Uganda: Safety, Food and Short Calls

At the entrance of Lweza

Our first few days in country were spent at Lweza Training & Conference Center in Entebbe. The pace was slow as we were all recovering from jet lag. We met Shirley, who was our training director, Irene, who was responsible for teaching us about Ugandan culture, and Ruth, who was acting as the safety and security director at that time.

Safety
The safety and security session was the most memorable, but then again most scarring events usually are. Seriously, by the time this session was finished, I was convinced I would never travel anywhere within country during the course of my stay.

They had a current volunteer come and talk to us, and much of her discussion was about riding matatus (passenger vans that are used as taxis). Don’t give them your bag.  Don’t get in until you confirm where they are going. Don’t pay them until you arrive. It might be a good idea to copy down the license number before you get in, and my favorite piece of advice … don’t get into an otherwise empty vehicle with someone you don’t know because of the “human sacrifice problem.” WHAT??? Um, we’re new to this country…everyone is a stranger!

During that training session I also became frightened of walking down the street because it was likely someone would try to steal my bag. I also discovered riding motorcycles was strictly prohibited because so many people are killed or injured from motorcycle accidents in Uganda there is an entire ward devoted to accident victims in the hospital. My means of getting around were looking pretty limited at this point. I later found out that I was not the only volunteer terrified by this session, and I believe they have modified it since our group’s induction.

Shots and Language
During our time at Lweza we met our program directors (APCD). My program director’s name was Jolie. She served as a volunteer in Togo. When we met, she was very relaxed and asked things about our trip there, how things were going so far, how my family felt about me coming to Uganda, and what I was interested in doing regarding my assignment.

We also met with our medical officers who reviewed our files with us, and gave us our malaria prophylaxis. I was really surprised because I thought I would have to get tons of shots before I left for Uganda, but instead we received shots throughout our pre-service training.

We also started our Luganda language training during our time at Lweza. We divided into groups, and my group was led by Irene the cultural trainer. I was really nervous before leaving for Uganda regarding learning a new language. I had taken a little French and a little Spanish in school, and had mastered neither of them. We were given access to some basic training materials online before leaving, but I had not memorized anything yet. I found that most of the volunteers shared the same concerns regarding language.

Volunteers on the grounds at Lweza

The Food
Besides getting inducted to our training, and our culture, we also were introduced to Ugandan cuisine during these first few days. My friends had rightfully made fun of me before leaving for Uganda because one of the main crops in Uganda is bananas, and I HATE bananas. Ugandans pick them while they are still green, boil them, and mash them. They cover the pot with banana leaves while it cooks. The result is a golden mashed food they call matoke. I tried matoke once. I did not hate it, but it definitely is not at the top of my list.

Other popular dishes here are rice and beans, posho (which is a starchy food made out of maize and cassava flour), millet bread, several different types of greens, roasted pumpkin, cabbage, fish, goat, beef, pork, chicken, and my favorite, chapatti, which is a flat bread fried and sometimes served rolled with an egg, and called a rolex.

My favorite time of the day is tea time. During training we had breakfast, morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea, and dinner. The tea consisted of your option of regular black tea, African tea that was made with milk and a little spicy, coffee, and Cadbury drinking chocolate. This was accompanied by mandazi (fried dough), doughnuts, samosas (small triangular shaped crust filled with either a vegetable mixture or meat mixture and fried), or g-nuts (same thing as peanuts). It was delicious, and I’m convinced if I wasn’t sick so much during my time at training I’d weigh 200 pounds by now. 

Short Calls
After a few days in Entebbe, it was time to be transported to Wakiso town.  Wakiso is where we would be living with host families for the next 10 weeks during training.  If there was anything I feared as much or more than learning a new language, it was the prospect of being a house guest for the next 10 weeks. I am a very private person by nature, and while part of me looked forward to connecting with a local family, the other part of me dreaded having to share living space with strangers for so long.

On our way to Wakiso, we were going to make a quick stop in the Ugandan capitol of Kampala to do some quick shopping. We were told we all needed to buy a little bucket. Why do we need a little bucket? It is in case you need to make a short call at night. Short call? Apparently it would pose a risk to our host families to go outside in the middle of the night to use the restroom, so the bucket was for us to go in during the night. Again I found myself wondering … what have I gotten myself into?

Tune in next time to read about pre-service training and life with a host family.

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