(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding-Elvis Costello

It has taken me about  a week to begin to fully process the election results.  The social studies teacher in me has processed in historical quotes, but what I can’t get out of my mind is that this election must be a call to action for good.

As I watched the election results roll in last Tuesday, I felt like I was living in Germany in the 1930’s with a demagogue assuming power over people controlled by the media.  Joseph Goebbels, one of Hitler’s key advisors, once said, “A lie told one thousand times becomes a truth.” In today’s modern era of media, this is true more than ever.  And, Tuesday night, as I read all of my friends’ Facebook posts about moving out of the country, I felt more than ever that we have become a society immobilized by fear.  This reminded me of another quote from Nazi Germany by Herman Goering, “The people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders…tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger.”  Our citizens are being fed a line of fear whether we are told we are being attacked by Muslim extremists, political correctness at home, unfair economic conditions, etc.

While our media outlets and social media addictions are continuing to divide and separate us, I was reminded of Martin Luther King Junior’s quote, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that.  Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”  Continuing to point out differences only serves to continue to divide us.  We cannot allow ourselves to become susceptible to these manipulation tactics.  We must act.  Franklin Roosevelt stated, “Democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choice are prepared to choose wisely.  The real safeguard of democracy, therefore, is education.”  We must educate ourselves, and others, to reach a greater understanding among all Americans.

Whether you are happy or sad about the election, here are some things you can do to better educate yourself and better serve our country.

•  Stop continuing to talk about the “other side” and try to better understand people who believe differently than you.
• Stop falling prey to misinformation on the Internet.
• Be a better citizen in your community-volunteer, join a local board, attend city meetings, find out what is happening in your community and join in.
• Actively seek connections with people who are not like you.
• Learn about the Constitution, your rights, our system of government-why it was set up this way and how it has evolved over time.
• Donate to causes that are important to you.

I believe that by doing these things the citizens can regain control and get back to the ideals expressed by Abraham Lincoln that this country is “of the people, for the people and by the people.”

Don't Let It End-Styx

It's hard to believe our final day came so quickly!  We didn't fly out of Uganda until 11:30 at night but, with unreliable roads and traffic, it can take 2-3 (even more during high traffic periods) hours to travel the 29 miles from Mukono to Entebbe.  That means we left fairly early in the morning to avoid rush hour.

After our drive we arrived in Entebbe with some time to visit the zoo.  We had heard there was a Behind the Scenes zoo option so we signed up for that and it was worth every penny!  Basically we were able to go into every exhibit and interact with the animals.  We started with the giant python-he did not seem happy to see us and was wrapped tightly around my leg by the time our picture was over.  Next we headed to the aviary to visit a shoebill stork.  This bird has been around since the prehistoric times and was fascinating to watch.  They make a chattering sound (much like my nervous dog who chatters his teeth) with their beaks and have interesting mannerisms when they are threatened or approached.  We were able to get close enough to pet him which was a cool experience.  We then headed over to the big cats and visited lions and a leopard.  Our guide fed them some meat through the bars and we were able to see them up close.  We were toured around in the back of a pick up and our next stop was to drive right into the rhino area.  We drove right next to them and although they didn't eat the grass we offered, we were able to pet their muddy backs.

From the rhinos, we next stopped at the hospital where two cheetahs were being rehabilitated.  We were able to enter the area one at a time and pet the cheetahs-it was an incredible experience!  The whole time I was in the enclosure with the cheetahs, I kept thinking that this experience wouldn't be possible in the U.S. no matter how many waivers were signed.  Our next stop was to pick up some food at the barn and then we visited the chimpanzee island, the Serengeti exhibit where we fed giraffe (their heads are as big as my torso!) and eland, then the elephant pen where we were able to feed a one year old elephant.  We stopped and enjoyed the monkeys on our way out.

After a delightful afternoon we picked up our bags, had lunch with some family friends who live in Uganda with the state department and boarded our plane for Amsterdam.

Independent Women-Beyonce

Offerings for traditional powers

Our last full day in Uganda was a special one.  We woke up and followed our normal morning routine to Lugazi.  We stopped at Ssezibwa Falls on our way.  This is an important area to witch doctors and believers of tribal healing powers.







We spent the majority of the day at Musana-a women's organization aimed at employing mothers to empower them to educate their children and break the cycle of poverty.

Some of the women of Musana welcoming us in song.

Learning basket weaving

Musana employs twenty women and they make jewelry that is sold in the United States and via the internet.  The women who work at Musana make a living wage, they are fed lunch and also have education sessions for an hour each day-topics include budgets and saving, health information, English classes, etc.  Musana matches the school fees paid by each employee so they are able to keep their children in school.  Additionally, the organization also helps pay for any medical fees for the women and their children above the equivalent of about $15.  We spent most of the day rotating through craft stations where the women taught us how to make baskets, make clay beads for the jewelry, paint beads, and weave mats.   I was pretty good at the basket weaving; however, I wished I could go back in time and renegotiate that five dollar a basket price I had negotiated at a market in Jinja because I learned it takes about a week to make a basket!  The mat making was not my forte but my teacher sure had a good time laughing at my lack of skill and encouraging me to keep trying.  After lunch we spent the education hour with them reading books from the community library to offer the women an opportunity to practice their English skills.  This was one of the most impressive organizations we were able to visit throughout our entire trip.

Late in the afternoon we had to say goodbye to our new friends and we headed to a local neighborhood where they put on an interactive music and dancing performance for us which was a truly joyful experience!


 

Neighborhood kids excited about Bozeman Tourism efforts

We Can Work It Out-The Beatles

Computer lab

Due to a misplaced camera, I wasn't able to finish my trip postings until awhile after our return to the U.S.  Then school started and, per usual, things got away from me.  But our last few days in Uganda were some of my favorites and I wanted to make sure to share information about a few of these amazing places.

Library 

Chemistry class supplies

Student desks

Day Four of the Uganda program we visited several schools to gain a better understanding of the variety of schools students are able to attend.  The first school was Light College Mukono which was our first long visit at a secondary school.  Having worked in high schools for my entire career, I really appreciated the opportunity to be around high school kids again.  We toured the buildings and were able to see classrooms, the computer lab, the library and the faculty lounge.  This school is working on an expansion and we were also able to visit the new construction.  During our visit, the students had a break and we were able to check out some of the boarding and eating areas as well as the school nurse.  The socio-economic level of these students was higher than many of the other schools we visited and many students here had some pocket money to buy snacks during breaks.

During our visit we were able to sit down with some of the faculty and have an engaging discussion about critical issues facing teachers in both Uganda and the U.S.  The conversation was a bit slow to start but ended up with lively discussions about religion in school, teaching students how to be good citizens and members of a community, rape culture in Uganda and how schools handle that kind of information, and more.

Our second school visit was to St. Maria Goretti Vocational School.  This is a school created by Sister Matthias for girls who have come from a variety of circumstances-neglect, abuse, HIV positive parents, rape, etc.  The goal of the school is to provide the girls with vocational training in order to allow them to become contributing members of the work force.  Girls at the school can learn sewing, catering, hair dressing, secretarial skills, child care, and accounting.  The school has 435 students and all of them board there.  During our stay we were treated to an amazing lunch cooked by the catering students.  Then the entire school put on a presentation of songs, dances, and skits about critical issues (alcoholism, abuse, neglect), finally a graduate of the school came to speak to the girls about not giving up on their future opportunities.  Finally, we were able to visit some of the classrooms and see the skills the girls were learning first hand.

Secretarial training

While visiting both schools we were able to visit some of the boarding areas and discuss the challenges girls face when they have their periods.  For a variety of reasons, students (and adults) are not really provided with much (if any) information about what is happening to their bodies and often girls will miss an entire week of school each month staying in bed during their periods.  Over time, they get so far behind they end up dropping out of school.  During our time in Uganda, some members of our group were able to work with an organization called Days for Girls which helps educate girls in developing countries and provides re-usable pads so they can continue to go to school.  the girls in the sewing class at Maria Goretti were able to learn how to make the reusable kits so they can sell them to other girls in the area and, hopefully, keep more girls in school.

Sewing class

At the end of the day we headed back to the university where we were staying for a lecture on Skilling Uganda-the government's effort to promote more vocational training in schools.  This chart fascinated me and prompted so many questions.  Uganda's development is the flat green line at the bottom.

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner-Black Uhuru

Today was a much needed rest day.  Many of our group headed into Kampala for the day but since some of us did that last weekend, we got to stay and rest for the morning.  It was a beautiful morning and we were able to catch up on sleep, reading, and email.

At mid-day I met up with the special ed immersion group to help them with some of their deliveries.  Over the past week they have been working with a number of children with disabilities in both Mukono and Lugazi.  They have worked tirelessly to create two walkers from scratch and also provided wheelchairs to two students and clothing and food and toys to other families.  I was able to go for several food and clothing deliveries and one of the walkers.  The walker we delivered today was for Jordan who is one year old and has yet to walk to talk.   Bethany and Lauren sized up the seat for the walker and then sewed it in just a few minutes.  It was so amazing to see Jordan begin to jump around and use his legs within just a few minutes of being in the walker!

It was a heart warming and sobering experience to visit these families.  Children with disabilities are often poorly taken care of because their families don’t have the means or knowledge.  Often the parents were so thankful and happy that we were able to help in some small way.  We delivered some clothing and food to Juliette who is HIV positive and currently has malaria.  We also delivered a dress to Daphne who was almost murdered as a child because one of the neighbors believed in child sacrifice.  She suffers the loss of her left hand and some severe scarring.

Meal preparation

This is a cooking banana

We had to rush back to UCU to pick up Michael and Aino as we had a dinner event.  We were hosted by Steven and Margaret Ssenyonjo for a traditional Ugandan meal and were able to learn about the process of preparing it.  Most Ugandans cook outside or in a room separate from the house because it generates so much heat.  Most people here use charcoal stoves for cooking food but sometimes they also use wood because it gets hotter.  I learned a lot about bananas today!  We've seen huge bunches of green bananas and also eaten a lot of yellow bananas; I assumed the green ones eventually turned yellow.  However, today I learned that the green are matoke or "cooking" bananas.  These are the ones they mash up and cook to make matoke, which is a starchy side dish served at most meals.  The yellow bananas come from a different tree and are called "eating" or sweet bananas.

matoke cooking on the charcoal stove

Ugandan food is pretty easy to eat gluten free.  There is often a base of matoke or rice or both.  Then there is some kind of other starch or vegetable-steamed pumpkin, cassava, sweet potatoes, chipati, etc.  There is often some kind of meat stew made with beef, chicken, or pork.  Finally there is almost always fruit-pineapple, watermelon, or mango are the most common but passion fruit, avocado, or papaya are frequently used as well.

Caught By the River-Doves

Coming down a class V rapid, aka 12 foot waterfall

Today was amazing, whitewater rafting on the Nile, saw a huge island with thousands of swarming bats, and got to ride my first boda boda since Michael had been encouraging me to try it-not much more to add, the pictures say it all.

Stuck at the top of a waterfall

My boda boda driver-he was very safe :)

I didn't take this picture because we couldn't have our cameras, but this is exactly what it looked like!