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Post for June 9, 2018
Visited a lower income area today. Cheyanne and I joined a group of Ndejje social science students for their initial assessment of the area for a community improvement project they’re doing. Our group went downtown, and it was led by a leader in the community. He first told us his concerns for the community. It focused on gambling and education, a school had started to be built but then stopped with only three walls and no roof. He believed that the lack of education resulted in young adults who were lazy and didn’t know how to think. He told us that the little money they earn, they are quick to waste on sports betting in the hope of getting rich.
He then took us to meet several different people to interview. They were asked about their main concerns for the area. A lot of it seemed to center on the drainage system. There was a stream running through the entire community. One section of this water was almost entirely purple from the laundry detergent. Most of the length of it had some plastic bottles and bags, as well as food waste. A woman who lived near the water said her main concern was flooding from this stream. She said that even a light or short rain caused it to flood right up to her door, affecting her business. Another woman, who had multiple young children to care for, said that the flooding sometimes prevents her from working.
Years prior, a woman from Russia had come to their community to teach hair styling as a way from the younger people to have a step up to a higher income job. Some work in a salon, others in factories making wigs. It is now a school in the community that has had some success. Specifically, that nearly all the students are able to find work quickly after receiving their certificate. When asked about their challenges, the current teacher said that most in the community cannot afford to attend. They don’t have any scholarship program to help fund low income students and she hopes to see one within the next five years. The teacher is also hoping to expand the types of styling lessons students can take so they have more opportunities after finishing the courses.
In previous travels, I’ve always kept to the border of lower income neighborhoods, but I’ve never ventured into them. This was a good experience for me to able to hear from the people who were living there and to hear what they wanted to be changed in the area.
After this, we were invited to a faculty party for the Kampala campus. Before dinner we each tried fried crickets! Then there was goat, chicken, tomatoes, and bananas- all of it roasted. And the night ended with some dancing.
