Down in the slum, after the rain
A glimpse of life in Namuwongo ‘go down’ along Kampala’s railway track
Marabou Storks along the railway line in Kampala. Photo Achilles Byaruhanga, www.NatureUganda.org
The air is damp and heavy, the air is cool and last week’s fine, dusty marram earth is compacted beneath our feet. Limbs have been torn off the Pawpaw tree the other side of the compound wall and a single giant leaf, over four metres long, has been torn off the Palm tree. It lies there on the grass looking pathetic, no longer the majestic bough waving in the breeze.
It’s rained hard for the last two days. It’s a blessed relief for us all, although Baldrick’s been curled up in a tight ball on the doormat; he lives outside and the cold has got into his bones. He thinks nothing of stretching out in the sun in the heat of the day for hours: my Ugandan dog.
I decide to take advantage of the cool morning to go for a long walk and we take the short route down the path onto the railway line. It’s a sea of mud and empty cavera carrier bags. Water runs freely and collects in greenish grey puddles suffocated with plastic rubbish. The ducks are caked in mud and oil and the giant Marabou Storks peer down at us from atop the rubbish dumps.
I pick my way up and down the smooth marram pathway that winds its way between the makeshift shacks and public latrines. Here, all life happens out in the open, either side of the path: women deep fry cassava in big open woks just a foot from the main path. Children sit on dirty wooden benches next to open charcoal stoves, surrounded by plastic basins of washing-up, giant beaten aluminium pots of beans and converted oil drums brewing god knows what.
A man wants me to buy smoked dried fish.
“Salina ssente” I say – “I don’t have any money” – unwilling to open my bag in an area I don’t know and glad I won’t have to buy these fish that are covered in flies.
Two women hold a large piece of tripe over a bucket, one of them sawing it into two pieces. Muddy ‘Irish’ potatoes spill out of a sack onto the piles of black shiny charcoal.
To see a muzungu down in the slum must be quite unusual and I don’t hear the same number of greetings I get elsewhere. When I do speak, I’m aware many people don’t speak Luganda; many are refugees from northern Uganda or even further afield, South Sudan.
Wherever they’re from, the children still speak as one of course: “muzungu-how-are-you?” comes the chorus.
This is one of many walks that have taken me through the slum. It’s as fascinating as it is grim.
I used to live a stone’s throw away from Namuwongo ‘go down.’ The noise from the shanty town along the railway tracks was a constant backdrop to my life. I miss it. Here’s more about the terrible effects of the heavy rains on life in the slum
I was embarrassed recently to dispose my rubbish in Namuwongo slum.
Can you play the Xylophone?
Uganda’s culture bursts into life when you interact with the people behind a wide range of community tourism experiences: Diary of a Muzungu visits a traditional Banyaruguru hut, learns about beekeeping, and tries her hand at basket-weaving, dancing – and playing the xylophone!
“Community tourism” bundles up a diverse range of activities – and can be great fun! – as a lucky group of us found out on a three-day UCOTA / Pearls of Uganda trip in and around Queen Elizabeth National Park.
Community tourism offers you the chance to find out first-hand what it’s like to farm your land (with the constant threat from hungry elephants) or to farm salt as people have done for 10,000 years on a crater lake (not a job for the squeamish).
After a dance display at Kikorongo, above the Equator adjacent to Queen Elizabeth National Park, I tried my hand at playing the enormous wooden xylophone. Admittedly, I was pretty rubbish!
Like bees around the proverbial pot of honey, we couldn’t wait to dive into the fresh honeycomb at the BBC (Bunyangabu Beekeeping Cooperative) along the road to Kasese. We wolfed down big dessertspoons of it, spitting out the waxy residue “like chewing gum.” The BBC is a training centre for would-be beekeepers. They also process and sell the finished products (honey, candles and Propolis).
Community tourism is a learning experience too. Did you know you can wash your clothes with the flesh of a pawpaw? Or that locally grown flowers can produce red, green, yellow, orange, blue, maroon and brown colour dyes?
At the Foundation for Youth Development Agro-Tour in Kichwamba, the very knowledgeable Benjamin pointed out the Trees of the Gods and the medicinal uses of the various plants and trees, on our walk through the banana plantation.
Did you know that the Neem tree can treat an astounding 135 diseases? (I wish I had one in my compound – they even deter mosquitoes and insects!) Tawny Prinia, Northern Bishop and African Blue Flycatchers were a few of the birds we saw (apparently there are 250 species along Kyambura escarpment).
Midway on our walk, we paused to pay our respects to the God of the Hunters at the cave, as Benjamin talked about hunting rituals and the importance of totems to conservation.
Time was too short to cut herbs and bathe in the river running through the cave below the wonderful Nyanz’ibiri ‘Between Two Lakes’ Community Eco-campsite. But next time! And perhaps then I really will sleep in the beautiful Banyaruguru hut!
To find out more about these and many other fascinating community tourism days out, visit the UCOTA web site or contact the Muzungu for Uganda travel ideas.
Have you visited any community tourism projects? Which ones would you recommend?
Bukasa stand-off, doggy style
Morning walks with Baldrick used to be so fun and easy.
Percy the puppy is now the same size – but with a brain the size of a pea. It’s not just that he’s a puppy, I’m sure he’s a bit dim.
Half kangaroo / half dog, Percy bounces up towards me every time I see him. I love his enthusiasm but his boundless energy wears me out. This nervous little puppy watches my every move, unlike Balders, who would happily let strangers climb over him as they enter the house. He would hardly lift his head.
That’s all changed now of course.
With the appearance of a rival, Baldrick feels the need to assert himself on a regular basis. Top Dog is now a good guard dog too – he’s finally earning his keep! Luckily he has a dignified bark (not like that annoying thing in the compound opposite that barks in the middle of the night, every night).
I can trust Baldrick. I know that if he chases a chicken or a goat, he will stop short of trying to kill it. He does a U-turn right at the last second, with a cheeky look on his face, as the goat or chicken leaps / squawks into the air. With Percy, it’s a different matter; you can tell that ‘mouth on legs’ won’t stop running; the needle-sharp teeth will do their damage. (Lord knows he gets through anything we leave lying around the compound: last week he ate my lovely tyre cover! Last night he chewed a big hole in the brand new dog blanket!)
I have a problem with my hands, so the last thing I want on my relaxing morning walk is to have them pulled out of their sockets by an overexcited puppy straining at the leash.
As we turn a corner close to Lake Victoria, we see a herd of long-horned Ankole cattle slowly walking towards us, accompanied by a motley bunch of yapping dogs, teeth barred. Baldrick is off the lead, jumping and playing. Everybody’s a new friend to this cool dog.
But as the cattle and dogs come closer, I realise there’s no way we’re going to pass the herd without a fight, so I back off. (Caesar Milan would not approve; I’ve given off the wrong message, giving up my space to the approaching dogs) but Percy whines and fusses and yanks hard on the leash. It feel like my fingers are being cut off by the cheesewire-like thread of the nylon leash. (I’ve taken to buying the cheapest leashes I can; Percy’s sliced through four already).
We backtrack a few feet, I call Baldrick over and we stand aside while the herd and pack of four overprotective dogs carry on down the path behind us.
The dogs of Bukasa are out in full force today. There’s another one watching us at the end of a narrow road. I’m not turning back now though. He’s a handsome devil, a Doberman with beautifully shaped ears, erect and alert as he sees us approach. He stakes his claim in the middle of the dirt road.
Two workmen watch us and call out to the dog, beckoning him to go back inside the building site. He doesn’t want to listen but eventually disappears from view.
Me and the boys walk by, Baldrick minding his own business, Percy whining again. As we turn the corner, I hear the tell-tale patter of a dog running up behind us, and three men shouting:
“Kivu!”
“Kivu!”
“Kivu!”
The Doberman pulls up short at the boundary of his territory and I turn to wave the workmen a relieved thank you. Phew!
Dogs have been a big part of my life in Uganda. Here are some of my favourite stories:
- Prizes for my ‘indigenous mix’ Baldrick wins first prize in the ‘dog with the waggiest tail’ competition!
- Early morning sights and sounds a wonderful way to start any day – watching the sunrise over Lake Victoria
- Percy the Rescue Puppy – the first 24 hours also introducing you to my very good friends Simpson and Ronald
A ticking off – ringing birds in Kibale Forest
According to Roussouw, “Kibale Forest harbours the greatest variety and concentration of primates found anywhere in East Africa.”
Well, thumbs up to that. Kibale is where the muzungu saw her first wild Chimpanzee, and the apparently ‘elusive’ Red Colobus monkey (although I’m not sure whether the staff at Kibale Forest Camp would agree, hearing them crash through the forest while they’re serving the guests sundowners).
Incredibly rich in animal life, Kibale is a place of many firsts for me. Even after three years in Uganda working in conservation, Mother Nature’s still been holding back on me: my first wild chimp, my first Red Colobus Monkey, my first Green Mamba! But these were all unexpected bonuses – we’d actually travelled to Kibale to ring birds.
The previous day Julia had instructed the boys to hack a pathway through the high grass at the edge of the forest. Four-metre high bamboo poles were hung with a fine nylon ‘mist net’ barely visible at dusk or dawn, gently ensnaring unsuspecting birds. Off with the anoraks and on with the Ipod – there’s as much technology in 21st-century birding as in any walk of life . (Bird calls are stored on the iPod, which is hung strategically close to the forest to attract the birds). Every few minutes, one of the team would disappear into the Bush to check the net, returning excitedly a few minutes later with their feathered booty in a little cloth bag.
On our feet since dawn, ringing birds is harder than it looks: concentrating on the welfare of the birds, not leaving them in the net for more than 20 minutes, keeping them cool.
No-one had slept much the night before. We’d been woken at two in the morning by a gargantuan face-off between the chimps in the forest and three dogs tearing around the compound – all set off by a hungry elephant! It was the chimps that had woken Mandela. He’d then quickly woken Bahati and off they ran to chase the elephants away from the precious pineapple field.
That morning, expert birder and tour guide Malcolm was very excited at rumours of a White Collared Oliveback – “Ooooh, put it back in the bag,” he said, savouring the moment.
Dawn looked nervous when advised she was about to pull ‘a new bird’ out of the bag. It’s a bit like lucky dip really! Or not so lucky in Dawn’s case: she dipped her hand in – and winced in agony as an enormous beak bit her hand! The Blue Breasted Kingfisher was one of the weekend’s top finds, with the most experienced ringer ‘getting the tick first.’ If there was envy, no-one let on!
Malcolm gave Dawn more warning about the Grosbeak (Thickbilled) Weaver: “Beware Dawn, this one has an 80 pound per square inch peck!” i.e. don’t be fooled by the small beak, it can exert a painfully powerful peck!
“The secret is to get the kids involved” said Richard, encouraging Hope and Amos to hold the birds and help identify them. He was less positive about the Marsh Tchagra: “they bite a lot, like all Shrikes – nasty birds.”
Eager to see the birds in the nets (before anyone else!) – I got lost – twice!
Malcolm waved his finger at me sternly as Nathan and I rejoined the group back in the shade by the house.
“Don’t spend so much time by the nets,” he said. I felt embarrassed. (I didn’t mean to get lost!)
Highlights of the two days’ ringing included a pair of exquisite Grey-headed Negrofinches (now known as Negritas), Green-backed Twinspots, a Little Greenbul (I was relieved to hear the experts struggle to identify birds too!) and a Brown-chested Alethe (a species of forest thrush that can only be caught with an iPod and a mist net); a Green Hylia (a type of warbler), an Olive-bellied Sunbird and a tiny White-ringed Prinia.
You can read a full trip report from the visiting birders on the Teifi Ringing Group’s blog.
It was a real treat for an amateur birder like me to see such wonderful birdlife come out of the forest. Everyone pointed out birds flying overhead and in trees around us: an emerald green Diederick’s Cuckoo, Lesser Striped Swallows, African Grey parrots, a Superb Sunbird; a Black Crowned Tchagra (a shrike) in the long grass.
The Roussouw guide says “watch for flocks of rare and localised White Naped Pigeons in-flight overhead or sunning themselves in treetops in the early morning” and lo and behold, the White Naped Pigeons were in front of us.
Fascinating and fun too, the two days’ information collected is baseline data for a study of the biodiversity of the forest edge. The data’s being shared with NatureUganda, one of the partners in a new East African bird ringing scheme.
- African Blue Flycatcher
- African Grey Parrots
- African Yellow Whiteye (R)
- Black Crowned Tchagra
- Blue Breasted Kingfisher (R)
- Bronze Mannikin
- Bronze Sunbird
- Brown-chested Alethe (R)
- Brown-throated Wattle-eye
- Diederick’s Cuckoo
- Dusky Blue Flycatcher
- Green Crombec (R)
- Green Hylia (R)
- Green Twinspot (R)
- Green-backed Twinspots (R)
- Grey-backed Camaroptera (R)
- Grey-headed Negrofinch (R)
- Grosbeak (Thick-billed) Weaver (R)
- Klaas’s Cuckoo (R)
- Lesser Striped Swallow
- Little Greenbul (R)
- Marsh Tchagra (R)
- Northern Double-collared Sunbird
- Olive-bellied Sunbird (R)
- Pygmy Kingfisher (R)
- Ross’s Turaco
- Slender-billed Weaver (R)
- Snowy-headed Robinchat (R)
- Superb Sunbird
- Vieillot’s Black Weaver
- White-naped Pigeon
- White-collared Oliveback (R)
- White Chinned Prinia (R)
- White-headed Sawwing
- Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird (R)
- Yellow-whiskered Greenbul (R)
NOTE 2021: Since writing this blog, the 40 acres of regenerating farmland have developed into Sunbird Hill, a site for birders, ornithologists, lepidopterists, entomologists, primatologists and tourists who want to be immersed in nature. Sunbird Hill supports the work of In the Shadow of Chimpanzees, a small NGO that is training young people in conservation and developing village tourism along the edge of the National Park.
Kony2012 and what it means for Uganda – the Muzungu’s view
(Joseph) Kony 2012 and what it means for Uganda – the Muzungu’s view
The 64 million views (as of today) of Invisible Children’s videos on YouTube are a marketer’s dream come true.
Isn’t it a goddam shame that it’s always the bad stories that are popular?
And isn’t it a tragedy that Uganda is always in the news for the wrong reasons?
Eh banange!
🙁
The #kony2012 and #makekonyfamous debate is fascinating BUT before I go any further, can I please say loud and clear: Uganda ‘The Pearl of Africa’ is a beautiful, secure and welcoming place with the friendliest people you could hope to meet. I feel safer living here – three years without incident – than I did in London.
The 20 year civil war in Northern Uganda is officially over – tourism is predominantly in the south-west of the country – although the North will take generations to rebuild. Many thousands of people are trying to rebuild their lives. Many won’t manage it; the emotional and physical scars are too deep (especially for children who have been kidnapped, sexually assaulted and forced to become killing machines).
Joseph Kony is evil.
His crimes against humanity are undisputed. But why has he remained at large for so long?
Read Jane Bussmann’s book ‘The worst date ever’ about Joseph Kony and the Lord’s Resistance Army
As comedy-writer-turned-Kony-expert Jane Bussmann argues in the Huffington Post this week there has to be a reason why Uganda’s 40,000 strong army don’t seem to be able to track down him and his rag tag bunch of kid soldiers.
It goes without saying that it’s good this issue is being discussed but let’s not kid ourselves that a video will necessarily lead to anything substantial. Last year I was offered an interview to work with Invisible Children. I turned it down but, to be honest, was impressed with the way they seek to draw in young people who had no awareness of this side of the world.
Joseph Kony 2012 Video: ‘Stop Kony’ Campaign Draws Criticism
Here are a few real things you CAN do:
1. Do read Jane’s superb book: well-researched and hilarious by equal measure (throw in a touch of bonkers!)
The Worst Date Ever: or How It Took a Comedy Writer to Expose Africa’s Secret War
Jane Bussmann – The Worst Date Ever: or How It Took a Comedy Writer to Expose Africa’s Secret War
2. US citizens should read Jane’s article for how to lobby their Senator.
Pssst! I found him! Someone should let the UPDF (Ugandan army know) Did a quick online search just now:
The Muzungu’s travel highlights of 2011 – Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Ethiopia, South Africa, Turkey!
Travel highlights – from across Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, South Africa, Ethiopia and Turkey
If 2011 was busy, 2012 looks set to be busier still! Here are a few of 2011’s highlights for Diary of a Muzungu, Uganda travel blog …
Nairobi to Lake Naivasha Relay – local Maasai watched bemused as 100 Hashers ran through Hell’s Gate National Park
Travel to Kenya
The annual Naivasha Relay (84 km from Nairobi to Lake Naivasha) is one of the highlights of Nairobi Hash House Harriers’ calendar.
40 Ugandan Hashers travelled from Kampala to Kenya for the week-end party (I mean run!) I ran my share of tghe relay- 3 km to be exact – ‘good enough’ as we say in UG.
The weekend started with a 12 hour bus journey: The real ‘boda boda’ experience – travelling sidesaddle into Kenya.
Travel across Rwanda
A full day’s travelling by bus across Uganda, through Kigali, and onto the fabulous Volcanoes National Park (Parc Nationale des Virungas) to stay at Le Bambou Gorilla Village in Kinigi.
The muzungu travelled with her personal physician
Rwanda’s reputation precedes it in many positive ways nowadays.
The smooth tarmac in Kigali made a pleasant change from Uganda’s potholes; the legal obligation to wear a helmet on a boda boda (motorbike taxi) in Kigali came as a bit of a shock after Kampala’s very relaxed attitude to road safety!
A flight to South Africa via Nairobi
TIP: next time you fly, look at the map before you select your seat – choose a window seat, check which side of the plane to sit and have your camera ready. Some of my most memorable travel moments of 2011 have been from on high (and I haven’t even joined the Mile High Club yet!)
- Mount Kilimanjaro through the clouds;
- Traversing the seemingly endless azure blue of Lake Malawi;
- Skirting around the edges of Tanzania’s Ngorongoro Crater;
- Seeing volcanoes emerge over the horizon as we approached Nairobi;
- The shot of Kilimanjaro – en route to Johannesburg – is a favourite. Sigh …
Daybreak at 30,000 feet – Mt. Kilimanjaro in the distance
Johannesburg, South Africa
U2′s ‘Beautiful Day’ will forever remind me of a great ten days in Johannesburg, with a great friend and her beautiful daughter, and something deeper – retracing my political and musical roots:
South Africa – Under a blood red sky with U2
Thank you Holly! For the trip, for the friendship and for being a part of my journey as a Voluntary Service Overseas volunteer.
Ethiopia
Hashing – the ‘drinking club with a running problem’ – led me on a very merry dance (hic!) around Ethiopia for two truly memorable weeks. I can’t stop reliving and writing about Ethiopia, here’s one of my posts:
Africa Hash, Ethiopia – Feeling IRIE in Addis Ababa
Traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremony overlooking Tissisat Falls
A stopover in Istanbul, Turkey
On a trip back home to the UK, I stopped over in Istanbul for a day. Istanbul looks like my kind of place.
A day in … Istanbul got me thinking about how much I’d like to be travelling and writing about travel full-time.
Travel across Uganda
This year, I was excited to take part in the Uganda Wildlife Authority’s new tourism experience: Walking with Mongooses, a really fun and informative day out in Queen Elizabeth National Park. You may have watched the BBC’s ‘Banded Brothers’ TV series, all about these fascinating fellas.
Muzungu with Mongooses at Mweya, Queen Elizabeth National Park
This year has been a year for:
WRITING – articles for The Eye Magazine Rwanda, Uganda’s Business Today magazine and writing and producing Uganda Matters, the annual newsletter for the Uganda Conservation Foundation.
Diary of a Muzungu has been featuring on Lonely Planet since 2009 (PHEW! no wonder I’m knackered!)
Diary of a Muzungu was a Lonely Planet Featured Blogger from 2009 to 2012
CONNECTING – with published authors, Lonely Planet bloggers and the global travel blogosphere. Thanks in particular to Todd Wassel at Todd’s Wanderings, for the beautiful and fantabulous Around the World with 40 Lonely Planet bloggers ebook; Mazarine Treyz of Wildwoman Fundraising for her boundless creativity and energy; Wandering Trader Marcello Arrambide who dropped by Kampala and shared some awesome tips on travel blogging. Writing and blogging can be an introspective way to spend your spare time – but you guys keep me motivated. Thank you so much!
CHANGING CAREERS – I’ve always said that in Uganda, “business is social and social is business” and I like it that way…
After two and a half years as a VSO volunteer for the Uganda Conservation Foundation, it was time to move on and employ a local man to take over my role. I’m so proud to have been part of UCF (work trips to the Bush – safari yeah!)
A big achievement. Launch of the Pan African Conservation Education training manual, Ggaba PTC, Kampala with the Uganda Conservation Foundation team and Voluntary Service Overseas,
Despite the global recession, UCF’s donors continue to support our work with the Uganda Conservation Foundation. The Uganda Wildlife Authority is so pleased with UCF’s work in Queen Elizabeth National Park that UCF is now working with them to tackle poaching and human wildlife conflict in Murchison Falls National Park. (Damn, that’s one trip I missed out on!) As you can see, I still talk about UCF in the present tense and I’ll continue to do as much as I can to promote this fantastic charity.
Life as a VSO volunteer in Uganda has certainly had its ups and downs. It’s been a truly incredible three years so far. I love life in Uganda – but it does sometimes get the better of me:
Shotgun wedding – a surreal and intense day
Here’s a bit more about life as a volunteer in Uganda –
Still counting myself lucky! 2 years on …
So why am I still in Uganda? Here’s one reason – one of my favourite blogs from last year:
Early morning sights and sounds
Happy New Year everyone!
The Muzungu meets Wandering Trader in Kampala
Wandering Trader Marcello Arrambide wandered into Kampala last week.
Marcello is a fellow travel blogger. I saw he was in East Africa and made contact. We swapped e-mails about gorilla trekking in Uganda, what to do in Kampala, and the pros and cons of driving in Kampala. I’d said he could stay for a couple of nights. This seemed like a good idea until he told me his flight was arriving at 2 AM!
I fell asleep on the sofa and woke with a start at 6 AM to realise that he hadn’t called me from the airport for directions. Weird. Checked on the laptop and my first Twitter message of the day was from him saying (to the whole world) “your phone was off!!!”
I was secretly disappointed that Marcello didn’t come and stay with me – in a regular house – and experience what it’s like to live in Kampala these days: power on and off for 12 hours at a time every other day for weeks on end now.
My phone wasn’t off. It turns out someone had input my number incorrectly!
I located Marcello’s hotel and rocked up at 11 o’clock. The receptionist called him and he told me to go up to his room, not something I normally do on a first date (or do I?)
My friend Sheila was a bit disturbed when I’d told her that a random (male) stranger was coming to stay at my house. “It’s okay, he’s a blogger,” I mock reassured her.
Her words were in my thoughts as I knocked on Wandering Trader’s door. What would she think?
“Come in, it’s open,” I heard a man’s voice cry – and there he was, lying in bed.
“Come give me a hug!”
“Er… you’re all right,” I said, keeping my distance.
He patted the end of the bed. “Sit down.”
I sat on the chair.
“Oh God you’re so English!” he said.
So what do you say to that one?
“Welcome to Kampala!”
Still counting myself lucky! 2 years on …
As I stumble home through the craters of Tarmac, alternately blinded by oncoming motorbikes and plunged into darkness, thanks to yet another power cut (who knows how long for this time) I count myself lucky: for the last two and a half years as a volunteer, I’ve essentially worked from home in a quiet, controlled environment. I haven’t had to fight through the dust and the traffic every morning, sit on stuffy public taxis or risk being pulled over by hungry Traffic Police on the way to work. I’ve been able to (mostly) get on with my job (give or take electricity / internet connection / resources!) Eva mops the floor, makes the bed and does the shopping – it’s therefore no surprise I’ve become fat!
I haven’t had to visit patients in the slum whose pathetic makeshift houses flood every time it rains. One medic friend told me how one of his patients (sick with HIV and tuberculosis) had turds floating through his home when he last visited. There’s no such thing as a bed base, just a foam mattress, which absorbs whatever enters into his house. As a visitor, hospitality dictates that you take the seat you are offered.
Need I say more?
The view over my compound wall. Namuwongo ‘go down’ by railway Kampala
One day, I don’t know when, I’ll miss the sounds of human activity from beyond our compound that connects my sometimes isolated life to the real world. The music and the drums, the screams of babies and a hammering of tin mabati roofs can annoy me though. As for the man who slowly pushes a frozen food container along on his bicycle, up and down the railway track, every afternoon to the sound of Greensleeves played on his cheap Chinese speakers; I can’t say I’ll miss him – but I’ll never forget him. He always seems to come at that moment in the afternoon when we’re all feeling lethargic or trying to rework that crucial bit of a funding proposal.
It’s only 8.15 pm but it’s pitch black and I’m exhausted after a late-night working and a few Waragis (local gins).
I’ve been bitten to buggery this evening.
I’m often aware of how easy my life has been here in Kampala. Simon, a VSO doctor, tells us of the clinic he’s trying to develop in Lira, Northern Uganda. You expect to hear about a lack of resources and a lack of facilities. There is no question of them having any medicines – that’s not such a surprise either. But, you would think the hospital might have some stock of sutures (stitches) and surgical gloves. So, if you need a Caesarean section, the deal is this: you go to the hospital, are given a shopping list and you then nip to the shops and buy your sutures, gloves etc. Sometimes people come back an hour or two later with the wrong items – at which point they are sent back to the shops. Needless to say, many babies – and their mothers – simply die.
Last week I gave blood to help a seven-year-old boy who was very sick with Sickle Cell Anaemia. It’s the first time I’ve ever known anything about the person who receives my donation. The urgent plea for donations came from a nurse Diane, another VSO. The urgent request came because the blood bank had said they didn’t have any the right type of blood left. An official letter had been written, e-mails were sent and favours were asked. By the time we arrived at the blood bank, they said they had plenty in stock! I don’t know how I would cope with this kind of bureaucracy and lack of communication on such a crucial issue. We’ve had plenty of setbacks at UCF, but to have to physically run between buildings on different sides of the city, when you have very sick people in your care, I think I would have gone berserk.
On a personal note, however, I was delighted to get through the blood screening straightaway, no longer anaemic (for the first time here in Uganda). The diet of iron tablets and the occasional bit of stringy chicken are obviously working!
Link to my blog ‘Count yourself lucky’ written exactly two years ago.
Percy the Rescue Puppy – the first 24 hours
Within just one day, Percy the rescue puppy has snapped two leads, (something that Baldrick hasn’t ever attempted in two years); he has chewed and destroyed the doormat, eaten several banana leaves and the lower leaves of the avocado tree!
Is it the first time Percy has encountered all these things? He waved his Get Out of Jail Free card yesterday and left confinement at the USPCA in Mbuya. (Or is his behaviour simply that of a little Fokker?) I guess he’s teething and trying out his new teeth.
He’s very happily trotting around the compound after Baldrick, who has been giving him the cold shoulder most of the day.
It was sad to split the two surviving puppies, but I can’t have three dogs. (I told Ronald to keep reminding me of this!) I thought it best to leave the pretty one behind because she’ll have more chance of attracting a new owner.
Percy was immediately submissive and affectionate to me so should be an easy first puppy for me – I hope!
Percy and Ronald Kyobe, great friend and owner A to Z Mobile Dog Training Unit Kampala
Ronald bundled Percy up and put him in the car as we left the USPCA. He didn’t make a sound, although it did take Ronald a few minutes to yank him out from underneath the passenger seat when we got home!
Baldrick inspects the new arrival
The new arrival was wedged under the car seat hiding!
The first thing Ronald did was put Percy on the lead and drag him round to the outside tap for a good shampoo (he did whiff). No sooner was Percy clean and glossy then he lay down in a big puddle of course. I think he enjoyed the warm water, although it must seem very strange to him: the smell of the shampoo and all the different sounds out in the big wide world. I wonder what he thought of the loud Sunday afternoon drumming from the slum by our house?
A nice clean puppy! Don’t you love those white socks?
Percy glugged down his bread and milk in seconds, giving me shifty looks, daring me to take it, racing against the clock. I guess that’s a hangover from life at the USPCA – there were 83 hopeful dogs in there yesterday! They’ve done a fantastic job with him.
Two months ago, Ronald and I delivered Percy and his brother and sister to Dr Alex the USPCA vet. The puppies had severe mange, anaemia, allergy to fleabites and had to be quarantined. One died. They were rolls of skins on bare bones; their transformation is incredible. Unfortunately, there are few facilities or money for neutering animals, hence this situation is very common.
I often look in drainage channels for puppies as my first dog Baldrick was a rescue too. I thought I found one puppy – one closer inspection, there were THREE!
Ronald picks the puppies out of the drainage channel in Namuwongo
Percy and brother – ‘fresh’ (and stinking) from the drainage ditch, where they had been abandoned
Sunday morning, Baldrick seemed off his food. I had to call him over and point his nose into his breakfast.
Percy, on the other hand, has no problem eating! He spent his first night in the warmth of the garage. He squeals and whines a bit if you close the door on him, but soon shuts up.
I tied him up under a tree after breakfast, so he can start getting to use the toilet area. Within minutes I could hear him run round the back of the house. While Paul mended the yellow and black lead, I tied Percy up using the purple one. Just one minute later, I hear the sound of the chain again as little puppy bounds round the back of the house with a second snapped lead!
I just stood staring at him for couple of minutes, I couldn’t believe this tiny puppy had broken free. Incredible – those teeth again. I gave up at that point – well, I rang Dog Trainer Extraordinaire Ronald Kyobe. He suggested a chain and luckily for me, he came round to sort Percy out.
There was incredibly loud squealing and yelping earlier, I ran outside to see Baldrick standing over Percy, leaning on him. Not sure exactly what happened, whether it was just heavy-handed play or amateur dramatics.
Getting the dogs to bond – Baldrick and Percy eat their first meal together
Later this evening, general whining turned into incredible yelping and I steamed outside to see Percy had wrapped himself tightly around the tree (the toilet training post), had one paw stuck between trunk and metal chain, and was half strangled. For a second, I thought he’d choked to death!
I ran out of patience, locked him in the garage and can now hear plaintive howling! I wonder if Paul – in the room right next to the garage – will get any sleep tonight?!
See the full puppy rescue story in pictures (some of the photos are quite shocking).
If you’re looking for a dog trainer in Kampala, I recommend Ronald. He’s highly professional and dogs adore him! Reach him via his A to Z Mobile Dog Training Unit Facebook page.
Last days as a VSO volunteer …
“Watch that binge drinking!” Warned Mum, on our last phone call. The fact is, the socialising is making up for the binge working I’ve been doing recently: trying to tie up my last projects with UCF, recruiting and training my replacement, and looking for a job. I’ve always felt there are lots of opportunities in Uganda, but when I found out freelancing wouldn’t be as easy as I thought ($1500 for a year’s work permit), and I realised in two weeks’ time I may be homeless – as opposed to simply being a penniless volunteer! – I had to pull my finger out and submit a few job applications.
It’s strange to think that I won’t be a VSO volunteer by this time next month. VSO has been my reason for coming here in the first place, and it’s been the link between me and so many people here. It’s been a wrench when many of my VSO friends have gone back home, one of the reasons I threw myself into being Cluster Chair for Kampala volunteers. It seemed like a good way of reconnecting with VSO.
“Dr Rasta” has left his placement at Mulago Hospital and headed off to Mengo, where they call him “the Nigerian Doctor.” He’s neither a rasta nor Nigerian but at least they appreciate him at Mengo. Last week a grateful patient invited him to his home where they killed and cooked a chicken especially in his honour.
I miss him and he’s still in the country.
Damn that Jamaal – his songs always make me cry.
Somebody ill, somebody dead – start of another week
The muzungu lacks #MondayMotivation
I found it hard to get up today. I lost count of the number of times I put the snooze on. I enjoy seeing the sunlight filter through the new curtains I made from the scarves I bought in Ethiopia.
I get up and unbolt the heavy metal at the back of the house, and listen for the tell-tale sound of claws on concrete as Baldrick bounds round to greet me. I walk through the kitchen across the living room to take the padlock off the front gate; it’s like having two dogs – in a flash, Baldrick is at the front of the house too.
Enid is bright and breezy this morning and we compare notes on the electricity situation. Has her compound experienced load shedding (rationing of power apparently because the government owes the supplier Umeme so much money)? We’ve both been fortunate: our fridges still work.
Erik is at university today, doing some research and a text comes through to say Patrick’s at a burial.
Enid in the UCF compound Kampala
Eva meets me at the gate as I’m driving to a meeting. She’s late for work and very apologetic. Both the babies are sick. One has measles and the other has been vomiting. She’ll “do her work” and go home early.
Thus starts another typical Monday morning – somebody ill, somebody dead.
As I drive past the single petrol pump, home to my favourite Luganda teachers, I suddenly remember that I owe them 20,000. Getting credit – and being trusted to return – is one of the many small things that make living in Uganda so enjoyable. These guys are lovely, and delight in teaching me new words. On a good day we only communicate in Luganda. They’ve invited me to share lunch with them more than once, if I happen to be passing at dinner time.
I can’t believe my eyes as I drive along Namuwongo Road and see twenty men and women using brand-new brooms and sweeping piles of dirt from the side of the road. The makeover continues! See photos on a previous blog about how dire the roads have become.
I hoped I’d miss the Monday rush-hour traffic, alas, no. As I turn right into the Industrial Area, we come to a standstill. One lorry, manoeuvring or unloading, can easily cause a 10 minute jam.
I arrive at the shopping centre. I hate these places. I particularly hate the fact that this one is built on reclaimed wetlands (evidenced by the way the paving tiles are uneven and coming loose even before the second part of the shopping centre is open). As I turn off the main road, the group of ‘insecurity’ stop me, checking my glove compartment for a gun. Security’s become lax over the last few months but today – the anniversary of the bombings in Kampala – everyone is on high alert. How things change in a year – read last year’s description of Kampala after the bombings
Sunday night reflections
Sitting here watching my TV in Kampala, the capital city, it’s quite easy to forget that the vast majority of Ugandans are subsistence farmers and have no electricity.
The government has various incentives for improving agricultural production. Industrialisation through technology can mean something as simple as a hand grinder for removing kernels from maize cobs, as demonstrated by the Minister this evening. Up to a staggering 25% of agricultural products are lost before they get to market, mainly as a result of bad storage. 15% of cereals and pulses and up to 25% off roots and tubers are lost. This affects every household – as producer or supplier.
Elsewhere, in northern Uganda the Acholi people are demanding compensation from the supplier erecting electricity pylons for a World Bank funded project, denying the company construction access until they are paid. Others argue that if construction is delayed, the World Bank will think they’re not serious and pull out altogether.
In Kampala, we have connection but we don’t always have power! Last week Umeme announced a load shedding programme. The government hasn’t paid Umeme (a private company) and the consumers are paying the consequences. The government has found X million USD to buy fighter jets, widely believed to have splashed out over half the annual budget on securing the election, and inflation is spiralling, as we all knew it would. The Uganda shilling hit an all-time low last week, only good for a handful of people who are paid in dollars. I fear things are going to get a lot worse before they get better.
Warning – this blog contains snakes!
Entebbe’s Reptiles Village has been on my list of places to visit for ages.
Chameleon, Reptiles Village Entebbe. Close-up of one of the world’s most fascinating creatures!
When I suggested to the team that we all have a day out together at the Reptiles Village in Entebbe, organised by Nature Uganda, we were equally split down the middle: two for, two against. Enid’s words were in fact “No way, I’m not giving up my Saturday to see snakes!”
After the office was repainted, I noticed that she put back the posters of birds, butterflies and mammals – but not the one of the snakes. Patrick is equally averse to snakes – I remember his look of disgust when we walked past the enormous python at UWEC (a.k.a. Entebbe Zoo). To be fair though, last year a cousin of theirs was killed by a notorious Puff Adder out in the bush towards Tanzania; he was dead within a few hours.
It’s run by a Ugandan who is passionate about snakes in particular and reptiles in general. All the animals he rescues are native to Uganda. He rescues reptiles that are in danger of being killed by humans, and tries his best to ‘sensitise’ people (as we seem to be doing with elephants, dogs, birds, you name it)…
The message is generally: “you don’t have to kill it – it’s unlikely to harm you unless provoked and there are measures to deal with elephants, dogs, birds” [complete as appropriate]. Today at Reptiles Village, I couldn’t stop myself telling people off. I was tired, I wasn’t very gentle, I just said “stop doing that.”
Each reptile has a story. The Monitor Lizard only has one claw on its left paw, as a result of the fight he had with the humans who wanted to use his skin to make a drum. The shell of one of the Leopard Tortoises seems to have melted, where it was rescued from a fire. “I hear they are very good for traditional medicine,” one lady said. “Some people eat them,” someone else said.
Monitor Lizard and baby crocs – cute – at this size!
If you turn a tortoise upside down, it will panic and wee itself. If it does this too often it will become dehydrated and eventually die. I didn’t know this myself until last year. I bought a tortoise from some boys down one of the back roads in Muyenga (I shouldn’t have, I realise now). Anyway the tortoise (who didn’t hang around long enough to get a name) tumbled over a step and overturned. I turned him the right way up – and he did the most enormous turd (a sure sign he was scared!)
Being on today’s trip reminds me how much people need to be sensitised. These are not even your average Ugandans; these are people with a proven interest in conservation, and yet they were letting the kids pull leaves off the young saplings and getting too close to the animals. It was a fun and interesting day out but it just reminds me how much work there is to do in conservation in Uganda.
The lady guide was very informative but admitted she won’t hold a snake! We were lucky enough to have a HERPS (herpetology / reptile) specialist, Mathias, on our group. He was a mine of information.
Watching us without moving. An African Rock Python, Reptiles Village, Entebbe
Like a sentry on duty, the first snake we saw was the Forest Cobra, head up and in aggressive mood. Reptiles Village Entebbe
The three metre (?) long African Rock Python is a constrictor. Apparently this is the only snake large enough to consider eating a human but attacks are very rare, although their long teeth can inflict painful wounds. These beasts are often found in caves.
We couldn’t believe our eyes when we saw a small manky-looking puppy curled up asleep in the same cage. “Breakfast,” we asked? Twenty minutes later it had gone, nowhere to be seen! The snake hadn’t moved though so we can’t blame him…
Jackson’s Chameleons at Reptiles Village, Entebbe
Holding the pretty Von Hohnel’s Chameleon was a highlight of the day. Its black tongue is coiled tightly like a spring enabling, it to PING into action and trap insects half a metre away! Its eyes are hilarious, constantly rotating, one looking forward and down while the other looks backwards and up! “How does the brain process all that information?!” Erik asked.
Everyone loved the Twig Snake. It was the thickness of a twig, brown and only a foot long. Amazingly, however, this tiny little snake can give you a nasty death, poisoning you over the course of a week.
Death by other snake bites can be much quicker, especially if you’re in a remote area without access to the anti-venom injections, which is most likely. To put this in perspective though – assuming you’ve had the courage to read this far – only 10% of the snakes in Uganda are venomous. You’d be incredibly unlucky to meet one of that 10% and if you were to get bitten, they don’t necessarily release their poison either. I do love seeing Ugandans interacting positively with reptiles. (There seems to be so much fear around them, even though most are harmless).
Frankly I’ve hardly seen any snakes in my first two and a half years living in Uganda: two dead grey ones in the road and a couple of harmless Grass Snakes in our compound.
I had to wait a year before I saw a decent snake: and there it was stretched across the whole length of the road ahead of us, an enormous black snake (not a Black Mamba, they’re actually grey), on the road to Uganda Wildlife Authority campsite in Ishasha. It was a beauty!
Have you visited Reptiles Village? How do you feel about snakes and chameleons?
