Higher Powers

Front matter

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Higher Powers

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction 1. Batuzaala mu Baala: Seeking Connection and Flow in Kampala’s Bars

2. Once an Addict ...: Learning the Chronic Relapsing Brain Disease Model in Kampala’s Rehabilitation Centers

Conclusion

Notes References Index

65 78 93

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Writing this book has been a truly collaborative effort, as our work transformed and took shape through conversations in bars, herbal medicine shops, seminar rooms, rehabilitation centers, churches, Zoom workshops, conference panels, shrines, traffic jams, forests, coffeeshops, and living rooms.

Our deepest thanks go to the people who you will meet in the following pages, especially those who so generously shared their experiences with alcohol with us and who welcomed us into the lives that they have created beyond it. We also extend profound thanks to the healers who taught us about herbal medicine, rehabilitation, Alcoholics Anonymous, Pentecostal and Charismatic healing, and mediumship. We must also give a special word of appreciation to Dr. David Basangwa at Butabika Hospital. Through his enthusiasm, curiosity, and commitment to his patients Dr. Basangwa encouraged us to look beyond the clinic and also provided us with tremendous insight and practical advice along the way.

We also want to thank Noah Wabwire, Valentine Mujuzi, and Sebulime Hope Francis for the countless hours they spent driving us through Kampala traffic jams and beyond and for all of the invaluable insights they shared with us as we talked along the way.

We also want to thank the undergraduate researchers who contributed their time and talents to the project over the course of the past ten years. Among these students are Karina Atkins, Christy Audeh, Aubrey Bauer, Beza Bogale, Likita Griffith, Claire Mooney, Noorjahan Sheikh, Morgan Suchin, Emily Weisenberger, and Priscilla Opoku Yeboah. Amber Colby and Anne Nelson Stoner deserve special recognition here for the tremendous contributions they made to the project during the time they spent in Uganda with us.

x ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

A wide network of fellow scholars has also contributed to this work through their participation in numerous workshops, conferences, and conversations. Among those who shared their insights and friendship with us are: Vincanne Adams, Eniola Afolayan, Anne Alison, Cory-Alice Andre-Johnson, Ira Bashkow, Joshua Burraway, Jennifer Cole, Mackenzie Cramblit, Nomi Dave, Joseph Davis, Rebecca Dillingham, Jonathan Earle, Anna Eisenstein, Omri Elisha, Tess Farmer, Aidan Seale Feldman, Mayanthi Fernando, Gertrude Fraser, Brian Goldstone, Courtney Handman, Helena Hansen, Peter Hoesing, Jim Igoe, Erin Jordan, Jaideep Kapur, Fred Klaits, Stacey Langwick, Adria LaViolette, Julie Livingston, Abby Mack, David Kaawa Mafigiri, Samuel Maling, Cheryl Mattingly, Susan McKinnon, Louise Meintjes, George Mentore, Larry Merkel, Marissa Mika, Amira Mittermaier, Erin Moore, Robert Orsi, Kwame Edwin Otu, Ray Qu, Joel Robbins, Charles Rwabukwali, Peter Redfield, Godfrey Zari Rukundo, Harris Solomon, Scott Stonington, Sylvia Tidey, Rachel Wahl, Kath Weston, Jarrett Zigon, and Tyler Zoanni. We also thank our editor Kate Marshall, our editorial associate Chad Attenborough, our copyeditor Catherine Osborne, and our three reviewers for the insights and encouragement they shared as they helped to bring this book to completion.

We thank the National Science Foundation (Award no. BCS-1758472), the University of Virginia, and the Mellon Foundation for providing us with the financial support necessary to carry out the research that informs this book. We also thank the University of Virginias Institutional Review Board, Makerere University’s Social and Behavioral Sciences Research Ethics Committee, and the Uganda National Council for Science and Technology for their guidance and approval of our protocols.

China thanks her sister Summer and her father Charlie for their encouragement. She thanks her two children, Iggy and Lucy, for their joyful embrace of their time in Uganda and their willingness to endure her time away from them. Most of all she wants to thank her husband, Paul Scherz, for the boundless practical, personal, and intellectual contributions he has made to this project.

George wishes to thank his wife Agnes for her support during our lengthy periods of work, sometimes away from home. He also thanks his children, especially Georgia who despite her young age showed interest in the writing; his brother Eric for encouragement and advice; and his mother Cecilia for her support to him and the team. Lastly, he thanks his father, the late Eric Lutwama, for teaching his children the value of learning Luganda deeply, which helped him to do his part in this project.

Sarah wishes to thank Christine, Deborah, her sister Damalie, her mother Damalie, and her brothers Ivan and Allan for the support rendered during this time.