Other volunteers, food, wishlist

Cluster Meeting – fellow volunteers
Last weekend – Oct 19-20 – we attended a cluster meeting of VSO volunteers in our area. Including Danny and I there were 8 of us. The weekend meeting was held in Bushenyi, a small town about 70km from our campus. The hotel, meals and our transportation were paid for by VSO. The weekend was simply brilliant and it was such a boost for us to bond with others in similar situations. We shared stories, advice and beer. Three of the other volunteers arrived at their placements about a week before us.

The colleges and schools have the longest break of the year during the Christmas season – a good time for those in the education sector to take a holiday. We discovered at the meeting that three of the volunteers planned on a trip to Lake Bunyoni, which is where Danny and I planned on as well. The lake is safe for swimming as it is devoid of hippos, crocodiles and the parasites which cause Bilharzia. Canoes, kayaks and mountain bikes are offered for rent. Not confirmed yet but we booked a cottage for 10 days.

Work
Danny has been teaching physics one day per week and the rest of the time he has been fixing, sorting, and upgrading the college computers in the ‘computer lab’. Next week he will begin teaching computer classes and I will be assisting. There are 8 or 9 usable computers, many with 32k RAM – a blast from the distant past!

A teacher’s wife has requested my assistance in learning to use a computer – basic Word, Excel, etc. She works as a secretary and currently uses a typewriter.

We are still trying to find a language teacher. VSO will pay for a private tutor. College admin seems to think picking up words and phrases here and there from staff members in a noisy staff room is sufficient. But we need a good foundation on the rules of the language. I could function well on learning the very basics – hello, how are you, how much does it cost, thank you, good afternoon, may I take your photo, etc. But Danny will need more advanced lessons as he will need to converse in local communities trying to convince parents of the value of school attendance by their children.

The WEATHER here is absolutely brilliant! It seems to hover around the upper 70’s to low 80’s (about 24-27C). Just after a downpour it cools off considerably. Both Danny and I keep anticipating that it will be getting cold soon…..emmm……no. No change. Same all year except that some months are wetter than others.

Most difficult adjustment
By far the hardest part of this culture shock for me is trying to understand the accents. One does tire of asking people to repeat themselves!

TV
We bought a small colour TV on one of our initial shopping sprees but it took quite a while to set up. The outdoor antenna we purchased at the same time was, of course, shoddily constructed. Danny has fixed it and with lots of help we finally have TV, all two of the non-satellite channels. The picture is never perfect, but good enough. There are some English-speaking programmes which include CNN International for an hour several times per day, as well as BBC World News and occasional movies and documentaries.

We brought the set of 5 seasons of DVD's of our favourite programme Still Game, which is a sitcom about some pensioners in Glasgow. At the rate we’ve watched them we’ve already exhausted them and are rewatching.

Pigging out!
Saturdays have become our day to treat ourselves and do our shopping. At the Agip Motel and Restaurant which caters to foreign tourists we get a gorgeous breakfast. An English breakfast costs 11,000sh (just over £3) each and consists of a plate of 5 or 6 fruits, juice, tea or coffee, eggs, bacon, sausage, liver (no thanks), cereal, pancakes. Needless to say we waddle out of the restaurant. The menu is massive and by the time we leave in 2 years we’ll probably have tried most, if not all, they offer.

I had vaguely noticed that in Mbarara there is a dairy factory that makes cheese, yoghurt, milk, etc. So I have finally found some lovely cheddar cheese. At Hot Loaf Bakery they sell only white bread, rolls, cakes, but there is a slightly sweet white bread shaped like a French loaf that, together with the above, makes gorgeous grilled cheese sandwiches!

Another of my food discoveries with which I’m well chuffed is Quaker White Oats – and have had a gorgeously, creamy porridge on several mornings.

Email and Wishlist
Apologies to everyone for being so slow in replying to emails. It’s difficult to keep up with them since internet time is limited but I’ll work on this and plan on a bigger chunk of time on Saturdays. The cost is a whopping 50 shillings/per minute or 3,000 per hour. (85p or $1.70/hour). Ok….not much.

Danny and I are grateful for all the well wishes and positive feedback!

Thanks to the many generous folks who have offered to post us items. Shipping fees from the UK seem to be quite dear and I’m sure it’s even more from the US, but I can easily reimburse anyone via Paypal. Our UK wish list at the moment is:

Maltesers
Galaxy plain chocolate bar
Airwaves gum – black package
Scottish Oat Cakes
Hob Nobs – chocolate or plain (or both!)
Quick-drying bath towels (like those used for camping/backpacking)

PHOTOS

Last week I posted to the blog in the expectation that my photos would be uploaded soon after. Not. Trying again this week.

Locals, transport, language

Locals, transport, language

About a third of a mile down the dirt road from the college is a small village with a handful of shops in mud huts. The shops are all tiny with an inventory to match. One has beer, pop, aspirin, plastic basins, etc. The shop next door offers a few vegetables. Across the narrow road is a seamstress with a pedal-powered sewing machine. The farmer sells goat meat and chops it up using a machete on a blood-stained block of wood after the customer selects the desired section of goat. English is limited. The young female shop clerks giggle when they don’t understand our English. Barefoot children run around wearing torn clothing.

One of the college’s teachers walked with us to the village one afternoon soon after our arrival and when the kids saw us their faces beamed with big smiles and a wee boy about 2 years old ran up to me and hugged my leg! I’m anxious to take photos here but think it wise to wait until they know us better and I’m able to ask ‘may I take your photo’ in their language. It’s not necessary to ask children for permission but always ask adults.

Transportation
Boda boda – motorbike taxis which are unsafe. Drivers rarely wear helmets and passengers are not provided with one. VSO instructs volunteers never to use one but many still do. Motorbikes get chased to the side of the roads by passing cars and trucks. There must be hundreds of them in Mbarara, and they are common transport all over Uganda.

Taxis – 15 seater mini-buses with cheap fares. There is no schedule—they depart the main taxi station when they are full.

Special taxi – same as a taxi in the US or UK. Much higher fare than the above modes, of course.

Buses – long distance transportation somewhat like Greyhound

We have quickly learned how to be pedestrians here. Never, never assume a car or motorbike will slow down or stop if you walk in front of them. Pedestrians must be extremely cautious and run.

Rain!
This is one of the rainy seasons but most of the time there is lovely sunshine. However, without warning the sky will suddenly blacken, open up and the rain comes down in buckets. Sprinkles seem to be a rarity.

The language in southwest Uganda is Runyankole. VSO provides language training at the in-country-training, but since we came on our own outside the group we were not provided with any. We have to find a teacher on our own and VSO will pay the fees. So far we know two words – agandi which means ‘hello, how are you’ and wongi which means ‘excuse me, I didn’t understand what you said’.

Everyone on campus speaks English and classes are taught in English. Primary school classes are taught solely in English after primary 3. In markets where we bargain there can be limited English – merchants always know ‘how are you’ ‘fine’ ‘how much’ and amounts of money.

I guess we’ll get used to being the centre of attention when we walk down the street. Although we are often spoken to politely or asked ‘how are you’, and 99 times out of 100 will get a friendly reply when we ask ‘how are you’, I can now empathize with the female volunteer who stated on her blog that she’d love to feel anonymous just for a day.

It’s depressingly unfortunate that our internet time is going to be limited. The internet is slow but at the internet café we use it’s not as slow as I expected. Uploading photos is time-consuming and high quality photos will probably be impossible to load. A webcam is out of the question so it’s packed away for the duration, unless there is a miracle. Neighbouring Kenya seems to be currently improving with a faster connection.

We listen to the BBC World Service on the short wave radio we bought in Michigan. It uses rechargeable batteries or can be cranked up to recharge the batteries that were included. Very handy. I brought loads of rechargeable batteries and two chargers.

Electricity
Pre-departure research informed us that electricity would be roughly every other day. This is apparently the case for large cities, like the capitol of Kampala. Fortunately that is not true for our area. We’ve been told that when electricity goes out it is generally on weekends. During our 2 weeks here it went out on a Sunday evening and came back on Monday morning. It was then out for a short time on Tuesday. It also went out for about 10 minutes a few nights ago. All the college buildings have back-up generators, but not the housing.

Mosquitoes
There are tons of mozzies here! I’ve had a lot of bites already because somehow the wee bast***s are getting into the house after dusk. The anopheles mosquito that can carry malaria only comes out late at night, at which time we are in bed with the mozzie net tucked snugly around us. Our research on malaria shows us that those who take Mefloquine (the one we take) rarely get malaria. Thus far we’ve been taking the weekly pills for about 6 weeks with few side effects—no horrific nightmares like we were expecting but my dreams are more vivid and Danny feels a bit queasy for a few hours after taking his dose.

Sunday mass
Since we are part of the college community we attend the services and gatherings we are invited to. There are quite a few Catholics on campus, including our next-door neighbour who is one of two Deputy Principals and in charge of Outreach Services—one of Danny’s main areas of responsibility. We attended mass one Sunday with the DP and his wife as several of the college students were getting confirmed. The Bishop performed the mass that lasted nearly 3 hours. It was conducted in a wee bit of Latin, but the rest was in the local language, Runyankole. Needless to say, but I’ll say it anyway, the mass was unlike any I’ve experienced…..happy clappy, lots of singing, some dancing, lots of speeches, applauding. We were introduced to an overflowing church in English. After mass there was non-stop hand shaking and many parishioners wanted to meet us.

As ‘special guests’ we were invited to attend lunch with the Bishop and about a dozen others. I was absolutely famished by this time as it was nearly 2pm! Lunch was delicious—rice, matoke, 2 items of food whose identity I’m still clueless about, spinach, beans, beef in a gravy, cabbage, chapatti, a fruit I couldn’t identify.

The Bishop informed us that the Archbishop for Western Uganda was educated at St. Andrew’s in Scotland. It’s kind of cute how everyone says Scot-land as 2 words.

You may be wondering about volunteering opportunities for me. It appears that due to our location it will need to be on-campus. I offered to tutor anyone who required help using computers—students or staff. The computer room for the college has ancient computers, old versions of software, a miniscule amount of memory on them….in other words, they are complete rubbish. There is only one secretary for the entire college and she uses a decent desktop and laptop. I have offered her my help in figuring out some of her software questions, and it appears I’ve volunteered myself to help her when she has a large amount of typing. Ah well…looks like at least half of each day will be housework anyway. Laundry takes ages, the floors are always needing swept, the house must be kept very clean to keep the critters to a minimum, water is always being boiled for something – to filter for drinking water, to do any washing, cleaning, laundry, dishes, etc.

A cleaning woman costs about 25,000sh/month for full-time. This is a pittance! Unfortunately, it doesn’t look likely that I can get someone to only do laundry—it’s all or none. And I don’t want a full-time maid. We’ve been told that since the cleaners earn so little that they generally supplement their income by helping themselves to their employers’ belongings. No thanks.

New photos have been uploaded to my Flickr album (see sidebar for link).

A personal note: Eugene in Dunoon—please send us your email address via the email posted in the sidebar of this blog. We fondly remember the Scottish-themed bon voyage meal at your home.

Lots of odds and ends....

To be honest, on the taxi trip from the airport to the capitol the sight of endless dismal, dreary, run-down buildings made me seriously question our decision to come here. Danny found it interesting, but I felt a bit panicky. This reaction concerned me because according to the 'culture shock timeline' this isn't supposed to happen for a few weeks. However, I'm now glad we are here and feel certain we will settle in well. We are slowly making our house quite cozy by cleaning, painting, furnishing. We are gradually accepting the fact that nothing will work as it should and that neatly packaged items needing assembly will be covered in dirt when the box is opened. This certainly makes one realize just how completely spoiled we are. The scenery surrounding us is beautiful. The open markets with all the gorgeous fruits and bright-coloured clothing are attractive as well. The best part though is the beautiful smiles on the kids with big, brown eyes who seem so thrilled to see us. Many photos are on my agenda!

Money
During our induction at VSO just after our arrival we were given in excess of 1.5 million shillings for pay advance and to get us started furnishing our house. Yes, million. However, since the exchange rate is currently 3500 sh per UK pound and 1800 per US dollar…. Some random prices—280,000 for a small, beat-up, used, refrigerator; 3,000 for a box of tissues; 500-1,000 for a fresh pineapple; 1,000 for a newspaper, 110,000 for an electric kettle….you get the idea. Most people can ill afford a computer. The cost is comparable to UK and US prices, but the wages are pennies compared to western countries. A primary school teacher makes about 200,000 a month. A low-priced laptop would cost a teacher about 5 or 6 months pay. School children all wear uniforms and most don't wear shoes.

We are slowly becoming used to the currency. Danny continues to convert shillings to pounds in order to judge a price. All the zeros in prices are difficult to deal with but with all the shopping we've done so far I'm slowly getting a grasp of prices.

Food:
Matoke: a type of banana that tastes nothing like sweet bananas--the type westerners consume. It’s mashed then cooked in the skin and has a texture similar to potatoes. It’s a bit bland but very good with gravy. A huge variety of fruits and vegetables that are very low-priced, even when we pay the muzungu (non-Africans) price. A huge bunch of sweet bananas (the type westerners eat) are only 500 sh (about 14p or 28 cents). Pineapples are so sweet and juicy—it’s like having dessert!

Staff and volunteers are offered sweet bananas and tea in the mornings, a milky, sweet tea at 11, a hot lunch, and plain tea in late afternoon. Lunch consists of the same fare every day with small variations—rice, matoke, beans in a gravy, boiled cabbage, potatoes, occasional boiled beef. We were told that volunteers often gain weight while here. Hmm…could be the very high carb diet! This government-owned college is sorely strapped for cash, so these dishes are obviously filling and cheap. Danny and I enjoy the food although it will quickly get monotonous. The students are fed the same fare but only rarely are they fed meat. There is no shortage of overweight Ugandan women, and I haven't noticed many overweight men.

Amazingly I found good peanut butter in a small supermarket in Mbarara. The label says 'American-style' and my reaction was 'yea, right', but it's true. Other western foods can be purchased here as well. I plan to make a list for future volunteers.

A day out
Friday was a public holiday so Danny and I spent the day in Mbarara on our own without having to consider the staff driver and other passengers. We walked the 2 miles down the dirt track to the main road and boarded what is called a taxi -- a 15 passenger minibus-- a common sight on the roads as the fare is dirt cheap.

We spent over an hour in the internet cafe, then walked to the Agip Motel and Restaurant which is featured in tourist books and is recommended for European meals. We had a lovely lunch of beef stir fry for Danny and a club sandwich made with chicken and lots of bacon for me. I had begun fantasizing about the bacon rolls I'd recently become addicted to so this was a real treat. We plan to have a meal at this restaurant every weekend. As this is a popular spot for safari tours and other tourists to stop, there were mostly muzungus (whites) eating there. After being the centre of attention everywhere we went and rarely seeing another white person, it felt quite strange to suddenly be surrounded by white people! An odd culture shock.

After some shopping we made our way to the main taxi area and boarded what we thought was the taxi back to the college. Miscommunication resulted in a 30 minute trip becoming a 2.5 hour trip as we were in the wrong minibus. We learned a hard lesson but now we know. Can't wait for Danny to get his motorbike!

Education in Uganda
Primary school education is now free in Uganda. However, only about 50% of children attend. Many cannot afford the uniforms and most of the ones than can don't even have shoes. So kids in bright purple or pink uniforms walked barefoot in the evenings is a common sight. The school day in primary school is from 8-5, but primary (grades) 1-3 attends until 1. Secondary schools charge tuition so attendance is even less.

Safety
We feel safe quite safe on the campus. Any thefts are opportunitistic--leaving valuables within reach of an open window and villagers' children are tempted. Rarely there have been break-ins when something highly desirable is seen through a window. There is a guard at the entrance to the campus, but local villagers work in the kitchens, gardens, and clean for some staff and their children wander the campus as well. The children have very little in the way of material goods so are especially curious to see the belongings of muzungus (us). Our house was surrounded by them on our first weekend here as whites are such a rarity and they were extremely curious about us. Many like to shake our hands just so they can touch us.

Unless we go out in the dark we are quite safe in this area and in the towns.

The college
There are 400 students at any time and there are no fees for tuition, food, housing. Books are not issued as neither the college nor the students can afford them. Most of the books in the library were donated and many are old US textbooks. Science labs are sorely lacking in equipment. The college vehicles all display USAID on the side. Although the students range in age from 18-22, most look to be about 15 or 16 to us. There is a shortage of teachers and the college cannot afford to hire more due to recent severe cutbacks in funding. We can easily foretell our favourite charity on our return home.

Danny's duties include the outreach programme which entails assisting primary teachers/headteachers, giving workshops, finding ways to get children to attend school, and teaching occasional physics classes to the college students. He has taught a couple of classes already and was impressed by how well-educated the students are.

A few odds and ends....
In the town of Mbarara we've seen numerous herons and pelicans---incredible since we are many hundreds of kilometres from the sea. We inquired of staff why this occurred and were informed that these birds don't eat fish, they eat rubbish.

It is rare to see anyone wearing eyeglasses. Is it because they all have perfect eyesight or because they can't afford eye exams and glasses?

Very rarely have we seen anyone smoking, and as I recall, it's only been whites.

I am sorely missing my washing machine. One of the major causes of my whining is doing laundry by hand with 2 plastic basins. Yes, the image of me using a washboard to do laundry sent some friends and family into hysterics. As I was squatting down on our back porch one morning washing clothes I was thinking how a photo of this would give many a good laugh. At that moment Danny walked past and commented 'I should get a photo of this!' Will add more pics later but these are schoolchildren walking past our college, and the other is our wee house.

Our new abode....

Except for a brief time at VSO's main office on our arrival in Kampala, we have had no internet access. We have no transportion of our own just yet as Danny won't receive his motorbike until he has completed a week of training on Ugandan roads. This will take place immediately prior to a week of training in Ugandan culture/history at a centre near Kampala in about a month.

The trip to our residence seemed quadruple the actual distance of 180 miles. It took 5 hours by a pickup truck which contained our 4 massive suitcases, 2 backbacks, a queen-sized hard foam mattress, a 2-burner gas cooker, water filter and tank, medical kit, mozzie net, etc. I can honestly say I have never seen driving done in the fashion it is done here! The normally patient, laid-back, take-your-time Ugandans become extremely impatient when on the road. I am positively gobsmacked that I haven't yet witnessed a road accident. Money for maintaining roads is obviously unimportant. The paved roads are loaded with gigantic potholes and the dirt roads are nothing but potholes.

Danny and I have been warmly welcomed at our new home. Ugandans are polite, courteous, helpful, always shake your hand in greeting and ask how you are. Children always wave at us and adults will wave back if we initiate a greeting. I almost feel like a celebrity as we get attention wherever we go, but have never felt threatened by it--we're a curiosity. Unlike South Africa and other countries, Uganda has no history of black-white racism, no chip on their shoulders against whites. So feelings here are quite different. The staff here is simply fantastic. The principle who is head of the college is quite a character--funny, interesting, entertaining and personable. At the weekly assembly 2 days after our arrival on campus, we had our chance to be formally introduced to the student body. Right. Me. On the stage in front of over 400 people. Not my cuppa tea! The anticipation was much worse than the event. Due to the sea of smiling, welcoming faces all vying for our attention, it wasn't a horrific experience for me. Danny, of course, was in his element!

The college:
Bishop Stuart Primary Teachers' College teaches 400 students aged 18-22 to be primary school teachers. More in a later post.

The campus...
....is located about 10 miles from the moderate-sized town of Mbarara. The main road to town is paved but the campus is 3km off the main road on a dirt track. The ride down this road is much like being put into a washing machine! Beautiful rolling hills surround the campus as well as occasional tiny villages of mainly muc houses, and endless fields of matoke, a staple of the Ugandan diet. The students live in dorms and most of the staff live on campus in semi-detached houses.

Our house....
.....has 2 bedrooms, kitchen, living room, shower room, and toilet room. Yes, we have a flushing toilet!! We have no hot water tank so any hot water must be boiled in the electric kettle. You may deduce from this this means cold showers! Och, ya get used to it. Keep in mind it doesn't get cold here. All the rooms in the house are tiny but the fact that is has 2 bedrooms means we have one room just for clothes, storage and ironing. The house was furnished with a table and 2 chairs. That's it. Therefore....

Shopping:
Thus far we have made 3 trips into town with staff drivers to buy everything to furnish a house. Since we are muzungus (foreigners) we are obviously wealthy. Most shops don't have pricetags-except supermarkets-so one must bargain. We are, of course, overcharged on everything.

Unlike Kampala, the capitol, there are no shopping malls in Mbarara. There are endless small shops and w/o a guide it would be difficult to know where to go. Our purchases have included: upholstered chairs, end tables, small fridge, small tv, dishes, pots, pans, towels, sheets, pillows, iron and ironing board (yes, everything must be ironed), etc etc etc....

The items for sale here are of extremely poor quality. Very few can afford high quality goods. As far as I can tell most items are made in China, but they are items that would never be sold to the US or UK. The poorest quality are sold to African countries. During all the cleaning, frustrations of shopping, sorting, assembling poorly-made items there could be heard tortured moans of 'my kingdom for Ikea!'.

Misc....
We must sleep under a mozzie net. All water used for drinking and cooking must be boiled and filtered. Clothes are washed by hand!

The climate is gorgeous....in the 70's and 80's all the time.

Our postal address:
c/o
Bishop Stuart Primary Teachers' College
PO 152
Mbarara
Uganda

We both have mobile phones and coverage is good. I have sent and received text messages to the UK w/o trouble. Since the US system charges for incoming texts, I haven't sent any. If anyone would like our mobile numbers, just email me.

The campus has no phone lines. Everyone uses mobiles. I believe the phone lines were laid but are too expensive to connect. We hope to make it to an internet cafe weekly by going in with staff drivers. When Danny gets his motorbike we'll be able to go more often, and knowing Danny, he'll find a way to network the campus!

Next visit to internet cafe.....electricity, food, currency, BBC World Service.....

We're here! First impressions...

Arrived safely around 8am Monday morning. The flight left about 1.5 hours late. Entebbe Airport is tiny!

If I had to describe Ugandans in one word I would say FRIENDLY.

Not a lot of time to post, so briefly....Monday we were quite exhausted and took a long nap. The hotel VSO put us in was very pleasant, clean, had good food - I had goat stew last night! - and the staff go out of their way to help you.

Tuesday we spent all day at the VSO office getting our own personalized induction since we are 'out of cycle'.

Today we are being taken shopping for a mattress and a cooker and this afternoon we have a 4 hour trip to our new home near Mbarara. We'll be travelling by a VSO vehicle.

Next post.....the currency, the roads, the drivers.....