Tuesday, June 14, 2011

June 10th-15th

June 10th – 14

Last Friday we decided to go the Uganda National Center for Science and Technology. Despite having ethical research approval through both the University of Memphis and Makerere University, G&M still have to get approval from the government. This is a new requirement since 2008 and they still have not heard back with in acceptance or rejection despite having turned it in years ago. Lest you think its corruption, I have heard from three other academics that got approval in a week. But we were encouraged to give it another try so we headed downtown to the office which has no sign.

An hour of matatus later we get to the office only to find it’s moved to a location very near where we started from. By this point we were exhausted so we stopped to have some samosas and a banana split downtown. Not only is it hot downtown because the buildings block the air flow, but you constantly have to watch your step for boda bodas, cars, pedestrians, and vendors. Often a sewer or drainage ditch will lack a cover so you have to not step into the 2ft wide opening in the cement while also looking for the rare street sign and while also shaking your head no to all the boda boda drivers who assume we would rather pay than walk because we are white. Basically it is an assault on the senses and we usually find ourselves in need of a break after what would be considered an easy travel in the States.

So we get to the new location of the UNCST, go through a security check which involved a walk-through metal detector which wasn’t plugged in only to find they have no idea where the application is and the person who would know is on vacation. The girls didn’t expect much and we just laughed it off. That day we also had no running water and the electricity kept going out so we came home to bathing the old school way with a small basin and a thermos of heated water we got from a rain water cistern outside.

Saturday was a full day. We left early to go to Kyengera, a suburb of Kampala about an hour away via matatu. We went to the new taxi park (see in the pictures) which I’m told looks older than the old taxi park. Basically you have to know where the vans are going amidst a see of vans. We were going because our friend Moses who is helping us with our research arranged for us to come to a secondary school near his home so we could try our focus group questions out on an extracurricular club. Before that though he made us a fabulous meal at his home and we chatted to him and his friend Innocent while neighbors’ children came and sat by us and played with our shoes.

As we ate it started to pour rain and looked like a hurricane was outside. By the time we had to go it was still raining and we had to get wet on our way to the school. The focus group went brilliantly and Moses, who had never led a focus group before, was a complete natural. There were 25 students and for a focus group you want no more than 15, so it was a difficult task to get that many teens to talk about HIV.

We stopped back at his place on the way home and exchanged the wet coats we had for some sweaters. I had placed my purse down as I put the too-small sweater on when I heard Meagan shoo something away. I looked only to find a chicken in my purse. My purse was the perfect size for it and it took its time getting out as we shooed it. My only hope was that it didn’t leave any presents for me!

We walked down the road to try to catch and boda. By this point we are really wet, my hair looks like I just got out of the shower, my cloth shoes are acting like sponges, and the dirt roads are wet and full of puddles. We catch one boda which can seat two of the four of us but the other distance boda we flagged down can’t start. This was not inspiring my confidence. It finally starts only to fly by us so we have to wait for another. We get another and hold on for dear life with the rain hitting our faces and making us squint.

At the top of a hill the boda’s engine stops. I’ve seen matatus turn off at red lights to save gas and I hope that the driver wants to ride the hill down with gravity. Meagan and I kept up with Ginger and Innocent for a while, but when the road evened out we came to a stop. The driver starts frantically kicking the kick-start and after maybe 12 tries Meagan and I ask if we should get off. The driver ignores us and keeps kicking away. Keep in mind we are 1 foot away from the driver, Meagan is touching him, yet he doesn’t respond even when she says Sir! in Luganda. By this point Meagan, myself, and the peanut gallery of twelve or so people we stopped in front of are laughing. To see one white person is rare in this suburb. To see two on a broke down boda in the rain with a driver who is ignoring us as he kicks away is hilarious. I looked at two men who were really enjoying the entertainment and threw my hands up laughing.

Eventually the engine started and the two men threw their hands up in celebration as did I, only to have the engine die again in 4 seconds. By this point I said to Meagan, “This is ultimately pathetic. Here we are two white girls on a broken boda with a driver who is ignoring us, soaked and freezing with the cold rain, me with a too-small sweater and probably chicken poop in my purse. All you can do is laugh.

Eventually he got the engine going but had it revving high in neutral. Meagan and I held on for dear life because we knew when he put the boda in drive we would take off so we waved our goodbyes to the still laughing audience and clung to anything we could grab as he sped away. Both of us were thinking that if the boda slipped and we fell we would get completely covered with the terracotta colored mud. We would look like those mud people at Woodstock and have to ride the hour long matatu back to Kampala like that. On the matatu we caught I sat next to a nun so that would have been really horrible!

We got back and it was still raining. We were cold, wet, and exhausted and accidentally took the wrong direction, walking needlessly in the rain. By the time we got back home our only consolation was that we had running water and electricity. I managed to change into dry clothes then slept for a few hours. It was a great day but it wore me out.

Sunday morning we took it easy to recover but we had to prepare for the birthday party we were throwing for Joan that night. We had decided we wanted to make tacos because we love them and we thought Joan’s two kids would like them too. Keep in mind, Mexico is far away from Uganda and you can’t find salsa in stores here. So we made salsa, guacamole, and taco spices for the meet from scratch. We had to settle for nachos because we couldn’t find anything like a tortilla, but the result was fabulous. I kept having to go back for items we thought we had but didn’t, like a can opener and ripe enough avocados and CHEESE but after the fifth trip we had it all.

Joan loved her earrings and necklace and we also got gifts for her two kids, Louis and Lighten. We got them Roal Dahl’s books The Crocodile with Enormous Teeth and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and we also ordered a cake (with some difficulty) from the local market. Joan said it was the best birthday she ever had and cried. Success! She even loved the food but her kids and house-girl Dafflin weren’t fond of the spices. The food here is really bland but Ginger made plain meat too so they had food to enjoy. Ginger did all the cooking and Meagan and I told her we are making that food again!

Monday I caught up with work as G&M went to a school observation with Mary. Mary invited us to see her village in the West and we are trying to plan things out amidst our other trips for SAS. A friend of our, Pharouk, saw me on facebook, said hello and that he would stop by the apartment shortly. I’m not used to people inviting themselves but that happens a lot here. He did stop by and talked for an hour then we all caught up with him at a restaurant named Alfredo’s with every kind of food but Italian. The electricity went out and bats were flying in the fruit trees above us. The fruit was so ripe that grape-sized fruit kept falling on us, making us spook. It was hilarious.

Tuesday we hit the data entry hard. Moses cam over to help and we had an assembly line going. One person numbered the pre-tests, another wrote down the numbers associated with the student’s names in our codebook, and two of us entered the 32 data points into the computer. After hours of work we got to student number 745 which was over 23,000 data points. Last summer they only had 600 students and now we are taking bets on how many we have. My guess is 2800, the girl guessed less but then they lost confidence and wanted a re-bet when we hit 1000. It’s like the games in kindergarten where you guess how many jelly beans are in the mason jar.

Wednesday we are getting new passport photos taken because we heard back from the UNCST and we have to do a partial re-submit of one form, a letter of recommendation, and new photos. Hopefully this will work and we will get IRB approval which allows us to publish. All fingers are crossed!

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