Raining Ants

            I woke up the other night at 3am to what I thought was another rainstorm.  It was not until I heard my neighbors excited shouting that I realized it was not raindrops pounding on my roof, but white ants.  My neighbors were all running outside with buckets in order to collect the white ants – a real treat here in Uganda.  When the rainy season begins, white ants come out and are attracted to light bulbs.  People run out to collect, roast, and eat them.  They are not actually white, but they get their name from their white wings.  I did not partake in the collection of the white ants, but instead, stayed hidden in my mosquito net and tried to fall back asleep.  I had to sweep up thousands of wings in my house and porch the next morning; confirmation once again that it was not a rainstorm.  My neighbor Betty invited me over for dinner the next day to try the white ants.  I know that these are a real delicacy, but I am not quite so sure how I feel about them.  They didn’t necessarily taste bad, but they did not look that tasty.  It was a crunchy, salty, meaty combo…and all I could think was “I’m eating ants.”  I, however, put on a smile and raved about how delicious they were.  Have a look for yourself…

            Last week while on a run, I met a man, Gowa, who asked me to check out his Community Health Center that he was starting in Namukalo Village.  Namukalo is in the Budaka District, and about a 15-minute bike ride from my house.  The students were taking midterm exams all weeks, so I didn’t have much going on.  I visited the Health Centre and talked with Gowa for a while about his plans and project proposal.  He started the health center because there are a total of 1,432 people infected with HIV/AIDS in Budaka.  Out of those 1,432 people, 160 adults and 375 children are infected within Namukalo Village.  The Gowa Aramanzan Community Health Center (G.A.C.H.C) was started in order to provide basic first aid to the community and HIV/AIDS education.  In addition, many of the households are poor and lack good nutrition, so he is working to provide the resources for small income generating projects.  I am going to be working with him at least once a week and help him get the center going.  I am going to help him with his budget and come up with ways to make the Center self-sustainable.  He told me that the reason that HIV/AIDS is spreading so rapidly in the village is because the men don’t believe in using condoms.  Hence, one of his top priorities is HIV/AIDS education, especially within the schools.  I think I need to introduce those condom slogans to the men of the village like “Don’t be silly, protect your willy” or “No glove, no love.”  I’m not sure how culturally appropriate they are, but I don’t really care – I want to smack some sense into these men. 

            I had a meeting with my counterpart and the head teachers of the 25 schools I will be working with.  My counterpart had each head teacher write down three expectations of a Peace Corps Volunteer.  I am glad that he did this because we were able to clear up some misconceptions at the very beginning.  While most of the expectations were legitimate, we did get a few that were a little out of my realm of work…

            I expect her to:

                        1. Take me to her land and give me a tour.

                        2. Improve our standard of living

                        3. Feed our students

                        4. Find American friends for all of the students

5. Build us new classrooms

            Thankfully my counterpart made it clear that I am here as a teacher, and just because I am an American, it does not mean I have an endless supply of money. 

            Power has been sporadic for the past week, and I have not had power for the past two days!  I am currently in Mbale charging all of my electronics, as well as the cellphones of eight teachers.  Cross your fingers for me that our power comes back soon…

The church next to my school

This is one way of carrying eggs...

My sitting room - I rearranged the furniture and put up photos

My gourmet kitchen

I have the best parents and sister!!  Willysha enjoying the goodies of my 4 care packages

My whale kiddie pool!  I stand in this to bathe...no joke.  Now water doesn't get everywhere :)

The road to my school

My best friend Kiera is doing an internship in Kampala.  She spent the weekend with me, and this is us making chapatti pizza.  Gourmet cooks like our moms!