I’m finally in Kitengesa! Right now Heather, Leila, Kara, Tiffany and I are all charging our computers in the community library. There are so many things to talk about, though, so I’ll give you all of the information in chunks.

Flight

My flight went from Vancouver to Montreal to Brussels to Entebbe. On each of the flights I had really wanted a window seat, so when we checked in on the internet a few days before I accidentally ended up putting myself in window seats far from all of the other girls. Luckily I had nice companions on the flights. From Vancouver to Montreal I think I slept the whole time because my flight was at 8:50 AM which meant I had to get there at about 7 which meant I had to leave my house at 6 which, as you all know, means I had to wake up at 4. Erm. Yes. 

Anyways, the flights were good. The Brussels airport was a bit disappointing; I had figured that because it was in Europe it would be very nice. It wasn’t horrible, but interestingly we went to the T section, which was where all the flights to Africa went. It was downstairs (we accidentally had to go through security again because we took a wrong turn) and then we were ushered into a waiting room. A blonde woman was at the entrance for us, holding a sheet of paper with a list of different destinations. It was typed and there were notes in ink on it. She asked us if we were going to Africa, we said yes, and she let us into the room. It was big, with a high ceiling and many seats. There was even a heat lamp over a few, which made me wonder if they were trying to recreate the heat that was obviously absent in Brussels’ winter. 

We had to take a shuttle to get to the T terminal. It too, was sparse and not as shiny as the rest of the airport. Because we only had about an hour or two between flights, we went to the T terminal immediately. Also, it was, as indicated by the shuttle, very far from the rest of the airport terminals. Anyhow, the flight was good, but there weren’t personal TVs, and the big TVs in the middle only played nature shows, which made the flight drag a bit. Luckily, I was sitting next to a nice man who worked for Kissito International so I had a good flight anyway. 

When we got off the plane in Entebbe I thought that it was warm on the plane, and that it would be the same temperature outside. Needless to say, it wasn’t. We walked off the plane and down a set of stairs covered by a canopy. The five of us met on the cement, Heather said good-bye to a missionary going to Mbale, and we went into the Immigration center. There were several lines we were ushered into a random line-up by the woman directing these things. Going through immigration was surprisingly easy, although we did have to give them our fingerprints. To do it there was a small box with a pad like a scanner has. I put first my four fingers and then my thumb on it, and a green light went along the pad to scan my fingerprints. It kind of blew my mind that I had to do that. 

When we got out of customs I thankfully didn’t have to carry my bags. We got them out on carts. Mine came out late so I almost thought it wouldn’t come at all, but it did. When we left we were hid by this smell. It smelled like warm, wet grass. It was just past 11 PM, so we couldn’t see much but what we could see was lush and tropical and fantastic. 

Because it was so late it didn’t take us long to get to Kampala; only about 45 minutes. We got out of the van driven by two men we haven’t seen since and some people helped us with our bags. Josephine, a woman who registered people (I admit I don’t know much more about what she did) took my wrist and led me up the stairs to the floor where our rooms were and took our information before showing us into our rooms. My room was with Heather and Julie, and Kara and Tiffany took another room together. Tiffany and Kara are going to Busolwe together. Heather, Leila (who had arrived earlier in the day and was staying in a room around the corner) and I are all placed in Kitengesa, and Julie and Lydia (who arrived and was staying with Leila) are going to Masaka in order to work with TASO and HIV/AIDS.

Anyways, the room was nice. We had water bottles waiting for us (and we needed them -- by now we were incredibly thirsty) and a little set of pink plastic chairs and three twin beds crammed together. With each of us having 2 suitcases and 2 carry-on pieces, there was absolutely no room to walk. We ended up putting the chairs against the door, and Heather and Julie worked some clean-up magic and we had a bit of walking room. 

Before we went to sleep most of us showered. We were all feeling so dirty and disgusting from 2 straight days of travel and the heat and the sweat, so it basically felt like the best thing ever.

First Day (Friday) - Kampala

Friday was a long day. We started off in the morning with breakfast with Dan and Juliette, our two UBC contact/supervisors. We also met Ivan, who is Juliette’s nephew. I’m currently living in Dan’s compound with his wife Amelia, his three daughters, Elizabeth, Monica, and baby Amelia, his son, Dan, and his foster daughter Florence. Also living there is Roman, who is Dan’s nephew, Innocence, and a couple other people whose names I don’t know yet. 

Anyways, on Friday we were still in Kampala, which is the capital city of Uganda. Breakfast was beef and vegetable samosas, fresh fruit, eggs (spanish, fried, and scrambled), toast, passionfruit juice and tea. During breakfast we talked about some more things that we would be needing to know when we went to Kitengesa. 

After breakfast we went and had a meeting in room 118 - I don’t know why that number is so imprinted in my mind. The room was just big enough for the 9 of us. We all sat on white chairs facing Dan, Juliette, and a woman that came to talk to us from TASO. She was actually one of the founders. TASO is actually a very cool sounding organization that highly values the integrity of its clients. 

After she left we talked a bit more about cultural things, had lunch downstairs and had our first taste of Ugandan food. There was boiled chicken, ground nut sauce (WHICH IS AMAZING!!!), greens (we’re not sure which greens), maize, and a lot of other things which I will show pictures of because I can’t remember all of the names. Perhaps I need to put labels on the food?? 

After lunch we wandered around with Ivan for a bit. He took us through the center of Kampala to the mall and around. Kara and Tiffany got their cell phones from AirTel at the mall. The mall was very nice and very western, although there weren’t any Starbucks. I also for some reason didn’t pack body wash, so I got some of that there, too. The inner part of Kampala is a lot shorter than Vancouver. By that I mean most of the buildings are not as tall. There are quite a few giant office buildings though, like for UNICEF and for the government and things. It is also full of greenery and of trees. We saw some cranes nesting on top of one. 

We were walking for quite a bit, and when we finally decided to make our way back we were going to take a boda-boda, which is a motorcycle that is used as a small taxi and which can sometimes seat three extra people not including the driver, but one of the girls felt uncomfortable so we took a taxi instead. Interesting about taking taxis in Kampala is that you are charged by the passenger instead of the distance, so sometimes taxis will wait for ages, until it is full, before it will actually leave. 

When we got back some girls went to the craft fair with Ivan while Kara, Tiffany and I went back to our rooms. We tried to follow the others to the craft fair, but we got lost. Instead we went to room 118 where we met Dan. Soon the others joined us, and then Juliette did. We walked down to an Indian restaurant where we would be having dinner.

We had to pass through a metal detector and check our bags before entering the building for the Indian Restaurant. It did say it was exclusive… Anyways, dinner was very good. We had naan and goat, chicken, fish, and vegetarian sauces. After, we had ice cream. After our long first day in Kitengesa it was hard to stay awake much longer. The moment I got back into my room I climbed under my mosquito net and fell asleep. I did not even wake up to the crazy partiers outside our room.

Second Day (Saturday) - On our way to Kitengesa

We had breakfast again first thing. I was running late, but when Julie and I did get down we found everyone waiting for us. For some unknown reason I decided to be different and get some porridge. When it finally came, finally because I got it only once everyone else was halfway through their eggs, my bowl of porridge was huge and full and steaming. I was still stirring when everyone else was finished so Juliette suggested we bring it up to room 118 and eat there. I didn’t want to waste the food, so I agreed and brought it up. Fortunately for me (hahaha) when I was attempting to eat the hot and full steaming bowl of porridge, a slip of paper was passed around for us to sign. Of course, as I tried to sign the paper and balance the porridge on my knees the porridge unbalances and fell all over me. I had to go into Juliette’s room and clean myself up. My black pants were a lost cause after that. I had my first day of wearing a maxi skirt. I am not a fan. 

Anyways, we packed a bit after breakfast, then got our luggage out to head to Kitengesa. 

Out of Kampala there was a huge amount of traffic. Cars don’t stall here in order to save gas, so I would say that for about half of our time out of the city, we were parked. The reason for the traffic was that there was some construction going on. To go anywhere, you have to pass through this huge city, which is a bit of a pain, so they’re currently constructing a circular road around Kampala. As soon as we got to the other side of the traffic, which took an hour or two, we went to a gas station to use the bathroom and experienced our first squat toilets. Not so bad, actually. 

Something interesting about Kampala is that the inside of the city is nice, despite the surprisingly regular open potholes, but once you start heading to the outskirts it suddenly becomes a lot dirtier and louder and harsher. I don’t think I could live in Kampala, it’s far too busy for me, and that’s not something I thought I would ever say.

Close to Masaka is the Equator (!!). So, I stood on the equator, which was very exciting. We had chabatti and guacamole for lunch and then finished our way to Kitengesa. 

Dan’s house in Kitengesa is like paradise. I’m not joking. It’s so beautiful. There are several small houses, one of which is the kitchen and some storage sheds, and then there is the house where Dan and his family sleep. On the other side of the path is where we sleep. There is a ‘kitchen,’ and while it has a cupboard and a sink, it does not have an oven or anything. The next room over is a living room with a couch and two armchairs over an dark orange/red rug. The building is made of cement. Out of the living room is a hallway with several rooms attached. I believe there are two rooms with two twin beds, and two with a single bed. Heather and I have rooms with 1 bed, and Leila’s room has two. My room is about the size of Jessica’s old room or Antonia’s sewing room but a bit thinner. The bed is pulled fairly close to the door and my suitcases are behind it so you can’t see from the door. I have a large chest of drawers where I’ve organized all of my clothes and things. Above the chest are my forty-odd books. We have a busy couple of days so I haven’t managed to give them to Dan to catalogue yet. At the end of the hallway we have a bathroom with running water, a normal toilet, and a shower head. The showers are so cold here because the water isn’t heated. Also, the water doesn’t magically come from a plumbing system, as I originally thought. The water tank with the water used for everything by everyone is filled by the children from a well. Elizabeth, Dan’s oldest daughter, told me that there were ghosts in the well that hung around it during the day. I’m really excited to see it now, because you never hear stories about ghosts during the day.

Note: I live on the left with Heather and Leila, Dan's house in on the right, and that building in the distance (100 m away or so) is the library!!!

We spent the rest of the day unpacking and then having a late lunch/dinner with Amelia. We also got a tour of the library. It’s a new building with fresh cream paint. In front of the building is a large lawn that they hope to use to host events that will help to support the library as libraries in Uganda are not backed by the government. By the lawn there is a very big room that will also be for hosting, and which we are going to be using a lot for programs and things. The library’s books are stored in one room in blue painted cabinets. In the centre of the room are several tables and chairs for studying, and on one side there is a couch and a desk. The next room over is the new computer lab. I thought for some reason that they would be desktop computers, but they are actually all notebooks. But the library has wireless, which is pretty sweet. Unfortunately, however, there is something weird with my computer and it actually takes forever for a page to load. I don’t know what that’s about. 

I went to bed at 9, which I never do… crazy but awesome day.

Day to Explore (Sunday) - KITENGESA!!

We didn’t do much today, mostly just eating with Dan and his wife, Amelia and playing with baby Amelia and little Dan and Elizabeth and Monica. In the morning we spent a while charging our stuff in the computer lab and talking with Julius, a man who is a singer and also a librarian and IT person, and Moses, his nephew, who happens to be 20 as well and turning 21 in February. This is pretty exciting for Heather and I, because this means he was born in the same year as us. 

Before lunch we walked into town. Everyone was calling us Muzungu as we passed. Not just everyone, but everyone. It seemed like every child was waving to us and wanted to say hi and then bye to us. Some of the kids were incredibly cute. Elizabeth was our tour guide, and she took photos for Heather on her camera. She was able to get some great shots of people that we wouldn’t have been able to because it’s considered quite rude to take photos of people here without their permission. There’s a place that has refrigeration, so we headed there. There wasn’t any refrigerated water, only pop, but we were so thirsty so we got some water anyway. I haven’t had the chance to try out the water purification stuff because it says 1/2 of a teaspoon per 10 LITRES… WHERE WOULD I PUT 10 LITRES OF WATER?? WHAT DO I DO FOR 1 LITRE?? I DON’T HAVE A MEASURING SPOON!!!

Anyways soon after we came back we hung around some more at the library and little Dan played on my computer a bit, and some of the other kids watched. Inside we took some funny photos on Leila’s Photo Booth. 

We got to make ciabatti!! It was so exciting!! Roman was rolling the dough, and Amelia was frying it in the pan while Elizabeth and Florence helped her. Their stove is over an open flame and made of clay or something of the sort with holes just large enough to rest a pan. It took me three tries before I was rolling the ciabatti right, but I got it eventually. And then I fried the ciabbatti. It was so exciting to eat it for dinner, and gorsh it was delicious. All of the food I’ve had so far has been amazing. 

We’re going to a Ugandan Library Association Conference in Masaka tomorrow whose theme is the environment, so we also went through the shelves to pick out some books with that theme to show to other libraries tomorrow. 

Monday and Tuesday (because there wasn’t internet on these days because we came back when the library had already closed)

We attended the Ugandan Community Library Association (UgCLA) Annual Conference in Masaka each of these days. It was a fabulous opportunity to learn more about the challenges local libraries are facing, as well as to meet librarians from across the country. Also, there was so much food. Every couple of hours we would stop to eat or drink tea. 

Wednesday

Today was Kitengesa Library’s official opening!! It was so exciting to have the opportunity to attend such a historic occasion. The new computer lab was officially revealed, and even the VICE PRESIDENT OF UGANDA WAS THERE!!!!! Yeah, I was in a picture with him/saw him/took photos of him. No big deal. Afterward we had lunch at the house of Professor Kosozi and Professor Kate Parry. Their house is quite big, too.

While we were eating lunch on their lawn a man came up to us from the Red Pepper Paper. They’re a tabloid newspaper. When we told Dan that we wanted to take pictures of the Vice President earlier, he directed us to speak with his heads of security, who told us we were allowed to take nice photos, but we weren’t allowed to take weird photos, like of him eating or anything, and we also weren’t allowed to sell pictures or information to the press because tabloids like to make stuff up, and oh my did we get a taste of this. Earlier, Leila had taken a photo with a man in the army. Apparently this isn’t allowed in Uganda, and even one of his colleagues had made a no motion with his had. 

Anyhow, this man comes up to us and tells us that he’s going to put a story into his newspaper about an army man who leaves the army because he’s fallen in love with a Canadian girl. Of course it’s all lies because all it was was a photo, but he told us to check the Red Pepper next week. I will laugh so hard if he actually puts that story in his newspaper.  

Also, just to let everyone know, my phone number is +256-079-302-2553. You can use google or skype to call me if you want to chat!! 

Thursday

… just begun, but Kara and Tiffany left this morning to go to their placement in Busolwe, and I miss them already! I hope you guys have fun and I wish you the best of luck!!!