My Kampala

There are seven hills in Kampala. One Sunday me and my friend hiked up and down all of them, which made a good tour around the city (pics 1&2). During those four hours and 25 kilometers we got both bright sunshine and pouring rain, and walked through dirty slums, chaotic traffic jams, festive church meetings, busy shopping areas and wealthy neighborhoods. Despite being in the city we faced the challenge of crossing a floating river (pic3). Local athletic boys tried to encourage us to jump over it by showing their example, but we decided to pass mainly because the water was extremely filthy (pic4).

For almost a third of the walk we were followed by a persistent little girl. When we questioned her about finding her way back home, she answered she has nowhere to go. We debated whether or not it would be right to give her money. On one hand she would get fed at least one day, but on the other hand she would learn to follow mzungus long ways in hope for treats. In addition, some kids who do have parents try to get money by pretending to be orphan, either because they do not have anything else to do or they are told to do so. Either way, these kids would indeed need help to leave poverty.

Since several people had recommended me to explore Owino Markets for second hand stuff, one afternoon I headed to that large area of roofed little stalls (pics 5&6). Being the only mzungu there I got enthusiastic offers to buy everything from everyone. Indeed I could have bought just anything: clothes, shoes, books, food, kitchen appliances, electronics... Vendors get their stock at minimal cost from different sources of Western countries, and sell it further at very cheap prices. I could have bought an used Luis Vuiton handbag for less than 10€. The markets were simultaneously exhausting and exciting, and I was pleased to see such efficient rotating of used stuff.

It is natural to get most attached to your own neighborhood. After my house sitting job ended I moved just a few kilometers further to another house, which I share with four lovely flatmates. When I need to relax, I go to my favorite pool overlooking our hoods and Lake Victoria (pic7). Visiting friends living in other areas of Kampala is a good opportunity to see around. One evening I got to enjoy good wine and snacks on a balcony overlooking one of the city's hills (pics8&9).

Pre-departure reflections

I am sitting outside at an terrace, looking into darkness and hearing the sounds of surrounding invisible insects. It seems like ages ago when I was in a very similar setting writing one of my earliest blog entries. Soon I will end this period of exploration - both of the outer world and of my inner self - and return home. It is time to do some reflecting on what I have discovered.

Assumption #1 Office work is not suitable for me. False. I tried doing root-level field work but soon started missing strategies and management. In order to do higher level planning I must spend some time among computers, meeting rooms and coffee machines.

Assumption #2 Meaningfulness motivates me. True. If I know, or at least believe, that my work has positive impact in the lives of people in developing countries, I feel my efforts have value. I also want my work to be challenging, varying, rewarding and fun.

Assumption #3 I can be happy doing nothing. False. After relaxing for a while I want to start doing something productive to earn my living. Free time truly becomes valuable when it is balanced with scheduled responsibility. Just laying around makes me feel useless.

Assumption #4 I should give all my money to the poor. False. Giving small donations to carefully selected targets is good, but releasing a substantial portion of one's income is unnecessary (excluding multi-millionaires). There is lots of grant money floating around and ending up to inefficient and even fake projects. What makes more sense is to streamline the targeting and usage of all that money to provide as much help as possible.

Assumption #5 I am not a morning sports person. False. I have grown to love my morning runs. Getting up right before sunrise and heading outside to enjoy comfortable warmness and to see villages burst into action is delightful.

Assumption #6 I seek continuos learning and experimenting. True. Now I am even more convinced than before that in order to be happy I must live through various environments, sources of action and feelings. However, I am not sure what all variables (incl. location, people, work, hobbies) must keep changing and what ones can remain the same.

Assumption #7 Status does not matter to me. False. I am a bit ashamed to admit, but I still measure my success partly by my professional and social status. That is to be busy at work, get invited to numerous events and be sporty, cultural and trendy.

Assumption #8 Living in beautiful surroundings makes me happy. True. My mood gets better when I walk in an interesting city or peaceful nature. Therefore I love good weather and appreciate immediate access to outdoor activities. I like my home to be neat, spacious and lightfull - my own atmospheric spot.

Assumption #9 I am a punctual person. True. Even though here plans are being made at last minute, meetings start when everyone has arrived and it is impossible to predict whether a journey from one place to another takes 15min or 1hour, and I have learned to live with it, I prefer having pre-determined schedules and sticking to them.

Assumption #10 Art is not my piece of cake. False. Previously I thought that because I am not artistically talented there is no point in doing it. Now I believe that as long as I enjoy art I should do it, even if it impresses nobody. I still do not want to paint or sign but I could learn dancing and photography.

Assumption #11 Efficiency is a self-standing value. True (maybe). Never before I questioned the importance of using resources (time, money, skills) in most efficient ways to maximize produced outcomes, be it higher shareholder value, charity efforts or anything. But does non-stop prioritizing and optimizing promote stress and kill free creativity? Should illogicality and inefficiency be accepted as ok, to a certain degree? Personally I get annoyed when resources are wasted and non-sustainable processes are used, but perhaps I should not except such efficiency everywhere.

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

Brainstorming on decision making

The grand journey ended the day before yesterday. Even though traveling for a whole month seems almost eternal, it eventually comes to an end. On one hand I already miss the frequently changing locations bringing along unexpected situations, but on the other hand I am ready to return home (yes, Kampala is my home for the time being). It gets a bit exhausting trying to make the most out of every day, thinking everything as once-in-lifetime opportunity.

Right now I am all on my own somewhere in the outskirts of Dar es Salaam (pics 1&2&3 at fish market). I am the only guest at an isolated beautiful villa and there is no one to talk to. After a morning run I have done nothing but laid on the sofa reading, watching movies, sleeping and writing. I feel like I need to do some consciousness thinking before going to continue my life in Uganda tomorrow.

"It is always necessary to know when a stage of one's life has ended. If you stubbornly cling to it after the need has passed, you lose the joy and meaning of the rest." - Paulo Coelho

It is obvious that it was a good time to end the grand journey at a point when continuos moving still felt exciting. However, the unanswered question lays in deciding what to do in October; Should I end this stage of discovering development work and go back to IT business? Or should I pursue into finding more inspiring but risky career opportunities either in Uganda or some another country? Let's consider the different options analytically.

In Finland I would have my old job with a good salary, established position, reasonable work hours and great colleagues. I just lack the passion towards IT. I would also have my nice apartment, a bunch of loved friends, close-by relatives and extensive sports facilities. Moreover, I would have access to functioning public transport, security, shopping, you name it.

To a high degree, I know what I would have in Finland. I would have everything I left behind that I have learned to appreciate during my stay here. As a complete opposite, I do not know what I would get abroad. I might get a job enabling me to use my whole potential, exciting social life and new hobbies. Just as well I might get a poorly paying frustrating job, zero like-minded friends and disappointing boredom. Almost certainly I would earn less money abroad. I am not saying wealth necessarily makes me happy but I do need to maintain a certain lifestyle.

To avoid adding complexity it would be smart to refrain from falling in love with anyone now. Having learnt from past, my relationships tend to be interesting but non-lasting, thus hardly worth investing in. If I got a boyfriend I sure would let him impact on my decision making, removing the focus from what I want from life for myself. However, to be honest that is exactly what I wish would happen! I would like to meet someone with whom to make compromises that, instead of being sacrifices, would be preferred choices because of loving each other.

"Far better is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure... than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy or suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat" - Theodore Roosevelt

What to value more, settling for achieved good or risking for potential great? For me, when is the right time to end the stage of discovery life? Ever?

Paradise in Zanzibar

Long powder sand beaches, turquoise water, quiet romantic spots, authentic fisher boats, hot kite surfers, parties. Sounds like a paradise, right? This is the island Zanzibar.

At breakfast you sit at a seafront restaurant watching the sun get higher (pic1), eating juicy tropical fruits on top of hot pancakes. When tide gets lower and wind picks up it is time to get into the water for kite surfing (pic2&pic3). Being just a beginner, you keep loosing the control of your kite, you smash onto your board and you swallow liters of salty water. But you keep trying over and over again, more or less following your teacher's shouted instructions. On the last go you finally do everything right - you surf towards the horizon, feeling surprised at your success and scared of the increasing speed. Your teacher gives you a thumbs up and you feel a sense of accomplishment.

Every paradise hosts a snake. It may manifest itself in the form of a dispute between friends or a stomach bug. Not all snakes are throughout evil, though. Solving disagreements and misunderstandings leads into deeper understanding, while being sick reminds to appreciate health.

Right after you get out of the water you drink down a well earned cold beer with just one sip. Then you hop on a motorbike and drive along the coast looking for a peaceful dinner location (pic4). You are lucky to find an empty restaurant furnished with comfy futons and atmospheric lights. As it gradually gets dark you can no longer see the sea but keep hearing its immediate presence. You enjoy the still quietness until you feel like completely chancing the mood and entering into a party. It is just a short ride before you are surrounded by joyful young people, well mixed house music and cheap cocktails. You end the day getting a bit too tipsy by drinking an over strong mojito.

No paradise stays annoyance free. It is no longer possible to aimlessly wander around the narrow alleys of the historic stone town (pic5), without being interrupted by persistent people selling souvenirs, tours and refreshments.

You sit in a taxi that is taking you to the ferry terminal from the lodges that have become so familiar to you during the past week (pic6). In your mind you say goodbye to the kite surfing hoods, the forests homing rare monkeys, the local villages, the picture-like shore line - the paradise in Zanzibar.