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.

Peaceful elections so far...

The first multi-party elections in the past 25 years took place in Uganda on February 23. We (ACTS people) were concerned about possible flare-ups of civil unrest and are watching the ballot-counting process with a wary eye. But, so far, so good. The local papers are proclaiming a peaceful election process and I haven't heard of any violence happening in Mbarara-town (where I am currently staying for my break). I was in town yesterday while people were voting, and there was quite a different energy on the streets.

As it stands at the moment, Yoweri Museveni of the NRM (current president) holds the lead in votes over his main opposition Kizza Besigye (leader of the FDC). Uganda has had a history of violence related to various figures coming to power (military coups, dictatorships, etc.) and there were bouts of violence (riots, burning and shootings) in urban areas leading up to yesterday's election.

Election results are supposed to be released tomorrow, and we're hoping that the country stays peaceful afterwards. Keep my team in your prayers and thoughts, and also this beautiful country and its people.

More reading:
http://allafrica.com/uganda/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/default.stm

Vogue in Africa

I think this picture deserves its own posting...Vogue in Rubingo village!!! My parents brought me several issues when we met up in Kampala. I devoured them in one sitting (ode to Wendy L in NYC!). Thank you, Ben and Aunty Susanna!

Meet the Parents...in Kampala

In January, my parents visited me in Kampala and I was able to truly splash out like a princess for the first time in Uganda (you'll see...). It was a timely visit, just after the mid-point of my internship here and a great time to catch up on what's going on with my family. And I finally started using my digital camera, so these are actually my pictures :)

Here I am at the "source" of the Nile in Jinja, an industrial town east of Kampala. There are two spots that are considered the "source" of the Nile, across the river from each other. My parents had been in Egypt and had cruised down the Nile, so it was fun to take them to the southern end of the famous river.

Is this awesome or what? Shout outs to Aneil and family...you're so special that the Jinja City Council named a street after you (*grin*). Jinja was an East-Asian dominated town before the era of Idi Amin.

This picture still makes me laugh out loud. "Hog-tied" takes on another meaning on the streets of greater Kampala. The green round thing is a jackfruit, and there's a banana leaf hanging off, too. Mmmm...roast pig...

"When he was a young wart-hog..." I watched the Lion King before heading out for a safari at Queen Elizabeth National Park (QENP) in western Uganda and that song kept going through my head. Yup, that's a wart-hog, and he's only a few feet from our dining table.

My parents and I stayed at the Mweya Safari Lodge, which overlooks the Kazinga Channel at QENP. It was such a great place to stay: excellent service; a pool that overlooks the Channel so you can watch animals while you lounge and take dips to cool off; great food; a bonfire at night; popcorn and peanuts to munch on at the bar; and your bedsheets turned down at night. Oh, and sparkling clean bathtubs! AND...magazines in the bar/lounge (I'm a closet Hello magazine fan). Thanks to Mohit at Global-Interlink in Kampala for setting this up...he's a terrific travel consultant.

(sorry, there aren't any safari pics yet because I sent my film back to Canada to be developed...stay tuned though!)

My mom and I at Mweya Safari Lodge's dining room. Can I just say I lurve buffets...too bad my stomach has shrunk from blasted beans and rice. There were so many yummy things to eat: lamb moussaka (!!), roast beef, fresh salads...and a dessert buffet!

Another ha ha picture, because it does reflect my princess status ;P

Aidchild is an NGO that operates the Equation Cafe at the equator on Masaka Road, and has a series of funny road signs to advertise the Cafe. It's a great place to stop, have a drink and shop for handicrafts that are made by villagers to supplement their incomes (kind of like a Ugandan version of Ten Thousand Villages by MCC).

Ahhh...finally, some arts and culture! A wooden statue at the Art Faculty of Makerere University in Kampala.

It was cool to visit the University and get an insider's tour with my friend Rodney, an alumnus of the school. It made me miss being at university for a moment (8 years will do that) but then I got over it.

The Art Gallery was closed but we were able to visit Bruno's studio/office that was chock-full of pottery! He's a lecturer there, and made some pieces for the film The Last King of Scotland (Gillian Anderson stars) that was shot in Uganda in 2005.