Ok, so second post. The exciting news this past week is that i got my site assignment, and found out where I will be living and working and some of what I'll be doing for the next 2 years.
I'll be in the south of Uganda, near the the Tanzania border and about 30 km from Lake Victoria. I'm not supposed to tell you the name of my town for security reasons, but shoot me an email or make plain your desire to know specifics in the comments on the blog and I'll let you know. I'm in Rakai district, not too far from the major town of Masaka.
My organization has great work planned (we got a tentative schedule for the first 2 months). I'll be working with rainwater collection tanks - both already constructed, and aiding in ongoing construction - and something related to GPS data collection for tanks already made. Sounds like they've really got their act together.
One of the coolest parts is that I'm replacing a volunteer who already finished his term with the Peace Corps, so I know my organization isn't a sham, and has good work for me to do. You can see Jon Mellor's work here and here.
I'll have electricity, and great cell phone signal, which means I can go ahead with my plans to invest in a better modem which will allow me to skype, and communicate for free with friends and family back home, which I'm very excited about. I even have a shower and a flush toilet - incredible luxuries here in uganda, though I may not use either. (The shower doesn't have hot water, and honestly I think I prefer a hot bucket bath, and for sustainability/research/personal interest reasons I might try a composting toilet rather than flush my waste down the drain). Haven't decided for sure yet. Anyway, I've got lots of possibilities for research, the community and organization sound wonderful, and I'm excited for this new phase of my Peace Corps experience. I move to Kampala on Tuesday with all my stuff, swear in (i.e. officially become a Peace Corps Volunteer, not just a trainee) on Thursday, and move to site to start my 2 years of actual service on Friday.
Much love to everyone at home!
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Hi all, deepest apologies for the delay in posts. Time gets away from you once you settle into a routine, and all of a sudden its been 6 weeks or so since I last let you all know what's going on in my life. So I'll throw up a couple posts - first below on what's happened up to this point, with pictures, then I'll post again regarding my assignment, which we received this week.
5 or 6 weeks ago we went on a site visit to see a current Peace Corps volunteer. We visited David Paradis, who also goes by Daudi (David in Luganda), Kimuli (his given Luganda name), or Jesus (you'll see why when we come to his picture). One of the activities we did was build a super efficient stove, called the Lorena Rocket stove. It uses 50% less firewood, and burns with no smoke if you build it correctly. This has a profound effect on indoor air quality (almost all cooking takes place indoors in Uganda, though often there is a separate, small building for cooking). Moreover, it costs nearly nothing to build, and you'll see why in the following pictures.
First, you take an anthilll - which are ubiquitous.
Then, you chop it to bits. Apparently the ants had vacated this one.
Make sure the anthill soil is thoroughly smashed into small pieces.
Cut up some grass
Mix grass, soil, and water, and you've got some mighty fine cement.
Everyone can join in mixing. This kid was ambitions - his hoe is 3 times as tall as he is, but that didn't stop him from mixing for a good 15 minutes. he accomplished absolutely nothing, but you've gotta admire his team spirit.
Laying out the boundaries for the stove - this is Robert, a teacher for a local technical school that David, our host, works at.
Lay down bricks using the mud as mortar.
Its hard to see, but there are 2 holes in the base: one for firewood,one for air. Banana tree stems serve as interior placeholders which will rot/burn and create the combustion chamber. The actual pots which will be used were the molds for the top holes - the tight fit ensures excellent heat transfer. Also in the above picture on the left is David/Daudi/Kimuli/Jesus. His wild hair was amusing to us trainees when we first met him, but he's a great guy.
David took us to visit a nearby fishing village, which was wonderful and sad. Here's the boats - glorified canoes, really, - right on the shore of Lake Victoria. The fishermen lead a less than responsible living, generally. It's a lucrative profession, bringing in roughly the equivalent of $15/day - quite an income - by fishing all night. Then most of them blow their income on alcohol and prostitutes during the day. It's terrible, because many of them have families who live elsewhere, and the men travel to the village until they've saved enough money to come home. The families, I'm told, are simply told that their husbands/fathers haven't made enough money to come home yet, leading to prolonged absences. The lifestyle is also risky behavior for the spread of HIV/AIDS, both among the fishermen, prostitutes, and the fishermen's families.
There are lots of kids in the streets of this fishing village. At one point at had 10 separate kids on me, each clinging to a separate finger as we walked down the street. There were 5 or 6 of us "muzungu's" in a group, each mobbed in a similar fashion.
This is a sad/happy story. This girl is Josephine -seen here wearing David's hat. She lives at the orphanage in David's town of Lukaya, about half an hour away. She is seven.
Josephine likes being silly and making funny faces.
She is also very ticklish.
This is me holding Josephine's 3 year old sister, Maureen. Maureen still lives in the fishing village, because she's not old enough to go to school and the orphanage doesn't quite have the capacity to care for a 3 year old. Josephine and Maureen are not orphans: their father is a fisherman in the fishing village, and a drunkard. When Josephine came with us (David tries to take her "home" whenever he visits the fishing village) after several months at the orphanage, we went to visit her father. He was roaring drunk at 11 in the morning - tried to greet us all enthusiastically, but incomprehensibly - and did not even acknowledge that his daughter had come to visit. Their mother ran away some time ago, and no one knows why or exactly when. Maureen - the 3 year old - was staying with her father at the time of our visit, though she is now being cared for by a kind woman, Mama Kiyesu, who is affiliated with the orphanage, but lives in the fishing village. The girls were overjoyed to be reunited during our short visit, but they were both crying when the time came for us to leave, taking Josephine with us and leaving Maureen behind. Josephine is ridiculously smart - when she was taken to the orphanage, she was basically taking care of her little sister - an incredible responsibility for a 6 or 7 year old. Maureen is also very talented - I held her all afternoon, and she never stopped talking or singing, or pointing things out to me. I couldn't understand much of it, but I could tell she's very smart. The happy part is that my parents will be sponsoring Maureen, ensuring she stays with Mama Kiyesu until she's old enough to go join her sister at school at the orphanage.
Just a short walk away from the fishing village is the camp of some nomadic cattle herdsmen.
David knew the families, so we spent some time in their homes, which were quite lovely.
Now some random pictures: this is the busiest part of Kampala on a busy day. My Brandt guidebook to Uganda says that some years ago, Kampala had the most chaotic taxi park in all of Africa. So the city, in their wisdom, built a second taxi park 100 meters away. Now they have the two most chaotic taxi parks in all of Africa. It's a wonder to see the subtle organization behind the apparent madness.
Pleasant view from Kuvumba recreational center near Wakiso.
The pool at Kuvumba rec center - never have I had a more refreshing swim.
Nice, quasi-American restaurant we visited in Masaka. Very classy meal for only 5 bucks or so.
Gotta love the Obama brand jeans! They're in every market.
And yes, I picked up a pair. Definitely bringing these home to show off in 2 years.
So, there's a woman who helps cook and clean at my homestay family's house, and she brings her 1.5 yr old, Enoch, every day. He sometimes doesn't wear pants, and this is his preferred napping position, laid out on the concrete floor. I found it amusing.
Oh and World Vision is all over the place here. Hoping I get to work with them some.
5 or 6 weeks ago we went on a site visit to see a current Peace Corps volunteer. We visited David Paradis, who also goes by Daudi (David in Luganda), Kimuli (his given Luganda name), or Jesus (you'll see why when we come to his picture). One of the activities we did was build a super efficient stove, called the Lorena Rocket stove. It uses 50% less firewood, and burns with no smoke if you build it correctly. This has a profound effect on indoor air quality (almost all cooking takes place indoors in Uganda, though often there is a separate, small building for cooking). Moreover, it costs nearly nothing to build, and you'll see why in the following pictures.
First, you take an anthilll - which are ubiquitous. 
Then, you chop it to bits. Apparently the ants had vacated this one. 
Make sure the anthill soil is thoroughly smashed into small pieces.
Cut up some grass
Mix grass, soil, and water, and you've got some mighty fine cement.
Everyone can join in mixing. This kid was ambitions - his hoe is 3 times as tall as he is, but that didn't stop him from mixing for a good 15 minutes. he accomplished absolutely nothing, but you've gotta admire his team spirit.
Laying out the boundaries for the stove - this is Robert, a teacher for a local technical school that David, our host, works at.
Lay down bricks using the mud as mortar.
Its hard to see, but there are 2 holes in the base: one for firewood,one for air. Banana tree stems serve as interior placeholders which will rot/burn and create the combustion chamber. The actual pots which will be used were the molds for the top holes - the tight fit ensures excellent heat transfer. Also in the above picture on the left is David/Daudi/Kimuli/Jesus. His wild hair was amusing to us trainees when we first met him, but he's a great guy.
David took us to visit a nearby fishing village, which was wonderful and sad. Here's the boats - glorified canoes, really, - right on the shore of Lake Victoria. The fishermen lead a less than responsible living, generally. It's a lucrative profession, bringing in roughly the equivalent of $15/day - quite an income - by fishing all night. Then most of them blow their income on alcohol and prostitutes during the day. It's terrible, because many of them have families who live elsewhere, and the men travel to the village until they've saved enough money to come home. The families, I'm told, are simply told that their husbands/fathers haven't made enough money to come home yet, leading to prolonged absences. The lifestyle is also risky behavior for the spread of HIV/AIDS, both among the fishermen, prostitutes, and the fishermen's families. 
There are lots of kids in the streets of this fishing village. At one point at had 10 separate kids on me, each clinging to a separate finger as we walked down the street. There were 5 or 6 of us "muzungu's" in a group, each mobbed in a similar fashion.
This is a sad/happy story. This girl is Josephine -seen here wearing David's hat. She lives at the orphanage in David's town of Lukaya, about half an hour away. She is seven.
Josephine likes being silly and making funny faces.
She is also very ticklish.
This is me holding Josephine's 3 year old sister, Maureen. Maureen still lives in the fishing village, because she's not old enough to go to school and the orphanage doesn't quite have the capacity to care for a 3 year old. Josephine and Maureen are not orphans: their father is a fisherman in the fishing village, and a drunkard. When Josephine came with us (David tries to take her "home" whenever he visits the fishing village) after several months at the orphanage, we went to visit her father. He was roaring drunk at 11 in the morning - tried to greet us all enthusiastically, but incomprehensibly - and did not even acknowledge that his daughter had come to visit. Their mother ran away some time ago, and no one knows why or exactly when. Maureen - the 3 year old - was staying with her father at the time of our visit, though she is now being cared for by a kind woman, Mama Kiyesu, who is affiliated with the orphanage, but lives in the fishing village. The girls were overjoyed to be reunited during our short visit, but they were both crying when the time came for us to leave, taking Josephine with us and leaving Maureen behind. Josephine is ridiculously smart - when she was taken to the orphanage, she was basically taking care of her little sister - an incredible responsibility for a 6 or 7 year old. Maureen is also very talented - I held her all afternoon, and she never stopped talking or singing, or pointing things out to me. I couldn't understand much of it, but I could tell she's very smart. The happy part is that my parents will be sponsoring Maureen, ensuring she stays with Mama Kiyesu until she's old enough to go join her sister at school at the orphanage.
Just a short walk away from the fishing village is the camp of some nomadic cattle herdsmen. 
David knew the families, so we spent some time in their homes, which were quite lovely. 
Now some random pictures: this is the busiest part of Kampala on a busy day. My Brandt guidebook to Uganda says that some years ago, Kampala had the most chaotic taxi park in all of Africa. So the city, in their wisdom, built a second taxi park 100 meters away. Now they have the two most chaotic taxi parks in all of Africa. It's a wonder to see the subtle organization behind the apparent madness.
Pleasant view from Kuvumba recreational center near Wakiso.
The pool at Kuvumba rec center - never have I had a more refreshing swim.
Nice, quasi-American restaurant we visited in Masaka. Very classy meal for only 5 bucks or so.
Gotta love the Obama brand jeans! They're in every market.
And yes, I picked up a pair. Definitely bringing these home to show off in 2 years.
So, there's a woman who helps cook and clean at my homestay family's house, and she brings her 1.5 yr old, Enoch, every day. He sometimes doesn't wear pants, and this is his preferred napping position, laid out on the concrete floor. I found it amusing.
Oh and World Vision is all over the place here. Hoping I get to work with them some.
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