On the road again

Tomorrow I begin my six week tour of Africa which will take me all the way from Nairobi to Cape Town.

I have really enjoyed my past few weeks travelling solo, but I'm looking forward to not having to worry about the logistics of getting from A to B. I'm also relishing the prospect of not having to hang around bus stations or matatu stands. (why is it that in every country bus stations are inevitably in a dodgy dark and dingy part of town?)

I'm also happy that I'll no longer have to take solo taxis at night in strange cities with all my belongings - I always feel most vulnerable when in reality I am solely at the mercy of the taxi driver.

I'll try to keep updating on the road, but it will depend on finding Internet access. The next update will most likely come to you from Zanzibar where I will be spending Christmas in 30+ degree heat.

Political rumblings

The next Kenyan election is due to be held in March next year and it is impossible to ignore. There are posters for voter registration everywhere. It is all everyone talks about too.

The last elections were extremely violent. In the aftermath, thousands of people were killed. I went to a really interesting photographic exhibition about the 2007/08 election at the National Art Gallery last week and I couldn't help but think how different the situation is in New Zealand. Arguably the extent of our 'political' violence extends to mud throwing on Waitangi Day and environmental protests (who remembers how quickly the proposal to mine in the National Parks on the Coromandel Peninsula was dropped). In part I believe this is a reflection of having two very central political parties whose policies don't actually differ that much.

It is difficult to say what else sets NZ apart. Both countries are former British colonies after all. The relative lack of poverty in NZ undoubtedly contributes to our stability. The absence of corruption helps too. I saw in a recent article that New Zealand has come out first equal in the latest corruption index (alongside one of the Scandinavian countries, Finland from memory). Corruption is a big problem here. People are reluctant to trust politicians and the state here. I was travelling in a matatu the other day and saw the driver pay off a police officer with my own eyes.

No doubt there are many other contributing factors (and I'm not going to claim to even begin to understand the political position here (or indeed in NZ!))

All that I will say is, hopefully, for the sack of people here, the March election goes much more smoothly. Most people I have talked to have said that the pre-election tension was much worse before the last election. People seem optimistic. It is hard to judge whether or not this is warranted. I met an English couple whose friend is running for Parliament. They told me how two days previously he had been subject to a targeted grenade attack (he wasn't killed, but three others were killed). There were also reports in the radio today of a car bomb plot (with the explosive laden car still on the run).

I suspect that people play down the violence as they don't want to scare tourists away (after all Kenya relies on them a great deal). It is a fascinating country with a lot to offer and I really do hope for the best come March.

Slogan Ts

Second hand clothing rules supreme in East Africa and as a consequence there are a lot of amusing/out of place slogans on display.

Some favourites so far:

- a teenage boy wearing a pink and black tee shirt embezzled with "I love Feminists"

- a guy wearing a Chiefs super 15 rugby jersey in my first week in Uganda

- seeing multiple Vancouver 2010 winter Olympic shirts (2012 Olympic gear doesn't appear to have made it to Africa yet)...

The taxis (and matatus in Kenya) and trucks are also almost always decorated with a slogan. The most popular seems to be "God is good".

The funniest one that I have seen (for fellow law geeks) was on a matatu (= taxi van) yesterday which had "The doctrine of stare decisis" written on it! Unfortunately I didn't have time to whip my camera out to capture it. I haven't figured out exactly why a matatu driver would want to make a statement about the common law and doctrine of precedent on his vehicle...

Meeting the gorillas and Lucy

I have now made it to Nairobi, Kenya after a few long days on the road.

First up was the trip down to Bwindi, Uganda, to trek with the gorillas. The drive from Kampala to Kisoro where we stayed the night either side of trekking was a solid 12 hours each way. The countryside was beautiful. Steep hillsides with terraced farming, lakes and misty skies. It actually reminded me a lot of the Peruvian highlands.

Gorillas in the mist.

The trekking itself was awesome. The gorillas were literally within metres and I couldn't believe just how human their expressions were. I was surprised that the gorillas are usually found on the edge of the forest, they often eat the maize and beans growing on the edge of the forest.

Bwindi is in the south west corner of Uganda and Kisoro is very close to both the Rwandan and Congo borders. The UN has a refugee camp on the outskirts of the town. It was quite confronting to see physical evidence of the conflict and M23 rebel action in the Congo. (Which incidentally appears to be escalating, the borders between Uganda and the Congo are now closed.)

After returning from Bwindi I had a stressful Saturday trying to buy a bus ticket to Kenya and half fainting on a local bus from overheating on an extremely crowded bus. (Sorry Mum, I neglected to tell you that...) anyway, I got the ticket I needed (a mere £17 for a 14 hour bus ride) and endured a rather painful bus ride on Sunday.

The reason for having to be in Kenya Sunday night (and the associated bus ticket stress) was that I had arranged to meet a very special Lucy on Monday. Lucy is the 9 year old Kenyan child who I have sponsored since July 2010. She lives in a village about 2 hours drive from Nairobi. I met her, her mother and the local project partners. It was truly one of the most humbling experiences of my life. Everyone was so grateful, both for sponsoring Lucy but also for visiting her and the project. I would highly recommend the experience of meeting your sponsor child if you one and ever get the chance to visit their country. Lucy was very excited to meet me and apparently she couldn't sleep the night before - she barely stopped smiling all day too!

I'm now in Nairobi where I'll be for the next few days. I've already managed to catch up on all the important news: Wills and Kate are having a baby and England beat the ABs.

Volunteer no more

So my official 'job' title is now 'traveler' until at least 17 April 2013 (the day I land in London) when I'll revert to simply being 'unemployed'. Volunteering is now a thing of the past as I said goodbye to the team at EACO today.

I thought to mark the occasion I'd share the three things I'll miss most about volunteering and life in Mukono and the three things I'll miss the least.

The good (things I will miss)

1. Feeling like I have the opportunity to change a person's life. There were certainly days where I felt my presence was more of a hindrance than a help, but no matter how small the help I have given here, it has been given to organisations that really do change lives for the better, even if my personal contribution doesn't. I got into an argument with a South African guy last weekend whose view was that volunteering is essentially a waste of time. His opinion was that people living in poverty are happier than us, as they don't know any better and helping them results in them realising that they are 'missing out'. Suffice to say that I didn't agree with this view. The people that organisations like EACO and the Real Uganda work with already know there is a big wide world out there that they are missing out on. I also don't agree that people who can't afford to send their children to school or to seek medical treatment are happy. The conversation ended with the said South African telling me that I didn't know anything about Africa and storming off!

2. The children. It was really hard saying a final goodbye to the kids at school. They sung me four songs, unfortunately I can't upload videos - I have a few of them singing which are adorable. I'll also miss having kids from school seeing me down the street and screaming Teacher Lucy. I saw one kid from P4 down in town the other day and he sprinted up to me and gave me a huge hug. I'll also miss the random kids yelling 'bye mzungu' and waving madly and the resultant beaming smile if I talk to them or wave back.

3. Being settled in one place. Next on the agenda is two weeks travelling in Uganda and Kenya and then a further seven weeks travelling overland to Cape Town. I am dreading having to pack up my bag everyday. I'm dreading having to lug it around. I'm dreading having to pitch a tent each day. Volunteering is actually a very settled way of getting to know a country and how it ticks. Being on the move just doesn't give the same opportunities to get to meet people either. I leave Uganda with Ugandan friends.

The bad (things I won't be missing)

1. I'm sick of being a mzungu and the attention that it draws (other than the kids). No I don't want a boda boda. No you can't have my number (I swear that I have had more people ask for my number in the last few weeks than the rest of my life combined). No I'm not going to show you where I live. And please don't yell out 'sister' 'mama' or 'beautiful' at me from across the road, it is not going to make me come and talk to you.

2. I'm looking forward to not spending so much time thinking about all the problems facing the country (and Africa). A big scandal here over the past few weeks has been the unveiling of a large corruption ring in the Prime Minister's office. Billions of shillings of aid given by the Irish government was found in about 10 staff members private accounts. Ireland, the UK, Denmark and Sweden have all pulled aid from being sent to Uganda. I don't like to think about how this impacts the people/causes the aid was earmarked to help. It may sound bad but it will be nice to be back in my safe and comfortable life without having to face the reality of life here on a daily basis.

3. Home comforts (although some of these will have to wait a few weeks yet). To name a few: sit down toilets; washing machines; salads; NZ wine; cheese; hot showers; kitchen sinks with running water... (I could go on).

Next post most likely coming to you from Kenya!

Colonial relics

Last weekend I attended the polo with another volunteer from the Real Uganda.  It was a proper colonial Uganda type experience and there really weren't any other travellers in sight (most people seemed to be wealthy Ugandans or expats).   It was a bit of an insight into life for the well-to-do expat living in Uganda. 

We were definitely punching above our weight and ended up with front row seats next to the Governor of the Central Bank and the Indian High Commissioner (these facts were ascertained as photographers were taking a lot of photos and we managed to overhear someone introducing them).

The polo itself was great to watch, we had great seats and the crowd was small.  Being at the polo reminded me that Ugandan was once an English colony (and the 50th anniversary of independence was in October this year) and it also got me thinking about some of the funny little relics from English rule that exist here which I thought might be interesting to share:

1.  Tea - Ugandans absolutely love to drink tea.  It is a lot more popular that coffee.  Often the hot water will be infused (usually with ginger or mint) before the tea bag is added.  A delicious way to drink tea without milk (milk isn't particularly common, I expect that the lack of refrigeration is largely to blame).

2. The English language - although it is not the first language for most people (there are a number of different local languages - in Mukono it is Lugandan) English is still an official language in Uganda.  From about P3 up, all classes are supposed to be taught in English, although this is not always strictly followed.  The English spoken, it would be fair to say, is not always quite the Queen's English either.  There are a number of funny turns of phrase.  A couple of examples: (1) "we come" means "lets go together" (2) an 'e' sound added to the end of many words, eg the name Jack, is pronounced Jackie, bye is pronounced by-e.

3. Driving on the left hand side - for some reason I was surprised when I realized that Ugandans drive on the left hand side of the road.

4. Sport - people go absolutely mad for the English Premiership here. Everyone asks me which team I support and everyone here has a team that they support (Arsenal seems to be the most popular). I have probably watched more football in the last 2 months than I watched in a whole year living in London.  They also play rugby, cricket and netball.

5. A tendency to boil every single vegetable until it resembles mash - I associate this practice with England and can report that it is alive and well here.  Salads or any raw vegetables are essentially non-existent within the Ugandan diet.  Every vegetable served is boiled to its death - cabbage in particular.

6. Last but certainly not least, beer and gin - the two most common alcoholic beverages.  The most common local beers are Nile Special, Club and Bell.  Interestingly the most common 'imported' beer is Guinness.  It  is advertised absolutely everywhere.  Apparently it doesn't taste the same as real Guinness (but let's be honest surely it can't be worse?).  I put its dominance down to the Irish missionaries (there other legacy is that potatoes are simply called 'Irish' here).  The local gin is pretty nasty stuff - Lonely Planet warns that if enough is consumed it can turn you blind! 

Anyway, that is all I have time for today. I'm busy packing as tomorrow is my last day volunteering and on Wednesday I am off to the south of Uganda to go gorilla trekking.  A final verdict on my experience volunteering is to follow in the next few days.

Water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink

After two months here, I think the thing that I still find most astounding in Uganda is that, depsite the amount it rains, there is a huge lack of ready access to clean water.

Mukono is a large town, there is access to piped water supplied by the council on some streets, but very few people use it due to the expense. Even the 'apartment' where I live has no running water (and believe me, the standard of accommodation where I am is much better than the houses most people in the community live in).

The water I use is collected from a rainwater tank at the bottom of the apartment complex (I live on the third floor). While the distance it has to carried is much less than most people face, it still means no running water. All water is carried and stored in jerry cans. There is no shower, no sink. Plastic buckets serve as the shower, the kitchen sink and the washing machine.

For me personally no running water isn't a hardship. My water is collected for me. A bucket shower is pretty effective and I have got used to traipsing outside to the pit toilet.

But I can't help think of all the people who have to walk to collect water and the difficulties water collection creates.

1. It can be a long way to walk.  The well that the school that I volunteered at uses is 1km from school.  The distance can be much greater.

2. It takes a long time.  In addition to the walk to the well. there is often a queue before the water can be collected (often hours long due to the demand placed on individual wells and bore holes). Water collection can literally take hours out of the day. It is no wonder that it takes so long for things to happen here in Uganda. Productivity is severely hampered by everyday tasks.

3. In many places the water can be very poor quality.  The murky water in the photo below gives an indication.

4. It is dangerous.  How you might ask? Well often bore holes and wells are at the bottom of valleys surrounded by bush (as this is where the water source is).  Given collection generally has to occur outside school/work hours it is often dark (remember, school doesn't finish until 5.30pm and it gets dark around 6.30pm).  Water collection is a real danger for children targeted for child sacrifice.  Women also get raped on occasion when walking in the dark to collect water.

So, when the water pressure in your shower isn't quite what you hoped today, give a thought for those who don't even have the luxury of running water.

This is one water hole I visited that people collect their water from.

The water stored where I live.

The shower/washing machine.