"Presence" from Home

Unlike many high schools, Duchesne alum often wear our class rings throughout our whole lives. They symbolize the love we felt there, with the hearts turned outwards so that we remember to spread that love to the world.   

When I was in seventh grade, I read a fictional book set in Uganda, about a young girl doing healthcare work. I can’t exactly put my finger on why, but ever since then, I’ve felt drawn to Uganda. A large part of the reason I chose to attend my high school, Duchesne Academy of the Sacred Heart, was because they have a trip to Uganda every two years, which I was then able to go on during the Spring Break of my senior year. 

I spent the trip falling in love with Uganda, and hoping that I’d be able to go back someday.

Here we are, five years later, and I’ve lived in Uganda for almost eight months. And life has really come full circle, because I got to spend this weekend touring around with the Duchesne girls! It was definitely a blast from the past to find myself in Uganda again with Dr. Hickman, our guide Herbert, my friend Julia (who had also been on the trip five years ago), as well as 12 young women who spend their schooldays wearing the same Fairmont Plaid that I wore throughout my four years.

Herbert, Julia, Dr. Hickman, Me

Of all the lessons I learned during my time at Duchesne, the one that stuck with me most is Duchesne’s Third Goal, which is to inspire students to have “a social awareness which impels to action.” We are taught that it is not enough to be aware of the world’s problems; we have to do something about them. 

The Duchesne trip is not exactly a traditional mission trip, where a group goes to a place to perform a certain task and then leaves. Rather, it’s a mix of both aspects of the Third Goal. Mostly learning, and then doing a bit to help.

Ironically, this trip also perfectly fit Peace Corps' Third Goal: to help promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans. 

I’d coordinated with Dr. Hickman a few months ago, and she managed fit a visit to my school into their busy schedule. I kept our Third Goals in mind, and instead of having a normal school visit where the pupils sang songs or did a local dance (based on my own experience from 5 years ago, I was pretty sure they’d have had quite a bit of that already), I arranged for a panel of teachers to speak on everyday aspects of life here in Eastern Uganda, specifically the Teso Region where I live. 

There were three teachers presenting: one on the insurgency between the Itesots and Karamojong that occurred between 1986 and 1990 and still has a residual impact on life today, one on polygamy (which was very common in the older generation of Ugandans and is only somewhat less so today), and witchcraft (people are beginning to rely on doctors instead of witch doctors, but that shift is still taking place). 

As prepared as I could be!

The group of 15 Americans, their driver (Sam), and their guide (Herbert), pulled up to my school amidst resounding cheers from pupils waving out the windows of every classroom. Thankfully, the pupils were restrained enough to stay inside the classrooms, and everyone was able to sit down and start the presentation in a somehow orderly fashion around 3:30pm. 

I knew that the pupils would be released from class for free time at 4:10, and I wasn’t quite sure if we’d still be able to hear the teachers speaking over the noise of 750+ rambunctious children playing outside. We have no spare classrooms though, so there was nothing I could do except hope for the best and be prepared to go with the flow. 

I shouldn’t have worried. As soon as the pupils got out, a few teachers came over to ensure that they gave the group some space. But the pupils were clearly interested in the presentation, and so the teachers told them simply to sit down. And, goodness gracious, my pupils were SO respectful. They sat still, listened quietly, and only laughed at the appropriate moments. So the presentation continued uninterrupted, even as the group was surrounded by at least 500 children.

Afterwards, the Duchesne group presented my school with supplies that they had selflessly been carrying around for the past two weeks, through many airports in multiple countries. Not only did they bring enough books to probably double the amount of books that I’ve currently organized for our book boxes, but they also brought a variety of other school supplies, toothpaste, towels (which I’ll be able to distribute when Rosemary and I teach the older pupils how to make RUMPS, ReUsable Menstrual PadS!), shoes, and a very generous monetary donation which my very trustworthy Head Teacher will undoubtably put to good use. 

After that, I gave them the choice of walking to the nearby vegetable market to see that aspect of life in Uganda, or to walk two minutes in the other direction and see my house… They chose my house! (Thank goodness I’d been frantically cleaning it for three days, haha!) 

A few days later, I asked them about the whole experience, and everyone agreed that it was very different from the other schools they’d visited. They’d noticed the usage of the language, Ateso. Local language is used in schools a lot more in the outer regions of Uganda, and the other schools they visited are all in Central Region, where English is often the only language used at school. At my school, P1-P3 are all taught in Ateso, and it continues to be utilized by teachers in every grade to help ensure that pupils are actually understanding the concepts that are being taught. 

They noticed that many of the pupils at my school were not wearing uniforms (uniforms are encouraged, but they cost money that some don’t have, so students who come in everyday clothes are not turned away, as they might be at a private school), and many had no shoes. They noticed that the pupils were all very happy and respectful, and the teachers were enthusiastic to share their views on the topics they were presenting. Overall, Dr. Hickman said that it was a true rural Ugandan experience, which the group had not had up until that point. Which made me very happy, because my goal was absolutely just to introduce them to my school as it is, and have them hear about life from a few different Eastern Ugandan perspectives. 

Sipi Falls Resort

After we finished at my school and home, I travelled with the group to the nearby Sipi Falls, about an hour away from Mbale. We spent two nights there, hiked to all three of the waterfalls on Saturday, and had a wonderful time. The group was very close-knit, as we were nearing the end of their two-week experience in Uganda, but they made an effort to include me in everything, even taking the time to give me the background on the myriad of inside jokes they’d accumulated! They all have such unique personalities and it was so fun to be back around people who shared the same hometown as me, who could talk about specific places and streets and everyone just knew exactly what people were talking about. My Peace Corps friends share America as a general connection, but it’s a deeper sense of inherent familiarity when you’ve all grown up in the same place. 

They all seemed to love Uganda, and I hope some of them will come back eventually, to visit or to live. 

Books!

"Teacher Ronnie, what is an atom?" "Teacher Ronnie, is a dolphin as big as a classroom?" "Oh. What's a whale? Are there whales and dolphins in Africa?"

These are just a few of the questions my students have asked, sparked by the wonderful books my friends and family have been sending.

My First Book of Wild Animals, donated by Mason

These books are constantly passed between students during library time, and I've often seen a pupil forget the book they'd picked to read when their friend sits down next to them with one of the new books. These students are becoming inspired to keep reading and learning, and I couldn't be more grateful.

On that note, please take a second to sign this petition. It's very expensive to send books here, but unlike some donations to nonprofits, if you're sending books to a Peace Corps Volunteer you know exactly where they're going. This petition would make sending books to a PCV the same price as sending them to someone serving overseas in the military.

https://www.change.org/p/united-states-postal-service-treat-peace-corps-like-military-for-mail-purposes?recruiter=22318015&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink&utm_campaign=share_petition

Shoutouts to....

Kenneth Mason, one of my former regulars at Starbucks and truly one of the most kindhearted humans I've ever met, who sent me a wonderful box of school supplies and books! It definitely made my day and my school is so thankful!

Can you imagine trying to visualize how far apart France and Uganda are, without ever having had access to a world map? Knowledge of world geography is extremely difficult to acquire without visual references. My cousin, Cameron Tysor, has helped my pupils out with that by sending a True Book on every continent inhabited by humans!

Hannah Benedix Cowan, my former Duchesne Academy classmate and an engineer herself, is helping to inspire my pupils to become scientists and engineers with the books she sent! The all-encompassing Nat Geo Science Encyclopedia, with beautiful pictures on every page, is the most popular but the books on Astronomy aren't far behind it!

And a connection I made through Tri Delta at University of Nebraska - Lincoln, Amanda Cuddeford, sent books ranging in topic from The Human Body to folktales from different parts of Africa!

Of course, my wonderful parents, who manage to fit books for my school into every single package they send me!

The box that Mason sent for me and my school to enjoy! It has everything from crayons to a magnetic checkerboard and a map of Nebraska, so I can show everyone exactly where I'm from! It was incredibly thoughtful and makes me smile whenever I think about it. Thank you so so so much, Mason!

True Books: North America, donated by Cameron Tysor 

My First Book of Wild Animals, donated by Mason

Children's World Atlas, donated by Mason

Children's World Atlas, donated by Mason

Sticky notes, sent by Mason, put to good use! Together with the science teachers here, I've been going through the science textbooks we have to coordinate them with the Ugandan curriculum, to be used here as references in class.  

How Things Work, donated by Hannah Benedix Cowan

Encyclopedia of Science, donated by Hannah Benedix Cowan

Dive, donated by Nick and Colleen Schinker

True Books: Animals Helping After Disasters, donated by Mason, and How Things Work, donated by Hannah Benedix Cowan 

What's Out There? A Book about Space, donated by Amanda Cuddeford

A Story, A Story, donated by Amanda Cuddeford

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How Things Work, donated by Hannah Benedix Cowan

Encyclopedia of Science, donated by Hannah Benedix Cowan

True Books: Asia, donated by Cameron Tysor

True Books: North America, donated by Cameron Tysor

DK Eyewitness Books: Astronomy, donated by Hannah Benedix Cowan

The Giving Tree, donated by Mason

True Books: Africa, donated by Cameron Tysor

A glimpse into what the classroom looks like during my book box time! There are 115 pupils in this picture, all of whom opted to spend their hour of free time reading! (Sorry for the bad lighting, there isn't electricity in the classrooms, all light is provided by the windows!)

Camping Wanale

Never had I ever… camped on top of a mountain. 

That changed yesterday, when some Volunteers conducted a little shindig called Wellness Weekend. 

It started on Saturday morning with some yoga… but Kara and I slept through that, whoops. We did manage to join the group at a local coffeehouse called Casa, where we were all meeting up before the hike. 

Now, Kara and I have hiked Wanale before, way back in early February, when we had first gotten to site. We barely made it up the mountain that time, and as our jobs require a lot of standing but not an exorbitant amount of physical activity, I didn’t think we were really any more in-shape than the last time we’d hiked. 

A picture I took when we hiked Mount Wanale in February (during the dry season)

Exact same angle, a picture from this hike in May (wet season)

This time, we knew we’d be camping at the top of the mountain with the rest of our group… but as we had to carry whatever we’d need, we didn’t bring many blankets. 

Our friend Miles, who is a yoga instructor and about 100 times more in-shape than I ever hope to be, was super sweet and carried our rented tent up the mountain for us, so we at least had some guaranteed shelter!

We surprised ourselves and made it up the mountain with a lot more ease (and fewer muscle aches!) than the previous time! Unfortunately, we froze our butts off that night. We’d neglected to even bring socks. Let me tell you, even on the equator, even when it’s a small mountain, the top of a mountain at night is COLD. 

However, it was a beautiful trip and definitely worth becoming a popsicle. We thawed out during the breakfast fire, and had a great hike down the mountain—although we were still wrapped in our blankets for most of it. 

Miles, on the ground. Because apparently, as great as he is at hiking, he is not equally great at getting his jeans on without first taking his shoes off. 

We cooked dinner by placing cans of beans and tomatoes close to the fire, and then mixing them together to make "chili." Sounds weird, but after a day of hiking, it was delicious!

Sunset with Leo, Karaboo, and Mike

What I get when I say "Hey guys, look cute!" haha

Wayne made it into The Pineapple Club at the top of Wanale! (membership is obtained when one eats an entire pineapple in one sitting. The pineapple must be roughly the size of the eater's head)

In-Service Training, Already?!

First, some Peace Corps jargon: In-Service Training (IST) is a meeting that PCVs in every country have roughly 3 months after Pre-Service Training (PST) ends. 

I had been looking forward to IST, because once PST ended we were spread out across the country and I hadn’t seen most of my cohort in months! 

The other fun aspect of IST is that each of us got to bring along a teacher from our school to attend the whole week of workshops with us. We were encouraged to bring our counterpart, which is the teacher that the school assigned to be our main resource at the school, answering all of the random questions that an American thrown into the Ugandan school system is bound to have. Mine, of course, is Rosemary (who I’ve posted about on this blog before). She was delighted to attend with me, especially since the town where we were having the training was across the country—about 9 hours of travel from the Eastern village where we live—and she’d never been there before! She's incredibly dedicated to her pupils as humans, not just as learners or students at school, and I'm learning so much from her. 

Rosemary and I, together in Masaka!

We stayed at a hotel in Masaka and our trainings covered a variety of topics—everything from a session on establishing libraries to two days of sessions on utilizing consequences for misbehavior to use at school that don’t involve corporal punishment. 

The best part of IST was—as I knew it would be—seeing my friends! I am happy to be able to say that I genuinely like everyone in my cohort. Once I had been accepted to Peace Corps, I read absolutely everything I could get my hands on about it. I did my best not to establish any expectations for my own service, and reading as many perspectives as possible helped with this, as each person’s service is so vastly different. But one thing that cropped up relatively consistently was that PST is full of drama. My own cohort had our fair share of interesting (at times, drama-filled) experiences… but to this day, we aren’t what I would describe as cliquey. Everyone has their own natural friend groups, but I really feel like I can sit down next to any member of our cohort and have a genuine, deep conversation. 

During IST, I got book recommendations from Emily, shared clothes with Kristen, and watched She’s The Man (again, haha) with Chantelle. I posed for pictures with Isabelle, took naps with Apey and Kara, borrowed Katherine’s leesu (Ugandan scarf), and was grateful to Ren when she fixed my broken locket. Sheila shared her Sour Patch Kids with everyone, Kenneth showed us pictures of his grandbabies, and I listened to Kevin tell stories about the multitude of countries he’s lived in. Allie led us to a vegetarian restaurant in Masaka, where I discovered that Hannah and I are both nervous about turning 23 soon, and that Randy is observant enough to discern emotions from a brief facial expression. 

To sum it all up, I’m surrounded by a beautiful assortment of the most interesting humans I’ve ever met. 

Book Box Update!

These kids love textbooks. Surprised? I know I was! When I was little, textbooks were just something heavy I had to carry around. But here, they're the most popular things on the shelf. 

Last week, one 6th grade boy spent an hour reading about volcanoes, and as he left the classroom I heard him explaining magma to his friends in expressive detail. Everyday I see kids exclaim over a new fact or picture and immediately hold up the book to share their findings with a friend across the table!

My school has no computers, no internet access. These students love to learn, and I get to watch their eyes brighten as they flip through the few beautiful Science Explorer and Eyewitness books that we have. They want to learn more about the world... but we need more books.

Friends, family, absolutely anyone reading this: here is a link to the Amazon wish list I've created for our school. Please, if you decide to help my students in their quest for knowledge, please only buy the used versions of these books! Shipping things here is expensive enough, used books are more than fine.

http://www.amazon.com/registry/wishlist/2SJO04EELYP4P

Thank you for reading this, and please don't hesitate to reach out to me or my parents if you'd like to help but can't afford to ship the book/s yourself, and we'll figure it out!

Every Cloud...

Today convinced me that every cloud really does have a silver lining. 

A few weeks ago, I was feeling pretty awful and went to the nearest town, Mbale, and got diagnosed with a stomach infection (H. Pylori). But the doctors administering the tests were so nice, and were very interested in the Peace Corps and the work we do here in Uganda! They offered to help in any way they could, so I asked them if they'd be willing to come give a health talk at my school. 

Today, these three doctors from the International Medical Centre in Mbale drove almost half an hour to our school! P6 and P7 are now well-versed in practicing good hygiene and both the prevention and recognizing the symptoms of malaria, cholera, and typhoid! 

The doctors also shared their own journeys into the medical profession. All three of them came from villages in Eastern Uganda, went to primary schools in their villages, and worked very hard to get into secondary school. One doctor said "I was even barefoot, like some of you. But you will all set goals and work hard. I am seeing here future presidents, ministers of government, doctors... You are laughing, but yes! I know you will be our good teachers, lawyers, engineers." 

Everyone walked away with a smile on their face, and I couldn't be more grateful to these wonderful doctors.