Travels Around Uganda

Having spent the last 4 weeks on the road visiting all of the partners to complete the Minimum Requirements assessments along with other visits, I've had the opportunity to see a lot more of the country and meet lots of people. I've been all over the North and also visited the South West. 

Here are some of the different things I've seen on the roadside

Mobile phone shops are everywhere, often several on the same street. Nearly everyone has a mobile phone and you can get a signal in most places.

Tea plantations are common sights in the South West and in the Jinja area.

Matoke is a very popular national dish, especially in the southern half of the country and around Kampala. This is made from green bananas, also called Matoke, cooked in banana leaves. You see lorries or even bodas loaded with Matoke and also lots of bunches for sale in the roadside markets.

This is a typical African village. The picture was taken in the West Nile region in the North West but you see these villages all over. 

Roadside markets are another very common sight in almost all villages and towns and often on a small scale in the middle of the countryside. On our way back to Kampala on a Friday we usually stock up with fruit and vegetables from the local markets as they are fresher and cheaper than in Kampala. 

It's always exciting to see animals from the road, not uncommon around the National Parks.

The Big Five

This week I've finally got to see most of the big five animals Africa is famous for along with quite a few others. Is it the big five or the big eight? The original big five are Lion, Elephant, Leopard, Buffalo and Rhinoceros. However, what about the giraffe, hippo and zebra?

It all started with a trip a Kasese in the South West of Uganda as part of a information gathering group of 17 representatives from national and local government, civil society and traditional leaders. We went to find out about the work they have been doing in the Kasese district around customary tenure of land and to see what lessons could be learnt for Northern Uganda. After a hectic but interesting and thought provoking two days of visits and meetings we headed back to Kampala on Thursday.

The group decided to go the longer way around in order to drive through the Queen Elizabeth National Park. On entering the park we saw a herd of African Kob grazing and then a couple of warthogs in the distance. Finally, when we were nearly out of the park, we spotted a lone elephant in the undergrowth. I wouldn't have believed something so big could hide so effectively. You could only see it when it moved and on the pictures I took it doesn't look as if there is anything there!

So after telling the tale to the other volunteers at our Friday evening get together, a group of 4 of us decided to go for the easy option of a visit to the Wild Life park and zoo in Entebbe on Saturday. One of the joys of living out here is the wonderful 'family' of other volunteers. We meet up most Friday evenings at one of the Kampala restaurants for drinks, dinner and to share our experiences during the week. And if you're planning a trip out there is usually someone to share it with whether it is a visit, shopping or a weekend away.

So Saturday morning saw four muzungus driving down to Entebbe. On arriving first stop was the beach cafe for a proper coffee, well we are muzungus! Then via the supermarket for a pasty for lunch we headed to the Wild Life park. It was great so see all of the local animals close up, but generally in their natural habitat.

So 5 of the 8 so far. I'm looking forward to visiting some of the National Parks, hopefully seeing the animals in the wild and catching up the remaining 3 - Leopard, Buffalo and Hippo.

An Accountant in Uganda

So far my blog has concentrated on my impressions of living in Uganda and the places I've visited. But as in the title of the blog I'm an accountant in Uganda! I came out here to do an accountancy placement. After about 3 months at work I'm beginning to feel that I'm starting to understand the role.

For the last 2 weeks I've been travelling around Uganda seeing all of the partner organisations to document and review their financial systems and consider what I can do to help with capacity building. My placement organisation has introduced some global minimum standards for the partner organisations. These are fairly basic and include having a cashbook, third party documentation for payments, monthly bank reconcilations and cash counts. I've been collecting evidence from the partners for the minimum standards. Where these are not already being met I'll be working with the partners to put them in place as a priority.

I've also been working with the programme team to review the activities that are being done against the workplans and the expenditure to date. We've had some really useful meetings with the partner organisation teams to consider the balances left on 1st January 2014 and discuss where the budget needs to be re-profiled to meet the outcomes agreed. Also making sure that programme funding is not being moved to administration and that changes are within the parameters set by the funder.

It's good to get out of Kampala and see the country and meet lots of people. The work being done by the partner organisations is so worthwhile. Outcomes are around increasing the number of families that have 3 or more different crops to eat and reducing the number of households with an income of less than 140,000 Ugandan Shillings per year. That is just £35 and is well below the Millennium Goal level of $1 per day.

There are also programmes where the outcomes focus on reducing and solving land disputes. I'm still trying to understand the land issues with several systems for assessing land ownership. There are also several methods for resolving any disputed land with courts as the last resort.

It feels like I'm on a steep learning curve but know it will be worthwhile as I will be better equipped to help the partner organisations when I understand the issues and challenges they face on a daily basis.

Reflections 1

Today it is exactly 4 months since I arrived in Uganda. So I've been thinking about the things that are different between living here and living in the UK.

First is the weather. In the UK a fine warm sunny day is the exception, here it is normal. I almost never wear a jumper, just occasionally in the evening or first thing in the morning. When it rains it is very heavy and over within a short time, often less than an hour, and the sun is out again. The warm conditions allow for an outdoor lifestyle. Restaurants always have an outdoor seating area and we have had many lovely evenings sat outside eating, drinking and chatting with work colleagues or the other volunteers.

Second are the people. Ugandans are so friendly and welcoming. Whether I'm visiting a partner organisation or a restaurant or even coming home to the compound it's always 'You're welcome', 'You're very welcome' or 'Welcome back'. The morning routine involves greeting everyone on the way to and at the office and asking after their health, their family and their weekend. And there are always lots of people around, even when you are apparently in the middle of the countryside, there is someone walking along the side of the road.

Lira 

York

Third is the noise. Ugandans have discovered amplifiers and microphones in a big way and think nothing of having a party with loud music well into the night. I usually manage to sleep through it now, but in Lira last week when it was a very out of tune karaoke session at 1 am I found it more challenging! Kampala streets are full of the noise of motorbike engines, car, truck and bus horns. The Ugandan driving technique seems to involve hooting your horn and expecting everyone to get out of your way. And even when the people are quiet the wildlife isn't. Crickets, birds (including one with a very loud call that sounds like laughter) and bull frogs as well as cockerels that don't have a clue about dawn.

Fourth are the roads. I'm now starting to spend the 3 weeks on the road with one in the office I was expecting. As more and more people are able to afford a car the roads are getting busier and the infrastructure just isn't there to cope. Kampala is notorious for it's traffic jams, they were even featured on Top Gear! It's not unusual to spend an hour or more getting across the city. Outside Kampala the roads are generally quieter but in places they are in a dreadful state. Broken up tarmac with big potholes and sections of murram road breaking through. It's not surprising that generally people use a 4WD vehicle and a professional driver to get around.

I've called this blog Reflections 1 as there are so many thoughts I will return to the subject again!

Security Training in Entebbe

This week the whole of the Uganda team joined our colleagues from Rwanda and South Sudan for three days of security training at a hotel in Entebbe. We covered a lot of useful information in the three days looking at the equipment and planning needed for a trip up country, communications and risk assessment as well as more extreme situations such as car jacking, abduction and coming under fire. We also had a full day of first aid training.

The three days culminated in an afternoon doing exercises ranging from assessing and dealing with casualties following an 'explosion' in the office to driving around in 4 wheel drive vehicles dealing with road blocks and kidnap attempts to all diving for cover when one of the trainers threw a half full water bottle and shouted 'grenade'!

All together a great opportunity to get to know my colleagues better, training on a completely new subject and lots of fun and laughter.

Ssezibwa Falls

Yesterday we felt the need to escape from Kampala for a  few hours and headed out with another volunteer to the Ssezibwa Falls. This waterfall is 30 km from Kampala on the way to Jinja but with the traffic getting out of Kampala it took us over an hour to get there. Jinja is the second largest town in Uganda and is a major tourist attraction as it is at the source of the Nile. The Jinja road is the main route between Kampala and Nairobi, especially now there are no passenger trains running through Uganda, so it is understandable that it is the busiest road in Uganda.

It was hard to believe the beautiful Ssezibwa Falls were only 30 km from the hustle and bustle of Kampala and only a few minutes from such a busy main routeway. By the time we got there it was lunchtime so first stop was the cafe set in a classic Ugandan banda - an open sided area with a thatched roof. We were given an extensive menu and were just thinking about what we would like to eat when our companion had the presence of mind to ask if anything on the menu was not available. This is so common in Uganda that when I go out with my Ugandan work colleagues they don't even look at the menu just ask what there is. And sure enough it turned out that they only had pork chops and chips or pork stir fry and chips! We had pork chops and they were lovely, coated in a lovely spice mixture with crispy chips.

Suitably refreshed we headed up the hill and around to the top of the waterfall. After clambering over a typical Ugandan rickety bridge we went on a short circular walk and ended up back at the foot of the waterfall. After taking a few photos we headed back to Kampala and an iced coffee in a local cafe.

Finally we finished the day doing our weekly shop in Shoprite and headed home just as it was getting dark. As we went past the VSO office we bought a fresh pineapple from the man with a wooden wheelbarrow full of beautiful fresh seasonal fruit. He is usually there all day every day. Supper was fresh pineapple sat on the balcony watching the sunset.

New Year and a Short Holiday in Ibanda

We had an enjoyable start to 2014 with a few fellow volunteers joining us for drinks and supper on New Year's Eve and watching the New Year celebrations from our balcony. We could see several fireworks, although the main fireworks in central Kampala were behind Tank Hill. What really surprised us was the noise, with car horns beeping and people shouting to welcome the New Year. Then a quiet New Years day joining friends for a late lunch in Kisementi (a smart area of Kampala where several Embassies and large hotels are based).

With several days holiday left before Trocaire reopened we accepted an invitation to stay for a few days with one of our fellow volunteers at her home in Ibanda in the west of Uganda. Ibanda is beautiful, a little higher than Kampala so cooler and with hills all around. We went for a walk one afternoon through the banana groves and up the hill behind her house.

It was so lovely and peaceful after the hustle and bustle of Kampala. About 10 minutes drive from her house and you're into the little town of Ibanda. We loved the market, tucked away behind the main street with lots of stalls selling fruit and veg, meat and other necessities in open sided market halls with counters displaying all of the produce.

We liked the statue of a cow put up at the crossroads, next to the filling station!

As you drive from Ibanda to Mbarara, the nearest large town, the herds of horned cattle wandering onto the road can be a real hazard.

So this week it's been back to work and starting to put together a workplan for my placement, together with collecting and consolidating the information from the partner organisations on their expenditure in the last quarter.