Africa Installment I

We've been home from Uganda for almost 2 weeks now. In some ways it feels so far away, like it was all a dream. And in other ways, it's all still fresh, and it feels as if part of us is still there. There are so many stories to tell, feelings to describe, and photos to share...blogging is not going to do it even the slightest justice, but I at least wanted to give you a glimpse of what our experience was like. There may be other installments at later dates as we remember other things to share, process it more, and edit the video we took.

FAMILY LIFE
Living with Liz's family gave us a really good idea of what it is like to LIVE in Uganda. To have a mother (Madame) who was never educated working so hard to see to it that her children get an education...and to see children thankful for their opportunity to go to school. Liz's mom (her dad passed away 10 years ago) has a bit of a miracle story. They used to be a very poor family living in very humble means, when a cell phone company came to them and said that their property was the perfect location for one of their towers. Now with a tower on their property, they receive a regular income for the first time. Ever. This has allowed her to build a house with running water and electricity. It has allowed her to send two of her daughters to the US for college, and one of son to London. The remaining 3 children in Uganda are all currently in school as well. Madame chose to build her house in the same area of their previous, much more humble home so that she could continue living in the company of her friends and neighbors that she's always known. She's probably one of the most generous people I've ever met...there were always an additional 5-10 people at the house who needed a place to sleep, or a meal to eat. She would give them minimal work to do such as washing clothes, cooking a meal, going to the market, etc in return for food and a place to stay; something to give them a sense of worth, and a sense that they are earning their stay. Madame didn't speak much English, but with translation and charades, lots of laughter and the little bit of Luganda that we learned, she quickly became someone we highly respected. The first few photos of the slide show at the end of this post are of Liz's family members, and the neighborhood we stayed in with Liz's family.

The first thing they told us when we got to Liz's house is that they use their hands for everything! They wash their clothes with their hands, clean their house with their hands (handle-less brooms), prepare their food with their hands, etc. I wanted to experience it all and work right alongside them for all of that. At first, they weren't so into the idea of me working because culturally, a guest should not have to work. But with Liz's help in translating, they realized that I really WANTED to help...I wanted to learn...so eventually they let me. And in the end, they even let me show them a few Arizonan things...like how to use the avocados from the tree in their yard to make guacamole...and how to make salsa. :) Even though their house has electricity, it is too expensive to heat water, so they mixed boiling water and cold water in a small tub to bathe. It's also too costly to have an oven/stove, so all the food is cooked in an outdoor kitchen over charcoal. Their food is largely made up of produce: potatoes, sweet potatoes, yams, cassava, peas, mangoes, passion fruit, avocados, and matokae, which is their staple food (similar to bananas, picked while they are green, and boiled wrapped in banana leaves). Everything takes a long time to prepare. If you want to eat peas, you must start by opening the pods and pulling out the peas, which you then sort, and then cook...everything has more steps than what we are used to. The benefit of this is the wonderful connection you gain with the company you are preparing with, as well as the food itself.

We made friends with many people who stayed at or near the house, especially a tailor named Saidi and a boy named Sadati.
You will see a photo of Ryan in a suit standing next to a Saidi at a sewing machine. Saidi has been a tailor on that porch for the past 35 years. His family lives in the village, but since there are no jobs in the village, he works in Luzira and sees his family only every other weekend. His smile brought us close as friends and we looked forward to seeing him whenever we were coming or going from Liz's house. I asked him to make me a skirt and top with the material that was given to me as a gift for being Charlene's godmother. His work was absolutely beautiful, down to the touch of having satin as a lining inside the skirt and top. When I asked him, "How much do I owe you?" He responded with 10,000 shillings, the equivalent of $5. $5? Aware of the time that such work must have taken, I knew $5 was not a fair price based on our standards.

Sadati is the 15 year old son of the man that built Liz's house. His father has 6 children and can't afford to feed them all, so on school breaks Sadati comes and lives with Liz's family to help out and eat. You will see photos of him washing shoes and also at the internet cafe with Ryan. He taught us how to play several traditional Ugandan games, and Ryan taught him how to play guitar and use email. In the photo of him at the computer, it's actually his first time ever to use a computer. Ryan helped him create an email address, and we've been able to send a couple of emails back and forth since returning home. What did he want as his email address you ask? SadatiRyan@... :)

POLITICS
Uganda LOVES Obama!! Everywhere we went, we were greeted with enthusiasm about Obama. As I mentioned before, the people in the village greeted us with, "We are so honored that people from Obama's nation would visit us." The night Obama was elected, there was a dance club in Luzira that changed its name to Obama Club, and put a new sign up. I think having Obama as our president gives them hope. Hope for themselves, hope for their children. If the son of a Kenyan immigrant could become of the president of the United States...anything is possible for them!

Unfortunately, the government of Uganda does not offer the same hope, as it's a very corrupt system. Police are feared and not trusted. There are no records to keep track of criminals. Government workers all live in huge mansions (even by American standards), yet the citizens are barely able to get water, food, or shelter. It was sickening, and made us so appreciative of the systems America has in place. We may not be a perfect nation, but we do have a lot of really good things going for us, and we believe that change is possible.

RELIGION
Uganda is a country mixed with both Christians and Muslims. Five times throughout the day, a Muslim call to worship is heard over a loud speaker. We were at a craft market during one of these times, and a man right next to our car was on his knees with his face to the ground in prayer. In our experience with Liz's family, it seems there is a lot of peace and friendliness between religions. Social groups are mixed with Christians and Muslims, villages are mixed, etc.

SAFARI
Ryan and I took 3 days to go on a safari in NW Uganda. Elephants, giraffe, hippos, oh my!


VILLAGE
The village we visited told us we were the first white people to EVER visit their village. Wow. It is incredible to me that some places remain so untouched. So isolated. I loved the village, and could have spent several days there. Their life has to be more difficult than I could ever imagine: no water, no electricity, no jobs, no food other than what you grow, etc. People get married very young and begin having families right away. When I asked at what age women have children in their village, their answer was very factual, "whenever her uterus is ready". In the photos, you'll see a woman in white: she got married and started having kids by the time she was 15. Before visiting the village, I felt sad when I heard of family members leaving the village to move to the city. I wanted them to all live together, to persevere without today's luxuries to make life easier, to live a simple life and to have more joy because of it. But in being there, I realized why people leave. It's not because they don't want to be with their families. Their families are what keep them coming back to visit as often as they can. They leave to survive. To help their families survive. To give them hope. To give the children in the village hope.
When I went to Jamaica a couple of years ago on a service trip, we were encouraged to leave all of our clothes that we brought there, and just go home with what we were wearing. I loved doing that, and Ryan and I decided to do the same in Uganda. We gave most of our clothes, shoes, toiletries, to the families in the village...I don't think I've ever given clothes or shoes to people who needed it more.

BITONE HOME FOR CHILDREN
One of the highlights of our trip was to spend some time hanging out with kids at an "orphanage" (I put it in quotes, because they themselves don't refer to it as an orphanage so the kids don't refer to themselves as orphans, but rather as family)...so from today forward, I no longer want to refer to it as an orphanage, but as a home for children. It was an incredible place!! If you find yourselves in Uganda...you must go!! We found out about this home from a college friend of mine who had spent a semester abroad in East Africa. Branco, the man who started it 5 years ago, is only 28 years old, and he has brought each child there individually on his own after seeing them as street children and asking them their stories. There are 25 kids between the ages of 8 and 18 years old. There are several sibling groups as well. Many lost parents in the war in northern Uganda, and others to AIDS. Branco trains them all in traditional Ugandan music and dance as a form of healing. The name of the home is Bitone, which is Luganda for "Talents". Our time there was priceless, and we hope to make many trips back. Before we arrived in Uganda, my college friend had sent Branco Ryanhood's new EP...and then the day we got there, the kids performed Ryanhood music for us...complete with hand motions and dance...it was great...we'll include it in the video. I had told Branco before we came that if the kids wanted to make jewelry, I would take it to Ryanhood concerts to sell and send them the money. The children proudly presented us with a bag of 431 pieces of jewelry for us to sell for them! The music throughout the slide show are audio recordings we took at Bitone.

(Sorry the photos are blurry, it was the best quality we could get for such a large file on blogger.)