Farewell, Uganda

This is it...my last day in Uganda.

I returned "home" to Kampala last Friday after 2 weeks in Tanzania. While in TZ, I hit Zanzibar (Stonetown and the beautiful white sands of Nungwi up north), Dar Es Salaam and Arusha briefly and went on safari through Lake Manyara and Serengeti National Parks and the Ngorongoro Crater Conservation Area. Needless to say, I have fallen in love with East Africa and pray that I'll return very soon!

The funny thing about leaving is that I am just beginning to call Uganda home. When I landed in Entebbe after returning from Bangkok, I felt relief to be back on familiar soil. And now, I have finally started to make sense of the crazy matatu routes in Kampala, and am able to walk around the city centre without being hopelessly confused and lost. I actually walked from the new taxi park to this internet cafe without pulling out my map :)

Before I return to Canada, I'm visiting friends in the UK (and acclimatizing back to cold weather!!) for a week starting tomorrow. And then back to good ol' Canadian soil, Tim Hortons et al.

For now, there are no words adequate enough to describe how this country has affected me. This is certainly a bittersweet goodbye.

Farewell, Uganda and I hope to return soon.

Off to Tanzania

It's my last day in Bangkok and I'm finding it hard to believe that 3 and a half weeks can fly by in a flash. I've posted new photos, so I hope you enjoy my last set of Uganda photos.

I'm heading out to Tanzania with Mike, Ricky and Kimberly where we'll visit Dar Es Salaam, Zanzibar, do a camping safari in the Serengeti and Ngorogoro Crater and hopefully survive the bus rides between Kampala and Dar (eeks...).

Ciao for now!

UN, Aquarium and Krabi Photos

The beach of Phi Phi Island (same beach as "The Beach"...say that fast 10 times out loud)

Tubkaak Resort in Krabi (the princess comes alive!!)

Sunset at Tubkaak Beach

Dan and I are bubbleheads at Siam Aquarium

Spider crab in yo' face!

At the UN Regional Centre in Bangkok

My brother is UN-employed...get it?

The UN tourist photo

Bangkok Photos

Graffiti telephones at Siam Square

Hmmm...wonder if I can measure me eyes...?

Escalators at Siam Paragon (the largest shopping mall in SE Asia)

Dan and Art - the happy (engaged) couple
...yeah, I know, really romantic photo taken in the grocery store! But check out the shtuff in their cart (was my first time in a grocery store in months!)

Art + food = happiness

Lobby of cinema at Siam Paragon - yep, that's a chandelier in the lobby

Uganda Photos

Boys hanging out at plumeria tree in Rubingo

Crystal clear reflection on Lake Bunyonyi

Water lily on Lake Bunyonyi

View from Bwama Island, Lake Bunyonyi

Purity playing with a drum (isn't she the cutest kid?)

Ricky striking a pensive pose

Mama and moi

John helping Liam and Rachel on the Canada House bike

Me with the mzee who made the grass mat I'm holding

Hmmm...graphic design in Uganda is...well, graphic!

Farmer Ruth - I'm holding carrots that I planted earlier in the year

Ah, luxury...breakfast at my safari tent on Bushara Island, Lake Bunyonyi

Amanda standing in front of a reverse-terracing demonstration plot on Bwama Island


Tarzan Stu - preparing to jump off into Lake Bunyonyi using the rope swing rigged by Brad

Where in the world is Ruth?

For the time being, Bangkok...I know, I know...my blog is still called ruthinuganda, but to change it requires too much effort. Hmmm...whereintheworldisruth could be the name of my new blog? As I've been catching up with friends via email, I realized that I should put it out there that I'm no longer in Africa (boo hoo...at least I'm going back for two more weeks after Bangkok!).

It's been a week since I've left Uganda, and I'm missing my beans and rice (who'd thunk it?). Hard to believe that two Sundays ago, I was sitting in Rubingo and munching away on muchomo and matooke (roast goat and steamed bananas). Seems like a world away, literally.

Anyhoo...I shouldn't complain too much because I have three teammates still left in the village. And I'm going shopping, eating yummy food and wondering what DVD to watch. In the meantime, should you (wonderful friends) be wanting to mail me something or reach me, it's best to catch me via email.

Now...off to job-searching (yep that's the next stage...ridding myself of this unemployment label!).

This woman's work

One of the key areas of ACTS' work is in empowering local widows. In a region where land inheritance rights are passed down through the generations, widows may find themselves out of a home and with no land to work if their husband dies. They may have to take care of other children in addition to their own biological ones - children orphaned by AIDS or other illnesses.


With some help from ACTS, widows' Mutual Benefit Societies were formed in 2002 to empower widows financially and agriculturally. Meeting regularly, the widows work together to dig, plant crops and distribute the harvest amongst the group; and to "take accounts" - to consolidate membership fees and lend that money out to the neediest widow.



"Digging" Ugandan-style. Working the land is tough physical labour and the equipment used is not made of lightweight materials by any means! The hoe is standard equipment and used to dig trenches, mix manure in with soil, and much more.


Above, the Kikuto widows stand in front of trenches they dug after a demonstration with the Kamomo Environment Group, in order to combat soil erosion.






"Taking accounts" can be a lively process. Some widows groups don't have a secretary because the members are illiterate so Jovanice helps every month to manage their accounts. Whatever amount of money gathered, every little bit counts to help someone who needs it to buy beans or porridge flour.



Quiet dignity. The widows I met demonstrated warmth, courage and graciousness even though their circumstances would make any First World citizen cringe. I'm blessed to have spent time with them.

Country road, take me home...

One of the memorable parts of living in the village was driving the dirt roads and experiencing bumps, thuds and oofs I've never had before in Canada.


Once you get off the major road running down past Mbarara from Kampala to head into my village, you leave behind all traces of tarmac (or asphalt). The dirt roads are susceptible to erosion from heavy rainfall and some areas have piles of murram (dirt used to patch holes in the ground) dotting several kilometres of road.

Usually, eucalyptus planks are de rigeur in forming makeshift bridges so vehicles can pass over rain-induced gullies and potholes. I broke through such a bridge once in Kikuto, because I was carrying over twenty people in the pickup and the wooden boards, although strong, weren't sturdy enough that time!


The road to Binyuga cell is the most fraught with hideous potholes and gullies. Jovanice is standing in front of a humongous pothole that could easily hide several people. We visited this particular cell several times and each time we ended up "footing" it there for half an hour instead of driving. At least it gave me an authentic excuse when I returned to camp to treat myself to my granola bar or chocolate stash.

Scenes Part 2

Work, work, work...

Many hands make potting work easier.

Sorghum: an important cash crop in the area.

A simple mud hut is home for most of the villagers.

Papyrus reeds and eucalyptus poles used to construct a mud hut.

The hills of Bugamba sub-county.

Dirty feet after a long day walking around the village.

Early morning mist viewed from my camp.

Amatafari or bricks are made by arranging them to form a kiln and using eucalyptus wood as fuel to cure them.

A woman walks past the Kikuto widows' garden.

Moi Gallery Part 2

What is uploading pictures without some focus on moi? Haha...

Hard at work in my tent.

Tata Jotham and me at the fish-farming workshop.

Mama Jovanice and me in our demonstration garden at the camp - it's the first garden I've ever made! I'm holding a bunch of carrots - very yummy when you eat them straight out of the ground (of course, washing first is good too!).

Late night antics with Kimberly. She and I shared a bedroom at Canada House; on this particular night, we couldn't fall asleep so at 3 am, we broke out my stash of KitKats given to me by my parents and watched Little Black Book.

Kids kids kids!

The children I met in the village were some of the most beautiful and endearing little beings ever. Saffy (above, with Jovanice) has the most beautiful eyes and the funniest laugh (she'll laugh on command if you've given her a sweetie!). Bright and Praise (below) are two albino children who live in Byanamira cell and always ran up to me fearlessly whenever I swung by to buy sodas at DK's.

These kids were great because they were so unabashed in their affection for me. Usually, the other village children cried when they saw me or clammed up if I tried to say hi.

("I wear my sunglasses at night...")

This picture was taken on a lazy Sunday afternoon when I was bored (didn't want to do any work) and decided to just hang out with these kids. We couldn't speak a word of a common language, but with facial expressions and noises we hung out for more than an hour and a half. They ran around, did cartwheels, jostled to sit beside me and played countless games of hide-and-seek.

Misodius is an autistic boy who walks to the Aid Station to have dressings on his legs changed peridiocally. He's a bright boy...smiles easily and is engaging although he struggles to speak.

Curious Kashenyi Primary school children. One of the best things about driving past schools was that children would congregate on the side of the road as I drove by and scream "JAMBO!". Some kids would literally shake as they waved furiously at me! These kids were too cute not to take a photo...check out the matching sweaters.

Ode to Mandazi

Now is the best time to post the ditty I sang whenever I ate mandazi in the village...*sigh* I miss them already. They are deep-fried balls of dough, essentially. We perfected the method of mixing cinnamon and sugar in a bowl and pressing a freshly fried mandazi ball in them to imitate cinnamon-sugar Timbits. Mmmm...

Ode to Mandazi

Mandazi, mandazi, oh how I love you
You're round and golden,
Crispy on the outside,
Soft and tender on the inside

Although you coat my arteries with unforgiving fat,
You taste so good and make me happy

Mandazi, mandazi, oh how I miss you!

:)

Fishy business

Wow...uploading pictures here in Bangkok is a breeze! This is great...no more waiting one or two hours to upload one posting's worth...

The one thing I didn't anticipate adding to my CV was fish-net alteration skills! Here I am at Canada House in Mbarara, sewing a rope and floats onto seine netting that will eventually end up with a local fish farmer. It fascinates me how such simple technology can be life-changing for someone who lives off the land...I'm hoping that those farmers who receive the netting are able to increase productivity of their ponds.

A typical fish pond set-up in my village area. The mzee (elderly gentleman) who built these ponds graciously allowed ACTS to facilitate a fish-farming workshop there...We invited over twenty farmers who had either started fish-farming or had demonstrated capability and interest in this area.

A seine net in action. The attendees had a blast watching fish being seined out of the mzee's ponds - most had not seen a seine net before. It's an expensive investment that not all small-scale farmers can afford.

That's John Tibihika (Mbarara district Fisheries Officer) looking on as an attendee holds an emari or catfish from the pond. It was huge and very active...they thrashed around some in the green bucket.

A young tilapia fish. Generally speaking, tilapia are ideal for small-scale fish farming because of the relative ease in raising them. They feed on zooplankton that proliferates on the upper layer of freshwater that is about 3 feet deep and reproduce quickly. The challenge lies in constant maintenance and monitoring of the ponds - oxygen levels, zooplankton/algal growth and water management are important factors in successfully raising tilapia.

Chop chop chop...the fish farming workshop concluded with a meal of stewed tilapia and catfish. Yum...the picture above shows the typical use of a banana leaf as a chopping board.

Africa to Asia

From the dusty streets of Kampala to the high-tech glamour of Bangkok...I adore travelling and the juxtapositions one can experience in the span of 48 hours.

I'm now sitting in my brother's apartment off Sukhamvit Road in Bangkok and enjoying the convenience of constant electricity, air conditioning and wireless internet. I still have African dirt in my toes (yes, you can loudly ewwww me on that) and have not been out of Africa for more than four days. But now, I have the luxury of eating yummy food (today itself was a feast after church...tom yum soup, garlic scallops, fried fish, ha gao dim sum - this was just for lunch too!), going shopping at Emporium Mall (oh my, that experience is a posting unto its own...needless to say, my shoe collection has increased, and I've left a pool of drool outside the Blumarine store - absolutely showstopping ivory gown with beading *sigh*), and navigating through a completely modern city (Bangkok has a subway and monorail system).

The best part has been hanging out with Dan (my older bro) and his (new) fiancee, Art. They are super cute together and I'm really excited about their upcoming nuptials this year.

But...to the task at hand. I have many pictures to upload and will take advantage of the speed of this connection to give you, patient reader, the story of my remaining time in Uganda and the work I had been doing.

Let the uploading begin!

Here's a honey of a picture

Argh...it has taken me an hour and a half to upload the last posting, and I couldn't get this picture up the last time. Grrrr...

But golden honey, oh so yummy and so sweet, what a treat! Yeah, yeah, I'm a little stir-crazy here. Hmmm...I should probably post my Ode to the Mandazi (fried dough ball)...



Mmmm...my stomache is calling and asking to be filled with supper. So, off I go...

The Kamomo Environment Group

How ironic that the first posting showing pictures of my work comes towards the end of my time here. Nevertheless, I hope these pictures give you an idea of what agricultural development is like in the Rubingo community and exactly how dirty I've been getting (*grin*).

I "supervise" the Kamomo Environment Group, which was formed five years ago with the help of ACTS. One of their primary responsibilities is educating the community on good agricultural practices. The KEG teaches on five topics: Banana Plantation Management, Terracing, Tree Seedling Nursery Beds, Fuel Efficient Stoves and Sack Gardens. We average 2-3 community presentations and demonstrations per week, so I'm busy running around and organizing the events. Above, Milton is showing a woman how to use a split-level in order to dig terraces in her garden.

Here, Jovanice is showing some men how to move pine tree seedlings from the nursery bed into plastic pots filled with soil. Eventually, the trees are planted on the hillsides to combat soil erosion (which is prevalent in my community).

This is a sack garden, which is easy to construct and convenient to use especially for those who lack real estate to plant vegetables. Poor nutrition is prevalent among those who are desperately poor so sack gardens help to address that issue.

The KEG is made up of progressive farmers in the community. They're active in bee-keeping - here, Nathan is priming a Kenyan beehive with smoke in order to attract bees to it. Ugandan honey is pretty tasty...but you have to be careful not to swallow bee stingers that may linger in the finished product!

"Grandma" Agnes and her honey extractor. Check out the expression on her face! We spent the morning figuring out how the contraption worked and succeeded in extracting some honey from Nathan's honeycombs.