Hi everyone. I created this blog to share my experience in Uganda with whoever is interested. I arrived in Kampala, Uganda about two weeks ago and will be volunteering for Five Talents, a Christian-based microfinance institution, until next March. I will periodically update the blog with stories about life in Kampala/Uganda and the impact Five Talents has on the local communities.
When I first got here, I traveled out to Fort Portal, with Sam Baguma, a director on the board of Five Talents Uganda, and Nate Ungarean. Fort Portal is a rural village due west of Kampala, near the mountainous border with the Democratic Republic of Congo. Most of the villagers in Fort Portal live in houses similar to the one pictured below, without electricity or running water. 
Sam grew up in Fort Portal and received a college education in the U.K. He is an example of the impact someone from a poor community can have if given an opportunity. After working for an accounting firm for several years, Sam moved back to Uganda to work full-time for a non-profit children’s hospital. He has since sponsored a local student’s college education and built a clean water pump that has provided many people in Fort Portal their first safe source of drinking water. He has plans to replace the water pump with a water tower that will provide clean running water to the entire village. Sam has also built a hostel in Kampala that provides a much needed safe-haven for girls from rural towns that are going to school in the city. I'm excited to meet our clients from villages like this one because I believe microfinance gives individuals a chance to pull themselves out of poverty and make an impact on their community like Sam has in Fort Portal.
A few pictures of Fort Portal are below:
The kids in Fort Portal were hilarious. They all love to see a ‘muzungu’ or white person (the literal translation is ‘fast-walker’) and they would come running out of their houses yelling “muzungu! muzungu! muzungu!” whenever we passed by. They love to talk to you but their English is slightly limited. Nate captured the typical conversation pretty well on his blog so I’ve copied it over here:
This is how the interaction went EVERY single time we passed some kids.
One Kid: Muzungu!
Every Kid in the entire village running to the road: Muzungu, Muzungu, Muzungu!!!
Me: How are you?
Kids: I'm fine, how are you?
Me: I'm fine
Kids: I'm fine, how are you?
Me: ? ?
Kids: How are you, I'm fine?
Me: What is your name?
Kids: I'm fine.
One Kid: Muzungu!
Every Kid in the entire village running to the road: Muzungu, Muzungu, Muzungu!!!
Me: How are you?
Kids: I'm fine, how are you?
Me: I'm fine
Kids: I'm fine, how are you?
Me: ? ?
Kids: How are you, I'm fine?
Me: What is your name?
Kids: I'm fine.
After visiting Fort Portal, I moved into my place in Kampala. Kampala is a very crowded and somewhat chaotic third-world city with a population of roughly three million people. There are people, cars, boda boda’s (motorcycles) and market stands everywhere. The roads are a work in progress with massive pot holes/sink holes and many aren’t paved at all. Nice buildings and houses are interspersed with shanty towns and market stands.
There are three modes of transportation – matatu’s or taxis which are vans that operate like a bus system; special hires which are traditional cab drivers; and boda boda’s that you can hire like cabs. Boda boda’s are everywhere and people use them also for hauling everything from numerous banana stalks to furniture and appliances. It’s kind of crazy what they can fit on the back of a boda boda. Below are a couple of examples:
The day starts pretty early in Kampala, and I soon found out why. Kampala is made up of seven different hills and sound carries very well up the hills. Everyday starting around 5:30 a.m. as the sun starts to rise I wake up to the Morning Prayer from a mosque down the hill. The man who leads the prayer has a voice that sounds like an out-of-tune trombone (not that mine would be any better). This lasts about an hour. Around 6:00 a.m. the roosters start crowing and about 10 minutes after that another type of bird starts to make an awful noise that sounds like it’s dying. By then I'm wide awake and ready to start the day!
The house I'm living at is nice but at times it feels like camp – there are flies and ants everywhere. A good example was my first night at the house. I was picking a couple termites out of a glass I grabbed out of the cupboard when one of my housemates said “it’s a loss cause. I’ve already eaten about thirty of them in the month that I’ve been here.” I then sat down at the table where Claire, the lady that owns the house, was reading a note she just found from the housekeeper Jessica. The note read, “Dear Claire, the big ants from the big tree ate your shirt. I don’t know what to do. Sincerely, Jessica.” Claire held up the shirt that now has multiple holes in it. And then to top it off, immediately after reading the note, Claire found a worm in her tangerine.
As far as work goes, I just started last week so there’s not too much to talk about there. I’m sure I’ll have some good stories from work on my next post.
Best,
Tyler
Tyler
