tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1054782179312816772024-02-19T08:22:33.110-08:00Beyond BordersJ.Denisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13308390969576931539noreply@blogger.comBlogger33125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-105478217931281677.post-29004610734815856922010-07-12T04:32:00.000-07:002010-07-12T04:32:42.182-07:00Kampala BombingsLink to Article: <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/13/world/africa/13uganda.html?_r=1&hp">New York Times</a><br />
I am not sure how many people have heard about the bombings in Kampala. Yes that is right, Kampala had bombings last night. I went out with a couple of friends to watch the world cup finals at a bar called Iguana. We had almost finished watching the game (we saw Spain score the winning goal) when all of the staff had told us that we had to leave for our own safety. I was terribly confused. I thought that the owner thought there would be unrest since the Netherlands lost (the entire bar was decorated in Orange and there was not one Spanish fan in the bar). They told us that we all had to leave out the exits and that we could not watch the last few minutes of the game. It wasn't until someone had said that there was a bomb that I understood why we all had to leave. I was so confused; a bomb in Kampala? How is that possible? Kampala is not a dangerous city at all. There are parts that I wouldn't walk through by myself at night time, but that is true of Toronto as well.<br />
My friends and I walked home last night after we were told to leave the bar. There was not much transport left to take us anywhere because <i>everyone</i> was taking transport home. Luckly we only had a short walk home. At that time we were informed that the bombings were just outside of Kampala so I was not worried about the bombings. Once we got home we were googling to try to find more information about the bombings. There were rumers flying around everywhere. One source said that there were bombings only outside of the city, another said that there were bombings inside the city, another said that only a few people were killed and the next told us that more than 60 people were killed. It was difficult to decide who to trust. I went to bed not knowing what was going on.<br />
When I woke up I went out to grab a paper and it seems as if the Daily Monitor was no where to be seen. I trust the Daily Monitor more than New Vision because the latter is owned by the government. I could only find New Vision and grabbed a copy to see if I could get any more information than the bits and parts that I knew. New Vision did not seem to be helpful. They claimed that approximatly 13 people have been confirmed dead. A simple google search of the New York Times or the Daily Monitor after reveled that 63 people have been killed in the attacks. I never trust New Vision. It seems that no one knows who organized the attacks although there has been suspicion that it was a terrorist group from Samalia. They are still investigating however.<br />
The city does not seem to be very disturbed today, the day after the attacks. There are no police swarming the streets. It seems as though the bombings may have been an isolated attack and I believe that we have seen the end of them. Everyone can rest assured that I am safe and I do not feel as if I am in danger in Kampala. The bombings were a bit of a fright the night that they happened and it was an unfortunate event. My thoughts go out to those who have been injured and the family members of the deceased.J.Denisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13308390969576931539noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-105478217931281677.post-39111921921226556052010-07-07T23:44:00.001-07:002010-07-07T23:44:53.589-07:00Madame Jackie Pt 2Hello everyone, or everyone who reads this. Yes I am still alive if<br />
you were wondering. I know that I haven’t been posting much but it<br />
seems that life has been very hectic lately. I have just come back<br />
from Kenya and that was an amazing trip. I saw many different animals<br />
on the safari that we took in the Masi Mara. It was a fun trip but I<br />
won’t go into too many details about the trip. I am happy to be back<br />
in Kampala working again.<br />
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This past few weeks I have been teaching at Sr. Miriam Duggan Primary<br />
School. I know that I have posted briefly about this in my last post.<br />
Teaching has been one of the most enjoyable things that I have been<br />
doing here. I started off teaching English lessons but I have moved on<br />
from that. I teach from the Primary 5 – Primary 7 grades because they<br />
can all understand my English a lot more than the lower grades. This<br />
past week I was teaching peace. I had a lesson plan which involved<br />
getting the students to discuss the idea of what peace is, then I<br />
moved onto peace symbols and at the end I had them create an outline<br />
of their hands. This lesson was not the easiest that I have ever had<br />
to do mainly because the students at the school are not used to<br />
participating. The students usually sit in their desks and they only<br />
speak when they are called on to produce an answer. This means that<br />
they are not used to entering into a discussion. Trying to get the<br />
students to speak felt like I was pulling teeth at some times. I<br />
started with the Primary 4 class and I was disheartened. I felt like<br />
they did not understand what it was that I was saying or maybe they<br />
just didn’t want to pay attention to my lesson. The next class was<br />
much more interactive and they gave me some hope. I learned later that<br />
the Primary 4 class could not understand my accent. So we continued<br />
with the lessons. The upper classes, Primary 5 and Primary 6, had more<br />
to say on the subject of peace and I was happy to see the students<br />
participating in the lessons.<br />
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This week Andrew, one of the American volunteers, and I are going to be<br />
teaching about different diseases: TB and Malaria. So far it seems<br />
like the students understand malaria and we seemed to underestimate<br />
their knowledge. I have created the TB lesson and I hope that it is a<br />
lesson where they will be able to learn something that they didn’t<br />
know before. One thing that I tend to struggle with here is the<br />
students who are advanced to later classes when they should have been<br />
held back. In the Primary 6 class there are students who are very<br />
smart and there are students who seem to be struggling with the<br />
material. Most of the lessons are said verbally so the students who<br />
don’t know the answer wait until the students who do know the answer,<br />
answer the questions. I have also seen the report cards of some of<br />
these students and it makes me wonder how they are advanced when they<br />
would not have been allowed to do so back at home. It is a struggle to<br />
be able to comprehend if everyone understands our lessons when there<br />
is such a big class too! There are 80 in the Primary 6 class. Time is<br />
running short. Wish me luck with teaching!J.Denisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13308390969576931539noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-105478217931281677.post-37401160352035007282010-06-19T01:49:00.000-07:002010-06-19T01:49:15.606-07:00Madame Jackie This week I was given the opportunity to teach. The idea of teaching made me both nervous and excited all at the same time. I had never really taught anyone before and my first time would be with a class of 60 students. Ahh! I was supposed to be teaching English to the children. I nervously prepared my lesson the night before (since I was given the topic right before I left work). While preparing I planned something evil, I planned to bribe the children with candy! I figured that everyone loves candy, and what would be a better motivator? So I went to the class prepared!<br />
African classrooms are nothing like North American classrooms, let me tell you that! First of all, the children all repeat things instead of writing them down. They do not have that many supplies so everything is said verbally. There are also an average of 60 children per class but it can go up to 80 children if the class is large. Trying to keep that many students engaged can be difficult. I started off the lesson about adjectives. I was not sure if my lesson was too difficult or not since I was given no pretext for what the children know and what they don't. This made planning for the lesson very interesting. In the end I think it went well though. I quizzed the students and the majority of them seemed to understand my lesson. The fact that they received a candy for correct answers probably helped my lesson. I am teaching that grade again on Monday. I hope that everything goes well. I will write more about teaching next week.J.Denisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13308390969576931539noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-105478217931281677.post-8254960265879091752010-06-10T10:22:00.000-07:002010-06-10T10:22:08.682-07:00RwandaOn this past Thursday we had decided to head off to Rwanda! Krista and I were going to meet our two other Beyond Borders classmates, Cat and Nev, in Kigali. After a long time of traveling we finally made it to Kigali in one piece. We slept in the city for the first night in very cramped beds. We had decided to cram the four of us into a double room. Just a reminder to everyone, a double room consists of two single beds. Now just imagine how uncomfortable that is! I was very grateful though because the hostel had hot water. That was a treat that I was not expecting, hot showers. I had not realized until that moment how much I miss hot showers. I haven’t had a hot shower since I left Toronto, although in Kampala they are not sorely missed. In Kampala, by the time that I get home after riding in the extremely hot matatus (like a bus but it’s a crammed van) a cold shower is very welcoming. In Kigali however it is very chilly. I had to buy a sweater before I left, being warned about Rwanda’s cold weather, and I put that sweater to very good use throughout the trip.<br />
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After we woke up from the cramped sleep we set off for the Rainforest National Park (not it’s formal title, but I forget the real name). Along the way we planned to stop off at the genocide memorial. This memorial had preserved the bodies of all of the Tutsi who were killed at the poly technical school in the area. The Tutsi were led to believe that they would be safe from the Hutu in this area. They were then kept in the school for a week without any food or water when they became very weak. When the Hutu rebels knew that they were weak they entered the school and slaughtered all of the Tutsi .The Tutsi were too weak to fight back and they all died: men, women and children. They were then put into mass graves before the Hutu rebels continued on. The memorial had dug up the bodies and preserved them so that people can witness the effects of the genocide.<br />
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When we got to the memorial we were the only people who were there. This could be because it is out of the city center, because it was an afternoon on a Friday or because it is not as well known. Whatever the reason, we were the only people who were there and so we were the only ones given a tour. There was not as much of a tour, rather we were given a short background of what happened and then we were led around from room to room. The sights were indescribable. There was room after room after room of the people who were killed and laid out. You could still see the marks on the skeletons where the machetes hit the people. Once you entered the room the smell of death entered into your nostrils. The people were not set up in any elaborate way; they were simply laid out on wooden platforms, all next to each other. The rooms which they were put in were small dark rooms with one window to let in a tiny fraction of light. Some of the skeletons had their faces distorted in a silent scream, which they would have forever. It was possible to start imagining the looks on their faces when the Hutu rebels came into the school. The last rooms, which made the memorial so powerful, were the rooms filled with the children. There were so many children who were killed at this school in Rwanda. I could not even imagine what these children’s last thoughts would have been. The memorial was extremely powerful in showing some of the darkest sides that human possess. As we left the memorial I could not help but letting a small tear make its way out of the corner of my eye. We drove away, stunned into silence for a long period of time.<br />
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The rest of our trip in Rwanda was filled with the magnificent views of the country side. The hills are absolutely gorgeous and the landscape can literally take your breath away. There were several times when we stopped and we got out of the car and looked out at the landscape. Rwanda is one of the most beautiful places on the face of this planet. Rwanda is a country which seems to be more developed than I assumed that it would be. I do not know if we never passed a slum area, although we did a lot of driving around, but it seemed as though areas in Kampala (and Nairobi too as I heard from Cat and Nev) were worse than what I was seeing. This needs to be taken with a grain of salt, because there are still many areas where the people do not have electricity and they do not have houses which would meet North American standards. The area seemed to be developing at a great pace. The roads were all paved (with no pot holes!) and the country did not have an excessive garbage problem. Rwanda is a beautiful country which I hope to return to one day.J.Denisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13308390969576931539noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-105478217931281677.post-90401527973567051942010-05-30T03:03:00.000-07:002010-05-30T03:03:45.950-07:00When it Rains it Pours... And I thought that the last day was a bad day! Wait until you hear about this dousy of a day (People say things always happen in threes, so maybe I should be on the lookout for a third bad day very very soon)! So what happened this time you ask? Well I went to the city on Saturday so that I could get a few books and what not. I did not have much money left and I wanted to pull out some from the bank (the big banks will accept international debit cards here). I went to the first bank, put in my debit card and waited for the prompts to begin. You can imagine how puzzled I was when I discovered that the ATM gave me the following message, "This transaction has been stopped by the ATM." I was so confused! With a funny look I thought that maybe there was something wrong with the machine, so I put my debit card <i>back</i> into the machine. I received the same message. I was about to attempt to do that for a third time when the guard stopped me and told me that if I got it wrong the third time the machine would eat up my card and would not give it back. I was so happy that he told me that, or else I wouldn't even have a bank card! So off I went to four banks, all of the machines giving me the same message. Finally one of the tellers told me that I needed to go to a bank that served Master Card. I went to the correct bank.<br />
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Standing at Stanbic I thought that this would be the time that I got money. I eagerly put my card into the machine. It asked me my pin and how much I wanted to take out. Bingo! Money! Right? Wrong. The ATM told me the same message, "The ATM could not process your transaction". Ok, so I just tried all of the major banks and none of them are accepting my card. Further than that no one in the banks can tell me why my card is not working. Great. I ask the teller if I can speak with the manager. There was one small thing that I forgot when I asked that question; we are in Africa. The manager is not in and no one knows if they are still there for the rest of the day or if they are just in a meeting somewhere. So it turns out that I cannot access my account from anywhere in Uganda.<br />
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Time to call my bank and figure out what is wrong. Uh-oh. I am in Uganda, 1-800 numbers are <i>not</i> toll free. Great, I have all of $0.50 CAD on my phone. I borrow my friends phone to quickly call home so that they can call me. It turns out, after 6.5 hours of waiting and more calls than one person should take in a day, that they cannot call me. They try to give me good news, I can call them collect. Ummmm, I don't know how to call collect in <i>Canada</i> never mind Uganda. I walk up to the front counter of a hostel in Uganda and ask the people at the desk, "How do you get the international operator here?". They don't understand. They have never heard of an operator and they do not understand collect calls. Great. Now I am 11714.6 KM away from Toronto and I have like no money. And I thought my day before was bad!<br />
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Now it dawns on me, I am in Uganda and with the money I have left, and how long it is going to take to get money I am going to be living off $2-3/day. Sound strangely familiar? I am going to be living on the same income that many people I work with in the community live off of. I can tell you first hand how depressed it can make you. I still feel horrible. My friend has graciously offered to lend me some money for the things that we are doing until I can get some cash. Taking money, all the time. Always asking for things that I want from someone else. It can make me feel even more depressed! It is a reminder every time that I do not have any money. Now I know that my situation is no where near that which the people I work with in the community experience, but it was a very humbling experience. I unfortunately do not have much time left to write this post (I am borrowing money to even get online!). I would have loved to explain how this experience truly affected me but I will have to write more later.<br />
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A question to my audience:<br />
Have you ever experienced a time (more than a day) when you have not had any money and had to constantly borrow money for <i>everything</i> you do from a friend? How did it make you feel? Can this tell us something about international aid? Is there another way to help these people without possibly making them feel like a charity case? What are your thoughts?J.Denisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13308390969576931539noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-105478217931281677.post-82487471392858715352010-05-25T09:20:00.000-07:002010-05-25T09:20:17.992-07:00Bad DayI knew that it had to happen at some point. I knew that this ugly day had to rear its ugly head at one point. What day is that which you are referring to you ask? A bad day. That's right ladies and gentlemen, I had a bad day. This was a truly horrid day. It started off with me having to take the taxi to work. In Uganda the taxis are not what we would expect to see at home. Our taxi is their special hire. A taxi in Uganda is like a mini van and they pick up people and drop people off. They do not really have a pre-set route, and they only call out a destination. Sometimes going on one of these things can be an adventure in itself. They aren't bad once you get used to them though. So I took the taxi to work (which I will have to do from now on because I cannot get a ride to work anymore). That wasn't so bad, I figured out when to get off. There was even an lady who heard where I was going when I got onto the taxi and she told me when we arrived to the point where I wanted to get off. All-in-all it wasn't a bad morning. <br />
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The afternoon then rolled around. I can get very frustrated at work. Extremly frustrated. The first thing that frustrates me so much is that people will speak Luganda to me very quickly. They know that I have no idea what they are saying and they expect a response. When I can't give a response I then feel very stupid. This never, ever puts me in a good mood. People hardly slow down what they are saying or take the time to teach me. This in itself can make me so frustrated that I want to cry sometimes. Then after that horrible experience was over my co-woker turns to me and says "ok now we have to write reports for those home visits that we did last week." This frustration was really all my fault. I should have taken notes when we went out into the field. Instead of having my reliable notes (and neat handwriting) I had to use my co-workers notes. She told me that she is very good at remembering people and so she really didn't have any notes at all. All she had were the names of people written down (which I couldn't read anyways). My co-worker was supposed to sit down with me to type the reports. She did not end up sitting with me and she went off somewhere saying "you'll be fine writing the reports yourself". Great. I pratically didn't remember anything! So great. I had my failed attempt at trying to make these reports. Around this time it was lunch. At least I can go and have a peaceful lunch right? Wrong.<br />
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So as the lunch hour rolled around it started to pour. Living in Uganda you get used to the constant rain. And I do mean constant. I hoped that the rain would stop so that I could go make it for lunch. If I waited too long they would pack up lunch and there goes my hope of getting food. It eventually stopped pouring but it was still spitting. I was determined to get lunch because I felt really hungry. So I went off up the muddy hill in search of food. Oh did I mention that I decided for some weird reason to wear flip-flops that day? Not a great choice. Going up the hill I was splashed by a bouda and stepped into a puddle. Great, now I am covered in mud. I go up eat my food and start to head back down. I get splashed again. Amazing. I was close to tears at this point. It was as if some higher power just wanted to give me a good excuse to go home. I really did want to go home at that point. I managed to finish the rest of the day dirty and smelly (when it rains here it's really humid so I sweat like a pig). I sat in the office until the end of the day.<br />
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The silver lining to this aweful day? I had a meeting with my boss and we made a schedule for my rounds. I will be going around to all of the different departments of Kamwokya Christian Caring Community (KCCC) to see what the organization does in the community. I am excited to get out a bit more. There is also a project ahead of me that I am able to start working on. I finally feel like I'm not completly useless.<br />
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So Karma you better hear me! I had a really bad day, so you owe me a really good one soon! I will write more later.<br />
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CiaoJ.Denisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13308390969576931539noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-105478217931281677.post-58551513291593113622010-05-22T03:51:00.000-07:002010-05-22T03:51:35.745-07:00Day 17 I have been working with Kamwokya Christian Caring Community (KCCC) for two weeks now and I have been in Africa for 17 days. That doesn't sound like such a long time does it? Well it feels like I have been here for a month or two already. I'll talk about what it is exactly that I do at KCCC. When I first arrived I was placed in the offices with the social workers. For the first few days all I did was file. My first thoughts were, "they sent me to Uganda....to file? I could be making $13/hour filing back at home!" I was in a strange country, everyone wanted to constantly hold my hand while I walked around, and I didn't understand the language. This is a recipe for the worst culture shock. The next few days I sat in a workshop that was fully in Luganda, the language spoken by the majority of the people here. It was 6 hours of not knowing one damn word that anyone said. The week ended with more filing. I helped some children write letters to their sponsors on and off. This wasn't exactly the glamorous life that I envisioned coming here. Now comes the next week:<br />
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Week 2 started the same way Week 1 did, filing and workshops. It wasn't until half way through the week that I started to experience more. This week I was able to meet with the director of KCCC, also named Francis. He said that he wanted to get to know me a bit better. We sat down and talked a little bit and this talk made the rest of my days, up to now, a lot easier. He described the city to me and gave me some warnings. Do not go into taxis alone if I can help it, do not get into a taxi that looks empty because they could be pretending to be a taxi and then rob me, do not get on a bouda-bouda, do not eat the fruit sold on the side of the street for sanitation reasons, etc. I have heard a great deal of these warnings from my African father Francis, but it was nice to know that my African Father is not the only one who believes this. Then he asked me what I have been doing and I told him about the workshops and the filing. He explained that the children were in the middle of a holiday when I came to Uganda and that is why I haven't really seen much of the school or done anything else. He promised to start getting me to have home visits so that I can really see what Ugandan culture and life is like and that I would start helping at the school. He even mentioned that I may be able to teach! I was really excited at that news. He said that I could do something small, maybe for an hour a day or something like that. That honestly made me very excited and nervous. I left the meeting with a smile on my face and ever since my spirits have been lifted. I know that things like filing really need to happen for the office to run smoothly and I have no problem doing office duties every once in a while, but I was excited to be able to experience more than filing.<br />
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The next few days I went on some home visits. I was really nervous when I was told that I would be going on these home visits. They told me that if I wanted to ask any questions that I would be allowed to. I went on the home visits with Reetah, my new African sister (sorry Steph, you aren't the only one now!). Everything had to be translated because the community members only speak Luganda except for maybe a few phrases in English such as "good morning". I was honestly overwhelmed when we went on the home visits. The first house that we went to was the home of 4-5 people and it was smaller than what we put our criminals in for jail. There were two beds squashed together and laundry hanging from the ceiling. The first thing that I noticed was a combination of the smell and the heat. That itself was overwhelming. The three children came into the house and sat next to the mother on one bed and the rest of us were sitting on another bed. The house was incredibly dark and just being in there started to bring out the negative side of your emotions.As Reetah spoke to the lady about her family background she had to stop and translate for me every once in a while. They both spoke so quickly it was hard to get any questions in, although I wasn't sure of what questions to ask. I didn't want to offend anyone. We were making home visits to try to assess the family and see what type of assistance that we could offer the family to help support the family, especially the children. One question that baffled me which Reetah asked each family was, "what could you do to increase your household income?" The women usually answered that they wanted to start a small business doing things like selling sweets. Then she would ask them "how much money would you need to start that business?" The answers are what astounded me. The woman answered with a range of 10 000-50 000 shillings which is $5-25USD. I could honestly have easily given each family that money out of my own pocket right then and there.<br />
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This is something that I was struggling with.So many people come up to me and ask for money because they are hungry or they are thirsty. On each individual basis I could easily help someone out, but on a collective basis I would not be able to help anyone out because I am only a student and I cannot just give away all of my money and become poor and unable to survive myself. While I was speaking to the director, Francis, he told me that people will approach me because I am white. People assume that I have lots of money that I can give away. And it is not only the white people who are approached, he himself was approached asking for money to feed a family. He told me that you have to become comfortable saying "No, I'm sorry I cannot help you". This is really hard to do when a fellow human being is staring you in the eyes and they are so hungry but they cannot afford to eat and you have more than enough to feed them with your pocket change you bring to work. This is something that I know I am going to be struggling with the entire time that I am here. I asked Reetah if these women would be able to go and receive a micro-finance loan to be able to start their business. She told me that the women would not be able to go to micro-finance because the micro-finance banks here have become large and they now want security that the women will be able to pay back the loan. These woman are the poorest of the poor and they do not have any security. They do not even own the small shacks that they live in. It is so disheartening to see that these women are not able to access a micro-finance loan when the whole purpose that it was created was to be able to help people in these women's position. I want to look more into the micro-financing that KCCC has, because I read that they did have a branch. I feel horrible for these women who have mostly been left by their men and left with many children to take care of. I just know this is going to bother me the entire time that I am here in Uganda.J.Denisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13308390969576931539noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-105478217931281677.post-86053665495310000252010-05-15T03:20:00.000-07:002010-05-15T03:20:22.319-07:00Greetings from Kampala!Hi everyone!<br />
I made it to Kampala safe and sound after the craziest flight path that I have ever taken! I left Toronto at 11:00 on the 5th and flew to London for 8 hours, had an 8 hour layover, flew to Nairobi for 8 hours and had a 1.5 hour layover and then I flew to Entebbe for an hour, then after <i>that</i> I was driven for an hour to my new home. I arrived home at 10:30am on the 7th. It is safe to say that I was very tired after that. Krista had some fun exploring London and a few of the sights (I will have to upload pictures later sadly because I do not have a camera here with me). Then once we landed in Kampala I found my ride home easily but Krista didn't have a ride home at all! No one was there to pick her up from the airport! That was a scary moment. My Ugandan father told her that he would drive her home and he got her there safe and sound.<br />
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Once I got home I was introduce to a little five year old boy who is now my "brother". He is very cute but he asks me what <i>everything</i> is! He also likes to follow me around and wants to play all of the time. I do not know how that little boy has so much energy! For most of the weekend I just slept. The jet lag hit me so hard that I could not stay awake long at my home. So sleep it was! The weekend passed pretty uneventfully.The house that I live at is very nice. There are three children, Francis, his wife and two house helps and of course there is also myself. So it is a very full house. The children are all nice but they are still in their "omg there is a white person in the house" phase. They have recently starting talking to me a bit more but at first I was more gawked at rather than talked to. My Ugandan father is very, very protective. My family will be happy to note that I feel like I am 16 again. I have to ask if I am able to go out. I know that it's all because of safety that I have to ask if some things are ok but it has been an adjustment to get used to asking again! He is very caring and very concerned. I really am treated like a part of the family! Everyone there is so kind. I feel like I am living the high life in my home because the house helps do everything there! They even clean my sneakers off for me in the morning, make food, do the dishes, do my laundry. Ummmm, aren't I in a developing country? I can defiantly say that I am living a lot better off than many of the people who live here.<br />
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Once I got to work it really hit me, Jacquelyn you are not in Canada anymore. When I go to work in Kamwokya (I live in Ntinda) that is when I see the poverty that many Ugandans live with. I work in one of the worst slums in Kampala. I have been assigned to the social workers office to help there. The one difficulty with working in Kampala is that many of the people, although they can speak English, speak Lugandan. The only way that the children open up to the social workers is in their native tongue. This is not limited to the people who come into the office but the social workers themselves mostly speak in Lugandan. This makes it very difficult to assess what is going on and what my office really deals with. I hope to start learning Lugandan soon.<br />
<br />
Mostly at work what I do is help the children write letters to their sponsors in the developed world. I hope to start branching off and being able to do more. My boss, Maggie, told me that I will be able to start helping with support groups soon. Mostly I've just been observing what is going on in the office and what the social workers do. I have made one home visit and have walked around Kamwokya a little bit. From what I have seen it is so very different from the life I lead. The families have ten people in one small house which is usually made of cement and a tin roof. There are not beds, just mats laid out for people to sleep on the floor. A lot of the times children will be running around without any clothes on or just a t-shirt. It has been a real shock to be living among all of this when I go home and I have my tea prepared for me after I take a shower and change my clothes. I am excited to continue working at my office and I hope that I can comment a little more about my work a little later on.<br />
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I don't know how much more I'm going to write (although this is a long enough post as it is!). I am very, very, very tired and I can't really think too straight. I will write more (and more coherently) when I post next time! Until then,<br />
Bye!J.Denisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13308390969576931539noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-105478217931281677.post-69084644746186067572010-05-05T10:05:00.000-07:002010-05-05T10:05:10.287-07:00Summer AddressHello everyone!<br />
I am leaving today for my grand adventure down to Uganda. I am currently running around like a chicken who just had it's head cut off! So there will be no thought provoking or long post today, just simply an address. If anyone wants to send me letters:<br />
<br />
Jacquelyn Bellissimo<br />
P.O.Box 60<br />
Ntinda, Kampala<br />
Uganda<br />
<br />
Thank-you!J.Denisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13308390969576931539noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-105478217931281677.post-15677801798049945302010-04-28T20:55:00.000-07:002010-04-28T20:55:39.716-07:00Community Today I have heard something said a few times in a few different ways: take care of yourself first before you take care of other people. I can understand why people in Canada would think this, but at the same time it can make me so frustrated that people can take this way of living to an extreme. I can understand wanting to make sure that we all have everything that we need to survive but at the same time we should remember that our community and what our collective needs to survive. Maybe it is because of our lack of community that is easy to not find in Canada (or parts of it at least). We seem to forget that we need our community as much as it needs us in order to survive. As humans we need companionship to be able to function. This is why we have punishments which involve solitary confinement. This is also why we have a common fear at some point that we are going to end up alone. We need our fellow human beings and we need a sense of belonging in a community. Why is it then, that we Canadians have become so skilled at pushing away those people and that community that we need?<br />
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Since I have volunteered at St. John's Kitchen I can already feel the difference and the impact that this experience has had on my life. I feel like I am making small changes in my daily behaviours. They are tiny baby steps but at least they are in a good direction. I have previously described how homeless people sometimes made me nervous when I passed them in the streets of Toronto. I would not even acknowledge them! Think about that for a few moments, I would not acknowledge a fellow human being just as I would an object that I was passing by. Now I understand and have grown for my experiences that I have had at St. John's. I recognize how important it is to embrace our community with open arms. I was stunned with how the community does not try to shun you but they open their arms right back and accept you. Being in that community was a different way of being. Everyone was friendly and was willing to have company as they ate their meal. There was no sense of people who were better looking down on those who were not. It was an amazing environment to be present in, even if I was not able to be there as much as I would like to have been now that I look back on this past term.<br />
<br />
Now taking this thought pattern and bringing it back a little bit more. We should not be thinking solely of our needs with no regard to our community. Our community has so much that it is able to offer us. I, personally, have grown up for a large part of my life without a sense of community where I was living. When I moved away from my childhood home I was torn away from my original community where the neighbours were friendly and everyone knew everyone's name. I have moved several times and have seen a difference from my first home. There is no sense of community where I move and people keep to their own homes. Many times I have heard that we should take care of ourselves before we try to reach out to others but I do not believe that this is true! We always have something that we can offer our community and there will always be something that our community has to offer us back. I understand that communities cannot be created overnight but there are some baby steps that we all need to start to make. We should stop judging people because of what stereotype that they fall under, a person from a developing nation, a person who is homeless or our neighbour. We need to open our arms to everyone in our community because we are all humans and we all need that community to help support us. Everyone needs something and we can grow as a community if we all start thinking of each other and working towards bettering our community. We all have so much that we are able to share with each other.J.Denisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13308390969576931539noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-105478217931281677.post-81849901337036975142010-04-19T13:48:00.000-07:002010-04-19T13:48:16.247-07:00Havoc in Europe?Article <a href="http://www.vancouversun.com/news/More+flight+cancellations+expected/2921692/story.html">Link</a><br />
<br />
The article which is linked above is about the volcano which has erupted and has disturbed many flights. For the past few days I have been watching TV with an intensity, focusing on the news. There seems to be a volcano which has been creating havoc in Europe. Passengers have not been able to go to Europe and passengers have not been able to leave Europe. It is said that volcanoes erupt for one to two months at a time. This creates a bit of an issue for all of us who have a connecting flight in England and most importantly for my classmate who is going to Eastern Europe. I hope that everything clears up for us to leave this summer! We can only wait and see what happens.J.Denisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13308390969576931539noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-105478217931281677.post-37064993404540001642010-04-11T16:33:00.000-07:002010-04-11T16:33:28.123-07:00I'm Leaving on a Jet Plane<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36.0pt;">Here is a nice update for everyone or an exam break for some. Finding everything that I am going to need for Africa in my true thrifty manner has proved to be interesting. I am trying to find out what needs to be bought high end and what can be bought at the dollar store. I never thought that these expenses would tally up the way that they have been! Luckily the bracelet sales have given a little extra money after the expenses of fundraising. A tip to future BBers: keep fundraising well after the $2 000, you will find ways to make it useful in travelling supplies which need to be bought! One of the most expensive things that I have purchased so far is my backpack. It cost $100 for a 65L pack. I bought this one second hand. There are other things such as water purification which needs to be bought still. I need three or four of them! I have been spending my last month walking around my house and noticing things that I fully take for granted. Exhibit A: Running clean tap water. I am not going to have the luxury of clean running tap water for four months! I keep wondering what that is going to be like. For those of you who may not know me very well there is one thing that you should know: I drink a lot of water. When I say a lot I don’t mean like two glasses at dinner, I mean 5-6 glasses of water at dinner sometimes. It’s hard to believe that so many people are not entitled to the same luxury that we take for granted every day. I know right now that it will be the hardest obstacle for me to face, to be responsible for continuously purifying my own water.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36.0pt;">Other things I take for granted: laundry. I get to put all of my clothes into a laundry machine and add a little soap, leave and when I return all of my clothes are clean. It’s amazing isn’t it? That is another luxury that I am going to have to learn to live without. I keep thinking about how I need to start imagining new ways that I am going to have to do everything. I have been camping before but it was for three days at the most and by the time we got back we were happy. I know this isn’t going to be like living in the bush with no luxuries at all, but there are going to be changes which are going to need to be made. I am interested to see what changes are going to have to be made.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36.0pt;">I was on youtube looking up the Kamwokya Christian Caring Community. This is an amazing video that I found. The video focuses on the HIV/AIDS program but it made me excited for working in the community:</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36.0pt;"><br />
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<br />
</div>J.Denisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13308390969576931539noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-105478217931281677.post-38501187840815896702010-04-05T09:28:00.000-07:002010-04-05T09:28:11.402-07:00I Am Done!I am done my fundraising! It is such a relief to be able to say that! I would just like to say thank-you to everyone who helped, everyone who joined a facebook group, everyone who gave an extra dollar, everyone who helped to carry boxes and everyone who just came by when we were holding a fundraising event. For everything that everyone has done, thank-you.<br />
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Since I'm such a blogging nerd you will probably hear from me before I leave again. Thank-you for all of you who follow this blog!<br />
<br />
JacquelynJ.Denisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13308390969576931539noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-105478217931281677.post-62688538091325387692010-03-31T16:49:00.001-07:002010-03-31T16:49:31.768-07:00Warning! Danger!<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>My update comes a little early this week since tomorrow morning I will be going under for the removal of my wisdom teeth! The dreaded day is fast approaching. So while I still have common sense and am able to articulate an idea I will write my blog. I have been getting ready for my trip which is also quickly approaching. I have a few dozen forms which need to be filled out and sent in and cheques which need to be written. I have things that need to be bought and many more things which need to be done! It’s going to be an interesting few weeks while I prepare. Before we leave we have to do a chart which analyzes the risks and makes us think about what we will do if we are faced by those risks. I found it pretty interesting so I’ll post what I found below:</div><h1>Personal Safety Risk Assessment</h1><table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoTableGrid" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-padding-alt: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184;"><tbody>
<tr style="mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0;"> <td style="border: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">What is the Risk?<o:p></o:p></b></div></td> <td style="border-left: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">How likely am I to encounter this risk – not likely, likely, very likely? Why?<o:p></o:p></b></div></td> <td style="border-left: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">How severe is this risk? Rank it – low, moderate, or high. Give your reasons.<o:p></o:p></b></div></td> <td style="border-left: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">What will I do to manage this risk?<o:p></o:p></b></div></td> </tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 1;"> <td style="border-top: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Crime – Armed robberies have increased and can happen during daylight and in public areas. Highway travel is dangerous at night time. Petty crime, including pickpocketing, purse and jewellery snatching and theft form vehicles is common.</div></td> <td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Very likely – pickpocketing will be highly likely in busy areas.</div></td> <td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Moderate – petty crime is more likely than armed robbery</div></td> <td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">I will not venture out alone after dark in dimly lit or unlit back streets. I will travel in groups to make me be less of a target. While travelling in a vehicle I will ensure that the doors remain locked. If there is an emergency I will call the emergency number – 999.</div></td> </tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 2;"> <td style="border-top: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Drugged food or drinks offered from strangers, it may be drugged</div></td> <td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Unknown – there is nothing stated about the likelihood of this occurring</div></td> <td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">High – unknown if there will be anything that happens if the food is drugged</div></td> <td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">I will not accept food or drinks from strangers.</div></td> </tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 3;"> <td style="border-top: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Marburg Haemorrhagic Fever</div></td> <td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Not likely – I am not planning to go into caves during my visit to Uganda</div></td> <td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">High – a Dutch tourist died of Marburg haemorrhagic fever in June of 2008.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">There is no commercially available vaccine or medication to prevent infection.</div></td> <td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">I will avoid going into caves where bats may be present</div></td> </tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 4;"> <td style="border-top: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Photography</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Photography of security forces, diplomatic sites (including Owen Falls Dam at the source of the Nile near Jinja), government installations or airports, is prohibited. This could result in a jail sentence.</div></td> <td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Not likely – I will not take pictures of people in military-style or camouflage clothing</div></td> <td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Moderate -<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This action may result in a jail sentence</div></td> <td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">I will not take picture of military-style or camouflage clothing.</div></td> </tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 5; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;"> <td style="border-top: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Pedestrians/ Vehicles</div></td> <td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Likely – I will be walking quite frequently around Kampala.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">I will also be using services such as the boda-bouda.</div></td> <td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">High – there is a high likelihood of being in a traffic accident. There is a high amount of accidents which occur every year.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">The intercity bus (including overnight long distance buses) should be avoided due to reckless driving, excessive speed and poor vehicle maintenance. </div></td> <td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">I will be cautious when walking and while crossing roads. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">I will ensure that the vehicle is in good condition before departure and ensure to wear a helmet at all times.</div></td> </tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><h1>Political Risk Assessment</h1><table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoTableGrid" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-padding-alt: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184;"><tbody>
<tr style="mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0;"> <td style="border: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">What is the Risk?<o:p></o:p></b></div></td> <td style="border-left: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">How likely am I to encounter this risk – not likely, likely, very likely? Why?<o:p></o:p></b></div></td> <td style="border-left: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">How severe is this risk? Rank it – low, moderate, or high. Give your reasons.<o:p></o:p></b></div></td> <td style="border-left: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">What will I do to manage this risk?<o:p></o:p></b></div></td> </tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 1;"> <td style="border-top: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Riots, political unrest; most recent at the Kasubi tombs on March 16, 2010</div></td> <td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Likely – I may see protests occurring. The Kasubi tombs are located in Kampala, which is the same city that I will be living in.</div></td> <td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">High – a UNESCO world heritage site was burned down and there were casualties</div></td> <td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">I will monitor the situation; avoid large crowds and any demonstrations.</div></td> </tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 2;"> <td style="border-top: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Violent incidents in Murchison falls National Park, Mgahinga National Park, Kidepo Park, or Semuliki National Park</div></td> <td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Not likely – because I will follow all guidelines and proceed with caution if I choose to go to any of those areas. I am not located in those areas so I am able to avoid them if necessary.</div></td> <td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">High – there have been violent incidents</div></td> <td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">I will monitor the situation, and if I travel to Kidepo National Park I will proceed to do that by air.</div></td> </tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 3; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;"> <td style="border-top: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Political unrest on the borders of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the northern border of Uganda – Sudan</div></td> <td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Very likely if I am in those areas.</div></td> <td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">High – the Lord’s Resistance Army is located in Northern Uganda and is a terrorist group. The Lord’s Resistance Army continues to be a serious threat in the following districts despite a ceasefire signed in 2006: Adjumani, Gulu, Kitgum, Pader, Lira, and Apac districts.</div></td> <td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">I will avoid the high risk areas and will not travel into northern Uganda. If travelling in northern Uganda it is advised to use extreme caution and follow the advice of local authorities.</div></td> </tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><h1>Environmental Risk Assessment</h1><table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoTableGrid" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-padding-alt: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184;"><tbody>
<tr style="mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0;"> <td style="border: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">What is the Risk?<o:p></o:p></b></div></td> <td style="border-left: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">How likely am I to encounter this risk – not likely, likely, very likely? Why?<o:p></o:p></b></div></td> <td style="border-left: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">How severe is this risk? Rank it – low, moderate, or high. Give your reasons.<o:p></o:p></b></div></td> <td style="border-left: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">What will I do to manage this risk?<o:p></o:p></b></div></td> </tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 1; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;"> <td style="border-top: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Heavy Rains and Flooding</div></td> <td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Not likely – The first month that I move to Uganda will be during a high rain season; the next two months will<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>not be during the rainy season</div></td> <td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">Potentially high risk – during the rainy season the flooding and mud slides can cause evacuations, casualties and damage to infrastructure</div></td> <td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-bottom-themecolor: text1; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-themecolor: text1; mso-border-right-themecolor: text1; mso-border-themecolor: text1; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-themecolor: text1; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 119.7pt;" valign="top" width="160"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">I will watch the weather report and ensure that I do not go out during a day when mud slides are at a high likelihood of occurring.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">I will stay out of high risk zones where the flooding occurs. </div></td> </tr>
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">Those are some mighty big risks! I know this much, I have to be careful when I am in Uganda, it won’t be like Toronto. I have taken a special note for what to watch when I am in Kampala and where there is a danger zone. Besides the riots and the petty crime Kampala doesn’t seem to be such a scary place. The more I hear about the city the more I feel like moving there will be an adventure. I do not believe that I will be experiencing any heavy rains or flooding in the country since I will be coming at the end of the rainy season and at the beginning of the dry season. I know that there are risks associated with travelling to Kampala but I am trying my best to minimize those risks (the 5 shots in my left arm will agree with me on that point). Hopefully all of this reading, being a pin cushion and preparing is going to help me when I am in Africa to make sure that I don’t get into too much trouble!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I cannot wait to arrive in Kampala and to find out what it is, exactly, that I will be doing there or even where I will be living. I saw some of the other girl’s placement homes and they look amazing, defiantly not what I thought (or others for that matter!). They are not the “tiki huts” that everyone has been picturing, some are nicer than my house that I’m currently living in! With all of this said, I’m still not sure where I will be living or what my living conditions are going to be like. I don’t have a problem with things like squat toilets but it would be nice to know ahead of time just to prepare myself! I wish I had the luxury of information that a lot of my classmates know. I don’t even know what field I will be working in this summer! Everyone knows at least that they will be doing things like working with sustainability, teaching how to sew, promoting local artists, or working with HIV infected people. I wish I had that luxury of information. I guess that I will have to be very adaptable! Until I know what I’m doing I can promise this: I will continue to be very nervous (more so than getting my teeth out!). Well I am sorry this is such a short post (minus the huge table of course)! I need to go prepare for the unexpected.</div><div class="MsoNormal">Jacquelyn</div>J.Denisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13308390969576931539noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-105478217931281677.post-52735471106648394602010-03-25T19:49:00.001-07:002010-03-25T19:49:02.081-07:00Hello, My Name is Jacquelyn. I am a Human Being.<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>This weekend our group held a yard sale and a pancake breakfast. We made quite a large chunk of change and this event has taught me so much. First thing I learned: never take the lead on something if you aren’t going to be able to dedicate yourself 100% to the project. I know that everyone pitched in but so much of the planning and the organizing weighed down my already burdened shoulders. I would just like to thank all of you who helped; I came close to my breaking point almost every day while planning this event. It was those little things that really went a long way. Now with all this said and done, I can relax (as much as possible because this is pretty much full steam ahead).</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36.0pt;">Another thing I learned: corruption. I have heard the story of the person who saw corruption in third world countries. A delivery is made and the recipients take more resources than they are supposed to. A westerner’s response: “How could they do that? Don’t they know how many children are hungry and would appreciate that food?” I can’t lie, I have had the same reaction to this story. How does this relate? Well while planning the event I was entrusted with keeping the food at my house until the event was able to start. I can’t lie, I ran out of margarine at my house and I went into my fridge and took out a butter package to use it for myself. This happened 3 or 4 times before the event started. I know that this is not on the same scale as some other situations but it taught me something valuable. Corruption is something that occurs so easily, especially when you really need something and it’s all right in front of you. Everyone is a human and as much as we think we are not capable of something we are just as capable as that person. Most people do not believe that they would hurt their fellow neighbours but in the Milgram experiment the participants, who were citizens of the United States, administered electrical shocks to their fellow American, as they were led to believe. The participants were following authority and they were led to believe that they were actually giving electrical pulses to someone on the other side of the wall and many of the participants went up to a lethal level of electricity because someone told them to. This shows exactly what humans are capable of. We cannot sit in our comfy homes, sipping our lattes and judge why there is corruption in the third world. We really do have to walk for a mile in their shoes in order to really understand what is going on. As a North American I am not exempt from this type of behaviour. While preparing for our event I exhibited corruption by consuming something that was not mine and I did not pay for those butters that I took. I know that I may come across this type of corruption while I am in Uganda, or maybe later on in life, but I have to remember to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes before I so easily judge them. There are different circumstances which put people in different positions and we are all susceptible to these types of actions.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36.0pt;">On another note getting ready to leave has left me feeling like I am running, out of breath, about to fall over and I can’t stop and take a walk to catch my breath. There is so much that needs to be done: the regular stress of getting all of my assignments in on time for classes, making sure my shots have all been given to me, making sure that all of my shots are up to date, starting to shop around for supplies that I need to take on my trip and making sure that I get the best bang for my buck, and making sure that I still have <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">some</i> down time so that I don’t go crazy. Everything just feels insane. I am getting to the point where I am looking forward to facing one of my biggest fears, getting my wisdom teeth out, just so that I have a medical excuse to be made to relax for a few days. I will be on doctor’s orders to recoup after the procedure. I know that in all of this time where I should be relaxing I will be doing all that I am able to do so that I do not miss a minute of studying. Here is a note to my future self when I am freaking out: breathe, everything will be ok. What gets done is what gets done. You are only human and you can only do so much. Relax. </div>J.Denisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13308390969576931539noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-105478217931281677.post-51131580558158851222010-03-19T13:20:00.000-07:002010-03-19T13:20:41.694-07:00Update<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>So an update on my life as I prepare for getting ready to leave, every week I have a new needle that I have to get. Did I ever mention that at the beginning of the year I was afraid of needles? I don’t mean like I get a little scared, I mean like I would start shaking head to foot and have a small panic attack at the thought of a needle. Slowly and surely I have been facing this fear, or been forced to face this fear rather, and have been getting all needles that I need for this trip and then a few that I thought would be important to get. One thing that this program never really advertises: costs. Yes they tell you about the $1400 that you have to pay and then $2000 that you have to raise. Here is what they don’t tell you, you need to pay a lot more for things you need when you go over there. Yes you would think that I would have thought that I would be going over with supplies but until the costs hit you it never really enters into your consciousness. Here’s a small list of things you need to get: shots (most are covered but if you don’t have separate insurance other than school insurance, you are not really covered too well), rehydration salts, water purification tablets, protein bars to bring over (in case you get lost and hungry), clothes which are <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">appropriate</i> for wearing over in your placement, mosquito nets, DEET, hygienic things for when you are over there (soap, etc), medications that you may need (tums, immodium, advil, etc), etc. The list goes on and on and it is one that makes your head spin around in circles. What is the bright side of all of this? Air Miles. I am going to get a lot of those this year.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Beyond Borders has taught me a lot so far this year. I have learned how to organize better than I have ever done before. Every week my agenda is packed with a million things to do and somehow they all get done. Time management has become a speciality for me to be able to do. I can balance homework, planning a fundraiser event, volunteering, writing essays, doctor appointments, sleep, social events (to help keep me sane) and the random unexpected thing that comes out of left field. I have also learned how to work in a team for a long period of time and how to get things done effectively in group dynamics. I have also started to look at things a little differently. My entire university career has been teaching me how to look at the world differently and this course offers nothing less than what I have been enjoying for three years. Peace and Conflict Studies is an amazing program that really makes you look twice at everything, to the point where you will refuse to eat a banana because it is not fair trade. My family has already noticed the difference. One person in my family asked if I could go back to normal. I just thought, what is normal? In my program we learn a great deal about wars, the global south, alternative dispute resolution, etc. This program has opened my eyes more than I could have ever thought possible. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36.0pt;">I am excited about the idea of going away this summer. Right now, however, I am so busy that I don’t really have time to be excited right now. I’m still a little nervous. I don’t know much about my placement. I know that it is in Kampala, Uganda. It is called the Kamowkya Christian Caring Community. I know that they work with health, education, micro financing and advocacy. That is all I know. I am not hiding anything else from you. You now know as much as I do. I do not know what I am going to be doing, or who I am staying with, or how many people live in the family. I don’t know anything. It is making me incredibly nervous. I am going to a strange country and I hardly know anything. This little information is unsettling. I am very uncomfortable not knowing anything. I evidently will not know anything until I go to my country regarding all of the previous questions. This makes me very, very, very nervous. I will have to learn one more thing form Beyond Borders: how to let it go with the flow.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR9ok2DDI36D5ihvF9aDBVAUnWvthyphenhyphen8bymXOBL_vMSMM8oBwbZNGW0EooQ40snZVg3wExwdklyfXNmG4a3kSRAYptrqulvjLt8kyKkHbI0OxwzeEBuTANdiI7qNtA28EM0VAGhc5yXU92q/s1600-h/DSC_0024.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR9ok2DDI36D5ihvF9aDBVAUnWvthyphenhyphen8bymXOBL_vMSMM8oBwbZNGW0EooQ40snZVg3wExwdklyfXNmG4a3kSRAYptrqulvjLt8kyKkHbI0OxwzeEBuTANdiI7qNtA28EM0VAGhc5yXU92q/s320/DSC_0024.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNiiYBxvfexbq-nOEVYuSN6Jm8NKGGGARUSLqNEhxn3xV1EH6AXylbZ8Yjro87vWn_awgpuOspOlZDCMcbBuOqVDCA1_y9UBsVYYWGpj6FTKX_qietoLBzsMD0dkG-5zc0ZSQR7M17aQrW/s1600-h/DSC_0006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNiiYBxvfexbq-nOEVYuSN6Jm8NKGGGARUSLqNEhxn3xV1EH6AXylbZ8Yjro87vWn_awgpuOspOlZDCMcbBuOqVDCA1_y9UBsVYYWGpj6FTKX_qietoLBzsMD0dkG-5zc0ZSQR7M17aQrW/s320/DSC_0006.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioWUoNbY_rMaGenbM7NdMH2n6UCOAFtlOL6Yv-Eqndt7hsi6HyCwlUKIgez75_p3rvzuh3WiK0_VLSsTCXGGP4FsAof1enR7LwrK6WtD8NYL6DNJgjmvCH7lggwMCkNyQDn3Y55JGgx4bB/s1600-h/DSC_0047.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioWUoNbY_rMaGenbM7NdMH2n6UCOAFtlOL6Yv-Eqndt7hsi6HyCwlUKIgez75_p3rvzuh3WiK0_VLSsTCXGGP4FsAof1enR7LwrK6WtD8NYL6DNJgjmvCH7lggwMCkNyQDn3Y55JGgx4bB/s320/DSC_0047.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSQHoivcsfnQa_Y8dEimYTMdjvrA8UWpD1xbTOmhX6MfxsF5ZJSXuTxYblumlN0dNrGEHUuPKcxVro-nXHSHDa6DWN7C5OQSd8tAXY4bRFsHCy5dq-qRDoaU-kgBHpyTuvvikXjqFN70od/s1600-h/DSC_0056.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSQHoivcsfnQa_Y8dEimYTMdjvrA8UWpD1xbTOmhX6MfxsF5ZJSXuTxYblumlN0dNrGEHUuPKcxVro-nXHSHDa6DWN7C5OQSd8tAXY4bRFsHCy5dq-qRDoaU-kgBHpyTuvvikXjqFN70od/s320/DSC_0056.JPG" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36.0pt;">An update on the fundraising events before I sign off this blog entry! The band night went very well! The bands which came include: Junca (Junka?), IVS and Stone Fox. They were all amazing bands and we were excited to see everyone out at the band night! The event raised quite a bit of money for our group. A special thank-you to David Perrin for his continuous support that we have received throughout the year! Our next event is a yard sale which is going to take place on Sunday. We are collecting donations and will hold the sale on Sunday March 21<sup>st</sup> from 8:30 – 2:00! There will also be a pancake breakfast for all of those who are hungry! Please come out and support us!</div>J.Denisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13308390969576931539noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-105478217931281677.post-8107730946072955002010-03-11T23:12:00.000-08:002010-03-11T23:12:43.643-08:00Fears<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;">My fears are always difficult to discuss with other people; I don't like to seem weak. The easiest way for me to portray my feelings is through stories. With this said the story can apply to many different aspects in life and travel abroad. Anyways, enough of my babbling. I hope you enjoy:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;">Night</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The wind playfully brushes against my hair and blows it into my face, and I carefully push it back out of the way so that I can have a full view. I look out on the horizon while the wind blows a warm breeze that blankets me and makes my skin tingle. I am standing alone on the edge of a cliff, watching the sun paint the sky with its beautiful brush strokes. The colours surround me. Orange is playing with the pink in the sky and the pink is mixing with the blues. The sky is light up in a symphony of colours. I soak up all that the sun has left to offer during this peaceful moment; the warmth, the light, the hope, the happiness. I try to focus on all that is positive around me while gazing out upon the vast land which surrounds me, stained with colour. There is so much to see, and so many possibilities all within my eye’s view. The sight is a sad beauty to behold.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>It is so funny how quickly it happens. One moment you are surrounded by warmth, love, light the next moment you are in unfamiliar territory. I am scared to step anywhere and any wrong move could be certain danger. My vision has been lost, I cannot see and the world seems so dark. Goose bumps start to crawl all over my skin as I pull my sweater closer to myself for warmth. Panic starts to rise up within me and I wonder, who will save me? I am truly alone. Despair and hopelessness seep into my body, like the darkness that is constantly spreading, further and further. What will I do? Where will I go? Who can I trust? I feel numb from the cold now. I try to peer down to the bottom of the cliff; how far was it until the bottom? The bottom. The bottom of the cliff somehow seems close to me, as if I can just step down. I could play with all of the animals who live down there: the snakes and the horned animals. How kind the animals seem, they are calling out my name. There is a party that they threw in my honour, I can hear the drums playing. It isn’t far away now, the bottom. I can feel it starting to suck me in. I cannot go a moment without thinking about it. What harm would it do to be sucked into this world? There is no more light, no more hope.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>These thoughts tumble in my head, over and over the questions are asked. Who would miss me if I went to the bottom? Is anyone else even here? As I contemplate these thoughts trying to peer into the bottom of the cliff. There is light creeping up over the horizon! Is it just my eyes playing tricks on me? Have I been plunged in darkness for that long? No! It is light, there are colours dancing in the sky. The pinks and the oranges start to make their grand entrance into the world. All at once life starts to flow back into my body. The animals in the bottom of the cliff are starting to disappear. Were they ever really there to begin with or was my mind playing tricks on me? I can clearly see the bottom of the cliff now. I have to take a few steps back, for fear of how close I am to the edge. The sun continues to rise; it is a new day. Day. Warmth, light, hope, and happiness come back to me like old friends that I have not seen for a long time. I turn and head away from the cliff, now on sure footing, to continue my journey. There will be other cliffs that I will have to face and other dangers to encounter but I am reminded that even though the night may seem long, the sun always raises.</div>J.Denisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13308390969576931539noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-105478217931281677.post-12961403462186434132010-03-04T16:41:00.000-08:002010-03-04T16:41:37.472-08:00First Days<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>First days are always difficult for me. I never know what to do, where to go, or even where I am going. This week I started, very late I know, volunteering! I went to <a href="http://www.theworkingcentre.org/sjk/meal/meal.html">St. John’s Kitchen</a>. Here’s a little recap of how it all went:</div><div class="MsoNormal">12:05am – Calling my friend.</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">Them: “Hello?”</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">Me: “Hi.”</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">Them: “What’s up?”<br />
Me: “I’m nervous.”<br />
Them: “About?”</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">Me: “What if I go there and I didn’t dress the right way and then everyone gangs up on me and then I end up freaking out, which only makes the planet spin on its axis faster, making the days go by quicker, which causes global warming to occur faster, which ends up killing everyone that I was trying to help in the first place, and me!” (This was said very quickly)</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">Them: “...”</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">Me: “...”</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">Them: “You’ll be fine. Don’t worry.”</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">Me: “But I’ve always been a little scared of homeless people.”</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">*This is where Joanne’s voice chirped in my head reminding me that everyone is human.*</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">Me: “You know what! Tomorrow I am going to go in and be the best volunteer there! And I will smile at everyone and treat them like people!”<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /> <br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /> </div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 36.0pt;">Ok so now to explain this skit out a little bit. I grew up in Mississauga, a land where there really aren’t that many homeless people. Growing up close to Toronto means that I have seen them but usually when I go to the city for the day. I was taught by society well: keep your eyes ahead of you, don’t look, pretend it isn’t there. We do not treat these people as humans but rather we don’t think about their existence and we continue on to whatever we were going to do in our lives. I know this is wrong but it has been taught to me so well that breaking out of that cycle can be difficult. In our class we read many different books on a wide variety of subjects. One of the subjects regards treating people as human. For this subject we read Jean Vanier’s <u><a href="http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/Becoming-Human-Jean-Vanier-Jean/9780660195414-item.html">Becoming Human</a></u>. While this book does tie in well with what I was experiencing the book did not touch me like it did others. One of the books that has taught me so much about humanity and what it means to be human is Mitch Albom’s <u><a href="http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/Tuesdays-Morrie-Old-Man-Young-Mitch-Albom/9780767905923-item.html?ref=Search+Books:+%2527Tuesdays+with+Morrie%2527">Tuesdays with Morrie</a></u>. This book always helps be when I feel scared or when I feel like I need a reminder of what human feels like. In this book there is a main character that is dying and he frequently speaks about what it is like to be human. The important message to relate to in all of this is that these people are human just like me. I should not be scared of them because there is a chance that I could one day be in their shoes (especially with all the school bills). So I went to sleep with all of these rolling around in my head.</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I get so nervous before first days that I can never sleep. I constantly wake up in the middle of the night in cold sweats. I have insane dreams where the whole world ends because of what I am doing. Who would not be nervous when their subconscious tells them that I would be the cause of 1.6 billion people’s suffering?!? So nerves in check I left the house the next morning and headed out to the bus stop. I got the bus and headed down to Kitchener. I ended up wandering around Kitchener wondering where this place could be. I ended up calling a friend to Google map for me. The entire time I was wondering around I kept thinking “In Uganda I won’t have a dial-a-friend option. I will not be travelling around with a GPS.” It scared me a lot. I am so reliant on technology. I love it, I Google map <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">everything</i>. I even use street view now so I know what I should be passing. Well I eventually got to my final destination. I went inside and I found someone wearing an apron and nervously said “Ummm...I’m the new volunteer?” I was so nervous! I didn’t know where to look or what to do. I felt so uncomfortable the entire time. I was asked to sort the lettuce and the entire time I was so nervous. What if I screw up? What if I am not good enough?! These thoughts always go through my head on the first day. I get so incredibly nervous. So I tried to be extra careful. I worked for an hour and a half and I was so relieved to know that other Beyond Borders students were there. <a href="http://beyondborderscathleen.blogspot.com/">Cat</a> and <a href="http://amateurnomad.blogspot.com/">Lara</a> showed up! I felt a lot more relieved. The rest of the day went by without that much excitement. When I was giving out food I smiled at everyone and said hello. I made a point to be friendly with everyone I met. With all of this said and done I will still very quiet. Even the head of the kitchen noticed and asked if I was really that quiet. </div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 36.0pt;">When it was time for my break I sat by myself in the corner and read the paper. I enjoy being by myself and I tend to like to find a quiet safe corner to go to. That is exactly what I did. This made me start to think of Uganda as well. Will I seek out solidarity there as well? Will I want to find my safe space? What if I withdraw during my culture shock and never come out of that safe corner? I tend to want to go to my safe space when I am uncomfortable or scared. I need to start to extend further out and push myself to not withdraw the way that I am so accustomed to. Anyways by the end of the day it was long but insightful.</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 36.0pt;">Last update! (This is a long post I know) The AEF and the Band Night! Today <a href="http://myjourneybeyondborders.blogspot.com/">Olivia</a>, <a href="http://raquelsindiaexcursion.blogspot.com/">Raquel</a> and I went up in front of the AEF board and pleaded why we thought we should be granted funding. We luckily were not given a tough time with questions, as the previous students did with the AEF. We spoke and answered questions within the time that we were allowed. They seemed to be willing to grant us the extra $250 for the sound technician for our band night. We also told them that if we have more than 100 people coming to the event that we would require further funding. Everything seemed to go well though (knocks on wood) and hopefully we’ll hear something back from them shortly. The Band Night (Music with a Mission II) seems to be planned well right now. We are meeting on Monday to discuss the event further and hopefully we will be able to see many people out to the event! If you would like a ticket message me in the comment section and I will be able to meet with you to sell the tickets. Thank-you for making it through this long post!</div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 36.0pt;">Jacquelyn</div>J.Denisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13308390969576931539noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-105478217931281677.post-42066619310183834452010-02-25T21:24:00.000-08:002010-02-25T21:24:28.250-08:00Tips and Tricks for Fitting In... Secretly when I first started to blog I really didn’t like it. I used to blog when I was younger and I didn’t mind it then, but being forced to write 750 words once a week regarding the trip that I am going on; it is suffice to say that I thought it was challenging. I now look forward to writing my weekly blog, it has become one assignment that I don’t cringe at the thought of completing. So to keep on track of what this blog is about: getting ready for my three month placement in Uganda! I can tell you this much: it is hectic. Each day is filled with more things to do than the last. I have been moving along with what needs to be done before I leave: needles, forms, appointments, doctor’s visits, dentists, wisdom teeth extractions, volunteering and when I have a spare moment I try to research Uganda as much as possible. I am still frustrated at trying to find resources about Uganda in the specific areas that I want but I realized that the more I poke around the more I find. I can easily find more information on the United States or Canada but I guess that is to be expected since I live in this part of the world.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36.0pt;">I have recently had the pleasure of sitting down with a woman who works at the University of Waterloo to discuss what it is like to live in Kampala. I invited along my travel buddy <a href="http://kristagoestouganda.blogspot.com/">Krista</a> and on the first day back from reading week we went to discuss what it is like to live in Kampala. So here is a brief view into what we should be expecting:</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36.0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><u><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">Clothing:</span></span></u></div><div class="MsoNormal">Evidently if you want to look like a tourist then you should wear shorts. We have to wear pants and long skirts. Did I mention that Uganda is on the equator? Oh and flip-flops are shower shoes and should not be worn out of the house. People will look at you funny.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><u><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">Transportation:</span></span></u></div><div class="MsoNormal">Apparently this is the only time that I will feel most fearful for my life! The roads are so narrow and the boda boda’s zip in and out of areas with heavy traffic. Now I know what most of you are thinking, “A boda-what?” A boda boda is a way of transportation that people take in Uganda. Think of it like a taxi, only it is a motorcycle (or a bike). Here are two pictures:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOpyajPtg2sLp3_SWnJVNcn5YStcR-R6py_RXiJ9SHKNVoKTB0dCRyHmCOQXVzbEz2aNEAneVlA4Vpsy_-u5J4KwBrLvdnT26Rr9OoU6zQNOsQbrXVqfafVPhlhdGvcSPVshydXex_pwSz/s1600-h/Bodaboda2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOpyajPtg2sLp3_SWnJVNcn5YStcR-R6py_RXiJ9SHKNVoKTB0dCRyHmCOQXVzbEz2aNEAneVlA4Vpsy_-u5J4KwBrLvdnT26Rr9OoU6zQNOsQbrXVqfafVPhlhdGvcSPVshydXex_pwSz/s320/Bodaboda2.jpg" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">(</span><a href="http://www.ripa.350.com/Pictures/boda_boda.jpg"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">http://www.ripa.350.com/Pictures/boda_boda.jpg</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><u><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">General notes:</span></span></u></div><div class="MsoNormal">Do not wear jewellery, do not take a purse into the central market. Ok I’m warned. Also the people there are very friendly.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><u><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">The Creepy Crawleys:</span></span></u></div><div class="MsoNormal">There should not be a problem with spiders (phew!) although there are lots and lots and lots of mosquitoes. (Mental note: if I only pack one thing, let it be a good mosquito net). There are also snakes.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
<u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">Map:</span></u><br />
And the last thing we did which made me so incredibly excited to go to my placement, we Google mapped. So that everyone else can be really excited about where I am going I will include a map for everyone to take a gander:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgetS213GF09Kky7hNJxXUQR9VjpYXFFudvd85ajz3v3MpxfHy__UovtJQsnli3_vCiBSl2Kcj5I6ZV1M_GWXfujuzY3otueOUesqFSr_uFJ_uXakq9oT3A86icz_VfzfqMjq6kFiCiZimv/s1600-h/Kamwokya.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="419" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgetS213GF09Kky7hNJxXUQR9VjpYXFFudvd85ajz3v3MpxfHy__UovtJQsnli3_vCiBSl2Kcj5I6ZV1M_GWXfujuzY3otueOUesqFSr_uFJ_uXakq9oT3A86icz_VfzfqMjq6kFiCiZimv/s640/Kamwokya.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">(<a href="http://www.maps.google.ca/">www.maps.google.ca</a>)</span><br />
On the map the location that I will be staying at will be A and the location that Krista is staying at is location </div><div class="MsoNormal">B. And there are a few things I learned about Uganda this past week! There is more to come though, I promise.</div><div class="MsoNormal"> On another note, I am glad to report to you that I have a volunteer placement! Finally! I start this coming up Tuesday and hopefully I will be able to get all of my 20 hours in before the end of the term. I have been very lazy when it comes to getting my placement set up. There were a few places that I wanted to volunteer at but the training days had already passed. I will just have to keep these in mind for when I return from my placement. I am going to be volunteering at the <a href="http://www.theworkingcentre.org/sjk/meal/meal.html">St. John’s Kitchen</a>! I will have more to post about next week when I am going to have my first day of volunteering under my belt! Wish me luck! (First days are always a dousey for me)</div>J.Denisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13308390969576931539noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-105478217931281677.post-18481073751563585372010-02-18T21:21:00.000-08:002010-02-18T21:24:05.687-08:00Family<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>I am spending my reading week in Florida visiting my grandmother. I have been down in Florida since Saturday night. It has been six days that I have been in Florida. So I was in the shower tonight doing what I do best, thinking. It is the one place where, in this small condo, I can truly get away and be by myself and I don't have to answer 500 questions or be expected to keep up conversation. I don't have to answer why I like to keep some things in my life to myself. I can just be by myself and think. And what do I think about you wonder? My family. I get one moment to get away to have time by myself and what do I think of? the people I am trying to get away from for a brief moment.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>I realized that I am not a very big family person. I am not a very communal person and I am very independent. I like to be able to do things by myself and to rely on myself. I always feel bad when I have to lean on someone else. I have structured my life to try to lean as least as possible on other people. I do not like to feel like I am in debt to someone else. I would rather struggle to find my own way than to have to lean on anyone else. With all of that said and done, I am not a scrooge who keeps to herself. I will stretch myself as thin as I can go to give to other people. I will offer rides, I will do extra work, I will do this and that and try my hardest to make people happy. In a way, I have very much adopted to a North American life style of independence (just without the blackberry). I am someone who loves my “home, but I can make that home wherever I am. I find a nice place that I feel safe and that section becomes my home. I find it hard to venture out from my spot and I like to be by myself in my spot. I am very much someone who loves my space that I call “home. </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent:36.0pt">Saying all of that I have been constantly with my family for the past six days. I wake up and I am with my family, I go out and it's with my family, I go to dinner and it's with my family, I go home to relax and it's with my family and finally at the end of the night I go to bed and it's with my family. Now please don't misunderstand me, I love my family and part of the reason that I quit my job was, among many other plentiful reasons, was because I wanted to see my family on our traditional vacation to Florida. I love my family but being constantly around them has been so different. I haven't been with my family like this since I lived with them before moving into university (and all of the other Florida vacations). I have gotten used to being more independent. We are together constantly, and I know these are the times and the trips that I am going to remember forever. This is just vastly different from how I live at home and the contrast has taken some getting used to. I find myself looking forward for my vacation to end and my school to start again, to be able to go back to my little corner that I have made for myself and be comfortable by myself.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-tab-count:1"> </span>This makes me think more and more about this summer which is quickly approaching. I am going to be living with a family in Uganda and developing countries tend to have a more collectivist culture. I am going to have to get used to living in a family unit again; I am going to have to get used to sharing with a family. I am going to become part of a collectivist culture and this may be something that I may find extremely uncomfortable with. I like time to sit and process and be by myself. I have grown so accustomed to having my private life and having it be kept in my comfy space where I can work on it on my own. This summer I may have to lean on other people for help and I may have to be involved in the family unit. This may be one of my most difficult things to take part in. I like my walls and I like my comfy space, I am not going to be comfortable having it be pried open for all to see. Our professor told us a story where one of the old members in the program couldn't change one night because the entire family was in the room talking, expecting her to continue changing. Hello invasion of privacy! Although that is what a family is, among other things, a unit which is, as it is described, unified. I am going to have to learn how to venture out of my comfy space and be with the family. Hello culture shock, my name is Jacquelyn, it is scary to meet you.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">A question to follow blog readers: Do you think of yourself as individualistic or community based?</p>J.Denisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13308390969576931539noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-105478217931281677.post-54470894200144053062010-02-12T18:04:00.000-08:002010-02-21T08:00:04.766-08:00Uganda<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36.0pt;"><br />
</div><div style="text-indent: 0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>This past week, although very hectic, was interesting. I made a presentation on Uganda in my class. I presented on the history, government (including the Lord’s Resistance Army), geography as well as my placement. This blog post I will cover the history and the government. Krista took over other topics and you can visit her blog <a href="http://kristagoestouganda.blogspot.com/">here</a>. She may post her details that she found when she writes her blog. Until then I can give you some more information about the topics that I researched. For all references to where I looked at the material please see the bibliography at the end. Unfortunately I do not know how to properly do referencing on this blogging tool. Each part of the bibliography is listed by section, so it should be relatively easy to find out where I got the information. If you are confused at all please send me a message or comment and I can help you out.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36.0pt;">First I’ll show the information that I found on the history. The history of Uganda has many different governments which were overthrown by many other different governments. In order to know more about the country, however, it is important to know about its history. Uganda was found by the British in the 1860’s when they were looking for the origins of the Nile River which is located in Uganda. The British then took over Uganda and Kenya as its colonies. Uganda gained self rule in 1961 and this started the many different coups which occurred throughout Uganda’s history. In 1966 Prime Minister Milton Obote took over Uganda, suspended the constitution and assumed all of the government’s powers. Obote was in power until 1971 when he was run out of the country during a military coup led by Idi Amin Dada who then assumed power. Amin had many different human rights violations during his reign. Not only were there human rights violations but there was a large decline in the economic sphere. This decline is so great that they are still recovering from it. In 1979 a rebel army overthrew the government and Amin fled from the country. In 1989 President Obote came into power and this regime had one of the world’s worst human rights records. Then in 1985 the military took over and established a government. In 2005 a national referendum resulted in the adoption of a multiparty system. During this time there was also a law which eliminated presidential term limits. This allowed President Museveni (who was in power at that time) to be able to continue serving in government. The elections in 2006 declared President Museveni the winner for the third term in a row. The presidential elections occur every 5 years in the republic styled government which rules Uganda. The country has had a rocky history and it is now returning to peace and prosperity. </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36.0pt;">This country has a very unstable past which included many different military coups which frequently occurred. I cannot fathom what it would be like to live in a time when a country is in such a politically unstable. Everyone naturally wants to find peace and happiness and it would be terrifying when you think you are supporting the strongest party one day only to learn that they are not the next day. Not only are you lost in who to support but the other side has now targeted you as an enemy of the state. In Canada we are peaceful to the point where some people call our government a push-over on some subjects. We try to accommodate everyone who comes into our country, we try to make sure that they have housing (most of the time), that they are in good medical health and if they aren’t we have systems in place to help us get better, the government makes sure that if you are fired from your job that you will have some money still flowing through your bank account until you can get back on your feet. Our government is working for us, they are working to make sure that we are able to be taken care of. This is heaven compared to a country where you don’t even know who is in charge because it changes overnight. We are so lucky to have a government which is the same in the morning as it was the night before when we went to sleep. I am nervous to be going into a country which is so vastly different than ours. I am curious to see how this affects the people and how they think of their government. I know that our professor has told us that we are not supposed to talk openly about events in history. This may be a soft spot for the people in the country so I will try my best to carefully observe the people and their opinions of their government. I hope to gain some insight about how people interact with a government which has had many troubles in the past.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36.0pt;">Bibliography</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36.0pt;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: -27.35pt;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt;">History Information</span><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: -22.3pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">–</span><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt;">United States Department of State. “Background Note: Uganda.” <a href="http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2963.htm"><span style="color: blue;">http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2963.htm#history</span></a> .</span><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: -22.3pt;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: -27.35pt;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt;">Government Slide 1</span><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: -22.3pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">–</span><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt;">United States Department of State. “Background Note: Uganda.” <a href="http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2963.htm"><span style="color: blue;">http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2963.htm#history</span></a> .</span><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: -27.35pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">•</span><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt;">Government Slide 2</span><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: -22.3pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">–</span><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt;">Election Gudie. “Country Profile: Uganda.” <span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://www.electionguide.org/country.php?ID=222">http://www.electionguide.org/country.php?ID=222</a></span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: -22.3pt;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: -22.3pt;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: -22.3pt;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt;">Other Useful Links: (This is also my Bibliography)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: -22.3pt;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt;"></span></div><span style="color: black; font-size: 12pt;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: -27.35pt;"><span lang="FR" style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: FR; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">•</span><span lang="FR" style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: FR; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Amin Idi</span><span lang="FR" style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: FR; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: -22.3pt;"><span lang="FR" style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: FR; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">–</span><span lang="FR" style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: FR; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Unknown. “Amin Idi.” </span><a href="http://www.blackpast.org/files/blackpast_images/amin_idi.jpg"><span style="color: blue; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">http://www.blackpast.org/files/blackpast_images/amin_idi.jpg</span></a><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: -27.35pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">•</span><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Country Flag</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: -22.3pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">–</span><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Unknown. “Events for the Uganda Diaspora.” </span><a href="http://ugdiasporaevents.wordpress.com/2009/09/22/demonstrations-at-u-n-wednesday/"><span lang="FR" style="color: blue; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: FR; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">http://ugdiasporaevents.wordpress.com/2009/09/22/demonstrations-at-u-n-wednesday/</span></a><span lang="FR" style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: FR; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">.</span><span lang="FR" style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: FR; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: -27.35pt;"><span lang="FR" style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: FR; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">•</span><span lang="FR" style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: FR; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Child Soldier 1</span><span lang="FR" style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: FR; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: -22.3pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">–</span><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Unknown. “Ira Child Soldier.” </span><a href="http://joshuadysart.com/unknownsoldier/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/lra-child-soldier.jpg"><span style="color: blue; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">http://joshuadysart.com/unknownsoldier/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/lra-child-soldier.jpg</span></a><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: -27.35pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">•</span><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Child Soldier 2</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: -22.3pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">–</span><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Unknown. “Unknown.” </span><a href="http://en.kindernothilfe.org/multimedia/kmdb/%5b005%5d/5811_326x397_326x397_114x2-width-326-height-397-view_image-1-called_by-knhfs-original_site--original_page-105.jpg"><span style="color: blue; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">http://en.kindernothilfe.org/multimedia/kmdb/[005]/5811_326x397_326x397_114x2-width-326-height-397-view_image-1-called_by-knhfs-original_site--original_page-105.jpg</span></a><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: -27.35pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">•</span><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">History Information</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: -22.3pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">–</span><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">United States Department of State. “Background Note: Uganda.” </span><a href="http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2963.htm"><span style="color: blue; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2963.htm#history</span></a><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"> .</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: -27.35pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">•</span><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Joseph Kony</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: -22.3pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">–</span><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Unknown. “Joseph Kony.” </span><a href="http://geoconger.files.wordpress.com/2008/02/joseph-kony.jpg"><span style="color: blue; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">http://geoconger.files.wordpress.com/2008/02/joseph-kony.jpg</span></a><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: -27.35pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">•</span><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Lord’s Resistance Army Picture</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: -22.3pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">–</span><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Unknown. “Unknown.” </span><a href="http://media.economist.com/images/20060722/2906MA4.jpg"><span style="color: blue; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">http://media.economist.com/images/20060722/2906MA4.jpg</span></a><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: -27.35pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">•</span><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Lord’s Resistance Army Information</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: -22.3pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">–</span><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Dunson, Donald H. “Child, Victim, Soldier.” Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 2008.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: -27.35pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">•</span><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Government Slide 1</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: -22.3pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">–</span><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">United States Department of State. “Background Note: Uganda.” </span><a href="http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2963.htm"><span style="color: blue; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2963.htm#history</span></a><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"> .</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: -27.35pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">•</span><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Government Slide 2</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: -22.3pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">–</span><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Election Gudie. “Country Profile: Uganda.” </span><a href="http://www.electionguide.org/country.php?ID=222"><span style="color: blue; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">http://www.electionguide.org/country.php?ID=222</span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: -27.35pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">•</span><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Geography Slide 1</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: -22.3pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">–</span><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">BBC. “Country Guide: Uganda.” </span><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/country_guides/results.shtml?tt=TT000750"><span style="color: blue; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/world/country_guides/results.shtml?tt=TT000750</span></a><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: -27.35pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">•</span><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Bwindi Impenetrable National Park<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: -22.3pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">–</span><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Uganda Wildlife Authority. “Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.” </span><a href="http://www.uwa.or.ug/bwindi.html"><span style="color: blue; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">http://www.uwa.or.ug/bwindi.html</span></a><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: -27.35pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">•</span><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Mgahinga Gorilla National Park<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: -22.3pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">–</span><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Uganda Wildlife Authority. “Mgahinga Gorilla National Park.” <a href="http://www.uwa.or.ug/mgahinga.html"><span lang="FR" style="color: blue; mso-ansi-language: FR;">http://www.uwa.or.ug/mgahinga.html</span></a></span><span lang="FR" style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: FR; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: -27.35pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">•</span><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Queen Elizabeth National Park<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: -22.3pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">–</span><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Uganda Wildlife Authority. “Queen Elizabeth National Park (QENP).” </span><a href="http://www.uwa.or.ug/queen.html"><span style="color: blue; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">http://www.uwa.or.ug/queen.html</span></a><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: -27.35pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">•</span><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Murchison Falls National Park<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: -22.3pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">–</span><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Uganda Wildlife Authority. “Murchison Falls National Park.” </span><a href="http://www.uwa.or.ug/murchison.html"><span style="color: blue; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">http://www.uwa.or.ug/murchison.html</span></a><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: -27.35pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">•</span><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Semuliki National Park<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: -22.3pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">–</span><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Uganda Wildlife Authority. “ Semuliki National Park.” <a href="http://www.uwa.or.ug/semlikinat.html"><span lang="FR" style="color: blue; mso-ansi-language: FR;">http://www.uwa.or.ug/semlikinat.html</span></a></span><span lang="FR" style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: FR; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: -27.35pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">•</span><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Kibale National Park<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: -22.3pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">–</span><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Uganda Wildlife Authority. “Kibale National Park.” <a href="http://www.uwa.or.ug/kibale.html"><span lang="FR" style="color: blue; mso-ansi-language: FR;">http://www.uwa.or.ug/kibale.html</span></a></span><span lang="FR" style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: FR; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: -27.35pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;">•</span><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Kamwokya Christian Caring Community<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: -22.3pt;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Kamwokya Christian Caring Community. “Kamwokya Christian Caring Community.” </span><a href="http://www.kamccc.org/"><span style="color: blue; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">http://www.kamccc.org/</span></a><span style="color: black; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-CA;"><o:p></o:p></span></div></span><br />
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</span></div>J.Denisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13308390969576931539noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-105478217931281677.post-68074477177295240932010-02-05T11:29:00.000-08:002010-02-05T15:03:37.371-08:00Another Orange Revolution?I was sitting in the library today, not wanting to study the romantic poets with their obsessive amount that they like to go on about flowers, God and the glory of it all. They sound a little something like this (at least to me they do):<br /><br />"I am sitting on a hill, looking upon this flower. This flower is beautiful but not in it's earthly form! It has a flowerness! A flower essence! The flower essence came from the Devince. I am too humble compared to God to speak of the Devine and what He means. Even though I just said the last sentence I am going to speak about it anyways (because secretly I think I am the most amazing person ever). The flower is beauty and beauty is the Devine and God is beautiful! Ah! What is that I see? A blade of grass? How could that be! (<- notice the rhyme?) A blade of grass to show it's essence to me. I think I will now frolic in a field. Excuse me for a while while I narrate my frolicking.)"<br /><br /><br />So I was sitting in the library trying to keep a grip on reality while the Romantic Poets teamed up to try to stage a coup of my last remaining sane brain cells when I noticed the paper sitting on the table. I decided to put my best defense forward and try to block their attack with a healthy dose of reality. <br /><br /><br />I noticed on the paper, where it had been left open, that there was an article about Ukraine. The Ukraine has been a country that I have been interested in for some time, since I started to learn about the Orange Revolution.The Orange Revolution was a mass nonviolent movement. The movement occurred because there was fraud during the elections. One candidate, Yanukovich, was found to have rigged the elections so that he would win against Yushchenko. Yushchenko and his partner Tymoshenko started the Orange Revolution to revolt against the corrupt government. There were approximately 1 million people who came to Kiev (this number has been disputed, some sources believe there was a half a million people). The people were protesting the unfair elections. There were a total of three elections and one court case before anything happened. Yushchenko ended up winning the presidential elections, due to the support of the revolution.<br /><br /><br />As I am a student in Peace and Conflict studies this, of course, raises my interest. I do not pretend to be an expert in what has gone on in the Ukraine, I have only had two classes on the subject matter. I am, however, interested in what is going on with the country's politics.<br /><br /><br />It seems as though there may be <i>another</i> Orange Revolution. Another? Did everyone not learn their lessons from the <b> first </b> revolution? If there is a possibility of another revolution will it be nonviolent or bloody? I would hate to see the name of the Orange Revolution turn red. I wait nervously to see what happens in Ukraine. I honestly hope that there will be no more cheating in the election polls and that somehow, it all turns out right. This may be a little naive of me to think that every story has a magical ending, but I do still hope for one. One way or another I think my friends who are going to the Ukraine should keep a close eye on this. This could end up being an interesting turn of events, and depending on how long it takes they may be in Ukraine during another nonviolent protest.<br /><br /><br />Here is the article I was reading from the National Post:<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; "><h2 style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.2em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-weight: normal; font-size: 2.5em; line-height: 1.2em; letter-spacing: -0.0333em; ">Ukrainian PM vows Orange street protest</h2><div><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; ">Peter O'Neil, Canwest News Service </strong><span style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; ">Published: Friday, February 05, 2010</span><br /><span style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; "></span></div><div><span style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; "><br /></span></div><div><span style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; "><div class="medium" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; "><p class="photo border_btm" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0.25em; padding-left: 0px; font-size: 0.9167em; line-height: 14px; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); white-space: normal; float: left; width: 404px; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; "><span style="margin-top: 0.167em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; float: left; ">VIKTOR YANUKOVYCH</span></p></div><div class="story-content" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 12px; "><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.25em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; font-size: 1.333em; line-height: 1.5em; ">Ukraine faces the risk of chaos after Sunday's presidential vote after Yulia Tymoshenko, the Prime Minister, threatened yesterday to create another massive Orange Revolution-style demonstration to prevent her loss to front-runner Viktor Yanukovych.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.25em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; font-size: 1.333em; line-height: 1.5em; ">She was responding to election-law changes, orchestrated on Wednesday by Mr. Yanukovych's parliamentary supporters, which could increase the likelihood of fraud similar to that in 2004, which precipitated the huge demonstrations.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.25em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; font-size: 1.333em; line-height: 1.5em; ">"I ask you not to allow Yanukovych to rape our democracy, our election and our country!" said Ms. Tymoshenko, who finished 10 percentage points behind her bitter rival in the first round of voting last month.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.25em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; font-size: 1.333em; line-height: 1.5em; ">"If we do not manage ... to ensure that the expression of the people's will and the results of this will are held in an honest way we will call people out.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.25em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; font-size: 1.333em; line-height: 1.5em; ">"If Yanukovych wants an honest fight, we are ready to compete with him, but if he seeks to cheat, we will be able to rebuff him in a way he has never seen, even in 2004."</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.25em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; font-size: 1.333em; line-height: 1.5em; ">Mr. Yanukovych, whose 2004 presidential victory was overturned after evidence of widespread vote-rigging, ridiculed her gambit.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.25em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; font-size: 1.333em; line-height: 1.5em; ">"This is a sign of weakness and a sign that she has understood she is losing," he said in predominantly Russian-speaking eastern Ukraine, one of his power bases.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.25em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; font-size: 1.333em; line-height: 1.5em; ">"The only people who will go to Independence Square [the site of the Orange Revolution protests] are those who like the same dishes as Tymoshenko --dirt, lies and slander."</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.25em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; font-size: 1.333em; line-height: 1.5em; ">The possibility of a post-election street fight -- and court battle -- increases uncertainty in a country of 46 million that is seeking the resumption of a suspended US$16.4-billion International Monetary Fund loan.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.25em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; font-size: 1.333em; line-height: 1.5em; ">The legislative changes affect the rules governing polling stations and could increase the risk of partisan influence of the vote process, analysts say.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.25em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; font-size: 1.333em; line-height: 1.5em; ">The new rules were quickly signed into law by President Viktor Yushchenko, Mr. Tymoshenko's 2004 Orange Revolution partner, who became her arch-rival.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.25em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; font-size: 1.333em; line-height: 1.5em; ">"The changes do not make fraud inevitable, but they weaken the insurance mechanisms that are designed to stop it," Andrew Wilson, an analyst with the European Council on Foreign Relations, wrote in his blog.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.25em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; font-size: 1.333em; line-height: 1.5em; ">"Yanukovych's supporters, meanwhile, have reminded the world that they have never come to terms with, or even admitted, what they did in 2004."</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.25em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; font-size: 1.333em; line-height: 1.5em; ">But Mr. Wilson and David Marples, a historian at the University of Alberta believe the legal changes are also being exploited by Ms. Tymoshenko, a firebrand populist.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.25em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; font-size: 1.333em; line-height: 1.5em; ">The Ukrainian Prime Minister is sounding increasingly "desperate" and appears to be implying she won't accept defeat, said Mr. Marples, director of the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies, in an email.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.25em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; font-size: 1.333em; line-height: 1.5em; ">"But the fact remains that few, if any discrepancies of voting procedure were observed in the first round. I am not suggesting that a Yanukovych presidency would be good for Ukraine, or that he is [a] pleasant or particularly honest man.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.25em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; font-size: 1.333em; line-height: 1.5em; ">"Yet, if he won the first round by more than 10 [percentage points] without cheating, then why would he cheat on the second, especially with the entire world watching?"</p></div><span style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; "><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.667em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; font-size: 1em; line-height: 1.333em; ">Serhy Yekelchyk at the University of Victoria said Ms. Tymoshenko knows she's about to lose and will "try everything" to stay in power.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.667em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; font-size: 1em; line-height: 1.333em; ">"It is not going to work this time, though. No repeat of 2004.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.667em; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; font-size: 1em; line-height: 1.333em; ">"The people are disillusioned with the Orange revolutionaries, who did not fulfil their hefty promises of 2004. Instead, they became mired in the same dirty politics and backroom deals so repulsive to ordinary Ukrainians."</p><span style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; ">Taken from the <a href="http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=2524007">National Post</a></span></span></span></div></span></div><div><br /></div>J.Denisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13308390969576931539noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-105478217931281677.post-62309323732261991532010-02-02T20:43:00.000-08:002010-02-02T21:14:57.212-08:00Please Take Your Elbows off the Table.Society has a specific set of rules that expects everyone to follow. Don’t put your elbows on the table, don’t pick at your teeth when you are sitting at the dinner table, don’t speak loudly in a library, during a lecture with 300 students do not ask questions, etc. There are all of these strange systems and rules that we all are supposed to know about and to follow. Does everyone know every little rule? Of course not. We may have opposing viewpoints of how to act in a certain situation or someone may just be unaware. On a general scale though, everyone know how they are supposed to behave when we are in public. We are taught lovingly by our parents when we are children to follow these rules of society. We cannot, however know every single rule for every single culture in every single situation. The world has six billion people in it (approximately). That number is so large that we cannot even comprehend what that would look like. With all of that said and done we are all very different and we have different ways to interact with different people. I have started to take the leadership workshops to try to discover more about myself and on the way I have discovered this class. The point was further made when I was at the library today. I was on the 7th floor of the Dana Porter library and I was trying to finish up some last minute studying. While I was studying there were these guys who were making so much noise. I may seem like an evil dictator but, I hate hearing people talking and laughing a lot when I am trying to study. It annoys me to no end. I was sitting at my desk thinking to myself “don’t these guys know that you aren’t supposed to make this much noise in a library?” This led to me start thinking more about rules in society (somewhat my own take on a subject that Cat has already discussed). We are about to embark on a journey to another country.<br /> This makes me wonder what the rules are in Uganda. I wonder how many times I am going to be going to give a handshake and that may be the wrong thing to do, effectively disrespecting whoever I offered my hand to. I like to think that I can be ready to encounter all different cultures from all different walks of life; I mean I live in Canada! We have so many people come to our country from many other different countries. I like to think that I have mastered the awkward greeting. Although, I have always been the one who was born in Canada while the other person had just moved or they are visiting. It must be much more embarrassing for the other person. I am already established in my home and I know that I do not get offended that easily. This means that I will not be the master of the awkward social etiquette in another country. I won’t know when it is polite to slurp and burp when I eat or when I should be quiet. I will possibly be tripping over my own feet, trying to walk around. I think this may be one of the most frustrating challenges that I will encounter. I am not a person who likes to be at any disadvantage. I like to know what I am doing and I do not like to draw more attention to myself than is needed. I will have to learn patience when I am in Uganda. I will need to know patience to learn the ways of the world from the Ugandan perspective and hope that people will understand that I am still fumbling along trying to learn. I would not like to offend anyone when I am staying there.<br /> Now to turn to news about volunteering! I have yet to start volunteering (ahhh! I should get on that!). I do not know, still, where I want to volunteer. Nothing sounds like it is something I would be really excited to do. I guess I will have to jump in and see if I like something. I am no stranger to volunteering but most of it has been with the fortunate crowd. For example, I helped to set up a biking marathon, or I help exchange students find their way around Canada. I have never worked with either a) children or b) people living below the poverty line. Anyone who reads this blog: do you volunteer? If so, where? I could use some ideas. I want to start volunteering soon!J.Denisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13308390969576931539noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-105478217931281677.post-89433953638702756782010-01-27T19:44:00.000-08:002010-01-29T08:58:38.983-08:00Book ReadingI would first just like to thank everyone who helped to organize the event: TE Wealth, Dr. James Maskalyk and my mother. Without their help this event would not have been successful. I would also like to thank everyone who came. I really appreciate everyone's support. It was nice to be able to speak with everyone about their experiences and about places to see while I am in Uganda. The event ran pretty smoothly and while I enjoyed hearing Dr. Maskalyk speak, I am sure that I will get even more from watching the speech the second time through. This is the first time that I have ever organized an event like this and I was so worried about making sure that everything ran smoothly and that there were no problems that I was not able to take in everything that was being said. I am looking forward to getting a copy of the tape and watching the event again when I am fully relaxed.<br /> With all of that said I there are two things that I initially took away from the night and that focuses around two different things: tools and focus. James spoke about having the tools to be able to help. Many people in the crowd were concerned about what was going on with Haiti and what would be the best way for them to help. One important theme came up in the answer and that was being able to have the tools to help. It is not enough to just have your heart in the right place, but to also learn what your strengths are and to be able to use those to help people. He gave the example of him being educated in medicine, so he was able to go and help with medical issues that were happening in Sudan. That is one thing that scares me the most; I have trouble finding out what I am good at. When I am in job interviews and they ask that question (“What are some of your strengths?”) I feel a little lost. I am still in school, do I really have any skills? I know what I want to do in life (somewhat), to deal with Human Rights issues or international law or - something along those lines. That type of work would need a lot more education that I have though, wouldn’t it? My biggest fear of being sent to Uganda to volunteer is not being able to help. I am scared that I will just get in the way. I hope this fear will be eased when I know what it is I am going to be doing over there. Until then, I wait with multiple knots in my stomach.<br /> The second thing was focus. Focus when you are volunteering and after volunteering. This is one of the reasons that I admire James and what he is doing. It seems that he has never stopped engaging in what he is passionate about. I hope that this trip does not become “a slide show of pictures I can look back on” but rather the start of something else. I hope that I have enough focus to not lose sight of what it is I want to achieve, of what I want to do. I really want to make sure that this is the start of something bigger. The closer and closer that I get to this trip, the more I get nervous. There is still so much preparation to do and it is all pulling at the small amount of free time that I get. I am so excited that I was able to experience everything I did for the book reading and even more so that Dr. James Maskalyk agreed to come speak. I am getting anxious to watch the tape again.<br /> On another note, the fundraising is starting to go well. There are rumors that there may be another band night this term. There is also a yard sale (note to self call the people for the room booking) which is going to happen. I am starting to slowly get better at being able to plan out what to do when organizing an event. I know that if I were to drop out of the program right now (which I am not planning to at all) I will have at least learned that! Being part of Beyond Borders means that you will start your way onto becoming an excellent event planner! Please stay tuned to learn more about our fundraisers. The next one that is being held is on this coming Thursday in AL (at the University of Waterloo), we will be selling items to raise money. I hope to see everyone out there!<br />Thank-you for reading. Comments are welcome.J.Denisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13308390969576931539noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-105478217931281677.post-16002834457747716742010-01-26T10:15:00.000-08:002010-01-26T10:34:08.449-08:00So Much to Do...So Little TimeThis week is already a bad week and it is only the beginning of term. Um, what? This week I have several hundred meetings with Professors, leadership classes, assignments due, blogs due, lsat prep, the ever so stressful (but not in any way not worth it) book reading, travel clinics to go to, meetings get the AEF done for next week and last but not least to get my PACS field studies proposal written. This all equals me praying that reading week comes quickly and if not reading week then at least the weekend. The closer the date gets to Wednesday the more nervous I get. Sunday I didn't think about it, Monday it started to come into my head and now on Tuesday it is all I can think about. There is still so much to read and so much to do. I only have a few more hours until Wednesday rolls around. It is the first time I have ever co-planned an event which was not small. I am excited, nervous and a little stressed. Tomorrow is the big day - I will post about how it went after the date, look forward to the post!J.Denisehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13308390969576931539noreply@blogger.com0