Last days in Uganda (Part 2)

It's October. I don't know what just happened. Apart from this. I was planning to do this part 2 post two whole months ago.

But better late than never. To make things easy for myself, this last post is going to be more of a snapshot one than a snippet one. (And yes, I realize this blog never really stuck to the "snippet" rule. More like essay. Or ramblings. Sorry I'm not sorry.)

Select photos from the last days are below. More are here in case you don't have Facebook!

Best neighbors ever.

Graduation day.

With Harriet right before the airport.

Awkwardly posed with Tina and baby.

What am I going to do without this little one?

Musana, moving forward!

In the three months I was there, Musana was in the midst of some great improvements. The organization hired an assistant manager (Barbara), upgraded from mattresses on the floor to worktables and chairs, recorded its biggest sale thus far, got official workshop signs, and started making smoothies. Among other things.

Musana gets a shop sign!

(It took a few tries to get right. I left Uganda before
the final version.)

Musana got a blender to make smoothies. The plan is
to make the workshop into a cafe in the future. Oooo.

The new Musana sign on the Kampala-Jinja highway.
If you go to Uganda, STOP BY OR I  WILL PINCH YOU.

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Follow the Musana blog and check out the website from time to time for news, to browse jewelry or consider supporting Musana.

And lastly, I'll leave you with a few of my favorite videos:

At Josephs's Wedding. Lots of happy in that room.

Celebration song when Musana 

made it's biggest order. It completely

cleared out the workshop!

Last days in Uganda (Part 1)

My last weeks at Musana were jam-packed. I felt like I had to see all of Uganda (didn't happen), finish every single project I'd hoped to do for Musana (didn't happen), and spend time with everyone I'd met (didn't happen). But I was able to accomplish some of it.

Right now I'm tired, so I'll break this post into two parts. Sorry. Or you're welcome. Whatever.

Sipi Falls

For my last weekend in Uganda, we made a whirlwind trip to the East to see Sipi Falls, arguably the most spectacular waterfalls in the country. They were pretty sweet. We stayed at a nice campsite lodge overlooking a valley and several falls, aptly named the Crow's Nest. I'm pretty sure every muzungu in Uganda visiting Sipi Falls stays there. And raves about how it is just darling. Or something.

One of the best parts of Eastern Uganda was the lack of light pollution, permitting you to see every star in the sky. And shooting stars. Unless you're Julie, who failed to see them for some reason.

Our waterfall guide during the hike was nice. But I forget his name already. Whoops.

Sunrise from the Crow's Nest

A loyal dog camped out in front of our lodge all night.
He was in sorry shape, but sweet.

Huts along the waterfall hike.

I think these were the best falls of the lot.

Chameleon. SO COOL.

Mosquito Net Adventure

With the help of some friends and various good people of Uganda, I managed to get ahold of 50 mosquito nets for the Musana women and their families. I had to fetch them in Kampala the day before I left, which would have been a huge challenge if the people of Uganda weren't so wonderful.

Somehow, I'd tricked myself into thinking that each packaged net couldn't be much more than the size of an large envelope. (In my own defense, when you order something online, sometimes they REALLY pack the item amazingly tight. Like a dress could be squeezed into a container the size of a pencil case and you're all like "what?!") So I brought a medium-sized duffle bag with me, thinking I could carry the rest in my purse or in a plastic bag the mosquito net dude brought.

But Raymond (the dude) lifted two fat bags the size of baby elephants out of his car, each completely uncarriable if you're me. But Raymond kindly loaded them back in his car, along with me, and took us all to the taxi stage where I could get a ride back to Lugazi. And upon arrival in Lugazi, the boda drivers swarmed to help me bring the bags to Musana even before I even got out of the taxi.

Okay, maybe the bags weren't quite as big as
baby elephants. But they were just as heavy.

So while most things are much more difficult to accomplish in Uganda than the States, this was not. I didn't have to even touch the bags of nets, let alone drag them back to Lugazi. And to everyone else, I was the hero, zooming back to the workshop, nets in tow, to help protect the masses against malaria!

Musana gave the nets to the artisans at the subsidized price of 2,000 shillings, discounted from 7,000. Musana could have given them away for free, but the idea was for the women to have greater ownership of their purchase / health investment. Because who really cares about freebies, past the initial excitement that it's stuff for free?

The Musana women had completed a training on malaria prevention a few days before with Share Uganda, which helped them prepare to receive the nets. They learned about how to set them up, care for them, and take precautions like keeping them away from candles (which may seem obvious, but only after it's stated).

Survey on the Social Determinants of Health

Do you remember in the beginning of my blog where I outlined some of my internship goals? Of course you don't. I barely do.

One of the objectives was to help administer a family health survey in Lugazi to get a basic idea about the town's health situation. This is a research undertaking by an American professor and Melissa, one of Musana's founders who always seems to find ways to come back to Lugazi.

The initial idea was to have the survey tool translated and ready to go by mid-July, when Melissa arrived in Uganda. That didn't happen, and this time it couldn't be blamed on the slow pace of work you often encounter in Africa.

Instead it was glitches and miscommunication on the US side, resulting in numerous re-translations and frustrations on the Ugandan end.

But in the end, an IRB-approved survey was developed. And it even didn't take three hours to administer, which was the case originally. A magnificent team of young Ugandan students / recent graduates were trained to give the survey.

Survey training.

Currently, under Melissa's patient and optimistic leadership, the survey is being carried out now. I wish I were there to see the magic happen.

Latest from Lugazi

Tomorrow is August! These past few weeks have been a flurry of activity. We are preparing a health survey in Lugazi, standardizing the jewelry being produced (e.g. quality control and prices), and continuing with lessons as usual. And having fun. In the midst of everything, we (the interns) are one by one leaving Uganda.

Some updates since the last post:

Musana goes into the community to teach the nutrition unit

In a previous post, I mentioned my concerns about how the women may not be interested in going out to the communities to teach. As it turns out, even though they were reluctant to actually practice giving the lessons, they did a phenomenal job giving them when it came time. So this was a success story, with some twists.

The first group to teach was Susan, Immaculate, and Florence. They were all very strong presenters and did a fantastic job.

(Florence is tending to her daughter behind Immaculate.)

The downside was that the woman who coordinated the group of participants, a town council representative, didn't actually inform them about it until five minutes before. The group was somewhat reluctant to attend, given the work they had to do at home and their lack of preparation. I was a bit ticked off, because it was the town councilwoman who solicited Musana for the lesson (not the other way around). I felt incredibly awkward, but the Musana ladies just said, "okay, we'll do it fast" and rocked it.

Harriet, Rosette, and Eve presented to the New Canaan's women's group, organized by Pastor Francis, a near and dear friend to Musana. They rocked it.

Musana taught in a primary school classroom. Nutrition, not the alphabet.

Cheesy group photo at the end.
I had to tickle Harriet so she would smile.

The last group has yet to present. Fingers crossed it happens at some point. Logistics, logistics.

Overall, the best part of the experience was that the women became experts in nutrition. They practiced giving the lesson so many times that they learned the material well and were able to field questions without help at the end. They are amazing!

Understanding Domestic Violence workshop

Was great, but I already blogged about it here. Check it out!

We say goodbye to Angela

For Angela's last evening in Uganda, we arranged a potluck farewell bash. With s'mores. The mosaic of photos below tell the evening's story, apart from some ridiculous dancing and comedy by Luta that could not be captured.

Angela was dearly loved by all. She will be missed by Ugandans and muzungus alike. The best/worst moment was when Eve dramatically told her 8-year-old son, Jorum, that Angela was going away forever, which made him cry. Lying to children is so underrated.

Group photo! It was quite the undertaking.

We explore Western Uganda (for a day)

This past weekend, we went to Fort Portal in Western Uganda to see more of the country. It's beautiful. But a trek! Taxis and buses and bodas galore.

We didn't have enough time to explore everything the area has to offer, like national parks and safaris, but we managed to go on a nice 11-mile nature walk, complete with hills and waterfalls and caves.

It was a hazy day, but if it had been clear you could see the looming
Rwenzori Mountains in the background.

The kids are still weird

No real updates here.

Though there's this one little girl ("Airplane Girl") who lives in one of the houses next door who always runs at us muzungus when we walk by to hug our legs. She's maybe one and a half years. Today, she was walking with her mom and as soon as she saw me she chucked the bag she was holding at her mom and sprinted at me open-arms like an airplane. Hence the name. She's always quick to let go and move on like nothing happened.

Kids are so odd.

Nicole's first time skiing!

Tina's baby, Emily. Julie has stepped on her twice now.

Jonah. No words.