Travelogue: Village life in Uganda

About two months late, but hey, better late than never right? I figured I should write about it before I forget even more of it. I've not really shared all my travel stories, or even much of them, even with close friends, because really, there's just so much to tell that I simply don't know where to start. And it would take days and days and some moments were really just "you have to had been there" and everyone would get bored because they have no idea what I'm talking about.

So from May to August this year, I lived and taught in Uganda. I lived in a little village called Busesa, which is located on the eastern side of Uganda, along the highway to the border crossing between Uganda and Kenya. I arrived on my own, a day earlier than the other volunteers who were flying in from UK. It took me 1.5 hours to get through immigration 'cause the queue was sooo long, and by the time I got out I was worried my backpack would be gone and so would the driver sent by the B&B I was putting up at. Thankfully the driver persisted in waiting and I found him amongst the sea of expectant faces when I stepped out, holding a sign with my name on it. Spent one night in Entebbe at a B&B called The Colonial Residence, which is opened by a friendly couple.

First breakfast in Uganda at The Colonial Residence

After 5 days of orientation at a campsite along the River Nile, our dear representative sent us to our village house and left the five of us there to our own devices. And from then on we were on our own. We had our own little house, which was equipped with little modern luxuries that we did not expect at all, thanks to the kindness of our (relatively wealthy) landlord. We had a small refrigerator, a gas stove, a water dispenser, running tap water, a flushing toilet, a shower. Some nights we would be left in the dark with candles and torchlights, but for the most part we had electricity.

Us on our first day in our village house - 2 Brits, 1 Canadian, 1 Singaporean and 1 American

We had to be really conscious of saving water, because it had to be manually drawn from a well to fill a huge 5,000l tank in our backyard and if it had run out we could probably have paid someone to do it but it would be a lot of hassle. So the toilet was only flushed once a day (mostly we used the outhouse), dishwashing was done as efficiently as possible, showers were much shorter 'cause it was cold (if we even showered at all...don't judge :X). It was still very different compared to life back home, but you really learn to appreciate little things more.

We had to sleep in mosquito nets, and for some of us it was essential. I attract mozzies like flowers attract bees, and the first night in the house I had to sleep without a net because the one I bought online was too small to fit over the bed and it was a waking nightmare. I spent the entire night huddled under the sheets that I thankfully bought in the supermarket earlier that day, perspiring like crazy but not daring to show even an inch of flesh because I could hear the deafening whine of mozzies buzzing around right above me. For others though it seemed fine, like my Canadian roomie Kat, who eventually gave up on her mozzie net and slept without one. Malaria is a very real problem there but malaria aside the itching from the mozzie bites is enough to drive you crazy. So we had to get used to taking anti-malarial pills and putting on mozzie spray day and night.

I taught at a public primary school called Ibaako Primary School, which is a 20-minute brisk walk along the highway every morning. We'd get up at 7, eat breakfast and start off for school and reach at about 8. School typically ended at about 4 or 5 pm for my teaching partner Nicole and I, and for the other three who were in another primary school, they came home at varying times. We would walk pretty much everywhere, around the village, to and from school, to the nearby village and it was fine mostly. At mid-day the sun would be scorching though, and when it rained it was terrible, because the roads would turn to mud. One Sunday we came home from our weekend in town and it was pouring and the 5-minute walk from the highway in to our house felt like forever because it was getting dark (there are no streetlights so it is literally pitch dark at night) and the roads were muddy and slippery and the rain was in our eyes and down our faces and we were absolutely drenched.

Hand-washing our laundry at 6 am

Lugging 18-litre bottles back home

Chores-wise we did our own cooking, dishwashing, cleaning and all, but thankfully the landlord also had a houseboy, who lived in a small house attached to our backyard, and we could pay him to do our laundry weekly, and also to run errands like getting drinking water. We did our own laundry once at 6 in the morning when it was still dark, because the houseboy was ill, and it was no joke. Hand-washed a week's worth of laundry and it took forever, because the soap suds just wouldn't seem to come out. ALWAYS BE THANKFUL FOR YOUR WASHING MACHINE GUYS IT IS THE BEST INVENTION EVER.

Communal shaving day in our backyard

World Cup mania even in the village

After we got home from school, we would usually be ravenous so we would snack, maybe exercise a little and then cook ourselves huge portions for dinner. Evenings were spent chilling in the backyard, playing cards, listening to music, planning the next day's lessons, reading on our Kindles, writing in our journals, making friendship bracelets or just sitting around and talking. Bedtime would be at about 8 or 9 pm (crazy early I know), because we would be so exhausted and sleepy by that time and just troop off to bed. When World Cup started, some of us went out at night to these little viewing rooms in the village like the locals, where you pay an entrance fee to watch the night's matches. Life was really simple and peaceful in the village. And it's surprising how quickly one adapts to the simple life and after a while you realise you don't need very much to live well and be happy. Every week would pass pretty quickly and before we knew it it would be the weekend.

Rainbow spotted on the way to Idudi village

Some days after school Nicole and I would walk with our kids to Idudi, another village about a 20-min walk from our school, to do grocery shopping in their local market. Idudi is larger than Busesa, so it also has a larger market with more variety of produce. We would go there about once or twice a week for avocados, bananas, eggs, potatoes etc. Usually in Busesa we would be able to get only tomatoes, green peppers, eggplants, onions, cabbage and eggs. Five days a week in the village we would be on a vegetarian diet pretty much, other than eggs. They do have meat in the village, but the meat would usually be strung up outside their wooden shacks and it would be covered in flies and it never looked appealing enough to risk trying. So we would only eat veggies and fruits on weekdays and gorge on meat over the weekend.

Also, depending on when you go, the crop that is in season would be really cheap. When we arrived it was mango season and mangoes were practically free. They sold them really cheaply in the markets, and the children gave them to us every day in school as gifts. One week we had over a hundred mangoes in the house and we had to give them away because otherwise they would rot over the weekend while we were away. And then it was maize and pineapple season.

The walk home from school along the highway

Some people have asked for details of living, volunteering and/or travelling in Africa and so I thought I'd write it down, both for myself and for whoever is interested. And I'll be happy to answer any more questions. I don't claim to be an expert or to know the place very well, having just been there for only four months and a handful of countries really, but I have been there and all I can share is what I've seen or learnt from my own experience and I would say a hearty "YES" to anyone who wants to go.