SOMERO

Today we visited SOMERO, a grassroots non-governmental organization located in Bwaise, a slum in Kampala. SOMERO, which means “school” in Lugandan, aims to empower slum children and young women to lead a self-determined life. They offer education in vocational skills and health promotion among slum girls and young women in order to improve their living conditions and rehabilitation. They also promote education and the protection of human rights in their communities.

We arrived at SOMERO around 10:30am and met Geofrey Nsubuga, the National Coordinator who took us on a tour of the facility. SOMERO has several computer labs as well as a library. Many of the girls who come to the facility are young mothers so childcare is provided. There can be up to 100 students per term and there are two terms per year. 30% of those who come in have addiction issues. SOMERO works closely with Hope & Beyond a private rehabilitation center located elsewhere in Kampala. Later in the afternoon we had the opportunity to engage in some community outreach with HaB bringing awareness to the community of Bwaise about HIV testing and treatment (we’ll get to that later).

After our tour we teamed up with some of the girls and started cooking our lunch. I worked on preparing the leafy greens known as nakati. We pulled off all the leaves and then rolled them up in banana leaves. Another group worked on peeling and cutting up cassava, yams/sweet potatoes, potatoes and matoke (a kind of banana). The matoke was tightly wrapped up in banana leaves, followed by the potatoes, yams, and cassava. The nakati bundle was then placed on top and then all three bundles were packed into a large pot and placed on the fire. It took about an hour for everything to cook.

In the meantime, several of us were pulled aside and had the opportunity to dress up in East African traditional wear and walk in a fashion show. It took two women to help get me into my dress. My dress was SO beautiful and everyone was so nice! After the show I got caught up in a game I fondly refer to as, “Tickle the Mzungu!” Somehow I ended up being chased around and tickled by about 20 kids. At one point, before the excitement of our new game, several of the kids closely examined my arms. They pulled at my arm hairs and ran their fingers along my veins. They kept holding their arms up to mine for comparison. It struck me as odd that they seemed so interested in the color of my skin but during a group discussion the following day, Maryam shared her experience with one of the young girls. The girl came up to Maryam and said she wished she was Maryam’s color because it was so beautiful. According to Maryam, in many cultures lighter skin is considered more beautiful. It is a shame that beauty can be is based off a single physical feature. Maryam made it her mission to make sure this young girl knows how beautiful and powerful she truly is, something really important for girls from the slums to remember. And that is what SOMERO strives to teach young women, that they are more than where they came from and that they are capable of achieving anything they set their minds too.

Lunch was delicious by the way.  They “made” us eat with our hands, “like Ugandans” but it was what came after lunch that excited me.

After lunch we walked about 20 minutes through Bwaise slum to Kawempe-Kazo where every fortnight an outreach program between with Hope & Beyond and SOMERO is held engaging the community in FREE HIV testing, counseling, and treatment. A temporary tent and benches are set up near the community football pitch where people line up and wait their turn for testing and counseling. Our part was to walk through the surrounding area and “convince” people who were not already up at the pitch to go up, get tested, and grab some condoms. We split up and were paired with girls from SOMERO. I felt more like a distraction walking around with my partner. Whenever she stopped to talk to someone I noticed that they spent more time watching me and nodding along than actually paying attention.

 
Once we got back to the pitch, I got a chance to speak with John Senyondo, an employee of Hope & Beyond.  I was able to ask him questions regarding substance abuse treatment offered by HaB.  HaB utilizes individual, group and drug therapies during alcohol rehabilitation and patients are placed on a strict diet in order to “reboot the body.” Many of the patients are there non-voluntarily and some are even brought in by police.  Alcohol treatment takes about 3 months while other drug abuse treatments last 6 months.  First, drugs are used to draw the alcohol out of the blood to help with detox.  Therapy then focuses on rethinking one’s behaviors and encourages patients to focus on oneself. Counselors work with patients to identify a strength or skill providing patients with another way of connecting with people without the aid of alcohol.  They also teach patients to substitute the time they would have spent drinking to instead do something constructive for themselves and/or for their communities.  Our conversation was cut short because our group had to leave but John and I exchanged e-mails and Facebook information so I can e-mail him if I have anymore questions (which I did).

As we were getting ready to leave, we discovered a stow away sharing a seat with Catherine. Needless to say, I think Dr. White will be checking everyone’s suitcases before we check in for our flight back to the States. Someone might just try and take a little boy or girl back as a souvenir