Yesterday was the craziest day at the birthouse yet. Every Thursday, Shanti offers HIV
testing, immunizations for infants, as well as a yoga class, nutrition class,
and family planning class. In other words, Shanti becomes a zoo. Julia and I didn’t want to miss any of
the excitement, so we left the volunteer house early in the morning in an
effort to catch it all.
Welcome to Shanti Uganda
Waiting room
I was stressing a little bit as we arrived at 10:30am
because I didn’t want to miss the prenatal yoga class. Keep in mind, we had been told by three
separate people that the class started at three different times. If the class was at 9 we had missed it,
if the class was at 9:30 we had missed, and even if the class was at 10 we had
missed it. Luckily for us, the
yoga mats hadn’t even been laid out yet when we arrived. Apparently Ugandan time is no different
than Kenyan time. And so, Julia
and I took our spots amongst the other thirteen big-bellied women and waited
for the lesson to begin. The class
mostly consisted of hip thrusts, deep breathing, and cat/cow poses (accompanied
by their respective animal noises).
I knew the class would be memorable before it even started because they
handed out freshly picked bananas while were waiting for everyone to take their
seats. Healthy snacks before a
good morning stretch? What more could an expectant mother ask for? I may not have cankles or a baby
growing inside of me, but I will definitely
be back next week!
After a not-so-strenuous workout, Julia and I declared it
time for lunch. As we were
munching on our homemade “salad” consisting of red beans, chickpeas, and
artichoke hearts, one of the midwives’ granddaughters came over to us. Little Flo is two years old and cute as
a button. Unfortunately she is
very aware of this and uses it to her advantage to get what she wants. That
includes asking for the mzungu’s food.
It’s not like she was going hungry. Lunch was coming in less than an
hour. But what Flo wants, Flo gets.
I ended up hand feeding her single red beans as if she were a gumball
machine. Coincidentally, during
the time I was waiting on a two year old, a baby was born in the next room.
That makes 17! Only two more births this month until we break Shanti’s current
record!
Julia’s and my current project is repainting the water tank
that acts as a central marketing tool for Shanti. You can’t really miss it once you step onto the compound,
and our program director thought it was time to give the tank a facelift. So, Julia and I are in charge of
sprucing it up a bit.
Unfortunately, neither of us is artistically inclined. We’ve managed to cover up the previous
mural with primer, and today we coated the entire thing yellow. We told passersby that the plain yellow
would soon be decorated with cool designs to really liven it up. Unfortunately, such “cool designs” have
yet to be brainstormed. Our boss
wants us to paint the silhouette of a pregnant woman beside the company logo,
but I think our best attempt would end up looking more like an inkblot from the
Rorschach test.
Water tank before Julia and I began our project
(after picture coming soon)
In addition to our art project we attended a WIGG meeting
with the other interns. We also
played with Flo a bit more and discussed plans to plaster and cement the
company storage room next week.
One of my favorite parts of each day is the walk home. We come across so many groups of young
children who are elated to catch sight of the mzungus. Shanti volunteers are the only white
people in our entire village, so somehow we’ve become the celebrities of
Kasana. Children run up to us, wanting to high five us and shake our hands. I wish I could capture the sheer
excitement on their faces when they greet us each day. No one in the U.S. is ever that genuinely enthused to see me.
Our beautiful walk home
(before we reach the children)
Today we’re heading to Kampala for Shanti Uganda’s first art
show fundraiser. We’re
highlighting the work of local artists and a portion of the proceeds goes
toward expanding the birth house. I’m
very much looking forward to a fun weekend in a new city.
Kwaheri ya kuonana!
(By the way, I’m very jealous of those students spending
their IDS in Tanzania who get to use their Swahili everyday. They say that
Kiswahili was born in Tanzania, butchered in Kenya, killed in Uganda, and
buried in the Congo. I’m having a
frustrating time not being able to use my Swahili in an area where most people
speak some English but everyone speaks Luganda. Here’s to trying to learn yet
another language!)
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