Record-setting Freshman Class Enters Walsh University

Lessons Learned in Uganda
It certainly was not planned. But
when the final list of participants
was completed for Walsh’s May trip
to Uganda, Amy Malaska noted
that the entire group was female.
“We actually didn’t think much of it,”
said Malaska. “Then we arrived at Meeting
Point International (MPI) in Uganda and
we were greeted by drums, dancing and
representatives of the 3,000 women
who live there. Listening to their
stories, it struck me how vastly different
our lives have been.”
Ten Walsh students and three faculty
members spent two weeks taking or
delivering classes and completing
local service projects in partnership
with the Kisubi Brothers Center of
Uganda Martyr’s University, Walsh’s
companion University in Uganda.
The group was led by Dr. Penny
Bove, social and behavioral sciences
division chair, Jo Anna Kelly,
sociology professor, and Amy
Malaska, dean of students. The first
global learning program to Uganda
was in May 2007 and included a
group of eight students.
Though the Ugandan constitution
includes gender equality, the longheld
cultural practices of 52 tribes
do not always reflect it. In most
incidents, women are disadvantaged
in terms of their earning power,
their access to education and their
employment status. In addition,
Ugandan women face cultural
chauvinism in other areas: for
example, in some traditional
cultures, a woman cannot
own property.
Despite these hardships, or perhaps
because of them, what struck the
Walsh students the most was the
grace, compassion and generosity
of the women at MPI. For most
of their lives, these women were
treated as second class citizens,
or worse, as property. Some had
found refuge at MPI from abusive
relationships. Many were abandoned
or neglected by their families and
husbands because of sickness or
HIV/AIDS. But together the group
found strength and for the first time
in their lives… self-worth. It was
their generous spirit in the midst of
personal poverty that not only had a
profound affect on the entire Walsh
group, but also made international
news. The special group at MPI
unexpectedly earned international
recognition when they assisted
Hurricane Katrina victims in 2005
through a donation to relief efforts
raised by grinding rocks in the
quarry and selling handmade jewelry.
When asked why they would
donate to strangers in a foreign
county, the women of MPI responded
simply “we wanted to help our
brothers and sisters in America.”
Throughout the trip, Malaska kept
a travel diary that she emailed home
to her friends at Walsh. As the days
wore on, her sense of frustration
became more apparent as the two
groups, American women and
Ugandans, struggled to work
together across the gender divide.
“I thought our greatest challenges
would center on the basics – things
you expect like language, environment,
food, etc. It was an eye opening
experience to live in such a
male-dominated society as an
American woman.”
Each evening the North Canton
group would meet to “process” and
pray about what they had experienced
during the day. It was a time of
reflection and discussion that
helped the group filter through their
thoughts and find solace from any
culture shock they were experiencing.
But they weren’t alone in their adjustment.
The Ugandan Walsh students,
mostly male, also struggled
with a form of culture shock when
faced with the reality of self-sufficient
Americans who were politely
vocal about tribal customs that
placed women in subservient roles.
When collaborating on service projects,
the Walsh group encountered
little resistance to creating necklaces
for resale. But when it came to
physical labor or traditional “men’s
work,” two cultures collided as the
Walsh students insisted they could
paint walls or dig and plant trees
alongside the Ugandans for the
school renovation project.
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