It's a beautiful Sunday Morning in Gulu - cool breeze and I'm sitting on the front porch with a fresh cup of Anderson's Italian Espresso Roast coffee sent by a friend (thank you Marcia!) and no particular demands on the day. Yes - hand washing a pile of clothes and hauling water for said purpose, but these things are beginning to be mundane. There's a certain amount of victory in this day because it means we have been at site (not just in country) for 6 months now. That feels like a benchmark. These things are marked on the calendar.
Kampala's recent visit now firmly past history was interesting in a lot of ways and facilitated a bit of an attitude shift. First of all, there was the luncheon with the NODEL delegation, a wonderful, interesting, hospitable group of 28 coordinated by the folks at a fine organization of CARE Learning Tours. Since which some of you asked for more detail, here it is. I was invited along with three other Peace Corps Volunteers from different areas in Uganda to come to Kampala, and talk Peace Corps with the delegation that came to see how tax dollars, policy and reality on the ground relate. Those that I was able to actually meet (time was short and tightly scheduled) included Senator Johnny Isakson, GA (co-author of the Kate Puzey Act calling for greater security for PCVs); Senator Isakson's two aids - both named Chris!, Senator Jack Kingston, also GA, House Appropriations Committee, Ambassador Jimmy Kolker (Uganda and Berkina Fasso); Barbara Lee, President and CEO of CARE, Bo Cutter, Roosevelt Institute; Stephen Keith, MD; Catherine Connors, one of the Directors of Babble (i.e. Disney Social Media) and Saiqa Panjsheri , Deputy Director of Learning Tours. They are all so welcoming and gracious, conversation was good and very informal which was really a surprise and a treat. Real people. Senator Isakson gave a beautiful introduction about PC and presented us all with Brass Medallions with the Senate Seal. A stellar dance troupe headed by the one of the men (whose name I don't have) involved in the Award Winning Documentary, War Dance danced pretty much throughout the lunch. The performance was exciting, but prevented any serious conversations.
I sat between the Ambassador and Dr. Keith and near Senator Isakson - funny, casual and human. - all of them. The meal was great. The observation was made that it must be a little like being in college and having the parents come to take us out to a really great meal and entertainment. Funny and sadly true. Such a treat would consume a healthy portion of our PC stipend ;-) And - it was over in a flash. I think we were initially all a bit nervous at being on the spot to have serious discussions about PC safety and security, effectiveness, etc. but as it turned out it to be a fun day!
From there it got terribly mundane... From the previous blog, you know Kampala was pretty well shut down. Still, I got a "new" tooth, shoes fixed, computer fixed, updated software, the return of my lost travel pillow, a good visit with friends and survived the bus ride back in fine form. Easter being a time of renewal of the spirit, it was timely and appropriate. At times it feels that if anything breaks or goes wrong, you're up the proverbial creek. You can probably get there, but first you'd have to find an ax to cut down a tree to carve a paddle if you had a knife... Nice to find easier options. No, it's good to find options at all.
Now back at "home" in Gulu, the drama of Uganda is always tapping at the door. The young woman who helps with a few things around the house (with her eight-month old baby on her back ) came today asking for help in working with the police who are dragging their feet in helping her get child support from the baby's daddy. Not safe for us to get involved in a domestic dispute, so how to help her without exposing ourselves is a dilemma. A paternity test is certainly going to be involved and it seems one must go to Kampala for such things and that means money, not only for the test, but for transportation there and back. If she had money to do that - well you see the cycle. For every one tale of woe that makes it to your doorstep, there are hundreds or thousands out there. Many women have voiced the desire to limit the number of children, but fear their husbands who are locked in to long-standing cultural beliefs that make change unsafe in a different way. No easy fix, but the younger and more educated generation - especially in the cities, are beginning to shift.
It's raining now: blue sky on one side of the house, rain on the other, settling dust and certainly breeding a few more mosquitoes. Soon it will be time again to close the windows (or manage mosquito screens (not as straight forward as it sounds) and learn to make Pillow case dresses! But for now - some form of lunch...
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