Uganda Reflections

[Emily] My first trip to Africa was uniquely amazing. I was visiting Chris, who was finishing his second two month trip to the town of Gulu, Uganda. During this trip, Chris interviewed numerous fathers asking about the role of father’s in Acholi families, how alcohol impacts the role of the father, and how VIVO (the German non-profit organization Chris is working though) can offer support to fathers. Chris’ ability to seamlessly cross geographical and cultural boundaries with such grace and compassion continues to amaze me.  

Chris was wrapping up his research in Gulu the first week I was there so I busied myself with going to the market, cooking meals, cross stitching, and enjoying some downtime. Another student from Germany was also there working so she and I had a great time hanging out in the evenings if Chris was still busy. We went shopping for fabric and gifts and attended a yoga class. Chris (and now I) has a large group of friends in Gulu and one night a bunch of us went dancing at a local club and got to watch a world cup semi-final game with a group of happy Germans.

Wang oo

One of my best experiences in Uganda to date and likely won’t be topped. A few nights ago I got to join a family for wang oo in the evening – my friend Thomas who is interpreting during my interviews was able to come – we had an amazing time.

Throughout my interviews with fathers, many have mentioned wang oo (pronounced wong O): “Part of the problem is we can’t do wang oo in town,” “The old Acholi before the war always did wang oo,” “One of the ways I teach my children is during wang oo.”

So of course I thought I needed to join a family for wang oo. It happened that during one of our informal interviews at a marua shack a father invited us to his home and said he has wang oo every night as a way to keep his wives and children all unified.

Research and Running

I never know what to name these posts - I hope I didn't go and waste "research and running" too early - because that's pretty much what I do.

Research: Ethnography is fun. I basically just get to be curious all the time - which I am - but this has purpose and some direction. I'm learning a lot about fathers here - how they see themselves, how they connect with their children, how they prioritize their roles as a father, the impact of substance use, their interest in parent-related education, etc... There is actually more interest in parenting education than I was expecting, but of course there is a range. It has also been interesting to hear how fathers are trying to balance traditional roles and responsibilities with "modern" approaches (to use their word). I've been able to talk to fathers from town, fathers from villages, fathers at local drinking shacks, a group of mothers, a priest, and 3 or 4 other community members. I think I have about half of what I would need for my dissertation but there is more we are hoping to learn beyond what I need.

Running: Yesterday I ran 12 miles... out to a village on single track that followed abandoned train tracks and then back on a somewhat remote road. It was my longest run here so far and it was a nice route - not as much traffic as the main roads where I feel like I'm playing frogger - it's actually frightening sometimes (but don't worry, mom). Also, pretty much everything I eat I have to make, and I eat a lot of fruit and veggies, and I guess running burns a lot of calories - so I think I've lost 7-10 lbs (but don't worry, mom). I've started drinking whole milk, using more butter, and eating more Nutella - so I think it's all good.

It's rainy season here so most nights get cool enough to have a light sheet or blanket and - ya know - it rains. It usually rains at least once every few days - today it rained fairly hard and then kept sprinkling all afternoon. The clouds keep the temperature in check most of the time.

So it's all going well - I do miss my wife and my puppy though (in that order - but it's close) ;)

Random things

You guys are not going to believe this - but it's raining AND there is still power. This never woulda happened last time. In any case, I'm tired and the rain suggested I quit working - so I thought I'd post a few random things quickly.

Have you ever seen fruit bats? They are large. I knew this, but I don't think I got a very good look at one last time. The other thing - they are really loud - constantly squeaking. On my run this morning I found a tree they roost in and I could hear it a ways away.

You want to know what a common toad in Uganda looks like? Pretty much just like our toads.

Did you know that if a bodaboda (motorcycle taxi) driver runs out of gas, he can still get you into town by getting off the bike - tipping it and shaking it to adjust drops of gas. He restarts the bike and you head into town. Well maybe not ALL the way to where you wanted to go, but really close.

Here's something that annoys me - There was a lady in the supermarket the other day... (there is one small, modern Japanese supermarket and there are a couple really small Indian-owned places that have non-local food)... I get a few things at these places that keep me from having to cook for every single meal (ramen, yogurt, bread, nutella!, etc...). Anyways, this lady first caught my attention because I heard her asking if they had "Ragu." Really? Ok, whatevs. They'd never heard of it. She was slightly disappointed. Then I saw her cart - and she had all the American stuff she could find - including 3 boxes of Kellogg's cereal. Let me share why this bothers me... it costs almost $15 (USD) per box! There are other brands of cereal available; there is bread and jam available; eggs are everywhere. I promise you won't starve without your cereal. Clearly you are here to try help in some way (I don't think people vacation here) - and you are spending almost $50 on cereal?! You are aware that $50 could feed a kid for most of the year, yeah? ... This has to be a short-term trip because that would obviously get expensive and you don't see foreigners who live here buying that sort of thing. It seems like these people come for a week or two - everything is organized - they get carted around in a van - they stay at their hotel - they eat "local food" a few times and skype home about it (I've heard this) - and then they grace the locals with their presence when they venture slightly outside their bubble. It's like, "I'm here to help! (But I don't want to have to, like, live by you)."

[I didn't talk to her - so I don't know her story - maybe I'm being too judgmental or maybe I'm way off base. And I'm not bashing all short-term service trips - although my starting place is skepticism. And I'm sure I do terrible or stupid things too - I can't say I pinch every shilling while I'm here or never do anything unnecessary.]

As for research - things are going well. I have two groups set up and 3 individual interviews set up. I've also already had about 8 hours of conversations with various community members (but not my formal participants) about fathering.

Back in Gulu Town

Logging on to post here, I realize Emily and I are behind in posting about some of our other trips recently. Oh well - that will have to wait - now I'm back in Gulu. I'm sure I won't blog as often as last time I was here but I'll try post a few times for those who are interested. Here I will quickly share why I'm here this time for those who don't know.

Some of you know that last time I was here with my Professor we tested the feasibility of a parenting program for mothers. However, fathers also said they want support and wives asked us to include their husbands next time. In a separate line of research, other researchers from the NGO I'm working with (vivo.org) have reported really high levels of substance use (mostly alcohol) and domestic violence. (Which are also things we hear people talking about often.) So - based on all of this information, I am hear to learn more about if and how we may be able to support fathers, whether that be through the parenting intervention or some other means. As a basic starting place, I'm going to be interviewing men about the role of a father in an Acholi family and the ways in which substance use impacts these roles and relationship with children. My big picture goal is preventing future substance use in children by supporting parents.

I've only been here a few days but I'm excited by the progress so far. I have two phenomenal local people working with me - Laura is a counselor for vivo and Thomas has worked with us in the past. They will conduct the interviews with me by interpreting, providing needed cultural knowledge, and discussing the interview results as we go. The three of us have met once so far to discuss the project and work out logistics.

Today, Laura and I met with the director of a local organization that has the only substance use treatment in the area. He also introduced us to another woman in the organization who is going to help us identify some men to begin interviewing. It was AMAZING to talk with each of them. They are doing such great work and have a vision for more if they find the funding. They are doing awareness campaigns, have AA groups, are doing workshops in secondary schools, are working in the prison, and had a one-week treatment group last year with 12 men - 10 of whom are still sober. The woman we talked to also works with a group trying to combat domestic violence. They each shared their personal stories with us and are interested in helping me recruit fathers to interview.

I have to say - I'm always skeptical about these projects - I really do question if I as a white, educated, man from the U.S. has any right to think I can support people here. I reflect on this a lot and I'm encouraged to continue to do so because I have great colleagues that make me continually challenge myself. On the one hand, I passionately despise the colonialistic, paternalistic, savior-complex, insensitive cross-cultural support that often occurs. However, I also believe that with power, privilege, and resources comes responsibility and so it would also be unfortunate if people decided to do nothing for others with need.

So my solution is to try be responsive to what the local community says they need and humbly share what I can, knowing that what I can offer may or may not be useful. The result is a slow, tentative, iterative process of all parties learning from one another. There are many great people here doing great work, people are resilient and outside support is not the end-all be-all, nor is it even always useful; and I/we have resources and knowledge that we can share if all involved think it may be useful. So this is where I'm at now - somewhere in this balancing act - right now definitely more on the side of learning rather than offering. After my conversations today, I feel validated in where I'm at with this process.

Also... it's mango season - the bananas are still delicious - people still laugh at me when I run - and the bodaboda is still an exhilarating mode of transportation/flirting with road-rash. In addition... the vivo house has running water now - electricity seems fairly stable these days - and Emily will visit this time!