Welcome to Uganda!

Greetings from Gulu!

I have been here for a week now, but perhaps I should start at the beginning.  On the 27^th I started my journey with flying to Detroit. Once there I rushed to make a phone call and then boarded, only to wait on the plane for 2 ½ hours before moving (there was no chance the plane was taking off without the 25 meals it was short).  I watched “Get Low” while the flight attendants served pasta and pesto, topped with irony, to calm the disconcerted passengers. The eight hour flight to Amsterdam went by quickly as I slept easily across the four open seats in my row.  While waiting to board in Amsterdam I fumbled through a conversation with a Ugandan woman who worked for the Rotary Club in Kampala.  She seemingly approved of the work I hope to do in her country, which slightly soothed a few of the countless questions batting across my brain. Over the course of the next eight hour flight I tried to stay awake and convince myself that I was finally going to Africa. 

I arrived in the open Entebbe airport, made it through customs with no problems, and searched for Gihan, who works for One Mango Tree in Kampala and was to pick me up. I vainly search the signs for my name and finally settled on the only skinny Sri Lankan man present to be my new co-worker. We introduced ourselves, loaded the car, and as we started to drive I received my first of many, “Welcome to Uganda!” 

That night I stayed in a hotel in Kampala.  As Gihan and another co-worker, Damika, helped bring my two bags into the room, my attention was diverted to the mosquito net suspended from the ceiling- it finally set in that I was in Africa.

They picked me up again in the morning and we made our way through the hectic intermingling car, boda boda (motorcycle taxi), and foot traffic through the capitol city and onto the road to Gulu Town. Once away from the bustle of the city, the 4 1/2 hour drive held repeating vistas of red dirt, farm land, collections of houses and huts, green foliage, rhino reserves and burnt land.  As we came closer to Gulu we crossed the Victoria Nile which had beautiful waterfalls, however, no one is allowed to take photographs for security purposes. I quickly recovered from my disappointment for it is also in this area that the several species of monkeys hang out on the side of the road!  We passed a line of Vevert monkeys and then stopped to let the Baboons come right up to the car!

About 5:30pm on Saturday we arrived in Gulu and the One Mango Tree compound. I was greeted by coworkers Martina and Prisca and we all explored One Mango Tree’s new grounds (they moved to the present location only a month ago).  The brightly painted main building contains a large room with a couple of dozen sewing machines, a cutting room, a kitchen, several bedrooms and a living/dining/porch space.  Behind that is a smaller building used for office space, packaging and storage.  After a bit of business was taken care of Prisca generously invited us back to her home for my first Ugandan meal.  Although exhausted and possibly aloof at the time, I later realized how fortunate I was to be offered this experience so shortly after my arrival.  That evening I enjoyed a quiet dinner of goat, rice, eggs with tomatoes and mateoke– a local banana dish.

It was not until the next day that I unpacked and met the other women I am living with. There are five of us here this week, but by next week we will be down to three. My diet so far has included plenty of cabbage, avocados, potatoes, limes and bananas from the market (there has also been a bit of oatmeal which triggers JVC PTSD).  The weather has been relentlessly warm, but not as bad as expected- I cannot tell you the temperature because it seems more tolerable if I do not know it myself! You may be surprised that I have only been sunburnt once, just a little on my shoulders- I promise I am wearing sunscreen!

Though I was introduced, I have not had the opportunity to get to know the women who work for One Mango Tree so far.  This week was mostly spent fixing my computer, running errands in town, reminding myself not to try and use Yup’ik, fighting with a sinus infection, attempting to get comfortable on boda taxis, and striving to orient myself.  Adjusting has been slow and steady.  This week I look forward to concentrating more on the women and work!

Thank you again for all of the support you have all given me, it is very much a source of motivation for me. I know I am very fortunate.