Dean McEvoy Visit
As you learned from the previous post we had a visit from Dean McEvoy. Dean McEvoy visited us from December 4th to December 9th. For us it was four days of luxury. First we got to go pick him up in Kampala which meant we got to eat mzungu food and to take showers. He even brought a bottle of South African wine, yum. I think that Dean McEvoy really liked it here. He handled everything we made him do, from fetching forty-five pounds of water to eating massive amounts of strange foods to riding in very dangerous vehicles such as boda bodas, really well.
We had a very full four days planned, but the best thing that Dean McEvoy got to do we didn’t plan. The day after he arrived John told us that one of his clan members (in Uganda everyone is part of a clan. John is part of the Engeye clan, hence the name of the clinic) had invited him and his American guests to an Id Day celebration.
Id is the Muslim holiday celebrating Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice Isaac. From what our host told us it is equivalent to Christmas or Chanukah. So everyone in the family from all over Uganda came to celebrate. True to tradition they sacrificed a goat and cow. I got to see them clean the skin of the cow and grill the goat meat on sticks. They also showed us tradition Muslim and Ugandan male attire which we had never seen before.
In accordance with Ugandan custom they way over feed their guests. For appetizers they brought out what any self respecting Italian would consider a large meal and made us eat almost the entire cow’s liver, an entire cabbage, and rice. Then about an hour later, the head female of the house brought out the largest package of matooke I had ever seen. Matooke is cooked by wrapping a bunch of banana leaves around pealed plantains and then putting the package of leaves/bananas into a big pot where it is boiled. Depending on the number of people you are feeding the package is bigger or smaller. They cooked a package of matooke about the size of a pillow (no joke, it took two people to carry it into the house). In addition they cooked the entire cow and the entire goat not to mention side dishes. I ate so much that afternoon that I could barely breath.
What really impressed me the most about Dean McEvoy was how well he adapted to the community culture of Uganda. He was a natural at sitting on the floor in a circle while talking and eating directly from a huge pile of yellow mashed stuff pilled six inches high on steamed banana leaves directly in the center of the circle.
On a side note I fixed the picture link on the side of my blog. Have a nice day.
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Guest Speaker Dean McEvoy
Steve and Becky have offered me space on their blog to report in on their doings. For family and friends who don't know me I am Tom McEvoy, who along with Professor Hal Fried, works with the Minerva Fellows.Our intuition in putting Steve and Becky in this particular spot was good.
I will be straightforward with anyone applying for a Minerva Fellowship that this is one tough, but hugely rewarding, site. If you can survive the taxi station in Kampala and the ride of your life to the Village, then you have passed the first test, which I think the word 'harrowing' was made to describe. I have never ridden in the same motor vehicle with a chicken, 18 or so people in a van built for half that, rolling down the highway (with no shoulder or lighting, and people biking and walking on the side) at about 90 mph. Shock absorbers and tire treads aren't on anyone's mind.
Arriving in the small village where Steve and Becky call home was a stark contrast. Tranquil, pastoral, relaxed, and welcoming all describe Becky and Steve's home for the last few months. This really is a special place. It is a place once you see, you will never forget. Even with no running water, electricity, and other comforts we také for granted, Becky and Steve are having the experience of their lives.
As this is our first year of running the Fellows program, we at Union did not have things nailed down to a degree that we would know what the day - to - day lives of the Fellows would entail at any of the NGO sites. Becky and Steve have created something special from nothing. I can imagine them thinking back in August: "so we are here, now what do we do? " Unlike the other Minerva Fellows sites, here there was NO structure, or boss (although John does a wonderful job guiding and supporting them.) Through their own determination, imagination, and sense of service, they have made something exist where it had not before. The garden they have planted with cabbage, onions and carrots is an apt metaphor for what they have done for the village and kids through their teaching. Lots of water, mulching, and everyday care. They know what they have to do, and they do it.
As I talked with Steve and Becky and watched them, I realized we really threw them into a pond and cried "swim." They have picked up a language they did not know, and that is no easy task. They both downplay that challenge, but to watch them talk with a villager or barter in the market is an example of what I believe is part of the Minerva Fellows mission: to allow talented new graduates a transformative learning experience that will not only enrich their souls, but also greatly increase their wordly confidence and - navigational skills as they move on with their lives.
My impressions and memories of this leg of my journey will always be remembered. What sticks with me most are the kids. They are devoted to and respect Steve and Becky. That respect has been earned-- is not because they happen to be a novelty in rural Africa. As we walked through the paths and roads of the village, soft smiles and voices, and shy or wide smiles -- "hi Becky, hi Steve." While school is out of session, and I could not see the students in a class, sitting in the fading light of Steve and Becky's one room abode, I was able to read neatly written letters back to pen pals in the United States at Saint Eugene's School in Yonkers, NY. The letters were so well formed and neat a few asked a question that would bring me close to a tear: "Are you parents alive?" There is a softness and reality here that is felt, but hard to put into words.
Steve and Becky know exactly where each student villager studies outside their own school program. "He's in P6; she's in S4." They were interested in, and knew, it seemed, each child's story.
I was lucky to meet Fred, Peter, Masa, John and Jeff. They were thrilled at the prospect of playing with a simple balloon for an hour. Things are simple for them: no x box 360s, no ipods, no cool clothes. Just a sense of happiness. They show respect and joy. They may never leave the village, drive a car, ski a slope, go to a movie theatre, sail a boat, ride a jetski, have a television, or see the ocean. But, they seem content.
So let's talk about food. When I was leaving for this trip my wife, Anne, said that I'd probably drop seven pounds and have a good time gaining them back over the holidays. Steve and Becky may be deprived of running water, but there is no shortage of food. Starchy food at that. I had a problem with a few things, but Steve and Becky somehow pack it in and still look great and fit. The food is extremely fresh, and there is little meat. Mangoes, pineapple, pumpkin, fried spaghetti, and cabbage were my favorites. Matooke, cassava, and yams (not the yams we know) are another matter.
For those of you who know Becky and Steve well, it's no surprise to you that I had two reliable guides. Becky led the charge through crowded, insane, Kampala and Steve insisted on carrying my heavy duffel bag for miles. These are two of our most solid graduates who have a determination I have the greatest respect for.
I have only scratched the surface here. There are other moments of long visits with village elders, a few beers in the hostel and catching up on Union, fetching water from the local hole, celebrating an Islamic holiday with the locals and all that went with that, to quiet times in their quarters just before bed, and talks of NGOs, America, economics, and a few good laughs. I will also remember Becky and Steve squabbling like my wife and me balancing our checkbooks, as they accounted for every penny of the money they were spending on food, taxi service, and other small items that our finance office will never see a receipt for, as those don't exist in place like a food market.
For those at Union and Saint Eugene's who have raised nearly $1300, you could not have your gifts in better hands. Rest assurred that these two are making the difference and we are lucky and blessed to have Steve and Becky on our team. So is Uganda.
I will be straightforward with anyone applying for a Minerva Fellowship that this is one tough, but hugely rewarding, site. If you can survive the taxi station in Kampala and the ride of your life to the Village, then you have passed the first test, which I think the word 'harrowing' was made to describe. I have never ridden in the same motor vehicle with a chicken, 18 or so people in a van built for half that, rolling down the highway (with no shoulder or lighting, and people biking and walking on the side) at about 90 mph. Shock absorbers and tire treads aren't on anyone's mind.
Arriving in the small village where Steve and Becky call home was a stark contrast. Tranquil, pastoral, relaxed, and welcoming all describe Becky and Steve's home for the last few months. This really is a special place. It is a place once you see, you will never forget. Even with no running water, electricity, and other comforts we také for granted, Becky and Steve are having the experience of their lives.
As this is our first year of running the Fellows program, we at Union did not have things nailed down to a degree that we would know what the day - to - day lives of the Fellows would entail at any of the NGO sites. Becky and Steve have created something special from nothing. I can imagine them thinking back in August: "so we are here, now what do we do? " Unlike the other Minerva Fellows sites, here there was NO structure, or boss (although John does a wonderful job guiding and supporting them.) Through their own determination, imagination, and sense of service, they have made something exist where it had not before. The garden they have planted with cabbage, onions and carrots is an apt metaphor for what they have done for the village and kids through their teaching. Lots of water, mulching, and everyday care. They know what they have to do, and they do it.
As I talked with Steve and Becky and watched them, I realized we really threw them into a pond and cried "swim." They have picked up a language they did not know, and that is no easy task. They both downplay that challenge, but to watch them talk with a villager or barter in the market is an example of what I believe is part of the Minerva Fellows mission: to allow talented new graduates a transformative learning experience that will not only enrich their souls, but also greatly increase their wordly confidence and - navigational skills as they move on with their lives.
My impressions and memories of this leg of my journey will always be remembered. What sticks with me most are the kids. They are devoted to and respect Steve and Becky. That respect has been earned-- is not because they happen to be a novelty in rural Africa. As we walked through the paths and roads of the village, soft smiles and voices, and shy or wide smiles -- "hi Becky, hi Steve." While school is out of session, and I could not see the students in a class, sitting in the fading light of Steve and Becky's one room abode, I was able to read neatly written letters back to pen pals in the United States at Saint Eugene's School in Yonkers, NY. The letters were so well formed and neat a few asked a question that would bring me close to a tear: "Are you parents alive?" There is a softness and reality here that is felt, but hard to put into words.
Steve and Becky know exactly where each student villager studies outside their own school program. "He's in P6; she's in S4." They were interested in, and knew, it seemed, each child's story.
I was lucky to meet Fred, Peter, Masa, John and Jeff. They were thrilled at the prospect of playing with a simple balloon for an hour. Things are simple for them: no x box 360s, no ipods, no cool clothes. Just a sense of happiness. They show respect and joy. They may never leave the village, drive a car, ski a slope, go to a movie theatre, sail a boat, ride a jetski, have a television, or see the ocean. But, they seem content.
So let's talk about food. When I was leaving for this trip my wife, Anne, said that I'd probably drop seven pounds and have a good time gaining them back over the holidays. Steve and Becky may be deprived of running water, but there is no shortage of food. Starchy food at that. I had a problem with a few things, but Steve and Becky somehow pack it in and still look great and fit. The food is extremely fresh, and there is little meat. Mangoes, pineapple, pumpkin, fried spaghetti, and cabbage were my favorites. Matooke, cassava, and yams (not the yams we know) are another matter.
For those of you who know Becky and Steve well, it's no surprise to you that I had two reliable guides. Becky led the charge through crowded, insane, Kampala and Steve insisted on carrying my heavy duffel bag for miles. These are two of our most solid graduates who have a determination I have the greatest respect for.
I have only scratched the surface here. There are other moments of long visits with village elders, a few beers in the hostel and catching up on Union, fetching water from the local hole, celebrating an Islamic holiday with the locals and all that went with that, to quiet times in their quarters just before bed, and talks of NGOs, America, economics, and a few good laughs. I will also remember Becky and Steve squabbling like my wife and me balancing our checkbooks, as they accounted for every penny of the money they were spending on food, taxi service, and other small items that our finance office will never see a receipt for, as those don't exist in place like a food market.
For those at Union and Saint Eugene's who have raised nearly $1300, you could not have your gifts in better hands. Rest assurred that these two are making the difference and we are lucky and blessed to have Steve and Becky on our team. So is Uganda.
Friday, December 19, 2008
Some More Catching Up
Morphine
A few weeks ago a young boy, maybe four, came into the clinic with absolutely terrible second degree burns all over the top of his feet. He had run past a kettle of boiling water and knocked it over onto his feet. He was in incredible amounts of pain. You could hear his screams from across the road. The morning program kids were here and they all got really quite and you could tell they were really scared. In they end they had to first remove a large amount of brunt dead tissue and then use rubbing alcohol to clean the wounds. While they were able to inject some lidocane by they were done removing the dead skin it had worn off and they cleaned the burns without using any form of anesthetic.
For the next week the boy came in every day to have his bandages changed and burns cleaned without any pain killers. I was able to watch the second day they changed the bandages and after watching Richard and the boy’s teary eyed mother hold the screaming kid down for Joseph to take off the bandages I couldn’t watch the rest. It was unbelievable. It was a good reminder of what luxuries we have in the first world. No mother in America is asked to hold down her screaming child while his second degree burns are cleaned with rubbing alcohol.
Sometimes you forget the hardships that these people face. They are always so friendly and always seem so happy. No Uganda will every tell you that he or she is sick or uncomfortable or unhappy. People are always telling you that their life is good and are always smiling. But then something like this happens and I remember that these people lack so very much that should be available to them, everything from the obvious things like books and proper medical care to the not so obvious like balloons and pipe cleaners to play with in and make art project to bring
Peanut Patch
Our garden is doing relatively (~) well. A couple weeks ago we spent the week weeding the peanut patch. There are two ways to weed, the mzungu way and the Ugandan way. The mzungu way is pulling the individual weeds by hand. While this way is much more through it takes a lot longer. The Ugandan way is to use a hoe to dig up all the dirt and weeds around the peanut plant and then pick out all the weeds from the loose dirt around the plants. We started out weeding the mzungu way assuming that we could do a really through job once and then we wouldn’t have to weed again. People would stop and watch us weed. Many would even bring us a hoe and try to get us to weed the Ugandan way (including six year old children). But we held true to our roots and continued to weed the American way. However, half way through the peanut patch all the weeds from where we started had already grown back. We switched techniques. What is interesting is that Dean McEvoy was just here visiting and he instantly assumed that the hoe technique would work better. Without any instruction he just picked up the hoe and started weeding the Ugandan way. In addition, he was really good at it. I was very impressed.
The rest of our garden is doing pretty well. We transplanted our cabbage too early so it all died. However, someone heard our story from John (that we are trying to grow for the community and felt bad for us black thumbed mzungus) and donated some of his healthy cabbages. So we have transplanted all about 70 of his cabbages two weeks ago and they are looking great. We have also transplanted some of our onions. I was really skeptical because they were so little, but so far they are all standing upright. The carrots on the other hand are not doing well. They are supposed to be planted once and not in a nursery bed, so any that we tried to transplant died, I think that we are just going to have to thin the carrot plants in the nursery bed and hope for the best.
The beans are now being harvested. YAY! This is so cool because we get to eat the fresh beans that we grew for lunch and dinner every other night. Fresh beans taste amazing, although they still have the same effect on your digestive system ;). Hopefully the corn will be ready to harvest when my parents come in a week and a half.
Last Few Weeks of School
School has just let out for summer holiday (December 4, 2008 to February 2, 2009). Toward s the end of school I started to expand my teaching horizons and teach math duhnananaaa. At first I thought that this was going to be really hard. The p.5 math teacher gave me a list of topics like LCM, Finite Systems, Prime and Composite numbers, improper and proper fractions, and square numbers. Some of these topics I understood, but I definitely could not explain any of these concepts in words. However, after going through the pupils book, which I purchased in Kampala months ago and promptly put on my self and did not touch, I realized that most of it I knew and could figure out how to explain. The first topic I ended up teaching was Lowest Common Multiple (LCM). This was actually relatively easy, except for one thing, the students are not required to memorize their multiplication tables, instead they just look on the back of their blue books where a copy of the tables up to 12 is printed. Now I am the first social science major to raise her hand and argue against stringent math Gen. Ed. requirements and talk about how I never use that trigonometry I learned in tenth grade, but knowing your multiplication tables is key.
In the end I actually enjoyed teach math more than English. Math ended up being easier to teach than English for a couple of reasons. First, you can explain using examples and their aren’t very many if any at this level of math exceptions to rules. Second, I have no formal training in teaching English as a second language and there are so many irregulars. For example, I went over plurals and this was really hard because the plural of mouse is mice, but the plural of house is houses. Third, since the students aren’t taught grammar and are expected to memorize everything through repetition, it is really hard to explain new concepts.
Steve and I also got a chance to grade P.5 and P.6’s math and English exams. I take back what I said about red pen making you feel powerful. It is extremely frustrating to watch your students get something wrong that you taught, more than once. The average P.5 English exam was 30% and the average P.6 math exam wasn’t much better. There were several really funny wordos and mistakes. The best was the one asking the students to change the word wolf to plural. One student wrote “wife – domestic animal”.
End of Morning Program
With the end of school also came the end of the morning program. We decided to give the students the same summer break that the public school was getting. I think that both the kids and Steve, Hagar, and I needed the time away from each other. They were getting bored of the activities we planed for them and we were becoming a little to comfortable yelling at them and joking about corporal punishment. For example, we have to put Joan on the windowsill when she is bad (we would put her in the corner and make her stare at the wall like everyone else, but she is too young and doesn’t get that its punishment) and one day we forgot about her for about half an hour until we heard her yelling from around the corner asking to get down. Also our jokes about shutting them all in the chicken coops and letting them roast under the afternoon sun were just seeming a little to tempting.
Our last week was really fun and went really well. Steve and I made them chapattis (a local snack food steve and I have just learned to make) for snack time. They loved this because we made them extra large ones. This was the first snack time where kids weren’t crying and begging for food. We also made popsicle stick picture frames and printed picture of each of the kids. This was by far the most popular activity we have done. For many of these kids this was their first picture.
I want to thank everyone who has sent school supplies, children’s books, and arts and crafts supplies. As your packages came in we were able to make drastic improvements to the morning program. Without what you sent we never could have given these kids such a rewarding experience.
Now that I have had a week away from the children I can’t wait to start up the morning program again. The other day I was walking by the road and saw a bunch of the kids. I just wanted to sit and play with them. Separation definitely makes the heart grow fonder. It is going to be really hard to leave these kids.
A few weeks ago a young boy, maybe four, came into the clinic with absolutely terrible second degree burns all over the top of his feet. He had run past a kettle of boiling water and knocked it over onto his feet. He was in incredible amounts of pain. You could hear his screams from across the road. The morning program kids were here and they all got really quite and you could tell they were really scared. In they end they had to first remove a large amount of brunt dead tissue and then use rubbing alcohol to clean the wounds. While they were able to inject some lidocane by they were done removing the dead skin it had worn off and they cleaned the burns without using any form of anesthetic.
For the next week the boy came in every day to have his bandages changed and burns cleaned without any pain killers. I was able to watch the second day they changed the bandages and after watching Richard and the boy’s teary eyed mother hold the screaming kid down for Joseph to take off the bandages I couldn’t watch the rest. It was unbelievable. It was a good reminder of what luxuries we have in the first world. No mother in America is asked to hold down her screaming child while his second degree burns are cleaned with rubbing alcohol.
Sometimes you forget the hardships that these people face. They are always so friendly and always seem so happy. No Uganda will every tell you that he or she is sick or uncomfortable or unhappy. People are always telling you that their life is good and are always smiling. But then something like this happens and I remember that these people lack so very much that should be available to them, everything from the obvious things like books and proper medical care to the not so obvious like balloons and pipe cleaners to play with in and make art project to bring
Peanut Patch
Our garden is doing relatively (~) well. A couple weeks ago we spent the week weeding the peanut patch. There are two ways to weed, the mzungu way and the Ugandan way. The mzungu way is pulling the individual weeds by hand. While this way is much more through it takes a lot longer. The Ugandan way is to use a hoe to dig up all the dirt and weeds around the peanut plant and then pick out all the weeds from the loose dirt around the plants. We started out weeding the mzungu way assuming that we could do a really through job once and then we wouldn’t have to weed again. People would stop and watch us weed. Many would even bring us a hoe and try to get us to weed the Ugandan way (including six year old children). But we held true to our roots and continued to weed the American way. However, half way through the peanut patch all the weeds from where we started had already grown back. We switched techniques. What is interesting is that Dean McEvoy was just here visiting and he instantly assumed that the hoe technique would work better. Without any instruction he just picked up the hoe and started weeding the Ugandan way. In addition, he was really good at it. I was very impressed.
The rest of our garden is doing pretty well. We transplanted our cabbage too early so it all died. However, someone heard our story from John (that we are trying to grow for the community and felt bad for us black thumbed mzungus) and donated some of his healthy cabbages. So we have transplanted all about 70 of his cabbages two weeks ago and they are looking great. We have also transplanted some of our onions. I was really skeptical because they were so little, but so far they are all standing upright. The carrots on the other hand are not doing well. They are supposed to be planted once and not in a nursery bed, so any that we tried to transplant died, I think that we are just going to have to thin the carrot plants in the nursery bed and hope for the best.
The beans are now being harvested. YAY! This is so cool because we get to eat the fresh beans that we grew for lunch and dinner every other night. Fresh beans taste amazing, although they still have the same effect on your digestive system ;). Hopefully the corn will be ready to harvest when my parents come in a week and a half.
Last Few Weeks of School
School has just let out for summer holiday (December 4, 2008 to February 2, 2009). Toward s the end of school I started to expand my teaching horizons and teach math duhnananaaa. At first I thought that this was going to be really hard. The p.5 math teacher gave me a list of topics like LCM, Finite Systems, Prime and Composite numbers, improper and proper fractions, and square numbers. Some of these topics I understood, but I definitely could not explain any of these concepts in words. However, after going through the pupils book, which I purchased in Kampala months ago and promptly put on my self and did not touch, I realized that most of it I knew and could figure out how to explain. The first topic I ended up teaching was Lowest Common Multiple (LCM). This was actually relatively easy, except for one thing, the students are not required to memorize their multiplication tables, instead they just look on the back of their blue books where a copy of the tables up to 12 is printed. Now I am the first social science major to raise her hand and argue against stringent math Gen. Ed. requirements and talk about how I never use that trigonometry I learned in tenth grade, but knowing your multiplication tables is key.
In the end I actually enjoyed teach math more than English. Math ended up being easier to teach than English for a couple of reasons. First, you can explain using examples and their aren’t very many if any at this level of math exceptions to rules. Second, I have no formal training in teaching English as a second language and there are so many irregulars. For example, I went over plurals and this was really hard because the plural of mouse is mice, but the plural of house is houses. Third, since the students aren’t taught grammar and are expected to memorize everything through repetition, it is really hard to explain new concepts.
Steve and I also got a chance to grade P.5 and P.6’s math and English exams. I take back what I said about red pen making you feel powerful. It is extremely frustrating to watch your students get something wrong that you taught, more than once. The average P.5 English exam was 30% and the average P.6 math exam wasn’t much better. There were several really funny wordos and mistakes. The best was the one asking the students to change the word wolf to plural. One student wrote “wife – domestic animal”.
End of Morning Program
With the end of school also came the end of the morning program. We decided to give the students the same summer break that the public school was getting. I think that both the kids and Steve, Hagar, and I needed the time away from each other. They were getting bored of the activities we planed for them and we were becoming a little to comfortable yelling at them and joking about corporal punishment. For example, we have to put Joan on the windowsill when she is bad (we would put her in the corner and make her stare at the wall like everyone else, but she is too young and doesn’t get that its punishment) and one day we forgot about her for about half an hour until we heard her yelling from around the corner asking to get down. Also our jokes about shutting them all in the chicken coops and letting them roast under the afternoon sun were just seeming a little to tempting.
Our last week was really fun and went really well. Steve and I made them chapattis (a local snack food steve and I have just learned to make) for snack time. They loved this because we made them extra large ones. This was the first snack time where kids weren’t crying and begging for food. We also made popsicle stick picture frames and printed picture of each of the kids. This was by far the most popular activity we have done. For many of these kids this was their first picture.
I want to thank everyone who has sent school supplies, children’s books, and arts and crafts supplies. As your packages came in we were able to make drastic improvements to the morning program. Without what you sent we never could have given these kids such a rewarding experience.
Now that I have had a week away from the children I can’t wait to start up the morning program again. The other day I was walking by the road and saw a bunch of the kids. I just wanted to sit and play with them. Separation definitely makes the heart grow fonder. It is going to be really hard to leave these kids.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
More Pictures
Hey everyone, I uploaded more pictures. To take a look click on the link I put on the side of my blog. I also added some links to good Ugandan/African News websites and to the other Minerva Fellows Blogs. You should take a look at the blogs they are very interesting.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Additions to the Engeye Family
The “New” Volunteer Hagar!
About a month ago a new “muzungu” or white person entered our lives. Her name is Hagar!. Hagar! is originally from Israel, but immigrated to the United States when she was seven. Her immediate family now lives in northern California. She has a BA in Public Health and International Relations from Boston University. The kids and locals don’t believe us, but like Steve and I she is a twin and is 22 years old. Soon all the kids are going to think that all Americans are twins and are 22 years old. She is working for an organization called The Foundation for Sustainable Development (FSD) based out of San Francisco, California. They have put her in touch with Engeye and she spends the majority of her time helping out at the clinic. She does two things. She helps us with the children in the morning, having her around drastically increased our effectiveness. Having 9 students per teacher instead of 15 makes a huge difference.
In addition to helping us with the morning program, Hagar! is taking a Health Needs Survey of Ddegeya. This is really great for several reasons. First, the clinic can now use the information she collects to help them write grants. Second, the clinic and Hagar! can use the information to great health classes geared toward addressing the particular problems in the community. For example, one really great thing she found out was that most people actually do boil their water, so there really isn’t a need to have a class or information session on why boiling water is important.
Hagar! plans to specialize in women’s health needs. I think this is awesome and really needed. In my first month here someone told me that women were born to work hard. Many of the women here work much harder than the men, they carry forty-five pounds of water on their heads while carrying a baby on their back, they dig for hours in their gardens, they are continually pregnant, they cook all of the meals for their families, they clean their houses, they clean all their families’ clothes, care for their loved ones when they get sick, pretty much the women here are expected to do and therefore are not appreciated for how much they do. Women here need as many advocates as possible especially in rural areas where traditional values keep women in their hardworking underappreciated roles.
Two New Members of the Engeye Family
We have two other new additions to the Engeye family, Joseph and Sophia. Joseph is the new Nurse. Unfortunately Lawrence had to leave, Joseph is his replacement. He is awesome. Patients love him. The kids love him. We all love him. He is intergrating into the Engeye community and Ddegeya community wonderfully. He plays football with a bunch of locals every night. The kids love to play with him before the morning program starts and during his lunch break. And the adults respect him. I often see people come by with gifts for him. The number of patients has increased as well. Where we used to see about 8 patients trickle in each day, there is now always a line in the clinic.
John has just hired a nurse’s aid who is originally from Ddegeya. Sophia actually went to the nursing school in Kyetume where Steve and I taught and had us as teachers. This seems totally insane to me because she is a way more competent health care provider than I am. All I can do is put a colorful bandage on a kid to make him or her stop cry while she knows how to do things like inject quinine. It is really great that John hired Sophia for two reasons. First many of the local women are scared to come to the clinic because there is a male nurse. Having a female member of the community present helps alleviate women’s fears. In addition Sophia was a great person to hire. She is very motivated to not only do her job (handing out medicine and interacting with female patients), but go above and beyond and start other programs. For example she wants to start holding nutrition classes for local women. She also wants to start women’s groups where women can come and discus different personal problems. I am so excited about this. She said I could help out which really excites me b/c I have wanted to hold things like these for a while. Sophia like Joseph has integrated into the Engeye community beautifully. She is always playing Ludo (a Ugandan board game similar to Sorry) with John, Richard, and Joseph. She has even gotten me to play with her and invited me to her house for supper.
I love having these new faces around. In addition, it is really nice to have some more female companionship. When I agreed to come to Uganda I was aware that the lack of female friends was going to be hard. I currently live with four boys. I have never been one to be friends with lots of boys and while I really enjoy hanging out with Susan while she cooks it is hard to create a friendship when she doesn’t speak very much English and I don’t speak much Luganda. However, Sophia speaks English really well and it’s so nice to talk to her. The other day she sat and kept me company while I did my laundry. I enjoyed it so much. Hagar! also provides a lot of female companionship which is really nice.
About a month ago a new “muzungu” or white person entered our lives. Her name is Hagar!. Hagar! is originally from Israel, but immigrated to the United States when she was seven. Her immediate family now lives in northern California. She has a BA in Public Health and International Relations from Boston University. The kids and locals don’t believe us, but like Steve and I she is a twin and is 22 years old. Soon all the kids are going to think that all Americans are twins and are 22 years old. She is working for an organization called The Foundation for Sustainable Development (FSD) based out of San Francisco, California. They have put her in touch with Engeye and she spends the majority of her time helping out at the clinic. She does two things. She helps us with the children in the morning, having her around drastically increased our effectiveness. Having 9 students per teacher instead of 15 makes a huge difference.
In addition to helping us with the morning program, Hagar! is taking a Health Needs Survey of Ddegeya. This is really great for several reasons. First, the clinic can now use the information she collects to help them write grants. Second, the clinic and Hagar! can use the information to great health classes geared toward addressing the particular problems in the community. For example, one really great thing she found out was that most people actually do boil their water, so there really isn’t a need to have a class or information session on why boiling water is important.
Hagar! plans to specialize in women’s health needs. I think this is awesome and really needed. In my first month here someone told me that women were born to work hard. Many of the women here work much harder than the men, they carry forty-five pounds of water on their heads while carrying a baby on their back, they dig for hours in their gardens, they are continually pregnant, they cook all of the meals for their families, they clean their houses, they clean all their families’ clothes, care for their loved ones when they get sick, pretty much the women here are expected to do and therefore are not appreciated for how much they do. Women here need as many advocates as possible especially in rural areas where traditional values keep women in their hardworking underappreciated roles.
Two New Members of the Engeye Family
We have two other new additions to the Engeye family, Joseph and Sophia. Joseph is the new Nurse. Unfortunately Lawrence had to leave, Joseph is his replacement. He is awesome. Patients love him. The kids love him. We all love him. He is intergrating into the Engeye community and Ddegeya community wonderfully. He plays football with a bunch of locals every night. The kids love to play with him before the morning program starts and during his lunch break. And the adults respect him. I often see people come by with gifts for him. The number of patients has increased as well. Where we used to see about 8 patients trickle in each day, there is now always a line in the clinic.
John has just hired a nurse’s aid who is originally from Ddegeya. Sophia actually went to the nursing school in Kyetume where Steve and I taught and had us as teachers. This seems totally insane to me because she is a way more competent health care provider than I am. All I can do is put a colorful bandage on a kid to make him or her stop cry while she knows how to do things like inject quinine. It is really great that John hired Sophia for two reasons. First many of the local women are scared to come to the clinic because there is a male nurse. Having a female member of the community present helps alleviate women’s fears. In addition Sophia was a great person to hire. She is very motivated to not only do her job (handing out medicine and interacting with female patients), but go above and beyond and start other programs. For example she wants to start holding nutrition classes for local women. She also wants to start women’s groups where women can come and discus different personal problems. I am so excited about this. She said I could help out which really excites me b/c I have wanted to hold things like these for a while. Sophia like Joseph has integrated into the Engeye community beautifully. She is always playing Ludo (a Ugandan board game similar to Sorry) with John, Richard, and Joseph. She has even gotten me to play with her and invited me to her house for supper.
I love having these new faces around. In addition, it is really nice to have some more female companionship. When I agreed to come to Uganda I was aware that the lack of female friends was going to be hard. I currently live with four boys. I have never been one to be friends with lots of boys and while I really enjoy hanging out with Susan while she cooks it is hard to create a friendship when she doesn’t speak very much English and I don’t speak much Luganda. However, Sophia speaks English really well and it’s so nice to talk to her. The other day she sat and kept me company while I did my laundry. I enjoyed it so much. Hagar! also provides a lot of female companionship which is really nice.
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