Help Wanted!

So, here’s a crazy statistic for you: 83% of Ugandans are under the age of 30. Translation: there are a TON of kids here! With the staggering number of children and the problems this country is facing, it’s no wonder they’ve requested help from the Peace Corps! In a nutshell, this is my general job description…

1) To promote world peace.
2) To share U.S. culture with Ugandans, and Ugandan culture with U.S. citizens.
3) To do at least 16 hours of in-service trainings with teachers every 3 months (to improve teaching practices).
4) To create a school library.
5) To do reading intervention with fourth grade students (remediation for students who aren’t yet reading on grade level).
6) To promote and participate in extra-curricular activities (not sure what this will look like yet, though my little heart is dreaming of a Scrabble club, which is apparently popular here).
7) To implement positive behavior systems in my school. (Caning students is still widely practiced here, though it has been outlawed. Teachers need help in knowing what to do instead of caning to manage student behavior.)
8) Submit reports, participate in a national Drop Everything and Read day (DEAR), and prepare students for a national spelling bee. What a great job I'm about to begin! 

Gryffindor!

I am really lucky to be in Peace Corps Uganda! One perk to serving in my country is that we get to bid on our site. This means that, 1) we get a say in what our job will be, and 2) we get a say in where we live and what school we will teach in.

Basically, there are two jobs available in the education sector in Uganda. There are PTC teachers and literacy specialists. The PTC teachers teach content and typically have regular classes teaching math, science, or computers. They also train teachers in how to teach literacy across subjects and work with 17 and 18 year old students who are training to become teachers.

Literacy specialists work in elementary schools and focus on doing reading intervention with fourth grade students. They also train current teachers on how to teach literacy. I asked to be a literacy specialist.

I also got to list my top 3 choices for schools and my bottom 3 choices for schools in which to be placed after reading descriptions about each one. The descriptions included what the general living conditions are like (water sources, how far from town they were, etc.), what region of the country they are in, and specifics about the job at that school. PC reviews your requests, interviews you, and looks at your resume when deciding where to place you.

At the end of the day on Friday, PC said they were going to announce what our sites were "Harry Potter style." I literally squealed with delight at this announcement and exclaimed, "The sorting hat!" It. Was. Awesome. We were called up to the front of the room one at a time and sat on a chair. A hat was placed on our head, there was dramatic music in the background (okay, it was from The Lion King), and the hat told me what language group I belong to and what school I was assigned to (okay, okay, it was a person, but still!). I was assigned to learn one of about 50 languages spoken in Uganda called Lusogo. My assigned school was my first choice, so basically, I’m in the Gryffindor house! I’ll be living and teaching in the eastern region of the country. I’ll be paired up with a nearby PTC teacher and be able to collaborate with at least 2 other volunteers. I’m so excited!

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One Potato, Two Potato...

What’s the food like in Uganda, you ask? It’s a lot of pretty good, albeit bland, carbohydrates. A typical day (at least in training) goes something like this:

Breakfast: a hard-boiled egg, a piece of bread with honey or ground nut paste (peanut butter) or jam that tastes like beets, and some fruit (usually watermelon or mangoes or pineapple).

Tea Break: Ugandans have tea twice a day that is served with a snack. The snacks today were doughnuts for morning tea and popcorn for afternoon tea. Sometimes the snacks are little cookies or meat pies.
Lunch: at least three carbohydrates such as rice, matooke (plantains), plain noodles, potatoes, ground millet (brown paste), or posho (white paste). Also, there’s some protein like goat or catfish and there’s almost always beans or bean paste. I’ve chosen to turn my wannabe vegetarianism into actual vegetarianism here, so I don’t partake of the meat. Lunch is served with some bitter greens or a cucumber and tomato salad or squash or (once) eggplant. It also comes with some fruit, usually watermelon.

Mango, pineapple, and...carrots.

　
Dinner: see lunch.
Are you beginning to see why women PCVs tend to gain weight here? Other than the carbs, the only problem I’m having with the food is the lack of variety. Before I left, I was cooking 5 meals a week and I didn’t make the same thing twice in over 2 months. That’s how much I love variety! Some days I think, "I’d rather go hungry than eat rice again"…and then I serve myself up some rice. Some things here are extra tasty, like chapatti (a homemade tortilla) and the famed rolex (I haven’t tasted it yet, but it’s legendary). I’m sure new food adventures are coming soon when I move in with my host family!

Fun Fact: both the pumpkin and the orange are green here.

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

 The Good

Who do you picture (besides me) when you hear about Peace Corps volunteers? I had always pictured a bunch of 22 year old hippies who dressed in hemp clothing and talked about recycling (or something). The reality is much different. Basically, Peace Corps volunteers (PCVs) are a really diverse group of people. There are 22 year olds, but only about 6 of the 44 in my group graduated in the last year. There are old volunteers and young volunteers and everyone in between. PCVs are also come from a variety of cultural and religious backgrounds and are a wide variety of ethnicities.

We do, however, have a lot in common. For one, we are a very well-traveled group of people. Many of us have lived abroad before and almost everyone has traveled. Collectively, I think we’ve seen the majority of the world. We are also a well-educated and ambitious bunch of people. There are a surprising number of engineers in my group. And we have dreams, people. Big dreams. PCVs also tend to be idealistic do-gooders. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been talking to a fellow PCV and he/she says something like, "I just want to do MORE. I want to look back on my life and feel like I’ve done something meaningful." It’s weird to hear my thoughts coming out of someone else’s mouth. Lastly, PCVs are nerds. I mean hard core (corps?) nerds. I fit right in.

After training every day, we play volleyball and ultimate Frisbee. We do yoga. We jog. We play Bananagrams and Settlers and Hearts. We watch The Lion King. We have talent shows and trivia nights and dance parties. For someone like me, it’s a dream come true.

Training is long and intense, but usually informative and helpful. We learn about cultural norms and the politics, geography, climate, and monetary system of Uganda. We also learn what to expect when we get into the field physically, psychologically, emotionally and in every other way. We practice washing clothes by hand with a bar of soap. We watch (clothed) demonstrations of how to go to the bathroom in a pit latrine. We learn how to use a charcoal stove.

Johnson demonstrating how to take a bucket bath.

Susan showing us how to use a charcoal stove.

The Bad

There’s only one thing on my bad list so far. Mefloquine. It’s the Malaria prevention medication I opted to take. The problem is that I reacted badly to it. Very badly. I had horrible, vivid nightmares and woke myself up screaming. I felt restless and anxious for no reason. I just didn’t feel like myself. Rest assured (?) that these side effects are normal for this medication. After taking it, I found out that it has been "black boxed," that the military stopped using it, that the FDA says it shouldn’t be taken for more than 2 months, that, basically, it’s bad news. A PCV that’s been here awhile said that while on the drug, he vividly dreamt that he beat his mother to death. Another PCV woke up choking herself. A staff member came to check on me after I had fallen asleep one night, and it took me awhile to stop screaming when she woke me up. Yikes! Needless to say, I am off that medication! Never again, my friends. Never again.

The Ugly

Fun Fact: Did you know that Ugandans (and PCVs who live here) need to iron all of their clothes so that mango flies that get on the clothing while it’s drying don’t burrow into their skin?  

The Farewell

My last week in the country has been great! I've felt an outpouring of love and support, for which I'm so grateful. One of the highlights of my week was what I called my "Stephasbord." My family and friends brought something to dinner that I love. It looks disgusting all sitting next to each other, but it was yummmmmmy.

Sushi, pizza, chicken tikka masala, a gyro, stuffed mexi tots, and a lime drink (in case you're wondering).
 

Between the Stephasbord, the pre-Thanksgiving dinner my family threw, and every other "Treat Yo' Self" moment, I'm looking pretty plump. At least I'll be going on the crash diet known as "Ugandan Cuisine" very soon. If it's anything like the Ghanaian Cuisine diet, I'll be back to fighting weight in no time.


Packing was a nightmare. Here's attempt number four:

 

Please note that both suitcases and the backpack are FULL and there is still all of the stuff on the floor.

All of the current PCVs told us to bring food. Lots and lots of food. I was more than happy to follow that instruction, but I got a bit carried away at Costco! My back was killing me after just the walk to the first terminal.

3 lb. bag of Swedish fish, chicken noodle soup, instant cheesy mashed potatoes, beef jerky, stuffing, cinnamon roasted almonds, chips, cookies, dried apple slices, tons of granola bars, chocolate covered berries. Not pictured: 4 bags of chocolate chips, mints, more cookies, sour patch kids. Hmmm....what was I just saying about losing weight?

 

Saying goodbye at the airport was tough. Really tough. Especially with these two little beans crying and screaming for me I went through security. I'm not sure how I'll survive without them. One day at a time, right?

           



This morning, after the Icy Hot patch kicked in, I walked around Philly for a couple of hours and the world felt.....big again. Training was, surprisingly, awesome. I already feel comfortable around my new "family," who is nicer than anyone could ask for. Do you know what my mission as a PCV (Peace Core Volunteer) is? To be an ambassador for world peace. To help create more understanding between different cultures. To help meet people's basic needs. What an amazing job I've signed up to do! I can't wait to get started.