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Wednesday, February 20, 2008
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Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Friday, October 5, 2007
back in portland
wow. i'm back in portland and its so surreal thinking about the whole trip. i loved being able to see so many different regions of uganda and begin to connect with all the communities. i LOVED the team i traveled with!!! diana is really a wonderful human being, so fun and full of adventure and doing some amazing things with the foundation (w glen boyd foundation) by connecting many great people/programs/resources together. james was so solid, forthright, hilarious, charming and so great to be with! and betty, i'm just plain in love with betty. she is so warm, loving and full of depth and soul. i learned so much from this amazing team i got to be part of.
one of the main things i've learned on this trip is how competent, capable and resilient the people in these communities are. they've lost their freedom, their land and their ability to full express their culture due to the close proximity they've been forced to live in inside these idp camps. as they are beginning to move home and to resettlement sites, there is more hope and joy present but they've lost so much. one thing i've recognized is how much media limits our view of africans in general. we seem to be accustomed to the idea that they need saving. its just not an accurate picture. i've met so many professional, proficient, disciplined men and women who are leaders in their communities and proactive in their pursuit of reclaiming their lives on a post-war region. mercy corps is very much a partner with these communities as they help to support ugandan led programs. it's been amazing to see!!
i think portland is all about sustainability and self-sufficiency and are like-minded in spirit to those communities in northern uganda.
it's important that people are aware of the devastation that has occured. but it's also equally important that we find out about the "silent successes" happening every day in these communities and celebrate them!!
stephanie
one of the main things i've learned on this trip is how competent, capable and resilient the people in these communities are. they've lost their freedom, their land and their ability to full express their culture due to the close proximity they've been forced to live in inside these idp camps. as they are beginning to move home and to resettlement sites, there is more hope and joy present but they've lost so much. one thing i've recognized is how much media limits our view of africans in general. we seem to be accustomed to the idea that they need saving. its just not an accurate picture. i've met so many professional, proficient, disciplined men and women who are leaders in their communities and proactive in their pursuit of reclaiming their lives on a post-war region. mercy corps is very much a partner with these communities as they help to support ugandan led programs. it's been amazing to see!!
i think portland is all about sustainability and self-sufficiency and are like-minded in spirit to those communities in northern uganda.
it's important that people are aware of the devastation that has occured. but it's also equally important that we find out about the "silent successes" happening every day in these communities and celebrate them!!
stephanie
the women of luchan rebe ~the poor unite
yesterday i finally got to meet the women from locan rebe. the translation is "the poor unite" which is exactly what these women have done. they are all mothers from northern uganda -lots of them from the region around pader, where we visited the resettlement sites. they've lost their husbands and kids to the war and like all the others were forced to relocate to the idp camps and live in the inhumane conditions there for years. somehow, this group of women found each other (networking would be next to impossible given that the were all spread out at different idp camps throughout the entire region of northern uganda so i have no idea how they found each other). they relocated themselves, and what was left of their families, to the urban city of kampala. they started their very own business making beads, baskets, clothing...etc... when diana met them they asked for one thing, a market to sell their products. this is almost unheard of (given the level of poverty) that they didn't ask for grants but instead an opportunity to create their own income.
there are 170 women altogether and they support a community of 500 orphaned children. for the concert series, we purchased 1000 beads. 500 necklaces and 500 bracelets. the women have never had a transaction this big and have had to learn a ton around accounting in the process.
our big hope is that everyone attending every concert will purchase these beads and we'll sell out by the last concert!! that way, we'll go back to them and order more to distribute throughout portland. these necklaces and bracelets are just beautiful and represent something so meaningful for these women. they're reclaiming their lives and their children's lives with every bead they make. (they're made from recycled calendar paper)
when we first arrived to their shop, we turned down this back alley that looked pretty trashed. giant potholes full of mud, lined with torn down shacks with dilapidated roofs. but these women created an amazing atmosphere of celebration in this alley. they're all from indigenous regions so although they are now living in the very urban city of kampala, their culture is very much a part of what they do and how they live. (which isn't as common in the more "modern" cities) when we arrived they were singing, dancing and playing drums to welcome us. a woman named betty (different than the betty we were traveling with) spent all day fixing an amazing meal of chicken, curried peas, sim sim (a delicious sesame seed dish), matooke and so much more. we weren't expecting to eat and we had just come from a huge lunch, so every was pretty difficult to put down. but it did taste awesome even thru the pain... (i strategized on spreading the food out just so, so it looked like i ate way more than i did, i felt like i was in 7th grade again)
the leaders each got up and introduced themselves and then they presented diana, betty, james and me with gifts. it was like we were royalty, it made me feel weird but i knew it was HUGE honor. they gave me such a gorgeous traditional dress (!!!). they had already given the others new names and told me my new name was "ayero" -the selected one. this was the leader, betty's mothers name so it meant so much to me. we all danced a ton together and then a few of us went in the back to finish the payment transaction for the 1000 beads. i can't imagine a bigger honor than working directly with these women. each of them has redefined their lives and community and to have the concert series be part of that is beyone significant. it was a pretty emotional event for all of us...
we had to leave for the airport and and said our goodbyes. these women were soulful in the truest sense. i LOVE that these concerts will feature their stories and their beautiful work.!!!!!
there are 170 women altogether and they support a community of 500 orphaned children. for the concert series, we purchased 1000 beads. 500 necklaces and 500 bracelets. the women have never had a transaction this big and have had to learn a ton around accounting in the process.
our big hope is that everyone attending every concert will purchase these beads and we'll sell out by the last concert!! that way, we'll go back to them and order more to distribute throughout portland. these necklaces and bracelets are just beautiful and represent something so meaningful for these women. they're reclaiming their lives and their children's lives with every bead they make. (they're made from recycled calendar paper)
when we first arrived to their shop, we turned down this back alley that looked pretty trashed. giant potholes full of mud, lined with torn down shacks with dilapidated roofs. but these women created an amazing atmosphere of celebration in this alley. they're all from indigenous regions so although they are now living in the very urban city of kampala, their culture is very much a part of what they do and how they live. (which isn't as common in the more "modern" cities) when we arrived they were singing, dancing and playing drums to welcome us. a woman named betty (different than the betty we were traveling with) spent all day fixing an amazing meal of chicken, curried peas, sim sim (a delicious sesame seed dish), matooke and so much more. we weren't expecting to eat and we had just come from a huge lunch, so every was pretty difficult to put down. but it did taste awesome even thru the pain... (i strategized on spreading the food out just so, so it looked like i ate way more than i did, i felt like i was in 7th grade again)
the leaders each got up and introduced themselves and then they presented diana, betty, james and me with gifts. it was like we were royalty, it made me feel weird but i knew it was HUGE honor. they gave me such a gorgeous traditional dress (!!!). they had already given the others new names and told me my new name was "ayero" -the selected one. this was the leader, betty's mothers name so it meant so much to me. we all danced a ton together and then a few of us went in the back to finish the payment transaction for the 1000 beads. i can't imagine a bigger honor than working directly with these women. each of them has redefined their lives and community and to have the concert series be part of that is beyone significant. it was a pretty emotional event for all of us...
we had to leave for the airport and and said our goodbyes. these women were soulful in the truest sense. i LOVE that these concerts will feature their stories and their beautiful work.!!!!!
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