What is going on in the Democratic Republic of Congo?
If you have internet or a television it seems as though you will likely have a better idea than I do about the happenings in Congo. One of the places I wanted to visit while here is Kisora, Uganda which straddles the border of Congo and Rwanda, but unfortunately refugees are beginning to pour into Kisoro in small, but significant numbers (according to my US sources). The conflict doesn't receive a lot of attention here in the village and nobody seems to be worried at all, which is good. So if you were worried, don't be.
The BBC devotes little attention to the topic, but basically this is what I hear: After the Rwandan genocide (Hutus killing Tutsis in 1994) the Hutus fled to Congo. Now, the Tutsis are leading an opposition against the Hutu government in Congo. Whether these rebels have anything to do with the Rwandan government seems to be up for debate and some speculate that the violence has as much to do with control over Congo's vast mineral, timber, and oil resources as it does with ethnic tensions.
The Secretary General of the UN is meeting with Rwanda and DRC in Kenya in the next couple days to try to prolong a seize fire that is under effect now. Apparently UN peacekeepers were initially useless, although the UN is getting aid to effected regions to try to head off a cholera and typhoid epidemic that has been predicted from a lack of clean water.
In all, the problem is contained in Congo and if Uganda is to play any role at this point, it will be to accept refugees (which it should be getting good at after Rwanda and Sudan).
Dog-Earred Books and Where to Go in the Next Six Months
When I read, I generally try not to put notes, comments, streaks of highlighter, or dog-eared pages in the book. I remember reading that to truly read you needed to mark up, bend, and otherwise beat on a book by reading and re-reading. I completely agree with this view, but can't bring myself to do it. A stain of coffee is something I consider character, but a highlighter is an unholy tattoo. So between having a love for facts and my inability to so much as underline a sentence in a book, I tend to pick up books with indices at the end.
These books also have lots of straight-forward and very interesting bits of information that I have loved to share here in Uganda (on the blog - I am not reading excerpts of Health Care Co-Ops in Uganda to an already bored sixth grade English class). Sometimes the facts blend in pretty seamlessly - Climate Change causing increases in malaria prevalence is pretty pertinent to Uganda; others I seem to struggle to get a good fit. I think a future blog on "Observations on Observation" is a blog that doesn't quite fit together, but hopefully you will bare with me and either find the sections of the book interesting or find my personal observations interesting. If neither, I suggest googling "Chad Orzel" and perusing his blog.
Anyways, I am almost through the set of books I brought, which means I will be switching to Becky's stack of books, which I think we should all worry about. If I begin to try to make literary connections we're all in trouble. So hopefully I'll begin to immerse myself more in culture (sensitively, of course). I haven't forgotten about requests to comment on views of death, marriage, village structure, etc. so I think I will be moving to these topics as I run out of indexes. So the broad topics of population and malaria will likely slow and a more personal day-to-day life will hopefully emerge.
More with Chickens
Richard purchased a couple chickens a couple weeks ago, which I was sort of thought was cool until I realized what it meant. I don't eat eggs and I am perfectly content not eating chicken here, but now there is chicken poop all over the place. Besides, egg eater, have you ever considered what you are actually eating? The undeveloped hatchling of the evolutionary retarded version of a velociraptor. Disgusting. The chickens love hanging out on the cement pad where I also like to read and hang out. I now also love waiting for chicken poop to dry so I can scoop it away before I read. Cheers.
It was sort of cool one day when the chicken was walking around with a bit of a gimp and John declared, "That chicken is looking for a place to put its egg." He threw some hay in the corner of the building and, sure enough, a half hour later there was an egg sitting gently in the pile of grass. I wondered why the chicken wasn't more defensive over its eggs, but after observing them for awhile I realized that these birds were lucky to have made it this far in evolution at all. They truly are the clumsy, freaky looking little dinosaurs.
Water
In the sake of full disclosure, Engeye purchased a rainwater tank a few weeks ago, which has been supplying the clinic with clear, smelly water (ants got into the water), which has made me quite lazy. It makes sense, though - the water is much cleaner and there is a lot less carrying of water now.
I have been measuring the rainwater to see how useful it would be to develop a larger rainwater collection system and I am quickly learning that Uganda gets a lot of rain in big muddy clumps. In one 24 hour period it can rain over an inch of rain and then the equatorial sun can dry it all out in a matter of a couple days. When you are starting to feel safe again the clouds unexpectedly open up and force you inside again. It is near impossible to teach or have pleasant conversation as the rain beats on the tin roof above your head and mud seems to seep in from all sides.
The New Nurse and Typical Games
So Engeye has a new member of the team in Joseph - the clinic's new nurse. I have been happy with Joseph so far - he's amiable and kind to us, but there is one disturbing part of Joseph's introduction and it is in a little known game called Ludo. Ludo is a Uganda's stolen version of the game Sorry, which everyone, young and old, seems to know how to play. What disturbs me is that the people who are really good can put spin on the dice and seem to be able to summon particular numbers. People gamble on the game - can you imagine someone gambling on the game candyland? It happens here. Joseph has the same ridiculous control of the dice and even though I am 2-0 against Joseph, I feel that the next thing to come out of his mouth will be, "Why don't we put money on it?" I don't think so...I'm on to you Joseph. Both Ugandan games Becky and I know are very, very simple and all the strategies can be mastered pretty quickly, making it so the odds of you winning only depend on the number of people playing. If I play to 11 (everyone loves to play again and again and again) in Matatu (it is UNO with small twists) it is almost always 11 - 10 or 11 - 9, yet this is always met with surprise.
All jokes aside, Joseph seems to be a great guy and a good addition to the Engeye Team here. More on Joseph as he gets settled in and we are more acquainted with him and his sketchy Ludo abilities. It is his birthday this week (November 7).
Another Haircut
I've recently been told that the only picture I've posted of myself is a creepy picture of myself with a beard longer than my hair. This is not typical as I've been chided by village elders and have been referred to as Osama by too many. My hair is now a level 5 on my beard trimmer with a beard set to a level 2.
John has signed a contract as my long term barber and we set up a barber shop on the porch in front of the clinic in the evenings (complete with a mirror, which Richard holds - Richard doesn't trust John's profession haircutting skills and wants me to notice the slightest problems). Hopefully Becky will post the picture of our barber shop in the next month or so. It's like small town America all over again.
As always seems to happen, there was late '80s to early '90s love songs in the background of our outdoor barber shop, which always seems to happen when I step into a commercial enterprise in Uganda (the new nurse, Joseph, seems to like the '90s American hits).
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Friday, November 14, 2008
Bringing out the Cavalry
Slowly uploading more Pictures. I shaved my beard after upsetting village elders and I actually received mail telling me I would do better with less red beard. Thanks Mike. Trying to get pic of kids reading up now. Bonus week for blogs (two blogs) since I am so happy about the supplies I couldn't wait to tell you all.
It is really tough to feel the least bit alone here after being inundated with joy and supplies last week from Union (and many others over the last few months). We received four packages from the college with books, paper, pens, crayons, scissors, flashcards, and lots lots more. We anxiously read City Mouse Country Mouse the very first day and the flashcards have been a blessing. The kids have been completely captivated by the books. They conveniently have pictures that often work out a lot of times: E is for elephant, but it also is for enjovu (Luganda for elephant) and the card has a picture of an elephant. Using all these supplies, it is tough to feel disconnected from everyone reading this and sending support from back home. We certainly feel the cavalry behind us.
Anyways, the supplies have been so helpful. Thank you everyone who contributed money, books, and supplies, sat long hours at a table in Reamer (I hated doing that), and to those who helped put it all together. There have been a few all-stars that I know about and I'm sure many others that I wish I knew about. Every week I seem to hear about some sort of educational or fund raising program aimed to help the Ugandans in Ddegeya and to make Becky and my life more comfortable and our lives more effective. I bought some flour today to complement the cream of tartar that one of Becky's relatives sent - we will be making play dough tonight and I cannot wait to see the mess of it the kids make on Monday.
A Story that was the Chronicle at Union (Thank you Lily Safford Smith, Jackie Bartley, and Keerti Murari for sitting at the tables that week):
Union Gathers School Supplies for Ugandan Children
Two Minerva Fellows this year are Union alums Becky Broadwin and Steve Po-Chedley. The two are spending nine months in the African country of Uganda, where they help out at a health clinic and teach at a local school. They also keep blogs about their experiences. Many people at Union – students, staff, and faculty -- read the blogs regularly. To some, they are an education in themselves, bringing a distant part of the world closer to home and making strangers feel like extended family. Recently, two of the regular visitors to the blogs, student Megan Sesil and faculty member Anastasia Pease, decided to organize a campus-wide drive for school supplies, which are desperately needed in rural Uganda. Last week Sesil and Pease organized a fund-raising table at Reamer. Student members of Wells House made the event a success. In two short hours, the volunteers raised 43 dollars in change (which will help with shipping costs), plus 11 notebooks, 198 pencils, 3 boxes of vitamins, 5 pencil sharpeners, 228 color pencils, 3 boxes of crayons, and 5 pens! Added to dozens of children’s books, jigsaw puzzles, packages of writing paper, pencils, and boxes of vitamins donated this week by members of the Union community, these supplies should make a difference in the lives of schoolchildren in Uganda. Minerva Fellows Becky and Steve hope to help the children learn some English and science, combat malnutrition, and have fun at school! Becky and Steve also hope to start a pen-pal program for Ugandan children and their American counterparts. If you know an interested youngster aged 8 to 14, please contact Anastasia Pease or Megan Sesil. If you wish to be a part of the school supply drive, it is not too late – just bring your donations (kids’ books, pencils, puzzles, etc.) by Humanities 020, Center for Bioethics.
Event Sponsors: Wells House, Minerva Programs, Ethics across the Curriculum.
Many thanks to all who have participated!
A few more events for Uganda, including a benefit dinner and a concert, are being organized. Stay tuned.
It is really tough to feel the least bit alone here after being inundated with joy and supplies last week from Union (and many others over the last few months). We received four packages from the college with books, paper, pens, crayons, scissors, flashcards, and lots lots more. We anxiously read City Mouse Country Mouse the very first day and the flashcards have been a blessing. The kids have been completely captivated by the books. They conveniently have pictures that often work out a lot of times: E is for elephant, but it also is for enjovu (Luganda for elephant) and the card has a picture of an elephant. Using all these supplies, it is tough to feel disconnected from everyone reading this and sending support from back home. We certainly feel the cavalry behind us.
Anyways, the supplies have been so helpful. Thank you everyone who contributed money, books, and supplies, sat long hours at a table in Reamer (I hated doing that), and to those who helped put it all together. There have been a few all-stars that I know about and I'm sure many others that I wish I knew about. Every week I seem to hear about some sort of educational or fund raising program aimed to help the Ugandans in Ddegeya and to make Becky and my life more comfortable and our lives more effective. I bought some flour today to complement the cream of tartar that one of Becky's relatives sent - we will be making play dough tonight and I cannot wait to see the mess of it the kids make on Monday.
A Story that was the Chronicle at Union (Thank you Lily Safford Smith, Jackie Bartley, and Keerti Murari for sitting at the tables that week):
Union Gathers School Supplies for Ugandan Children
Two Minerva Fellows this year are Union alums Becky Broadwin and Steve Po-Chedley. The two are spending nine months in the African country of Uganda, where they help out at a health clinic and teach at a local school. They also keep blogs about their experiences. Many people at Union – students, staff, and faculty -- read the blogs regularly. To some, they are an education in themselves, bringing a distant part of the world closer to home and making strangers feel like extended family. Recently, two of the regular visitors to the blogs, student Megan Sesil and faculty member Anastasia Pease, decided to organize a campus-wide drive for school supplies, which are desperately needed in rural Uganda. Last week Sesil and Pease organized a fund-raising table at Reamer. Student members of Wells House made the event a success. In two short hours, the volunteers raised 43 dollars in change (which will help with shipping costs), plus 11 notebooks, 198 pencils, 3 boxes of vitamins, 5 pencil sharpeners, 228 color pencils, 3 boxes of crayons, and 5 pens! Added to dozens of children’s books, jigsaw puzzles, packages of writing paper, pencils, and boxes of vitamins donated this week by members of the Union community, these supplies should make a difference in the lives of schoolchildren in Uganda. Minerva Fellows Becky and Steve hope to help the children learn some English and science, combat malnutrition, and have fun at school! Becky and Steve also hope to start a pen-pal program for Ugandan children and their American counterparts. If you know an interested youngster aged 8 to 14, please contact Anastasia Pease or Megan Sesil. If you wish to be a part of the school supply drive, it is not too late – just bring your donations (kids’ books, pencils, puzzles, etc.) by Humanities 020, Center for Bioethics.
Event Sponsors: Wells House, Minerva Programs, Ethics across the Curriculum.
Many thanks to all who have participated!
A few more events for Uganda, including a benefit dinner and a concert, are being organized. Stay tuned.
Friday, November 07, 2008
Election Day
At 5:00 AM I was awake and wondering about the election - I didn't expect results for several hours, but by 5:45 I was up and scanning the BBC for any hints of a result. Before 6 AM the shortwave dial was a wave of static. By 6 AM I found what seemed like a dozen instances of "VOA - Voice of America" radio, which I quickly passed in the hope of finding BBC coverage (Voice of America kindly puts an editorial "produced by the US government" on the air every night). I found the BBC in time to hear all of McCain's concession speech at 7:15 AM here. Bilal called here to let me know that McCain had won, but quickly ditched our conversation as Obama entered the stage in Chicago.
Obama's acceptance speech was general, but had in it what I wanted to hear. America really does need to be rebuilt "calloused hand by calloused hand, block by block, and brick by brick." I've thought about that a lot here that no one person can make the difference. That the people who always volunteer and always try to help others are not enough - everyone needs to pitch in to fix our society, our environment, and our relationship with the world whether it be in a soup kitchen, donating to an NGO, going on a church mission trip, or embarking on a job or service that has the benefit of more than a paycheck. I liked that Obama used the term "patriotism" in the same sentence as "responsibility." We have been loose with our patriotism and I think it was Mark Twain that put it best, "Loyalty to the country always, loyalty to the government when it deserves it." Hearing the speech made me feel that I could be proud of America again. I did not vote for Obama and I was glad that he stated that "I will be your president, too" for those who did not vote for him and "for those hung around radios in forgotten corners of the world." I did like that he emphasized the strength of our ideals, rather than the strength of our military and mentioned "peace" in his speech - something that has apparently been taboo in the last eight years as George Bush played kindergarten games with nation states. "You're a stupid face and I don't like you and I'm not gonna talk to you!" (axis of evil).
They interviewed the opposition candidate in Zimbabwe and I realized that there are already a line of countries hoping to better relations or fix problems - Afghanistan, Palistan, Israel, Palestine, Iran, Iraq, Venezuela, Democratic Republic of Congo, China, Russia, Bolivia, Sudan, etc. As I listen more and more to the BBC, basically every African nation is expecting some kind of help and Obama can't possibly address all those international crises along with the distribution of wealth, the deficit, universal healthcare, the various financial crises, shortfalls in international aid, poverty, hunger, climate change, or basically everything that has been ignored for the past eight years. Obama is expected to deal with over eight years of poor policy decisions and I don't think that he can do it in four or eight years. Obama's military policy still has increases slated in some branches and still uses mercenaries. He did vote yes for FISA. He is not perfect and I worry that he will settle too far right when making reforms. I believe there will be change and I am hopeful that we'll have sweeping reforms, but I am cautiously optimistic.
Obama's speech reminded me of a winter day when the Buffalo Bills took on the Tennessee Titans in 2000. Doug Flutie was having a miracle season and after an 0 and 3 start the Bills made it to the wild card game against Tennessee. The Bills had a lead changing field goal with 23 seconds left when the Titans ran the kickoff back to win the game in the last Buffalo playoff appearance in nearly a decade. Obama's speech made me feel the exact opposite feelings. After 8 years of evil government, I really think that anything could be better than Bush. I refused to comment on the election beforehand, because I had said in previous elections that it was impossible that we would could not be dumb enough to elect Bush or moreso, dumb enough to re-elect him. I remember taking a Wednesday of classes off in 2004 to mourn "Black Wednesday" or the re-election of Bush and I am glad I didn't have to repeat it this year (I remember thinking that I should not be missing Professor Cervone's multi-variable calculus class, which I was having trouble in, but decided that on such a tragic day, it was the only right thing to do). In all, we didn't make the same mistake again, but the margins were small 52% to 47% - after accounting for voter turnout (60%), the victory was 31% to 28% hardly a sweeping victory. The large margin in the electoral college reminds us all how backwards our system is.
The people here are happy - I don't know if they know why - Bush has increased aid to Africa, but everyone is "so so happy" about Obama. Kenya, where Obama's father is from (Kenya is next to Uganda) declared a national holiday for November 6. The teachers at Bunyere knew about the victory as it has been all over the radio and everyone seems very optimistic that something better will happen (no pressure).
Overall, it feels good and I am happy and hopeful. I wish I could have been in Chicago, it sounded absolutely electric and emotional on the radio and I can't wait to see the atmosphere when I return to the US.
I had written a blog about the election before the election with grand schemes of swinging the McCain vote to Nader, but every week I decided not to post it. My thoughts basically coincided with Robert Bowman as quoted from the last page of A People's History of the United States. I don't think that these values coincide with the Republican Party...
We are not hated because we practice democracy, value freedom, or uphold human rights. We are hated because our government denies these things to the people in Third World countries whose resources are coveted by multinational corporations. That hatred we have sown has come back to haunt us in the form of terrorism...Instead of sending our sons and daughters around the world to kill Arabs so we can have the oil under their sand, we should send them to rebuild their infrastructure, supply clean water, and feed starving children...
In short, we should do good instead of evil. Who would try to stop us? Who would hate us? Who would want to bomb us? That is the truth the American people need to hear.
- Robert Bowman, a former lieutenant in the US Air Force who had flown 101 combat missions in Vietnam and then became a Catholic Bishop. He was commentating on the embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania in National Catholic Reporter three years before September 11, 2001.
If there one thing Obama can do, it is to restore our world reputation and begin to work for the people of the United States and abroad.
[Becky and I celebrated Obama's victory with grape juice tasting wine and some Cadbury's Chocolate from Kinoni].
Obama's acceptance speech was general, but had in it what I wanted to hear. America really does need to be rebuilt "calloused hand by calloused hand, block by block, and brick by brick." I've thought about that a lot here that no one person can make the difference. That the people who always volunteer and always try to help others are not enough - everyone needs to pitch in to fix our society, our environment, and our relationship with the world whether it be in a soup kitchen, donating to an NGO, going on a church mission trip, or embarking on a job or service that has the benefit of more than a paycheck. I liked that Obama used the term "patriotism" in the same sentence as "responsibility." We have been loose with our patriotism and I think it was Mark Twain that put it best, "Loyalty to the country always, loyalty to the government when it deserves it." Hearing the speech made me feel that I could be proud of America again. I did not vote for Obama and I was glad that he stated that "I will be your president, too" for those who did not vote for him and "for those hung around radios in forgotten corners of the world." I did like that he emphasized the strength of our ideals, rather than the strength of our military and mentioned "peace" in his speech - something that has apparently been taboo in the last eight years as George Bush played kindergarten games with nation states. "You're a stupid face and I don't like you and I'm not gonna talk to you!" (axis of evil).
They interviewed the opposition candidate in Zimbabwe and I realized that there are already a line of countries hoping to better relations or fix problems - Afghanistan, Palistan, Israel, Palestine, Iran, Iraq, Venezuela, Democratic Republic of Congo, China, Russia, Bolivia, Sudan, etc. As I listen more and more to the BBC, basically every African nation is expecting some kind of help and Obama can't possibly address all those international crises along with the distribution of wealth, the deficit, universal healthcare, the various financial crises, shortfalls in international aid, poverty, hunger, climate change, or basically everything that has been ignored for the past eight years. Obama is expected to deal with over eight years of poor policy decisions and I don't think that he can do it in four or eight years. Obama's military policy still has increases slated in some branches and still uses mercenaries. He did vote yes for FISA. He is not perfect and I worry that he will settle too far right when making reforms. I believe there will be change and I am hopeful that we'll have sweeping reforms, but I am cautiously optimistic.
Obama's speech reminded me of a winter day when the Buffalo Bills took on the Tennessee Titans in 2000. Doug Flutie was having a miracle season and after an 0 and 3 start the Bills made it to the wild card game against Tennessee. The Bills had a lead changing field goal with 23 seconds left when the Titans ran the kickoff back to win the game in the last Buffalo playoff appearance in nearly a decade. Obama's speech made me feel the exact opposite feelings. After 8 years of evil government, I really think that anything could be better than Bush. I refused to comment on the election beforehand, because I had said in previous elections that it was impossible that we would could not be dumb enough to elect Bush or moreso, dumb enough to re-elect him. I remember taking a Wednesday of classes off in 2004 to mourn "Black Wednesday" or the re-election of Bush and I am glad I didn't have to repeat it this year (I remember thinking that I should not be missing Professor Cervone's multi-variable calculus class, which I was having trouble in, but decided that on such a tragic day, it was the only right thing to do). In all, we didn't make the same mistake again, but the margins were small 52% to 47% - after accounting for voter turnout (60%), the victory was 31% to 28% hardly a sweeping victory. The large margin in the electoral college reminds us all how backwards our system is.
The people here are happy - I don't know if they know why - Bush has increased aid to Africa, but everyone is "so so happy" about Obama. Kenya, where Obama's father is from (Kenya is next to Uganda) declared a national holiday for November 6. The teachers at Bunyere knew about the victory as it has been all over the radio and everyone seems very optimistic that something better will happen (no pressure).
Overall, it feels good and I am happy and hopeful. I wish I could have been in Chicago, it sounded absolutely electric and emotional on the radio and I can't wait to see the atmosphere when I return to the US.
I had written a blog about the election before the election with grand schemes of swinging the McCain vote to Nader, but every week I decided not to post it. My thoughts basically coincided with Robert Bowman as quoted from the last page of A People's History of the United States. I don't think that these values coincide with the Republican Party...
We are not hated because we practice democracy, value freedom, or uphold human rights. We are hated because our government denies these things to the people in Third World countries whose resources are coveted by multinational corporations. That hatred we have sown has come back to haunt us in the form of terrorism...Instead of sending our sons and daughters around the world to kill Arabs so we can have the oil under their sand, we should send them to rebuild their infrastructure, supply clean water, and feed starving children...
In short, we should do good instead of evil. Who would try to stop us? Who would hate us? Who would want to bomb us? That is the truth the American people need to hear.
- Robert Bowman, a former lieutenant in the US Air Force who had flown 101 combat missions in Vietnam and then became a Catholic Bishop. He was commentating on the embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania in National Catholic Reporter three years before September 11, 2001.
If there one thing Obama can do, it is to restore our world reputation and begin to work for the people of the United States and abroad.
[Becky and I celebrated Obama's victory with grape juice tasting wine and some Cadbury's Chocolate from Kinoni].
Saturday, November 01, 2008
Malaria
This blog condenses a section from The End of Poverty by Jeffrey Sachs.
An African Problem
HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, Yellow Fever, Tetanus, Hepatitis, Dengue Fever, the Plague, Typhoid, UTIs, osteoporosis and malnutrition are a few diseases that a sub-Saharan African might face. Some are very unlikely (Dengue), others are unlikely, but significant (HIV has a prevalence of 4-6% in Uganda), and some disease are common hardships (malnutrition, osteoporosis). Outside all of these diseases, malaria deserves its own category. Malaria kills nearly 3 million African's per year and climate scientists and epidemiologists, looking at climate predictions, believe that an additional 146 million Africans could die before the end of the century from mosquito-borne disease. Furthermore, people with HIV are twice as likely to contract malaria - HIV exists all over the world, but 1 our of every 17 Ugandans has HIV.
Malaria is an infection from the paramecium (I think these are the things we looked at in 6th grade science with Mr. Sexton. With some pond water wedged between a slide and cover slip, it is easy to pick up the on the tail of the paramecium) Plasmodium. The little critters of Plasmodium vivax are less deadly, but are also more common in other tropical areas outside Africa (ie South America or India). Moreover, the mosquitoes outside Africa are more likely to sting cattle than humans, so transmission of malaria to humans is less likely outside Africa (African mosquitos sting humans nearly 100 percent of the time; Indian mosquitos sting humans one-third of the time). On the other hand, the species Plasmodium falciparum are a particularly dangerous and more lethal brand of malaria causing paramecium - this paramecium is more common in Africa (where mosquitos are more likely to sting you!).
Nature has already seemingly tipped the tables against Africa in the way of species distribution of Plasmodium and mosquitos, but even climate exacerbates the problem. If Bilal has malaria and a mosquito stings me right after stinging Bilal, I will not contract malaria. The paramecium must first mature inside the mosquito gut and work its way to the mosquito's salivary glands for injection - this generally takes about two weeks. Incidentally, a mosquito generally has a life span of about two weeks. So, normally, a mosquito would need to be born, sting the malaria-ridden Bilal the same day, and sting me just before the mosquito dies - a seemingly improbable scenario of well orchestrated timing. Unfortunately, Africa's wet (in the rainy season) climate supports lots of mosquitos and the warm weather decreases the time it takes for the Plasmodium to complete its life cycle (sporogony). Both of these factors, more mosquitoes and a higher chance that the Plasmodium becomes active inside the mosquito, significantly amplifies the malaria problem in Africa.
A Disease of Poverty
Malaria is completely treatable and can often be prevented. Bed nets, pesticide treatment, eliminating standing water, and using DDT in endemic areas can drastically reduce the risk of contracting malaria. Further, malaria is typically easy to diagnose and treatment can be a handful of pills or a day of injections for severe cases (three rounds of injections over a day). Engeye Health Clinic routinely treats Malaria successfully (a handful of cases every day). When health care is available and preventative measures are taken, malaria is more unpleasant than the flu, but not deadly.
Unfortunately, millions of Africans cannot afford health care (Engeye charges about $1.20 to treat any patient including the necessary medications, but most clinics charge 10 times that - most people here are subsistence farmers with no cash). Bed nets are about $10 and even though most kids share a bed with their siblings, there are usually six kids in a family. Three mosquito nets could easily be five percent or more of a family's income. Looking at a 1946 geographical distribution of malaria I see that America, Eastern Europe, and Spain once had malaria, but turning to the 1994 distribution map, it is clear that malaria is now a disease of the impoverished world. Some families are forced to cut corners by buying their own quinine tablets at a discount store (this is generally the most expensive treatment - malaria is resistant to the other treatments), but buy expired tablets or an incomplete dose helping to fuel resistance while not curing the bout of malaria. Some people simply live with malaria year-round (chronic malaria).
The Costs of Malaria
I wish that there was a number I could assign to the costs of malaria. I seem to remember the Carter Center doing a study on the costs of the Guinea Worm to a small region of yam farmers in Africa - the costs were easily in the millions over one year. I can only imagine the economic devastation for Africans having to take off work or having to treat multiple family members in one year. It is widespread and perhaps the most common ailment at Engeye, infecting students, businesses, the subsistence farmers and their ability to earn money for their families. But the devastation can most easily seen by analogy. What delayed the economically critical Panama Canal for more than three decades? Malaria and Yellow Fever (another mosquito-borne disease). If some tiny mosquitos could stop the well armed (with cash, steam/coal powered earth moving equipment, and lots and lots of guns) American government from completing an important trade route, what are the economic consequences of malaria to unarmed (no health insurance, no money, no means to combat malaria) subsistence farmers of West Nilers? I imagine that the consequences are much greater, but are likely not worth adding up to the people that can make a difference.
The aid from "rich countries" to fight malaria is in the tens of millions of dollars; Sachs estimates that 2-3 BILLION dollars is needed (I think Bush earmarked 5 MILLION per year to fight malaria in 2006). America contributes 0.18 percent of GNP to foreign assistance (it has pledged 0.7 percent) or about 20 billion dollars per year, it spends 27 times that number on the military (about half of your tax dollars).
Malaria and Me!
I have come fully prepared and fully committed not to get malaria (although, after seeing malaria and its treatment, I'm not nearly as worried about it as I was before leaving America). I am armed with 270 malarone tablets (250mg atovaquone/100 mg proguanil daily) and everywhere I have stayed has bed nets. I don't use mosquito spray, but I've only had a small handful of bites the last few months. I miss some (1 so far, mostly in the first month) doses of malarone (sometimes I forget my age, my memory gets worse with short term stuff - so a tablet every day is rough), but I can proudly tout that I have taken 98.9 percent of my pills so far.
An African Problem
HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, Yellow Fever, Tetanus, Hepatitis, Dengue Fever, the Plague, Typhoid, UTIs, osteoporosis and malnutrition are a few diseases that a sub-Saharan African might face. Some are very unlikely (Dengue), others are unlikely, but significant (HIV has a prevalence of 4-6% in Uganda), and some disease are common hardships (malnutrition, osteoporosis). Outside all of these diseases, malaria deserves its own category. Malaria kills nearly 3 million African's per year and climate scientists and epidemiologists, looking at climate predictions, believe that an additional 146 million Africans could die before the end of the century from mosquito-borne disease. Furthermore, people with HIV are twice as likely to contract malaria - HIV exists all over the world, but 1 our of every 17 Ugandans has HIV.
Malaria is an infection from the paramecium (I think these are the things we looked at in 6th grade science with Mr. Sexton. With some pond water wedged between a slide and cover slip, it is easy to pick up the on the tail of the paramecium) Plasmodium. The little critters of Plasmodium vivax are less deadly, but are also more common in other tropical areas outside Africa (ie South America or India). Moreover, the mosquitoes outside Africa are more likely to sting cattle than humans, so transmission of malaria to humans is less likely outside Africa (African mosquitos sting humans nearly 100 percent of the time; Indian mosquitos sting humans one-third of the time). On the other hand, the species Plasmodium falciparum are a particularly dangerous and more lethal brand of malaria causing paramecium - this paramecium is more common in Africa (where mosquitos are more likely to sting you!).
Nature has already seemingly tipped the tables against Africa in the way of species distribution of Plasmodium and mosquitos, but even climate exacerbates the problem. If Bilal has malaria and a mosquito stings me right after stinging Bilal, I will not contract malaria. The paramecium must first mature inside the mosquito gut and work its way to the mosquito's salivary glands for injection - this generally takes about two weeks. Incidentally, a mosquito generally has a life span of about two weeks. So, normally, a mosquito would need to be born, sting the malaria-ridden Bilal the same day, and sting me just before the mosquito dies - a seemingly improbable scenario of well orchestrated timing. Unfortunately, Africa's wet (in the rainy season) climate supports lots of mosquitos and the warm weather decreases the time it takes for the Plasmodium to complete its life cycle (sporogony). Both of these factors, more mosquitoes and a higher chance that the Plasmodium becomes active inside the mosquito, significantly amplifies the malaria problem in Africa.
A Disease of Poverty
Malaria is completely treatable and can often be prevented. Bed nets, pesticide treatment, eliminating standing water, and using DDT in endemic areas can drastically reduce the risk of contracting malaria. Further, malaria is typically easy to diagnose and treatment can be a handful of pills or a day of injections for severe cases (three rounds of injections over a day). Engeye Health Clinic routinely treats Malaria successfully (a handful of cases every day). When health care is available and preventative measures are taken, malaria is more unpleasant than the flu, but not deadly.
Unfortunately, millions of Africans cannot afford health care (Engeye charges about $1.20 to treat any patient including the necessary medications, but most clinics charge 10 times that - most people here are subsistence farmers with no cash). Bed nets are about $10 and even though most kids share a bed with their siblings, there are usually six kids in a family. Three mosquito nets could easily be five percent or more of a family's income. Looking at a 1946 geographical distribution of malaria I see that America, Eastern Europe, and Spain once had malaria, but turning to the 1994 distribution map, it is clear that malaria is now a disease of the impoverished world. Some families are forced to cut corners by buying their own quinine tablets at a discount store (this is generally the most expensive treatment - malaria is resistant to the other treatments), but buy expired tablets or an incomplete dose helping to fuel resistance while not curing the bout of malaria. Some people simply live with malaria year-round (chronic malaria).
The Costs of Malaria
I wish that there was a number I could assign to the costs of malaria. I seem to remember the Carter Center doing a study on the costs of the Guinea Worm to a small region of yam farmers in Africa - the costs were easily in the millions over one year. I can only imagine the economic devastation for Africans having to take off work or having to treat multiple family members in one year. It is widespread and perhaps the most common ailment at Engeye, infecting students, businesses, the subsistence farmers and their ability to earn money for their families. But the devastation can most easily seen by analogy. What delayed the economically critical Panama Canal for more than three decades? Malaria and Yellow Fever (another mosquito-borne disease). If some tiny mosquitos could stop the well armed (with cash, steam/coal powered earth moving equipment, and lots and lots of guns) American government from completing an important trade route, what are the economic consequences of malaria to unarmed (no health insurance, no money, no means to combat malaria) subsistence farmers of West Nilers? I imagine that the consequences are much greater, but are likely not worth adding up to the people that can make a difference.
The aid from "rich countries" to fight malaria is in the tens of millions of dollars; Sachs estimates that 2-3 BILLION dollars is needed (I think Bush earmarked 5 MILLION per year to fight malaria in 2006). America contributes 0.18 percent of GNP to foreign assistance (it has pledged 0.7 percent) or about 20 billion dollars per year, it spends 27 times that number on the military (about half of your tax dollars).
Malaria and Me!
I have come fully prepared and fully committed not to get malaria (although, after seeing malaria and its treatment, I'm not nearly as worried about it as I was before leaving America). I am armed with 270 malarone tablets (250mg atovaquone/100 mg proguanil daily) and everywhere I have stayed has bed nets. I don't use mosquito spray, but I've only had a small handful of bites the last few months. I miss some (1 so far, mostly in the first month) doses of malarone (sometimes I forget my age, my memory gets worse with short term stuff - so a tablet every day is rough), but I can proudly tout that I have taken 98.9 percent of my pills so far.
Friday, October 31, 2008
The Engeye Team (Well, a small part of it)
Very quickly. I switched away from horrible Snapfish. Horrible Horrible. Webshots is slow, but at least I got a couple up, will try to add a couple per week, so keep checking back (I will keep re-posting the address. PICTURES. Another blog tomorrow. In fact, the blogs should post every Saturday around this time automatically so that it is a little more predictable (rather than four blogs one week, and then dry for the next couple weeks).
It is too easy for me to write using "I" and I think I mention names without any real introduction. I thought I'd introduce some of the people that make Engeye possible.
John Kalule
John is the guy on the ground that makes everything work at Engeye. His tact is key in making everything run seamlessly at Engeye in a country that is not always user friendly. There are no friendly customer service representatives, contracts are suggestions and fair prices depend on who you are. Without John's help, Becky and I would be struggling on many levels. John gives us vital cultural clues, counsels us on the various projects we work on and, above all, he is a good friend. He looks out for us.
John is also slow to unravel some of the details of his life. Besides co-founding a health clinic in his home village, John was also a professional footballer. It is obvious how much respect Ddegeya has for John. The kids will joke around and call Becky and I "muyaye's" (stubborn people), but they won't even joke that John is a "muyaye." Never is a bad word said about John.
John garners a great deal of respect from people still deeply rooted in tradition, but John can be somewhat of a non-conformist. John hangs out in Nike shorts with his laptop making everything at the clinic work and hates when he is called sir or when girls kneel down to greet him. John is an important figure and role model but part of his appeal is that he works hard and always wants to be seen as a regular guy in the village. John is constantly modest ("I have been pretending to work all day") and constantly two steps ahead of you. I'm also pretty convinced he knows more about US politics than most Americans.
Lawrence
Lawrence was the nurse at Engeye for the first three and a half months of Becky and my stay and has since moved on from the clinic. Lawrence also tried to look out for Becky and I and would come and talk to us if he sensed we were bored. Lawrence also taught us a lot about village health. He loved to learn and was an endless audience for any physics I wanted to explain (especially astronomy). Lawrence was compassionate and I think he felt reassured when I talked about my American buddies that are becoming doctors, not because they are interested in medicine, but because he liked the way I fondly recalled stories about them. Lawrence is also full of wisdom and as he complained about the cold and I told him that it reminded me of autumn (early autumn, cold here is in the 50s) and that I loved the cold. He brought up the point that "the cold is part of you. You miss it because it is a part of your place - but for me, I don't like the cold. It is not a part of me."
Hudson
Hudson is a counseling student studying in Kampala. He kindly took a month of his summer vacation to escort Becky and I down to Ddegeya and live with us for a month, helping us with work around the clinic and acclimatizing us to Uganda. Hudson was an employee of John a few years back and has acted as a translator for visiting doctors. Hudson had a great sense of humor and, like nearly all Ugandans, was incredibly kind to us all the time. Hudson also keyed us into local culture and helped acquaint us to the local primary school that has kindly allowed us to work with some of the area kids. Hopefully we will be seeing Hudson again when he makes it down to Ddegeya in December or January.
Richard
Richard is another important figure around the clinic. Richard helps manage the books and does much of the maintenance around the compound. Richard also kindly helps us with the various day-to-day tasks that we need to do - gardening, buying food staples, helping with the kids we work with, and always gives good advice.
Susan
Susan lives very close to the clinic and is officially the cook for Engeye. Unofficially Susan is always helping Becky and I out. Susan cleans up around the clinic and if I leave my laundry unattended in the wash basin, I am likely to see Susan hanging a pile of perfectly white clothes a few minutes later (a few minutes for her is a few hours for me). Susan also picks up on subtle things that transcend language barriers. In the first few days, if someone shoveled too much food onto our plates, Susan would just sense our uneasiness and fix it. Susan also has a way with the kids - she can tell them to be good and to stop causing trouble without saying a single word. Susan, Richard, and Hudson always hung out together and, despite the language barriers, it was nice to have some people around that were close to our age to play games with and hang out with.
Stephanie and Misty
Last, but most definitely not least. Stephanie founded Engeye with John after selflessly using an inheritance on constructing the clinic (rather than paying for mounting school fees). The incredible story of the founding of Engeye is on the Engeye website (www.engeye.com), which is an incredible story. Stephanie works with Misty to raise the $1,000 per month to keep the clinic running, along with a wide range of other responsibilities in keeping an NGO running.
I first met Stephanie and Misty at a Starbuck's outside Albany. Becky and I were immediately impressed - both had so much energy, passion, and were so supportive of any ideas we had. They were enthusiastic about any ideas to help Ddegeyans, no matter how big or small. To put this in perspective, these are two full time med school students, raising money for an NGO, while paying school fees, and trying to keep up with demanding coursework. I uncovered a news article about Stephanie hear in Uganda, stuffed in a copy of Where There is No Doctor that discusses the unfolding of Engeye. Stephanie's passion for health is so obvious and at one point she states that she is doing the same thing any Oregonian would do if in the same position. I don't know if that is true, but the results for this village are very, very important.
Hal and Tom
On the Union side of Engeye there are Hal and Tom back in the US (although Tom will be visiting us in December to make sure we are not slacking off). Professor Hal Fried was the dreamer of this program and worked hard to make all the pieces clink together. He taught our Social Entrepreneurship Course and is constantly challenging our preconceptions to help us work better for others. Dean Tom McEvoy has also been furiously working with us to make sure our flights are in line, we are safe, happy, healthy, etc. (I think he at one point he said he felt like a mother and he really does keep tabs on us pretty closely). Without either of their tireless work we would not be here.
It is too easy for me to write using "I" and I think I mention names without any real introduction. I thought I'd introduce some of the people that make Engeye possible.
John Kalule
John is the guy on the ground that makes everything work at Engeye. His tact is key in making everything run seamlessly at Engeye in a country that is not always user friendly. There are no friendly customer service representatives, contracts are suggestions and fair prices depend on who you are. Without John's help, Becky and I would be struggling on many levels. John gives us vital cultural clues, counsels us on the various projects we work on and, above all, he is a good friend. He looks out for us.
John is also slow to unravel some of the details of his life. Besides co-founding a health clinic in his home village, John was also a professional footballer. It is obvious how much respect Ddegeya has for John. The kids will joke around and call Becky and I "muyaye's" (stubborn people), but they won't even joke that John is a "muyaye." Never is a bad word said about John.
John garners a great deal of respect from people still deeply rooted in tradition, but John can be somewhat of a non-conformist. John hangs out in Nike shorts with his laptop making everything at the clinic work and hates when he is called sir or when girls kneel down to greet him. John is an important figure and role model but part of his appeal is that he works hard and always wants to be seen as a regular guy in the village. John is constantly modest ("I have been pretending to work all day") and constantly two steps ahead of you. I'm also pretty convinced he knows more about US politics than most Americans.
Lawrence
Lawrence was the nurse at Engeye for the first three and a half months of Becky and my stay and has since moved on from the clinic. Lawrence also tried to look out for Becky and I and would come and talk to us if he sensed we were bored. Lawrence also taught us a lot about village health. He loved to learn and was an endless audience for any physics I wanted to explain (especially astronomy). Lawrence was compassionate and I think he felt reassured when I talked about my American buddies that are becoming doctors, not because they are interested in medicine, but because he liked the way I fondly recalled stories about them. Lawrence is also full of wisdom and as he complained about the cold and I told him that it reminded me of autumn (early autumn, cold here is in the 50s) and that I loved the cold. He brought up the point that "the cold is part of you. You miss it because it is a part of your place - but for me, I don't like the cold. It is not a part of me."
Hudson
Hudson is a counseling student studying in Kampala. He kindly took a month of his summer vacation to escort Becky and I down to Ddegeya and live with us for a month, helping us with work around the clinic and acclimatizing us to Uganda. Hudson was an employee of John a few years back and has acted as a translator for visiting doctors. Hudson had a great sense of humor and, like nearly all Ugandans, was incredibly kind to us all the time. Hudson also keyed us into local culture and helped acquaint us to the local primary school that has kindly allowed us to work with some of the area kids. Hopefully we will be seeing Hudson again when he makes it down to Ddegeya in December or January.
Richard
Richard is another important figure around the clinic. Richard helps manage the books and does much of the maintenance around the compound. Richard also kindly helps us with the various day-to-day tasks that we need to do - gardening, buying food staples, helping with the kids we work with, and always gives good advice.
Susan
Susan lives very close to the clinic and is officially the cook for Engeye. Unofficially Susan is always helping Becky and I out. Susan cleans up around the clinic and if I leave my laundry unattended in the wash basin, I am likely to see Susan hanging a pile of perfectly white clothes a few minutes later (a few minutes for her is a few hours for me). Susan also picks up on subtle things that transcend language barriers. In the first few days, if someone shoveled too much food onto our plates, Susan would just sense our uneasiness and fix it. Susan also has a way with the kids - she can tell them to be good and to stop causing trouble without saying a single word. Susan, Richard, and Hudson always hung out together and, despite the language barriers, it was nice to have some people around that were close to our age to play games with and hang out with.
Stephanie and Misty
Last, but most definitely not least. Stephanie founded Engeye with John after selflessly using an inheritance on constructing the clinic (rather than paying for mounting school fees). The incredible story of the founding of Engeye is on the Engeye website (www.engeye.com), which is an incredible story. Stephanie works with Misty to raise the $1,000 per month to keep the clinic running, along with a wide range of other responsibilities in keeping an NGO running.
I first met Stephanie and Misty at a Starbuck's outside Albany. Becky and I were immediately impressed - both had so much energy, passion, and were so supportive of any ideas we had. They were enthusiastic about any ideas to help Ddegeyans, no matter how big or small. To put this in perspective, these are two full time med school students, raising money for an NGO, while paying school fees, and trying to keep up with demanding coursework. I uncovered a news article about Stephanie hear in Uganda, stuffed in a copy of Where There is No Doctor that discusses the unfolding of Engeye. Stephanie's passion for health is so obvious and at one point she states that she is doing the same thing any Oregonian would do if in the same position. I don't know if that is true, but the results for this village are very, very important.
Hal and Tom
On the Union side of Engeye there are Hal and Tom back in the US (although Tom will be visiting us in December to make sure we are not slacking off). Professor Hal Fried was the dreamer of this program and worked hard to make all the pieces clink together. He taught our Social Entrepreneurship Course and is constantly challenging our preconceptions to help us work better for others. Dean Tom McEvoy has also been furiously working with us to make sure our flights are in line, we are safe, happy, healthy, etc. (I think he at one point he said he felt like a mother and he really does keep tabs on us pretty closely). Without either of their tireless work we would not be here.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Educational Inequalities
When we traveled to Uganda we met a volunteer in the Amsterdam airport who told us a little about the education system. She told us that education was free, good, and that most kids go to school - in line with the UN Millennium Goals. I found another story...
Attendance
Since that time I have discovered that, at least where Becky and I are in southern Uganda, most kids do not go to school. The reasons vary - many kids need to stay home to help with chores or siblings, some cannot afford a uniform, and sometimes the headmistress imposes "optional" school fees that are not all that optional. Two of the seven year old girls around the clinic are caring for children less than one year old. When I taught 6th grade in my first weeks in Uganda attendance was inconsistent as kids were filtering in and out to help with their family gardens; teacher's at Bunyere don't bother taking a role call. Many of the kids might make it to school or at least be able to, but the notebooks and pen might be beyond their family's reach. There is no building going on at the school and I suspect that the building fee is used to supply the teachers with food and bump up their salaries some (to be fair, there salaries are all but non-existent).
The Teachers
The teachers truly have a tough job. One of the lower teachers makes 83,000 per month - $1.70 per day. That would be just enough to get by, but the teachers have not been paid the last three months. So I find a sharp, understandable divide in effort among the teachers. One teacher came into school to work and I think that she had Malaria - she is always enthusiastic and committed, but most days many of the teachers don't bother to come into work. There are ten teachers, teaching class sizes of 75 kids, but most days I see five of the teachers at school. Teachers have to maintain gardens to survive and since they are not paid regularly many make gardening an occupation that is equally or more important than teaching, understandably. All teachers must be certified, but I just graded a 7th grade math practice exam and found 12 questions in the answer key (out of 42 questions) was done incorrectly. Worse, it seemed that many of the students made the same mistakes, so the teacher was teaching mathematics incorrectly.
Facilities
The primary school is a cement building lit only by the light from the windows. This is better than many schools (the school was built by Japan a couple years ago) as I just read an article about schools (I think in the northwest) that operate under the shade of trees. Reminds me of Three Cups of Tea, which I just read care of Tom, Hal, and Minerva Programs. The teachers sometimes work with student edition textbooks or no textbooks at all - the students don't have textbooks and get all their illustrations and notes from the chalkboard. The national exams and textbooks are littered with errors as are the handmade educational posters around the school. Some signs remind students "Report Sexual Abuse, PLEASE" or "Welcome, PLEASE." I think sexual abuse is limited in Ddegeya, but some of the girls have told me that the boda boda drivers harass them every morning on their walk to school, saying truly vile things. I've mentioned that the school has religious education, covering Islam and Christianity, the major religions in the region. Kids usually have one pen and a small 32 page blue book, which they carefully fill, cover to cover, with notes. The kids play in a very small field on one side of the school when there is no teacher in their classroom. The kids take time away from school to fetch all the school's water (for the teacher's tea and lunch), sweep, and maintain the school's grounds.
Language and Stigma
The village speaks Luganda. The school is supposed to work only in English. I think what actually happens is that the teachers speak enough English to make the lessons unreachable to the kids and enough Luganda to make sure that the students do not learn English. I struggle to teach English in English - how do you explain vocabulary or grammar with language they have not learned? Becky and I quickly devised some methods, but some things can be tough to convey. Some of the students have better English skills than their teachers, but the vast majority struggle with lectures in English. The only exposure to English is at the school since almost no one can speak English - so homework help with parents is likely out of the question. My accent is especially difficult for them to understand and I think only a fifth of the class has what I would consider a good understanding of what I am saying. The bottom fifth of the class has no idea what is happening or why a strange mzungu occasionally comes to their class speaking Portugese; the rest are somewhere in between. I was relieved, but sad when I found out that the same divide is true for the native teachers. When I reviewed material, a fifth knew it, a fifth had no idea, and the rest were somewhere in between. Mathematics is a little easier for me to convey - it is a sort of universal language, but it can still be tough to explain things. Why does 0.8499 round up to 0.850? Rounding is simple and I can't imagine it working in another way, but these students are likely behind with their curriculum to begin with. Ask what 6 times 6 is and students may answer 12 or 32. So we struggle with language together.
Another issue that plagues the students who recognize the value of English is that their is a stigma associated with understanding English. One of my hardest working students desperately wants to learn English and often comes to the clinic to do extra work with Becky or I, but at the cost of friends in the school. She is made fun of for speaking English with the teachers. She often will transcribe songs for Becky and I - Alicia Keyes, Pussycat Dolls, Beyonce - the American songs that are on the radio here. We will be picking up some simple books to read with her (I hope I can find some Rohald Dahl, CS Lewis, Box Car Children, or something like that). I remember being at the the bore hole one day and being told by a guy that he didn't want to learn English, because Luganda is better. I completely sympathize with that view and I often wish the school was taught in Luganda with Spanish, French or English classes, but for now, if these students want to move on with their education to secondary school or university, they need to learn English. Pross wants to be a scientist. I don't think any journals are written in regional Ugandan languages, but at the same time, professionals need to speak the language of their people.
Students
The students they have immense obstacles to climb just to get to school, which makes it difficult to succeed in school. Kids wake up at dawn to fetch water for their mud hut, 6 siblings, and, hopefully, two parents, and then trek as far as two or three miles to get to school. If there was a surplus and their parents could send food to the market they have uniforms, but it is unlikely they have shoes, unless they received a pair from Engeye. At school they hike to the bore hole to fetch water for the teachers and do work, likely with no lunch; the days are long with no lunch. School starts at 8:30 and ends at 4:30 or 5 - dinners in Uganda generally come at 8 or 9 at night, well after sunset. Some have the money to buy small nutrition-less pancakes or cassava to tie them over, but for many the decision may be whether to replace their pen or buy "lunch" during the week. The students often wait patiently in the classroom for one of the teachers who showed up for the day to enter the classroom and teach. If students are caught outside their classes while class is in session, the assistant to the headmistress has the kids lie on their stomach and administers a handful of whips with a stick. It sounds and looks very painful and the one common thread I've found from people leaving the Catholic Church is unsympathetic nuns of the 1960's armed with wooden rulers. I've seen students punished for simply not bringing in a protractor and compass, which they probably couldn't afford. The students often have to miss school to work in their gardens, but hopefully, between teacher absences and student absences, they master 80 percent of the curriculum in order to pass their exams at the end of their seventh year. When the students are in the classroom, it is a real test to see if they can learn in an English-taught classroom; the students parents probably do not speak any English. For most, school stops well before seventh grade if they ever began school. If students do make it through seven years at Bunyere and pass the challenging national exams they have the option of going to secondary school, but since almost all the people in Ddegeya are subsistence farmers they don't have the money to pay for secondary school or college. This is the life of a student in Uganda's Public Education system.
Engeye has a scholarship program that sends villagers to private schools. It costs somewhere around $500 to pay for the fees, uniforms, books, etc., but this program could very well be the beginning of the future for Ddegeya. For more information on the program send me an e-mail or check out http://www.engeye.com (I think it has information about the scholarship program, but maybe not yet.
Attendance
Since that time I have discovered that, at least where Becky and I are in southern Uganda, most kids do not go to school. The reasons vary - many kids need to stay home to help with chores or siblings, some cannot afford a uniform, and sometimes the headmistress imposes "optional" school fees that are not all that optional. Two of the seven year old girls around the clinic are caring for children less than one year old. When I taught 6th grade in my first weeks in Uganda attendance was inconsistent as kids were filtering in and out to help with their family gardens; teacher's at Bunyere don't bother taking a role call. Many of the kids might make it to school or at least be able to, but the notebooks and pen might be beyond their family's reach. There is no building going on at the school and I suspect that the building fee is used to supply the teachers with food and bump up their salaries some (to be fair, there salaries are all but non-existent).
The Teachers
The teachers truly have a tough job. One of the lower teachers makes 83,000 per month - $1.70 per day. That would be just enough to get by, but the teachers have not been paid the last three months. So I find a sharp, understandable divide in effort among the teachers. One teacher came into school to work and I think that she had Malaria - she is always enthusiastic and committed, but most days many of the teachers don't bother to come into work. There are ten teachers, teaching class sizes of 75 kids, but most days I see five of the teachers at school. Teachers have to maintain gardens to survive and since they are not paid regularly many make gardening an occupation that is equally or more important than teaching, understandably. All teachers must be certified, but I just graded a 7th grade math practice exam and found 12 questions in the answer key (out of 42 questions) was done incorrectly. Worse, it seemed that many of the students made the same mistakes, so the teacher was teaching mathematics incorrectly.
Facilities
The primary school is a cement building lit only by the light from the windows. This is better than many schools (the school was built by Japan a couple years ago) as I just read an article about schools (I think in the northwest) that operate under the shade of trees. Reminds me of Three Cups of Tea, which I just read care of Tom, Hal, and Minerva Programs. The teachers sometimes work with student edition textbooks or no textbooks at all - the students don't have textbooks and get all their illustrations and notes from the chalkboard. The national exams and textbooks are littered with errors as are the handmade educational posters around the school. Some signs remind students "Report Sexual Abuse, PLEASE" or "Welcome, PLEASE." I think sexual abuse is limited in Ddegeya, but some of the girls have told me that the boda boda drivers harass them every morning on their walk to school, saying truly vile things. I've mentioned that the school has religious education, covering Islam and Christianity, the major religions in the region. Kids usually have one pen and a small 32 page blue book, which they carefully fill, cover to cover, with notes. The kids play in a very small field on one side of the school when there is no teacher in their classroom. The kids take time away from school to fetch all the school's water (for the teacher's tea and lunch), sweep, and maintain the school's grounds.
Language and Stigma
The village speaks Luganda. The school is supposed to work only in English. I think what actually happens is that the teachers speak enough English to make the lessons unreachable to the kids and enough Luganda to make sure that the students do not learn English. I struggle to teach English in English - how do you explain vocabulary or grammar with language they have not learned? Becky and I quickly devised some methods, but some things can be tough to convey. Some of the students have better English skills than their teachers, but the vast majority struggle with lectures in English. The only exposure to English is at the school since almost no one can speak English - so homework help with parents is likely out of the question. My accent is especially difficult for them to understand and I think only a fifth of the class has what I would consider a good understanding of what I am saying. The bottom fifth of the class has no idea what is happening or why a strange mzungu occasionally comes to their class speaking Portugese; the rest are somewhere in between. I was relieved, but sad when I found out that the same divide is true for the native teachers. When I reviewed material, a fifth knew it, a fifth had no idea, and the rest were somewhere in between. Mathematics is a little easier for me to convey - it is a sort of universal language, but it can still be tough to explain things. Why does 0.8499 round up to 0.850? Rounding is simple and I can't imagine it working in another way, but these students are likely behind with their curriculum to begin with. Ask what 6 times 6 is and students may answer 12 or 32. So we struggle with language together.
Another issue that plagues the students who recognize the value of English is that their is a stigma associated with understanding English. One of my hardest working students desperately wants to learn English and often comes to the clinic to do extra work with Becky or I, but at the cost of friends in the school. She is made fun of for speaking English with the teachers. She often will transcribe songs for Becky and I - Alicia Keyes, Pussycat Dolls, Beyonce - the American songs that are on the radio here. We will be picking up some simple books to read with her (I hope I can find some Rohald Dahl, CS Lewis, Box Car Children, or something like that). I remember being at the the bore hole one day and being told by a guy that he didn't want to learn English, because Luganda is better. I completely sympathize with that view and I often wish the school was taught in Luganda with Spanish, French or English classes, but for now, if these students want to move on with their education to secondary school or university, they need to learn English. Pross wants to be a scientist. I don't think any journals are written in regional Ugandan languages, but at the same time, professionals need to speak the language of their people.
Students
The students they have immense obstacles to climb just to get to school, which makes it difficult to succeed in school. Kids wake up at dawn to fetch water for their mud hut, 6 siblings, and, hopefully, two parents, and then trek as far as two or three miles to get to school. If there was a surplus and their parents could send food to the market they have uniforms, but it is unlikely they have shoes, unless they received a pair from Engeye. At school they hike to the bore hole to fetch water for the teachers and do work, likely with no lunch; the days are long with no lunch. School starts at 8:30 and ends at 4:30 or 5 - dinners in Uganda generally come at 8 or 9 at night, well after sunset. Some have the money to buy small nutrition-less pancakes or cassava to tie them over, but for many the decision may be whether to replace their pen or buy "lunch" during the week. The students often wait patiently in the classroom for one of the teachers who showed up for the day to enter the classroom and teach. If students are caught outside their classes while class is in session, the assistant to the headmistress has the kids lie on their stomach and administers a handful of whips with a stick. It sounds and looks very painful and the one common thread I've found from people leaving the Catholic Church is unsympathetic nuns of the 1960's armed with wooden rulers. I've seen students punished for simply not bringing in a protractor and compass, which they probably couldn't afford. The students often have to miss school to work in their gardens, but hopefully, between teacher absences and student absences, they master 80 percent of the curriculum in order to pass their exams at the end of their seventh year. When the students are in the classroom, it is a real test to see if they can learn in an English-taught classroom; the students parents probably do not speak any English. For most, school stops well before seventh grade if they ever began school. If students do make it through seven years at Bunyere and pass the challenging national exams they have the option of going to secondary school, but since almost all the people in Ddegeya are subsistence farmers they don't have the money to pay for secondary school or college. This is the life of a student in Uganda's Public Education system.
Engeye has a scholarship program that sends villagers to private schools. It costs somewhere around $500 to pay for the fees, uniforms, books, etc., but this program could very well be the beginning of the future for Ddegeya. For more information on the program send me an e-mail or check out http://www.engeye.com (I think it has information about the scholarship program, but maybe not yet.
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Engeye Update
Becky and I are in Kampala/Jinja for the weekend to see a Cranes Soccer match versus Benin. Below is an update about the kids back at Engeye.
The Man with a Big Hole
The kids back in Ddegeya are good. I constantly make mental notes of things that I should write about, but I have absolutely no memory for anything other than numbers, so here are a couple things I tried to remember about the kids (I will try to get pictures of kids up soon). I can be THE MAN to the kids at times. All I need to do is punt the ball and I am instantly a hero. Although soccer is the most popular sport, the best ball they can come up with is a bunch of plastic bags thatched together with a banana leaf - so their motor skills and soccer skills are not as developed as the American kids I coached back home. After 22 seasons as a backup goalie I never quite mastered stopping the ball from going in the goal (I was nicknamed "the wall with the really big hole in it" and I think I have a record for most goals allowed in a single game at Hamburg High School), but I did learn to kick it really, really high (and sometimes far, too). So the kids will chase me around and have invented the word "banga," which they shout at me to try to compel me to endlessly punt the ball. So I think above anything else Becky and I do as volunteers the kids most thoroughly enjoy being given a ball to play with.
Progress and the Kids
The kids are taking on some distinct personalities and we are beginning to see many of them change before our eyes. Aksom is a three year old and one of the big characters. He doesn't get enough protein, constantly has snot running down to his mouth, and two fingers are always hanging out of his mouth. His family did not think he would develop and that he might have some serious learning disabilities. I couldn't have been more proud the day that I asked "Ani ayagala kusomesa numbers?!" (Who wants to teach numbers?) Aksam pulled his fingers out of his mouth long enough to raise his hand, ran up and recited one through ten in Luganda (after putting his fingers back in his mouth). I couldn't have been more proud. I had been wondering if the kids were getting anything out of the two mzungus. I sheepishly asked John if he thought Aksam had learned the numbers at home. My confidence in what I was doing was significantly bolstered when he told me that he had learned numbers at Engeye.
Mercy, pronounced Mase, is another kid that is coming along very quickly. She started out too shy to speak to us at all and ran away from us (she is 2 or 3 years old). Mercy is now getting the numbers down and is playing with all the other kids (she used to just trail her brother around).
Peter is Mercy's brother. He is the one in the photos page with the "Happy Boy" shirt. He never really smiles (this is listed as a symptom of kwashiokor) and has a big stomach. Lately he seems happier, though. He is a great student in the morning, even though he has never been to school and helps to look out for the kids. He is one of many that likes hanging around the clinic (a clinic rat).
Nabuuma and Shamira are two sevenish year old girls that constantly have infants tied to their backs (a seven year old taking care of a 2 month old. Incredible.). They also, along with Oliva, another girl keep the peace among the other kids, by force if necessary. They are a great help and they also love hanging around the clinic. They should be in school and we always push them to go to school, but a lot of their writing practice comes from blue books Becky and I bought last month.
A Difference? Perhaps the Beginning of a Ripple
A lot of people seemed to sense that I was having trouble with the extent of the work I was doing here. A couple e-mails were remarkably perceptive and well timed to make me feel a little better:
I know it probably isn't going as well as you hoped it would, and the conditions are probably worse than you expected (I'm really hoping it's not, and they're not. But I think that might be wishful thinking) but I bet your doing such a great job and making a big difference to everyone around you.
and
You may not always think you are making a big difference, but you are making a huge difference on the personal level. I keep thinking when I read your blog how lucky we are to be not poor white american males, but then I realize how much more lucky we are that we are achieving what we feel like we were meant to do. It may be a little selfish, I am not sure, but I know that each of us have independently discovered that the thing that we have a passion for, and because we are the luckiest, our passion ultimately coincides with making life better for others, and not psychopathic murdering.
And those really summarized my feelings better than I could have written. Becky and I work with 30 kids for four long hours in the morning, and 150 kids on any given afternoon. If we can help a couple of the 7th graders make it to secondary school or give another kid the skills to make it past his or her village or empower one of the many kids that wants to be a nurse, doctor, or teacher it is a job well done. I think we're on that track.
Hopefully we're enhancing the education for all the kids we work with and improving their lives just a little. The families definitely appreciate it. It is likely that this is the first time their kids have had any kind of constructive daycare (which we have been told is too expensive even for well-off families). Most of the kids after the age of 2 are left to wander by themselves, which is remarkable to me. The field of peanuts and the field of vegetables might help a handful families properly nourish themselves, but that is much better than no fields. So every morning I find myself more than happy to water the nursery bed (I am getting a little obsessed with the progress of my cabbage patch kids, just short of naming them individually) and even though the impact may be negligible on a large scale, I know that it will make a huge difference for a few families. Working with the little kids is exhausting for me, but both the 2-7 year olds and the primary students have been making great strides in academics which makes the work very rewarding.
I should point out that although my blog is written in the I form, Becky was the brains behind the morning program with the little kids. (I was skeptical about my abilities to work with the kids) and Becky's infinite patience with the kids is making it all work out very well. So, even though this is an iBlog, remember the we.
The Man with a Big Hole
The kids back in Ddegeya are good. I constantly make mental notes of things that I should write about, but I have absolutely no memory for anything other than numbers, so here are a couple things I tried to remember about the kids (I will try to get pictures of kids up soon). I can be THE MAN to the kids at times. All I need to do is punt the ball and I am instantly a hero. Although soccer is the most popular sport, the best ball they can come up with is a bunch of plastic bags thatched together with a banana leaf - so their motor skills and soccer skills are not as developed as the American kids I coached back home. After 22 seasons as a backup goalie I never quite mastered stopping the ball from going in the goal (I was nicknamed "the wall with the really big hole in it" and I think I have a record for most goals allowed in a single game at Hamburg High School), but I did learn to kick it really, really high (and sometimes far, too). So the kids will chase me around and have invented the word "banga," which they shout at me to try to compel me to endlessly punt the ball. So I think above anything else Becky and I do as volunteers the kids most thoroughly enjoy being given a ball to play with.
Progress and the Kids
The kids are taking on some distinct personalities and we are beginning to see many of them change before our eyes. Aksom is a three year old and one of the big characters. He doesn't get enough protein, constantly has snot running down to his mouth, and two fingers are always hanging out of his mouth. His family did not think he would develop and that he might have some serious learning disabilities. I couldn't have been more proud the day that I asked "Ani ayagala kusomesa numbers?!" (Who wants to teach numbers?) Aksam pulled his fingers out of his mouth long enough to raise his hand, ran up and recited one through ten in Luganda (after putting his fingers back in his mouth). I couldn't have been more proud. I had been wondering if the kids were getting anything out of the two mzungus. I sheepishly asked John if he thought Aksam had learned the numbers at home. My confidence in what I was doing was significantly bolstered when he told me that he had learned numbers at Engeye.
Mercy, pronounced Mase, is another kid that is coming along very quickly. She started out too shy to speak to us at all and ran away from us (she is 2 or 3 years old). Mercy is now getting the numbers down and is playing with all the other kids (she used to just trail her brother around).
Peter is Mercy's brother. He is the one in the photos page with the "Happy Boy" shirt. He never really smiles (this is listed as a symptom of kwashiokor) and has a big stomach. Lately he seems happier, though. He is a great student in the morning, even though he has never been to school and helps to look out for the kids. He is one of many that likes hanging around the clinic (a clinic rat).
Nabuuma and Shamira are two sevenish year old girls that constantly have infants tied to their backs (a seven year old taking care of a 2 month old. Incredible.). They also, along with Oliva, another girl keep the peace among the other kids, by force if necessary. They are a great help and they also love hanging around the clinic. They should be in school and we always push them to go to school, but a lot of their writing practice comes from blue books Becky and I bought last month.
A Difference? Perhaps the Beginning of a Ripple
A lot of people seemed to sense that I was having trouble with the extent of the work I was doing here. A couple e-mails were remarkably perceptive and well timed to make me feel a little better:
I know it probably isn't going as well as you hoped it would, and the conditions are probably worse than you expected (I'm really hoping it's not, and they're not. But I think that might be wishful thinking) but I bet your doing such a great job and making a big difference to everyone around you.
and
You may not always think you are making a big difference, but you are making a huge difference on the personal level. I keep thinking when I read your blog how lucky we are to be not poor white american males, but then I realize how much more lucky we are that we are achieving what we feel like we were meant to do. It may be a little selfish, I am not sure, but I know that each of us have independently discovered that the thing that we have a passion for, and because we are the luckiest, our passion ultimately coincides with making life better for others, and not psychopathic murdering.
And those really summarized my feelings better than I could have written. Becky and I work with 30 kids for four long hours in the morning, and 150 kids on any given afternoon. If we can help a couple of the 7th graders make it to secondary school or give another kid the skills to make it past his or her village or empower one of the many kids that wants to be a nurse, doctor, or teacher it is a job well done. I think we're on that track.
Hopefully we're enhancing the education for all the kids we work with and improving their lives just a little. The families definitely appreciate it. It is likely that this is the first time their kids have had any kind of constructive daycare (which we have been told is too expensive even for well-off families). Most of the kids after the age of 2 are left to wander by themselves, which is remarkable to me. The field of peanuts and the field of vegetables might help a handful families properly nourish themselves, but that is much better than no fields. So every morning I find myself more than happy to water the nursery bed (I am getting a little obsessed with the progress of my cabbage patch kids, just short of naming them individually) and even though the impact may be negligible on a large scale, I know that it will make a huge difference for a few families. Working with the little kids is exhausting for me, but both the 2-7 year olds and the primary students have been making great strides in academics which makes the work very rewarding.
I should point out that although my blog is written in the I form, Becky was the brains behind the morning program with the little kids. (I was skeptical about my abilities to work with the kids) and Becky's infinite patience with the kids is making it all work out very well. So, even though this is an iBlog, remember the we.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
