Help a Sister Out

Almost all of what Peace Corps encourages you to focus on during your two years abroad is the exchange of cultures and the giving of technical training.  Well, if it isn’t already apparent, I don’t do too much technical training (Teaching computers at the college is about as technical as it gets), but I do a ton of other things to help out the youth in the community.  My heart is tied tightly to the deaf school and also to my students here at the college.  Most of my work at the deaf school consists of improving their English skills through language games/lessons, and also teaching them life skills.  At the college, the highlight of my week is when my Frisbee team has practice.  I do a lot of other little things, but these are where a lot of my time is focused.  Well, this is all leading into a plea for help to anyone out there who would love to make a difference in the life of a young Ugandan that I care dearly about.  There are three different ways you can do it, so read the following carefully and let me know if you want to help out!

1. Contribute to the PCPP grant that will provide the deaf school with necessary items for a vocational school.

Here is an excerpt from the grant proposal.  I should find out within the next 2 months if it is passed at the Washington office:

            Masaka School for children with Special Needs is a Primary School in Masaka, Uganda, which caters for deaf and mentally handicapped children/youth.  The students at the school range in age from 7 to 20, and many of them have been abandoned as babies or are orphans due to aids and other external factors.  As the children/youth graduate from the primary school they are often faced with the fact that they need to financially sustain themselves, but have no formal skills that could provide an income. The life skills vocational school will train the students in a trade that prepares them to become productive members of society.  It is our goal to train the students in one of the four following trades:

●   Tailoring

●   Hairdressing/Barbering

●   Craftmaking/Handywork

●   Computer training

            The trades will be taught by Ugandans who specialize in each category and who are deaf themselves.  This will work two fold to, first to maximize communication between teacher and students and to also encourage the youth that it is possible to be deaf and be a professional in Uganda. Deaf youth in Uganda are one of its most marginalized population, it is our desire to create job-makers not job-seekers. 

            The three main objectives of the project are as follows:

●   To equip children with hearing impairments with basic vocational skills for self-sustenance.

●   To mold young deaf youth to fit the current world demands

●   To prepare children with hearing impairments for integration into the society, both economically and socially.

            You will be able to contribute to this grant as soon as it becomes available online (within the next two months).  There will be an online way to fulfill the grant.  I am requesting for around $1,700.  If you want to help provide materials for the students at the deaf school, please e mail me to tell me how much you would like to contribute. THANKS!!

2. Purchase a book, or 20, for the future library at the deaf school

Along with the vocational school, I am trying to start a small library at the deaf school.  It will be housed in the other half of the vocational school room. I have a current order in for an NGO to send a pallet of books, but with 90 kids students of all different levels and ages at the school, I fear that it just won’t be enough.  Another Peace Corps volunteer is getting a container of books shipped to him and has room for more books.  Basically a company will purchase and send the types of books that one requests.  This is significantly cheaper than you all sending me books and it is potentially faster.  At the last break down it costs 83 cents per book, including shipping. 

There are 100 reasons that I want to give the deaf children books.  Here are just a few of them:

#1-  They learn in English, and sign in English, but if they ever encounter writing material (which is rare) it is often written in Luganda.

#2- They are not taught English at home, but expected to learn it at school.  This creates a lot of problems b/c they are not exposed to it often enough.

#3- I love reading.  It is probably one of my favorite things to do and I think it is a tragedy that most of these children do not yet have that love.

#4- Most of these kids have never been to a library, let alone read a book.

#5- Reading improves literacy.  The higher a persons literacy rate, the less likely they are to have 13 kids, the more comfortable they are going to health care centers, the easier it is for them to become productive members of society.

#6- At the end of 7^th grade they take a leavers exam in English.  If they can pass it, they have an opportunity to go onto secondary school.  If they can’t pass it, they have no chance to move on in school.

#7- I love these kids.

      So there are a few of my reasons.  I am sure you each could come up with a plethora of reasons on your own.  So if you are interested in purchasing a book for the deaf school.... all it costs it 83 cents.  Let me know how many you want to purchase and then I can place the order.  (on a side note.... I have to place the order by mid-July so let me know pretty quickly about this one. THANKS!!)

3. Support a student at the college to participate in the Kampala Ultimate Frisbee Tournament.

 My students (at the college) have been playing Ultimate Frisbee with me a few times a week for the past year.  I promised them that if they became super serious, and began planning practices, games, etc. that I would find a way for them to enter the Kampala Ultimate Frisbee Tournament.  They are now practicing every Tuesday/Thursday from 5:30-6:30.  We do different drills and end every practice with a game.  With the generous donation from an Australian girl, I was able to get all of the students on the team Frisbees.... which is a huge blessing considering you can’t buy them in country and they are fairly expensive.  They were even able to practice in their villages over the last break!! 

They are stoked to go to Kampala and play in the tournament, but are not able to pay for the trip themselves. (most of them do hard labor on the school breaks and make around 1000-2000 Ugx per day, which is 40-90 cents!!) That is where you come in.  J  The tournament is for two days in Kampala, Uganda.  My students and I will rent a big van and a driver for the weekend.  They will play up to 8 games (depending on the number of teams) against national teams from Rwanda and Kenya, as well as local teams that play for fun.  Hopefully at the end of the tournament we will be able to spend an extra day at the capital doing a fun activity of their choice.... swimming, movie, museum, etc.  These students rarely get out of their village, let alone get to spend a whole weekend in Kampala participating in something they love.  They will never again be able to have this opportunity.  It is so important to me that I am able to take a team to Kampala!!  I have written myself a budget and figured out the approximate cost per person.  It will cost $40 for the entire weekend per person.  This includes entry into the tournament (all proceeds go to charity), three nights at a hostel in Kampala, food/drinks, and transportation.  There are only 15 spots on the team (and that many seats in a large van) so that is how many sponsors I am looking for.  If you would like to sponsor one of my amazing kids to play in the Kampala Ultimate Frisbee Tournament, please send me an e mail.  If you can’t manage the $40 but want to donate towards the cause, please let me know as well. THANKS!

You can send me a message on facebook or e mail me at ambercommer@gmail.com

Any questions are also welcome!!

Mirembe

So, as most of you, my dog was pregnant.  She went into heat back in Feb. when my mom was here and as she began mating I decided to get her spayed.  There are two options here in Uganda, the typical removal of the uterus and ovaries or you can give her a shot of progesterone.  After hearing about volunteers who had miserable experiences with the supposed removal of the ovaries (one vet simply “couldn’t find them”), I opted for the shot.  I called the vet from the district headquarters and the person that I figured was the most competent.  I paid him 80,000 ($40) which is an exorbitant amount in this country, but I figured it was worth it.  He came and gave her the shot, but was clearly both agitated and nervous when doing so. (everyone in this country fears dogs.... apparently even vets)

 

Mirembe continued mating for the next three days (much to my dismay, b/c dog sex is not pretty) but the vet assured me it was normal.  About 4 weeks later, it was very apparent that the shot didn’t work and Mirembe was pregnant.  So I decided to grin and bear it, and began divvying out the soon to be pups to different Peace Corps volunteers.  I checked on the internet about pre-natal care for dogs.... it included vitamins, massages, and weekly check-ups with the vet, including sonograms. Bah.  None of that exists here, so me and Mirembe made do.  We had bets going at the college as to how many babies were in there.  8-9 weeks went by (63 days is the regular gestational period for a dog) and still no puppies.  I could feel them kicking and moving inside so I wasn’t too worried.  Dogs can carry their babies up to 10 weeks without any issues so I went ahead and let time pass.  At the end of the 9^th week I decided to call my vet in the States (actually my father did this for me).  I gave her the dates for mating and she said wait it out another week.  I was basically a wreck this entire week because I could no longer feel her puppies kicking.  On top of that was the fact that I really didn’t trust the vet here because he did a shoddy job of getting her spade. 

            After 10 weeks went by, I decided that I would get her induced (by the same vet that “spayed” her).  He came to give her the shot and I mentioned that the puppies weren’t moving.  He said, “oh, they are definitely dead so don’t worry about that.”  I was confused as to why they were dead and he simply replied that they were.  He refused to feel her belly to see if they were moving and on top of that he informed me that you can’t hear puppy heart beats in the womb (which is obviously a lie).  He wouldn’t touch her at all because he was so scared of her and ended up sticking her three times before he finally gave her the damn shot.  I was pretty livid by this time and then he had the nerve to ask for payment.  I explained to him that in America if someone spays a dog and it doesn’t work they don’t charge for subsequent shots relating to the birth, or they atleast refund the money from spaying.  He got super angry with me and told me “This is Africa!”  They always say that and it annoys the piss out of me.  So I continued to tell him I wouldn’t pay him and he stormed off on his motorcycle.... really professional.

            Mirembe began bleeding profusely the next day and without internet access and a decent vet I felt totally helpless. I didn’t know if that was normal, if she was okay, if I needed to rush her to Kampala.  I guess although I am living in a third world country, I have not experienced the lack of health care.  We have a 24 hour nurse at Peace Corps disposal and anytime I have any illness, I am quickly sent to Kampala where it is taken care of.  I finally got to experience the fear that must go through a Ugandan womans mind as she begins to give birth or if she has a sick child.   Health care facilities are not available in the village, and even then the doctors are questionable and looking to make money.  So I did the only thing I could do, and had my Dad call our vet in the States and I called the PC nurses.  It ended up that it was totally normal and so Mirembe was finally in labor, but come to find out, the labor inducer he gave her was PFG2.... a labor inducer for cows!! What an idiot! To make a long story short, Mirembe was in labor for around 36 hours (much longer than the average dog is).  I was in constant contact with the vet in the States, via my Dad, who made around 8 calls during her labor.  Each puppy came out and was dead, but Mirembe worked diligently to resuscitate them. (They were all beautiful.  All black with white paws and a tuxedo shirt... just like Mirembe.  And tiny little paws and ears.)  Of course they had been dead inside the womb so there was not much she could do.  I cried for her and she looked at me like she understood my sorrow.  When she finally popped out the 6^th one, a day and a half later she collapsed in exhaustion.  At that point all I cared about was that Mirembe was healthy.  She is laying at my feet right now, in her bed relaxing. 

Though it is very unfortunate that she lost all of her puppies I learned a really interesting lesson about what it is really like to be a Ugandan.  The infant mortality rate and maternal mortality rate in Uganda is much higher than that of the first world.  Physicians are far away, they are over-burdened, under-payed, and are usually lacking the appropriate medicines.  It was the most nerve racking thing to know that something was going wrong but there was not someone educated enough to do something about it, and also to know that the knowledge and facilities existed somewhere... but were not accessible to me.  It was also so terrible frustrating that someone who supposedly knew what he was doing had gone SO very wrong multiple times.  So you live and learn.... that we are damn lucky to be living in the first world where health care is a given.... where you can get any medicine you need.... where you have 24 hour physicians who are dedicated and informed... where money can buy any procedure that you want.  Animals in America get better health care than most Ugandans...

(About 6 hours after I wrote this Mirembe gave birth to a seventh puppy.  She is doing good tho...)  A day after I posted this Mirembe gave birth to an eighth puppy!  She is still doing good.

Say what?

Ugandans are constantly saying hilarious things to me. I write them down and keep them in a little journal so I can look at it and laugh sometimes. I figured I should share some of their funny little quips with you:

In the staff room, the tutors were talking about how I have not gained enough weight. Someone ended the conversation by saying: “People have not begun to comment on your extended stomach.”

When I was teaching English at the local church one of my adult students said, “My head is happy because you are teaching me.” I was impressed with his correct use of tense.

Again at the church I teach at, we were discussing my belief in God.... which is incredibly abstract and not understandable at all to a Ugandan. Dennis said, “You will have to become saved, or the Catholics will try to chase you to their church.” Ha. Then we were discussing heaven and hell and I was saying that I think I am going to heaven. This same man said, “Maybe somehow you will find your way there.”

I was supervising students at a primary school right before Easter weekend. One of my students said, “You will have to stop because the whole school is going to the film for Jesus.” So cute

Judith from the deaf school caught me right as I was coming back from Kampala and informed everyone in the staff room, “This one moves like a man.” She was referring to the fact that I travel often. ☺

Walking through town, I usually get hollered at, or atleast get a marriage proposal or two. The other day a man walked up to me and said, “Give me your life.” I just bust out laughing and he wasn’t really sure what to do.

I was at a local concert with a head teacher and it was very late at night. At this particular concert there was a guy walking around selling apples (exhibit A as to why Ugandans are thin, at concerts they splurge and buy.... APPLES) Anyways, he looked around and said, “Is it fashionable or something to eat apples at night? I see all these people eating apples at like 10 o clock... and I’m thinking... is this fashionable?” I just about died laughing.

On a totally different note... over Easter weekend I tried to explain Easter in America to people. I talked about coloring eggs and a large bunny hiding them in the house. I told them how the kids have to find them, and sometimes we fill plastic eggs with candy and they find those too. People thought it was by far the funniest thing they had heard of in a long time. I was glad that our customs make Ugandans laugh.... because their customs sure make me laugh.

This has got to be the good life...

This has got to be the good life....

 

Because having tea with your neighbors is absolutely considered work.

Because I walk out my backyard and it looks like Jurassic park.

Because I can justify spending 3 hours sitting outside simply because I have to do laundry.

Because I can plant food and eat it for weeks.

Because I get to spend hours reading books.

Because I never have to shut the windows of my house.

Because everyone has babies and everyone lets me hold them.

Because I am learning something new everyday.

Because I can run with my dog and she doesn’t have to have a leash.

Because internet is a luxury that I get when I go to town.

Because I can eat jackfruit everyday of my life.

Because you can see more stars here at night than anywhere in the world.

Because I get to help people help themselves.

Because people laugh and smile when I speak their language.

Because I go to sleep to the sounds of frogs croaking and bugs buzzing.

Because crested cranes live in my backyard.

Because life is simple.

Because I see my neighbors at least 7 times a day.

Because I can buy avocados the size of my head for about 10 cents.

Because it is appropriate for me to walk in someone’s back door without an invitation.

Because I can lose power for two weeks and not get angry.

Because I can ride my bike or walk to work.

Because I get to play Frisbee everyday.

Because everyone says hello, even if they don’t know me.

Because I live about 30k from the equator.

Because I can spend 75 cents and get a delicious meal of tilapia.

Because the sun shines every day here.

Because I appreciate the little things.

Because I get to teach people English.

Because time goes so slowly here that everyday seems to last for 3, and that’s a good thing.

Because I am learning sign language.

Because I don’t wear makeup.... and I kind of like it.

Because at night this place smells like a Bath & Body works shop.

Because I get to see baby goats doing back flips off of termite mounds.

Because I have met best friends who I can grow old with.

Because my neighbors are my confidants.

Because I shower from a bucket and actually look forward to it.

Because my dog can do tricks and people think she is a genius.

Because I get to see the sun rise every morning.

Because I am growing and changing, and that is the whole point of life.

Because I get to help the future primary teachers of Ugandan improve their teaching skills, and therefore improve the future of Uganda.

Because there is not much in the world that is better than this........

 

This is definitely the good life.

One year in Uganda

I’ve been in Uganda for a year now.  It’s crazy to look back and see just how far I have come. 

Living and working alone in a third world country has been much more difficult than I had ever imagined.  But it also continues to have rewards that exceed my wildest expectations.  It is hard because I am different, and as much as I don’t want to be different I continue to be different.  It is hard because I don’t have anyone who thinks like me to bounce my ideas off of.  Its difficult because I want to be the best I can possibly be and feel incredibly guilty on days when I simply can’t.  It’s a challenge to overcome apathy some days.... no one is really holding you accountable here. It’s hard to feel like you have ever done enough, because really... when have you ever done enough?  There have been days when I was sure I should quit Peace Corps, but luckily those days are outnumbered by the good ones.

Now that I have been here a year, I feel as though I am finally part of the community.  It seems funny to me that I though this would happen simultaneously with my arrival in the community.  Looking back, I wish it wasn’t an expectation that I had, I think it would have made my first year a lot easier.  It takes a long time for people to get to know one another.  It takes months for real trust to be formed.  It takes days of talking to understand what a person believes and why they believe it.  And it takes a year to finally feel like you’re part of a community.

I finally feel like I am part of the community.  You know, everyone said “The first year is so hard, but once you get past a year things are really good.”  For some reason I didn’t believe them.  Could it really take a year to be comfortable with your surroundings?  You need over 300 days to find your true friends and work that you find enlightening and which also helps the community?  It’s going to take 50 weeks just to finally understand why people are doing things the way they are doing them?  The answer is yes.  At the year mark suddenly the clouds parted and life here began to make sense, or maybe I just finally decided that they weren’t becoming anymore like me so maybe I should work harder to become like them.  And now things have become much easier.

I have decided to work with people who want to work with me, as opposed to working with who Peace Corps says I should work with, and it’s working out beautifully.  I spend most days at the deaf school as well as teaching in the community.  I am still teaching computers at the college and for the next 4 weeks am going to be supervising student teachers in the field.  It seems that the pieces of the puzzle have come together and I can’t wait to see what this year brings.

Things you Don't do...

There are also a number of things that you might want to do in the States that you should DEFINTELY not do in Uganda.  Here are just a few of them.

(Please note that I have done every single one of the following things... that’s how I learned not to do them!)

 

Throw things to people-  I throw things at people all of the time.  I throw pens to people.  I chuck phones at people when they ask for them.  I totally have no problem tossing a piece of paper to you.... that is until I was told it is totally inappropriate in Uganda. I was in the staff room and someone asked me for the keys to the computer room.  I held them up and said, “catch”.  Mr. Wanzala stared at me with a blank expression and looked in no position to catch them.  Well... I was half way across the room and not about to get up, when someone finally said, “We don’t throw things to people in the Buganda Kingdom (the region where I live).”  I said, “Really... I have been doing that for like 6 months.. why not?”  He then explained that they only throw things to dogs and if you throw something to a person it is an insult.  Did I mention I have been doing this for 6 months, and this was in front of all of the staff at the college. Cool Amber.

Name animals after humans- When I thought my dog was a boy, the students named her Lute.  And then we found out she was a girl.  So I let the staff come up with names.  They wanted to name her after inanimate objects and I wasn’t to keen on that.  They told me that there was no way you could name her a Lugandan name because, yet again, it was disrespectful.  So I decided to name her mirembe... which means peace, thinking it was not a name but still had meaning.  I told the staff at our next meeting and Madam Namakula stood up and informed me that her other name was mirembe.  Ha.... I totally named my dog after a tutor at the college.

Talk back to men- As you can imagine, I have gotten myself into a few nasty situations with this one.  There is still such a difference in the respect for each sex. Women kneel down to men, serve men, etc. and they expect Americans to do it as well... which I obviously don’t.  I am considering it cultural exchange.

Turn down food- People are constantly offering you food here, and you have to take it.  Its incredibly rude to turn it down... but oh so difficult when you have just finished lunch and someone offers you a second one.  I have learned to be careful what I eat before I go over to someones house or I just might end up eating the whole day.

Eat your totem animal-  Every person in Uganda belongs to a clan.  The clan is determined by your fathers clan, and your name correlates specifically with the clan.  Anyone in Uganda can say their name and other Ugandans will know which clan they are from.  There are monkey clans, deer clans, plant clans, fish clans, etc.  The rule about the clans is that you can’t eat the animal/plant that is your clan.  My name is Nakimera and I am of the grasshopper clan... after reading previous blogs, I am sure that you can tell I have broken this rule.  I constantly have to lie to people that I don’t eat Nsenene.  And I can’t tell the people where I buy grasshoppers my name because they won’t sell them to me if they know I am Nakimera. Ha.

Hang your underwear on the outside clothes line-  You just don’t do this here... because underwear is such a private thing.  I am not going to lie, I still hang my underwear on the line. 

Plant pumpkins next to peas-  Starting my first garden was fun.  But I had exactly no clue what I was doing.  I came up with a very beautiful design for the plot, and was absolutely unaware of how specific vegetables grew.  I ended up with monster pumpkin plants that attacked my peas with their vines, successfully killing all of my peas.  Guess you live and learn.

Have dirty shoes- Ugandans are unusually preoccupied with their shoes.  And for a country that is mostly covered in dirt roads, this is a problem.  I am forever walking to class with muddy shoes, or shoes that are so covered in dust that they look light brown.  I get admonished for it all the time, but who really has time to wash their shoes... alright, Im not really that busy. But its still annoying.

Acknowledge when women are pregnant-  This one is so HARD, because everyone in this country is pregnant. That and I totally love pregnancy. It is totally inappropriate to ask someone if they are pregnant, to talk about their potential baby, or to ask to touch their belly.  Ugandans believe that if you talk about the baby before it’s born than you could possibly curse it.  I didn’t have any clue about this about 3 months ago... when I was teaching English at a church.  The pastor mentioned that some of the students (adults who attend the church) might not be there in a few weeks for “certain reasons”.  This was in front of the whole congregation.  I said, “Well... what reasons?”  And he looked around and said, “Hmm... just look around.”  Which I did... and proceeded to say, “Oh, they are pregnant?!!?  Are you all having boys or girls?  Will you have them soon?”  Everyone just stared at me like I was an idiot and the pastor whispered in my ear “We don’t talk about those things here.” Come on Amber!  After that I talked to Ugandans and found out it is not appropriate at all to talk about a pregnancy in any way shape or form for fear that the baby will be cursed.

 

So if you ever come to visit me, be sure not to do any of the above mentioned things. J

My College

So Dad got a little crazy on google maps and found and arial view of my college! Here is the link to it:

<http://maps.google.com/maps?client=firefox-a&hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=-0.290117,31.740194&spn=0.005085,0.006899&t=h&z=17>

So its shaped like a triangle with all of the teachers quarters at the base of the triangle. My house is on the far left hand side. If you zoom out a bit and look at the red roofs... that is the deaf school. To the east of my college is what seems to be a river, but is actually a swamp... its water but it is so covered in vegetation that I have never actually seen the water. Zoom out some more and you can see where I have to go to buy food. Its called Ssaza. Enjoy :)