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?

"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!

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!

Homestay!

I am currently on a two week home stay, where I am living with a Ugandan family in the town of Mukono, within walking distance of the university. I share a room in the house with another American USP student, and the family we are staying with is pretty big. There are five children, (Daphne, Desmond, David, Douglas, and Denise) their mother Rebecca, and Rebecca’s sister. Ananias, the father, is currently working in London, but frequently calls to check up on the family. There is a pretty consistent schedule in the household…everyone wakes up before eight, Mama or Daphne washes dishes from the night before, they walk to the market to purchase food from the market, start preparing lunch, and the boys or their aunt walk down to the well to fill up the jerrycans with clean water. They eat lunch around three, then wash dishes, prepare food for dinner and tea time, we have tea (with a snack) around 7:30 while watching the family’s favorite Spanish soap opera, then bathe the children with the water that just finished boiling. We finish cooking dinner and eat around 10 or 10:30 at night. Since yesterday, though, me and the other USP student Kristen have been going to class all day, so we don’t get home until around tea time. It is a 45 minute walk between home and campus through the town of MukonoThe children are all wonderful and a lot of fun. Daphne, who is 11 years old, is extremely intelligent and helps translate everything for us and teaches us how to wash our dishes in their special routine. She is leaving for boarding school next Monday though. Desmond (9) and David (5) are a handful, but are both super observant. Douglas is very rambunctious, and doesn’t really enjoy wearing clothes very often, and Denise is one of the calmest and quietest toddlers I have ever met. Yesterday, the family all sat down and watched the inauguration of Obama together (the local news station was airing CNN for it), and Douglas kept running around saying “obamaobamaobamaobamaobama”! Many Ugandans and other Africans I have met are very excited about our new president, for several reasons. In Uganda, there has been a long history of corrupt presidencies, and their current President Museveni has been in power for over 20 years. Also, Africa very rarely has a peaceful transfer of power, so America’s peaceful process of handing over control of the country is fascinating and inspiring to them. Another aspect is that there is a lot of tribal prejudices in this country, so they really understand the significance in the election of a black man in America.

The family has also been teaching us how to cook some traditional Ugandan foods, like matoke, posho, and japote (I probably spelled all of those wrong), over small charcoal stoves outside. The home consists of two buildings, the main house which has all the bedrooms, a living room, a dining room, and a bathing room. Behind the house there is a small building with three rooms, a kitchen, a storage room, and a playroom. The latrines (a stall with a hole in the ground) are separate from the house too. That is a challenge in itself because every time I go, I pray to God to spare me from the cockroaches that live in there! Every chore that would traditionally be relatively simple in the U.S. is a long and drawn out processes with many steps. For example, at home, to take a bath you just step into the shower. Well, here, they have to walk down a hill to a well, fill a jerrycan with water, lug that back up the hill, boil it over a charcoal stove, carry it into the house, pour it into a basin, fill it with some cold water to even the temperature, then you just splash the water from the basin on you to wash. So, the day is very long, but it really makes you appreciate the final product when it takes so much work.

I also got my service project assignment this week, but it wasn’t my first choice, which was to work with Off-tu. I am now going to be serving on campus, either at the day care or the children’s library, so I am looking forward to starting that in two weeks. My classes are going very well, and I am finally feeling very comfortable in my schedule here. The Ugandan Honors College students at UCU are really accepting and are so friendly and helpful. I have gotten to know a couple of girls on my hall really well, like Viola, Trisha, and Agatha. I am very healthy and am enjoying the food here. Well, I am heading to lunch now (rice and beans again!).
I will try and post a photo on here tomorrow, when I have an hour or two to spare!

Mzungu! ("white person")

It is the end of another day in Uganda! I had my first African Literature class today, and our professor is probably my favorite so far. I also just finished the novel "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver, and I really think EVERYBODY should read that book. I highly recommend it to anyone who likes to read quality literature. Plus, a lot of the descriptions are applicable to aspects of Ugandan life and scenery. It is an incredible novel about the lives of the female members of the Price family, who are missionaries living in the Congo in the 1960s. It also delivers an excellent commentary on the involvement of missionaries and the Belgians in the Congo, and vividly describes the culture shock of the girls coming back to America after a life in Africa. Really, its amazing.

Anyway, tomorrow we are heading into the city of Kampala tomorrow for the first time, and Saturday I am moving in with a family to spend two weeks with them. I will be walking to school everyday, but eating and sleeping at the house in Mukono. Also, we signed up for service projects today. My first choice for the semester is to work with the Off-tu mission project, which goes into Kampala every Tuesday and runs a ministry with street children in the city. I'm not sure if I will get that one, but I am hoping for that. Thanks for everyone's prayers, and talk to everyone later!

First blog from Uganda!

Hi everybody! It is Sunday afternoon here in Mukono, and I just got back from walking around in the town with a group of students (mostly American, but we went with some of the Ugandan students too). All the little children stared and waved at us, probably because we looked like a silly parade of white people. I arrived at Entebbe airport on Friday morning, where I met two other USP (Uganda Studies Program) students, and we waited in the airport for about 12 hours until the rest of the students arrived. That night we drove about an hour and a half to the Uganda Christian University campus and received our housing assignments. I am in the Josephine Tucker dorm building with my roommate Beth. We have a view overlooking the rest of the dorm buildings and some of Mukono, since the building sits high on a hill. We had orientation yesterday with the USP staff, and did final registration for our classes. I am taking African Literature, Faith and Action, Democracy and Human Rights, East African Politics, and Ugandan Politics. Classes start early tomorrow morning! Here are some random thoughts from the time so far:

The Ugandans are incredibly friendly and helpful, and will come up to us in the dining hall just to sit down and chat.

It is pretty hot here, but definitely tolerable. It is the dry season, so the dirt is really dusty and makes all of our feet tannish-red during the day.

We have all been drinking a ton of water, which we get from clean water taps around campus.

So far, we’ve only had rice and beans for each meal, but it is actually really tasty, and they usually give us more than we can even finish.

The internet goes in and out, along with our electricity.

I usually share my cold shower with some crazy big grasshopper, a couple moths, and some flies.

It is extremely beautiful here, with amazing green trees that I’ve never seen before. On campus, there are beautiful brightly-colored birds, monkeys, lizards, and a rooster that occasionally sits in our dorm lounge with us.

Overall, it is amazing here, with the incredibly friendly and outgoing people, and the scenery. Thanks for everyone’s prayers, I am very safe and comfortable. Talk to everyone later!

Leaving Soon!

I leave in about five hours to go to Newark airport! I have an overnight flight to London, and I get there at 9 in the morning (their time). I have a twelve hour layover, so I'm going to go into the city and see some high priority spots (i.e. Abbey Road, Westminster Abbey, and maybe Buckingham Palace). Then I have an 8:55 pm flight to Uganda. I get to Entebbe airport at 9 in the morning, their time. I'll have to sit in the airport and wait for the other students to arrive at night, then I'll continue on to school. There's a lot of waiting in airports over the next two days, so I'll definitely get some reading done!

Thanks to everyone who has helped me prepare over the past couple of months, and who have been very generous with their money, helping me get to Uganda. I will miss everyone a whole lot, and I will keep everyone in my prayers! To everyone at Eastern: have a great semester and summer, and I'll see everyone in the fall!