Destination: Soroti
Good Morning!
I am still largely living my job every moment of the day, but I did manage to get out and about over the weekend and to delve into yet another huge book (I have found that small African towns are ideal for tackling those books that I previously found hard to commit to- such as Tolstoy, Lenin, and now the biography of Che Guevara). The woman guard at the hotel was alarmed to see that I would be setting out on foot for the day on Saturday, when she exclaimed - you'll be footing it?? My strange monu (the Luo word for mzungu, which is the Kiswahili word for white person, in case you have forgotten) behavior of walking was the talk of the town. As I rolled passed the petrol station, one worker kindly requested for me to buy fuel. Where shall I put it? In my pockets? No! Put the fuel in your Foot-subishi!
But it was great to get out on my own two feet and I even did a hidden jog behind one of the hotels on Sunday, as my colleague Anne read her book.
The work is still over my head but I do enjoy the opportunities to get out into the field. I've visited a few of the internally displaced persons (IDP) camps within the town municipality and yesterday traveled to one of the larger rural camps, Barr. One of my colleagues, who is from the area, recounted how once when he was traveling in 1998, he got caught between two lines of LRA rebels crossing the road (the first time the LRA had penetrated this deep into Lira). While those residing in the camps are still living under dire circumstances, the security situation in Lira is not nearly as critical as that in Gulu, Kitgum and Pader. In fact, many people have started to return home in this area. I am hoping that the relatively shorter period of conflict in Lira and the improved security might signal better results in my project.
Shortly I will be off to Soroti with a couple of my colleagues to visit some projects there. I have yet to visit Soroti, which is about two hours east of Lira. I will attempt to discipline myself, take some photos, and get them posted when I head to Kampala later in the week. Until soon...
I am still largely living my job every moment of the day, but I did manage to get out and about over the weekend and to delve into yet another huge book (I have found that small African towns are ideal for tackling those books that I previously found hard to commit to- such as Tolstoy, Lenin, and now the biography of Che Guevara). The woman guard at the hotel was alarmed to see that I would be setting out on foot for the day on Saturday, when she exclaimed - you'll be footing it?? My strange monu (the Luo word for mzungu, which is the Kiswahili word for white person, in case you have forgotten) behavior of walking was the talk of the town. As I rolled passed the petrol station, one worker kindly requested for me to buy fuel. Where shall I put it? In my pockets? No! Put the fuel in your Foot-subishi!
But it was great to get out on my own two feet and I even did a hidden jog behind one of the hotels on Sunday, as my colleague Anne read her book.
The work is still over my head but I do enjoy the opportunities to get out into the field. I've visited a few of the internally displaced persons (IDP) camps within the town municipality and yesterday traveled to one of the larger rural camps, Barr. One of my colleagues, who is from the area, recounted how once when he was traveling in 1998, he got caught between two lines of LRA rebels crossing the road (the first time the LRA had penetrated this deep into Lira). While those residing in the camps are still living under dire circumstances, the security situation in Lira is not nearly as critical as that in Gulu, Kitgum and Pader. In fact, many people have started to return home in this area. I am hoping that the relatively shorter period of conflict in Lira and the improved security might signal better results in my project.
Shortly I will be off to Soroti with a couple of my colleagues to visit some projects there. I have yet to visit Soroti, which is about two hours east of Lira. I will attempt to discipline myself, take some photos, and get them posted when I head to Kampala later in the week. Until soon...
posted by Africa Anonymous @ 10:54 AM
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