"So when do they turn the lights on?"

          Today is the second day of the homestay and all of the JHU/MakSPH students could not feel more at home. Two days ago the students met their new "mama" and "tata" as well as their loving brothers and sisters. Many of the families have taken to addressing the students as their own children. Some of the young children in the family have never seen "bazungu," or white foreigners, before, so the first interactions were quite fascinating. For instance, students have shared experiences of young children who cried when seeing "bazungu" for the first time. After two days, the children have begun interacting with the JHU/MakSPH students by sharing music from our different cultures and dancing to the tunes. 

             Many students have had very heartfelt experiences with their families which we had the chance to share with each other in a group reflection yesterday. One student had an experience where, as he was sneezing just due to allergies, the 12 year old house-brother offered him local medicine thinking he had the flu.  Nothing could have made the student feel more at home. 

            The MakSPH students have had quite the entertaining time watching the JHU students adapt to the homestay. Many of the JHU students have never used a latrine or taken a bucket bath. Thankfully, most of the MakSPH students were able to demonstrate the techniques for their homestay colleagues. One MakSPH student had the courage to get in front of the whole group and teach a bucket bath step-by-step.  The first day was a tough adjustment for the JHU students, as evidenced by Dom's reaction to his home's lack of electricity: "So when do they turn the lights on?". The MakSPH students felt more comfortable with the living situation than the JHU students did, but all the students felt the expected awkwardness that comes with living in another family's home.  The second day has proven to be easier, and we expect that by the end of the homestay we will be so comfortable it will be hard to leave.

Meeting our families!

            The JHU/MakSPH students were fortunate enough to go on a tour of the Rakai Health Science Program (RHSP). While at the Rakai Health Science Project laboratories,the JHU/MakSPH students were able to physically see some equipment like the safety devices and huge freezers that are used to keep samples since 1988. They had never seen these before.

            Today the students are breaking off into small groups to research their independent topics in the area around the Rakai Health Sciences Program.  Students are headed to the Kalisizo Hospital, Uganda Cares (an organization working with HIV positive patients), Rakai AIDS Information Network (RAIN), Kalisizo Town Council, and the RHSP Counseling Center.  The students had a chance to ask questions regarding their topics to local experts.  Getting out into the community was a great way for the students to expand their knowledge about their topics, sometimes gaining a perspective different from that which they expected.  

        

TORUWU

Today we headed to Kikaji Training of Rural Women in Uganda, or TORUWU.  It is a fantastic program that teaches rural Ugandan women different crafts (basket weaving, bag making, wine brewing etc.), with the intention of giving them skills that can earn them money.  The Center also serves as a middle man between the craftswomen and the consumers, finding them markets where they can sell their products.  We spent an amazing day here getting a chance to interact with these women and learn their stories.

Basket woven by the women at Toruwu.

We were greeted with fanfare.  Meaning, a marching band greeted us at the entrance to the Center and walked us to the buildings.  Along the way the JHU/MakSPH students had fun dancing and interacting with the local children.  During the performance, the band played "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" from the Lion King, and we had a cross cultural experience when both groups started singing and dancing and having a blast.To add to the cross cultural experience, the band played both the American National Anthem as well as the Ugandan National Anthem.

Watching the youth group band perform

The first part of the day was spent in groups touring various homes in which the women working for the center do their crafts.  They invited us into their homes and showed us how they do the weaving and answered any questions we had about their work.  We then reconvened for lunch and delicious wine prepared at the Center with oranges, pineapple, and passion fruit.

We then moved into a very interesting discussion with Makerere Students, JHU students, and members of the youth group answering anonymous questions about each others cultures.  JHU students enjoyed learning about the Ugandan's take on the American system of government.

Interesting questions were brought up in the discussion

The day concluded with a dance performance by the youth groups accompanied by the band playing traditional African drums.  Some of the JHU/MakSPH students had the opportunity to show off some moves.  After purchasing some crafts made by the women, the students boarded the bus (sad to leave) and headed back to Ndere.

The whole group loved their time at the Kikaji Center learning about different cultures and getting to interact closely with these amazing women.  We are getting to bed early, packed and ready to head off to the Rakai Village tomorrow.

The whole group with the women at the center

Day One.

After roughly 26 hours of travel door to door, the JHU student group finally touched ground in Entebbe, Uganda.  Three stop-overs, countless movies, and an hour long bus ride we arrived at the Ndere Center in Kampala at 1 AM Ugandan time with a meal awaiting us.  Not knowing which way was up we settled down to our midnight feast and tried to beat the jet-lag.

In the morning, the Makerere and JHU students finally met in person in the dorms at the Ndere Center.  In order to merge the two groups, we did a bunch of team-building exercises that ranged from thought provoking discussions about what we wanted to gain from this trip, to flipping a group member upside down blindfolded. The team building helped us as we braved Owino Market for a scavenger hunt.

Team building

Owino Market

We were tasked with finding a variety of items including a funny t-shirt, fruit we have never seen before, and a large pair of shoes.  We even tried our hand at bargaining with the merchants, some faring better than others. Emerging from the bustling market after two hours we headed back to the Center.

Displaying our finds

Trying new types of fruit

At night we got to view the amazing drum show at the Ndere Center.  We sat down to 4 hours of dancing and performing, while educating us about the different regions in the country.  We even got to join the dancers on stage for a little traditional dancing. This first day was action packed and the entire group is looking forward to a good nights sleep before tomorrow's adventure remembering that we are 8 hours ahead of our parents and all prices must be divided by 2,700 shillings.

Jamming

Pre-departure Orientation at Baltimore Intl. Hostel

After two days of orienting activities, it's time to depart for Uganda via Amsterdam. There were humorous and sobering moments that prepared us for what we'll see and experience in Uganda. You'd be surprised how much you can learn from a tent pole, a horseshoe discussion, a Necklaces meet Headbands game, and a day-trip to Baltimore's Lexington Market. We also had a lecture from Ms. Lin Lin Aung, an expert discussant from International Youth Foundation, where she works on the YouthMap Uganda project. Most importantly, we met the Ugandan partner students via Skype! (see a few photos below)

 Dom and Ellie Skype with their Ugandan partner 

 Molly and Alex use the BIH piano bench for their Skype session

 BIH was a great retreat for students to reflect and do research before departure

Students hard at work finding articles related to their topics

 BIH has lots of provocative art--we fell in love with the big ballerina

One last group photo before we depart!