Around the Capital

So for the past few days we have been in the capital of Kampala. Besides the smog and the noise, the capital isn't a bad place. We like our hotel and find the people that work there are very friendly. Melissa is getting her fair share of french toast and Dr. Grenney is drinking plenty of Stoney (his favorite soda). Most of our time here in the capital has been spent driving back and forth between appointments. We are happy to have all the meetings set up and find them very informational.

One meeting we had on Tuesday was great. We are currently working with an NGO based out of Orem called the Ssejinja Children's Foundation. We love the partnership we have with them and are excited to continue working with them. A few of our team members have met David Ssejinja (the President and Founder of the Foundation) prior to this trip, but this is the first time that he has been present while we have been in Africa. Because of that, we were able to gather together as our organization and theirs and talk about where we see this project going. We felt it necessary to get both organizations on the same table. We are excited for what we planned and look forward to meeting with them in the future.

We also were able to meet with a few Deans of the different colleges at Makerere University. Melissa and I are excited for the possible work we can do with them in the future. We also were able to meet with a few internet/phone companies to discuss the possibility of getting wireless internet to the school in Masaka.

Finally, we were able to tour the Mosque near our hotel. They were very kind to us and allowed us to walk around the grounds. Finally one gentleman called us over and allowed us to enter one of the prayer rooms (even though we were unwashed and unclean). It was very nice of him. We also found that he was the same one who we could hear that would call to prayer 5 times a day. It was interesting to see the difference between their religion and some of the others that I am familiar with.

We were also able to ride a boda-boda home from the Mosque. For those who don't know, a boda-boda is a motorcycle that they drive around as taxis. They are the fastest mode of transportation because they can swerve in and out of traffic where the other cars can't reach. Basically it is the drive and you sitting on the back of a motorcycle holding on for dear life. It was GREAT!

I promise, next entry will contain more pictures. We haven't had time to dump everyones pictures onto my computer. So for now you will just get to see a picture of the mosque. We leave for Masaka early tomorrow...so until next time. Ok, so no picture this time. It took to long to load. I know for the next time to do it first.

We made it!

Sorry, no pictures today. I haven't had time to down load any yet. I just wanted to write really quick and let you know that we made it. Here are some things that I learned on our flight. l

1. Delta sucks! We didn't get any movies from SLC to JFK...you had to "rent" them for $5. That is out of control. Needless to say, I didn't sleep and therefore was extremely bored. I think most of us on the flight were.

2. Don't eat the pasta. We all had chicken on the flight from JFK to Amsterdam...all of us except one (who shall remain anonymous to protect their identity) and that person got sick. Now we can't tell if they were sick prior to the flight or got something from the food...but considering they were the only one to eat the pasta...doesn't look good for pasta.

3. KML or was it KLM airlines are pretty nice...food was good, movies were good and they gave us ice cream. Of course, since I wasn't sleeping and everyone else was..i was the only one to partake of this goodness.

4. It doesn't matter how small the vehicle is...Africans can make everything work! We got 14-50 lbs suitcases, 7 personal carry ons, and 12 people in one 14 passenger van. i didnt'think we were going to make it...but we did.

5. No matter how long you have been traveling, when you want a hot shower...a cold one is a mighty big disappointment.

ok that is all for now. The internet is acting shady. So I don't want to lose what I have written. Until next time.

Watch out for the matooke

Ok, so in my family we love to eat. We all love to cook and therefore love to eat. The first thing my family wanted to know about when I first wrote home was the food we ate. So I am going to let all of you in on what we will be eating while we are down there.

First off, they love their matooke. Basically, matooke consists of hard bananas that have been peeled, boiled and mashed. Think of mashed potatoes only with bananas. As you can expect, it is kinda a thick and a little bland. However, it was only after I returned home that I realized why they all LOVE matooke. It is because they eat with their hands. So the thickness of the matooke helps them pick up the pieces of rice or beans that would be hard to grab with just your fingers. I thought of this last night as I used a piece of bread to soak up the rest of my soup. They use their matooke like I used my slice of bread.

So besides matooke what do we eat. Well like I mentioned earlier, we eat rice and beans. They also have Irish potatoes...we have our Idaho potatoes and they have their Irish potatoes. I can't describe the difference, but man they are so good. They make a fabulous bean sauce, basically all the bean sauce consists of are peanuts ground into a gravy. It goes great over the potatoes and rice.
As far as meat goes, we don't eat that much while we are there. We will have chicken occasionally, but it isn't the same type of chicken we are use to. Let's be honest, most things in Africa are skinny (because of malnutrition) and that goes for the animals too. So there just isn't much meat on those chicken legs. The chicken usually comes breaded and fried. We also have fish, and for someone who doesn't eat fish...I would have to say it wasn't all that bad. Because Lake Victoria makes up part of the southern boarder of Uganda they eat a lot of fish. Beef is a rare things, but goat is usually on the menus at any restaurant. I would be brave and try it once, after all, how many people can say they ate goat?

For breakfast we eat hard boiled eggs most of the time. Bread is very limited and tends to be dry, so if you are going to eat the bread make sure Dr. Grenney has bought the honey that he loves! Occasionally we will get an omlete and that is a nice change. Don't be suprised to see us eating french fries for breakfast as well.

All in all I was pleasantly surprised with the food. A few of the team members got sick last trip and we can only assume it was because of the food. But really, one day out of thirty isn't bad. But after a month of matooke we were ready for some good ol' American food.

A little about Uganda

Now I don't know about y'all, but until I started working on the Uganda project I didn't know where in Africa Uganda was located let alone anything about the country. So why don't we have a little lesson.

Uganda, twice the size of Pennsylvania, is in East Africa. It is bordered on the west by Congo, on the north by the Sudan, on the east by Kenya, and on the south by Tanzania and Rwanda. The country, which lies across the equator, is divided into three main areas—swampy lowlands, a fertile plateau with wooded hills, and a desert region. Lake Victoria forms part of the southern border.

Now while we are in Uganda we will focus our efforts in a few main areas. Hopefully I found a good enough map that you will be able to see them. We fly into Entebbe, which is located on the northwest shores of Lake Victoria. We are going to stay in the capital of Kampala for a few days as we meet with a few of our contacts and look for supplies. We will spend most of our time in Masaka (you will find Masaka located west of Lake Victoria).

We will also take some time to explore the areas around us. We need to visit a NGO up north near Murchinson Falls. While we are there, we will probably stop by Murchinson Falls and take a water tour and a safari. Murchinson Falls isn't located on the map but it is located right near the upper portion of the "G" in Uganda. In these photos you will see the Nile river. The Nile runs through Murchinson Falls and therefore makes the Fall itself.

Ok, I think that you've had enough of a history lesson. Stay tuned for more about Uganda. We might just tackle food.

Failed to mention

In my last post, I failed to mention one of our team members. She is a huge part of our group and I didn't mean to forget her. Without her we would be completely lost. Violet...please forgive me...I didn't mean to. Violet is a college student who currently lives in Uganda. We met Violet randomly on our first trip to Uganda back in December of 2005. She has been a team member ever since. She works hard for us while we are in the States, so that when we get to Africa we are ready to go. Not only does she keep things running on that end of the table (with travel arrangements, accommodation's, etc.) she acts as our translator while we are in country. She even travels to the areas we are working (leaving her boyfriend and family behind) in order to help us. Violet we couldn't do it without you. Thanks for all you do. We miss you and love you and can't wait to see you!

Meeting the team

Hello everyone, and welcome to our new blog. We are members of the student chapter of Engineers Without Borders at Utah State University. Now, just because we are members of EWB-USU doesn't mean that we are all engineering students. We are all studying a wide variety of subject and hope that all our knowledge will help those people we are going to work with.

EWB-USU has four student teams currently working on projects throughout the world. We have two teams focusing their efforts in Peru (one in Northern Peru and one in Southern Peru), a team working in Mexico and then our team in located in Uganda Africa. We are really excited about the work that EWB-USU is doing and hope that you enjoy learning more.

Please stay tuned as we update this blog on all of our efforts and work that will be done while we are in Africa. Please realize that internet is going to be a little spotty, but we will update the blog whenever we have a chance. So please feel free to comment on photos or whatever you would like.
Dr. Bill Grenney, Shannon Moore, James Dyer, Melissa Bambrough and Alexis Cooper.