Practicum is not going as smoothly as I had anticipated, but being that I'm in Uganda, that should have been expected.
I met with my advisor last night who pretty much knows everything there is to know about refugees so he is perfect for my project, but he's also a little scary. I haven't quite figured him out but basically he doesn't smile and is very unenthusiastic, but he's also the encyclopedia on refugees so although he's incredibly intimidating, I'm lucky to have him as my advisor. When we met last night he advised me against going to two settlements because he thinks the majority of my research will be in Kampala. He also recommended that I interview people from the US and Canadian embassies in Kampala in addition to UNHCR and OPM. Last night I was feeling pretty good about my research plan, but then today I met with my AD (academic director) to tell her what Moses said about my research. She disagreed with him and said I should go to both settlements, then said I shouldn't even bother making appointments at the embassies and should just walk there and ask to speak to someone. She also forgot that I was planning on leaving on monday for Hoima and said maybe I should postpone leaving in case the embassies can meet with me next week. Then at the end of our meeting she told me not to worry about figuring out if I'm going to one or two settlements and that we'd discuss it later...when is later!? It's thursday and I'm leaving on monday!
I left that meeting so frustrated. I don't feel like she listened to anything I said and then contradicted what Moses had said. I left there feeling so confused about where my research was heading. But now, hours later, I've come to the conclusion that I'm not going to listen to her and instead follow Moses' advice because he is the expert on this topic and has spent a considerable amount of time at Kyangwali and knows how best to go about research in the field. So that being said I think, well as of now, that I'll leave for kyangwali on monday, stay there for 2 weeks and then come back to Kampala to do interviews.
My day got way more frustrating as I attempted to do research at SIT today. First, I was able to find a ton of articles online about resettlement and refugees from protracted conflicts, so I saved them onto my flash drive. Then I went to print them and the SIT printer ran out of paper and ink at the same time. So I decided to wait until tomorrow and make phone calls instead. But when I went to use the SIT phone, there was no airtime on the phone! So now I'm writing this post to complain about my day, but once I finish this I'm heading out with my friends Courtney and Derrick to grab a beer because today is a day that deserves a beer.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Practicum Plan
So practicum has officially begun, which is exciting but also scary. Now I no longer have classes, or any schedule for that matter for the next 6 weeks. That means its up to me to figure out what I'm doing and make sure I get in the required 180 hours of research! I'm excited to get out of Kampala, see more of Uganda, and have a little alone time! My plan for the practicum is as follows:
Week 1: Staying in Kampala with my homestay family, who refuses to let me pay to continue to stay with them. So I have to figure out some way of getting the money through SIT people to them. Considering the fact that they have 3 children who will be attending university next year, they need all the money they can get! Anyways, this week I'll hopefully (fingers crossed!) be attending a conference on displaced peoples of Africa where supposedly 12 heads of state will be attending. That will be tuesday and wednesday of this week. Then after that I plan on meeting with representatives from UNHCR and OPM (Office of the Prime Minister) to interview them about refugee resettlement.
Week 2: Hoima/Kyangwali. On Monday Oct. 26th I'll be heading to Hoima, which is in Northwestern Uganda. It'll be about a five hour drive, and I'll be taking the post bus! Its the safest bus in Uganda, but because it makes frequent stops, it takes longer to reach your destination. But I'd rather go slow than be robbed, so I don't mind. And I'm actually looking forward to it, I think it'll be an adventure! Once I reach Hoima I'll be picked up by a representative from Kyangwali refugee settlement who will take me to the settlement and to the Saint Patrick's Guesthouse that I'll be staying in. Luckily, the guesthouse is inside the settlement so I won't have to pay for transport everyday because I'll be right there!
Week 3: I haven't decided when I'll leave Kyangwali, but the word is that I won't need more than a week and a half to conduct my research. If I'm done early I'm considering heading North to Murchison Falls National Park to see some elephants and giraffes! Unfortunately, there is no public transport there, so my only options are to take a private hire (a private taxi) for 100,000 shillings= $50 or take a boda-boda (motorcycle) for around 10,000 shillings = $5 and hope we will not come across a buffalo on the journey there. I haven't decided if I want to go because the transport there will be difficult. But I'm waiting to make up my mind until I get to Hoima and ask around and see if I can arrange better transport. At the end of the week, I'll either head to my next destination directly, which means a six hour journey on a bad road, or I can head back to Kampala and then go west to Fort Portal.
Week 4: Fort Portal/Kyaka II. Fort Portal is in southwestern Uganda in the land of tea plantations. I haven't officially received clearance to do research at Kyaka II refugee settlement but its in the works. And I don't have accomadations set up either, which is annoying considering the fact that I'm a crazy perfectionist who likes to be organized and know where I'm going. But I have to remind myself daily that this is Africa, nothing goes as planned, and I'll figure it out when I need to. But hopefully if all goes well I'll do research for the same amount time as I did at Kyangwali, a week to a week and a half.
Week 5: Once I'm done at Kyaka II I'll head south to Kibale Forest National Park to see some chimpanzees! There are guided chimp tracking which costs $90...ouch, but its 95% guaranteed that you'll see the chimps and maybe get to play with them, so fun! They also do guided night walks for $25, much more my style, where you can see nocturnal monkeys. The place I'll be staying at, Safari Hotel, is a cheap family run hotel, with a famous....Pineapple Pie!!! Oh my god if nothing excites me more during my practicum, I think it might just be pineapple pie. I've been deprived of any good dessert here (besides ice cream, and brownie sundaes which are amazing) so I cannot wait to have me some pie!!!! I'll update you when I finally get to week 5 and have the pie, but it better be worth the trip!
Week 6: After eating pie I'll head back to Kampala for the last week of Practicum. I'll return to my homestay for the week and spend most of my time writing the 20-40 page practicum report due at the end of the week. On saturday I'll move back into Jeliza hotel, which is where the program began back in August and stay there for two nights with the rest of the group.
Week 7: On Monday we head to the Kingfisher Beach Resort in Jinja which is about 2 hours outside of Kampala. We'll spend most of the time doing practicum presentations, but I'm hoping to squeeze a few hours in one day to visit the Nile Brewery Factory to go on a tour and get some t-shirts to bring home! Then on sunday December 6 I head to the airport and come home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't wait, I'm already day-dreaming of the food I want delivered to me at the airport, so prepare yourself for a hefty order. I haven't narrowed it down yet, but I think I'm pretty set on a smoothie, maybe a bagel, and I'll figure out the rest in the coming weeks. I'll be landing around 1 pm on December 7 I don't know whose picking me up besides Melinda, well I haven't even confirmed if Melinda is coming, but she better be....
I hope to update you more as my practicum progressions. Wish me luck in navigating through the transportation, housing, and food issues I'll be encountering very soon.
Miss you all, can't wait to come home and share all my stories!
Mia
Week 1: Staying in Kampala with my homestay family, who refuses to let me pay to continue to stay with them. So I have to figure out some way of getting the money through SIT people to them. Considering the fact that they have 3 children who will be attending university next year, they need all the money they can get! Anyways, this week I'll hopefully (fingers crossed!) be attending a conference on displaced peoples of Africa where supposedly 12 heads of state will be attending. That will be tuesday and wednesday of this week. Then after that I plan on meeting with representatives from UNHCR and OPM (Office of the Prime Minister) to interview them about refugee resettlement.
Week 2: Hoima/Kyangwali. On Monday Oct. 26th I'll be heading to Hoima, which is in Northwestern Uganda. It'll be about a five hour drive, and I'll be taking the post bus! Its the safest bus in Uganda, but because it makes frequent stops, it takes longer to reach your destination. But I'd rather go slow than be robbed, so I don't mind. And I'm actually looking forward to it, I think it'll be an adventure! Once I reach Hoima I'll be picked up by a representative from Kyangwali refugee settlement who will take me to the settlement and to the Saint Patrick's Guesthouse that I'll be staying in. Luckily, the guesthouse is inside the settlement so I won't have to pay for transport everyday because I'll be right there!
Week 3: I haven't decided when I'll leave Kyangwali, but the word is that I won't need more than a week and a half to conduct my research. If I'm done early I'm considering heading North to Murchison Falls National Park to see some elephants and giraffes! Unfortunately, there is no public transport there, so my only options are to take a private hire (a private taxi) for 100,000 shillings= $50 or take a boda-boda (motorcycle) for around 10,000 shillings = $5 and hope we will not come across a buffalo on the journey there. I haven't decided if I want to go because the transport there will be difficult. But I'm waiting to make up my mind until I get to Hoima and ask around and see if I can arrange better transport. At the end of the week, I'll either head to my next destination directly, which means a six hour journey on a bad road, or I can head back to Kampala and then go west to Fort Portal.
Week 4: Fort Portal/Kyaka II. Fort Portal is in southwestern Uganda in the land of tea plantations. I haven't officially received clearance to do research at Kyaka II refugee settlement but its in the works. And I don't have accomadations set up either, which is annoying considering the fact that I'm a crazy perfectionist who likes to be organized and know where I'm going. But I have to remind myself daily that this is Africa, nothing goes as planned, and I'll figure it out when I need to. But hopefully if all goes well I'll do research for the same amount time as I did at Kyangwali, a week to a week and a half.
Week 5: Once I'm done at Kyaka II I'll head south to Kibale Forest National Park to see some chimpanzees! There are guided chimp tracking which costs $90...ouch, but its 95% guaranteed that you'll see the chimps and maybe get to play with them, so fun! They also do guided night walks for $25, much more my style, where you can see nocturnal monkeys. The place I'll be staying at, Safari Hotel, is a cheap family run hotel, with a famous....Pineapple Pie!!! Oh my god if nothing excites me more during my practicum, I think it might just be pineapple pie. I've been deprived of any good dessert here (besides ice cream, and brownie sundaes which are amazing) so I cannot wait to have me some pie!!!! I'll update you when I finally get to week 5 and have the pie, but it better be worth the trip!
Week 6: After eating pie I'll head back to Kampala for the last week of Practicum. I'll return to my homestay for the week and spend most of my time writing the 20-40 page practicum report due at the end of the week. On saturday I'll move back into Jeliza hotel, which is where the program began back in August and stay there for two nights with the rest of the group.
Week 7: On Monday we head to the Kingfisher Beach Resort in Jinja which is about 2 hours outside of Kampala. We'll spend most of the time doing practicum presentations, but I'm hoping to squeeze a few hours in one day to visit the Nile Brewery Factory to go on a tour and get some t-shirts to bring home! Then on sunday December 6 I head to the airport and come home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't wait, I'm already day-dreaming of the food I want delivered to me at the airport, so prepare yourself for a hefty order. I haven't narrowed it down yet, but I think I'm pretty set on a smoothie, maybe a bagel, and I'll figure out the rest in the coming weeks. I'll be landing around 1 pm on December 7 I don't know whose picking me up besides Melinda, well I haven't even confirmed if Melinda is coming, but she better be....
I hope to update you more as my practicum progressions. Wish me luck in navigating through the transportation, housing, and food issues I'll be encountering very soon.
Miss you all, can't wait to come home and share all my stories!
Mia
Saturday, October 10, 2009
3 minute post!!
Okay its taken 4 minutes to get this page to load so I have to write really fast because I only have 3 minutes left of internet! Let me give you the highlights from the rural homestay:
1. Stayed in a grass thatched hut with bats
2. Pit latrine was actually really clean, except for the flies that came flying out of it.
3. Family was really cool, even the cute kids who just stared at us.
4. The village was beautiful and the people so nice and welcoming!
5. Learned about the numerous challenges villagers and farmers face in a rural area and how the government has failed to support them.
Gotta go!
Mia
1. Stayed in a grass thatched hut with bats
2. Pit latrine was actually really clean, except for the flies that came flying out of it.
3. Family was really cool, even the cute kids who just stared at us.
4. The village was beautiful and the people so nice and welcoming!
5. Learned about the numerous challenges villagers and farmers face in a rural area and how the government has failed to support them.
Gotta go!
Mia
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