As soon as I say that life is normal, I realize that I am not looking hard enough.  I challenge myself to find newness and to learn more.  I hope I can continue to do that in Iowa, or wherever I live.  There is always something to learn and something new to see.  Also you all can help me too – please email me any questions you have about life here in Uganda.

So what I saw clearly this past week is the huge range from poverty to wealth that exists here in Uganda.  I visited a village called Kyalugo near Namaseenene for the first time.  Maama has been working with a group of about 16 women there for the past four years.  These women are all “victims” as Maama says – that is, HIV-positive.  In Luganda HIV/AIDS is known as Slim, a descriptive term for the disease.  In addition to being sick, all of the women in the group are widows, and they have many children to take care of.  Visiting their homes makes me feel quite happy to have a pit latrine, and the faucet in the yard is the greatest luxury.  To get water each day in Kyalugo, one must walk two kilometers to the wetland and then of course the two kilometers back up the hill carrying the jug full water.  The photo “water” shows Namwanje pointing towards where she walks to get water; she’s a member of the group and a friend of Maama’s (at right).

I have been living in the comfort of my home in Namaseenene, though that “comfort” is much different from my pre-Uganda expectations of the word.  But the range of comfort that exists here is huge.  In Masaka Town at the FSD office, I enjoy electricity, flush toilets, and a shower with hot water.  At work in Ssaza, there is electricity and pit latrines.  At home in Namaseenene, we have a pit latrine and a faucet in the yard for our water needs.  In Kyalugo, there are neither pit latrines nor running water.  This brings to mind a conversation I had with Vincent, my host-brother-in-law.  His family lives in New Kkumbu, a residential neighborhood/suburb of Masaka Town.  The amenities in his home include a TV, a desktop computer, a toilet and shower.  There is an electric stove as well, but they only use it on Sundays because it is expensive to run.  He told me that since his children (all under 10) have grown up with such luxuries, they are hesitant to visit their grandparents and other relatives in the village.  They don’t know how to use the pit latrines, and they think it’s very dirty.  The children are also uncomfortable in the houses with dirt floors.  Vincent says he tries to explain to them that that’s how he grew up, that it’s the way life is for many Ugandans.  Seeing the difference between the generations and between urban and rural is striking.

My host-brother Gasuza Joseph (nickname Suza) came back to Namaseenene for the weekend.  He is working in Rakai to make money so he can pay school fees for the rest of his college courses – two more years.  He is studying to be a teacher, which I appreciate because he likes to talk, telling me about Ugandan culture, history, traditions and politics.  For example, here in Uganda when a child loses a tooth, he finds a mouse hole in the wall and puts his tooth there, being sure to tell his parents which hole he found.  Then, the mouse takes the tooth and gives him a little money, which he finds in the hole.  That’s way better than some phony tooth fairy.

He also shared a much more chilling memory.  There is a lake that links Rwanda to Lake Victoria.  During the Rwanda genocide, Ugandans couldn’t eat fish because of all the bodies that were flowing into Lake Victoria.  There are stories of people catching big fish and finding watches in their stomachs.  There is a memorial on the site where the bodies that washed ashore were buried here in Masaka District.

It’s hard to follow that…  so on completely different note, the Introduction Ceremony was postponed from Sunday.  Instead, I attended a different Baganda tradition – entering the new house ceremony.  One of my other host brothers, Mugaga David, just finished building a new house; he and his family have been living in a house owned by the university where he was teaching engineering.  So the tradition is that when a new house is finished being built, the parents of the husband must enter the house before the husband and wife do.  So on Saturday we went and walked through the empty house, very nice, quite big, and really tall ceilings.  Then on Sunday the family gets together to help them move all of their stuff from their old house to the new one.  I was glad the living room furniture was there when I arrived.  Upon entering a new house, traditional foods to eat are roasted coffee beans and a glass of water, and then a little bite of matooke that has been roasted in its peel.  After lunch/supper (4 pm) Taata made a speech introducing himself and the family, and then Maama spoke, and then Mugaga, and then a few other distinguished guests as well, including the village chairperson.  Then there was praying and a little singing.  So the photo New House is of Mugaga’s house; Maama is at left, with Senga (Aunt, sister of Taata), and Taata at right.

So again, I welcome your questions.  Happy July, and enjoy the fireworks for me on Friday!

Stephanie

Mama’s friend, Namwanje, pointing to their water source.

Brother Mugaga David’s new house