Camp BUILD

After our last training, it was school holiday for almost a month before the next term began. Therefore, I had a fantastic month of fun planned out for myself and a bunch of other volunteers, using the time to see more of Uganda and get to know it a little better. I began by being a counselor at a weeklong leadership and development camp for boys in Gulu, northern Uganda. As education volunteers, we had been psyched up about these camps since we arrived in country, so I was very excited to finally be working at one and to be in charge of a group of teenage boys…just like Hillcroft back in the states! The only thing I knew to expect was feeling exhausted, but I got so much more out of it.

Just like any camp, it started a bit slow as we all got used to each other and the routine. At first the boys were very quiet and not sure how to respond to us muzungus with so much energy, but eventually they started getting really excited and the atmosphere was just electric. More than anything we were continuously learning about each other and our cultures. Of course there were various life skills sessions and team building exercises which were great for inspiring the kids to take the lessons home and develop their schools or communities; it was basically taking what Peace Corps is in Uganda for and cramming it into a week. We even went to a ropes course that was built by an NGO in the area. The thing about Gulu and the north is that is where Kony and the LRA swept through about a decade ago, so many of our kids were either taken by the army at some point or had family members killed by it. Therefore, there were a lot of deep routed feelings and beliefs that came to the surface. Nowhere did this become more apparent than during Gender Equality day when the girls came over from their leadership camp to discuss gender roles and issues in Uganda. Now I don’t know whether it was the presence of girls, the suddenly larger groups with more male peers, or the issues themselves but I saw a lot of previously open minded and modern boys become very traditional and close minded in their thinking and speaking. These were teenagers after all and had tons of ego and pride to stick to, but I had a feeling I was learning a lot more about cultural norms and development than I had anticipated. Some of the boys were on board for total gender equality: whatever boys can do so can girls and vice versa. However, most boys had a few sticking points that they just would not budge from. Here are some examples of the norms we uncovered: men head the household, do serious manual labor like digging a pit latrine, and are the ones to ask a girl over/to marry; women do the cooking, cleaning, taking care of children, must kneel when greeting, and can’t ride motorcycles and most certainly cannot wear pants (the reason given is because it shows their figure and men don’t want to have to control themselves). There was also some contention over who can have the money, although now a days there are a lot of women in the workforce and in positions of power so they do have rights to money management, but rarely to property. Fortunately a lot of the talk turned towards more of an equality and human rights agenda and I am proud to say a lot of the girls spoke up on behalf of their own rights, especially over the wearing of pants. We even had some great conversations about getting rid of the marriage rights which ask men to provide a dowry, essentially buying their women, because it creates an image of ownership.

What I took away from this experience was that culture and social norms run very deep and to try and move into a country as a foreigner and change certain aspects because my society has gone “past” them, seeing them as out of fashion, is ridiculous. It took American centuries to see African Americans as people and to allow women to vote. I also had to remind myself that I come with a particularly modern and liberal perspective, so going into a very conservative culture is bound to spark some feelings that I deeply have. But if someone were to come into America, coming from a position of trying to develop America, and told me that women couldn’t vote and gay marriage was evil I think I would have something to say about it. Therefore, I have gained a lot more patience and humbled myself. I am not here to change the culture or social beliefs, I am not even here to develop. I am simply here to give the people here an idea of what American culture is like, help them with basic skills that can enrich their lives (reading, writing, income generating, and health issues), and maybe inspire a few to have enough confidence that if there is something to change, they will be the ones to do it one day.

I also learned, after hearing an inspiring story, that life here is really hard and I really need to take a break and relax a bit. Of course things move slowly here, it takes so much to make a good life here. Short of inheriting money, the only ways to make a solid living is by attaining a high level of education or starting your own business. Both are very risky. After primary school, school fees become very high and if you want a good school you go private, which has even higher fees. University is extremely expensive and the job market upon completing university is extremely small and cannot accommodate everyone who goes. On the business end, one needs to save a lot for startup capital and there is no guarantee it will be successful. This one gentleman worked non-stop for a few years, not even eating more than once a day and only sleeping a couple hours, just so he could save money to create a good business. So yea, there isn’t any of that work hard and you will succeed, snap your fingers and it happens stuff. These are good lessons for me to learn!