I love you, give me your phone number

- Do you have a boyfriend?
- Yes I do.
- Is he mzungu like you?
- Yes he is European.
- You should switch him to an Ugandan man.
- Why is that?
- Because a white woman and a black man produce more beautiful babies than two whites.

Before you continue on reading, keep in mind that this text contains generalizations that do not apply to everyone. Each country has all kinds of people and stereotyping is just entertaining.

Where ever I go I get attention from local men. They do not seem to be any interested in my personality, but want to access wealth and gain social status by dating a mzungu. After telling them my standard answer - I am married - they quickly move on to ask if I have any single friends. One boda driver actually got mad at me when I refused to provide him with my Finnish friends' email addresses.

Sometimes it is difficult to make friends with Ugandan men, since after hanging out just for a few moments they except you to be deeply in love with them. My Danish friend met a fashionable looking young man at a church event and chatted with him on the way back home. After that he kept confessing his love for her, first cheerfully and later desperately, by visiting her house, writing poems and calling her tens of times a day.

I guess it is no easier being a mzungu man here. While women receive just verbal attention, men get actually grabbed at certain bars. Ugandan women also except to get gifted, be it either breakfast money after a one night stand or a dress after a handful of dates. Another friend of mine dated this pretty lady until he saw photos of her engagement party posted in Facebook. Apparently she had kept her options open for a more desireable (e.g. mzungu) man until the last minute.

So, instead of picking an eager local guy (or guys, as faithfulness is not that strictly expected around here) for an immediate relationship, I prefer to date mzungu men. They play the games I know; pretending hard-to-get, sending mixed signals and making you analyze every exchanged look and text message. However, an exemption makes the rule. I just spent a lovely evening with an internationally oriented Ugandan athlete, and at the moment I am waiting to see if he really meant it when he promised to teach me his sport...

Improved cook stoves in carbon markets

Greetings from Northern Uganda! I am now in Gulu visiting a potential stove supplier organization, Aid Africa. They work deep in villages among the poorest of poor; supplying them with clean water, medical care, cook stoves and trees. I gave their staff a presentation about global warming, carbon markets and improved cook stoves...

Stove design lecture

Rocket stove efficiency testing

CDM = Clean development mechanism. A flexibility mechanism of emission reduction projects, defined in Kyoto Protocol and under the guidance of United Nations Convention on Climate Change (UNCCC). CDM projects aim at reducing greenhouse gases and promoting sustainable development in poor regions. They generate certified emission reduction units (CERs) to be traded at compliance and voluntary markets. Industrialized countries can use CERs as part of their emission reduction targets.

PoA = Programme of Activities. An umbrella bringing together bundles of replicable small scale projects generating carbon credits. A PoA may operate in multiple countries within a specified field, e.g. solar systems, cook stoves or building refurbishment.

SO = Supplier organization. Companies and non-government organizations joining a cook stove PoA to earn carbon credits. SOs are e.g. manufacturers/distributors, agricultural groups or healthcare organizations.

UCB = Uganda Carbon Bureau. UCB provides support to project developers, carbon credit buyers and offseters, financiers and others to better understand climate change and carbon emission trading markets. It works together with private sector and public agencies across East Africa. I volunteer at UCB.

ICSEA = Improved Cook Stoves for East Africa Ltd. The coordinating/managing entity (CME) for a PoA of cook stove projects. ICSEA operates under UCB. In exchange for inclusion and monitoring fees ICSEA provides its SOs with access to CDM carbon markets, assistance in registration process, training and channels to seed funding. SOs keep 100% of their carbon credits.

ILF = International Lifeline Fund. The first SO in the ICSEA PoA. ILF is head quartered in Lira, Northern Uganda. It manufactures and distributes improved cook stoves.

ICS = Improved cook stove. An energy efficient ICS consumes less fuel than a traditional stove. It saves money spent on charcoal and/or time on collecting firewood, thus providing households with extra savings and time for more productive activities. It reduces indoor air pollution, which causes dangerous lung diseases. It is gender sensitive as women and children are the ones engaged in cooking and fuel acquisition activities. It reduces deforestation and therefore other environmental problems, e.g. landslides. It promotes employment in stove industry. It reduces greenhouse gases so it can earn carbon credits when its usage is precisely monitored. An ICS can earn up to three carbon credits per year, depending on its efficiency rating, thus generating an annual income of around $30 to be used on end users' benefit, e.g. discount stove price, free stove maintenance and community incentives.

CRM = Customer relationship management. In order to earn carbon credits, an ICS must be in active use, replacing old stoves and under continuous maintenance. Systematic monitoring activities are required by the UN to keep track of thousands of stoves spread around several regions. ICSEA is currently replacing its Excel database with a Salesforce CRM system. I am working in the system implementation project. (Ironic, huh? I ran out of IT, but now I am voluntarily back at it!)

It is always a good idea to combine work with fun. Together with Gulu expats I went rock climbing at Ft Patiko. We spent a sunny Sunday enjoying beautiful views, playing with local kids, setting up top anchors around loose rocks, and of course climbing more or less demanding routes. There is still a lot of new climbing left to be discovered there!

Ft Patiko

Ugandan English

"Today you give me money". When people spoke to me like that some months ago I considered them a little simple and rude. That was before I had learned to know Ugandan English.

There are around 40 local languages spoken in the regions of Uganda. They are not just varying dialogues but individual languages rooting within different tribes. English is used as the common language at government institutions, schools, businesses and media. Village people in rural areas may know no English at all, but most educated people speak English as their second language.

Ugandan English is not the same as British (or American or Australian) English. Assuming so can lead into factual misunderstandings or thoughts of rudeness. Learning Luganda, the local language spoken in the Kampala region, has been a key for me in understanding Ugandan English.

Especially people having little contact with foreigners tend to translate directly from Luganda to English, missing politeness. For example, they may translate the need "Njagala mazzi" into "I want water" instead of "Could I have some water, please". In Luganda, there is no such word as "please", but respect is shown as adding "sebo" (sir) or "nabo" (miss/mrs) at the end of an otherwise command sounding phrase.

While in British English the word "sorry" is apologetic, in Ugandan English it is used to show sympathy. Once I stepped into a matatu taxi full of passengers and bumped my head onto its roof. I heard a chorus of sorries even though my clumsiness was in no way the others' fault. Also, the usage of "yes" and "no" can be confusing. For instance, when I ask "Do you mind if I sit here?" I may be replied with a welcoming smile and "Yes". 

At times it can be hard to interpret what Ugandans prefer. I may ask a questions such as "Do you need me at the school today or could I go to the swimming pool?" When the answer is just "It is ok", a phrase Ugandans use a lot, it is left somewhat unclear what is actually expected of me.

After giving it a bit of thought, when I hear a simplified request like "Tomatoes. Do you have them?" I feel a sense of familiarity. Actually Ugandan English is not so far away from Finnish English.

Pic1: Matoke cooking in Kampala, Southern Uganda
Pic2: Villagers in Moroto, Northern Uganda