June 6th-June 13th, 2015
We spent the weekend in Kagadi at the URDT main campus.

On Saturday morning, we attended a debate between two of the senior classes. The debate topic was whether or not Museveni should be given another term as the President of Uganda. This president, Museveni, has been in the presidential role for 27 years. After the previous debate, on May 30th, we gave the speakers advice on how to present arguments in a more convincing and professional manner. This week, we were able to see a slight improvement in formality, but the vast majority of arguments on both sides of the issue were still not convincing nor fact-driven. Most arguments were opinions with no evidence to support their motion. We gave more advice for next week’s debaters to consider, such as projecting your voice, as the speaker, and not holding side conversations, as a member of the audience.

The next day, we held a counselling session on Life Skills with Senior classes 1-3, equivalent to the USA 7th, 8th, and 9th grade. We started the session with two rounds of Telephone. The concept is simple. Everyone gathers into a circle. One person starts the game by whispering a sentence to her neighbor. The neighbor whispers the sentence she heard to the next neighbor in the circle. This continues until the whispered sentence travels all the way around the circle and back to the initial whisperer. For example, one round started with “I love you and that is why I stay near you”, which turned in to “I can’t sleep at night because of you.” This exercise helps to illustrate the importance of clear communication and active listening. We also discussed other Life Skills, such a knowing your character and the character of the people you work with, adapting to a new environment, decision-making, creating a pros and cons list, thinking outside the box, creative thinking, and expanding your comfort zone.
While not working with the girls on the weekend, we enjoyed leisure time on campus playing volleyball and off campus walking through the markets or chilling with our favorite shop owner, Don.

We each had interesting discussions with various community members. Mike talked to a URDT institute student about the education system of the USA, the Affordable Care Act, and the HIV prevalence in the States. Tanna spoke with a boda driver who previously worked as a bodyguard in Iraq. We have also talked about various “little technologies” we might help bring to our host parents, such a charcoal-powered refrigerator, a new landscape design for the front of our compound, a solar-powered light for the kitchen, a fix for the leaky water tank, and a design/marketing strategy for Taata’s (Daddy’s) future ecotourism cottages.
During the week, we installed a PVC water collection gutter system, plastered the tank interior, and bound the metal mesh for the top of our water tank.

On Monday, little to Kate’s knowledge, we received a secret text from Kate’s mother. The text asked us to throw her a birthday party. And so, the conspiracy began. Catherine prodded Kate with questions over the next couple of days regarding preferences of food. Catherine planned a birthday celebration at Kanyawanmyaga with a cake big enough to share with all the students. Karungi Mary, Kate’s favorite teacher, planned a whole itinerary for the celebration, including an introduction, prayer, singing Happy Birthday, blowing out crazy sparkler candles, serving the cake to dozens of fanatical children, and precious gift giving with beautifully written letters inside. Kate exclaimed, “This was my best birthday ever!”

The next day, we took time off from work to attend cultural events. Mike went to a local deity’s 85th birthday celebration and the rest of us attended a king’s coronation anniversary in Hoima. The local diety’s name is Owobusobozi Bisaka and he heads the Faith of Unity. He has around 2 million followers across Uganda and several members in the neighboring countries. Bisaka has plenty of power in Ugandan politics, with support for the President Museveni and other high level politicians. His birthday celebration looks like a wedding ceremony full of arches and a walkway adorned in white fabric and yellow-gold flowers and ribbons. We were required to walk barefoot. Many followers dressed in basic white tunics. New followers raised their holy book above their head for all to see. Check out this youtube link of the birthday. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGHWkctq2Zs There was traditional dancing along with hymn, written by Bisaka. There were thousands of followers present at the celebration. Mike attended with our host mother, who is a leader in the local house of worship. Because of his skin color, Mike was plucked from the crowd and placed in the VIP section with all of the local celebrities and politicians, including a representative of Museveni and several Members of Parliament. Because of his seating, Mike was allowed to kneel before Bisaka and shake his hand, a great honor for the followers of the Faith of Unity. Meanwhile, the other three interns attended the 21st Coronation Anniversary of the Bunyoro Omukama (King), Solomon Gafabusa Iguru I. The celebrations included tradional song and dance, along with contemporary acts. Most likely because of our skin color or possibly our work with URDT, we sat in the front row to view the King. At one point, a news crew approached Tanna and Kate to express their opinion of the events. Next, they were prodded to learn and perform a traditional dance on television. All considered, this day was incredible!

This post written by Mike McCord.