Sunday, September 20th, 2009
“Wake up!” Maggie yelled. “We have to climb Buziga hill with the students!”
Sh*t. I forgot. To raise funds the Educate! team in the US had climbed a mountain in Colorado. We were supposed to climb a “mountain” in Kampala to show that although our circumstances are different (i.e. different mountains) our tribulations are the same (i.e. we both had to hike up mountains) and that anything is possible through hard work (or arduous hiking). It was very symbolic, really. Anyways, we were supposed to climb Mount Buziga with 50 students coming to our compound for the day. I didn’t even have time to shower…guess that’s what happens when you sleep late.
When I finally got out of my room the students were milling about the house. I tried making small talk with them, but it was VERY hard. For starters I don’t usually interact with 17 – 19 year old, furthermore they can barely understand my English (I have a “weird accent”) also I apparently talk too fast AND finally…they are usually a little intimidated by a mzungu.
Anyways – after awkwardly trying for a half hour it was time for every Educate! staff give an introductory speech. I thought mine was witty and funny but nobody understood it L. Then we divided all the kids into groups of 5 and challenged each group to be the first to ascend “Mount Buziga.”
I was selected as the cameraman (since I have a nice camera). I was told to be a “Japanese tourist” all day. We started hiking up this hill behind our compound…and a bunch of the kids were wearing skirts and nun’ish leather shoes so I thought it would be a leisurely pace (which was good because I, as the camera man, had to keep up with the first group to ascend the hill). To my great dismay one of the kids took off running. I breathlessly gave chase. We came to a fork in the path and James, one of the mentors, advised me and Usain Bolt to go down a dirt path. We took off and after running a few hundred yards one of the students told us we were going the wrong way. So…yeah…The poor kid didn’t finish first after all his hard work and I wasted a lot of energy AND missed the money shot of the first kid crossing the finishing line. Hurray!
At views from the top of the hill were absolutely stunning. Views of Lake Victoria (Africa’s largest lake) stretched as far as the eye could see. There was a verdant island a few hundred meters out and I joked with the kids that the island was actually America. I can’t be certain, but I think a few of them fell for it for a few seconds. Some of them had never seen a view like that. It was breathtaking.
At the top Angelica and Emily led “networking” seminars that forced the kids (all from different social classes, regions and schools) to talk with one another. They’re both immensely talented women and I’m lucky to witness their skills firsthand. I hope I’ll be as good with the students one day – but I’m not holding my breath.
After we walked down the hill we ate a traditional Ugandan meal of matoke (green plantains mashed into a tasteless batter), “Irish” (potatoes), “G nut sauce” (a peanut sauce type thing usually spread on matoke to give it flavor) and finally a beef stew (unfortunately for me all the students ate the meat so I just had stew). I spoke with two of the mentors – Joel and Alex. Alex was older, but Joel was only 21 and wise beyond his years. We talked about the recent riots…the likelihood of Uganda falling into civil war in the 2011 election…the different ancient kingdoms of Uganda and their respective kings or “kabakas”…the cost of my MBA degree in Ugandan Shillings (200,000,000 shillings). I was most interested in his comments on Uganda falling into a civil war in the 2011 elections (like Kenya). He told me that Kenyans were always the more aggressive people (20 Kenyan’s could kill 100 Ugandan’s according to him) and Ugandan’s would probably stop after a few days of fighting because they like peace too much.
This is where he impressed me with his precociousness.
“What if they don’t stop fighting after a few days? How can you be sure it wont last?” I asked him.
“I guess I can’t be sure…because my generation has never lived through a war. So they don’t know what its like. The older people – they know and they will do anything and everything to avoid that situation again. The young are ignorant and might drag us into a civil war.” (FYI 50% of Uganda’s population is below 18 years old).
I was saddened to hear his response. When I asked him what he’d do if Uganda fell into civil war…”What can I do? I don’t have enough money to leave. I pray that doesn’t happen.” I told him that that sort of resignation was something I never had to deal with. We were two people dealt two very different hands in the poker game of life. And mine was infinitely better…and for that I feel almost guilty.
The day was exhausting so Maggie, Gael (French photographer), Emily and I decided to go to Café Roma. It’s a mzungu hangout that dishes out (surprisingly) good pizza’s – mine was topped with parma ham and green peppers. Yum.
Afterwards we FINALLY went food shopping – so I should gain back some of the 5 pounds I lost in my first week.
Some funny gaffes on my part:
- Our maid Emma (it’s a guy, despite the girly sounding name) does our laundry for us. I asked Maggie how I should go about giving him my dirty clothes. She told me to put it in a bag and give it to him…but that it was considered rude to ask him to wash your underwear.
“Well, if I have to wash my underwear I might as well do all my laundry.”
Maggie looked at me confused. “Why?”
“I’ll just do it all in one load.”
“What do you mean one load?”
“Like one load in the washing machine.”
She laughed. “Joe, there are no washing machines in Uganda. Emma cleans them by hand.”
Ha…I never even considered that.
- Second gaffe…I finally bought coffee beans last night because Emily told me she had a coffee grinder. So I bought the beans and Emily showed me the grinder.
Today I was like, “So I found the grinder, but not the coffee machine.”
She looked at me confused. “What do you mean a coffee machine? What is that?”
Apparently you just put the grinds in a cup and let them steep in hot water. I have a lot to learn! :o(
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