Sugarbabes

# re: Uganda experience...@ Tuesday, August 22, 2006 11:36 AM

I'm pushed for time right now as I had set this period aside to keep you all abreast.  I have a funeral/wake gathering to attend this evening as news has just reached me on a friend's relative that lost the battle for life in a road traffic accident.

I will try and make it back here tomorrow.  Though for now, I am just fresh out of the village.  I tell you people, living in the village is definitely better in comparison to being in kampala!  I actually smelt the aroma of the countryside - and no - it's not the cow dung or watever, but flowers!!  I also got to see beautiful breeds of birds so small you could almost be excused to think they were insects!  I even got to pick corn from the fields and oh - a goat and chickens were slaughtered for my honour - isn't that cool! well not for the goat and chickens  but still...

The road leading to our village residence is marram and by the time i got there, I resembled the nomadic guys in northern kenya!  No make-up is required for this journey i tell you - the red soil is free as a base.  Anyway enough of this for now...

till next time..

# re: Uganda experience...@ Wednesday, September 06, 2006 5:49 PM

Hello people!!! I am back to the "western culture" and the blogs from my diary are to follow tomorrow...

I am recovering from another shock - after spending over 10hrs in travel delays etc, I find myself missing my luggage! Oh the joys of travelling with Kenya airways - someone played a trick on me when my itinerary was altered so that we fly part of the way with this airline.  They should change their logo from "The pride of Africa" to the professional flight robbers!  It was bad enough that these guys decided to take my perfume from out of my handbag claiming it was not allowed in hand luggage (something I find rather intriguing esp as it was an african airline bound to Amsterdam!!!) they then manage to loose our checked-in luggage that after being screwed about, we arrive too tired to even muster any defiant protest! This is something new to happen to me and I tell you it is driving me insane.  But I am so knackered that I can hardly keep my eyes open.  My niece decided to welcome me back with something sharp to oil my veins though I suspect it is to keep me here to blog.

Butterfly - sista I am so sorry we never made it last night, things just got out of hand with all persons that I was trying to meet up with to bid farewell.  Hoepfully I will be back sooner next time and we meet up properly.

g'dnight for now...

# re: Uganda experience...@ Friday, September 08, 2006 5:34 AM

Ok - I'm slowly getting my wind back into the sails.  My luggage is now safely with me minus a few give and take items that I was silly enough to place in unsecured sections of my suitcases.  Most importantly, I have my main stuff back with me - now I can set about unwrapping all my memories of Ug - dirty clothes and all - hmmmm lovelllly...  It's very hard to get away from daily if not twice (if not more depending on one's activities) daily showers when in Ug.  

Ok now I need to get down to business on pouring out my verbal diarrhoea of what I came across on my sojourn to Ug.  Some of you have asked if not wondered how long I'd been out of Ug prior to this recent visit.  I believe I answered this in part or someone else from the member community did it for me. I was last in Ug in Jan 1990 - very briefly I should say.  Now although back then the developments could not be comparable to what I found, the city was a lot cleaner and fresh looking than on this occassion.  There were fewer people on the streets touting for business too.

To explain my confusion of my first impression on approaching Entebbe at night from the air: so much is reported back from persons travelling back and forth from Ug how the country is developing that the word developing/developed got lost somewhere in the dark when one compared it with the true or factual meaning of all there is to it.  In comparisons to private developments of elite persons within Ug, I was disappointed that this is not nationally reflected.  Here we have a national airport that is not left out of load shedding schedules and the generators supply is pitiful.  Though I am sure all this is being addressed albeit on the surface, as I type, because we have guests arriving for the commonwealth summit. Sad that it always takes external visitors to move our leaders to make a difference in order to impress.  Even then the fat cats manage to syphon off the cream before presenting some pink elephants to the masses.  I wonder how many more hotels are going to be built on the pretext of catering to the visitors when infact the underlying factor is to amass land so as to create a legal backdrop?

Talking of building these hotels - would it not be fantastic if Sudhir with all his accumulated wealth (dubiously!)were to upgrade the pityful shacks that house the ugandan police force.  I wonder how many of us would find living in squalor as that seen on Naguru Hill - people I dare any of you that can to pay a personal visit to these "camp-like" sites of where our national police force lives in shared accommodation.  BTW, this is not shared accommodation as single rooms for single people in a shared house!  This is more like a curtain separating 2-3 families in a small tin hut.  So next time you are stopped by a Ug police fella on foot on a dubious charge, if you have the cash, just pay the woman/man - she/he really needs it! I am not talking about the fancy management police staff at the top in their own ventilated offices that will cater to our whims on personal recommendation - these fellas have it made and chances are very high aren't aware let alone concerned about those colleagues at the bottom of the ladder.  So those of you that post that you've been given wonderful treatment by so/so in office, spare a thought for those many that have felt the reality of what really takes place at the bottom end.  I had a very good experience with some police on foot I have to say to the point that I even managed to get directions from one without being asked to pay for the information. A feat which left amazement on some of my travel companions.

Walking through the city - yes I did people, I wasn't brave enough to use those boda-boda in the city as I valued not having an experience at Mulago let alone returning with all limbs intact and functioning.  I wanted however to experience life in the eyes of the local person on ground and this I did.  Pictures of what I saw will shortly follow - my brother is helping me download them.  

My travels spanned from the downtown areas of the city (Owino market, Kikubo, Kisenyi) to the uptown areas and the differences are very brutal.  Here one trully appreciates the word "development" in every sense.  The mayor is doing something about cleaning the city, it's just so hard to fully comprehend what that is.  Why the city cleaners opt to sweep profusely when commuters are on their way to work in the mornings left me bewildered - would it not be more viable to do this at night after businesses closed?  Or why the public are still profusely being encouraged to shop in those black buveras (plastic bags) beggars disbelief in the context of the damage these are causing to the fertility of land if not dangers to the livestock.  The old tradition of using paperbags is an obsolete practice whereupon even the purchasing of drinks is poured into plastic disposable bags as opposed to bottles that can be recycled.  One positive action by the policing force I observed was that taken against those traders in town selling perishable food stuff like bananas without providing somewhere for their prospective clients to deposit their peel/waste.  Small but a start in the right direction...if you sell, provide a depository for the wrappings of your sale.

The other puzzle is the infragrant digging up of roads to leave piles of red soil everywhere amidst a trailing traffic of human pedestrians cutting through it.  I guess loadshedding means that work at nighttime is on hold for the city roads.  These road construction companies are so caught up operating on daylight, that they will only move when the sun is up.

The city is full of people, seething from everywhere competing for space where there is none, all going somewhere yet nowhere!  It would appear all nations of the world have come to converge in Kla.  Soon we won't need to travel far to attend united nations conferences - just hold it in Kla and save the costs!  Plus you don't spend much on security, local security is adequate since nearly everyone more or less knows where to display their mobile/handbag.  

Aside from the aforementioned: manholes, boda-bodas, cars, cyclists and fellow pedestrians, especially those in down town areas who may happen to be carrying heavy loads on their heads, your expertise at negotiating balance soon takes to fruition as one travelling on foot. Qsheeba - I am too short to avoid stilletos, but I soon found myself a heel-altering place which built up a strong relationship with me. This and the foot massages salon I visited made it all the worth!

The other problem as a pedestrian I met was the offensive odours from dumpsite and some bad drainage areas - but in all, I think this is not as bad as one would initially be led to believe. Then again, I drew the line at visiting some notorious areas such as Bwaise where when mothernature has opened her flood gates, you get to see a lot more than is pleasing to the eye flooding dwellings.  Just why those in demographic planning continue to have barren minds is something that still leaves room for a debate that is incosquential!  Town planning in Kla is certain of one main thing: they've taken a vow of eradicating most things green off the map - trees being at the forefront of this.  Soon the hilly areas of city will be barren shores akeen to the sahara dessert sand dunes.  Houses have been built alright - beautiful ones at that - but boy have the roads suffered the consequences of this "development".  Money gets paid to road contractors - it just doesn't seem to reach the mortar to get the job done so one is left with poor terrain on roads leading in and around the city.  Hence the obsession with four wheel drives for most Ugandans. Travelling in a car around some roads I couldn't help but wonder how many pregnant ladies had been induced into early labour.  And taxi drivers - oh my!!! These guys play russian roullete with passengers lives like no others I've seen. Don't waste your breath getting the law on them, most often they've oiled the hands of those that police the areas they operate through. If you are blessed to travel in one that is not about to conk out, keep your fingers crossed that those in navigation are not under the influence of dubious chemicals.  These cowboys can chose to change direction or alight wherever it takes their fancy depending on the winds blowing.  Another thing about taxi operations - they operate on peak fares - you just don't know when the times for the fare rises start or end.  Secondaly - unless you are lacking human contact and in bad need of it, avoid the seat where the conductor sits - seriously!  Thirdly, wear dark trousers/jeans - those fold up seats or taxi seats in general are not always going to part without leaving a mark on you. Lastly to all of you fellow members that have been out of the country similar to me - check that you have coins to pay your fare - best you offer the lowest fee first i.e, Sch 500// and be asked to top it up than to hand over a high fee note and be jerked about for balance.  These cowboys are excellent at holding on to the balance of fares - even more so when they smell you are green as cabbage leaf.  Many a times did I fall prey to this!  Between the taxis and shopping in local areas - my expenses could be traced to mirror my visits.

Drainage from some apartments/houses/hotels most often is left to empty out on major roads - a case of so long as it empties out of my backyard elsewhere, then all is fair.  Private houses are more fortified than state prisons - in fact I felt at times like I was retreating to a prison each time I returned back to my boardings.

I was very impressed with the water purification plant near Nambole stadium - way to go!  This area part of my early childhood  sure has changed!  I couldn't recognise all that has happened.  But the scourge of development is seeing Namanve depleted of its natural resources - I guess you can't have it all!  I ask though - what kind of population planning is in place for those being recruited to work in these so-called investor driven projects?  Is the local population being involved in these wonderful projects of development? I ask because those with me on my travels couldn't provide the answers chosing to defer to a future date that had no definition.  Rather like when I asked someone why the drainage tunnels on some roads had not been barried off to prevent serious accidents happening - typical answer: it is in the pipeline to be done. In other words: give us 20 more years and we will come up with possible ideas.

Another interesting observation I made relates in part to the load shedding which is the norm in Ug.  Now without sounding flippant, I am concerned that there is a national consesus that function of all industry should be at the mercy of load shedding.  On a lower level of commercialism - bear with me on this analogue: I am in a local area on the outskirts of Kla. I wish to have lunch in a local restaurant so I set out to see amongst the 7 within the locality which one can provide this facility. I start off at 11.45 and visit the first one to be told there is no food yet - it's too early and because of lack of power chances of this changing in the next 1 and half hours are minimal.  I move on to the 2nd one.  Same story. After making the rounds to the 5th one and meeting the same response - by this time it's coming up to 1:30, and I am seriously in need of replenishment of the proper kind as opposed to snacks, I am getting very worried!  The 6th restaurants has power, they only have two dishes, matooke & beef - uhmm... I'm with someone who doesn't eat matooke let alone beef.  It's not polite to just seat across someone you are travelling with and proceed to get your replenishment whilst they just watch!  Besides, I really don't like to be limited to any one diet - it's a restaurant for goodness sake not a bloody school canteen!  By the time I get to the 7th restaurant, I am getting excited.  I spy the name of it and naively assume it will reflect what's on the menu - wrong!  The owner had probably been watching too many aussie programmes perhaps and just picked up something from the dialogue.  They were just in the process of making just two dishes as well - local ones at that and the sauce was one I couldn't eat out of my system refusing to tolerate it.  So almost going to 2pm, we bode a taxi and head into town for something to eat!  I have plenty on the eateries in Kla -more will follow soon...

I leave my local area pondering as to whatever happened to "sigiri".  Surely if a person is in the catering business, other means of cooking food/preparing hot foods have not gone out of the window just because of load shedding?  So even preparing tea and leaving it in flasks or food flasks is something that runs on electricity alone? Heck I've been to one city restaurant quite reknown where we couldn't be given passion juice because they were waiting for glasses to be washed.  Almost half-way through finishing the meal, gasping for some fluids, we felt compelled to change the order to just plain bottled water.  So if you saw me drinking plenty of water, aside from the heat, it was because asking for juice in a glass meant suffering a slow death from thirst.

cherio for now..