Elections

Last week it was the elections here in Uganda. It was a fight between Museveni (the leader of the last 20 years) and Besigye (the newcomer promising change and prosperity). The last month has seen Museveni support rallying in yellow in the streets against Besigye supporters in blue. Overcrowded caravans rolled through the streets shouting slogans while onlookers showed their support or angst for the party and children willingly danced to the pop music blaring from the speakers on the top of the vans. Each party has a representative hand sign. What we in the West know as the thumbs up sign, here in Uganda means that you support Museveni; and, what we know as the two fingered peace sign means that you support Besigye.

The political atmosphere has been quite heated this past year with the run up to the elections. Last year, Museveni changed the constitution that stated that no leader was to lead the counry for more than 20 years. Being Museveni's twentieth year, he changed the constitution so that he would be able to run in elections indefinately. Besigye, a young doctor (formerly Museveni's doctor) came on the scene as a new fresh face ready to make some real change within the country. Museveni, seeing this as a threat to his assumed win, arrested Besigye and 22 of his colleages on charges of treason. This greatly hindered Besigye's campaign, however inversely raised support as people realized that even Museveni himself saw this young man as a plausable threat. Museveni saw this growing support and continued his attack against Besigye by raising rape charges against him. Of course, there was never any evidence of this and the charges were proven as bogus. With only days to go before the elections, tension was extremely heated in the capital, Kampala. As Besigye and his armed guards rolled down the streets, an intentional head on collision hit the campaigners caravan seriously injuring two of his guards but remarkably leaving Besigye unharmed.

Meanwhile, riots in Kampala, Jinja and several outbursts in rural areas were putting SPW on their toes. We were given notification a week before the elections that the political atmosphere was too contentious for us to remain in our placements for the duration of the elections. We were called into Jinja to spend 6 days at Backpackers in lockdown while the rest of the country voted. It was great to see the rest of the vollies and exchange placement stories. We by far have the best placement. I love Namasagali!

The elections turned out as expected. Museveni won with a 59% majority. Besigye brought in 36% of the votes which will mean a good opposition party....something that Museveni has never had. The overal elections were fairly calm and what was stated by observers as a "generally fair election".

My internet time is up so i will finish this post another time

1 month!

Alright! It's been 1 month already. Cannot believe that the time has gone this fast already! Training this month with the other volunteers has been an experience. I've learned so much about organic agriculture, banana plantations and income generation projects as well as basic development needs. It really has been incredible. Every day (except sunday) we gather from 9-4 for lessons. Afterwards it's Nile Beer (brewed at the source of the Nile) and chillin.

We just moved again. When we arrived we were staying in Jinja for about a week. Aftwards we headed about an hour outside of Jinja to a small trading post town called Mbalala. Loved it there and made so many friends. It was difficult to leave there. Now I am living more North in a town called Kamuli. It is soooo hot here. It's only about an hour and a half outside of Jinja but we are in a completely different climate zone. Jinja and Mbalala were quite fertile with banana and pineapple plantations everywhere. Here it is dry like a desert. There is virtually no agriculture and it is hot and flat. Cattle seems to be their main economy.

I found out my placement details yesterday! I will be living in a town called Namasagali which is about 30 minutes from Kamuli. Here I will have my own house with 3 other volunteers. 2 ugandans, Robert and David and John who is from the UK. We leave on Sunday to start our placement. I'm really looking forward to it but am a little nervous. Poverty in this part of the country is in large part due to the environmental conditions. Temperatures here are at 40 degrees, the soil is infertile and dry and there is not a lot of rain. Water is also a really big problem here because it is generated by hydro dams. This poses major problems because electricity is not a constant here. On average it seems that we have a couple of hours each day when the electricity for the town is working. That means that without the electricity the dams do not work which means there is no water. Watering holes are also regulated so that you have to register and pay if you want to fill a Jerry can. Errrrgh. Things like this frustrate me. How do they expect the average person to do this. I think that on my placement, water harvesting, agriculture and income generation projects will be our focus.

Wow! so much written. So much more to say. Better go. I'll write soon.

Everything I've Imagined

It's hot! This place is beautiful! I can't really describe to you what this place is like. The colors are the thing that strike me the most. Red clay dirt roads and bright green vegetation and colored acacia trees. The women's dress are bright and vibrant which are beautiful against their dark dark skin. Radio is always on sounding reggae and modern hip hop. The smell is a little smokey from the burning of crops and the air is very dusty. Main transport has been walking, riding on the back of Bodha Bodha's (motorcycles and scooters) and over crowded taxi vans. Everywhere we go we get shouted at--"muzungo, Muzungo, Hello". Muzungo means foreigner.

The poverty is extreme. Most people here are what I'd consider very poor. However, they are always happy. I haven't heard a child cry yet. Happy happy people from what I've observed so far.

Training so far has been extremely informative and useful. We get placed in our villages in another week and half. Really looking forward to that. I can't wait.

For now, my internet time is up. I will try to update as soon as possible.

So, I think I've been driving myself crazy obsessing about money. I thought that I was really in the hole, but things seems to be coming together quite nicely. I might be okay.

My soliciting at church seems to be really paying off and Archbishop Carney has pledged me $1000. Big thanks to them. That's huge!

Oh Yeah, FYI for anybody who has things they want to donate. I met this guy a couple of weeks ago who is a member of the Rotary Club and he was telling me about the Rotary World Help Network. Anyways, I've been helping them pack shipping containers of things to send off to third world countries. The rotary club absorbs the cost and what they're sending down is phenomenal. Today, we just unloaded two floors worth of hospital beds and medical equipment from Peace Arch Hospital in White Rock. Everything donated was supposedly unusable items here in Canada. However, everything looked in great condition, just a little dusty. The container we packed today will be sent to Honduras. I'm also planning of getting a container sent to Uganda while I'm there. Really excited about that. So, if you have anything you want to donate just contact me and I'll hook it up with the boys at the Rotary.

Anyways, can't think of anything else. Write later.

A cats life

I've been home for 5 months. Mmm hmmm. 5 months and what can I say. I've worked a lot.......I've fundraised a lot......

A psychic once told me that i was a cat in my past life, and that my personality still resembles that of our feline friends. I am a wanderer. I am never meant to stay locked in one place. I must roam, i must explore, I will not come when called. Let me come to you, do not come to me. I am wild at heart yet crave civilized comforts.

New Vision Discussion Board

I was sent this link to a discussion board by one of the other volunteers. I found it quite interesting considering what's been happening in Uganda. Check it out HERE