September 2015

Education

Author: Charles September 27, 2015

This is a jackfruit tree. The fruits are huge. They taste good, but it’s very messy and difficult to separate the little juicy globs inside from the rind.

I sit on my covered front porch sometimes during cooling rainstorms. This is my view. Unfinished construction is on both sides of my tri-plex. If I ever meet the owner I will ask him about it. I also throw my laundry and dish washing water out on that little rise you see.

I had a couple of leftover photos from last week shown here.

First a couple of reactions to comments. The treadle sewing machine I showed last week received some attention and sparked some memories of a by-gone era. Second, please don’t sweat about my weight. I am pretty sure I have stabilized at 165. Now that I am cooking for myself, my fear is letting it go back up. I am still trying to restrict after dinner snack intake.

This week I finally visited some farmer groups at their VSLA meetings. I was introduced at each meeting by the ATEFO trainer, and it was announced I would be coming back in a week or two to give a lesson on budgeting.

I met with 7 groups, 5 along the same road on Tuesday. Due to scheduling conflicts with Matthews and the four day Muslim holiday weekend just finishing, for Eid al-Adha, I will speak to only one group next week, this Wednesday.

Lots of Muslims celebrating Eid al-Adha on Thursday, mostly dressed in White.

Lots of Muslims out celebrating Eid al-Adha on Thursday, mostly dressed in White.

I was well-received at these groups, and they seem interested in what I will have to say. I hope I can measure up to their expectations. I gave a similar talk on budgeting to a group of Boda drivers during tech immersion.

My first village meeting was in this mud hut. It had mud floors of course and was built three years ago. Nice and cool in there!

All the other farmer groups met outside in the shade of a large trees. The women often sit on mats, although a man is on this one.

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From left, Mwondha’s dad, brother Matia, mother, wife Collin, Mwondha, sister Esther. Collin wore her gown from her previous graduation. At the village party, other former grads wore their gowns again. They don’t rent them here.

On Saturday, I attended the graduation of Mwondha, my carpenter, and his brother, on the grounds of Basoga University, only a few blocks from where I had language training near Iganga. Before Mwondha received his diploma (but after his brother received his), there was a massive rain storm which completely decimated the event, blowing down tents and turning the place into a muddy quagmire. We left, just as the rain was tapering off, and went to his village where his parents still lived.

The village had been organized into a huge festive celebration. As we got out of our cars, the brothers were mobbed like rock stars. The women make this high-pitched warbling scream that sounds sort of like Banshees. I was semi-mobbed by the village kids, who acted like they didn’t know what to make of me. Once I started fist-bumping them, they relaxed. They had organized tents, decorations, cakes and lots of food for the whole village. There were two MCs and a sound system run off of a generator. I had hoped to hang back and watch, but was ushered to a seat of honor with the family. Of course there were speeches, and during each one, I was singled out and told I was “most welcome”.

An altar was set up, and a priest said Mass. He asked God to delay the rain until after the party, but God didn’t listen, and so half-way through mass, I was in my second deluge. A lady, Collin, was sort of delegated to be my minder for the day, and told me she was Mwondha’s first wife. The wife I was acquainted with at the carpenter shop was his second. Collin told me Mwondha is 32 and has six kids with the two wives and another woman he didn’t marry. I have come to understand that polygamy is frequent among the Masoga tribe (and Muslims) here in the east, but less common in the northern and western parts of Uganda. Collin is from the far north and admitted she wasn’t happy when this happened. Just like my father Simon at home stay, he’s Catholic too!

During the storm at graduation, tents got upturned, so people threw out the chairs so there would be more room to huddle together.

Trying to keep their nice clothes dry while the tents take a beating. Much more entertaining than handing out diplomas!

This is the top of a tent that was flipped off it moorings by the wind, and came down pointy top first, piercing into my tent. Might have hurt someone in the way.

Procession during the village party

During the rainstorm, I was hustled into this room with other “elders”. I know my beard is grey but….The guy on the right is an engineer who used to employ Mwondha. We didn’t get to visit much in there, unfortunately.

General

ATEFO (my NGO), Bugiri, Education, Local Politics, Rainy Season, Teaching, Uganda food, VSLA groups, working

Town of Plenty

Author: Charles September 20, 2015

I am going to post three today and get rid of backlog, on a Sunday afternoon. The photos below are from my town of Bugiri.

My neighbor Sharon had a baby boy while I was in Mbale last weekend. His name is Peter. He doesn’t seem to cry too much. They let me look in on him while he slept.

The electric meter for this triplex is in Sharon’s unit, and she didn’t notice we had used up our units of electricity so we were out of power for a day. I guess she was a little distracted. Ali paid for more electricity with mobile money, which is transferring airtime on his phone to load the electricity remotely. (My sister Marian will like this post) My issue is this: If you can pay the meter remotely, and it shuts you off remotely when you are out of units, why isn’t there a way to tell how much you have left remotely?

I finally met Sharon’s husband yesterday. He was given two weeks leave by the army. Normally he is stationed near the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo which is on the other side of the country. There used to be frequent guerrilla activity there but if I understand him correctly, the Congo government bought the insurgents off.

I was going to take you along the route between home and office, but it didn’t come out that interesting. I also think I need to respect security concerns. A few of the pictures are on my route, some aren’t. I am not going to show the outside of my compound either.

Around the corner from my office, men build these seguries (phonetic-used for cooking with charcoal) and lock boxes. Lots of pounding and clanging. They always want me to stop and chat.

They wanted to ham it up for my camera. Hamming it up No. 1.

Hamming it up Number 2. Adults are just like the kids, loving it and laughing when I show them their pictures.

Storefronts on the main road. It’s not congested, not sure when I shot this.

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I eat lunch at this restaurant about once a week. I cut the plate of rice and beans in half and a put it a plastic tub to bring for lunch the next day.

This Pentecostal church is one of the largest mud structures I’ve seen, and very close to my home site. They sing beautiful music on Sundays. Sharon sings in the choir when she isn’t having babies.

These are boda boda drivers, stationed on the corner where I cross. They are at major intersections in every town, and always available to give you a lift anywhere you need, especially as you exit a taxi. PCVs are not supposed to use them. You can also used them to haul all kinds of crazy stuff.

These are chipati stands. I buy rolexes from them. It’s two eggs fried in oil, a couple of tomato slices, and a bit of cabbage, and onion, rolled in a tortilla-like chipati that has also been fried in oil. It is an occasional cheap lunch or breakfast. They also fry up some other breads, which you can see in the front.

Making a rolex

A bicycle repair place

A store front on a side street near my office

My neighborhood is considered urban. This is a typical mix. An uncompleted structure, piles of bricks, a hut, and a fairly recently built Islamic school on the right background.

More of the urban housing mix

I haven’t figured out where these crazy uncompleted stairs have to go

General

Bugiri, living site, Uganda Culture, Uganda food

A Friend is a Friend

Author: Charles September 20, 2015

A round up of the merchants I consider friends

On the right is Zenebra, who has a small shop, and mainly sells me fruits and vegetables. I ask for certain things in the morning on my way to the office, and she often has it for me going home. Avocados, hard boiled eggs, apples, small green oranges, different breads etc.. Because of her convenience, I don’t really go to the market that often, and therefore when I am there, I am less well known than perhaps I should be. i.e. Kids call me Muzungu there. Every town has a market, I’ll show you mine sometime.

This my seamstress Miria. She made my table cloth from dress material I liked. She also put two tucks on the sides of all my pants. I bought these pants about a week before I left too! Check out the manual sewing machine she runs by pumping with her feet.

This my seamstress Miria. She is making my table cloth from dress material I liked. She also put two tucks on the sides of all my pants. I bought these pants about a week before I left too! Check out the old timey manual sewing machine she runs by pumping with her feet.

“Zia the Businesswoman” as she likes to be called, is the proprietor (with her husband) of this salon, where I got a pretty decent haircut and a great pedicure. She sits under the canopy out front and sells me the occasional newspaper. I enjoy talking with her, but she refuses to let me take her picture. Even when I wanted to take a closer shot of the salon, she said “That is part of me”

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This is my carpenter Mwondha. He invited me to his graduation party next weekend, when he receives a diploma in “Procurement and Supply Chain Management” from Busoga University. He also is saving wood shavings and sawdust for me to use as kitty litter. Yes, I am about to get a kitten, just waiting for her to be weaned.

Azed is my Lasoga language tutor. We end up BS-ing too much, but the reality is that what I need is self-study. We’ll see.

This is Justine, who owns the Highway Supermarket with her husband on the main road. Nice lady.

General

Bugiri, Entreprenuership, living site, Uganda Culture

Rearviewmirror III

Author: Charles September 20, 2015

A selection of miscellaneous shots

The “Reverse L I L brand” lives in Uganda. This was the cattle brand for my family, still used in Wyoming, I think. My dad would always put this on my baseball glove. Keeps my Jerry cans identified after I leave them for awhile before dawn.

Men and boys hold hands all the time here. Sign of friendship.

Men of all ages and women of all ages hold hands with the same sex all the time here. Sign of friendship. Men holding hands with women in public is very frowned upon.

This was taken at training. It's a style here for women to dye parts of their hair this maroon color. Just maroon. This one is a bit excessive. I haven't gotten a straight answer if this is a recent fad or not.

This was taken at training. It’s a style here for women to dye parts of their hair, or use extensions, of this maroon color. Just maroon. This one is a bit excessive. I haven’t gotten a straight answer if this is a recent fad or not.

Soccer (“Football” in Uganda of course) is huge here. They love to follow the English Premier League. These kids are looking into the bar at the game on a TV you can see inside.

This is a crowd jammed into the Sol Cafe in Iganga yesterday. The floor is divided in half to watch screens on each end. Chelsea beat Arsenal 2-0

A huge snail near our dorm at Supervisor’s workshop. Easily 6 inches.

Saw this in Kampala. Driven by a safari tour.

He calls out to me every day

Neighbor ladies

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A common sight, women balancing stuff on their head.

My first Colorado pro team shirt. I assumed it would be Broncos. These kids never know the significance of their shirts. My language tutor’s six year old kid had on a Hooters t-shirt.

These kids made little pull cars out of empty plastic bottles

Goats are tethered everywhere.

Cows too sometimes. This is how many Ugandans save. They buy a cow.

It’s hard to get a candid shot. The minute they spot you or you ask permission to take their picture they want to pose. I said “show me your sweeping”. I wanted to show the brooms that are so common here. I use a more conventional one.

Butcher shops hangs carcasses out front, and I am assured this is good meat, especially if it attracts flies. L To Right, turkey, goat, and cow

Butcher shops hangs carcasses out front, and I am assured this is good meat, especially if it attracts flies. Left To Right, turkey, goat, and cow. Cars and bodas go by, kicking up dust.

This was a Revival across the street from my office. I sent my family the live rendition on Whats App.

I toured a large rice processing plant in Jinga with farmers. They get in rice that needs more drying.

General

Bugiri, children, Uganda Culture

Future Days III and Last Weekend

Author: Charles September 16, 2015

I finally was able to meet with my supervisor and counterpart to discuss what I can contribute. There are farmer groups of 15-30 who have received training by trainers from my office. Each group has formed a VSLA (Village Savings and Loan Association). The VSLAs meet once a week to contribute to their savings, and make loans among their members. The trainers are always organizing clusters of groups to meet the goals of the entities which fund ATEFO.

Matthews and I will visit a different farmer group each day and attend their scheduled VSLA meeting. First, I will attend a meeting with their trainer so I can be introduced. I will observe their VSLA meeting and see if they have VSLA issues that should be addressed. Then Matthews and I will go to their meeting the following week. I am developing a checklist of items to follow up on, such as:

Tell me about your post-harvest handling practices (drying and storage methods)
Are you storing any of your harvest to get a higher price later?
Are you adding value to any of your products before selling them? For example, instead of selling quarters of jackfruit on road side stands, consider separating the fruits from the rinds, and packaging them to sell it at a higher price. (Jack fruits are yummy, but they are a pain to prepare, so I would only buy jack fruit that is ready to eat).
Would a perma-garden near your house be a something you would consider?
What other challenges do you face?

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I will probably end with a lesson on budgeting, post-harvest handling, storage, or explain about perma-gardens.

Perhaps Matthews and I would come back and work with a farmer to dig a demonstration perma-garden.

It all seems pretty loose to me, as Adams seems to be allowing me some autonomy, as long as I am helping these farmer groups. Somehow I will discover my niche. If I am giving the same talk over and over, I am going to buy some rice sacks and put my main points on them with a permanent marker. We will see how it goes..

In the meantime I will also work with the Youth Chairman of the Bugiri Rotary Club to form Interact (Youth) Clubs at the college level (high school is also called college), as a “secondary” Peace Corps activity.

I will continue with language lessons, and I have a personal goal to meet and get acquainted with at least one Rotarian a week.

Last Friday I went to Mbale, a few hours north of Bugiri, to participate with 13 other PCVs from the Eastern region in the annual Welcome Week. Seven new PCVs and seven veterans went swimming at a resort Friday afternoon, and then enjoyed an Indian restaurant. On Saturday morning, we took a taxi to Sipi Falls and hiked to three different falls. It was pretty grueling in parts, and might have been more of challenge for the old “fatter” Charley. I was glad to get some overdue exercise, and I could keep up with the other younger PCVs fine. As you probably know, uphill climbing can be strenuous, but going downhill and avoiding slipping can be pretty scary. We took a circular route, so no backtracking. Here are a few pictures.

These are the first falls we got to. All three were equally impressive. That’s Becky from Wisconsin, who was in my Lasoga language group. My son Clark thinks I am too skinny for my clothes now.

We were able to walk behind these second falls. The PCV is Carson, who was one of only two of us crazy enough to walk among those slippery rocks.

This cave was behind us as we stood behind these second falls but it ends pretty quickly.

These are the third falls. We weren’t too close but the valley below and beyond was fantastic.

A view to the left of the the third falls

Group photo Sunday. I busted out my vintage 80’s Broncos cap and Broncos shirt in honor of the season opener, which I was able to stream at my home from 11:30 pm to 2:30 a.m.

General

ATEFO (my NGO), Lusoga, travel, volunteers, VSLA groups, Youth Group

All The Way From America

Author: Charles September 8, 2015

My dad in a rodeo late 1940’s I hoped the Bugiri Rotary Club might enjoy learning about my cowboy roots

I prepared and gave a PowerPoint presentation to the members of the Bugiri Rotary Club last week. We couldn’t make the projector work, so I had to show it on the my computer screen. I spoke about my life and journey to wind up in Uganda. I also spoke waaay too long. What can say, except that at 61, I have had a full life! Nevertheless I think it was all pretty interesting to them. I shared about my Cowboy ancestry, my family, my law career, my home Rotary Club, the dream of the Peace Corps as a retirement activity for my wife and I, her subsequent illness, and ended with my current deployment here.

For good measure I added photos showing the snow in Colorado (my driveway after a blizzard) and Jan and I skiing, and my brief political career, when I ran for the Colorado State Senate in 1984. There is a candidate for MP (Member of Parliament) in my club who took interest. I concluded with a short list of things I liked about Uganda.

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Traditional Presentation of my home Northglenn-Thornton Rotary Club banner to the President-elect

Next week I will apologize for the length of speech, but will say I sincerely want to have an individual tea or beer to get to know each member. They do not have a meal together, like a typical Rotary club, so there is not a good chance to interact as you normally would, so it is hard to get to know the other members.

I want to meet the MP candidate first. He is a genial fellow.

General

background, Rotary Club

This Must be the Place

Author: Charles September 1, 2015

“This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody)”
Home is where I want to be
Pick me up and turn me round
I feel numb – born with a weak heart
I guess I must be having fun
The less we say about it the better
Make it up as we go along
Feet on the ground
Head in the sky
It’s ok I know nothing’s wrong… nothing

Hi yo I got plenty of time
Hi yo you got light in your eyes
And you’re standing here beside me
I love the passing of time
Never for money
Always for love
Cover up and say goodnight… say good night

Home – is where I want to be
But I guess I’m already there
I come home – she lifted up her wings
I guess that this must be the place
I can’t tell one from another
Did I find you, or you find me?
There was a time
Before we were born
If someone asks, this where I’ll be… where I’ll be

This is second time I have quoted Talking Heads at length.
Sometimes it’s a bit of a strain to come up with blog titles, and there are plenty of songs about Home, but this one muscled it’s way to the front. The lyrics seemed appropriate on many levels and it has a beautiful melody

So this a tour of my place. I have two rooms, a bathing stall, and a storage room. I failed to take “before” pictures. I am finished fixing the place up, with the exception of obtaining a spare mattress and mosquito net I can bring out of storage for rare overnight visitors.
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I am quite pleased with how it all came together, and it was fun planning it out. I had two carpenters build six different pieces for me. They didn’t always follow my specs as I drew them, sometimes adding unexpected flourishes I liked, sometimes not so much. They did follow my measurements, but some items are not quite level.

The first thing I did, after my bed frame was brought in (by bike remember?) was measure the floors for vinyl flooring. The majority of the buildings in Uganda, including my office, have smooth cement floors, like garage floors back home. Usually they are left bare, sometimes there are rugs on them. I don’t like the grey drab of them, and they get dusty, especially from shoes.. My floors had a red sheen painted on them. I noticed a similar sheen in a restaurant, but it was wearing off to the grey.

I was inspired by the vinyl floor my host family had in my room. Many shops sell this in 2 meter wide rolls with a variety of patterns. I needed 9.1 meters. These are smooth to sweep the ubiquitous red clay grains, and easy to squeegee and mop up liquids (invariably from pouring water out of the heavy Jerry cans). I used odd extra pieces to fill in gaps, and wound up cutting a large chunk out from under my bed. I even cut it to fit around the door frames. I really wanted to get patterns on the over lapping seams to line up perfectly, until I discovered the basic pattern is actually a rectangle by a slight amount. These floors tear easily, so I always move my chairs without scraping them across the vinyl. I walk on it barefoot, shower shoes or slippers. This flooring is what I am most proud of, thus the extended blathering about it.

Starting in my living/bed room, looking back toward my front double door. There are also windows in each room. Door and windows have bars behind the glass. Behind that, there are solid inside metal doors that latch. When the inside doors are open, they let in plenty of daylight. I close the inside doors and padlock the double door whenever I leave, even for a minute. The fabric on the wall says “Peace on Earth”.

This was built to hang my shirts and trousers. The carpenter added the shoe rack below. The shoe rack slopes a little, but the rest of it does not slope despite the way it looks. When it was delivered, my hangers did not fit over the rail. He thought I would put nails into the rail and hang hangers on the nails, which admittedly was similar to my home stay room. He came back and sawed the rail in half. There is another rail in the back.

I bought this four level TV stand to use for the rest of my clothes. I regret not using my carpenter. The papers above, in my “Peace Corps Corner”, are L to R : my Lasoga Proficiency Certificate; my personal invitation to the swearing in ceremony; my personalized welcome poster from training; a map of Uganda showing our Consolidation Points to gather during civil unrest or disasters (and the step before evacuation, if necessary); and a list of the wardens who would be communicating with us in such event. Peace Corps has Emergency Action Plans in every country. My niece was evacuated from of Bolivia this way.

My bed and desk. The only electric outlet in the room is on the wall behind the desk, so I use a power strip. The papers taped above are the names, phone numbers and email addresses of my fellow PCVs. Next to my desk is a fan I can move between my two rooms.

Going into the next room, the back wall with laundry basin and Jerry cans

This is my kitchen and dining area. The custom built piece is over 7 feet long, 2 feet wide, 4 feet high, with shelves a foot apart. It is very heavy. I assumed the carpenter would assemble it in the room as he did with my bed, but it came on a boda boda in one piece! I learned this too late, and wished I had seen it and taken a picture. The blue buckets in the back are a water sterilization system issued by the Peace Corps. Pour bore hole water in the top bucket, pass it through a Sawyer filter, and get clean water in the bottom bucket. No need to boil (except for tea, coffee and bucket bathing). Buckets hold a Jerry can worth (20 liters). The original bottom bucket had a spigot. However, it isn’t sealed well, and has a drip drip leak. Water was all over the floor the next morning (but easy to squeegee!). So I switched with my my bathing bucket and dip for water out of the top. In a splurge, which I think is justified, I bought the small refrigerator you see on the left. I drink a cold glass of brewed tea with dinner. I keep fruits and veggies fresh and protected from pests (a mouse and gecko have paid me brief visits) and keep leftovers from the extra large portions I get in restaurants in plastic containers I carry in my backpack. I bought frozen ground beef in Iganga yesterday, and it is thawing out for spaghetti and meat sauce one night and a hamburger the next. So nice to finally cook some American for myself. The table cloth is made from dress fabric, sown by a tailor (you will see her interesting picture in future post) The blue desk lamp on the table, with three brightness settings, was issued by Peace Corps and is solar powered. I charge it at work. There are frequent power outages here, so the lamp is handy. I bring it to bed for night reading too. I’m reading “The Book Thief” at the moment-excellent. A large road map of Uganda is on the wall. It was getting tattered so I retired it, and labeled it with the locations of all 45 volunteers.

This is my “Reminders of Home” area. Family photo on table, and on the wall is Jan’s memorial, and Colorado and Northglenn-Thornton Rotary Club Banners. The Colorado item was a gift at my going-away party to wear on my neck, but it’s too pretty to ruin with sweat and dirt

This vanity was originally my desk, but it came out too high. Perfect for this though. I had the carpenter lower the shelf, and now the whole thing tilts.

These were flip charts fellow fossil David made when we taught a youth group together. He was a graphic artist at home, and I couldn’t bear to throw them out. Eventually for repetitive lectures I will use rice sacks so they can be reused.

My bucket bathing area. Note the offending spigot. My carpenter put in a block with posts to hang my towel and undies to dry. It is culturally unacceptable to hang undies on the line outdoors.

I get a small storage room with its own door and padlock. I might not need that luggage for two years.

General

Bugiri, living site, Water

Monthly Archive: September 2015

Education

Town of Plenty

A Friend is a Friend

Rearviewmirror III

Future Days III and Last Weekend

All The Way From America

This Must be the Place