Off-Roading Uganda

I am currently sitting on the porch of my cabin, looking over a valley and Sipi Falls. My campsite is called Crow’s Nest and it’s located on top of a mountain in Mt. Elgon. Mt. Elgon is a mountain range in the east of Uganda stretching to the border of Kenya. The whole region is called Sebei, and the town (only “urban” center for kilometers) is called Kapchorwa. Because the Crow’s Nest lacks electricity, I have had to wait until now to charge my computer. It’s nice not having the option of internet and electricity at “home” now, except that we will need it when it comes closer to the time when we need to write our practicum papers, so we are considering shifting locations. Also, the commute to our work places every day is far and therefore more expensive. Our daily stipend would allow us a lot more food and spending money if we lived closer to Kapchorwa, so we’re looking into a few other hostels. I will be sad to leave Crow’s Nest because of its amazing location, but we’re so close that we’ll be able to get out here on weekends for hiking and exploring. The showers in town will be an improvement as well, even though at this point I’m pretty sure I have used every type of bath that exists.

Sam and I left for the east on Friday morning. We took a 3 hour bus ride to Mbale and then took a taxi to Sipi. One funny moment happened on the taxi on Friday. As we got closer to Sipi, Sam and I were the only passengers left on the taxi. At one point, we passed three police officers, holding the arm of a cuffed criminal. Ugandans have big hearts, and of course, knowing how far the police station was, the taxi driver stopped and let the four men onto the taxi. The cuffed man was so excited to see two muzungus in the back of the taxi and climbed over every row to sit next to us. He shook our hands with his cuffed hand and proceeded to ask us questions about our where we come from and what faith we are. He sang some Christian church songs to us and told us that he used to be mad, but now since he has met a missionary, he is fine. Questionable. When we got to the police station and stopped, he told us “well, this is where I get off”. Sam and I were trying so hard to hold back our laughter.

I began my practicum on Monday after taking a very expensive boda ride past the city to my work site. I got a tour of KACOFA and a brief on the history from my supervisor, Joseph. Joseph is the Extension Manager of KACOFA and has been really helpful so far in assisting me with my research. I was able to get a much better picture on the business, so I will do my best to explain to you what they are and what it is I am doing with them. KACOFA (Kapchorwa Commercial Farmer’s Association) is a business that is funded by USAID programs. In 1999, it began with 27 members as a training program that taught local farmers improved farming practices for coffee, barley, maize and sorghum.  Today, there are 6 districts involved and a total of over 6,000 members. KACOFA buys crops in bulk from structured groups of farmers. The crops must meet certain quality and quantity standards to enter the facility before they can be weighed, processed, packaged and stored. The bags of grain are stored until the demand is at its peak (not during the growing season) and then sold to different partner buyers such as WFP (World Food Program) or Ugandan Breweries. I’m finding that there is still a lot of room for internal development, but I believe the business has a lot of potential and possibility to be used as a model for future commercial agriculture businesses because of its success so far. I will be working with KACOFA directly 3 days a week for 4 weeks and conducting “outside research” 2 days a week including interviews with external stakeholders. I’m interested mostly in the challenges KACOFA faces, the ways in which they plan on meeting these challenges and the areas of potential growth. It’s exciting that I found KACOFA because at its current stage, I think that my research could actually be of value to the business in the future.

I’m technically a part-time intern at KACOFA, but they are more interested in helping me with my research and teaching me about KACOFA than letting me work for them (I don’t think they have anything for me to do), so I mostly act as a shadow. I’m not complaining! On Tuesday, I sat in on a board meeting with Ugandan Breweries representatives, journalists and news reporters. Because KACOFA is so new, they’re still in their initial growth stages, and so at this point, the press is very important for their business. After the meeting, we drove two hours out into rural farmland and visited a few farms that sell their crops to KACOFA. The whole time, we’re practically off-roading on dirt roads, winding through small villages and up over rolling hills. When we got out a couple times to take a look at some farms, we got to hike around the hills and it was amazing how far I could see into Kenya. All around Mt. Elgon, the land is flat, and you can see quilt of green, brown and red vegetation. I am so bummed I didn’t have my camera! Today, I sat in on a meeting with an organization whose name I forget. They were working on implementing a project with KACOFA to help them develop internally and become more organized. At first, I felt like I was just there to listen and take notes, but the board members kept asking for my input, so I started giving them ideas and suggestions. I didn’t realize how much my “Project Planning and Management” course at UVM taught me.  I was found so many flaws in the way the meeting was organized and the way the project was supposed to be implemented. It was hard not to completely tear it apart, but I think my little bits of advice were helpful for now. It felt good to be able to participate in such an official discussion in a foreign country.

Sam and I have loved our lifestyle out here. We’re been making an effort to walk, run and hike as much as possible in order to burn off some of the matooke weight we’ve put on. With our stipend money, we’ve been living off avocados, tomatoes, green peppers, jackfruit, passion fruit, bananas, rice and beans. We’ve also been able to cook eggs, greens and roast g-nuts for ourselves using Crow’s Nest’s kitchen.  It’s been nice to have some more control over our exercise and diet. Another great thing about the Crow’s Nest is that it attracts a lot of other muzungu travelers. We have already met three different travelers and been able to spend some time with them and hear their travel stories. They’ve given me some great advice and inspiration for trips I will take in my future.

Luckily the heavy rain season has not hit yet, but we have gotten a few storms so far. They’re fun to watch roll in from so far away with huge bolts of lightning and I like the sound of the rain on the tin roof at night. However, the clouds have made it so that the sky has not been clear at night for star-gazing.

This region of Uganda does not speak Luganda, so I think I’m getting a little rusty. Hopefully I will pick of some of this language, which name I forget, to share with you!