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.
BPU Teachers: Arafat, Phillip, Eric and Alex
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That’s My President Too!
One of the reasons I began my Fulbright grant in November instead of August or September like many of my peers, is that I wanted to vote in the U.S. election. “But you can vote by absentee ballot!” some
people told me. “No, not in this election, I want to vote in person and be there for the results, this is history in the making” I would reply.
The Daily Monitor, a local Ugandan Newspaper, has Obama's inauguration on its front page
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WE CAN ALL BE HIP HOP
The war in northern Uganda is the longest running war in Africa. It is characterized by brutality, mass suffering, and apathy. Despite the scale and horrific nature of this conflict, you rarely hear about it in the international media. Even in Uganda, there is a certain level of unawareness and apathy about what is happening in the northern part of the country. While the north has suffered massive displacement, violence, and extreme poverty, the south has enjoyed relative peace, prosperity, and development.
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Greetings from Uganda!
Hi everyone! I’ve just completed my first full week in Uganda and so far so good. For the first few days of my stay my primary focus was on… overcoming jet lag. Uganda is 8 hours ahead of Washington DC and for some reason my body interprets that as needing to wake up at 3 am every morning and stay up! Needless to say I’ve been feeling pretty exhausted during the day. I am happy to report however, that, as of yesterday I’ve been sleeping through the night and waking up at a much more reasonable time (7 am).
Other than adapting to the time difference, I have started meeting with HEALS staff and begun planning the Needs Assessment that I’ll be conducting with the children participating in the Hip Hop Therapy project. The Needs Assessment will take place some time between early December and early February while the kids are on holiday from school and have more free time. For the next two weeks or so, I’ll be working on developing the Needs Assessment curriculum and meeting with child-centered Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs) with programs in Northern Uganda to get a sense of the tools, exercises, and activities they’ve found to be useful in working with war-affected youth.
I’m really excited about finally being in Uganda and getting my project started and I look forward to sharing my experience with you!
Thanks for reading!
Up to four awards will be available to pursue projects around an aspect of international contemporary or popular music as a cultural force for expression. Preference will be given to creative projects that are conveyed in a dynamic fashion and are accompanied by a feasible plan. In addition to presenting unique projects on music as a global force for mutual understanding. Deadline to apply is March 1, 2012.