Arrived and Settling in

I recently arrived in beautiful Kampala, Uganda on Sunday, August 2.. The adventure so far has been one of drastic adjustment. While it isnt anything new for me to live in a developing country, it still comes with shock to see the overall difference between the lives of so many people and what I take for granted back home in Canada.. It is so easy to forget in Canada, how everything that we have in our daily lives, all the things right down to our garbage collection system, is not even a near off dream for most people around the world. Garbage collection here is privatized, and you must pay to bring it to the dump, so it isnt uncommon at night for people to dump garbage on side roads.. Burning is also common here, especially of plastic bottles.

The issues of food security and the rise in oil prices is heavily apparent here. Fuel here is almost 1.40 per litre, and the cost of rice, maize and beans has risen by 30% just this year alone. Poor harvests in the North due to flooding last year and drought this year, have left communities heavily food insecure and it is getting to the point where 1,000,000 people in the north region are beginning to require emergency food aid. I am hoping to be able to network with the WFP here and try and do some volunteering on the side. This is sort of my larger goal to work with them in the future, so planting the seeds now will help with this venture.

Arriving at 2:30AM and showing up to a completely empty guest house was a little unsettling at first. CCA's director for Africa, Terry Macdonald, a nice fellow, pounded on my door at noon and brought me out for a wonderful welcoming to Kampala. We had a delicious buffet under lush Banana (matouke) trees, and then went on a 2 hour tour of the city, pointing out the main government buildings, Mzungu (white) shopping areas, and some fun places to go once settled. I was still at this point very uncomfortable with randomly walking the streets and finding my boundaries. Needless to say, adjustment has come very quickly here, and I am everyday further venturing into the busy, chaotic streets of Kampala. Whether by foot, or bouncing and swerving on the back of a Boda (motorcyle taxi), Kampala is a great place to be.. The people are friendly, welcoming, warm hearted and will go out of their way to help at any time. There is sometimes a sense of pseudo-kindness, somewhat of a show put on because I am Mzungu. However, this may be just something that expats internalise as they find their bearings here. Really trying to just keep an open mind and not form any judgements of the culture and why people do the things they do.

Overall so far, I would recommend coming here to anyone who has a chance. There is much to see in terms of Safaris, national parks, rafting, and a vibrant, lush countryside. I will be traveling up to Gulu, one of Uganda's most effected areas of Joseph Kony's LRA led blood bath. The extent of the mutilation, oppression and downright inhumane horror will no doubt leave a deep scar on the people for many generations. I hope my travels there will further help me understand the context and the experiences and stories of the people who had to witness and fall victim to these acts of violence.

Much more to come. Not too sure how to organize my thoughts as there is so much I could write on, so these blog entries may be sort of disorganized, but I hope you enjoy reading them!!
Take care
All my love from Uganda