A Lazy Sunday in Kampala

Isn't it nice to just have a lazy day once in a while and a Sunday over the Christmas / New Year holiday is the perfect time to have a lazy Sunday.

We had breakfast on the balcony listening to the singing from a church drifting across the valley. Yesterday we took out Ugandan Shillings from the Christmas money given to us by the boys in the UK and went to the furniture market. This is amazing and consists of lots of small businesses making and selling mainly wood, cane and raffia furniture alongside the main road into Kampala. With a bit of bargaining we bought two raffia chairs with removable cushions and a small wood and woven raffia coffee table for the balcony. These were freshly varnished so today was the first time we could make use of them. It was so peaceful and lovely to sit on the shady balcony and chat over breakfast.

When we finally dragged ourselves back inside we got on with some washing, e mails and letters to complete the job of closing things down in the UK for 2 years. We had a UK classic for lunch, sausages, mash and gravy with some fresh pineapple and banana to follow. Then an afternoon of reading. At about 5 we thought about going out for a walk, but it was too much effort so we just went downstairs and had a drink and chat with our neighbours for an hour or more.

Our Christmas was also shared with fellow volunteers and friends. There were 5 of us in the flat for Christmas dinner with home-made crackers and everyone providing some of the meal.

We couldn't organise a Christmas Tree this year and anyway all of our carefully accumulated decorations are at home in York, but Glen did a great job with a set of Christmas lights. The little decorations are locally made and sold in craft shops. These will go home and add an African feel to our decorations in years to come.

A Christmas Eve visit to the Equator

Christmas Eve is usually a very busy day of cooking and preparations. There are mince pies and sausage rolls to make, the turkey stuffing to do, the gammon to prepare and all the vegetables to get ready for Christmas day. With a 2 ring gas hob and no oven none of that is happening this year so we've been able to use the time to have a day out.

We are just 90km from the equator here so having never been to the southern hemisphere we decided that today was the day to visit. Kampala was still very busy with the usual traffic so it took us over an hour to get clear of the city. After that it was a pleasant drive along the road south towards Masaka. The road is mainly good tarmac but there are also the ubiquitous Ugandan roadworks where you are driving on hardcore or dodging potholes in a red dust cloud.

Just to prove we have been there, Glen at the equator.

Of course the first thing to do when you arrive is to find a cafe! There is a good one run by the Charity AidChild where we had a cold soda and a burger. In Uganda all bottled fizzy drinks are known as sodas. You then ask for the brand name you want, Cola, Fanta, Cresta etc. You can see our Rav 4 in the background.

A typical Ugandan street market we passed on the way.

We got back around 6 feeling very tired. It's not very far by UK standards but with the Kampala traffic at both ends of the day and the bumpy dusty sections of the road it feels much further.

Christmas Preparations

Uganda is getting ready for Christmas. This is the main annual holiday here with the schools closed for nearly 2 months and the new school year starting at the end of January. It's also an opportunity for people to take a well earned break with most offices shut for 2 weeks or more and some of our partner organisations are shut for a whole month from 13th Dec to 13th January. Most people go back to their villages and meet up with their extended families. This means that the roads are very busy as so many people are travelling.

I'm also lucky enough to have two weeks off for the Christmas holiday. I finished work on Friday (20th) and the office doesn't reopen until 6th January. We all went out for dinner on Friday night to a lovely restaurant on the edge of Lake Victoria, or to be more exact Murchison Bay as Kampala is north of the main lake. As well as dinner we also had a version of Secret Santa and all received a gift. I'm delighted with a set of Ugandan woven place mats that will look great on the table. Up to now we've been using some pieces of cardboard as the place mats from home didn't make it into the suitcases. We'll use them for Christmas day dinner - watch this space for a picture!

The VSO end of year party was also on Friday night. This was at a restaurant / club / music venue called Jazzville. I went after the dinner to meet up with everyone and join in the dancing! In fact overall it's been a busy week socially. On Tuesday several of the VSO volunteers went to an Indian restaurant for a meal and to say goodbye to people heading back to the UK. On Thursday we went to a Thanksgiving Service at a local church at the invitation of a Ugandan work colleague. It was certainly different from anything in the UK, preceded by a meal and with lots of singing and dancing.

Over the weekend we've been relaxing and getting shopping done for Christmas. Much the same as home really but in warm sunshine instead of cold and dark days.

Working in Gulu

This week I travelled to Gulu in the North of Uganda with two Ugandan colleagues to meet and introduce myself to the staff at 4 of the partner organisations. Everyone was very friendly and welcoming. We looked at the monitoring forms which are due back straight after the new year break, the minimum governance and financial requirements for funding being introduced for all partners and the financial systems in place at each of the partners. It was good to have the opportunity to discuss the challenges the partners are facing and think about ways I can help set up systems to make things easier. This week I need to create a template for re-profiling their second year budgets and plan a timetable of visits for the new year to spend a longer period of time with each partner. I think I'm going to be getting to know Gulu much better!

We travelled up on Monday, allowed a day to meet each partner, and travelled back on Saturday. Thank you to my colleagues for being such good company and for teaching me more about the Ugandan way of life. I've been introduced to a range of Ugandan foods this week. A traditional Ugandan lunch includes several types of carbohydrates, matoke, posho, sweet potato, potato, rice and chapatis with either fish, chicken, beef or goat. An alternative to the meat or as a side dish is beans, assorted types of beans in a tomato based sauce often including other vegetables. Matoke is a staple made from green bananas and posho is made from cornflour.

VSO have a significant presence in Gulu with an office there and several international volunteers based in the town. I got in touch with a Gulu based volunteer I had met in Kampala and we met up with several of the other volunteers at a restaurant for dinner on Wednesday night. A bit challenging as it had rained heavily during the day so the road to the restaurant was flooded meaning we had to go around a different way. It was great to meet up with the volunteers in Gulu and I'm sure I'll see them many times on my travels to Gulu.

Deserted Gulu streets in the rain

While I've been away 'up country' my sister in law has visited Glen's mother and step father back in the UK. They have been looking after the teddy bear that Glen gave me for my 22nd birthday, who is simply called 'Bear'. Bear has obviously been having some adventures with his 'aunt'!

Getting Around

Well we've done it - we've finally given in and got ourselves a car! It's a little Toyota RAV 4 - RAV stands for Recreational All-terrain Vehicle, which seems to describe it rather well. It certainly seems to bump over the many speed humps and potholes rather well. Glen is busy sorting out light bulbs that don't light, washers that don't wash, air conditioning that only blows out hot air and strange noises.

Other volunteers who've got a car say it's really changed their experience as suddenly they can go and explore. We're certainly looking forward to getting out of Kampala and discovering more of this beautiful country.

Yesterday we went over to one of the shopping areas on the other side of town and went to a big home store and supermarket. It was great to be able to buy what we needed at a reasonable price without having to worry about how we were going to carry our purchases home.

For the past 2 months I've been getting around without a car or bike. This basically leaves 4 means of transport:

1) Walking. The advantages are that it is free and improves fitness. The disadvantages are the heat, especially in the middle of the day and the number of hills. This means that you inevitably arrive at your destination hot and bothered even where the distance is perfectly manageable in the UK.

2) Matatu. These are the 14 seater minibus taxis that go on set routes all over the city. The advantages are that they are cheap (about 30p to get into the centre of town) and reasonably comfortable and fast. You need local knowledge to use them as there are no route maps, timetables or numbers. Sometimes you get a seat on one straight away, other times you can wait half an hour or more for one to arrive with a spare seat, especially if you are travelling in a group.

3) Boda Boda. The motorbike taxis that are everywhere in the city. They are more expensive than a Matatu, at least 2 to 3 times the price or more depending on your bargaining skills. They are quick as they can weave between the cars and Matatus but can feel very insecure depending on the rider. They are also notorious for accidents. Also if you are using Bodas you have to carry your motorcycle helmet with you for the whole day, into restaurants, supermarkets, meetings etc. However, there is nothing quite like zipping through the town in the warm sunshine on the back of a Boda!

4) Special Hire. Basically what we would call a 'Taxi' with a price to match. Not unreasonable considering the cost of cars, parts and fuel here but outside the means of most volunteers. Anything from £7.50 to £10 depending on the distance travelled and your bargaining skills. Useful if you need to bring home big items (I got my fridge into a special hire!) or for several of you returning home late.

Finally I've copied Glen's description of a journey into the centre of Kampala in a taxi (Matatu)  as it is a brilliant, graphic description.

'You choose to take a taxi so walk along Tank Hill Road, there are stops but who knows where they are. Behind there you there is the Phut Phut of a knackered diesel engine and a persistent toot toot, A rusty white Toyota van with windows and a blue and white checked stripe comes up behind you zigzagging wildly from side to side on the road at about 15 mile per hour with the conductor hanging with an imploring arm out of the side window trying to catch the eye of every pedestrian, shop keeper or stray dog, (they don’t like travelling if they are not full). A slight raise of an arm and the thing veers in your direction right across the path of other traffic and the question is “Nakasero?” (The central Kampala square taken over as a bus park).  A slight nod, with the thought I should ask how much this is, and you are offered an open door to wall of bodies, thank heaven for going caving with Alan Crossley, you twist and gyrate your way through and over the people, bags, chickens and other food stuffs to find a perch on the once lushly upholstered red and gold patterned upholstery.  With a cough and a splutter and a disappointing, thurrrr, tut tut the vehicle staggers into movement as the bus conductor hops along beside trying to become paper thin so as to hold his place next to the window between wall to wall seats and the door so as to wave his arm imploringly at any other potential customer. The vehicle bumps, grinds and clangs its way in a cloud of black smoke, regardless of whichever side of the road it should be on, trying to steer a path between the pot holes and least raised pieces of speed bump. All while it is surrounded by a swarm of Bodas like flies, none seems to be able to actually overtake, undertake or keep apart yet none give up the struggle. Soon you catch up with another taxi as it pulls out from the side of the road and friendly rivalry develops because each wants to be in front to catch the next passenger.  This performance staggers to the end of Tank Hill road and launches from a junction where it has neither priority or care onto Kabalagala a street of shops and thatched stick built night clubs, (think Tortuga form Pirates of the Caribbean) before wedging itself sideways into the traffic jam which is Ggaba road.  From here on down it is push and shove with no intention to leave handlebar room for the Boda Bodas in between all the way to the Roundabout (and I use the term lightly) to cross the Entebbe Road. Here revving of engines and small jumps forward to assert the right to the next foot of road ahead with much gesticulating and paper thin gap judgement between drivers on all sides is the order of the day, until finally you emerge on the Nakasero side and race, halt, race, halt to the turning to the old taxi park. This is a turn right up what looks like a driveway, which you are trying to make from the left hand lane in order to steal a march on all those who got to the right and got stuck in the queue. Somewhere here without regard for anyone else the conductor opens the door and you pile out paying your 1,200 shillings (about 30p) and the taxi disappears into what appears to be a shop front but is actually the entrance to the Old Taxi Park. The theme parks of the UK have missed this ride.'