Nairobi II

I cant remember what ive written, so im sorry if im repeating myself:

 Yesterday we met with a group of people that are working on developing their NGO called Hand of Hope Africa. They operate in rural areas where there are no other local or international NGOs. Their mandate is to help alieviate the hardship of child headed households and orphans who live in communities ravages by poverty and HIV/Aids. They are such great people. What theyre doing is amazing and i think that YouLead is going to take a leadership role in helping them develop and gain sustainable finding as well as provide them with capable volunteers.

Today we went into the slums outside Nairobi and spoke with an org called YESS which is a youth based org which educates kids in the slums about HIV/Aids and empowers them to speak to their friends and family about the reality of the virus. It is completely run by university students. It left me feeling somewhat humbled as these people come from all over kenya, are supporing themselves through university and are volunteering their time to help kids and combat the spread of HIV/Aids in the slums. 

I dare anyone to complain to me about tuition fees at UBC.

Nairobi

So we’re leaving right now to go to Kibera which is one of the largest slums in africa, to meet with an NGO called YESS. I also just found out that we’re going to be going to gulu to meet with an org that works with reformed child soldiers. B

The Akamba – aka The Deathtrap

Its been an eventful couple of days. I was feeling a bit restless because things were moving very slowly. We were suppossed to leave Kampala on monday in the morning, then at noon, then we were told that the truck wasnt going to be fixed until the evening, and that we should just leave the next day. I was hot, sweaty and had stuffed myself so full of guacamole and chips that i was ready to hunt down the mechanic and strangle him. Lucky for him and me, (the idea of being in a Ugandan prison isnt appealing) we did get the truck and left around 3pm.

 I spent the next day atthe TASO centre in Mbale with support groups for discordent couples with HIV(one spouse is infected, but the other isn’t), with mothers who are infected but whose babies aren’t, and newly tested individuals who are receiving their first counselling session. I also toured the facility which serves the community and provides some of the ‘clients’ with support and medication but also as a place of refuge. There is a place for the women to do crafts and the woman who was showing me around said that many people like to come and to talk with others that are infected, and that discussion is some of the best therapy. In a country where HIV is still taboo I understand, especially because in some communities if you are found to be positive, your picture is posted with a warning in the local newspaper.

I also had the opportunity to speak with some people who are working in Uganda with TASO in a program called TEACH which brings in individuals from other HIV/AIDS organisations in other African countries to learn from the success that TASO has had in Uganda. There were social workers, doctors, IT specialists as well as a government advisor. The one guy I spoke to that is an advisor, works as an advisor for HIV/AIDS for the government of Ghana. He was recently threatened by a minister in the government to stop speaking out about the crisis and the inaction of the government or else he would be killed. I was wide-eyed and open mouthed, while the others from Tanzania, Ghana, and Ethiopia nodded in understanding.

About the Akamba though… it is a bus that I took from Mbale to Nairobi yesterday. It was suppossed to leave at 5 to get into Nairobi at 6am. I wasnt worried, because from the outside they looked pretty nice compared to alot of the Matatus or taxis. I should ahve known that it wasnt a good idea when i found out that the overnight trip into Kenya was going to cost $7 Canadian. The only thing i could come up with was that our particular bus had been salvaged from a scrap yard and the interior was a collection of old seats and luggage racks from old long retired busses. We left at 615, with a strange thick brown liquid dripping on the seat in front of me from the luggage racks ahead. It was then that i noticed on the headrest of my chair that i had some liquid of my own, but it was of the cloudy grey variety. It also didn’t make me feel any better that I had torn the skin off of my right midle finger on the grimy luggage rack trying to stuff my bag overhead. Thank god i got a tetanus shot. Anyway, we got moving, with me sitting precariously between the dripping brown liquid in front and the goo behind me, clutching my bleeding finger hoping that the 13 hour journey would miraculously be reduced by 95%. it wasn’t. There is a lot more that happened on thatr particular journey, such as the bus driving away from me at the border and me running full out to catch it, everyone being taken out of the bus by the police and put into two lines in front of the bus as we were searched and questioned by guys with rifles, but i have to go. Ill write more soon.

Uganda

So, i guess i kinda jumped the gun sending out the massive message on facebook telling everyone about  this life changing blog that im writing, only then to leave you all waiting for a week with no post. Sorry about that.

So i flew into Entebe and was greeted by  pouring rain. It was a bit disconcerting not only because of the floods in the north, but also because i figured that since i was going to africa i wouldnt need any protection for the camera from water and scoffed at the guy who suggested it.  what did he know…. well a hell of a lot more than me about uganda apparently.

The first day in i met with the people from TASO about their AGM which was the next day. TASO stands for The Aids Support Organisation. They are on of the best aids support organisations in the world and are in part one of the main reasons thatr |Uganda has been the most successful countries in combatting the spread of HIV/Aids. I had agreed to film the event for them so that they didnt have to hire a videographer. I met with them quickly and we went over what they wanted to cover and how the meeting would proceed.

 I was suppossed to be there at 7am to set up and the event was to start at 9. I was very worried, because we couldt get there on time and i didnt arrive until just after 8. I felt a bit better when i got there, however, because the people that were supposed to be there at 6 to set up had just arrived. have you ever heard of africa time? uh huh. so had i. but what i didnt know i that when they say they are going to  start at 9 and be done by 130, what they actually meant was that they say that it starts at 9 so they can get started by noon, and be done by 5. There were 3000 attendees in the room and it was the first day that was actually sunny.

brent in jeans and button-up shirt, with a camera in 30 degree heat running around trying to film the AGM being told by 5 different people to cover 15 things at the same time and no extra deodorant… interesting.

I finished at about 6pm, completely corss-eyed. I was trying to decide weather or no id look good with coke-bottle glasses. I figured i could pull them off.  

Yesterday we went up to Jinja which is a town to the east of Kampala. the architecture is largely indian and was built by indian settlers in the 50’s. It is also clos to the source of the nile and where ghandi’s ashes were sprinkled in the nile.

we leave today to head into the rural areas and visit TASO care centres, then will go into Kenya for meetings and visit placements in Kibera.

talk soon, B

Uganda and Kenya Bound

On the 18th, Ill be leaving for Uganda and Kenya to continue my research on African aid as well as  filming “Go Volunteer” student placements. I will be filming the entire trip and look forward to meeting more people and conversing with them about African aid, and comparing the differences and similarities between South Africa/Swaziland with Uganda/Kenya. As most of you know I do not have a camera anymore, so I won’t be uploading photos, but I’ll try to make the posts as descriptive as possible. talk soon. B