Progress at work

Work is going a little slowly, but overall going well. I finished my strategic plan for the community demonstration farm last week, and on Thursday I went to the village to meet with the 25 farmers who will be taking part in the project. The purpose of the meeting was to provide an open forum for the farmers to point out the issues they are currently facing, what areas they would like to improve upon, the resources currently available to them, and the solutions they would suggest to their problems.

 The meeting was scheduled for 2 o'clock but around 1:15 we got a call to tell us that many of the farmers weren't going to be at the meeting because there were two funerals happening that day in the community. We decided to check it out anyway and eleven out of the twenty-five showed up so we ran the meeting.

 I conducted the two hour meeting with translation help provided by my supervisor, Charles. I ran a series of exploratory activities in which I had the farmers tell me their problems as I drew them in pictograph form on a piece of poster paper. I then elicited potential solutions to encourage them to find the answers themselves, and to gauge their knowledge of what may be possible to achieve. The farmers were very aware of both their issues and motivated to learn how to fix them rather than asking for or relying on handouts.

The farmers mapping out the community and where their homesteads are located.

Some of the results of the discussions

  The farmers are all very hopeful about the potential of the demonstration farm and very gung-ho in their wish that it be started soon. I was really happy to finally be able to meet the group members and to see their motivation and willingness to learn. It is obvious that they can foresee the benefits the farm will provide for them and they are very eager to start.

  Now that I have received their input, the next step for me to do is to finalize the three year plan, including objectives and timeline. That'll take me a good part of next week and hopefully after that, we can start implementing the plan and get the project off the ground.

Lake Bunyonyi

Two weekends ago, Robert, Renate, and I travelled to the far southwest of Uganda to a town called Kabale. Next stop after Kabale is Rwanda and nearby is a huge cold-water lake called Lake Bunyonyi ("place of many little birds"). It is filled with islands and is set amongst green hills. We caught the Post Bus from Masaka on its way through and the journey took about six hours. The Post Bus is actually a bus that runs for the purpose of delivering mail; it just happens to take passengers as well. It stops at a lot of villages along the way but it was a pretty comfortable ride. Every time we stopped, vendors selling drinks, kebabs, snacks, and chapatis would accost the bus and shout out for us to buy their wares.

  The views on the ride were pretty spectacular. Most of Uganda's southwestern region is mountainous so there were endless green hills, fields, and because we travelled up and down the mountains, some pretty amazing views.

 

By the time we arrived at the lake, the clouds had rolled in so we had a bit of a wet ride to the island where our resort was. We stayed at Byoona Amagara, an eco-lodge in the middle of the lake and it was really gorgeous. Most of the buildings were open-air with a focus on providing great views. We stayed the first night in a dorm and turned in shortly after dinner.

Before the rain...

View of the sunset from the open-air lounge/restaurant area

The following day, I woke up early and went to take pictures of the lake in the morning. The dawn light was gorgeous and provided some really cool reflections off the surface of the lake.

After breakfast, we hiked around the rest of the island and were led by various members of the community whose village is on the other end of the island. At the highest point on the island, there were more amazing views of the lake and the other islands inhabiting it.

After the hike, we moved into our geo-dome, which is essentially a hut with the whole front wall missing.

The rest of the time we spent socializing with the other residents and watching movies. It was a really relaxing time. The following morning we had to leave, and to return to the mainland we took a dugout canoe...which we had to paddle. It took close to an hour but was a great workout and provided nice views of the lake as well.

The trip home was long but mostly uneventful. I would definitely recommend going to Lake Bunyonyi and hope I'll have a chance to return!

Ssese Islands

         Two weekends ago, Renate and I went to the Ssese Islands in Lake Victoria. It was a bit of a last minute rush as her host mom couldn’t really make up her mind, but we made it anyway! We arose early and took a special hire (sedan) to the ferry terminal. We arrived at 8 (the time the ferry was scheduled to leave) and waited. And waited and waited for almost two hours while the ferry, which was there the whole time, got washed. The ferry was similar to the Albion Ferry with space for both vehicles and foot passengers. The trip to the biggest of the 84 islands, Buggala Island, took about 40 minutes and once we were on the other side, we boarded a mutatu (minibus) to take us to the other end of the island where the hotels are. After an hour on bumpy roads, we arrived in Kalangala Town where we had a rest while we perused our guidebooks for a good place to stay.

                Hornbill Camp came highly recommended for budget-conscious travelers but there were warnings in both guidebooks about the hippie-vibe it has. We figured we’d take the chance and caught a boda boda (motorbike taxi) to Hornbill. We were met on arrival by Tina, one half of the German couple who has owned the place for 19 years. She was definitely a hippie but she had a pleasant, no-nonsense, care-free attitude that immediately warmed us. We dropped our stuff into our banda (straw-roofed hut) and set about to explore. Hornbill is located right on the beach and has a number of buildings on the compound, each decorated with gorgeous paintings of different African scenes (all painted by the Tina’s husband). The beach was very nice with white sand and the water was pretty clear; unfortunately, however, swimming is not recommended because of risk of bilharzia. The only downside was the lake flies that are small but hovered in huge swarms to interrupt the peace. On the upside, there is a resident troop of black-faced vervet monkeys who entertained us for awhile. We wandered up the beach, past most of the other resorts and took in the wonderful views before heading back for dinner, playing with Tina’s month-old kittens, and ate at the bonfire.

                We woke up to a clear day but that soon turned sour and it became a torrential downpour before we were planning on leaving. We were originally going to take a boda back up to the main road and catch a matatu from there but Tina assured us she knew of a good matatu driver, who had connections to the ferry workers, who could drive us all the way back to Masaka. Pleasantly surprised, we agreed. We knew the schedule for the ferry said it was supposed to leave at noon and when we heard the driver wasn’t going to pick us up until 11, we were a bit worried because the drive from one end to the other was an hour by itself. We were assured that if we arrived late, the driver would call the ferry to wait for us so off we went. We drove around Kalangala town for an hour and started to get worried. The driver informed us the ferry would actually leave at 1:30, not noon, so we would still make it in time. We finally made it to the dock at 1:15 and the ferry was nowhere in sight.

                By 1:45 we were getting skeptical and met an Irish couple who had decided to take a motorized canoe back to the mainland. We went to ask our driver when the ferry would show up and he assured us it was on the way. The motorized canoe left…and the ferry arrived…at 4pm. Renate and I were beyond frustrated but in the end we made it home safely. Next time I go to Ssese, I’m taking a canoe!

Work

After two weeks of travelling amongst the different departments, this week I will begin my project! My host organization, Kitovu Mobile, does an amazing array of community development and support projects. It is made up of three main programs: Home Based Care, Comprehensive Care and Treatment Program, and Orphans and Vulnerable Children Family Support Program. Home Based Care consists of nurses and other health professionals who travel across 7 districts (provinces) to deliver anti-retroviral medicine (to combat the effects of HIV) and other health support. Comprehensive Care and Treatment is made up of health professionals as well as teachers and counselors who work with communities affected by HIV/AIDS and/or poverty to provide emotional support. Finally, the Orphans Program is in place to ensure that HIV/AIDS orphans are provided with support and life skills so that they can support themselves, even after the loss of their parent(s). Some initiatives that this programs work on are: palliative care (lessening pain of those close to death), self-help groups, cooperative savings programs, mobile farm schools for school drop-outs, and a Grandmother’s project in partnership with the Stephen Lewis Foundation.

                “Yeah, yeah. That’s all well and good but what the heck are YOU doing?”

When I first arrived, my supervisor presented me with a tentative work plan to create a demonstration farm in a poor community with the aim of using it to help train community members in modern, sustainable agriculture techniques. I’ll admit, the idea didn’t get me too excited at first but the more I’ve learned about agriculture and community projects, the more excited I’ve become. My first task, and project for this week, is to create a three-year strategic plan that will outline the goals of the demonstration farm, the methods we’ll use to create it, and how it will be sustainable. I’ve got a good idea in my head as I’ve visited a couple of similar farms so I’ll be compiling their ideas to create the plan. Once the draft is in place, we will organize a meeting with influential members of the community where it will be and get their input. From there I’ll complete the final draft and will have a better idea of what I’ll be doing the other 5 months!

So far everyone at Kitovu has been very helpful but with over 70 employees, remembering everyone’s names has been a challenge! I really like my two supervisors as well and they are very knowledgable and encouraging. I’m very excited to get this project started and see how much I’ll be able to contribute in my time here.

Ndagire of the Mamba Clan

My host family gave me my Lugandan name last week! I am Ndagire (pronounced N-da-ge-ray) and I belong to the Mamba (lung fish) clan. How appropriate that my clan is represented by a fish! A good number of my coworkers now refer to me as Ndagire only, although I’m pretty sure it’s because most Ugandans find my name difficult to pronounce and remember. My host sister announced to me that we are truly family now and that made me feel quite welcome. Apparently clans are a very big deal here and govern relationships. You are forbidden to marry someone from your own clan as you are seen as brother/sister. Members of your mother’s clan are your aunts and uncles, regardless of any actual blood relation. I’m sure it can get to be a little complex but it’s interesting nonetheless!