I can’t believe that it is only my fifth day here – home seems like a lifetime ago. It’s amazing how quickly I have felt settled here, especially considering how apprehensive I felt when I arrived on Thursday night. We landed in Entebbe at 8:30pm after about 16 hours of travel, and stepping off the plane the heat just hit us, even at night. Standing in line waiting for the immigration officers I felt overwhelmed at the different smell, the heat, the bugs flying around and the different languages going on around us; although English is one of the primary languages of Uganda few Ugandans seem to speak it to each other, instead using languages of different tribes and regions. We were met at the airport by Fred from Makerere University, who drove us to our accommodation in Kampala. The whole drive my head was swivelling from side to side staring at everything outside; along the roadside there were dozens of wooden and tin shacks, operating as restaurants, shops, bars and even beauty salons. Outside these shops there were large groups of Ugandans socialising together, blasting music and cooking food. As we neared the city we had our first realisation of how busy Kampala is; it could rival cities like New York and London in the volume of traffic and people, but is infinitely more chaotic and frenzied.
We arrived at Nana’s Hostel in Wandegeya, an area of Kampala very near the university, which will be our home for the next three months. We were greeted by our custodian Roscoe, who was a good friend of Natalie and Rachel’s last year. How can I describe Roscoe? He is tall and extremely skinny, and always seems to be wearing a jumper or sheepskin coat, even in thirty degree heat! He has a funny high-pitched voice, a huge grin, a tendency to suddenly leap into deep philosophical discussions, and instantly made Rachel and I feel at ease. One of the first things we realised about Uganda is that false advertising does not bother them at all; on booking Nana’s we had been told that we would receive a furnished bedroom with hot water, a digital satellite television and a fridge, and the hostel leaflets advertise a swimming pool, a health club, a pharmacy and a reading room. A few days into our stay we asked Roscoe where we could find these; his reply? “Oh we don’t have them yet, but we would like to.” Despite our empty bedrooms with no bedding, fridge, television and freeeeeezing water, we are really loving staying here and have made our bedroom as homely as possible (complete with clothes, straightners and makeup littered over the floor – well, they did send McNair and I away together!).
My new bedroom :)
On Friday we visited Makerere University campus for the first time and were shown to the School of Education where we met one of our lecturers, Michael. In the evening, Roscoe gave us a tour of Wandegeya; we were a little wary of walking around at night alone since we are two white girls and (contrary to popular belief) Rachel and I aren’t actually that strong or intimidating, so we were very thankful when Roscoe offered to show us around. Wandegeya is extremely busy during the day but at night it is absolutely hectic – bodaboda (motorcycle taxis) zooming everywhere in and out of cars and swerving round pedestrians, and hundreds of people selling food and fruit along the street. As we walked along nearly every person said hello or called out ‘mzungo!’ (white person) or ‘mangzera!’ (English). In a capital city where there are a considerable number of ‘mzungos’ living, I was surprised that we still drew so much attention; one man even reached out and poked my arm as we walked past, then grinned and shouted hello! On our way back to the hostel Roscoe made us get a bodaboda home; we insisted on travelling on the same motorbike and so both squeezed on behind the driver and clung on for dear life as we sped home.
On Saturday we met a friend from home, Alison, who has been volunteering at Wakisa Baby Centre for the past five weeks. We were joined by her friend Kezia and their driver Christopher, and went to Garden City Mall to buy some items for our room. Both Rachel and I were struck by how kind and willing to help the Ugandan people are; both Roscoe giving up his time to show us around on Friday night and Kezia, Christopher and Alison (though she’s not strictly a Ugandan) giving up their weekend off to help us out and drive us all over Kampala finding the things we needed; I mean, the people we’ve met are almost all strangers yet they are so willing to help us. Both Rachel and I commented how much God has provided for us as we find our feet here; everything from smooth travelling and being met at the airport to the people he has placed in our lives the first few days to provide invaluable help.
On Saturday night we went out for dinner with Kate, who is from Northern Ireland, and her American friend Brandi. Both are primary teachers at international schools in Kampala and are very passionate about working with street kids. They have invited us to help with a project Kate has recently set up, and we hope to visit it sometime soon. They also invited us to their church on Sunday morning, Calvary Chapel. It was really comforting to go along and know that even when we are thousands of miles away from our homes, families and churches, there is familiarity and a sense of reassurance and peace when visiting a church. The service was really enjoyable, and the singers were incredible - if any of them lived in the UK they’d be winning Xfactor hands-down! There are a couple of other churches in Kampala that we want to visit, but I think we will return to Calvary Chapel at some point.
On Sunday night we were introduced to another aspect of African life; the wildlife. And by that I don’t mean lions or elephants or any NICE forms of wildlife. Nope, we were sitting calmly in our room when Rachel discovered a cockroach in her pants. Fortunately they were not the pants she was wearing, but the incident involved her launching her backpack across the room and both of us standing on our beds shrieking for a good forty minutes. We took our eyes off it for ONE second to discuss how to get rid of it, and the little beast disappeared!! It hasn’t appeared back yet, and we’ve invested in a large can of DOOM! so hopefully we’ll be a little better prepared next time we encounter one. Around ten minutes after our horrific ordeal Rachel was in the bathroom taping paper over the window (as our shower is so conveniently placed beside the window looking out into the central square of the hostel) when she accidently plonked her hand right on a gecko. Cue lots more screaming and running around... we’ve come the conclusion that we NEED to find a male friend who can take care of these problems, or it’ll be a long four months here in Africa!
Our extra roomate
On Monday morning we ventured back to Makerere where we met Christopher Mugimu, the head of the education department. We found out a little more about our course (we will be studying with the PGDE students, and teaching in local schools and attending lectures at the same time) and the university itself – there are more than 35000 undergraduates, and while there are thousands of international students they are mostly from Kenya, the Congo, the Sudan and other African countries. We are the only two ‘mzungos’ in the school of education, and we have not yet met any other international students except for an English student Lewis we met on the plane who is completing his Masters at Makerere. The semester officially started yesterday but classes do not begin until next week, so more students should be arriving at Nana’s over the coming days.
One of the things that has struck me over the past few days is that racism is very much evident in Uganda; at home racism is such a sensitive issue to talk about, but the term is defined as ‘having or showing the belief that a particular race is superior to another’ and there is no denying that Rachel and I are treated very differently here for being ‘mzungos’. It ranges to two extremes; when we walk down the street so many people want to say hello and talk to us, and sometimes when they shake our hand they clasp their right wrist with their left hand, a sign of great respect. Roscoe explained to us that as well as assuming us to be rich, many Ugandans have the perception that we are more holy than them, and this is why we are given such respect without having to earn it. This idea made me so uncomfortable; as a Christian I believe that I am in no way more holy than other believers around me, and our culture at home suggests that you earn respect from others based on your character and behaviour, not by your race. While you could describe this as positive racism, in that people are trying to treat us better because of our race, there are elements of negative racism here as well. This ranges from petty incidents, like the bodaboda drivers continually trying to charge us double fares because we are mzungos, to more serious experiences like a drunken man shouting and swearing at me for being respected just because I am white.
I really want to stress that this doesn’t reflect the majority of the Ugandan people; nearly everyone we have met has been so welcoming and friendly, and this warmth has been one of the aspects which has made it so easy for me to settle here. Last night Rachel and I went to the Kampala Singers, a choir we saw advertised in a local newsletter. We walked into the room and it was one of those scenes you would see in a film where everyone literally fell silent and stared at us. When we explained that we had just arrived in Uganda on Thursday night and we love to sing, all of the members went out of their way to make us feel at home. The choir has been running since the 1950s, and has around sixty members ranging from students to accountants to professors. My favourite person that I met there was Magdanita, a sixty year old lady who has been singing in the choir since the 1980s and insists that we call her Mama while we are here in Uganda.
As much as I am enjoying exploring the city, I am excited to start classes next week and get to know my classmates. We are also hoping to have our placement schools arranged soon, so we can get into the classroom and meet the children who we will be teaching. In some ways I feel very much like a tourist right now, so I think that once we have established a routine I will start to feel more like an ordinary student. Like I said at the start, home just feels like a lifetime ago, and I am so excited to be spending the next few months studying and living here.
Talk again soon J
love Suzi xo
Kampala City Centre
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