Once in Moshi, Merel and I began searching for a tour company to take us up Mt. Kilimanjaro. It didn’t take long. We had talked to one company but were shopping around, looking for a company called ‘Evans’ (thought it was a good omen) when a guide on the street showed us his license and said that he was a guide for Evans. We followed him to his office, negotiated the price, equipment, route, and length of trip and then it was done. We were climbing the next day!

After a good night’s sleep and a fabulous meal at an Indian/Italian restaurant, we headed back to the office to inspect all the gear before departing for the trip.  It was a good idea to do the inspections as a few items needed to swapped, repaired, or didn’t fit quite right. So off we went to the mountain.

We spent the next 7 days hiking through rainforest, Moreland, dessert, and high dessert terrain. The food was excellent (better than I’d been eating in Uganda the past 2 months) and our guides were also wonderful people. There was a lot of rain but I suppose that’s to be expected when you try to climb the mountain during rainy season. However, it was worth it to skip the crowds that come through during the high season. Merel and I spent plenty of time in the tent in the evenings out of the rain, but our spirits were high throughout. We both experienced some symptoms of altitude sickness during the trek, but at 5:45 a.m. on a Saturday, we both summited Kilimanjaro just as the sun was coming up after over 5 hours of hiking in the dark.

It was one of the most emotional moments of my life. I was so overwhelmed after the exhausting hike with all of the beauty of the mountain top, the sense of achievement, and happiness that I couldn’t hold back a few tears.

It took 1 1/2 days to descend the mountain and within an hour of being back in Moshi, Merel and I were on a bus to Dar es Salaam, the capital of Tanzania. This bus ride was improved as far as comfort, although we were in the bumpy back row again and the bus broke down in a small village in the middle of Tanzania. Despite that, we made it to Dar and a friend we made on the bus helped us get a taxi to a hostel downtown.

In the morning we set off on a boat to Zanzibar after a few errands. This is where I have been the last 5 days and have loved every bit. The mixture of Arabic, Indian, and African culture on the island is excellent. The architecture is beautiful and the white sand/turquoise water beaches are incredible. Although it’s quite touristey, Merel and I found a way to get deeper by staying in a local house, finding the local beach to play soccer with some Zanzibarians, and renting a jeep to drive to the East of the island where we stayed in a wooden beach bungalow and played in the ocean. Driving the jeep was an adventure in itself, avoiding goats, stray chickens, and ox carts.

So yesterday I dropped Merel at the airport and began my first solo travel experience. I drove the jeep up to the Northern tip of the island and stayed on the beach again. I’m not sure how I feel about the traveling alone yet but the journey continues. Today it’s back to the mainland and then up the coast into Kenya for awhile before heading back to Uganda. Wish me luck!

So, I feel really good about the work I’ve been able to do in the past 2 months and I was super positive about leaving until the group members found out that I was leaving. They were legitimately arguing for me to stay and were sad. It makes me feel good about the connections I’ve made with people here, but also very sad at the same time and almost guilty that I was leaving to go travel. Anyway, I’m coming back to Jinja for 3 days before I leave so they are throwing a celebration for me and the progress of the project. I feel so honored that I was able to work with such a motivated and strong group of people, especially the women. Here in Uganda, women are traditionally responsible for childcare, cooking, cleaning, and all agriculture. In short, they do most of the work. The men are responsible for providing land for the family and paying some school fees for the children. Women in their 60s and beyond are still farming and taking care of children. They’re more fit than I am, that much is certain.

I’m feeling more and more comfortable here, so leaving feels more strange than I expected it to, but I’m also very excited to travel. Tomorrow I get on a bus that leaves for Moshi at the base of Kilimanjaro with a friend. We are hoping to hop on an expedition and climb!

All of the members are very excited. They made a skirt which they gave to me yesterday–it was so nice of them. Once again, I’m having trouble getting the grant money from TASO which is unfortunate since I am supposed to be done at the end of next week(November 7!). This next week is going to be very busy, but I should be able to conduct the workshop and purchase all the materials for the dryers. The group can take it from there!

This weekend I’m going whitewater rafting on the Nile which should be fantastic and then at the end of next week I’m leaving to travel east to Kenya and Tanzania. Hopefully, I’ll have another update before I leave to travel!

Thursdays are gardening days. The farmers come to weed and maintain the gardens or plant and then have a group meeting. So I spent the morning in the gardens weeding and trying to pick up more of the langauge (Luganda) from my fellow gardeners. Putting your hands in the earth is always a great feeling and the members got a kick out of my language attempts.

Then the best part of the day happened. We opened the fruit dryer to find that the fruit was dried and delicious! No one had seen dried fruit before so everyone was ecstatic and eager to try the fruits. Everyone was also very willing and excited to provide more fruits to experiment with the process. We are going to experiment with thickness and length of the slices, types of fruit, and pretreating the fruit to preserve color. In the first round we dried papaya and jackfruit. Jackfruit is a huge fruit the size of two heads. It’s green and lumpy and inside you find pockets of yummy fruit containing big seeds. It’s very sweet and turned out excellent in the dryer. Tomorrow we will try pineapples and bananas. Since it’s between harvests here we won’t be able to find all the fruits (like mangoes). Most fruits have 2, sometimes 3 seasons here!

With the input from members, I’ve designed a label for the packaging so we will start packaging fruits tomorrow. Also, my new supervisor (the previous one left) is coming out to see the project for the first time tomorrow. My organization is basically oblivious to everything I’ve been doing. It’s now official that I’ve fallen through a big gaping bureaucratic crack. Honestly, it’s a bummer that I’m not collaborating more with them, but I do get more done when I’m on my own schedule. Oh well. Not much to do about it now. Anyway, my supervisor coming along tomorrow will be beneficial because before we go, I’m taking him to the market with me to buy packaging so that I don’t get charged white-people prices. I think the average multiple in prices from normal to mzungu is at least 5.

It’s officially rainy season which is good for gardening but bad for fruit drying and the health of many Ugandans. A huge wave of malaria has hit. Members of my family, villagers that I work with and their children are all coming down with it. This is my host brother’s 7th time getting it. People seem to be quite accepting of the disease’s prevalence. My host brother said, “Oh, yes, I have malaria again,” very nonchalant and unworried. It’s bad when the young kids get it, though. In another intern’s village they just had a funeral for two babies that died of malaria and couldn’t get access to treatment.

I’m ingesting my malaria meds diligently and taking comfort in the mosquito net I sleep under. Wow, this passage started out so cheery and then I brought up infant death. Sorry.

Anyway, I’m very happy. Life is good. The food dryer works, my Fulbright application came together and has been submitted, LSAT studying is going well, and we interns are having a party this weekend to be followed by some DANCING! Last weekend I went out dancing for the first time and it was a blast, so hopefully this weekend will be too!

I hope this finds you all happy and healthy!

-Cait

This is my host mom, Robbina. She is wonderful.

A young boy who came and sat near me when we were in a village near Sipi Falls

Just thought this was a beautiful image. It was taken in Bujugali, near the village where I work

For example, yesterday I was walking home and came across a girl at a bus stop who appeared to be about 15 years old. She was naked except for a pair of undies. Everyone else sitting at the bus stop looked unperturbed. Granted I don’t see that every day here, but the casualness of it was striking.

There are a couple others that I do experience daily:

#1 During our orientation they called it the ‘fish bowl effect.’ No matter where I go and even though I often walk the same streets, people stare at me and watch my every move. Some people feel the need to say something to me, just because I look different: Most of the time it’s, “Hello, Mzungu” which roughly translates as, “Hello, Whitey.” It’s an interesting feeling to be addressed according to skin color. I know it’s not the same, but I’ve wondered what would happen if I said, “Hello, Blackey” to African Americans back home. Race is treated extremely different here.

I should mention the kids. Seeing white people seems to be extremely exciting for the kids. When you pass on the street, they come running out of their homes screaming, “MZUNGU, HIYEEEEEE, mzungu how are you!” It’s cute until they keep repeating it over and over even after you’ve answered them. Most days I don’t mind. I smile and wave and say, “I am fine” 3 or 4 times. Some days it would be nice to be able to blend in and walk down the street normally.

#2 Being hit on and asked for money. Few days pass that I don’t get stopped on the street by someone explaining that they lost their job, their child is sick, etc… and ask me for some money. Sometimes it’s straight up, “Mzungu, give me money.” It’s hard not to feel callous when you say ‘no’ to a mother who asks for money to feed her kid. The worst part is I feel like I can see it coming. It’s the pleading look in the eyes before they even start talking or it’s the over-friendly greeting and asking if they can talk to you for a minute. In order to avoid the whole speech I usually cut them off and say, “Sorry, I’m in a hurry and can’t talk today. Good luck.”

It’s also hard to have a regular conversation with a man here. The minute you start being the slightest bit friendly, it’s “Can I have your contacts? Where are you staying? Oh, I can’t have your phone number? Why not? What is your email?” Wait, I take that back. Sometime you don’t even have to be friendly. The level of persistence is baffling.

I’m getting better at shrugging off these episodes, though. Otherwise, I would be frustrated far too often. In fact, I’m pretty content in general lately. Last week was tough, but it’s all been uphill since then. The first solar dryer is completed and looks amazing. We wanted to start drying fruit this week, but we’ve been having torrential rains. So, I finished up and submitted my final grant proposal for the project. If I get it, the grant will go towards building 3 more dryers and conducting workshops on other food preservation methods like making jams and sauces. If I don’t get it, I’ll continue to work with the group, helping them develop the business side of their projects. As Americans I think basic business skills are ingrained in us from childhood. I don’t think it’s the same here. The group I’m working with is currently making a profit of 400 shillings per school uniform they sew and sell. That is roughly 40 cents and their costs don’t include labor or repairs to the machines. It’s not even worth their time at this point. But, oh, the concept of time. It’s so flexible here and in no way can time be equated with money, so explaining that time spent laboring over a school uniform should be reflected in the cost is tough to convey.

 Spending time with the group I’m working with is the most rewarding part of my experience here. I think I’ve mentioned this before, but its truth is reaffirmed each time I ride my fixed gear, 75 lb., man bicycle over the rutted dirt road to the village. I always look forward to spending my day with the members of the Budondo Food Security. Always so warm and welcoming, the days are always brighter when I go out to the village. Last week I helped in the garden planting banana trees which was super awesome. They are already sprouting

My house is also a livelier place lately. The three grandkids that my host mom takes care of have been trading off getting sick. One of them has sickle cell anemia and had to get blood transfusions last week and the other two have had malaria. So while the Mom has been at the hospital with one kid, the others have been staying full-time at our house. It’s nice having them around. Blessing, the middle one, loves to play with my hair. She creates some lovely new styles for me.

So, that’s it. Keep your fingers crossed that the fruit drying is a success next week!

-Took the slowest, most painful taxi from Jinja to Kampala(the capital) for 4 hours(a trip that usually takes 2)

-Got into a stand-off with a boda-boda motorcycle taxi driver over 1,000 shillings which is roughly 50 cents. Principles are principles! Of course, it wasn’t about the 50 cents but about everyone trying to overcharge me because of my skin color. Plus, I was already grumpy from the taxi ride. The highlight of the stand-off was when the boda-boda man said, “This money is not even near enough. I’m offended and can’t do anything with it. You might as well take it back.” I said, “Fine, thanks for the ride,” and took the money back. Of course he didn’t go anywhere but just looked at me stunned. Then his friend took the money back from me and they finally left. We had caused a huge scene at the bus station by then and I was left feeling slightly victorious but with a mix of pettiness.

-Boarded a night bus at 11:15 pm. We were promised seats but the ticket seller didn’t give us a seat number. Becky and I sat down in some seats until some angry Ugandan women starting hit us on the heads and yelling words we couldn’t understand. Apparently they were given seat numbers. So Becky and I spent the next 7 hours sitting curled up in balls on a mattress on the floor of the front of the bus. Not the most restful night.

-Finally arrived shortly after 6a.m. and took a taxi to the lake. We boarded a carved-out wooden canoe which took us to our hostel on one of the islands in the middle of the lake. The hostel was great. The people were friendly, the food was excellent, and the scenery was spectacular. Spent a relaxing day which definitely included a nap and reading a book.

-The next day we signed up to take a boat up the lake to a market that was  supposed to be a hub of activity on the lake. Upon arrival, the market was a hub of inactivity. The guide was taking the other passengers on a hike to see a pygmy village. Becky and I were not interested in going to see the pygmies as we both felt it was exploitative and too much like a sideshow attraction. However, there was nowhere for us to go in the market so we decided to go on the hike with the others toward the pygmy village for some exercise.  Well we weren’t given any warning and before we knew it, were in the pygmy village. As we feared, it was a tour of, “Look how poor these people are. Don’t you feel sorry for them?” Some of the villagers performed a song and dance and then came time to negotiate the money.

Apparently tourists had been coming to the village, taking the poverty tour, and then doling out cash or gifts to the villagers. The only English the villagers spoke was one fluid sentence, “Hi how are you give me money.” Can you blame them? It was definitely joint exploitation. The entire process stood contrary to what Becky and I came to Uganda to do–sustainable development. We left feeling a mix of emotions including shame, guilt, offense, disgust, sadness, sympathy and more that we had trouble verbalizing. Needless to say, it put a little damper on our adventure.

-To go with the dirty feelings from earlier, we were also physically dirty. We decided to take showers but they ended up being arctic showers since the sun had gone away and the water was freezing! An arctic shower in Africa–nice. It was refreshing, however, and came with a breathtaking view.

-The following day we left early to head back to Jinja. I’ll spare the details but the 7 hour bus ride took us 12 hours this time and included a necessary stop to bribe some traffic officers. At least we had seats this time.

So, the best way I can put it was that we had an adventure. We got to see more of the African countryside, stayed at a fantastic location, made some stories about African travel, and made it home alive.

Apart from the weekend, I’ve been feeling a little homesick lately and physically tired and sick. I think it’s a natural course of highs and lows in the adjustment process. If the above post focuses too much on the negative, I apologize.

On the bright side, I finally disentangled my grant money from the stranglehold of bureaucracy so I can move ahead with my project! Tomorrow I will be taking the remaining materials to the village to complete the first dryer so wish me luck!

This is the type of solar food dryer we have seen here and are trying to build

The women who gave me my Ugandan name, Nygaga