Blue Canoe: December 2010

POWER PERSPECTIVES

This is REAL AFRICA we are told. Here in the rural and semi rural setting, that is.

Power goes off frequently and unexpectedly here in northern Uganda. Hard to use our western technology in a rural subsistence agrarian country....

Three days off, and it is completely unnoticed by the majority millions who begin their days with a walk to the nearest borehole to fetch a 20+ litre jerry can to be carried on the head back to the village.

How heavy is that?! How does that can get up to the head?

Alone along the side of the dusty road children no more than five years old are seen confidently carrying head loads, of at least 5 litres. Children are so capable when expected to be.

All around the area hundreds of thatched circular huts create villages accessed by packed earthen pathways winding through tall grass, planted crops of maize, cassava or greens crowding in on either side. Long flags of banana leaves, tall rows of sugarcane stalks, pawpaw trees and flame trees in their striking scarlet dress.

Isolated villages, distinctly separated by greenery...children, goats and chickens scatter and scamper ahead as the vehicle twists and turns negotiating potholes deep and wide. Clouds of red dust rise and settle onto the brushy landscape. Smoke rises from charcoal making fires dotted on the horizon, and tall heavy sacks are carried to market on the backs and bicycles of men.

Small children stare, smile widely and wave at the first white faces they have seen.

Life for us is peering back through a window in time to our long forgotten subsistence agricultural past. Our ancestors daily lives are before us. Hand labour, families of six or seven children, little cash but many “trading centres”. Bicycles abound though most families depend on travel by foot or perhaps doubling or tripling up on bikes or bodas.

Bodas carrying driver, father, mother, two small children and baby, perhaps even a chicken or two are an everyday sight. (yes, those chicken are alive, and no, there are no helmets!)

I wondered aloud “how do such spotlessly washed and ironed collared shirts, ties and dresses emerge each morning?” The answer, of course, they are handwashed and ironed with charcoal heated irons every day.

( what, like those seen in museums? yes.)

A pattern has developed. Power on at night after dark. Power off during the day at first light.

Hmmmm, we might be learning how to iron either by candlelight, or using a charcoal iron. We can’t wear wrinkled clothes that is for certain.

CANADA, eh?

There are daily startling contrasts between this world and the other side of it.....

And even one or two of them Canadian ones. Though of course, Canada is completely unknown here. At best, a mzungu might be thought of as European, or British, but an American is exotic, and Canada? Where is that?

Questions. Do you have mangoes in Canada?
Answer. No, it is too cold a climate to grow them there.

The conversation continues.

Do you know bananas?

Answer. Yes, they are popular in Canada, but we import them.

Do you have pineapples, then? (or lemons, cassava, sim sim (sesame))

Answer. Yes, but we can’t grow them because it is too cold in winter. They are imported to Canada.

And what about ground nuts? (peanuts) Do you have them?

The no, no, continues, to be met with incredulous looks.... You can imagine the thoughts. What kind of a place can this be where you can’t grow ANYTHING!

And more questions from the same educated and influential person.

Do you have giraffes in america? No, no we don’t. How about elephants?? or monkeys?? No, those are only in Africa. They are unique African animals.

And after a pause, this question....

Well, are they extinct in america then?

I try to list our impressive wildlife which never ever did include African big game, but to more puzzled looks......

But wait.... Canada must be here somewhere.

In Uganda everything including government school signs carry the logos of international foreign aid ngos..... Save the Children, MSF, Oxfam, World Vision, USAID, World feeding Program, UNHCR, and UNICEF. Child Find, Norwegian Refugee Council, Japan Aid, Danish Refugee Council, Care, Red Cross and USAID. And did I mention USAID?

This is a recovering war affected area of course. Though no sign of Canada.

But wait....

There it is. One small maple leaf flag painted on the corner of one of those rusting metal signs. Whew, Canada is here too.

But wait, again....

Another mark of Canada worn by a small boy walking away down the red road.

On his back a large number eight, and above the number, the team name..... TIMBITS.

And another, just for Laurie, someone wearing “Optimist Club of Brampton”!

That’s it. That’s our experience of Canada in Uganda so far!

But wait once more, you think. Didn’t they see the Canadian embassy in the capital?

We did make a visit to register our presence there, and the score was Canadians 2% (us) and Ugandans 98%.

However, something rarely spotted in Canada... a large framed colour photo of Stephen Harper himself, and one also of the queen of course. Also inside a double set of locked doors a Canadian flag too.

RESILIENCE AND ENERGY

Now recovering from many years of war and guerilla raids, a frenetic rebuilding of town using found and manmade materials. Plastic waste, plastic water bottles, garbage of all kinds accumulates in urban settings with no services such as waste collection or removal.

At the notion of peace five years ago an influx of population from other areas something of a goldrush begins. Shops are set up in nooks and crannies, handmade signs and fluctuating populations. Emergency help from the west to support rebuilding and infrastructure.

Now the large refugee camps are near empty and people are working hard to re-establish their homes and gardens to support their families.

All around us it is Brick Making season. Wading in red mud, men and boys lift soil and place it into wooden forms, then move those blocks into rows to dry in the hot sun. After a few days they are stacked inside a hand built brick pyramid oven with large holes in the bottom for access to wood fires. Some people use the bricks to build their new homes, and others may sell them for cash. This process takes about ten days to complete.

Ugandans of all levels offer their friendship with wide smiles, an extended hand, and the phrase “You are MOST welcome. We are grateful for you”

Walking past on a hot afternoon, we are greeting and being greeted all along the way. “Good afternoon.”

“How are you?”

“Safe journey.”

And from one boy addressing Rod..... “How old are you?” “Give me one thousand.”

Revealing conversations with the driver every day too.

After a time it became known that he is the same age as Sara, therefore Carol is old enough to be his mother.

The following day, he asked, “How can that be? You must be old. Old ladies here look old. You don’t look old.”

Not knowing the best way to explain this, I commented on the workload of African women. I don’t think he understood though.....

The average expected lifetime in Uganda being 52, I should be now be long dead. How to explain that in the west most people are expected to live far longer?

This morning in conversation with that same driver, after a day of confused and counterproductive activity, with more ahead,

“I’m going to pray now.”

He meant of course that he is off to Sunday church. However, all prayers are certainly helpful.

These are the people in our neighbourhood.....

They’re the people that we meet as we’re walking down the street......

They’re the people that we meet each day.