Well, I have finally gotten into the swing of things and am enjoying most moments here. I've been super busy and my research at Bead for Life has been going very well – I've met great women and have completed interesting interviews.
Here's a little bit about my time at Bead for Life:
The women LOVE getting their pictures taken, so that part is easy. The talking part is a little more challenging. Generally, the women have been very open, but I've had to get translators for individuals with rough English and even with the translators, it's sometimes difficult to understand them. A lot of their stories are also painful and while its been enlightening to listen to them, it's also hard. Almost all of the beaders I've spoken with have told me that they're "living positively." When one of the women first used this expression, I smiled and affirmed her. But then I realized that "living positively" means living with HIV/AIDS (the actual acronym is rarely spoken because of the stigma). Many of the women are driven from their villages once their positive status is realized by the community. I'm beginning to realize how lucky I am to be a woman in America... the challenges seem enormous for most of the women I've spoken with here.
I'm really enjoying getting to know the women – they are incredible and I have become quite close with several of them. I've even learned how to roll the beads! During a town meeting in the Bead for Life village today I rolled over 20 beads for someone… the beaders were shocked as they passed the beads around – I think they were quite impressed with my skills. All in all, Bead for Life is an incredible organization and I've been super impressed with everything I've seen!
Other stuff:
I'm meeting new people everyday and am having fun exploring Kampala. I run in my neighborhood often (and people point in disbelief at my fluorescent white legs – honestly, I don't blame them) and am expanding my cooking skills. There's a huge fresh fruit and veggie stand across the street from me and everything is so cheap! I eat whole avocados in one sitting. People are a little weirded-out at how excited I get about produce.
Last night, I went with friends to open-mic night at the Uganda National Theater and the night before, we went to the German Embassy to watch the Germany v Spain final match. On Saturday, I went to an outdoor market in downtown Kampala. It was like a 5 mile long dusty thrift store… with lots of yelling and grabbing and touching. I bought a pair of jeans, a shirt, and a leather purse all for $7ish. It was great fun! This weekend, I'm taking a trip to Sessi Island – a tropical Island on Lake Victoria – with Meredith and Kate and Kate's housemate, Daniel.
Last but surely not least:
Along with my research I've picked up another small project. Meredith, a friend who is staying in my building, works at a school for slum children in Kampala. Originally, I was going to help her out just by taking some photographs of her school and the slum, so that she could send pictures to the U.S. and fundraise. But after seeing the situation, I could not walk away from it. Working with her has been a powerful experience. Several of her students recently had to leave school because of school fees and, one of them (11 years old), left to become a prostitute in her slum. The kids' situations are quite sad. One of the girls, 12 years old, is repeatedly beaten and raped by her uncle when she goes home. One girl who I've spent time with was gang-raped on her way home from church... when she was 10 years old. And there's no counseling or support for these girls – not even from their parents. There's another family of five brothers who live in the slums by themselves with no supervision. Their clothes are tattered and they cannot afford soap or toothpaste. At least they're boys...
The school has a boarding program that Meredith is trying to get the ones who are "at risk" in. At risk would qualify as being raped, prostituted, beaten, or starved at "home."
So, she and I are thinking about starting a small project encouraging community development in the slums. It's a hard situation for me, because while I don't want to just fundraise for continuous hand-outs, a lot of the families need immediate financial help. I've been trying to think of ways that we could help the families sustain their monetary advances, so that we don't have to keep giving hand-outs, but its so hard! Maybe we could fundraise to invest in helping the families start small businesses? I had a meeting with the recruitment director at Bead for Life today, and I'm trying to set up a few of the slum women with the program there. Aside from fundraising and acquiring school fees, I think the best thing to do for these families is to match them with appropriate, local NGOs. We are also thinking of partnering with high schools in the U.S. to establish pen-pal/fundraising clubs.
Sorry for rambling, but I've been trying to process the last few days and it's a hard situation to understand. I'd like to pay for all their school fees (and at 75$ per semester for food, school, and board, I could afford to do it), but I know that paying for a few kids wont solve the problem. I guess if I'm going throw money at people, education is a good way to invest it. It's weird how I was born with every opportunity at my fingertips - I could definitely live with a lot less than I do now. I keep going back to the model of the "invisible knapsack" of privilege and wanting to shed a little weight from mine.
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