It was approximately 18 months ago that Ted and I made some decisions that started a jam-packed, rollicking journey that would mark an Interesting Period of our lives. Here's a brief timeline and some of the main events that have happened in this time:
In these past months, I've learned a few things:
~ Boston is ripe with American history -- one can randomly come across some plaque or stone marker indicating what Important Event (such as where Washington first took command of American troops) related to the American Revolution occurred there. However, there doesn't appear to be a whole lot of information regarding First Nations populations here or pre-contact populations (you know, before the Pilgrims with their hats arrived at Plymouth Rock), so I tried to find out a bit more about the area. Boston (and I think Cambridge) sits on the Massachusett traditional territory, the tribe the state of Massachusetts is named after. I've tried to look up information about this particular tribe, but apparently, while there are small bands living around the state, the people were nearly wiped out during post-colonial contact. Their language (and the word Massachusetts) is a dialect of Algonquin. Here's a map from Wikipedia:
~ Massachusetts has a form of socialized healthcare and has for some time. It's a point of pride, apparently.
~ I've mentioned this one before - the immigration process is a painful exercise in waiting... which I whine about despite coming to the U.S. under good circumstances and carrying a Canadian passport (the point being that this very likely makes it much easier for me than someone carrying another sort of passport or identification).
~ Apparently, one needs a Social Security Number (aka "a social") in order to do a number of things such as: apply for a job, get a driver's license, apply to see if one is eligible to take a social work licensing exam, get a bank account (although, we were able to circumvent this somehow), do volunteer work (they need your social to run a check on you), etc. One cannot get a social until their immigration stuff is done. See above point.
~ A surprising number of people do not know what you mean when asking for a washroom. One should request a bathroom.
~ Boston has a super great food scene. I'm glad I had a full physical, including blood pressure and cholesterol check earlier this year. Who knows what the numbers will be the next time I have a check up.
~ Reconnecting with old friends, even ones you haven't seen or spoken to in years (even since junior high school), is always lovely and fun. You get to hear all the interesting things that have happened with people in those intervening years. It's never boring.
~ Job-hunting, particularly when one is trying to pursue new-ish areas of social work that have long been of interest, is not the time to be squeamish! Many applications were sent out! Many interviews (in person and via phone) were scheduled! Many diplomatic rejection letters/responses came in.... I started the process tentatively at first and eventually found myself perusing job postings and saying to myself, "well, I don't necessarily fit 100% of the preferences or requirements, but I'm going to apply anyway!". And I did. The worst that could happen, I figured? No response or a "no" (something I was getting used to, anyway). I mean, it still sucked. And some days, Ted would come home to find me being overly-dramatic and bemoaning my life (like I said -- dramatic). I'm sure he was always really happy about that.
~ One in-person, super supportive person in your life can change everything. Ted and I have a great support network. Unfortunately, most of this network is currently not in Boston and while emails and such are fantastic, it's just not the same as commiserating with or bouncing ideas off someone in person. So, we've leaned heavily on each other as we navigated some of the milestones we've recently experienced. I'm not certain I would have survived the emotional ups and downs that have occurred without Ted. I'm sure there were times where he wasn't certain he would survive my emotional ups and downs, either. But, I'd like to think the reverse is true as well and while his emotional ups and downs look very different from mine, I'm sure he had them, too. Having that person also gives us the freedom and luxury of BEING dramatic and wallowing in short-lived dumpitudes before getting our act together (sometimes at the prodding of the other person), acknowledging how blessed we are, and plugging along.
Cornelius and I managed to meet with and interview 29 households in the village. Our target had been 30 households, so this was close enough. Why 30? Mostly due to time constraints and also, since the village is made up of approximately 100 households (according to Cornelius), we figured we would have covered a decent percentage of the population. I mean, clearly, there was no scientific method or calculation to how we came up with this number, but everyone seemed satisfied with this total.
Once that was done, it was time for...data analysis!! Now, this may sound boring -- and it totally can be. But it's a necessary part of the process. Of course, since I had designed my own survey tool, this also meant I had to design my own database. Which ALSO meant I got to continue to be annoying to staff at Kitovu Mobile (namely, the ever-patient and helpful Martin) with questions on how to use certain programs, etc. There was also a lot of data I had to go through and input once my database was complete. My nerdy little heart alternated between singing with the joy of doing nerdy, analytical work and crying from the pure tediousness of the task.
Since this was essentially a social science research project, I didn't feel quite so encumbered with hard stats and probabilities and error bars and stupid junk like that (sorry to the research scientists in my life!). I was more interested in themes and opinions and the odd statistic that would highlight some demographic information.
The good thing about having both designed and implemented the
questionnaire was that I had a fairly good idea of the preliminary
results without having to slog through all the data before I could start developing a project. It also helped that one of the last questions I asked every family was: How do you want to be helped/what would be helpful to you? Here was their opportunity to tell me in practical terms what they envisioned for themselves, if they had the necessary support -- or to tell me to suck it.
*** A tangent (of course) ...
One man who was the head of his household came in partway through an interview and started asking us a bunch of questions about what we were doing there and why we were asking a whole bunch of questions. A part of me wanted to bristle at him (probably a residual effect of CP work). Well, if he had been there from the beginning, he would have heard our spiel about what we were doing! We're there to try to be helpful. We're the good guys (i.e. not corrupt government officials). He then told us that he's seen other people from other organizations, some of whom were Mzungus, come visiting and asking questions before and saying they would help. And then they disappeared (I'm sure there was more to the other side of this story such as funding cuts and the like, but the point is the impact it has on communities and the perceptions that are developed). He and his family (he had 5 little girls and a wife) have been managing and even though they were poor, they'd done it all on their own and without help. What makes us think we can help now or that our help is even wanted? Well, the bristle went out of me at that point. Okay, fair enough, sir (It also turns out he was a wee bit intoxicated, but he still had a valid point). Which brings me back to a question I'd been wrestling with since I first found out I was coming to Uganda -- does foreign aid and volunteerism actually help or hinder the development process? Maybe a bit of both? What about the role of local and international NGOs? What is the effect of us Mzungus who flit in and out of these communities? It goes back to the whole 'exploitation of the poor' discussion (and gives me flashbacks to my BSW days. *shudder*). This is something to explore in detail at a later date, methinks.
... End of tangent (for now)***
So, thus began Phase II of my project - analyzing data while simultaneously trying to develop a community-based project. This also meant that I got exposed to many lessons of patience (toward others, toward myself, and about situations beyond anyone's control) -- like the time the power went off mid-way through inputting some data (okay, it was multiple times. Like, daily)... and then the generator was turned on... but then that went kaput since it was out of fuel... and then the person who signs the purchasing vouchers was temporarily unavailable so fuel couldn't be purchased right away... so, I started analyzing data with pen and paper... which emphasized yet again, how calculator and technology dependent I've become and made me annoyed with myself... which gave me a headache... so I spent the next hour chatting and 'passing time'...
