Well, Uganda is wonderful so far. The plane rides took a long time, but we got here eventually, safe and sound. Also, all our luggage (a considerable amount) arrived too, and I got upgraded to business class for no apparent reason, which was greatly appreciated. We arrived at Entebbe airport at about 10:30 in the evening of the 17th. As soon as I got off the plane, I was hit by a wave of heat and humidity. It was almost like someone had pressed a wet, hot cloth over my face. After clearing customs and meeting our team leader, David Moore (David went to Uganda two weeks before us), we piled our suitcases into a couple of trucks and drove to a hotel on the outskirts of Kampala, Uganda’s capital city.
My team-members and I spent the next day exploring Kampala. People often call it a ‘dirty city,’ but I didn’t find it especially so. We also gained a new team member – Grace, a Ugandan woman (mid-twenties). Grace has recently completed a Masters in International Development in the UK and was looking for an internship opportunity, so David asked her to come. I’m quite pleased – she adds an interesting dynamic to our Canadian group and is very helpful in translating and helping us incompetent muzungu (‘white people’ – similar to ‘gringo’ in Latin countries) learn the ropes.
After our day in Kampala, we started the long drive to Mbarara. The trip is supposed to take six hours, but it took much longer because of all the stops we made. Still, I didn’t mind. It was a great way to get a proper look at the countryside. Of course, we had to clear Kampala first. It was very congested, with traffic advancing at a crawl and boda-bodas (little motorcycles that give lifts to people for a price – women ride on these side-saddle, and it’s absolutely amazing that they don’t fall off) weaving through cars and trucks with reckless abandon (and I do mean reckless – it’s one of the most unsafe ways to travel – many people are killed in accidents on these things).
Once we left Kampala, we were able to drive much faster. Most people say that the Ugandan countryside is much nicer than its cities, and I have to agree with them. The first thing I noticed was the difference in colour – in Canada, most of the landscape is made up of greens, blues, purples and such. In Uganda, there are more browns, reds, and yellows, although there is a fair bit of green what with the lush ferns, fertile fields, and palm trees. Also, the dirt roads are red – just like in PEI – which are lovely, although they are very dusty.
Mbarara is slightly cooler than Kampala, I think, and mercifully less humid. It is still hot, though. We have been here a couple of days (we are staying at ‘Canada House,’ a compound that ACTS owns – there are several rooms full of bunk beds for us). Yesterday was a day full of lectures. In the morning, we had a 4-hour language lesson in Runyankore, one of the dialects in Uganda (I think there are about 40 in all; fortunately, many people speak at least some English), which was rather overwhelming. Edson, our teacher, impressed upon us the importance of greetings in Ugandan culture. Over here, if you pass by someone without greeting them and later need their help, they will not talk to you (neglecting to greet someone is very rude). As a result, there are many, many different kinds of greetings (which I have already forgotten), but the one I remember is ‘Agandi’ (‘how are you?’) to which one can reply ‘nimarungi’ (‘I’m fine’). In the afternoon, a Ugandan professor gave a long lecture about Ugandan culture. According to her, community and relationships are everything to Ugandans – people take care of their relatives and neighbours whenever they can so that when they themselves are in need, they will be helped. Anyone who does not assist a relative in need is regarded with disgust.
As for this morning, Melanie and I attempted to do laundry by hand, but Grace informed us we weren’t doing it right and promptly showed us the proper way to do it. I watched and copied her scrubbing and squeezing method. I thought I was getting the hang of it and was about to say so when Grace shook her head and said ‘you’re trying.’ Ah well…
That’s about it for now – it’s been quite an exciting few days. I get the feeling that David is trying to acclimatize us to Uganda before throwing us into our work, which I’m thankful for. As for Ugandan food, I can’t really say much about it yet – Nancy says they’ve been spoiling us this week, but that will change at ‘camp.’ All in all, I really like my team-mates, and am looking forward to starting the actual volunteer work on Monday.
Until next time,
Erica
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