My Life as an Intern: The Jjuukos

During my time in Masaka, Uganda, I stayed with the fabulous Jjuukos on their farm. This warm and open family wasted no time in having me feel at home with them. The family interactions were affectionate, casual, and very funny to observe. Here's a little snapshot of the family.

Mr. Jjuuko and Sophie (The Parents):

A sweet, hard-working pair. Mr. Jjuuko works on the farm and oversees some businesses in Masaka Town while Sophie works at home. Mr. Jjuuko is a delightful teddy bear who is obviously proud of his family, his farm, and his animals. He is a soft-spoken and reserved man, which made it that much more fun to watch when he got very excited over something. Sophie is a hilarious and opinionated mother who rules the home - the definite mother-hen.

Abdu Rezak (The Bookworm):
The eldest son. He's currently in med school and is super quiet and keeps to himself. He was home during mid-term break for about 1 week so I didn't really get a chance to hang out with him much. He likes reading and watching adventure movies. Most of our (limited) conversations centred around listing what movies we've watched. He seemed really nice and was the one who informed me that British Columbia was where the lumberjacks live!

A sample conversation:
Abdu Rezak: Do you watch Nicolas Cage movies?
Me: Yep. They're pretty fun.
A: Me too. Like, Face/Off, Snake Eyes, Sorceror's Apprentice, Con Air, The Rock...
Me: National Treasure 1, National Treasure 2, Ghost Rider, Gone in 60 Seconds...

Mariam (The Drill Sargeant):
                                         
The eldest daughter. She is in her first year of university, studying to become a social worker. She's a lovely, hard-working, opinionated and extremely bossy person. We got along really very well. She was living at home while attending school -- the first year she has done so since she was in boarding school during primary and secondary school. Campus was about a 15 minute walk away from home. She is not a hugger, loves TV, does not like being coddled or having her younger siblings be coddled (she has DEFINITE opinions about that!), and is quite strong-willed. Her current interest is in community development work and working with refugees. She doesn't want to get married (which led to many amusing conversations between her, myself, and her mother) as she thinks it's a prison and is very vocal about it.

Abdu Rashid (The Comedian):
                                           
The third child. He is Absolutely Hilarious. He was also soft-spoken until you got to know him. Always quick to tease and laugh, he appeared to be quite close to Mariam and they would alternate between teasing each other and driving each other crazy. He attended boarding school but the school term was done in November so I got to spend about a month with him, which was grand fun for me and we got along quite well. He thought I was a big weirdo and I informed him often that I thought the same of him. How could we NOT like each other??

Amira (The Regal):
                                           
The second daughter. She also attended boarding school for most of my time with the Jjuukos so I didn't spend as much time with her as I did with Mariam or Fazirat. She quickly struck me as a gentle, quiet, beautiful young woman with a very regal demeanor. I would often find her engaging in some useful and quiet activity and often helping her mom out. While much less out-spoken than her older sister, she could very definitely hold her own against her! Her school term let out before I left Masaka as well, so she was home for a few weeks. I know Mariam was glad for it because it meant the household work could be distributed more, particularly the cooking.

Feiruz (The Empath):
                                          
A sweet, gentle girl who seemed to be a budding philosopher who was always asking the "why" of things and wanting to know how one was feeling. I found her to be the most prone to discussing how she felt or wondering how people felt in certain situations and asking what one's reactions were when they were retelling a story. I didn't get to spend much time with her as she was also in boarding school and was only home for my last week. She proved to be an open and engaging girl whose attitude appeared to indicate absolute certainty that people would like her. And she is absolutely correct.

Fazirat (The Diva):
                                        
Oh, Fazirat (pronounced Faz-IR-ah). The quirky, energetic youngest child. She was coddled and spoiled (in the best possible way and as Mariam constantly liked to remind everyone) and she knew it! Fazirat and I would often wander the farm together and we went hunting for locusts together (see earlier entry). She preferred action movies and physical activity and would be bored if she had to read for too long or if we were doing quiet activities for too long.


I loved watching and participating in the interplay and dynamics within this family. Every single person had their own distinct personality but above all, loved to tease and laugh with each other, particularly the siblings...as siblings are wont to do. I loved every single minute of my time staying with them.

Reverse Culture Shock

After leaving Masaka, I went on a 5-day trip to visit two National Parks in Uganda: Kibale National Park and Bwindi Impenetrable Forest before heading back to Vancouver (details of that little trip to come). The flight was long and uneventful (yay!) and upon landing at YVR, I was greeted by my parents, eldest sister, and twin nephews who I discovered have learned to walk while I was away!!!

I will say, it's been a bit disorienting coming back the week before Christmas. When I left, it was still summer and with the weather in Uganda, it's just felt like I've experienced a 5 month-long summer. Also, the lack of big box stores that put up Christmas displays right after Halloween was also missing in Masaka, so it's a bit jarring to suddenly switch to winter weather with the holiday season of friends gathering in full swing.

Anyway, since arriving on Dec. 15, it's been pretty much a whirlwind of activity so while I've absolutely loved seeing people and catching up, I haven't had too much time to just relax and fully appreciate being back at home, yet. I'm anticipating some sort of 'reverse culture shock' to happen once the feelings of "I'm home! And having a REAL shower!" have subsided somewhat. I'm curious about how that will go since despite not having been gone for all that long, I feel I committed myself to the immersion experience in Masaka pretty well. I guess we'll see.

As my friend, Allison, told me:  "It's all about the journey! Endings and beginnings and everything in between!"

Weraba, Masaka

What I'll miss: the sunshine and the consistently warm temperatures.

What I won't miss: the heavy rain that turns the roads into rivers of mud. Mud that gets EVERYWHERE.

What I'll miss: the friendly and helpful people who just like to chat for a bit before continuing on their way and who really DO want to make sure you get on the correct matatu so you can get home.

What I won't miss: the constant use of the smarmy "he-ey, baby/sweetie" and weekly appeals for me to have Ugandan boyfriends because "they know how to love".

What I'll miss: the availability of fresh, directly-off-the-farm pineapples, avocadoes, bananas, guavas and other produce.

What I won't miss: the matoke and posho and general lack of variety of food at mealtimes. It's not that matoke is bad. It's just bland. Oh! The joys of having been spoiled by growing up in Vancouver, with it's plethora of food choices!

What I'll miss: the convenience of hailing a boda boda and zipping around Town.

What I won't miss: playing live action frogger while trying to cross the street.

What I'll miss: the sight of gorgeous and brightly coloured bolts of fabric for sale that line the streets.

What I won't miss: the sight of large piles of garbage lining the streets -- and walking through huge, stinky clouds of smoke when the piles are being burned.

What I'll miss most: my fabulous, animated and hilarious host family.

I've had a truly great all-round experience, met some good people, and learned loads. Despite my time in Uganda coming to an end for now, I'm hoping to stay connected with Kitovu Mobile and their work from home (I've also been promised accountability reports on the project I took part in!). So, now that my time in Masaka is wrapping up, I'm getting ready for my next short adventure and a little vacation before heading back to Vancouver -- Gorilla tracking!

Thank you and see you, Masaka!

Webale ne weraba, Masaka!

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Mzungu in the Midst

A nursery school graduation, a baptism, and an Introduction ceremony. These were the Big Events I attended in the last week as my time in Masaka winds down.

Apparently, finishing nursery school is a big deal. It means that in the following year, a nursery school grad will be in Primary 1. There's a big to-do to mark the end of the school year (which follows the calendar year) and all the classes do some sort of performance. I was invited by a colleague to attend her daughter's nursery school grad. It was pretty awesome to see a bunch of 3-5 year olds dancing and grooving to music. I'm pretty sure they were all infinitely better dancers than I am. There was a fashion show which showcased casual wear, evening wear and office wear! The best part is the serious expressions on all of their little faces. All the little 'grads' even had caps and gowns and had their names called out. Very formal, as most things in Uganda seem to be.

The fashion show, featuring swimming wear 
and office wear.

With Victoria (the grad) and her older sister, Vanessa.

Congrats, Nursery School grads!

The baptism I went to was for the younger sibling of the kid who's graduation I had attended. It took place at my colleague's home in another village on the edge of Masaka Town. I don't think I've ever attended a mass at someone's home before and it never occurred to me that it could be an option. Other than the venue, it was pretty typical as far as baptisms go except the entire thing was in Luganda. So, as has become my habit here, I spent my time listening to the flurry of words and counting how many words I was able to pick out. It always amuses me that no matter what language mass is said in, you can pretty much follow along not only because the parts of the mass are always the same, but the meter at which the different parts are said is also usually pretty similar across the board - kind of trance-like sounding. The gathering was super fun and relaxed afterward and included a GIANT meal (as with all functions). Seriously -- I literally spilled some of my food because my plate was so heavy and my arm got tired. After the cake cutting, Gorreth (the hostess and mother) introduced the Mzungu from Canada to her guests who all wished me many happy celebrations like this one. While I am extremely appreciative of the warm welcome, the excitement, and the introductions I receive, I also kind of sometimes feel a bit like a Mzungu show pony at things. So, I did my part and stood, said a few words and was even able to throw a tiny bit of Luganda in.

Now, the Introduction ceremony. I had been wanting to go to one for some time because it is apparently THE Bugandan cultural event to go to. Let me backtrack a bit and explain that a large portion of Uganda is comprised of the kingdom of Buganda of which Masaka District (of which Masaka Town is the sort of 'capital') is part. Luganda is the language of Buganda. Confused? The Bugandan people have their own king, or kabaka, who in modern times is more of a cultural leader since he has limited poltical power. However, having said that, the kabaka apparently has more influence on the Bugandan people than the president and the president has had to work cooperatively with the kabaka to maintain peace. Someone told me that it's said that for Uganda to have peace, Buganda needs to be at peace. I guess it's because of the large area the kingdom covers. And I've also heard that Museveni isn't super fond of the kabaka but knows he has to ally with him or face further riots.

Anyway, back to the introduction ceremony. In Bugandan culture, the bride-to-be takes this opportunity to introduce her groom-to-be and his family to her own family, friends and relatives. It's a huge and colourful and gorgeous affair that has more importance than the actual wedding ceremony. Traditionally, marriages were arranged by aunties or other relatives and thus, the purpose of the introduction ceremony. Nowadays, it's more of a tradition, rather than because of a need to introduce prospective new family members that have resulted from an arranged marriage. The whole ceremony pretty much captures the essence of Bugandan culture (and maybe of Uganda): ceremonial, formal, an emphasis on greetings...and lasts about 4-5 hours. It consists of rounds of people from the bride's side taking turns in coming out and welcoming the groom and his family.

The bride is brought out at some point as well amidst much cheering, and clapping, and loud music. There's some dancing and comedic entertainment during all of this while those in attendance sit around, gawk (okay, maybe I was the only one gawking), and drink sodas and beer.

Apparently, men in drag are universally entertaining.

Hello, bride!

Bring on the dowry gifts!

 The highlight of the entire event is the presentation of dowry gifts by the groom. The bride sits on mats while the groom and his family parade in and place gifts and items around her. Now, here I was kind of hoping for something pretty over-the-top, like a hundred cattle and maybe a car. It didn't turn out to be QUITE that over-the-top but there was still plenty there. Among the items I saw were fruit, cakes, flour, rice, electronics (I think), and a whole whack of other things. This is the groom's chance to shine and show what he can provide! One of the MCs did a shout out to Kitovu Mobile (the introduction ceremony was for a daughter of a staff member) and as the Mzungu in attendance, I also got my own shout out. They wished me a 'day like this one', which was cool. I guess I'll have to get going with all the celebrations I am now meant to have. I wonder what my dowry price would be?

The bride amidst some of the dowry gifts.

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Because I'm a CP Social Worker...

Young mom and tot.

Children the world over are, in my opinion, super hilarious, adorable, and can be capable of so much more than people often give them credit for. Children in Uganda are no exception; however, the cultural context within which children live in Uganda is really very different than that of those who live in Canada. First, it's hard to guess at a child's age because many are very small for their age, likely due to malnutrition and other prenatal factors. You do get your cute, fat little babies wandering about with very serious expressions on their faces. You can just see them try to puzzle out what is so unusual about the Mzungu standing in front of them! The CP worker in me has found it a bit of a strange experience to see first-hand and hear about how children live and are sometimes treated in various parts of Uganda.

This ingenious kid fashioned a backpack for collecting bottles that also doubled as hooded rainwear out of a plastic bag!

On One Hand:
 
Children seem to be given a number of tasks and responsibilities at an early age, particularly those who live in the villages - older siblings (but not much older) are caretakers of younger siblings and sometimes are expected to stay home from school to do this. Young kids are cooking, cleaning, sewing, digging in the garden for hours, and fetching water. Are these expectations and responsibilities a product of high levels of poverty? Probably. Back home in Vancouver, similar tasks are given to kids to teach them certain skills and are carefully supervised (or are supposed to be!) by adults. In British Columbian CP terms, corporal punishment, exploitation of children by guardians/parents (the 'business' of begging, as I've been told, and early marriages), parentification of children, murder (child sacrifices), and other various issues and forms of abuse seem to be fairly prevalent. There is a limited child protection system that I've been able to figure out - issues can be brought to appropriate authorities. Where it goes from there, I have no idea at this time. There has been a recent campaign to promote child rights and I've seen a bunch of posters that exclaim "Stop Child Sacrifices!" and urging people to "Protect the Children!" but issues regarding children seem to be very much under the domain of 'private family issues'. There does seem to be some increasing public discussion about it, though. I saw one kind of hilarious (to me) poster that depicted various abuses done to children that should be stopped. It was sort of hilarious in that way that makes you want to groan and say, "are you SERIOUS?!" because of the statements on the poster, which included: "stop defilement (incest, from what I can gather)!", "stop touching children's private parts" and my favourite -- "stop over-beating children!". I mean, I think it's totally great that there have been recent movements in this area and workplace policies regarding child protection issues have been drafted, but it does sometimes take me a moment to readjust to where I am.

I've had some conversations with a few colleagues who've asked me what I do in Canada. When I told them, I got a few interesting responses including some bafflement. The first few times I was asked about my job, I had assumed there would be some understanding of what it was I did but I was wrong (I'll admit, this assumption was based on how ubiquitous those posters seemed!!). Among some other responses, I was asked whether I was a police officer (no), I was asked what issues children in Canada could possibly be affected by (a lot), and I was asked what kind of issues parents in Canada had to deal with (also, a lot). I'm not trying to compare contexts or situations; but problems and issues that children face in whatever country they live in are still problems and issues. And while the posters are a good start, where can it go next?

On the Other Hand:

Playing a version of "Ring around a rosy"

Children do seem to take care of each other, often without any prompting or asking. Kids also still do the child-type things that one would expect them to do: skip rope, play soccer, and make up very strange games. One recent game, (it turns out I WAS the game) consisted of 2 very tiny toddlers running after me as I was walking home and trying to touch my legs. This resulted in them tumbling over often and laughing and was apparently highly entertaining to the small group of children watching. Like most children in my experience, most here seem quick to laugh and to try to show off. Children roam around seemingly unattended, but more often than not, I've seen other adults step in and help young kids or other parents out (even those whom I'm SURE have just met the family. I wonder if the 'stranger danger' phase is shorter here than at home?). Parents bring their kids to work (I've only seen a couple of daycares and I don't know how common using daycares might be) pretty often where they run around and do random things and entertain and are entertained by their parents' coworkers. The whole "it takes a village to raise a child" adage does come to mind and it's pretty neat to actually see it happen sometimes.

Now, to reconcile the two hands....

My Life as an Intern: Project Nerd

First came the survey, then came the data analysis. Next came the development of a community-based project/initiative. What popped out at me from surveying community members was that food security and lack of income were huge, huge, pressing issues. So, I wanted to work something out to address this and I figured I would try to tackle food security. With food security comes better health and social outcomes as well as potential for income-generating activities (i.e. selling produce at market). In collaboration with a bunch of people from the community of Kyango Bigavu, Kitovu Mobile as well as Anita and Alex from FSD, we came up with a rough concept of having people in the community form small "Self-Help Groups" (SHGs). The SHG idea is a micro-finance type program based on the SILC concept and Kitovu Mobile has been forming them since 2004. The idea is that working cooperatively is way more effective than struggling alone. The groups would also be a support network for each other and Kitovu Mobile could organize various trainings around identified issues -- such as fertilization techniques, sustainable agricultural practices, and nutrition. And that's essentially the plan that I've mapped out. As part of the FSD program, part of my internship includes a seed grant that is meant to be used to purchase project items such as supplies and or labour (i.e. facilitators). So, I got to spend the last week running around negotiating prices, buying seeds and plant cuttings, and arranging for them to be delivered in the new year... after I've left.

One hardworking SHG of Kyango Bigavu

*** A tangent (of course) ...
Okay, let's take a knee for a second. Yes, I realize I know next to nothing about either finance or agriculture, so this whole project has been a challenge in a variety of fun and surprising ways. But apparently, if one is annoying enough (or, as my supervisor kindly said -- "resourceful". Heh.) and is fine with politely badgering people and peppering them with questions and asking for their help and picking people's brains and requesting as many various types of reading material that is available as well as opportunities to tag along to see things in action, then it IS possible to try to hammer out a project around ideas and concepts one knows little about. It just gets confusing at times. I guess the point is that to get anything done, one needs to be aware of which areas they are or aren't knowledgeable in. And to be okay with what it is you don't know (which, in my case, was a lot. A lot.) but also be willing to expose that so that you can do something to fill that gap. And people are often more than willing to teach others what they know or share their experiences. Oh, vulnerability. That often detestable, yet necessary aspect of life.
                                                         ... End of tangent (for now) ***

Group facilitation led by Ssemwanga Pantaleo.

While I'm still working on that blasted report (bo-oring) that is supposed to document my survey findings, I did get to start implementation of the project. Sort of. Oh, happy day! There was already one SHG formed by Cornelius within the last year and comprised solely of women, so we started with that group. Cornelius and I, along with a facilitator with much experience in group formation and dynamics named Ssemwanga Pantaleo, met with this group. Since they've already been together for nearly a year and have focused on building savings, Pantaleo was able to get right to ironing out group issues and dynamics and start creating proper group by-laws. They seemed quite excited with the whole process and I guess word spread because another group of women and a group of men expressed interest in forming their own groups and will be meeting with Cornelius next weekend! This was perfect since the target was about 3 groups of 15-20 people per group. The idea is that whatever benefits are gained by each group member will also translate into benefits gained by their families/households.

Impromptu singing and dancing to conclude a meeting.

Forming group by-laws.

So, I have no idea if the project will carry on after I've left. I certainly hope so. Kitovu Mobile seems interested in carrying it on and the project is in line with many of the projects they implement (the perk of not developing a project in isolation). I think it has the potential to be sustainable and to work but there are, as always, issues of funding and staffing that I foresee as potential barriers.

Inflation and Costs of Living in Uganda

For context: The current inflation rate is about 30%.

2011 has not been the best year for Uganda. It marks a year of soaring inflation, load shading (load shedding?), strikes, riots, increased police presence in an attempt to suppress further demonstrations and riots, increasing dissatisfaction with the government and further revelations of continued government corruption (although this last point is not unique to 2011, as I've been told countless times).

Those who lived through the Bush Wars and experienced pre-Museveni governments (times I like to dub from what I've heard about them, "the madness era") don't think it's so bad now. "Sure, there's a lot of corruption in the government. But it's better than what it was like before." That's a common statement I hear. It's all relative, I suppose.

Experiencing Uganda as an Outsider is weird because I can see the potential of the country if the current government perhaps cared as much as they did in the '80s. There's more money in the country than I initially thought -- but billions of shillings are being moved to the offshore accounts of some politicians. "Allegedly".

But true change can only happen "for the people by the people". It's a cliched saying for a reason.

Jinja (Nov. 19-20, 2011)

One very rainy weekend, Tan and Pan travelled north to Jinja...

... and noted the differences in architecture between Uganda's largest town and Masaka (eg. this Hindu temple in Jinja)...

... before going in search of the Source of the Nile River.

After much walking in the rain...

... the Alexes successfully reached the Eastern bank...

... where they stood and looked out across to the Western Bank...

... and also marveled at man's attempt to tame nature.

The Alexes were initially respectful of the weather and stayed on firm-ish ground...

... but the temptation to dip their feet in the Nile...

... was simply too great.

(The bird agreed.)

The Alexes then visited a small memorial garden that marks where some of Ghandi's ashes were scattered...

...before taking one last look at the River Nile and heading back to Masaka.

                                   The End.

Addendum: We had fantastic Indian food in Jinja and got to meet the chef herself - a hilarious, opinionated, and motherly woman who immigrated to Uganda from India with her husband in 2006. Or, as she tells it: "My husband made this mistake of moving to Uganda in 2006. And I followed him because he's my husband and you know, Indian culture..." Cue awkward laughing. The two run the restaurant we ate at. She taught us how to 'properly' eat the food with 'real' garlic naan (which, according to her, is different than the naan found in the UK and in North America). This was probably the food highlight of my time here, so far.

A brief history lesson: From what I've been told, many people from India had settled in various parts of Uganda (particularly Jinja) and set up businesses until the expulsion of Asians by Idi Amin. Under the current government, Asians have been invited back and many have returned and reclaimed family businesses.

Jinja also has a gen-u-ine main street that consists of decent little coffee shops (of course we stopped in one for a cuppa), pubs, restaurants and various little shops filled with crafts, knick knacks and art. Also of note: I had a fried egg and bacon sandwich for breakfast -- and it contained real breakfast bacon, my first taste of the wonderful, wonderful product in over 3 months. As we entered Jinja, we crossed over the top of the Owen Falls Dam, which provides (or doesn't provide, given the low water levels) electricity to Uganda. We shook our fists at the dam -- it was a break from griping about bad government and business deals that have resulted in the current power situation.
Tourist note: Jinja is also the place to go for apparently amazing white-water rafting and bungee jumping.

Tan and Pan rating: neat vibe, great food, the Nile River. Well worth the visit and the time spent folded into matatus for 5-6 hours one way.