Juancho in Uganda

So... Who is Salifa Nabirie? First of all in Uganda most people say their last name first and the first name second. It was difficult for us to understand, but one of our Ugandan interns told us that this was her full name. Salifa Nabirie lives very close to the entrance of the water well path and everyday that we walk or pass by on the bike she storms out of her compound and meet us. She is very assertive and as soon as she sees us she asks... What is my name? She really means to ask What is your name? but we haven't been able to change this yet. We have even answered her with her name directly and she always responds with My name is Salifa Nabirie. I am sure we will be able to change the question to What is your name? eventually.

The week with UVP has been excellent with lots of things done including a presentation regarding Malaria at the Christian school where we announce the sale of long lasting insecticide sprayed mosquito nets (they lasts up to 5 years) for just UGX 3000 (about USD 1.50). They seem to be very interested in purchasing and we should have a number of nets by tomorrow. We had a nice sketch of a person sleeping with and without mosquito nets and how they are supposed to be tucked in under the mats they normally sleep in. After this we had a general meeting with the community on Thursday where there were elections for mosquito net distributors and WaterGuard (treatment of water based on chlorine that sells for UGX 500 per bottle when subsidized by us and can clean up to 40 large jerry cans that hold 20 liters).

The week has also been the one of religious visits with one last Sunday at a Christian church, one to the mosque on Friday, and another Christian church today in Busembatia. They were all very nice to welcome us and allowed us some time to discuss what UVP is doing and how to contact us. I believe that these have been great opportunities to meet important leaders of the larger area of Namalemba-Busembatia that contains Bunio and also to show respect for their culture and beliefs. On this note, it has been very interesting to see how the dynamics between all religions play out since the sense of community seems to overcome any problems that may arise due to different faiths. The committees selected by the village have representatives from all faiths and they work together for the well being of all inhabitants without preference. I am really proud to have visited them and to know that they are an example for the rest of the world.

Interesting day yesterday... First of all it started with PANCAKES. We visited a Peace Corps volunteer who teaches biology and math at a secondary school (Kisiki College in Namatumba). We were able to reach there by 9:15 and we were treated to pancakes, ginger cake, and fresh squeezed orange juice. We also stayed for some music presentations of singing groups at her school but we had to leave early to see the traditional songs or dances. After this we went to a wedding introduction (not a wedding but the stage before), where the families meet and the dowry is brought. The dowry had among other things a couple of chickens, a cow, some goats, and a dinner table. They even made us (the bazungu) stand up and have a couple of words with the general congregation.

I am now in Iganga town for the rest of the day and will hope to see some soccer after hearing most of the games in Swahili through our short wave radio (I don't really understand anything but the BBC mostly changes languages once the games start)

This week has been full of meetings with 6 focus groups with people of different ages. The information that we got has been invaluable since we probably underestimated the villagers in certain aspects and we expected to tackle some problems in a more profound way that they perceive them. For sure we will be doing a big job regarding safe water, malaria, family planning and HIV/Aids education and testing. The village feels more like home everyday and even now in Iganga I am craving to go back tonight because of the peace you feel at night and just the wonderful wonderful attitude from absolutely everybody there. The week started a little bit hectic. I finished staying the night in Jinja and watching the USA-England game among a bunch of British and American fans in a very nice restaurant called 2 Friends. After this we found out on Sunday that we were supposed to move to Iganga for 2 days due to the bat problem. We stayed that night in a very weird guest house that had the Toi (understand square room with a hole in the middle) full of cockroaches. The girls were freaking out and the next night was spent at the Canaan Compound, which was very nice and provided an awesome location to watch night football (sorry guys, I am in Uganda and I refuse to call it soccer!). We finally came back to Bunio on Tuesday and spent the rest of the week doing the focus groups mentioned.

There has been a topic not mentioned before that should be talked about: Rolex. Rolexes are the local fast food in Iganga (and since yesterday in our household!). They are a spanish egg omelet wrapped in a corn flour (pronounced fla in Uganda) tortilla that is fried and thicker than regular Mexican ones. They cost UGX 900 (USD 0.45) in the street and they are wrapped in old newspapers for you to carry. They have been saviours whenever you are hungry and they are pretty much sold anywhere in Iganga town. By the way, after I finish posting this I will buy one to go with me on the trip to Bunio.

Now Rejab. He is the son of our cook and the brother of Idi (yes, like Amin!). He always says hi to us and even goes with me when we play football. He is the nicest and happiest kid ever and just yesterday we taught him how to play Frisbee with the top peel of an orange (it is possible, believe me!). Idi has also helped us a lot collecting water once in a while and organizing the teams when we play, even though they are not as balance as we would wish.

This week I was also told that they will give me a piece of land and with the Lusoga I know I could leave among them. It was amazing to hear that when it was translated, even more so coming from the main mobilizer woman in the village. In addition, she gave us a couple of eggs (maggi) that were properly used in the rolexes.

Lusoga word of the week: Juanji = Answer to anybody when your name is called. Since the girls joke that my name is Juanji I turn around every two minutes.

I am now in Jinja at Flavours cafe where the wireless internet is free. I will probably drink this coca-cola very slowly and take advantage of it. The week has been great and I was just told that I have a nice tan. We had one community meeting this week already and had 153 people attending. We have also had a couple of interviews with the community and we are very excited since we think that we can really establish a good network to distribute water treatment and mosquito nets even in more places that we needed to. We will do our first push this week and even though we haven't decided yet what we will do there are plenty of topics since malaria is rampant, water is mostly not treated and sanitation leaves a lot to be desired. This week we already found a person that will do all our food shopping for the week and have it ready for us just after our monday meeting. The food this week was very good especially the cabbage with onions and tomatos (I know... cabbage Juan???) and the posho. The last one is like arepa dough without the form, so I just added butter and ate the portions of 3 or 4 people. The Ugandan interns couldn't quite figure out why I was putting butter, but they saw my very happy face and understood. I have been playing soccer pretty much every day with the kids and I honestly think that the soccer ball will only last another week or two. They play until it is pitch black and on very uneven teams (a lot of 5 to 10 year olds against 10 older players that just push their way around). They like that I kick the ball really high and they make comments about the mzungu (hopefully they are good). I only know the name of two of the kids and they are Anton and Idi (I know!!!). Finally... There are pictures today... Enjoy them.

Just a quick note on living without these benefits. Everyday we have to fetch water at the well and store it in 20 liter jerry cans. The well is about 500 meters away and we normally go on one of our bikes and tie the jerry cans on the side. The showers are done via a basin and a plastic cup that throws water over our head, but cold water feels great with the local heat. As I mentioned before there are kerosene lamps at night but it gets pitch black about 7:00 PM and then we just talk and eat. I haven't read at all during this week because of the lack of light. I have to make it to a meeting in 10 minutes... I will write later.

We are today on our free day in Iganga after spending three full nights in our house in Bunio. There are bats that make really nice noises at night and it has rained pretty heavily, but it is a delightful experience. For example, yesterday we sat for about 2 hours at the veranda talking and watching one of the most beautiful skies in my life. The villagers are extremely friendly to us and they keep on thanking us for everything, while also providing great foods like milk tea and mangoes that tasted just like the Colombian ones. Regarding our work in the village, we have visited two of the wells/bore holes that are not working and we will try to have somebody check them out from the local district water office. The people that benefit from them have to walk long distances and normally it is the kids and the women who are the ones that have to fetch water on jerry cans. We have also seen a lot of under 5 years old children with probable worms and hopefully in conjunction with the local health center something can be done.

I have a lot of nice side stories and I am just going to write about them randomly. I find this better now that a day to day recollection. The first one is about soccer and the sensation that the world cup ball made on the village. The kids still keep it at our house but every morning they come and ask for it. I have already played a little bit but I sweat so much on this heat that it is impossible to keep up with them. Yesterday I was walkin around with the other volunteers and a little girl (about 4) greeted me in Lusoga and then proceed to tell me: "Can you please snap"... I snapped my fingers and what she really wanted was a picture. When I took the camera out she called her friends that started coming from every place. It was really nice. Today I was also waiting for a computer at the internet cafe (at the end I have picked a different place after lunch) and a couple of kids got close to me. I started speaking English and they repeated everything that I said. Since the wait was very long I had time to teach them the numbers in English as well as different things that I drew in my hand (house, people, sun, even a cow that resembled a humped dinosaur). We then played with air filled zip loc bags and pens that turned out to be the most playful things that I have used. I have a couple of pictures of them... That has been one of the best times of my whole stay.

Now a little request. We have a water project here that requires the cleaning of the water after the well with a solution called Water Guard. We have now a very expensive dispenser that they are trying to accomodate at each well but I thought that the little adapter that can be placed in liquor bottles for serving shots could be used. (they are normally made out of plastic and have a metal ball. My little cousin Tomas became an expert user thanks to Tawi!). There is a person that only comes next week and I am hoping that I can bring some with him. I am looking for about ten of these little things, so if you know how to get them please write to my sister (Maria sorry for giving you a logistical problem!) and she could probably help to send it to us. I will probably just write weekly or every two weeks.