splendid ethics

In class on Monday we talked about ethics and how conscience we need to be of ethics when planning our research projects and how we're going to implement them in the field. I'm a little worried about how picky the IRB is going to be when reading my proposal, but I understand how critical it is that I don't go over to Uganda and do stupid things that are harmful or just not appropriate.

So applying this to my own project, I have been thinking about how careful I need to be about how I approach topics with the people I talk to and I need to always be soooo sensitive when talking to the people about their lives. I have decided to continue with my project idea of learning about the lives of the women I'll be with who make the beads for African Promise Foundation and maybe recording their stories for them to have, but more specifically finding out how working for the bead businesses have made an impact in their lives. I know that it's going to take a lot of thinking and talking to other people about the right way to go about talking to the women about their lives. I am going to take it real slowly and just develop relationships with the women by spending time with them, observing them and learning from them what they do. I will start to pick up on things about them just from observing them and meeting their children or things like that, but then hopefully after a while I will feel comfortable asking them questions about the difference in their lives from before making beads and after. I will definitely not be pushy and I'll be as sensitive as I can be to each person I talk to. There are so many NGOs that have the same idea of providing a bead industry for women in Africa and I just wonder how effective they are in making lasting improvements in the lives of the beaders.

Since what's appropriate in the US is different from what's appropriate or socially acceptable in Uganda, at least I'm assuming it is in at least a few ways, as soon as I get to Uganda I will need to be super super observant to try and catch on the right way to act and what not. I will also try to learn about how to act and what the different symbols are in the Ugandan culture from my brother and other resources before I go too because I think that's part of how to understand the culture better and how to be accepted.

"women hold up half the sky"-chinese proverb

There are so many women being oppressed all over the world and so much goes on that we don't hear or know about. Little girls at the age of 12, as old as my little sister, are viewed as women in much of the world and often marry by the age of 14. That's the age of 6th graders! I didn't know anything when I was 12! That's normally the beginning of the long process of trying to find out who you are, which is supposed to happen before getting married and having kids. Not only are young girls forced to get marry, so many are sold into sex trafficking and prostitution, where they're abused in all possible ways and stripped of their sense of self-worth, their freedoms, independence and any sort of meaning in life. The book "Half The Sky" opened my eyes to all the horrors going on towards women all over the world that are going so unnoticed. Even just studying in my women's studies class about the different waves of feminism in the U.S. and all the things women have fighting for and are still fighting for in order to become on equal terms with men, has made me realize that the issue of women oppression has existed for way too long all over the world and still needs so much more attention.

I love "The Girl Effect" video clips on YouTube because they outline the importance of educating women, which will bring about women empowerment. Going to school and getting an education, will make it so that 14 year old girls won't be forced to get married and instead have some control over her life and grow and mature until she's ready to get married. But, there has to be a means by which they can afford to go to school. African Promise Foundation is great because they support women, moms, in order for them to have enough money to put their children in school, including their daughters.

"having the vaccine, we have invented smallpox"

I went to the keynote lecture today for the Inquiry Conference and it was so awesome. I took Soc 111 from Ralf, so his lecture was a really great reminder of all the things I learned from his class my first semester at BYU. The lecture reminded me that I always need to be aware of the fact that exactly what I see, is not what anyone else sees. Everyone comes from different backgrounds, has experienced different things, is made up of different characteristics and that makes it so that every person sees the world with a different perspective. Relating that to what rem was talking about in his presentation at the Inquiry Conference, just because I see a problem and think I know the solution, that doesn't mean that everyone else sees the same problem or same solution because it depends on perception. Rem talked about how much more effective it is when going over to another country to do development work, to make sure the locals are totally involved every step of the way. It's so much better when the locals identify the problems they see within their community because from an outsider's point of view, I may see things that I think are problems, but to the locals aren't necessarily. Therefore, by coming in with an idea on how to solve something I think is a problem, I might actually be creating the problem. Galbraith said "Having the vaccine, we have invented smallpox".

This goes back to one of my earlier posts about not having the mind-set that I will help the people I will be with in Uganda and I will make a huge difference because that so often causes problems. I really like what Ralf said about how we should not only count our blessings, but also see what we don't have. I need to open my mind to see that I, as a white, LDS, American, do not have everything and I'm definitely not the only one with something to offer. There is so much more for me to learn from people with different lenses than me, which is how Ralf described the different characteristics that shape our perception. Everyone has something different to offer, including me, but most definitely not just me.

cont. process picking research project

Recently, I decided that what I really want to do while in Uganda, is spend time with and build relationships with the women who make the beads for African Promise Foundation and then record their stories and experiences from their lives. I also thought I could tie that in to researching the affects of APF on these women and their families lives and see what impact it has made, if any, as a NGO.

Today, I finally got a chance to talk to my brother, Jaron, who's in Gulu to ask him about my project idea. He gave me some super interesting and helpful information. His friend has been doing research on the difference between the Western style of therapy compared to the style of therapy in East Africa. There has been a lot of research showing that a lot of Eat Africans don't respond well to our Western way of coping with tragedy, which is thinking and talking through it. For most East Africans, the best way for them to cope with suffering, is to forget about it. By forgetting about tragic past events, they are able to move forward with their lives. From Jaron's experience, he's noticed within the past 5 months that he's been in Gulu, that it takes a really long time after developing a relationship with someone, for them to say anything about the war. This means that it would probably be really difficult for me to gather all of the women's stories as part of my project because it would be dependent on the women and when, if ever, they would feel comfortable talking about their past with me. I definitely don't want to take them back a step in their process of coping with the past.

Knowing that in East African culture, most people don't talk about their past as a way to move forward, is more evidence to me that there are so many differences concerning every aspect of culture between me and the people I will be living with in Gulu. I thought that after building relationships and getting to know the women, of course they would be willing to tell me about their experiences. Of course they would want their stories to be heard and shared so that Uganda is never forgotten again. BUT, that's not necessarily true. I need to be so careful about assuming things based on my limited knowledge and understand that not everyone does everything the same.

please don't believe the poor are poor because they're lazy

As I already mentioned, my parents went to Uganda for a couple weeks with one other LDS, American dentist. I just need to tell a little bit about what my mom was telling me about this other dentist and my reaction. This man is extremely wealthy and was very open about letting people know that about him while over in Uganda. He would say things like, "While these people were not doing anything, I was working super hard in college." Oh, like it's their fault they couldn't go to college and get a job like him. He would tell the Ugandan dental students that they could be like him, with 7 cars and living on 4.5 acres of land, if only they set and worked toward the right goals. He would tell them to think about their goals and then to come to him about them the next day. Of course these students are soaking in and believing everything he says! Oh my goodness, I just really want to ask him, "are you really a member of the church? Is having 7 cars and being rich really what this life is all about?" It is so frustrating to me that there are still people who believe that people living in poverty are in that situation because they are lazy. If you are reading this and believe that, please try to understand that that is not true! We were all born under different circumstances, in different places offering different opportunities, some less fortunate than others. We don't know exactly why each person who is in poverty is in poverty, but I know that most likely they are in that situation due to the circumstances and opportunities that have been offered them in life or not. People who have to spend their whole childhood trying to earn some money for food for their family, can't go to school, which means that college is probably not an option and therefore a high-paying job is also probably out of question. It's hard for us who come from well to do families living in America, to imagine living a life where the opportunities offered you are so extremely limited, but we need to try to understand. We need to realize that we don't know the "right" way or the "better" way to do things as applied to every person, we don't understand everyone's circumstances and how they got to where they are, which therefore means we have no right to judge.

I hope and pray that I will always remember this and have an open and accepting mind and heart when I'm in Uganda, well and actually for my whole life, wherever I am.

Women portrayed as objects

In my Women's Studies class we just started our unit talking about body image, so I've been thinking a lot about it. It's so tragic that in our society, the media controls our perception of everything. They present to us this image of the perfect woman, who all women are supposed to strive to become. The goal is obviously unobtainable, considering the fact that everyone is different and also the fact that the image shown on billboards and on TV is not even a real human being after all the computer editing. Even though it's impossible to look like the models shown in the media, women still go to extreme measures to become one step closer to that ideal, flawless, skinny, white, tall woman with a big chest, full lips, big eyes...the list goes on and on. What I'm trying to get at, is that women are objectified in the media. They aren't viewed as much more than something that needs to be shaped and formed into something that everyone wants to look at and have. Because of this objectification, which takes away the humanity of a person, treating them as such is the result. I'm not saying this is the only reason why, but I think objectifying women is a contributing factor in the abundance of rape and sex trafficking and prostitution.

In this article I was reading about the abductions that took place during the LRA in northern Uganda, the study showed that out of all the people abducted, women ages 19-30 were abducted for the longest time period, on average, than any other age group or gender. Overall, the average length of abduction for women was 643 days, whereas for men it was 258 days. The hypothesis as to why this was so, is that since women were "given" to commanders (given away like a commodity, not a person), they were forced to be wives or long-term sex partners or domestic servants and many had babies while with the LRA. All of these things made it much more difficult to either try and escape or for anyone to come in and try to capture them.

I am not sure how women are viewed and portrayed in Ugandan culture, but I believe that there is this connection between encouraging people through the media to view women as objects and then the way women are treated all around the world.

they deserve to be remembered

My parents just returned from a two week trip to Uganda to do dental work. We talked to them last night and they told us a little bit about their experience while over there. While talking to my mom about possible research projects while over there, she got talking about how interesting it would be to just talk to the people and hear about their experiences living in a IDP camp during the LRA ruling and then what happened afterwards. She talked about how incredibly tragic it is that the rest of the world let so much incredibly horrific things take place in Uganda for 20 years while the LRA was in power. Many of the Ugandans don't understand why their situation went totally unnoticed and unrecognized by the rest of the world. I thought we were becoming so much more globalized, but why was Uganda forgotten? It's not just the Ugandans that don't understand why they were forgotten, I don't understand it either and it kills me inside to hear about all the inhumane, indescribably tragic crimes that Joseph Kony and his army inflicted upon the innocent, Ugandan people for such a long time with no one to stop them or even try to help them.

It's so sad that the U.S. government only cares about countries that have something that we need, like my mom was also saying. If there's no benefit for helping another country in crisis, why bother? That's so sick. The U.S. cares about the countries that we need to get oil from, but not the countries where children watch their parents get taken away and then later see their skulls, like Rose in that movie War Dance, or where innocent children are forced by rebels to kill 3 innocent farmers, just to save their own life, like Dominic in War Dance.

Honestly, I am a little worried about going to such a war-torn place, but I know that I am going to learn so much from the beautiful people there who have gone through and suffered so much. They deserve to have their story told, so the world can learn from our huge mistake of not paying heed to the Ugandan people.

War Dance

War Dance is this incredibly awesome documentary that takes place in Patongo Uganda, an area claimed to have been the most "remote and vulnerable in the war zone" during the LRA insurgency. The movie is about a group of children who get to compete in the biggest music festival in Uganda and represent their war-torn village and show the rest of Uganda that the war didn't kill their love of music. The documentary highlights three children who tell their story and what happened to them and their families during the war. I very very highly recommend this movie! It's not just about the horrific things that happened in northern Uganda, but about the power of the human spirit and hope that brings for a better future.

This film made me realize that I need to keep in mind that I have absolutely no idea what the people I will be working with and talking to in Uganda have been through. I can't think that just from watching movies and reading material, that I can pretend to know anything about their experiences. The movie said that 30,000 Acholi children were abducted by the rebel army and forced to be children soldiers and over 200,000 children were orphaned by the war in Uganda. This tells me that if I end up working in one of the orphanages while in Uganda, many of the children will probably fall under those categories.

Keeping that in mind, I also learned from the movie that these children, despite the fact that they have experienced more than I can imagine and have characteristics of adults in that sense, they are still children. It showed one of the boys and his friends running to the little pond to take a quick swim, knowing they weren't supposed to, laughing and splashing each other and then quickly running back to the camp when they knew it was getting too risky that the soldiers might find them. Teenagers here do stuff like that all the time!

it takes a village to raise a child

We've all heard this famous African proverb, but have you ever wondered what it really means? As I was reading an article about the traditional religious influence on orphans in Africa, I learned a little bit more about how literally that proverb is implemented in African villages. There is a unity and bond between those within a village that brings a sense of duty and responsibility for one another. Extended family is so important and one's support network is made up of mostly one's extended family, but I think also other members of your village. Even when someone moves to the city or somewhere away from home, they remain forever loyal to their family and village. The sense of inter-relatedness within a community is so strong, that when one person commits a moral crime, it is believed that everyone within the village is negatively affected by it and a cleansing ritual has to be performed. Everyone is so closely connected and knows everything about everyone (well so it seems to me), that literally everyone is raised by everyone. When a child's parents die, then their mother's sister or someone else within their "extended family support network", takes them in, even if they don't have the money or resources to really support another child. It is believed that if you neglect your responsibility to care for an orphan, you will face the wrath of the ancestors.

When I compare this to my own life, it makes me kind of sad how little I know about my neighbors. I basically only know the neighbors directly to the left, right and across the street from me and beyond that, I wouldn't even be able to tell you names. I definitely don't feel a huge sense of unity within my neighborhood. Even within my family, I don't really know any of my relatives beyond my dad's immediate family and my mom's immediate family and there are even some of those family members who I never see or have very good relationships with. I really love the idea in Africa of having this large support group that is held so strongly together where everyone watches out for each other. It might be kind of weird to have everyone know everything about my life, but there would be extra motivation to not do anything stupid! I also feel like there wouldn't be so many homeless people and orphans and people not being taken care of, if everyone had a larger support system while growing up.

I recognize that this article was written in very general terms referring to all of Africa, which is a humongous place, and everyone and every village, I'm sure, is different. I also know that many things have changed since 2005, but my brother told me that many of the women he works with in Uganda take care of their sister's children or their children's children, so it was interesting to get some more insight into that aspect of African culture.

communication

Wow, talking about all the different forms of communication is so interesting to me! I am not the most observant person, which is a weakness of mine, but after reading and discussing all the signals and details shown through body language, facial expressions, silence, touch...etc. I have been so much more aware of people's little actions, including my own, that I normally never pay attention to.

I remember one time when I was in high school and had to give a presentation, one of my friend's told me before hand not to fold my arms while presenting. He said that he noticed I almost always fold my arms when I am standing somewhere for a while and said that it comes off sometimes as kind of stand-offish and cold. I had never thought about it that way before and hadn't realized that I gave off that impression when I folded my arms. His comment really stuck with me and I have tried ever since to not fold my arms as much, unless I want to send the message of being closed off. It's interesting for me to note that my body language was kind of out of habit and unintentional until someone pointed out to me what I was doing.

After observing people and understanding what different forms of body language mean, you can start gathering so many more details about a person and their attitude or their real feelings about something just by noticing the other aspects of communication other than just words. I have a friend who I know super well and I have had to learn how to read her mind because she rarely says what she really think or really wants. All of the different forms of communication from facial expressions to tone of voice, have helped me over the years to learn how to respond the right way to her and understand what she really means. For example, when I ask her if she wants to do something over the phone, I can tell right away by the amount of silence before responding, the tone in her voice, the way she responds, if she really wants to do what I suggested (whether she says some form of yes or no) or if she doesn't or if she wants to do something else or not do anything with me.

Since it has taken me such a long time to be able to read my friend and I still struggle with interpreting signals from people in the US, when I go over to a completely new culture in Uganda, I am going to have to be super super observant in order to catch on to the forms of communication over there. I will also need to be really mindful of my actions and movements in order to make sure I don't give off the wrong impressions. I'm sure a lot of my learning will come from trial and error...which will hopefully not mean embarrassing experiences.

Where I'll be living

So these are pictures my brother, Jaron, took and since I'm going to be living with him, I thought I would show on my blog where I will be staying while in Uganda. This is the front of the house.
This is the backyard of the house and you can also see the neighbor's bathroom.

APF

African Promise Foundation is a non-profit organization that I have the option of working with while in Uganda. They buy beads made from recycled paper by women in Northern Uganda and then sell them in the US to help the women provide for their families. Check out their website at: africanpromisefoundation.org

time

Last class period, we discussed this super interesting article called "Monochronic and Polychronic Time". In countries where time is thought of as doing many things at once, the author calls that "polychronic time" and where time is thought of as one thing at a time, he called it "monochronic time". I just found this article so fascinating because I have never really thought about how we keep track of time and how we think about time in our culture. The U.S. falls under the monochronic time category and the author talked about how we think of time as something tangible. We talk about wasting time, spending time, killing time...etc. Also, we schedule everything so that we do one thing at a time and we get frustrated when things come up that get in the way of our planned time. In polychronic time, time's not as structured but more about just completion and being involved with the people around you. Well, it's kind of confusing to explain and I don't completely understand all of the differences myself.

After reading this article, I have been thinking about how I've noticed these two ways of thinking about time in my life and surroundings. I related it to a few of my Indian friends from back home who would tell me about parties and gatherings within their Indian community and how when the hosts say to come at 8pm, that really means that people start showing up around 10pm, or kind of whenever they're ready. Even though within my extended family we have to tell people to come way before we actually want them to, sometimes people get kind of upset about it and it can cause contention. Within my friend's Indian communities, they made it sound so normal and just how it is. The author also talked about how you can't really mix monochronic and polychronic time because it causes problems. That's evident in my family because some of us are always late, some of us are sometimes late, but then some of us are also sometimes on-time. That causes problems because those on-time get mad at those who are late because they have to wait. Those with monochronic time tables usually get frustrated with those on polychronic time tables.

Opening my mind to the idea that not everyone thinks about time in the same way, makes me wonder how time is perceived in Uganda. I will have to do some research on that and so a follow-up post.