Firstly: three weeks in America was amazing. Good beer, good food, good family and good friends, good conversation.
(does the order of those things say something ill about my priorities in life?)
But I'm not going to get into it too much, because it will just make me homesick.
I spent the couple days before home in Kapchorwa, in the East.
(I wonder what language that map is in)
The goal of the trip was to meet with a potential partner organization and learn more about their operations.
On the way out, I had to stop for a meeting in Mbale. Kapchorwa (about one hour East of Mbale) is a pretty big coffee-growing region, and Mbale town is the biggest, most commercial town in the area. Unusual, then to walk across scenes like the below in Mbale town - a woman on the street in Mbale hulling coffee beans.
After my meeting, hopped in a tiny minivan with 15 of my closest friends for the ride up to Kapchorwa. At least I got shotgun and had the internet to entertain me.
How do you get 16 people in a tiny damn minivan? Well, having a guy straddle the shifter certainly helps.
There are so many captions I could give to this photo that I'm just not even going to try.
The plateau up ahead is where we're headed. Most of Uganda is at about 3000 feet of elevation, Kapchorwa is at about 6500 feet (and, incidentally, where Uganda's most successful athlete of recent years hails from).
After my meeting, hopped in a tiny minivan with 15 of my closest friends for the ride up to Kapchorwa. At least I got shotgun and had the internet to entertain me.
How do you get 16 people in a tiny damn minivan? Well, having a guy straddle the shifter certainly helps.
There are so many captions I could give to this photo that I'm just not even going to try.
The plateau up ahead is where we're headed. Most of Uganda is at about 3000 feet of elevation, Kapchorwa is at about 6500 feet (and, incidentally, where Uganda's most successful athlete of recent years hails from).
Obviously we needed to stop to get tomatoes from some street-side hawkers. Sometimes I'm not such a fan of having my personal space violated.
In Kapchorwa is one of the few tribes (of about 40) in Uganda that practices circumcision. It's a majorly important event for the people there, and something that's only done in the month of December, every second year. Through the couple days I spent in Kapchorwa, we saw scores of these little parades of singing, drumming and dancing groups of 16-18 year old boys and their relatives, getting ready for their upcoming ceremony.
Finally to Kapchorwa, a meeting and to a hotel.
Another damn sideways-made bed. Well, made in more of a square, actually.
Had a nice walk
Learned some things.
Kapchorwa town
In Kapchorwa is one of the few tribes (of about 40) in Uganda that practices circumcision. It's a majorly important event for the people there, and something that's only done in the month of December, every second year. Through the couple days I spent in Kapchorwa, we saw scores of these little parades of singing, drumming and dancing groups of 16-18 year old boys and their relatives, getting ready for their upcoming ceremony.
Finally to Kapchorwa, a meeting and to a hotel.
Another damn sideways-made bed. Well, made in more of a square, actually.
Had a nice walk
Learned some things.
Kapchorwa town
Gah!
I'm tired! All I want to do is crawl into bed - I don't want to have to UN-make it and RE-make it first!
My room did have a TV at least... caught a bit of Monday Night Football. Wait, what?
I'm tired! All I want to do is crawl into bed - I don't want to have to UN-make it and RE-make it first!
My room did have a TV at least... caught a bit of Monday Night Football. Wait, what?
Next morning, walked down to meet with some folks about barley
Guy I was supposed to meet was an hour and change late. Gave me lots of time to make (16!) phone calls... and play with barley.
Phone calls and a thresher From The American People
Guy I was supposed to meet was an hour and change late. Gave me lots of time to make (16!) phone calls... and play with barley.
Phone calls and a thresher From The American People
You're welcome!
Dude shuffling through the barley to aerate it and help it dry
Dude shuffling through the barley to aerate it and help it dry
Bagging up the barley once it was dry enough
The gentleman I was meeting with had this poster in his office. Uganda: the shining yellow beacon of "Moderately Low" hunger in Eastern and Central Africa
Finally headed out to the field with a couple of people from the potential partner to visit some barley farmers and learn about the attempts at commercial barley farming by small-holder farmers in the region.
Crop diversification - banana trees (for matoke) and cabbage between
This image is so... African to me.
One of the guys I was with loved this image as indicating the effects of commercial barley farming on the region. In the foreground is a more typical, traditional home. In the background (just above-right from the foreground house, with a light blue roof) is the home of a clearly much wealthier farmer. The difference between the two? A marginal difference in elevation and an entrepreneurial spirit - the latter farmer has been commercially growing barley for a few years now. Pretty impressive.
Crop diversification - banana trees (for matoke) and cabbage between
This image is so... African to me.
One of the guys I was with loved this image as indicating the effects of commercial barley farming on the region. In the foreground is a more typical, traditional home. In the background (just above-right from the foreground house, with a light blue roof) is the home of a clearly much wealthier farmer. The difference between the two? A marginal difference in elevation and an entrepreneurial spirit - the latter farmer has been commercially growing barley for a few years now. Pretty impressive.
and theeeeen...
doin' business with a wheeling dealing rogue agent barley-buyer. All serious business is done over bottles of Coke. Obviously.
Barley drying in his compound. Dude has done quite well for himself. He does some farming for himself but has also started buying up other farmers' barley and maintaining enough stock to be able to draw attention from the big buyers in the area. He controls enough volume to be able to pretty much set his own price. It was cool to see some tangible effects of the family's entrepreneurship - a newly-built home and the wife had just finished her degree in education.
also I love bougainvillea.
I learned how to test the moisture content of barley with my teeth.
Wheeling and dealing
"How do we get as much barley as we can from this guy, then put him out of business so he stops driving up prices?"
It was pretty cool seeing serious business being done. The culture of productivity in Uganda can often be pretty lackluster, but these guys were out to make it happen.
The family does some coffee production too. A coffee huller out back
Matoke (banana) trees
Nice new home and rainwater collection container
On the road again, through Kapchorwa.
Harvest time.
Barley
doin' business with a wheeling dealing rogue agent barley-buyer. All serious business is done over bottles of Coke. Obviously.
Barley drying in his compound. Dude has done quite well for himself. He does some farming for himself but has also started buying up other farmers' barley and maintaining enough stock to be able to draw attention from the big buyers in the area. He controls enough volume to be able to pretty much set his own price. It was cool to see some tangible effects of the family's entrepreneurship - a newly-built home and the wife had just finished her degree in education.
also I love bougainvillea.
I learned how to test the moisture content of barley with my teeth.
Wheeling and dealing
"How do we get as much barley as we can from this guy, then put him out of business so he stops driving up prices?"
It was pretty cool seeing serious business being done. The culture of productivity in Uganda can often be pretty lackluster, but these guys were out to make it happen.
The family does some coffee production too. A coffee huller out back
Matoke (banana) trees
Nice new home and rainwater collection container
On the road again, through Kapchorwa.
Harvest time.
Barley
more barley!
reaping
threshing
All to produce six bags of barley, to be sold for 550 - 600 shillings per bag. That's a whole harvest for about $1.55.
I found myself being stalked by a solid gaggle of village kids. I don't like taking pictures of kids (poverty-porn and whatnot), but was pretty amused by the situation so wanted to try to get a photo of the situation. I tried to hold the camera all casual-like next to my side and take a picture past me, of the kids. The result:
"What's the muzungu taking a picture of over there?"
reaping
threshing
All to produce six bags of barley, to be sold for 550 - 600 shillings per bag. That's a whole harvest for about $1.55.
I found myself being stalked by a solid gaggle of village kids. I don't like taking pictures of kids (poverty-porn and whatnot), but was pretty amused by the situation so wanted to try to get a photo of the situation. I tried to hold the camera all casual-like next to my side and take a picture past me, of the kids. The result:
"What's the muzungu taking a picture of over there?"
Apparently I wasn't as sneaky I thought. Hah!
The crop in question
Small-holder agriculture for miles.
Cabbage and donkeys
More, uh, barley.
Think we can drive across this?
By the end of the day we were calling it the Suzuki Mountain Goat
A frequent scene: a couple of adolescent boys walking around with skirts and sticks. Why skirts? Well, would you want to wear pants after having had your foreskin removed sans anesthesia? Why sticks? What better to smack your own ankle with to stop yourself from getting an incidental erection, which would be incredibly painful post-circumcision?
The household of one of the barley-buying agents
A frequent scene: a couple of adolescent boys walking around with skirts and sticks. Why skirts? Well, would you want to wear pants after having had your foreskin removed sans anesthesia? Why sticks? What better to smack your own ankle with to stop yourself from getting an incidental erection, which would be incredibly painful post-circumcision?
The household of one of the barley-buying agents
And that was about that. Pretty fascinating day... but not nearly as fascinating as the next day.
Stay tuned...
Okay, #1...family comes after beer AND food? Nice.
ReplyDelete#2...beautiful photos!
#3...you're welcome for being circumcised as an infant! Saves you from walking around in a skirt & carrying a stick!
Actually, that was my comment, not Mitch's.
ReplyDeleteThis was good for me directly involved today
ReplyDelete