Week of February 12

I apologize (again!) for the flurry of mass emails over the past few days. I'm trying to catch up with everything and move forward so everyone can be caught up.

Pictures from the month of January: http://enc.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2005189&l=0f7a1&id=149000028


I’m writing this journal on a Thursday during the beginning of our eight-hour trek from Mbarara to Mbale. I don’t really know what to think. I’ll let myself get comfortable in this setting, get used to the trash on the streets and dust that covers everything and the rags that clothe most of the children. It’s a self-protective measure, in a way. If I let myself feel about these things all the time, I’d be so depressed. But is this any better? I don’t think so.

I’m typing on a several-hundred dollar computer, listening to iPod music, and wearing $40-dollar shoes. And behind me on our little convertible ambulance/bus is a baby who is just hanging on to that precious thread we call life. A weak, gasping cry follows every shallow breath. I’m getting overwhelmed just listening to it. It’s strange; I’m listening to a song that says, “Once upon a time … we believed in miracles…” Not that I don’t believe in miracles, but it’s rather sobering. I hope this baby makes it all the way to Mbale.

This week I’ve been away from Mbale since Saturday. I traveled to Kampala for Dr. Rita’s wedding on Saturday. I sat on the end of a row, and when we went up front to give the offering, I completely forgot about my purse at my seat. Needless to say, my wallet was stolen during those three minutes I was away from it. Mom and Dad were wonderful and cancelled my two debit cards right away, and Charles (whom I’m starting to call “Dad”) let me stay with their family for the night and gave me enough money to cover me for the rest of the week.

On Sunday, I traveled to Mukono to visit Greg and the rest of the Uganda Studies Program students. It was fun to be in a college setting again, and I was able to attend four classes on Monday and Tuesday morning. Two of the classes were taught by Americans, and two were taught by Ugandan professors. One of the later classes was East African Politics, and the professor outlined the Statist Theory, which places the blame for Africa’s poor condition on its leaders. The fault does not lie in Western aid and the dependency it creates (as well as the conditions it places on its aid) or in Africa’s unwillingness to move past tradition and on toward modernization and development. There does seem to be a great amount of corruption among leaders here, even in Uganda’s President Museveni. It sounds like he started out as a great leader, but somehow he is still in power 21 years later. Ugandans are still hoping for a peaceful transition of leadership, since this has yet to happen.

I think it’s a mix of the three, though. It would be impossible to pinpoint one cause of such a large-scale failure to provide for people. I’m realizing how much more I need to read about the history and culture.

On Tuesday, we drove to Mbarara, a medical university town in the southwest corner of the country. Wednesday was clinic day, and we saw about thirty patients. There wasn’t too much for me to do, though, because I’m kind of useless when it comes to speaking to the clients. I did play with lots of the babies and worked on putting together the resource book. I feel useless here often, so I like to create jobs for myself in hopes of bettering the hospital somehow in my own way. Charles reminds us that just being with the clients is often useful in itself, but I tend to want to be doing things. I’m guessing there is a balance between just being with the clients and working to get things done.

I’m having a hard time concentrating because we’re passing plains now and I’m trying to type while looking for zebra. I think I’ll look out the window and type at the same time and correct the mistakes later!!

Miriam and I talked about social work again Wednesday night. She has such a vision for social work and her country. She wants to connect with current social work college students to provide them a network of support from practicing social work graduates in hopes of supporting them and given them mentors. Like she’s said before, social work is a developing profession here and is therefore not regulated by a set code of ethics. The NASW-Uganda is developing and will continue to change and grow through the conferences they are planning and dialogue. Charles is interested in starting an MSW program at Uganda Christian University with occasional visiting professors from abroad. I think that would be wonderful. Maybe I’ll come back for a semester. It’d be interesting to see how the foreign professors would be able to adapt to the culture.

And that was my exciting week. Laying in bed on Saturday night, I tried to feel sorry for myself because of my stolen wallet, but all I could feel was overwhelming gratitude and unworthiness at the chance to be in Africa for four months. My heart is still with Latin America, but I think Africa is stealing a different part of it.

Friday, February 16, 2007
I feel like I need to add an addendum to this entry. The baby made it back to Mbale and had a good night last night. Pray that it continues to get better.