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As I was working as an intern for the General Board of Church and
Society in Washington, D.C., I spent a lot of my time researching, talk-
ing, and writing about the Philippines. While learning and writing about
the inadequate political institutions in the Philippines, I struggled to do
so without adopting a demeaning tone or appropriating the perspective
of Filipinos. Everything I wrote was colored by my “western” perspective
and by my “western” expectations of what a society should look like. Even
though my superiors were satisfied with my writing, this problem left me
with a feeling of deep dissatisfaction and anxiety over the quality of my
work. By the end of the internship, I had decided that my understanding
of societies outside of the United States and other developed nations was
severely lacking and that it was important that I gain greater proximity and
exposure to societies and cultures that are vastly different from my own in
order to address this shortcoming. This was, by and large, my rationale for
travelling to Uganda.
Prior to leaving for the trip, I faced a number of anxieties. My back-
ground in the social sciences, while providing me with a unique and
valuable perspective to offer to the team, also meant that I had very few
qualifications for the bulk of our work which would take place in the
classroom. Approaching this trip with no background in education and
with minimal preparation, particularly when compared to the education
majors who were working on their internships, were constant concerns
for me. It left me feeling anxious because I did not really know what to
expect. Aspects of the trip were inherently unpredictable such as our stu-
dent’s proficiency with English, but such uncertainties I felt were exacer-
bated for me by my layman’s knowledge of education. On the other hand,
I was also extremely excited about entering the country with few precon-
ceived notions about the trip. On the whole, my anxieties were largely
unfounded.
The first few days on the ground in Uganda were a whirlwind. The
traffic was terrifying. Kampala lacked the basic services and amenities that
I was familiar with such as waste services and electricity. There were slums
throughout the city. The smell of burning garbage and car exhaust were
thick in the air. It was all so unfamiliar from everything I knew. Yet as I
spent more time in Uganda, the relative material deprivation, while always
prevalent and noticeable, seemed to register less forcibly after forty-eight
hours on the ground as I grew more accustomed to the country. Instead
of focusing on how different Uganda is from the United States, I began to
notice the culture of the country and how so many seemed to have found
some measure of self-worth, dignity, and happiness amidst the immense
poverty that was the reality there.
For the first time, I began to wonder whether the “western” way was the
right way. Our emphasis on the endless and meaningless accumulation of
material wealth, our desire for perpetual economic growth, our need to
make money for its own sake all seemed like paltry ways to move through
the world when compared to the simple communal villages of rural
Uganda. You can see the damage western values have done to Ugandan
society quite clearly. In Kampala, there is no minimum wage. The areas of
society in which the individualistic, capitalistic values of the west are most
prominent also seem to suffer the most from poverty and food insecurity.
Nicole described for us the breakdown of Ugandan traditions and society.
Men now leave their wives and children with a frequency that would have
never been tolerated if the village elders still held sway over their com-
munities. In many ways, Uganda is caught between the old ways and the
new. Ugandan’s do desire to be like developed countries and to achieve
material prosperity. Yet they lack the institutions that would allow them to
Uganda Service-in-Learning Trip Reflection
Erik Hancock
Erik Hancock
Erik Hancock is a junior Global
and Comparative Studies major
from Spring Hill, Tennessee.
He is the founder and President
of the Debate Society, a 2015
Hess Fellow, the New Member
Educator for the Alpha Tau
Omega Fraternity and a board
member of the Global Peace
Exchange.
This piece is a reflection on the
January Service-in-Learning
project in Uganda, during which
students taught at the Buiga
Sunrise School in a small village
southeast of Kampala, Uganda