Halloween in Africa

October 31, 2010

Ugandans don't celebrate Halloween. In fact, no one I have spoke to here has ever heard of the holiday, and when I explain to them what it entails they give me an odd look and seem not to quite get what I’m saying. I don’t blame them – when you actually take a step back and look at Halloween from an outsider's perspective, it’s quite a bizarre concept. Still, I really did miss carving a pumpkin this year, that being my favourite part of Halloween. The squash here (they call them pumpkin) just don’t appear to have the same carveability. Also, I did quite enjoy my Halloween costume last year, and so I found myself wondering, “What would I have been dressed up as if I were back in Canada?”

We had our last session of the Teen Girls’ workshop today, and we watched a movie in honour of Halloween (a fun treat for these girls, who have probably only seen a handful of movies in their lives). The movie we had was Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix which, looking back, was probably not the best choice. I think the majority of it went right over their heads – next time we’ll have to choose something a bit lighter and with a bit less complexity of dialogue and storyline. But still they enjoyed the experience of the movie watching. I really enjoyed working with these girls, and I’m going to miss them, though I do have to say that I’m looking forward to having my weekends back. We’ve got some fun things planned these next few weekends.

I have, startlingly, only three weeks left of my volunteer placement here. The time has been flying by, which is a very good thing of course as it means I am keeping busy. In the next three weeks I will continue to volunteer at Kasana hospital a few times a week, and will keep working with the Shanti midwives. I’m working on a few projects, including one with them to decorate the walls of the centre with some educational and inspirational material on birth. If any of you have a mothering/birth related quote or factoid, please send it my way – maybe it will make its way onto our walls!

I’m also in the midst of planning a baby massage workshop that will be coming up soon. I’m going to have a handout for the mothers that will be written in Luganda, and I’m hoping for a good turnout. Though if we have a really good turnout I’ll really have my hands full! I might have two workshops in one day if it seems like lots of people want to come. There’s certainly no shortage of babies around here.

There’s no shortage of children around here either, as Jamie and I were noting on our way home this evening. We were talking about how disappointing it will be, once we return to Canada, to have no one greeting us as we walk down the street. Here I receive endless greetings and waves from cute kids as I walk down the road, and I have to say I’m getting pretty used to it. Really, who wouldn’t love to have adorable children chanting your name, giggling and waving hello as you pass by? I think that it might be making my head swell a little bit, though I know that it happens with every Mzungu.

Kristen, our project coordinator, has left to head back to Nova Scotia for a few weeks to visit family, so it’s just Jaime and I here at the house now, and it’s a bit quiet without her. She has lots of energy and was lots of fun to have around. I’ll see her when she gets back, but she returns on the last day of my volunteer placement, so for the rest of my stint here I’ll be missing her input. In her stead we have the lovely Ali, from New York state, who is also a ton of fun to be around and I know she will ably keep us in our tracks. It’s a lot of work keeping an NGO running at the local level, and I don’t envy either of them their position – I’m quite happy to be a lowly volunteer and admire all the great work they are doing. It is great work, too – I’m still loving this Shanti thing.