Letters from Uganda - Life is Oh So Sweet in Masaka

October 16, 2016

Uganda Photo Album
Uganda The Pond Photo Album
Uganda Villa Katwe Photo Album

46 days and counting - Uganda is an easy place to live, the days keep rolling by.

Since arriving in Masaka in early September after the gorilla trek and safari I have kept busy with volunteer work but it's been easy to settle into the comfort of "home" in this lovely town. 

Walk into Masaka town

Masaka, the Masaka District capital, is large because it is spread out, encompassing many small villages, but the town center seems small for a city with a population of over 100,000. The town center is limited to a couple dozen blocks that lie within a narrow depression with green rolling hills on either side. It's not so pretentious that cattle can't graze on the central park that borders the main road into town. Just now the jacarandas that line this road are blooming and their beautiful pale purple blossoms are scattered about like confetti - even decorating the cattle who look ready for a fashion parade. The huge marabou stork that crowd the large trees clack their heavy beaks in approval from their high perches.

The mature ladies (nyebo) and gentlemen (sebo) walking into town are also decked out ready for the parade. Folks here love to dress up in their best for trips to town. The men are in western clothing but the ladies wear the traditional, elegant gomesi, a 2-piece outfit with a matching headscarf fancifully tied. The blouse has high, pointed, capped sleeves with a long skirt and an elaborate, very wide & very long fabric belt that is tied with a huge loop in the front. The fabrics are lovely; always brightly colored in large print and sometimes in silky synthetic fabrics. I'll see wedding parties sometimes with the ladies glittering like crazy with shiny fabrics and elaborate jewelry. 

Masaka's downtown streets are crowded with small shops, each street specializing in a different product. The main street is lined one after another with "fancy" fabric shops and tailors. 

I love the prints - though they are way too bold, big, and bright for me. There are also several multi-story open walkway "malls" (don’t think western mall) with tiny little shops selling second hand clothes & shoes & plenty of beauty salons (called saloons here) for getting braids & extensions woven in and nail salons - all part of the effort for the more affluent Ugandans in Masaka to show some style. 




The younger generation - like everywhere - tries to be as cool & modern as possible with jeans & hip-hop t-shirts - especially important when they go out "clubbing" on weekend nights.

Boda-boda - Silvia returning to The Pond

Local transport is the boda-boda, motorcycle taxis, which carry everything from whole families to livestock (ever see a pig riding a motorcycle?) to building supplies across paved roads in town to single track dirt roads in the villages. A short ride across town will cost 30 cents. Riding on the rough dirt road to The Pond, the restaurant where I have been volunteering, is a bit of a nail biter for me so I ride them only when necessary, otherwise I walk the short 15 minutes into town or the 40 minutes to The Pond. Walking is always more entertaining as I can usually get chuckles from the adults as I mispronounce greetings with my poor accent and the kids never tire of greeting me with Muzungo Muzungo (Swahili for "white person") no matter how many times I stop and talk with them (or more precisely - stop to tweak their noses to make them giggle). 

Though this town has other expats and foreign volunteers, a Muzungo walking through the villages always seems to be a curiosity. I can't recall any time that I have not been treated kindly, or at least with just benign curiosity.

Full moon over Saaza village

Life seems slow & simple in the villages near Masaka and The Pond. Most homes are brick, or stone, or cinder block with tiled or corrugated roofs. Most have a plot for vegetables and banana, some have small areas set up for passion fruit - a favorite here. 69% of Uganda's people rely on subsistence farming. Gardens may have papaya & mango trees but those can be found scattered about.  Cooking is done outside on small charcoal fueled braziers. Tiny vegetable & dry good stores are here & there and there's usually a simple restaurant or two. Kids are everywhere; 55% of the population is under 18 years.

Uganda… a few stats from the  2014 Census,  INDEX Mundi

Population (of 242 countries): ranks 35, almost 36 million (USA ranks 3, almost 320 million)

Population density (of 242 countries): ranks 76, 149 people per sq. km; Uganda is about the same size as Great Britain (USA ranks 176, 33 people per sq. km),

Poverty (of 215 countries): ranks 86, 24% (USA ranks 127, 15% ).

Literacy (of 215 countries): ranks 168, 73% (USA ranks 45, 99%).

HIV adult prevalence (of 169 countries) ranks 10, 7.2%  (USA ranks 62, 0.6% )

Life Expectancy at birth (of 221 countries): ranks 207, 54 yrs. (USA ranks 41, 79 yrs.)

Andy with his dogs on his compound

While staying with Andy at his large compound, I never cooked. My one room with a cold shower was a separate apartment so I only used the kitchen in the main house to make coffee - delicious Ugandan dark roast coffee brewed to perfection in my treasured Aero Press (yes that is my daily treat and addiction). Uganda's mountain climate is perfect for Arabica coffee beans & the growing, harvesting, & drying of coffee beans is an important source of income for thousands of farmers.  For meals - I usually make a trip into town to eat in one of 5-6 restaurants I have found. My favorite is Rebecca's restaurant, tucked under an outside stairway. Rebecca is kind and gracious and loves it that I like her Ugandan food the best. 

Typical meals include at least 2-3 staples (matooke-steamed mashed plantain, rice, Irish-red potatoes, or posho-maize, like papa, a very thick polenta) heaped on one plate plus a stew of beef, port, goat, fish, beans, or ... more plantains! Though veggies are rarely served in the simple local restaurants there are plenty of veggies for sale in the markets. 

Thursday is the big wholesale market day and the open air market is filled with farmers bringing their produce: tomato, onion, ginger, eggplant, bell pepper, cabbage, potato, avocado (huge & delicious), passion fruit, orange, small round watermelon, sweet banana, plantain, and small quantities of a bitter green that I don't recognize.  It's all inexpensive; avocado is 15 cents USD but one small imported apple can be 30 cents USD. 

Shopping with Silvia & Sara for The Pond

Around town there are plenty of vendors selling local treats such as samosas, fried bread balls (like makuenya in Lesotho), not too sweet mango & pineapple breads, & pork kabobs (with big globs of fat included). Neighborhood markets also provide the veggies in addition to cooked foods such as: chapatti (imagine a flour tortilla but fried), Rolex (very popular; a chapatti role with fried egg & shredded cabbage & carrot inside - cooked on the spot), fried Tilapia ($1.00 USD for an 8-inch fish - very good!), "baked" plantain, and plenty of Ugandan dishes including plantain & stews.  I quickly converted the traditional Rolex to one, Mexican style, with fried fish, avocado, shredded cabbage - yum!

I have been busy, productive, and learning so much… Most days I'm challenged trying something new and that has been rewarding.  But, every day I am challenged to be open to a culture, currently Ugandan, that can be so different from my own. As I learn & experience more about the cultural differences, the frustrations ease as patience & acceptance grow.

Helping peel plantains for matooke at The Pond

The work at The Pond over the past month resulted in some useful improvements - especially with the addition of shelves and work-spaces to help improve efficiency in the kitchen. The space is very tiny so we implemented ways to maximize shelf & floor space to move about more easily, to keep produce & supplies put away to avoid cluttering the work space. We added new shelves for plating the dishes & put up nails to hang utensils & pans.   Now  all the empty soda & beer bottles & crates are outside & no longer taking up precious space, a wash station is in place outside, covered baskets are available to store potatoes & produce, & a designated bucket stores dry goods. The staff are just used to making do with what they have & they are not inclined to ask for tools to assist them (for example, they did not have metal strainers &  containers to catch dripping oil after frying fish & chips - but now they do!). They are very hesitant to ask for useful kitchen aids that "cost money";  Andy is working with them to speak up.  Also - the management of garbage was an issue for me - food scraps seemed to be everywhere inside and outside and required multiple steps to clean up.  It was so simple to ask them to peel veggies directly into a bucket that could then be emptied as needed for disposal. Solutions that seemed simple to me were not obvious to the staff as households & roadside restaurants just let garbage pile up. I'm not sure which new practices they will actually adopt long term - that will be for Andy to determine what's important.  But - the staff seemed grateful for the improvements and that their needs are being considered even if they think some of my ideas are nutty.

Johnson & Namaganda enjoying fish & chips at The Pond

The biggest challenge for me was actually helping out during the big parties that Andy hosted or were arranged locals. The  team is amazing to watch as they patiently get through the cooking. On the other hand I was a nervous wreck trying to "waitress" & manage capturing the orders. I kept it together but was mentally pooped at the end of these big parties. It was reassuring to see that over time our improvements to the kitchen were useful and Andy became very involved in assessing the stumbling blocks that delayed food delivery. I could go on about all the restaurant workflows - but suffice it to say, the restaurant business is a challenging one and being out on the front line is probably something I won't seek out.

I admit, I like the back office work and now have tried new skills at marketing & working at Villa Katwe.  I am now living just a short walk from Andy's at Robin & Wycliffe's (Wickie) Villa Katwe, a bed & breakfast. Wow! Comfy room, hot showers, full use of the living quarters and kitchen. I even cooked a veggie dish last night. The staff is great and I am helping more each day: greeting & checking in on guests, helping just a little in the kitchen & on the grounds when possible, helping to lock up at night, etc. They offer me light meals even. 

Villa Katwe - the main house

Since being in Masaka, I created a Facebook page for The Pond,  tri-fold brochures for The Pond, Katwe Village B&B, & the safari company, reworded and added content & offered design suggestions for the B&B & safari websites.  Most of the website work I do is to "smooth" out the verbiage as English is Robin's (Dutch) and Wickie's (Ugandan) second or third language. I also suggest content to add and ways to make the sites more reader-friendly. In addition, I designed a new menu & created a new guest guide book for the B&B.  It's fun, the business owners seem to like my work - especially since I encourage them to customize it all with their personal, more "current" style.  The web sites have not yet been fully updated, though Villa Katwe is almost complete. You can check out www.villakatwe.com (it's not yet set up for mobile phone) and www.yourwaytours.com (edits pending).  All this has kept me busy and entertained and I am learning more about this type of marketing & design work & Uganda while I'm at it. Overall the experience &; people I have met have been great.

Villa Katwe garden & compound

Robin & Wickie invited me to come live at Villa Katwe, in exchange for the work that I am doing for them. Though I was sad to leave my first home on Andy's compound, I admit the Villa is charming, comfortable, & surrounded by a lovely garden. I see Robin & Wickie most days - they are so wonderful, & the staff is great and I enjoy getting to know them as they patiently teach me Ugandan culture. 

Masaka seems to be a hub  for the community development & aid programs in the area. In addition, it is home to numerous expats mostly from the Netherlands, Canada, and England. Except for an occasional Peace Corps Volunteer I have met only one American here working on her PhD in sustainable agriculture (fascinating work!). There are several businesses in town, The Pond included, that are owned & operated by expats - most are hosting some kind of a community development project in some form or another; many see Uganda as their forever home.

Unfortunately my trip to Ethiopia to meet up with Jodie from California is now off due to the ongoing political strife there. We have delayed several times now and though Jodie hopes to make it by the end of the year I figure I'll just continue heading northward to Egypt once I leave Uganda. I'll stay in touch with Jodie (she is a wiz at Facebook communication) to follow her progress making her NGO, Humani Villages, an organization based in Ethiopia that provides vocational training to women, a reality (check out her website http://www.humanivillages.org/)

Monkey greeting me on my walk into Masaka

Though Uganda has been a wonderfully pleasant place to stay, I am now getting itchy to move along but first I am waiting to set up dates with Wickie for a safari to see the chimpanzees at Kibale National Park and the cascades of the Nile River at Murchison Falls National Park. I'll make my way to Entebbe airport after the safari  so that I can be on my way to Egypt.

Hope all is well in your world!