On Saturday I was with some relatives when a friend came by and asked what we would be doing this weekend. "Oh, just flying to Africa..." was my mental response. Now how often can one drop something so immense into a conversation? Or is it really that immense? Most people think that Africa is extremely dangerous, which makes my going seem surprising to many, but is it really that dangerous? How will this trip change me and my outlook on life? Hopefully this blog will tell the tale, at least for my experience in Entebbe, Uganda.
Today, Sunday, I finally head to Uganda. It is a strange feeling - I have no idea what to expect but something is drawing me there. What, I am not sure. All I know is that going feels right.
Today I realized that most of my concrete visualizations of Africa are negative. Extreme poverty and hence increased crime, crazy driving that will most likely give me ulcers, food poisoning, limitations on my freedom (no swimming in Lake Victoria, no walking barefoot, no late night strolls), numerous illnesses that are easy to contract and the fact that I have been told several times, even from my Ugandan employer, that I should trust no one. I suppose these negative things are all things that I am familiar with already. The positive, on the other hand, is quite hazy in my mind. There is a vague sense of amazing cultures and languages, landscape, smells, sounds and just a different way of being and experiencing the world. The mere fact that these are unimaginable for me must be why I need to go.
While the idea of being in Africa is dominating my thoughts right now, it should not overshadow the fact that I am actually there to do work, work I am very excited about despite the fact that I do not even really know what I will be doing. For the past year I have been working in academia, often holed-up on my own with a book and computer. Now I can finally do something more concrete, something where I can really see and feel how I am affecting the world. Since I know that I will be working with poor children and women, I packed t-shirts, pencil crayons and shawls for them before leaving Vancouver. Just the act of packing these gifts and knowing I could give someone a little something that they may genuinally appreciate made me inherently happy. And I imagine working with these people will be even better, especially as I think that I can learn a lot from them. I don't know what level of poverty I will be working with in Uganda, but I have often been told that being in Africa, let alone working with the poor, requires an extremely thick skin as I will be exposed to suffering and hopelessness that is unimaginable and can barely be felt through the images the media presents the West with. That does make me nervous but hopefully I will be able to perservere and try and make something out of the situation.
I feel like I am about to embark upon something very important. For much of the West, Africa is shrouded in misconceptions, mysticism, exoticism and romance. For me, during these next five months, these concepts will be broken, reaffirmed or transformed. But then again I am only going to one tiny spot on this vast continent, whatever that means for my view of Africa as a whole. And then there is the whole political correctness and contraversy surrounding Africa and development work as a non-African, but we won't get into that. At least not yet.
Nevertheless, wish me luck!
2 comments:
This is great! the best idea ever, your own blog!!.
I wish you luck, and every time I see an actualization in your blog I will send you good thoughts, besides those I will send you each time you pop up in my mind.
Hi ML! This is very exciting, you're finally off. I hope Germany went well. You shouldn't be that worried. You've always had the right attitude about Africa, and I'm sure you'll make the best of anything you encounter. I'll see what I can do about sending you some paper mail. Best of luck! You'll have a great time!
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