Author Archives: scott

What’s Happening in Uganda Tomorrow?

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On Friday, Uganda will be holding presidential elections.  Even eight months ago when I was in Uganda it was big news.  So, what’s going on in Uganda?

Yoweri Museveni, President of Uganda for over twenty years and leader of the National Resistance Movement, will be running for re-election yet again.  He is running against a slate of opposition figures, chief among them Kizza Besigye of the Forum for Democratic Change.  But what’s important about this election?

Despite having won every election since seizing power, Museveni’s victory margin has been diminishing.  In the last election he only won with 59% to Besigye’s 37%.  With notable corruption and a diminishing economy in addition to failure to secure the north and west against rebellions, Museveni faces the possibility of winning only a plurality in tomorrow’s election.  According to Ugandan law, if there is no clear majority than the front-runners compete in a run-off election.  If this is the case, it is likely that the less viable opposition figures such as Norbert Mao and others would throw their support behind Besigye, ushering him into the presidency.

That said, Museveni is consolidating control.  In both 2001 and 2006 the Supreme Court of Uganda ruled that the elections were flawed with corruption and vote-rigging, but both upheld the election returns for various reasons.  This election season there have already been rumors that the NRM has been buying votes in certain regions.  There are even cases of Museveni personally handing out envelopes of money to prospective voters and of Parliament receiving funds that slant towards NRM victory.  This in addition to a possible repeat of Museveni’s announcements a couple of years ago that any districts that did not vote for him would risk not receiving national funds for programs.

It looks like Museveni is setting up the elections in his favor.  Regardless, there may be some room for the opposition to sneak a victory.  But, even if that happens, he may not relinquish power.  Besigye has been exiled before and accused of treason, a strong run against the President could result in similar consequences.  With the vote taking place tomorrow, I’ll be keeping my eyes on how things unfold.

42 Days

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Forty-two days into this year, and it’s shaping up to be a momentous calendar.  I’m scrambling to include the numerous huge changes in my classes as I also roll out history and civics.  I’m going to take a step back and look out my favorite window – the international stage.

On January 9th, people across southern Sudan voted in a referendum for secession.  A month later the results were in – 99% for independence.  We are in the middle of seeing the world’s newest state emerge after a decades-long civil war and continued oppression and violence.  It’s a sign of hope for the countless other victims in the surrounding area (I’m looking at the DRC and CAR specifically, but sadly most of the region in reality).

On January 15th, after just 29 days of student protests, Tunisian dictator Ben Ali surrendered power and flew to Saudi Arabia.  Amidst the protests, solidarity actions took place across North Africa and the Middle East.  Tunisia is supposed to hold elections in the coming months and has an opportunity to take a huge step forwards from there.

On February 11th, Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak gave up power after 18 days of youth-led protests.  This came close on the heels of Tunis and after a week of escalation including a brutal police crackdown, attempted military peacekeeping, mass arrests and beatings of journalists and activists, and even more arrests, beatings, and murders of civilians.  Egypt also has the potential to move forwards here and – as what some have called the “fulcrum” of the region – a chance to move other countries forward too.

This doesn’t even touch on rising protests in the rest of North Africa/Middle East, student actions in Puerto Rico as well as England, and huge elections in Uganda.  I will be busy keeping an eye on all of these.  Needless to say, this day is one of those momentous occasions.  Tunisia’s and Egypt’s transition will be a lodestar for the so-called “Arab World,” especially Egypt.  Southern Sudan’s viability will be a signal for transition with stability across an unstable region.  If I knew any better, I’d say 2011 is going to be a 1968.

The Unofficial Teacher

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So, it’s unofficially official – it seems.  I’m about to close out my fourth week at my school.

Week 1 – learned close to 200 names (there were only a handful I still couldn’t get by week’s end), and heard about some rumbling drama in which my teacher grappled with parents and administration.  Taught a full day on my second day.

Week 2 – Graded scores of tests for the first time. Taught a little, and went to my first staff meetings.  On Wednesday, my mentor teacher went on administrative leave.  I spent two days winging it as I wrapped up the week. Led a controversial debate on SB1070.  On Friday, I found out my mentor teacher resigned, and I’d stay another week for transition.

Week 3 – Working with a sub to supervise me. Began the lesson planning process.  Managed to put together three study guides, two worksheets, and two group projects for the unit.  Began the grueling task of grading ~220 one page essays.  Numerous conversations with teachers, administrators, university supervisor over my status as student teacher.  Find out I might be able to stay.

Week 4 – Meet the permanent substitute under whom I will be teaching.  Instead of co-teaching and lesson plan-sharing, determine that I will be planning lessons on my own and in full control of the class.  My permanent sub leaves for a family emergency – back to temporary subs.  Engage in meetings with other teachers to ensure that my upcoming units will be sufficient for standards and such.  Try to get into Spirit Week.

And that’s it.  I’ve spent about two hours overall putting together two crack units that should last the next few weeks – but still need to fill those lesson plans with information.  Ideally, putting together some powerpoints and audio supplements by Tuesday or Wednesday.

Classroom Announcement

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Today, I stood in front of five different classes of students who I have really gotten to know over the past two weeks. After teaching several lessons on my own and even more alongside my mentor teacher, after dealing with a grading discrepancy and going through a trial by fire, after reviewing the grading process and preparing all 192 of them for how I graded, I told them that I may or may not be there anymore.  I taught today, and I am teaching tomorrow.  Nothing else is up to me. Blahhhhh. I’ll post more when I have more to post.

1.1.11

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If you are reading this, I just got married.  Like, right now.  Kim and I are probably taking pictures or saying thank you or heading to the reception.

Kim and I met each other in the beginning of 7th grade – fall of 2001 for those who have known us long enough.  We’ve been a couple since spring of 2002.  In other words, we’ve been a couple since they discovered water on Mars.  Our relationship is older than the International Criminal Court, even! We’ve lived together for two years (and been engaged for the same amount of time, minus a few hours), and today we just took the big leap together. It’s been surreal – a wonderful journey with my best friend.  And we’re just getting started!

This terse blog post marks a significant event but at the same time a small change in a long history of a relationship.  As of right now, we are what we weren’t a few moments ago – married. Our legal status has changed, and taxes will look a little different from here on out,but we’ve also made a huge commitment to each other.  Plus, I don’t feel left out anymore and can finally wear a ring too!  But, we’re also still two people who are in love and sharing our lives together.  We’ve got over eight years of history as a couple – from junior high to high school to college, from parents’ houses to apartment to townhome, but we’ve got a lot ahead of us.

Here’s to the future.

Guns Blazing

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On Sunday, David treated me to a bachelor party.  Given two facts – David being my only guy-friend and me being pretty androgynous when it comes to doing manly things – we did not round up the dudes and go to a strip club. Plus, that’s weird and icky. Instead, I learned how to use a gun.  Six guns, actually.

David and I rolled out with his dad and two brothers to Florence Junction, where we parked in a secluded area by a moderately sized cliff-face.  David’s dad went over gun-safety with me while his brothers set up some cans, and I put on some glasses and earmuffs.  I’ve never held a real gun, let alone shoot one, so I was pretty green to this whole scenario.  I should preface the following sentences with the fact that I’m probably getting some of these names wrong.  But anyways, I took a couple of pot shots with a 22 and actually hit my target the first two times (big surprise, let me tell you) before playing with a Glock 17 and a Remington (pistol and shotgun – I’m learning!). When we set out to reset the cans and find some better targets, I found two shot up computer monitors and couldn’t resist. By the end of the day I also fired off an AR-15 and a SOCOM, of which the latter had its own shockwave that we could feel several feet away from the shooter, and which gave me a bruised arm.  As we wrapped up, I fired a few rounds out of an old-fashioned revolver, which made me feel very much like I was shooting in the Southwest.

All in all it was a lot of fun and something I had never done before.  I’m not exactly signing up for the NRA, but I definitely wouldn’t be against going out again.  It was pretty interesting to learn about the different guns (David’s dad is an instructor, and all the guys knew at least something about guns given boy scout experience and whatnot) and to play with some big boy toys.  That, mixed with a little bit of video-gaming and some delicious In-n-Out Burger, made for a very nice bachelor party.

WIP Wednesday: Wedding Edition

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Thanks to our wedding, I’m bringing back my one-post-long Work in Progress Wednesday series!  For the past few weeks Kim and I have been working on our centerpieces for the wedding on-and-off.  The goal is small collections of vases on every table, with some sparse stems of flowers in each.  We bought a plethora of clear vases and candle holders at various Goodwills and have been spray painting them white.  We’re excited to see how they come together.  It’s been fun being slightly crafty, and not so fun to see a handful of vases get all crackly and messed up.  All in all it’s been good though.  Tonight we’re putting the finishing touches on a few before our florist swings by to pick them up.   Regardless, we’ve got a garage covered in vases and spray paint, and the florist will be working with them to ensure that it’s all pretty!

A number of vases drying

These are just some of the finished ones

Misfit vases.

“Dr. No” Got the Message

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Roughly a year ago, when local lobbying was at its height for the LRA Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act, the bill’s co-sponsors tried to pass it by unanimous consent.  With more co-sponsors than any Africa-related legislation in modern American history, it was a good idea.  And then Tom Coburn stepped in.  Known for blocking everything that costs more than a penny for Congress, Coburn had decided that the LRA bill would be one of his many stands.  He he blocked a bill with bipartisan support from the country at large, including his state’s senior senator , and thousands of his constituents.  Needless to say, grassroots organizing got a move on.  Quite a few of my friends, from across the country, held a vigil in front of his Oklahoma City office 24/7 until he took the hold off.  All told, the vigil lasted eleven days before a deal was reached, and the bill passed the Senate the next day.

Dr. Coburn was in the news again this past week for being one of the more vocal opponents to the 9/11 health bill.  The bill would have compensated a number of first responders who were suffering from health problems related to 9/11 and the rescue efforts that followed in the rubble.  After Jon Stewart hosted a number of first responders on his show to call out opponents, the general populace started getting up in arms about it (including Rudy Guiliani and Mike Huckabee).  After all the uproar, Coburn finally decided to give in (after bringing down some costs, obviously).

I’m all for being careful with money and watching where the government spends money, but Coburn has gone to the extreme. He also blocked aid to Haiti after the earthquake there, among other hot topic blocks.  It seems like he always needs a level of shame before he’ll back down.  I hope he gets smarter about where he chooses to put his foot down in the future. It’d make government work a little better, which – according to Coburn – has been his intention all along.

Remembering December

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In early 2008, the Juba Peace Process between the Ugandan government and the Lord’s Resistance Army failed.  In December of that year, a joint offensive by Uganda, the DRC, and South Sudan invaded the LRA’s hiding place, dispersing the rebels.  It was a messy, ill-advised attempt at apprehending rebel leaders and freeing abducted civilians.

On Christmas Eve, the LRA lashed out at the local population, destroying whole villages. In the ensuing month, as reported by a number of news papers and human rights groups, the rebels killed at least 900 people and abducted at least 160 children.  They rounded up villagers who had been celebrating Christmas, tying them up and killing them with clubs, axes, and machetes.  A number of women were raped and whole families burned.  In the following year they would kill over 1500 and abduct over 3000, 700 thought to be children.

In December of 2009, the LRA issued a warning – saying they would celebrate Christmas with the people of the region. On December 14th, to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the military incursion, the rebels lashed out again, attacking a number of villages and towns in eastern DRC.

This is a blog post I’ve been meaning to write for a week or so.  It’s about something that has me worried.  It’s December.  It’s almost the two-year anniversary of the beginning of hostilities and one-year anniversary of the 2009 attacks, as well as the two-year anniversary of the Christmas Massacre.  Who knows what the LRA are planning this year?  Having spent a good four years learning about this conflict, and having met a number of victims in Uganda effected by the LRA, I’m worried for the people of the DRC, CAR, and Sudan.

On this subject, the Obama administration’s LRA Strategy was released almost two weeks ago, and I’ve been reading and reviewing it.  I’ll put up a praise/critique soon, hopefully. After two years of relative peace from 2006-2008, these past two years have been pretty brutal for the people of east-central Africa.  I’d like to see it end.

Christmastown

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It’s Christmas time in the Ross-Smith house!  Last week we got out all of the decorations in preparation for the big holiday season.  This week (and some of next) we’re wrapping up school work and we’re officially a month out from the BIG DAY, so it’ll be a busy month.  I’m taking a break from the first of four papers to toss up some pictures of our winter-themed house! I’ll be putting up quite a few posts soon, so take this as a preview of sorts.

Happy Holidays, everyone!