My Feet in Kampala and First Impressions

Week 1

                My first steps on the ground in Uganda occurred October 6^th, approximately 30 hours after Colin (Colin’s blog) and I departed from Toronto the evening of October 4th. Shortly after our arrival at the Entebbe airport, we were greeted by Charles, an employee from AMREF who shared invaluable “need to know” information about the country with us on our way to the busy, face-paced city of Kampala. After a brief DaVinci style nap at our hotel, Colin and I ventured on to the AMREF Uganda district office where we received several warm welcomes.

                This is the beginning of my second experience living in East Africa, the first being in 2008 when I lived in Mwanza, Tanzania, a coastal city that shares the plenty of Lake Victoria with Uganda and Kenya. Kampala, being situated only a few hundred kilometers away, I suspected, would share a wide array of similarities with Mwanza-  was I wrong! For starters, I thought I would be able to hit the ground running with my fair sized vocabulary in Kiswahilli- one of the languages I was advised would also be quite prominent here in Uganda. It’s safe to say that the Lonely Planet and a few others broke that promise- however, I am excited to say that I have now been afforded a new opportunity to learn Luganda, also a Bantu language spoke by several Ugandans. Secondly, Kampala is very well developed. From the four-story shopping malls and supermarkets, to the upscale hotels, restaurants, bars and cafés, to the golf courses, gyms and spas, Kampala is more than just home to a several prominent NGO’s!

                On day two we met with the Joshua Kyallo, Country Director and Susan Wandera, Deputy Country Director of AMREF Uganda and were introduced to our responsibilities for our time in Uganda. My first project will be to assist with a proposal for a project titled “The Lake Victoria Basin Integrated Health Initiative” (LVBIHI), quite the mouthful! The second project will be to design, test and implement a feasible E-learning solution to upgrade the skills of various medical workers in Uganda. Stay tuned for project updates.

                The remainder of week one was spent searching for permanent accommodations in Kampala, a task that is certainly not easy to do without city bearings. As mentioned earlier, Kampala is a very developed city and in many ways strikes a resemblance to Toronto. As such, rent is nearly the same- anywhere from $400/month for a somewhat dodgy apartment, to $2000/month ++ for a two bedroom unfurnished apartment on the outskirts of the city. A shock to say the least! Time was also spent procuring the essentials for our role with AMREF, a wireless usb internet stick and a cell phone and trying my best not to get lost in the deep holes situated in the middle of many sidewalks.

                After a somewhat unsuccessful apartment search, I needed to get out of the Land Rover, move my body and see the city by foot. The further out of the city centre I wandered, the more familiar the territory became. Still, very concentrated with people, shops, boda boda’s (motorcycle taxis) and taxi’s (minivan style public transit bus, aka "dala dala"), but also fresh produce markets, tropical farmland, charcoal fire cookeries and other signs that remind me that I am far from home!

 

Fresh produce and second hand market

Mangos- oh my!