Street Food, and Hoima by Night

Hoima streets at night

At Hoima's Club TNT

Grilled chicken

All the makings for Roll-eggs



A street in Hoima Town at night

Uganda Be kidding Me

I have been in Uganda for a week now and I think I am just starting to realize I am here. It has been a fantastic week, and I am excited to see and do more.  The weather is generally perfect, and my living situation is absolutely comfortable.

On the surface, Uganda looks very similar to Rwanda. It is green, it is tropical, it is striking in its functional calamity. However, there are some subtle differences as well.

The roads and infrastructure in Uganda are in worse disrepair. The blackouts are fairly consistent, and given that Uganda is so much larger, it feels more sparsely populated.

Kampala of course is an exception to that. Kampala is chaotic and lively, a vibrant shock of people and cars and matatus (collective taxis) and boda bodas (motorcycle taxis). It's hard to tell sometimes if people are parking or driving, because both situations involve tons of traffic and people mixed together in the roads, and really neither move quickly.

Kigali in Rwanda, on the other hand, is clean, quiet, orderly and almost eerie in its pristine state. It's cleaner and quieter than many large cities in the US. As such it is harder to get a sense of the character there, whereas my initial observations indicate that Kampala sort of shoves it in your face.

Many of the foods are similar between the two countries, though Ugandan food seems less flavorful. There are lots of carbs (rice, sweet potatoes, Irish potatoes, yams, casava, ad nauseum...) and then generally some sauce or stew. Here in hoima there is a lot of fish, given our proximity to Lake Albert. Also they make a sauce out of peanuts that is savory and then they stew meat (goat or beef) in it. It is pretty good. It is rich, and not sweet-peanuty like Thai peanut sauce. Both Rwanda and Uganda feature the buffet, which consists of about 97 types of carbs, various types of the aforementioned stewed meats, beans, and then you just pile your plate high for about $3.

There the similarities begin to diverge, and I am less able to comment. I will hopefully have some more insight in coming posts.

So far Village Enterprise (click on the hyperlinked name for the website) has been incredible. The work that we are doing in Hoima is so cool. I have been sitting in on induction trainings for our business mentors and it is amazing the training, interviewing and high levels of performance required just to be hired. On the one hand it puts a lot of pressure on candidates, on the other hand it demonstrates that we choose smart, capable people and respect their abilities enough to push them to perform. It is a unique way to demonstrate the culture of the organization and indicates the level of commitment that will be necessary for success. It's very cool.

I have more to say, but instead I'll add a few photos and save the rest for another post.

Cheers!

Gearing Up: Part 1

I am at the point where I am trying to finish up last minute details before I start traveling. Though I am not leaving for Uganda just yet, I am crossing the country four times between now and July 12th.

The first time is to fly out and see my parents. The second is to drive across the US with Evan, his girlfriend and their stuff. Fortunately lovely lee will be coming with us! The third time will be to go back to California to the Village Enterprise headquarters for a week of training and meetings. The fourth will be back to DC for a layover on my way to Uganda. That's a lot of trips across the US in 3.5 weeks or so.

So in the meantime I am packing, washing, folding, packing, working etc... There is so much to do, and it is all so menial feeling. I have about 6 different accounts to close that auto-deduct payments from my accounts. I have to close bank accounts, square up my student loans, open new accounts, go to the doctor about 5 times, move my stuff. I keep hacking away at stuff but it doesn't seem to do anything. Ill get there.

Anyways that's all that's new now.

Peace

AJ

I am headed to Uganda

 I was officially offered the job with Village Enterprise on Sunday. I decided to accept the position, and sent in my signed offer letter the next day. So starting in July, for the next year, I will be the Senior Monitoring and Evaluation Fellow for Village Enterprise in Uganda. 

I will be based in a town called Hoima in western Uganda, but I will also be traveling in the region. My travels will take me to another site in northern Uganda, and to the city of Kakamega in western Kenya (an 8 hr bus ride from Nairobi). I'm fortunate that a: I found a job in my field so soon after graduating b:that this job will allow me to travel and get paid and c: that it is something I am really interested in and d: I have friends and colleagues working in the region!

I would not move to Uganda/Kenya to just go. I think Village Enterprise is doing exciting work, and that they are increasingly recognized in the development world.  I think it's a strong step in the right direction for my carrier and will give me the chance to learn a great deal of technical monitoring and evaluation skill in the field.

Am I nervous? Yes. I am starting a new job in a new country that faces really unique challenges. I will be away from my girlfriend and my friends and family in a very long distance kind of way.

That being said I am also thrilled. I have long wanted to visit Kenya, and being in Rwanda in January drew my attention and care to East Africa in a much more tangible way.

I will know my official start dates by tomorrow. More to come on that ASAP.

Cheers!

DC is my Field

I have been working as a consultant for the past month for a well known faith-based organization. I have been based in DC, working for their Latin America/Caribbean regional office. The commute to Costa Rica, while exciting, would have been too long. So I have been working remotely here, mostly in coffee shops and at my kitchen table, either way in a comfortable setting. It has taken a fair amount of self control to actually get the work done. I had this glamorous idea of consulting-then I remembered I had to actually do stuff, too. So I have been working through all of that.

Meanwhile I have been interviewing for a position with village enterprise in Uganda as a senior monitoring and evaluation fellow for their small business development program. It is a fellowship, so it doesn't pay much, but it will be a great opportunity to develop my technical skills and get management experience in the field.  I will get to manage a team of 10-12 people in Uganda and Kenya, travel in the field, and work on a very visible impact evaluation with BRAC. 

Village Enterprise is becoming more high profile, and as much as it shouldn't matter, a good name on the resume matters in Washington. So a year with an organization that is increasing in esteem and recognition is probably good.

I will take the job if they offer it. It will be scary to be away for a year-though with as much digital technology and communication as is available, it seems less like a disappearing year than it used to. I will hate leaving Lee, and it will be a strain for us. She is so sweet and sensitive and thoughtful, and it will break my heart to be away for a year. I think at the root of it though she is understanding and supportive, which helps a lot.

Well that's all for now. I will write more when I have an official offer-or not. 

Cheers

Have Uganda Uganda?

I am moving into a final phase of interviews for a monitoring and evaluation fellowship that will take me to Uganda for a year. It is hard to think of leaving for a year so soon after school, but I am thrilled by the opportunity. I will be traveling back and forth between Kenya and Uganda overseeing staff. It will be a real job. 

I will have final details next week!

Bahamas-Bound

This next trip is decidedly not work related.  It will be a week of sun and sand in the Bahamas with my lovely girlfriend Lee Blaser.  Needless to say, it will be an international adventure that will hopefully yield some good pictures and funny stories.  We will be staying in a beachfront apartment in Little Harbour, Abaco, Bahamas for a week.  We leave Monday, March 11th and we come back Monday, March 18th.  It will be nice to be disconnected and out of touch for a few days.  It turns out that this semester is crazy, hectic, frenetic and overly busy.  I am suffering a bit under the weight of my obligations, and the chance to disappear into the Caribbean will be once in a lifetime.

This trip will make the 10th country I have visited this calendar year (Including the USA), and the 21st country I have visited in my life.  I feel pretty proud of that.  This will also be the first vacation with my girlfriend, so I am excited to have fun with her, have adventures and see something new together.

We will mostly be laying ont he beach with some hiking, tennis, kayaks, and island hopping thrown in.  We plan to eat lots of fresh fish, relax, read, listen to great music and just enjoy each other's company.  I will post pictures as possible and keep everyone up to date.  3 MORE DAYS!