Prior to this trip, I knew that I was not fully culturally competent because I was lacking information about formalities including policies in these foreign countries regarding public health. I think that I did learn some of what I was missing. For example, at schools we cannot do programs talking about the importance of safe sex or abortions because the schools will only teach abstinence. Basically, don’t speak on those subjects until spoken to first about it. I learned that the formal processes to field work in public health are not followed there. By this I mean that they do not conduct needs assessments and then do research and plan a program before implementing and then evaluating afterwards. (This may also be a struggle for future students traveling with SIUE to Uganda.) The Ugandan students are quick to formulate programs before researching or assessing if that is a true need versus perceived need or if that’s the best way to carry out said program. Overall, I think that I am a little more culturally competent than I was before I went on the trip, but I am still culturally pre-competent because I only know some of Ugandan culture. There is still so much more to see and learn about the world before I would consider myself fully competent! Things you didn’t think would be different are different, so you can never be too sure or overly educated — ever.
I liked many aspects about the trip but there were a couple of aspects that I did not like. This sounds very first-world of me which I apologize for but I hated the wi-fi not working in the dormitories. It was hard being without family and friends for five weeks and then when I couldn’t talk to them, it made me even more homesick. I would be having a conversation with a loved one and then wi-fi would just quit working and I couldn’t say goodbye or goodnight. That upset me most about the trip. I can handle the change of diet and the cold showers and all the creepy, crawly bugs.
The best part to all of my days were seeing the children’s faces when they saw we students. They would get so excited, dance or jump up and down and would scream “muzungu” as loud as they could. This term refers to a traveler, but in Africa, more specifically, it refers to white people. Anyway, the children just loved seeing us and that made me love seeing them even more.
I found field work the most challenging part of the trip. There was a large misunderstanding between the American students and the Ugandan students about what field work really is here and what the mission was. We didn’t see eye to eye like the whole trip or until the very end. I am sure Dr. Cathorall will go into more detail with this for those of you who want to go on the trip in 2019, but just be open minded and patient with your Ugandan colleagues. They are not used to doing the kind of program planning and implementation that public health students are used to back home. It will take some time for both parties to adjust and to fully understand each other. I know things will be different in future years — Dr. Cathorall will help you; don’t worry!
The most rewarding part of this trip for me was seeing the bonds that were created between Ugandan and American colleagues. In Uganda there is a saying “One Uganda, One People” meaning inclusion and no divide. Everyone we encountered there was so welcoming and just wanted to get to know us. Almost everyone on the trip with we Americans were open to the idea of making new friends. One learns so much and gets so much enjoyment out of these new found friendships. It truly is a great, rewarding experience to have all of these connections and people who truly care about you and your presence. Embrace it!
I learned a lot about from this experience about African culture. For example, there are a lot of things in their lives that they contribute to witch craft. We don’t do that a lot in America. If a child is disabled or kidnapped or if your land or possessions are stolen, this can be due to the “black magic.” I learned that all parts of Africa are not like the UNICEF commercials that you see on TV. There is food security in the rural villages which I didn’t really expect based on stereotypes from the commercials and media/campaigns like that. Poverty is defined differently many places around the world. There is so much more that I learned. It would be impossible to tell everything. I hope that my previous blogs can help explain my findings more in detail, but I did learn something about myself that I would like to take a moment to share. I learned that I need to be a more of a go-with-the-flow kind of person. Not everyone is going to agree with me or think the same way regardless of how well I explain something or try to make them see it the way that I do. Not everyone is going to be on time either. I need to expect the unexpected and RELAX.
Huge shout-out to Dr. Cathorall and Dr. Brady for allowing me to go on this trip. I appreciate the opportunity! THANK YOU SO MUCH!
Lauren + Uganda = Luganda 