Really long time since I wrote a blog so this blog of quick comments is going to be flowed by a bunch of blogs.
A couple quick comments before getting down to the Nitty Gritty:
1. For all of you out there reading my blog: 1) thank you it is awesome that you spend time out of your day learning about different cultures and different people’s experiences and 2) even if I don’t know you please comment on what you like and what you want to hear more about (this way I can write more about what you want to hear about/tailor my blogs so that you like them even more).
2. I have not commented on the Election yet, but I am really excited (along with the rest of Africa) that Barak Obama is going to be the next president of the United States of America. Steve and I woke up very early that morning and watched the sun rise while we listed to BBC give live updates. I really enjoyed his speech on Election Day when he gave a shout out to all of us in the far corners of the earth huddled around radios. Everyone here in East Africa is also really excited. The day after his election all of my students were taking about him. Whenever I say I’m American people praise me for electing him. This positive reaction is awesome after all the negative comments I would hear about Bush’s America, however, it also brings concerns. Many people here now expect that Obama is going to drastically increase US aid in East Africa and expect that everything in East Africa is going to change now that he is going to be president. I think that these people have really high expectations that probably will not be met.
3. GO PATS! We can make it! I know that many of you probably hate the Patriots, but I am not a fair weather fan. Also go Eli Manning and the Giants. Eli you have been playing superbly this season, despite the fact that it takes 5 minutes to download the weekly stats off of NFL.com, I still do and yours always make me smile.
4. Thanksgiving is a huge deal in my house. In the past all of my extended relatives from both sides of my family came, in addition to several families of close friends. I want to give a shout out to all those who were able to make it this year, I hear it was quite a crowd. Mark, thank you for supporting the local football team and making it to the Thanksgiving Day Game. The Wednesday before Thanksgiving is called Pie Night and each kid, now anyone under 27, is required to bake at least one pie. I want to give a shout out to all the “kids”. I hear you were able to make 11 pies this year (I don’t know who made the Chocolate Pecan Pie, my specialty, but I’m sure it was amazing). I want to give a bigger shout out to my maternal grandparents, Abe and Phyllis Margolin, and my maternal aunt, Linda Fisher. Even though I wasn’t there I know you guys were sorely missed.
5. Right now I am in Kampala waiting for Dean McEvoy to arrive from the airport and I was able to check my email for the first time in two weeks. I just found out that Engeye has been adopted by MIT’s chapter of Engineers Without Borders!!! YAY!! This is so cool and such a big deal. .
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Happy Thanksgiving :)
Dear Union College and Greater Schenectady Community,
Over the past four months we have had the privilege of volunteering in a a rural African Village out of a small Uganda based health clinic. The village we are working in is called Ddegeya (Deh-gay-ya) and the NGO is Engeye Health, which was started by an Albany Medical School student three years ago. Uganda is an East African nation straddling the equator, bordering Lake Victoria, and is about the size of Oregon State. The village is typical of this region - no power, banana plantations on top of banana plantations, women strapping children to their back with a piece of fabric, villagers toiling in the fields, women carrying 45 pounds of water on their heads, and children in bright blue school uniforms fetching water at dawn and firewood at dusk before and after classes.
Within the picturesque village and behind the ever-present Ugandan smile is a country facing severe obstacles. AIDS has struck nearly all the families we are acquainted with; malaria pours through the village as easy as the October rains; malnutrition is typical as the families (70 percent of the people here are subsistence farmers) survive on the same unvaried staples everyday; climate change may convert 80 percent of Uganda to desert even though gasoline is $6 per gallon and very few people own cars; compounding these problems, families are large (typically six or more) and population is growing exponentially even though many struggle on the little land they have.
We have tried to address some of these problems, little by little: we planted a vegetable garden and a field of peanuts to alleviate kwashiokor, a type of malnutrition; we teach and review with students at a local primary school; we work with kids who are too young or cannot afford school fees so that they get positive, educational interaction in their formative years (reading, writing, singing, arts and creative activities, and basic solving problem skills); we tutor kids on an individual basis; we help repair the road; we do various tasks around the clinic (fetching water, inventory, statistics, etc.); and we try to convey what we observe, experience, and think to all of you back home, which helps link two disparate communities. We are about to embark on our next project - distributing protein and income generating chickens to local families who will then pass on chickens to two more families (who will then pass on chickens to two more families and so on, ideally making the project sustainable). [This idea was suggested by Union's own Megan Sesil and independently by Stephen's mother].
We feel extraordinarily lucky to be able to help on such a local level, to be able to see before our very eyes the impact of our work. But we realize that, in many ways, we are messengers from home. We take the books you send and help a child to read, we take the physics experiments and help a curious mind understand the world around them, we use the vitamins to help kids grow big and strong, we use the funds to innovate and create projects that assess village needs and help the village grow sustainably, we hear your encouragement and read your ideas and enthusiastically incorporate it into the seeds we sow, the students we teach, and the community we interact with.
For all this we thank you. We signed up to work here - it is our job, our "nine to five," our passion, our obsession. You all work - and work hard - at Union as students up until the "light show" in Schaffer, as faculty, administration, and staff catering to these inquisitive students, and in Schenectady as everyday people making up the fabric of an extraordinary city. But then you work more to help a people you've never met. Many of you we do not know (but would like to meet) as you've dutifully sat at tables in Reamer, discussed our blogs in Preceptorial classes or over coffee in Minervas, attended benefit concerts or benefit (organic) dinners, donated a book, a dollar, or an idea - your dollar, interest, and encouragement goes so far in a country lacking so much. We can guarantee you that.
Some at Union deserve special note. Megan Sesil and Professor Pease have selflessly donated their time and effort to this cause, our (collective) cause, raising awareness, sending ideas and updates, raising money, collecting donations, and packaging and sending much needed supplies. Megan has worked with Wells House, Ozone House, and WRUC (among others) to bring awareness to Ddegeya, Uganda and Engeye Health. Professor Pease has incorporated insights from Ddegeya into her preceptorial class, blending intellect with service and action. Catherine Davis, Devin Harrison, and WRUC worked with and brought six incredible, local bands to the stage in a Uganda benefit concert. Our interview with her reminded us that people here, buried in hills and tucked between banana plants and mud walls, are not alone. We are not alone. Catholic Student Association and Schaffer Library made helpful donations of money and supplies. Both our families have sent kind and timely donations for children. Teresa Sesil worked with Megan to set up a pen pal program that educated students in Yonkers, New York and Ddegeya, Uganda about varying cultures first hand (kids in both schools have really enjoyed corresponding). Lastly, our boss, John Kalule, makes everything we do possible, Dean McEvoy and Professor Fried dreamed of, pursued, and achieved a challenging fellowship program that is helping so many (in Cambodia, India, Malawi, South Africa, and Uganda), and Stephanie Van Dyke had the determination to see through the Engeye vision - without these people, we would simply not be here.
In short, we thank you all for letting us be the couriers of your goodwill. We couldn't possibly list all the people helping us address educational inequality, malnutrition, and health problems, but please know that we think about you everyday and appreciate your contributions.
Peace,
Becky Broadwin and Stephen Po-Chedley
Over the past four months we have had the privilege of volunteering in a a rural African Village out of a small Uganda based health clinic. The village we are working in is called Ddegeya (Deh-gay-ya) and the NGO is Engeye Health, which was started by an Albany Medical School student three years ago. Uganda is an East African nation straddling the equator, bordering Lake Victoria, and is about the size of Oregon State. The village is typical of this region - no power, banana plantations on top of banana plantations, women strapping children to their back with a piece of fabric, villagers toiling in the fields, women carrying 45 pounds of water on their heads, and children in bright blue school uniforms fetching water at dawn and firewood at dusk before and after classes.
Within the picturesque village and behind the ever-present Ugandan smile is a country facing severe obstacles. AIDS has struck nearly all the families we are acquainted with; malaria pours through the village as easy as the October rains; malnutrition is typical as the families (70 percent of the people here are subsistence farmers) survive on the same unvaried staples everyday; climate change may convert 80 percent of Uganda to desert even though gasoline is $6 per gallon and very few people own cars; compounding these problems, families are large (typically six or more) and population is growing exponentially even though many struggle on the little land they have.
We have tried to address some of these problems, little by little: we planted a vegetable garden and a field of peanuts to alleviate kwashiokor, a type of malnutrition; we teach and review with students at a local primary school; we work with kids who are too young or cannot afford school fees so that they get positive, educational interaction in their formative years (reading, writing, singing, arts and creative activities, and basic solving problem skills); we tutor kids on an individual basis; we help repair the road; we do various tasks around the clinic (fetching water, inventory, statistics, etc.); and we try to convey what we observe, experience, and think to all of you back home, which helps link two disparate communities. We are about to embark on our next project - distributing protein and income generating chickens to local families who will then pass on chickens to two more families (who will then pass on chickens to two more families and so on, ideally making the project sustainable). [This idea was suggested by Union's own Megan Sesil and independently by Stephen's mother].
We feel extraordinarily lucky to be able to help on such a local level, to be able to see before our very eyes the impact of our work. But we realize that, in many ways, we are messengers from home. We take the books you send and help a child to read, we take the physics experiments and help a curious mind understand the world around them, we use the vitamins to help kids grow big and strong, we use the funds to innovate and create projects that assess village needs and help the village grow sustainably, we hear your encouragement and read your ideas and enthusiastically incorporate it into the seeds we sow, the students we teach, and the community we interact with.
For all this we thank you. We signed up to work here - it is our job, our "nine to five," our passion, our obsession. You all work - and work hard - at Union as students up until the "light show" in Schaffer, as faculty, administration, and staff catering to these inquisitive students, and in Schenectady as everyday people making up the fabric of an extraordinary city. But then you work more to help a people you've never met. Many of you we do not know (but would like to meet) as you've dutifully sat at tables in Reamer, discussed our blogs in Preceptorial classes or over coffee in Minervas, attended benefit concerts or benefit (organic) dinners, donated a book, a dollar, or an idea - your dollar, interest, and encouragement goes so far in a country lacking so much. We can guarantee you that.
Some at Union deserve special note. Megan Sesil and Professor Pease have selflessly donated their time and effort to this cause, our (collective) cause, raising awareness, sending ideas and updates, raising money, collecting donations, and packaging and sending much needed supplies. Megan has worked with Wells House, Ozone House, and WRUC (among others) to bring awareness to Ddegeya, Uganda and Engeye Health. Professor Pease has incorporated insights from Ddegeya into her preceptorial class, blending intellect with service and action. Catherine Davis, Devin Harrison, and WRUC worked with and brought six incredible, local bands to the stage in a Uganda benefit concert. Our interview with her reminded us that people here, buried in hills and tucked between banana plants and mud walls, are not alone. We are not alone. Catholic Student Association and Schaffer Library made helpful donations of money and supplies. Both our families have sent kind and timely donations for children. Teresa Sesil worked with Megan to set up a pen pal program that educated students in Yonkers, New York and Ddegeya, Uganda about varying cultures first hand (kids in both schools have really enjoyed corresponding). Lastly, our boss, John Kalule, makes everything we do possible, Dean McEvoy and Professor Fried dreamed of, pursued, and achieved a challenging fellowship program that is helping so many (in Cambodia, India, Malawi, South Africa, and Uganda), and Stephanie Van Dyke had the determination to see through the Engeye vision - without these people, we would simply not be here.
In short, we thank you all for letting us be the couriers of your goodwill. We couldn't possibly list all the people helping us address educational inequality, malnutrition, and health problems, but please know that we think about you everyday and appreciate your contributions.
Peace,
Becky Broadwin and Stephen Po-Chedley
Monday, November 10, 2008
Primary Leaving Examinations
In Uganda, in order to leave primary school and enter secondary school you have to pass a standardized test called a Primary Leaving Examination. This examination takes two days. It covers English, Social Studies, Math, and Science. I have not been able to see a copy of the Social Studies or Science sections, but I have been able to look at both an English and Math section.
The English section consists of two parts. The first has fifty questions and is worth fifty points. The questions address topics like alphabetizing, finding the correct form of words such as funny, ordering of words in sentences, abbreviations, and singular versus plural of irregulars (for example wolf vs. wolves). The second section is reading comprehension and consists of five different passages, some stories others invitations to parties others government notices followed by one question with about five parts.
Similarly the Math section is split into two sections. The first consisting of short answer straight forward questions including simple arithmetic, percentages/fractions, simple geometry, modal math, and roman numerals. The second section consisting of multiple part longer questions covering more complex concepts like creating accurate angles with out a protractor (something I never learned how to do and still don’t understand).
It is extremely difficult for students that attend bad public schools in poor areas like St. Timothy’s Bunyere to pass for several reasons. First, the test is given in English. While the students are supposed to be taught completely in English starting in P.4 they are not. Many teachers revert to teaching in Luganda in order to make sure their students fully understand the topic. Therefore, while it is assumed by the government that these students can at least speak english, they cannot. Therefore, the students often can’t read the test. Second, when studying for the english part of the exam students are not taught about parts of a sentence (nouns/verbs …) but taught how to answer questions by memorization. For example, there are a number of questions asking the student to rearrange the words. For example, they are given two sentences and asked to combine them using the words as well as. Third it is hard for these students to pass the English section of the examination because many questions on the exam itself are grammatically incorrect. Forth, it is hard for the Bunyere students to do well because their teachers often teach them incorrectly. For example, Steve and I started helping correct their weekly practice exams. While going through the math test we found that the teacher did worse on his answer key than three of his students did when taking the test. If we counted the questions he did not do as wrong he scored in the 70%, if we did not count the questions he did not complete he got just above 80% the grade required to pass. Fifth, the student’s parents have to pay extra school fees for practice tests and a test fee as well. This is a huge burden on many of the families and they often can’t afford to buy all the practice tests or pay the test fee more than once. So if their child isn’t lucky enough to pass the first time they probably won’t get another chance.
The Primary Leaving Exam was given on November 4th and 5th. The P.7 Bunyere students are now waiting for their results which will come in early feburary. The exams are sent to Kampala and graded there.
The English section consists of two parts. The first has fifty questions and is worth fifty points. The questions address topics like alphabetizing, finding the correct form of words such as funny, ordering of words in sentences, abbreviations, and singular versus plural of irregulars (for example wolf vs. wolves). The second section is reading comprehension and consists of five different passages, some stories others invitations to parties others government notices followed by one question with about five parts.
Similarly the Math section is split into two sections. The first consisting of short answer straight forward questions including simple arithmetic, percentages/fractions, simple geometry, modal math, and roman numerals. The second section consisting of multiple part longer questions covering more complex concepts like creating accurate angles with out a protractor (something I never learned how to do and still don’t understand).
It is extremely difficult for students that attend bad public schools in poor areas like St. Timothy’s Bunyere to pass for several reasons. First, the test is given in English. While the students are supposed to be taught completely in English starting in P.4 they are not. Many teachers revert to teaching in Luganda in order to make sure their students fully understand the topic. Therefore, while it is assumed by the government that these students can at least speak english, they cannot. Therefore, the students often can’t read the test. Second, when studying for the english part of the exam students are not taught about parts of a sentence (nouns/verbs …) but taught how to answer questions by memorization. For example, there are a number of questions asking the student to rearrange the words. For example, they are given two sentences and asked to combine them using the words as well as. Third it is hard for these students to pass the English section of the examination because many questions on the exam itself are grammatically incorrect. Forth, it is hard for the Bunyere students to do well because their teachers often teach them incorrectly. For example, Steve and I started helping correct their weekly practice exams. While going through the math test we found that the teacher did worse on his answer key than three of his students did when taking the test. If we counted the questions he did not do as wrong he scored in the 70%, if we did not count the questions he did not complete he got just above 80% the grade required to pass. Fifth, the student’s parents have to pay extra school fees for practice tests and a test fee as well. This is a huge burden on many of the families and they often can’t afford to buy all the practice tests or pay the test fee more than once. So if their child isn’t lucky enough to pass the first time they probably won’t get another chance.
The Primary Leaving Exam was given on November 4th and 5th. The P.7 Bunyere students are now waiting for their results which will come in early feburary. The exams are sent to Kampala and graded there.
Fighting For Food
Steve and I have started a morning program. Monday through Friday from 9:00am to 1:00pm about thirty children from the ages of 2 to 7 come to the clinic and we practice numbers, letters, and writing. All of these children do not attend school because their families cannot afford to pay the small fee required by public schools. We have asked their parents to pack them something to eat during the time they are with us. Some children bring little plastic pails filled/half full/almost empty with steamed cassava (a root tuber similar to potatoes), potatoes, matooke (steamed and then mashed plantains); some are lucky enough to bring these foods with a little sauce made from mashed beans or tomatoes put on top, many, however, do not bring anything. When it is snack time everyone, whether or not they have food, goes out to the picnic tables. Those who have food try to eat as much of it as possible while those who didn’t bring any try to steal/beg as much as possible from them. There is a continual lull of children’s voices saying “mpa …mpa” – “give me … give me.” Often I will catch one of the children with his hands in another child’s pail. Siblings often share one pail. One day a group of siblings did not finish their meal at snack time. When all of the kids realized there was food left chaos and pandemonium broke out. The oldest girl (not the one who owned the pail) tried to take it and equally distribute the food between everyone, however, one boy wanted more than she was willing to give and tried to steal all the food. The day ended with every child running furiously after one boy who tried to steel the food because he was hungry, eventually the oldest girl Nabuuma body slammed him to the ground and distributed what little was left to her siblings. On average those kids who don’t bring food get enough mouthfuls from their friends and manage to stay active during the second half of the program. Some end up eating the chucks of food that fall off the tables on the porch. All of the children pick up the unripe mangos that have fallen off the mango trees and eat those to fill their bellies. Often I find the younger kids crying because they are hungry. It is unbelievably hard to watch.
These children go hungry because their parents are unable to feed them more than once a day. Often not only are the parents unable to feed the children more than once a day, but they are unable to provide a nutritious well balanced meal. This means that all of these children and the majority of their peers in the village are malnourished. The majority of what these children and their families eat consist of staple foods like cassava, posho (mash potato like substance made from corn flower), matooke, potatoes, or rice with a small amount of sauce on top usually consisting of dried fish, beans, or ground peanuts. Having only one meal a day is particularly problematic for children because they have small stomachs and cannot eat enough to stustain themselves in one meal. It is recommended to feed small children five or six well balanced meals a day. A well balanced meal includes a staple food as well as a protien rich food and vitamin/mineral rich food. Obviously these children are barely receiving enough starch to sustain them through twenty-four hours let alone the extra vitamins and minerals they need to grow and develop properly. Most of the children show signs of Kwashiokor (a specific type of malnutrition associated with children who receive enough calories to get them through the day but lack the essential helper foods that contain protein and vitamins). All of these children and their peers show signs of kwashiorkor they have light colored patchy hair or don’t have hair at all, swollen bellies that look a lot like those of overweight middle aged American men, sores and peeling skin, and swollen cheeks, hands, and feet. Even if the children do not show signs of kwashiorkor show signs of general malnutrition. They are small for their age, weak, get tired often, have bacterial infections growing on their scalps and faces (a sign of a weak immune system), have bad teeth, and have sores on their faces and body. While it is rare to see the type of malnutrition known as Marasmus it does occur. Marasmus is when a child does not receive enough of any type of food even staple foods. Overall being malnourished means that these children get sick more often and more severely, are more likely to develop slowly, have slower brain function, have poor vision, bruise easily, are likely to have bleeding gums, nosebleeds, and diarrhea.
These families can not afford to feed their children properly for many reasons. Two of the most prevalent reasons are lack of education, money, and land. Lack of education about and understanding of the family planning options available, as well as lack of funds to buy these options, leads to extremely large families. From the information we have gathered from our primary school students the average family has six children. Country wide the population is growing by 6% a year. The majority of Ugandans are subsistence farmers. This means that they produce all of what they need on their own land, many of the farmers in Ddegeya don’t even touch money on a regular basis. If you think of a plot of land owned by one person that then is cut in two as the population doubles and then is divided into four as the population doubles again and then is cut into eight as the population doubles again you soon realize that Uganda can not support such rapid population growth. Now think of the average farmer. Many farmers own small plots of land and when they keep having more and more children what that land produces is divided into smaller and smaller portions. By the time the farmer has four children there is not enough produced for each person to have three full meals a day. Let alone worrying about having three well balanced meals a day. The second reason why many children do not have well balanced meals is because their families do not grow foods rich in vitamins and minerals like carrots, leafy greens, and tomatoes. These are not common crops because they require constant watering (which is hard because that means you have to carry the water from the well to you land which is potentially more then a mile away and then water every day) and pesticides which are expensive.
Steve and I have come up with several ways to combat the malnutrition that the morning program kids are experiencing. First, we have planted a field about half the size of a soccer field of peanuts. Hopeful we will harvest over 30 kilos of peanuts and be able to feed each of these kids enough peanut butter to fulfill their protein requirement everyday. We are also growing beans, corn, cabbage, tomatoes, green peppers, leafy greens, onions, and eggplant. All of this produce will be given to the children to bring home; hopefully, this will increase variety in their diets. In addition, we have several people sending us children’s chewable multi-vitamins which we plan to give to each child in the morning program everyday.
These children go hungry because their parents are unable to feed them more than once a day. Often not only are the parents unable to feed the children more than once a day, but they are unable to provide a nutritious well balanced meal. This means that all of these children and the majority of their peers in the village are malnourished. The majority of what these children and their families eat consist of staple foods like cassava, posho (mash potato like substance made from corn flower), matooke, potatoes, or rice with a small amount of sauce on top usually consisting of dried fish, beans, or ground peanuts. Having only one meal a day is particularly problematic for children because they have small stomachs and cannot eat enough to stustain themselves in one meal. It is recommended to feed small children five or six well balanced meals a day. A well balanced meal includes a staple food as well as a protien rich food and vitamin/mineral rich food. Obviously these children are barely receiving enough starch to sustain them through twenty-four hours let alone the extra vitamins and minerals they need to grow and develop properly. Most of the children show signs of Kwashiokor (a specific type of malnutrition associated with children who receive enough calories to get them through the day but lack the essential helper foods that contain protein and vitamins). All of these children and their peers show signs of kwashiorkor they have light colored patchy hair or don’t have hair at all, swollen bellies that look a lot like those of overweight middle aged American men, sores and peeling skin, and swollen cheeks, hands, and feet. Even if the children do not show signs of kwashiorkor show signs of general malnutrition. They are small for their age, weak, get tired often, have bacterial infections growing on their scalps and faces (a sign of a weak immune system), have bad teeth, and have sores on their faces and body. While it is rare to see the type of malnutrition known as Marasmus it does occur. Marasmus is when a child does not receive enough of any type of food even staple foods. Overall being malnourished means that these children get sick more often and more severely, are more likely to develop slowly, have slower brain function, have poor vision, bruise easily, are likely to have bleeding gums, nosebleeds, and diarrhea.
These families can not afford to feed their children properly for many reasons. Two of the most prevalent reasons are lack of education, money, and land. Lack of education about and understanding of the family planning options available, as well as lack of funds to buy these options, leads to extremely large families. From the information we have gathered from our primary school students the average family has six children. Country wide the population is growing by 6% a year. The majority of Ugandans are subsistence farmers. This means that they produce all of what they need on their own land, many of the farmers in Ddegeya don’t even touch money on a regular basis. If you think of a plot of land owned by one person that then is cut in two as the population doubles and then is divided into four as the population doubles again and then is cut into eight as the population doubles again you soon realize that Uganda can not support such rapid population growth. Now think of the average farmer. Many farmers own small plots of land and when they keep having more and more children what that land produces is divided into smaller and smaller portions. By the time the farmer has four children there is not enough produced for each person to have three full meals a day. Let alone worrying about having three well balanced meals a day. The second reason why many children do not have well balanced meals is because their families do not grow foods rich in vitamins and minerals like carrots, leafy greens, and tomatoes. These are not common crops because they require constant watering (which is hard because that means you have to carry the water from the well to you land which is potentially more then a mile away and then water every day) and pesticides which are expensive.
Steve and I have come up with several ways to combat the malnutrition that the morning program kids are experiencing. First, we have planted a field about half the size of a soccer field of peanuts. Hopeful we will harvest over 30 kilos of peanuts and be able to feed each of these kids enough peanut butter to fulfill their protein requirement everyday. We are also growing beans, corn, cabbage, tomatoes, green peppers, leafy greens, onions, and eggplant. All of this produce will be given to the children to bring home; hopefully, this will increase variety in their diets. In addition, we have several people sending us children’s chewable multi-vitamins which we plan to give to each child in the morning program everyday.
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