Thought of the week:

I want to start out by saying thank you to my mom for giving me this idea for my thought of the week!

Some things are just lost in translation. Sometimes I have no idea what my host family is saying, and sometimes they have no idea what I’m saying. Even though this can be frustrating at times, it has also provided many good laughs. My sister, Faith, has many times told me I “look smart” and that I am “stubborn,” and for awhile I was confused about why she kept saying that. Finally I realized both smart and stubborn have very different meaning in Uganda than they do in America. “Smart” in America usually means intelligent, but in Uganda it is used when someone dresses or looks nice or cool. When she was telling me I looked smart, she was not telling me that I looked intelligent, but rather what I was wearing was cool/looked nice. Similarly, stubborn in America usually means that someone is stuck in his or her ways or refuses to do something. If you talk to my family or friends, they may tell you that I can be a stubborn person, but that is not usually the first word people use to describe me. That is why I was surprised when Faith kept saying, “Anna you are so stubborn,” while she was laughing at me. Turns out that stubborn here in Uganda means that you are funny, or that you are a jokester and like playing tricks. I was relieved when I found out what it meant, because I didn’t want my host family thinking I was a stubborn person.

Here are some other words that have gotten lost in translation:

• When I first said “gotcha” like “I understand you,” my sister Faith thought I was saying “culture.”
• When my sister Fiona says the words “fin,” “fan,” or “fun,” Marion and I have no idea whether she is actually trying to say “fin,” “fan,” or “fun” so we now do hand motions with those 3 words so we know which one she is talking about.
• The power went out one night, and Fiona said she was going out to buy (what we thought was) candy for us. Marion and I were really excited (because who doesn’t love candy?), so when she showed up back at home with candles, we were both pretty disappointed.
• They also have an extremely difficult time saying my name, so they usually just call me Ana (sounds like sauna), but sometimes they decided to try to pronounce it and end up saying “AAAAnna,” and it is actually completely hilarious.

Events from the past week:

Some of the really cute kids from our visit to the village last week!

The Source!

Throughout the end of last week, we finished the sanitation curriculum and went to the Agriculture Show to buy some gifts for our families and friends. The Agriculture Show had a ton of things like seeds, food, juices, games, and tons of different crafts. Marion and I went back to the Agriculture Show with our family on Saturday, and we spent Saturday night and Sunday morning with the other GESI students just hanging out. 

On Monday, we called Omar (the headmaster of the Ravo Primary School) to see which day would be a good day to come to the village to check on the progress of the bath shelters they are constructing. We decided on Friday, and he also informed us that they needed a few more materials in order to complete them. For the rest of Monday, Marta, Rida, and I worked on some journal entries and I skyped with my family on Monday afternoon. On Tuesday, because we didn’t have much work to do, and we aren’t going to the field until tomorrow, we went and visited the Source of the Nile. We took a little boat tour to see the source, and we saw a bunch of different birds and lizards. It was kind of expensive, but I was really happy that I went to see it. 

Fisherman at the Source of the Nile!

On Wednesday, we went to the Nile River Resort to lie by the pool and swim. It was a lot of fun and really relaxing too. Today we have been doing work to make sure we are on track with our budget, and we also wrote out a structure for a sanitation club that could be implemented in the school. We are also printing out the finalized curriculum to give to Busoga Trust. We’re excited to go to the village tomorrow to check on the progress!

Nile River Resort!

Note: Although many of you have probably heard that there is an Ebola Virus outbreak here in Uganda, myself and the other GESI students are fine and in good health!