I find I’m constantly learning here, which, of course, is the entire point of a study abroad program. After spending weeks surveying garbage dumps, open sewage systems, a world where trash cans cannot be found on public sidewalks - I discovered the most curious, hopeful project.
In a tiny community near the NGO where I’ve come to work, I was taken on a tour where I saw first hand the stagnant water, lack of garbage management, lack of toilet facilities, etc. The man giving me a tour was busily recounting all of the area’s troubles, and all seemed very forlorn. And then I saw plastic.
A yard (quite large for this particular community’s standards) was packed every square inch, save a pathway, with plastic pitchers, chairs, assortments of other broken plastic objects. I was amazed. Only days before, Ugandans had been telling me that besides biodegradable material such as banana peels and matooke, their largest waste was plastic, such as plastic sacks. Here, in this tiny community not devoid of its own troubles, I found a plastic oasis, where an old man presided, telling me that he’d been collecting plastic for twenty years. From time to time, companies came by and collected the plastic for recycling. Even as I was talking with the old man, a community member approached the yard and casually tossed in an old plastic pitcher.
This is a prime example of the random, amazing projects one will find going on in Uganda. Never before have I met so many people determined to do something beneficial for their communities. It’s not uncommon for us to run into people our own age starting NGOs, or to spot a little community-based group in each little area we explore of this country. Ugandans are determined to make life better and their country stronger, not really for themselves, but for their fellow Ugandans. It is a selflessness, a community bond that is perhaps at times rare to find in the United States, where it is survivor-of -the-fittest world. I think the attitudes, ideas, and projects of these people we have encountered here display how wonderful this country is, how much hope this country has.
(1)
(46)