Welcome to Kampala

Naveen and I have now been in UG for 10 days and I promised everyone I would try and keep a blog… so here goes nothing…

The first few days were a pretty big adjustment and the lack of internet and phone certainly didn’t help.  I think both of us were a little homesick but trying to hold it in lest the other person break down. 

The apartment we are staying at is pretty nice.  It’s nice and roomy and has an amazing view that makes one of our new found friends Devin extremely jealous.  Each morning we have breakfast on the balcony and watch the sunrise over the hills of Kampala.  There are of course some issues - mainly involving a serious ant problem (everything is kept in our fridge - even rice and uncooked pasta) - but TIA.

Work is great.  Everyone that I have met thus far at Foundation for Human Rights Initiative (FHRI) is awesome.  They are so friendly and happy.  Many have a wicked sense of humour and these great laughs to accompany it. Our boss is Josephine - she has an LLB from a university in Uganda and her LLM from a university in Scotland.  Also in the research department are Rashid and Edrine - both are very nice.  There is also another intern who’s a law student from the University of Alabama - but she’s actually from Texas (as she consistently reminds us…)

Located in the same building as FHRI is another NGO called EHARDP (I think…).  One of the guys, Neil, graduated from York and now lives Uganda.  There are also two interns from York: Devin and Yvonne.  We’ve made fast friends - with Devin especially.  

We take boda (motorbikes) to work and back everyday.  Don't worry -Naveen and I went out and bought helmets on our second day here.  We certainly get a lot of strange looks from the locals, but I am particularly attached to my brain so I'd rather keep it protected as we weave through traffic.  Our boda driver Peter takes both Naveen and I on the same boda everyday and it's become a running joke that he checks to make sure I'm still there as we head up the steep hill to work.

So far in terms of actually working, we’ve mostly been doing a lot of reading.  The report we’ll be working on is about the state of multiparty democracy in Uganda (ie practically non-existent based on what I have learned so far…).  The office is funny because they honestly do almost no work .  People come in to chat constantly - which is a nice break in the monotony of all the reading we have been doing.

The big trip of the week was Naveen and I’s visit to Luzira Prison on May 30^th.  Within FHRI there is a legal clinic which is working on a case involving 52 men and 1 woman who were arrested for treason over the course of February.  Naveen and I went to interview them with 3 other people from FHRI.  It was honestly one of the toughest things I have ever done.  First of all, as you might imagine, a prison in Uganda isn’t exactly the nicest place.  But in addition to that, I sat there and listened to men from as young as 19 years to as old as 72  tell me how they were essentially abducted and then tortured.  Heart wrenching stuff.  It also just made me mad.  The good news (..?) is that Naveen and I convinced the lawyer from FHRI (George) to take us to court when all the men appear before the judge on June 18^th.

Work aside, life in Kampala is lovely.  The weather has been beautiful everyday, albeit hot in the office.  We’ve cooked at home a bit, and eat out for dinner.  I would say an average dinner out for us costs around 20 000 shilling (/-), which is about $8.  I actually had a delicious steak the other day for just over that.  Today we visited Speke Resort which is outside of Kampala and for 20 000 /- you can use the nice pool and have wi-fi.  It’s a nice way to relax and spend the day, although it is on the expensive side once you include the food  - so maybe not something to do every weekend….

Well that’s all I can be bothered to write about for now…. I’ll try and get some pictures up soon.