Michaela Peterson of Hovland spent the holidays far from the chilly North Shore. She is living in Uganda. Her Christmas Eve celebration included cooking dinner for 100 street kids in the village of Kampala.
When Michaela Peterson of Hovland, a 2013 graduate of Cook County High School, headed to Africa in August 2013, she had no idea what awaited. Now, five months into her nine-month stay in Kampala, Uganda, she has faced a multitude of trials—language barriers, a challenging job, unsanitary conditions, illness, homesickness— but has managed to keep a positive attitude in the essays she has written about the adventure.
In her journal on her first night in Kampala, Michaela wrote, “I don’t know what to do. I’m excited, but I’m terrified. Every thought, smell, sound, look is different… Streets, car horns, shouting all the time. Here in the city, I’m conscious of every movement I make and every movement of those around me at all times— can I handle that for nine months?”
By October she was more comfortable in the strange land, almost used to sleeping under a mosquito net with spiders, baby salamanders and sometimes frogs sharing the space, with monkeys sliding across the tin roof or howling in the trees. She had become accustomed to the red clay and the smell of Africa—earth, sweat and burnt rubber. And, she was touched by the Ugandan people and their daily struggles.
Michaela wrote, “Picture the saddest, most desperate scenes you’ve ever seen and then picture smiles on the faces of the people in it. Picture an ordinary scene – but everyone in it is laughing, and purely joyful. And there’s almost always someone who’s dancing, and always clapping.”
Michaela has gotten settled into a routine at her primary United Planet assignment—working as a kindergarten teacher at Sesame Street Kindergarten, something else that was unexpected. “At first I was a little taken aback, considering I did not go to school to be a teacher but I realized in Uganda that really does not matter,” she told the Cook County News-Herald, noting that she has actually had more education than some of the teachers.
All of the other teachers are Ugandan and two of them speak very little English, which can be a problem. Some of the teachers don’t see the need to learn a language other than their mother tongue, Luganda, a philosophy Michaela does not share.
“Although Uganda is a fairly small country, there are many different districts and kingdoms. Each kingdom speaks a different language… So basically, if you do not know any language besides your mother tongue you really cannot communicate with anyone outside of a 100-kilometer radius of you. English is really starting to be enforced in schools, but when the teachers are limited and not all of them can speak English, it really makes it hard on the kids to learn,” she said.
At the beginning of the school term, she wrote a curriculum for the school, using textbooks from home. And, she started an art program. “It was a little hard with limited resources, but we made do, though it took some creative thinking. We have experimented with different projects using natural resources, even have made eggshell mosaics.”
Michaela’s host mother, Madina, is the headmaster of the school. Michaela lives at the school, along with her four young host brothers and sisters and about 15 other children that her host mother supports. “The school is very small, smaller than the Holiday gas station, it consists of three classes, but we teach over 140 kids.”
The school has frequent holidays so the children can work with their parents, so Michaela has done other work. She spent time at a farm, harvesting maize plants. She worked at an orphanage in another village, spent some time on a project for street kids, and assisted with a project for rehabilitating child soldiers. “Before I leave I’ll be doing other projects as well,” she said.
All her work was nearly derailed when she contracted malaria. She was so busy that at first she didn’t think much of her tiredness, headaches and weakness, but eventually her symptoms progressed into a constant stomach ache and high fever. Her host mother took her to the Kampala International Hospital where she was diagnosed with malaria. She was hospitalized for five days, getting IV rehydration and a series of injections—three injections three times a day.
“As long as you are able to treat malaria it is usually not fatal, and the locals have it so often it didn’t seem like a big deal to anyone but me that I had it. Still, it was a little scary – it really just makes you feel like all the worst sicknesses imaginable all thrown on you at once, and you become weak for a good month afterwards. The hardest part was being so weak, when I have so much to do here.
“And of course the kids I live with couldn’t understand why I was so exhausted all the time – it was really hard to teach kindergarten when I felt so awful!” Michaela said.
Michaela was also stricken with typhoid from drinking the water at the village. Noting that bottled water is unaffordable, she wrote, “Even boiling the water doesn’t make it clean enough –it’s still brown.”
“I’m definitely recovering though,” she reassured the News-Herald. “If there’s one thing Africa has taught me, it’s that I’m a lot stronger than I thought and at this point there is no situation I feel like I can’t handle!”
She has adapted to being one of the very few “mzungu” in Kampala. She said mzungu means white, but to many of the impoverished Ugandans, it also means money. She said beggars flock around white people and there are men who make it their mission to court and marry a mzungu so they can emigrate to the United Kingdom or United States. And unfortunately vendors charge literally 70 times the local price for items because they know foreign currency is worth so much more.
One disappointment is that she has not been able to explore very much, as the cost to visit important sites is prohibitive. Fees to visit Queen Elizabeth National Park, Mount Kilimanjaro or to go gorilla trekking are exorbitant. She was able to spend a few days near Mount Rwenzori, the largest mountain in Uganda, with beautiful snow-covered peaks. “However, I was unable to even get within a mile of its base because I would have to pay hundreds of dollars. So close, but so far, I could only see it from a distance,” she said.
However, Kampala is about a one-hour drive away from the source of the Nile and Michaela was able to go there. “The source of the Nile is in Jinja – which is pretty much my favorite place in Uganda so far. It’s so beautiful and peaceful. I went white-water rafting on the Nile in September. That was definitely an amazing experience,” she said.
Asked if there is anything the Cook County community can do to help her in her work, Michaela said, “It’s really hard to narrow down to a few things what a Third World country might need. When I came here I was thinking that although I wouldn’t be able to save the nation I would at least be able to make a difference. But even being here it’s still hard to make even a small mark in such a big picture.”
At Christmas time, her mom, Kari Peterson, collected money in a little oven set up at St. John’s Catholic Church so Michaela could feed over 100 street kids on Christmas Eve. St. John’s continues to collect for Michaela’s mission in Uganda.
“I think, really that’s the best people can do right now if they’d really like to help. Donations make it so that I can help at least those that I know personally – and I know so many who can use the help,” said Michaela.
One of her fellow teachers is facing an operation, but has no money to pay her doctor bills. There are many other people in the community with health issues. The school too, needs pencils, books and paper. Noting the expense of sending, Michaela said it is better to donate money as these items can be purchased in Kampala. If you would like to help in some way, contact Michaela’s mom Kari at (218) 475-2766 or Father Seamus Walsh at (218) 387-1409. There is also an account at the North Shore Federal Credit Union for donations.
If you would like to read more about Michaela’s adventure in her own powerful words, visit her Facebook page – “Michaela Peterson,” click “More” and then “Notes.”
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