John in Kampala / Bujumbura

Hello all!  Here is my first blog entry after 5 weeks in Africa!  Loads has happened.  I don’t know where to start.

I arrived at Kampala on the 26th June.  I took a taxi from Entebbe where I had my first taste in negotiating a price. I think I did ok. I landed at the Mulago Guest House where I met Nelson Obote, the manager and Keith, the other CDPC trainnee from Dublin. And of course, we headed for the Irish bar that night to watch the England Germany game.  Some things never change!

The next day I set off to meet Anne Katanoire, head of the Child Health Development centre at Makerere University.   Anne introduced me to the other anthropologists, David and Herbert, at Makerere and Development experts in Kampala who were more than happy to discuss the project with me.  They were very helpful.  I am beginning to realize the importance of networking and location.  I am especially grateful to Anne for her help.

I had initially planned to stay for a week in Kampala but that changed one evening when I walked into a flood drain late at night.  I know fully realize the meaning of those warnings not to walk alone at night.  But these things happen.  The next day, I took myself off to a local hospital where I found out I had a partially torn ligament.  When I went to get an x ray, the radiologist exclaimed “The ambassador to Ireland!”, joking.  Ireland is fairly well known here, a lot of people know Robbie Keane and Stephen Ireland.  And of course, they know Manchester United.  Anytime I wear the jersey, I’ll get someone approaching me to talk or saluting me.  It’s a great rapport builder for an anthropologist!

I panicked initially because I thought I would have to come home but it’s not too serious an injury.  The doctor, who had lived in Belfast, told me I needed a knee brace.   So I rang all the expat hospitals where “muzugus” like me usually would go and none of them had a knee brace. So one day I walked/hobbled into the orthopedic unit of the Mulago hospital, just up the road from the guest house, and of course they had one for me.  I met Milton, a technologist who specialized in making prosthetic limbs.  He told me about his time in the army and the war against the Lords Resistance Army.  When I walked around Kampala, I often met people who had lost limbs, sometimes both legs.  It put my own injury into perspective.

So I decided to stay in Kampala for 3 weeks to give the knee a chance to heal.  As well as Makerere Academics, I met many other people from GAIN, IFPRI, UNICEF and Harvest Plus to name but a few.  I also met up with CDPC trainees Niamh, Judy and Kalule and. Many thanks to Niamh for giving me a room for a week.  We travelled to a town on the Equateur one day which was cool.

I was watching the World Cup final in a local restaurant when the suicide bombs went off.  I was there with Simon, an Irish guy I had met during the week.  We heard two big booms.  Then we saw a group of Europeans/Americans answer their phones and leave abruptly.  There was some unease initially among other people but we stayed and watched the match, not realizing what had happened.  I got a call then from my Dad when I got home and then I knew what had happened.  For the rest of the week, the city was quieter, especially at night.  There was some panic and false alarms during the week.  Everyone was shocked.  Hopefully that will be the last of it but I don’t know.

After four weeks in Kampala, I felt I was well enough to travel.  So I got a bus from Kampala to Kigali, along with some friendly Canadians.  It was a long journey.  We stopped for breakfast on the way, bananas and sweet tea, lovely!  The first thing that struck me at the border was the cold and the mist.  And the mountains.  Rwanda is indeed the land of a thousand hills.  The scenery was unbelievable.  I had 2 good nights in Kigali with Judy who was great!  She and Musay, her driver, were great company. Hopefully, she will come to visit me in Burundi.  So finally, I headed for Bujumbura, my final destination.

I got the 10am bus to Bujumbura and realized that I was now headed for the francophone world.  Everyone on the bus spoke French which was good for me, in order to practice.  I was also able to practice my Kirundi.  I had gotten lessons at the Rwandan embassy in Kampala in Kinyarwanda which is basically the same language although Rwandans and Burundians would disagree.  This has been hugely beneficial when talking to local people.  They really enjoy hearing you speak their language although I have a long way to go. 

I was met at the bus stop by Severin, the logistics assistant for Concern.   Valerio, the General Systems Mangager, arranged for me to go the office first to meet the team and then back to the team house. Everyone is sound out and they have given me a laptop and desk space for me to write up my ethics proposal for the project.  It’s good to be working with Concern.  They have a lot of projects in the country and it is fascinating to be involved and to engage with the discourse.

Bujumbura is a lovely city.  We descended down the mountains en route and it was a breathtaking view.  You can usually see hippos in the lake. The roads are excellent, better than Ireland even.  Burundi is really off the beaten track as regards ‘development’ coverage.   There are very few expatriates working here in comparison to other cities but I like that.  It is not as popular a destination as Kampala or Kigali.   I’ll have 2 weeks here in Bujumbura meeting contacts and then 9 weeks then in Cibitoke province, in the North West.  It’s no time really so I want to make the best of it.  More to follow….