reflections, first impressions

I’ve got 5 hours to kill in Schiphol, the Amsterdam airport...on my way home from 1 month in Africa (2 weeks in Dar, 2 weeks in Uganda).

Reflections, first impressions, lessons learned:

(1) My name’s hard to pronounce.

For a native English speaker, my name’s about as easy as it gets…Paige. Simple, straightforward, albeit unique. But, for non-native English speakers, my name poses some significant pronunciation problems. I suppose the ‘i’ throws people, so in Uganda I’m Peggy. I’m somewhat used to that (although I’m not terribly fond of the name), since I was also called Peggy when I lived in Chile. But, thankfully, I eventually acquired a nice nickname from all my travels in Latin America…Lucero. Given to me by an orphan in the Dominican Republic. It means “morning star” and my Dominican friends would often call me Lucero de la madrugada. I think it was the blonde hair. Anyway, now in Africa, I’m back to Peggy. Sometimes, they shorten it to Peg, but the worst is when it becomes Pig. Sorry, but that’s just not going to work.

I try to explain that it’s pronounced just like a page in a book, but then they spell my name without the ‘i.’ I dislike the inaccurate spelling even more than I dislike the inaccurate pronunciation, so I guess I’ll choose the lesser of the two evils.

It’ll be easier once Phil’s with me in Uganda because then I’ll always have someone around who pronounces (and writes) my name correctly. Hopefully by virtue of repetition and constantly hearing Phil call me Paige instead of Peggy, Peg, or Pig, people will catch on.

(2) My trip was an interesting combination of the “real Africa rarely visited by muzungus” and the “privileged Africa rarely visited by Africans.”

Muzungu means ‘white person’ and is a fairly universal term across all of Eastern Africa. Driving down the street little kids and adults alike will simply point straight at me and simply say “muzungu.” Sometimes it’s said in an accusatory tone, but more often it’s simply made as an observation.

Both when I visited Kibeha District (3 hour drive from Dar es Salaam) and Ssembabule District (3 hour drive from Kampala), I entered a world rarely visited by white outsiders. This isn’t to say that white people are non-existent here because that would be misleading. There are lots of ex-pats all over Africa working for NGOs, relief agencies, international development organizations, but Kibeha, Tanzania and Ssembabule, Uganda are not tourist attractions and do not fall on the map of most people visiting Eastern Africa for 3-4 weeks. Each is extremely isolated. Ssembabule does not have a single paved road, has no running water, and the town just received electricity this past year. However, the majority of the district remains without electricity. Two significant developments of the industrial, modern age (electricity, running water) have yet to reach this corner of Africa 100 years later. (Interestingly, although industrialization skipped over Ssembabule, the cell phone industry did not. It’s a modern marvel – thanks to satellite – that people who live in the remote bush of Africa and who have never had a telephone can now talk to anyone, anywhere.)

Combine these isolated environments with the high-end lifestyle we led while in Kampala. We stayed at a modest, but comparatively upscale hotel (Hotel Africana) and did the rounds at the classy restaurants each night, of which there are plenty. Kampala is definitely not lacking in tasty ethnic restaurants: Khaza Khazana (Indian), Krua Thai (Thai), Kyoto (Japanese), Arirang (Korean), Feng Feng (Chinese). Plus there’s the Pavement Tandoori, which isn’t quite as high-end, but has equally if not better Indian food than Khaza Khazana. Anyway, back to the point. These restaurants are moderate according to Western standards ($25-30 for 2 people), but when you consider that the average annual income in Uganda is only $325 they immediately become extravagant. I felt uncomfortable and sheepish going to these fancy restaurants night after night, restaurants completely separated from the reality of Africa.

We spent our days moving around town going from one NGO to another, moving within these circles of ex-pats working for the greater good of Uganda yet completely removed from the reality of Uganda. Kampala is an interesting juxtaposition of poverty and development – the streets on which Ugandans live are unpaved, obstacle courses of potholes, gullies, and dust…the streets on which NGOs have their offices are paved, lined with trees, clean, and quiet. The separation is astonishing. I understand the need for quality office space (high-speed internet, working toilet, clean working environment) and will most likely have something very similar. And I understand that these NGOs who are trying to change the status quo in Uganda will do so more successfully if they are able to get things done on a daily basis. Yet, the separation between the people they serve and themselves is distinct.

I’ve never traveled like this before. Typically, I get by on a minimal amount of money a day, often eating food from street vendors and usually living with a family in their home. I suppose that’s the difference between traveling on your own dime and traveling for work. Even so, I still felt uncomfortable knowing that our driver Kizito earns about $100-150/month and each night he dropped us off at a restaurant where we spent $30 for 1 meal. I asked him what he thought of that on our drive to the airport…

“For the muzungus that come here, they need different food than us. For us, we’re accustomed to the local food – we like it. I can get a good meal for 5,000 shillings (approx $3). I like to eat fish and eggplants…that’s what I make for myself when I cook dinner.”

(3) Africa is an NGO world.

Drive around Kampala and everywhere you turn there is another NGO – Save Africa, Save the Children, Save the World. You name the problem and there’s an NGO there to solve it. Entire Kampala streets and neighborhoods are consumed by signposts announcing the numerous offices of the numerous NGOs.

50% of the national Ugandan budget comes from foreign investment. Uganda, like the rest of Africa, relies heavily on the private sector (i.e. NGOs). I’m torn on my opinion of foreign aid and its role in development. On one hand, there is great need in Africa for poverty reduction, education, health promotion, emergency relief and NGOs get stuff done. On the other hand, NGOs remove the responsibility for social, economic development from the government and create a dependence structure between the NGO and the local government. On top of that, the objectives and political motives of the powerful few who control the donor money (USAID, DFID, CIDA, etc) dictate the development goals adopted by the African nations. (A good example of this is the Mexico City Agreement that must be signed by all grantees receiving money from USAID to carry out family planning/reproductive health programming. The Mexico City Agreement bans any grantee from promoting, providing, or educating on abortion.) As a public healther working in international aid/development, I obviously believe in the ability of NGOs to make the world a better place and to give people a chance for a better life. Yet, I struggle with the dependence on foreign aid, and the ambiguous delineation of authority and responsibility among NGOs, foreign donors, and local governments that the current structure of international development creates. 101paige 101africa 101iph