Hello All! Yea, I am still alive (surprisingly)! As you can tell from the subject, I haven't seen a mirror in quite some time…
It has been a crazy journey and its not even over yet! Friday I left Kampala and headed to Eastern Uganda; Mbale to be exact, with my roommate Sara. I slept most of the way in the taxi, until we got to about the midway point at which the taxi stopped on the side of the road and hawkers selling roasted meat on sticks swarmed our car. Yikes. We got to Mbale and our trip was not done. We walked all over the "city" until we found taxis that were heading to the rural outpost of Sipi Falls. I have been there before, and it is simply beautiful.
A man asked us where we were going and when we responded sipi he grabbed saras luggage (which made us nervous), but then he shouted let me help you! This is Uganda, not Nairobi!! (alluding to the high crime levels in the Kenyan capital). He threw our luggage into the back of a station wagon type vehicle and sara and I climbed in. Four adults across the back seat and three in the front. I don't really know how he was shifting up the steep mountain roads…We got to Sipi and were basically lazy on Friday. We were also joined by a third friend, Shelley, who is staying in the area. Saturday we went and visited the homestay where shelley is based out of. We were fed so many ground nuts (peanuts), and we were supposed to eat them all to be polite, but we had to hide some in my pockets because we simply couldn't eat that many peanuts (It was a huge plate full). So we left and climbed up to the top of the second waterfall in the area (there are three). Some children decided to accompany us, and I decided to pay them in peanuts….it worked out well. We decided to leave Sipi and go to Kapchorwa, the local female-genital-mutilation stronghold in the area. The only way to really get there is via hitch hiking. So the three of us started walking down the road, and when a low riding truck passed we flapped our arms (thumbs don't work here; you have to shack your whole arm haha) and we climbed onto the back. The whole bed was full of produce and women, and the sides were full of men. I clung for dear life to the side, as the only room was to sit on a bar that went around the outside of the truck. For 10 KM I hung with most of my body weight over the bed so that if I fell I would fall into the truck. It was interesting to say the least; I was very happy when we arrived in Kapchorwa (on a map it is near Mount Elgon National Park). We basically did nothing there, except we were followed by a huge group of small children. We took a taxi home, so no more hitching for me…until the next day.
Sunday morning saw us standing on the road side waiting for a vehicle. One stopped rather quickly (and Action Aid NGO truck), and I asked if we could sit in the bed (with the sheep). The guy let us ride in the cab. Sara didn't secure her bit of luggage very well and on a steep curve it hit one of the sheep…oops! We got back to Mbale and boarded a taxi that was headed to Soroti. Two hours later we were still waiting. A taxi won't leave unless it is full, and let me tell you NO ONE in Mbale wanted to go to Soroti that day. Finally we left, after about 2.5 hours. It is illegal to put more than the correct number of passengers (17) in the taxi, but people disobey this to get more money. Well sara and I were having none of it, and refused to let more people sit in our row with us. The taxi conductor (the guy in charge of passengers and money, not the driver) HATED us haha. We got to soroti and I ended up spending the night with a friend who is out there. It was nice to relax and play a bit of pool. Monday I boarded a taxi to Lira, a "large" city in the northern part of the country. After another two hours of waiting we left soroti. I got to Lira, had a quick lunch with other people from my program, and said good-bye to traveling with a friend; from there on out I have been alone. I boarded yet ANOTHER taxi that was headed back south to Masindi; the direction of the settlement I was going to. After ANOTHER TWO HOURS OF WAITING!!! Agh!! Africa!! We left. We drove through Murchison falls national park. I saw more baboons. They cease to excite me, for although they are not commonly seen, really how exciting can baboons be? The trip was taking longer than I heard it should. I didn't really know where I was going so I had asked the taxi conductor to tell me when to get off. I was nervous that he had forgotten about me, so I asked the man next to me if we had passed Kiryandongo. He said no, but that it was two stops ahead. I mentioned that I was going to the refugee settlement and he told me to get off at the next stop as it was actually closer to the settlement than Kiryandongo (conveniently it was where he was getting off as well). So I got off in a town called Bweyale. It is nothing more than a town established by Acholi peoples who have fled the instability of the northern region of Uganda. The man (Francis) showed me to a nice guest house (hotel) that his friend owned. It was about $3 a night. The place didn't have running water, so communal showering and toilets were available. I washed some of my clothes and had dinner and went to bed. It's funny how tiring waiting all day can be! Tuesday I went to the settlement. I was nervous to talk to the settlement commander, in case he should banish me, but he was actually quite helpful. He assigned three Makerere students who are Sudanese refugees studying in the camp to help me with translation/ showing me around. The three students (girls) were close to me in age, and we quickly became friends. Tuesday we went to the group that does the work in the camp; the IRC (international rescue committee, an American based NGO) and did some interviewing about basics in the settlement. As previously mentioned Uganda doesn't have refugee "camps" they provide the refugees with land in which they can grow their own food, so they are called settlements. Tuesday was a getting acquainted day, and I did one or two interviews. For lunch we went to a small mud hut. The girls ordered me lunch, which turned out to be boiled cassava (about as tasteless as a potato, and just as much starch), and a fish. Literally a fish. Scales, gills, and even an eyeball staring at me. I pulled of bits like the fins and basically tried to eat what I could. I laughed sitting there imagining what people at home would say. Would they be proud of me? Or horrified? Haha. That day when I left I got a bicycle boda boda to get home. I have become very accustomed to riding side saddle like the African girls do. The people think its very funny to see a mzungu riding side saddle (in fact, the only thing that they laugh harder at is when I am "footing," as walking is called here). Well anyways, I am good at riding motorcycle boda bodas, and side saddle etc. However, this bicycle boda was CRAZY. I don't know if he was drunk or what, but lets just say that we fell over. Tumbled into the grass on the side of a very rutted road. My feet were straight up in the air, my skirt over my head…everyone laughing. Yikes. Well I picked myself up and got back on…what else could I do haha? To make matters worse, within an hour after said "incident" my three friends began calling me…they had heard that the mzungu fell over. I guess all 15,000 refugees knew by the end of the day…I personally think that to be my favorite story yet.
Wednesday I interviewed the former refugee leader for the camp. He confirmed the story that refugee leaders in Kyangwali had been made to "disappear," and talked to me about UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) policy within the camp. I also witnessed a womens meeting chaired by UNHCR, and read through some files that I was probably not supposed to see, but oh well.
Thursday I went to the medical clinic and talked with the AIDS/ HIV staff. I also interviewed the headmaster for the single secondary school in the whole camp. He was saying that although repatriation to Sudan is supposed to be voluntary (most of the 15,000 refugees in Kiryandongo Settlement are Sudanese), UNHCR had been cutting funding in an effort to silently force repatriation. Interesting. Friday I managed to get all the way down to Mbarara…I was on buses the whole day…big huge coach buses, which are faster than stupid taxis. So once again I am in the Southern Hemisphere. I am leaving Mbarara today, and heading to Nakivale, Uganda's largest camp, housing Sudanese, Somalies Rwandese, Congolese, Burindese, Ethiopians…basically anyone. I don't know where I am staying yet, so wish me luck!!
Thanks again for all of your support. i don't know if i will have access to a computer before thanksgiving, so if not, happy holidays. Also, on the biggest shopping day of the year, i will be gorilla trekking. I am not jealous of anyone in America hehe!
Again, thank you, and happy holidays!
Sharon
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