wow! when i think about how many times i have written this email in my head, it's amazing. post-holiday craziness has occupied every waking moment. the post-election violence in kenya has had a dramatic impact on uganda -- displaced persons are flowing over the boarder on the east in the tens of thousands, there is a disruption in fuel supplies even now and if there is fuel at a station, the prices vary depending on any number of factors...the merchant's mood, whether the driver and the station owner know each other, whether the government is sharing the truth about the amount of fuel in the country, etc..., and perhaps most disconcerting is that tribal tensions are exacerbated in country. not that there is any more disputing going on than usual...just that yesterday, a female member of parliament was arrested on four counts of sedition and incitement to violence and one count of insubordination for suggesting that ugandans unite in their opposition to the sitting government in the same way that the kenyans were able to cross lines and come together to have two viable political candidates -- she wasn't suggesting that ugandans start a genocide, but taken out of context and put in the current climate, her remarks earned her these most serious of criminal charges. please keep those that face challenges that we cannot even conceive of in your prayers, meditations, chants, thoughts, hearts.
work at anppcan has been quite intense as incidents of child abuse coincide with the coffee season -- here at the end of january through march (when the coffee is on the branch growing, but has not yet been harvested and sold for income) - those that depend on coffee for their cash in come -- which is basically everyone because if villagers don't have income, then they can't buy goods from the ladies who have stalls at the market, which impacts their ability to buy goods like soap and candles, which impacts the local stores owners and on, and on, and on... -- anyway, the coffee season dramatically impacts the activities and goings on in the district as a whole. in efforts to mitigate the coffee/abuse correlation impact, anppcan increases the number of outreaches it does during the post-holiday period. i have had the challenge and pleasure of venturing deeeeeeeeeeeep into the village. farther than before, the roads are footpaths, cleared by centuries of walking peoples (and more recently bike-riding folks), traveling quickly but carefully and intentionally. beating the dirt solid, these rock-like treads showing the way through miles of land (as far as the eye can capture in even the longest of glances) are the remnants of the legacy of these people. of all of us. the land remains both unblemished by the falsity of cement, uncharted by electricity or automobiles and also removed and separate...isolated and perhaps not benefiting from such isolation. nonetheless, this paradise of sorts is permeated by air that is not mere oxygen (and whatever else is in air...i spent most of high school chemistry staging protests and making long speeches about how the periodic table as a part of the curriculum violated the eighth amendment prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment...imagine, me...how uncool was that?!) back to the extraordinary air...i think that i was actually breathing differently -- the air is inspired by centuries of tradition and burdened by the present abject poverty --- so thick at times that i swear i could feel all around me. i was told by a jaja (older woman) after a recent meeting under a mango tree (i kid you not. just like you're imagining it...middle of "nowhere", women gather under a bright and lush tree, conversing and learning and sharing in the shade. we were thirty in number and there was no shortage of laughter as we talked about gender rights, legal status of women and the social realities that don't have anything to do with the legislative process, but are the law of the land nonetheless.) that the wind has been warm in her village. i remarked that yes, it was warm but quickly realized that it wasn't the weather she was talking about. she shook her head and said that no, the warmth wasn't because of the sun, it was because "the people are cooking." she shared with me that she has lived in the village in the very same place for sixty-five years (an incredibly long time to live anywhere in
uganda where the life expectancy hovers around forty-seven) and that whenever the air is thick it's because change is coming. she said the changes she's seen have been carried in by the gentle breeze and that they appear sometimes without anyone having taken notice other than to remark on how warm the breeze is. she asked if i could feel it. maybe. i think so, i said. she had to attend to a baby that had crawled in her lap and our conversation was over. my afternoon with those women was too brief -- their excitement, energy and humor offered me a much needed revitalization after weeks of a series of minor medical issues that had depleted my energy and after weeks of abuse cases piling up at work.
most nights, i catch a few hours of bbc on my radio and have been following the reports on the primaries. in
uganda (and in much of africa), elections bring about a general feeling of fear and anxiety as peaceful political transition is a rare occurrence. my co-workers tell me that elections and politicians do not bring hope for change or a promise of transparency in governance. but despite their opinions of domestic politics, they are paying more attention to the usa presidency race than i am! folks i have met and even perfect strangers are shout "obama" or "clinton-y" (because every english word or name is an opportunity to use the "eee" sound at the end...juliette-y, school-y, going-y...you get the idea, no?) instead of "mzungu." the commentary here is mostly about the democratic race and, without exception, the people who i have talked to about this campaign believe that if obama or clinton-y take office, east africa's future will be better. i'm not sure what that means or if it is even true. bush's visit to africa and his sending dr. rice to kenya is a popular topic of conversation as well. save
uganda's president and some higher-ups who are 'friends' of bush, most people view this trip as insincere and half-hearted...coming much too late in his presidency to be anything other than a legacy-building exercise. i wonder?
i hope that despite the delay in emails, this finds you and yours healthy and happy.
