Fulbright-mtvU Fellows

Hip Hop Meets Health Education

During the recent needs assessment exercise I conducted with children participating in the strong>Hip Hop Therapy Project (HHTP) two of the needs that emerged were:

1.The children expressed a need for more information around sexual and reproductive health.

2. The children expressed the desire to showcase their breakdance skills and talents.

In an effort to respond to the first expressed need, I decided to partner with Straight Talk Foundation. Straight Talk Foundation is a Ugandan health communication organization that promotes communication for social change through print, radio and face-to-face interventions for adolescents (ages 10-19) and young adults (ages 20-24). Straight Talk Foundation also operates the Gulu Youth Centre, which provides free tests and treatment for HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases (STD), counseling services, and health information materials for young people.

Straight Talk Foundation has agreed to provide space at the Gulu Youth Centre for breakdance classes to take place. This will help to expand the size of the Hip Hop Therapy Project as well as increase direct access to sexual and reproductive health education and services for the young people participating in the project.
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Tags: Aids, Breakdance Project Uganda!, Gulu Youth Center, Hip Hop Therapy Project, HIV, Straight Talk Foundation

I Never Thought I Would

In a further attempt to share more about my daily life here in Uganda, here is another installation of “I Never Thought I Would”. Enjoy!

I never thought I would…

Enjoy a cold shower: I’m one of those people who always take scalding hot showers. I’m talking about the kind of hot showers that leave the air in the bathroom heavy with steam and leave you unable to see anything in the bathroom mirror. In Uganda, there is no hot water where I live. When I first arrived, I would diligently boil water in a kettle and use it to bathe. As the weather began to change however, so did I. I arrived here in November during the rainy season and the temperatures were relatively cool (low- to mid- 70s). January, however, is the beginning of the dry season and one of the hottest months of the year. One sweltering afternoon, the idea of bathing with hot water was unfathomable so I decided to try a cold shower. I felt so much better and refreshed after that cold shower that it has now become standard practice. Before coming to Uganda, the very thought of taking a cold shower would fill me with dread. I now enjoy and look forward to cold showers and that is something I never thought I would do!

Buy an empty water bottle: When I first arrived in Gulu I noticed that a lot of people, particularly children, were collecting and selling empty water bottles. I knew from previous travels to developing countries that empty water bottles can be very valuable to poorer families as they allow for the storage of various liquids and can also serve as cups. So, while I could understand why someone would collect empty water bottles, I didn’t understand why someone would buy one…until the day I did. There is no electricity where I live so I frequently rely on kerosene lamps to make my way around the house at night. One day, I went to the gas station to purchase kerosene and realized that I needed a container to carry the kerosene once I bought it. I looked around and saw that everyone else in line had an empty water bottle to put their kerosene in. I looked around some more and noticed that several children were hanging around the gas station selling empty water bottles. I purchased one for about 10 American cents, got my kerosene, and left. I frequently buy bottled water in Uganda and give the empty bottles away to children who sell them…buying an empty water bottle however, is something I never thought I would do!

Tags: Uganda

Why Clothes are More Important than Food

I strongly believe that any time you enter a community with the goal of “helping”, you should work closely with that community in determining what issues need to be addressed and how to address them.
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Tags: Gulu, HEALS, Hip Hop Therapy Project, Uganda

I NEVER THOUGHT I WOULD

In an attempt to share more about my life here in Uganda, I’ve decided to start a blog series called “I Never Thought I Would.” I will occasionally post an entry about something that (before moving to Uganda) I never thought I would hear/see/experience/think/witness/etc. Here is the first entry, hope you enjoy it!

I Never Thought I Would…

Know the lyrics to several Country music songs: In the four months that I’ve been here, one thing that has become abundantly clear is that Ugandans love country music (especially Kenny Rogers)! I’ve probably listened to more Country music here than in the entire time I lived in the U.S. I asked a few of my Ugandan friends, both young and old, about this national fascination with Country music and they said “it’s very relaxing” “it’s nice and slow and I can understand the lyrics” and “it’s good music to play when you’re spending time with your girlfriend.” I’ve never been a big fan of country music, but during my 6 hour bus rides to northern Uganda, I catch myself bopping my head and singing along to the Country music’s greatest hits tape that blares from the speakers-and that is something I never thought I would do!

Send children running away in horror: I live in the north central part of Uganda, which is inhabited by the Acholi tribe. The word “Acholi” means black in Luo, which is the language that is spoken here. The Acholi people are very dark skinned and anyone who is not as dark as them (including myself) tends to be called “Muno” which means white person. When I’m walking around town, children always point at me and call out “Muno, Muno” until I turn, smile, and wave at them. There are few children however, who react very differently. For a long time, northern Uganda was socially isolated due to the war and still has few visitors and outsiders compared to the other parts of Uganda. As a result, there are some children, usually those around one to two years in age, who haven’t seen many“Munos”. On more than one occasion, the mere sight of me has sent such children screaming and running away in pure horror. When I asked some Acholi friends why the babies react this way, I was told “you look very different from what they know” and “because of your skin color, they think you are a ghost”. I really like children so being the source of child’s fright and horror is something I never thought I would do!

Our First Hip Hop Workshop

Since my return to Uganda, the children participating in the Hip Hop Therapy Project have been requesting that teachers from our partner organization, Breakdance Project Uganda! (BPU), come to Gulu again to teach them new dance moves and Hip Hop beats.

Two weeks ago, I used some of the money I received from Fulbright and mtvU to organize a Hip Hop workshop for the kids in the project. I got four teachers from BPU to come to Gulu for 3 three days to teach the kids new dance routines and Hip Hop beats using traditional instruments.

One of the teachers, a 14-year old named Eric, had never been to Gulu but had heard a lot about it from others at BPU and was really excited about going. The other three3 teachers, Phillip, Arafat, and Alex, had been to Gulu before to teach and couldn’t wait to see the kids again.

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Tags: Breakdance Project Uganda!, Hip Hop Therapy Project