Every Day is a Bonus: Overdue: Life in Uganda and Cultural Differences

I spent a large part of the day lesson planning and preparing posters and materials for my lessons this week.

I’ll take this opportunity to fill you in on what my life in Uganda has been like and on some of the cultural differences:

Electricity: In Uganda, electricity comes and goes. If you have electricity (which is definitely not everyone, and mostly only an option for people living close enough to a town), you never know when the power will go out. Thus far, the electricity has been out for two full days, one day, a couple hours, one hour, or just a few minutes. The changes in weather can contribute to the loss of power, but this is not the only factor. Because not everyone has power in their homes, there are stores where you can drop things off to be charged and use the stores’ electricity. This is something we have seen Enoch do with his phone and laptop.

Cooking chapate by lantern light

Living with or without electricity has been something we have gotten quite used to, always having our lanterns and headlights handy, and doing lots of things by lantern-light (cooking, lesson planning, showering, etc). This is not to say that when the power comes back that Katie and I aren’t jumping for joy, because we are! Because the inconsistency of the power, and that fact that so many people just plain don’t have electricity, the loss of power doesn’t really seem to phase anyone here. The first day that we lost power for the full day was pretty funny. Katie and I kept asking Doreen when the power would come back on, and she told us early in the day that it would come back on at 7:00pm. Her answer seemed so confident so we believed it. Well, once it hit 7:00 pm the power was still out, so we gave Doreen a hard time. But her response was simple, “If it didn’t come at 7, it will come at 8.” This had Katie and I laughing and doubtful, but sure enough at about 7:53 the power came back on, and we were all cheering and laughing.

Internet: My source of Internet here comes from an Orange Stick. We plug a USB-type thing into our computer and it connects us to the Internet-sometimes. The sticks were handed down to us from previous groups, but I think they are roughly 50 U.S. dollars to buy new. Then once you have your Orange Stick, you pay for an Internet plan that allots you a number of Gigabytes per month. I have been purchasing 10GB per month for $60 (U.S.). Everything you do on the Internet uses different amounts of data. But everything we want to do i.e. Skype, video chat, upload pictures and videos, etc., uses up a lot of data. And even though you have an Orange stick, it doesn’t guarantee you have Internet. Why, I have not the slightest clue. There are times where it simply won’t work at all, and other times where Katie’s might work and mine won’t or vice versa, and there is no rhyme or reason, which is the most frustrating. But for the most part, we have been able to call home daily, so there’s not too much to complain about!

Names: What we have come to realize, and as Doreen has explained to us, is that everyone here has 3 names. Their first name is related to their birth order. So all first-born boys have the same name, Buluku, and all first-born girls have the same name, which is Marska. Then the second born boy is given a name and so on, and same for girls. If all the children born before you are the same sex, and then you are born the opposite sex, your name is Muhindo. So my name is Muhindo Danielle Kawleski (but most people just introduce themselves as Muhindo Danielle). As you can guess, a Ugandan’s second name is what we call our first name, and the last name is the surname. I had Doreen help me give my family names. My Dad and Derek, because they are both first-born males are Buluku Dave and Buluku Derek. My Mom’s name is Kabul Carol. And Nick’s name is Bwambale Nick.

Language: The national language in Uganda is English, but the local language is Lukunzo. It seems that most people know at least some basic English, and some know quite a bit. In the local language, a consonant must always be followed by a vowel. So for example, the word help is spelled “H-E-L-A-P,” and it is pronounced just like it looks. As we have traveled to different parts of Uganda we have come to realize that most Ugandans know several languages. We have heard Samson speak 2 different languages on top of English and Lukunzo. To my understanding, they just pick up on the language, because I assume they are all similar. Although not similar enough that “hello” and “thank you” are not the same, because when I have used these words outside of Kasese Samson always laughs and tells me they don’t speak Lukunzo where we are.

Some of the Lukunzo words I have learned are (these are all my own spellings and pronunciations):

Obuchire (O-boo-cheer-ay), which means Good Morning.

Wesveeday (pronounced as it looks because I spelled this one on my own), which means Good Afternoon.

Wasinga (Wa-sin-ja), which means thank you

Muzungu (Moo-zune-goo), which means white person

Wangee? (pronounced as is with a questioning tone) which means “Yes, please,” but is most commonly used when we would say “what?”

Buchayi (Boo-chi) which means good bye

It has been very fun learning the few words we have, and all the local people really appreciate it and get really excited when use their language. So I try and use it as much as I can with the few words I know.

Common Phrases:

When Ugandans speak English, there are a few phrases that you hear quite often. One of them is “I’m fine.” Whenever you say hello to a Ugandan their immediate response is “I’m fine.”

We have also heard a lot of Ugandans say, “Wow, wow, wow!” Which according to my students, is learned from Muzungus.

“Yes please,” is another common phrase. It can be used as you would imagine it to be, but it can also be used just when someone is agreeing with you or following along with your conversation or story.

When Ugandans want to express that something is hurting them they say, for example, “My stomach is paining,” or, “My head is paining.”

Although this is not a common phrase that many Ugandans use, it is one that both mine and Katie’s students have picked up on, and that is “oops!” The students love to say “oops,” now whenever they drop something or make a mistake.

Weather: Located literally right on the equator, it is hot here in Kasese, Uganda. With that said, it is hot but not humid, thankfully. I have no idea what the actual temperature is every day, but my guess is that it reaches anywhere between 90 degrees and 100 degrees every day. No matter what, every morning I wake up and put on one of my long skirts and tank tops. Most days it is cooler in the morning and then it quickly warms up. From about noon to five it is HOT. Fortunately, it does cool down at night, and with the help of a fan, I have not had many sleepless nights due to heat (except when the power goes out and the fan doesn’t work). October begins the rainy season here, and we have noticed a lot more rain. In fact, for most of October we have had rain every day. It usually rains really hard for up to an hour at the most. But here and there it will rain for a few hours. This mostly happens in the late afternoon or at night.

Religion: Religion is very important to Ugandans. Most Ugandans are Christian, but there is also a large Muslim population here. Ugandans believe firmly that God will provide, and this is something they express often.

Driving: Driving in Uganda, as I have mentioned, is like a game of chicken. Everyone just goes until someone gives. It seems as though cars always have the right away, which goes for Bodas, goats, chickens, cows, pedestrians and so on. Everything and everyone is expected to move out of the way for a car. I’m not sure if there are driving laws or if they are more like considerations, but to be driving any sort of vehicle you must be a licensed driver. I have not seen a speed limit sign anywhere, nor a stop sign, and maybe 2 stop and go lights in Kampala. The roads throughout Uganda are in very rough shape. There are some main roads that are paved, but paved and with many potholes in them. All the side roads are not paved and are filled with rocks (quite large at times), cracks, dirt, potholes and so on. They are very unpleasant to drive on. One Ugandan joked with us once and said that sitting and riding in a car on the Ugandan roads is what they call a Ugandan back massage! The roads are not only filled with cars, motorcycles, and big trucks, but they are also filled with chickens, goats, cows, and people. *Side note- Chickens, cows, and goats just roam freely throughout Uganda. They are rarely tied up or kept in someone’s yard. If you find one of these animals, it is yours to keep if the owner is not near by. In addition, if you hit one of these animals, it is the animal owners’ fault, and that person is responsible for making repair payments.

Goats in the road

Cows in the road

Another interesting aspect of driving in Uganda is the police checks. Police set up checks on the side of the road where they flag drivers down and are supposedly checking for too many people in the car, drivers’ licenses, and illegal goods. But as we have been told, most times the police will let you go without trouble as long as you pay them off. In fact, every vehicle that is stopped at a police check (which is all vehicles including cars, taxis, bodas, trucks, etc.), pays a fee. The fees vary depending on how big your car is. Interestingly so, we do not have to pay when stopped by the police. In fact, as soon as the police approach our car and see that there are white people in it, they wave us away quickly. This is because, as we have been told, the police officers fear us. Which is ironic, because we fear them.

Related to these police checks then are the signals that drivers use. Drivers like to warn other drivers when a police check is near. So as cars pass they will flash their bights at your car, which means “Where are the police?” Then our driver will respond with different hand signals. If he points straight down that means that the police are very close. If he claps his hand closed that means it’s clear. They also incorporate other little signals that signal more specific locations, like doing the worm with his arm means over the hills and so on. And we have seen how effective these signals can be. Because we always get to pass through police checkpoints, we always seem to be the ones warning people when the police are coming. Once they get the signal that the police are very close, the cars will pull over on the side of the road and let all of their people out of the car. We have seen almost 20 cars lined up unloading people before a police checkpoint. All that anyone says about it here is that the police are corrupt, but there is nothing they can do.

Besides police checks there are also truck weigh stations set up. At these weigh stations the tucks are checked to make sure they are under the weight limit and they are also checked for the good that they are carrying. These weigh stations seem necessary as we have seen about 4 trucks that have turned over or caused accidents/fires due to being overloaded.

Transportation: People move from place to place in various ways here. Lots of people walk, and they walk very far distances. And when they walk they are always carrying something, be it on their backs, their heads, or in their arms. A lot of people also use the Boda-bodas, which as I have mentioned are little motorcycles that are used like taxis. The motorcycles are probably made for one or two people but I have seen as many as five people on one. A lot of people also ride bikes. Bikes are also used as taxis. Some bikes have an extra seat on the back where people can sit and ride. Other biker-taxis I have seen let the passenger sit on the seat and the biker just stands and pedals-hard work! Bikes and Boda-bodas are also used to transport goods. You will see piles of sticks loaded up on them, sugarcane, matoke, lumber, jerrycans and so on piled up on the back. There are also taxis (or what we would think of as a city bus) that are called matatoos that are like mini busses/vans that run certain routes. There are also people driving just regular cars that they use as taxis. These are usually jam-packed with people and goods, and are always riding just inches off the ground because of all the weight. People pile in the backs of pick up trucks as well and ride from place to place-even on the roads where they are going 120km/hr. People will pile onto just about any moving vehicle in fact. You even see people piled up in the large trucks that are comparable to semis here. And apparently, it is legal.