"The Nile, forever new and old,/ Among the living and the dead,/ Its mighty, mystic stream has rolled."
Harry Wadsworth Longfellow, Christus, The Golden Legend (1872), Part I
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Is there a better way to start a blog post than with a picture of a newborn baby? This is Harriet's brand new grandson and the newest member of the Musana family.
Not even a week old
This week has been pretty busy. We still haven't settled into a regular schedule yet, but we've had plenty to do! There's never a dull moment here in Lugazi.
Kathryn, our English/literacy intern, arrived around 2am Wednesday morning. That morning (at a much more manageable hour than 2am), Tessa and I showed her the essential locations in town - Musana, the bank, the supermarket - and then we just explored a little bit. We ended up walking through a market set up all along a one of the streets off the highway, and we noticed after a few minutes that we had a couple of unexpected shadows:
Shayla and Steven
It's still a bit of shock when kids follow us around for several minutes. Parents in America would never let their kids trail after strangers!
We have graduated from performing quality control at Musana to actually helping make beads! It's definitely giving me a new appreciation for just how much work goes into one piece of jewelry produced by these women.
Making paper beads with Florence, Fina, Monica, Tessa, and Kathryn.
Prospa helps me make beads... Well, she colors while I make beads...
The coolest thing we did this week was go to Jinja to visit the Nile! We met another mzungu in the taxi on the way to Jinja and he became our Nile travel buddy. We took a boat tour which took us along the shore to see some wildlife, to the islands in the middle of the river, to the source of the Nile, and then out to Lake Victoria.
Fishmonger's market on the banks of the Nile
I spy a monitor lizard
Tessa, me, Kathryn, and Alaster standing in the Nile!
Tessa, Kathryn, Gracie, Luta, and me at Gandhi's memorial
My first time seeing monkeys in the wild!
I'm loving this African adventure. I'm constantly in a state of wonder. There's always something new to see, to experience, and to learn.
"In life, a person will come and go from many homes. We may leave a house, a town, a room, but that does not mean those places leave us. Once entered, we never entirely depart the homes we make for ourselves in the world. They follow us, like shadows, until we come upon them again, waiting for us in the mist."
Ari Berk, Death Watch
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Uganda is incredible.
Overlooking the town of Lugazi.
I'm already in love with this place. It has been an exhausting and exciting first few days of getting to know the town of Lugazi. I arrived with Tessa (another Musana intern) late Thursday night. Here's my home sweet home for the next 3 months!
We live in the back half of this house.
Our new friend and member of the Musana team, Luta, has been showing us around.
Women wearing traditional Ugandan dress - the gomesi.
I don't know how they manage to balance so much on one bike!
Our tour of Lugazi started with Musana. We met most of the women who work there - we're up to 15 full-time workers and 6 who will be promoted to full-time soon! Musana is growing! A few of the women bring their kids to Musana and they were so happy to meet us.
Musana is that white building at the end of the road. I'll get a better
picture of it later.
Musana kids
The cutest little babies at Musana!
Luta took us out to lunch to try traditional Ugandan food on our first day here... I still don't know exactly what I ate, but I am already obsessed with the fruit/fruit juice here. It's infinitely better than the fruit we have in the States.
My favorite thing about Uganda is the people - these are the nicest people I've ever met. All day, I hear people yelling out "hi mzungu!" Several people call out "welcome to Uganda!" as they pass by, and I've even had a man call me over to the other side of the street just to shake hands and say hi. The kids especially are so excited to see wazungu (wazungu is the plural of mzungu) and they absolutely love getting their pictures taken.
Even though the kids are really excited to see wazungu, most keep their distance until you get to know each other pretty well. This little man was one of the brave ones. He ran right up to us, introduced himself, and brought us back to his house to meet all of his friends.
These little guys were so excited to see us, they ran outside before they put their clothes on! Their mom was laughing hysterically and trying to get them to come back and get dressed, but they decided watching the wazungu was more important than being clothed.
Once they get over their initial fear of coming too close, they just want to touch the mzungu's white skin. And let's be honest, mine is probably the whitest skin they'll ever see. Tanned skin in the U.S. is desirable, but my pale skin makes me a rock star here!
Here's a traveler's tip: if you ever come to Uganda and want the kids to fall in love with you instantly, bring bubbles. I have about 15 new best friends because I brought bubbles for them.
I'm already so in love with these munchkins. They are the sweetest. That little gentleman I'm holding in the back gave me a red flower as we were leaving.
Football is huge here. Everyone plays it or watches it or coaches it or follows the national team. It seemed like the whole town came out to watch this game.
One of the guys sitting on this wall stopped watching the game long enough to propose to me. So, you know, that was pretty cool.
Weddings here are a big deal. Actually, a lot of couples don't ever get officially married because they can't afford it. The culture here requires that weddings are huge and expensive. There's no such thing as a "budget wedding." We were lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time when these newlyweds drove down the street in a procession of about 10 cars. Congrats to the happy couple!
Luta invited Tessa and me to watch him perform at a local music event Saturday night. As we were walking over, Luta decided to give us Ugandan names. Mine is Kwagala (I'm not sure if that's how to spell it... it's pronounced "kwah-gah-la") which means "one who is very loved."
The event had already started by the time we got there; it was very busy and exciting. Tons of people from the community came to socialize, eat dinner together, and watch the singing, dancing, and instrumentalist acts. Between each act, the MCs would point to us and say "welcome, we are so excited to have our friends here." I know I still have a lot of time left in Uganda to experience different things, but I bet this will be in my Top 10 favorite memories of this place.
I was so impressed with these girls. How do they move so fast?! This mzungu definitely cannot move like that.
Even the boys can shake it! (You can see Luta in the back left corner of the tent - he's the tall man in the white shirt.)
Well, this has been the Sparknotes version of my last three days. I've never experienced a more exhausting three days, but I've also never experienced a more exciting three days. I'm beyond happy that I was lucky enough to be offered this opportunity. I can't wait to get to know these people and become close friends with them, and I can't wait to truly get started on my work with Musana.
"At the end of life, we will not be judged by how many diplomas we have received, how much money we have made, how many great things we have done. We will be judged by 'I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat. I was naked and you clothed me. I was homeless and you took me in.'"
Mother Teresa
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Disclaimer: this post is unusually long. They all won't be like this. I guess I just had a lot to say about the importance of looking out for one another.
When my dad was in his early 20s, he spent about a year in Haiti performing a service mission. He has told me of some of his experiences while he was there, but there is one that has always stood out to me. It's been a while since I've heard this story so I may get some details wrong, but this is what I remember: There was a little orphaned boy that he used to pass on the streets all the time who shined shoes to make at least a tiny bit of money. At night, he slept on the streets using his shoe shining kit as a pillow. This broke my heart and I decided that I would never go anywhere where I would be confronted with this level of poverty. I'd rather live in my happy bubble of ignorance than see with my own eyes the pain and hardships that so many people in the world have to endure.
Obviously my opinions have changed since then. I'm a big softie, so of course I still feel overwhelming sadness (and if I'm being completely honest, I cry more often than not) when I am reminded of the tremendous suffering in the world. But these feelings now fuel my desire to help rather than my instinct run away.
I took an International Development class a couple semesters ago from an amazing teacher, Scott. On the last day of class, he gave the most inspiring lecture I've ever heard from any teacher. My favorite portion of his lecture is when he spoke about his first time in India. He said that he just wanted to close his eyes to the poverty that existed everywhere he looked; he wanted to cry thinking of all the people who were going to bed hungry. He felt overwhelmed, like his efforts would never make an impact on the world. It's so easy to want to shut down when faced with these problems - I felt myself shutting down just listening to Scott describe these feelings. Why try when you're just one person against the world?
But then he said something that put everything into perspective - it's okay to feel overwhelmed and uncomfortable. Use it! Transform those feelings into action and do something! Engage with that discomfort, combine it with your love for humankind, and you will make a difference. Maybe you won't single-handedly solve world hunger or poverty, but you will change at least one person's life for the better.
I was lucky enough to have been born into a life of advantage. I have two parents who love me always and provide for me in every way they can. I've always had a roof over my head. I've never had to worry about when my next meal would be or where it would come from. I own more clothes and shoes than one person really needs. But not everyone is this lucky.
So it's my turn to give back. To quote an incredibly cheesy Disney Channel movie, "we're all in this together." I know, you're all judging me for quoting High School Musical. Whatever, judge away. It doesn't make it any less true. Life is hard. Quite frankly, sometimes it just sucks. So it's a good thing we've got 7 billion friends in this world to help us out when we need it.
Confession: I have an addiction. That addiction is traveling. All I ever want to do is travel. I don't understand why people wouldn't want to travel. Mind you, I'm not a fan of the actual getting there part where you're stuck in a car or plane or boat or whatever for hours on end. But the destination is always totally worth it.
Just take a moment to think about the world and how diverse it is. Think of the huge mountains and beautiful valleys and deep oceans and wild jungles and dry deserts. Think of all the cool, cute, and terrifying creatures that inhabit all those places. Think of the brightest flowers and tallest trees and reddest rocks and softest sand. Think of the busiest cities exploding with never-ending lights and sound, and think of the remotest areas where you can look up at night and see more stars than you could ever imagine existing. Think of the breathtaking art and architecture made by human hands: cathedrals and sculptures and paintings and bridges and castles. Most importantly, think of the people. Think of the cultures. Think of how each culture has inhabited their own little corner of the world and made it uniquely theirs. Think of humanity - we are all connected to each other.
This is why I have contracted the incurable disease of wanderlust. I would feel as if I wasn't living my life to the fullest if I did not visit these people and see the world through their eyes. I have so much to learn in my lifetime; how can I gain an accurate knowledge of the world if I don't go out and see it?
Travel is an enemy to ignorance and prejudice and is an ally to open-mindedness and kindness. I travel because I refuse to be ignorant. I travel because I love people and I value each individual's perspective. I travel because I need to in order to become a better me.
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p.s. I'm sure most of you are wondering about the name of this blog. The local language of the area I'll be staying in is Luganda, and "mzungu" means "white person" in Luganda. I've been told that a lot of the locals will be calling me mzungu quite often, so I might as well get used to it now!
