Log of my Placement in Ntungamo, Uganda

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August 2003

August 15th
I received a letter from Uganda today!  Pete wrote it.  Pete and Jan have been volunteers in Ntungamo since Feb 2001.  They both work for the Education District who is my employer.  Pete is in administration and Jan teaches disabled children.  They are both retired teachers from Britain.  It was so great to get a letter from them telling me a little about my home and that they are looking forward to my arrival.  They said "your house exists and it has a roof"  I'm like really?  So there was a possibility it wouldn't?  Wow!  They said they are busy getting it ready for my arrival.  They also said we are the only muzungu (white people) around.  For example, there is only one post office and if mail for Jan and Pete arrives in Ntungamo for them it doesn't matter really what the address is because he knows them and they always get it.  Pete also said that the town is very friendly and the people are really wonderful.  I can't wait to get there!

August 18th 
10:30pm my flight leaves for London on an 8 1/2hr flight.
I will depart London after a 6 hour layover to head in Entebbe International Airport Uganda, 9 1/2hr flight.

August 20th
I am here! I made it safe for all you worriers. It's 3:35pm in Uganda (10hrs ahead of Vancouver) and I am in the VSO office in Kampala.

My flight went smooth as flights go. I almost missed my flight from Vancouver because I miss translated the 24hr clock and thought the flight was at 10:30, nope 8:30. I arrived at the airport at 7:30, opps! Due to a computer problem they had not closed the gate and I was allowed to check in. Then of course the flight ended up being delayed. But not too long and we were off. British Airways is pretty nice. They had individual TV screens where you could pick from 6 movies and a couple of sitcoms. I picked my movies based on what I thought I would see departing London. I wanted to see Finding Nemo, so figured I would wait, instead I watched I won the castle and Holes. Bad decision they also picked just those 2 movies for the flight out of London, no Nemo for me. Turns out I was looking at the wrong page in the guide.
In London I just tried to sleep, that way I wouldn't have to spend any $$, boy is it expensive. I also took my 1st Malaria pill in the airport and forgot to take it with food. Within 15min I felt so sick and my flight was boarding. I ate some crackers and climbed on board. The man who sat next to me had the strongest cologne and made me feel worse. But 30min later in the air it passed and I was fine. We arrived in Entebbe 15min early, customs was no problem and Anne the VSO Uganda director was waiting for me as promised.

Anne drove me the hour into Kampala to a Guest House not far from the office to rest. There was no TP in the bathroom so I went to my bedroom laid down and cryed myself to sleep. I think I am really exhausted. Got up and showered at noon and walked 15min to the office. It was 24 degrees and breezy. Now there is thunder and rain. Uganda is beautiful and lush and everyone is really friendly. I have to run and meet with Anne now. I'll write more later if I can.

Later:
Anne gave me a security briefing. I am feeling a little more comfortable now. I was allowed to make one 5min call home and got to talk to Craig. I am missing him like crazy and hearing his voice really helped me feel a little better. Brenda has come to the office to spend the evening with me. We are going to go into Kampala to have dinner and try to find me a phone. Tomorrow I will go register at the Embassy, learn more about how to survive life here, and Jan and Pete will be arriving. They will be driving me to Ntungamo on Saturday.
Ntungamo is pronounced: Nnn tune ga mo so I have been saying it all wrong!

August 21st
Last night I went for dinner with Brenda, we took a mini-bus into downtown. It was pouring rain and I quickly decided it was much easier to walk in the puddles than avoid them. We walked to an MTN shop where they sold cell phones. Surprisingly to me it took some convincing to get them to take my US$$. But eventually they did and I got a great cell phone! 75$ US and it's so cool and cute, bright yellow, with no antennae for me to break. The number is 077621306 please send me messages!
Next we went for dinner and chatted, she had some good advice for me and dinner was good. I had water and chicken curry with rice for 9500ush, that's about $4.25US. The plate of food was huge and tasty, more like tomato sauce than curry.
Next its time to find our way home. Being brave I told Brenda she did not have to escort me if she could give the taxi driver instructions. So we set off to find a taxi, never around when you need one. When we finally did they wanted 10,000 to take me home. Way too much. So feeling bad for keeping Brenda so long and feeling even braver I say I'll take a mini bus home. So we walk to the taxi park, scary place. Brenda helped me find the right buss and off I go into the dark. I felt a little secure because I have my trusty new cool phone. So about 1/2hr later I made it safely back to the guest house and it only cost me 500. The worst was yet to come.
It took a while to sleep and then I woke at 2:30am, wide awake. I lie there till 4 with no luck of falling back to sleep. Played with my phone a little. Read for a bit. Then tossed and turned till 6:30am when the house awoke and then I was able to sleep till 8:30am, late, opps, was supposed to be at the office for 9, but I made it here for 9:30. I am sure I will be exhausted by this evening. Well I have a busy day ahead. Write me soon!

Uganda is very alive. Nature is loud. There are the most bizarre and cool looking birds, making all sorts of noise. There are cows with the biggest horns you have ever imagined. I have not seen a dog, but they barked and howled all night long. The guest house has a cat. I drove past 2 baby goats, so cute I almost asked to stop and take their picture.
I have learned a word: masau = stop when you want to get off the buss (direct translation = 'In my eyes", meaning where I want to get off is now in sight)
Brenda told me how to remember it, think: My Pig, all the way home last night I kept repeating to myself My Pig, Ma Sow, My Pig, Ma Sow.

This morning Sam took me to the Canadian Consulate. There was a Scottish man running the show and he was very talkative. He seemed especially concerned for my well being as a lone woman till I told him my boyfriend is arriving in a month, then he seemed quite relieved. I liked the drive, the more I see the more comfortable I am and the more I like Uganda.

Kampala is just any other city. It's not scary really, so long as you are not trying to cross the road. It actually seems like a small city and it's pretty easy to get around. People are friendly and I am not worried about safety for the most part. But traffic is really scary. Both in a vehicle and as a pedestrian. There seems to be no rules, just push your way through, honk lots, and don't stop. The steering wheel is on the wrong side of the car but they seem to drive where ever they please. The vehicles are impressive. The shiniest BMWs & 4-wheel drives have zoomed past me. I can't figure how everyone keeps their cars so clean! Anne says people wash hers about 2-3 times a week for extra cash.

So overall, I am healthy and comfortable, but very lonely. I wish I was staying in Kampala so I could be close to Craig and Brenda. I think it's going to be extra lonely in my home town. I seem to have a lot of free time, because nothing moves fast here. Time alone is tough, cause I think of home.
The pace here is going to take some getting used to. No one seems to want to do anything on time, or in a timely fashion. I tend to be in a hurry a lot and like to get things done and its frustrating that things take time. I'll get used to it I'm sure. I guess I just need to relax a little.

So much for my busy day. I haven't really done much but sit here at the computer. Everyone is busy and no one is ready to spend time with me. Everyone says later or tomorrow. Oh well, I'm not complaining, its good to use the Internet while I'll still have access. But it's lonely cause everyone out there is sleeping. I wish there was someone to talk to. Jan and Pete should be arriving very shortly now. They are going to take me into town, then I am going to try to meet Brenda and some of the other volunteers for dinner.

August 22
Today I am 27.
Jan and Pete arrived around 2pm yesterday to rescue me. They took me shopping in Kampala. I purchased 2 wall hangings from a craft market, they are black with gold giraffes on one and silver zebras on the other. Then we went to a supermarket to buy things for my house such as frying pan, cutlery, sheets, etc.
They were able to tell me lots about my home. I have a 2bdrm with living room and kitchen. My house is in a compound with 3 small homes. Jan and Pete live in the furthest house and the middle one is empty right now. We are on a hill and have a view of the valley below. I have a double bed, couch, and two chairs. The bathroom is in the yard, this consists of an outhouse with a hole in the ground and hand rails and a wash closet where I will hand the solar shower. I joked to J&P they can come borrow my shower. I have electricity but no running water. There is a pump in the yard. I have a little electrical stove with 2 burners and an oven. The electricity is strong till 7pm so all cooking should be done before they turn it down. Pete is in the process of building me a fence. I asked, to keep animals out? Nope, to keep children and men from staring at me all day.
I am really excited about getting there and setting up house. Jan and Pete are so nice I am so happy they will be there with me to show me the ropes.

Last night after shopping they dropped me off with Brenda and we caught a Mattatu(mini-bus) to visit 4 other volunteers in Kampala. We went to the home of Natasha and Keith from Vancouver, they live with one other girl, and another was visiting from down the road, they all arrived in June same as Brenda. They were all very nice and it was great to see happy functioning people, very reassuring. One of the girls got mail, it's a big deal, much envied. Hint, hint.
After hanging out Brenda and I went for dinner in the market. This was much more local establishment and only cost 2200 for our beef stew with rice and drink. So far I like the food, trying to try out all the local dishes. After dinner we caught the Mattatu back to the taxi park then I caught mine home to the guest house. I slept better last night. Woke up lots, but I still got a good amount of sleep, the dogs seemed quieter. I awoke at midnight and realised it was my birthday. Shortly after Craig figured out how to call me and we were able to chat and he wished me a happy 27th.
So far I have had no luck receiving sms form Canada, really sucks because I am so lonely. It seems to only work sporadically. I got both MTN and email to work once, now neither seem to be functioning. If you are trying, please just keep trying. If I get it I will send a message back I promise. If we don't get it working I will make weekly trips up to Mbarara to use the internet. If I don't go to Mbarara then this will be my last posting till Sept 18th when I hope to return to Kampala. If you really feel the urge to cheer me up one day go to your local market and buy a $5 phone card and call me! Best time to call is noon BC time. There is a 10hr time difference and I should have nothing to do in the evenings.

Today I am finishing up the info and forms needed around the office. They are holding a lunch in my honor, it has nothing to do with my birthday, I don't even think they know, except for the few people I have told. Jan and Pete have been so kind about it. They bought me a language book for my gift. It will be helpful since I will not get my language training till September. I hope to practice with them on the 5hr drive home tomorrow.
This afternoon I am going to go back to the market and meet Natasha, she is going to help me shop for some clothes. They have second hand clothes from the US and Europe, brand names that look like new! I hope to get a skirt 1000, dress 6000, pants 2000, and 2 blouses 1000each for work. conversion: 1000 = $.50US
I don't have plans for tonight yet. Brenda has gone off to QE Park on Safari for the weekend.

Yeah! I got paid! My allowance is 10,000ush a day, if only it was in Canadian!! So that is about $5 a day. Jan recommended when I make purchases I think like this = x days work. So when I bought the 2 wall hangings that was 28000 = to almost 3 days work. Ouch!

Attn: Cory, Purinma, Craig - anybody have an extra mouse? There are 3 computers here in the resource room. 2 have Internet access and one has a CD burner. But there are only 2 mice. So really only 2 can be used at a time. An old cheep mouse would be great! And bring pens! They seem to be a precious commodity.

Lunch was good. More local food. Finally had fruit salad. Great fruit! It started pouring. We were eating in the back yard of the VSO office. There is a Banda it's pretty nice, didn't get wet at all but it puts a damper on my trip to the market. Hopefully the rain will dry up by then.

August 23

So armed with my purchases I went to see if Natasha was home. She was so we had tea. I am doing much better here now that i feel like I have made a few friends, people to talk to and share with. I still really miss home and nights are hard though. I can't wait for Craig to arrive.

August 30th

A week in Ntungamo.
I have arrived! I was so excited when we finally arrived at my home. It was nice and clean for me with basic furnishings. There was a double bed frame and we got a mattress in Kampala. Mattresses, actually all furniture, is made of firm foam. I brought a wicker shelving unit from Kampala to store my clothes and a big basket with a lid for laundry. In the living room there is a couch and 2 arm chairs. New and nice for Ugandan style. And a coffee table set which consists of one long table and 4 small tables. I put one in the bed room, 2 in the living room and I’m using one as an ironing board. There is also a shelving unit in the living room. Not sure what to call it. It has shelves, drawers and glass cupboard doors. I think it’s quite nice. Everything has locks and keys, every door and drawer. My key ring was huge! I have managed to cut it down to 3 keys that I carry and others hidden in various spots around the house. I purchased a sheet of something like thin linoleum for the floor in the living room. All the floors are cement. You wear flip-flops all the time. Never know what you may step on and there are some things such as caterpillars that will really irritate the skin if touched. Picked up my flip-flops for 1500 I think at Nomies the little shop we usually go to. Nomie usually gives us a good price, we think… The kitchen consists of a cement counter, fireplace, and pantry. On the counter is what looks like a microwave with 2 burners on top but is my stove and oven. I’ve put the water filter, paraffin (kerosene) lamp, and gas cooking burning (for when power is out) in the fireplace. Under the counter are 2 pails with lids. One for garbage that will be burned and another for compost that will go down the pit latrine to decompose. There are 2 jerry cans for water which I haul in from the locked tap in the yard to put into the water filter. There are 2 water supplies one is a metered tap and one is a big cement tank that collects rain water off my roof. Then there are wash basins for washing anything: me, clothes, dishes etc. The extra room right now I am using for storage. I hope to get an extra mattress to throw down so that people will come visit me! So if you want to come visit let me know and I’ll go get one. Should be about 100000.

There is another building in my backyard that houses my toilet and wash closet. 2 doors, locked of course. The rooms are the same size, good size really. The only difference between them is one has a hole cut in the cement floor. The hole is about a foot long and ½ a foot wide and covers a hole about 30ft deep. The great thing is there is no smell! It has a vent down the bottom that goes out a stack in the roof that causes circulation and decomposition. It never gets full or has to be emptied. They should start making outhouses more like this in the west! I have rigged up a stick that holds my TP and keep a small jerry can of water and a wash basin in there for washing up. Next door is the wash closet, just a rectangle room with a drain. Pete helped me rig up a pulley system for the solar shower so I can take it down to refill it in the house. Pete and Jan don’t use their wash closet they bathe inside where it’s warmer. I keep a thermos of boiled water to wash up with. The thermos’s here keep water amazingly hot! Almost burned myself. So I shower and wash my hair every second day and wash up inside with hot water and cloth every morning and night. Once again, constantly boiling water. I’ve been very thankful for my leave-in conditioner because rinsing my hair is a real chore. Glad there isn’t anyone living here I am trying to impress with my looks! I’ve had my hair in a ponytail everyday.

Jan and Pete have been taking very good care of me. Everyday they ask if everything is ok with my home. They say that making me comfortable is 1st priority. This 1st week has really centered around that. I have really been thankful for this. I have been so exhausted and being comfortable in my home and feeling I have people looking out for me has really been wonderful. They have been building a fence around the compound, our 3 houses. It is made of bamboo on one side and Papyrus reeds on the other. It’s been nicknamed the Great Wall of Ntungamo and is fabled to be see from space as is the Great Wall of China. On Monday afternoon we all got out there and helped with the construction. My 1st lesson in fence building it was fun and hard work. Since, Huntington has been continuing the progression of the fence. He’s done a great job and my end of the compound is now completely fenced in. This has really helped to make me feel safer at night when I have to go find the bathroom (seems to be a twice nightly occurrence).

Jan and Pete have invited me to eat with them all this week. It’s been wonderful, I can’t imagine what I would be eating without them. For breakfast I have been having bread with strawberry jam and bananas. And making the coffee that they gave me for my birthday with coffeemate and sugar. It usually has lots of grounds but is quite tasty. For lunch I have bread with avocado and more fruit (papaya this week). Actually we have 3 papaya trees in our yard but it’s hard to get to the fruit before someone else steals it. Dinner made by Jan consists of a medley of local vegetables cooked up in one tasty manner or another. They have a rule, no cooking can be done without a beer in hand! I’ve fit right in here! Club beer is quite good. I got a crate from Nomies and can keep it in their fridge (28000). We’ve had roast veggies in the oven. Veggie stew on rice or pasta. The veggies consist of tomatoes and onions which are the staples found everywhere. We got spinach, zucchini and eggplant in Kampala. Lots of garlic and ginger root around. Then there is sweet potato, Irish potato, pumpkin and matoke. We don’t cook matoke though, took much trouble to peal. You can also get carrots. So any mixture of these becomes dinner. We made chapaties one night, which is a fried flat bread, yummy. Jan makes bread, a feat I don’t think I will attempt. I would like to know how to make the dough for chipati and pizza though. David, the DO, who is the district employee responsible for us has gone to Kabale today to pick up his children from school. It is end of term. We have asked him to bring back cheese!! You can get plain (kind of like Gouda), herb, or garlic for 6500 a Kilo. I got brave enough to buy eggs yesterday and I think I will make an omelet this weekend! For me cheese really opens up the cooking possibilities. I am working up the nerve to cook my 1st dinner and invite Jan and Pete, probably pizza. I have given up meat. I asked David how I can buy some chicken and he said, yes, you buy chicken and I can show you how to kill it. No thanks! So beans it is for me! I decided I would have meat when eating out. But you have to be careful what you ask for. Goat it turns out is tasty, like beef. I asked do you have chicken today and they said yes, today backbone. Yuck. No such thing as boneless chicken. Eating out in Kampala is much easier. In Ntungamo I will be avoiding meat from now on.

I don’t think I’ve mentioned Huntington yet. He is a local boy(22) they hired to work around the house 3 days a week. He does laundry, sweeps, dishes, and other general chores for 3000 a morning. I have asked him to work for me on Thursday mornings for 1500 since I am only one person. When Sara comes we will talk about working out having him full time to help all of us. He is very honest but curious. 1st day was yesterday and there wasn’t an item unturned in my house. I locked the bedroom because I expected this. Had a hard time finding some things. He reorganized a little. I guess it’s wrong if I don’t keep things in the same place as Pete and Jan! He did a great job of cleaning up and even boiled lots of water for me. Nice to have his help because I have enough chores to do and I am still so exhausted all the time.

I think I have adjusted quite well. I really like it here and feel at home. That 1st week in Kampala was tough, I felt so alone and in shock. Since Pete and Jan have taken me under their wing I have felt much better. Nights alone are still tough. I can’t seem to sleep through the night. I really miss Craig. We have sorta figured out the sms and time zones and talk everyday which makes things a little easier. I am counting down the days till he arrives though. The sms seems to work on and off. Sometimes I can’t send (like for the last 18hrs) and sometimes he can’t. When this happens it’s really frustrating. But exciting news, the office signed up for Internet access yesterday! It still remains to be seen if this will appear or if I will have access to it. When Craig does arrive hopefully I will be able to get some pictures online. Stand by. I am really looking forward to the 2 weeks training. I will be heading to Kampala on the 17th I think, Craig hasn’t quite got his flight sorted but I want to be there the same time he arrives. We are hoping to get at least a day together before training starts.

Power outages. These happen all the time. Just had one, lasted about 2min. Our UPS (battery backup) is only about 8min long split between 2 computers and doesn’t include the monitors. That means you have time to do a blind save of what you were working on then just wait to see how long it will last. Last night the power went out in the middle of cooking dinner so we switched to the paraffin stove. That one lasted about 3 hours and it was really weak when it came back on. On weekends they often turn the power off during the days just to conserve energy. Usually comes back on by 6 or 7pm at the latest. Electrical storms seem to be quite common. And so are deaths caused by these. 2 people died on Tuesday. Now I know why Danielle told me she would sleep in her rubber soled shoes!

The weather seems to be consistently 24 degrees. But rainy season seems to have started and it’s getting cooler. Rained really hard yesterday. When it rains it REALLY rains. Not for long but really hard. It was only 21 degrees in my room this morning and colder outside. Brrrr. The weather here is much different from Kampala. I think it rains more there. They have more mossies too. That’s Mosquitoes I’ve learned. I’ve only seen one here, but I got bit 3 times in Kampala despite mosquito net and spray. Apparently we will get more here now that the rains have started. When it rains the roads turn to rivers. I haven’t decided if it’s better to be in sandals and just get wet or to switch to shoes or boots and keep dry. We also had an earthquake Sunday night. It was 5am and I was awake and suddenly the birds went crazy then the earth started rolling and did so for a long time. It was like being on a little roller coaster. They have had 2 within 2 weeks here. 4 in the year and ½ they have been stationed in Ntungamo. There was no damage or death reported so I guess it wasn’t that big, but it was long and exciting and a little scary alone in my house.

On Wednesday Jan took me to the bank to set up an account for VSO to auto-deposit my allowance. Man things are a pain here! On Tuesday we went and spoke to the bank manager and asked what do I need to set up an account? She said 20000, a copy of my VSO ID or passport, 2 passport photos, and a witness who has an account. So Wednesday we went equipped with all the above. We picked up my pictures across the street. I had purchased 2 for 2000, but they gave me 4. Cool. Then the accounts man at the bank said he needs 3. Even though I had 4 I told him no, the lady said only two. He insisted and I held my ground. I could just picture him keeping one to take home and tell all his friends I’m his girlfriend or something. I’ll tell you later what I think of most Ugandan men! So there was no way I was going to give this guy 3 pictures. Anyway after lots of paper work and pushing him I got the account. But they say it will take 3 weeks to cash my Sept 1st allowance check. Things will be tight till then. When I told Jan after why I didn’t want to give him my picture she laughed and said that the photographer probably made 20 copies and handed them out all over town!
After finishing at the bank we went out to Rwera Mixed Primary School so I could see what the schools are like. They are friends with the head teacher (principal) Helen. It was about a 20min drive. We went in a district vehicle which we are supposed to use for work stuff. There are 2 vehicles and you have to track down a driver which can be a chore. They you have to convince them you want to go: now, now. See “now” means “yes, sometime”. But “now, now” means “now’. Helen welcomed us and promptly did up the top button on my blouse because of the cold. I had to undo it, couldn’t breathe! It was really cold though. Had goose bumps. She then showed us around to all the classrooms. It is a mixed school, which is boys and girls and primary is P1-P7. P1 is about 6yrs and P7 can be up to about 14. The kids were so cute, but they all looked so cold. No electricity and the classrooms, mud huts, were so dark. I was impressed with the displays and words and mobiles hanging around the rooms. This school also has a special program for disabled children. They had 5 deaf and mute, one downs, one retarded, one missing his tongue, club feet, and other walking disabilities. Very bright and happy kids. They are really good with sign language and communicate fluently with each other. They sang (signed) us some songs and poetry and wrote my name on the board. The teacher had each child stand up and pointed out their specific disability. These children all board at the school. It made me uncomfortable the spectacle they made of them, but the kids seemed ok, I guess it’s common.
The P1 kids also sang for us. SO CUTE! They sang Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes and a cute song I Know English. There are 150 P1 children at this school and only 1 teacher. Can you imagine? After the tour they held an assembly for us. We had to sit in a line of chairs across the front. The choir performed some songs, traditional dance, and folk tails. I really enjoyed these, they were done with a mix of drums and shakers, quite lively. They were really great. Then they asked P1 to sing for us again. They sang forever. I really needed to pee at this point and the wood chair was killing my back and it was so cold out! I thought in fear oh no they are going to go through every grade! But Jan to the rescue told Helen we really had to be going. Well that ended the assembly but she insisted on tea. I could barely drink I had to pee so bad! It wasn’t till over an hour later that we got home over a very bumpy road, I thought I was going to die. We had to stop and pick up more reeds for the fence on the way too. This was the day my cold hit and I really wasn’t feeling well so after lunch everyone insisted I rest and I went to bed for a few hours and took it easy the rest of the day.

Ugandan work ethic and culture is taking some getting used to. I’m just hoping it doesn’t rub off on me or I will really be in trouble when I get back to Canada. It’s quite common here for people to go for breakfast at 10am and not be seen for 2 days! People often just sit around doing nothing. No one shows up on time for anything. Death is very common so people are gone to funerals often. Also people are commonly sick and therefore don’t show up either. 20% of the people I work with are known to have AIDS or HIV, that’s means there are probably many more who are not known. Needless to say this means people get sick easily and in a bad way. Today over ½ the office is missing because they are off picking their children up from schools. I hope to accomplish as much as possible while I am here. I think the hardest part of my job will be tracking people down!
Yesterday I got ticked because a peddler came through the office selling her wares. Pete and I said no thank you and asked her to leave, but then a man we work with invited her into the office where we were working and proceeded to have her show him every single item. This took 20min while there where people who had been waiting all day to speak with him! I kept my mouth shut but it was hard. Especially when he kept interrupting us to ask what we thought he should offer for a Tummy Toner and a flashlight! In the end he bought the tummy thing then wanted my advice on the size of his belly! It’s on the large side. I told him I thought the gadget was useless and he should do traditional sit-ups. Then he asked if I would teach him. I said no. Most Ugandan men seem to be womanizers. This guy already has 2 wives and is always flirting with young girls (hence the time spent with the peddler girl). I am so glad I can tell them I have a boyfriend. He did tell me though that I should leave Craig and marry a Ugandan and stay here. I said that’s not going to happen. He asked, ah you are going to be married, you are engaged? I said yes. Seems to have put him off for now. Can’t wait for Craig to come here to show everyone I am taken. It really blows me away how they treat woman. I am different because I am white but I feel so sorry for the girls here. And everyone is supposedly Christian! Everyone goes to church, but then they often have multiple wives all around the country and visit prostitutes. Yuck. No wonder HIV is so bad. I was actually really happy when I saw used condoms on the sidewalk in Kampala, I thought good the message is getting through! Anyway please don’t get me wrong. The people here are really nice. And I really like them. They have all been very welcoming. The culture is just different that what I am used to. So I will accept them for what they are. Try to be a good example when I can. And not be upset about the stuff I can’t change. I am really looking forward to having more westerners around (Sara) and Craig arriving.

Work. Looks like the majority of my work will be computer training and troubleshooting. I work for the government office. The local Ntungamo District office. In this building there are Politicians and Civil Servants. I report to the Education Sector on the Civil Servant side. They are responsible for everything to do with education in the District of Ntungamo, there 220 government schools in the district. I will be training the office people on basic computer skills such as Word, Excel, File maintenance, and some Access for the more advanced. Pete has created a database to store all the education records, items such as where the schools are, how many teachers, students, latrines, and much more. It’s been really helpful for them. We need to find a way to sustain it though. Who will update it when we are gone? So more training. Over the next 2 and ½ weeks, till I head back to Kampala, I will be trying to spend time with everyone the Education Sector who wants to be trained to find out where they are at, how much time they want to commit, and where they want to get to. Then put together a workplan for the 6 months of what I can reasonably accomplish. Should be interesting to see who I can pin down for training and how far I get with them. I have had 2 Excel training sessions with the secretaries, one yesterday and one this afternoon. They seem interested but learning is slow. There is definitely a language barrier. For example I could say Right Click the mouse a hundred times, but they don’t get it. I have shown them over and over but they still do not relate the action with my words. Oh well. They are very friendly and no one here has ever said “good job” to them so it means a lot when I do. Pete has created a chart to track their progress. It displays training hours and modules completed. We will try and work out some sort of reward, and probably punishment system to get people into the training. For example if you don’t show up for your scheduled training session on time or at all you have to bring me beer! And when you complete x number of modules or hours I bring you beer! Seems to be the best motivation around here.

Well I feel like I have written a book. I am looking forward to my trip to Mbarara tomorrow. It should be a bit of an adventure. At least I know if something goes wrong I can always call back here and they will come rescue me. I am going to visit the Internet café to upload this and read my emails, then wander around and do a little shopping. Maybe drop in and visit some other VSOs who live there that I have not met yet. Sunday other than regular chores I hope to just put my feet up and relax. Please everyone keep the SMS messages coming. I get really excited when I receive one. I love hearing from you all and thank you so much to everyone who has written. I am sure as my time here goes on my posts will be much shorter since there will be less that is brand new on a weekly basis. Till next week…

1st pictures

September 2003

Then I called Pippa. She is a 2yr VSO living in Mbarara. She’s from the UK and arrived in June. She is working at the hospital as a pharmacist. I introduced myself and she invited me for lunch. She was coming into town to buy groceries and met me at the café. We wandered around Mbarara purchasing some veggies. I bought my 1st eggplants, green pepper, and green beans. Then we walked back to her apartment. She had invited another muzungo over for lunch, Dorothy, who is a German girl studying dermatology. Her dad is the dermatologist at the hospital. Pippa made us a really yummy veggie soup made from boiled vegetables, then she used a blender she borrowed to make soup. She also had a really good bread for us. Simsim (poppy seed) bread from the local bakery. Most bread here is very heavy and I just can’t eat any more of it, but this stuff was light and fluffy, wonderful! All this time I am still not feeling well. I had a sharp pain in my stomach just below my ribs. After lunch we all chatted for a few hours. It’s amazing how easy it is to bond with people and make friends over our unique shared experiences here. Dorothy gave me a ride back into town to the taxi park and I set about finding a way home.

I say I want to go to Ntungamo and I get directed to a Matatu. They tell me to get in the back, but there are already 4 people on the back seat! I say no, too crowded! So they let me have another seat. They say 3000 to go, I argue a little but I was still not feeling well so I agreed, just happy to sit. The guy then keeps pilling more people into the very crowded buss. At one point he says all Ntungamo should get off and go on the next bus, so we do. Then he comes back and tells me I should come back on his buss, so I do. Then we finally leave. 21 people in the van!!! My hip is dug in hard to the side, and a friendly woman has her arm around me. Then this guy proceeds to drive all over Mbarara trying to round up more people! 20min later we are headed south. Along the way he does manage to pick up 2 more people. The front row now have a woman and infant and 6 men!! They are all sitting on top one another. I was just glad to be on my way home. By the time I hiked up the hill to my house I thought I was going to collapse. I said Hi to Pete and Jan and went to bed at 6:30pm. I got up Sunday at noon and made myself an omelets. My 1st cooking experience, it went well, but the Teflon came off my frying pan. After eating I went back to bed till 3pm. Then I forced myself out of bed and showered. Then went over to Pete and Jan’s for some social contact, stayed for dinner and back to bed at 8pm! Today I am still exhausted. Still catching up I guess. Pippa has invited me back to Mbarara next Saturday for a party their compound is having for some muzungo’s who are going home. So I will head back next Saturday and stay over. It will be nice to get out and socialize, meet some new people.

Anne, the VSO Director, is driving here today for a meeting tomorrow with our officers to create a plan for the next 6months. I sent her a text message on her way asking if she can pick up some of that yummy bread for me. I can’t wait till it arrives! Tonight when she arrives we are going to go out to the Sky Blue again for dinner. This time I think I will try the breaded fish and chips.

September 3

Had our meeting yesterday, it went well I’m told. It was hard for me to tell. If we were in Canada I would say it did not go well. To begin with at 8am when the meeting started there was only the DEO present and all the VSOs. Over the next hour and ½ others slowly drifted in. I was very surprised that David who had heard the most about the meeting, was most aware and should have been most interested showed up over an hour late! The thought is that maybe he was trying to skip it all together and thought it would be over by then. It was difficult to get through the entire agenda, what should have only taken an hour somehow took many hours and we still didn’t finish or accomplish what we had hoped. I only got to speak for 40seconds at the end, so much for my presentation. But everyone says the meeting was a big step towards creating a partnership with VSO and the district and it’s important for all parties to meet like this, the 1st time it’s happened, and therefore a big accomplishment. Good.

Tonight is my night to cook. My 1st night with Jan and Pete over. We are going to make pizza. Jan is going to help me with the dough at lunch. On the pizza will be tomatoes, green pepper, onions, tuna fish, and cheese!

Things that go bump in the night. Some creature has decided to make it’s home in my roof right above the head of my bed. I’ve been telling myself it’s just geckos, but they don’t have nests I don’t think, and wouldn’t hang out in the same spot every night. So maybe a bird, but birds aren’t awake at night. So I may have to concede that there is a mouse or rat sharing my home. At least it’s not inside!

Craig got his flight booked. He will be arriving on the 19th. I was expecting him earlier and made arrangements to be in Kampala on the 17th. Pippa is travelling up the 17th and I said I would go with her. Now Jan and Pete are headed to Masinidi on the 17th and said they would drive us. I’ll probably ask Brenda if I can stay with her and plan to work on the computers at VSO for the day. I am really looking forward to ICT (In Country Training) and seeing Craig and meeting everyone I have been talking to over email.

September 5

Killer Bees!
Ok, honey bees. Another adventure in Uganda. Although I suppose you could have exactly this experience at home. Yesterday started out as a typical weekday. I did training sessions most of the day. In the morning it was really hot and in the afternoon it rained a bit, this seems to be almost daily now, I guess the rainy season has started. It never rains long, but it rains hard, dark clouds and thunder. Anyway along with the rain the power seems to go out, seems to be a new trend we hope won’t last. Anyhow ½ way through dinner they power died and we rounded up our paraffin burners to finish the cooking. Wedge potatoes and egg plant casserole. Yummy! (egg plant casserole is layers of tomato, onion, green pepper, egg plant and cheese, with egg and milk baked as a casserole) We managed to get everything cooked and settled down to a very tasty dinner. After dinner we heard a bicycle bell ringing outside, after long persistent ringing we realized they were looking for us. It was the boy to get rid of my bees. I don’t know if I mentioned it but there is a honey bee hive in my roof, outside, over the spare room. There is an Antomologist employed by the district and he had sprayed them once before I arrived, but then his equipment broke. Well it’s fixed and he’s sent some poor window washer to spray them this time. The kid puts on a painters uniform, no bee mask, and climbs up the latter to begin spraying. Well the bees are soon mad to say the least and the poor kid wants down but the man at the bottom of the ladder keeps yelling at him, “You Pump!, Pump now!”. Well he pumps and gets all the spray inside and we all go home thinking the excitement is over.

Next there is someone honking at us outside. It another man who has brought us bamboo reeds for our fence. He is late and in a bad mood. I try giving him instructions on where to park the truck and unload but it doesn’t go well, he doesn’t understand English. Anyway we get that taken care of and settle back down, then Huntington comes over. He only comes after 8 if he’s been drinking so Pete goes out to send him home. Huntington wants to talk about the fence and says thank you for getting him more reeds and that he doesn’t want to be paid for building our fence. I’m thinking, you’re thanking us for building our fence? He must be off. Surprisingly this morning he hasn’t changed his mind about being paid. Anyway the power comes back on so I decide to head home. When I get there though my kitchen is full of bees! I turn the light on and they all buzz to it. There is a bee carpet walking the floor and many more angry ones flying around the light. Hmm. Pete came over and I worked up enough courage to run around in there stomping on all the ones on the floor. Then we decide to leave the door and windows open with the outside light on and hope they decide to leave and I go back to their place for a little while.

Later there is about ½ the bee population in my kitchen and I manage to lock myself into my bedroom with only 2 bees to torment me. They can’t get into my mosquito net though so I torment them with my flashlight for a bit then turn it off and go to sleep. I woke at 2am and was so stuffed up I couldn’t breath and can’t sleep again till 4am. At 5am the creature in the roof above my head decided to do a full aerobic workout for an hour. At 7am when my alarm went off I felt awful. I got up and spent 20min sweeping and chasing bees out of the house then got dressed. Pete and Jan came to see how I was making out and sent me back to bed. I took an anti-histamine and slept till 11:30am. Then I woke just to go out to the latrine. On my way back Jan spotted me and yelled over, “Would some mail cheer you up?” Yes! Mail for me!!! My 1st letter! It is a card from my sister who refuses to use text messaging to say hi. Ok I forgive her, mail is awesome! So I read my letter, rested for another hour, got up and wrote her back, then joined Pete and Jan for lunch.

I was going to go into the office for the afternoon, but we decided I would just stay at their place and do some work on the laptop. No one is in the office anyway because of the rain. Can you imagine if no one showed up for work if it rained in Vancouver? No wonder it takes forever to conduct business here! It amazing to watch really. Yesterday at the 1st hint of rain drops at 2pm I watched a secretary bolt out of her chair and disappear for the rest of the day.

Tonight Jan informed me is a wine and Pringles night! To celebrate my 2 weeks here. Really it’s cause they are counting down the days till they leave, Feb 20th, but they decided it would be better to count up my time instead. Then we are going to go to the Blue Sky for dinner. Seems to be the Friday thing to do. I don’t know if I feel up to it, it takes 1-2 hrs for the food to come and I want to go to bed early, it also costs average 6000-7000 and I want to save my money. On the flip side I don’t feel like I have the energy to cook so I will probably go.

Tomorrow I am going to head to Mbarara again to check email, walk the hills with Pippa and gang, then attend a party. If I am not feeling any better I will head to sleep early, it will be good to put in an appearance and have some semblance of a social life though. Sunday I’ll do a little shopping and head home. Then only one and ½ work weeks till I’m back in Kampala and I’ll get to see Craig!

Jan and Pete crack me up. They have gotten a little foolish in their attempts to maintain sanity in this place. They often have me laughing hard with their little quips. Wednesday night we stood at my front door and plotted where we would be installing the swimming pool and gazebo. I had to inform them of course that I was reserving the corner to the left for the barn where I will be housing my pet Zebras! Jan and I often discuss Ugandan style and how lovely things, like the floral curtains, match the wild patterned couch. The most exciting discovery for me this week was probably when I discovered that the ants calling my kitchen door home really like dead bees. We decided to become friends after they refused to leave so I’ve taken to feeding them. It’s fascinating watching them try to put a large bee in a tiny ant hole, entertainment for hours. Hmm, good example of how exciting it is in this 2 road town. So here is my plea like every week: please send me text messages and mail to keep me sane!! I really appreciate all you that have texted me, send emails, birthday e-cards, and sent snail mail... It means so much. Thank you all!!

September 6

I am in Mbarara now at the Internet café. I have just completed a 3hr hike through the hills. It was beautiful and hot. Went with Pippa and others she knows here. On the way back to the car we stopped a boy with pineapple and had him carve some up for us since we had all run out of water. I have never tasted anything so good!! It’s so nice to have more people to get to know. I am enjoying my trips to Mbarara.

September 7

Saturday night’s party was really nice. The best part was before the party Brenda, Sonali and I spent a couple hours preparing food. Brenda and I made 3 pizzas and a Guacamole dip while Sonali made beans and a rice salad. Then we all painted our toes and did our hair, got dressed etc. I was great to have some girl fun. The party was being thrown by Jeremy who borrowed Dave and Sonali’s place because it is so big. So around 8 all his guests started arriving. Everyone brought food and the huge table was covered. There were 3 Cubans invited and they had some great dishes. Then lots of German medical students, Ugandans Jeremy worked with over the year in the Psych department, 1 American, and lots of Brits. And of course Jeremy’s girlfriend Vokka from Finland. Parties here are really a multicultural event. I got to meet everyone but spent most of my time with Pippa and Sonali. I decided to call it a night around 10:30 and went back to Pippa’s to sleep, I didn’t want to push being up late because I am still trying to catch up on my sleep.

Forgot the best part!! After the long walk I got to have a bath at Pippa’s with hot water! It felt so good. Unfortunately Pippa’s fuse box blew that afternoon and I could not have a second bath on Sunday before heading home.

I got up pretty early on Sunday to get going. I thought that the stores would open at 8. Unfortunately not much opened till 9am. The bakery was open but the SimSim bread had not yet been baked. Sunday morning I thing I should have earned a lot of patience points.
Welcome to Uganda, Hurry up and Wait.
At 9 I found a shopping market that I could buy airtime for my cell and things such as tomato paste. Ah, forgot to tell you, on Saturday I went to an MTN shop and asked for 10000ush airtime. I was given a card and left. Later that night when I ran out of airtime I got out the card and went to top up. But I discovered I had been sold a Phone Card to use in a pay phone rather than airtime for my cell. I won’t make that mistake again. I figured well I’ll just use the card to call Craig, so Sunday morning I tried and got error reading card. So much for that 10000! And that’s a lot of money for me. Anyway, got my airtime, then the market was open so I went and bough veggies. I was to get Eggplant, Garlic, and Zucchini. They didn’t have zucchini but I got the others. Again I was duped. When I got home on Sunday I found I had in fact purchased baby onions and not garlic. My mistake, won’t happen again. Then I went back to the bakery. This time I am told that the SimSim may not be ready till mid-day. So I got some Samosa and a different loaf of bread which has turned out to be quite good. Since it was 9:30 I decided to wait for the Internet Café to open at 10am. So I sat down out front much to the amusement of the BodaBoda drivers (motorbikes for hire). 10am came and went. At 10:30 when I was just about to give up the people arrived and let me in. 15min later I gave up on the Internet, it wasn’t working, they didn’t know when it would. Ok, enough, time to go home. So I walk down the road to the round about and find a Matatu going my way. And wow! They let me sit in the front! I had a whole big seat to myself, and a seatbelt! So I am happy and comfy. For the next hour they drive around town trying to round up enough business. For the amount of driving they could have made an extra trip and more money to pay for the petrol which is very expensive! Anyway I don’t care, I am comfy and I have a seat!

September 8

Sunday evening did not go so well. Over the weekend Hannington had brought so miniature red and orange peppers over, they were really pretty to look at, he said they were sweet and not hot. We decided to put 4 little orange ones in our dinner and I scooped out all the seeds to see if I could grow some more in our garden. Shortly after my eye itched and I rubbed it. It then burned more, so of course rubbed it more. 2 min later my whole face was on fire, tears streaming down my face. Pete got me some salt water to rinse my eyes, but the burning wouldn’t stop. There were 4 ice cubes, I used those they melted fast, then I say with a bucket of water splashing my face for the next 15min. I cry a lot because of emotions but it has been a long time since I cried because of pain. This was painful my whole face felt scorched. I couldn’t stop with the water any second there wasn’t water on my face it hurt like hell! Jan finally convinced me to stop with the water and try an anti-histamine cream. I braved it and started to feel better shortly. They tested the food and it was fiery hot. Dinner was ruined. I decided it was a Kraft Dinner night. I brought only 2 packages with me so I’ve been saving them for a deserving occasion. Pete and Jan painfully decided to brave the spicy stew, I felt sorry for them, Pete took spoonfuls of sugar between bites! By the time dinner was done my face was ok but the peppers and soaked through my hands and now they were on fire. I decided I could tough it out, wouldn’t last long and headed off to bed. A 10:30 I walked back and woke Pete begging for the anti-histamine for my hands and had to sleep with mucky hands that burned all night long and through most of Monday. Monday morning Hannington came and Jan told him the peppers were very hot. He said no, they are fine and to show her bit into one. She tried to stop him but too late. The poor boy was choking and dieing! He said these are not to be taken! They are dangerous!

Another activity I’ve taken up is a little gardening. I have about a foot wide bed of dirt around my house and in front of J&Ps there is a large patch of earth that has been dug up for a garden. Before I arrived Hannington planted an assortment of things around my house. Plants grow so fast here. They have all multiplied in just the 3 weeks I have been here. I am now pruning them back and working with Hannington to spread them out. Next to my door some discarded tomato seeds have decided to grow into a nice little plant. There are 3 green little cherry tomatoes on it now! In one little patch I planted some basil seeds, but Hannington says they will not sprout because I did not take them out of their shells, we’ll see. For the garden patch I purchased some seeds on Saturday in Mbarara. Jan helped me plant 2 rows of Egg Plant, 1 row Dodo (Spinach), 1 Swiss Chard, ½ basil, and ½ row coriander. In 2 weeks we should see little sprouts appearing.

September 10

Work is going well. I am keeping pretty busy. Or work day begins at 8am, there is a break for tea around 10:30am and lunch from 1-2pm, day ends around 5pm. So far people have been good at showing up for their training so I’ve been averaging 4-5hrs a day. The days flyby when this happens. There is almost always training going on. We have 5 computers in the Education Department. 2 in our office, 1 is the server and one for training. 2 in the Secretaries office, one on the network and one laptop. And a final computer in the Accounts office. I’ve had to do up a schedule for the 2 computers in our office and a schedule for Pete and I. It’s been fun trying to explain to people that if they want training they need to book a trainer and a computer! This afternoon I have been working on my work plan. I’ve come up with 165 days of work that needs to be done before I leave. Good thing I have Pete to help me because I’d have to work every weekend to get that done on my own! In all people have signed up for 53hrs of training per week. But things happen. This afternoon there is a funeral so all training is cancelled and I am the only one in the office. One of our drivers 6 month old daughter has died suddenly. It’s really sad. I may still have one more training session today from 5-6 someone has booked me. Somehow I also need to wash my hair tonight and it’s my night to cook dinner! Then tomorrow morning David has me booked for training from 7-8am, ouch. If he doesn’t show up I will be really ticked. He had the nerve to tell me, “you must call me at 6:30am to wake me and then I will be there” To which he received a lecture on responsibility and how if I can figure out how to get here on time so can he, and that I am not is babysitter, and adults should be more responsible, and he had better be on time! It’s a wonder anything ever gets done in this country.

That said I really like it here. The only thing missing is Craig. If he was here it would be perfect. I really needed this break from big city life. It is so relaxed here. Not much to stress about other than, is the power high enough to boil water? So long as you don’t let the slow pace and strange methods of doing business get to you. I just keep telling myself that I am only here 6 months and I will train them as much as I can, and set the best possible example of how business should work, but I cannot change their culture. So I really like it. Don’t miss the fast paced city at all. I do miss a little food variety, and not having a fridge. Say, anyone want to mail me some dried soup packets? I’d love to get any kind of food that you just add water to! Anyway life here is just going to get better I figure, once Craig arrives and we can hang out every weekend it’ll be just about perfect!

September 11

It’s been a long day. Started at 7am with David, who did show up, and was quite proud of himself for it. Then much to my amazement Festo, the DIS, actually called to cancel his 8am meeting. Perhaps I am getting through to them? Maybe it’s the 2 beers he owes me for the previous lesson’s he’s missed. I did earn another beer today; the count is now at 5. Dan, Dan, The Army Man, didn’t show for his 4pm. Just as well, I’m exhausted. I’ve officially scratched 7am off the schedule; I’ll get too burnt out if I have any more early mornings. I did 4 ½ hrs today training and another hour working on my work plan and assorted other computer tasks.

Highlight of today, I got mail!! A newsletter from VSO and a second letter from my sister. Tonight I think I will do some letter writing myself cause it just feels so good to get mail!

This Saturday J&P and I are going to head down to Kabale. We are going for cheese!! I’ve decided to buy as much as they will let me keep in the fridge. Cheese just makes everything better. Since I wasn’t planning to go to Mbarara this weekend I am glad we are going to Kabale because it means I can do email. I think the plan is to go to the lake, Camp Overland it’s called. Go for a walk there. This way I can see where it is and what it’s like for when Craig and I plan camping trips there. Then if we have the energy on Sunday we are going to go for a walk in the hills around Ntungamo.

It’s been really hot the last few days. I love it hot. It stays cool in the office and at home. Maybe it’s cause there are no lights? Did I mention that? There are never lights on in the office. Long dark halls, offices are lit by the windows. In the afternoons there is a thunderstorm. Haven’t had the power out in a while which has been nice. It only actually rains from 5-20 minutes. Keeps everything growing.

September 13

I am in Kabaale now. Had lunch here, really good place then went out to the lake. Lake Bunyoni to Overland Camp. Wow! I didn’t want to leave and can’t wait to go back with Craig. It’s just like being n a lake in BC. Great spots for camping and reasonable priced cabins. Next week in ICT training I am going to try to organise a trip and get everyone to come out for the weekend of Oct 9th. The 9th is Independence day so it is a long weekend. I’ll be checking email lots in the next 3 weeks so write me emails and watch for posts!

September 15

On Sunday I got into a good book in the morning and put my feet up. So nice! I haven't really had a chance to relax like that since I arrived. In the afternoon the temp cooled a little so Pete and I decided to go hike the hills. I think we went for about 2 hours. Walked from our houses up the hills behind. Lots of children making a fuss following us and hollering at us. Saw the cutest baby goat who was frolicking and bucking and playing. Saw 2 kid goats head butting fighting for rule of the bolder they were on. I really like goats. They are everywhere here and they are just so cute! I suggested getting a pet goat to help with the grass cutting but P&J informed me they eat pretty much everything BUT grass. So I have been working on them for a baby cow or a pig. Mind you it's not the smartest idea because I plan to travel most weekends and would have to find someone to care for it. I really want a pet though.

September 18

I traveled to Kampala yesterday. It only took 4hrs, nice trip. I finished the book I was reading, Smoke Jumper and Nicholas Evans novel that I was really enjoying. (he wrote the Horse Whisperer) This one was also a tough love romance that to my surprise ended up in Uganda. It was cool to read about things I am now very familiar with like the LRA (Lords Resistance Army), matoke (the staple food here, looks like a green banana but tastes like squash), marabo stork (huge ugly bird always eating garbage) etc.

Speaking of food our garden is growing fast! Lots of rows with little sprouts. It’s nice to see results so soon. The dodo (spinach) looks like it is growing the fastest.

Last night I stayed at the International Hotel with all the volunteers who arrived in June. They are here for their ICT 2 training (In-Country Training). It’s going on all day today. The hotel was really nice by Ugandan standards. We all met at VSO at 5pm then walked up to the hotel. Had dinner and swapped stories till 11pm. Love getting together with other volunteers and discussing our experiences. This morning I got to have a hot shower! So wonderful! I am staying there again tonight so one more shower tomorrow. Friday morning 5am I am headed to the airport to meet Craig and all the other volunteers who are just arriving. We will be staying at Leuza (loo-way-za) a camp for 2 weeks doing ICT 1. It kicks off Saturday with a tour of Kampala and BBQ at the VSO office. The training consists of language training in the mornings and cultural training in the afternoons. I am looking forward to the Runningcoli language training because I only know two phrases right now: Agandi: How are you & Ori Empunu: You are a pig. I had Hannington teach me the later because I’ve gotten tired of the men propositioning me. He also taught me “Your Mother is a Goat”, but it’s too hard to say and I like “You Are a Pig” better.

September 22

Pictures

Well training has begun. Today we are at the VSO office for our training. It's mostly a review of all the intro stuff I got the few days I spent here when I arrived. So I've been told I am free to do my own thing today if I want. I think I'll skip the 1st session at least, it's the VSO Program Direction for Uganda and I have heard it twice already. I am glad to get some time to myself to write and just a little quiet. The last few days have been really busy.

Thursday afternoon I did my Christmas shopping at one of the craft markets in Kampala. I want to send everything off when I get back to Ntungamo to ensure it arrives in time. Stuff seems to be taking a while to travel home. Thursday evening I swam in the pool and spent time with the ICT 2 crowd again. Friday morning I woke at 3am and couldn’t sleep, too excited! At 4:30am I messaged Anne to let her know I was ready to go when she is. She texted back that she would have to get dressed then would come get me. We arrived at the airport at 5:30 but the flight was delayed till 6:50. The volunteers didn’t actually come out till after 8am. It was a long, long wait. But finally they arrived and I got to see Craig. We rode with Anne to Lweza Training and Conference Center where we are staying. The rest of Friday was free time so we napped a bit then went for a walk. It is fun getting to share everything with Craig. It’s amazing how easily I have gotten used to being here and it’s neat to see him in awe of things that don’t even phase me and it reminds me how special and cool it is to be living in Africa. In the afternoon we sat at a little place nearby that sells beer and caught up on the happenings at home and life here. There was a really cute puppy and it’s not so cute mom playing near by, the puppy was so playful and curious. He would hide in the grass and pounce on this really annoyed chicken! Dinner was at 7pm and we were in bed by 7:30. Slept through till 6am solid.

Saturday we had a security and tourism briefing in the morning. And in the afternoon headed into Kampala for the city tour. Craig, Cory, James and I went with Brenda. We wandered around from 2 till 4:30pm then met back with the group at Slow Boat, a sports bar of sorts, on Kampala road. Then we went to the Internet café for just a quick check and caught a matatu to the VSO office for the BBQ. There were quite a few people there, all volunteers are invited and many people came from up country. A few employers came too. A VSO couple that works here in Kampala invited a friend Michelle who works at Hospice. She is so nice and happy and friendly. She was able to tell Craig lots about the place and invited us to come visit on Sunday.

Sunday Pete and Jan came around 10am and we met with 3 people who will be working for the district office in Masindi in a similar role we have. It was good to brief and talk about support and plans and systems. Then they picked up Sarah’s luggage and headed back to Ntungamo.

After lunch Craig and I headed to Kampala with Steve, Rajan, Anna and Matt. It was about a 10min walk to Entebbe road and 20min matatu ride to the taxi park. Then we made plans to meet Anna and Matt later and Craig and I headed off to find his placement, Hospice Africa. It was another 20min Matatu ride south of town. We found it no problem. Michelle was there and gave us a tour. There are 5 buildings in the compound. They are really nice and well kept compared to my office. We also got to see the guesthouse that they have, this is where Craig’s supposed to be living according to the description he was sent. There are 8 small rooms a dining area and living room. The rooms have a small bed, desk, and wardrobe. Really tight quarters. Michelle says she lives in a house rented by Hospice just 5min walk away. It has 3 bedrooms and he would be happy if Craig would live with her. She is going to look into it today and call me. Sounds like this would work out well. After the tour she offered us her computer. They have free high speed Internet and a good number of computers. I am so jealous!

Then we went across the road to the American Club. It doesn’t look like much from the outside but there is a hidden paradise inside!! You can’t get in without a member so Michelle took us gave us a little tour then left. We went straight for the pool, it was so refreshing. Things are really expensive there compared to elsewhere. A beer normally 1400 was 2200 and I spotted burgers and had to have one = 10000 that’s a full days pay! Anna and Matt came by to join us and we hung out there till 6pm. Craig has decided he is going to get a membership for sure.

September 24

Ran out of time to write on Monday so I will continue here…
When we left the American Club on Sunday we headed back to the taxi park in Kampala and got on a matatu at Entebbe stage. We didn’t tell them we wanted off at Lweza till we were well on our way and that turned out to be a mistake. They didn’t want to stop and went passed the road up the Lweza. Luckily I spotted it and we got them to stop. When we got off her wanted 1500 rather than the 800 we know it cost. Probably because he wanted us to pay the price all the way to Entebbe. I gave him 800 exact said no I am not going to pay more, especially since we were going to have to walk 15min back to where we had wanted to get off! He argued with us but we held our ground and walked away.

Monday morning we headed out to the VSO office and spent the day there getting various training, most I had already received when I arrived so I skipped out a bit to use the Internet. Monday evening most of us went down to the Vic View Motel just below Lweza for a few beers and chatting. It’s fun getting to know everyone. The puppy was there again so I took some pictures. Oh, on Saturday I got back my 1st 2 rolls of film, fun to show everyone where I live. Now that Craig is here I will be able to start uploading pictures for you to see. Hopefully by the end of this week I’ll have some up of the stuff from around Lweza.

Tuesday and today we received First Aid and Language training. I am finding both a little frustrating. The First Aid I will avoid using for sure and with 7 doctors in the class they’ve been pointing out a lot of errors in the training. The language I really want to learn but the way it is presented they are teaching greetings with grammar, but they make you say something over and over till you get it, but won’t tell you what it means! This afternoon was a little better than the 1st 2 sessions so hopefully things will improve.

We finished at 4pm and Craig played some pingpong and volleyball while I went on a photo mission. I found hawks, herons, flowers, trees, bamboo and to top it all off a photogenic family of monkeys to follow around. I had fun with them, took 25 pictures in about 45min of following them around. They were eating from mango trees that are not yet ripe. The little ones are curious and came closer to me to investigate.

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September 29

Wow I have been busy and haven't been able to write much. Life at Lweza has been good. Last week was mostly language and First Aid training, this week will be more language and some other cultural items.

On Friday I got to spend 40min at the market and bought a few more clothes. I got a linen shirt and pants and a sun dress. Then we went to Oxfam for a volleyball competition. VSO was the reining champion but this time Oxfam took away the trophy. After volleyball we walked down the road to an Ethiopian restaurant and then a few more drinks on the patio of a bar. Made it back to Lweza late and had to make a lot of noise to attract the guard to make sure we didn’t get attacked by the dogs. He didn’t have the key to they gate so we had to climb it, over 10ft I think. I have a skinned elbow and a cut on my leg from that adventure.

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On Saturday they arranged a trip for us to the Source of the Nile river. It begins at the edge of Lake Victoria and flows up to the Mediterranean Sea. The river is really wide at the source because of the damn they have built which is the only source of electricity for all of Uganda. Past the dam the river is smaller but still impressive with lots of rapids, class 5 and 6, what a way to break myself into river rafting! We are planning a trip sometime soon.

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After visiting and source and the rapids they took us to the Jinja Nile resort for a really nice lunch and swim. I wasn’t feeling well so didn’t do much damage to the lunch but cooling off in the pool really helped me feel better. I have picked up some sort of stomach bug. The likely source is that I got lazy and a few times used tap water to brush my teeth rather than bottled water. It’s easy to get comfortable with being here and forget where you are and that you need to be cautious. Saturday night everyone went out into Kampala but I stayed in. I worked on all the pictures we’ve been taking and now they are online so check them out!

Sunday Craig and I headed into Kampala. We were going to go to Entebbe to check out the islands but it was raining with no signs of stopping so Kampala seemed a more attractive option. We went to the Internet Café “Click” to upload the pictures then headed to Bancafe for good coffee and grilled ham and cheese sandwiches. Then we walked down to Garden City sort of a modern shopping center mostly to check it out and Craig picked up a few items. Then we decided to try and find a pool since the sun had come out. We tried the Nile International 1st but contrary to the Lonely Planet book it does not have a pool. Then the Sheraton but they wanted 250000uSh and it wasn’t near as nice as the Jinja had been. Finally the Grand Imperial slightly more reasonable at 10000uSh but tiny and no sunshine. So we decided to cool off at the Slowboat and watch some soccer. Turned out other VSO’s were there and soon there was a large group of us. Liz and Pete bought grilled flying ants in the market and encouraged us to try them. I couldn’t bring myself to but Craig tried much to my surprise. He is such a picky eater back home but here he has been trying everything, I’m impressed! Everyone left to head back for dinner and we decided to got find an Italian restaurant. We walked a long way only to discover it no longer exists. So we settled for burgers at the Hotel Equitoria which turned out to be good and there was a fun local music band playing. Then we headed home. We’d walked for a good 2 hrs around town so it was no problem falling asleep as soon as we were home.

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October 2003

October 6

I know, I know, I have been falling behind in my writing. The days at Lweza were all the same and there wasn’t much to write about so I spent my time working on the pictures. I was really glad when Lweza was over, 2 weeks was way too long to live in such cramped quarters under a daily schedule.

Friday was the employer workshop so I had the day free and worked more on pictures to upload and did some packing. Craig met with Susan, his employer, and arranged for us to move to Michelle’s house where he will be living. The place is a palace by Uganda standards! We had a really nice weekend staying there. Michelle is so nice and really made us feel at home. Friday night we met up with everyone from ICT for one last night together before everyone headed off to their placements all over the country. It was bitter sweet, as much as we all needed a break from each other we’ve started some really good friendships and it was sad to say goodbye. We will all meet again Nov 7th in Mbarara for the VSO conference.

After staying goodbye to everyone and heading home we started to talk a little about us saying goodbye too. It’s going to be so hard just seeing each other on the weekends. Craig really wanted me to stay in Kampala with him and I really got used to being there and it was so nice that we were sharing everything here together I didn’t want to go back to Ntungamo and do it on my own anymore. But no matter what ideas we came up with it seemed there was no way around us having to live out our placements as they are. We will get to do some work together hopefully though, Craig would like to come work here for a week and we really need his network expertise. And it looks like when I live with him in Kampala in February I may be able to work for Hospice too. I am really glad he came. It is such an amazing experience being here and it’s one of those things that you want to share with someone because no matter how much I write to you at home about my experiences you will never really understand what it’s like here.

Saturday we headed into town to do some shopping. It was a hot day and Craig’s stomach wasn’t feeling well so we really took it slow. Went to Ichumi Supermarket at Garden City to do most of the shopping. It’s pretty much like the shopping centres at home. All of Garden City is just like home, very modern and expensive shops. They have a movie theatre there that was playing Pirates of the Caribbean so we decided to check it out. Fantastic movie, I highly recommend it. It was really funny. But it turned into an emotional experience. The movie theatre was just like the new big theatres at home. So much so that when it ended and I realised we weren’t in Canada I felt really down. Craig was wondering where he’d parked his car when he realised we weren’t at home and had to walk 30min in the heat and dark to the taxi park and catch a matatu home. It really depressed us both. It’s not that I want to be home, or I miss home at all, just a really weird feeling.

Sunday we took it easy in the morning then headed into town to find the bus park. We went from the taxi park to Shoprite supermarket where they have a Hungry Lion very similar to Kentucky Fried Chicken. On our way we passed some tiny children begging that really saddened us. After lunch we brought them our coleslaw and some change. Provoked a heart felt discussion about when to give and when not. We both agree that we feel better about giving food than money and that little starving children are much more legit than the street people back home.

Finding the bus park and a buss was easy enough. I got on one just heading out so we were on the road within 15min. The bus was much like a coach bus from home, although a little rougher around the edges. The seat was small, 3 in a row on my side of the isle. I was able to put my big pack in the isle. There were overhead bins but they were all full. It was a bumpy ride and I have never travelled so fast in a vehicle. I was not afraid cause I couldn’t really see outside! The trip went really fast and I arrived within about 4hrs. ½ way through 2 guys got on board and sold everyone chipates and sodas. When we slowed in villages for speed bumps people would run up to the windows and try to sell waters, meat on a stick, and samosa. I got a great deal on 8 samosa for 1000 uSh.

Pete picked me in town when I arrived. Home was waiting with 1 postcard from my mom and 3 letters from my sister. There is also a package waiting for me at the post office. I can’t wait to see who it’s from and what it contains. Hopefully some fun stuff since Craig didn’t bring a single thing from the list I sent! Oh well I’m just glad he brought himself, none of the other stuff matters if I get to spend time with him.

Seems he is having a good 1st day at work. They have a tone of work for him to do and have him troubleshooting driver problems already. He said he could be working late. He has to go to a 1/2hr prayer meeting every morning to start the day. He hasn't had to go yet, should be interesting to hear what he thinks of them. Here things are moving at a slower pace. No one is around for training because of meetings and the measles vaccination program they are running. It’s been a quiet day developing training material and tests. This afternoon Jan and I are going to head into town to pick up my parcel and see if my money is at the bank and go to the market since I have no food and it’s my night to cook! Cheese is on the menu this evening. I bought 2kg in Kabale 3 weeks ago and it needs to be eaten so I think I’ll cook veggies and make a cheese sauce to go on top. Yum!

October 8

Dinner was a hit. I cooked (with Jan’s help) spinach, mixed veggies (egg plant, onion, carrot, and tomato), macaroni with Tuna, and a tone of cheese sauce to pour over everything! Yummy! Sarah joined us for dinner but she has decided to eat on her own from here on out rather than share meals with us. The package was from Psyche, THANK YOU! she sent some fun stuff, always great to get anything from home. Last night I missed dinner because I went to get my hair done. It was a painful yet great experience. I walked down to Jude’s Salon near the market in town for my 5pm appointment to have my hair braided. Jude started on me right away. At 10pm I was still there and my head today is not even ½ done! She is working fast and doing a great job it’s just that the braids are small and I have a lot of hair. The painful part is sitting still on the cement floor for 5hrs! Ouch! My back is killing me. I did take a pillow to sit on but it doesn’t help much. The salon is just a small room with 1 chair, but the atmosphere is just like home. Lots of giggling girls and gossip. None of which I understood because they spoke in Runyincoli, ½ the time I am sure they were talking about me! Lots of people came and went all evening. All shocked to find a muzungu sitting on the floor. At one point there were about 10 children pressed against the window outside staring at me. I talked with the girls some sharing my newly learned language skills and we had a great time, they were impressed. It’s really made a different with people when I show I am trying to learn their language, they think it’s great. They taught me to say “how are you children?” to the kids in the window but I couldn’t get it right and everyone howled with laughter. Tonight I am going back at 4pm to continue the process and hopefully meet some more people. Craig is coming down tomorrow so I hope they finish it tonight! I can’t wait to show him around here. Then Friday we are going to go camping at Overland Camp on Lake Bunyoni (Look it up online) Sunday we will say goodbye again and head home.

October 13

Well my hair did not get finished Wednesday night. They worked till 10:30pm and it still was far from done. I also discovered they weren’t actually braiding it, rather they were twisting it! That’s 2 strands rather than 3, and then tying a knot in the end. Tiny little twists. I did want braids and since my hair is so fine they have more than ½ unwound already where as he braids would have lasted longer I think. Oh well, language barrier. 3 more hours Thursday morning and they finished. I won’t ever ever get my hair done like this, or braided again I’ve decided. I think I look like Medusa with worms coming out of my head! But all the time and pain in my back and bum were worth they experience of spending 13hrs with the locals. I really made new friends and enjoyed sharing a little bit of their life.

Craig, who has had bad luck with travel since the day I met him, has proven that if things can go wrong travelling they undoubtedly will at the time he is on the road even in Africa. It took him 9hrs to get here from Kampala, normally a 4-5hr journey! 1st the little buss he took overheated, then in Mbarara they delayed 2&1/2hrs changing tires, back on the road again the window fell out of the buss! Well he finally made it around 4:30pm and I walked down to meet him in town. He was really impressed with how beautiful the country side is here. Really green and mountainous. We walked up to my house and I was showing him around when Jan, Pete, and Sarah came home from the Independence Day ceremonies and invited us to join them at Sky Blue for dinner. We decided to walk and meet them there in an hour.

Dinner was nice and after dinner Craig and I decided to go hunting for a pool table. Jan said there was one about the hair salon so I took Craig down there and introduced him. Upstairs was a sort of hall where there was a pool table, ping pong and a movie playing. The pool table was being used for a tournament but we were called over to the Ping Pong table by the DEO, the District Education Officer, the head man in my department to join him. We each played him then each other. Then he joined us for some drinks. It was entertaining to see him so different outside to office. At pm they turned the hall into a night club, loud music, blue lights, and dancing. Only there were no women! This club appeared to be for me, well turns out most clubs except for in Kampala are. Men dance with Men, it’s the norm, kinda how girls dance together in Canada. We left once the music got going and headed home. On our way out we found 3 little boys outside just given it to the music and I joined them for a cure photo which will be online soon. We road Boda Boda up the hill home, Craig’s 1st motorcycle ride in Uganda.

Friday morning we packed up and went by the office on out way out. I introduced Craig around and gave him a brief tour of our database since he will be start building one soon. That out of the way we caught a Matatu down to Kabale. There was the usual fun fighting over space and price. But overall it was one of the more comfortable rides yet. In town we hit the Internet café so I could do a quick upload then we walked to Bmiri Imbizi (2 goats) for lunch. It is owned by a former VSO and has great food. I had a Mexican pizza with beans that was really yummy and Craig the Carbonara. We could only finish ½ the pizza so when the waitress wasn’t looking I slipped it to 2 little boys in rags who were walking by.

Caught a special taxi to Overland Camp for 10,000. Patrick was the driver and was very friendly. We set up the tent a ways off from the action and spent the afternoon on the dock and in the lake. At lunch in Kabale we met 2 girls from Manchester, Hanna & Jenny, who are teaching at a school in Kabale who were headed to spend the weekend at Overland too. That night we hung out with them at the restaurant and shared stories, they are really nice. Unfortunately the next morning Hanna was really sick and they had to head home. We’ve exchange numbers though and will call them next time we are in town.

Around 11am we rented a dug-out canoe for the day (3000) and headed out on the water. It proved to be a challenge to handle. The big rumour is that these canoes are a test for couples to go out and if they are still together by the time they make it back they are a good match! Well we got on quite well and worked out the system to steer this thing after about 20min. Craig steering in the back and me padding away in the middle. We went out a good ways into the wind, hard work they pulled up on an Island. Walked around a bit then found a grassy spot to hang out for a while. Heading home was easy, the wind, with Craig’s assistance did all the work. We jumped out a swam a bit then coasted home. Decided to go to the place across the inlet for lunch called Crater Bay. The food was fantastic! I had Craw Fish which we watched them haul fresh from the lake. That night the England vs Turkey EURO soccer qualifiers were on so we watched that with a tour group of New Zealanders. Sunday morning we had a swim then packed up and Patrick picked us up at 11:30 to take us to bus in Kabale. This did not work out well. There was a bus waiting but almost empty. Then another arrived but only 1 seat so we opted for the empty. Then they cancelled the trip and there were no more busses going. We’re told if we take a Matatu and make it to Mbarara by 3pm Craig can catch a bus to Kampala there. But just after leaving my in Kampala the Matatu gets a flat tire and Craig doesn’t make it to Mbarara till after 3:30. No more buses. So he takes a Matatu all the way to Kampala and didn’t get home till 10pm. And he wasn’t feeling well, poor guy. He had the best weekend ever but now he’s not sure he wants to attempt this distance again! Oh well we are learning from our travel mistakes and it should get better.

Back to work today. Lots of training. Made dinner last night for everyone and Jan is cooking tonight. Nothing special happening this week, I’m just going to try and get as much training in as possible. This week is the country wide mass measles immunization program so a lot the officers are out in the field and could be hard to get a hold of.

Next week we are going to Masindi to help the volunteers there with their database and training program. Works out well cause I will go up and spend the weekend with Craig then head there on Sunday, coming back through on Tues, spend the night at Craig’s, hopefully Pete and Jan can stay too.

Bunyoni Pictures

October 17th

Arrived safely in Kampala.  It's been a long week.  I got really sick and I am still not feeling better.  What I would have given for NeoCitron!  Last night Jan and Pete introduced me to the Hot Toddy to help me sleep. 1 part honey, 1 part lemon, 1 part whisky, 2 parts hot water.  It was surprisingly good.  Left Ntungamo around 9am and caught a Coaster, that's a smaller bus, up here to Kampala, arrived at Craig's office around 3pm.  Trip took a while but was smooth.  I tried meat on a stick, 1st 1 was really good so I went for a second, not quite as good.  Spending the weekend here then heading to Masindi.  My brain isn't functioning enough yet to write anymore so I am going to work on the pictures from last weekend.

October 23

Masindi trip went really well.  It's an east 3 hrs from Kampala to Masindi. P & J picked me up just after 2 on Sunday and we hit the road.  Once you are out of Kampala the road is incredibly straight.  I had forgotten what a straight road looked like!  The last 40min or so are dirt, but it was in good shape for us.  The dirt road takes you through many ranches and many times we were stopped by large herds of cattle in the road.  I got some good pictures on my 35mm camera of them.  Big horns!  We stayed at the Masindi Hotel which is undergoing a restoration.  The new rooms we were in were really nice and clean.  Hot showers!!!! 

Monday morning we went up to the District offices and worked with Purnima.  We went through the training material Pete and I have developed and the Edu database with her.  Last part of the day had a meeting with the head guy Fransis to arrange a staff meeting the next day encouraging people to sign up for training.  Over all I think our visit was a good help to Purnima.  And it was great for me to get to see another District office.  And of course just to get to visit the volunteers in Masindi and see the northern part of Uganda.  I will definitely have to see Murchison National Park before I leave Uganda.  Although possibly after my VSO stint is complete since it's officially off limits to volunteers due to the British High Commission claiming there is rebel activity and it is unsafe.  Everyone else says it's fine, and I've talked to lots of people who have gone.  They saw giraffes, lions, chimps, elephants and more.  Probably the only place where I can see giraffes unless I fly to the north east tip of Uganda.

Tuesday afternoon we traveled back to Kampala and I got dropped at Craig's.  I've decided to stick around the rest of the week here in Kampala and head home Sunday.  Was thinking about river rafting this weekend here but now we've decided to wait and go with a group in November.  So just taking it easy, took holiday time.  Catching up on computer stuff and relaxing by the pool.

October 24

Had a nice relaxing day yesterday.  Spent the afternoon by the pool and worked out.  Nice to get some exercise, my muscles hurt today after 2 days weights!  Last night we met up with a bunch of other VSOs who live in Kampala to see a play at the National Theater.  It was called "Can't Pay, Won't Pay", I'd describe it as  British comedy of errors, but set in Italy.  It was quite funny and I enjoyed it.  It wasn't what we were expecting.  Having been invited along with no info on what we were going to see we expected something cultural.  Craig joked after that we are learning more about British culture here in Uganda than about the Ugandan culture!  Don't worry, we are getting a lot of Ugandan, living in it fully.  But I do know more about Brits now than ever before.

Internet at Craig's office is down today.  Server is fried and don't know when it will be back up again so I don't know when I'll get to post this or send the emails I have just written.  After lunch I am headed back to the pool with my book.  This evening the Kampala VSO cluster is having a meeting.  Sounds like just getting everyone together for dinner and a chance for anyone to speak up if there are any problems.  I'm invited along, it will be good to see what happens in these cluster meetings.  At home in Ntungamo we could say we have a "cluster meeting" every night over dinner! 

Probably won't have Internet access again till Nov 1 weekend.  We're planning a safari at Lake Mburo and hopefully I'll be able to stop in Mbarara for a quick email check on the way home on Sunday.  The following weekend Nov 7th, is the annual VSO conference.  It is in Mbarara this year.  Nice that we don't have to travel too far, but at the same time it would have been nice to be treated to somewhere new.

October 28

Friday on our way into town for dinner Craig had his watch stolen.  A reminder to us that we shouldn’t be too relaxed and should always be keeping an eye out for danger and protecting ourselves.  Craig, myself, and Anna were sitting in the back seat of the matatu.  They stopped to let passengers out and Craig had his elbow resting in the window.  Out of the corner of my eye I saw his arm jerk and said to him, “Did someone just grab your arm?”, calmly he said, “no, my watch”.  It happened in 2 seconds.  We have heard they slice them off with knives or razor blades but we are not sure if it was cut or just ripped off.  Anyway that was it for Craig’s watch and we never even saw who did it.

Saturday we spent the day by the pool with mat and Anna then Juan and Raj came around 5pm to join us.  After Raj arrived we al headed up to the house for dinner.  I made pasta with cheese sauce and veggies on the side for those who like to avoid them.  After dinner our guests headed back to town and Craig and I called it an early night and fell asleep watching Finding Nemo on the laptop.

Sunday morning we went for a walk to explore the road past Craig’s house.  It was a pretty area with a really nice view off over the hills.  After the walk I packed and headed off to find a bus home.  Waited 2 hrs on the bus before leaving, but it was a nice ride home.  Started reading a book about 2 guys to cycle across the world (Australia, Africa, South America) in a year for an Africa Charity.  It’s really good and I recommend it: “Discovery Road”.  Makes you think about what we are doing in life, what it all means, do we sit at a desk and try to get more and more? Is that living?  Or is there more to living?  Out here in Africa I feel like I am really living.  Everyday I feel very alive.  Sure it’s a mix here of surviving life under 3^rd world conditions and then sitting by a pool in luxury, seems such a contrast.  But I feel like I am getting more out of life that I did when I was just going to work everyday in Vancouver.  Sometimes I wonder if I’ll ever manage a 9-5 “normal” life again?  I already have a short attention span for doing anything too long.  So what next?

Anyhow, Settled back into Ntungamo life with no power.  Power had been out since Saturday when I arrived Sunday evening.  Monday morning it was still out.  That means to get drinking water I have to get out the paraffin stove. 

The Rat!

Had a little scare in the dim-lit bedroom Monday morning.  On the edge of my laundry basket was a dark shrivelled for strikingly resembling a dead rat.  As my heart started to pound I went and hunted down my flashlight.  Timidly I snuck up on the dead rat ready to run and get Pete to save me if my suspicions were true!  Low and behold I discovered a rouge pair of underwear caught half under the lid of the basket!  Panic subsided and I had to laugh at myself.  Welcome home to Ntungamo.

Work has been tough the last 2 days.  Power outages lasted till noon each morning so far.  Means no computer since they don’t bother firing up the generator.  So what to do with no computers?  Filing!! Much to the dismay of the secretaries who seem to loath filing more than anything else on earth.  Picture me bouncing into their office.  “Hey girls! Powers out who wants to come file with me?!?!?!?  Oh you know you want to!”, no response, glares shot in my direction, “Great! Thank you both, lets go: Hati! Hati! Tugende!” (Now! Now! We go!) About 15min later they drag their buts down to the Accountants room to assist me.  I did so much filing my hands are all cut and bleeding!

Power was back on in the afternoon so I set to work on rebuilding the accountant’s computer.  Well I have to admit I think it’s been over 2yrs since I built a computer.  But, I’ve done it hundreds of times before so here we go… 10min in: Irrecognisable disk error = hard disk can’t be read and is fried.  Ok show no fear to accountant so keeps smiling at me while having heart attack!!!  4 more tries and suddenly the installation continues.  Whew!  Ok system built but won’t recognise the network and Monitor drivers are nowhere to be found.  Give up and go home for the day.  Today try again.  Yup I am computer genius!!  Managed to figure out the network AND somehow find some drivers on another computer on the network and all related files with no disks to be found.  Ok, ok I know for all my computer friends out there this is a piece of cheese to accomplish but for me, not having done this stuff in forever I am feeling pretty darn proud of myself!  All hale hero Tammie!  The accountant is forever grateful (even though I blasted all his music) Opps!  Did I forget to back that up?  Well I have to admit I am evil and did it on purpose.  It was hideous music that always gave me a headache when I was trying to assist him.  I am sure he will have it reinstalled within a week anyway.  Well I am off home to celebrate.  Making Lasagne tonight and beer to celebrate!

November 2003

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