Today was the first day when I rode a boda boda (a
motorcycle)! It was definitely a thigh and ab workout. We went to visit the Buvule village for an obstetric fistula
meeting under a nice giant mango tree. Julius, a past UVP intern and an
experienced fistula coordinator, came and talked about OF in Uganda. To be
completely honest, prior to this internship, I had to look up obstetric
fistula. I think it’s just another reminder about this whole experience being one
huge lesson. The people that live in this village suffer from extreme poverty
and the consequences of it – poor health, sanitation and hygiene, and the
inability to escape from the poverty trap. It’s so visible in the young babies
of the children that come to watch the older boys play soccer. Many run around
in old clothes with numerous holes, but the small ones that sit and stare at us
constantly have these flies that surround their eyes, ears, and noses. There
are many more of these lessons that I must try to understand.
Around late morning, we came to learn that we were having
chicken for dinner! Yet it was tough to obtain the chicken. At first, the man
who sold it to us told us that the chicken had not come back home. But, as
dinner arrived, the cooks asked the children to chase it and bring it to us. A
few of my team members (Andrew and Kenzie) and I followed to meet the man and
saw the children chase it. Surprisingly, it only took 5 minutes! They were
master chicken chasers. Then during our usual football match in the front lawn,
one of the children, about 12 years old, came out with the chicken, a banana
leaf, and a small machete. It was time to cut. I watched the whole ordeal,
screaming and jumping the entire time. This was the first time I’ve ever seen a
chicken slaughtered so it was something I wanted to witness, but I was sad the
entire time. It makes me think about becoming vegetarian…. Hmm.
In other news, tomorrow is our first large community
meeting. We will be introducing ourselves, UVP, and what we will be doing this
summer. We wrote up a script and practiced it over dinner. Hopefully it will go
well. My Lusoga is getting better and better each day.