Hello again-Well I am finally back in kampala, after a two week fact finding mission that spanned the whole country. I met a lot of people, and was sad to leave them, especially thinking that i will never see them again.
I went to Nakivale refugee settlement in the very southern part of the country. On a map, it is East of Mbarara, you will see a large lake called NAKIVALE...yea, thats where I was. The settlement is around 30,000 people. One water source. I was dropped off in the town of about two stores. I went into a dreary darkened hole that had a sign advertising "motel" a lady figured out that i was looking for lodging, and led me to what i thought was a guest house (Africas version of hotels). I found out later that she was just renting her room out to me, and staying with friends. When i got into my room i just sat down and cried for the longest time. I am not really sure why; i think it had to do with me being alone in a strange town with almost no one who spoke English, in some woman's room. No electricity, no water...no food venues that i could figure out. I went to the settlement to look for a friend, and to inquire about accommodation. Because it was a saturday there was only a government official in the office compound, and no one could tell me if they could give me lodging. So it was back to the sketchy room for me!
On Sunday i went back and the camp commandant found me a translator. I started my interviews in ernst, as i had decided that i wanted to get out of this settlement as quickly as possible. I met some Sudanese men who had been leaders...until they protested beatings and poor conditions and the government hauled them off to new settlements in the middle of the night. Yea, its crazy out here. I took pictures of some documents that they were carrying with them; proof of meetings and the Ugandan governments refusal to allow them back into the original camp. I felt like a spy, quite honestly, which fills me with a feeling of fear, as well as feelings that I am really bad ass haha.
I did interviews for two days, and was planning to leave, but at the end of the second day one of the camp commandants took me out to show me the water source for the camp and told me that i should come back the next day, and i could even get a ride in a UNHCR vehicle back to Mbarara.
So Tuesday i spent the day tooling around the on the back of some camp workers off-road motorcycle. He took me to the farthest section of the camp...over 23 KM (about 14 miles or so) outside the base camp. The roads were muddy and horrible, and i was afraid to grab a hold of him so i kept holding on behind me...for most of the day i was afraid i was going to flip off the back and die in the middle of a refugee settlement in Uganda. But it was OK, i got even more information, and then i rode back to Mbarara with UNHCR officials. i felt pretty bad ass (again), and while i despise people who dont understand the people they are helping, or who live two hours away from the settlements they are working in because conditions are "too harsh," it was nice to just sit and relax in AIR CONDITIONING (its unheard of here), and not be pestered by Ugandan males for two hours. Too bad I hadn't showered in days. I got my revenge on those UNHCR officials!
Wednesday i made it all the way to Bwindi National park...it doesnt look that far on a map, but i had to travel through Kabale, and then for 3 hours on dirt roads up to the park. Thursday i went on a self-guided hike. Within the first five minutes i had fallen over and my ass was sooo muddy...oh man. I decided to go mountain climbing that afternoon. All but one hike in Bwindi you need a guide to take you on, so i went and paid for my hike (what a rip off man!!). So i got a guide and two armed guards...all unnecessary apparently*, due to the closeness with the Congo border. Thursday night, Thanksgiving, i hung out with some peace corps veterans. I think they have convinced me to join. I have been on the border for awhile concerning that decision. They were an absolutely amazing couple, currently working in Juba, Sudan. They said that there are a lot of job opportunities and that i would be promoted really fast if i went there...I dunno though, they also mentioned things about flies that if you hit them you get an acid burn...sooo, i dunno we shall see about all of that. My phone wouldnt get a signal in the mountains so i was unable to speak to my family for thanksgiving which made me sad. But the peace corps couple bought me a drink so i guess i was OK!
Friday morning i went gorilla trekking. I saw a one day old baby (my PC friends had seen it being BORN the day before...thats really rare, so you might see their video on national geographic soon!), a silverback some kids, an adolescent...all SOO close. The silverback was amazing, an awe-inspiring presence if you will allow me to sound lame. The kids sat in the trees throwing food down to the adults (they are too big to climb anywhere). The new mother held and kissed her baby, which was awesome to see. One kid fell out of the tree, almost onto the silverback, and then he ran up and touched me, while i was mumbling im not a tree! i'm not a tree!!
After trekking i left Bwindi with a girl i met there who had a private driver. I got to Kabale around 6 and decided to go to Mbarara for the night. On my way to Mbarara i met a man who was going all the way to kampala...6 hours away. So i decided to be crazy, even though i was exhausted, and make it all the way to kampala in one day. i got in at 1 am...and had to climb the gate to get into the compound of my apartment. I was verry tired and passed out immediately.
Next week i have to analyze and such all of my data and write my report. i still have to do a few interviews as well. But my time here is almost up, and i won't lie, I am very sad to be leaving Uganda.
Anyways, that's all for now. I will send out another e-mail when things get exciting again.
Sharon
*In 2007 Congo militia infiltrated a town near where I hiked and killed several villagers. Despite these provocations, Uganda did not fight back.
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