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Off to Uganda

So, almost two years have past since I wrote my last post. Needless to say, my master's program at UNC has kept me quite busy!

I'll be graduating May 8th with an MPH in Public Health Leadership and a certificate in Global Health. Also, last year in May 2009 I finished a certificate at Duke Center for Documentary Studies.

I have had a great experience at UNC, with my internship at Wéyo (www.weyo.org) last summer, working with Recover Restore Rebuild Southeast Mississippi (www.r3sm.org), and while working at Family Health International. I've also enjoyed taking several journalism courses this year - which has helped me to improve my multimedia story telling skills.

After graduation I will travel for a bit to visit family and friends, then I'm headed off to Uganda (June to November) to work with a Christian NGO on some public health projects, including HIV/AIDS testing and counseling, working with orphans & vulnerable children, as well as other public health projects. I'll know more once I'm in the field. As far as I know I'll be working in Kampala and in the Lira District, which is in the north.

Give me a shout if you plan to travel in that area!!

A New Path

I definitely feel like I have made the right decision in my life. To return to school, that is. I have found a wonderful part-time job at a company that promotes Family Planning, Contraceptives, and Interventions and Trials for HIV/AIDS and some other infectious diseases. I am also immensely enjoying my MPH program in the Public Health Leadership Program at UNC. There is a very small group of in-residents students, and each one of them are wonderful people with very unique perspectives. All wanting to make a contribution to the world, outside of themselves. Each one cares about the health and well being of people in general. I can actually make that statement for most of the people i have met in my classes overall - not just my Public Health Leadership program. The people in the School of Public Health are all very passionate about making a difference in the world. I am happy to be surrounded by individuals who have similar views as mine. Also, it is nice to be surrounded by people who understand the desire to go to a third world country to work with a non-profit or health organization, and in the process live under a bed net, without A/C for months, and possibly without plumbing... knowing that each day, hopefully the work that you do is saving a life or adding a healthier life to someone. Of course, this all depends on the city one is working in ... but I think you get my point. Yes, there are some sort of selfish motivations... but I guess it may also be paraphrased as altruism. I've heard that term used negatively by people before. In the U.S. people don't want others to act altruistic towards them. In the U.S., for the most part, people don't want to ask for help because it means they are weak. So, that word altruism is tainted. But... without altruism, without the good Samaritan, where would some of us end up? I know I need lots of help. I am not perfect. And I am interested in helping others in order to fulfill some internal urge that nudges me. Maybe that is selfish in and of itself because I am doing something that makes me feel good, something that fulfills myself.... but I don't think that has to be wrong.

I feel as if I am babbling now. What this message boils down to is that I feel like for the first time in a long time that I am on the right track in life. I feel like quitting corporate America was the right thing to do at this point in my life. I am passionate, surrounded by passionate people, and am encouraged by these same people.

I am excited to see what opportunities open up for my life. I know one thing by now... not to expect something normal. Just as an end note... I have an internship lined up in Rwanda this summer for about three months. Then I am applying to a program, that hopefully will allow me to carry out a research project in Uganda, that incorporates teaching documentary photography as a form of data collection to be used in public health studies on HIV/AIDS. If I don't get this program... then I'll hang onto the idea anyway for a possible dissertation/Master's paper research topic.

Make a wish

I have a cold right now and have just started taking antibiotics. My mother has the same illness, both of us contracting it from my toddler niece who had a horrible cough last week. I hope they have treated my niece with some sort of antibiotic by now. My mother got her symptoms first, but she waited a few days longer to go to the doctor and it turned into bronchitis. Had she not been cluing me in on all of her symptoms, I may have waited longer too. I also found out today that my grandfather has a horrible case of bronchitis. Since he wasn't responding to his antibiotics, they took him to the hospital to do some blood work and discovered that he has a high white blood cell count, and that he has Leukemia. They are not exactly sure which type of Leukemia he has. I do recall when I was visiting him in January, he has this skin infection on his ear. When I revisited in March, he still had the infection only it had gotten worse. Supposedly he was on medication for that too, but it wasn't healing. I wonder if the reasons are the same as why his body wasn't responding to the antibiotics. I wonder if it all comes back to the Leukemia. I assume his immune system is compromised heavily. It is sad news.... and I hope it is a treatable Leukemia. He is living in the Veteran's home in Jennings, La. He was really enjoying it there. They seem to take good care of him too.

I just paid another round of school fees to Samuel, Denis, and Kiiza. The Uganda School fund is down to $42 now. I will be having a jewelry/photography party soon so that I can sell some art to raise money for the next round of school fees in September. Up until a couple of months ago I was selling my jewelry in Beleza, a fair trade store in Cameron Village. I removed it from the store because I don't have time to make new jewelry, and I'm moving to Chapel Hill soon as well. If I find the time, and get back on track, I may put my jewelry back in the store. I just needed a break for a while. Plus I am hoping that by selling it to friends, I can save the amount I'd usually pay in commission, and keep that for the school fees instead. Here's hoping.

The new headline photo is of my sister blowing one of those wishing weeds. I forget the name of them. I really like it... and that symbolism, at least in the U.S., is a hopeful one. You wish something, and then blow all the little seeds away in the wind. Sort of like the wish you make when blowing out the candles on your birthday cake. So... for those of you out there who haven't made a wish in a while... I'm suggesting it to you now... close your eyes, breathe in deep, and blow the air out through your lips, making your wish.

Exciting news!

I found out yesterday that UNC Chapel Hill accepted me into the MPH program for Public Health Leadership. I am very happy about this! I have had a difficult spring with some personal issues, and I feel like this is a light at the end of the tunnel. I wasn't feeling at peace about attending some of the other programs that had admitted me. It would have meant living further away from my family and my young niece. Now, I do realize that there will come a time when I want to work overseas, but it is nice that I will be able to enjoy a few more years close to home.

I did talk to Kiiza today on the phone. He was in Kampala visiting a friend. It is always so good to hear his laugh. He is working on his Thesis now and will be really busy over the next few months.

I have been in touch with Samuel recently by email as well. He will hopefully be taking his end of year exams. This is his last year in high school. They have a certain exam that they take to determine if the government will assist them to attend the university level. It is quite different than in the U.S. and I am uncertain of the details.

Sorry for so long without a post...

Kiiza

I finally got to talk to Kiiza yesterday. It has been since October, I believe. He went to volunteer with Samaritan's Purse in Sudan for a few months - his summer. Now he is starting his last year at law school at the Christian University in Mukono, Uganda. He is one of the students I am helping to support. There are several other people that are supporting him financially as well. College fees are much higher than the secondary fees, of course.

He will begin working on his dissertation this year. He told me that he wants his topic to be on adoption. He is interested in family law, in particular in women/children issues. The topic of adoption will even cover issues such as immigration issues into other countries - since sometimes non-Ugandan citizens want to adopt Ugandan children.

Kiiza was my group's guide when I went to Ugadna. He knows a mutual friend of ours from the U.S., and she suggested that he be the one to show us around Uganda. He is such a pleasant person to be around, usually chipper - singing praise songs to God no matter what time of the day... even in the wee hours of the morning if we had to wake up early, when I couldn't even muster it due to a lack of caffeine intake!

Kiiza's mother lives in a village outside of Gulu. She does not own her own home, and is currently staying with a church friend - has been for the last year or so. She has diabetes so needs to live close to the town so she can get to the hospital to get free medicine when they pass it out. Kiiza cannot afford to buy his mother a home, since he is only in school himself. Although he does help her out with her needs when he visits her. I don't recall exactly how many children she has - but I do know that she has no husband and her children are not able to provide much for her. They are mainly caring for their own families. Kiiza has been the only child in her family to gain an education beyond secondary school.

She had been in a polygamous marriage when she was younger (which is culturally acceptable and legal in Uganda), but I don't know the deatils of what happened to her husband. As you can imagine, marriages in which the husband has many wives ends up leaving the woman as the primary caretaker for herself and her children. At a certain point, she was no longer provided for at all by her husband (he moved onto another wife) and had to fend for herself and her children. Kiiza hopes to provide for her once he is finished his education. After this year, he will have one more year where he has to study and pass the bar exam for Uganda. He will have many financial costs connected to starting to practice law in Uganda, including the requirement of having to purchase the case of law books.

Just to give you an idea, for under $1000 U.S. a plot of land with a hut on it can be purchased outside of the town of Gulu. This should have enough land to put a small garden. I'd like to attempt to raise some money for this for Kiiza's mom(which is beyond the money for the education fees of the 3 students). If you are interested in helping, let me know.

God is Good

Last night I went to bed with a dry tickle in my throat. Maybe this rhinovirus ('cold') that everyone else is infected with has been waiting for my immune system to weaken. I can't let it get me! I laid in bed wishing for sleep to fall upon my eyes....but my mind wouldn't slow down. I just want to thank God for the Good things he's given me in life. I enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday with my family last week. I watched my 2 year old neice take real digital photos for the first time in her life (I think) - mostly of her fingers, something she's been watching me do since she was a baby. Her voice rings in my ears "YEESA YEESA" (translated : Lisa Lisa!). I'm trying to teach her how to spell her name with a little song, something I learned from my good friends and their daughter that works well with toddlers. Recently I have been graced with new friends, reconnecting with old high school friends, and a new roommate this year - all very welcome additions. I prayed for patience about this time last year, and I've been through such trials this year that I believe I understand the attitute of "you better not pray for it unless you really want it...because it won't be easy." I may be able to find that prayer... Here it is.

"I wonder what I'll be thinking in 70 years (yeah...I'll probaby still be around if it is up to the genes)...hopefully I will have learned the depth of living a life of pain, therefore living the depth of love. Living a life of sin, therefore the depth of forgivness. And hopefully I will have built a strong legacy for my grandchildren to carry on. A legacy of loving others. Especially those who are different from our own selves." - 12/12/2006

I've already knocked out the pain and sin part in just one year, and am also experiencing the depth of love and forgiveness - which is mostly sweet, but sometimes bitter sweet. Wow. Oh dear.... I wonder if I could alter my prayer a little.... I wouldn't mind an easier life in some areas (is this selfish?)... there are definitly some areas of my life I'd like to do a little bargaining with God (although I typically do not promote this!). In the meantime, with prayers and tears here and there, I bite my tongue and pray for His best desires for me. I've tried to take control...and when I do it isn't usually a good thing!

I realized yesterday, while writing essays for my MPH applications, that I have actually visited 6 of the 7 continents of the world, save Antarctica! That is pretty cool. Although, on most of those continents, I've only visited one country. I thank God for allowing me the opportunity to see His people and His creativity. Traveling has allowed me to see myself (and our Creator) through a different lens. I realize that I am blessed with many opportunities, and this is something I struggle to not take for granted. For instance, I have days where I DO NOT want to go to work. But I need to suck it up and realize that my job is a gift. Most people in the world do not have the luxury of work. YES! To many, the ability to work is a luxury! So, on those days that I don't want to go to work, I will strive and pray to do so with a good attitude in the name of those who are not able to.

I hope to post about Kiiza and Dennis, my two other students, soon. I don't feel that many people read this blog, but I do this more out of a commitment to keep my desire alive for serving others. I know this Blog has mostly been about Uganda so far, but I hope to share more about other facets of my life and experiences eventually. Until then...