Going no where slowly

Travelling through country roads in Africa can throw up some surprises and here are some.




We were driving down a mountains road when we came across locals logging trees




the driver of the Oil tank lost control of the tank, luckily it was empty!

Do I practice what I preach

Possible answers

Million dollar question

Of course I do

or some of the time

I would prefer to use all of the above. I have a fear of anything techy and are more likely to avoid it until
some good samaritan takes the fear out before I approach

I have had a lot of those here and they are worried about turning into a geek;-)

I say no chance dear friends, but I will do my best to learn and take everything that you teach me on board.


So where am I going with this I hear you ask?

Well I often wonder whether I too have skills to share with others or whether those skills that I believe I have are of any use to anyone.

I found the answer during my recent trip, and the answer is you never really know until you are asked!

How many times have I said that to people I know or anyone that cares to listen for that matter?
I have lost count is the honest answer!

One afternoon in Tanzania I found myself sharing those techy skills that I claim not to possess. This included teaching my cotton bags producer and her entire staff how to use email, loading pictures onto Picassa and inviting others to view them as well as making free phone calls using the google talk function!

Now until I was asked I took it for granted that everyone knows about this stuff and that I especially could not teach anyone this stuff in simple language!

Another morning in Uganda I was teaching an entire team of teachers how to network effectively and how ask for referrals! Until May this year I had no clue as to how to ask for a referral effectively. But a conversation with this man soon sorted that out

http://www.ecademy.com/account.php?id=221900;-)

Are you with me? I sincerely hope so;-)

Food distribution in Uganda

The debate on food availability and distribution world wide continues and has gathered pace. The increase in the price of oil as far as I can tell has impacted on the cost and distribution of food.

On my recent trip to Uganda I travelled extensively throughout the country and came across people without food and others with too much of it.

I for instance visited a school at the source of the River Nile in a town called Jinja and the teachers told me that they had a food problem as the World Food programme had discontinued the school's food programme because the area where the school is located cannot be characterised as being short of food.

The World Food programme was not wrong in it's assertion, the missing link here is how to get the food to the school or the school should start a food growing programme within it's grounds.

In Western Uganda, I found all sorts of food, fruit and vegetable, bananas, carrots, cauliflowers,onions, aubergines, peppers, oranges, peas, peanuts, potatoes and sweet potatoes as well as cattle ranches, and herds of goats.

You travel elsewhere and there is no food at all. What surprised me too was the discovery of peas donated by the Canadian government as part of the Food Aid programme to Rwanda on sale in Ugandan fruit and veg markets!

I have long argued that we never really know where whatever it is we donate here in West goes and here was my proof! What was interesting the chap selling these peas was also selling Uganda grown peas but for a higher price than those from Canada

Another obstacle in the food distribution here is the lack of refrigeration storage and other preserving methods. You then have a feast and famine type of situation where in some months food is abundant and in others there is not enough. The people have no means of preserving food for those months when it is less abundant




Matoke, (kind of banana) this is staple food in Uganda and there were lots of it in west and East Uganda but really expensive in central Uganda


Organic tomatoes on a fruit and veg stall in western Uganda, I was surprised to note that the whole lot cost a mere £2


Avocados on a fruit and veg market in Western Uganda





long horned cattle in Western Uganda

How do you pass your time at work

Well during my visit to Uganda I needed access to the internet and printer to prepare for a meeting
So I called into the Golf Course Hotel in Kampala Uganda, with a view to using their Business services. I was pleasantly surprised that they allowed me to do even if I was not a Resident.

I finished whatever I wanted to do I then waited in the lobby for my bill and whilst I waited I noticed this member of staff looking intently at the water fountain in the lobby.


Golf course Hotel Lobby

At first I was not sure what had fascinated him so, until he called out to a colleague who was mopping the floor of the lobby and pointed out the fish in the water fountain. His colleague told him that he had work to do and would take a look later. But he stayed put for what seemed like ages and even when he decided it was time to go he could tear himself away!



Is he really working?

As I started my working life in the hotel industry I found this rather surprising as in my day you could never stand around in the lobby in that manner even if your were part of what is called Front Office Staff! I got my phone camera out and I too discreetly took photos of him as I sat there not working!
Was he lucky that the Managers never saw him or did he give the impression that he was working?



He can't tear himself away

My kind of parking penalties and more motoring stories from Uganda

During my stay in Uganda I discovered that although there was no discipline amongst drivers they all respected parking restrictions in the city. As far as I could tell no one parked on a yellow line where there was one.

The system appears to be that you find a space to park, park your car for as long as you want. When you return, the Parking Attendant would have left you a ticket or two depending on the duration of your stay. If you have a prepaid voucher you then hand that over (which is a cheaper way to pay) or you pay cash based on the time you have spent in the space and not as a fine!

Me thinks they have this the right around. incredibly no one goes off without paying!!

I wonder who has the right of way here.. I wonder if those pedestrians will make it across!





In search of water.. not sure whether the driver can see through any of the mirrors





Well what can I say about Miss blondie here.. we had to wait on this mountain road for 30minutes whislt she decided whether to get out the way, she is cute though!

Poverty at the source of the Nile

School Kitchen and cook




Earlier in the summer I came across Street Child Africa a Thames Ditton based charity working to tackle the issue of street children in Africa and the issues that they face.

The person I met asked if I would consider being "their friend" ? Yes that would be an honour. Friends do each other favours now and again, so It was that when they learned I was heading out to UG they asked me to do them a huge favour of inspecting their project in Jinja a town at the source of the Nile.

I set off at 7.30am on a cold and rainy spring morning and by 9.00am I was at the source of the Nile. I was struck by the poverty in this place in comparison to the landscape. Given the amount of rain here, the vegetation is lush and green, the Nile is almost bursting at the seams.

Having met a rep from the Street child Africa local project we headed 3 KM out of town and arrived at a tiny school that should not accommodate more than 200 students but was accommodating 1300, with each class holding at least 80 children. 300 of these children are from a traveling tribe called the Karamajong and often end up on the streets. The authorities do not want them there but never do anything to support them, another 50 are from child headed households and these are directly supported by Street Child Africa.

My visit here has been anticipated for sometime, I am told and perhaps I would come with answers to some of the issues they were grappling with! The worst thing one can do here is promise that which they cannot deliver!

I quickly set the record straight and explain my background and how it was that I was standing in front of them. Their response was very humbling indeed and reminded me why I set up Ethnic supplies in the first place.

We know you may not have the financial means to resolve our problems, but at least you are able to present them realistically to the rest of the world, and you can speak on our behalf they said!

Incredibly the school was at some point a beneficially of the world food programme but was dropped because this area of UG does not suffer from food shortages. This is true but the school does not grow it's won food and has to buy it in, which make it very expensive.

2.5 hours later I was back at the Nile specifically Bujagali Falls a spectular water fall that forms part of the River Nile. I sat here for sometime and contemplate on the events of the past few hours.



bujagali falls

There is an irony about this place too , tourist come here for the thrills of white water rafting, quad bike rides, country walks in the most amazing scenery but the villages surrounding this beauty are so poor I can't find the words to describe the situation here realistically. The frustration or the villagers' circumstances stare out at you as you drive through the villages.

There is no formal housing to speak of, instead a lot straw thatched and mud hats, that could catch fire any minute!.

Next time you are Jinja stop by Masese School they will be pleased to see you, please take some pens if you can, Barclays bank will give them to you for free!



school washrooms

Motoring stories in Uganda and Paper beads

To say that driving in Uganda is a challenge is an understatement of the century

Apart from the lack of discipline amongst the drivers, there are so many pot holes in the road that finding a road in the pot holes has become a game such as scrabble and the others. Our driver has got it down to a T, speaking of driving, it's madness here a free for all, and if you drive in Kampala the capital city and survive then you need a medal!

Then there is the cost of petrol, around 97p per L that is, if it is indeed petrol that has gone into your vehicle. Drivers are very worried about the cost of petrol as well as the fact that the man at the pump does not always sell you the correct amount that you have purchased and sometimes you are sold anything other than petrol. Apparently Shell filling stations are the worst culprits for this sort of thing so they are avoided at costs.

I wonder whether the folk at Shell international are aware of this? I am not quite sure how this is done but I accept that this is possible as a pump attendant fills your car whilst you wait and have no control over the process.


I am off to the slums of Kampala to meet one of our groups that weave mats out of palm leaves as a way of supporting themselves financially. This is a group of women that have been thrown out of their homes because of HIV/AIDs. I have a feeling I am going to need a large box of tissues

Catch you soon


Update on visit- the producers in the rural areas use whatever they can find the countryside or by rivers and lakes to produce handicrafts and the materials are freely available. The ladies in the slums have to buy everything including old calenders and magazines which they use to produce amazing magazines.

I was surprised that people sell old calenders to such poor women. I was further surprised that this slum is surrounded by amazing homes, think of your worst neighbourhood multiply it ten times or more and move it to the middle of St Georger's Hill in Weybridge.

Anyway my networking paid off, on the second day I was here, I had meeting with the folk at Saatchi and Saatchi, so I called them up and explained the women's predicament. By the end of the tel call, the women were promised as much free old magazines and calenders as they want. The same folk had introduced me to a local TV reporter whose superb, wine bar borders the place we were meeting, I called him up to and asked if he could help by raising awareness of these women's plight. He agreed to take their case to some of the local companies here. So a very good afternoon all in all

Paper beads