Happy New Year 2010

Oh 2010 has come in. I wonder if it will be like a knight in shinning armour? It was ushered in so beautifully with lots of excitement and a huge display of fireworks. Gone are the days when there was only one place where Ugandans would view a fireworks display.... ten years ago, if you werent at the Sheraton gardens when the clock struck 12am, you were considered to be an outcast!! Everyone from all walks of life would gather and marvel at the fireworks display.

But today thanks to the world being a global village and financial improvement, some people can afford to have a 10 minute fireworks display! So whether you are in church or sitting in your compound at home, you can catch a glimpse of the spectacular display!

Well, 2010 is here! I wonder what she has in store for each one of me and eachone of us. I have waited for her with lots of mixed feelings; with a part of me not wanting her predecessor (2009) to end!! I am not ashamed to admit it that 2009such a good year. I made some personal and professional strides during that year and I was sad to let it go. I kinda felt widowed when it left!

When the fireworks lit the sky at midnite on Dec 31, 2009, I said adieu to one of my greatest years.

And ofcourse like each one of you, I wonder what this year will bring. I know that the beginning is going to be a little shaky..it has been like that for me ever since I learnt numbers and the alphabet... so I know it will take a while before I can confidently write or say that I am in 2010!

However, unlike the previous years when I would curl up in my bed on 31st Dec and make resolutions, I have decided not to!! I will just go where the chips fall!! I am going to try my luck and see where it takes me.

Some of the good foundations that were started in 2009 are following me into 2010 and I hope that the great moments and good luck that I had last year will follow me through not only this year but for many more years to come.

I would like to thank everyone who made my 2009 a great year. However small you think your contribution was, it meant the world to me. May God be with you and reward each one of you abundantly.

Happy new year good people, May 2010 be your year....a year of good achievements, happiness and good health.

God bless y'all

The Education of Miss Rita

Colin, a friend of mine told me that there is a good film done probably in the 1980s or 1990s with the subject head of this article. Though I have never had time to watch this film despite Colin's high ratings, I will honor it with by naming this piece's title after it!! This ia bwcause I think the title is appropriate for my circumstances.

After elaborating on why I chose the title, I think I can safely break the reason as to why the title. Well, after over five years away from formal education, I am back to school!!! On thank you ...now stop clapping and the undulations..:)

This year, I am definitely on a roll! First it was the 3 month stint in Japan and now this...2 years pursuing a Masters degree in Public Health in one of the local universities in Uganda.
I started yesterday and it is really a challenge...a challenge that I am going to love. I didnt know how rusty and closer to adult learners I was until yesterday. It was an eye opener!! My mind kept running all over the place...it was amazing how a over 5 years later I cannot concentrate like I did when I was doing my undergraduate.
The university is lovely and lecturers are very nice. My class is an interesting collection of people from all walks of life. There are medical professionals as well as bankers and teachers! This has made class more interesting because each of these persons brings unique contributions to discussions. Though the course is hectic...since I am at school for only 3 weeks and after every 3 months, I am sure its going to be one of the best experiences of my life. Just keep watching the space.

Sports Day or rather circus day

I really don’t know what it was. But we all stayed standing in the hot sun cheering! We looked like we had been glued to our positions. Or like we were being paid to be extras in some movie.
The higher the sun rose, the more we cheered on. When our throats got dry, we opened our big bags and drunk so more water...or quickly ran to the water seller under the big jackfruit tree and bought a cold soda!
It simply was magic and fun watching as adults in all colours and sizes screamed and clapped their hands as they cheered on their children, grand children, nephews, nieces or possibly neighbours or friend’s children on the track field.

The place was Daffodils Nursery Academy track field. The event: The annual sports day.Children all under 6 years were competing in what I think was track and field. Because from the programme I could see, relay, going to school race, ball picking race..and so many ridiculous names.
Competition it was promised was going to be tight after all, these children had been practicing for about a month.

On Saturday as we dropped them off to the field at 8am clad in tshirts of different colours to reflect their different houses. I thought to myself there was going to be WAR!! The children looked mean and tough…they were only short of painting their faces with black ink…but no.. wait a minute...these are black kids, so they don’t need black oil :) .

Ok, I take that back…been watching too many movies :)

Anyway, I should have guessed from the way they sang both the school anthem that it was far from a competition .

The games begun and like I have rightly, put it, they were games. The children run slower than tortoises and were more confused than a maze!! It was amusing the way, they crisscrossed lanes but still managed to be crowned as winners in the various categories.

My nephew and niece were placed in the same race named " Go to school". The plot was easy...run pick up a backpack from the ground, place in the container that was lined next to it and then make off to the finishing line. I saw their teacher turned "coach" give each of them lat minute instructions and my excitement grew! Now this was it...world class competition. Was about to grab the microphone from the announcer and say : " ladies and gentlemen, the moment you have all been waiting for. Now seat back and watch this world class act.And for those with kids in this competition, all I can say is : Watch as they swallow the dust"

Jared second from the right and Jasmine third from the left

My nephew started off well, picked his pack, run to the container...all the time, I was screaming...go, go, go , go Jared! But then what does he do. As soon as he zipped the bag, he waited on for his (slow) sister to finish the process. He could have been the first, but no, Jared waited till his sister finished then they run together. I didnt know whether to cheer on or cry:)Well atleast they came in 3 and 4 out of 8.

By this time, all the adults were in a frenzy cheering . I guess this noise is what pissed off some children who then decided demanding for “mummy” and “ daddy”. As the sun rose higher, announcements like “Will the parent of x please come for him/her” were more common than the soap bubbles being blown by the older kids standing at the sidelines.
The future Usain Bolts, Asafa Powell, or Florence Griffith-Joyners were no longer amused by the different t shirt colours and caps that their parents had put on to match theirs. They had played and were tired. Period!
I stopped watching the track and I enjoyed as other parents were called to pick their rebellious little ones. The kids clamped on to their parent’s legs and were soon starting a screaming or should I say lung exercising competition. Which I guess would have overpowered the set activities. I watched in amusement and openly showed it until my nephew joined the rebellious list.
From then, thanks to my nephew and several others’ cry babies the house colour I was cheering, we made it first from the bottom!

Chaos as I say Sayonara Japan

I wrote this piece as I was on transit to Nairobi from Japan. I had forgotten about it till today. It has brought back alot of memories of what happened between Japan and Nairobi.


On April 23, 2009, the moment that I knew was going to happen but wasnt really prepared for actually happened.I knew that time would come when I said bye to Okinawa. I cant believe I crossed that sayonara bridge and there were lots of tears involved. I am surely going to miss everyone.. Each one in their own special way was a star. They contributed something to my life. I am eternally grateful to each person I met in Okinawa.

My flight to Tokyo passed in a daze because part of me wasn’t believing that it had actually happened.
Now as I seat in a black chair in Schipol airport waiting for the final flight to connect, I believe
that I actually left. What has been most exciting…well it has to be the luggage fiasco at Narita airport in Japan! One of my travel mates had excess luggage. The Japanese ladies at the counter got firm on her and requested that she off loads it! It wasn’t a pretty sight. After what seemed like hours of intense discussion, we removed the excess luggage and shared the excess luggage amongst the three of us and off we went. That problem was solved.

So we head to Sakura lounge...a VIP lounge for Japanese in transit. We had some refreshments in a hurry and went to check in. After check in, I realise that I had left my beautiful army camouflaged bag (hand luggage) in the lounge. You should have seen me running back like a mad woman! I was glad that I remembered when I did- before I entered the plane! As I was passing the ladies at the check in counter…looking like Usain Bolt’s fiercest competitor, one of them stopped me. I explained and she sent one of her colleagues to bring the luggage. She told me to go and sit…as I entered the plane, the door was closed!
After 3 minutes of not hearing a thing from the hostesses and yet the plane was beginning to move to the runway, I begun to panic. I then called on another hostess and told her my plight. She left immediately with a promise to do whatever she could.

When she returned after what seemed like eternity, she informed me amidst apologies, that the luggage wasn’t on board. After she said that, all I could her was “ Sunimasen, blah,blah, blah…sunimasen..blah, blah …sunimasen”. It wasn’t her fault at all but I wasn’t interested in any other explanations or options.

All I kept thinking about was beautiful bag! Then a quick thought went to its contents! That’s when I bolted.” Oh gosh, all my connecting flights’ tickets are in that bag”. This hit me like a lightning bolt as fear gripped me like I had never known before. Luckily enough when I checked my laptop bag, there lay all my tickets!

Then the other thoughts came in Oh my bag…and its contents! “will I ever see it again” on part of me was asking…while another consoled me that since the Japanese are very organised and efficient people, they would have it delivered to me in no time. But still I couldn’t help but feel “Oh why me”!

The Japanese man seated next to me on hearing the hostess’ reply got concerned. He promised to follow up with her after we had taken off so that she through her captain can contact the ground staff and make sure that the bag is sent to me!

The flight took off with me feeling so rotten! I tried to flip through the in flight magazine but I wasn’t reading nor seeing anything! The green army bag just kept popping in all the pages!!

Ok, to cut the long story short, there is a happy ending to this. 15 minutes after take off, the air hostess I had talked to, came carrying my beautiful green bag! A calm breeze rushed through me. I am glad that my trip from Japan turned out this beautifully.
Well what do you know, the Japanese are indeed a very efficient lot! People who go the extra mile just to make something happen. Everyone does their work with such passion that its overwhelming...oh let me not start! That’s a story for another day and forum.

My worst road ever

In all my road travels, I am yet to experience a road as bad as the one leading to Nakasongola district Headquarters! What is deceptive about this road is that as one branches off the smooth tarmac highway, they are met by a rough contrast.

I can’t decide whether to call it a murram or a tarmac road because I saw more potholes than tarmac. I have nothing personal against the district. I think it is a good place and judging by the numerous herds of cattle I saw, there is no doubt that the district makes a generous contribution to the tasty meat numbers sold in the city.

The drive to the district which is supposed to be 15 minutes takes almost 30 minutes. The white double cabin pickup I was in kept dancing on or was it off the road. And with this crazy dance, our backs received the full effect. I felt my back ache like my spine was going to leave the vertebrae column!!

It was a such a nightmare that whenever the driver tried to dodge one pothole, he would instead end up hitting another!
So, in order to remedy the situation, our driver was forced to drive keeping right instead of the colonially imposed Left. The right side though also pot holed looked like heaven when compared to the left. I think the tarmac had realised that there was no pretence of it being there so it had allowed itself to be eroded.

On the right side therefore, the tarmac was visible and so we not only move faster, but our backs were also relieved of the vigorous pothole hitting exercise.
We soon forgot that keeping right was wrong. But when a white vehicle suddenly appeared in the opposite direction, we got a reality check! We were forced to rush back to the left. I could swear that we hit a million potholes in the 5 seconds we used to move to back to our side!

What is amazing however, is that the agony was immediately forgotten as soon as we reached the smooth tarmac of the highway to Kampala.

Jumping June

I cant believe that June is going so fast! It seems like yesterday when I was in April and now I am approaching July? Where have months gone? I hate it when Months and years just sneak up on you like that! Speaking of years, it seemed like yesterday when I left the University...was wet behind the ears...now I am entering a new decade of life..
How time flies by so fast!

So what have I been upto since the last blog post. Alot of stuff! Okinawa feels like a pleasant dream. I am still in touch with alot of the wonderful people that I met over there. When you are on the internet chatting with someone from Samoa, the whole world just seems like my backyard! Yesterday, the last group of people that I met in Okinawa left for their respective countries. I know I am miles away but I felt depressed. I guess I know how they feel, leaving behind such a wonderful place and people. It is really ironical that on the one hand, one cant wait to get home while on the other, they are so sad.

I cant forget my turn. It is amazing how the 3 and a half months experience just crawls under your skin and you dont know how much you are affected until its time to say good bye! So I can imagine the build up of emotions and what they are going through. But thats life...you meet to part and meet some more wonderful people:)

How has my life been? Well, I am now settled in and operationalising my action plan. Though it is kinda difficult because I have all these job related tasks and competing priorities! But I know that I will work it out somehow.
I am so used to my Kampala and its dust. Today as I was coming to work and thought whimsically about how Kampala is a true definition of going from dust to dust! Is there a city more dusty than Kampala? Is there a city with more poor roads than Kampala?
Ok, let me not start on Kampala. Let me enjoy the beautiful sunshine.
Kwaheri (swahili for good bye)

Ugandans, where have our manners gone?

As I was in a taxi heading home, I witnessed something that made me question Ugandan’s sense of compassion.

For the foreigners, Ugandan’s concept of a “taxi” is an Omni bus licensed carry 14 people…but the number can go up depending on the location and time of day. For instance, after 7pm, instead of the 3 people per seat, the number can go as high as 5!

Every taxi riding Uganda familiar with the rush hours of 6- 8pm knows the hustle associated with getting a seat!
But on this particular day, the taxi I rode made some miraculous Guinness record breakers!
First of all, it was virtually empty; a rare concurrence at that hour.

It then stopped to pick a man…not just any man but a crippled man. I have witnessed incidents where the driver has left a passenger because they are “crippled, will waste time”. Only for the same driver to stop a meter ahead and wait 5 minutes for a person who is walking lazily up to the road! (SCREAM!!!)

Well, back to the issue at hand. The crippled man with two clutches made of wood struggled to enter the taxi. He first placed the clutches inside and supported himself on one of the torn, dirty brown, cushioned seat as he hosted himself inside.

I was glad that the taxi driver didn’t complain nor did he start the car before the man could sit.

The man was meant occupy the seat behind me. It was located between the window seat and a “movable” one. Now there are two types of seats in these taxis. There are the movable and immovable ones. Immovable seats with the exception of the backseat; are always the first two seats located on the left hand side windows. The “Movable” on the other hand are the seats next to the windows on the right hand side of the taxi. These are the worst because every time someone behind you wants to get out, you are forced to leave this seat so as to pave way for them. It feels like you are sitting in an aisle!

Sorry I got carried away…. Anyway, just as poor “Mr. Clutches” was struggling to enter, a woman let me call her “Brown” who was occupying a movable seat, quickly moved to the immovable seat leaving “Mr. Clutches” man had to occupy “Brown’s” movable seat.

It was not long before someone behind them asked to get out. I watched in dismay as ‘’Mr. Clutches” struggled to get out of his seat and get out and then get in . All this happened in a space of 5 minutes.
And as Mr. Clutches struggled to re-enter the taxi, history repeated itself! A male passenger who was waiting by the road sneaked and quickly occupied the “immovable” seat that the previous passenger who had alighted had been occupying! Once again Mr. Clutches had to occupy the movable seat.

After what seemed like 20meters, another passenger asked to leave. The process repeated itself! I felt so selfish and was just going to ask Mr. Clutches to take my seat when I realised that he was the passenger going out!
This scene really tugged on my heart because it revealed how insensitive and inconsiderate Ugandans including me can mean to be!

I know that disability is not inability but in such a situation, it really does no harm offering the man a seat of convenience so that he is comfortable but can at the same time not be inconvenienced by people moving in and out of the taxi. I hope that when this next happens, I will be prepared to act accordingly.

Beginning a new chapter

It is now about three weeks since I touched down at Entebbe Airport. In the beginning, everything seemed so strange. Kampala seemed to be so disorganised and I cursed the dust and almost everything that came with this accidently planned city.
The people seemed very distracted and disorganised. I must admit that I looked at Kampala city in a new light. I was like a stranger… its like I had been to this place in another life.
Even dodging the cars seemed like a huge task. I had a small fear that I would get knocked.

Fast forward to today:)

My survivor instincts have returned. I can dodge and squeeze between cars like I never left. The meals seem to also be more tasty than ever before.
My niece and Nephew are still alert though. They keep asking me whether I will go back to “ayoopen” ( aeroplane). And in their tiny heads, I guess it is something to be afraid of. Because they figure that they will never see me againJ
Work…work is as I left it..I guess it is one of the most constant things. So the phrase as “it was, it is…” but after the knowledge I acquired in my course, I don’t want it to “forever remain the same”.

I still think about the people I japan and from time to time, I say one Japanese expression and I am looked at wierdly by those around me. Well, I guess thats my way of keeping my great Japanese experience alive:).
That’s it for today.
Ciao

Post Okinawa Disorders

Judging from the long time I have taken to update my blog, you must be already smelling a couple of rats!

Well, let me smoke out the rats. The first rat is that I left my beloved home for three and a half months in Okinawa! It was a very teary day! The rate at which tears flowed through me, I thought that I was going to get dehydrated:)



After the goodbyes had been said, it was time for the next chapter . Embarking on the journey. I wasnt particularly looking forward to the 23 hours journey to my little country! I arrived jet lagged but happy to be home. I will post more entries later.

The last days...

As the count down to the end of the course continues, everything is dangerously close to creating tears in my eyes. The past few days have been so hectic. We were busy with writing project proposals and action plans of activities that we are going to implement back home.

So it was a crazy 2 weeks of consultations, thinking and reading...I am happy to note that yours truly successfully went through the process and came out hardened and fine tasted!

On Friday last week, it was a chance to let our hair down and enjoy our last days in OIC. Since my group comprises of African students, it was time to have an African party. And African it was! First of all, it started 2 hours after the said time of 7pm. Then as usual, Africans showed the usual stamina. In this party, it didnt matter whether one was Zambian, Rwandese, Kenyan or Namibian...at that time, all music was welcome. The Namibian danced to bongoflava as enthusiatically as I danced to Zambian music.

It was amazing how Africans can pull out dancing strokes! And whats funny is that the non-drunks were the ones brining out the most weird and interesting of strokes.

One of the highlights of the night was when our course leader Nana-San joined the party. We were excited and it was amazing seeming Japanese and African dances merge on the dance floor. Oh what a nice night it was. It is sad that it came to an end so soon.

On Saturday in order to fully recover from the Friday fun fair, Karaoke took centre stage. I sang alal the songs I wanted and I am really going to miss my karaoke sessions. Saturday night was also a chance to say bye to some of the participants who left for Tokyo yesterday. Cos by the time they return, we will be gone. Another teary moment there.

On Monday afternoon, Iam making a final presentation of my project...this is the time when everything is being done of the last time.

Well good everything comes to an end...but at the end, it when you look back, you realise that it is better to have been part of it than not at all.

I am going to miss this place and the people in it more.