Update from Dave in Uganda

August 24 – Day One

I arrived safely in Uganda at 8 am after a grueling 42-hour trip that included a 12-hour layover in London. Blue skies, a gentle breeze and temperatures in the mid-eighties greeted me. What a wonderful change of pace from the 107-degree temperature in Dallas when I left on Sunday!

The very first thing I noticed that had changed since my last visit earlier this year was the increased police and military presence. The bombings that took place during the World Cup Finals last month have resulted in security stops and security screenings both on the roadside and before entering virtually any public building. We stopped at one public market area for bottled water and our van was searched inside and out and then each of us was scanned by a hand-held security device. All this to get a bottle of water!

After a quick breakfast of instant coffee in warm milk, I went to work immediately with Jim and the rest of the UCP team. We made several stops along the route back to Kampala from the airport at Entebbe. It was great to be reunited with the team on the ground and get to visit some of the kids that have been in the project from the beginning. One such young lady – Scovia – literally ran up to the van when she saw us pull up to her school and hugged everyone. Then she told me that I looked very “hard.” In response to my quizzical look she said, “you know, hard as in old!” Jim has had fun with that one! And then Robert, our driver, chimed in “Elder Jim now looks younger than you!” My retort of “Let’s see if you don’t look ‘hard’ after 42 hours of travel across 8 time zones” was drowned out by the laughter in the van. Keep in mind that Jim is 12 years older than me and walks with the aid of two crutches. The rest of the visits were fun but uneventful. I arrived at the guesthouse around 8 pm and sat down to a hot dinner of stewed fish with rice, Matoke, greens and potatoes. Jim tells me that I fell asleep within minutes of my shower.

Day One Recap: 1 bank. 4 schools. 7 students. (17 banks, 82 schools and 267 students to go!

August 25 – Day Two

After a restless night of jet-lagged sleep, Robert, Grace and I set out for the banks at 8 am. Jim had a rough night last night and decided he better stay back at the guesthouse and rest. I began the tedious job of filling out bank slips – in quadruplicate – for each of the students whose fees we would be paying at the banks. Uganda has begun circulation of the their new paper money so I had to learn the new denominations. The currency is beautiful now that it is new. It will not be long before the red dust that coats everything here in Uganda is ground into these beautiful bills. Each bill has original artwork depicting a period of Ugandan history. It’s really kind of cool!

After a quick stop at the bank where we keep the Project funds, it was off to the banks to pay fees. I was surprised at my first bank stop to be one of only three people in line. This is the same bank that had over 200 people in line the last time I paid bank fees in January. Robert barely had time to park the van before I was back having paid for four students in just under 15 minutes! I couldn’t believe my good fortune. I filled out another dozen bank slips and marched over to the next bank around the block. Once again, I was surprised to one of only six people in line for three tellers! This was awesome! Two banks and 16 student fees paid in just over 30 minutes!

The rest of the day went along just about like that. The longest queue in which I stood all day was only twelve people in length! We had all the fees scheduled to be paid today completed just before 1 pm. Incredible! I only hope that tomorrow will be as smooth. I spent the afternoon with Pastor Michael of the EPC church in Kiwatule preparing for the 3-day seminar I am leading later next week. I arrived back at the guest house just before the heavens opened and a monsoon fell upon Kampala heralding the beginning of rainy season (rainy season is from late August through mid October). The rain dropped the temps into the low 70s. It was awesome to need a jacked to sit out on the porch to watch the rain. My joy was short-lived for after the rain came the mosquitoes that chased me inside the guesthouse of the night.

Day Two Recap: 10 banks. 2 schools. 60 students. (7 banks, 80 schools and 207 students to go!)

August 26 -Day Three

Rainy season has arrived with a vengeance here in Kampala. The overnight rains rutted the roads even more deeply turning what is usually a bumpy ride into a bone-jarring, nightmare of a ride. Robert and Grace arrived as if on cue at 8 am for us to begin our day full of further bank payments. We had six banks on the schedule for today and I had visions of flying through fee payments like we did yesterday. The dream evaporated as we hit the outskirts of the business district in Kampala. The Archbishop of Canterbury has arrived in Kampala for a meeting with African Anglican Bishops. That meeting, along with the
assembly of Rotary Clubs International, jammed the streets with pedestrians and vehicles. By the time we arrived at our first bank, the lines were stretching out the doors.

Grace and I took the first big group of students and divided them into two and set off for different branches of the same bank. With nearly 70 student fee payments to make with this particular bank, we thought it wise not to arrive up at the teller with that many payments. I’ve received more than my share of evil-eyes from tellers when they see the number of fee payments I slide under the glass. It’s a big deal because each of the payments is done in quadruplicate and the teller must mark through each of the four pages individually – no carbon paper used here! Each fee payment takes around 3-4 minutes to enter the child’s name and ID number along with the school name and ID number. I arrived at the teller after a 90-minute wait with 17 such payments to make. She was not at all happy but she didn’t turn me away. I arrived back at the van a few minutes before Grace and we trundled off to the next bank.

This bank was located in the midst of Mykongo University. We pulled into the campus and made our way to the branch office and were greeted by a large tent outside the bank with dozens of people seated in plastic chairs. I took a number – 154 – and took a seat. A few moments later, I was summed along with everyone else with a number from 150 through 200 to actually join the queue inside the bank. I couldn’t help but be reminded of the days when I paid my university fees at the bursars office. At Mykongo there are 15000 students all paying their fees this week at this campus bank branch. Needless to say, I was the oldest one in line – old enough to be a parent to all of them! Being the only Mazunga (white man) in line, I garnered many a stare but no preferential treatment. I did my time in line, paid for our sponsored students and then stood in the shade for an hour waiting for Robert and the van to come collect me.

I repeated this basic process another two times before calling it quits for the day. I’m tired, sweaty but happy that we are progressing so nicely in the fee payment process. I’m looking forward to a nice dinner at the guest house and a few more chapters in the latest Bourne!

Day Three Recap: 7 banks. 72 students. (0 banks, 80 schools and 136 students to go!)

The process slows significantly now as we begin going school to school to pay fees.