Let's Change Things Up a Bit

So this blog has primarily been used to keep family and friends updated while I venture off to Uganda for various reasons. It's more or less been a list of all the things I've done that day or that month that seemed to be more of a forced cross-section of my time rather than meaningful reflection. As much as I wish I could be hit with the blogging bug every time I go abroad, it always just feels like such a hassle when it comes down to it. Looking back on it, though, I can see this blog has done its part to capture a few emotions I didn't know I was feeling until I wrote them. While I don't always feel like I'm the best at communicating with words (I can feel a million things without being able to articulate those feelings), this blog has been a really great way for me to maintain my focus in the midst of being overwhelmed by new experiences. However, I want this blog to take a new direction for the next few months.

I am currently not in Uganda (so maybe I should change my title?), but I am currently preparing for a long sting in Uganda. For a little update on my life right now, I'm a junior in Anthropology at the University of Tennessee. My past two trips have helped to shape my course work, and now I'm preparing to do official research for my senior thesis. I'll be living in Gulu from January to August, enrolled as a UT student and receiving course work for the ethnographic escapades I take on.

What I want to do with this blog right now is primarily selfish. I feel that I'm getting swamped in books and articles in preparation for my thesis, and I'm having a hard time keeping my head on straight when I combine that work with my regular 15 hours of course work, a part-time job, and various other activities. So I'm going to begin chronicling my pre-thesis journey. I'm hoping this will allow an outlet for me to flesh out some ideas, get some feedback, some suggestions. It will also help me to be accountable for keeping up with my readings leading up to my departure. I'll try to keep it as interesting as possible since I know that as interesting as I find my research, not everyone in the world thinks the same.

Okay so I'm tentatively titling my thesis project, "Acholi Culture and Post-Conflict Reconstruction: What is traditional culture and how is it being used to solve a contemporary issue?” I came around to this topic not only by personal interest and relevance but primarily by the influence of three things I have recently witnessed or been a part of in Uganda.

My first influence is the folk talk project I worked on with Bishop Ochola this summer and is still being worked on as a Jazz for Justice Project. For a crash course in what went down, I lived with Bishop Ochola and his family in Kitgum for a month (cool, right?) to work on recording the Acholi folk tales that he tells so well and turning them into a cartoon for younger children. The intention is to shed a new light on the folk tales in order to help children regain interest in this part of their culture. We have a team in Uganda working on it. Of course it starts with Bishop Ochola typing up the folk tales in Acholi. They are then sent to Moses Lajum to translate into English. While all of this has been going on, our two artists, Patrick Okello from Gulu and Vincent Ssebunya from Kampala, have been developing their characters based on a character map. As soon as they receive the stories, they are creating a comic strip to be distributed to schools.

Back to my point: I'll be using the progress and effects of this project as a case study for how an aspect of traditional Acholi culture can be used to reconstruct a certain facet of life that had been lost to the war.

My second influence comes from witnessing similar work by other NGOs in the northern region. There are several that go down the route of using traditional dance or music to rehabilitate former abductees or provide an outlet for expression for Acholi youth. I think it's important to measure the efficacy of these projects as well as observe which methods work best.

My third influence is what Jazz for Justice is hopefully morphing into: CreatEd. One of our members, Dustyn Winder, is currently designing the model for this new umbrella NGO that will do so much more than JfJ and still encompass JfJ's ideals and, of course, the concert. We hope to develop a curriculum of music and the arts that will work as a supplementary after-school program emphasizing the outlets for expression in dance, art, poetry, song-writing, etc. We're planning a pilot program this summer and once we all graduate, we can hit the ground running with what the organization should look like. Hopefully, my observations can aid us in developing our own programs by noting the pros and cons of the different approaches in art education.

Tied into these main research topics will be several aspects that can't go unnoticed. Obviously, culture is constantly changing and morphing. So what does it mean to say "traditional culture"? From what I have witnessed so far, it means different things to different people. I'll be interviewing people of different demographics - age, religious affiliation, educational background, socioeconomic background, etc. - to see how much of a gap there is in the general view of Acholi traditional culture.

Also tied into this research will be the question of, if a definition of traditional culture could be nailed down, why do people seem to be reaching back to their past to secure their future? There are a ton of ideas surrounding this, so I want to do a little more reading on the topic before I throw out speculation.

Okay, so, all 4 of you that might read this, I need feedback. Any books, articles, journals, videos, websites you come across that are relevant to my topic would be greatly appreciated. Also, what are your personal thoughts? Anything I should add to this? Anything I should take away?

Stay tuned for more specific topics coming soon. Thanks for reading :)

Leaving thoughts

I left Kitgum today, and I can honestly say that I've never been so sad to leave a place. Which is ironic because initially I was really sad to be there. I'd been trying to prepare myself to leave for a few days, but after delaying my travel by two days it was just a shock when I actually really had to leave. 

I feel like I grew so much and learned so much about myself in my month in Kitgum. The project with Bishop is to a point where it will go on without Lindsay and I there. Which is really good news. It will definitely need some tender loving care when we all return, though.

Leaving this morning was only made more difficult because, while I'm planning on coming back in January, nothing is definite. And if I don't get myself back here, I'll be absolutely devastated. I was emotional from the start this morning, and I cried all the way from Kitgum to Gulu. I don't think Bishop knew what to do with me. And the poor guy on the bus next to me had to feel horribly awkward. It's just that I've gotten so attached to these people and this life. Jumping back and forth between the US and Uganda has forced me to be constantly missing someone, somewhere. 

Bishop Ochola had a going away party for me a few days ago, and it was so nice. I didn't really know most of the people there, but it was nice for them to show up. Bishop was so so sweet. He said I'm part of the family now, and that I'm like a daughter. And he gave me an Acholi name. Adyer, which means "the center" meaning loved by everyone. How nice is that? Staying with him and his family was undoubtedly one of the best decisions I've ever made. 

Driving down that same dirt road from my last post, I tried to take in everything I saw. We drove by camps and schools. Beggars and school kids. Bodas and busses. Mothers and old women. All of them going about their days and their normal lives. All of them living in these conditions that they don't get a break from. And I'm lucky enough to be going back to all of my comforts. How does that happen? 

I'm trying to make plans to come back in January. I've been by Gulu University to try to set up a type of exchange program. And I've thought of a ton of different research topics. There's so much work to do to get everything organized. And I need a ton of funding. I don't even want to think about how upset I'll be if I don't work this out. 

I have a few things to do and a few people to see in Kampala before I leave. Have to do a little souvenir shopping for those of you at home. But I just hate to say goodbye to my friends here. Even though I'll be back, things won't be the same as they are now. Things will happen and people will change. 

As a final thought, I'll leave you with this picture of Kitgum. There's only one hill around, and it's a really popular place to go watch the sunset because it's so beautiful. It's a great place to go to think or spend time with friends. You could see all of Kitgum when you looked around. And just like driving at sunset, it seems that doing anything at sunset in Africa just feels right. 

This is Africa :)

Reflections from Kitgum

It’s remarkable how driving down a dirt road in Uganda at sunset makes you think about life. You just sit back and take in the beauty of the red orange sunset combined with the shoulder-high grass and mango trees and wonder how anything bad could ever have happened here. The entire landscape exudes a kind of calm and beauty that entrances you. And to think that the very road I’m marveling over was impassable just 2 years ago.

            While on this drive, I started thinking, really thinking, about whom I was with and where I was. And all I could think was, “How did my life get this cool?” I was on my way home from a meeting in Gulu with Bishop Ochola and several of our friends, and so many things struck me at once.

            First of all: Bishop Ochola. Such an amazing man. He can’t go a single day without telling you several stories, but it’s obvious that he derives such joy from telling them that you can’t help but indulge. And to think about how much he’s been through and seen. He’s 73 years old. Uganda has only been independent for 47 years. He’s seen and lived all of the history and horrors, and he’s relentlessly fought for peace and forgiveness despite what he has been through. And I’m fortunate enough to live in this man’s home with his family.

            Then let’s think about the fact that I was the only American, only mzungu, traveling in a car full of new Ugandan friends whom I could trust with anything. At first I was so scared to be in Kitgum by myself. I had no idea what to do, who to talk to, where to go. But I’ve made some really wonderful, really close friends because I’m traveling alone and I’m so much more approachable than when we travel in a huge group. I’m so grateful for these friends because I wouldn’t have made it past the first week without them. And I’ve gotten such a personal look into people’s lives, people’s thoughts, people’s pasts. These are all things I would not have had in another setting. Now I don’t want to leave Kitgum because I’ll also be leaving them.

            And finally, let’s think about the fact that I’m just in Uganda. And I’m planning on being here so much more. How did I get this lucky? Some people never leave Knoxville their whole lives, but I stumbled upon the chance to travel to Uganda. I’ve learned more and seen more here in just a few months than I could ever put into word. And despite the fact that I’ll be eating Ramen and peanut butter and jelly for the next 6 months, I wouldn’t trade these experiences for anything because they’re priceless.

            Today was definitely one of the best, most productive days I’ve had in Uganda so far. For progress on the folk tale project with Bishop Ochola, we’d only recorded 30 stories and done nothing else. I honestly had no idea what the next step was, and I was internally panicking a bit. So I decided we needed to have a meeting with our artists, with Lindsay, and with someone who could translate the tales. So we woke up really early to make the 2 hour journey to Gulu on a dirt road riddled with potholes.

            We hadn’t gotten far in our journey, and we were passing kids in school uniforms walking to class all along the road. This is normal, so you just honk the horn and drive on. But as we were driving, we passed a young girl of about 8 or 9 passed out on the side of the road. We drive on to the school because it’s only about 100 meters away, and it would be best to talk to a teacher or headmaster. We pull in and there are a ton of kids in their purple and blue uniforms, but they quickly inform us that there are no teachers or adults around. Since the teachers are paid so little (200,000 Ush a month, which is about $100) and there is no inspection to see if they’re doing their job, the teachers have no incentive and they often just don’t show up to school.  Bishop flagged down another truck that was passing and asked them to pick the girl and bring her home. The poor girl could barely walk.

            After this, we were back on our way and we finally arrived in Gulu. We had arranged a meeting with Patrick, a local artist based in Gulu; Vinny, our artist friend based in Kampala; Moses Lanyero, a Ugandan friend; Lindsay McClain, Bishop Ochola, and myself. This was the first time we have all gotten together to discuss what we want to see happen and what we think we can do. It took a bit of time to steer the conversation in the right direction, but we soon made some fairly ambitious plans.

            We decided as a group that we would like to see four things happen with the folk tales: a book, a comic book series, animation, and an audio book. They can’t possibly all happen at the same time, so we decided that the comic book series would be the best to start with. They can be distributed to primary schools, and the format is very kid-friendly. So I’m getting the recorded folk tales to Moses, he’s transcribing and translating the first 5 or so and checking it with Bishop, then we’re sending those few stories to Vinny and Patrick to get started on some designs. The idea is that we can publish 4 or 5 similar themed folk tales at a time and have them come out in a series. Once we get this first bunch done, we can apply for some bigger grants for funding.

            Now we’ve got the whole team working on it so the next steps should come fairly easily. The biggest challenge will just be communication once Lindsay and I are back in the US. And it’s great to finally have a real game plan for how we’re going to approach this thing.

            It’s been a long day of working on a spread sheet with Bishop. We’re mapping out all the characters so the artists can have an idea of who comes in where.

            Hope things are good at home. I’ll be there in just two weeks! (eek!)

            

Kitgum

Okay, this blog should have been posted on July 13th, but I wrote it and then I was unable to post it so now it’s like 6 days late. But here it is plus some added up to date things at the end.

So, this is my 4th day in Kitgum, and it’s really growing on me. I’ve been staying with Bishop Ochola and his family and everyone is incredibly nice and hospitable. We’ve been having some great traditional food and everyone’s been going out of their way to make me comfortable (even though I protest every time they do). Though they're also going out of their way to stuff me with posho every chance they get. 

They just recently moved into this house from one they were renting, but they were not done building this one yet. When they are finished there will be quite a few guest rooms, toilets, showers, running water, etc. But for now, we have pit latrines and bucket showers outside under cover of a thatched grass shelter. There’s nothing quite like bathing out of a bucket under the stars (and I have never seen stars as incredible as the ones I can see here).

We’ve spent our time meeting people in Kitgum, going around the town, and most importantly working on the folk tales. We have recorded 22 so far with an English explanation followed by the entire story in Luo. The idea is to put the folktales into a book (fully translated into English and Luo). Then they will be made into animation. So after we get these recorded, it’ll be time to figure out how to compile them into a book. Then we need to have a meeting with artists so we’ll get some animation started. Everyone seems really excited about the project, though, so it shouldn’t be too hard to get people on board.

We went to a Catholic church service on Sunday, and not only did they make me sit up on the stage with Bishop, they made me get up and talk to the congregation of about 300 people. The first thing I said was, “I should tell you that I fear talking in front of this many people.” Eloquent, right? But it was fine... just had to reign in my high-pitched nervous voice haha.

Now that I’ve picked up some Luganda, I desperately need to learn some more Luo. It just seems so much harder to learn. I’m getting there, though. I’m heading to Kampala tomorrow with Bishop, and I’ll come back to Kitgum when he does in about a week or so.

New stuff:
Okay so I’ve been in Kampala for a few days now. I haven’t really been doing a whole lot. I’ve been helping Lilia input pre-course survey data for Educate!. It’s a little monotonous but interesting to see student responses. Especially for the question asking whom their hero is. Answers range from parents, siblings, and neighbors to Barack Obama to Idi Amin.

I’m a little sad that I’ll be leaving Kampala again on Monday. I’m not sure if I’ll be back here before a couple of days before I leave. And it just stresses me out a little to be so disconnected and out of touch in Kitgum.

I’m also in a weird place of wanting to go home to see everyone and wanting to be here at the same time. I miss the comforts of home, but then I get so sad when I think about the fact that I’ll be leaving here in a few weeks. I’ll just have to say goodbye to so many people and hope that my plans work out for Spring semester.

It should be a good weekend. I’m going to see the break dancers on Saturday and then going to Vinny’s art exhibit on Sunday; both should be phenomenal. Hope you have a great weekend as well!

Home from Kenya

Well, after 24 hours on a bus (Mombasa to Kampala), we're FINALLY back in Kampala. There were a lot of interesting things that we witnessed on our trip, and I'll try to remember it all. 

Highlights of the trip: 

- When you hear the word "Africa" and that stereotypical image pops into your head, that's what almost all of Kenya looks like. It's pretty cool.

- I met some really awesome people at the beach who go to school in Nairobi.

- We went out dancing at a club in Mombasa with them on July 4th. We celebrated Independence Day by requesting the DJ to play a few American songs. 

- On our first day there, we happened upon a cove just north of Mombasa. We sat around, had lunch, watched the tide go out. Then a ton of people showed up to play football. When the tide was low enough, they waded out to a sand bar to play. 

- Vinny got to see the beach for the first time.

- We swam in the Indian Ocean.

- Matatus in Kenya are pimped out. They're like party taxis. There are posters all over the place, and the roofs are upholstered. And music is always rap being played on a fantastic sound system. At night, they all have blue neon lights on the inside. 

- We got to tour Fort Jesus, the old port, and Old Mombasa. 

Lowlights of the trip

- I don't have my camera. So I went to Kenya, and I don't have proof. I have to have a camera before I go to Kitgum.

- I lost my cell phone. Or it was stolen. I'm not sure which. The good part is that whoever has it has to pay to have it unlocked for Kenya and buy a Kenyan sim card. So they didn't really win. 

- It's apparently rainy season in Kenya. So while we did have a few hours of sun, it wasn't as much as I would have liked. 

- We had no idea of the rates in Kenya. It was about 27 shillings to the dollar instead of 2100 like it is in Uganda. So we probably got ripped off all the time because everything sounded so cheap.

- The rest of my stay in Uganda is now on an economy budget. Since we paid $250 each for the apartment in Naggalama but didn't stay there and paid to stay in other places, I'm low on cash. 

- I got car sick every time I got on a matatu in Kenya. Learn to drive well, please.

- It took 22 hours to get there and then another 24 hours to get back. That's 2 days of my life spent on a bus. 

- "Hakuna matata" is not enough Swahili to be respected.

Observations:

- No one made a single Obama reference all weekend. It's strange because half the time when we walk down the street in Uganda, someone yells, "Obama!" But that didn't happen in Kenya.

- Matatu drivers/bus drivers/taxi drivers/street beggars are MUCH more persistent. They will not take no for an answer and will follow you for blocks and blocks trying to sell you on it. 

- While they're persistent, Kenyans are generally nicer than Ugandans. Even after haggling, the matatu conductors still smiled at us, gave us a thumbs up, wished us safe travels,etc. You're lucky if they don't push you out of the matatu while you're exiting in Uganda. 

- We learned a lot of Swahili from the Lion King. 

I'm happy to be back in Uganda, though, as good as the Kenya adventure was. It's nice to be somewhere that you can navigate. And speak some of the language. And know when you're being cheated. It really did feel like I was returning home on the way back in. 

Dustyn and I bought some macaroni and cheese for lunch today. I can hardly explain how excited I am for it. I've been thinking about mac & cheese for days.

Dustyn leaves on Thursday, and then I should be heading up to Kitgum/Gulu around that time. I'm a little nervous and a little excited. Nervous because I have no idea if I have the qualifications for our art project. I'll be writing proposals, offering advice, etc. and what experience do I have in this? Nervous because I don't know anyone in Kitgum except for Bishop Ochola. I'm really hoping I make some friends there. Nervous because I don't know much Luo at all. I'll have to learn a ton of it. But then I'm excited for all of those reasons. It will be new and challenging. I'll make new friends and meet new people. I'll learn Luo. And I'll get to spend so much time in the north. 

Hopefully, I'll be spending my weekends in Gulu (like 2 hours away) with some friends there. I'm not sure if there's much to do in Kitgum on the weekends or if I already have plans made for me. But we'll see how that works out. I'll be traveling back down to Kampala/Naggalama with Lindsay and maybe Jeff for Vinny's art exhibition (and the Harry Potter premier!). Then I'll go back to Kitgum and finish my work.

For the next few days in Kampala, Dustyn and I are researching methods of finding the disposable income of a population for Educate!'s projects. They are looking for ways to be sustainable, and one way might be to charge a fee to attend the class. So our research will hopefully show them some ways to go about that. 

Okay that's a lot of stuff. I hope you read all the way through! I'll try to be better at updating ( I think I say that every time.) I hope everyone had a wonderful July 4th! I'd love to hear from you because I'm totally missing everyone at home!

So I think last time I wrote something, we were in Mukono. Well, we've done a lot of things since then. So I'll try to cover everything.

We worked with MUMYO briefly last week, and I was not impressed. I don't want to go into a whole lot of detail since this isn't the place for that, but there was a vast amount of unprofessionalism, and we flat out aren't needed there. We tried to teach, but the kids have no structure or continuity in their lessons and they hardly speak English. We went to the local hospital the next day to help with some filing but were basically given busy work. Both days displaced people from jobs they were being paid for. It was incredibly unorganized and disappointing. I hope they get their act together or they won't be receiving many more volunteers. Luckily, for us, we'll have some research type work to do with Educate! in the coming week, which is a breath of fresh air.

We went to Gulu last weekend and had a great time. I'm really excited to be heading to the north for a month after the next week and a half. We didn't have any work to do while in Gulu, but we got to see so many friends. We stayed at the Kakanyero with Lindsay and the other MHIRT workers. We got to hang out with Jeff. And we were very happy and surprised to see our friend Apollo. We had a great time hanging out with them!

On Monday, we had a tour of the Invisible Children offices in Gulu. It was mostly pleasant with only a few low points. We weren't surprised to discover that we really like their projects in Uganda, but the problem lies in the huge disconnect with the San Diego office.

After we left Gulu we traveled to Kyangwali refugee camp in western Uganda. It's mostly Congolese refugees who have made their homes there for over a decade, though there were recently some new arrivals. Kyangwali is where Educate! has its foundations, and it is where COBURWAS was founded, which is an organization that does social projects to better their community. All of them were really great people. We were with all of the Educate! interns as well, and they're a great group this year.

For now, we're staying the weekend in Kampala. I'll have to go to Naggs and get all of my stuff and either stay in Mukono or in Buziga at the Educate! house. After that we'll be heading to Kenya for the weekend of the 4th (what a place to celebrate American Independence, eh?), then back to Kampala, then up to Gulu.

Hope you're doing well. Thanks for checking up on us!

I need to learn Luganda

So, we've been just hanging out around here for awhile, and of course we've talked to Ugandans. Dustyn can speak Luganda, so he uses it. But I can't and people assume I can when he does. So he gets to be all cool and joke around with them, then they turn to me and all I can say that's somewhat neutral is, "Kale, Ssebo." And they're like "oooooookay...." Or... he gets to tell them his cool Buganda name and then they ask me my name and I'm like, "Erin." "oh" So yeah I need to learn Luganda soon. This is gonna be an ordeal without it. In fact, I was just informed by the person that I bought internet time from that I should be knowing it. Also, it's really difficult to speak with kids when you don't know how to say anything and can't understand them.
We're having a meeting with Educate! today to see what we can do and we'll have an informative meeting with MUMYO on Monday. Going back to Naggalama tomorrow for the week.
It's really weird being here without 11 mzungus, though we have been hanging out with a bunch at the guest house this weekend. It's a lot easier to get around for sure, but just different. I like it, though. We went to lunch today with 13 people and it just felt strange to be in such a large group again. Too much of a spectacle.
Hung out a little in Kampala yesterday,went to Garden City, National Theater, etc. Not sure how much we'll be in Kampala this trip. Sadly, I'm most comfortable there since we spent the most time there in December. So I know my way around and everything. But I wish I was most familiar with another place in Uganda, like Gulu. But we will get to go there next weekend.
That's all for now, hope everything is good at home!

Weekend in Mukono

Hello! As you can see, I'm in Uganda safely. Had really long flights with no tv's so I ended up watching Marley & Me and trying not to cry at the end in public.
Dustyn and Shalom met me at the airport, and we stayed in Entebbe at the backpacker's hostel. Woke up to a beautiful morning in Uganda and headed to Mukono and Naggalama to drop off our stuff.
Tonight we're heading to Kampala for a rugby game/fun in the city, and we're staying at the guest house in Mukono for the weekend. There are a lot of other mzungus staying there, some cool and others......
We met with our friend, Vincent, yesterday! We were so happy to see him and he us! He's going to be our neighbor for our stay in Naggalama.
We're having a little bit of NGO drama (surprise), but we should have some kind of work to do on Monday. We'll be heading to Gulu next weekend, then Mombasa the weekend after that. If plane tickets are cheap we'll go to Mombasa that way and get Vinny a ticket so he can go with us.
But Uganda is a wonderful place to be, as always. I just really can't describe how happy I am to be back here. I'll have some more insightful blog posts coming up, I promise.

As a final important note, I need to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY DAD!!! Sorry I'm not home to celebrate your birthday with you, I'm sure it will still be a great one.

For now, that's all I got. I'll let you in on more of the exciting things we're doing along the way.

Preparing to Leave

So I woke up this morning and realized that I leave for Uganda tomorrow. TOMORROW. The past few weeks have been such a whirl wind that it kind of snuck up on me. I've been looking forward to going back for so long, and now it's finally here. Now I'm so impatient to leave that I don't even want to properly pack. I just want to go. (Though, really, do I ever feel like packing 

my bags to leave on a trip? No.)

 

Being back from Guatemala, I'm realizing how much I'll miss summer in Knoxville. I'll miss humidity that chokes you when you walk outside. Laying by the pool but somehow never getting tanner. The steering wheel in my car being so hot that I can barely touch it. Driving around with my windows down and the music really loud. Hiking trips in the mountains. Lazing around with all of my wonderful friends (and all those other weird things we do.) Cook outs on the back deck with the whole family and my dad's famous "Phil burgers." Fresh vegetables from the garden. I don't say this to make you feel sorry for me leaving Knoxville behind for the summer; I say this to let you know that my going to Uganda is not an escape from my life in Knoxville. Going to Uganda is one of many travels I hope to have because I love to travel, and the reason I go back to Uganda is because it has completely captured me. So know that Knoxville is and will always be my home, and I'll miss it and everyone here very much. 

So I leave tomorrow from Knoxville, connect in Newark, connect in Brussels, stop once in Rwanda, then fly on to Entebbe at 9:40 pm their time on Thursday night. 1:40 pm eastern time.  My ticket says the last leg of the trip from Brussels to Entebbe is going to last 18 hours. I know I'll have the stop in Rwanda, but how did they stretch a normally 8 hour flight into an 18 hour flight??? Dustyn's going to meet me at the airport and we'll stay in Entebbe Thursday night before heading to Mukono or Naggalama. I'll get a cell phone as soon as I can and give you the number if I want you to have it :) Use skype if you want to call. 

For those of you that don't know, I have some pretty awesome plans for this summer. For roughly the first month I'm there, I'll be in Naggalama working with Mukono Multi-Purpose Youth Organization (MUMYO), a grassroots community development NGO, and Educate!, an American-founded Ugandan-run NGO that focuses on social entrepreneurship and community empowerment. 

For my second month I'm there, I'll be traveling to the northern region to Kitgum. I'll be working as the go-between between Jazz for Justice and Bishop Ochola for a project he wants to work on. It involves recording and saving all of the traditional folk tales he knows. And some of them will be created into cartoons with a peace building emphasis to be distributed to kids. He hopes this will not only promote the folk tales importance with the younger generation, but also be a start to rebuilding the community. I can't draw, and it's certainly not my place to draw any cartoons, but I'll be helping to write proposals for funding and find Ugandan artists that would be interested in this project. 

Last, but not least, I have to thank the University of Tennessee Chancellor's Honors Program and the Parents Association for funding my travels this summer. And I have to thank Jazz for Justice for making all of this possible for me. None of this would happen without the amazing support that I have. 

So that's all for now. I'll try to be vigilant about updating my blog while I'm there. Yell at me if I don't update enough. Like I said, I'll get my phone number to you if you want to stay in touch. I'll be trying to do some twitter updates and the like. If I don't see you before I leave, have a fantastic summer! I'll see you in August!