After a lengthy wait, I’ve returned from a three-week hiatus
in the UK and Europe, with some great friends.
My time was spent meeting some really great people, seeing old and new
sites, and making some lasting memories with the people I know best. Upon my
return, I spent two nights in a guesthouse with Travis, a fellow SWB intern,
while some students resided in our compound. The first of those two days were
spent in the hospital, due to a bacteria nestled in my lymph nodes for three
weeks. Following many tests, meetings with multiple doctors, and some
antibiotics, I no longer resembled the twin of Sloth, from The Goonies.
Once I was back to full health, it was time to get back to
work, assuming my full responsibility, and then some. While my other roommate,
Nick, was still exploring new territory, the daily docket was a bit busier than
usual; on top of the usual routine, we also took on the task of making changes
to the daily programs, while making a strong effort to attract more kids.
Since the kids have returned to school, our daily numbers
have been quite low, which is undeniably not ideal. In an effort to not only
lure in more kids, one of our new year’s resolutions has been to become more
diverse, in a way that will allow SWB to represent more African nations. Having
recently met a Somalia-born Super League player, named Yusuf, I wanted to plan
a meeting where he could introduce me to more Somalia-born refugees; late last
week, we were able to have our meeting.
I was able to meet Yusuf at his home, in Kansanga, which
took roughly fifteen minutes on a boda boda. He introduced me to some of his
family members, drank some very delicious tea, and got into a serious
discussion involving Somalia and Western media.
The discussion was sparked from talking about the area where
the Somali pirates reside, which happens to be the same place his cousin is
from. His cousin claimed that the area was actually not as bad as the media had
been portraying it. Yusuf, who hails from southwestern Somalia, admitted to
having not visited to that part of the country. Yusuf and I agreed that the
media definitely plays quite the influential role, in portraying the way the
rest of the world perceives that pirate-infested area. Having no disagreements,
we wondered why the media seems so keen on persistent negative portrayal of
such claimed ‘violent’ areas? What constitutes a good media outlet?
We came to the conclusion that immense amounts of people
assume the media’s convincing reports to be true, if we are not seeing the
evidence with our own eyes. The media exists to spread the news to a vast group
of society, interested in something that they are unable to witness and account
firsthand. The media is obliged to not falsify what exactly is being reported,
and to hold the favoritism as well.
The two of us did not come to a rapid conclusion, or even a
conclusion for that matter; we had recalled the actual purpose for the meeting.
So, we decided to pick up our belongings and head out into the neighborhood.
Having met earlier in the day, we might have been more successful, but I had
the privilege to meet a few Somali kids – telling them about the mission of SWB
and our goal to expand our daily participants.
Following a brief introduction, dusk was upon us, and it was
time for me to return to Nsambya – I informed the kids how excited that I met
them, and said my goodbyes. Yusuf and I agreed another meeting would be in
store for the coming weeks, and I would make a stronger effort to help him gather
more kids for SWB programming.
