25 or so questions

So last class period, the activity we did in class really made me realize that I need to do a lot more brainstorming in order to figure out the right project for me to do that I will be excited about and find meaning in. My fellow classmates were really awesome about giving me ideas and helping me get my mind flowing.

My list of questions have to do with orphans because I finally admitted to myself that that is what I am really passionate about. I think I kept pushing that aside because I felt like everyone goes to developing countries to volunteer in an orphanage and it just seems cliche and predictable. I'm trying to humble myself and recognize that that's ok and it's more important that I follow what truly grabs my attention and heart.

Here it goes:

1. About how many orphans are in orphanages in Uganda at one time? In Gulu?

2. Is it very common for other relatives or people in the community to take care of orphans?

3. If so, are they accepted into the family?

4. What problems come with families who take in orphans?

5. What kind of public health services are available to orphans?

6. What effect did the LRA insurgency have on the public health services available to orphans?

7. What goes on in an orphanage in northern Uganda?

8. DO the orphans get fed? Adequately? Water?

9. Are the orphans given attention?

10. Do they play with the other orphans?

11. How are the children treated by the staff?

12. Who makes up the staff at the orphanage?

13. What are their responsibilities working there?

14. Are they paid? Well?

15. Do orphans get educated at all? GO to school or taught by their caretakers?

16. What's the ratio between staff/adults and children in a typical orphanage?

17. What materials/equipment/furniture do orphanages have?

18. What do the orphans do on a typical day?

19. How many orphanages are in Gulu?

20. Did the number of orphans increase very much right after the LRA insurgency?

21. If so, how much did it increase by?

22. What happened during the LRA insurgency that affected the number of orphans?

23. How were orphans affected by the LRA in other ways? Were they kidnapped? Put in replacement camps? Abused?

24. How long can a child stay in an orphanage?

25. Do locals ever adopt?

26. What happens when the orphans get too old to stay? What's "too old"?

27. Are they kicked out?

28. What kind of public health issues really need to be addressed in orphanages?

29. What kind of diseases/illnesses are among the children in the orphanages? How are they treated, if treated at all?

30. Are there any orphanages run by Ugandans, supported by the Ugandan government and not by NGO's?

31. How many orphans have AIDS?

32. How many children are orphaned because their parents had AIDS?

become as a child

I've been thinking about previous experiences in my life that might apply to the experience I will have going on a field study and one experience stuck out.

When I was in second grade, my dad got a job offer as a school dentist in Neuhausen, Switzerland. My dad left a few months before the rest of my family joined up with him in February of 2000. We lived there until August of 2001. So I was eight years old and for the first six months or so I went to a class at the elementary school where they taught me and other children German. The next school year I was put into the regular class with all the other kids my age. I was kind of forced to pick up on the language quickly because that was the only way for me to communicate in class and make friends. I quickly immersed myself in the culture as well, as I learned the different customs at school and went over to friend's houses and birthday parties and church. I think being so young, it was easier for me to be really adaptable and flexible and just kind of go with the flow of things. I picked up on a lot of the customs just by observing and copying my classmates. Every morning when you entered the classroom, you had to shake your teacher's hand before sitting down. Everyone brought a roll or croissant from the bakery to eat during snack time. Lunch was two hours long, so everyone went home to eat and then came back. I remember observing these hyper boys in my class that were always causing problems and thinking they were just like some boys in my class back home. Some things don't change.

What I learned from this experience was the importance of being really flexible and open-minded when in a new place. I'm sure that living in Uganda will be completely different than living in Switzerland, but the idea of changing my surroundings and the culture I will be in, is the same. I also think that as I've grown up over the past 10 years and become even more accustomed with my personal lifestyle and environment in which I live, it will probably be much harder for me to adjust than when I was 8. That's why I need to remember the things I did right as a kid moving to a new country and apply them. I also learned that there are so many similarities between me and people across the ocean. Nine year-old boys are crazy no matter where you go! We're all humans with feelings, talents, interests, personalities...etc. and that was important for me to realize at a young age and something I must never forget.

nodding disease

So for my current newspaper article, I read one called "Health Ministry yet to roll out action plan for nodding disease." The article is from an independent daily Ugandan newspaper called The Daily Monitor. It's about how the Health Ministry keeps putting off their promise to provide more drugs and help towards this disease and lack of money is probably the main reason why. I found it super interesting for many reasons. First of all, I had never heard of nodding disease and one of the areas affected by it, is Gulu, which is where I'll be going. Nodding disease is "an unexplained syndrome characterized by seizures, physical and mental stunting that has affected more than 3,000 children and claimed 200 lives." They've been treating this chronic disease with epileptic drugs because nodding disease has been linked to "complex epilepsy", but they really don't know very much at all about the disease and how to treat it right.

Another thing I found interesting about the article, was that it proved to me that Ugandans recognize the health problems they have going on and they are working to improve them. I think for a long time I've had this idea in my mind that those in third world countries need help recognizing what health problems they have going on and that we, coming from better health conditions in the U.S., need to go over there and give them vaccinations and what not. I'm starting to realize gradually that there are smart people all over the world, in every country, who know what they need to do to improve their health conditions and they don't need to depend on us to "save them". I'm not saying that those of us living comfortable lifestyles can't lend our support and show that we care about those in worse conditions. I'm just finally realizing that it doesn't work for people who think they know everything and think they know how everything should be done, to go over to a developing country and push them out of their way with all their equipment and start giving out vaccinations. I know this is kind of an exaggerated example, but I'm just trying to say that we need to listen to and try to understand first what those Ugandans working in health centers feel that they need and what they think we can do to lend support. We shouldn't try to take over their jobs. We can hear their thoughts and ideas and then share our thoughts, but we can't force our ways upon them thinking we know best.

1,2,3,4,5,6,7 cultures?

Ever since the class period we had when we all discussed what culture is, I've been thinking about what cultures I identify with. It's interesting for me to realize that there are so many different cultures that I feel apart of. Since I live in America, the way I speak and eat and dress and learn and express myself and so many other things about me have been shaped by the norms and what's expected of me as a U.S. citizen. Since I'm from the Seattle area, I have been influenced by the culture there that I've noticed is so much different than here in Provo. Back home, nobody uses umbrellas when it rains, seafood is everywhere, pretty much everyone owns a fleece and a raincoat, recycling and being "green" is HUGE, most people are liberal.... Growing up where I did and the culture there has definitely influenced many of my ideas and values. It bothers me so much how horrible the recycling system here is and how many people have no idea how to recycle!

Besides just where I live, being female is another culture that's apart of me. There are some things that I share in common with everyone of my same sex that are not shared by guys. Another culture I am apart of, is LDS culture-going to church for 3 hours every Sunday, fasting once a month, our beliefs, wearing modest clothing...etc. This also ties into the BYU culture I am apart of now too. There's also a culture within my family. You seriously might have a hard time understanding everything we say to each other and joke about. Since we all lived in Switzerland for a little while, little German phrases slip into our conversations.

You get the point. I just find it so interesting to think of all the different cultures I identify with. I need to keep that in mind when I go to Uganda and meet people because I just showed myself that you can't generalize and apply customs and values of one person you meet to everyone in their country. We are all apart of many cultures, which makes us all so different from each other even when we may have one or two cultures in common.

alcohol?

Pursuing question 3, I read an article about the relationship between alcohol consumption and social interaction in Uganda and wasn't surprised to see the correlation between the two. The authors determined that typically the more people one interacts with, the more they drink because it's something people normally do together, with someone else. I'd really like to find out Ugandan's perspective on alcohol consumption and whether it is looked down upon, accepted, hidden...etc. Uganda has one of the highest per capita alcohol consumption in the world, so it's obviously a huge problem that leads to other problems affecting society.

Thinking about this problem in Uganda has also made me think about our mindset of alcohol consumption in the U.S. From my experience, I feel like drinking is totally accepted in our society and many people just think of it as a part of growing up. At most parties and events, outside of the LDS culture, it's pretty much expected to have alcohol available and ya, you're supposed to be over 21 to drink, but really, who even follows that law? I mean, some people do, but lots of people don't. But drinking at parties and with your friends a couple times a week is different from being an alcoholic. I feel like alcoholics are looked down upon in our society. Have you ever not given money to a beggar on the streets because you thought they'd just go spend it on alcohol? Alcoholics are often painted as people who's lives are completely messed up because of the horrible choice they made to drink alcohol. If you think about it, it's kind of an ironic mind-set. Why is it okay for teenagers to break the law and drink (I've known parents who think their kids are gonna drink anyway, so they might as well monitor it by hosting the party at their house) but not okay to become an alcoholic?

Anyways, I know my thoughts are really scrambled and completely just from my experience, but I just think it would be interesting to see the differences and similarities between the mind-sets of alcohol consumption in Uganda and the U.S.

Project Question(s)

1. What effect did the recent war have on public health resources in Gulu?

2. How do the people respond to and deal with so much constant death surrounding them?

3. What is the mentality concerning alcohol consumption and why is it so prevalent?

4. What are the different ways in which the people worship? What are the most common religious practices and traditions?

changing my mind-set

Recently in my International Development class, my teacher brought up the point that whenever we go into another country thinking we are going to help the people and make a difference, disaster happens. That really struck me because I think that's what my mind-set has been in a way and I need to change that. In reality, I'm probably going to learn so much more from the people in Uganda that will ultimately help shape me into a better person, than they will learn from me. I mean hopefully I'll be able to do some good while over there, but I can't have the mind-set that they're helpless and need me because I need them just as much or more than they need me. It's not right for us living in comfortable living conditions in the U.S. to think that we're better or higher than anyone else and that we're the only ones with something to offer.

What is a field study and why am I doing one in Uganda?

This spring/summer I have decided to go on an independent field study to Gulu, Uganda. A field study at BYU is where you design a research project to conduct while living and immersing yourself in a different culture somewhere around the world. Ever since I first heard about field studies at BYU, I knew that I had to go on one because I feel like it is potentially the most enriching opportunity offered at an university. I chose to go to Uganda because my brother, Jaron, is living over there right now working for Voices of Global Change: Paper to Pearls, a non-profit organization that sells beads made out of recycled paper by women in northern Uganda. The women make beads for another non-profit as well called African Promise Foundation (APF). I met with Suzy, the founder of APF, and would like to help them in their endeavors to expand their organization in order to really help support the women beaders. I also know of a St. Jude's orphanage really close to where I'll be living, which would be awesome to volunteer at, but at the moment I still don't have my project all figured out. I know that Uganda is where I am supposed to go this summer, but I just need to find out the right project for me to conduct while over there.