Well, as you can see I've been naughty and neglected my writing duties for a few days!
Though I imagine the updates will not become more frequent, or I may end up boring you...
I have experienced a number of events recently which I feel merit a mention on here, for instance:
I met a black man with a swastika tattooed on his arm - no I didn't ask, just peered and probably appeared slightly bemused, this was on one of the welders we are employing to beef up some door defenses for a treatment system
I have witnessed literally tens of thousands of caterpillars descending from two particular trees in our garden at the guest house, they seem to spin silk like a spider and abseil down. Once these creatures reach the ground they end up climbing onto walls, windows and cars creating their cocoons protruding like nothing I've ever seen before... There's a picture on the slideshow to the right if you look long enough!
Whilst sitting in the car, waiting for Thomas to arrive back from an errand I saw a man walking around with a bucket full of what was obviously something edible, though I couldn't discern what exactly. My curiosity got the better of me and I bought a handful of what turned out to be deep fried grasshoppers! Thomas and his brother declined my offer to finish off what I assumed was a local delicacy - I found this slightly ominous and assume they know something I don't...
A slightly less pleasant experience was being informed about the child sacrifices that sometimes still take place here. A young boy or girl will be kidnapped and never found, the sacrifice is meant to bring good luck, I can hardly imagine how. There are ways to prevent your child being used for a sacrifice, circumcising the boys and piercing the girls’ ears will protect them from this, thankfully, now rare occurrence.
I saw my first Ugandan snake, a gorgeous, lithe, vivid green one, only about 2 feet long, he shot off into the grass just a moment after I set my eyes upon him. Invisible from then, I had no chance of catching the serpent, and eagerly await my next chance…
Getting thrown in at the deep end is the best way of learning I think, and when I jumped onto a 250 Honda dirt bike, going to get my haircut, having been told “This is the clutch, brake and the gearshift” I was, although a little nervous, extremely excited! The first part of trip was a treacherously steep downhill road, deeply rutted and littered with football sized rocks, at this moment I was trundling very slowly past lots of children pointing and shouting at the shock of seeing a “mzungu” riding a motorbike. After getting onto the tarmac though, I started to really enjoy myself, and blasted my way along to “Salon Obama”. Yes, that’s right, of course everyone here loves the fact that there is now a black president, and my barber was no exception! About 60p for a buzzcut and I was satisfied, though getting back up that dirt track was even scarier than going down!
My second chance to get on what I now know affectionately as “The Deathtrap” came when I was asked to go about 9km into town to pick up Thomas, as traffic was at a standstill (again). This was at night, and as you can imagine, I relished the challenge! Getting there was hard enough, the minibuses especially often pull over right in front of bikers (and police Land Cruisers it turns out, as I observed just 20 ft ahead of me!) ensuring the ride is always pumped with adrenaline and a fear of almost certain injury. Alas, I made it, Thomas hopped on the back and for the first time I had a pillion too! Absolutely great fun!
I managed to finally get my first days work last week too which was great! After a 5 hour trip up to Kumi (Henry and myself sharing the driving, in a Mistubishi L200 – see the grin?) we stayed overnight in a guesthouse, then were up at 0700 to start work on three different systems. The first required us to carry an oil drum full of rocks about 300 metres over marshy, muddy land, and ended up taking about 3 hours (though not just for this one carrying activity, it involved many other problems that were addressed!).
The next was the big problem of the day it seemed – a pump didn’t work, and was replaced with a larger one, at which point we discovered there was no problem with the original pump! We had to check the entirety of the wiring for about 1-2 kms, finding no fault we simply reconnected the previously “broken” pump and discovered, to our irritation, that it somehow worked again….. This took us to about 1800, at which point we were very tired, and I was extremely sunburnt and starting to seriously suffer from the lack of water and being out in the blazing sun all day. Calling upon our last reserves we got the final job finished promptly and managed to leave at about 2030.
Much of the work we ended up doing involved a couple of us slogging inside the wells (surrounded and climbed on by trapped huge toads!) and I think you may be able to see a couple of pictures of me inside on the slideshow. Although pretty non-stop – especially for Africa – I had the opportunity to meet, and horrifically frighten some of the children, as it turns out many of them had never seen a white man before! I also got the chance to witness hundreds of bats emerging from the roof of a house, the incredible number surprised me, they just didn’t stop pouring out for about 5 minutes.
Of course, once finished we still had 5 hours of insane driving ahead of us, lorries and various other vehicles, many with no lights, screaming towards us, and stopped inexplicably in the middle of the road causing us to swerve wildly at times to avoid a certain collision. This and the huge potholes distributed over the road made the drive back an experience…. We arrived home at about 0130, and fell into bed, shattered but happy at the thought that hundreds of people would now be able to drink safely again thanks to us.
The next morning though we were up early again, unloading a 40ft shipping container, filled with solar panels, swimming pools and other supplies. The swimming pools are left over from Haiti, used as sedimentation tanks and emergency water storage solutions apparently (I still reckon it’s just a good excuse for a bit of a pool party!)
A slightly unnerving event occurred the other day, when, in rush hour traffic in Kampala, a policeman suddenly appears at our window, telling us to open the back door for him to get in and then rattling off a load of Ugandan at Thomas. Confused, with a slight fear of what this man was going to ask from us (he was wearing a brown uniform of a normal policeman, not the white of traffic enforcer) I looked at Thomas, who shook his head vigorously, then sped off round the other vehicles! Something wasn’t right about this guy, and the next thing we know, he’s jumped on a motorbike taxi (called boda boda’s) and instructed the man to pull up in front of us! By this point we’re getting a little worried! Thomas once again pulls away, and puts his foot down, only to be caught in the slow moving traffic and have the policeman overtake us again! The man is still waving angrily at us, and speeds ahead, at which point Thomas pulls a U-turn and we shoot off in the other direction. Don’t take this as us reverting to a criminal state of mind, running from the police, they are notoriously corrupt and will try and get a bribe out of anyone, especially a white man. There was something wrong with the way he was acting, and he was no traffic cop, so we just got out of there!
These boda boda’s, apart from apparently being part-time police vehicles, also seem to be able to be manipulated into carrying incredible loads. I have seen one with a stack of 5 mattresses, another carrying 20 stacked plastic garden chairs, yet another with the current record of 5 people squeezed on, giant bakery delivery boxes strapped on the rear, as well as a outboard motors, huge bunches of bananas and one carrying a machine used to flatten tarmac, about the size of a pneumatic drill! I will endeavor to provide you with pictures of some of the larger loads so you can see what I mean!
Well, I will leave it at that for now, altogether far too much, but if you’ve managed to get to the end, congratulations! Maybe you'll hear from me again in a couple of weeks...
Monday, May 24, 2010
Monday, May 10, 2010
First Couple of Days
So, 0745 on the 9/5/10, Dan Chant arrives in Entebbe, Uganda, a little late after flying round a thunderstorm for 30 minutes - at least I'm already adjusting back to African timings! (For those of you who don't know, everything must be at least 30-60 minutes late, at a minimum!)
Luckily though, the man I have been corresponding with in relation to my visit (Thomas) was there on time, and broke through the crowd to grasp my hand with a big warm smile on his face. After getting the bags into the Hilux in the torrential rain, we headed to the office, giving me my first chance to gaze upon Ugandan territory with my own eyes. The lush green scenery immediately grabs my attention, and a multitude of different exotic trees and bushes rush past me. These are interspersed with crudely painted houses and huts, made from a varying source of materials, many using homemade clay bricks and corrugated iron for the most basic of structures.
Arriving at the office (a large house on the side of a hill) I meet a couple more of the people I will be working with, Marten and Christine. Thomas heads off at about 0900, explaining he has to go to church and then some meetings, he says he will be back "in the evening" (yes, this is ominous!). I stay chatting for a while then head to a spare room to get some sleep as, after being sat between two very chatty nocturnal Ugandans on the plane, I am absolutely shattered.
After awakening from my deep and refreshing slumber I take the opportunity - as it has stopped raining, to explore a little of my immediate surroundings. I can already see glimpses of the magnificent Lake Victoria from the huge windows of the office and am eager to get a better view. Hiking further up the hill takes me to an absolutely awe inspiring position, I scan the area and am speechless. A huge sea of vibrant greens lie in front of me, and beyond that the incredible, gigantic Lake. Crickets play their shrill melodies incessantly, hundreds of birds sing peculiar and pretty songs, and I keep checking the long grass for snakes I may accidentally stumble upon in my current state of wonder!
It soon starts to rain again though, and being a little way out of town I cannot go anywhere for the rest of the day, I finish my book and wait for Thomas to arrive so we can get back to his place and start getting settled.
2230 and Thomas gets back! We jump into the Hilux and drive to his home, it is still under construction and so has no running water or electricity yet, but he makes me feel very welcome and is proving to be a brilliant companion. Sadly there is nowhere for me to put my things, so I leave them in the suitcases and jump into bed, immediately dropping off to sleep. An uninterrupted night, except for when I manage (due to my irritatingly long legs!) to pull down not only my mosquito net, but Thomas's too! After a quick fix I climb back in and sleep til morning.
The next day brings sun and another new morning chorus from multitudes of noisy animals and insects! We head to the office - me driving the V6 Hilux (I imagine you can picture the gigantic grin on my face, bouncing down deeply rutted dirt tracks in that monster), getting onto the main roads I am amazed at the absolute death-wish of every single man and woman hurtling along on motorbikes (of course without helmets - you just get too hot), speeding past us in the most rickety 4x4s and minibuses, as well as the huge trucks and buses forcing their way through the traffic, making insane manoeuvres into the path of oncoming vehicles. Its definitely more exciting driving here than in England!
Arriving at the office there is a brief staff meeting, formally introducing myself and discussing the issues we face in the coming weeks. We won't start work properly until Thursday, when Clark Mcnutt (the boss) arrives.
After the meeting a quick lunch is followed by a trip into the centre of Kampala with Thomas to run some errands. The urge to get hit by a passing vehicle seems to draw people into the road, though their apparent lust for injuries in the noisy cacophony of teeming, speeding traffic seems to be miraculously denied in most cases! After parking the car we sort out the unlocking of my mobile phone, and head down to a printing shop, situated in the basement beneath some buildings on a main street. It turns out that printing is big business, as after chatting for a while with a man named Kim, learning about his operation of a huge Heidelburg press I go away to explore a little. Walking down the back streets I am heckled affectionately (I hope!) by many stall holders, to which any reply I make is met by huge smiles, raucous laughter and screams by the women - apparently white men walking alone is a rare thing to see as the men, although more reserved in their response once I reply to them, also stare unashamedly at me as I pass by.
Strolling back along the street I turn into what I thought was the same printing basement as before, though it turns out it is an entirely separate operation, so whilst trying to look as relaxed and comfortable as I could, hiding my embarrassment, I quickly went back upstairs, with about 50 pairs of dark brown eyes watching my every move! As I recover, laughing at my misfortune I turn into the next basement - needless to say, yet again this was not the correct one, and I had to go through the entire experience again! Luckily for me, the next set of stairs took me back down to my friend Thomas, and a feeling of relief of not having to relive that humiliation again!
A little bit of food shopping and suddenly it's 1800, we drive back to the offices and I chat to the parents and Bex for a while on Skype. I have no idea where the time goes but this blog has ended at 2200, and we still have to drive home to our cosy one room house.
All in all, my first real day here has been great, everyone is friendly, and seem eager to converse with a white man or "mzungu" as they call us! Thomas has been very welcoming, and I'm glad that we get on so well, it makes me feel a lot more comfortable here, but no doubt at some point the fact that I won't be home for a year will hit. I am not looking forward to that moment, as its always a little hard, but thus far things are all good, and I can't wait to get started on some real work!
Luckily though, the man I have been corresponding with in relation to my visit (Thomas) was there on time, and broke through the crowd to grasp my hand with a big warm smile on his face. After getting the bags into the Hilux in the torrential rain, we headed to the office, giving me my first chance to gaze upon Ugandan territory with my own eyes. The lush green scenery immediately grabs my attention, and a multitude of different exotic trees and bushes rush past me. These are interspersed with crudely painted houses and huts, made from a varying source of materials, many using homemade clay bricks and corrugated iron for the most basic of structures.
Arriving at the office (a large house on the side of a hill) I meet a couple more of the people I will be working with, Marten and Christine. Thomas heads off at about 0900, explaining he has to go to church and then some meetings, he says he will be back "in the evening" (yes, this is ominous!). I stay chatting for a while then head to a spare room to get some sleep as, after being sat between two very chatty nocturnal Ugandans on the plane, I am absolutely shattered.
After awakening from my deep and refreshing slumber I take the opportunity - as it has stopped raining, to explore a little of my immediate surroundings. I can already see glimpses of the magnificent Lake Victoria from the huge windows of the office and am eager to get a better view. Hiking further up the hill takes me to an absolutely awe inspiring position, I scan the area and am speechless. A huge sea of vibrant greens lie in front of me, and beyond that the incredible, gigantic Lake. Crickets play their shrill melodies incessantly, hundreds of birds sing peculiar and pretty songs, and I keep checking the long grass for snakes I may accidentally stumble upon in my current state of wonder!
It soon starts to rain again though, and being a little way out of town I cannot go anywhere for the rest of the day, I finish my book and wait for Thomas to arrive so we can get back to his place and start getting settled.
2230 and Thomas gets back! We jump into the Hilux and drive to his home, it is still under construction and so has no running water or electricity yet, but he makes me feel very welcome and is proving to be a brilliant companion. Sadly there is nowhere for me to put my things, so I leave them in the suitcases and jump into bed, immediately dropping off to sleep. An uninterrupted night, except for when I manage (due to my irritatingly long legs!) to pull down not only my mosquito net, but Thomas's too! After a quick fix I climb back in and sleep til morning.
The next day brings sun and another new morning chorus from multitudes of noisy animals and insects! We head to the office - me driving the V6 Hilux (I imagine you can picture the gigantic grin on my face, bouncing down deeply rutted dirt tracks in that monster), getting onto the main roads I am amazed at the absolute death-wish of every single man and woman hurtling along on motorbikes (of course without helmets - you just get too hot), speeding past us in the most rickety 4x4s and minibuses, as well as the huge trucks and buses forcing their way through the traffic, making insane manoeuvres into the path of oncoming vehicles. Its definitely more exciting driving here than in England!
Arriving at the office there is a brief staff meeting, formally introducing myself and discussing the issues we face in the coming weeks. We won't start work properly until Thursday, when Clark Mcnutt (the boss) arrives.
After the meeting a quick lunch is followed by a trip into the centre of Kampala with Thomas to run some errands. The urge to get hit by a passing vehicle seems to draw people into the road, though their apparent lust for injuries in the noisy cacophony of teeming, speeding traffic seems to be miraculously denied in most cases! After parking the car we sort out the unlocking of my mobile phone, and head down to a printing shop, situated in the basement beneath some buildings on a main street. It turns out that printing is big business, as after chatting for a while with a man named Kim, learning about his operation of a huge Heidelburg press I go away to explore a little. Walking down the back streets I am heckled affectionately (I hope!) by many stall holders, to which any reply I make is met by huge smiles, raucous laughter and screams by the women - apparently white men walking alone is a rare thing to see as the men, although more reserved in their response once I reply to them, also stare unashamedly at me as I pass by.
Strolling back along the street I turn into what I thought was the same printing basement as before, though it turns out it is an entirely separate operation, so whilst trying to look as relaxed and comfortable as I could, hiding my embarrassment, I quickly went back upstairs, with about 50 pairs of dark brown eyes watching my every move! As I recover, laughing at my misfortune I turn into the next basement - needless to say, yet again this was not the correct one, and I had to go through the entire experience again! Luckily for me, the next set of stairs took me back down to my friend Thomas, and a feeling of relief of not having to relive that humiliation again!
A little bit of food shopping and suddenly it's 1800, we drive back to the offices and I chat to the parents and Bex for a while on Skype. I have no idea where the time goes but this blog has ended at 2200, and we still have to drive home to our cosy one room house.
All in all, my first real day here has been great, everyone is friendly, and seem eager to converse with a white man or "mzungu" as they call us! Thomas has been very welcoming, and I'm glad that we get on so well, it makes me feel a lot more comfortable here, but no doubt at some point the fact that I won't be home for a year will hit. I am not looking forward to that moment, as its always a little hard, but thus far things are all good, and I can't wait to get started on some real work!
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