The Time is Now: Africa Beckons

It was a welcome day when an invitation was extended by Child Family Health International to travel to southwestern Uganda for a program development fellowship. If I take myself back to that moment, I can still sense the excitement ballooning inside me as these words began to register. I didn't expect Africa to come into my life so suddenly. It was still a dream of the future; one that I was hopeful I would get to, as my curiosity and interests slowly lured me to new places.

In choosing to accept or not, it's never a question of whether I want to go-travel for me is always a privilege. I hesitated momentarily only for the sake of responsibility and whether it's feasible to leave reality as I know it for a month long global health education experience. In the end, it's an invaluable opportunity, in many respects, whose effects will likely extend well beyond my time in Uganda.

In theory, my bags were already packed and my mind already lost in the discovery of new places and new adventures.

This is the direction my life has taken. These are the moments I wait patiently for; opportunities for which I am deeply humbled by.

The Anticipation of Travel

I eagerly await November's arrival. As I see it, the year ahead is a blank slate. Life in California will continue and the commencement of my Masters studies in Denmark next summer is not quite within my reach. The hope is that I can mold this year into time well spent, full of the many things that bring joy into my life and make me thrive. A month long journey to Kabale, Uganda to learn about the community-oriented, holistic work of KIHEFO has come at an opportune time. It is a welcome trip, to say the least, and has given my year an enormous boost.

Getting to know the world intimately is something I have come to hold in the highest regard. The opportunity to venture into new lands and discover an unfamiliar culture is before me, a mere two months away. The anticipation of travel, all of the thoughts and feelings that proceed a particular trip, is something in itself and not without significance. I can already begin to feel the onset of thoughts related to leaving home headed for an entirely new place, flying over lands not yet traversed, and once on the ground the process of familiarizing myself with new surroundings, developing a routine over time, and eventually a sense of comfort and ease in my temporary home away from home; so much so that reality as I know it increasingly gains distance from the experiences of the moment.

From here, moving forward, the lure of travel is only going to get the best of me. I happily surrender.

Exposed to the World

I had never traveled to Africa before. Despite a growing curiosity about exploring this mysterious continent, I had mixed feelings of excitement and unease as my departure date neared, and especially so as I was about to plant my feet on the ground. It wasn't a dream anymore-Africa was here. I had ventured into the unknown.

It's all too common for the media to paint a very grim picture of Africa, as a whole. If you don't take it upon yourself to dig deeper and discover what really is going on, then you're left with an extremely narrowed perspective. Some are quite content settling with this and quickly entertain other thoughts, but a rare few struggle to contain their sense of adventure for the unknown. They must go. Africa is an enormous continent and the diversity even within each country is so vast that it's almost naïve to describe it as one.

I was thrilled at the opportunity to visit Uganda, to come within reach of many thoughts and ideas occupying my mind, but it was difficult to ignore the mounting sense of nervousness. I didn't expect it to accompany me for as long as it had.

Lake Bunyonyi

Getting Acquainted With KIHEFO-A Local Ugandan Development Organization

It's a strange feeling when you finally come to meet things in real life you've observed so closely in photographs and heard about through stories. Certainly a good feeling knowing the journey was not short. When I found myself standing in front of KIHEFO's Kigonzi General Clinic and HIV/AIDS Clinic and Outreach Center, with the Nutrition and Rehabilitation Center just behind, it was comforting knowing I had made it. My feet were finally on the ground in Kabale, the orange colored dust from the road coating my shoes, and the anticipation of meeting great people and doing great things was behind me. The time had come to learn firsthand.

KIHEFO's HIV/AIDS Clinic & Outreach Center

The beginning of KIHEFO's story is attributed to Dr. Geoffrey Anguyo, a fiercely admired local physician and visionary who, more than a decade ago, shouldered the responsibility of providing the community with essential health services in response to the government's extreme shortcomings. As a physician employed at the local government hospital, Kabale Regional Hospital, trying desperately to provide medical care in appalling conditions, he felt he was not doing enough for the community. This bold decision to leave eventually gave rise to KIHEFO-a community-led development organization that aims to fight disease, poverty, and ignorance in southwestern Uganda, including hard to reach rural populations that have been largely neglected and are most in need. Moving forward, KIHEFO is beginning to grow. "KIHEFO does not belong to one man, it belongs to the society. It is an organization of the many,"-Robert, KIHEFO Community Organizer.

Going to the Source

I have long felt a strong appreciation for the authenticity of things and understanding them for what they really are. Because of this I have never felt entirely whole in my own environment, where things are largely commercial and processed. Common words used to entice consumers, such as genuine, authentic, handmade, fresh, and organic all too often fail to reveal the truth. This artificiality creates too much of a disconnect with so many things and it becomes difficult, although not impossible, but difficult to find things that are truly authentic.

My more lengthy travels throughout Mexico, India, and currently Uganda have all brought me to the source of so many things; namely food and raw material production. It is always such a pleasure to see where life begins for much of the food and drink I consume, the clothes I wear, and the products I buy at the store. Uganda is rich in natural resources and the land vibrant with crops of all sorts: maize, millet, cassava, bananas, mitoke, sorghum, cabbage, spinach, green peppers, cauliflower, carrots, onions, potatoes, pumpkin, zuccini, eggplant, beans, avocado, rice, pineapple, passion fruit, mango, grapes, sugarcane, tea, coffee, cotton; I have seen all of these. My time in Uganda has allowed me to understand the nature of such crops and to form a connection with them as something other than an item purchased at the market; something far more substantial and meaningful.

A coffee bean ready to be harvested

There is so much to be learnt about life in the so-called developing world. The people are a product of their environment and are characteristically resourceful, innovative, and hardworking. Lacking many of the resources and technology plentiful in developed countries that eases difficult tasks, the people are forced to do things for themselves. In southwestern Uganda the people are working the fields with their bare hands, cooking at home, hand-washing clothes, sewing, walking long distances, transporting abundant materials on bicycles, carrying their children on backs, weaving baskets, fetching water, gathering firewood-all a natural part of many of their daily lives, especially so in rural communities. And I love, so much so, learning from their simplicity and innate ingenuity. 

A fishing village inside Queen Elizabeth National Park

The Importance of Visiting and Embracing Timelessness

A lovely and memorable young girl from Ibumba

In places where life is considered to be simple and the pace slower, often time is referenced more loosely and people naturally surrender to a structure not measured by a ticking clock-timelessness.

Visiting is a term representative of timelessness and holds a great deal of meaning in my life. Unofficially, it's defined as the quality of time spent interacting with others without the sense of feeling rushed. When you give your time to someone it's assumed that you'll remain for as long as is necessary and at no point is there a decisive endpoint.

Enjoying the company of little Miss Favor

In cultures where the pace of life is slower and the sense of community stronger, time spent with others in such way naturally becomes a characteristic of the culture. You simply cannot walk past a neighbor's house without saying hello or pass a friend on the street without exchanging a few words. And when you're invited to someone's home for tea or arrange to meet a friend in town, time is not strictly adhered to. One thing may lead to another and you'll have been visiting for longer than what was initially anticipated. This is perfectly acceptable and assumed to be the norm.

Cultures that allow time to fall away in exchange for time well spent are where I feel the happiest and most at home. American culture doesn't really allow for it; you have to make a concerted effort to structure your life in such a way. People move too fast and strive to accomplish too much in very little time. I have never been overly impressed by this and even feel productivity is higher and of better quality when a certain balance is struck.

Here in Uganda I am content because visiting has a strong place in the culture. Time is lost for all the right reasons-people matter.

Redefining What it Means to Help

Giving in Uganda has been a rather tricky matter. I learned very quickly that it requires a very strategic approach, for several reasons of which I'm only beginning to scratch the surface of understanding. Two things caught my attention and provoked further questioning: the reaction from the people directed towards those who can potentially provide and knowledge of large-scale corruption and mismanagement throughout Uganda.

Ugandans in the southwest were relentless about giving attention to those whom they identified as a foreigner or muzungu, commonly someone with light skin. Their expectations were so high for us to give them something, anything. I could clearly see that a muzungu's presence very quickly induced this idea of an opportunity for money or other donations. What had happened here in Uganda that so many of the locals were behaving in this way? And how deeply rooted were these associations?

My response was hesitation. In fact, I refrained altogether from offering anything. Even if I gave something small, something of little monetary value such as leftover food, it could easily provoke others to come expecting the same. I didn't want to further inflate this skewed association with foreigners and money.

Or from the locals' perspective, was it really so skewed for so many to be thinking in this way?

Help, as I was learning, is not only about giving something tangible; it involves so much more. Notably, patience and a willingness to listen well and engage with communities. It wasn't that these people weren't starving for help of some kind, but it clearly required a catered, well thought out approach.

The Role of Rural Women

The life of rural women is a deeply rooted and highly sensitive issue, one that takes extensive time and energy to understand fully. You really have to get at the heart of the culture. With that said, this passage is not meant to declare anything a fact; I simply offer my opinion and share what I observed in a month's time working closely with several rural communities in the Kigezi region and learning about their life. I feel strongly that some of what I learned was too significant and powerful to be left unsaid.

Women in the Kigezi region of Uganda wear many hats. They are mothers, wives, homemakers, farmers, and household breadwinners. For the majority of families living in rural southwestern Uganda survival and wellbeing rests almost entirely upon the shoulders of women. Culturally, as it goes in the south, they are bound to a disproportionate amount of responsibilities in comparison to men; and it's not assumed that in managing all of these things they are showered with appreciation and esteem. In fact, quite the opposite. It's something you can clearly see in the tired, worn faces of female farmers.

Men feel tasks, such as farming, raising children, maintaining the house, and even income generation are the woman's responsibility and they should not dirty their hands. They are the responsible for providing land, helping to produce children, and providing or building a home for the family. Instead of contributing in even small ways men seem to occupy their time frequenting the local pub or sitting idle. The women work tirelessly every day, regularly being forced to ask the children to help in the fields instead of going to school, while the men awaited the arrival of any household income, which to the detriment of the family, would most probably be spent hastily at a local pub if he got a hold of it too quickly.

It will send your head spinning attempting to understand what rural men are doing with their time while the women are clearly overburdened and families are struggling to survive. The unfortunate answer, and this came from several different people, is that most men are prone to idleness. This, in turn, allows for plenty of time spent drinking. I'm saddened to say that the absence of alcohol on a man's breath, and occasionally women, in rural communities was a rarity. The bottle had a strong influence in the lives of these rural folk and was often a precursor to other difficulties plaguing the community, such as domestic violence, HIV/AIDS, and malnutrition.