Elections Round 1 and 2 and the wildlife of Lira

Federal Election is over and Museveni is back in for another 5 years. Only two other African leaders have been in longer.  But considering the events in Libya in the past days, the legacy of long rule seems to be something people are questioning. We went to the local (Days Inn or the fitness club as everyone calls it), to see the election results and the chatter was the closest candidate had no platform except to get rid of Museveni. In general the electorate here seem to be sensitive to issues and interested in progress. Its been very quiet, and I don't think anyone expects or wants any post election violence. One of the women i have met on another project was an official observer and had interesting stories about the day and how things went.

 

That said the district elections seemed to have had more excitement and it was actually cancelled in Kampala the capital after widespread "chaos". Next week are the local elections.

 

Here in Lira Museveni's party is not popular and the local candidate has been returned to power so there is little to cause any problems. Our district elections were peaceful this week and it's a general sense here that everyone just wants to move on. These elections in Lira mark the first even since the demise of the LRA in the area, so were historically significant.

 

As another evening begins I sit on the front porch, where I sit every night, enjoying a cold drink and at 6:30 watch the white cranes fly south east. They will be shortly followed by the large bats that fly from their daytime roost in the Mayor's garden overhead towards the north west. They come in flocks (by the thousands) starting about 7pm, and are (from what I can identify) the east African epauletted fruit bat. They are about the size of large crows and I pass by them in their roosts in trees every day on the way to work. They chatter together in large social groups. Not sure where they go at night but you can set your clock by them. I love bats, and these are specifically interesting, we had a very ripe papaya on the top of the tree (where I could not reach with the pole) and it was gone in two nights. Of course there are also lots of other bats here, over 100 species in Uganda, some smaller insect eating ones cruise around the porch each night, significantly reducing our mosquitoes (there are really very few at night compared to Brazil). I remember listening to the bats at home, so it is a nice comfort to have that here.

 

Of course here on the equator, time does not change much day to day. Day length is the same all the time. It's a pattern (or lack of) that will take some getting used to and I think I will miss the changing seasons the most.

The moon was out full last night, very bright and even that is different, no man in the moon here, we see a different side of it.

 

There are also lots of pretty fancy birds which are a constant presence and source of entertainment. Parrots, bee eaters and rollers seem to be the most abundant, but with an abundance of swamps around, there are a lot of wading birds flying overhead all day. There are two types of starlings that visit our garden. A sort tailed one that is very loud with a very complex call that is iridescent blue and purple, and a longer tailed one that has more purple sheen and a long beautiful bright purple tail. I am also watching a pair of another long tailed birds that seems to be preparing for mating/ nesting in a tree just outside our compound. I have not identified them yet, but everytime we see something new, Lin and I get out the two books we have on birds and try to find them. Uganda seems to be on the major migration paths, so there is always something new.

 

Another interesting thing is the "ant-highway" running along a wire strung from some papaya trees outside the compound to a tree in the front. It is vacant during the hot of the day but morning and evening the ants use it as an express way, avoiding the dangers of the lizards on the ground.

 

And the lizards, geckos and skinks are also quite diverse. Today I watched as a lizard about 6" long scratch and dig in the soil just beside the porch, perhaps laying eggs. It seems everything is getting ready for the rainy season by mating/nesting or flowering. We have had a few bouts of rain in the past few days, and lots of lightening but I am told when the rains really come it is in the form of a strong late afternoon thunderstorm. Can't wait to walk home in that every day. And the temperature will get considerably cooler, as these days its about 30. Even the locals are complaining. I am not finding it that bad and they look at me in amazement when I tell them in Canada where I come from it can be 30 in the summer and -30 in the winter.

 

This week at work marks the return of the people I will be working with most closelyon the project, and a quarterly meeting on Friday where the folks from Gulu will attend. I have some good ideas of my vision for the information centers, and hope to get moving on the youth group database and NGO mapping exercise next week. Things progress slowly, for someone like myself that is always thinking ahead I have to keep reminding myself to slow down the pace.

 

I have also included two new lists on the blog this week.

 

The first is a list of all the things I think would be nice to get from home (as some have asked what they can send). Unfortunately I need to find a reliable address as mail goes to post office boxes and often does not get to where it is going. So I want to be sure I get the right place where they will know who I am. One note to anyone sending something, if you put God is Great on the package it seems to help it along a bit.

 

The other list is the various t-shirts I see when I am out walking. As Africa is the home to most of the donated clothing that we in the west drop in those big metal boxes, its interesting to see what logo t-shirts and other things arrive here, and who wears them. The most popular here by far are UK football team jerseys, although I have seen a lot of hockey shirts and many special event shirts from all over Canada and the US.

 

Who's goat is that?

As i write this a goat has appeared outside the office door and is loudly calling for someone. Perhaps she has milk for me?

 

....

 

Just two days before the election, and all is quiet. Work is quiet as well, no meetings nobody around. Many have traveled home to villages to vote as much of the working population maintains a home where they are from and rent where they work.

 

The final political campaigning is ongoing, lots of trucks with loudspeakers, just like Brazil, with their candidate posters on them.

 

There have been many shows of force in the past week…daily military drills of 100 young men in the soccer field, then singing and marching up and down the streets with sticks. A fighter jet circled overhead a few days back, and since planes NEVER pass over Lira, it was an event to have everyone out on the street. Today I passed two separate groups of police in full riot gear with shields, but when they saw me big smiles and good mornings… somewhat less intimidating than I am sure they are meant to be.

 

Our passports were couriered to us, in case we have to get out of town fast. The security of our compound has been enhanced, yet we still have no guard.

 

We have been told to stay home and lay low from Thur to Tues, until after the results are announced. Keep an ear to the ground and be alert for developing situations, echoed the emails from various sources (VSOU, Canadian Consulate, British Embassy). Have enough water, fuel, mobile air time and food for 5 days, just in case of a collapse of systems. So I went shopping again today for some final things.

 

Lets just see how things go.

 

 I plan to clean up the garden and prepare for the rainy growing season during the down time. Best to just keep busy and productive. When I return to work on Tuesday I will begin in earnest working with the Community Development Office to identify and map the locations of youth groups within Lira district. We have a survey to run, and i have a few people now who want to work with me.

 

I had a meeting with my Shea Butter source - Mike yesterday in the market and we talked about potential markets, and he showed me the soap he makes. His shea butter is wonderful, less firm than that of Western Africa (notably Ghana) and from a different variety of tree that is apparently superior.  He admitted the soap needs some work and told me it does not lather so it can't compete with the other soaps available. I told him the secret is to use goats milk not water. He laughed, where would I get goats milk? He said.

 

Considering you can't walk anywhere in Lira without tripping over a goat or cow I thought this was an odd problem. Apparently, they don't see goats as milk producers.

I recall a similar issue in Brazil, they didn't see chickens as egg producers, just for meat.

I have asked around and no one milks goats. In fact the idea seems to make everyone giggle a little. "Have you seen our goats?" They say,"they are too strong!.... They are too skinny"… It seems to be another one of these things in Uganda where the idea that is normal to me is just ridiculous to them. So I presented this problem to Bob my co worker who is very interested in my project. I figure if he can get the word out we need goat milk we might be able to find someone that can help.

 

So this has now become Sally and Bob's soap mission. I joked we should start our own youth groups (one for shea butter and one for goat milk) and do it as a case study for the project. I have a number of people who want to learn how to make it. So as in Brazil I have a project that will be a bit of a distraction and sideline. Always need extra projects.

 

 

 

 

 

Trip to Gulu and Saving the kittens

I took my first trip on my own this week. Wizzit (Felicity) is my counterpart in the neighboring district and we planned for a meeting this week to discuss how to approach the project from two different places.

 

Gulu is the next area to the west and although its only a 2 hour drive they have a slightly different language. But I can get by with my limited greetings, as John tests me daily, so travel was not too hard. I was a bit intimidated with the idea of going to Gulu alone but in the end it was an easy and pleasant experience.

 

I took a bicycle boda (pedal bike with a comfy pad on back for passenger) and off we went to the taxi park. Taxi's here are mini vans that hold about 14 passengers and are the preferred way to travel throughout Uganda. Matata was what they were called in Kampala. The trip cost 10,000 shillings, about $5.

 

It was quite orderly at the taxi park and of course as soon as anyone sees me they want to help. So I was ushered into a waiting bus, and we sat and waited for it to fill up. Taxis don't generally go on a scheduled time, they go when they are full. After they loaded a basket of smelly fresh fish below me (much to the complaint of my fellow passengers) we were off. This was the express bus and we only stopped once for a chicken along the way, who also was stuffed under my seat.

 

The trip took about two hours, but I expect that to get shorter as there is construction along the main road just out of Lira and there is a stretch of about 2k with speed bumps (big ones) every 30 feet or so. So all the cars seem to drive twice the distance swerving along to find the lowest point on each bump, to avoid tearing off anything under the vehicle.

 

When I arrived in Gulu I was struck by how comfortable I was immediately. Felicity and I had a great meeting, and there was a nice going away party for one of the other volunteers attended by about 40 people at the main Gulu compound also known as Mike and Liz's. A night of singing and dancing was perfect under the clear incredible star filled night. The next day I headed back and met a lovely young mother Agnes and her 4 month old baby – Amigo. We chatted the whole way back about her future and a bit about the project I am working on.

 

We exchanged numbers and as she is now in Lira for a few months I promised we will have a soap making course soon, and of course she is invited. I can't get over  how friendly people are and how easy it is to make friends.

 

In the market this week I noticed a sign for Cold Pressed Shea Butter…. It was exactly what I have been looking for to make my soap. So I bought a few bottles and back at the office that day a lady was also selling Shea Oil. This one is heated and used for eating, they drink it like a health product. So in one day I got more shea products than I had hoped for.

When I returned to the house, Lyn said she thought the cats and kittens who have been living in our back garden had left, as she didn't hear them anymore. But the next day she came running in the house to say she thought she heard them. I came out and we found them at the bottom of an old pit latrine in the back of the property. I shone my flashlight in and saw two sets of eyes looking at me about 20 feet down. What to do? They must have been down there for at least 2-3 days!

 

We found a neighbor to help and lashed together five old papaya branches and lowered them down into the hole. We tied up the end to a wire attached to a tree and put out a plate of milk and hoped for the best.

That night I could hear a lot of chattering going on and I was sure I heard the kittens loud and clear. The next morning it was confirmed, they had climbed out and now are hiding in the water drain as mom tries to get them out of this terrible place, but they are just too little (6 weeks at most) to get over the wall.

 

So it was a good week, with many adventures.

 

I have included this time some pictures of the house I am in here in Lira, and one of the magnificent lizards (they call them monitors) that have an orange head, green body and a wide orange band on their tail. There are also many geckos that come out at night around the front porch which is where we sit in the morning and evening.

 

Work in earnest will begin after the election I am imagining as we are to remain home from Wed to next Tues during the election and results time. We are assured that if need be we will be taken care of by VSO if anything develops. Everyone is hoping for a peaceful election period.