A life more ordinary

Happy Halloween! I realize that my last couple of posts have detailed the "extraordinary" things that I have done over the past couple of months so thought that I would also offer an update on the more "ordinary" day-to-day happenings.

The first quarter of Plan's financial year just came to an end so most recent days at the office have been spent editing grant reports. Not the most fun of all jobs to begin with, it has been exacerbated by the fact that it is clear that the report authors have spent less than an hour filling out their reports. Completely falling in line with my annoyance regarding the African refusal to accept responsibility for anything (why should they spend anytime on the reports when they know that they can just hand them off to me), what aggravates me most is not that I am writing and not editing basically every report that leaves the office but that as a result I have no doubt that the programs are suffering. The reason I don't write the reports to begin with is that while I may have been blessed with a strong writing background I am not an expert on any of the programs Plan supports while the intended writers are. I haven't even seen many of the programs that I have written reports about and so I know that the emotion, passion, fervor and detail I put in is not what it would be if someone very familiar and invested in the program had written it. I then fear that the programs are not getting the attention and praise they deserve which directly defeats the purpose of me being here. It is a huge problem. Luckily the rest of the Country Office team shares my frustrations so we are all working on coming up with the best method to solve the problem (writing workshops have already been held and the writer's capibility doesn't seem to be the issue- instead it seems to be an attitude problem) but in the meantime it is a real shame.

In addition to the reports, I have also been helping my Country Director prepare a presentation about the Empowerment Through Art (ETA) project Plan Uganda initiated last summer to be given at a regional conference in Cairo this week. Piloted in Uganda by a phenomenal woman named Hilary Wallis, ETA teaches people to use art both for therapeutic and communicative purposes. Accompanied by local artist Justin Igala, Hilary visited schools, post test clubs (support clubs for the HIV positive), homes and hospitals equipped with paint, paper and paintbrushes. While many of those reached had never held a paint brush before, the quality of their work is absolutely astounding. The initial paintings were fairly basic (animals, landscapes, etc.), however as time went on issues previously considered taboo such as HIV, abuse and gender inequalities became prominently displayed on each canvas. Drama, dance and song performances were also encouraged and large exhibitions featuring the works created throughout the project were displayed in the project's home district and later a large hotel in Kampala. The project infinitely enriched the lives and boosted the confidence of all the participants while also helping them discuss and come to terms with many of the things negatively affecting their lives. A great success, it is our goal to spread the program throughout Africa and Donal, my Country Director, thought the regional conference the best place to sell it. In fact, there were such high hopes and expectations for the presentation that Donal was selected as the motivational speaker for the entire conference!

Unfortunately, as I am learning is often the case, things did not go as planned. This past week Plan Uganda was lucky enough to host the next slated Prime Minister of Norway, a woman who traveled to Uganda to learn about gender issues in the country and one of our current major focuses. Donal was taking the woman and several other VIP visitors to Kamuli District, about 2 hours away from Kampala and the location one of our field offices, to learn about some of the things Plan does to support gender equity when their van plowed head on into a sedan. The hired van driver had decided to bypass the traffic and drive on the wrong side of the road (completely common here- again going back to my lack of responsibility theory as I am sure the driver wondered why he should have to wait for the 100+ cars in front of him to move) however hadn't properly checked for traffic before doing so. The Norwegians all escaped with minor scrapes and bruises however Donal sustained severe nerve damage to his back and had to be taken by ambulance to the hospital. The driver, while injured, immediately recognized his mistake and ran away (LACK OF RESPONSIBILITY!). We still haven't been able to find him. Luckily Donal was released from the hospital by the end of the day however was put on bed rest and has only come to the office for the first time since the accident (over a week ago) today. Needless to say while the presentation may have made it to Cairo, he did not. He claims to have had it easy though as the occupants of the other car (two Peace Corps volunteers and a pastor) had to be airlifted to Johannesburg due to the extent of their injuries (broken femur, internal bleeding). If that isn't an ad for seatbelts (the van had them, the car did not), I don't know what is.

As a result of Donal's absence, the office has been suspiciously quiet over the past couple of days. Tomorrow I go back to work on reports (full day of reviewing Area Overviews and Updates) which I am actually kind of happy about because I have been kind of (dare I say it) bored. It seems that I either have nothing or everything to do!

Work aside, life has definitely not only become routine but also routine of an old woman. Seriously. With the rare exception of quiz night every other Thursday when I meet friends for dinner at 6:30 and then can be found at the Irish pub from 7:30-10 and maybe 1 other night a week, this is a sample day in the life of Hilary:
6:45: Wake up
7:15: Leave house for work
7:45 Meet the shuttle
8-5:30: At the office
5:30: Get back on the shuttle
6:15-8: Go to the gym (which just started offering jazzercise/step aerobics classes from 7-8 which I am really excited about)
8-9: Eat/cook dinner with my housemates
In bed by 9:30 (Mirror mirror on the wall I am my Mother after all?!)
Repeat.
The sad part is I am still tired most of the time. Must be the altitude or something.

After all of my travels am staying put for a little while. Spent last weekend in Kampala catching up with Paige, who I literally hadn't seen in months, over Ethiopian food on Friday night and then celebrated Jeff's birthday on Saturday with a surprise dinner at Khana Khazana and Halloween party at Katy and Sarah's. Wore a grass skirt and blue dress making me "blue grass," although everyone at the restaurant seemed to think I was a Ugandan dancer and kept trying to get me to put on a show. Halloween really is a lost concept here. I brought a bunch of candy into work today to bring trick-or-treating to Plan, however as I handed out the assorted toffees with a smile and loud "Happy Halloween" mostly I just got "Happy Birthday Hilary!" back. (By the way, I am currently dressed as an American flag- white pants, red and white striped tank top, navy blue cardigan with stars on it- so I really hope that my coworkers don't think I dress like this normally...) Even better, though, were the looks I got when I tried to explain the American version of Halloween with costumes and trick-or-treating. A mixture between amazement, disbelief and general confusion, I definitely have restaked my claim as the office lunatic. Oh well. Guess I will just have to try to convert the masses again on Friday when I go to my next Halloween party.