Duke University Engineers Without Borders Central Buganda University Full Belly Project Rural Agency for Sustainable Development Uganda July 23rd – August 21st, 2007 Preface Table of Contents This is my journal from my summer trip to Uganda. It Page # Content is largely unedited; the only text edits are spelling mistakes, 3 - 42 Daily journal: July 23rd – August 21st, 2007 clarifications for the reader, and obvious factual errors. 43 Octagonal Forms Otherwise, it is exactly as written. Pictures taken on the trip 43 Henry Hall Roof have been added to bring the words on paper to life. Along 44 Energy to pump borehole with daily entries, I have included in chronological order 44 Ingredients for Concrete diagrams, essays, tables, and even a poem I recorded in my 45 How to play Michael’s game journal during the trip. The list of people and 46 Education in Uganda acknowledgements sections were added post-trip. I hope the 47 If there were nuclear war and we couldn’t go authenticity of this journal makes reading this more enjoyable. home Engineers Without Borders is a student organization at 48 Inequity of Rainwater Harvesting Duke that promotes sustainable development in communities 49 A Typical Day in Uganda around the world. Typically, much of the planning and 50 Ugandan Food designing occurs during the school year, and the 51 Corruption of the Kasaka church implementation takes place during the summer. Our past 52 Shopping – A List of Prices in Kanoni projects include a mechanical aerator in Indonesia and an 53 The PVC Flamingo accessible playground in Durham. For more information about 54 RWH Construction Summary Duke’s EWB chapter, please visit http://ewb.pratt.duke.edu. 55 Lodging – Jacana Safari Lodge You are most welcome to borrow the original copy of 56 Ecosystems in Queen Elizabeth National Park my journal. For any questions and/or comments, please contact 57 Lodging – Backpackers: The Hostel Life me at [email protected]. 58 Letter back Home (Edited) 59 Rural vs. Urban Life in Uganda Sincerely, 60 Rules of Michael’s Game (aka Ugănda) Continued 61 A List of Prices in Nkokonjeru 62 Lodging – The Convent Patrick Ye 63 Transportation in Uganda Duke Class of 2010 64 Map of CBU 64 Map of Nkokonjeru 65 List of People 65 Acknowledgements Weather: Airplane 11 PM EDT Map of Uganda Monday 7.23.07 My journey begins differently than the rest of the CBU team. I left Chicago early in the afternoon, having spent most of my summer there. Though I did have a great time at home with my family and friends, I do wish that had I stayed in Durham over the summer, I could have helped the team infinitely more than being a thousand miles away. Instead of contributing ideas, I was a burden to take care of. Anyways, I hope I can make up for this at our destination. Right now, I am on the Dallas/Fort Worth to London leg of my trip. The plane has just passed the Eastern Seaboard, and we begin flying over the vast Atlantic in the middle of the night. At Gatwick, I will meet up with the rest of the team. The CBU team includes project chairs Kerry Costello and Zoe Englander, Liza Crabtree, Phil Wolfe, Matt Ball, our mentor Dr. Schaad, and me. Our team is inexperienced. Out of all of us, only Kerry has come last summer on the site assessment trip. Matt and I are both rising sophomores. Only Liza has taken a concrete class. Though we lack in many aspects, that is not entirely a bad thing, as we will certainly gain many new experiences on our trip. There is one thing I am anxious about for this trip. In Luganda, there is a word for white man. On websites, they say that they treat them like rich foreigners, kind of in a good way. But I am the only Asian going on this trip. What will they treat me like? Do they have a word for me? Will they treat me differently than my classmates even though I am American? I never got to ask Yvonne or Yaqing about it, but I guess I’ll find out soon enough. I am off to read Crime and Punishment now, one of the two books I brought (I already finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.) I will see you tomorrow, in London. -Patrick Chicago to Dallas 2 hr CBU team at RDU Dallas to London 9 hr Time zones 6 hr Hours of sleep 4 hr Last summer’s CBU site assessment team Weather: AC Hotel 1:30 AM DDT Tuesday 7.24.07 After a fast-forwarded night, I am awake near London. The flight went well; it seems that I am getting used to sleeping in uncomfortable seats, airplane food, and popping ears. I saw the part of the team from Durham at the Emirates re-check-in. The greetings and first conversations were strange. I think we are all giddy and exhausted after our long trans- Atlantic journeys. We later met Phil, who had been wandering around the duty-free stores for 3 hours waiting. Arriving at London was the beginning of realizing I am not home anymore. Everything around me was unfamiliar. British accents, airport shops, and most noticeably, the lack of Americans shocked me. Getting onto the Dubai flight made these changes more noticeable; all communication was repeated in Arabic. I do feel better now that my classmates are with me; we’re doing this together. -Patrick Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows London to Dubai 7 hours Time zones 3 hours Sleep 5 hours Halfway there! Weather: 70s, humid, partly cloudy 11 PM UDT Wednesday 7.24.07 After a horizontal night’s sleep, we leave Dubai for Uganda. Our flight first took us across the Arabian Desert to Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia. It was a beautiful airborne view. First, the green hills dotted with houses, and then, the sprawling city of 7 million. I sat with a Chinese- Mauritian named Bernard Huang, who told me about his family, Mauritia, and his African experiences. On my way to Entebbe, I met an Indian-African who told me his perspective on corruption in Africa. We met CBU at Entebbe, where we stuffed our van and stopped in Kampala for currency exchange, cell phone, and Italian pizza dinner. Our road trip to CBU was like a roller coaster. Upon entering Henry Hall, I was instantly reminded of that rural smell of China many years ago. I must go to bed now; everyone else has already. -Patrick Outside Entebbe Airport Dubai to Entebbe 5 hours Time zones -1 hour On the road 4 hours Elephant shaped pizza Weather: 70s, partly cloudy, light breeze 10:30 PM Thursday 7.26.07 Today was full of new experiences. I woke up early, and I got to enjoy the cool morning air and the sounds of children and birds as I waited for the team to wake up. Breakfast was simple, bread and butter (really margarine) and tea. We began on our first tank. By the end of the morning until lunch, we had chosen the cistern site on the north corner of the house, cleared and leveled the footprint, and assembled the octagonal outer form. It was a lot of work, and I am thankful that Michael and Kenneth both helped us out, especially with the hoe. Lunch was amazing. Margaret took much time and effort to prepare us rice, beef, cabbage salad, potatoes, and avocado. I was stuffed; we had to eat everything before we could leave the table. Leveling the base Before lunch was the toughest chore ever; carrying a 20 L jerrycan full of water. Walking a mile to the borehole, waiting, and pumping was no problem at all. Little did I know how much I underestimated the difficulty of this Njagala kwebaka I want to sleep. Pumping water from the borehole simple yet necessary task was. It was bad, almost like Saturday Treats. The local kids laughed at how clumsily I carried the jerrycan between my legs. Yet one kid offered to help me, though I was almost there. Water in the house became such a more valuable and luxurious item since it took so much effort. We spent lunch discussing more efficient ways to transport that water, or to fix the borehole by Henry Hall. Now our RWH project means a lot more to us. Later in the afternoon, we traveled to Kanoni to pick up rebar materials. On the way we saw several examples of rainwater harvesting. Also, the kids on the road greeted us enthusiastically with ”Muzungo” which stands for white person. Carrying our goods back, we set up the floor mesh and cut the rebar, which was also bent. Tomorrow, we will pour the concrete, and hopefully make purchases in Kampala. Oh yeah, we are meeting the diocese tomorrow at 8 AM. -Patrick Zoe carrying water on her head Kilungi (pronounced “Chelungi”) Good Cutting rebar for base Weather: 80s, more sun, breeze 12:30 PM Friday 7.27.07 I woke up alarm-clock-less at 7, early because we had to meet the minister at 8. We met Reverend Fred, his wife Sarah, and his assistant, Patrick at Fred’s house. Strangely, the conversation was awkward, with short bursts of useful talk. They were very glad to see us and welcomed our efforts. However, when Dr. Schaad said we could build multiple tanks, it seemed like they wanted to take advantage of our help for themselves.