Well, I am leaving for rural homestays tomorrow, so I won't have internet (or electricity, or running water) for the next week. I come back next Sunday. We will all be with families in the Soroti area of Uganda, which is about six hours north of Mukono.
Anyway, some interesting developments occurred over the past week. There was a terrorist threat against UCU, with a line specifically addressing the Americans. The U.S. Embassy is currently investigating, but we haven't been allowed to leave campus for the past week (except the IMME students, who have to get driven home) and we have extra guards around our dorms. The program emailed our parents and universities letting them know about the situation (I just got an email from Bettie Ann from Eastern letting us know they are praying for us and our safety). None of the students feel unsafe or anything, and the most we were worried about was how our parents would react. We are still going on the homestays and everything, and they will just extend the time we are away if there's another threat or bad developments. Actually, we have another meeting tonight to talk about it. Besides that specific threat, we have to be extra cautious because apparently Somalia (the al-queda presence in Somalia) is getting pretty fired up at the Ugandan 'peacekeeping troops' that are still occupying the area. I don't know a lot about whats going on with that situation, because its not being covered a lot in the news.
This morning we had a non-academic group meeting for a couple of the American students who are reading the book Girl Soldier, which was written by a former UCU student that had been abducted by the LRA as a child. It is an interesting read for anyone interested in the subject. It gives really good factual background of the conflict along with the personal story of a young Christian girl who surived it. Grace (the girl in the story) has amazing faith that stayed with her even through the horrors of the LRA.
We got on the subject of Invisible Children, because they are coming out with a new film that is premiering soon. A couple of girls and I are going to try and contact the office in Kampala when we get back from homestays to try and get a copy of it to show on the UCU campus, and maybe try to visit the office and talk to them. Reading the Girl Soldier book is really getting me anxious to start my summer in Pader, but I know I still have a lot to learn here on campus. Well, I'm off to lunch soon...I'll be back next Sunday!
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
The Great Out There
This a song by some random woman named Somethingorother Werner. Mark Bartels played it for us USP students in the beginning of the semester to get us pumped about being in a different culture. The girl its about is named Kate! (And there's a reference to you Martha, except you're in a different country too, not a flat state haha)
Catherine flew out to Senegal
In her Malian motley robes
In her voice were more colours than the rainbow she wore
And her cheeks were sweet Irish rose
She talked of dancing in bars in Dakar
To that African high-life jive
Her ma said, "Girl you're gonna get yourself killed"
She says, "I'm going just to be alive"
Oh when you get there, is there a there there
Do people care there, are people aware there
Do the boys and girls do more than
Break their toys and perm their hair there
Send an update, Kate, to your old roommate
From your big round world to my small flat state
Tell me what do you find when you open your eyes and your mind
To the great out there
She sent me a card from Zanzibar
From Khartoum and Marrakesh
And then later that year some letters appeared
From Nepal and Bangladesh
At first the words were laughter
The strange ways we live in peace
The next, the words were blurred with tears
The war, the famine, the disease
Oh when you get there, is there a there there
Do people care there, are people aware there
Do the boys and girls do more than
Break their toys and perm their hair there
Send an update Kate to your old roommate
From your big round world to my small flat state
Tell me what do you find when you open your eyes and your mind
To the great out there
I was born in Iowa
And that's where they'll bury me too
And the sacred things I hold near and dear
Are probably the same for you
So I'm glad I got my friend Catherine
'Cos she needs to know the new
Oh I spend my time wrapped up in my tribe
Well she brings the world into view
Catherine came back from India
With malaria in her veins
But the fire returned to her clear blue eyes
Just as soon as it whirled from her brain
I said, "Catherine who will you be
When you're finally who you are?"
She just smiled and said, "We'll see won't we
But there'll be more to be by far"
Oh when you get there, is there a there there
Do people care there, are people aware there
Do the boys and girls do more than
Break their toys and perm their hair there
Send an update Kate to your old roommate
From your big round world to my small flat state
Tell me what do you find when you open your eyes and your mind
To the great out there
Catherine flew out to Senegal
In her Malian motley robes
In her voice were more colours than the rainbow she wore
And her cheeks were sweet Irish rose
She talked of dancing in bars in Dakar
To that African high-life jive
Her ma said, "Girl you're gonna get yourself killed"
She says, "I'm going just to be alive"
Oh when you get there, is there a there there
Do people care there, are people aware there
Do the boys and girls do more than
Break their toys and perm their hair there
Send an update, Kate, to your old roommate
From your big round world to my small flat state
Tell me what do you find when you open your eyes and your mind
To the great out there
She sent me a card from Zanzibar
From Khartoum and Marrakesh
And then later that year some letters appeared
From Nepal and Bangladesh
At first the words were laughter
The strange ways we live in peace
The next, the words were blurred with tears
The war, the famine, the disease
Oh when you get there, is there a there there
Do people care there, are people aware there
Do the boys and girls do more than
Break their toys and perm their hair there
Send an update Kate to your old roommate
From your big round world to my small flat state
Tell me what do you find when you open your eyes and your mind
To the great out there
I was born in Iowa
And that's where they'll bury me too
And the sacred things I hold near and dear
Are probably the same for you
So I'm glad I got my friend Catherine
'Cos she needs to know the new
Oh I spend my time wrapped up in my tribe
Well she brings the world into view
Catherine came back from India
With malaria in her veins
But the fire returned to her clear blue eyes
Just as soon as it whirled from her brain
I said, "Catherine who will you be
When you're finally who you are?"
She just smiled and said, "We'll see won't we
But there'll be more to be by far"
Oh when you get there, is there a there there
Do people care there, are people aware there
Do the boys and girls do more than
Break their toys and perm their hair there
Send an update Kate to your old roommate
From your big round world to my small flat state
Tell me what do you find when you open your eyes and your mind
To the great out there
Friday, February 13, 2009
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold
I think I will use this post to address some political issues in Uganda, which is what I've been studying most here. This semester is pretty freeing for me, since I am taking all classes that will transfer as electives at Eastern. I got to choose classes that are just interesting without any pressure, which means I get to fulfill my alter-ego as a Poly-Sci major for just one semester. I am taking East African Politics, Democracy and Human Rights, and Ugandan Politics right now. It is a really interesting perspective, coming as an American to the subject of democracy in a country where the democratic process is currently very fragile. As I mentioned before, their president has been in power for an extended amount of time, and recently "amended" the constitution to abolish term limits. Many people are skeptical about the outcome of the anticipated 2011 elections in Uganda.
A lot of people back home are at least vaguely aware of some of Uganda's history, especially Idi Amin. Just some quick background then: Uganda was a British colony, gained independence in 1962 with Obote as its first president. Idi Amin took power in 1970 in a military coup supported by the British, with the international community and most Ugandans excited about his charismatic promise as a revolutionary leader. He ended up killing over 300,000 Ugandans during his rule. We just watched the film The Last King of Scotland which depicts Amin coming into power up until the hostage situation at Entebbe airport (when everyone finally realized how crazy Amin actually was, leading to the decline in international support). It is actually a relatively accurate portrayal of Uganda then, even if the story about the Scottish doctor is fictional. A couple of the staff here at UCU are extras in the movie. Watching the movie here is really crazy, just seeing everything and recognizing places...this campus was even the site of a battle with Libyan forces under Amin. Anyway, after Amin, Obote came back to power (this term is usually called Obote II), and turned out to be even more violent, killing more Ugandans than even Amin. Then there was an interim of three short-term presidents until Museveni took power in a military coup (there's a lot of these here...This is Africa).
Museveni is a whole different blog post, but in short, he had a lot of promise in the beginning (like the others), but is currently showing some alarming tendencies, like getting really restrictive on the media. I read the Monitor, the local independent paper, at least a couple times a week. It tends to be really critical of the government, with some of its editors and journalists being arrested by the president at certain times. The government is actually trying to pass some media restriction legislation, and came out with a list of about 32 radio and tv stations that they are trying to close.
http://www.monitor.co.ug/artman/publish/opinions/Do_not_kill_the_messenger_79547.shtml
http://www.monitor.co.ug/artman/publish/news/Govt_to_close_32_radio_TV_stations_78914.shtml
I try to keep tabs on the New Vision newspaper too, which is government owned. [For Kevin: There actually isn't a lot of American media present here, maybe with the exception of movies aired on the local television stations once a month. The last time I saw any American news source was when NTV aired CNN for the inauguration. For the most part its these two local newspapers, and local stations. The only major western media source I've noticed is BBC News, but usually just people who've studied at university tend to use it. There definitely is not a lot of variety for information though, because its these two main newspapers (online news is way less used, because most don't have electricity, let alone computers or internet), and a couple of television stations. The major ones I've seen are NTV and CBS (which is owned by the Buganda tribe). I think radio stations are much more popular than tv, especially in rural areas since most people don't have money for a television. But, I guess there's going to be a lot less diversity since the government is trying to shut down 18% of the stations. http://cpj.org/2009/02/attacks-on-the-press-in-2008-uganda.php]
Anyway, I know that a lot of people are interested in the conflict in the north, between the UDPF (Ugandan Army) and the LRA (Lord's Resistance Army). Joseph Kony, the leader of the LRA, started out with the intention of overthrowing the current government and instituting his own on the basis of the 10 commandments. He began to target the Acholi people of Northern Uganda, and began to abduct children to fill his ranks when he began to lose public support. The Acholi and other northern Ugandans were forced into government-protected and regulated Internally Displaced People (IDP) Camps, which are actually in really bad condition and are contributing to a lot of the North's instability and underdevelopment. (I've had breakfast a couple times with a girl named Cathy from Pader district in the North, who lived most of her life in an IDP camp. Both of her parents died in the war, and she is now taking care of her younger three orphaned siblings. She said she can barely keep from crying when she thinks of the conditions in those camps.) Since Kony began his campaign, about 23 years ago, he has obviously strayed a lot from that original goal and no one can really guess what his intentions are. Right now he is operating in eastern Congo, pillaging and raping and abducting children there. The Congolese government has given the UPDF until the end of the month to get Kony out, or else they must leave the country. Apparently, they are nervous that the UPDF will establish a presence in the resource-rich Congo.
I will be able to write a lot more about the conditions in the north when I live in Pader district for four months this summer, but this is just a little background of what's going on.
On a completely different note, in African Literature class we are reading Achebe's Things Fall Apart. We first read the poem "The Second Coming" by W.B. Yeats (my favorite poet of all time), which is where Achebe drew inspiration for his title. I just wanted to share the poem with everyone, it is really incredible:
THE SECOND COMING
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: a waste of desert sand;
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Wind shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?
A lot of people back home are at least vaguely aware of some of Uganda's history, especially Idi Amin. Just some quick background then: Uganda was a British colony, gained independence in 1962 with Obote as its first president. Idi Amin took power in 1970 in a military coup supported by the British, with the international community and most Ugandans excited about his charismatic promise as a revolutionary leader. He ended up killing over 300,000 Ugandans during his rule. We just watched the film The Last King of Scotland which depicts Amin coming into power up until the hostage situation at Entebbe airport (when everyone finally realized how crazy Amin actually was, leading to the decline in international support). It is actually a relatively accurate portrayal of Uganda then, even if the story about the Scottish doctor is fictional. A couple of the staff here at UCU are extras in the movie. Watching the movie here is really crazy, just seeing everything and recognizing places...this campus was even the site of a battle with Libyan forces under Amin. Anyway, after Amin, Obote came back to power (this term is usually called Obote II), and turned out to be even more violent, killing more Ugandans than even Amin. Then there was an interim of three short-term presidents until Museveni took power in a military coup (there's a lot of these here...This is Africa).
Museveni is a whole different blog post, but in short, he had a lot of promise in the beginning (like the others), but is currently showing some alarming tendencies, like getting really restrictive on the media. I read the Monitor, the local independent paper, at least a couple times a week. It tends to be really critical of the government, with some of its editors and journalists being arrested by the president at certain times. The government is actually trying to pass some media restriction legislation, and came out with a list of about 32 radio and tv stations that they are trying to close.
http://www.monitor.co.ug/artman/publish/opinions/Do_not_kill_the_messenger_79547.shtml
http://www.monitor.co.ug/artman/publish/news/Govt_to_close_32_radio_TV_stations_78914.shtml
I try to keep tabs on the New Vision newspaper too, which is government owned. [For Kevin: There actually isn't a lot of American media present here, maybe with the exception of movies aired on the local television stations once a month. The last time I saw any American news source was when NTV aired CNN for the inauguration. For the most part its these two local newspapers, and local stations. The only major western media source I've noticed is BBC News, but usually just people who've studied at university tend to use it. There definitely is not a lot of variety for information though, because its these two main newspapers (online news is way less used, because most don't have electricity, let alone computers or internet), and a couple of television stations. The major ones I've seen are NTV and CBS (which is owned by the Buganda tribe). I think radio stations are much more popular than tv, especially in rural areas since most people don't have money for a television. But, I guess there's going to be a lot less diversity since the government is trying to shut down 18% of the stations. http://cpj.org/2009/02/attacks-on-the-press-in-2008-uganda.php]
Anyway, I know that a lot of people are interested in the conflict in the north, between the UDPF (Ugandan Army) and the LRA (Lord's Resistance Army). Joseph Kony, the leader of the LRA, started out with the intention of overthrowing the current government and instituting his own on the basis of the 10 commandments. He began to target the Acholi people of Northern Uganda, and began to abduct children to fill his ranks when he began to lose public support. The Acholi and other northern Ugandans were forced into government-protected and regulated Internally Displaced People (IDP) Camps, which are actually in really bad condition and are contributing to a lot of the North's instability and underdevelopment. (I've had breakfast a couple times with a girl named Cathy from Pader district in the North, who lived most of her life in an IDP camp. Both of her parents died in the war, and she is now taking care of her younger three orphaned siblings. She said she can barely keep from crying when she thinks of the conditions in those camps.) Since Kony began his campaign, about 23 years ago, he has obviously strayed a lot from that original goal and no one can really guess what his intentions are. Right now he is operating in eastern Congo, pillaging and raping and abducting children there. The Congolese government has given the UPDF until the end of the month to get Kony out, or else they must leave the country. Apparently, they are nervous that the UPDF will establish a presence in the resource-rich Congo.
I will be able to write a lot more about the conditions in the north when I live in Pader district for four months this summer, but this is just a little background of what's going on.
On a completely different note, in African Literature class we are reading Achebe's Things Fall Apart. We first read the poem "The Second Coming" by W.B. Yeats (my favorite poet of all time), which is where Achebe drew inspiration for his title. I just wanted to share the poem with everyone, it is really incredible:
THE SECOND COMING
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: a waste of desert sand;
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Wind shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
"I eat rice, I eat beans, I eat matooke...That's it." -Jones
This morning I woke up at 5:30 in the morning (I know! So early!) and went with my friend Violah to morning prayer in the Bishop Tucker chapel. It was a really wonderful way to start the day, followed by a breakfast of tea and a banana. I miss everyone at home a whole lot, and I would love to see the snow everyone is talking about! I am finally feel almost completely adjusted to my school life here, especially since I have kind of figured out a schedule for myself. For the past couple of weeks we've been jumping around and changing places so it was hard to feel like I had a stable place to call "home" here, but now that we are back on campus its a lot more comfortable. My roommate Beth and I really hit it off, so it is nice to have a good friend here. We get to hang out with the honors college students a lot, especially since the internet only works in the lounge of the guys' dorm building (where I'm sitting right now). So it ends up being a nice hang out for everyone when we're all doing homework or facebooking (or blogging). I only have one class today, Democracy and Human Rights, so I think I'm going to walk into Mukono and finally get around to mailing some letters.
[side note: letters will always be appreciated by me, so here's my mailing address: Katy Slininger, Uganda Studies Program, Uganda Christian University, P.O. Box 4, Mukono, Uganda]
I also have to get some laundry done today. For those of you at home who do not fully appreciate your washing machine, let me describe what the process is like here in Uganda. First, you fill up two basins with water (if you are in a home, you walk to the local well, fill up jerrycans, and lug them back to pour in the basins. Thankfully we have running water on campus). You put soap in one of the basins, and scrub all of your clothes in this basin, ring it out thoroughly, then rinse it in the second basin. Dump out the water from the soapy basin and refill with fresh water, and rinse clothes for the second time. Ring out, then hang out on the line to dry. The scrubbing process is extremely damaging to our uncalloused American hands, so all of us have bloody knuckles by the end of laundry day! So, next time you throw your clothes in a machine thank God for the technology he's blessed you with!
Let me know if you have any specific questions about life here. Its hard to pick out certain things to write about, so I would love to answer questions!
[side note: letters will always be appreciated by me, so here's my mailing address: Katy Slininger, Uganda Studies Program, Uganda Christian University, P.O. Box 4, Mukono, Uganda]
I also have to get some laundry done today. For those of you at home who do not fully appreciate your washing machine, let me describe what the process is like here in Uganda. First, you fill up two basins with water (if you are in a home, you walk to the local well, fill up jerrycans, and lug them back to pour in the basins. Thankfully we have running water on campus). You put soap in one of the basins, and scrub all of your clothes in this basin, ring it out thoroughly, then rinse it in the second basin. Dump out the water from the soapy basin and refill with fresh water, and rinse clothes for the second time. Ring out, then hang out on the line to dry. The scrubbing process is extremely damaging to our uncalloused American hands, so all of us have bloody knuckles by the end of laundry day! So, next time you throw your clothes in a machine thank God for the technology he's blessed you with!
Let me know if you have any specific questions about life here. Its hard to pick out certain things to write about, so I would love to answer questions!
Monday, February 2, 2009
Weekend in Jinja
Yesterday I got back from a weekend retreat in the town of Jinja, which sits right on Lake Victoria near the beginning of the Nile River. All of the USP students went with the Ugandan Honors College students to Kingfisher Safari Resort to just relax before our fourth week of school started. It was so relaxing and was beautiful weather the whole time. The resort was made up of individual hut-shaped buildings with mango and palm trees everywhere, all overlooking the lake. On Saturday, I hung out in the pool, and went on a boat ride out onto the Nile River! Then Beth (my AWESOME roommate here at school) and I played Uno with the other students and went for a late night swim. Sunday morning I woke up at 6 in the morning to watch the sun rise over Lake Victoria...it was so beautiful it didn't even seem real. When it was still dark I watched the local fishermen on their boats dragging fishing nets in, with their lanterns giving the only light on the horizon. After that, we had worship, and one of the honors college guys gave the sermon. We left to come back after lunch, right as it was starting to rain. It was really a perfectly relaxing weekend! I will write more tomorrow! Hope everyone has a great day!
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