Flavors of Uganda

I have eaten many new foods on this trip, including matoke, ground nut sauce, pilau and cow tongue. However, there is still something that I must try before I leave: grasshoppers. I have seen them a few times, yet I haven’t worked up the courage to try them.

Grasshoppers are a popular food amongst Ugandans. After they are caught they are fried and sold by local street vendors.

The way they are captured was very intriguing to me. There are areas set up with barrels, sheets of metal and bright lights. The grasshoppers are attracted to the big, bright light bulbs and they fly around them until they smack into the metal sheets and fall into the barrels. This set up is clever. 

I am nervous and enthusiastic to try grasshoppers. They are a great, inexpensive source of protein and healthy fats. Everyone I ask seems to love them. I hope I enjoy them just as much.

Reflections on Culture and Relationships

This trip has proven to be a wonderful cultural experience. I have learned much about the practices and traditions within Ugandan culture. I thought it would be nice to share a bit about regarding relationships.

Marriage

I will start with polygamy. Here in Uganda, men are allowed to have up to 4 wives. It was an interesting conversation discussing the differences, and some similarities, amongst relationships between American men and woman and Ugandan men and women. The conversation actually started because I heard our friend (Sarah) talking about birthing issues and she said “co-wife.” I had to ask her to repeat herself to make sure I was hearing correctly (as I was taken aback by her statement).

Sarah informed us that there is a cultural belief that a woman’s co-wife or wives may perform witchcraft on her. Some individuals correlate health or birthing problems to witchcraft from a co-wife. To me this was a fascinating belief.

I was surprised at how nonchalant Sarah spoke about a man having multiple wives. Not that I am married, however, she seemed surprised that I would “not let my husband have more than one wife.” We spent some time discussing our own personal experiences around marriage and family. It was a lively, enlightening conversation.

Respect

In addition, I found out that women kneel when greeting their husbands and refer to them as 'sir.' However, this act is not reserved solely for men. As a sign of respect, younger community members will kneel to elders in the community. I observed a young woman kneel down when she entered a room before speaking to her valued elder. It is a sign of the elder's superiority and it shows your respect for that individual. I have mixed feelings about this act, but I do like the respect for elders.

Friendships

Finally, I also learned about a tradition that I feel is beautiful and heartwarming. I learned about the value placed on strong and meaningful friendships.

When you have spent much time together, and a friend has shown you much love, you no longer consider them a friend but now a sister. There is an exchange that happens which is along the same lines as the concept of “blood sisters.” Each individual will make a small cut in their hand and each will dip a coffee bean into her cut, transferring some of their own blood onto the bean. The two individuals will then exchange coffee beans and eat each other’s blood. As you have now consumed the blood of the other woman you are no longer simply friends, but you are now sisters (family). If there is a younger girl and an older woman, then the young girl is considered as a child. The older woman will say “you are my last born” as they now consider themselves as a mother figure to you.

Due to the education we have around HIV, this practice has changed a bit. Now you do not consume the other person’s blood, but eating the coffee bean is symbolic of this tradition.

I just wanted to share a few stories to highlight some of the cultural aspects I have been learning and observing. Hope you enjoyed them!

-Danielle Calhoun

Meet Mary, a Private Practice Midwife

Today was inspirational to say the least. We got the opportunity to visit the practice of a private Midwife (Mary) who has become a dear friend to TGF. Mary is the prime of example of the ambitious women we are looking to support with our PPM concept. 

Mary started her practice with just one room and one mattress. Through her own initiative and hard work she has now bought her own plot of land and created a facility with an exam room, a birthing/delivery room, and a room for new mothers to rest after their delivery. By doing so, she has created more space to care for her community members.

While Mary is a midwife, she is so much more than just a person delivering medical services. Mary is a pillar of her community. Through Mary’s practice countless individuals and families receive medical services that they would otherwise not have access to.

Today we actually saw a case that just reiterated why the work of private practice midwives is so important and necessary. A mother came into to the clinic with her newborn for his 6 day checkup and upon examining the newborn Mary noticed that the boy actually had an infection in his umbilical cord. 

If gone untreated this child would have died from the infection. Luckily, Mary realized that the boy was infected and treated him with antibiotics. 

This is just one example of why private practices are so important. As you can tell Mary is doing life-saving work and creating a healthier future for her clients. She is embedded in her community and invested in her community members, whom are in much need of her services.

Time to Hit the Road!

This morning we created our in-country travel agenda. We will travel for about a week in total. Our initial trip will be to Wakiso and Masaka second. In both regions we will be meeting with private practice midwifes. After that it is back to Kampala so we can prepare for our longer journey.

Our second trip we have the pleasure of being accompanied by Sister Catherine. We will drive for 6 hours to Kalongo. Here we will visit with the principal of a midwifery school. This experience will add to TGF’s extensive knowledge about numerous educational institutions throughout Uganda.

When we leave Kalongo, we will make our way to Lira to speak with and observe a different midwife who runs her own private practice. Our mission is to speak with various private practice midwives and pick their brains a bit. In addition we would like to get a feel for the manner in which these private practices are run. 

From Lira we will travel to Mbale to connect with yet another private practice midwife. We are gathering an abundant amount of information which will help with our decision when choosing regions to target for our private practice midwife program. Our last stops before heading back to Kampala will be Jinja and Mukono. 

As you can see at TGF we like to do our homework. We will review all that we learned during our journey and decipher where we can start implementing the program. Once we secure funding of course!