Thomas Rogers Muyunga Mukasa on: Small sensible sweetness

Size, origins and familiarity influence the way we involve ourselves in activities. Normally at table etiquette behoves us to serve ourselves a small helping, pick a small size and biting into that until it is swallowed. It helps us taste our food. This lesson can be applied to general life’s issues. For most small is also the familiar, simple and humble. It helps us to make slow moves as we also learn. It is the reason why we also reliably trust in something. It is the basis of what makes us human and in sharing our experiences it makes us realise how similar we are. The small store near our home was closed throughout the snow blizzard (Feb 2013) and I failed to get a calling card I so desperately wanted. Many other people who use the adjacent gas station were affected. We missed the diminutive Mike, the store-manager and gas station operator in different ways. After two days the ‘open’ sign was brightly lit and the snow-plows were busy clearing the streets. At different homes small snow-blowers were heard churning away. Many home-owners were bent with shovels clearing scoops of snow. The big Caterpillar tractors were not necessary in the small yards. The roads leading to our homes were cleared by trucks with front loading shovels.  I read of the Patron par excellence! This gentleman, a lawyer and philanthropist was always thinking of something small to leave behind. He gave USD 25 Million to a school in Massachusetts where he is an alumnus. He graduated in 1959, went on to Harvard Law School and the US Navy where he was an officer. He is currently 79 years old. He said, “I started to think about what I could leave behind. I decided to put it in something that was fun for me and for you.” He put the money into art appreciation at the College of Holy Cross in Worcester, MA. Such a record amount is yet to be beaten in the history of donations to schools the world over by a single person. This will make the College be what it has always wanted to be: a place where both students and teachers are able to produce skills. The gift was called “a game changer.” The thought towards College of Holy Cross by Mr. Neil Prior will make possible the achievement of the aspirations of students and teacher alike. A young man, called Dylan, of about sixteen years thought about a 102 year old woman living alone (a shut-in) two blocks away from their home. This 102 year old woman was a ‘makeshift grandmother’ to the boy. They were friends. In a blizzard that had killed power to the neighbourhood everyone was bound to have a very cold (heatless) home. Everyone shivered and trembled. Homes of well-to-do run generators and fire places were fed wood frequently. Those who could not afford just wrapped themselves in multiple layers but were still trembling.  This is how Dylan found the woman when he knocked on her door and she answered it: a ghostly pale ashen figure who was immediately admitted for hypothermia. Dylan saved the day. I happened to have gone to Boston a day before Valentine and in the bus I sat next to a lady who had travelled for 3 days. She was visiting Boston for the first time. Her phone battery had run low and she was not able to call her relatives in Boston to receive her. Her family had not heard from her. The previous day before her departure she had just found her spastic young daughter who had wandered off for a full day. She asked me for a phone in order to make a call to someone to pick her up. I was humbled even as I was giving it to her. She made her calls and was reassured she would be picked up. I went on my errands and through the help of 3 people found my way in the mazelike streets of Boston. I managed to meet all my tasks in record time and was on the next available transportation back home. From a humble Worcester Town around the mid 19^th Century, a lady called Esther Howland (1828-1904) brought the Valentine idea to USA. The idea was popularised by George C. Whitney: a card with a message and a flower (red rose, mixed flower, plants tulips, carnations, lilies and chrysanthemums). The sunshine is the universal valentine gift that melted the snow and warmed the weather!

Thomas Rogers Muyunga Mukasa on: Filling the vacuum in the Diaspora; lessons for persons of Ugandan descent

There are points I want to bring to the minds of readers of this very important paper. The paper is both a notice-board and a cultural manifestation by Ugandans in the Diaspora. There is a self evident belief and confidence we humans are capable of. It is what makes us get aware of our surroundings and seek to utilize them for our benefit. We get exposed to human life and cognizance that we could have made it better were we to be given a chance     (second chance). This does not mean we were failures in a pre-Diaspora life.

True so much could have been destroyed but there are those who are in the Diaspora knowing they came to pursue full life's meaning. A moving target. There are also those who still look at life from a bitter angle. Persons who are still bitter and angry at what they think is 'not' good in their eyes. Amidst all this the Diaspora offers stimuli of vast characteristics ranging from visual, aural, sensory to tactile that was not possible in Uganda.

We come to learn skills to manipulate the stimuli for our good. This is what improves our competences. As we gain and improve on our competences we are improving on our resilience as Ugandans in the Diaspora. We are able to socialize, have homes, have permanent addresses, engage in home-making, get children to schools, engage in community services and contribute to the hosting Diaspora.These are the soft milestones we should celebrate everyday!

Ugandans were missing out in the Diaspora until around 1970s. Regime changes contributed to this. Many countries have contributed increasing numbers of their people in the Diaspora.

Uganda, a late 20th Century Diaspora bloomer has a unique typography in the various host nations. Whereas other countries may boast of learned, professional, skilled and economic immigrants or visitors to host countries, Uganda has only contributed such calibre in the later years of the 20th Century.

The Diaspora is a patch-work of communities with roots of countries of origin. These communities have gone into a range of specialties which offset dislocation issues and act as survival mechanisms in the Diaspora. A cursory exploration of immigrants from Africa in Australia, UK, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Sweden and USA into who is working where will give you a picture of what am arguing. Just ask yourself: Who are in the auto-parts garages? Who are in the health-care services? Who are running worship centers? Who are running refugee support centers? Who are running eating places (dunkin' donut for instance)? Who are running hair salons? Who are running thrift shops? Who are running small business centers (photocopiers, sending mail, fax and stationery)? Who are in hotels?

One will find an established network of who is who and this will have a leaning towards countries of origin. It also makes community networks a potential for establishing thriving businesses and livelihoods. This brings me to two concluding points: Western medicine meeting African medicine and the concepts of human development. NB. In applying the term 'western,' am only trying to contextualize and locate Africa and the influence that impacted on it between 1300-2000 from Europe. Africa in this paper is taken to mean; Sahel, Islands and Sub Sahara Africa.

Back in Uganda a child who was rather precocious, inconsistent, in-disciplined and highly active was encouraged up to a point. Oh! The switch or rod or the stick was never far away in case of 'indiscipline.' In the Diaspora we have been exposed to research and care for problem children (children with adjusting problems is a friendlier term). We have now been taken through an understanding of ADHD (Attention deficit hyperactive disease), we have also come across information on effect of saturated sugars in sweets and puddings on under fives. Many stories of children who are overly active after a high sugar intake are rife. We can now relate tolerably and know how well to treat our ADHD children. We have learnt this parent- filial tolerance and now have improved on our ADHD awareness.

Between 2007-2009, I happened to visit returning child soldiers or former abductees in Gulu, Uganda. A friend told me a story of a family that had resorted to locking up children as treatment to ADHD. I shared with him a similar experience in Mukono (Uganda). I have another friend of mine from Teso who had done his PhD thesis on this condition among children. He had therapeutic sessions he conducted for parents and community leaders. Hopefully, Soon many families will adopt practices that regard their ADHD children positively.

I am an un apologetic social justice believer. I am a human rights advocate and want to end with a point on sexuality, orientation, gender and identity (SOGI). Recently, we have read about a gay Ugandan-Swede couple who formally exchanged vows. I have friends who cast a vitriolic salvo at this happening. I also have friends who say in the interest of dignity we need to look at the humane picture. What will it take to look at those who do not "appear" like the rest to be seen as human beings who deserve dignity, respect, positive regard and tolerance? As an end-to-HIV-specialist-activist I believe formal marriage is a path to reducing on number of multiple concurrent sexual partners and this is a crucial lifestyle goal in preventing HIV /STDs.  Ugandans are now able to travel to other countries and assimilate in the first world. It is my hope that this will encourage openness to tolerant practices and encourage re-assessment into what is blocking our understanding of other human beings, not only for Ugandans in the Diaspora but for anyone.

Thomas Rogers Muyunga Mukasa on the cheese lined streets of America and how to out-run the cats!

The rats were in a meeting and in this meeting they were discussing about cats. The cats had five features: The cats had grown in number; hunt in groups; were more ferocious; persistent and; never tired of chasing the rats. The older rats heard of the cheese lined streets in America. Better still in America there were no cats! Thus started a mass migration called: the rats to America migration. They boarded ships, aeroplanes, yachts, rafts, trains, cars and any means through which they could be brought to America. The cats they found in America were bigger, faster and more ferocious. Yes, the streets were lined with cheese too!
 

This is a story that has implications to immigrants and asylum seekers who come to America. The landscape is different though. Amidst human trafficking and internet-based malicious scam sites, one is torn between which facilities to run to. There is a range of opportunities in America: reception facilities; immigrant/refugee support services; UNHCR documentation facilities; minor support opportunities through agencies and homes where couples want to adopt children; faith-based reception services; city-council social services; not-for-profit reception centers and; internet/telephone-based services.
 

Reports of un-met promises made to new immigrants are rife. Reports of human trafficking are rife too. The expectations of immigrants or refugees or asylum seekers are around the basic issues of: health, housing, documentation, employment and relationships. This makes them vulnerable and many fall prey to cunning and crafty people.
 

As people make breakthroughs, they should be wary of some internet/telephone-based sites that promise so much in so little a time. Some claim to provide: loans; education grants; health insurance; education grades; safety and security from internet hacking and housing facilities. The catch is one has to pay a lot of money in order to register and access the services. Many of these services are designed in such a way as to fleece off un-suspecting enthusiasts!
 

If you thought you had escaped the Nigerian Scams (The 419s), this side of the world are hackers and scammers far more skilled (The Ponzi schemes). This is not to say the internet is taken over by scammers. No! There are really genuine sites and businesses online. There are also scams!  Like the cats these are the features one may be faced with: They have used the first class Indian-trained computer literates to come up with very official looking websites; they have toll-free lines for calling and receiving calls. They create impression of being in very noisy and busy premises;; they have rented post office boxes where one can send letters; they have land-based addresses most times a ruse to convince an inquiring person of their physical nature; they have bank accounts and with the use of credit card transactions they are able to conduct businesses. Unfortunately or fortunately, even the genuine ones have these features. What a serious person relying on on-line transactions should do: do a background check on the on-line based business through the FBI anti-fraud services or online anti-fraud services, use Craigslist or Amazon credited websites. This way one stands better chances of value returns. If the business has a phone number, call them to express your concerns. It will give you confidence.
 

The cheese lined streets of America exist. The rats should understand that they are living side by side with cats. The cats will never tire of chasing them. All the rats have to learn is to outrun the cats!

Thomas Rogers Muyunga Mukasa, a Human Rigts Advocate shares; Important points for a recent immigrant to USA

The elephant is a very proud and arrogant animal. It was invited to the tortoise’s house one day. While there one night it kept on pushing the tortoise out of the house with its huge body.  The tortoise was forced to spend the night outside!  30 years ago, I made a decision that today turns out to make me reflect on what constitutes the immediate needs of a person. If we do not reflect on our positions we let pride, arrogance and ersatz contentment ruin us.  I realised the following points ring true: we need each other; we need to explore our contexts and; we need to know our strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. How well do we address our own insecurities at individual and collective levels?
 

Who are the ‘each others’ in question? I came to USA with a small suitcase in which were two shirts and 4 trousers. In it were other essentials I had packed hurriedly. I got on a plane and landed at Dulles Airport, Washington DC. My hosts picked me and brought me to their home. I joined their family as a new member. I learnt to smile again. I learnt to ask questions about USA. I shared my insecurities and was given counsel on how to move. I was guided on how to make small steps. I learnt to navigate through the weather, streets and USA Calendar. I was provided for in form of dress, diet and development experiences. The development experiences included: getting around and doing shopping or errands. I learnt the street names and learnt the means of travel. I learnt how to look up addresses. The addresses of places that have continuously been of help to me are: the Union Station; City Hall; the library; the community services offices (to register for orientation and work opportunities); immigration documentation center; the prayer house and; the recreation facilities.
 

I looked up people I would make friends with. I was shown where to do volunteer work. I am not allowed by law to work for a salary so I depend on the support from my hosts in form of: shelter, food, utilities and occasional out of pocket money. As a person from Uganda, I was interested to meet Ugandans who have settled in New England. I wanted to ask them to share their stories with me. I failed to meet that many until I visited Boston City where I met three Ugandan-Americans who gave me some tips. I have since met others who are much focused. With these ones we decided to found an organisation or society or association. We called it the Uganda-New England Society (UGNEW). Our main goal was to provide opportunities for improving on ourselves in USA. I was able to join volunteer organisations and clubs visiting Universities to share stories from Africa. This has improved my understanding of life in USA schools, communities and nature of institutionalised social services.
 

President Barack Obama has been recently inaugurated (January 2013). The USA, in which we are founding UGNEW, has contexts we need to factor in as we aspire to establish a civil society. We are from a background that engages in work and believes in being productive. USA is a great nation and it is an environment in which organised societies and their members are provided opportunities to pursue their aspirations. We hope through, UGNEW to: have the first civil society house with an address in New England (most probably Boston City); we want to profile needs of persons of Ugandan descent in New England and explore avenues of addressing them; we want to make sure that we enrol as many members as possible and; we want to improve members’ understanding of skills required to lead a productive life in USA. This is a shared collective dream. The questions many of us who want to settle in USA should ask are around the themes touched in this small write-up.

Thomas Rogers Muyunga Mukasa shares ; At Harvard: where small may mean grand

In the animal Kingdom, according to an African Kingdom culture, the chameleon won a race in which it was pitted against the hare (a mythical grey-brown small animal). The hare is a fast runner and is always depicted as the brightest of all animals. The chameleon is slow and smaller than the hare. In this race it managed to beat the hare. But that will be a subject of another story.

I went to this place and was greeted by red adobed brick structures and an imposing gate with metallic doors. The doors opened wide to let in or out any passers-by to their destinations.  Mine was the self-guided tour before an official one by our proctors. With so many hours before me and a cool but windy weather of January, I set out to walk all over spots that were trodden by many people before me. I was in Cambridge, passed over a bridge, I saw the tourist kiosks, I picked a large tourist map, I went by Phillip Brooks Hall and passed the Sumner statue. I joined a group in the Harvard Yard who were taking pictures. In taking the pictures they were posing before or under the great founder’s statue. I admired and continue admiring so many things at Harvard. I do think back to the times when all these grand ideas were taking shape. I am in awe at the commitment that followed word with action. The promise resplendent in structures we are using collectively, for residence, instruction and formation. I went off to read what messages I could pick from the walls. On one red-brick mural are these words:
 

AFTER GOD HAD CARRIED US SAFE TO NEW ENGLAND AND WE HAD BUILDED OUR HOUSES PROVIDED NECESSARIES FOR OUR LIVELIHOOD REARD CONVENIENT PLACES FOR GODS WORSHIP AND SETTLED THE CIVILL GOVERNMENT ONE OF THE NEXT THING WE LONGED FOR AND LOOKED AFTER WAS TO ADVANCE LEARNING AND PERPETUATE IT TO POSTERITY DREADING TO LIVE AN ILITERATE MINISTERY TO THE CHURCHES WHEN OUR PRESENT MINISTERS SHALL LIE IN THE DUST

                                                                                   NEW ENGLANDS FIRST FRUITS
 

I moved away after wrapping my brain around the words written in a very different way from what am familiar with. I looked all around me including; the structural buildings, green lawns, paved roads and pathways. I admired one of the first computer built in 1944 on display in the foyer of the Aiken Laboratory. The Harvard Mark I is one very big machine with 8 feet in height, 51 feet in length and 3 feet wide. This is a machine that only one dreams of in a very grand way and has to be executed in an equally grand way. There is no room for small undertakings. The International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) did so. It never looked at this as a small undertaking and it supported Howard Hathaway Aiken (1900-1973) in making the Harvard Mark I (aka IBM Automated Sequence Controlled Calculator. The calculator has 760,000 parts and 530 miles of wire. It is one of the first electro-mechanical-digital computers built by 1944. This particular one was unveiled in August 1944 and weighs five tons. It was able to run while programming a second problem. Today the computers run over a million commands simultaneously and are as light a quarter of a gram!

The Harvard Mark I run up to 1959 having given fifteen years of service. It now sits, quietly, at the Harvard Computation Laboratory. Aiken was a graduate of Harvard. A product of the graduate of Harvard on display has continued to crystallize the dream of our founders: create a learned populace able through their skills to live in this world and improve on the lives of their own and others. A single human being or a community can do this.

Thomas Rogers Muyunga Mukasa had a Cold Problem and a Hot Solution!

Ms. Luchenco Anna-Maria of about 55 years is a very dedicated female bus driver. She has been in the transport industry for over 10 years where she has served diligently. In a few years she is destined to retire with her husband to Orlando Florida (a warmer climate). All this information is shared with the familiar passengers who sit at the front section and who happen to know her well. She and her husband will leave their Worcester home to their two sons and one daughter. Luchenco’s blue bus is clean inside and the upholstery is not stained. She seems to know all the people who get on the bus. There is a ‘good-morning’ here, a ‘how-is-the-baby’ there and quick chit-chats that end as soon as one has paid for or checked in a valid pass. The bus cabin is so warm and on a day like this that registered 3 degrees Fahrenheit she cannot tell the difference outside. The normal bodily temperature is between 98-100 degrees (F). The lowest recorded temperatures where a body survived was 55.4 degrees (F). The body gets so cold that one’s bones, especially behind the ear get to be painful. This is the path to hypothermia. If there is persistent exposure it gets to the point when one is disoriented. It can lead to death in extreme cases. Coldness itself is so uncomfortable!

On this day (January 22^nd 2013), Worcester averaged 3 degrees (F); a very cold wind blew leaves and light debris that could be air-borne. The street joining Main Street and Major Taylor Boulevard was where a gust of wind almost threw me down! The bottle of water I had got so cold. The cap was frozen hard and fast. The jacket was a very cold garment. It became a strait-jacket that held me in very cold chains which only got broken once I got into a warm building.

My experience started at Tatnuck Brook Bridge. Tatnuck Brook Bridge has a bus stop where drivers have a well-deserved short lunch break. Now, ‘this bus stop is not a pedestrian stop’. I got a condescending lecture by Ms. Luchenco on the meaning of a bus stop and pedestrian stop. I wanted to go to some business downtown.. I use a bus as my means of travel. It has always been routine and not objective. It was a ‘get-to-bus-stop-wait-for-sometime-bus-arrives-door-opens-say-hullo-to-driver-while-paying-quickly-get-to-your-sit’ subjectivity. That is all the effort I had tuned my body to execute and no more! I do read books on the bus, so I reserve energy for the books I carry with me. I choose places where am able to pull out my book while the bus moves. This day provided me a different opportunity into the experiences of riding a bus.

There is a universal language in all cities. A bus stop is not hard to see. It may be a clearing on the road-side or a stop area with a metal sign having a bus and a word stop. An idling bus on wheels at a stop area is so re-assuring on a 3 degrees (F) cold day. I walked from the ‘pedestrian stop’ towards the ‘bus stop’ which was 20 meters away from me. I wanted to keep warm.

“No one boards from here, just you stay at the pedestrian stop,” yelled this Ms. Luchenco behind thick windows in a warm bus cabin. I looked askance. Did Ms. Know it was a very cold day out here? “You better hurry, in the next minute I may pass that stop,” she continued pointing repeatedly at the stop 20 meters away.

I walked back and the bus picked me up. I thanked Ms. Luchenco and paid for a full day fare. I also told her it was very cold outside, three times. She did not seem to realise why I kept saying it was so cold outside the bus. She started the bus as she continued asking me whether I was new to the City and the bus. I did not answer her but pointed at the notice that said: ‘stand away from a yellow line while bus is moving’. I went and sat down. I pulled out a book and as I was opening it she asked again. “Have you ever been on a bus?” I said yes. I also told her to not yell at pedestrians. I told her she is in an industry calling for humane hospitality. Then I got back to my book.

At the next Congregational Church stop on Pleasant Street we picked up Emeralda Gomez with whom they chatted about the Obama-Biden Inauguration and later bed-bugs! At Christ the King Church stop we picked up Gregory Barnes an African-American. Ms. Luchenco asked if she had ever yelled at him. He was surprised at the question but said no. “What would be the reason anyway?” he replied. I got in at that point when she told him “the gentleman in yellow has just said so about me”. “I don’t yell at people,” she reassured herself loudly. I emphasized she yelled at me. When Gregory Barnes realized I could speak eloquently about the issue, he came and sat next to me. He talked to me while pointing at the back of the palm (a sign for me to ignore everything but to also know that in my position, as a black man, it should not come as a surprise). I did not say any word after. Gregory (An African American) told me of his experience too.  He said it loudly so that Ms. Luchenco would hear too. The bus that went before ours had just passed the stop! He, because of the cold, had to go to the near-by Church to stay warm. The janitor had refused to let him in at first until he produced a Bible. We moved on up to the stop next to Becker College and picked Reginald Brown (African American from New York and a substance abuse withdrawal counselor). Reginald Brown on a supervisory visit to Worcester City, also shared his experience of that bus that did not stop to pick him up and two colleagues. The other two colleagues were Dally Matthew and Rodriguez Jesus. Dally is Hispanic and attends the drug-addiction/withdrawal support group on Pleasant Street before the Worcester Commons. Jesus is a Latino from Tacoma Worcester Housing Authority, sector 8 units.

The driver was sharing her story with Emeralda. She had just heard from her family. They were reminding her to buy anti-pest sprays. Reginald Brown from New York remarked he had pests and bed-bugs in his neighbourhood and it was a daily occurrence there! As soon as the bus moved Dally fell asleep! I did not get to hear him talk, except when he acknowledged his names as they were introduce to me. Rodriguez went to a corner by himself! We moved on up to the Commons and when I got out I thanked Ms. Luchenco for driving us up this destination and off I went! It was an experience for me.  Reginald Brown is the drug-withdrawal support case manager for these two.

My conclusion is that, our drivers in the public transport sector need to be constantly reminded that in a hospitality-based industry human needs are vast. These needs most of the times cause us to open doors for people to get warm and cosy in our buses, even if it may not be a normal procedure!

Life is what happens to you when you’re making other plans

We are wired deeply in wondrous ways, we fail to appreciate this. The extent we have moved to understand ourselves is mostly what has been passed down to us in form of culture, tradition and norms. Deep down in our visceral is a moving target!

Normally as a woman the identity takes this path; girl, feminine, role-affirmation, partnering, child-bearing, acting the spouse, acting the wife, knowing one’s husband, knowing one’s own body, knowing one’s children. This is a model female normativity

Normally as a man the identity takes this path; boy, masculine, role-affirmation, virility, partnering, child-bearing, acting the spouse, acting the husband, knowing one’s wife, knowing one’s own body, knowing one’s children. This is a typical male normativity.

The above is raised on a backdrop of community, society or a larger family that they need to fit in. Presently issues of identity, families, political systems, social systems and health systems are also influencing the earlier model of normativity. The contraceptive is empowering women to decide the number of children they shall bear. This was a male decision in many cultures! Science is making our understanding into sexuality, orientation, gender and identity more specific. Today we can talk of trans-persons, transsexuals, gay and lesbians. These are the Gender-benders and without appearing biased, they are negotiating a life in a heavily heterosexual-normativity system! They have faced a lot of persecution, misunderstanding and disenfranchisement! Efforts to work with this community are called for on various fronts. The gay-straight alliances are efforts towards promoting tolerance and understanding sexuality, orientation, gender and identity of humans. There is need to empower those who have been disenfranchised for a long time. Such efforts like: remedial trainings to improve skills for those who stopped half way in their education; providing health-care for many who have had a long history of self-medication and; establishing survival systems addressing their needs.

Thanks to + WGBH (Saturday, January 19^th 2013); Idi Amin is still as alive in the text of American wit as in their sense of humour. A recent one is: “....there is this cross between a dictator’s pop-star daughter and Lady Gaga and she is called Gugusha. Who is the dictator?” goes the question. “Idi Amin,” comes a loud answer. Hilarious laughter!!!

The National Day of Service (USA) has fallen during a very unique happening in USA. It is before Obama is inaugurated as President and on Martin Luther King Memorial day. Volunteers are called to engage in community service. I did with League of Conservation Volunteers (LCV)! I did get two tasks: to move wood to a wood-shed and food to a food pantry at a senior citizens (elderly people) assisted living apartments a couple of miles away from my home! It required 4 hours of my time and a smiling countenance! Which reminded me of one point and I want to share it with you.  Why don’t organised groups formulate community service action plans? It is high time all that energy is diverted to such causes! Other causes can be done hand in hand with this! There is so much society can benefit from an organised group with focused volunteers.