GOOD MORNING UGAAAANDA!!!!!!!!!
Greetings from the town of Jinja at the base of the Nile in Uganda. I have just had one of the most action packed weekends of my life, and naturally love it. Thursday night we arrived at the base of all activities, and also where we stayed most of the time. Friday we were prevented from doing much of anything because of the torrential rains. Saturday was when the real fun began. I woke up bright and early Saturday morning in anticipation of launching myself from a cliff and into a 45 metre free fall. Bungee jumping was surreal. I can't even describe it, because it almost felt like I wasn't falling. Before hand I was oddly calm, and I really didn't have to fight myself when I flung myself into the long drop... Immediately afterwards we went white water rafting, which was not nearly as exhilarating, but was still fun and beautiful. This lasted two days, and we all got pretty beat up from the sun and the occasional capsize (the best part).
One of the guides had a girlfriend from the UK that was actually an AV ten years ago. She currently runs a micro finance organization, organizing groups of people into a loan community where individuals hold each other accountable for their loans. It is sustainable, and slowly but surely the organization has been able to grow. They do a lot of training for work like carpentry and computer. It sounds amazing. Like Dr. Paul Farmer this lady, that goes by the name of Jena, didn't jump straight into the Ugandan community without thoroughly researching first. After having joined several similar organizations, and deciding that they did not have the most efficient and accurate solution, she decided to find out what she thought herself, and lived, cut off from everything else, in an Ugandan community for 9 months. She said that after each month she would come up with a different conclusions and solution for what the community needed.
What I found interesting was that after leaving Uganda as an AV, she knew that she wanted to return. This is something I have been struggling with, because for as long as I can remember, I have wanted to work and live in Africa. However, I feel that the more I am out of the US (this was true of Spain as well), the more I appreciate my own culture as opposed to the culture I'm in. I think the aspect of US culture that I miss the most is feminism. I came to Africa expecting women to be considered if nothing more than less contributing factors in society, and I didn't think that would bother me, especially as it wouldn't be a surprise. Instead, I have found that the form this lack of respect takes does surprise and shock me. Women are disregarded in marriages, because almost every husband cheats on their wives. Like with many problems that poison a society, this unfortunate commonality is true of even the nicest and most considerate men, who, having grown up this way, don't think of it. One of the girls in the eighth grade class told me that the only way for this to be solved is for women to separate themselves from men, working and living on their own, so that wives are in higher demand, and therefore, are treated with more equality. I agree with her. I don't really see women joining together in an uprising commanding attention and a change, although I'm sure that any observer could have said the same of America in the late 1800s early 1900s. Time will tell.
Until a few weeks from now.
Nora.
For every woman who is tired of acting weak when she knows she is strong, there is a man tired of appearing strong when he feels vulnerable...For every woman who takes a step toward her own liberation, there is a man who finds the way to freedom has been made a little easier. - remember your hatred of feminism back then?!? Miss you, Nora!
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