"One who sees something good must narrate it"
Ugandan proverb
To say I'm going into the unknown would be an understatement. I have harped on to friends, family, strangers and anyone within reach about Uganda, Africa and travelling there almost to the point of border-line obsession. Across the U.S.A I devoted plenty of reading time to books (Kindle) on this diverse continent, but lets face it, it is one thing to read about Africa and one thing to experience it, the diversity, the unique cultures that vary so dramatically from country to country and most importantly engaging with the people around you and the organizations determined to lift this developing continent. Uganda is part of this African family, a part of the uniqueness and diversity I elude to and for six weeks (I honestly wish it had been twelve now!) I will be experiencing something completely new and different from Morocco in 2009 and 2010. Winston Churchill branded Uganda "The Pearl of Africa" and where I am based currently in Jinja overlooking the River Nile it is fair to say he was not far off in the slightest in his description.
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| South-western Uganda: Bwindi Region, Kanungu |
Following an easy bag pick-up, a surprising security scan
which prompted a minor delay getting through the airport joining Volunteer
Uganda (VU) was close as seen by the red polo-top disappearing outside the
airport. Clearly security in Uganda had been tightened in the last few weeks in
the wake of al-Shabaab’s terrorist attack in Nairobi last month. Uganda, whose
troops are based in Somalia have been the target of al-Shabaab prior to these
events. It was interesting though to see a proper AK-47 for the first time. I
quickly rendezvoused with Sam, a member of the VU team and we were soon joined
by Claire, Dee, and Ollie who had experienced extensive delays in Entebbe
airport security.
After exchanging dollars for Ugandan shillings we made our
way (in the classic VU van) to Entebbe backpackers (the nearby hostel) where we
met Kerry and Stuart who had arrived from Singapore the day before after some
extensive travelling (3-4 months) across Asia including Cambodia, Thailand and
Vietnam. A day of chilling was the order of the day in Entebbe in which we
settled down nicely at the nearby Victoria Hotel where the group would get to
know each other over a few beers and later some chicken and chips fresh of the
markets stands at lunch time, after a few backflips of the diving board at the
pool. Before that the group was joined by Joseph (from Australia and based at
Melbourne University) who had been travelling since June across Western and
Eastern Europe. He had left his group to join VU to help out in Central Africa.
It was a diverse group of individuals with different aims in life but committed
to the same purpose for the following six weeks in Uganda and the ages ranging
between 18 and 23. Some of us are fresh out of school, postgraduates who have
just left University, people taking time out of normal working life for a
different experience in Africa, or travellers on their gap year or simply
trying to find some inspiration from an experience such as VU. It was quite the
variety of both different and similar experiences to which we could all bond
over. So far it seems for courses at university we have an odd mixture of
history, international relations and psychology!
After a few snoozes during the day (the flights taking their
toll), those who had so far arrived went out for a top meal at a nice
restaurant just down the road from the hostel. We were joined by team leader
Graham who along with Sam were very content
with a glass of wine after a hectic few days of rounding up volunteers
and dropping of those who were leaving after six weeks. A grilled steak cooked
rare, with roast potatoes and covered in mushroom sauce and two local beers
(The Nile Special) for about six pounds, the great deals for food out here are
staggering to say the least. Seventy-five to one pound for a bear (3000-4000
shillings) meant that the Ugandans were not fond of those attempting to break
the fifty thousand shilling notes.
Following a long rest in a bed covered by mosquito nets, a
first experience for many of us we arose to meet Katrina (another Australian
who had arrived at a painful 3 a.m), Aaron, Marianne and Robin who had arrived
at a similar time to us the previous morning. Robyn has already been to a few
countries in Africa including Tunisia, South Africa, and Ethiopia her parents
taking her along as missionaries for the latter teaching and the other for
mainly the tourist destinations. Aaron and Marianne had, like Kerry and Stuart,
been travelling across Asia for a fair few months. Both graduates from
University (Aaron from Liverpool and Marianne from Sheffield) they had similar
aims of going into teaching. Most of the group seem to have the intention to go
into primary or secondary education whether it be via Teach First, the PGCE or
another institution, some of whom, such as Sam were going to re-join on return.
What can I say about Uganda? Well currently I am sitting at
a bar overlooking the River Nile gleaming in the late afternoon sunshine
sipping the Nile Special while the others are rafting along it so I can simply say it
is quite a remarkable place, a stunning natural beauty blessed with vibrant, enthusiastic
people. The country is obviously very green, with lush, tropical vegetation and
the temperature ranges from a cool 15 C at night to highs of 28-29 C in the
afternoons that is expected during the dry season, and it is not as humid as I
expected (yet). Obviously there is plenty of wildlife and the best seen so far
is the couple of giant matabu stalks nesting in the tree by the roadside in
Entebbe. Intimidating and apparently scavengers, that is all I know about these
particular birds, I’m a poor man’s David Attenborough at best. Although in the
coming weeks I’m sure I’ll get a chance to try my best at my interpretations of
mother nature, the lake at Biyonyi is meant to be second to none for bird
watching in the next couple of weeks.
Following an official welcome to Volunteer Uganda by Graham
on the bus to Jinja, the group started to get a sense of what Ugandan society
was like (obviously in Kanungu we will start to really under understand rural Ugandan
culture). Transport is similar to the hectic and chaotic traffic in the streets
of Marrakech in Morocco that I remember a few years back packed with lorries
and buses churning up dust and honking suicidal cyclists carrying excessive
loads of bananas on their backwheels and motorbikes keen to give people lifts
to get to their destination quickly I didn't realise foolishly that we were
travelling to Jinja through Kampala, but the capital of Uganda which we will see
more of on Saturday is busy and packed by traffic, but Mish Mash promises to be
quite a good night out in Kampala. It is like any city; packed, densely
populated and never seems to stop still for a moment. Anyone who stops here
faces being squished by some crazy motorcyclist, especially the ones trying to
offer you the newspaper through the window at the crossroads!
The marked difference I have noticed so far is the gap
between rich and poor. Modernized building are often positioned next to
building built by improvisations, markets selling an array of bright clothing,
massive piles of fruit and meat or are sites on which plenty of bricks are made
by local workers left to dry in the sunshine. The shanty towns are made with
impressive improvisation with wood, scrap metal and whatever the locals can get
their hands on. I did not kid myself
though, the poverty at times was eye opening and does seem to contextualize first world problems and your own problems, rendering them ridiculous in the
face of people, often desperately, trying to make ends meet.
A vibrant, young population Uganda has been ravaged by the
AIDs epidemic in the past, the cases in 1990 a continent high at twenty two per
cent and the prevalence among the adult population at one point in Kampala
being registered at twenty-seven per cent, the highest in Africa at the time. Uganda
nevertheless has tried to tackle the problem of AIDs and HIV more effectively
and with more purpose than many other African countries, some of whom ignore
the problem or deny it. This has at times compounded deep-seated economic and
political problems past and present in Uganda since the reign of Idi Amin. Now
a democratic dictatorship under the tricky customer Museveni Uganda is an
interesting political climate to work under, but is an atypical example of
African big-men holding on to political power and dominating the political
landscape of the country (Museveni since 1987!). Nevertheless, the people seem
very friendly, and are a young and lovely population to work with. They wear an
array of clothing, traditional colourful dresses worn by many of the women,
smart school uniforms and formal clothing worn by many of the men. The children
wave and smiled at us as the bus past by and just make getting to Kanungu more
exciting for us all, bar of course the horrific ten to twelve hour drive to
south-west Uganda.
Jinja where we are based now provided us with a special
treat; bungee jumping and rafting at ‘Adrift’ which overlooks the River Nile
which is magnanimous in its size and breadth across Africa and the main source
of hydro-electric power for Uganda. Though I did not partake in the rafting I
heard it was unmissable experience, a combination of grade five rapids, and
extreme exposure to the sunshine and a top of the range experience in Uganda
and the world for rafting. It uniqueness is that is grade five and extremely
safe for even novices because of the size of the Nile leaving lots of room for
the paddlers being flipped out of the boat on occasion. Bar me, Claire, Dee,
Joseph and Robin everyone took part while we chilled by the pool.
I had the chance to bungee jump along with Dee, Ollie,
Stuart, Sam and Graham from a bird’s eye view of the Nile extending into the
distance in the afternoon sun. Not bad at all! Personally I chose to bungee
because I have some messed up need for an adrenaline fix. Doing things that
terrify me provide me with exhilaration on completion and considering I loathed
heights doing bungee was a personal objective to exorcise some particular
demons. Doing it was a must and I would have regretted not doing it. Originally
Ollie was to go first but the heaviest person had to go first and at
eighty-three kilograms that person would be me. This was only communicated to
me at the top when turning back was not an option. A decent crowd though, good
encouragement from the group and the instructors (who would push me if I didn’t
jump) and the precise instruction not to look down helped me achieve it though
and some serious mental control not to brick it and bottle it. Free-falling was
epic, didn’t say anything after I jumped until I bounced up a second time, realized I was bun-geeing and screamed ‘Holy Shit!’. It was a great experience one
that I will remember well for a very long time and the extent to which me and
Ollie had burnt our shoulders as seen in the snapshots. Dee made some decent
money off of jumping despite her prolonged stand the edge and Stuart managed a
ninja style jump whilst Ollie did it in a composed and professional way.
The teams bonding activities have been followed swiftly by a
great meal of Spaghetti Bolognese, beer and a few shots in a kayak hanging upside
down in the bar/restaurant. Kampala tomorrow and then on to Kanungu where our
intensive teacher training course will begin, no warm showers and most importantly
meeting the rest of the team. On the basis of the first few days this is going
to an epic trip.
Matt Williams
