Tuesday, June 17, 2014
Monday, June 16, 2014
Elephants, Hippos, and Giraffes, oh my!
Sorry we've been absent for so long! Here's a quick rundown on what you've missed.
On Saturday we visited Titus, the leader of the MFP project, and his rice farm. He has six piglets and a pig, dozens of chickens, and a few goats. I fell in LOVE with the cutest piglet and spent a good while trying to catch her (looking absolutely ridiculous) before someone else gracefully did that for me. I finally understand what a piglet squeal sounds like, and it broke my heart into a million pieces. Titus saw my true love for this adorable piglet and he gave her to me! After contemplating how I was going to take a Ugandan pig back to my parents, he decided to just name her after me and "won't let a soul tamper with it". My beautiful piglet will grow up to live a long and wonderful pig life.
On Sunday we visited Paraa National Park.... which was INCREDIBLE! Butterflies twinkled like Christmas lights all over the grasses, giraffes just casually munched on trees mere feet away, hippos eyed us from the Nile, an elephant waved to us with his trunk! This park has no fence - you step out of your car and you risk getting eaten by a lion. (Which may or may not have happened before?)
Anyways, we made it out alive and have tons of pictures to share later! We love you all.
Ps. USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA (futboooooooool)
- Elaine
Thursday, June 12, 2014
Ben Loves the Kids
After a long day of business modeling we played with the community. We left the community with a soccer ball, a tennis ball, and a polaroid picture to remember us by.
Busness Modelling in Sugur
On Thursday, Pilgrim took us about an hour away to the town
of Sugur. Unlike the previous communities we visited, Sugur had found great
success with the MFP. Implemented with the Chang-Fa engine as opposed to the
inferior Lister engine, the Sugur MFP has been working well and generating a
profit for the members of the co-op. When our van pulled up to the site, 40
men, women and children, greeted us, welcoming us to their home.
This meeting was a specialized business-training seminar,
and Pilgrim took the lead, explaining the tenets of good fiscal practice. Tyler
and I mainly observed today, as the training was conducted Teso, the local
language. However, Julius was able to keep us up to date with rapid
translations. This observation was crucial for EWB’s understanding of the
program we’re running, and it was very cool to see the way the community
engaged with the project. While Tyler and I sat (amongst bats, 9-inch-long
lizards, and swarms of bugs), Elaine jumped into the role of official
secretary—mainly as a result of Titus’ truly abominable handwriting.
-Ben
As soon as we arrived to the community, we were greeted by
about 30 of the members of the community. It was as if our presence gave them a
new sense of hope. They were cheering and singing. Finally we settled down into
our meeting. Our meeting today lasted 4 hours and I think that every hour was
worth it. The community was so receptive to the business training and was so
eager to learn. The business skills training shows that our trip is not just an
engineering trip but a community development trip as well.
Elaine definitely gets the MVP for the day for her
penmanship. Thanks to her, the members of the community were able to better
copy the business skills notes for future reference.
As a side note, I’m always very alert during the meetings
because of a particularly jarring incident in Tubur. As we spoke with the
executive board of the MFP there, a 6 inch lizard fell from 10 feet from the
ceiling onto my back. After falling on my back, it made its way into my hat
which was hanging from my neck. The best part is that everyone just sat around
and just stared while I tried not to panic. Julius finally turned me around to check
my shirt when the lizard got out of my hat, down my back, and onto the ground.
My binders and papers went everywhere. We laughed for a few solid minutes
before resuming work but I’ll never forget those moments of panic. So as soon
as I got to Sugur, I made sure to check the ceilings and of course I find a 9
inch lizard and some bats. I kept it together. Mom and dad, you would be proud!
Now back to serious matters. The business skills training
included topics such as business planning, budgeting, management, savings, and
investments. My favorite part of the program (and probably the most useful to
the community) was the budgeting section. There was a discussion on how to
budget on a monthly basis. The community members estimated expenditures and we
came up with a monthly total and how they would make revenue for those
expenditures. The community did a lot of brainstorming which was very exciting.
I think that the best part of the business training is that the lessons learned
could be applied to the MFP as well as any other businesses the community wants
to start. I would definitely say that today was successful!
Wednesday, June 11, 2014
Starting Work
On Tuesday,
we finally began our engineering work in Soroti. It is Wednesday evening now in
Uganda, and I can definitely say that the past two days have been both
rewarding and sobering.
Our mission
was to help with implementation of two new Multi Function Platforms (MFPs) in
rural communities. MFPs are agro-processers that have been implemented in rural
communities all over East Africa. The concept is simple enough for a
non-engineer like myself to understand: a diesel engine uses pulleys to attach
to various ‘components,’ which can each process various crops. There is a maize
huller, cassava chipper, and oil press, among other attachments. These are very
important for communities, as they drastically cut down the amount of time
needed to process the crops. Columbia EWB started implementing MFPs, housed in
brick structures, around 10 years ago. Each MFP has local leadership that owns
the device and charges individuals to come process crops. Unfortunately, the
funding from Columbia for the two MFPs did not arrive in time for us to
implement them, and so we have shifted the focus of our trip. Instead, the last
days have been filled with assessment of old sites.
On Tuesday,
we visited Orungo, which is about one hour away from Soroti town and talked to
the chairperson of the MFP. It was incredible to see how the work we’ve been
doing over the past few months in New York has actually been implemented.
However, it was also immediately clear how problem-plagued the system is, from
engine trouble to lack of communication. Our Wednesday visit to Tubur confirmed
both the positive and negative aspects of the project—there has definitely been
a beneficial impact, but there is a long way to go until the communities are
independent.
The team
from Pilgrim that has been driving us to the sites and participating the
meetings is truly incredible. Julius is head engineer for the project, and is
warm and outgoing. David, the driver and special assistant, is also a
remarkable individual. During the 2003 violent insurgency, David took up arms
along with 30 other teenagers to help defend the region from the rebels. David
took the time to share his inspiring story with us, and we were blown away by
his bravery and selflessness. Titus is the MFP lead at Pilgrim, and he is truly
passionate about his work, and has dedicated his life to improving the lives of
those displaced by the insurgency.
It feels
great to be out in the villages working, and we look forward to continuing the
project in the week and a half to come.
--Ben
Perseverance, Love, Hope, and the Electric Slide
I would like to start off by apologizing for not posting
daily. The reason for this is that we don’t have access to wifi very often and
when we do its for a short period of time. So mom and dad, I’m okay! Now back
to festive blog things!
Today started a little bit like yesterday but the duration
of the day brought new and exciting experiences. Our first destination was the
Beacon of Hope School where we attended their prayer service. We were greeted
by glistening smiles and open arms by students and staff alike. We received the
word of the Lord from 2 pastors sprinkled with times for praise and
worship. I really enjoyed the praise and
worship time because it was a time for the students to express themselves
through singing and dancing. One of the students really stuck out to me because
he was really getting it and I wouldn’t mind getting some dance lessons from
him.
Towards the end of the service, I was asked to speak a few
words of encouragement to the students. Students of all ages were there. Even
students my age. I was trying to think what to say to them because these
students have been through so much. Most of the students at this school were
once a part of the Lord’s Resistance Army. Many of these students were forced
to kill those who were close to them. I was beyond nervous trying to think of
what to say to them. By the time I knew
it, the pastor was calling me up to speak. I stood at the podium looking into
their eyes. Their eyes were full of hope despite everything they’ve seen.
Through everything they’ve been forced to do. I just decided to speak from the
heart. My message revolved around perseverance, love, and hope. I just hope
that my words were able to touch at least one student…
On a lighter note, after the service we were free to
interact with the students and what better way to interact than to dance.
Praise and worship continued once the service ended. Elaine and I decided to
dance with the students and they were happy to have us. They had about 10
choreographed 8 count dances that weren’t the easiest for those of us who
aren’t the greatest dancers. Fortunately, the student that was amazing at
dancing during the service introduced himself as Joab and then taught me how to
do the dances. After about 15 minutes I picked up about half of the dances and
I couldn’t tell whether me or Joab was happier. Once Joab realized that it
would be fairly difficult for me to pick up the last few dances in such a short
time so he asked me to teach him an American dance. I thought for a little bit.
What dance should I teach him? The wobble? Forgot how to do it. The Cupid
Shuffle? Only really works with the original song. The Booty Call? Kind of
inappropriate. I finally settled on the Electric Slide because it’s pretty
simple and I had done it so much at family cookouts that it was second nature
to me. While the rest of the group did praise and worship dances, Joab and I
went off to the side and I showed him how to do the Electric Slide. I was sure
to jazz it up a bit for him so I added a snap on the front step that almost
touched the ground and exaggerated the step on the turn. He thought it was
coolest thing and after about 10 times he picked it up and was doing it better
than me. Soon 3 or 4 other kids joined in while others just looked on. I just
found the cultural exchange to be so fulfilling for the both of us while
finding a new dance partner in the process. Shout out to Joab!
--Tyler
Tuesday, June 10, 2014
New friends and old fish
Its nothing like waking up to a rooster at 6:30 in the
morning to your 3rd day in the beautiful Uganda started. I laid in
bed so pumped for 6:30 to come, despite popular belief, because of the
breakfast Grace (the hostess of the Golden Arc) would make for us and our first
journey throughout Soroti which is the area that we are working. Breakfast was
delicious as usual and consisted of eggs, bread, and mangos. And I’m obsessed
with mangos. Soon after breakfast we met James, David, and Julius and they are
all a part of the MFP team in Soroti. We chatted for a while about Uganda, our
expectations, and our experiences.
Afterwards, we hopped in our trusty white Toyota rover and
began exploring the town of Soroti and a lot of its different communities. We
made about 4 pit stops and each of the communities were so welcoming. They
treated us as if they’ve known us our entire lives or as if we were a part of
their community. In general, everyone
I’ve had the pleasure of interacting with has been more than pleasant to me
which is a huge culture shock after living in New York for 8 months. We’ve also
managed to pick up few words in the local language such as hello, which is
pronounced ‘yoga’, bye, which is pronounced ‘ebo’, and thank you which is
pronounced “A elamo noi’.
Of all of these communities, I would definitely have to say
that the fishing village was my favorite. This particular community was located
on Lake Kyoga which is the second largest lake in Uganda behind Lake Victoria
(which we visited yesterday). As soon as we got out of the car, we were
approached by a group of children greeting us with smiles. Of course Ben
happened to have a tennis ball and as soon as whipped in out the kids got so
excited. We played for a short time until we made our way down to the lake. The
view was amazing. It literally didn’t even look real. Lake Kyoga stretched as
far as I could see and the contrast with the sky was incredible. As if this
moment couldn’t get any better, I met a fisherman named Michael who immediately
called me friend with the brightest smile. Michael told me all about his life
as a fisherman and how he wanted to come to the United States. He also took me
to his boat which had just got back from the fishing on the lake and invited me
to stand in it. He looked at the day’s catch and said that it was a poor one. We
talked more of his experiences and how one time he swam 20 meters below the
surface of the water. He was proud to say that his boat was the fastest boat. It
was cool seeing that he took such pride in his work. As we said our goodbyes,
he gave me a fish that he caught that day as a token of our friendship. I was
definitely touched by the fact that he would give me one of the few fish that
he caught from that day. I was also a little caught off guard by the fact that
the fish was still alive but needless to say I’m happy to say that I have a new
friend in the fisherman Michael. - Tyler (6/7/14)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sorry I’ve been absent!
Here’s a quick recap on everything you’ve missed:
Everything you’ve ever heard about Africa is either 100%
right or 100% wrong. There is no gray area in this country, Uganda, the pearl
of Africa. As soon as I line up to pay for my visa, a person standing to the
side of the desk takes my crisp $50 bill right out of my passport and walks
away. I stare at the office, and in a small voice that I couldn’t even recognize
as mine, I say, “but that was mine…?” The officer laughs for an eternity and a
half and then finally explains that the man had been waiting for change and
that I was clear to enter the country. Welcome to Uganda! (6/5/14)
After flirting with death on a quick ride to Kampala, the
capital of the country, we arrive to our hotel at 5 am. After a quick dip in
40% deet bug spray, I spread out into a bed, covered in with a mosquito net. It
honestly makes me feel like a princess.
The capital reminds me of some of the central areas of El
Paso, and I was shocked that a) Kampala is just as nice as El Paso or b) that
El Paso is right out of the middle of Africa. We met with the NGO we’re working
with, Pilgrim, who could not have been more welcoming, and then head back to
our hotel. After waking to what I SWEAR was a crazy warlord cry, we ate breakfast with a man who cried to us about the failure of his fourth marriage
due to a certain Miss Uganda and how his sons hated him. I assured him that it
was never too late to fix things, and
he melted, exclaiming “It’s never too late!” We left shortly after that. We were
ready to take on the whole of Uganda! We took a smooth drive from Kampala to
Jinja, then hopped on a boat to see the source of the Nile. I waved at all the
people on the side of the river, learning later that they were a part of
Uganda’s federal prisons. (Blessed) (6/6/14)
Soroti’s incredibly cool. I have never felt more out of
place and yet more welcomed. We visited a small fishing village and I received
a fish as a gift from a friend I had made there. The fish was lovely and slimy,
and it meant the world to these people and to me. The twenty + children of the
village followed Tyler, Ben, and I around. Ben whipped out a tennis ball and
the whole crowd went crazy. A girl who could not have been over five with a two
year old on her hip hovered right next to me the entire time. We shake and she
takes her hand, sniffs it, and then licks it laughing. American sweat is tasty?
(6/7/14) - Elaine
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