My work has been sporadic (again). The whole country slows down this time of year. Schools are out until later in January. Quite a few volunteers have gone home for Christmas or taking trips around the country or Rwanda. The November 2014 Education cohort have almost all ended their service. My cohort has now been here the longest.
I’m trying to close out a Peace Corps grant for teaching and building 20 sack gardens. So Matthews has been taking me around to monitor how the ones we built have been doing, and learn whether the farmers and youth have built any more. It is gratifying when we see that others have made their own sack gardens. In Bomba, where we taught Ronnie’s entire village, there are seven new sack gardens scattered about. I taught record keeping to many of these groups, and unfortunately, there is less adherence, with the few bright exceptions of “early adaptors”. “Slowly but slowly” as they say here.
Of course the BBC has been covering the same world news you hear, such as the ongoing tragedy of Syria, and the Trump/Putin love fest. I wonder how much US people hear about some current scary situations in Africa, mainly in three countries.
In Gambia, it’s leader Yahya Jammeh has ruled the country for 22 years after seizing power in a coup. He initially conceded defeat to opposition leader Barrow in the December 1 election, but subsequently rejected the official results. It has brought to country to crisis. He is supposed to turn over power in January.
As a local editorial states:
Leaders who come to power via the gun are not to be trusted. In Uganda, Rwanda, Chad, Sudan, and now Gambia all those men changed their tune chameleon-like to keep imposing themselves on the people.
When they organize elections, they do so without ever intending to hand over power regardless of the outcome of an election. Elections are a vehicle to cling on, not to advance democratic government and to improve their countries with new ideas.
Here, the motive is treatment for erectile deficiency in men. india tadalafil online is a Pfizer product and the manufacturer all could clean up with Dove. They are abnormal hormone levels; abnormal levels of particular hormones can interfere with erections and sex drive. tablets viagra online Some of the other considerable procedures may include microsurgical vasectomy reversal, sperm procurement techniques, microsurgical varicocele ligation, Management of order viagra australia testicular failure and hypogonadism, and sperm cryopreservation. Certain drugs such as amphetamines and cocaine cialis viagra canada can also cause erectile dysfunction.
Just north of Uganda’s border, South Sudan is on the verge of full scale civil war again, with accompanying sectarian genocide feared.
I called my fellow PCV Aruna to check how his family was doing. Unfortunately the situation is so unsafe his mother and other family members recently sought refuge in a camp in Uganda. It’s not the refugee camp we toured, but it is close to Aruna’s site. He plans to visit on Christmas. More than one million of South Sudan’s estimated population of 12 million have fled to neighboring countries. Uganda alone is now host to more than 450,000 South Sudanese.
Across the western border of Uganda is the Democratic Republic of Congo. It’s leader Joseph Kabila, has said that he intends to stay on after his presidential term ends on Monday midnight, December 19 (yesterday). A court previously ruled that he can remain in power until new elections are held. However Kabila has postponed further elections indefinitely. Many observers fear that protests will break out after the deadline passes. At midnight, people blew whistles and rattled pans as part of a protest meant to symbolize the “end of the match” for Joseph Kabila.
Other than the massacre of about 100 of the rebellious King’s guard at Kasese a few weeks ago, Uganda has been calm in comparison.
I hope you all have a calm and peaceful Christmas. It looks like 2017 will be an “interesting” year.