Wednesday, March 28, 2012

potential challenges...

Hypothetical scenarios:
1. While I'm over in Gulu, Uganda, the LRA decides to move back to where they started, which is in Gulu. Oh gosh, that better not happen. So then I get an email from BYU saying that I need to leave asap. (or if for any reason it's not safe for me to be in Gulu anymore)

If I was in some sort of immediate danger, I would quickly take the bus into Kampala and find some place to stay there until I could figure out the next best thing to do. Depending on how much time I had left in the field, I would either go home a little early or see if I could find some way to join the field study group in either Ghana or South Africa. I would of course check with the field study department to see what they recommended for me to do.

2. None of the women agree to tell me their stories or answer any of my interview questions.

I will just use the information I gather while in the field from observing the women and talking to them casually for my project.

3. I get really sick and can't work on my project for a few weeks.

I designed my project in a way that it can be pretty flexible. I didn't set a huge standard for myself in order to allow for things like this to happen. I am only hoping for at least three women to agree to a more structured interview with me, so cutting out a couple weeks from being sick will definitely make it more difficult to get to know the women as well as I could have and give me less time to conduct the interviews, but I think it will still be possible. I know that I will need to be flexible because I can't see every challenge I will face in the field, so I will have to work with whatever information I get and of course try my best, but not set myself up for failure. I understand that if I don't stick to my schedule exactly, it won't be the end of the world.

4. For some reason, African Promise Foundation shuts down, so I don't have an organization to work with anymore and I can't just go to work and see the women, who are the participants in my research.

Since my brother knows all of the women already and has visited many of them in their homes, I would try to visit some of the women who had worked for APF in their homes and try to get to know them that way. I would probably have my brother come with me depending on the situation, since he knows the women better than I. This would shift the location of the majority of my research from the workplace of the organization to the homes of the women. This would add a really interesting twist to my project because they women would probably have a bitter taste towards APF because if they shut down, that means the women would lose their jobs. I would still try to find out the impact that working for APF had on their lives.

If I am not allowed into the homes of the women and there's no way for me to conduct my original project, then I will probably try to work with this other organization over in Gulu called Straight Talk Foundation (STF) that is an Ugandan NGO that specializes in communication for social change. I would figure out some project to do related to this organization and the issues they address.

I know that I will face many challenges while in the field, but I also know that this is what I'm supposed to be doing-going to Gulu, Uganda. Whatever happens, this will be an experience that will force me to learn and grow in ways that might not be possible anywhere else.

Monday, March 26, 2012

expanding on art

For class last week, we visited the Islamic art exhibit in the MOA called Beauty and Belief. It was an incredible exhibit and I highly recommend it. It's so awesome to me how much you can learn about a person, their beliefs, values, surroundings..etc. from art. There was information in the exhibit to help you better understand the art and one thing I found so interesting was when it talked about patterns in Islamic art because they use patterns a lot. Patterns are used as away to show that what is being expressed through the art piece is something that goes on forever. Patterns are never ending because they can just keep going. Whatever is being shown through a pattern is really just a part of something much bigger. Just like patterns, God is eternal and so is life. Earth is just a part of a much larger universe, a much larger time scope, and a much larger plan. I definitely added my own interpretation to what I read about the meaning of patterns, but that's something else I think is so great about art. Everyone has different perspectives and therefore different interpretations of things. Even though we may not know what the artists exact purpose was for making an art piece, I think the point of art is to find some way to find meaning in the art that relates to you yourself and not necessarily just the artist. But, I also think it's important to try and see what the artist's purpose was as well because that's a way of learning more about the purpose and maybe what was going on at the time the art was created.

When I'm in Uganda and doing my project, I want to learn as much as possible about the culture and the people I will be living among, especially the women I will be focusing my study on. Noticing all the different art forms used by the people and then learning as much as possible about them and how the people use their art forms to express themselves, will help me to learn more about the people in general and maybe start to understand them a little better. I noticed in Islamic art, their beliefs play a huge role and is very apparent in much of the art. I bet that not only visiting different churches, but also paying attention to the different art forms, like their ceremonies, will help me understand the beliefs of the Acholi people better. Just like how I applied the idea of patterns from Islamic art to my own beliefs, I think that learning about the Acholi people through art may be a way for me to find ways to relate to the people better as well and recognize that all humans experience similar feelings throughout their lives.

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

tiny bit about acholi art

For class today, we were supposed to look up some information about the art forms of the culture we will be living among in the field. First of all, I need to point out that there is not a whole lot of information on the Acholi people and their customs, which is very frustrating. Maybe I'm not looking in the right place, but from my experience, it is difficult to find very much information on the Acholi culture. Also, from watching the documentary called War Dance, which takes place in a community within the Acholi people, I have learned a little bit about how important art is in their culture. So combining what I learned from this documentary with what I learned from a website I was reading about the Acholi, I have found some interesting related things.

The largest art forms in the Acholi culture are drumming, singing and dancing. These forms of art are used in many different ceremonies relating to the different spirits they believe in. The website talked mentioned ceremonies having to do with birth, planting, harvesting, and also sacrifice. Dancing is used in these ceremonies accompanied by drumming and sometimes also singing. Also, when someone dies, about a week or so later, a big and final dance and feast is held. The vastness of the dance and feast depend on the status and age of the person that died. So the older and more important the person who died, the more festive and elaborate of a ceremony. I also saw the importance of art in the movie where the Acholi people worked so hard and did everything they could to prepare for a music and dance festival that was being held in the capital of Uganda. The acholi are a marginalized group of people often looked down upon by the rest of Uganda as the people who were torn apart by the war. The acholi wanted to show the rest of Uganda and the war and themselves through their art, that the war could not and did not take away their culture and who they are.

I think art is such an amazing way for us to try and connect and understand each other as human beings. I hope to learn so much more about the different art forms in Gulu among the Acholi people in order to understand them a little better and learn about them. Art is such a beautiful way for people to express themselves, their beliefs, thoughts, ideas, and feelings and then share them with others.

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

try walking in someone else's shoes

At the beginning of class on Monday, Ashley told us to try and imagine being in the class room for the very first time, having never seen it or Ashley or the building ever before. Then she said to try that while walking around BYU campus. That was super, super hard for me to do because I have three older siblings who all went to BYU, so I remember coming to visit them here since forever ago, so I feel like I've known what BYU looks like my whole life. When I was like nine I came to drop off my oldest brother for school with my mom. It's practically impossible for me to think back to when I first saw BYU campus and what my first thoughts were. But I can imagine, I probably thought it was so huge and so cool. I probably thought about how old and important college students looked to me as a little 4th grader. Seeing campus for the first time, I would probably wonder why there was a statue of an Indian and notice how different all the buildings are with some being really old and some new, some really tall or big and some small or short. Of course there's tons of other observations and judgments I would make seeing BYU campus for the first time.

This is a skill I need to develop in order to start to understand people I meet, including those I meet in Uganda. I've always been told to step in someone else's shoes and try to see the world as they see it, but I've never really thought about it very much. I'm starting to realize how important that is in so many different ways and forms. I need to try to learn as much as possible about the people I will be meeting in Uganda, in order to try and view their city, their situation, their world the way they see it, instead of always just using my limited perspective in viewing my surroundings and when trying to connect with people. I should probably think about how they will view me as I come into Gulu, a young white girl from America.

I loved our reading "Eating Christmas in the Kalahari" because the story outlined so clearly the differences between the customs in different cultures. I should probably expect to feel humiliated at times, just like the author of the article, because there will be so much that I won't understand when I go to Uganda. It's important that I am aware of that and don't get totally frustrated or blame my lack of knowledge concerning the customs and culture on anyone. It will take time, asking questions, and observing to gradually learn bits and pieces about the ways of the Acholi people.

Monday, March 5, 2012

serving and helping are so different

The reading for today about the difference between fixing, helping and serving, really helped me realize how important it is that I approach my project in the field with an attitude of serving, as opposed to helping or fixing. The reading emphasized how helping and fixing put people on different levels and as unequal's. I really don't want to go to Uganda and have people think that I think I am better than them and have more than them or that I feel pity for them for being in the midst of war for such a long time. Service is about being on equal grounds with those you serve and treating them like humans and being human yourself. I can't go to work with the Ugandan women acting like I'm some expert or something, but just be myself as an ordinary human being. I think people can tell when you try to adopt a different persona and I just want the women to feel comfortable around me and know that I just want to get to know them as friends on the same level as me. This article taught me that if I go about my days there with service in mind and not helping or fixing, than I will be natural and the people I'm with will recognize that I don't see them as inferiors in any way, but as equal, beautiful people.

Friday, March 2, 2012

talking to peter

Today, Carlee and I met a guy named Peter who's from Kampala, Uganda. He was super nice and willing to talk to us about Uganda and answer any questions we had. He told us that in general, everyone will be really nice to us as Americans, but they will expect us to be really rich. He said that the people they see on TV, like Paris Hilton and Angelina Jolie, are what they think of when they see Americans. So basically they're going to think I'm some super rich, snobby girl that gets everything she wants and sits on top of the world. awesome. But he also said that if we show that we're interested in their culture and even if we learn just a few words in their native language, they will really like us. I really need to start studying Acholi so I can at least know how to say a few things when I get there! It's interesting to think about how much of a difference it makes when you show interest in the culture and take the time to learn a few words of the native tongue. I am sure that so many tourists come over to Uganda and are just there to see the exotic people and animals, but don't really show interest in the culture and how the people live.