First Meeting with MUWA

Mbale United Women's Association is the SACCO we are working with, and Saturday we got to work! About thirty-five women attended and it was a success. We had six topics and my topic was "planning a better business." We rotated smaller groups of women and each talked about our given topic and got feedback from the women to see if the topics were important to the women; and if they would be interested in learning more about them in one of our workshops. Now, lets keep in mind I have never ran a business, and my knowledge about strengthening a banana stand is a slightly limited, however, I just kept the concepts basic and in turn got a lot of great feedback.
It is really interesting how resources seem to fall in our laps here. Just yesterday we had a lengthy discussion on how it would be great if, along with getting Ugandan business student interns to help us, we could get medical student interns to incorporate a health education element to our workshops. Then, today Allan (the doctor who is working with us) got an email from a colleague in Kampala who has Makerere Med students who need intern positions and would love to work with us. So hopefully, soon we may have Ugandan business and medical students working along side us here in Mbale, giving business and health training to SACCOs here in the city and in surrounding villages.
But on a more personal note.... I can't say I'm not missing my Oregon summer, and all my friends. We are having fun, but we really are working a lot. Sometimes, I just want to hop in the car with the radio blaring, windows down and cram in one more girl between the camping gear and head out to Blue River for some quality time around the campfire and skinny dipping. It's funny I don't remember being homesick in Spain. But don't worry friends and family! I'm far from crying myself to sleep. It's just a different adventure from anything else I've ever experienced, and it is definitely growing on me in a different way everyday.
So, just to keep you filled in on current events, I will also be either going to Lira and Murchison falls (in the North) or Jinga (half way to Kampala) this weekend for a get-a-way adventure and maybe a little work while I'm at it. So, I'm really looking forward to that :) But anyways, friends and fam thanks for keeping up with me! Love you lots!

I couldn’t believe I was at a hospital yesterday, no I wasn’t hurt, I just couldn’t literally believe the buildings I was looking at were wards. I don’t know what I was expecting, but the experience was definitely humbling. We have made friends with three medical students who have been interning here in Mbale for the past month, but Saturday they will be returning to Kampala. So, we got the VIP tour of the referral hospital here in Mbale. Can’t say I felt very comfortable walking through the general medicine area. One side of the ward was for men and the other for women, and that was about the most privacy anyone had. Men were sitting in the open with catheters, people with IVs going into their heads, half naked women, beds were just piled into a room, and from what our friends told us, it was a slow day because the beds only had one person in them. Treatment is free at these government run hospitals but what they don’t cover besides some medications are gloves! Patients either have to bring a box of gloves with them, or hope that whoever treats them finds that they are in extreme need of them. (So I think Emily and I are going to try to get a few boxes donated) Then, it was off to the maternity ward, seeing dehydrated babies and women who just gave birth wasn’t very fun, but holding a newborn baby....that was amazing! I acted like a real Quicker woman, and definitely cried a little, haha. I felt pretty silly, but I am very maternal, and I have never even seen such a new baby, it was amazing. So, while shocking at times, overall the visit was very nice.
But on a lighter note, the rest of our crew rolled in last night. Our professor Ron Severson, his daughter and a doctor from the university got in around seven and we had a chicken roast in their honor. But all else is going well, I got invited to a Muslim wedding here for Saturday, but unfortunately we have to work this Saturday : ( But my local friend Dorin and her British boyfriend assure me they will get me to another weeding or introduction (when the man offers a woman’s family a dowry for her betrothal) while I’m here. So, hopefully that will work out!
Oh, and the visit out to the village with Auntie Vironica went very well. We basically played with the village children for a few hours, so that’s where the photos are from....needless to say they really liked my sunglasses :)

Alicia Keys look alike?

Hmmm...I'm thinking not so much. I wish I was a Alicia Keys look a like, but I'm wondering what my Ugandan friends were drinking. One thing I don't think I will ever get used to here, are some of the hidden motives some people may have. I have a really hard time understanding why someone would ever want to be my friend besides for enjoying my company.
But I am continually reminded that people here see white people as a resource first and friend second....sometimes. But I think I will remain naive to an extent, I really hate making generalizations, because I have also already made some very genuine relationships as well. But the reason I say this is because of some of the interesting relationships and interactions I have already had with a few individuals. There is this woman named Topi who I always have a lot of fun dancing with whenever I go out, but when I just met her for a beer I found myself buying a round for five and getting questions such as, "does your organization pay you to be here, or how did you buy or ticket? We should some visit you in America, do you have a boyfriend? You should meet my brother." And that's all good and fine, I understand their curiosity, but I also realize that my color also may give them a false perception of what they could gain from my friendship.
Take for example Topi's brother, who I did meet. He just spent the last hour confessing his love for me. "No, you are just infatuated, you could not possibly love me. You do not know me, you just met me an hour ago." And his indestructible response," You have no consideration for my feelings when I tell you how much I love you. I do not assume you have any more money than I do, I love you because of how beautiful you are and I can tell you are a good woman. I am absolutely not just infatuated with you. But you do look just like Alicia Keys." Hmmmmm......all I could think of saying was "thank you, but I'm really only interested in making friends while I'm here." But when the table of five Ugandans were telling me I look like Alicia Keys, can't say I wasn't a little flattered as much as I was flabbergasted.
I have been making quite a few friends already and I think the people in the house may get a little worried I may be too trusting. However, naive I may be, careful I remain. The reason I am even writing about this is because I kind of need to vent about this dilemma I face. It really bothers me that I can't trust the people I befriend, because often there are hidden agendas. So how do you know who to trust? I guess you just listen to your gut and learn from trial and error. Another example, which I love, came today in the form of a mysterious letter. The mother of the family that lives behind us got a note today to deliver to Luke which said, "Dear my best friends how are you and how is life please. I want to inform you that I want to your best friend and we are brothers and sister God says love one another may God bless you. Please answer for me the phone please (number) my name is Sumay and please answer my message. From Sumay to my best friends." My instant reaction was "how sweet!!! Lets invite her to dinner." Then I realized, at about the same time my roomies snapped me back to reality, "Jaime, we can't just let anyone into our house that is nice to us, that is how our neighbors were robbed." ohhh wow. Duh. But definitely some food for thought; I see every relationship that I touch as something to learn from, whether it be good or bad it is always something interesting and something to learn from. You just hope the relationship never ends up being too bad.

Workin hard with Auntie Vironica

Today like most days here was....interesting. It was also the first time in a long time I worked for a solid eight hours on anything besides homework. Apparently, if we want the SACCO members to actually come to the meeting we have been planning for them we need to personally bring an invitation to them, and basically guilt them into it. Vironica is the chief of the SACCO and has been the woman who has made our relationship with the SACCO possible. So because I have been the leader for planning this meeting I volunteered to pass out the invites with Vironica. Little did I realize this meant eight hours of walking near and far, knocking on members doors, traveling out to three villages and in the end funding two children’s schooling. And we still only got to half the names on the list. Now, don’t get me wrong I may sound like I am complaining but I’m far from it. Today, at times, was hard and exhausting but always absolutely amazing.
Wait a minute...funding two kids to go to school? Ok, well I know I can’t pay for every child that deserves an education to go to school, but two? Definitely. It all started with the eight year old boy who sold two bananas to me and Vironica while we were taking a rest under a tree. Vironica asked the boy why he wasn’t at school and he said, “school fees,” so Vironica asked, “how much do you need?” the answer: “8,000 shillings” (which is roughly $4). My God I had to restrain myself from just opening up my wallet. The problem with just giving the child the money is that without personally paying the school, you never know where the money will actually go. So, I asked Vironica if there were any SACCO members who’s children weren’t able to go to school because of an amount so small. And of course the answer was yes. Our next stop on our agenda just so happened to also be the school where the 12 year old girl was attending. So in five minutes and roughly $4.50 out of my pocket, a 12 year old girl was able to finish her school year. That gives you a certain kind of high to do something so small that makes such a huge difference. So I asked Vironica if that girl, Ester, has any siblings that would need the same support (gotta be fair) and she said they don’t need the help now as much as Judith. Ok, who is Judith? Judith is anywhere from 5 ½ to 7 years old, she is from a rural village and they aren’t sure. But Judith and her seven siblings just lost their father to a snake bite. When one of the woman from the SACCO went to the funeral what she found was appalling. There was no money for a proper burial and all of the children were already visibly in very poor health. The mother couldn’t afford to feed the kids more than one small meal a day. So five of the children were adopted by individuals who attended their father’s funeral. The older children stayed in the village with their mother to work digging holes. Now Judith for the first time in her life is eating three times a day, but her adopted mother still cannot afford to pay Judith’s school fees, which are basically $40 for a eleven month school year. I had the opportunity to meet Judith and my heart melted. She had never seen a white person before and her timid smile and wide eyes were locked on me with amazement, as my eyes were locked on her in equal bewilderment. How could a child so young have already gone through so much pain? Its one thing to hear about it, and another to shake hands with it. So, in my mind I adopted Judith...I then vowed to myself to do whatever I can to make this beautiful young girl’s life just a little better. Let me know if anyone wants to sponsor a child and I will walk to their school and pay the bill myself...there are countless “Judiths” here.
Tomorrow should be an adventure as well, I will be heading up the mountains to another village with Vironica to buy some millet for her business. This should be super cool because anytime you go very rural, the culture is always rich with new surprises. Can’t wait :)

Just another day in Mbale...

Life here is an interesting thing. When we aren't working we are either at the market getting supplies for the next meal, cooking or eating. The pictures here were just taken a few hours ago at our favorite veggie lady's spot in the market. Without microwaves or full size refrigerators meals can be quite a chore. Which is kind of fun because I love cooking....but I have a feeling this might get a little old. The general rule of thumb for us is if you can't cook it or peel it you can't eat it. So we have had to get a little creative in order to have a little variety in our diet. So if anyone has any recipes that only need tomatoes, beans, peas, garlic, potatoes, rice, pasta, eggs, carrots, eggplant, pineapple, mango, bell peppers or onions PLEASE share...because we seem to be running out of new ideas. Two nights ago we made homemade tortillas and had some delicious vegetarian burritos, then last night was minestrone soup, tonight I'm in charge and I will be attempting Pad Thai.
The house is actually empty right now, and I think this is my first moment alone. So nice, I'm cracking open a guinness and not worrying about someone wanting the computer. I have really enjoyed everyone's company, but who doesn't like a little alone time? And I do prefer to have it during the day. The one evening I stayed up later than everyone else, as things got quite all the critters started coming out. Within that hour alone in the living room I saw two mice, numerous lizards and two giant cockroaches.....needless to say I haven't been so brave since.
Today has been a little bit of a slower work day for me, mostly because things work a little slower here. And if you know me, I'm not always the most patient person; so this is good for me. But after buying our groceries Shawna and I went by our favorite fabric stand to buy some materials to get skirts made. Fabric and personal tailoring total cost was 15,000 shillings which is roughly $9. Souvenir anyone?
Then, for a last stop I thought I might buy a pair of flip flops from one of the many vendors on the sidewalk. Not so easy. As soon as I tried a pair on i had men grabbing my feet, shoving various flip flops on them. Not only shoving their flip flops on me, but throwing other vendors flip flops down the street to get the other guy away. haha, A tid bit overwhelming... so no flip flops today, but definitely an interesting experience.

some pics of the palace...

Getting to work!

So many of you may or may not know what the heck I’m doing here. Well we are more than less still figuring that out. But the good news is, the picture of my purpose here is becoming more and more clear. So quick overview: I am here doing work for a non profit organization called M.A.P.L.E. We were formed just over a year ago by three University of Oregon students, therefore our mission statement is still ever changing; however, we would ultimately like to give microloans and provide our clients with business training and possibly mentorship opportunities. By partnering new entrepreneurs with business students (ideally Ugandan...eventually) we hope to help them develop a more successful business and allow them to escape poverty. So in our first steps to develop a training program, we are working with a SACCO called Mbale United Womens Assocation, in very short, it is a savings group, where members put a little money into the pot every month and when they need a big sum of money they borrow it from the group.
Today, myself and the two new arrivals Emily and Shawna got to visit and interview five of the SACCO members businesses along with the leader and creator of the group, Vironica (who told us we are about to get a lot of new Aunties!) And we kind of figured out of next move. We asked the women what kind of skills they would be interested in learning more about, which generally was some form of book keeping, saving strategies, investing and expanding their businesses. So we set a date and on the 25th of this month we will have a big meeting with all the members to further discuss what they want to learn about and for an official meet and greet. Then we are going to develop a curriculum for weekend workshops where members will come once a week and learn more about creating a successful business. The whole task can be pretty daunting, but after meeting these women, I am absolutely going to do the best I can to help them. They seem to have faith in me, so now I just to find a little bit more in myself and see what we can do :)

Finally ballin' in Mbale

What did you do for 4th of July? Well, I'll tell you what I did.... not to brag or anything. So we had a night to rest in our new home in the Indian Quarters of Mbale, Mbale Uganda, then it was a short bus ride up to the top of Mt.Elgon where we stayed at the cutest little resort, and by resort I mean that from rustic African standards; aka pit toliets, occasional electricity and no running water. But it was incredible. From basically any viewpoint we could see Sipi Falls and the vast vally below where we sat on a cliff. And who was there to greet us right when we got in? An adorable monkey! Which I expected to see a lot more of, but we didn't so I'm glad I got lots of snapshots while I had the chance. Our first night the boys went to a locale's home to pick out a chicken to kill for dinner. Lovely, right?
Then for our first full day our guide, Juma, took us on a four hour hike up the mountain to three different waterfalls, it was fascinating to walk on these small winding steep paths where workers would pass you with unimaginable loads of goods in their hands and on their heads. We got to see beans being harvested and walk through maize fields, and coffee trees, there was so much beauty to see everywhere. I have also been trying to pick up on some of the language, and our African friends Eddie and JB have been more than happy to take me on as a student. I love the look of surprise on Ugandan's faces when the musungo (white person) responds to "hello" with "Ogambachi Nebow/Sebow" (hello madam/sir). I didn't really consider learning any of the language before I got here, but if I am going to be here for five months I might as well try! Besides, there is already a dialect barrier with the English spoken here. I'm trying to catch on, but sometimes I can't tell if someone is speaking English or Luganda.
So moving on to the rest of our fourth of July celebration, the evening after our hike we celebrated the 4th along with Luke's birthday with a chocolate cake, all the way from Kampala (which they put in the freezer instead of the fridge....) and "Tin Can Tony," a goat. I hate to admit it but I made it a point not to look at Tony and I made a trip to get some oil while he met his last few minutes...I may have gotten a little misty eyed and vowed to be a vegetarian. But, I obviously wasn't too serious about that, considering I may have tasted a little bit of meat just a few hours later. But the roasting was a success, we ate, drank beer and local brew (kinda nasty), and we sat around the fire chit chatting away. Then the next morning it was a hike out to one more waterfall and home we went.
I thought it would be nice to be home, and it would have been, had I not brought back some form of a souvenir from our weekend. At first I thought maybe my stomach was upset, then it set in. Lets just say I thought I was possibly going to die, I was so sick! But now that I'm on antibiotics (thank god for the travel clinic, stocking me up!) I feel a lot better, and today I just might have my energy back.

IAMsterdam

So it seems I am always a little short on time when ever I get chance to post, so I apologize if my posts lack a certain quality. But in short, Emily and I had a wonderful time in Amsterdam. We stayed at a Irish Pub/Hostel, which were it lacked in space it made up for in charm. However, I think we spent more than we anticipated throughout our visit...oops. Our first day we rolled in around 7 am and unloaded at our hostel and got right to work. Our first day we rode a train out to a little town called Weesp where we rented bikes and rode them through the countryside to a little town that had a beautiful castle. Then we were totally pooped, so we took a nap. Afterward, we got invited to go on a pub crawl by a certain handsome Australian... so how could I resist?? Emily was more logical and stayed in, but surprise surprise, I decide to rally. I'm glad I did though, I met a lot of really great people who made our visit very memorable. The rest of our trip went as you could hope: VanGogh Museum, boat ride through the canals, merangue lessons from Colombians, Heiniken tour, lots of beer and Yatzee! Oh and I may have tried a certain pastery, but don't worry padres it didn't really work, I was so worried I'd eat too much, I never ate enough. So when it came time to leave, for various reasons I was sad to go, but how could you ever be too sad when you know your next stop is Africa?

Pig's feet in NYC

I'm a little behind, but just to backtrack a little I have to share how my last night in New york went. So in order to be a vigilant tourist, I spent my last day waking up early to get to the Early Show then taking a fairy out to Ellis Island and Liberty Island which was great but my highlight came when I followed Jedd's advice to check out his favorite Spanish restaurant. I had told him I missed Spanish food (especially croquettes), so he said he'd call a friend and get me a nice reservation in front of the cooks, so I could watch them make my meal. . . Well when I arrived they invited me to go next door for a glass of wine while I wait for my table. So I walk next door and the server walks right up to me and pops a bottle of Champagne and says for friends of the family you drink complements of the house. So standing in this beautiful wine bar in the heart of Manhattan, I felt like VIP. Then when they sat me at my table there was more cava and complementary appetizers to come. One of which was delicious pig's feet croquettes! I thought maybe pigs feet in Africa was a possibility, but in NY, no way! But after watching these chefs through together the most beautiful dishes I knew I' be a fool to let the thought get to my head. So I ate up and turns out I love pigs feet! (well at least at Casa Mono). Then afterwards I went out to some incredibly beautiful little bars with Jedd's brother and some of his advertising co workers. It was a wonderful way to end the evening! but im out of time!!!!