WEEK THE FIFTH

OSABBIITI OEYOKUTAANO
*sighs* here we go again
PROFESSIONAL OPINION
people have been asking me so what do you do ? and i have begun to answer anything we can .... and so on that
note i thought i'd link below the reports for three activities we've undertaken in the past month !ust to show how
diverse our programmes are"
#rst of all is the activit$ in which i provided paralegal and health%based training in the north of the countr$ %
http &'' www .africanprisons .org 'news '()*+%,'
then there is an activit$ which ran as part of our educational endeavours %
http &'' www .africanprisons .org 'news '()-.%,'
and then an activit$ undertaken in kampala's primar$ prison %
http &'' www .africanprisons .org '()+,%,'
and for those of you who actually click on this link, you will fnd that it ''cannot be found'' .... which is not a
refection of the programme or its actually having happened, but instead of the poor and unreliable access to
information in this country
(and yes, i have made my supervisors aware of the issue)
oh/ and our 0ctober newsletter %
http &'' s ).)+-.,.1. websitehome .co .uk '233 'wp %content 'uploads ',4-('4)' 0ctober %5ewsletter .pdf
PUBLIC OPINION
here's an article on prostitution in Kampala .... interesting to note is not onl$ the topic f$i/ ,4/444 shillings is less
than 67.44" but too for the writing st$le which is unashamedl$ biased/ despite being in a purportedl$ reliable
publication" %
http &'' www .newvision .co .ug 'news '.)4+,7% kampala %s %shocking %night %life .html
PERSONAL OPINION
have i mentioned the falling in love with this countr$ that i've been e8periencing 9 well/ i've also been re:ecting
on it/ and i think that it is less for this country than for this concept/ which is simpl$ the concept of life .... but what
do i mean b$ that 9
see/ the thing is that life here is not better nor worse" nor is it good nor bad"/ for trul$ i think that all life is
!usti#able in the conte8t in which we #nd it .... rather/ life here !ust has a di;erent ring/ a di;erent tone/ a di;erent
lilt to it than the one that i know otherwise in the western world. we do not live for maga<ines and gossip here %
not that/ of course/ the western world e8clusivel$ does either % but rather/ the fast%paced and bustling backdrop of
the cit$ is one of animalistic necessit$/ inherent drive to succeed not to win but to survive .... and it's !ust ....
di;erent
eh/ what do i know .... !ust a thought
JUST .... THINS
WEEK THE FIFTH
it will be nice to return to options/ that's for sure .... like as in food and accoutrements and resources/ so for
e8ample choice at the supermarket versus one or two things that i can actuall$ digest here" and what to wear
versus the one skirt/ one trousers/ and two shirts that i've been interchanging" and how i want to get a !ob done
versus the onl$%one%wa$ avenue that confronts most tasks here"
christmas .... i do think that it's probabl$ for the best that i be on m$ own this $ear/ for though i can't escape the
!oll$ fervour of the holida$ entirel$/ i can at least hole m$self in m$ room and thereb$ avoid the material wealth of
splurging families and $es $es $es/ i know that there is love and happiness to be had as well/ but i'd reall$ rather
forego that this $ear if it means not being surrounded b$ super:uous and supercilious gift%giving"
happ$ holida$s though/ eh 9
i did a teens$ bit of drawing $esterda$/ that was =uite nice .... might do a bit more toda$
BEFORE AN! AFTER
i am looking forward to the ne8t pro!ect on m$ books/ an opportunit$ in california that i arranged before coming
here and which therefore spurred m$ decision to bu$ a round%trip rather than a one%wa$ ticket" .... though to be
honest/ i have to keep focusing on the bene#ts of the opportunit$ itself in order to refrain from focusing on the
male#ts of returning to m$ old life
but what do i mean b$ old life 9 for surel$/ i never have the same life two da$s nor even two minutes" in a row
what i mean is the life of things .... and if that doesn't make sense then i don't think it could until $ou e8perience
it $ourself and as such i'd rather not go into the details of what i mean b$ it and how i feel because of it"
INTER AN! INTRA
i am a part of a team here/ an intra%pieceof the >estalt whole b$ which this organisation is manifested .... $et i
am nonetheless simpl$ an observer of its work/ an inter%piece of what would otherwise and has done before and
will continue to do after" go on with its education and eduction
i am here as in it is m$ location" but i am not here as in it is not m$ state of being" .... does that make sense 9 in
rehab i once had a therapist provide me with a mantra of i am calm and what she meant b$ it was not that i, kelsi,
am feeling calm but that i, kelsi, am the defnion of calm .... and this is what i mean . if we look up the word ?2@A
in the dictionar$/ it will sa$/ simpl$/ KE@BI .... which is what i mean b$ sa$ing that i am here . if we look up HECE in
the dictionar$/ we will not #nd the word KE@BI/ we will #nd a locative summation of geograph$ or ph$siolog$ or
whatnot .... here is a preposition/ not an ad!ective
and this is m$ ongoing struggle .... if not all of ours %
where are we ?
who are we ?
because i am forever running/ and i am never here other than the here in my head .... and i have not the strength
to embrace it
like father like daughter/ i run though it is not a geographical state medal that i have won/ but instead a mental
state mettle"
CALIFORNIA
oka$ oka$ oka$ .... i guess it won't be that bad D"
WEEK THE FIFTH
E!UCATION
so i've been thinking recentl$ of post%graduate stud$ that i'd like to do/ and it's interesting to have come upon a
topic not onl$ which intrigues me but which is actuall$ doctorate level for its depth and level of commitment
re=uired" .... and no wa$ do i fanc$ going into four more $ears of academic institutionalisation and eugh i don't
even like the sound of doctor" but i really really really want to undertake this research so feel a =uite a confusing
loss of what to do 9999" though i guess at the moment i shall persevere with m$ plan to do a masters from ,4-)
until '-* and thereafter decide whether to continue m$ studies though of course/ would need to do so in tandem
with full%time paid" work"
an$wa$ .... we shall see
"# PER !AY
let me e8plain something before the deluge of christmas%season orphan%adverts :oods $our television screens" %
poverty is not hunger, and poverty is not death
so .... when $ou hear of how these people live on ''a dollar a da$'' there is a lack of conte8t/ a purposeful oversight
which/ if e8plained properl$ and rightl$ to those emotive westerners to whom it is geared/ would shed light upon
this misleading pronunciation
SLEEP
a far cr$ from the halc$on da$s of $outh when i would wake from a teenage sleep onl$ as the dusk$ hours of
evening began to beckon/ i no longer sleep often nor when i do/ well"
i am plagued b$ nightmares/ a restless angst that keeps me tossing in feverish bedsheets .... and in an$ case/ i
hate to sleep/ to waste the few and precious moments that i have on this earth in such a parasitic and parasseuse
pasttime as slumber
.... but this work/ this !ob/ the burgeoning realit$ of the bra<en raucousness that is this world .... it pains me %
i want to sleep
the evening comes and it is not my underfed body but my overwrung mind that pines for sleep
i want to forget
.... and i cannot
BUT $HY %
am i even telling $ou all all of these things 9
.... because ever$one else is m$ preposition/ and $ou are m$ ad!ective
leave it to the Bocio@inguistics ma!or to pragmatise e8istence"
&o& 'e

WEEK THE FIFTH