Category Archives: Self-Blogging

Murchison Weekend

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Typed on the afternoon of the 26th of June at the house.  Sorry this post is out of chronological order and still lacks pictures – should be rectified in a few days.

I got back from a two-day, one-night trip to Murchison Falls National Park last night.  This post will be half-positive and half-negative, so bear with me.

Saturday morning I went into town and met Moses, the guy from whom I was going to hire a Rav4 for the weekend. He had just had some fine-tuning work done to it and it was ready to go, but getting paperwork filled out took a bit longer than I had anticipated, so I was behind schedule and didn’t get out of town until around 10.  That said, I enjoyed the drive a lot.  I hadn’t been in the driver’s seat of a car in two months, and a right-hand drive car in ever.  The road from Lira to Kamdini is pretty ugly, and I had to ensure a few heavily speed bumped roads, and there were chunks where there just wasn’t any pavement at all.  It was still nice to drive, though, and I brought along a burned CD to keep me busy.  Just passed Kamdini, I took the turnoff before Karuma and found myself on a really nice, wide and paved road soaring westward.  I finally made it to a village called Purongo and turned down a dirt path through some villages on my way into the park.  Finally made it to the gate around 1.30, a bit behind schedule but in high spirits.

Spirits were a bit dampened by the cost of entry.  Not sure how, but I mixed up the numbers in my head and was thoroughly surprised at the gate.  But I was soon driving through the park and spotting tons of gazelles and some giraffes and warthogs too.  I got some basic directions from the guard and I slowly made my way towards Paraa (where most of the accommodations are).  After a lot of sightseeing and no Paraa, though, I started to convince myself that I had missed the junction and was on my way back out to the gate at Pakwach.  This was exacerbated when I asked for directions from a lost couple who were coming from said gate.  Turned around and headed back whence I came, with the other car following.  After a while, we were informed we were headed in the wrong direction (which means I had originally been heading in the right direction) so we turned around again!

This is where things got bad. As I was driving here, things went awry.  My front right tire stopped steering completely.  I swerved hard to the right, and then skidded to the left across the road and ended up against a bank of dirt.  Somehow, I kept my cool and tried to steer it forwards, but realized something was definitely wrong.  I called every number in the park that I had while I climbed under the car and realized that the drive shaft was clear off the wheel.  I finally reached a mechanic who said he’d call me back while I managed to affix the shaft back onto the wheel, but there was a nut missing and I knew it wouldn’t last.  I continued forwards, and after a few meters it popped right off again.  For the next two hours I would be under the car at least a dozen times, and this is including a good 45-minute ceasefire during which the car worked and I played spot-the-junction-or-you’ll-end-up-in-Pakwach.  I informed Moses of the problem and told him I’d keep him updated, and in the meantime I never heard from the mechanic ever.  Eventually, I found the junction and realized that, had I not stopped to ask for directions, I would have found it in another ten minutes or so.  Slowly rolled into Paraa and sat at the Nile for a bit while waiting for the ferry.

A good chunk of the day had been wasted with a broken car, but I was glad I wasn’t 100% stranded. But I was angry about the circumstances and slowly realizing I had no idea if I would get back to Lira.  But, I made it over the river and to Red Chili Rest Camp, the only inexpensive and probably the coolest hangout/accommodation place in the park.  I knew it was booked, but was hoping I could fenagle a tent or something.  I ended up secretly sleeping in the car in the parking lot for free, which is comparable to a $5 camping fee and a whole lot better than all of the $140 rooms at the other lodges.  Before going to bed I hung around the campfire and met some pretty cool people.  There was a guitar and a group of Brits sang a lot of great songs and it was really fun.  A few of them even improvised blues songs!  Oh, and on our way back to our respective camp sites we saw three hippos in the camp site. It was totally freaky being that close to those things since, you know, they could kill me.  It was a nice way to end the evening.

The next morning I went out on an early drive to the Falls. It took about an hour and 7 quick-fixes to make it there, but it was a really cool sight, so I’m glad I made it out there. I’m also glad that on the way back to Red Chili a bus stopped to help me with my car troubles and I got some international support. A bunch of Ugandans and expats tried to help and eventually we got some rope and tied the drive shaft in place. From then on I was able to drive, albeit with some hesitancy. From there I grabbed a small lunch and made my way north to the Pakwach gate while keeping an eye out for animals. Got to see some more giraffes and antelope, and one faraway elephant! Then I made my way home with my roped up car and called it a trip.

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ACF and My Last Week

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As the end to my hopskotch volunteering, Erik found me some work with his team at ACF International.  Erik works in food security and last Friday I helped for a few hours since they needed to sort through an excel sheet of some 1,500 names to find conflicting reports.  This week, though, I got to do my ILF expertise: data entry!  The food security program gives unconditional funds to a number of beneficiaries in villages to ensure that they can provide for themselves.  On Monday I had an overview with Cresencia, a woman from Erik’s team, and four surveyors.  We went over the questionnaire and I made some changes to the main document while the surveyors translated everything into Luo.

Tuesday was my free day.  I spent a lot of time at home working on homework and gave dumplings a second try (turned out okay!) and then went out with a bunch of friends to PanAfric for Erik’s birthday dinner.  Food was delayed (like, two hours delayed) but it was great hanging out with everyone and I got see Martin and Annett’s place (they have little houses for all of their animals in the compound – too cute).  Got home and crashed soon after.

For the rest of the week I’ve been spending mornings (and a little bit of the afternoons) upstairs at the ACF office entering data from the questionnaires.  It’s interesting because I’ve never been an advocate of handing out money to people.  I’m still not fully convinced that it’s a sustainable program or that it helps any more than other methods that might promote more ownership.  That said, it’s been interesting to see how the money is spent.  Almost without fail, the beneficiaries are spending money on life essentials: food, health and education mostly, sometimes shelter.  On Wednesday I also took the position of native-English-speaker and edited some case studies written by German- and Luo-speakers to make sure they sounded good to donors.

Friday afternoon I spent relaxing and packing.  I threw all of my clothes and books and stuff together, and I hung out in the compound a bit.  I also ran around town a little getting soda for Alison’s farewell party.  The party was a lot of fun, I tried to dance a bit but that – as expected – was piecemeal at best.  But I got to hang out with a lot of people one last time and it was a lot of fun.  However, as the party wound down we realized there was a party crasher in our midsts.  Soon thereafter, Alison lost her phone and when I called it it was turned off.  So, we patted down the stranger and kept him inside – until a bad coincidence in which I was the last one outside and I turned away and then heard the gate shutting.  I ran outside and heard footsteps across the field, but couldn’t figure out how to give chase.  In the end, it was a really frustrating end to the evening, and I feel really bad for Alison.  Hopefully she can find the numbers to her Kampala friends and use my phone while we’re there together.

I’m spending the night at the ILF house tonight, and then I’ll finish packing in the morning.  Kampala, here I come!

Two Weeks

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This post is about last week and next week, hence the title, but it also just so happens that in exactly two weeks (and three hours) I will be saying so long (and apwoyo) to Uganda.

In the passed week, I have bounced around sufficiently, and in a number of ways.  I spent two days working at International Lifeline Fund, three days working at Erikatten Buds Nursery School, and two days not working at all.  One day I actually, are you ready? consumed a bit of alcohol.  Altogether I spent three nights sleeping over at Ama and Alison’s place.  I also had the house to myself for a few days with both Nadja and Monica out to pick up significant others.  In more recent days I have met said significant others and played badminton.  It was a very up-and-down week of being really homesick and down and really social and distracted.  I was also really glad to be finding some work where I didn’t simply sit for four hours.

More recently, Lira is pretty much drained of water.  On Monday night I noticed the kitchen sink had no pressure, but thought maybe it was just something weird.  Tuesday morning we realized the kitchen and washroom had no water but the rest of the house did, so we figured the pipe burst or something.  Little did we know, the whole town was messed up.  At the nursery school we were getting water directly from the tap of the tank.  Junior Quarters (where the nursery, ACF, Erik’s house, and Ama & Alison’s house are) was completely out.  It was supposed to get fixed last night, but we’re all still waiting and conserving.

Next week will be my last week in Lira.  It’s very, very bittersweet.  I wish there was a way to go home without leaving Lira, but I’m pretty sure it would take a few natural disasters to make that happen.  This weekend I’m thinking about making a solo trip to Murchison Falls, but it could very well turn into a solo trip to wherever I get lost to, so I’m trying to get everything in order.  Next week I’ll hopefully be working with ACF International for a few days and checking in with NACWOLA one more time.  I’ll probably roll into Kampala on Saturday and spend a few days with friends before making my way to Entebbe.  I’ll check back in with more formulated plans and maybe some more pictures!

Educate

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Typed the morning of Wednesday the 22nd of July.

This Friday, to round out my week of bouncing around town for work, I went to a small nursery school run out of a Swedish woman named Erika’s home. I spent the day helping five children between ages 3 and 5 with geography, mathematics, and English and monitored playtime as well. It was really interesting because it was such a small atmosphere and the students were really getting attention to help them learn. I helped children find different cities on a map of Uganda, made sure they counted, added, and subtracted straws correctly, and made sure they copied down the right letters. Now, I haven’t been to a regular school in Uganda yet, which is a real shame because i know it would be a very interesting sight.

Just from footing passed a small school on my way to the matatu from George’s place and passed St. Anne’s on my way to NACWOLA I’ve heard the drone of hundreds of children reciting numbers and reading words off the board.  Some of my friends refer to it as “chanting class.” Rote learning can really only take you so far.  Since they are paid by salary and there is little accountability, there are a lot of cases of teachers not even attending class.  There are still many schools that are basically a teacher sitting under a tree talking to students with no materials or curricula.  Being in a small school with adequate attention being given to students was really nice.

I went back to the school yesterday to help out some more.  The power and water were both out (water is apparently out in all or most of Lira town, so we’re all rationing and Erik borrowed a bunch from us last night) but we were able to still do some math and some English.  I’ll probably go back at least one more day before my time here is up.  Here are a few pictures from my two days at school:

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Work! And a little worry.

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In the days since the World Cup, there’s been a lot of confusion and hearsay. I heard confirmations that a bomb was deactivated in an area in southeast Kampala. Also heard unconfirmed reports of a bomb being deactivated at a petrol station. I know a lot of expats in Kampala are (understandably) worried and are trying to get out of there. Lira has been quiet, but most of us have an ear to the south and an eye on the news. My basic plan of action is to avoid Kampala until it’s time to leave, and then figure out exactly how safe Kampala and Entebbe will be.

In the meantime, things are maintaining regularity here.  Still no work.  Hope was actually really angry about not having funding yet, and when she found out just how soon I’d be leaving she was even more unhappy.  I ended up asking around and nudged myself into possibilities.  Yesterday I seconded myself to International Lifelife Fund and helped Alison with data entry.  It was nice to have a longer workday with actual work and also be able to hang out with her and Ama.

ILF has a sort of two-pronged program, and I was helping the environmental department which sells fuel efficient stoves to people (the other is sanitation with wells).  The stoves, called okelo kuc, are portable and use less charcoal and take less time to cook.  The environmental department oversees stove distribution and do surveys.  When I was in Gulu I ran into ILF doing pricing surveys, asking people in Gulu town how much they would pay for them.  Yesterday, I did some data entry including information for potential vendors of stoves and a small stack of the aforementioned pricing surveys.  If you want to learn more about the stoves, there’s a bit on their website.

Yesterday there was also some torrential downpour – it reminded me a lot of the occasional insta-storm back home.  I ended up moving with Alison and Ama and watched a movie before Alison and I double-teamed a pasta and bruschetta (she led, I followed) before watching another movie and then I proceeded to crash there.

Today I’m probably doing some more data entry, and tomorrow I’ll be shifting to another volunteer opportunity where I’ll help a woman who is running a really small nursery school.  The last half of this week is proving more beneficial than the first half of my 2 month stay in Lira.  Plus, I’m always on call from Lisa for when the UNOHCHR goes into the field.  Supposedly, funding will come through next week for NACWOLA, but I don’t know if I believe that or if programs will start right away.  I think I’ll be bouncing back and forth for a bit – but I’m glad to be productive!

Winding Down

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So, I have a lot to post about, I know.  My week-long hiatus has been a busy one and only periodically had decent internet, but I’ve accumulated a fair number of posts that need some pictures.  On my last day in Kigali I saw some pretty eye-opening things, Lake Bunyonyi was really pretty, and I got to celebrate the 4th with a lawnful of Americans.

All in all, it’s been good.  I got to meet a lot of people and see a lot of things.  I’ve spent over 500,000 Shillings – but I blame Rwanda and modes of transportation for that bit.  I’ve also spent about 32 hours on buses and 2 hours in an NGO vehicle (going to add a good 5 or so to that figure today).  I’ve spent four nights sleeping in hotels, two nights sleeping on buses, and one night sleeping in George’s bed.  I’ve been on too many bodas to remember, and a handful of matatus to boot.  But!  The Lira>Gulu>Kampala>Kigali>Nyamata>Kigali>Lake Bunyonyi>Kabale>Kampala>Lira sequence has almost run its course.

Hopefully I’ll toss up a few blog posts soon enough and you can look at pictures.  Happy Fourth of July to all you American readers out there! And happy 4-5/7/10 to everyone else.

Ogur

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Typed the 25th of June at Sankofa.

Today I went out to Ogur Sub-County.  Ogur is a small village north of Lira a ways. The road is narrow and bumpy to say the least, and it takes about 40 minutes on a motorcycle. And by the way, travel in Uganda means you get dirty.  Just check this handkerchief out- the left side is after the ride there and the right is after the ride back. Nasty.

The reason we were in Ogur was because NACWOLA facilitates community dialogs on different topics.  This discussion was about the local council court and whether or not it allowed women to access justice.  The room was pretty full and predominantly men (much to Jeoffrey’s dismay).  First, we introduced the topic and split the room into groups – those were thought the court was doing its job and those that thought it withheld women’s rights (it’s worth noting that all of the women present were in the latter).  One group left to deliberate in another room while one remained.  After some chatting and going over points, they reconvened and engaged in a loose version of a debate.  Basically, one person from Group A spoke and Group B could respond, and then Group B spoke and Group A could respond.  About an hour into it, a guy from Radio Unity began recording using a tape recorder and got a good sum of the debate recorded – it will be played on the radio as part of an informational talk show sort of thing which is pretty cool.

Unfortunately for me, the entire four hours of debate was in Luo, but Stephen explained the gist afterwards, although this is just a smattering of details:

  • If a man dies, any land he owns goes to his parents, regardless of the wife. Widows were complaining that not only is this wrong, but that the local court will not hear claims to get the land back.
  • Some men argued that women were gaining ground in the public sphere and cited the example of a woman who recently made a power grab and ousted a MP.
  • Some argued that women were enjoying a freer justice system, but several on the other side countered that free in rights didn’t matter if it wasn’t affordable financially.
  • In the home, many women argued, they were overworked and still denied representation. If something went wrong in the home, it was seen as the woman’s fault since it was in her domain even if it was a result of the man’s decision-making.
  • The legality of polygamy in the face of a prohibition on polyandry gained mention.
  • In the education system, boys are often given priority at full schools based on the notion that the girls will grow up to work in the house anyways.
  • The marriage of a couple’s daughter is arranged completely by the father – from deciding on a dowry to deciding on the right man.  The mother has no say in this and some were complaining that courts would not hear motions to have a stake in these decisions.

A Dog’s Introduction

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Typed on the 24th of June with pictures from Kim!

So, now that you know about all of the animals at the house here in Lira, you should know another animal.  After having a heck of a time looking for a great dane before I left, Kim and I decided to expand the search and keep it going.  We looked at a few before I left, and a little while ago we welcomed an adorable dog to our home.

Meet our dog!  She’s tentatively named Cindy, and she’s a real cutie.  She is really gentle and well-trained, and she always carries around this turtle squeak toy like it’s her baby (until she tore it up, but that’s not relevant to how cute she is).  I am so, so excited to meet her when I get back, but until then you can see these pictures that Kim has sent me.

Eying her turtle

Apparently she likes to sleep in this corner

This is her on her bed

And this is her close-up

Bleats and Clucks

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Typed on June 23rd at home.  Pictures uploaded on June 29th at Kope Cafe in Gulu, the Jaguar Bus Station in Kampala, and Bourbon Coffee Shop in Kigali.  These pictures have traveled!

So, I thought I’d share some animals with you.  Rambo, who I thought was named Rumble but I’m getting used to the accents, has since left the house when Erik moved to the ACF house for his work.  But the compound is still alive with animals and I thought I’d share them with you.  First, is Amacha – our lovely little goat.  She’s pretty adorable and gentle, but she’s on a leash because she likes to eat flowers more than she likes to eat grass.  Also she tried to eat my pants the other day.

Our other companions in the compound are chickens.  The rooster is named Martin and one hen is named Annett, after Martin and Annett since they provided the first two birds. Another hen is named Adelheid after Monica’s mom (Martin is her dad’s name so it’s a two-for-one name), this hen’s busy sitting on eggs and I don’t see her too much.  The brown one is named Bora Bora after the village it came from.  And last but not least is the Other One.  This one looks like Annett and before they named her people got confused so she just evolved into the Other One.

Bora Bora, Martin, Annett, and the Other One

UPDATE: While waiting for good enough internet to post pictures on here, Adelheid has emerged with four chicks!  They are oh so adorable and they chirp a lot.  Unfortunately, after just two days of wandering the compound, the little white one was kidnapped by a bird of prey.  Hopefully the others stay safe, and I’ll keep you updated on the growing up process.

Adelheid and her chicks!

Along with the Rain

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So, as I type, I can hear a particular noise. I’ve heard this noise before, but never so loud as 4 o’clock this morning. It’s a buzzing, flapping sound, and when I woke up at 4 and turned on the light, I found out that it’s also the sound of white ants.

White ants are these little black bugs with long white wings. They tend to crawl around, but in the light they sometimes fly and sometimes lose their wings.  They’re a delicacy in Uganda, and after a big rain people tend to round them up for snacks.

In my drowsy, half-awake state last night, I didn’t notice them at first. And when I did I was bewildered. There were dozens of white ants in my room, crawling all over the floor and zig-zagging the air. The first thing I did was walk the house to assess the situation: all over the hallway outside my room, a couple dozen in the living room.  I went outside and called Fred, our night guard. He explained that they were white ants (all I knew at this point was that they were big bugs) and we spent the next hour or so sweeping hundreds of ants and collecting them in a bucket.

After everything was said and done I went back to sleep, but when I got up there were tons of wings on the patio outside, so I spent the morning sweeping them. This afternoon I went to the ILF House and hung out with Alison for a bit, and they had quite a few wings scattered outside too. It was a busy night for white ants! And right now, as I’m typing, there are about a dozen in my room and another dozen in the hallway. I should go gather them up, wings and all.