Slacking a bit on the blog

So it’s been a while since I wrote anything on the blog mainly because I did not touch a computer from Friday morning til Monday morning. I went to Kampala to get away and get away I did.
Barely got the last bus to Kampala after experiencing a dust storm followed by a rain storm complete with hail while in Anaka then driving back with 14 traditional birth attendants in the back of the pickup who had just completed a training and were being dropped off at the next camp. Though in the chaos of leaving mid-rain storm to pick up the TBAs I somehow managed to leave my keys in the training hall which caused some problems on Sunday night.
Had a good weekend in Kampala. Made it down just in time to see The Last King of Scotland on opening night with Chelsea, Chris, James from MAT and Nathan which was pretty cool. We all recognized so many places and a couple of the extras were people who left Kampala just before I arrived. Went out dancing afterwards and then stayed with Chelsea.
Next day ran some errands around town, took an hour and half long nap on the couch of my old office, picked out some sports jerseys for the project and chose the t-shirt colour. High-light of the day had to be making and eating nachos at Kristy’s house. She had imported the tortilla chips from her trip to Kenya and had decided to eat them, we bought the precious cheese and made a huge mountain of nachos with all the fixins. IT WAS HEAVEN. Not quite up to Christie’s standards or anything but still amazing especially b/c ate them in the yard overlooking part of the city.
That night went to the nicest pizza place in town with everyone, think like if el terrazzo opened a pizzeria only cut the cost in a third (three pizzas, a bottle of red wine, a half litre of white and some bottles of water cost about 60 dollars, aka about 12 dollars each) before going out to play some pool where I wowed the guys with my ability to play until they handed me a wrangi (local gin) and tonic. By the end of the drink, my skills were no longer impressive. Later got the privilege of seeing Uganda’s 50 Cent in concert. His Excellency Bobi Wine was quite the show. I’ll have to bring home a cd…..
Sunday said goodbye to Elizabeth the American volunteer that was working in the health sector of Kampala office before getting on the bus back up. Bus ride from hell later I arrived in Gulu to a locked bedroom door and no spare key!!!
Thus spent Sunday evening watching Raymond break into my room. My door is still broken but I can sleep in my bed and access my clothes so it’s all good. Also learned that we hadn’t had power since Saturday and the only reason we had running water is because we have a tank which is filled when water comes during the night. Still don’t have power and it’s Wednesday – yay generators!!!!! Getting bloody ridiculous though.
Spent yesterday and today in the field and am super tired now, yet going back to the field tomorrow and then on Thursday to show someone from CPAR Toronto the project and then possibly on Friday to continue with Dwight’s field visit.
Man I’m tired. Ah well party at MAT tonight so that should be fun – other NGOs weren’t invited but I get to come b/c I am so cool. Ha ha ha ha

Glamorous I Think Not

I've always wondered why there are no TV shows and few movies about development workers (aid workers? i don't know whatever the hell you call my current profession). Well when things go bad they are on the news or in documentaries but not as entertainment. I mean there are shows about police officers (law and order, nypd blue etc), criminals (sopranos, prison break etc), doctors (ER, scrubs, grey's etc), lawyers (law and order, ally mcbeal, the practice etc), bankers (most rich people tv shows), teachers (boston public, etc), crime scene investigators (CSI, Cold Case), interior designers (will and grace), barely employed 20 somethings (friends, etc), stand up comedians (seinfield), psychaitrists (fraiser), bar tenders (cheers, etc), astronauts (i dream of jeannie), delivery truck drivers (king of queens), nuclear plant employees (simpsons), priests (seventh heaven etc), news reporters (both tv and print) and the list goes on but not what everyou want to call this. Then when it comes to movies the only time you show this line of work is when they are discovering some horrendous plot (the constant gardener etc) or it's some sort of heroic bio-pic.
Well I wonder no more. They never show development workers because it is impossible to make this job appear glamorous!!!! You spend tons of time in the car/land rover/pick-up driving around the countryside, you are almost always dirty, hot and tired, there are mountains of paper work and not to mention things like huge cockroaches, holes in the ground masquerading as toilets, and bad bad food.
Take today for an example. It was my ninth day in the field out of the past ten days. After getting the morning paper work and talking to Kampala done, the driver Alfred and I headed out to Pader (the headquarters of the district to the east of Gulu where we have another office and where one of the youth groups is). Had to wait in the car for twenty minutes in the baking hot sun while Alfred dropped something at the bus park then we headed out. The drive was over 100 kms over dusty, windy, potholed dirt roads passing at least 8 camps on the way, avoiding the huge lorries that carry WFP food and the pick-ups full of people. Arrived in Pader, went to the office to drop off some money and we had to spend 15 minutes counting it because due to our collective inability to count 200 000 shillings was missing (it was there just we seem to have difficulty counting past 10). Went to the training there and had to deal with administrative stuff eg. transport allowances, the upcoming events etc. Ate an atrocious meal of miscellaneous meat, posho (maize meal), beans and cassava plus about 2 bottles of cooking oil per plate (can't really complain - at least it's not WFP food that's only posho and beans). Then walked in the oppressive heat back to the office. Did I mention there is a distinct lack of trees and vegetation in Pader TC? It's just a giant camp, though what it lacks in vegetation it makes up for in dust. Then some more admin stuff then it was back in the car to drive back to Gulu. Did I mention it had to be at least 35 degrees out? Got back to the office at like 430 with my hair an absolute mess, all sweaty and gross, my dust covered skirt sticking to me and was greeted by phone calls and the need to sit in on the closing of a training. Now I'm blogging to avoid finishing my training reports and my self-evaluation before heading to bed so i can be up early to repeat the whole thing tomorrow only going to Anaka this time so it's 50 kms in the opposite direction.
I do love this job but I will never say it is a glamorous way of life. I need to go have a shower....

Have to set ground rules

So I didn't think that I needed to do it because I thought they would be common sense and I wanted to be open and available but that has changed. I don't know what it was that put me over the edge, maybe it was the youth arriving at 945 am on Sunday morning with a request to go to the field with them, the 8 out of the past 9 days in the field, the youth pulling me out of lunch to ask me to go to the field, so i say give me five minutes, rearrange my entire schedule, cut short an important conference call with Kampala and partner organizations, print what they asked me to print and then walk out side to find that they have left without me, the 4o degree heat or a combination of all of the above but I've decided to set some ground rules now with a month to go.

They are:
1. Unless previously arranged, Erin is not available before 8am, after 6 pm and on weekends.
2. Erin will not respond to being beeped (calling me letting it ring once and then hanging up so that I have to call them back - possibly the most annoying thing on the planet) outside of these hours so if it is an emergency, actually call.
3. If Erin is needed to go to the field, she requires at absolute minimum 3 hours notice, ideally at least a day.

I am not the youth's little peacebuilding monkey and am kinda beyond pissed off at the moment. Have pretty much decided to go to Kampala on Saturday morning or Friday afternoon strictly to get away and get a chance to relax. Will also be going next weekend.

A little delayed

Ok haven 't been able to log in to blogger for a while - stupid computers or something so I've had this post sitting in a word document for almost a week now waiting to be posted. Thus here you go finally:

So despite the lack of a Valentine I actually had a good valentine’s day. Morning started with a trip to Paicho with the Canadian delegation to drop off the sports supplies and see the training going on there. We were received very well and the participants did an excellent job of talking to the delegation. I was really happy and then the Canadians had to move on and I stayed for a bit and got to play some games with them as they related to peace. Was really good to see the Paicho group again after I had selected them. In the afternoon we headed to Lalogi to see the training there. I was so impressed with what was going on there. They had spent part of the morning in groups of four or five coming up with dramas about peace and conflict and we arrived in time for the presentations of the plays. The first group sang a song about peace. The second group had a drama about the war and the impact on civilians. The third group acted out a land dispute and its eventual resolution through the elders and the local council. The final play was about a dispute between families which was solved through negotiation.
After the plays Richard (my coworker) and I went to the local council and found out that they had a piece of land for us to put the youth meeting space on. YAY we now have land in three of the six areas. Also they insisted on feeding us and unfortunately for me there were no utensils so I had to eat with my hands….. I am not good at that at all which was rather amusing for the youth group. Days like this in the field are the reason why I love this job.
After getting back to the compound, Brian the film-maker who is making the documentary arrived from Kampala and he had groceries for me!!!!!!!!!!!! Ground beef, tomato sauce and apples!!! We went to the radio show tonight to get footage of it for the documentary.
The only really down part of the day was the reminder I had of how people here sometimes have to make really hard choices, choices they wouldn’t face if they lived in Canada. There has been a boy (maybe 15) in a wheelchair who has been coming to the office to talk to Mercie. I’ve talked to him quite a bit because he always comes when she isn’t here and has to wait. His name is Komakech and is very shy but really a nice kid – puts up with me practicing my Acholi with him. From what I know – he has returned from the bush (aka was abducted by the LRA and somehow got away) with serious problems with his legs which have confined him to a wheelchair. He has come to us for help because he has gotten into secondary school and found someone to pay his school fees (remember secondary school isn’t free) but needs help to buy the necessary school supplies like stationary and uniforms so he can go, he’s not allowed to attend without them. Although we really don’t have a project running at the moment to help him (we don’t really pay for school supplies etc – just not something we can report spending donor money on), Mercie decided to help him out by saying we are roofing his hut (roofing with school supplies????) so that he no longer has to make this choice: he can earn the money to buy his school supplies himself by making chairs on his school vacations however the doctors have said that if he can spend his school holidays at the orthopedic workshop getting rehab his legs can get better (treatment at workshop is free). It is impossible for him to do both. Thus Komakech has been faced with the choice between getting an education and getting the medical treatment that may let him walk again. Luckily he won’t have to make that choice but if you ever need a reminder that life isn’t fair I think this is it.

Canadian Mission

So had a visit from a Canadian mission today aka bureaucrats from ministry of foreign affairs who are here to monitor our Canadian funded projects. They were supposed to come to the office at 330 and we would go in the field first to see a drama group associated with the Youth Coalition for Peace, then to a Mine Risk Education group and then out to the training in Paicho to check out what we are doing there. We had til 530 to get everything done.
They didn't arrive at the office until well after 4 so we had to get going. It was fun to show them around and then we had a huge discussion of whether or not they could be in the field after the UN cut off of 5pm. The guy from the Consulate in K'la was the hardest to convince that the security situation has been fine for months. Got to the site for the youth drama group and despite my requests that Valentine (yes the group chairperson's name is Valentine) get them started before we arrive so we can 'catch them in the act' the entire group was waiting for us to arrive to meet the visitors. the drama went well - and i was impressed as it was the first time i had seen any of these plays. the youth coalition for peace members there were able to translate and did an excellent job of explaining and all that. They have incorporated MRE into their plays without being trained or asked to. The play told the story of a rebel attack where a man was killed and then his body booby trapped with mines and then they related the return of one rebel from the bush and how he was brought back into the community. Then we had to make the decision to not go to Paicho because it was getting too late and I had to call and tell the people there that we will be coming tomorrow morning (we decided to take the team tomorrow so the mission continues) which i felt horrible about as we asked them to stay late from the training to wait for us. I think I'll have to pick up some biscuits or something for them when we go tomorrow. After that it was off to a place 'deep in the village' as they say to watch one of the music, dance and drama groups do a mine risk education presentation. They even had seats of honour for all of us to watch from and gave us sodas. There was a large number of community members watching (mostly children). That was the end of the Canadian mission today so tomorrow we'll be taking them to Paicho to meet with some landmine survivors and see the training we are doing there. I also get to take the sports equipment to the group there which will be fun to hand over. Now I should relax a little as it was one of those days when I was a little too twirly all day (you know running around doing 50 things at once barely getting a chance to sit down)......

Things I never thought I'd say

I have a jar full of sim-sim paste and no idea what to do with it - I really appreciate the gift but what on earth does one do with a jar full of sim sim paste?
In the past week we have had pigs in the compound twice thanks to the guys at the pork joint behind us not doing a good job of looking after their future product. These aren't like cute little pigs these are the big laugh at them at the Saanich Fair type.
I have to have contingency plans if the security situation goes to crap while these youth are in the subcounties training other youth. I may have to evacuate people.
I'm so excited to see Ties tonight mainly because he's someone to talk to who doesn't work with me. Plus the idea of talking to another mzungu for the first time in like 2 and half weeks is kinda exciting (ok the guy from MSF Spain who I directed to Mercie's office doesn't count.)
I have to figure out a way to teach microsoft publisher to a group of guys who had never touched a computer before last week.
The person who invented the electric fan is a genius.
I'm starting to like my co-worker's girlfriend despite the fact I also like his wife who lives in Lira.
I am completely and utterly out of touch with pop culture, I have no idea what movies are big, what music is popular and I just found out Anna Nicole Smith died and tonight is the Grammys.
Went out for a late night on Friday - got home just after midnight.....
Man I hope I don't have to ride on top of a cattle truck for part of my end of time in Uganda rounds to visit the other offices.
I really need to find some ex-combatants/former child soldiers to incorporate into the groups.
I would absolutely love to find a butcher where the meat hangs behind glass instead of sits on a slab of concrete in the market covered in flies.
Someone really needs to give the guard dogs a bath.

Ridiculous

So today was the ultimate in lazy days. I actually spent time just lying on my bed and then sitting in the compound wearing my tankini top and a skirt with my feet dangling in a basin full of water working on my Acholi vocabulary because it was too hot to walk over to the pool.....

Taking a cue from Facebook

So every time I log on to Facebook it asks me to up date my status which reads as Erin is ......
I always have a number of ways to end that sentence and I've decided to stick them here.

Erin is.....

• hoping for one day (just one) where she doesn't have to pick ants off her toothbrush
• not really enjoying the heat today
• feeling much better after her first brush with tropical diseases (had ''few malarias'' aka had a fever and was tired so went to clinic, they tested her and said she had few malarias so gave her some pills, went to bed at 8 one night and now feels almost perfect, unlike the finance officer and our construction officer who have had actual malaria in the past two weeks and aren't feeling that swell)
• slightly scared of the housekeeper - yes the housekeeper not the guard who was abducted by the LRA and spent time in the bush as they call it but the housekeeper
• beginning to think that scheduling five trainings in five subcounties in three different districts with five different training teams at one time might not have been the best idea
• starting to get a bit worried about the ceasefire falling apart
• excited that Kristy is coming up to visit in a couple of weeks
• hoping to look lovely in the next week when there is another round of documentary filming
• apparently the 'best organized project officer' b/c she has five piles of stationary sitting in the board room waiting for the trainers to take them to the training locations.
• realizing that she can't actually cook that much without a functioning oven and without butchers she can stomach going to (she doesn't do the whole slab of beef on the table in the market thing)
• hoping to hit the pool this weekend
• too hot
• addicted to the popcorn from the popcorn lady up the street - a tasty treat for only 100 shillings (like 7 cents)
• a little lonely
• shocked that she only has a month and a half of the project left to go with so much to do
• sick of having to yell at the damn guard dogs every time she goes outside after dark
• concerned she won't be able to eat all the packaged food she brought up from Kampala before it is time to leave
• craving red licorice and a decent donut
• waiting for the wild sweet orange tea she brewed and then put in the fridge to chill so she can have some iced tea
• worried she'll run out of time here
• flabbergasted that two of the trainers have thanked her for doing a good job/said they would like to work with CPAR again based on this experience
• considering starting to drive here though probably will decide against it
• hoping Ties is coming up for work next week
• stoked that the fam is discussing a holiday in may
• thinking it is past her bedtime

Surrealism in Amuru

So was out in Amuru today meeting with the subcounty chief and the LCIII chairperson to check out the plot of land they are giving us for the youth meeting space when I had the most surreal experience. One of our side trips was to visit a beneficiary of the mine action project who is in tailoring training at the moment. So I'm standing there in this tiny tailoring hole in the wall huddling in the shade because the sun in blazing hot with the market behind me trying to pick out what is being discussed all in acholi while pretending not to notice the couple of kids behind me who are amazed to see a muno in the market when I notice there are two songs playing. One is "Good Morning Beautiful" by Keith Urban and the other is "What's Love" by Fat Joe. Proves that even though I've been over here for a while now I can still have the surreal 'holy shit' moments (as Kate so appropriately dubbed them).
Afterwards went to my friend Judith's house which is the nicest hut I'd ever been in (really reassuring b/c up to now the only huts in the camps I had been to were those of landmine survivors and people with disabilities who were struggling so I got to see that there was more to the camps than total poverty and/or squalor.) and she insisted on sending me home with a big grocery bag full of fresh peanuts (g-nuts here) really not sure what I'm supposed to do with them but love that she gave them to me. I've handed them off to Alice our housekeeper at the office who will roast them or something.....

Ok Proper Update

So it's been quite a while since I wrote a proper post. What have I been up to in the past couple of weeks? Let's see.....

Went to a district coordination workshop on peacebuilding one day and got to listen to the LCV (sort of like the premier of the district) discuss his conversation with Kony and the rest of the LRA leadership of the day before. Very interesting to get first hand information about world news which actually affects me.

The TOT training has started and ended. In this two week training we trained the team leaders from the new subcounty groups and some members of the municpal youth group as trainers to train the youth in the communities in peer to peer counseling, peacebuilding, conflict mediation and recreational leadership. The first day was such a nightmare, one of the trainers only showed up to say he couldnt' come that day - thankfully Mercie took over for the two hour session or else I have no idea what we would have done for those two hours, the district youth officer who opened the workshop invited Mega FM the big radio station without telling us so as I'm running around registering the participants, finding the trainers, getting contracts signed etc there's this guy trying to interview me. The interview did not go well - I never finished it. After that things went ok I think (I haven't read the training evaluation forms yet) except for me being an idiot and playing the recreational games on the first Tuesday in my super cute black flats (while they may be super cute they are not exactly ideal for sports) and ending up with blisters so large on the bottom of my feet i could barely walk for the next two days.

Had dinner with Alexa McDonough of the NDP who was visiting Gulu on a fact finding type visit. So Mercie and I along with a number of other NGO people had dinner with her to discuss the situation and what Canada can do, what areas she should advocate for in Parliament etc. She asked me to send her a short discussion of the impact of Canada's declining Mine action funding which I did today.

Went to Kampala last weekend to see people, go to the bank, and chill out. It was crazy - the bus ride down was hell, but when i get there and meet up with Chelsea and Chris it turns out i was the final piece of a oak bay high reunion in Kampala. There was myself, Chris, Emily Shelton (Grad 01), Elliot Bicknell (Grad 01) and Sandy Paulin (Grad 02) all in Kampala that weekend. Chris and Emily are volunteering at a hospital in Kampala and Elliot and Sandy are travelling around Africa.

On Wednesday night after the training, myself with the assistance of two of the male participant cooked a western style (pasta, cream sauce and veggie) dinner for the whole training. It was pretty funny the guys helping me didn't know how to chop veggies or anything but it went over ok though some people didn't like the food. But that's ok - I dont' really like Ugandan food.

Ok I think that's enough b/c I'm having one of those days when nothing is really wrong but you just sort of woke up thinking 'man I'd like to be home right now where things are so much easier and people know me etc' so I'm gonna go watch some episodes of friends or sex and the city until i feel better.

What I am doing

So I've figured out that very few people know what this new project I'm working on is all about I've decided to post the summary of the project I just finished writing which is actually for the Canadian mission that is coming to see the project in the middle of February. It's quite a bit different from the mine action stuff I was doing before but the music, dance and drama groups associated with the Youth Coalition for Peace are being trained in Mine Risk Education this month.

The current peacebuilding project is an expansion of a pilot project of early 2006. In the ‘For Youth by Youth’ pilot project 20 youth from Layibi Division and Bungatira Subcounty of Gulu District (including 4 students from Gulu University) were trained in peer to peer counseling, peacebuilding and conflict resolution. These youth formed themselves into the Youth Coalition for Peace following the training and began to implement a variety of peacebuilding activities among their peers including debates, football and netball tournaments, music, dance and drama presentations and a radio talk show.

This year CPAR has received funding from Foreign Affairs Canada’s Global Peace and Security Fund to expand this project into four rural areas of Gulu and Amuru Districts plus Pader Town Council while continuing to support the Youth Coalition. In each new area, 20 war affected youth aged 18 to 30 were selected to form the core of the new groups based on criteria and lessons learned from last year. From January 22 to February 2 team leaders from each of the new groups, eight members of the Youth Coalition for Peace and five Community Counseling Aides were trained as trainers in peacebuilding, peer to peer counseling and recreational leadership. Now these trainers have been formed into training teams, consisting of the new team leader, one or two experienced members of the Youth Coalition for Peace and a Community Counseling Aide, and are preparing to go out into the communities to train the new youth groups. Following a short teambuilding session, there will be a two week long training to prepare the new groups to implement peacebuilding activities of their choosing based out of a youth meeting space which will be constructed in each subcounty. In addition each group will be able to choose a vocational reintegration activity to be trained in so they can support their own activities once the funding ends.

The youth will be able to share ideas and best practices as well as access further information through the peacebuilding resource centre at CPAR’s Gulu office. The radio talk show is continuing to ensure the youth have a platform to disseminate their messages of peace and reconciliation beyond their home communities. The project will end with an peace symposium consisting of an advocacy trip to Kampala and then a community event in Gulu Town where each group will be able to display their art, their music, dance and drama groups and conduct sporting, debating and essay competitions. The youth of Northern Uganda have borne the brunt of this 20 year war and they are the generation who are faced with the task of rebuilding their society. CPAR hopes to be able to continue to work to empower the youth and build their capacity as peacebuilders.

Brief update

Finally I can get back into blogger. I've been trying to log in for almost a week now that i have internet again. The only problem is the entry that I typed up to post here with lots of details is gone because my laptop is in Kampala and I am in Gulu - stupid technology, turns its self off and won't turn back on. Anyways I can't write much b/c all the youth are here in the resource centre now and since I'll be talking about them it's not a good idea to write this while they are here. The training has gone well and you know what i think i'll try to post some of the photos from it.

Introduction to computers, word processing and the internet
Learning recreational games to include in peacebuilding activities
Role playing peer to peer counseling