Well, after a long travel time from the small town of Marinette, WI to the small town of Arua, Northern Uganda, I made it to my new home. The mixed emotions of enthusiasm, sadness, fear, and excitement filled my mind and my heart. Saying goodbye to family and friends, packing my life in 3 less than 50lb bags, and leaving behind the comforts of living at home, was rather frightening. Yet, as an adventurous woman, it was one that I was excited to embrace.
Arrival and First Impressions
My arrival in Entebbe, Uganda went smoothly. All my bags were accounted for, I used a Western toilet (with no toilet paper- one thing I completely forgot to bring!), and made it through customs with no problem. Any fear or hestitations I felt over the Atlantic Ocean and through Northern Africa, disappeared as I scan the crowd for the MIHV staff and saw a young man (Thomas) holding a sign that read, WELCOME TO UGANDA DEBORAH CASELTON!! I felt at home and my drowsiness from lack of sleep was stripped away as I talked with my first three Ugandan friends: Thomas (MIHV Senior Program Officer), Artiku (the MIHV driver), and Frank (Thomas’s friend). We drove to Kampala, picked up John, the new MIHV Program Manager, and headed straight for Arua, a good eight-hour drive. By the time I was home, I was exhausted, in need of a serious shower, and some food. I arrived to a house that was a cement box, complete with a small sitting room/kitchen and two bedrooms. With no hot water, no refrigerator, no lock on my door, no shower curtain, and no curtains at all, I wondered if I would survive. I have lived without hot water before for four months, but a whole year! Yikes. And no fridge! How was I to eat yogurt, cheese, milk, etc?! I don’t even like milk- but still, if I wanted to drink it, I could not. These were the thoughts in my head during my first 24 hours in Uganda. Even with the freezing shower in the am, the negative thoughts disappeared quickly as I began my task of saving the world with a dedicated team.
The Uganda Malaria Community Partnership
My work in Uganda to Save Lives and Stomp Out Disease (which are my father’s words about his own work) began immediately. I have learned so much in this past week, my head is spinning, my brain is melting, and my heart is so ready to get into the communities.
I arrived at the MIHV office and met the whole staff, including security guards, the office assistant, the Malaria Consortium representatives, a community health intern, and the Program Officer. I will first begin by telling you about the UMCP. This partnership is comprised of MIHV, the Malaria Consortium, and the Malaria and Childhood Illness NGO Secretariat. Therefore, we all work together to promote healthy living practices (distributing nets), to work with 16 different CSOs (Community Service Organizations) in 7 Northern Ugandan Districts (Arua, Adjumani, Nebbi, Maracha-Terego, Moyo, Yumbe, and Koboko) to enhance their capacity and support direct implementations, and to work with the local districts to gain their support in our efforts.
During this past week, I have already visited two districts (Moyo and Yumbe), met the district government leaders of these districts, met four CSO’s, participated in developing Year 10 budget, and developed my scope of work for the next year. My specific tasks include recruiting and supervising international volunteers, working with the CSOs to develop an Action Plan based on their organizational capacity assessment, supporting the CSOs in the next year as they implement this plan and direct services to the communities, and writing case studies, success stories, and articles to share with the Ugandan people and the international world.
The Little Things
My mode of transportation (mostly on dirt roads): Either the staff vehicle (which I do not drive for the streets are too congested with pedestrians, bicyclists, motorists, etc- and no one transports in a safe fashion!), bus, or on the back of a boda boda (which motorcycle and received its name from its use in crossing the Kenya border to the Ugandan border... when one was asked where they were going on the motorcycle, they would reply, “boda, boda!” or border, border.
My nutrition: I eat rice, beans, and vegetables daily! And sometimes fried bananas.
The bathroom situation: I have never used so many pit latrines in my life. Although my house and the office have a Western toilet, the places in the field do not. Some bathrooms are just a hole in the ground, while others have either cement or ceramic surrounding the hole. Squatting has become part of my daily routine.
My names: I get called a “Muzungu” (a white person) by everyone. In Arua, I think there are a total of five muzungus. But I have been use to this name, as in my home of Zambia, I was called a Muzungu as well. No problem, I say! In one pub/restaurant, one woman decided to give me Ugandan names. In Arua, she calls me Aykuru (“joy”) and for when I am in Kampala (the capital), she has given me the name of Nansubuga (this word actually means I treasure a mad fish.... hahah, I dont understand!)
