Ugandan Caregivers

Recently I had the privilage of photographing some amazing women, in order to be able to tell their story. The women are all from Nakawa, one of Kampala's poorest neighbourhoods. These women work with HIV+ members of their community. They visit the bedridden and bring small gifts of soap, sugar, tea or whatever they can afford. They counsel the very sick and try to bring comfort through prayer and education. They were doing this before they had any income and through CAP AIDS support have been able to continue and further their very imporant work. These women are part of the CIDA funded project Sustainable Livelihoods for Orphans and Caregivers, that CAP AIDS is currently running. They are beneficiaries of the income generating activities portion of the project. The women have chosen to create jewellery and simsim (a paste made from peanuts and seasame seeds). Since buying manufactured beads would be too expensive the women have make their own beads from paper and non-toxic glue. I've compiled a video about the process and the caregivers but it's nearly impossible to upload here so I'll post a link to it when it goes up on the CAP AIDS YouTube channel. With the profits from the sales they are able to continue their very important work as caregivers. The income also helps to them support and provide for their families and often the orphan children they have taken in. If you are interested in purchasing any jewellery Needy Support Center will soon be selling it online and I will be posting links to it.

These women are amazing. They remind me so much of all the hardworking and incredibily givining 'Aunties' in First Nations communities. I've often been in awe of how much certain native women give of themselves to help those who need it most. Seems I've found the Ugandan equvilant.

Cattle Jam & Traditional Wedding

The other morning I was walking to work when all of a sudden traffic came to a halt. Now to understand how strange this is you have to first understand that traffic never, ever stops here. There is constantly Jam as the Ugandans call it. There are no stop signs and one working/obeyed traffic light in the whole city. Did I mention that this is the largest city in Uganda? Anyways what had caused the taxi's to stop was some cows had wandered into the road. For a second I was like what the heck? They don't even stop for people! Who are waiting at crosswalks! But then I remembered something my friend Amanda had said to me years ago "In Kenya who ever has the biggest vehicle has the right of way" She had just finished complaining about how annoying it was that pedestrians have the right of way in Canda. I think by default the cows won the biggest vehicle contest, in large part due to their long horns.

On to a completely different topic but still involving livestock. This Saturday I attended a traditional wedding. Also known as an introduction. Geoffry and Katherine were nice enough to invite me. I found that there were numerous similarities to our traditional weddings. Both families had designated speakers. The bride's family told the grooms family to go away numerous times. The grooms family had to give the bride's family a large amount of gifts; including two chickens, hence the livestock comment (and normally there would have been a cow too but I think the fridge was the replacement). Anyways the process started with the speakers bantering back and forth for a while, making jokes and such. Then the young girls in the family came out and welcomed the visitors. There were several groups of girls who came out dancing and then knelt down to speak. The groom's speaker gave each girl a small gift. The bride's family said these are all our girls, pick your bride. Of course the bride wasn't among the girls. The bride's family then told the groom's family to go home because they didn't know them and they had no bride for the groom. The grooms speaker then got of his knees and said "Please the bride's aunty knows us. Please let her aunties come." Katherine explained that this is because in Bugandan culture that aunties usually act as the matchmakers. The bride's speaker agreed but said "If the aunty doesn't know you must leave and we don't want you to be a diehard" to much laughter. A group of aunties came out and of course none of them knew the grooms family. The grooms speaker said "There are other aunties please bring them out". The bride's speaker responded that Of course there were more aunties, and that she had aunties from all over the country and if he wanted to meet them all he would have to pay for their transport. Anyways after a more jokes and talking another group of aunties came out dancing. One aunt was particularily happy. She was the one who was asked if she knew the visitors by the bride's speaker. She responded "Yes, I know the visitors". She was then asked to identify the groom. She danced through the grooms family for a while and eventually identified the groom, who was sitting in the very back in a corner. She brought him to the front. The grooms speaker then introduced him and his family. The bride's speaker said "Okay so you should have something to eat and then go away". The groom then got up and his speaker spoke for him to ask for the girls hand in marriage. The bride's family agreed to bring out the bride. A group of ladies came dancing out. Of course though the family had to identify the bride. This seemd to be a process of elimination with a different lady sitting down one at a time (A bit of this was lost in translation. The whole ceremony was in Buganda. Katherine was kind enough to translate and explain things to me). Finally just the bride was standing there. The speakers then teased her a bit (it wouldn't be a wedding without a lot of jokes and teasing). Anyways she was then introduced and her family was introduced. Then she was given gifts by the grooms sisters. Eventually she cross the area between her female relatives and the grooms family with his sister to sit beside the groom. Katherine said that was the main part of the traditional wedding. After this she went back inside with her family.

The grooms family then brought a ton of gifts out. Some of them were baskets filled with produce, sacks of rice and sugar, matoke, a large fridge, gift bags, two chickens (one of which escaped), and various other thing. After the gifts were all laid out the bride was brought out again and asked by her family's speaker if they should accept these gifts. She agreed that they should accept them. She then went inside again. The gifts were transfered inside by the grooms male realtives. The groom then tranfered one of the chickens over to the bride's brother and the the brother offically gave away the bride. After this they cut the cake and sprayed champange everywhere and that was the end of the ceremony. I should mention that this was a 4.5 hour ceremony. So another thing in common with our wedding ceremony. They're long!

Needy Support Center

Yesterday I visited Needy Support Center in Nakawa, Kampala. Nakawa is one of the lowest income neighbourhoods in Kampala. Needy Support Center is a partner of CAP AIDS in implementing the Sustainable Livelihoods for Orphans and Caregivers Project. I met with the working committee, the governing body of the organization. We talked about the work they've been doing and what I could do to support the center. The center works to support AIDS orphans, caregivers, people living with HIV/AIDS, disabled and elderly persons to be self-reliant. They are working to support the education and empowerment of their community members. They have several income generating activities, that have had moderate success so far. Although they are having difficulty finding markets for their beautiful products.

These are the board members showing some of the jewellery that their members have made. One of my goals will be to help them create their own blog to help faciliate their sales. Check out the link. It is still under development but will be getting better each week.  needysupportcenter.blogspot.com

They also produce simsim, which is a paste created by grinding peanuts (or groundnuts as they're called here) and sesame seeds togther. It is delicious and completley natural. This is a great example of how they are adding value to resources at their disposal.

Another success of the center is that with the support of CAP AIDS they have been able to send several orphans to vocational schools. This young woman learned tailoring and here are some of her products.

I will be going back next week to start working with the coorindator on creating their blog, touchig up their reports, and to visit where they acutally make the products.

Youth Voice - Ugandan TV Program

My first Saturday morning I spent watching a TV progam called Youth Voice. The topic of the day was “What would you do with 20 million Ugandan shillings, cash?” For those of you who don’t know that equals about $8600. The hosts took calls, read out answers that had been texted, and interviewed people on the street. Some of the answers included buy a car, buy a house, buy land, blow it all on partying, pay my tuition, give some to my parents, ect… But by far the most popular answer was to use the money to start a business. The business ideas ranged from shops, to hair salons, to farming, to internet cafes, to sports bars, to becoming a driver. It was interesting to see where the minds of Uganda’s youth went when presented with an improbably opportunity.

For most of us $8600 is not a fortune. It is not a small amount but it could by no means change a
person’s life in such a drastic way. In Canada you couldn’t buy a house or land, or pay more than two years of tuition, or start a business with $8600. But for most Ugandans it is a small fortune to receive. Only one person responded that it was nothing and not enough to do anything with. It got me thinking about wealth and relativity. I didn’t come to any ground breaking conclusions but it was an interesting internal monologue none the less.

First Days

It has been one week since I left Bella Bella. It is my third day in the office and I've just finished enjoying tea on the porch with the women of the office. Learning moment: ground nuts and peanuts are the same thing.

My first morning I had a visitor in my toilet. Hola Senor Frog! I let the hotel know and they were far more upset about it that I was. They changed my room while I waited for someone to pick me up from CAP AIDS. It was during this time that I realized I could use iMessage and HeyTell to talk to people in Canada.

 

 

 

Joseph (CAP AIDS Driver) picked me up from the hotel and drove me to the office. It always takes me a bit of time to adjust to driving on the left hand side of the road. My brain has trouble realizing that it's not in danger and I'm always walking to the drivers side of the car. I thought I was to be moving into the room at CAP AIDS that first day but turns out it's still under construction. So I'll be at the hotel for a few more days. Photos of Graceland Hotel and my room.

 

This first day is kind of a blurr since I was very tired. I spent some time talking with Tracy (CAP AIDS volunterr) about the various projects CAP AIDS has on the go right now, but besides that I don't remember too much. I got back to the hotel and immediately fell asleep, even though it was only 5pm. Jetlag is getting the best of me.

Going to bed so early meant I woke up at 4am. When I got to the office on Day 2 I started the task of entering all the information from the Baseline Assessment Tool for Preventing Mother to Child Trasmission of HIV into an excel sheet. The best moment of my second day was when Naomi pulled out three wedding dresses from her suitcase. She brought these wedding dresses back from Canada for friends. These gowns occupied a whole suitcase :)  Tracy decided to try one on for good luck and Betty gave her some tutoring about how to walk in it. It was a very nice moment to end the day with. Seeing as during lunch Betty was giving Tracy advise on how to get a husband. She informed me that in Africa they have a saying "The way to a man's heart is through his stomach". I responded that is an all over the world saying. We had a good laugh about it.

 

This morning I had a meeting with Mr. Gizaw and Naomi about my workplan. Things I will be focusing on: creating a CAP AIDS Uganda Blog, Telling Success Stories, Creating Videos and YouTube Channel, Creating a Newsletter, Interviewing and Observing in the Field to be able to tell the stories of the people CAP AIDS is helping, creating a volunteer recruitment plan, and a few other projects. Stay tuned!

As I sign off I'm enjoy a nice snack of pancakes (dried casava root and banana cooked together into a disk) with Tracy.

In Transit

My journey began at 5am PST yesterday morning. I woke up, got ready, jumped in a taxi and arrived at YVR. During check-in I was told that my flight from Vancouver to Toronto was 2hrs delayed. Never a good sign when you only have a 2.5 hr lay over. The check-in guy seemed confident that I would make my flight to London. So I didn't worry about it too much. I dropped my baggage and proceeded to wait for Claire and Naomi, just before security. I'd seen both of them just behind me in line to check their baggage. After a delay of some measure I decided to see what the hold up was. Turns out their check-in agent was not as confident as mine and wanted to switch us to an early flight via calgary. This would have been fine if I had not already surrendered my bags to the machine that sucks them into the inner workings of the airport. So we had not choice but to risk the quick turn around.

4.5 hours later and we were in Toronto. We had exactly 30 minutes before our flight to London. In our haste we did not check the board for our gate number and simply followed my prinited itinerary to Terminal 3. Naomi and I made a mad dash for the tram and were both quite out of breath by the time we reached it. I decided to utilize the last of my service through Telus to check the status of our flight on my iphone. Turns out our London flight was delayed until 6:50 (previously departing at 6:15). Never before have I ever been so happy to have delayed flight. So we get to Terminal 3 and turns out our flight is leaving from Terminal 1 (the one we had been in). So we went all the ways back to Terminal 1, through security again, and finally found our gate. Needless to say I was pretty happy to see our gate number.

We had a pretty uneventful flight to London. We were supposed to have a 5.5 hr layover but somehow morphed into only a 3hrs. Naomi went duty free shopping and I bought new earphones to replace my iphone ones. I had managed to snap the jack in half on the flight from Vancouver to Toronto. I also stalked some police officers carrying machine guns around the airport taking their picture.

Then it was time for our next leg. 8 hrs later and we were in Entebee Airport. Naomi's daughter, mother, Betty (finance person for CAP AIDS), and 2 other gentlemen I can't remember the names of met us at the airport. I traveled with Betty to Kamapala to the Graceland Hotel. Which is where I am now. Below is a picture of my first sunrise in Uganda.

I only managed a couple of hours of sleep beause my body is telling me it's the afternoon and early evening. It is now 8:23 am. I am starved and going to enjoy some breakfast. I am safe and sound and being well looked after.

Vancouver Weekend

It's been a whirlwind of a weekend. I shopped till my mom and I nearly dropped on Saturday. Coming from Bella Bella it was impossible to pick up certain things such as a plug adapter, passport photos, a lightweight towel, and over the counter medicines. So even though a mall is usually the last place you'd think to look for me I spent most of Saturday in Park Royal. After we were finally done, we made a quick trip to the airport.

In a classic move I forgot my malaria tablets and cipro (for the omg I have tummy problems that aren't polite to speak about even in cyber space moments) in Bella Bella. Long story short three very important people managed to get them to me so I didn't have to bother with going to a doctor, getting new perscriptions, and filling the perscriptions. Yay!

After this we had enough time to dash a back to North Vancouver to pick up my dad (who had wisely made the choice to not partake in the shopping extravaganza) and Jaymyn, before heading to the CAP AIDS event at the rhizome cafe.

This is where I got to meet the wonderful ladies Claire and Naomi for the first time. It was nice to put faces to the names and emails. The event was very informative for me and my parents both appreciated the opportunity to learn more about the organization who is hosting my internship. Naomi, the program director for CAP AIDS Uganda, gave a presentation and answered questions at the end.
Of course my dad got up and spoke a bit about who we are and how I'm going to Uganda and thanked the ladies for their presentation. I'm grateful to have a father who can always be counted on to step up and say something when he feels the need. In a world where too many good people remain silent I'm blessed to have a father who is always willing to speak. From his little speech we learned that there were several other coastal connections in the room. One lady had grown up in Ocean Falls, one was from Prince Rupert, and another grew up in Powell River. After the presentation I was able to talk more with the other people in the room and had a rather intense conversation with Naomi. Overall this was a great event, spent with good company.

Moving on...This morning I learned that doxycline should not be taken first thing in the morning before eating anything. I will not go into the gory details but suffice to say that my dad walked into the apartment and declared that I would not going to Africa and I would have to delay it for at least a week until I was better. But a quick Google search and trip to the walk-in clinic and all fears we assuaged.

This afternoon I met with Claire and Naomi to discuss my learning and workplan for the four months. Mostly I talked about what I was hoping to learn from this experience and what I could possibly give back in exchange. We also discussed expectations and what talents I have that might be beneficial to CAP AIDS, as well as reporting and keeping in touch with Claire while in country. I feel confident that this was a great first step towards a satisfying experience for everyone involved. I'm excited to have the opportunity to learn from such talented women.

Well it's 10:07 and I still have to reorganize my bag a bit before hitting the hay, but stay tuned for more updates. The next time I write it'll be from the CAP AIDS office in Kampala (EXCITING!). I'm very much looking forward to new adventures, challenges, and experiences.

Pre-Departure Thoughts

Today I leave home to begin my journey. My flight leaves Bella Bella at 3pm and I'll be in Vancouver by 5pm. Just in time to have dinner with some friends and enjoy the bright lights of the city. Over the weekend I will be taking part in a CAP AIDS event and meeting with Claire and Naomi (program director and executive director for CAP AIDS). I'm excited to finally put faces to these names.

Over the past month I have sent Claire 20 odd emails and exchanged 8 or so calls. I have spoken to Naomi once. She is the director of CAP AIDS programs in Uganda. I'll be traveling with her on Monday and working under her in Uganda. Claire has been very supportive with all the administration stuff. But so far this is all I know of these two.

Some things I know about Uganda so far.

Population	32,710,000 (2009 est)
Geographic Area sq. km	236,040 km2
People per sq. km	136
Country Code (Phone)	256
Electric Voltage	220/240 volts AB at 50 Hz (cycles)
Exchange Rate	1 CND to 2324.26 UGX (as of Feb 6th, 2012)
Emergency Number (to call)	Police 999, Fire 112
Time Zones away from Home	12 from PST
Main Cultural Groups	Ganda people (Baganda), Soga people, Nkore (Banyankore) and Hema (Hima) peoples
Main Religions	Christianity & Islam

Year of Independence	1962
Type of government	Dominant Party System
Current Ruling Party	National Resistance Movement
Head of Government	Yoweri Kaguta Museveni
Next Election Date	2016

I also know that the most popular sport is soccer (aka football), followed by cricket and rugby. I know that English is the official language but for most Ugandas it is their second language. Swahili is another official language and is common along side Luganda. I know that about half the population lives on less taht $1.25 a day (the international poverty line). I know that over 80% of the workers are employed in the agriculture. I know Uganda's largest export is coffee. I know Uganda is on the equator. I also know that people in Uganda drive on the left side of the road.

These are just random facts about a county, I hope to get to know very well over the next months. This tells me nothing about it's people or their culture. I am excited to immerse myself totally in another way of life.

Since I will be working with CAP AIDS I thought this information might interest you as well.

HIV AND AIDS ESTIMATES (2009) Uganda

Number of people living with HIV

1,200,000 [1,100,000 - 1,300,000]

Adults aged 15 to 49 prevalence rate

6.5% [5.9% - 6.9%]

Adults aged 15 and up living with HIV

1,000,000 [940,000 - 1,100,000]

Women aged 15 and up living with HIV

610,000 [540,000 - 680,000]

Children aged 0 to 14 living with HIV

150,000 [80,000 - 210,000]

Deaths due to AIDS

64,000 [49,000 - 80,000]

Orphans due to AIDS aged 0 to 17

1,200,000 [1,000,000 - 1,400,000]

These are just statistics. Statistics can be really scary sometimes or more often completely meaningless. I hope to be able to put human faces and experiences to these figures and to be able to share these with all of you. We are after all connected as human beings and share one home: planet earth. It is this understanding that has lead to my desire to learn about this reality which is so far from my own.
But keep in mind that, one Aboriginal person a week in British Columbia is diagnosed with HIV. Infection rates are thought to be much higher. Now that statistic will hit closer to home for many of us. I know and have known many people who are living with the infection or who have passed on from it. So this epidemic is not so far from my heart.

In closing I am excited to get to experience and learn about a new country and culture. I am nervous about stepping into the unknown.  Much love, peace, and ooligan grease!

Introductions and Explanations

 

I am a proud member of the Heiltsuk and Nuu-Cha-Nulth Nations, from the west coast of British Columbia. I currently live in my home village of Bella Bella, on the centeral coast of BC. I have been wokring with the Hailika'as Heiltsuk Health Center for the past three years, as the Child & Youth Program Coordinator. Recently, I have been offered an aborignal youth internship with CAP AIDS. CAP AIDS stands for Canada African Parternship on AIDS. Their main goal is to help people in Africa to resist, overcoe, and survive HIV/AIDS. I will be traveling to Uganda and possibly Ethiopia to learn and contribute what I can to the organization.

 

A little bit about me, I was blessed to be able to travel extensively before my 20th birthday. It all started with a 4 month adventure in Australia when I was 16. While Australia was painfully similar to Canada in so many ways, it was really the begining of all this. Traveling solo across the largest ocean on the planet sparked a wanderluast in me. I would soon learn that it was not to be easily satisfied.

 

Australia was followed closely by a month in Thailand, after the 2006 tsunami. I spent my time rebuilding a house with Thai vocational students and members of the Royal Thai Army. For the first time I was in a country where English wasn't a national language and white people weren't the majority. The relationships I formed with the family who's home I was helping to rebuild, the vocational students and officers of the Royal Thai Army would forever impact the way I viewed the world. Dispite not being able to speak the language, I managed to connect with people in a real way. These were people who had lost everything they had ever worked for; their entire lives and sometimes their entire families. Disaster zone doesn't even begin to cover it. But there was such pure joy and happiness in the face of all this. Their resiliency inspired me in a way I still don't fully understand. My favorite memory is of sitting around a fire sharing fish grilled on grate with the family and vocational students. This experience was made so preciois by their happiness and joy despite everything that they had faced. Although that night marked the end of my journey in Thailand it was only the beginning of them rebuilding their lives. I had helped to rebuild their home but their was so much more to do.

The day I stepped off the plane from Thailand my Aunty Vina and Mom handed me a posting about an opportunity to travel to various countries and film a documentary, for aboriginal high school students. I read through the list of countries and only one stood out, Peru. I didn't know it yet but Peru would leave a permenant imprint on my soul; a special Peru shaped curve that will remain with me forever. To summarize: Homestay in the Andes, 10 day trekk through Cordilla Huathuash, Macchu Picchu, Aguas Calientes, The Amazon, the slums of Lima, surfing in South Pacific, volunteering in an orphanage in Ninoa, altitude sickness, Lake Titikaka, and so much more. I was experiencing all this while filming mini-documentary for APTN - amazing. This journey taught me about what real poverty looks like. It inspired me to become a more active global citizen. Peru affected me so much that when I came back I went through sever reverse culture shock. The transition back to western "developed" society was one of the hardest ones I've ever made.

After I finished my high school education, I spent 4 months in Dominica. Dominica made me fall in love with the tropics. Working with the Kalinago people who were trying so hard to preserve the few precious remaining morsels of their culture, made me appreciate my cultural richness so much more. While the British colonizers have much to answer for in Canada the Kalinago had such a brutal colonial experience that nearly all of their cultural strongholds were stolen from them. I couldn't help be be thankful for how rich my own culture still is. This experience was also different because for the first time I was traveling with other indigenous people and interacting with only indigenous communities. I believe this rich experience is what lead me back to my community.

All of these experiences inspired me to presue a degree in international relations at UBC. This didn't work out as planned and I've been working for various Aboriginal communities and organizations ever since, with a one year stay in provincial government. It is only with my upcoming return to post secondary education that I wanted to explore this internal draw to the international field once again. So it was that magentic force that compelled me to apply for the Projects & Communication Internship with CAP AIDS in Uganada. This blog will follow this new journey.