Down on the Farm
Well, I really haven’t explained why I left Uganda a week early. Sure the country is nutty and maybe more-so than the other countries I have visited, but that was only part of the story. And I really do like Kampala. It has people you can talk with and an energy that doesn’t stop. Pollution… I knew I would have to get used to worse than LA if I am going to have a real trip. The real reason I left was the farm…
(But first let’s hear from the weatherman since it was brought up in a comment… I believe I have chosen the perfect time of year to be in this portion of Africa. Most of the days have been warm, but not overly hot (say 80s). Places like Zanzibar, Uganda and Rwanda are humid with some periods of rain. Think Hawaii – Hakuna Matata. Nights in some locations were cool – perfect sleeping weather. I understand the US has been cooking this summer… Not a concern here this time of year. Let’s see how cool it gets up in volcano country.)
I forgot what I said about the house in the last post so some of this may be a repeat. The house is a half-done, typical African home beyond the mud and stick or thatch structures which are common. It is made from cinder blocks. The floor is dirt with sharp rocks sticking out. I presume it was flat dirt until enough walking and sweeping bared the rocks. The parent’s room and the “shower room” have concrete floors. The walls are eight feet high, but they are all open to the pitched corrugated steel roof and beams. Just like an Eichler! The parent’s room’s walls are plastered flat while the rest of the rooms are cinder blocks. Everything is dark grey probably from the kerosene and charcoal that are burned inside everyday especially every other day when there are no lights. For the 3-4 bedrooms and the open living room and kitchen/dining area (oh this is making the place sound way too impressive!) there is a single light bulb in the roof area. The living room has an old broken wood “sofa”, a couple of bikes, some boots and outdoor stuff, the girl’s school uniforms drying (one set each washed most nights – all the kids in Africa have school uniforms) and some chicken feed. This is a good room to shell beans. The room also has a window with shudders and permanent bars. The front door can be locked with an old machete.
The kitchen/dining area is where charcoal is burned in a cooker, but most of the cooking is done outdoors. It has a large stump with a board that is the sink area although there is no sink. There is no water. Dishes piled up here. Karol did a great job of keeping ahead of them. Maybe the family took kind of a break from them while Karol was there? The dishes only included a couple of forks and spoons – no knives – because they eat almost exclusively with their hands. A dish similar to meat and potato stew – why not use fingers… first you mash it all together and then make balls and pop them in your mouth… not favorite sight each day. I trailed the hands after the meal and they went places they should not have and I did not see a gang hand washing before dinner either. The kitchen also had one “cabinet” in total disarray and a bunch of stuff strewn on the floor unless Karol had done some organization. I stayed clear of a place that drove me crazy. The sitting area consisted of two old broken vinyl-covered chairs, two old broken wooden chairs and two old but not so broken stools if you can locate them. More stuff on the floor. A two foot diameter old broken table was the focal point. We would huddle around the table when we broke bread. They used small kersone cans with a wick attached for light. One night the table was touched by one of the girls causing the can to launch. It landed next to my flip-flop adorned foot, rolled around my foot dumping kerosene which then proceeded to light. Yikes! A couple of days later the can is placed on top of a jar on the rickety table. I move myself back a bit. Of course, it is hit and lands on the table causing it to go flambe. I just stare at the whole situation when Karol blows it out. The farmer moves it back to the same location so I finally asked if we have already had enough accidents with a flammable substance. There is also a door in this room which can also be locked with a long instrument. No windows. The floors in the front two rooms usually contain a whole host of stuff not normal such as chicken droppings. The chickens are regular visitors through the doors and windows. Especially when the feed is kept in there. Finally, the dining area has the clay/terracotta urn with boiled water. The water tastes like clay due to the pot. Hands often touch the pot and water as water is scooped out. I switched to getting bottled water after dwelling on the hands situation long enough.
The shower room is the first room in the hallway – the dark corridor. It is one meter by 2-3 meters. You put water into a plastic basin and then use that to get wet, soap up and then rinse. The water pours out a drain in the backyard which goes into another bucket and then overflows into the yard. Since they use a harsh soap for cleaning clothes, I’m not so sure this would qualify as organic especially since the farm area is downhill from the house. There is no concept of hanging a bucket in the room to allow taking a real shower. If you step off the concrete not into awaiting shoes, you now have muddy feet… and no water left…
The two bedrooms that Karol and I had are identical and decently sized 3×3 meters. One window each! Shuddered and barred, but they were allowed to be open during the day when we are home. Doors, too. We provided foam mattresses for the bed frames bought in Kampala. Nothing else except the mosquito nets that we brought. The family does not seem to use them. They cost $3 or so. The family reported two cases of bad malaria between the parents recently and the son claimed he had it when we were there although I was very skeptical. He took a week off from school and cooked meals (he did a lot of the cooking). The TV room was being used for the son while I had his room and it contained all kinds of junk and eggs from the chickens. Dozens of eggs that were rarely eaten. I do not understand why the family wasn’t eating an egg each per day. The TV was on nightly when there was power and it usually played some news and then televangelists. Along with the old TV the family had a cellphone. Everyone in Uganda has a cellphone. It’s the greatest marketing in Africa. I’m quite mixed on the cellphones for people that don’t provide a lot of basics. Seems extravagent.
The master bedroom is the same as the others except with the flooring and wall improvements. The parents, two girls and baby sleep in there.
At the end of the hall is the chicken coop. There is another one outside being used for stoage. They are both completed. They are the only two things on the property except the outhouse that are complete. The outhouse is 5 meters from the house and ten meters from the cooking area. It is brick with a concrete floor with a 5×8 inch hole. No toilet paper. Karol and I had our own. The family used newspaper that I brought and presumably nothing before that. We didn’t ask. Speaking of which… the baby has no diapers. I was wondering… I saw a neighbor kid running around in his usual no pants when he just started defacating in an area near our house where some plants are grown. I guess it just happens wherever.
There is no real way to get clean in the house. You wash with some cold or warm water. I brought soap. A few minutes later, you are grimey again. The family seemed to have someone sick at any point in time. I had a sore throat the first week followed by a nasty little cough the second. A main reason I left is that I could not ignore the potential health issues with the closed up fume-filled home, the general uncleanliness of everything, the chickens, the dirty hands in everything and the baby poop.
The second reason is that there is no real farming going on. Sure, they have crops, but it was all haphazard. No compost or desire to do compost well. Lots of talk, but not real. I brought up the use of hoes to dig farms in the area and how a community ox with plough might be a good entry into the A.D. era for Uganda (no, I didn’t say this). The stares were blank. Last night I am looking at a Rwanda 100 Franc note and there is a picture of ox pulling a plough in a field. Uganda is really in its own little world. I saw no ox in fields in Uganda. Lots of hoes. Back-breaking work which I am sure contributes to a 50 year life expectancy. I turned a whole field and asked what we are planting. May I will start eggplant and peppers. That would be a nice addition of healthy veggies. Do you know they take 6-10 weeks to germinate and plant? Uhhhhh… By time I left, weeds were already coming and the soil was getting compacted. It will look the same as when I started before he plants anything. The whole farm is full of weeds. The problems with weeds, uncleanliness, disarray, etc. on the farm are tremendous. It isn’t a part-time job for the farmer although that’s all he works. I was frustrated…
Tags: Travel
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