She's Perfect!

If I hadn't already had a lesbian crush on Natalie Portman, this would have done it...

Natalie has travelled at least twice to Uganda to support FINCA, a microfinancing organization aimed to empower women.  Natalie is totally the ultra-ego of me, there are very few people I'd trade my life for, and she's definitely one, although I do really like to eat meat...

Check out this video of her talking about FINCA, among other things:



Also, check out this really good article on celebrities and philanthropy that mentions Portman.

I'm off to Asia tomorrow (first Hong Kong and then Thailand!)  Hopefully I'll be able to post from abroad!  Much Love!

Seriously, Damn.

My heart aches for Uganda. I just hope that the Ugandan army makes some quick and decisive moves against Kony and gets the bastard. Or I guess they could follow this well thought out analysis and plan.

On a positive note, I don't remember if I ever posted this article about my dear friend, Abramz, in Uganda and the work he's doing there. You know, I might have mentioned a Break Dance Project in Uganda once or twice on this blog...

He's still doing amazing work in Uganda and has been getting a lot of support from different organizations. Although he didn't get selected for CNN Heroes (which I nominated him for) he's undoubtedly a hero and inspiration to many, myself unabashedly included.

Too Passionate?

I've often been accused of being too passionate (usually by my mother). Usually my response is that there is no such thing as Too much passion. But can you have too Many passions? As a person who tries to fit in a ridiculous amount of life in as little amount of time as possible (I always used to think that I'd die young, after all), I've always been kind of intense. But it does sadden me when one passion begins to take over the rest of my life, such as my job as a social worker has right now. Sure I'm passionate about helping people, but when I come home too exhausted (or too late!) to write then I begin to wonder how can I loyally pursue both passions? Maybe I can't? Or maybe I can only do one at a time? Still figuring out the kinks in that one.

Either way, my loyal updates on the situation in Uganda has been slipping as well, although I have been keeping up on my own. In a huge disappointment, Kony did not show up to sign the hard worked upon peace agreement. The article I linked outlined where Uganda stands now and what the next steps could be for this country that hasn't seen peace for over 20 years. It is my hope that somehow in the next couple years I can become a part of this rebuilding process for Uganda.

Reaching For Peace.

As the Juba Peace Talks complete themselves and the peace agreement is waiting to be officially signed (despite mysterious postponements by the LRA), I ponder peace and happiness.

I've often reached for happiness in many different ways, my first addiction in books. Then came music, TV, friends, partying, etc. But after I learned happiness is more mercurial than that, I began to search for it in other people, in my career, in life circumstances. If only I had that perfect job, or that perfect dog, or that perfect house, or that perfect baby.

But now I feel as if I'm progressing to a new level of understanding of happiness. Real happiness at least, not just the immediate gratification pleasure happiness that our culture is so addicted to now-a-days. Happiness is that funny and kind note from a friend. Happiness is finishing a good book having learned something about yourself and life (I guess I kept that one from childhood). Happiness is a comfortable silence with a loved one. Happiness is learning something new. In short, happiness is a myriad of things bound together by one force... me. It isn't one Ultimate thing, but a million little things that make me happy. Maybe I'll never write that perfect novel, perhaps I'll never find that perfect job, but that doesn't mean I can't be happy and it doesn't mean that I failed in any way. This is perhaps one of the harder things for my overly ambitious mind to accept.

What is happiness to you?

One Mango Tree.

I've been meaning to blog about this great project, One Mango Tree, for a while.  What's truly amazing about it for me personally is that I know the great girls behind this project because they're from the amazing group that I visited Uganda with!  The project is to empower the women of Northern Uganda and I couldn't think of two better people to facilitate this project than Halle (the US Coordinator) and Kate (the Uganda Coordinator).  And the products being sold are just awesome!  I know I have a bunch of purses and skirts that I'd had made in Uganda while I was there and I just love them and it's so great that now you can get these unique and beautiful items online!  I'm about to buy me a yoga bag!  You can read a lot more about the coordinators and the Ugandan women creating these products on the website, One Mango Tree.  To read an interview of one of the Coordinators, check out this link.  

And please, go online and buy buy buy!  Your money couldn't be going to a greater cause.

You'll be empowering women and helping people who have truly been through atrocious times.  

And plus, the stuff is sooo cute!  Great gift items too!  Isn't Valentine's Day coming up?

That's My Boy!

I'm mostly posting this for the last two/three minutes of the video where my boy does a rap for the environment, but it actually is a really great and educational video and well worth your time:

I'm so proud of my boy Abramz, he's saving the world in just Sooo many ways! He rocks! He's currently tops on my list for living heroes.

Women And Peace.

Involving women in the peace building process of any country recovering from war has been an interest of mine for a couple of years now, since I started to more seriously research the psychological effects of war on children. This interest was further explored by me during my trip to Uganda, where it was often a topic of discussion as the Juba Peace Talks were beginning their long journey to which the finish is still not in sight. This is a topic that I would like to further explore eventually through my work and definitely through keeping up on readings, which brought this speech to my attention. Presented by Donald Steinberg, Vice President, International Crisis Group, to UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations Townhall Meeting on December 6, 2007, this speech is called "Beyond Victimhood: Involving Women in Peace Operations."

The first sentence that caught my attention was: It took me only a few weeks after my arrival in Luanda to realise that a peace agreement that is “gender-neutral” is, by definition, discriminatory against women. This sentence struck me because it just highlights how patriarchal most countries and cultures still are. Steinberg goes on to discuss how he discovered this fact when councils and meetings that were open to both sexes ended up being attended only by men. The reasons why this was so were not explicitly explored by Steinberg, but it's easy to give the reasons if you've have any knowledge on cultural structures in Africa. Most women are expected to care for the children and run the family. Leaving the home for any reason is often strictly forbidden, as in many countries women are not even allowed to work. To leave the family to attend a meeting is completely out of the question for many women, and so in making the peace agreement what Steinberg considered "gender-neutral" (because there were no genders identified in the document) was actually not gender-neutral because it was written by men and in the context of a man's world. Men attend meetings away from home, at least in the cultures we're speaking of, not often women. In order to be completely inclusive of both sexes, keeping women's lifestyles and responsibilities in mind mind is essential. Instead of having a town-hall-type-meeting, could they instead go into the villages and take the effort to walk from home to home to discuss the issues with the women? Maybe even have small gatherings at a couple of different homes where the women can bring their children. These are the considerations necessary in a world that is still rigidly defined by gender roles.

The next sentence that I was jumping out of my chair saying, "Yes! Yes! Why didn't I think of putting it that way?" was: Given the prominence of sexual abuse during the conflict, including rape as a weapon of war, amnesties meant that men with guns forgave other men with guns for crimes committed against women. I seriously got goosebumps with that sentence because it's something that happens in so many post-conflict situations and is a serious injustice to the Actual victims of the wars. Women and children are used as weapons in many wars, through rape or use of child soldiers, and yet they are ignored in the peace building processes. It's infuriating at the very least and completely unjust.

Steinberg outlines the current challenges facing women in the peace building process as:

• Courageous and talented women trying to help build peace around the world still face discrimination in legal, cultural and traditional practices.
• We have been unable to expand the scale of outstanding conflict resolution done by women’s organisations at local levels and extend them writ large throughout their countries.
• Sexual violence and threats against women in power impose a stigma of victimisation and a real danger that makes even the most impressive and courageous women think twice before stepping forward.
• Men leading peace conferences still exclude women or shunt them off to ante-rooms while “real” negotiations take place.

Steinberg outlines some good issues that are keeping women sidelined in many peace building processes, and he continues the article by offering some proposals on how to further correct this problem. Some of the proposals are more vague than others, but I particularly liked the one about rebuilding social structures of particular importance to women, because if you know anything about women in many high conflict areas is that they do not care about social change if they can't feed and take care of their children. Helping women meet their basic needs gives them the freedom to join the more social causes and the peace building process.

Overall I felt that Steinberg made some strong points about involving women in the peace building process. I wished the article went more in depth, but any focus or discussion on this topic is strongly encouraged and appreciated by me! Focusing on women's special needs in post-conflict nations is still a fairly young concept that is gaining more traction as of late and something that someday I hope to contribute to.

I'll leave you with a quote that one of my co-workers shared with me today... now she shared it with me verbally so she wasn't even sure she got it right and she couldn't remember who said it, so it might be slightly off, but you'll get the point (by the way, if you know the complete quote or who said it, please leave a comment with the info):

If we raised our children we wouldn't have to heal our adults.

The Otti Files.

So is he dead or isn't he? The controversy continues as Joseph Kony and the LRA adamantly deny that former deputy to Kony, Vincent Otti, is dead. Instead, they say that he has cholera, but I say former deputy because Kony has appointed a new deputy. Hmm, why appoint a new deputy if the current one is still alive? And the new deputy? The honorable Okot Odhiambo who is said to have commanded the LRA massacre in Barlonyo IDP camp in Lira district in February 2004, where over 300 people were burnt, shot and hacked to death. He also reportedly coordinated raids on civilians in Kitgum in March 2005. The New Vision

And why does this sound like a really bad idea to me? 450 people are to visit Kony in his secret hideout to consult with him and share their point of view. Yeah, okay, so this could turn out to be a good thing, no doubt, but I give a lot of props to those people who have been terrorized by the LRA for all these years to go into his secret camp to talk to him in order to build the trust for the peace talks. Me, personally? That'd scare the shit out of me.

And this is never good to hear... actually, I'm glad my mom doesn't read my blog much (if at all) because if she read this she'd never let me go out of the country for humanitarian work again. When I told her I wanted to goto Africa last year she hung up the phone on me. I can't even imagine what she'd have done if she'd read this article first. Lock me in her basement?

A BRIEF NOTE ABOUT NORTHERN UGANDA.

With his permission, I'm posting a speech that Jimmy Otim was asked to give on Northern Uganda. Jimmy was one of the amazing persons I met while in Uganda who was actively working in his community of Gulu (where much of the war has taken place) to help the people affected by the war. I'm posting his speech word for word as he emailed it to me and posting his contact information at the end per Jimmy's request. Please feel free to contact him with any questions or to see how you can help! I know I found his words powerful and moving, I hope you will too.

A BRIEF NOTE ABOUT NORTHERN UGANDA

I am Jimmy Otim, a writer and a researcher who has worked for several humanitarian organisations trying to quell the violence in northern Uganda, my native country.

I was born, grew up and now working in northern Uganda trying to make a contribution to the lives of the innocent civilian population living in the internally displaced people’s camps in this beautiful but trouble land.

As a background, the 21 year old conflict in northern Uganda could be rated as one of the worst areas of human right violations in the world history with over 300,000 people dead in Acholi sub region alone, 1.6 million displaced and living in squalid conditions and over 30,000 abductions recorded so far. The conflict has caused unspeakable suffering to the people of northern Uganda where civilians have become the principle strategic targets and victims of violence, a field upon which the conflict is fought and through which victory is sought. The conflict has interrupted the functions of every institution and left the region in ruins.

Unfortunately, many people are unconcerned about the war in northern Uganda. This attitude of many was captured by many utterances like “these people are fighting themselves”. Yes the war in northern Uganda is seen as a thing which should not concern us and unfortunately it also evokes sad memories of their own kind in many people’s mind.

My messages depart from other usual academic or political statements by individuals who always wish to theorised or win political support. It should provoke practical debate among the pundits of our time with the hope that many generations to come will not only live in peace and prosperous world. But a world with international concern which we currently lack. My message focuses on not who is wrong or right. It’s about people’s right to a decent life unmolested by the guns of war. In a sense, it is about whether we as people of the world have any human compassion left in us or whether we shall continue living like animals uncaring about the sanctity of life.

I personally believe that what is happening in northern Uganda is not our own fault. We are victims of selfish interests and in that sense everybody is guilty – our own communities as well as the international community. Sadly this tragedy going on in northern Uganda is behind the glare of the world.

I see northern Uganda being slowly transformed into a wilderness, I hear the approaching thunder that, one day, will destroy us too, and I feel the suffering of millions. And yet, when I look up the sky, I somehow feel that everything will change for the better that this cruelty too shall end, that peace and tranquillity will return once more.

In the meantime, I must hold on to my ideals. Perhaps the day will come when we will be able to realise them.

Together we can all do something to change the situation; how can we help?

Advocate for the people in northern Uganda (victims)
Stimulate dialogue
Provide technical assistance
Facilitate access to resources
Join the network
Support the Victims
Or at least pray

MR JIMMY OTIM
P O BOX 1177,
GULU, UGANDA
EAST AFRICA
TEL : +256782366380
EMAIL : otimjimmy@yahoo.co.uk

Uganda Updates.

I know it's been a while since I've updated you all on the Juba Peace Talks and the current situation in Uganda. I'm finally getting back into the swing of things with my life, working out regularly, reading more, and blogging again! So I thought I'd throw up some good Uganda links, some might be a couple of months old, but still extremely informative and sometimes shocking. As many times I hear the stories of mutilation and abuse put onto these children by the LRA it never ceases to shock me to read another. I truly hope it never ceases to shock and disgust me.

The Price of Peace in Uganda
A great article combining the heartbreaking atrocities committed by the LRA as well as informative updates on the progress of the Juba Peace Talks. I'll pull some of the most striking parts of the article to me, but please read all of it as it was extremely well written and informative.

A young woman I met had been abducted by the LRA along with other members of her village. She calmly described their first night's "welcoming meal," in which one of the villagers was killed and the rest forced to eat him, to instill a proper fear.

* * *

The final obstacle to a peace treaty is likely to be the treatment of Kony himself, who fears the justice he deserves. Kony is under indictment by the International Criminal Court, and he particularly dreads judgment in The Hague. Securing his surrender may involve a Ugandan promise of house arrest or exile to a country not party to the ICC -- the traditional tyrant's bribe.

Like Idi Amin in his Saudi exile, Kony may live for many years and die in comfort. This would not be justice. But many of his victims seem to prefer peace to a grand reckoning. And at least Kony's immense darkness would finally be confined to his own heart.

A blog called Return to Uganda focuses on the trials of children coping with war in Uganda. It's very personal, knowledgeable and focused on the issues surrounding the children affected by this war, which happens to be the longest war in Africa right now (21 years).

A great overview of all the issues surrounding justice and reconciliation in Uganda, as well as other issues such as IDP Camps and land rights.

The aftereffects of Kony's mutilations continue to hurt his victims... but the Ugandan government intends to help. An interesting and sad article on what the government intends to do to help all the maimed and mutilated victims of Kony's army.

While this article is about the Congo, being a neighbor to Uganda and having the worst rape epidemic of the world right now, I felt the need to post this. These crimes against women and children need more attention as they are a vast human rights violation. It's disturbing to think of these women and children being attacked, brutalized and violated as I sit comfy in my bed typing this. Ages of rape victims range from 3 years old to 75 years old.

To be lucky in life bears the responsibility to help the unlucky.

If You Didn't Already Want To...

...then this article will make you want to read What Is the What by Dave Eggers.

If not for this reason alone:

We both agreed that I would not be paid for the work, and that any and all proceeds from the book would be his to use or distribute however he saw fit. He knew immediately that he would send most of the funds home to his village of Marial Bai, to build a school, a library, a community centre, and any number of other facilities.

Deadly Prison Sentence

Why does China have to be so creepy? Why?!?!

How Can You Help If You Don't LOOK?

One of my biggest pet peeves is when proclaimed animal lovers refuse to watch Animal Planet's Animal Precinct or when people who adore children don't want to talk about child sexual abuse. I say bullshit. If you care so much about animals and/or children then you need to actually SEE the abuse that they are forced to endure in order to help them at all. You can't truly help someone unless you understand what is happening to them. I will force myself to see things that make me want to puke, but it's because I want to help and I know that no matter how hard it is for me to see what they've gone through, I'm not going through it so I'd be quite the shallow bitch to complain or say I can't handle it. It's been with this attitude that I've gotten through some Rape Crisis calls with a woman covered in blood, or with a mentally retarded child. I've always made a promise to myself and to the women and the children of this world who are in pain that I will never turn away and I will always try to shine a light in the dark places of this world that nobody wants to look at.

It is with this in mind that I was quite distressed when I read this on The Smoking Gun. It's a report talking about how a new Dakota Fanning (who I love) movie Hounddog isn't finding any buyers at the Sundance Film Festival. And why? Because the movie depicts a rape scene of a young girl. You can read the script of the rape here, and it's very clear that it doesn't show any indecent shots of young Fanning, yet people are still balking at the thought of a rape of a young girl being shown. As Smoking Gun says, yes, it is a very disturbing script and it is probably even more disturbing to watch, but the fact also is that it is Reality! Girls are raped more often than our country wants to admit and to shun a movie that accurately depicts this is a travesty and just absolutely disgusting to me. No, it would not be an easy scene to watch, but that's the point. It's supposed to evoke horror and disgust from you, and hopefully then you might be moved enough to do something about it or at the very least be more aware for your own children's safety.

The film industry has disappointed me by their cowardness.

Speaking of ignoring the abuse of women and children, more abuses by the Janjawid.

The Right To Play

I wanted to provide some links to the blog of my amazing partner who is working with me on the Breakdance Uganda Project that I've already talked so much about to you all. Katie is still in Uganda working on multiple projects and as one of her projects she's been working with Abramz to get his Breakdance Uganda Project ready to receive our funds which I'm sure you'll all be donating to once we get everything set up for it, right?

Please check out a post Katie has written about watching Abramz's Breakdance classes, which I was unfortunately never able to attend. I truly am devastated that I wasn't able to see one.

Also, make sure to read this very moving post about spending a night in a Night Commuter Center, which I was able to visit while I was in Gulu, but didn't spend the night in. When I went the peace talks were still in progress and so there were fewer kids there then there are now. Since the peace talks are stalled the number of children night commuting has risen once again.

Katie truly is an inspiration and on the trip she was our Mama Katie! She has reminded me through her thoughtful and intelligent posts that, as some of the children told her, "As a child, it is my right to play." And it is, and we should never ever forget that.

Darfur and Technology

I wanted to point your attention to the deteriorating conditions in Darfur, Sudan. Despite a promised cease-fire, Sudan has been attacking aid workers.

As Newsweek reported, at least four female aid workers have been beaten and sexually abused recently — raped in the case of two French women.

In addition, an aid worker in Sudan tells me that on Jan. 22 the police raided a party in the city of Nyala and arrested 22 employees of aid groups. Several were beaten and one woman was sexually abused but managed to fend off an attempted rape.

Broader security is also collapsing. On a road near Bulbul that used to be safe, gunmen stopped a public bus in the middle of the day and brutally beat the men and gang-raped the women for hours. In the face of all this, aid workers are jittery and some are pulling out.

Yet Europe is oblivious (the Davos conference here has great sessions on Africa but nothing on Darfur). President Bush has been better than most world leaders, but still pathetic: he mustered half a sentence in his State of the Union address. Perhaps this is because Mr. Bush regards the situation as tragic but hopeless, but in fact there is plenty he could do.

He could speak out forcefully about Darfur. He could bring victims to the White House for a photo op. He could help the U.N. send a force to protect Chad and the Central African Republic — while continuing to push for U.N. peacekeepers in Darfur itself. He could visit Darfur or Chad and invite European or Chinese officials to join him. He could invite African leaders to Washington for a summit meeting that would include discussion of Darfur. He could impose a no-fly zone. He could develop targeted sanctions against Sudanese leaders. He could begin forensic accounting to find assets of those leaders in Western countries. He could call on NATO and the Pentagon to prepare contingency plans in case the janjaweed start massacring the hundreds of thousands of Darfuris in camps.

And this weekend he could telephone a few African presidents to tell them what a catastrophe it would be if Africa chose Mr. Bashir as its leader.

- Nick Kristof (at Coalition for Darfur)

Thanks to Mick Hartley for keeping up on the situation. Read more on Mick's blog here and here.

On another note, here is a really great post on using technology with development projects.

Consider technologies like Wimax, an easy to deploy broadband wireless technology, that can cover large geographical areas – up to 50km – at fast speeds, up to 72mps. Wimax is perfect for peri-urban and more rural areas. It could help Government bring new services to the recovering North and facilitate trade. In June 2006, the roll-out of Uganda’s Wimax network began. Can Government, the donors and the private sector help finish the job and make a wired Northern Uganda a reality?

Think about new low-cost solutions like Motorola’s Motofone, a no frills cellphone designed just for the rural market. The unit is dust-proof, uses voice prompts to local languages, has extended battery life, and is affordable. Especially given the difficulty of travel and land-line communication, opening up a strong cell market in places like Northern Uganda would seem to make sense, lowering the costs of doing business, and helping provide security and reliability to potential investors. Can Uganda jump start this market?

Or, how about the highly anticipated $100 laptop that is already proposed for Emerging Markets like Brazil, Nigeria and Rwanda? Current plans call for the distribution up to 15 million of the devices in 2007, which feature full-color, a 500MHz processor, and wireless broadband capabilities. Will Government and the aid agencies help bring the tools of the wired world to Gulu?

- Andy's Global View

Thanks to Jack Fruity for bringing me to this really innovative and creative article about working in development in countries that currently have little access to technology.

Update: Please check out this great post on an extremely innovative solution to a large problem that have been plaguing Sudanese refugees. Thank you Elizabeth!

Uganda, Day 1: Arrival Into The Country

It was with no expectations and an unusual calm that I landed in Uganda. After an exhausting day of travel, I couldn't even wrap my brain around any thoughts of what Uganda was going to be like. I wasn't naive enough to buy into all the Africa stereotypes of wild animals running around all over the place, as if just being in Africa was a wild safari ride nor any of the other common stereotypes that people often have of Africa. Many people I know in the States were surprised that there were colleges in Uganda as if every country in Africa was still 100 years behind the world. One topic that quickly got brought up within our group was what people at home thought of Africa. One great example is when I was asked by a co-worker (I'll kindly refine from pointing out any more specifics of this co-worker that would reveal his identity) where I went and I responded that I went to Uganda, his face scrunched up in thought and he asked, without any shame, "Wait, is that like in South America or Africa or something?" Of course I responded politely that it was in Africa, but one of my favorite co-workers didn't stop himself from giving my ignorant co-worker a "are you retarded" look, finally bringing my ignorant co-worker to shame. It seems a common theme for people in America to think of Africa as one big country. Considering that I'm going to Europe soon, I've noticed the difference of telling people you're going to Europe versus going to Africa. When you tell people you're going to Europe, you immediately get the question as to what countries you'll be going to. I truly cannot remember one person asking me what country I was going to when I told people I was going to Africa. Perhaps that's a mixture of people knowing less about Africa then Europe, and also due to the fact that so many people travel to Europe and they want to see if you're going to where they've been, but I still feel that there is the perception prevalent in our country that does not distinguish between the countries in Africa. I can tell you for a fact that nearly everyone I spoke to had no idea where Uganda was in Africa.

Coming into Uganda knowing the perceptions and prejudices that many Westerners have entered African countries with, I was determined to have a completely open mind. With my first step off the plane, I was already in love with the country. Looking across the landscape of Uganda felt like I was breathing in beauty with my eyes. I was in awe of it all and also in awe of the fact that I was there, drinking it all in in person. A dream since high school finally realized. Perhaps I'd expected some life changing moment as soon as I stepped off of the plane, perhaps I expected rays of light to shoot from the sky to reveal some holy revelation to me, but I felt odd feeling so normal in Uganda. I still cared that my hair was flipping out weird with this odd kink where I slept on it on the plane. I was still conscious of making friends in the group and feeling my every fault and oddity like a sharp stone sticking into my side. I was still me even though I was in this different country, I didn't magically transform into something much more inspiring or amazing, all the images I had of myself being adventuress and selfless traveling across the world to give myself to others were evaporated. I was still frumpy little me, yes I wanted to help and give to others, but I also still cared about myself in the ways that normal people do. I still wanted to have fun and to have things for myself, to feel pretty and liked and to be accepted. Perhaps it was finally time to accept that I am not Mother Teresa as much as I wish I could be so selfless, and I as I think of this I think it's humorous to me that many athletes perhaps will idealize people like Michael Jordon and their talent, while I idealize Mother Teresa and her complete selflessness. I truly am a non-profit nerd.

Kampala is as bustling of a city as I've ever seen! I've been to New York, Chicago, San Francisco and those are busy cities, but Kampala is bustling! People are always on the move, and so many people too! Rushing around, cars, matatus, bodas all driving ridiculously close to each other, so close that you could pick each others' noses. Poor children follow you around with their hands outstretched saying "hello" and "sar" to any mzungu ("white person" in Swahili) who walks by and they just about break your heart as they wave at you, but you almost can't even look at them because then they'll follow you around for a couple of streets. Traveling through Kampala is exciting and bewildering all at once, and I know I've complained about the potholes in previous posts, but let me just tell you, the potholes are insane. I cannot believe the conditions of the roads in Uganda and am now more than happy to pay for taxes that go into our road maintenance! The fact that there are potholes the size of small cars that vehicles literally have to drive around is just ridiculous! Oh, and by the way, if you ever travel to Uganda, FYI, they pretty much ONLY take Visa. Yeah, I have no Visa credit cards to my name, only Master Card and American Express. And if you only have $20 dollar bills, they charge you $2-3 for ever $20 dollar bill just to convert it to shillings. Funny thing is that I had $50 and $100 dollar bills (which did not have a conversion fee) but I broke them just for the trip because I thought it wouldn't be a good idea to be carrying around big bills like that. So I had to rely on my fellow Americans who did have Visa cards to get money out for me and trade so I didn't have to pay the conversion fee.

We met the Kampala participants right away on our first day, after dropping our stuff off in our rooms. I'll never forget the nervousness of meeting all of them, worrying whether they'd like me or not, how we would get along, what we'd talk about. I was very conscious of their culture and hoped I didn't unintentionally insult anybody because of my ignorance on some cultural nuance. But immediately as the Ugandans came into the dining hall and introduced themselves to me I felt their warmth and friendship. As I got to know everyone's very differing personalities I also learned some of my favorite nuances about their culture. How people say "sorr-ah" for just about anything bad that may happen to you whether or not it's their fault, it's so sweet, thoughtful and genuine. How whenever someone begins speaking in a big group setting, such as asking a question of one of our speakers, he or she starts with "Thank you very much honorable minister" before even thinking of uttering their question. The endless politeness and thoughtfulness of the people I've met in Uganda is inspiring and warmed my heart immensely and coming back to America, especially to such a cold and uninviting city such as Cincinnati (I will tell you for a fact Minnesota held much friendlier people) has been a harsh harsh jolt to my heart.

My first day in Uganda was an exhausting and busy day that ended up feeling like at least two days rather than one. Near the end when we traveled as a group to the internet and I was able to chat on G-chat with my hubby I had realized that I'd been so busy that I hadn't been able to miss him yet, as funny as that sounds. Chatting with him made me feel that slight sting, but I was able to walk it off and breath in the dusty Uganda air and live in the moment, something I've struggled endlessly to do in America. Despite the very starchy, bland food, the rusty toilets without seats, the rock hard and squeaky beds, somehow I felt at home. I was rather shocked at how quickly I adjusted to the living conditions that I wasn't used to. I was surrounded by people who thought like I did and refused to live in the American suburban bubble and who chose to see the world's pain as their own pain. I was surrounded by a culture built on helping each other and full of warmth and love. I was more home than I'd ever been before because it was the home I'd always dreamed about. And from my very first day in Uganda, I knew it'd always be my second home, next to the one I was born into. The home that I'll always go back to and that has ingrained itself as a seed in my soul that will grow and grow until it is just as much apart of me as the home I was born in.

Very Grave Weddings

I really don't know what to say about this except... WTF?!?!?!?

A ring of gangsters who traded in the bodies of women they murdered, selling them as brides to keep dead bachelors happy in the afterlife, has been arrested in China.

The arrests have exposed a trade that places a higher value on women when they are dead than when they are alive.

Yang Dongyan, 35, was arrested on January 4 in Sha’anxi province as he played cards with his children. In his prison cell, Mr Yang showed little remorse for committing two murders. He told the Legal Daily: “I just wanted to make money. It’s a quick way to make money. I was arrested too soon otherwise I had planned to do this business a few more times.”

The article continues with more creepy professional murdering of brides-to-be stories, but really, that should be enough to creep the hell out of you. I feel like this is straight out of that old TV show that used to scare the shit out of me when I was a youngster, Tales From the Crypt.

Thanks to Mick Hartley for filling my dreams with hellish nightmares for the night.

Bombs For Books!

Bomb worries help book sales: After New Years Eve bomb blasts put Bangkok on edge, "Thailand's book market looks likely to grow by 10% this year, partly thanks to the new-found preference of many to stay at home rather than going out."

Thanks to The Millions for this link... really, I think it's a really positive campaign for books. I mean, whatever gets people reading, right? Right?!?!

The Hidden Genocide

I've wanted to adopt from China since I did a project on the One-Child Rule in China. I learned about the hidden genocide of baby girls that occurred as soon as the law was put into affect in 1979 and I have no doubt that the genocide continues. I read stories of baby girls being found in gutters and allies, often chewed on by wild dogs. Baby girls were drowned and suffocated and thrown out with that week's trash.

Recently, I've been baffled by the recent reports that there's such a high demand for Chinese babies that they're actually running out and have therefore constructed even stricter restrictions for International Adoption. I first heard of this talking to a friend (I honestly can't remember who, otherwise I'd send her this article) who said that they're running out of Chinese babies. I didn't believe her for a second because I was very aware of the situation in China and the fact that baby girls are still loathed to the Chinese who'd rather have a boy as their only child rather than a girl. But I was baffled at the news that the Chinese government has increased the restrictions on adoptions and are granting fewer babies to International applicants. It is distressing news to someone who cares deeply about the baby girls in China and also to a prospective adopter.

This New York Tims article (thanks for sending it my way, hubby!) touches on some of the possible reasons for China reining in foreign adoption:

The issue of abandoned and institutionalized children remains a taboo subject in China, a problem the government does not even acknowledge exists. The impulse to hide it seems to stem partly from embarrassment and partly from fear of revealing the grave human rights abuses the one-child policy has produced; surely, watching a parade of well-off foreigners cart off thousands of babies would make the Chinese authorities understandably uncomfortable.

If I know anything about Chinese culture it's that it is a very proud culture, so I can buy this reasoning. What I can't buy is that nobody's doing anything about a very obvious human rights violation. According the the Times:

According to a February 2005 report in The Weekend Standard, a Chinese business newspaper, demographers in China found a ratio of 117 boys per 100 girls under the age of 5 in the 2000 census. Thanks to China’s one-child policy, put into effect in 1979 in order to curb population growth, and a strong cultural preference for male children, this gender gap could result in as many as 60 million “missing” girls from the population by the end of the decade, enough to alarm even Chinese officials.

And what happened to these girls? According to the International Planned Parenthood Federation (a term that takes on a whole new meaning when referring to China), there are about seven million abortions in China per year, 70 percent of which are estimated to be of females. That adds up to around five million per year, or 50 million by the end of the decade; so where are the other 10 million girls? If even 10 percent end up in orphanages... well, you do the math.

Just to give you an idea of the new stricter guidelines for international adopters:

Under the new Chinese adoption guidelines, the international adoption celebrity Angelina Jolie could not adopt from China (she’s not married, and alas, she and Brad have more than two divorces between them, which is a no-no); nor could the actress Meg Ryan (again, not married). Another person who is not eligible is yours truly. My husband is over 50, so I would have to trade him in, marry again, wait the required five years (another new rule) before beginning the adoption process, and by that time I would be sneaking up on 50 myself.

It is comforting to know that Madonna is still eligible, at least until she turns 50, gets fat (the new regulations call for a body mass index of less than 40), gets divorced or goes broke (anyone with a net worth of under $80,000 is excluded).

Yeah, a little crazy there. Also, no mental or physical illnesses and no disabled persons. So far, once I turn thirty, I'll still be eligible. But then the process right now takes between 16-24 months, nearly double what it used to take. You truly have to wonder if China's putting its image or the children first with these new guidelines. After all I know overweight and disabled people who'd make much better parents then some of those image obsessed people running around out there, so using that as a guideline seems extreme and unnecessary, if not prejudice. But history tells us that China has rarely put their baby girls first over anything, ever. And so one can only assume that the orphanages (which China Rarely lets foreigners visit, you need permission from the government to visit any orphanage in China) are still overcrowded with unwanted baby girls, perhaps not murdered by their parents, but slowly being murdered through malnutrition and disease by the China's pride.

Stalled Peace Talks

As my Uganda trip came to an end, so did the Juba Peace Talks as Joseph Kony decided that the Sudan government was too corrupt to hold the peace talks in Juba anymore. He has since demanded that the peace talks be moved, his suggestion, Kenya or South Africa.

After so much hope expressed by the people of Uganda, particularly in the North, this is disheartening and disappointing for all Ugandans and for the anyone who cares about the safety and well being of Northern Uganda. For me personally, I would be devastated to see war break out again in Northern Uganda where I've seen the faces of hope in person. I've never met people who have been through so much grief and trauma who can still smile, sing and rejoice in life as the Ugandans do. The spirit of Africa is a miracle for a country that's been so devastated so much over the years and are an inspiration to me.

I've tried to start a thoughtful blog on my trip to Uganda many times and have faltered. Where to begin with an issue 20 years in the making and with an experience too profound for words? I finally decided to approach it in an organized systematic way that hopefully will not seem so overwhelming to me. I journaled nearly everyday while in Uganda and I'll follow my journal and blog about the more interesting points that I journaled about. I'll start tomorrow with Day 1: Arrival into the country and continue with my Uganda Series until I've exhausted my journal pages and made you all so knowledgeable about Uganda you'll feel as if you've been there.

As I blog about Uganda, please let me know if you have any thoughts or questions on the subject. I'm deeply interested in an interactive discussion of all things Uganda. I've become quite obsessed, more so than before and anybody who knew me before probably already thought I was a nut about Uganda. Now that I've tasted the Pearl of Africa, my mouth yearns for the sweetness and my tongue flicks at the slightest whiff of anything Uganda.

For more up-to-date news on the Juba Peace talks please visit Uganda-CAN.

Also, a very provocative and controversial article, thanks to In An African Minute for the link. I'm curious to people's thoughts on this article.