Words on Working Abroad

I’ve returned from my second weekend excursion to a far corner of the country – this time Karamoja in the northeast. The mindset I adopt when traveling takes on such a different quality than tourism, thanks to my traineeship. Through the work of this company, there are breathtaking impacts on local communities and peoples, and it’s a bit awe-inspiring to think that my work can be a part of that. But I’m quick to come back to humility, because of my limitations as the only non-East African working on the project.

To give you an idea of the conditions: Karamoja is the least developed region of Uganda, where the tribe is extremely conservative and traditional in their customs. For example, they pay a big dowry (like 80 cows) to get a bride, then treat her like property, making her build, farm, get water, cook, tend to children, etc. while the guy sits around and drinks ... only to demand sex at night. Due to recent drought, the cattle are scarce, and this has been the site of the worst violence in the country as bandits kill people for their cows – all so they can secure a bride for themselves. I was safe during the trip (our hotel was just outside the region, so it was a day trip), but it was eye-opening to be sure. The idea is that they revenue from growing crops for the renewable energy company will alleviate resource scarcity and empower the women. Can only hope that this happens soon.

I’ve just finished reading several of my friends recent blog posts, and it was striking to see some common themes of cultural barriers (especially you in Africa – Ray, Dunia, Brownie, and Sean; pardon the lack of comments – I read new posts using Google Reader when I’m offline). I think a lot about how I can reinvest this experience back in my home country and culture. Especially because every day I witness East Africans propelling themselves toward their goals for their region. My boss has a strident ideology that Africa’s problems are perpetuated by NGOs and the Church, both of which draw their executives mostly from Europe. I’ve asked him to lend me the book Lords of Poverty, which develops this argument. These experiences and ideas are building a long-subconscious urge to find ways that I can contribute within my home society. Let me explain.

Many of my coworkers get around 4 hours of sleep per night, due to their high discipline and work ethic. One claims an herbal tea allows him to deepen the quality of the little sleep he gets, so he can stay up half the night talking to the company’s numerous international partners. Another has diabetes, and must run for an hour every morning so he doesn’t prematurely die (insulin is prohibitively expensive here). Another cares for nine children: One that is her own and eight that have been orphaned after her brothers and sisters died. Whatever their motivation, these people have such positive attitude and dedication toward the company’s mission. They realize they are part of a one-of-a-kind African enterprise, within which they are role models of indigenous entrepreneurship and hard work.

I’ve been doing my best to pour myself into work, despite the lack of internet access and few social opportunities apart from coworkers. I’m less than a third into my 12 weeks here, and there’s so much I hope to achieve. My current objectives at work are to (1) design and equip a chemistry laboratory for the company, (2) perform an environmental impact assessment required by the national ministry of the environment, (3) familiarize myself on academic and technical literature related to the company’s interests, and (4) recruit and train a team of three chemistry research interns from the prestigious Makerere University in Kampala, who will continue the research in the company’s laboratory after I return to the US.

The last objective is by far the most meaningful to me right now, because it seems to align with the value of empowering young people to invest their skills in improving their home community. Once again, it’s an act of humility, because I won’t be able to achieve much in my three months here. And I am excited for the interpersonal dynamics with other young chemistry researchers that I bring to the company. Surely I will have to assume some authority at the beginning, but if I’m able to kindle any AIESEC spirit in this endeavor, it will become a most welcome social outlet.

The question remains how I will invest these experiences back at home … and if I will consider my boss’ offer to employ me for one year in Uganda between undergrad and graduate school. I know I will continue to have a thirst for travel, but recently I’ve really wished that I could play the host. To be in my element so I can constantly entertain and share tidbits of local culture to eager (or even fatigued) eyes and ears, all in stride with doing meaningful work. My coworkers are exemplifying this toward me, but cultural learning curves are proving all too steep for me to be at the same level in Uganda in the foreseeable future. So for all of my international friends – consider this an open invitation. Visiting the US won’t be easy, but I’ll do everything I can to bridge the gap. And to Jing and Marina, I only wish I could have been there more this past year.

Honeymoon Stage in Retrospect

Just came back from a weekend trip to a village in Western Uganda where I studied the oldest still-existing industry in Africa, stumbled upon an organic agriculture festival, and made friends with a former child-soldier who fought to overthrow Milton Obote in the 1980s.

I've had such limited internet access since I've been here. I wish I'd had more opportunities to post (not to mention do research for my job), but being cut off from the outside world for my first few weeks here has been marvelous at fast-tracking discovering and integrating in Ugandan life. A couple of times per week, I get myself to walk up to the second-highest hill in Kampala to use the wireless at a charming hotel and appreciate the view:


For AIESECers -- check out the AIESEC Yale blog, where I just posted some stories of times with AIESEC Makerere University (Kampala).

So rather than trying to recreate the good, bad, & bizarre from the first two weeks, let's go for some bullet points of random memories and lessons learned:

Food

• Boiled & mashed green bananas have become my staple food, along with sweet potato, "irish" potato, rice, cassava, and posho (aka ugali in Kenya, a corn-based, dense porridge)
• Tilapia from Lake Victoria are delicious, but don't be surprised if they bring you the head! See the bowl at the bottom of the picture. Eating the fish brains gives extra intelligence!
  
  
• There's nothing more refreshing than fresh-squeezed passion fruit juice. Except maybe a Ugandan-brewed Bell (light), Club (light), or Nile Special (strong) beer in the evening.
• Eating cow-hoof (which is all tendon), cooked as a stew inside banana leaves, gives you strong bones.
  
  
• Grasshoppers are a delicacy you enjoy just after it rains in the countryside. Pick off their legs and wings, and they fry wonderfully in their natural oil.
  
  

News

• With the CEO was out of the country during my first week here, I spent a large part of my time casually reading the daily newspaper with two coworkers. This included the government-owned New Vision and the independent Daily Monitor. This is an amazing springboard for discussions on local culture and current events.
• The Red Pepper is a ridiculous tabloid that has even greater circulation than the two "real" newspapers, and it's amazing how this seemingly trash paper appeals to broad audiences. Just glance at http://www.redpepper.ug/ for a spicy taste. But despite the raunchy sex gossip, the paper has demonstrated breakthrough investigative journalism during past scandals (albeit masked by conspiracy-theory overtones), and has won a readership across intellectual circles.
• Al Jazeera news is routinely broadcast on the Ugandan National Television channel, and I'll be damned if it's not at least as respectable as CNN or BBC. My AIESEC friends swear by Al Jazeera's reporting, citing how it is the only news network to intelligently analyze the causes and implications of events. The only thing -- after watching it for a while, you become convinced that the US is at the root of all the world's problems.
• Obama is hugely popular among East Africans, since his father is from Kenya. After Obama secured the nomination, his grandmother was on TV from her village, exuberantly speaking in her native language.

Relationships

• Seems like one of the hottest topics of conversation is cheating on your wife/husband. Articles on "how to spot a cheater" or "can you trust him?" seem like daily occurrences in all newspaper, radio, and tv broadcasts. This is often "inter-generational sex" with young girls.
• It's really hard for a guy to date a girl unless he has a lot of money to spend. Girls expect to be taken out every weekend, as well as receiving expensive hair treatments and other gifts. My AIESEC friend who is quite ambitious says she wants to find a good job and good man, so he can spoil her and she can spoil herself. For this reason, girls almost always date older men who have a stable job (not easy when unemployment is high).
• So bizarre -- as I'm writing this bit about relationships, a girl (about my age) walks over and asks if she can give me her phone number. She was just having lunch in this cafe with her family, and she lives in Kampala. This is definitely a first ... is it the fact that my laptop and iPod are indications of wealth? Curious about foreigners? My prior impressions were that guys were the assertive ones in Ugandan relationships. What is happening?!

My time here is running short, so I'll leave with a brief thought about my traineeship so far -- basically a strong sense of humbling.

As I was preparing for my summer research, I understood my job description to be "providing scientific expertise in green chemistry and green engineering to the company," so I was doing a lot of preparation to see what knowledge and skills I could impart. As the only non-East African working with the company right now, I thought I would have a valuable pool of expertise to contribute. But the endeavor here truly embodies Africa's ability to provide all necessary aspects to sustainable develop its natural resources and pull itself up economically, socially, and environmentally. Whereas previous development efforts were managed by a small team of Europeans, who gave orders to Ugandan staff, the tables have turned. I am reporting to my boss and experts who are all stridently proud Africans. All I can say is that I'm happy that I'm a good listener, since that's mostly what I've been doing so far ... and with ample amazement to go along. I think I'm appreciated more for my humility and receptiveness than for any expertise I'm bringing. And I find myself exceedingly lucky.

AIESECing in Kampala

Attention: this may be the most intelligent post ever, since I've just come from a weekend of eating so many fish brains that my coworkers say I'll be a genius.

Or at least this post will serve as a long-delayed "hello" from Uganda, where I've been for the last 17 days getting into my AIESEC traineeship with a renewable energy company that has overtones of social entrepreneurship. Internet has been exceedingly scarce here -- they're in the process of laying cables underground so it will be harder for people to illegally tap into the internet ... and let's just say certain things take their time here. The upshot is I get to walk up to the second-highest hill in Kampala a couple of times per week to use the wireless at a charming hotel. See my blog for some of the pictures.

AIESEC Makerere University (Kampala) has just rounded out a tremendous year, beating out AIESEC Nairobi for the top spot in the Africa GN. It's been exhilarating to be involved -- as their only trainee with more than 3 months AIESEC experience, they've been receptive about including me in their activities.

For one, I got to go on a sales call with three AIESECers to speak with the Vice-President of the ruling political party, whom we met at his PALACE (he's been involved in stealing over $2 million in HIV/AIDS development funds, but remains in high esteem with the people despite his extravagance). Eunice, current OCP of the AfriTour PBOX and VP-TM-elect, managed to get the meeting by meeting the guy's secretary at a nightclub the previous weekend :-p . Anyway, Eunice pitched this program to empower youth entrepreneurship in Uganda's tourism sector. It was a success, and AIESEC MUK seems poised to be the first to realize this new PBOX. woot!

I've spent a couple of evenings sharing Ugandan beer with the CEO of the company I'm working for -- he was involved in AIESEC Kenya's leadership and a former AIESEC trainee to Portugal. He's asking for another three AIESEC trainees next year, with a preference that they specialize in business, medicine, and chemistry, and that they come from Yale. It would be one hell of an opportunity, and we'll see where we can take it.

This Tuesday I'll be running a session to transition the new LC EB into their roles. It'll be a challenge, since I'm only inching up the steep learning curve of their local reality. Frank, the current LCP and MC-VP-ICX-elect, had drafted a two-page chart of key transition areas, for which he budgeted a total of 27 hours of sessions (imagine: three 9-hour days). He had noted about 8 people who he hoped would facilitate, drawn from the outgoing EB and MC members. However, the only facilitators who showed up to the Transition Prep Meeting were me and Frank himself. It's a pity that the outgoing EB seems to have drifted (despite the strong year), and the MC are all full-time students or employed. And in response to the pleading from the incoming EB, we shortened the 27 hours down to about 8. I can tell they're nervous -- there are so few student organizations at Makerere that this will set them apart from many of their friends. But I'm excited about the chance to cultivate some AIESEC spirit among them ... they're already pros at Bebot!

Finally, I've got the green light to go to the Safari East Africa Leadership Development Seminar in Kenya during my last week! Get ready for some wacky roll calls and dances back on campus this fall ;-)

Shout-outs to all who have posted so far on the AIESEC Yale blog -- missing you, and looking forward to seeing more updates on this blog!