Interview Transcript

Me: What is the value of family in Uganda? Is family put on a pedestal?

Interviewee: Yeah I would say family is pretty important, pretty up there. Family members tend to live together, I lived with my mom and my dad at my grandfather’s farm, and a lot of my family was nearby too so we didn’t really want to move away. Family is really close together.

Me: What’s the family structure like?

Interviewee: I would say that it is usually the male, like when we lived with my grandfather he was kind of the oldest so most of the time everything had to go through him.

Me: How does Uganda culture differ from US culture?

Interviewee: I would say that in America there’s a lot more emphasis on material things, whereas in Uganda it was more about like people, like relationships and like here it’s more about what you have. I feel like there life was more simple and people didn’t worry about things as much and people were more content than here where you don’t worry about what house you have or what car you have.

Me: So what are some highlights in your country, like what are some things that make people think about your country?

Interviewee: A big place I would say is right next to Lake Victoria it’s like a big tourist place because they have a couple zoos and wild animals there and when you’re there you can see like lions and other animals you wouldn’t normally see. Like for example, where we lived in Uganda at my grandpa’s farm you’d see like monkeys in the back yard.

Me: What role do women play in the culture?

Interviewee: I would say that the women are kind of less because usually the man is supposed to like provide for the household and the women stays home with the kids, like my dad worked and my mom stayed at home.

Me: What is the most famous food in Uganda?

Interviewee: They have these things called Posho, where they have flowers and I don’t know how to describe it but it’s really good and you usually eat it with like beans and chicken and I used to eat it a lot.

Me: Is food pretty available in Uganda?

Interviewee: For me and my family it was pretty available because we lived on a big farm that my grandfather owned with a lot of land so we had a bunch. But back when I was little I would see like other people who didn’t have as much.

Me: What is the education system like?

Interviewee: I went to a school with uniforms, and you would get spanked in class and stuff. But learning was pretty big there but if you didn’t have money you couldn’t really go to school. We learned English and math but I would say that the teachers weren’t really as good as here like they didn’t know as much as the teachers in the states.

Me: So do a lot of people have the chance to attend college?

Interviewee: Yeah there’s the University of Nairobi and my mom went there but usually it’s like really slim for people to make it, you were either really smart or you had the money. My mom would tell me stories of how there was one guy who was a father and his son was starting middle school but they were in the same grade because he never had the money before. It’s usually just middle school and high school that people go to.

Me: How do people there view the US?

Interviewee: They think that it’s a country that is really wealthy which is true but like back in Uganda everyone thought that the people going to the states were like going to be rich and that everyone is rich in America. But coming here you realize that it’s not like that like you have to work for it, so that’s what a lot of people think, and my mom still has family there and they think she like has a lot of money so they always call and ask for money but that’s just not the case.

Me: So what are some of the top social past times in Uganda like sports?

Interviewee: I would say that Rugby is really popular there like my mom played in college. Soccer is really popular there but we don’t really have a team or anything there, but just like me growing up I didn’t really sports until I came here like all I did was go to school and then work on my grandpa’s farm, like all I knew was work.

Me: What about religion, what are the different religions there?

Interviewee: There’s a lot of Catholics like my dad was Catholic so I grew up Catholic but there’s like witch craft and stuff, like my mom told me a story about this one time when she was at school and this girl cast a spell on her and her roommate and they couldn’t move at all. For me I don’t really believe it but she says it happened. But there are just a lot of evil or evil things happening there.

Me: What is the dominant religion there?

Interviewee: I would have to say it’s Catholic for the most part.

Me: And is it pretty tough to practice your religion there?

Interviewee: There were a lot of attacks from the government that you wouldn’t push your religion on anyone else like just to keep it to yourself.

Me: What are some holidays that are celebrated there?

Interviewee: Christmas is really big there but for Christmas we didn’t really exchange gifts, it was more about just being with family and celebrating Jesus. In Uganda we didn’t really celebrate birthdays there so that was really new to me coming here because people are like “oh it’s your birthday let’s have a party”. But I would say Christmas is really big, and Easter, and I don’t really remember any others.