Sustainable in Uganda – anecdotes & discoveries

Here are some anecdotes accompanied by photos from the last month.  I use my camera far too infrequently, so I can’t promise that these are representative of my experience.  But it’s the closest I can come to sharing the moment-to-moment stimulation and learning that I’m getting here in Uganda.

The weekend of September 20th, I jumped in a van with some of my colleagues from API to go to Karamoja.  This region in far Northeastern Uganda is home to the Karamajong tribe, who have recently faced extreme resource scarcity due to changing climate patterns.  There had been surging violence in the region due to cattle rustling, since cows are the primary source of livelihood (~1 Liter of cow blood makes a tasty lunch after being fried up with a dash of milk).  API is now utilizing vast acres of land in this arid climate to grow fuel crops that are intercropped with food crops.  Since API began providing this new source of livelihood, violence has drastically reduced in this part of Karamoja.

 
A flat tire on the highway at night … wha’cha gonna do?

But no trip is without some surprises.  During the drive up, one of the tires on the van completely burst.  It was after dark, so we all fumbled with our cell-phones / flashlights to assess the situation.  We did have a spare tire, but our car jack wasn’t working. 

Now while this isn’t Kenya or other notorious neighbors, Ugandans are still suspicious of groups of people flagging down help on the highway at night.  The solution?  Send the Muzungu (white person) to the side of the road to wave down some assistance.  Of course no Muzungu would be a highway robber, so the logic goes.  Sure enough, the next car stopped and they assisted us with changing the tire.  We were back on the road within an hour, with all of us commenting, “It’s a privilege to meet such good-hearted strangers.”

A colleague from API, standing among sunflowers
planted in Karamoja.  Sunflowers are good initial crops
to prepare the soil for other crops the next season. 
It’s also a high-value edible oil :-)

The purpose of the Karamoja trip was to show local leaders (called Local Councils) from other districts the success of API’s farm in Karamoja.  We are launching an out-growers scheme, where private farmers will grow the same fuel crops and sell the kernels to API for biodiesel production.  All of the Local Councils were impressed with the farm’s progress - “if it can grow in Karamoja, it will grow anywhere.”  After the tour of the farm, my colleagues and I made a presentation to the Local Councils about the favorable economics of the project, as well as its positive social and environmental impacts.  Somehow the media were there, and once I returned to Kampala, many of my friends informed me that I was on national TV, again.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

In other sustainability-nerd news … there is one local custom that I have emphatically not adopted, even as I find myself culturally immersed and “Ugandanized”  in so many other ways.  And that’s tossing plastic water bottles into the trash (or more commonly, the ditch).  With the help of Angela from API, I got in touch with Plastic Recycling Uganda Ltd. and finally was able to offload the huge bags of plastic bottles that I (and some sustainability converts from AIESEC) had been saving over the last two months.

 
Recycling, the Ugandan way!

While the amount I had collected was not enough to offset the cost of transporting them to the recycling center, the company picked them up as part of a “corporate social responsibility” initiative.  I got info on how many kg’s of bottles I must collect to justify sending a truck to pick them up, and what payment they would give.  I’ve now convinced the security guard at the hostel to collect these bottles from students, so he can supplement his income once he’s accumulated enough.  My roommate is just thrilled that the stockpiled heaps of bottles are no longer in our room!

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

I’ve also been pushing for grants to support API’s projects aimed at sustainable development in Karamoja.  Climate change is manifest in Karamoja through irregular rain patterns that are driving alarming food scarcity.  Women and children walk great distances to carry water for domestic use.  This is a region where the Millennium Development Goals come alive with patent poignancy.

Woman and children carrying water from
a mountain source in Karamoja

There are few NGOs who operate in Karamoja, and even fewer have a good reputation (Oxfam is perhaps a notable exception).  Too often, NGOs implement projects but fail to maintain the infrastructure.  For example, 15 windmills were recently constructed in Karamoja, and none of them are functioning now due to looting and vandalism.

As I’m working on these grant applications, I’m understanding new dimensions to SUSTAINABLE development … clearly it’s not just about environmental impacts.  API is generating these proposals and will manage the project implementation.  Clearly, these proposals benefit API, since it pays some employee salaries and improves the infrastructure around API’s operations in Karamoja. 

But the proposals undoubtedly benefit the surrounding community as well, such as water catchment & distribution for household use and irrigation.  I’m also investigating a pico-hydroelectric generation system for these villages that are far from the grid.  If API has a business interest in these projects, then the company will oversee, protect, and maintain the infrastructure so it can continue to benefit both API and the surrounding community.  Looking forward to seeing more examples of private-sector leadership in remote parts of developing countries play out.

Karamajong women who work on API’s farm

Now I just need to figure out the bureaucracy of USAID | Uganda, which is located within the U.S. Embassy.  I spent much of the afternoon there today, and couldn’t even manage to see a secretary.  She promised to pick up the grant proposal from the security post at the end of the day.  I hope my follow-up attempt will be more successful – perhaps exploiting a letter introducing me as a fulbright scholar (gotta do what you gotta do).

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-

Next week, I take off for Northern Ethiopia, where API is rapidly establishing its operations.  I will be researching the relevant social and environmental issues in the region, accompanied by David, the other U.S. Fulbright student in Uganda.  I’m looking forward to the massive learning that this trip will entail, and the upcoming months of hard, green work :-)

Back to the peaceful Kampala we know

My room mate Frank decided to take the over-night bus from Nairobi to Kampala on Friday night, despite my strong warnings that riots would likely increase into Saturday.  I sent him worried text messages through the night as I was reading accounts of Friday’s violence on Twitter.  I read countless blog post about the unrest between Museveni’s government and the Baganda kingdom, and I finally fell asleep feeling very unsettled by the uncertainty of Frank’s travel.

I woke up at 7:30am to Frank knocking on the door.  When I opened it, I saw him gloating that he had made record time on the road.  The riot police had removed all of the taxi-vans and boda-bodas (taxi-motorcycles) from the roads, and most people decided to stay indoors.  This meant the road into town was free of a traffic jam – truly unprecedented for Kampala.

Rain on Saturday, which accompanied the return to
a peaceful Kampala. (view from my balcony)

Frank’s safe arrival was followed by more signs that the violence had quelled.  By the time it started raining in the afternoon, there had been no reports of riots.  I even heard the familiar thump of neighboring dance clubs that night, signaling a return to the fun-loving Kampala that is so normal.

Monday, I was back at Makerere University and received the letter I was trying to get last Thursday.  On campus, I also bumped into the Fulbright Scholar (a professor from the U.S.) who is teaching Chemistry in Uganda this year.  We had a good lunch and discussed the relevance of Natural Products Chemistry in East Africa.  He was originally set to be teaching in Gulu (Northwestern Uganda), but for various reasons, he will now be at Makerere University, Kampala.  This is good news for me, as it means more tight connections for my Green Chemistry research project here, which will be more of a focus now that the semester has begun.

It was also interesting to reflect on the difference between the experience of being a Fulbright Scholar as a student and as a professor.  I was surprised that I was introducing the professor to matoke (the most popular staple food in Kampala), although he’s had been in Uganda for more than one month.  I learned that he mostly ate his meals at the Sheraton or University Guest House.  Even if his cuisine has been a bit sheltered, I still have to admire the fortitude of a professor in his 60’s deciding to spend a year in Uganda.  As he said, “As an old man, I need to be comfortable after a hard day’s work.”  And this makes me appreciate all the more how my youthful energy only amplifies as I expose myself to more and more aspects of student life in Uganda.

general update

Again, it’s been long since I’ve posted.  Life here has been good, and here are some scattered anecdotes & updates.

I’ve completely recovered from my cold from last week.  Unfortunately, it’s now my laptop that has a virus.  All the swapping of USB flash drives puts the system at high risk, even though I’ve been careful with performing regular system scans.  I’m now moving toward giving people files by burning a CD (since email attachments take ridiculously long, and USB drives pose a virus threat).  The virus cripples my laptop when I’m trying to access internet, which is frustrating as I’m trying to catch up with online communication.  I’m seeing API’s computer specialist soon, and hope to get it resolved.

The opportunity to cook last weekend was amazing.  9 of us went to my friend’s aunt’s house on the outskirts of town, and we cooked up a feast.  The centerpiece was the esteemed Ugandan “rolex,” which is a chapatti + an omelet all rolled up.  This is the typical anytime meal-on-the-run of university students in Uganda, especially after a night of dancing.  But we spruced it up and produced these from scratch (the dough is only flour, water, and salt).  Now don’t you want to come to Uganda?

Only in Uganda:  the ever-satisfying rolex.

In other cooking news, I had the chance to make couscous that I brought from the U.S. for my friends around the hostel.  Although it’s the staple in Morocco and other North African countries, couscous is unheard of in Uganda … except I did find a 500 g box for $7 in the most posh supermarket – and this price is shocking considering that I get a full plate of food for $0.50.  Anyway, it was another fun occasion to gather around for good times.

Couscous dinner at the hostel.

I’ve been able to receive new interns from China and Nigeria in the last week, which has been especially rewarding.  They’re both fantastic people, and it’s fun to be able to play host in Uganda … makes me feel as though I’ve come a long way since last year.

I’ve also started some classes on nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy at the API office. 

The days as a T.A. for freshman orgo are really being put to good use.

On Friday morning, I got a phone call from the Uganda National Minister for Micro-Finance, which was a nice shock.  She was RSVP’ing for the closing event of the AIESEC project I’ve been helping to organize.  It’s nice to be working in a market where students’ efforts can be recognized by top authorities.

Yesterday, I wrote a letter to the First Lady of Uganda, Janet Museveni.  She’s the latest in a long list of meetings I’m trying to set up to build AIESEC partnerships.

More on that later.  Actually, I was out-of-commission for most of last weekend, since I picked up a cold.  I got the cough and fever checked out, but nothing serious.  I think I had weakened my immune system the day I sprayed my room with permethrin (a long-term mosquito repellant).  I managed to disband the throng of mosquitoes that had taken up residence in the dark corners of my closet.  It’s astounding how many of these micro-vampires are constantly around … but they’re no match for my mosquito net and newly permethrin-treated pajamas :)

     

Some shots of my side of the room … decorations coming soon.

I’ve found it hard to blog recently, because I have actually been socially over-stimulated.  It’s the Ugandan way to always have a long chat around “how are you? … how’s everything going?”  As such, I have ample time to reflect and process nearly everything that comes my way during conversations with friends.  So at least today, my blog is turning from being reflective to more anecdotal.

I’ve found a great alternative to the herbal tea I would take in the evenings while in the US.  Here I can buy 10 passion fruits for $0.50.  I simply cut one open, scoop out the juicy flesh & seeds, and pour hot water over.  Simply amazing.

I’ve finally gotten connected with a 3G internet modem for my laptop, so I theoretically have access anytime/anywhere.  My challenge is now to find time to use it, since my days have been packed with moving around town and having meetings from morning until 9pm.  Then to maintain balance between working and personal relationships with AIESECers, we take dinner together and chat.  Evenings are a time to visit each other in the hostels, and visits often come unannounced.  Eventually I will find a way to schedule time for my own work and online socializing.  But for now, I love the opportunity to find community here, rapidly improve my cultural literacy, and embrace the spontaneity of events.

AIESEC Uganda- Member Committee 2009-2010
From left: Eunice, Wakib, Irene, Vicky, Kish, Frank, Drew, Bella

As for AIESEC stuff, I’ll leave it for another post.

My mandatory meeting at the U.S. Embassy was surprisingly enjoyable, completely due to the Ugandan woman who oversees the Fulbrighters. While I don’t foresee myself having close friends among the Americans working there, at least she’s a wonderful contact. She taught me that my favorite food (katunkuma, or bitter peas) is stereotyped as “grandma’s food,” which gave us a good laugh. We covered so much ground on cultural sensitivity and streets-smarts, my head is still spinning. And I plan to volunteer by interviewing Ugandan students who apply for scholarships to study in the U.S. …this would also involve counseling about formatting the CV and application essays – putting those years working at the Admissions Office to good use :)

One frivolous & extravagant activity, though – I went out for the premier of the new Harry Potter movie in Kampala at 11:30pm.  I was shocked to run into Sarah (Yale ’08), who I learned has been working for a year in Kampala!  Then I also bumped into a businessman from Congo to whom my boss had introduced me the week before.  I generally avoid activities as exclusive as a movie theater, but this occasion turned out to be great (not to mention I liked the film).

I was at API for three days last week, catching up with my co-workers from last summer. I’m especially proud that the researchers whom I recruited is still there, and the laboratory is being utilized for experiments. This Friday, I’ll be there to begin teaching them the theory behind Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectroscopy.  We’ve got labs at Yale that run the samples, and my goal is for them to be proficient in interpreting the spectra by the end of the summer.

Words on Working Abroad

I’ve returned from my second weekend excursion to a far corner of the country – this time Karamoja in the northeast. The mindset I adopt when traveling takes on such a different quality than tourism, thanks to my traineeship. Through the work of this company, there are breathtaking impacts on local communities and peoples, and it’s a bit awe-inspiring to think that my work can be a part of that. But I’m quick to come back to humility, because of my limitations as the only non-East African working on the project.

To give you an idea of the conditions: Karamoja is the least developed region of Uganda, where the tribe is extremely conservative and traditional in their customs. For example, they pay a big dowry (like 80 cows) to get a bride, then treat her like property, making her build, farm, get water, cook, tend to children, etc. while the guy sits around and drinks ... only to demand sex at night. Due to recent drought, the cattle are scarce, and this has been the site of the worst violence in the country as bandits kill people for their cows – all so they can secure a bride for themselves. I was safe during the trip (our hotel was just outside the region, so it was a day trip), but it was eye-opening to be sure. The idea is that they revenue from growing crops for the renewable energy company will alleviate resource scarcity and empower the women. Can only hope that this happens soon.

I’ve just finished reading several of my friends recent blog posts, and it was striking to see some common themes of cultural barriers (especially you in Africa – Ray, Dunia, Brownie, and Sean; pardon the lack of comments – I read new posts using Google Reader when I’m offline). I think a lot about how I can reinvest this experience back in my home country and culture. Especially because every day I witness East Africans propelling themselves toward their goals for their region. My boss has a strident ideology that Africa’s problems are perpetuated by NGOs and the Church, both of which draw their executives mostly from Europe. I’ve asked him to lend me the book Lords of Poverty, which develops this argument. These experiences and ideas are building a long-subconscious urge to find ways that I can contribute within my home society. Let me explain.

Many of my coworkers get around 4 hours of sleep per night, due to their high discipline and work ethic. One claims an herbal tea allows him to deepen the quality of the little sleep he gets, so he can stay up half the night talking to the company’s numerous international partners. Another has diabetes, and must run for an hour every morning so he doesn’t prematurely die (insulin is prohibitively expensive here). Another cares for nine children: One that is her own and eight that have been orphaned after her brothers and sisters died. Whatever their motivation, these people have such positive attitude and dedication toward the company’s mission. They realize they are part of a one-of-a-kind African enterprise, within which they are role models of indigenous entrepreneurship and hard work.

I’ve been doing my best to pour myself into work, despite the lack of internet access and few social opportunities apart from coworkers. I’m less than a third into my 12 weeks here, and there’s so much I hope to achieve. My current objectives at work are to (1) design and equip a chemistry laboratory for the company, (2) perform an environmental impact assessment required by the national ministry of the environment, (3) familiarize myself on academic and technical literature related to the company’s interests, and (4) recruit and train a team of three chemistry research interns from the prestigious Makerere University in Kampala, who will continue the research in the company’s laboratory after I return to the US.

The last objective is by far the most meaningful to me right now, because it seems to align with the value of empowering young people to invest their skills in improving their home community. Once again, it’s an act of humility, because I won’t be able to achieve much in my three months here. And I am excited for the interpersonal dynamics with other young chemistry researchers that I bring to the company. Surely I will have to assume some authority at the beginning, but if I’m able to kindle any AIESEC spirit in this endeavor, it will become a most welcome social outlet.

The question remains how I will invest these experiences back at home … and if I will consider my boss’ offer to employ me for one year in Uganda between undergrad and graduate school. I know I will continue to have a thirst for travel, but recently I’ve really wished that I could play the host. To be in my element so I can constantly entertain and share tidbits of local culture to eager (or even fatigued) eyes and ears, all in stride with doing meaningful work. My coworkers are exemplifying this toward me, but cultural learning curves are proving all too steep for me to be at the same level in Uganda in the foreseeable future. So for all of my international friends – consider this an open invitation. Visiting the US won’t be easy, but I’ll do everything I can to bridge the gap. And to Jing and Marina, I only wish I could have been there more this past year.