Contrasts!

In the UK we are used to an easy lifestyle with a nice house, a reliable supply of electricity, gas and water and lots of labour saving devices. Here we miss the dishwasher, washing machine, freezer, microwave, coffee maker, television, our comfortable armchairs etc. We really miss the oven as we only have two calor gas rings here so that limits our cooking abilities. Most of these things are available in Kampala but at a price, which is usually higher than they would be in the UK. For a two year period on a volunteers allowance it is just not worthwhile.

But we are so lucky, we have been able to get a fridge, the furniture we need and most importantly a car! We have a volunteers allowance, which feels very small compared with a UK income, but is actually a good wage for Uganda, especially when you add on the rent for the apartment. We have savings available we can use for the extras, like the car and holidays and those expensive treats that are available in Kampala when you feel the need for them.

We sign when the electricity suddenly disappears, usually just when you need something to charge up, or when we get home to no water, but here in Kampala the supply is reliable when you compare it to more rural areas. One of the volunteers is based in an area where the electricity is only on for 7 hours out of every 24. His fridge is simply a sealed cupboard to keep out the cockroaches!

Compared with the lot of most Ugandan citizens we are very comfortable indeed. In the villages I visited I saw their way of life. Their huts look reasonably comfortable and cool in the heat of the day but there are none of the things we take for granted. Approximately 80% have access to a radio, either their own or a neighbours and generally listen to the local radio stations. Televisions are only available in bars in the nearest town, assuming there is power! Football is really popular, particularly the UK premier league and the champions league. In the winter the matches are screened between 11pm and 1am or even later but there is still a large following.

Most cooking is done using charcoal or wood burners. Our projects are teaching the construction of energy efficient stoves, made of mud at coffee table height with a fire in one side and two bowl shaped areas at the top to put the pans onto.

Water has to be fetched, if you're lucky from a borehole in the village, if you're not so lucky from the nearest river or stream, which can be several kilometres away. Whenever we are travelling we see so many people, generally children, walking along the road carrying large yellow jerrycans with water, either on bikes or on their heads. We've been quite shocked to find two villages who have been provided with boreholes but these have now broken and they are back to trekking miles to get water from a stream. This water is not clean so the incidence of illness rises in the village when this happens.

Work hours are 12 hours a day, 7 days a week, whenever there is daylight. Today is a bank holiday but there are still lots of builders working on the new flats behind us and the road construction in front. Live in guards and maids can be on duty for 24/7, 365 days a year. The same is true in the villages where the ground needs digging (by hand using a long handled tool a bit like a large hoe), crops need weeding, animals need to be attended to, bee hives need looking after, fruits need harvesting etc. etc. Then there are children, often 6, 8 or more in a family, the sick and the elderly to look after, washing and cooking to do. There's no opening a tin of soup or putting some cheese on toast under the grill!

But everyone is so cheerful and friendly. They support each other and often farm collectively so they share the chores. They don't understand the concept of being alone, if you're on your own they will come and sit in the house so that you are not lonely. The welcome they have given to refugees coming over the border from South Sudan puts Europe and the US to shame.

Suddenly life seems very rosy. Even if we do get 'Muzungu, muzungu, hello' shouted after us wherever we go. Usually followed by 'Give me money!'. At least in Uganda with a simple 'no' or 'not today' you will be left alone, not true in other African countries I hear. Today I will really enjoy our trip out in the car and the coffee and cake we've promised ourselves as a treat and give thanks that I was born a UK citizen.

Meeting under the Mango Tree

Every village has a meeting tree - usually a Mango tree.

I've spent a lot of this week sat under the meeting tree as I've been 'in the field' visiting the various partners, projects and beneficiaries of the sustainable livelihood funding. We've been right into the heart of rural northern Uganda working in Pader and Apac districts. It's been a fascinating week and I've learnt so much.

As the car pulls up you find the village group waiting for you. The women start calling, singing, dancing and waving small branches. They are all dressed in their best clothes and it's a beautiful colourful sight. You make a quick check with the local staff of the correct way to say 'hello, how are you?' in the various local languages. Then climb down from the car and join in the dancing, mixing in with the group, shaking hands and greeting everyone. It feels very awkward when they treat you like a celebrity bowing down or even going onto their knees to greet you. There are usually 30 to 40 people so this ritual takes some time.

Then we all move to the meeting tree where chairs and mats have been set out. As guests we are usually given the best seats, some really comfortable bamboo armchairs. Then the men settle onto benches or stools and the women sit with the babies and toddlers on rush mats. There are more greetings and the welcoming speeches and an opening prayer. Then everyone introduces themselves with the local staff from our partner organisation translating between English and the local language so everyone can understand.

The formal introductions are followed by a question and answer session where we ask about what they have been doing and how the interventions from the partner organisation have helped the group members, both individually and as a group. Then there is an opportunity for the group members to ask any questions, but sadly this was always a list of further inputs politely requested. This left us in the awkward position of having to explain that the purpose of the project is a 'hand up not a hand out' and they should save some of the extra income earned from increased harvests and sales to buy the extra things the groups needs to improve the harvests still more.

Then we all went on a tour of the village area looking at the crops planted with seeds provided, maize, tomatoes, cabbages, aubergines, cassava and beans. We've also seen simple irrigation systems ranging from a treadle pump to a diesel operated pump, which produced an impressive volume of water. Then oxen and ox ploughs, a village granary, tree seedlings near the water sheltered under the trees, coffee bushes and bee hives.

Then back to the meeting tree for thank you's and a closing prayer before more calling and singing as we drive away to the next group.

All of these groups are being helped within the village area to provide sustainable crops for food for their families with a surplus to take to market to give some income. Over the week we've also visited a storage facility being run by a local marketing association formed by up to 20+ groups of 30 members each who gather together their surplus, store it in cool dry conditions until the market price rises and then sell in bulk to buyers getting a better price than any one person or group could achieve on their own. A small percentage of their income is ploughed back into the storage facility to maintain and improve it.

We also had a day with one of the partner organisations working in the area of land rights. We had the privilege to attend a mediation session led by one of their staff between an uncle and niece both claiming the same piece of land. The meeting took place under the village meeting tree and involved the whole community including the clan leaders and various relatives who all had a piece of the history to contribute. Two hours later, with compromise on both sides, an agreement was reached to split the land in half. The whole meeting went onto the disputed land there and then and a half share was measured simply using a long stick turned over and over. Cuttings from an accepted variety of quick growing boundary tree appeared and were planted along the agreed boundary line before we all went back to the meeting tree for mutual thanks and appreciation of the parties and a closing prayer.

All in all a lovely week where I really got to see the difference the work being done is making to the lives of some of the poorest people. Most of the interventions focus on the most vulnerable groups in the area, female headed households, people living with HIV or AIDS and households most affected by the recent conflict.

We're All Going on a Bee Hunt!

Glen and I have spent the past week in the West Nile region of Uganda. This is a remote area in the North West cut off from the rest of the country by the Nile as there is only the one bridge in the south of the area at Pacwach. It is bordered on the north by South Sudan and on the west and south by the Democratic Republic of Congo.

We stayed at an Agriculture College where Glen is doing some pictures for their training manuals and I've been looking at their books and records as the college is one of our partner organisations.

The last time I visited the college was in February, which was towards the end of the dry season, they had no rain between 11th December and 5th March! Very little was growing, the grass was brown and crunched as you walked on it and it was very hot, 40 degrees centigrade in the shade. What a difference 2 months makes! Everything was green, the grass was as tall as me in places where it hadn't been cut, the crops were growing (along with the weeds) and it was much cooler. We even needed a blanket a night!

It was a large team which travelled to the college this time, including the Country Director and Programme Officer. So Tuesday afternoon saw a group of 7 heading out into the community to meet some of the beneficiaries of the programmes, particularly the bee keeping programmes. It was like being back in college days with two 'little ones' squeezed into the front of the pick up truck along with the driver, three on the back seat and one of the college staff bumping along in the open back. The 'main' road to the college is only a dirt track so as soon as we turned off into the villages we were driving along a footpath through the long grass.

Our first visit was to a women's bee keeping group who had been given bee hives by various funders and provided with training in bee keeping by the college. They only spoke their local language so we spoke to them through an interpreter. They told us about the freedom they felt to be able to look after the hives, harvest the honey and produce their own contribution to the household income. One of them said that the training had 'taken away the fear' that they didn't know what to do.

A typical bee hive

Then we headed off to meet a retired civil servant who was farming and keeping bees on his land to provide an income to supplement his pension. But getting there was quite an adventure! It reminded me of the children's action poem - we're going on a bear hunt!

First we bumped along in the truck through the pot holes -- bump bump
Then we jumped out -- jump jump
Then we went through the long grass - swish swish
Through the muddy puddles --  bloop bloop
Waded across the river -- splash splash
(after doing a quick personal risk assessment of course - fast flowing so unlikely to be bilharzia, shallow enough, just below knee height, keep sandals on to avoid picking up anything or cutting my feet on the river bed, help available to get in and out etc.)
Slithered up the steep bank -- slip slip
Through the wood -- crack crack
And finally arrived at the bee hives -- buzz buzz

Of course a couple of the bees took a liking to me and buzzed happily around my head while we chatted to the farmer. If you keep still and don't flick at them they are less likely to sting you but it is easier said than done when all you can hear is buzzing! I suppose it's a compliment, I must have looked and smelt like a flower, despite the mile long trek in the African sun :) Anyway, I was quite glad to walk away, although they followed me for some way before heading home, much to the amusement of the rest of the group. But I must have done something right as I didn't get stung.

Then back to the college for supper, but not at a run!
crack crack, slip slip, splash splash, bloop bloop, swish swish, clamber clamber (back into the truck) and bump bump bump!

On Wednesday evening we went for a walk around the college grounds. This has become a traditional feature of our visits to the college and it's really interesting to see all the different crops and the changes at different times of the year. In May the mango crop is ready and the trees are heavy with beautiful ripe, juicy mangos. The local mangos are much smaller, stringier and juicier than the large mangos we are used to. The college has some grafted mango plants with the larger mango plant grafted onto the local mango root stock. These are a bit of an experiment and also supply the college kitchens. But on our tour around the college we found a local mango tree surrounded with windfall mangos, which we piled into Glen's hat, kept in the college fridge overnight and brought back to Kampala. We've also got a lovely jar of the college honey.  

Kampala

Kampala is the capital of Uganda and in many ways it's like capital cities everyone and yet its also very much an African capital city. We like to go into the centre of Kampala sometimes at the weekend to have a wander around and often meet up with other volunteers for a coffee and cake.

The centre of Kampala is divided into two halves, the uptown parliament area with wide quiet streets, lots of trees and upmarket restaurants and hotels.

The golf course behind Garden City in the quiet leafy uptown area of Kampala.

Then there is the crazy downtown area with the taxi parks, lots of traffic, markets and street stalls.

Downtown Kampala on a Saturday afternoon

The old taxi park in the centre of the downtown area of Kampala. This is where lots of the matatus  (minibus taxis) leave for different parts of the city.

The two are linked with Kampala / Jinja road which cuts across the town centre. This is an extremely busy thoroughfare and causes lots of traffic jams in Kampala as it has to be crossed at some point every time you go from one side of the city to the other.

Kampala road in the city centre

There are still traces of some old colonial buildings around the city centre.

We found the old railway station now abandoned as no passenger trains have run in Uganda for many years. This is a lovely Art Deco building. We peeped into the booking hall and it looked like it was just closed up for the weekend.

Finally we walk back into the chaos to catch the matatu back to the flat.

Fun and Fundraising!

Over the past three weeks I've been very busy working as part of a team putting together a funding bid to DFID to develop the work being done by our partner organisations in northern Uganda. DFID is the UK international development agency so I was aware that I was applying for the money myself, friends and colleagues have been paying in taxes over the past few years.

The level of detail required on the budget expenditure for this bid was much greater than has been needed for UK funding bids I've worked on previously. A spreadsheet with 16 columns and a requirement for a detailed note for every line. The whole process was made much more complicated (but more worthwhile) by the fact that we work with partners so there were 12 individual budgets to prepare, one for each partner, and then consolidate onto the one form for DFID.

The partners are currently working with subsistence farmers in northern Uganda to help them to develop their farms and to use more sustainable and effective agricultural practices to produce more and better quality food for their families and communities. There is also a big element of work on land rights, agreeing land ownership, registering land rights and marking out the agreed boundaries. This has both a local element providing mediation and support to agree and demarcate land for families and a national element working with the government on land policies and registration systems.

The DFID bid is to develop this work, continuing to work with subsistence farmers but with a big element of increasing the variety of crops they grow and starting to process products for market. There are elements of developing bee keeping and honey production and training on farming as a business. The overall impact will be measured by the number of families who have more income, using 1,000,000 Ugandan Shillings per annum as the milestone, equal to approximately £250!

The whole process started with a 3 day residential workshop here in Kampala involving the bid team and all of the partners. We spent 2 days considering the beneficiaries they would work with and the activities they would do to meet the outcomes, then a final day as a budget workshop to develop their budgets to carry out the agreed activities. Then it was 18 days of hard work, including weekends, to complete and consolidate all of the information into a coherent bid for the funding.

The fun in the blog title is the social network we have out here, predominately the other international volunteers. We've had lots of evenings out, generally revolving around a meal, and I'm very thankful to all of the volunteers who've listened patiently and sympathetically to my tales of huge spreadsheets and partner budgets with circular formulae! We also had Easter and our trip away to the Murchison Falls National Park during the bid preparation period (see the previous blog post!). This looked in jeopardy at one point but the bid team insisted that I should go and they would keep the process moving. Finally the Country Director took the whole of the bid team out for dinner as a thank you for our hard work. This was much appreciated and we all had a really good evening.

An Easter trip to Murchison Falls National Park

It's a VSO secret - you travel overseas to volunteer and get the bonus of being able to get to some fantastic places for weekends and holidays. We took advantage of the long Easter weekend to travel to the Murchison Falls National Park. After considering driving ourselves we decided to go for the easy option and joined a trip organised by Red Chilli. It was called 'Falls and Game' and lived up to its name.

So at 6.30 am on Easter Saturday we were driving across Kampala to the meeting point picking up two other volunteers on the way. We arrived at the top of Murchison Falls in time for a picnic lunch. We had a walk, or rather a scramble, around the falls and plenty of opportunity to take pictures. They certainly are spectacular.

Then it was time to head over to the Red Chilli camp which was to be our base. We shared the camp with resident warthogs and hippos who came out from the nearly river Nile at night. Don't leave any food or anything that smells interesting in your tent and if you go to the loo in the middle of the night take a torch and look where you're going!!

Next morning was another early start for a game drive. Unfortunately the car ferry across the Nile had to be fixed and the 7am ferry didn't leave until nearly 9am. By then our itinerary had been switched around so we went on a boat trip along the Nile for the morning. Lots of hippos, a large herd of elephants, several Nile crocodiles, lots of different birds and a chance to view the falls from the river at the base.

Then after a quick lunch back at the camp we finally got across on the ferry and had a wonderful game drive around the northern part of the park.

What a way to spend Easter Sunday!

Easter Monday had another early start to catch the 7am ferry. This time it set off on time but a few metres out from the shore one of the two engines cut out and it took them over an hour to land us all safely on the opposite bank! We did wonder for a while if we would be seeing Lake Albert from the water!

Another shorter game drive. By now we were saying 'oh there's another elephant!'. Then onto Karuma falls and another scramble down a steep path to see the falls. These are very different from Murchison but just as spectacular in their own way.

Finally the long drive back to Kampala with a stop for lunch. It was an Easter break with a difference!

Cheese from Gulu

Glen and I both spent the last week in Gulu. I was travelling alone for once so Glen came with me in the vehicle. I still can't quite get used to the luxury of being driven whenever I go away. However, with the state of the road to Gulu I was very grateful to have a professional driver. The first half of the journey is ok, once you've got through the Kampala traffic. But the second half! First there are the road works around the Masindi junction with single file traffic and driving on very dusty gravel, then a section that hasn't been fixed at all and is a very bumpy murram road.

After that most of the rest of the journey, around 160km, is on disintegrating tarmac. Generally there is a strip of tarmac in the middle, roughly wide enough for a single lane, with rough edges and mud either side. But there are sections with big potholes right across the road. So it's a stop, start drive braking hard and then bouncing through the pothole! It gets even more interesting when you meet oncoming traffic. The general rule in Uganda is that biggest gets priority. So we had to dive for the ditch whenever we saw a lorry or a speeding bus coming towards us!

Gulu is in the North of Uganda on the road heading to South Sudan. This is the area that was badly affected by the LRA conflict for 20 years from 1986 to 2006. Life is gradually returning to normal in the area with people back home recovering their land and starting their lives again. But there are still lots of challenges with conflicts over who owns the land and a generation who missed out on education. The town is now a bustling place with a growing population, shops and markets. Everywhere you look are NGO offices, although apparently a lot less than there were and many NGOs are now pulling out, their work (or funding!) completed.

I visited one of our partner organisations to work with them to complete a bank reconciliation and cash count for the end of March and set up a template to use for future month ends. We also completed the redesigned quarterly monitoring form, including reconciling their reported expenditure for the whole period of the grant and a forecast for the April to June quarter as well as their actual expenditure for the January to March quarter. All a bit of a challenge when there was no power for most of the first day and then it went off again over lunch on the second day. Luckily there was a generator at the hotel so I was able to charge up my trusty laptop each evening.

Glen went with one of the other VSO volunteers to a vocational training institute just outside Gulu. He had a interesting couple of days sitting under the mango tree discussing science, motor mechanics and engineering with the students and tutors. They run courses in welding, metalwork, carpentry, plumbing and electronics as well as the motor mechanics. They have a bakery and are also experimenting with cheese making. We came home with a gift of a cheese! This is a real luxury in Uganda and is only available in the big supermarkets and delicatessens and is very expensive!

We are now enjoying cheese omelettes, cheese with avocado and tomato, cheese on toast and just cheese!!