30 March 2009
Post date: Apr 7, 2009 7:00:20 AM
March 30th (Monday :o) 9:00 PM
Kevin reporting from my Kampala office -- Bubbles O'Leary's. The rest of Sunday was a quiet day. I was able to Skype with Max (friend of the family) in Florida and he got my Mom on the phone. I was also able to Skype with Margot for a bit and chat about silly stuff only fellow Ugandan travelers would laugh about. I got a lot of Mango Tree work done and packed up my stuff at La Fontaine. Monday morning Naashom's boyfriend Caesar picked me up and we moved my stuff into the place Naashom had been renting. I realized Saturday night at the party that I've known Caesar about a year and a half. He's a pretty classy and well educated Ugandan. The new place is nice. It's close to work and a little further from the city than I would like. It would like living in Aurora when I worked there -- and you know that I wouldn't live Aurora --- I'm a city boy now. LOL --- it's so quiet there I'm not sure I'll be able to sleep. Anyway -- it's a quiet and safe little estate with two entrances and four homes on it and I'm staying in a small studio attached to the main house. Hopefully I'll be able to find my way home. The funny thing is I just figured out where to get something to eat for breakfast near La Fontaine and now I'm moving.
Speaking of La Fontaine I couldn't pay my bill when I left this morning because businesses just really don't get going until noon. I came back after work and found Jacob, the manager. I laid out 320,000 UGX on the counter for eight nights and asked him if that was enough. The agreement had been 20 USD a night and at the currently declining rate of the Ugandan Shilling that should be about 336,000 UGX. (Due to the high fluctuations in the Ugandan Shilling almost all rents and hotel rates are listed in USD. In the past month the Ugandan Shilling has lost a lot as foreign governments have been shoring up the value of the USD - I think party in the faith in Obama and party in the desire to improve their investing in USD.) Jacob paused and said nothing for a bit, "I'll charge you the monthly rate for the past eight nights. You owe me 160,000 UGX." There was no explanation --- just kindness and a discount of over 50%. I was very grateful, and considering I only had 342,000 UGX total on my person at the time, it saved me a trip to the bank. BTW - on the way home from work this evening I road in a matatu that had a bumper sticker in the front window just below the rearview mirror saying "Barrack Obama for President - Yes we can!" There is hope here for a changed world. There is a small shining sliver of possibility that a black man leading the most powerful nation can help make this a a more peaceful world. If you have heard me talk before about my personal reasons for being in Africa you know I believe there are keys here that will help lead humanity through it's next evolution - - and they will be uncovered with or without me - - but I'd like to be a part of the witnessing. Thank you for sharing the journey with me by being my friends, by reading this blog, and by believing in this adventure we're calling Children's Global Peace Project. God Bless You All.
I met with Dinah and Monica this evening. Dinah, most of you know, is our beloved friend pictured among the associates on www.cgpp.org. Monica is another APCT worker/volunteer. APCT has even less money than CGPP and the people that work there are not compensated for anything as far as I can tell. Yet, like us, they are doing amazing things and being amazing people. Monica is the only other member of http://apctinuganda.ning.com/ besides Dale and myself. I will get Dinah on there soon and teach them how to add content for their own use. Within the next year or so I expect the internet bandwidth within Uganda will be high enough that the site will actually become useful. Monica says it will happen in June - lol - I'm a little more conservative. La Fontaine hasn't fixed the internet problem that has gone on for a week and will always be fixed 'tomorrow' :o)
Wednesday I will have an opportunity to meet with all of the senior managers at Mango Tree and all employees that directly effect inventory maintenance. This will be the first time Mango Tree has committed to this level of involvement in my work with them. Thank you Sjoerd and all the rest! There trust and involvement in what we're doing together seems to grow with each visit and with each week we're together. Everyone here is really committed to service. I think it doesn't take much to shift their thinking from "how does this affect me" to "how does this affect Mango Tree and our mission to help Africa" -- they're all truly a gift to work with.
Time to finish up my Irish Stew (2 for 1 of Mondays) and my Castle Stout. Castle Stout is Uganda's best new beer in this writers/drinker's opinion. "You can't see through it," and it's not because it's made with Nile Water!!! I've been waiting all week long to try it - ever since I saw the sexy Ugandan woman on the billboard caressing one.
Peace Out
March 30th (Monday) Later
I’m settled in my new home now. My first private hire taxi driver, Kizzah, was waiting for me when I walked out of Bubbles and greeted me with his usual smile. I saw him briefly Friday night and he knew I was back in town. As we drove off he commented that my friend Joe had left in December, and I asked if Joe had been a good customer. Kizzah said yes and commented that I brought him Joe and many other customers. I smiled and asked him if his business was going well - I know he was able to buy a nicer car last year and had started dispatching out some of his calls because he was getting busy. He smiled and again commented that I had brought him many customers. I commented that Joe could be a difficult customer, so he must have worked hard to keep him happy. Kizzah chuckled, saying he always needed to be accurate with his arrival time when he picked up Joe. No matter if it was going to be 5, 15, or 30 minutes – it just needed to be accurate. We talked about my work in the schools and my travel to Canada.
I gave Kizzah a very general idea of where my new place was when we left Bubbles. When he took a weird turn I told him I didn’t think we were going the right way – and he said his way was a better road. When we got back onto a road I recognized I tried to direct him some more – but he told me to be quiet – he knew where I needed to go. I laughed because Kizzah, unlike most private hires in Uganda, usually did know where things were, even when his passengers didn’t. I remember him taking us to a party last year and we were trying to give him directions here and there and he kept politely listening and following along. Finally, when we got lost, he said that he had an idea of where we needed to go and a little while later he had us at the right house.
When we arrived at the gate of my new house he stopped, and of course didn’t name a price. I gave him a more than a fair fare. I told Kizzah when I first met him that he shouldn’t state the fare amount or argue about it because most mazungus aren’t used to bargaining over price and many get frustrated or angry. I think people don't want to think they are cheating the driver and also don't want to be cheated themselves so the whole bargaining thing becomes uncomfortable. If someone needs to know a fair fare they’ll ask, and if they don’t ask then they already know. If they’re not frustrated or angry with you, they will call you for more business. I think the philosophy has worked well for him. Anyway – I feel happy and comfortable in my new home – and the fact that Kizzah knows where I am makes me feel a little bit closer to wherever I may want to go.