AUTHOR: Nancy TITLE: Why do I do it? DATE: 3/15/2009 04:23:00 AM ----- BODY:
So, why do I do it? Why do I leave my family, my friends, my home and my country to wander around the world taking interminable uncomfortable bus trips and staying in sketchy hotels? As I double-locked my windows and doors and turned off the lights to keep the mosquitoes and flying termites at bay, I wondered. And today, as I sat with the Catholics in the university at lunch and they talked about how Ugandan men saw their women essentially as slaves as they had paid a "bride price" for them. I wondered again. And yesterday, after I spent the entire day with a group of Ugandan Rotarians at their annual retreat, I missed my family and friends and wondered why, but then to alleviate the boredom, I invited my host to join me for supper. Over pizza (the universal food!), I learned about the African perspective of time and clan identity.

My host, Aloysius, a local Catholic priest, mentioned that in Africa they had never paid attention to time. Life went on without concern for the hour or day. At Warwick University in the U.K. he had learned to adapt to a culture where time mattered. When he returned, he again re-adjusted. I then understood that although the Rotary annual retreat started at 8:30, it was okay for us to arrive at 9:30, and the President, slated to give the opening remarks, could arrive at 10:30. Nobody was concerned that she gave opening remarks in the middle of the meeting. From this I gained a new understanding of time

The matter of tribe also presented itself, and with it came a discussion of gender. Aloysius told me that as the oldest male in a fmily of 19 children, he is expected to support his younger brothers in their quest for education. He calls his father and uncles by the same name, and his grandfather and great-uncles by the same name. All of them are superior to him, and he does whatever they ask.

The role of women came up only with the mention of his older sister who is living with a man of another tribe. This tribe circumcises their men. Her tribe does not. Whether or not they marry, the family is concerned that she will be cast out. The scene sounded familiar, as earlier in the day I had interviewed a young woman who asked for support for abused and abandoned women. Many have been sexually abused by their fathers and now, abandoned, are raising the children of these unions.

This morning, with rain pouring down, I ventured into the dingy lobby and struck up a conversation with one of the only other guests, a portly South African, part of the U.N. Peacekeeping Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo. He had been in the war in Angola and had also been in charge of firefighting at Johannesburg airport. He currently manages sixteen firefighting units and airfields in the D.R.C. and coordinates helicopters to deliver medicines, food and supplies to non-governmental missions. He told me that in the past six to eight months the D.R.C. has been extremely dangerous, but now most problems are in the eastern zone. Now, not only can I picture the U.N. airbase in Entebbe, but I know that it is a forward staging unit for the base in Italy, and I know more about what they do.

Although traveling alone can often be difficult, learning about the world is enlightening. It's a reason to go and to help. I'm leaving for northern Uganda, Gulu, to see the I.D.P. camps and Ken Goyer's project for Aid Africa. It's a seven hour bus trip, but should help me understand the needs in that part of the country. I'll probably be out of touch but will return next weekend for the Partnership for Clean Indoor Air conference. I'll be there for a week before returning to the U.S. after more than two months on the road.

You, my friends, my family and my country, are the reason to return.

Nancy

Labels: ,

----- --------