Efforts Across Continents

2008-08-08T22:12:00.000-07:00

Winding Down

2008-04-05T05:56:00.000-07:00

I leave Uganda at the end of April, a month that snuck up on me way too quickly and is already here. On what was intended to be my last day in Mbale, an eastern town where I was serving for a short visit, I became ill. I am now alright but spent unexpected weeks sick. The most serious disappointment is that my last weeks to serve the Uganda community will not be fully utilized. I think I will be well enough to travel and fulfill my plans for one of the two places I had intended to visit. I don’t feel fully ready to leave Uganda just yet and wish I could stay to serve just a bit longer but at the same time, need to come home to prepare for the next stage in life – grad school.

The News

2008-03-05T04:02:00.000-08:00

So why have I been out of communication for about a month now? What gives? Here’s the story: when I was working with the NGO, I was given maybe 10 hours worth of work a week when I was supposed to be sitting in the office for at least 25 hours a week. So that meant plenty of internet communication time. My time with the NGO is now finished and I now have to use internet cafes, for which I have yet to develop a consistent pattern. Also, my mother was recently visiting and during her time here, my last priority was getting online. So, life post-NGO still in Uganda. . .

I have moved into my 3^rd home (4^th if you count the first hotel) which is by far my favorite. The landlord’s family is wonderfully kind, generous, and welcoming. My kitchen area is not finished so I am ever welcome in their home, invited for tea, etc. More gushy details likely to come since I absolutely love these people and my new home.

My mom left Monday after an almost 2 week visit and we had a fantastic time. Her visit gave me the chance to go around and see the country, which I was too occupied to do before. It was really nice to have family, some one I love and left safe with, and be able to show some one else around, reminding myself how much I’ve learned. We got to see quite a lot: a national park, the zoo twice, the Nile from 4 different angles, and the equator. But I became less patient with the constant onslaught of male attentions while she was here. I feel like I can handle it, or ignore it, but I don’t want anyone else to have to endure such harassment or have my mom witness it happen to me. I found a huge LA-attitude coming out of me. I don’t like the harsh reactions such treatment brings out of me but I don’t want anyone harassing my mom just because she’s white and a woman either. She was older than them so they should have been more respectful by their own sense of cultural morality. So, anyway, I hope I can go back to ignoring, which I suppose is the only virtuous option left when surrounded by such behavior. These things make me think about how much of history is lost in women’s silence. We experience so much of the violence in this world yet sit quietly on our grievances out of a desire to maintain our own values.

Service-wise I am now available fulltime for the Faith, which brings me great joy. My first free weekend, I spent in Entebbe (airport city) as a “resource person.” And not this week, but the next, I will go to Mbale (9 hrs away) to assist in the launching of their first intensive teaching effort. Then there are two more communities I may get to visit and assist after the Fast.

Well, I am sorry to not be more thorough but life in the off line world carries on and it will be hard to spend a lot of time online now that I’m not in an office all day. Just know that I’m happier.

2008-02-04T00:02:00.001-08:00

What an amazing and blessed weekend! The Baha'i community of Uganda received a visitor from the Baha'i World Center who met with the institutions and leaders through out the country, to help us better understand our role and how to successfully utilize our resources. This wonderful woman and blessing is a Kenyan and it was even more of an honor to host a fellow East African, particularly a Kenyan, who was able to join us for prayers for Peace in Kenya in the House of Worship.

Since I have arrived in Uganda, the majority of my service with the Baha'is has focused on a junior youth group in a school outside the city for disadvantaged students and in another just-beyond-the-city village where we have a new and very enthusiastic growing community in need of support and the development of human resources so that they will soon be able to carry out their own activities. In this time, I have learned a great deal about how you mobilize a community, develop human resources, and grassroots organizing. This new community's great success in not only growing but immediately involving individuals in community life has caught the attention of the nation.

During our weekend training, other communities in need of help were given to tools to ask for it. As an individual capable and willing to move and visit different areas over the weekends, I was asked to join our neighboring cluster in the next few weekends. I can't express how happy it makes me that I have been given the opportunity and been welcomed to assist various clusters in advancing the progress of their communities. I have learned sooo much in the past 6 months, both here in Uganda and in Los Angeles, and love doing the work needed to help build a better, more unified world and in my short time here, want to help the communities I can in a meaningful way. It is such a blessing to have had this opportunity and to have developed my own skills in serving the Cause. At this point, I feel ready to go anywhere with confidence in my ability to serve my community, wherever I might find myself.

Living in Africa: Flirtation or Commitment?

2008-01-30T03:25:00.000-08:00

With my time here in Uganda more than half over and only 3.5 months left, my mind is now swimming with my post-Uganda life options. I feel like I’m ready to leave Uganda and there are some things that are appealing about going back to Los Angeles but for how long will that truly feel satisfying? I’d love to get my own summer sublet and do freelance work for a few months, have my own kitchen and have access to a gym again but I wonder; would I fall in love with my grown up LA life or would I just start planning the next adventure? And what if my hopes and dreams for LA crash and burn, as hopes and dreams can. If being ready to leave doesn’t fully equate being ready to go back, then where is it I’m hoping to go?

To answer that question, I must look at another. This whole living in Africa deal I’ve been on for half of the past three years – is this just a temporary flirtation or am I hooked for life? It seems that while living in Africa, I get frustrated by so many things but as soon as I go back to the States, actually even in the European airports, I feel uneasy with all the sights, things, sounds, and things, so many things and people doing things and talking about topics I had forgotten existed, that I literally have trouble eating. It’s like I can’t take any of it in and then I only want to go back, as frustrating as it all was. And then there are the moments here, the few moments left in the world that I consider magical, that make the frustrations not matter at all. Often a long ride along some trail with greenery overflowing into the road, or a late-night motor-taxi ride under a clear sky, or a successful day of teaching, or a meaningful conservation shared with a stranger, or witnessing a spontaneous outbreak of dance and song. Is it possible that my belief in magic, or moments that remind you of how amazing life is as some might put it, only lives in Africa? And if so, does that mean I should stay? And what about the frustrations? I don’t like being a cranky person. If I had my own place, a job I in which I managed myself, and my own vehicle, would the frustrations lessen? Rather than a daily irritation grinding against my character, would they be reduced to weekly encounters? Or maybe even monthly? Could the magic eventually fade here too?

Well, I have a fantastic offer to work in Namibia (northwest neighbor to South Africa) with an amazing organization. My role would actually be dignified, utilizing my skill set, and advancing my experience in a huge changing-the-world kinda way. Initially, I’d stay with a great family but once I got started on my work, there would be enough for me to get my own place if I felt like I was too enclosed with the full house. If I did this, my career would be established. I could probably go anywhere I wanted afterwards, if I wanted to leave that is. I would have a huge amount of responsibility in a major international organization. The deal would be to delay grad school for a year, work in Namibia for a year, then get the masters, and carry on from there. The question is, do I want another year in Africa? Would I face the same frustrations? Probably not, but probably just different ones. And would it be worth it? Most likely, incredibly so. So what’s the hang up? I want to be in LA for awhile before running off again. What I’m not sure about is for how long this LA-craving will take. Will two months home cut it? Do I need the full year? And if I do take the Namibia option, I will fall even deeper into this living in Africa trend, getting closer to a life-long habit. A big part of me just wants to settle in one place for awhile and start the habits one has when she is in her home. So I’m hesitant to move to a place that won’t be a long-term home. But then again, I have to move anyway for grad school so either way, I won’t have a serious home for a few years to come. But, then on the other side of the argument is that the Baha’i community is my shelter anywhere in the world and service with them tends to make everywhere home. So, do any of these questions and anxieties really matter?

Junior Youth Virtue Skits

2008-01-17T14:04:00.000-08:00

My Junior Youth of Glory for Distinction Secondary School in Uganda put together a few brief skits demonstrating the virtues we have discussed in our group. As promised, I am sharing the videos with the world. The sound quality might be a bit low on these because I'm still working on the art of projecting with the youth but just watch my intro video to get the summarized plot lines. Enjoy! And forgive my loud interjections in the video of "Louder! Face the audience!" I really wasn't yelling. Promise.

Animator's Explanation/Introduction of Activity

Virtue Skit #1: Kindness

Turn up the volume on your speakers for this one! Two fueding girls agree to show kindness to each other with the helpful insight of a caring friend.

Virtue Skit #2: Forgiveness

A younger sister has destroyed her brother's things. How will he respond?

Virtue Skit #3: Patience and Empathy

How should a teacher respond to absent-minded student? In scene one, we see the short-tempered and unvirtuous option and in scene two, we see the same characters but both take the virtuous route.

Well done junior youth!

Cat's out of the bag

2008-01-16T13:09:00.000-08:00

I'm not in Uganda at this exact moment. I got a really last minute offer to come to LA for a couple weeks to help with some really meaningful projects and the finances worked out, so here I am. I'm going back to Uganda in less than a week and will stay til May. My short visit back has been really fun and an unexpectedly needed break. My projects in LA have run the gammet of hip hop show promotions to trademark filing to founding a school in Liberia to shredding paper on a late Friday night. Having done freelance things here and there for the past year and having a friend who does this for a very successful living, it's helped me realize what kind of career and lifestyle I'm aiming to build. I want a part-time gig with a predictable income that takes up maybe half my time and then I want freelance things on the side for the rest of my time. I could teach a few classes at a high school or GRE math for Kaplan, and then help get projects off the ground with occasional corporate jobs, ie- helping get the best lawyer in town, etc. I would love my predictable job to be a college/career counselor at a city high school.

So that's it. That's my big deam. Half stable and predictable, half taking what fantastic things come by. And having the flexible day hours to take on the projects that really bring me joy. And you know, if that doesn't work out I could always just go get some career-track corporate job in DC once I get my masters.

Flying Grasshoppers: Reflections on One's Life, Its Frustrations and Amazement

2007-12-12T22:22:00.000-08:00

Feeling comforted by drinking yogurt out of a plastic bag under equatorial heat. Flying grasshoppers, a local treat, my anxiety as they fly into my hair. My phone refuses to get reception, the internet does not work, I’m communication less in the “black hole,” there is a set schedule at which the power gets shut off, flying grasshoppers have infiltrated my bathroom and hallway, mosquitoes get inside my net, the net isn’t treated, cockroaches die on my floor, a grasshopper was mysteriously killed in the bathroom – lost a leg and now the miniature red ants are slowly taking him away. Did he die at the hands of a fellow grasshopper? Was there a territorial dispute? Or was it a duel over the fairest grasshopper of the compound? Could he have just taken a bad fall? With those wings, one wouldn’t think so. And that wouldn’t explain how he lost his leg. Do grasshoppers have the teeth to bite off eachothers’ limbs? And what do they eat anyway? Why have they taken refuge in my bathroom? And why are some a bright green while others are brown, twig-colored? Can the two different colors of grasshoppers mate? I mean, are they the same species or are they significantly different and it is just my ignorance and fear making me think all flying grasshoppers are the same? The brown ones are usually smaller. Maybe the brown ones are female and green ones are male. Then the murder would make sense because all the ones who have sought refuge near my water heater are a bright green. But then why travel together if the fellow males are likely to turn on one another? Maybe the deceased had betrayed the rules and for the perseverance of the group, he had to die. Or maybe it was a vicious set-up: trap him in an enclosed room and then they all ganged up on this poor guy they never liked anyway.

I feel pity for this dead creature I fear and loath. I feel pity for the mosquito I trapped in a container, only to wait out its death because I never had the courage to kill it directly myself. I pity these small bothersome, anxiety-inducing things yet crave to be far removed from them and live a life without flying grasshoppers aimed at my head or mosquitoes gnawing on my toes yet I can not leave because as bothersome all these miniature beasts are, I would be ever more disturbed to drive a long distance only seeing concrete, high rise buildings, and university buildings with architectural frills thrown about like the ornate decorations of a Christmas tree. I would be ever so grieved if children running and playing didn't freely decorate the town with excited shrills and care free laughter, if instead they were safely locked up in a house or only allowed to play within sight. And even more upset if I wasn't obliged to properly greet every elder as I crossed their path or if my co-workers didn't say their rounds of "Good Morning. How are you?" to every person before sitting down to work. If instead, my personal space was prioritized to the point of no contact with strangers, no shaking of hands, no pleasant smiles from people who only wish to hear that you are well and fine regardless of whether you are an old friend or clearly a foreigner with no relation nearby, then the silence of no mosquitoes near my ear, no grasshoppers flying above head would offer no comfort, only add to an ever increasing silence. . . So I allow my bathroom floor to serve as the murder scene of this poor green creature and my q-tip box to hold villainous mosquitoes hostage and allow my peanut butter jar to become the home and resting place for the lonely ant colony as it seeks refuge from the rain. After all, I too am seeking refuge in a land not my own.

A Week in the Life

2007-12-04T13:05:00.000-08:00

As I’ve said, I’m here, have been here, and as a friend just pointed out after seeing some pictures, I seem to be right at home. So what's my life like when I don’t have all my old connections filling up just about every day of the week with projects, meetings, work and such? Well, it’s a good thing I got away so that I could actually get these graduate school applications done. But here we go.

Monday – Wednesday I work 8am to 4pm but usually stay in the office until 6 or 7. Why? Well I used to work on my online econ course but now that it’s finished, I still stick around to work on grad apps or just catch up on personal email.

Thursday is a half day at work so it’s usually errand day, go grocery shopping, copy and email whatever correspondence I’ve gotta get back to the States, etc. Each week it varies but Thursday is the day things get done. Thursday night is devotionals at the Olinga home (NSA member and also where Rachel lives) and I am often the last to leave because I’m busy socializing with Rachel.

Fridays are always rushed because I never spend Thursday planning my junior youth group like I had meant to. So I wake up with not as much sleeping in as I would like for a non-work day. I usually have an errand or two to run or emails to send off, so I go into the office or town for an hour, gather all my materials for my junior youth group and by 11:30am, I’m on my way to Watuba where my jr youth are at Glory for Distinction School and I don’t get back home til 7:30 or 8. It’s a long and dehydrated, but very worth it, day.

Saturdays I’m out in Masoli, another neighboring yet far area where I go for core Baha’i activities. But that’s only for a few hours. Otherwise I relax, spend time with friends, overgroom myself, etc. It’s my off day, if one could say there is one.

Sunday is the day of the week with a regular devotional program in the House of Worship so unless I am sick or so exhausted we might as well call me sick, I go and have a lovely spiritual time. I usually meet a couple new people, have meaningful conversations, and take the day as it comes without excessive plans. I return for an afternoon of mild socializing, chores, or relaxing. It’s a very soothing day.

Variations on this come along, and such is the case now as I am up in Kitgum. So here, I’m just working (full time while I’m on this assignment), grad apping, and attending the occasional gathering of expats. Even though the internet connection is pretty sad, the distance has really helped me focus and pull it together for the applications. I really like it here in the field and am in the brainstorming phase of my scheme to get back up here in 08 and actually use my Social Welfare degree, rather than stay in Kampala just copy editing for six more months. I think 2 months in the field would be perfect. We’ll see what happens.

2007-12-02T12:42:00.000-08:00

There are those moments of amazement in life. Midnight the last night of summer camp, as you sing your last song and realize how much you’ve come to love these strangers and can’t remember what you’re life was like a week ago without them. The first time you can ever say “I love you” and mean it. Graduation night, the moment the ceremonies and all the planning is over and you just have the rest of your life with all its possibilities facing you. Or a road trip in the middle of the night, driving, not knowing exactly where you’ll end up, in the craziest hours you could never identify on a clock, you look up in the sky, surrounded by friends who are just crazy enough to have this adventure with you, and breathe it in. Life. It’s a powerful experience and sometimes the excitement, joy, healing, ache, and all of it just makes me pause, and I have to laugh and smile because it’s all too amazing.

Ok, so a little corny or a little more esoteric than I like to get, but as I’m up at almost midnight on a Sunday night because the internet only works after 11pm in our Northern Uganda office and I’m feeling more free than ever, I’m again for what seems like the 3^rd time this week amazed. I’ve had my share of breath-taking moments in my young life but since I’ve been here, every extremity of emotion has visited me and through the highs and the lows, I’m more amazed and awe-struck than ever. This is why I came here. This is why I couldn’t help but be anywhere else. I can’t logically tell anyone why I had to come back but it’s these moments. It’s the experience of life. I feel more alive here. Life isn’t easier, simpler, or less challenging, it’s just more.

Changes, Moving, Life

2007-11-20T03:57:00.000-08:00

Today my boss is leaving back for the United States. He got married here to another NGO worker he met. They needed two witnesses and out of convenience mostly I was one of the witnesses but whatever the reason, it made me feel really connected to their well-being and happiness. We got along and he really tried to welcome me. Having lived in various devastated regions of the world for the past four years, and to now be married, to be moving home for an indefinite amount of time must be so exciting. My time here will certainly be different with his absence since he was the only other American in Kampala’s office and the one giving me all my assignments.

Living vicariously through him, I’m now thinking about what it will feel like when this adventure is over. There’s a part of me that just wants all of my education and schooling to be over, to get a fulltime job and settle in one place. I know everyone in the working world tells me that I’ll miss school when it’s over and I’m sure I will but I know that in school, I over commit my time in an unprecedented way and can be miserable while also engaged in some of the most rewarding work of my life. Moving back and forth between LA and Berkeley for four years, and now again feeling only temporarily at home in Uganda, it’s hard to explain the unsettled feeling. Yet when I was home, I was just dreaming of adventure and moving around the world. I think that’s what traveling does to people, disturbs the balance. Maybe we’re content enough with what we have until we see another corner of the world, then suddenly want to see all of it, but it’s impossible so after we’ve settled into the new place, we find it’s time to move again. To be permanently unsettled, well except for the first month somewhere. It’s always exciting the first month. It might not be perfect, but you know it’s new, so you patiently wait to make the meaningful connections that will make you love the place. Then the image becomes less glossy. Under the beauty and the newness, are the faults that can only be discovered after you’ve been there long enough to build trust and then be disappointed. Maybe the public transit officials who are always so polite and happy to give you directions having been charging you double. Maybe just one experience jolts the whole experience. It could be illness, theft, witnessing a beating, having a friend lose everything or almost die. Or maybe some one actually does die. That happens a lot, here and at home. A lot happens and even just one moment can taint the whole country for you. But staying is better than leaving and the thought of home brings anxiety.

I know it was the last Uganda trip that seriously disrupted the balance to the point of the idea of staying put producing anxiety but it was the quieter unsettledness of post-Ghana that got me to Uganda and it was the more outspoken unsettledness with my own country that got me there, so where the travel bug begun I don’t know. Maybe some are born with an underlying suspicion that there’s more out there and aren’t satisfied until they see it. But then where does it stop? Do we pick a favorite corner and stay put? Do we move every 5 years until we’ve lived in every continent, speak 6 languages, and have children born with different nationalities? Or do we keep the original home we were born into and go on vacation travel every couple of years? At this point, I can’t imagine any those being satisfying. Maybe after a year, I’ll have some answers that I’m sure will change 2 years later.

Ready

2007-11-15T23:15:00.000-08:00

I’ve been here more than 2 months now and I think my life here is pretty settled with my role in the community and in the office more clearly established. As mentioned in my previous blog entry, my junior youth group is going wonderfully and now that the community has met my group, I think they are better able to appreciate that I am in fact involved. Much of what I’ve been doing here is not readily visible to those who aren’t in the communities I specifically visit but now that they’ve met the youth and seen how engaged and excited they are about the Faith, I think the community will be even more eager to get involved themselves. I just started a group on Reflections on the Life of the Spirit out in a village on Saturdays and I think I’ll have one going with a family in my own neighborhood starting on Mondays. I’m looking forward to having a calm family setting to visit regularly. There’s something comforting in being in a family home, sitting around a table, and reflecting on life together. Early January, hopefully, I will conduct an intensive training on becoming an Animator of Junior Youth Groups. I think I’m approaching full capacity in the time I have to offer, which is a good feeling.

Even at work, I feel more included. When there’s an extra project that needs some extra hands, the staff are coming to me so it’s not just my most senior boss who’s utilizing my skills. The Admin Assistant in HQ jokes with me in the mornings and asks me to help her out on drafting reports. The Field Coord for the northern office is writing up a job description for what she hopes I can help her with and I’ll be pulled up to the North’s offices for at least a week, more likely two. The work sounds great, like it will really build on my skill set. I’ve worked with HR and program implementation before but I would be responsible for reconciling employee files, designing orientation and exit protocol, and overall cleaning up the administrative functioning of this understaffed office. Of course, all final calls will be made by my superiors but still this will be a huge step in my career and will be a lot of responsibility. What I design and implement, if successful, will become regional protocol. Exciting stuff! It’ll be a big change for me environmentally too. I’ve never been in a village or obscure African town for more than a few days on the weekend, so to be up in a relatively undeveloped town without major restaurants, conveniences, or fellow foreigners will really be a drastic change. In the capital cities, I can find just about anything but I’m told even finding bread can be rough sometimes in the North. But I know the Field Coord and think she’s great and I know she’ll appreciate the extra company as it can get lonely up North. We’ll see if maybe I can work with the Baha’i population up there over the weekends. Maybe they need an intensive Ruhi course? That would be great. So much of the sequence I completed by participating in entire Saturday long sessions and I just loved it. It was what I would look forward to all week so the idea of facilitating an intensive course is really exciting to me. I’m sure that might seem strange to some but I loved my intensive courses. There’s something special about being able to dedicate an entire day, more than just a few hours, to something.

Well I’m traveling a lot less than I anticipated. As a student in Ghana, I had relatively little responsibility but here, I have quite a lot on my plate actually. I don’t think I’ll make it to Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania like I had planned for Thanksgiving. My Ugandan visa has taken some work and I can’t travel til it’s all settled and my grad apps are due soon. One is due the 1^st of December and I still don’t have my personal statement in decent shape yet so I think these next two weekends are really critical for me to stay in one place and focus. But my job will send me around to the North and West of Uganda. The Baha’i youth New Year’s conference will get me to Mbale, which is in the East of Uganda. And in February, I am traveling to Kenya with the Christian org my mom has been collaborating with for a few years now to sponsor two kids in Kenya for their school and medical fees. A girl from my first Uganda trip is coming in January and wants to travel around so by then all my grad apps should be complete and I’ll have a travel buddy. I hope to make it out to some of the waterfalls, and visit Tanzania. I think May or early June, I’ll make my final trip Ethiopia and go visit a Baha’i year of service youth. By then, I’ll be ready to come home. Every now and then I get a feeling of homesickness but know that I wouldn’t change places for anything but come June, it will be time to go home, spend time with my family, see some neglected friends, tie up lose ends I left hanging, and move on to graduate school. For the past two years, I felt younger than my age but about now, early 20s, young adult, sounds just right. I really needed this year and needed to be in a situation that would force me to focus and define my priorities and values, to face a different kind of pressure, and breathe, but I’m just about to be ready for the next chapter. All those things we’re forced to face as graduation and young adulthood approach, I feel ready for all of it. And that’s a welcomed confidence that I had forgotten to maintain in recent years.

Holy Day Celebrations and the Two Month Mark

2007-11-12T22:09:00.000-08:00

As of today, I have been here two months, exactly. I arrived September 13th and it's hard to believe that it's already 13 Nov. I've been working with my junior youth group at a school for the disadvantaged in a relatively nearby village about about 7 weeks now. About 2 weeks ago they asked if I could take them to see the House of Worship so the school director and I organized a van to bring the youth yesterday for the Birth of Baha'u'llah celebration. I had them arrive early so that they could walk around the gardens, look at the posters, and learn about where they were. About 20 youth came. I walked with half of them around the Temple and we talked about Baha'u'llah, the Houses of Worship around the world, the Administrative Order of the Baha'i Faith, Haifa and pilgrimage, and some of the basic principles of the Faith. They asked some great questions and were really interested in understanding what it was all about.

The service was simple and beautiful. The youth seemed really impressed with the choir and the diversity of the people inside. After taking their picture in front of the temple, I circled them up for more questions when we talked about why there were so many languages used, why there didn't seem to be a leader like you would find in most churches, and what made that more special than any other day at the temple. We joined the community for a presentation on the Life of Baha'u'llah, songs, and refreshments. My youth had practiced two songs and performed them for the community and brought everyone a lot of joy. Then we rounded up for one last set of questions which included how to become a Baha'i. I think now is the time of me to start visiting the families of some of the youth who are really interested so that the parents can feel involved and won't be surprised or concerned when their children start talking of these things.

The discussion the whole day was really focused more so than usual for the youth and I feel like it's turning point for us now that they have actually seen the Baha'i community. It's more real for them now and I feel more connected to them now that we've shared this experience. And for those who would like to learn more or start observing some of the laws, I hope I can be a supporting and empowering force for them in the remainder of the year.

Dreams

2007-11-05T22:23:00.001-08:00

The NGO's lease at the old house ended and we moved on Halloween. I think the move is what explains the strange dreams I've been having.

In one, I was in Los Angeles preparing to leave for Uganda for the year. It was the day I was supposed to depart and I hadn't yet fully packed but instead went to my Grandma's to join in on some neighborhood barbarque. I spent the day enjoying the new company and making friends. About an hour before I was supposed to be at LAX, I realized I had to rush home and pack but there was a huge traffic jam from Marina Del Rey to the house (about 2 miles in reality but in the dream the road was more like the roads I face here over some kind of mountain) so I ended up leaving without packing some of the most important items. Destinctly, I remember that I couldn't find my Ruhi books, which are essential for my service with the Baha'is.

I won't up panicked but as soon as I opened by eyes, realized that I was already under a mosquito net and in Uganda will all Ruhi books in tact.

Well, dream analyzers you're welcome to try to pick this apart but maybe it's just me feeling like I haven't fully unpacked yet and wanting to start tutoring soon which will be this Sunday, thankfully.

Happy Halloween

2007-10-31T05:21:00.001-07:00

Two Halloweens ago, Nili, an outgoing bright personality in our California Ghana exchange group, organized for all of us to have a nearby hotel's pool all to ourselves for the evening. 40 of us, or just about, wrapped ourselves up in sheets and called it a Toga costume. We danced, some drank, we celebrated our American holiday under a well lit African sky and made a night to remember. I remember it, at least.

So, two years later I find myself living in Africa again but under rather different circumstances. Yet the desire to spend the night in a warmed pool still lingers in my nostalgia. Tonight will consist of Indian or Italian dinner and then swimming in the city's country club. It will be a quieter night but just as much a nice relief from normal everyday life.

I have a lot of videos to share with you, including virtue skits my junior youth made, but I have yet to find an internet connection fast enough to be able to handle the upload so patience, patience will keep my blog going.

And for those who read this, how are you? How is your life in all that you do? How is your family and/or friends? And that process of pursuing your ambitions? I don't get nearly as many updates as you all do.

2007-10-15T23:02:00.001-07:00

Getting a Head Start on an Intensive Two Weeks

2007-10-14T01:17:00.000-07:00

I came to Uganda wanting to serve and be useful. My greatest fear was that I would not be able to fully participate in the community. Well my prayers were answered more fully than I seem to be physically capable of managing.

In an effort to help some neighboring communities develop their human resources, a few Kampala Baha'is have dedicated their time to travel to just outside town villages to visit the friends, offer some support and hopefully within a few months, there will be enough children's class teachers, junior youth group animators, and tutors of study circles to keep these new communities self-sustaining. I am part of this team and have learned so much in just these short two days in which we jumped the gun and began our visits before the official launch of a two week intensive effort. The friends are so welcoming and have made our efforts feel so easy and natural, as it should be.

But I have also learned that I am not too useful when dehydrated and cranky. So I need to find a way to hike across a valley under the sun and not feel weak afterwards. The trick? I can't consume a lot of water because there aren't good bathrooms around. So how to hike under the sun without water and not become dehydrated? I really enjoy what I'm doing out there, so I'm sure there must be a way. I'll find it.

Learning While Teaching

2007-10-09T00:29:00.000-07:00

I have been an animator (facilitator/leader/organizer) of junior youth groups for a year now but I feel like the one I serve with now is really the first to force me to challenge myself and really think about how to successfully spiritually empower this group. My first Sunday in Uganda, I visited the House of Worship, where I met the director of a Baha'i-inspired/half Christan-owned school called Glory for Distinction. As a faith influenced school, spiritual education is one of the core subjects. For the past two Fridays, I have traveled to this poor village where the school is held and worked with the students through the lessons of Breezes of Confirmation. It has been fun and taught me to really slow my speech and enunciate, but I have rediscovered the fact that creativity is not universally cultivated in African primary and secondary school.

Many of the discussion questions in Breezes ask the students to brainstorm ideas independently, and share insights together. Yet, these are the most challenging and time-consuming activities for the youth. If the answer isn't simply in front of them, it's hard for them to imagine what I'm looking for in an answer. So now I am faced with a challenge I've never encountered before: How can I, in just a few hours a week, begin to train these youth to think about what is not immediately in front of them and how can I encourage them to apply that creativity to how they view and plan their own lives? Some of the games we play require this skill and they can not participate. So I need to come up with some activities that will begin foster this skill. The junior youth curriculum is more than reading comprehension and memorization of quotes. The youth are asked to critically look at their own lives and their communities and develop a moral framework. The games, personal reflections sections, and service projects require a great deal of creativity skill to successfully tackle the task at hand.

I believe that they will benefit from this in other areas of their life as well because any challenge they face later in life, they will be better equipped to consider their options. I suppose I am discovering the very real practical benefits of a junior youth group in a whole new way. Now the question is how am I going to do this. I am going to begin by getting the kids outside of the classroom for an icebreaker before the lesson begins. I think they need to know that when I am there, that it is not standard class time, that some questions will not have definite correct answers written right in front of them, but at the same time it is structured and it is important.

In another teaching realm, I joined a woman at the House of Worship this Sunday as she introduced the Faith to visitors. I learned quite a lot just by watching her and listening, even though I also spoke quite a bit. I am finding a courage and bravery I did not know existed. Teaching occurs just about every day, and unlike a popularly held belief, it is not the spiritual culture that makes it easier to teach. In many cases I suppose it poses its own challenges, but it's really a change within me that has made teaching easier. I am reading more, listening and observing more, and really just trying to meet people where they are and relate to them, wanting to learn while also teaching.

Cool Things

2007-10-03T23:38:00.000-07:00

Some pretty awesome things have happened since I've been here and just want to share a few of them.

-I met another Cecily!
All the years in the United States and never have I met face-to-face another Cecily. Plenty of Cecilia's and people who know of another Cecily. I even met a Sicily or Cicely but it's not the same. Well, it was only my second Saturday in Uganda and I met a fellow Cecily. She's really nice, a Mass Comm major at Makerere and quite pretty. I met her while on a beach trip for the department. And speaking of the beach trip. . .

-I played in Lake Victoria = The Source of the Nile!
How many times have I studied ancient Egypt or for some reason had to learn of the greatest of the Nile? I can't remember but on that same day I walked around in Lake Victoria, the source of one of the most historically significant bodies of water. I hadn't brought my swimsuit so I just played around with my feet in the water. The sky was incredibly perfectly blue, the kind you would create in photoshop to sell post cards. It was perfect.

-I attended my very first Break Dance class
While here in January, I met Abramz, the founder of Breakdance Project Uganda. This inspiring and extremely talented group stuck out to me and last night I joined their weekly class. It was a lot of fun! But I am sore and have a couple bruises. It's been awhile since I've done any high-impact dancing but I plan to stick with it while I'm here. Hopefully I'll have some good moves by the time I get home.

Sometimes I look out the window of a taxi/minibus to see the copper-infused soil/dirt lining the roads contrasted with tropical bright greens, and have a moment of amazement that I'm actually here. Other times, I just feel like this is my life.

I take (and like) requests

2007-10-01T00:27:00.000-07:00

Komron Azizi with the Irvine World News, many people are wondering what has your diet consisted of and have you seen monkeys? Or other wildlife for that matter.

Also many of us are asking ourselves, and it could only be me "wait, why is she over there again? What does she want to achieve?"

Mr. Azizi of Irvine World News, thank you very much. I am pleased to address such topics.

#1 My Diet.
To be completely honest, it has not consisted of much. I haven't been eating a lot this past week and a half since I moved into the NGO house. We have a fully equipped kitchen, by my standards at least, but a decent grocery store is a bit away and I don't have a car unless I want to pay for one. I will go grocery shopping soon. But, when I was living temporarily at the Inn near the university, I ate pretty well.

Breakfast consisted of a "Spanish omlete" which was essentially fried scrambled eggs with bits of tomato, union, and green pepper. There was also toast with butter and jam, and a strange sausage that I initially feared but then ate without any poor consequence. Hot morning beverages consist of "African Coffee" (which I haven't tried), Nescafe coffee, plain black tea, or tastey African tea. I love the African tea. It's seasoned with cardomin, giner, bay leaves, and sometimes with a product called "Tea Massala" which I've never seen in the states. It's milk based, usually sweetened with sugar and so so good!

Lunch/Dinner options usually consist of a plate full of starchy things and a side of stew with a piece of meat. I like matooke (mashed plantains), Irish potatoes (basically red potatoes stewed with tomatoes), and rice. You can find a few other options every now and then that are more popular in Kenya but they look a lot like what I ate in Ghana, so I've been avoiding it. Stews are usually tastey and come with chicken, goat, or beef (just "meat" as they sometimes call it). For some reason, I stopped being able to eat significant portions of meat in one sitting this past summer and my desire to eat a chicken leg has yet to return. Thankfully, there are also beans in Uganda and I can get my protein that way.

Snacks include the street food option of chapati bread served with a fried egg and some veggies. Haven't tried that yet. Fried plantains and sausage is also available and quite good. Pineapples, oranges, mangos, and veggies are available. I still maintain my Ghana survival items of McVittie Digestives and hot Milo, a chocolate beverage full of nutritional supplements.

Desserts include gelato, pasties and cakes that are not sweetened in the way I am used to. So they look good but are consistently disappointing. But the gelato is always good. I really wish FanIce, a South African brand of frozen tasties popular in West Africa, was big here. I miss it.

#2 Monkeys.
No, I have not seen any monkeys yet but I will be traveling and hopefully will visit a national park or two. So monkeys are a possibility but I hope to avoid any baboons. In general, I think the African capital cities do not have extensive exotics. Pollution ruined their environment so I think you have to go the parks to see them. The only exception that I've experienced was on the beach in Togo.

#3 Why Uganda? What to achieve from way over there?
You asked the big one here. Well it's a little hard to explain how the psychology changes when you travel to Africa but of the people I still keep in touch with, there's a part that always wants to go back. Even for those who became so sick they almost left this world, even those who had everything stolen, and for those like me, who have thankfully yet to experience any of that, the world's not quite the same and something about Africa is always nagging trying to pull you back. I'm not quite sure what it is, but this feels like home. Strange, I know. But as soon as I got off the plane in January for my first trip to Uganda, I knew I had come to the right place. I saw in the distance a "crying tree," a very African looking tree, and a little voice in my head went off saying "Welcome home." I would never argue to a local that this is my home but it just feels right and now that I'm here, I can't imagine being anywhere else. So that's honestly why I'm here. There was a longing that I tried to ignore but couldn't and ultimately, I had to return to feel at peace.

But, once I decided to come back to Uganda, I of course came up with some good things to justify it all. So things I hope to accomplish: I hope to be of service to humanity. That's not too different from my goals when I'm in California. So, basically I'll be very active with the Baha'i community here, working with a junior youth group at a school, visiting dormant communities, and arising where needed and appropriate. More to come on that. I also hope to learn about the NGO world and discover my career passion. I think I would like to work with NGO management in the future so I am interning with an NGO, under the country director, and plan to learn a lot while helping the office keep itself running more smoothly.

I also hope to be transformed. I think I experienced some significant highs this past year but also discovered some significant weaknesses that I would like to work on. And sometimes to find yourself, or make yourself, you need to remove most things and most people you usually depend on to give you your identity. I hope that at the end of it, I will have become a better and stronger person.

Victories

2007-09-24T23:46:00.000-07:00

Last night, my 5th night in the NGO house and my 11th day in Kampala, I finally found my way home without getting lost!! Certainly one of the most basic of accomplishments but given that I spent an hour Friday night in a special hire (“taxi” in the US) trying to find anyone who knew of Ntinda II Road and ultimately gave up and spent an hour Sunday afternoon walking around, yesterday was a true victory for me. I’m an independent person and while I don’t plan on taking buses around all hours of the night, I need to feel like I can safely and confidently get around on my own. And now I can! It’s such a relief.

I was having a bit of a hard couple of days but both here and in Ghana, I found that the smallest victories can make all the difference. Being in a foreign country is challenging and getting lost is to be expected but when the moment comes that you finally understand how to get home or you finally can successfully bargain a fair price, it’s as if you found that yes, you can survive and be well here. I knew it, but didn’t feel it. It’s a cycle though and I’m sure that soon enough I will need another small victory.

But it is the bigger victories that make the challenges irrelevant. Those bigger victories come from being of service and I am happy to say that this Friday, I will be animating a junior youth group at a Baha’i-inspired school. I’m not sure how many to expect but these youth have never done a jr youth group, so we’ll start with lesson 1 of Breezes of Confirmation. Feast, the regular Baha’i community gathering, is this Thursday and will be at Enoch Olinga’s home. Enoch Olinga, a Hand of the Cause, was martyred under Idi Amin. His home is owned by the Baha’is now and it seems that it is the place of some community gatherings. I’m a little anxious to see what kind of feeling the home has.

Uganda is very much a dichotomy. On the one hand, I see such a virtuous loving culture, filled with spiritual energy and naturally, it makes sense that the Guardian called Uganda the “Spiritual Heart” of Africa and Winston Churchill called it the “Pearl of Africa.” On the other hand, there is a very deep pain. It’s history is filled with such unspeakable things and even the current crisis in the post-conflict regions is perhaps the worst humanitarian crisis in the world, as the UN suggests. But maybe these two elements do not create a dichotomy but rather they are part of this crisis and victory couple that feed each other along a path of growth. I have faith that Uganda will rise as a shining lamp for the rest of the continent and even as an example to the world. I hope that in the mean time not too many crises must hit before Uganda reaches its full potential.

2007-09-19T01:17:00.000-07:00

My internship paperwork is finally finalized and tomorrow morning, I move into the expat staff house! I'll have my own room and essentially have my own bathroom just to share when another staff member usually placed in another district visits. We'll also have a fridge so I can cook oil-free dishes! It's in a nice safe neighborhood and one of the National Spiritual Assembly members lives there and will be my contact for the area. Hopefully that means I can engage in some weekday actitivities in addition to my weekend excursions.

I'm excited for the work, to be able to settle into a place that will be home, and to start a consistent lifestyle so I won't feel like I'm on a strange vacation without an itinerary. I'm spending my last unemployed day studying for my econ course and will visit downtown to send the family some postcards.

"You Are Welcome"

2007-09-16T03:13:00.000-07:00

"You are welcome" or "You are most welcome!" is the standard greeting after I explain that I have just arrived and intend to stay for 10 months. My welcomes finally feel complete because this morning I met with the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Uganda. It was such a blessing that I wasn't even expecting. I had hoped to meet maybe a couple Local assembly members or some active people who could begin to plug me in but as I am learning through this whole journey, that when we arise to serve, the confirmations are much larger than our efforts and then we must arise even higher.

I attended a devotional service at the House of Worship this morning. One woman saw me sitting on the steps before the service began and as she got out of her car said, "Are you the one we are expecting?" That one question made me feel so welcomed because it meant that all of my letters had been received and that they were waiting to meet and use me. It meant I was going to be able to be of service and soon!

Well after a beautiful service in the serene Temple, I headed over to the National Baha'i Center and as if they knew I would be there that day, I was brought into their meeting room and met the members of the NSA. They welcomed me with loving greetings, friendly humor, and caring concern for my well-being. Those who might be wondering just how safe I am, you can be comforted by the fact that the members of Uganda's National Spiritual Assembly were pleased to hear that I have appropriate and safe accommodations. One of the members even lives in my neighborhood!

I am so filled with joy to learn of the opportunities for service. In Kampala, they are in need of children's class teachers, animators, and tutors (as is every city I hear of) and even more exciting is that the neighboring county has an establish small community but is in need of an increase in human resources. On the weekends, I may be able to travel there and tutor spiritual courses and animate junior youth groups. It was my hope that I would be able to do something of that sort.

Really everything that I could have hoped for in this experience has come together so easily. It can be none other than divine confirmations. Now that I have met with the Assembly I feel trully welcomed and ready to serve.

I arrived safely

2007-09-14T07:31:00.000-07:00

I'm here in Kampala, Uganda safe and sound. I landed yesterday morning and am now staying at an inn near the university. It is a very convenient part of the city - I was able to buy a sim card, visit the bank, use the internet, and grab dinner all within two blocks of my hotel! I will only be here until early next week when my internship begins. Then I move into their house.

My work with the International Medical Corps (IMC) is more perfect than I could have asked for. I will learn the internal workings of an NGO, write, edit and copy grant proposals and year end evaluations, observe field work, and participate in regional meetings with other NGOs and UN bodies. Even when I was daydreaming of what I hoped for, I didn't think it would be possible to get this experience.

On Sunday, I will revisit the House of Worship (picture in the center above) and hopefully there I can begin to meet some of the local Baha'is to get a sense of where their greatest needs are in the service arena. Official introductions will happen later, but soon hopefully, as I am eager to integrate into my new community!

I spent my first day resting, gathering the most essential items, and had dinner with a friend. Today, I met with IMC and acquired a big stack of reading for the weekend. Tonight, I will meet up with a friend from Berkeley and then go out to the much enjoyed Fat Boys social club, a mellow yet well-frequented place among locals and visitors. While the staff I met with Global Youth Partnerships for Africa when I was here have since returned home, there are a number of other familiar names in the city and I'll be with at least two tonight. Of all the countries to just up and move to for a year, I have come to the right place.

Ever since I decided to come here, confirmations have just poured down around me and everything is working out so wonderfully. Now I just need to re-enter the field of service and everything will be set!

Expect pictures and a little video within 1.5 weeks!

Not Why but What in Uganda?

2007-09-01T15:21:00.001-07:00

I can't even count the number of times I have been asked "Why Uganda?" and honestly, there are so many many reasons that to give a fully true answer would take more than 2 minutes most are willing to listen. So I simply choose the answer that strikes me. And then there are those who try to guess - I've been asked if I'm going on mission, if I'll be volunteering, doing research - I suppose that is what most people think of when they think Africa.

I won't detail all the reasons but I will give a few examples of what I plan to do there:

Yes, I will be involved in spiritual activities while there but no, I do not consider myself a missionary. I am active here in the United States and plan to engage in the same activities in Uganda as I do here. ie - I hope to teach a children's class, animate a junior youth group, co-tutor a spiritual discussion group, and share prayers with others. And I would be most honored to be called upon for any other needs of the community.
I will apply to graduate schools. I want to pursue a Masters in Public Administration with an emphasis in International Development. I'll be taking a distance learning Econ course to help prepare me for my future program.
Most likely, I will find a regular volunteer placement at an NGO but don't have the details solidified yet. I might rotate through different projects in several NGOs. We shall see.
And certainly not least, I will enjoy my time abroad, take time to share simple the musings of life with strangers, and try to gain some insight into this life by learning from another culture. With every culture I've encountered, I learn a little more about the world and how to be in it, contribute and find joy. Uganda impressed me deeply in just two short weeks and I can't wait to see what 10 months will bring.

For those who have asked, I will be based in Kampala, the capital city of Uganda.

We All Need Ladders: The Arts

2007-07-02T19:58:00.000-07:00

Music is a Ladder by Which Souls May Ascend
-Baha'i Writings

From the Baha’i Writings, I know that the arts have a holy purpose and are to assist in our spiritual upliftment. Then, why is it that most music I find on the radio debases our human existence to merely a physical decaying body whose highest aspiration could be to be entertained? That’s what I used to ask myself when I was searching for a genre I could love and rock it out to without feeling like I was betraying my true existence. Should I have to choose between music I can dance to and play for fun, for my spiritual well-being? I think not. I believe we can have it all in music.

That’s why I have been so excited to work with the Dawn Breaker Collective these past two weeks. Twelve Baha’i solo artists, poets, and MCs came together in Los Angeles to piece together an album that could speak to this generation. A fusion of Hip Hop, Folk Rock, Spoken Word, and Pop, the Dawn Breaker Collective’s first album, Arise, returns dignity to its genres without sacrificing quality. With holy writings woven into lyrics of modern day concerns and how to stay centered in this society, the DBC has given me what I’ve been hoping would take over the radio for years now.

Check them out at their website www.crimsongroupinc.com and see if this is what your hearts have been waiting for too. And check em out live:

2007-05-29T22:14:00.000-07:00

After returning from Global Kimeeza II, I immediately began searching for ways to stay involved and connected with youth in Uganda. GYPA's SLAM AIDS campaign appealed to me because it seemed like a great fit for my campus community. UC Berkeley has three major poetry student groups and several AIDS interest organizations. SLAM AIDS seemed like a great opportunity to make use of talents and interests already on the campus and to create partnerships on the campus between groups with similar interests who otherwise do not collaborate. I began attending meetings with other organizations to meet people who would be interested in helping to organize the event. While a few individuals joined the effort through this, the most active people were students involved in Cal Slam, the slam poetry student group, and the African Music Ensemble, a very popular class in the music department. STAND: An Anti-Genocide Coalition, the president of which is a fellow GYPA alum, was also instrumental in providing people power to advertise, set up, and take down.

The night itself was powerful and unlike any other poetry event I've attended. I sought out diverse poetic styles when recruiting, but also decided to include musicians and multiple artistic forms of expression. The room was decorated with pictures from Uganda (provided by Jordan Steiner, president of STAND) and paintings from Ghana (my own). We had two DJs who provided an upbeat atmosphere before, during, and after the show, eight poets, and 3 musical acts. The African Music Ensemble opened the show with a short piece and closed the evening with the grand finale that included drums, rattles, a bell, singing, clapping, and dancing. The symbolism of the closing dance was about the empowerment of women and provided a very high energy close the evening.

Apart from the overall artistic quality and variety of the show, perhaps the biggest success was the attempt make SLAM AIDS a sustainable effort on the UC Berkeley campus. While the focus of the evening remained on the poetry and music, STAND and individual participants announced their events, maintaining an orientation towards justice work. Through out the evening, I collected information for people interested in seeing SLAM AIDS again next semester. I received 16 names and am now helping to organize them so they can hit the ground running for next semester's SLAM AIDS.

http://blog.gypafrica.org/2007/05/kimeeza-alum-launches-slam-aids-at-uc.html

SLAMin

2007-04-02T22:48:00.000-07:00

SLAM AIDS is on its way! Having just returned from a spring break get away in Greece with my sister, I have now returned to find that SLAM AIDS is in session.

Funding: I applied for a mini-grant from my study body and asked for $120 for which I had to interview. It went well and the young sophomore who interviewed me was very impressed with the cause. I expect we'll get approved and hear in about a week. $50 for the DJ, $50 for the feature, and $20 for flyers
Artists/Performers: the African Music Ensemble from the Music Department is confirmed to perform, I have four confirmed poets. Still looking for about 8 more poets, a feature, a DJ and host. But luckily I have an enlisted help in finding such people.
Venue is set. Check
Stage can be used. Check
Sound system provided by the hosting venue. Check
Co-sponsoring clubs confirmed: Save Darfur and Cal Slam. Check
Advertising has begun with facebook event invitation. After 13 hours up online? 21 confirmed guests. Check
Next steps in advertising: make flyers, distribute to club leaders and at other poetry venues, get group leaders to distribute within groups, make classroom announcements, and start chatting it up in person. Every performer should be giving out flyers. Every organizer should to. Must make flyers. Must finals performers.
Yay!!

Briefest of possible summaries

2007-03-10T22:28:00.000-08:00

I realize that while I had intended to make this accessible to people unfamiliar with Uganda, I have yet to provide any explanation of the current situation. I premise this discussion of conflict with the disclaimer that there are many wonderful things I could also report on about Uganda and indeed it is the virtuous and beautiful parts of the culture that keep me interested in the topic at all. Uganda very quickly grew to feel like home and my sense of care for its well-being feels very personal. So my next post will highlight a few of the wonderful things going on there. For now, a ridiculously condensed summary of the conflict in Northern Uganda, that is highly debatable and I welcome any criticisms.

Colonial background: Britain's colonial administration exacerbated developmental differences between the North and South by using the South for business and colonial administrative purposes while using the North for military purposes and not investing in the North's infrastructure.
Independence leadership until 1986: for the sake of being ridiculous brief, I will say that there was conflict, coups, and massacres, the most notorious of which was Idi Amin, who's deadly rule was depicted in Last King of Scotland, winning Forest Witaker an Oscar. Amidst the chaos, the North remained developmentally behind the South. *For those who know more detail might disagree with my word choice, so recommend something more accurate but equally brief if possible?
Museveni comes to power. Holy Spirit Movement rises in the North as opposition to the new government and fails. Joseph Kony claims to be a descendant of the HSM's leader, and forms the Lord's Resistance Army. The LRA claims grievances against the Uganda's government and in rhetoric was interested in overthrowing Museveni. However, the vast majority of its attacks were inflicted on the people they were claiming to fight for in the North.
Most notoriously, the LRA abducted children with support and funding from Southern Sudan. The LRA attacks were so horrific that it displaced 80% of the population in the inflicted regions in the North into camps, where congestion, food shortages, fires, and disease bring about 1000 deaths per week. 1.3-1.8 million (varying figures) have been displaced. Varying numbers on deaths as well, with about half a million being the highest estimate I've seen. The abduction and use of children soldiers and the sexual enslavement of young girls inspired the documentary Invisible Children, popular on US college campuses and instrumental in spreading awareness. The UN has termed the crisis in Northern Uganda the "worst humanitarian crisis" and the conflict the longest running civil war on the continent.
Cease fire in August 2006 halted hostilities while peace talks were negotiated in Juba, capital city of Southern Sudan. The cease fire expired in late February 2007. The international community seems to be getting more involved or claims to want to do so now that the peace talks and cease fire have seemed to fail. The International Criminal Court (ICC) is pressing for the implementation of their arrest warrants for the top 5 LRA officials. Numerous governments are offering to get involved in the peace talks.
At this moment, everything is very much in the air. There are a lot of reasons to be hopeful, such as the increased international attention and support of the peace process. But much is unknown and there are a number of reasons to be skeptical. Peace is not secured and this is a very critical sensitive opportunity to hold onto hope for the final end of this conflict.

To get involved, ugandacan.org is a great source to get the most current and synthesized information while keeping up to date on opportunities to let your representatives know that this is an issue you want on the international agenda.

Post conflict

2007-03-03T14:45:00.000-08:00

Holding on to the idea of the LRA being a post-conflict situation would not be optimism but denial. The LRA attacked in Sudan. A number have headed to the Central African Republic. I think some are still in the Dem Rep of the Congo (DRC). They are not post conflict, they have attacked and won't resign the cease fire.

As foolish as it may have been, I still held on to the idea that peace would come. The stalled peace talks I wanted to believe were just stalled. The refusal to renew the cease fire I wanted to believe was a mere delay. I knew it wasn't the right direction but held on to hope and with each new article this week, my heart sank. The LRA have put themselves in a horrible situation and I don' t even know that I can pretend peace talks are still an option in the eyes of the governments involved. Museveni threatened military action. Southern Sudan did as well. I'm not sure what the DRC or the Central African Republic will do with the LRA in their borders but it seems everyone wants military action, which is just a euphemism for conflict, violence, murder, further destruction of lives, families, communities. The peace talks of this last year were the biggest progress made in the past twenty years so their failure gives the impression that negotiations will not bring an end. It's regional now more than before so it's no longer just up to Museveni or the decision of the Acholis who want traditional justice. I can't imagine the International Criminal Court not pressing harder for LRA arrests.

I don't know what will happen now but the international bodies can't stay silent any longer.

Report of LRA Attack in Sudan

A group of LRA looted a town in South Sudan near the border with Central African Republic, killing two people and stealing goods, reports the Sudan Tribune.

The attack bodes badly for the prospects of renewing the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement that expired this week.

The LRA were engaged for several hours by Sudanese military forces. The governor of the state where the attack took place called for the Sudanese military to expel the LRA from Sudan, saying that the peace talks would not succeed.

2007-02-26T10:01:00.000-08:00

As the light rain pours down on the winter of Berkeley and water begins to seep through the pores of my shoes to dampen thin white socks, I remember. Smiling at the comparison of tropical heavy puddles that make raindrops in equatorial Africa to the light midst of Northern California’s winters, I remember.

I remember my long thirty hour journey to Northern Ghana from the beach shore capital of Accra. Eating oil drenched fried egg sandwiches at four in the morning in the unlit car park of a foreign city as we waited for a bus to Tamale, even the pitch black of night without electricity couldn’t hide our whiteness as we waited and waited. She was my sister, or so they called her. Shaina, my best travel buddy, with dark tightly curled hair, two inches taller, when placed next to my straight thin light hair was my identical twin as far as Ghana was concerned. Rather than argue, we accepted it and lived like sisters as we traveled across West Africa.

The crowded bus eventually came, pilling us on top of bags of cassava roots that felt like welcomed rocks as our resting ground to chase the lost hours of sleep. We slept only to be woken with every road ditch of unpaved neglect, bearing witness to colonial favoritism. Thirty hours of travel brought us to Mole National Park, the biggest national park in the region, where the home of Elephants, Baboons, deer, and warthogs is preserved for all its marshy green growing tropical fields of grass. We soon learned that baboons are troublesome creatures, stealing from the local village, threatening children who won’t give up their sweets. They made a name for themselves the afternoon they invaded our dormitory. Cautious of the violent Baboon tendencies, my friend and I watched as one, two, three, too soon reaching 13 ran out of our room. The damage? The beasts ripped through Shaina’s unused female productions, licked her make-up compact, ate our bananas, and stole my McVitties! The thieves of Mole National Park weren’t after our money.

More than the baboons and their mischief, I remember the magic of tropical rain. Over the darkest and most humid night, I heard what sounded like unending gun shots patter our metal roof top. What must have been inch diametered miniature puddles hit the copper rich dirt fields surrounding swampy grasslands and teased my nerves as I sat on the Mole patio with my sister. How our roof managed to avoid caving in to the armed attacked or how the puddles didn’t form into lakes with each night of tropical forest rains, I can’t say. That night redefined “African rain.”

I remember. And I smile, amused with Northern California’s attempts to nourish its dehydration, knowing that this sky will never drench me. West Africa holds claim to my love for rain.

Uganda Conflict, Stalling Peace Talks, Global Responsibility?

2007-02-24T14:31:00.000-08:00

With a ceasefire set to expire Feb 28th, I wanted to post some information on Uganda's peace process. While both the Uganda government and Lord's Resistance Army (rebel group) have proclaimed their intention to avoid hostilities, the cease fire is not being renewed. ( http://www.monitor.co.ug/news/news02192.php) If either side feels provoked, hostilities could again escalate. Below is an excerp on an article written by the founder of Gulu Walk, a respected international organization working on this issue, about what's really at stake here and what the international community has failed to do for the people of Northern Uganda.

Northern Uganda's forgotten victims
ADRIAN BRADBURY, Special to the National Post
Published: Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Peace talks in northern Uganda have broken down once again. If precedent is any guide, the biggest losers in this latest development will be children.

A report issued by the World Bank last week, Development and the Next Generation, found that over 66,000 youth have been abducted by Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). In the hands of the LRA, these children have been killed or forced to become child soldiers or sex slaves.

The conflict in Uganda is Africa's longest running civil war. Over 100,000 Ugandans have been killed and 1.8 million others -- over 80% of the Acholi people of northern Uganda -- live in squalid displacement camps. Uganda's government has failed to relieve their suffering. Yet when UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon addressed their plight during a brief stopover in Uganda recently, he declared, "We appreciate the role Uganda has played in assisting to resolve conflicts, especially in the Great Lakes region."

In addressing the local media, Ki-Moon went on to express his focus on the military and political challenges in Somalia and Sudan's Darfur region, where he demanded "action and real progress." Not one mention of the appalling conditions just 250 kilometres north of the capital city of Kampala.

Full article at: http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/issuesideas/story.html?id=edc51f89-a174-4428-86f9-709f34a0dd62

Forum on a Socially Conscious Cal, aka Berkeley is the place to be

2007-02-21T23:54:00.000-08:00

Tonight "Forum for a Socially Conscious Cal" hosted an artistic gathering of socially progressive groups on campus. The idea began as a modest attempt by a fellow class mate to get at least ten groups represented to share ideas and opportunities for collaboration. With only two and half weeks of planning, 16 groups presented their causes and activities to a room of 80 people. While Global Youth Partnerships for Africa is not a student organization on my campus, I was asked to participate based on the suspicion that I was involved in something. I'm involved with a number of projects on campus, but chose to attend specifically for GYPA. More than 16 student organizations were present and spoke of even more events. There were arts groups, political, health based, international, local, anti-genocide coalitions, and anti-war groups. It is very powerful to be in a room with organizations that don't all share the same philosophy but are willing to work together on what common ground they do have.

On the spot, I had two people approach me to collaborate and one has since emailed me. Other automatic supporters have been people who studied abroad in African countries and are looking to get involved here now that they're back. As some one who's been to Uganda, I know that while this project is intended to benefit others, it helps me feel as if my return can be meaningful. Also, STAND: An anti-Genocide Coalition that is a national org dealing specifically with Darfur has expressed interest. I'm not sure how many of these people want to help plan or who just wants to attend the event. At this point, I feel confident that I have enough planning and logistical support that now I just need groups to advertise to their own members and support by attending in April.

One in the making!

2007-02-13T22:20:00.000-08:00

After a jaded day of sleep deprivation, caffeine withdrawals, and homesickness, how do I make myself feel better? In a rockin good mood because

UC Berkeley's first ever SLAM AIDS event will be April 18th, 8pm at the Naia Lounge! With the support of Cal Slam, Students for Hip Hop, the Invisible Children student class on campus, and a few other individuals who feel so moved, we will plan what I anticipate will be the best ever poetry venue on campus. With carefully selected featured poets presenting relevant poems, an odd dance performance or two, blown up pictures of Uganda, a short presentation on the nature of the event, a safer sex educational piece, and a welcoming open mic, I suspect this very well may come to rival the regular venues around town. Of course it's my dream that some young underclassmen will become inspired by working on this project and continue it into a regular venue after graduate. But, shh- that's a secret. First we just need to get the first one together.

For the sake of documentation, the purpose of this journal, here is how I secured a free venue and human capital in support of the project:
-spoke to other poetry people on campus and found out how they fund their venues, turns out the gelato place on campus has a full sound system and they let student groups use their space for free because it brings in lots of business to have events there. It's a win-win.
-When I say, "I spent the first two weeks of January in Uganda, East Africa" I watched for people who thought that sounded pretty awesome. For those who seemed interested, I skipped over my personal experience and went straight into how I'm staying involved. At this point, most people are sold and I offer to keep them posted for how they can be involved. Listening is also key. Why am I doing SLAM AIDS? Because given the relationships I already have with friends and organizations and the culture of my campus, it fits the population I'm targeting. Listen to people who are interested and what they have to offer. Be a broker: observe individual's interests and match with community's needs. Everyone wants a good cause and if you can let some one use what they love, ie- art, for a positive social project, they feel validated.
-Observing the people who have expressed interest, I'm inviting all those interested to my leadership and planning meeting at my place next Sunday. We'll see who shows up and what their dreams are. If it's enough people, we'll go big. If it's small we'll focus just on this one event and make it a sure fire success.

Updates to come on funding, logistics, and recruitment of artists.

2007-02-03T21:55:00.000-08:00

Couldn't have asked for a better day, really. Saw off my god brother as he trekked back to his side of the city in the morning after crashing on my couch after one of my apartment's awesome dinner parties. Spent my Saturday in a campus Leadership Symposium with a few hundred of Berkeley's finest leaders. This is how I love to spend my Saturdays- all day with kind loving souls focused on a common goal. Started this habit back in the summer with Baha'i study circles, and while this was my first secular encounter, it was just as lovely. After discussing transitional leadership and sustainable community building, moved onto sustaining motivation and drive, and concluded with funding/grant writing. While mostly campus focused and relevant for my locally based work, I made a few key contacts for my upcoming SLAM AIDS event.

The two marketing chairs for the symposium expressed interest in the SLAM since their project is now over, they are happy to lend their skills to the next cause. Plus two friends who promised to show up and support whatever it is I plan. So everyone I've asked at this point is on board. Seems this will be easier than expected. Though I'm prepared for the unexpected, if that's at all possible.

And to conclude the day? Went to see the performance of what is called the Black Men's Gathering (men gathering to pray and study together, always concluding their conferences by hosting community devotionals) program and a Nigerian man graced us by performing on three different drums, all of which I grew accustom to in Ghana. He played two talking drums (used for communication, clearly) and a Gimbe. If you're an American, you'll recognize a Gimbe because it's what we display as the all encompassing "African drum." Based in Senegal and popular through out the region of West Africa, I have a huge Gimbe sitting in my living room that I'm tempted to take out to a park tomorrow if I manage to get enough studying done. It warmed my heart to hear it all and I tried to block the reminders of my location from my sight as I listened. Truly lovely, warm and welcoming, it was a great visit to Oakland and I'm grateful to have a community so near that is willing to share their talents with the larger community.

As I sit here in one of my favorite Ghanaian dresses, writing of Nigerian talking drums, dreaming of Uganda, and planning for Slam Poetry events on my Berkeley campus, I'm hoping that for the two people who read this, that something to make you feel just as warm and fuzzy is tickling your life.

2007-02-01T21:08:00.000-08:00

I feel like my lens has been shaded, incessantly searching for opportunities. Everywhere I go and everyone I talk to, I’m wondering how their work and interests can be tied to supporting efforts in Uganda. I just attended a meeting of Students for Hip Hop. While I occasionally enjoy Hip Hop music, I have other clubs I would have otherwise visited if just for selfish reasons, but assuming some would be interested in using their events to benefit Breakdance Uganda or SLAM AIDS, I attended and spoke up. Now two people have verbally agreed to help me plan a SLAM AIDS for mid-April. Awesome, that’s a SLAM AIDS project I’ve got going and that should be easy enough to build support for. I’m in a class called Poetry for the People, all about using poetry as a mechanism for resistance and self-affirmation. I have contacts in Cal Slam the student slam club, and Students for Hip Hop will support it. I also have friends who like Slam but aren’t in the scene enough to know when it’s going on unless I invite them. So this should be good.

Still need to figure out a benefit project for Breakdance Uganda. The trick in these really is that I want them to be sustainable. This is especially tricky since I’m graduating. So I want to recruit a sophomore or junior who will work with me on these the first time and can continue them next year when I’m not here. If I can recruit some one who attend one of the GYPA trips in the summer, then that’ll guarantee some continued efforts. It requires special attention.

Once I get my second project going, I’ll try to tap back into the Uganda class and get them to support these efforts.

Grant writing. I tried to visit the resident expert in my department but he wasn’t there during office hours. The computer science departments aren’t responding to my efforts. I need to email the grant expert for an alternative meeting and I need to visit the computer science department advisors in person. It’s the face, the real person, that gets people to respond. Email requests could just be copied and pasted. They don’t know that they should care because they haven’t met me yet and when they see I care, they will too. Or at least will have to entertain my efforts. So, next on my plate?

Visit the lounge on campus that I have my eye on for the venue for SLAM AIDS and secure a date

Solidify my human resources for co-organizers because I certainly don’t know enough about event planning to do this on my own. Get a Cal Slam person, confirm with my Students for Hip Hop contact, and find a sophomore or freshman to join us.

Get a student or two from the Uganda class to agree to help with advertising and try to convince the teachers to use helping my projects as the make-up assignment for any students who miss a course requirement

Set up meeting with grant writing expert in Social Welfare Department

Visit computer science department and find some one who can design a website. I feel like I should have achieved this already because it seems every idiot has a website but it hasn’t been as simple as I assumed it would be. So a face to face encounter is needed.

2007-01-31T20:56:00.000-08:00

Peace talks are still stalling. Museveni (Uganda President) says NGOs aren't helping when they shop around for new locations. He wants to stay in Juba. LRA feels Juba is hostile. Rebel ambushed UN cars and several people were killed. When I read the head for the recent attack ( http://www.ugandacan.org/item/1997 ) a bit of hope in me died. When I shared my topic with a classmate, pleased to say "Social Development in Post-conflict Reconstruction: The Case of Uganda" she questioned if it was safe to say that Uganda is post-conflict. I was fairly confident that it's a safe presumption that hostilities will not re-establish themselves into another phase of civil war. While the attack was in Sudan, it hits hard to know that the LRA is still attacking and that they're strong enough to remain active, ambushing non-military parties. It hurts.

I wanted to be right, not for the sake of being right but for the sake of the people living in the North of Uganda and really any place where the LRA inhabits. I want to safely with pure confidence label my topic "post-conflict" and I'm sticking with my title because some one has to believe that peace will come out of this and that's it's the only option even if negotiations seem impossible.

2007-01-29T18:56:00.000-08:00

Welcome to post-Uganda initiatives 101! Having spent the first two weeks of 2007 in a Post-Conflict Reconstruction youth summit in Uganda, I have a number of projects, bridges, and efforts I am pursuing. Here, I will document my efforts, publish the efforts of others, and provide updates on wordly affairs. While I must admit that not every avenue I pursue can yield a positive result, I think documenting the process is important. So contrary to my regular practice of holding off sharing until I find success, I will share my seedlings of ideas. As of now, these are my pursuits.

Campus Partnerships. There are a number of groups on campus that are interested in international affairs that are directly connected to Uganda or Africa but there are also a number of performance based interest groups that are likely to be interested in supporting Uganda related projects, if only they knew. That's where I come in. My targets as of now? Cal Slam I want to pair up with SLAM AIDS and Students for Hip Hop at Cal I want to pair up with Breakdance Project Uganda! Other groups include the student run class "Invisible Children: Conflict in Northern Uganda", Bears for UNICEF, and some of the fraternities and sororities that are international focused philanthropy.

http://www.gypafrica.org/slam-aids.php
http://www.myspace.com/breakdanceprojectuganda

Grant Writing. I've identified the professor in my department who specializes in grant writing and foundations. So he's my current target. My main aim is to secure funding for the Daughters of Charity orphanage I visited in Kampala. I have a request in with a Catholic expert about church based funding and if that takes too long to get a response on, I will independently investigate.
Fund raising. This is a generic goal, mostly targeted for GYPA's programs and I hope that the above mentioned groups and I can collaborate to form few fund raising activities on part of the sports therapy and income generation projects.

www.gypafrica.org

On a less related note, I am writing a senior honor's thesis in Social Welfare. Most courses in my major focus domestically on the US and so do most thesis topics. However, I am paired with the former dean who specializes in Social Development. I had planned to write my thesis on Social Development in India but due to my experience in Uganda and my demonstrated excited, my advisor approved me to change my topic! Now my thesis will be "Social Development in Post-Conflict Reconstruction: The Case of Uganda" Adjusting back into my American life has been difficult and it's been hard to get inspired to do my work but I think this will certainly help me catch up on my thesis. It will be more work to change the topic but this is something I would love to read about and my advisor is excited to learn something new. So, suggestions are welcome. I'm sure it would be helpful to my non-Ugandan/Uganda experienced friends to share some of what I learned there and I will, but for now this will suffice for an introductory post.