I have spent the last 8 days in the Pearl of Africa - Uganda! It is no wonder that this beautiful country has earned such a nickname.
I arrived on the evening of May 16th, got to our hostel with no problem and slept what was a very sound sleep. After 28 hours of traveling, it was no nice to be able to stretch out and sleep comfortably. I also really love sleeping under a mosquito net! It was up early the next morning, in order to get a bus to Mbarara in south west Uganda.
As per the typical African way, I entered what appeared to be a seeminly chaotic bus station, with "conductors" asking where you were going and pulling you towards their bus. I was lucky enough to meet two seasoned Ugandan travellers who were also on their way to Mbarara, so they taught me about bargaining and what a fair price was for the bus. We finally picked a bus - strategically of course, because you must pick the fullest bus so that it leaves the soonest. In other words, there are no set departure times in Africa. You leave simply when the bus is full - and not full to Canadian standards... but full!!! Children sitting on their mother's or father's lap, the under-carriage full of everything from luggage, to mattresses, to cassava, etc... and the inside of the bus with extra luggage, vendors selling their wares... Oh craziness!
A four hour, cramped, but picturesque trip took us to the little city (about 220,000 people) of Mbarara. We stayed at the guesthouse for staff of the Healthy Child Uganda project - A health project funded by CIDA and administered by the International Centre at the University of Calgary (where I worked). We had a great host - Erin - who then traveled with me and several others the next day to Kikagati (pronounced Chickagati). This is a small, rural village very very close to the Tanzania border. We ventured there for two reasons. First, the communities involved with Healthy Child Uganda are interested in bringing BioSand Filters into their communities. BioSand Filters are a cost-efficient and very effective home-based technology for cleaning water so that it is safe to drink. An NGO in Kikagati - ACTS (African Community Technical Services) - as installed many BioSand Filters, so we went so that Healthy Child Uganda reps could learn about the filter and the processes used to bring them to people in the village.
I arrived on the evening of May 16th, got to our hostel with no problem and slept what was a very sound sleep. After 28 hours of traveling, it was no nice to be able to stretch out and sleep comfortably. I also really love sleeping under a mosquito net! It was up early the next morning, in order to get a bus to Mbarara in south west Uganda.
As per the typical African way, I entered what appeared to be a seeminly chaotic bus station, with "conductors" asking where you were going and pulling you towards their bus. I was lucky enough to meet two seasoned Ugandan travellers who were also on their way to Mbarara, so they taught me about bargaining and what a fair price was for the bus. We finally picked a bus - strategically of course, because you must pick the fullest bus so that it leaves the soonest. In other words, there are no set departure times in Africa. You leave simply when the bus is full - and not full to Canadian standards... but full!!! Children sitting on their mother's or father's lap, the under-carriage full of everything from luggage, to mattresses, to cassava, etc... and the inside of the bus with extra luggage, vendors selling their wares... Oh craziness!
A four hour, cramped, but picturesque trip took us to the little city (about 220,000 people) of Mbarara. We stayed at the guesthouse for staff of the Healthy Child Uganda project - A health project funded by CIDA and administered by the International Centre at the University of Calgary (where I worked). We had a great host - Erin - who then traveled with me and several others the next day to Kikagati (pronounced Chickagati). This is a small, rural village very very close to the Tanzania border. We ventured there for two reasons. First, the communities involved with Healthy Child Uganda are interested in bringing BioSand Filters into their communities. BioSand Filters are a cost-efficient and very effective home-based technology for cleaning water so that it is safe to drink. An NGO in Kikagati - ACTS (African Community Technical Services) - as installed many BioSand Filters, so we went so that Healthy Child Uganda reps could learn about the filter and the processes used to bring them to people in the village.
We also visited Kikagati so that I could vist the water catchment project that Leor worked on 2 years ago! It was a very special experience for me to be able to see what his hard work had produced and to meet so many people with such fond memories of him. It was a great day!
Back in Mbarara, we had dinner with Teddy and her family. I met Teddy when she came to Canada for the International Partnerships Symposium in October 2006. It was fabulous to meet her in her own home, to meet her husband and her two, fully of energy, daughters.
Back in Kampala, I have just spent the last 5 days at the 7th Annual Pan African Social Work Conference. The event opened on Sunday, May 20th with a fabulous display of Bugandan dancing (one of the many cultures found in Uganda), food, drinks, and great company from all over Africa, Europe, North America, and Australia. Monday was the beginning of the program, with keynote speakers and many many paper presentations. Tuesday was by far the best part of the conference, as we had representatives from the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the NGO Coalition for the Criminal Court. This coalition lobbies its respective governments to support the ICC and to fulfill their promises made to the court. It was an intense day, learning about the conflicts in Africa that the ICC is involved with and the leaders of war crimes which they are investigating. They have an arrest warrant out for Joseph Kony - who is "alledgely" responsible for war crimes in Northern Uganda, and are also investigating war crimes in Darfur.
We watched an extremely powerful and comprehensive video about the ICC called "In Search of International Justice". It is a Canadian film, and more information can be found at www.judyfilms.com. Perhaps the Marda Loop International Justice Film Festival will show it in November!
Wednesday was similar to Monday, with lots of paper presentations, and today, Thursday, was just wrapping up the conference and saying goodbye to new colleagues. Pictures are coming soon...
Tomorrow, my adventure in Accra, Ghana begins! Stay tuned....
1 comment:
Hey B,
Off to a great start in Africa. Congrats. If you did nothing else on this trip, you would already have made a great contribution if Healthy Child Uganda takes on the BioSand Filter program. Every act of generosity has such major ripples in Africa.
As I've already communicated to you, it is so meaningful to me that you made the effort to follow up my work in Uganda.
I'm glad you caught the film - In Search of International Justice. I thought it might be that one. It's the same film we screened on the May 8th quarterly screening.
I'll speak to you on the phone soon. Safe travels,
Leor
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