Kampala Rocks!

When you say you live in Africa, most people react with raised eyebrows and then exclaim that you must be very brave. For many, the word Africa conjures up images from the television, such as Micheal Buerk’s reports from the famines in Ethiopia in the 1980s or of various wars. When you are more specific, and mention that it is Uganda, the common response is to comment on Idi Amin’s brutal regime of over 30 years ago. I am often asked questions that range from the naive to the outrageous. So now I would like to paint a little picture of modern Kampala. Here are some of the things I have been asked:
1) Do you have to teach under a tree?
No, of course not. I teach in a newly-constructed, well resourced International school. My classroom is spacious and I have more than enough room to capacitate my small class. The classroom is bright and has lovely furniture, unlike the majority of the schools in the UK that were built in the 1930s and are no longer fit for purpose, with expanding curriculums and increased class sizes. I have a Smartboard in my class, which allows the kids to interact with the computer, shows movies and accesses a plethora of online activities (OK sketchy internet permitting). There is a beautiful 25m swimming pool on site, so the kids can have swimming lessons on site, rather than wasting an hour on a bus each week. There are fully equipped ICT suites and the kids have specialists for many lessons. This is the best teaching environment I have ever experienced by far!

2) Do you feel guilty for earning money and not working in a village school as a volunteer?
Well, yes and no. I like to think of myself as quite the socialist, and I never would have opted to teach in the private sector in the UK. There are times when I see the level of privilege the children in our school have and the fact that some of them are blissfully unaware of the conditions most people in this country endure. However, I work hard and deserve my pay. Some of the parents of the children in my school work for NGOs, the UN and other charitable organisations and naturally any foreign worker would hope to offer their children the best education possible. Furthermore, I actually earn considerably less than many of the people working in development, so if they don’t feel guilty, why should I? Like many people of my generation, I took a gap year after university and volunteered in a school in Ghana. Looking back on that experience, it is clear that I benefitted from this more than anybody else did. The teaching methods I had learnt on a whistle-stop ESL course before going out there were simply not suitable for the classes of 50 plus and when I tried to use the drama and games they had suggested, I simply had chaos on my hands! In the end, I resorted to the chalk-and-talk that the local teachers used, so I really do believe that Ghana would have survived quite well without my input! But I gained a great deal, making lifelong memories and discovered that the whole world is not quite the same as Europe.

3) Do you think you’ll get really skinny, because there won’t be much to eat, will there?
Not a chance! When it comes to food in developing countries, I think the motto should be ‘You can never get enough carbs!’ Local food, which I eat from time to time, consists of posho (a kind of millet porridge), matooke (a type of bananas), rice, beans, pumpkin, peas, and a few other things, sometimes accompanied with chicken, goat or tilapia fish. However, Kampala is a city that is developing at a very fast rate. Every month, new restaurants and bars seem to pop up around town. In the past few weeks, I have eaten pizza made by real Italian chefs in the new trendiest spot in town, pain au chocolat in the Belgian patisserie, Indian food that has more delicate flavours and yumminess than any I have ever tried in the UK, my special birthday treat at the Emin Pasha and probably a few more. I haven’t even mentioned the Turkish restaurant, the Thai, the Greek, or the Chinese. It’s a surprise I can actually move after all that fodder to be honest. But the point is that in Kampala, like in any capital city, you can eat your way around the world.

4) Is everything really cheap?
Again, no! The cost of living has risen dramatically in Uganda over the past couple of years. Locals will tell you that the costs of grains and basic food stuffs have gone up by massively, and here we are affected by climatic change and world trends. Last year, there was quite a large drought in the summer, so many crops failed, bumping up the price of and decreasing the availability of basic foods for many. A litre of petrol costs about a pound, which is ludicrous when you consider the average Ugandan wage. It would be like you trying to fill your car with finest champagne! On my wage though, I could very easily survive if I wanted to live like a local. But I don’t (or am too soft to live without my home comforts). As soon as you import anything, then you may as well say charge whatever you like. Some of the craziest prices are nearly 10 quid for a week old edition of The Sunday Times, £4.00 for a box of cereal, £5.00 for mushrooms that don’t taste of rubber and a whopping £25.00 for a Body Shop moisturiser that you could pick up for less than a fiver at home. Travel is also costly – only the richest people can afford to fly here, which combined with a lack of competition, equates to literally sky-high fares. So there we have another myth busted.

5) Is it dangerous?
For crying out loud, I lived and worked in Dagenham and used to catch the fright, I mean night bus back in the small wee hours through some of the less salubrious areas of East London for 3 years! I walked through the centre of Blackpool in the early evening last time I was home, and have to say that I was far more petrified of the dodgy characters hanging around the rundown buildings than I have ever felt either in Bogota or Kampala. Unfortunately, I can’t say that Kampala is crime free, but most of us living here feel perfectly safe, day or night. Yes there are instances of opportunistic theft, but name me a city where this doesn’t happen. Of course, people are also referring to the bigger picture, thinking of the wars and military coups that have blighted this continent in history. Before I left Colombia, one parent physically shuddered and sucked in her breath when I mentioned I was leaving for Uganda, uttering the words “Aye no, es peligroso, receurdas Idi Amin”. Well get over it! It was a long time ago and nobody would worry about your safety in Germany because a very mean man named Hitler was once in charge! A well meaning friend once pointed out that there had been some violence reported in the DRC, which they claimed is ‘near you’. I don’t think any of you would be worrying about dodging bullets if a civil war broke out in Denmark, would you? Ironically, when there were instances of riots and violence in Kampala last September and following the fire in the Kasubi Tombs, most people had no idea because it was not headline news in the UK. It was reported in the newspapers, but only those searching for news in Uganda would be likely to come across it. So do please keep an eye out on what’s going on here – your concern is very much appreciated!
I think I may have wandered off the point a little, as I am always liable to do, but I hope that this has given you a little bit more of an idea of what life is like here. Kampala rocks!