Designers Without Borders: December 2004 Archives

Thank you so much James and Tabitha for our wonderful time in Uganda! We will miss you both very much.

Our three weeks in Uganda passed quickly. We spent the first few days getting settled into the house that the Minister of Education kindly let us stay in. On Monday the 6th we started teaching a group of about 50 students at the nearby Mwereere Secondary School (where James teaches Art and design). The students were actually already on break, but James made special arrangements for us to teach a small group. Michael and James taught art, while I taught some American geography and culture, as well as English writing. The students were great--very interested and eager to learn from us. They worked hard too--I gave a test at the end of the week which they all did well on. They also drew self-portraits and wrote autobiographical essays , which we displayed together during a special exhibition on Saturday. The students performed traditional songs and dances for us during the exhibition-it was lots of fun!

The following week we were meant to work on James' farm. We went on Monday--it's a beutiful place with lots of fruits and veggies already growing and lots more potential. Unfortunately, I got sick that day and didn't end up going back that week. Michael spent more time there, so maybe he can write more about it sometime.

Last weekend we made the five hour trip to Tabitha's home village for a double "Introduction" for two of her sisters and their fiances. Introductions are special ceremonies/parties given for newly engaged couples to introduce the two families. It was really interesting to experience and we had a great time, both dressed in traditional attire. Tabitha's father was very warm and welcoming, and we quickly became part of the family. We'll post more commentary with the photos as we post them (the camera's still broken, but we still took some zoommed in ones, and also took some with a disposable which we'll scan in).

So instead of going into more detail here, I'll list some of the memories of Uganda that we'll be taking with us:

*The call of "Muzungo" (white people) wherever we went
*Homemade passionfruit juice
*The lush green country side filled with all kinds fruit trees
*bananas and plantains in every form (matooke, gonja, etc..)
*bumpy taxi and boda-boda rides
*battling the fu-fu (dust) while waiting for a taxi
*Tabitha's funny stories about James getting his picture taken with a toothless goat
*"Kuba, Josef, Kuba!"
* Dressing in a Gomez and Kanzu for the Introduction
*Children's smiles and waves
*Tabitha's care and constant prayers
*James' hard work and future plans for the farm
*The good friends we made

We came into Kampala this afternoon after school to take care of some errands. Among other things, we picked up the school's computer that had to be fixed and tried once again to find a place that would fix our camera. The focus hasn't worked since Ghana and the only way to take somewhat recognizable photos is when we zoom in completely. Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be anywhere in Kampala to have it fixed, we'll have to wait for Nairobi.

Other than our camera, things are great here. Uganda is a beautiful country! Much greener and more comfortable in climate than we expected. James and his wife Tabitha are taking amazing care of us. They basically put their lives on hold just to be our hosts. Tabitha has been cooking lots of delicious tradional food for us and James continues to return from his farm with all kinds of wonderful fruits and vegetables. The students we are teaching (high school age) have also wanted to make sure that we sample all the local produce--today we tried something called a jark fruit (or I think that's what it is called). And just to make a few of our readers jealous--we are in avocado heaven here! They're huge and everywhere.

We have two more days of teaching left and then next week we'll be helping James on his farm. It's been hard to find time to sit and write at length, since the closest internet to the house is here in Kampala, about an hour's journey, and quite a tiring one. Today we shared a taxi (that's what they call minibuses here) with a bleating goat. We'll try to get that sound clip up soon! On the way back we'll have to get a boda-boda (a moped taxi) for part of the way. Last time that was quite a dusty, dirty adventure, and this time it will be made even more exciting by the fact that we'll also be trying to carry the computer with us.