I completely value my ethnographic experience living in a small village with a local middle-class family and volunteering among the most vulnerable children, as it has given me insight to how the majority of local people live here. It is mostly expats and a small fraction of Ugandans living up to western standards with all utilities, appliances and security. It would have been easy for me to go straight into that comfortable buble and just bypass the majority's reality by seeing their housing, shopping and schooling through a car window on a way to a restaurant, mall or sports centre. Do not get me wrong - I still do not have the slightest idea of what it is like to be a poor Ugandan - but I believe I have understood at least something. And now it is time for me to move into the buble of a beautiful house and well equipped office!
As I wrote before, things tend to work themselves out. We must have faith in God/destiny (or whatever you believe in) guiding us to where we need to go. I do not mean passively waiting for things to happen but actively seeking for opportunities and staying open-minded to alternative options, confident that sooner or later they will appear. I try not to make detailed long-term plans such as living in a named city or working at a certain field, as they most likely will not come true. Instead I stream around for any seemingly interesting things that might provide me with good experiences, and try to hold enough courage to go for them! For me this seems like the right approach since I do not have strong desire towards any specific profession or way of living. By trial and error I can find both - things that do and do not suit for me.
When I was volunteering at HCF I realized that pure field work is not probably my thing. Despite momentarily bringing joy to the children I kept questioning the amount of difference I was really making. I could not change their lives for better since I could not provide them with economic improvements, not even mention changing governmental structures for health and education. Frankly speaking, I was thinking along the lines "nice mzungu popping up to entertain a few kids, who still cannot afford to go to secondary school". I felt I might be more motivated working for an organization having wider reach and larger scale impacts.
So how did I end up where I am now? When I was searching for an affordable place to live in Kampala I was offered a house-sitting job in Lubowa, which is a peaceful residential area with international schools and small offices 10km from downtown. I will have a whole house with a cleaner, guard, dog and three cats just for myself until mid-August, how pleasantly posh! I am excited about cooking my own food, having running water, emptying my suitcases into closets, accessing wifi internet and most importantly being closer to services and people in Kampala.
The same day I agreed on my housing deal I learned about an appealing volunteer opportunity at Uganda Carbon Bureau, which is located within a walking distance from my new home. I volunteer at an improved cook stove (ICS) project. Compared to traditional cook stoves, energy efficient ICSs generate less health-hazardous smokes and consume less wood, therefore saving households' money and generating less greenhouse gases. When the usage of ICSs is monitored they can earn carbon credits, which can be sold either at compulsory or voluntary markets. Ever since studying environmental leadership at university I have wanted to work among climate change, so this carbon offsetting project fits me perfectly! Last week we went on a field trip to Lira, where ICSs are being manufactured and distributed. We collected used stoves for efficiency testing and got some end user feedback (pic3).
To make a long story short, right now it seems like life is treating me with plenty well. Let's see what future brings along...
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