Katebo Village
Day 3: A bunch of volunteers and a few staff piled into a Matatu (taxi) in the morning and headed off for Katebo Children's village. ACF just bought 150 acres of land and are constructing a primary and secondary school, plus 40 residences, where orphans will live and be taught. There is only one building so far, and it's unfinished, so the project has a long way to go. The heat was blazing and there were few places for shade, so I think this is one of the few aspects of the volunteer work that I'm not so interested in. I prefer the idea of working with people in need rather than doing construction in the middle of nowhere in the blazing heat. But I'm sure I'll do at least a little work there.
After seeing what there is of the village so far, we went to a crocodile farm, where I was told that the biggest crocodile had once escaped and eaten 83 people. I'm not entirely sure whether the person who told me that really believed it or not. It was a huge crocodile though! And it looked mean.
We then drove to a tiny fishing village on the banks of Lake Victoria. Thousands of tiny fish were laid out to dry in the sun on fishing nets. When we got out of the matatu, 12 kids dashed up to us screaming for sweets and gifts. Many of them were incredibly skinny and had the pot bellies that come from not enough food. I ran away from them and they chased me around for a bit, then they decided to copy everything I say and do so we did that for a while. They reminded me of the little green aliens in Toy Story, especially when they kept chanting "mzungu".
After the village, we went to what passes as a touristy area in Uganda, right on the equator. There was a line drawn across the road that marked the exact point of the equator, and this was proven to us:
There were 3 funnels and 3 buckets of water, maybe 10 feet apart. One on the equator, and one either side of the line. In the Northern hemisphere, when you pour water into the funnel and put a leaf in it, the leaf spins round in one direction (I don't remember which way), then 20 feet South, in the Southern hemisphere, the leaf span around in the opposite direction. In the funnel that was right on line, the leaf didn't spin at all! Pretty cool.
I bought a t-shirt that says "mzungu" on it. Just in case I get really dirty and people don't realize I'm a rich white guy.
After a rather tiring day of touristy things, we returned to Ndejje and I played some music with the orphans. They have good rhythm! We had a whole call and answer thing going on with blues chords and lots of stomping and clapping.
In the evening Axel and I decided to go to the lower volunteer compound and hang out with some of the others. As we were walking out, Ivan, the guy who thought the predator was real, was sitting by the gates and was surrounded by several security guards and a few staff. We stopped to try and find out what was going on but we were told to leave and that it was none of our business. Axel was especially concerned.
We went into the town and were told that Ivan had come looking for Axel. We decided to return and see what was going on, and by the time we got back we could hear him being beaten. After 5 minutes or so the door to the compound opened, and Ivan came out, and we saw a security guard hit him with a stick one last time.
We walked into the compound to face the security guards and the staff of the NGO. They weren't too happy we'd been listening. We were told Ivan was being disciplined because he had been hanging around the compound late at night and was considered a security threat. I was told that they were worried he was planning to steal from the volunteers, and that if he stole he would be executed, so the beating was for his own good. I asked why my money was being used to pay for security guards who beat the people I'm here to help. I was told that in Ugandan culture this form of punishment was common and that Ivan's mother consented to it.
The other volunteers were very unhappy about the situation as well. I haven't drawn any conclusions yet, Abraham said he would arrange for me to meet Ivan's mother and she will apparently tell me that she agreed to him being beaten. Being so new here I haven't figured out what counts as a culture difference and what counts as a human rights abuse.
It is obvious, however, that there is a lot of tension here between the volunteers and the charity. Maybe that will be something I can help diffuse a little while I'm here.
After seeing what there is of the village so far, we went to a crocodile farm, where I was told that the biggest crocodile had once escaped and eaten 83 people. I'm not entirely sure whether the person who told me that really believed it or not. It was a huge crocodile though! And it looked mean.
We then drove to a tiny fishing village on the banks of Lake Victoria. Thousands of tiny fish were laid out to dry in the sun on fishing nets. When we got out of the matatu, 12 kids dashed up to us screaming for sweets and gifts. Many of them were incredibly skinny and had the pot bellies that come from not enough food. I ran away from them and they chased me around for a bit, then they decided to copy everything I say and do so we did that for a while. They reminded me of the little green aliens in Toy Story, especially when they kept chanting "mzungu".
After the village, we went to what passes as a touristy area in Uganda, right on the equator. There was a line drawn across the road that marked the exact point of the equator, and this was proven to us:
There were 3 funnels and 3 buckets of water, maybe 10 feet apart. One on the equator, and one either side of the line. In the Northern hemisphere, when you pour water into the funnel and put a leaf in it, the leaf spins round in one direction (I don't remember which way), then 20 feet South, in the Southern hemisphere, the leaf span around in the opposite direction. In the funnel that was right on line, the leaf didn't spin at all! Pretty cool.
I bought a t-shirt that says "mzungu" on it. Just in case I get really dirty and people don't realize I'm a rich white guy.
After a rather tiring day of touristy things, we returned to Ndejje and I played some music with the orphans. They have good rhythm! We had a whole call and answer thing going on with blues chords and lots of stomping and clapping.
In the evening Axel and I decided to go to the lower volunteer compound and hang out with some of the others. As we were walking out, Ivan, the guy who thought the predator was real, was sitting by the gates and was surrounded by several security guards and a few staff. We stopped to try and find out what was going on but we were told to leave and that it was none of our business. Axel was especially concerned.
We went into the town and were told that Ivan had come looking for Axel. We decided to return and see what was going on, and by the time we got back we could hear him being beaten. After 5 minutes or so the door to the compound opened, and Ivan came out, and we saw a security guard hit him with a stick one last time.
We walked into the compound to face the security guards and the staff of the NGO. They weren't too happy we'd been listening. We were told Ivan was being disciplined because he had been hanging around the compound late at night and was considered a security threat. I was told that they were worried he was planning to steal from the volunteers, and that if he stole he would be executed, so the beating was for his own good. I asked why my money was being used to pay for security guards who beat the people I'm here to help. I was told that in Ugandan culture this form of punishment was common and that Ivan's mother consented to it.
The other volunteers were very unhappy about the situation as well. I haven't drawn any conclusions yet, Abraham said he would arrange for me to meet Ivan's mother and she will apparently tell me that she agreed to him being beaten. Being so new here I haven't figured out what counts as a culture difference and what counts as a human rights abuse.
It is obvious, however, that there is a lot of tension here between the volunteers and the charity. Maybe that will be something I can help diffuse a little while I'm here.
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