Just Surviving Africa

In 2013 I came to Uganda, East Africa for the first time. I was here 3 months and returned to America. Seven months later I flew to Uganda again, this time staying 3 months again but I went back for just 7 weeks and returned. On December 10, 2014 I flew into Entebbe Airport Uganda and have stayed ever since.

Uganda……. “The Pearl of Africa” they call it.  A place of sunshine and warm temperatures year round, the trees stay green and lush and markets are continually filled with fresh produce. Fruits are so sweet, especially the pineapples. Banana trees will grow anywhere, even in a crack in a sidewalk.  Mangoes of every variety delight the taste buds. Avocados grow everywhere, hanging heavily from the branches. Birds of every kind nest in the many trees and different ones come and go with the seasons. They delight my ears with their symphonies of sing-song-y calls to each other.   Geckos and other colorful lizards sunbathe lazily at the tops of security walls and trees, but will arouse from their sleepiness to chase away another lizard in an energy-burst millisecond; legs and long tails whipping about every which way.

Blue Turraco bird eating Papaya

Blue tree Agama basking in the sunshine

 People may think I came to Uganda to vacation. To spend my days resting under a big umbrella while sipping passion fruit juice and fanning myself with one hand and holding a book in the other . Living in the lap of luxury and never breaking a fingernail doing hard work.  Well, as much as I wish I had THAT LIFE, the reality of it is quite different.  I am not complaining; just reflecting and analyzing things.

In 2013 I was a visitor. I observed, I learned, I shared, I cared, and I went back to my comfortable country.  In 2014 I was still a visitor but in planning my future and realizing Uganda would become my permanent home, I began feeling more like a non-visitor.  By 2015 I was a full-time Amerigandan. I married my husband Stephen, a Ugandan and we began living our lives together in our rented house.  We paid for electricity but it was off more than on.  We had running water but soon after our February marriage drought caused the taps to run dry. Showers became a thing of the past and splashy bird-baths my new normal.

For cooking we had a one burner, coil hot-plate but with power off so much I soon became an expert at lighting a small charcoal stove.  Charcoal here is supplied by the many trees people cut down every day to burn until blackened and sold for profit. No neat and tidy Kingsford here. MOST Ugandans burn with either wood or this charcoal and have for years and years. The trees are disappearing at an alarming rate and not enough new trees are being planted in their place. Every year the dry season becomes longer and rain less when it’s supposed to come.

My 2-burner hotplate on the right... I cooked for and served 52 at our Christmas party

 

Me cooking on a charcoal stove after the rain had passed.

 Washing clothes is all done by hand, usually with rain-water collected in the rainy season from the roof gutters which flow into large black drums.  When dry season is long and water cannot be found to buy (in large plastic containers called jerry cans)and be carried to our house, rainwater also becomes the main water for bathing and washing dishes (called “washing plates” here).

We do not own a car. Getting around is either done by walking, riding a hired motorcycle (called a Boda Boda) or riding in a taxi-van.  Walking is a difficult for me since I have Rheumatoid Arthritis and Systemic Lupus so we often pay for transport. I can walk short distances on flat (no hills) roads but we live in a very hill-y town.  Boda boda’s for hire are many and we mostly use them. 

Boda boda's for hire in my town

It is the culture for a woman here to ride seated sideways (not cowboy-on-a-horse style) with legs to one side. Riding at 30 mph it feels like sitting on a swing hanging from an airplane. I hang onto the underside of the seat with one hand and the back carrying rack with the other.  Somehow I have tricked myself into believing that it’s supporting my 200+lb weight just fine in case we start falling over.  Sometimes I don’t even hold on because my skirt wants to blow up and cover my head so I have to hold it down! (We dress like women here-skirts or dresses-no pants). I have also convinced myself that if I ever feel the Boda is about to crash I can jump off easily like I used to fly off a moving swing as a kid and land a “10” like an Olympian off the balance beam. Thank God I have never had to try yet!

When we travel to Kampala, the main city in Uganda about 60 km away, we use a hired taxi-van.  It is a Toyota van which is designed to seat around 15 but invariably is packed like canned sardines with around 18-22 people including kids and an occasional chicken (or 3). Usually someone is sitting halfway on your lap while you are perched halfway on someone else’s. There is no A/C in these vans, just small sliding windows and most of them closed because Ugandans believe that any wind (or rain) on them will cause “a flu” (cold symptoms) or will mess their hair (the women).  Most days in Uganda the temps are around 84 F but in the hot, dry season can reach 90-100F.  Deodorant is sold here in the supermarkets though most don’t know about it, can’t afford it or just don’t care to use it.

Taxi vans at the taxi park in Kampala

I came here to try to do my part to help others in this world somehow, especially the children. I cannot work but I do not sit under any umbrella sipping anything.  Just surviving day to day is time-consuming and difficult. I don’t hire anyone full-time to clean or cook or wash clothes.  My husband and I share the daily chores including cooking. Even now 3 years later I still only have a 2 burner hot plate to cook on, not even an oven. We have no refrigerator. On rare occasions when I get to have a cold soda or cold bottled water my brain acts as if I am eating a snow-cone and Brain-Freeze quickly follows.

My husband is accustomed to this life but for me it’s been a learning experience and a slow transition.   But 3 years later I am adjusting well. I no longer dream about American food and settle for beans and rice willingly. I am learning even to like it. I settle for a fan instead of A/C and 5 channels on television instead of 500. I have the same clothes I came with and though I can see through most of them I am grateful to have more than 2 outfits because most villagers don’t.  My old shoes have been taken for repair more than once but I am happy to give the Shoe Repair shop a job and an income.  I know it won’t always be this way. God always has a plan. The ministry is trying to start an income generating project and my husband, the ministry director, may start receiving some kind of income after working 4 years without anything.

….……Yeah, I may one day find a nice spot to sit and sip a warm drink and read something……..but only if I can find the time out of just surviving in Africa ………………………