Today is another holiday, the third this week, so there was no official work. We breakfasted on local bananas and pineapple (3 pineapples and 16 bananas cost a little more than 50 cents. For lunch we added oranges and apples and vegetable soup, packaged of course, but very tasty.We bathed, each using about one gallon of water. Around JGI people, there is talk about the size of one’s “ecological footprint”, the resources one consumes. Of course, ours is larger than a villager’s here in Uganda but mostly because of our material possessions, clothing and such. On a daily basis, however, we’re doing pretty well. We use more water, what with daily cleaning, baths every two or three day, and weekly laundry, but we don’t use firewood, we eat mostly local produce, have a solar powered lantern and use batteries judicially in our LED headlamps.
We spent the morning inventorying the books donated by JGI and cleaning the center, a much needed task. Rats and mice had left their mark and the place was filthy. With Robert’s help we also re-arranged and organized the storage area making it much more useful. I washed a couple dozen pairs of sox that were stuffed inside the gumboots that kids wear in the forest. You wouldn’t believe the color of the wash water!
We then embarked via bike on a treasure hunt. Actually we were trying to located some of the schools in the program and drop off materials for the head teachers. Our map, drawn by a dyslexic staff member (north is down, east on the left) was mostly worthless, the distances from the center inaccurate, few village names and no notations about the dirt roads and tracks. I now know why we have off-road bikes, not street bikes. For a new rider like me, the off-road part was frightening. Thankfully we have experience mountain biking.
Many about turns later we found one of the schools. We passed through settlements, not even villages, just a couple of huts, women walking, with heavy loads, kids, goats and pigs. The villagers all gave us directions but not to the right school and finally a young guy showed us the way then tried to extort 5000 Ush for his effort. He got pissed when I gave him 1000. We felt he should have done it for free since he got to ride behind Connie (a major no-no) which must have raised his status in the town. Unfortunately the teachers we delivered the goods to spoke and understood little English.
All the young kids clamored for money as if it’s their due. They don’t have enough English, which begins in Primary Two, to understand when I say, “Why? Have you done work for me?” I realize that the country runs on foreign aid and NGO handouts but I didn’t think the attitude had trickled down so far. Or maybe it’s a trickle-up thing that the leaders learned as kids.
The schools were another eye-opener. They pop up in the middle of nowhere and have the appearance of fire-gutted chicken sheds or bombed out single storey garages. There are no windows or doors and no electricity, only a few benches. We will see more on our school visits and I admire both students and teachers for their dedication. All in all it was a fun afternoon. It was my longest ride yet (50 km) through some beautiful scenery and an off-road experience all in one.
Just before dinner Herbert stopped by to look at our U.S. photos. He was soon joined by Jonathan and they ‘oohed’ and ‘ahhed’ saying our house looks like a large hotel. A geography lesson ensued followed by questions of land ownership (where do you grow your food?) civics: (what is a state vs. a city? what is the District of Columbia?) politics: (they think Bill and Hillary are tops), jobs, race, taxes and more. I suspect there will be a follow-up session and we were surprised at some of the things they know and some of the things we take for granted that are so foreign to their culture – like service industries rather than farming. Ugandans may be poor but there is always food. 