My Ugandan colleagues tell me that Kampala started catching up with global technologies about ten years ago. At the time the ultimate status symbol was to wear a corporate security badge and a flash drive on a lanyard around one's neck as a sign that one had 'arrived' in a foreign corporate job. People would flaunt their corporate name tag and flash drive at all the best bars and clubs in town as the accessory du jour.
Then MTN made mobile phones widely available and affordable in Uganda. Apparently you could tell if someone was contemplating getting a mobile phone if they suddenly started dressing up for work. A few weeks later the new phone would appear, also dangling on a lanyard around its proud owner's neck.
Today's status symbols - iPhones and Mercedes - are much the same in Kampala as any other global capital city.
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Fowl
You see chickens everywhere in Kampala. They crow at dawn (and into the morning), wander along grass verges and hop across surprisingly wide drainage ditches. I've seen chickens on my walk home from work that seem to be seriously considering whether (and why) to cross the road.
Many people keep chickens and sell the eggs; chickens that forage for themselves tend to lay eggs with very pale yolks so you have to seek out eggs that are labelled "yellow yolk" if you are particular about the sunniness of your breakfast. Chickens are also sold live at the markets, I presume for eating. They are carried upside-down by the feet and after some indignant flapping they soon quieten down and just hang there, resting. I once saw about 20 live chickens tied by their feet to a sack on the back of a motorcycle taxi or boda boda, swaying gently like an extra-wide feathered rear mudflap as the bike weaved through the traffic.
I have not ventured to buy and deal with a live chicken - rather, I buy mine already killed, plucked, drawn and jointed from the Uchumi supermarket. Chicken thighs and wings are much scrawnier here than in the US - no antibiotic growth promoters - but the flavor is really good.
Some people keep more exotic domestic fowl; on my Saturday shopping expedition this morning I saw these turkeys and guinea fowl, which I suspect are destined for the table some day.
Many people keep chickens and sell the eggs; chickens that forage for themselves tend to lay eggs with very pale yolks so you have to seek out eggs that are labelled "yellow yolk" if you are particular about the sunniness of your breakfast. Chickens are also sold live at the markets, I presume for eating. They are carried upside-down by the feet and after some indignant flapping they soon quieten down and just hang there, resting. I once saw about 20 live chickens tied by their feet to a sack on the back of a motorcycle taxi or boda boda, swaying gently like an extra-wide feathered rear mudflap as the bike weaved through the traffic.
I have not ventured to buy and deal with a live chicken - rather, I buy mine already killed, plucked, drawn and jointed from the Uchumi supermarket. Chicken thighs and wings are much scrawnier here than in the US - no antibiotic growth promoters - but the flavor is really good.
Some people keep more exotic domestic fowl; on my Saturday shopping expedition this morning I saw these turkeys and guinea fowl, which I suspect are destined for the table some day.
Security
Security is fairly high in Kampala.
Most homes, including my apartment complex, are surrounded by high walls or fences topped by razor wire and with big heavy steel gates manned by a guard. Guests have to toot their car horns to be admitted. My taxi driver last night told me that a client of his had recently been robbed in her own bed at 3am by a thief who somehow got in - perhaps the gate had been left open.
Most older homes have bars across all the windows as an extra precaution against intruders.
Public security is also high at the moment due to fears of Islamic terrorist threats on significant dates and at large public gatherings like sports events. It's common to have your bags searched when you go into a hotel or shopping mall. There is a highly visible police and army presence in Kampala too.
This is the army barracks in Mbuya - it looks like an African village complete with sharecropped maize, which the military wives roast on charcoal burners and sell by the roadside.
Most homes, including my apartment complex, are surrounded by high walls or fences topped by razor wire and with big heavy steel gates manned by a guard. Guests have to toot their car horns to be admitted. My taxi driver last night told me that a client of his had recently been robbed in her own bed at 3am by a thief who somehow got in - perhaps the gate had been left open.
Most older homes have bars across all the windows as an extra precaution against intruders.
This is the army barracks in Mbuya - it looks like an African village complete with sharecropped maize, which the military wives roast on charcoal burners and sell by the roadside.
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Minority view
It is interesting to experience what it's like to be in a minority group; it's rare for me to pass another white person on my walk to and from work, and a majority of my colleagues both at work and orchestra are Ugandans. Yesterday in the cafeteria I was queuing for lunch when a little girl who had come in with her mother spotted me and delightedly squealed "Muzungu!" (white person), and seized my hand and started swinging it to and fro. I wonder if I was the first muzungu she had ever seen - she was about two years old and very sweet!
Being white has advantages and disadvantages - on the positive side, it's easy for people to remember you so everyone always greets me by name. On the negative side, taxi drivers will often try to charge you the "muzungu price" so you have to be prepared to negotiate, and at night you really stand out so can be an easy target for muggers. Avoiding sunburn and malaria is also something that the locals don't have to worry about as much since they are born with natural defences.
Being white has advantages and disadvantages - on the positive side, it's easy for people to remember you so everyone always greets me by name. On the negative side, taxi drivers will often try to charge you the "muzungu price" so you have to be prepared to negotiate, and at night you really stand out so can be an easy target for muggers. Avoiding sunburn and malaria is also something that the locals don't have to worry about as much since they are born with natural defences.
Vanilla
Did you know that Uganda exports vanilla, cocoa and cinchona bark (from which quinine is made)?
Vanilla grows on vines with orchid-like flowers that bloom for only a single day and have to be hand pollinated to ensure a crop of the precious pods, which take a month to fully ripen. Ugandan vanilla has more vanillin weight for weight than Madagascar vanilla.
Supply and demand for natural and synthetic vanilla fluctuate and this leads to nailbiting price swings for farmers as described in this article.
Agriculture is a major source of GDP and fair trade exporters are doing their part to bring income and stability to the country
Vanilla grows on vines with orchid-like flowers that bloom for only a single day and have to be hand pollinated to ensure a crop of the precious pods, which take a month to fully ripen. Ugandan vanilla has more vanillin weight for weight than Madagascar vanilla.
Agriculture is a major source of GDP and fair trade exporters are doing their part to bring income and stability to the country
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Kings of Buganda
Buganda is the largest kingdom in Uganda and covers much of the south of the country. The king of Buganda is called the kabaka and is the cultural and spiritual leader of the Baganda people - it's a hereditary role.
The kabaka's spiritual leadership is symbolized by a number of royal drums, which are beaten to mark various occasions such as the arrival of different members of the royal family, births and deaths. The drums are housed in a special hut and played by a kawuula who remainds celibate, so it is taboo for women to enter the drum house. I was given a kitenge to wear like an apron over my trousers while I visited the palace and grounds.
The current kabaka, Ronald Muwenda Mutebi II, exiled in the UK from 1966 to 1988, was reinstated by President Musuveni in 1993 and lives quietly in Kampala. He doesn't have public duties like the Queen of England but he does sometimes appear at grand occasions. His robe is made of barkcloth.
The last four former kings or Ssekabakas are buried at Kasubi, the palace of Mutesa I (1837 - 1888).
Sadly the original palace, which had stood for over 120 years, was burned to the ground in 2010 in an arson attack. Unesco is restoring the site. The palace was 30 metres wide, supported by tall wooden columns and topped by a roof made of elephant grass reed thatch. In 1938 it was updated with a metal frame to support the roof, some concrete columns and a brick entry with sliding glass doors. The four Ssekabakas are still buried there; originally their graves were marked by a forest of spears planted upright in the ground. Now you have to imagine it from photographs.
Here you can see how the roof is constructed in one of the huts that has been restored by Unesco. The rings are also made from elephant grass reeds, tied together in a bundle and covered with palm fibres for decoration. The original palace roof had 52 such rings, representing the 52 clans of the Baganda.
Mutesa I dutifully took at least one wife from each clan so that all clans had a chance of producing the next kabaka. In all, Mutesa I had 85 wives and 124 children. Each wife had her own house in the palace grounds and the king would visit them on rotation. The descendants of the wives still live in the cottages in the grounds of Kasubi and their needs - food, healthcare - are taken care of by the current kabaka.
Mutesa I was a good king; he was troubled by the Arab slavers and established good relations with British explorers like Stanley (of 'Dr. Livingstone, I presume?' fame) to keep the slavers at bay.
Twins are celebrated as very special in Baganda culture, and there is a hut in the palace grounds where their umbilical cords are preserved. The parents of twins receive special honorific titles.
According to Baganda tradition, the first born son does not inherit the throne since he has responsibilities to care for the family. Often the third born son is selected as the next kabaka.
Kabaka Mwanga was the third son of Kabaka Mutesa I and reigned Buganda from 1884 to 1888, when he was exiled by the British to the Seychelles, where he died in 1903. Mwanga's body was exhumed and buried alongside his father in 1910.
Mwanga was pretty evil! He encouraged the Arabs and traded slaves and ivory for guns, which he used in wars to expand the kingdom of Buganda. Mwanga never became a muslim, since as king he was not permitted to shed blood and this prevented him from being circumcised. Mwanga had 74 wives and saw Christianity as a threat since he interpreted Jesus' prophecy that the King would return as a personal threat. Mwanga ordered the murder of Bishop Hannington in 1885 and was also responsible for the murders of the Uganda Martys at Namugongo in 1886 (see post on Religion). He opposed the British and was exiled in 1888. In 1897 proclaimed his youngest son, Daudi Chwa, who was only 18 months old, as his successor. Mwanga finally converted to Christianity on his death bed - very convenient. When his body was re-interred at Kasubi in 1910, the corpse was unwrapped so that Daudi Chwa could see his father's face for the first (and last) time.
Due to Kabaka Chwa's tender years, during his early reign the kingdom was controlled by regents. Chwa was the first Kabaka to convert to Christianity and had only one (official) wife but a number of concubines; he died of diabetes in 1943. Chwa's third son, Edward Mutesa II, succeeded him to the throne.
The kabaka's spiritual leadership is symbolized by a number of royal drums, which are beaten to mark various occasions such as the arrival of different members of the royal family, births and deaths. The drums are housed in a special hut and played by a kawuula who remainds celibate, so it is taboo for women to enter the drum house. I was given a kitenge to wear like an apron over my trousers while I visited the palace and grounds.
The current kabaka, Ronald Muwenda Mutebi II, exiled in the UK from 1966 to 1988, was reinstated by President Musuveni in 1993 and lives quietly in Kampala. He doesn't have public duties like the Queen of England but he does sometimes appear at grand occasions. His robe is made of barkcloth.
The last four former kings or Ssekabakas are buried at Kasubi, the palace of Mutesa I (1837 - 1888).
Sadly the original palace, which had stood for over 120 years, was burned to the ground in 2010 in an arson attack. Unesco is restoring the site. The palace was 30 metres wide, supported by tall wooden columns and topped by a roof made of elephant grass reed thatch. In 1938 it was updated with a metal frame to support the roof, some concrete columns and a brick entry with sliding glass doors. The four Ssekabakas are still buried there; originally their graves were marked by a forest of spears planted upright in the ground. Now you have to imagine it from photographs.
Here you can see how the roof is constructed in one of the huts that has been restored by Unesco. The rings are also made from elephant grass reeds, tied together in a bundle and covered with palm fibres for decoration. The original palace roof had 52 such rings, representing the 52 clans of the Baganda.
Mutesa I dutifully took at least one wife from each clan so that all clans had a chance of producing the next kabaka. In all, Mutesa I had 85 wives and 124 children. Each wife had her own house in the palace grounds and the king would visit them on rotation. The descendants of the wives still live in the cottages in the grounds of Kasubi and their needs - food, healthcare - are taken care of by the current kabaka.
Mutesa I was a good king; he was troubled by the Arab slavers and established good relations with British explorers like Stanley (of 'Dr. Livingstone, I presume?' fame) to keep the slavers at bay.
Twins are celebrated as very special in Baganda culture, and there is a hut in the palace grounds where their umbilical cords are preserved. The parents of twins receive special honorific titles.
According to Baganda tradition, the first born son does not inherit the throne since he has responsibilities to care for the family. Often the third born son is selected as the next kabaka.
Kabaka Mwanga was the third son of Kabaka Mutesa I and reigned Buganda from 1884 to 1888, when he was exiled by the British to the Seychelles, where he died in 1903. Mwanga's body was exhumed and buried alongside his father in 1910.
Due to Kabaka Chwa's tender years, during his early reign the kingdom was controlled by regents. Chwa was the first Kabaka to convert to Christianity and had only one (official) wife but a number of concubines; he died of diabetes in 1943. Chwa's third son, Edward Mutesa II, succeeded him to the throne.
Mutesa II was a progressive king; he was educated at Magdalene College Cambridge and at Sandhurst, and he introduced education for girls. Before the 1950's Ugandan girls were valued for the dowry they would earn and so were not educated. Today 70% of Ugandan university graduates are women. Mutesa pushed for and won independence for Buganda in 1955, but due to his massive popularity among the Baganda majority, was perceived as a huge political threat to President Milton Obote, who led the whole country to independence in 1962. Obote abolished the monarchy and Mutesa II was exiled to England, where he died in 1969.
Ugandan Weddings
Namirembe Cathedral is Weddings Central on a Saturday! When I arrived there, one wedding was going on on inside the church and the next wedding party was milling around outside waiting for their turn.
Here's the fleet of Mercedes wedding cars lined up outside
Young Ugandan women favor western-style dresses so the bride and her attendants looked much as an American bridal party would. However the older women - mothers and aunts - were decked out in their best traditional gomesis (pronounced gombitz) of brightly patterned satin tied with a contrasting sash.
When I sat down to rest after climbing the steep cathedral steps, a lady from the wedding party in waiting wearing a gomesi and a silver-sequinned turban rushed up to me and asked if she could have her picture taken with me. Her name is Lukiya Kagoya and she had come from Bugiri for her nephew's wedding. All of a sudden everyone in the wedding party wanted their pictures with me! You can see the different fashion styles in these pictures.
This is Lukiya Kagoya
This lady is Hanifa Akiali, also from Bugiri
This is Tracy Nolubanga - wearing western dress
And this is Zabiya Mutesi, also in more western-style dress.
Everyone wanted to exchange phone numbers and emails. I wondered if having a white (muzungu) stranger at a wedding is supposed to bring good luck, and found out this morning how that works in practice - Lukiya called me to ask if I could help pay for treatment for her daughter, who has been admitted to Bugiri hospital with typhoid. Sadly I'm not in a position to help - Bugiri is some 200km distant, close to the Kenyan border.
I've picked up a few more wedding facts while I've been here; typically the couple will book out a restaurant for the reception, and guests raise money for the couple by daring each other to do silly things (like standing on a table to sing a song), and passing a basket to collect the bets or the fee from the other guests for the dare.
When I sat down to rest after climbing the steep cathedral steps, a lady from the wedding party in waiting wearing a gomesi and a silver-sequinned turban rushed up to me and asked if she could have her picture taken with me. Her name is Lukiya Kagoya and she had come from Bugiri for her nephew's wedding. All of a sudden everyone in the wedding party wanted their pictures with me! You can see the different fashion styles in these pictures.
This is Lukiya Kagoya
This lady is Hanifa Akiali, also from Bugiri
This is Tracy Nolubanga - wearing western dress
And this is Zabiya Mutesi, also in more western-style dress.
Everyone wanted to exchange phone numbers and emails. I wondered if having a white (muzungu) stranger at a wedding is supposed to bring good luck, and found out this morning how that works in practice - Lukiya called me to ask if I could help pay for treatment for her daughter, who has been admitted to Bugiri hospital with typhoid. Sadly I'm not in a position to help - Bugiri is some 200km distant, close to the Kenyan border.
I've picked up a few more wedding facts while I've been here; typically the couple will book out a restaurant for the reception, and guests raise money for the couple by daring each other to do silly things (like standing on a table to sing a song), and passing a basket to collect the bets or the fee from the other guests for the dare.
Aerial views of Kampala
These pictures were taken from the top of the minaret at the National Mosque on Old Kampala Hill. It was a great place to get my bearings in the city. Kampala was originally built on seven hills but has expanded to include many more hills.
This is the view to the north, to Makerere University, where I work. I walked back along Gaddafi Road - it was a pretty steep climb up Makerere Hill!
This is the view to the West, to the cathedral atop Namirembe Hill. It's a brick built, Romanesque-style building with a big dome, currently under renovation. I walked down Namirembe Road to reach the mosque.
This is the view to the East, along Jinja Road. The tall building on Nakasero Hill is quite a landmark and I can see the other side of it from my apartment balcony. Kololo, where I live, is hidden behind Nakasero Hill.
This is the view to the South. Nakiyubo Stadium is a good landmark. To the right of the stadium is Owino market, with large black low-pitched roofs, and to the right and slightly beyond that is the Old Taxi Park and the Entebbe Road. The larger, New Taxi Park is to the left of the stadium. The taxi parks are the transport hubs of Kampala, where you can get a shared minibus taxi or matatu to almost anywhere. I haven't tried matatus yet but may pluck up the courage to ride to Entebbe or Jinja one weekend.
This is the view to the north, to Makerere University, where I work. I walked back along Gaddafi Road - it was a pretty steep climb up Makerere Hill!
This is the view to the West, to the cathedral atop Namirembe Hill. It's a brick built, Romanesque-style building with a big dome, currently under renovation. I walked down Namirembe Road to reach the mosque.
This is the view to the East, along Jinja Road. The tall building on Nakasero Hill is quite a landmark and I can see the other side of it from my apartment balcony. Kololo, where I live, is hidden behind Nakasero Hill.
This is the view to the South. Nakiyubo Stadium is a good landmark. To the right of the stadium is Owino market, with large black low-pitched roofs, and to the right and slightly beyond that is the Old Taxi Park and the Entebbe Road. The larger, New Taxi Park is to the left of the stadium. The taxi parks are the transport hubs of Kampala, where you can get a shared minibus taxi or matatu to almost anywhere. I haven't tried matatus yet but may pluck up the courage to ride to Entebbe or Jinja one weekend.
Gaddafi Mosque
Kampala boasts the second largest mosque in Africa (after Morocco) which was started by Idi Amin and completed with the help of funding from General Gaddafi of Libya in 2008.
Women have to veil up to enter; I had to cover my trouser legs as well as my hair and my bare arms. It was hard climbing the steps with my legs hobbled by a shawl! Everyone must also remove their shoes before walking up the stairs to enter the mosque.
There are two mosques, one above the other. The roof of the lower mosque also serves as a large terrace where people pray. There's a large arch framing the view to the east - it's just off the right edge of the first picture above.
The high point of the tour, literally, is climbing the minaret, which is the tallest spot in Kampala and from which there are wonderful views of the city all around (see next post). It was quite a climb up - here's the view looking down inside the tower from the top.
Here I am at the top with a panoramic view of Kampala. The tall building on the horizon behind me on the left (my right) is the Sheraton Hotel, where I performed last weekend with the Kampala Symphony.
Ramadan starts on Friday July 20 so I expect the mosque will be very busy at that time.
Women have to veil up to enter; I had to cover my trouser legs as well as my hair and my bare arms. It was hard climbing the steps with my legs hobbled by a shawl! Everyone must also remove their shoes before walking up the stairs to enter the mosque.
There are two mosques, one above the other. The roof of the lower mosque also serves as a large terrace where people pray. There's a large arch framing the view to the east - it's just off the right edge of the first picture above.
The main mosque upstairs is used for services on Fridays. The men pray in the large room downstairs and an imam preaches from the wooden pulpit.
The women pray from the balcony upstairs
Here I am on the women's balcony
Here I am at the top with a panoramic view of Kampala. The tall building on the horizon behind me on the left (my right) is the Sheraton Hotel, where I performed last weekend with the Kampala Symphony.
Market Scenes
Yesterday I took a long circular walking tour of Old Kampala. Here are some of the sights from the markets at the crossroads in Wandegeya and Nakalubye.
Unloading big green bunches of matoke, a kind of plantain and Ugandan staple food
Chickens (they are sold live) and more matoke
Carpenters at work
This boda boda driver was sleeping balanced on his motorbike.
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Ugandan Artist - Annette Nakafu
Annette is an artist-in-residence at the IDI Clinic, where she teaches patients art and also displays and sells her own work. You can read more about Annette and art in the clinic here Uganda Art Consortium.
I have been admiring this piece for several weeks and bought it today - I love the chase scene in the market with all the movement and reactions.
I bought this one too - really liked the subject and composition
I have been admiring this piece for several weeks and bought it today - I love the chase scene in the market with all the movement and reactions.
I bought this one too - really liked the subject and composition
Indian Birthday Feast
I celebrated my birthday yesterday with my Pfizer colleagues at Khana Kazana, which is the best Indian restaurant in Kampala. Jeff made these photo collages.
The food was delicious - we started with sliced carrot and cucumber and then really tasty pappadums with finely chopped tomato, onion and herbs on top.
We ordered family-style; from the front working backwards we had lamb rogan josh, tilapia masala, saag paneer, chicken tikka masala and aloo gobi which had a wonderful smoky flavor. All with rice and naan.
For dessert I had gulab jamun - really good, in rose water syrup with slivered toasted almonds and silver leaf to garnish.
The restaurant has a gift shop and a couple of traditional Indian swing seats - so we couldn't resist the group photo opportunity! Standing at the back from left to right are Carlo and Jeff, and seated on the swing are me, Nedra and Flor.
The food was delicious - we started with sliced carrot and cucumber and then really tasty pappadums with finely chopped tomato, onion and herbs on top.
We ordered family-style; from the front working backwards we had lamb rogan josh, tilapia masala, saag paneer, chicken tikka masala and aloo gobi which had a wonderful smoky flavor. All with rice and naan.
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Textiles
Woven fabrics were not independently discovered in East Africa; animal skins were used and reeds were woven into baskets. Barkcloth was reserved for the royal family and also for shrouds.
The Uganda Museum had a video describing how barkcloth is made. A complete six foot long section of bark is carefully removed from a living ficus tree and the bare trunk is tightly bandaged with banana leaves so that a new layer of bark can regenerate. The bark is dipped in boiling water to clean and soften it and then is hammered and stretched in different directions with round, ribbed wooden mallets, until it is several times its original size and thin and flexible, like fine leather. The hammering process gives the barkcloth a wonderful texture, and it is cured in the sun to a rich red-brown color.
On June 23 I visited the Kasubi Tombs, at the palace of former Baganda King Ssekabaka Mutesa II. Barkcloth was used in clothing and as curtains to divide off rooms inside the thatched huts. Artists at the tombs make wonderful paintings of market scenes, women and animals on barkcloth and of course, I had to have one - buying art is fast becoming a habit. This was painted by my tour guide, Fred Mdawla.
Of course woven fabrics are widely available today in all kinds of bright gaudy colors and patterns. While most younger women wear fashionable western style clothes (usually skirts and dresses), older women and country women wear more traditional styles, some loose kaftans, other long skirts with matching blouses, some with curious peaked sleeves. The kitenge or shawl is an indispensable accessory to all women whether modern or traditional and doubles as a headscarf, sling for a baby or coiled up as a support for a load carried on the head. I found a kitenge printed with an irresistible design and had it made into a traditional style dress by a local tailor, Bridget. Here is the one and only Obama dress!
Bridget has promised to make a matching scarf out of the trimmings!
The traditional Ugandan dress is called a gomesi and is made of shiny fabric with peaked puff sleeves. a square yoke neckline and wraps around, fastening on one shoulder with a big button. I am contemplating having a black one made to wear as a concert dress....
The Uganda Museum had a video describing how barkcloth is made. A complete six foot long section of bark is carefully removed from a living ficus tree and the bare trunk is tightly bandaged with banana leaves so that a new layer of bark can regenerate. The bark is dipped in boiling water to clean and soften it and then is hammered and stretched in different directions with round, ribbed wooden mallets, until it is several times its original size and thin and flexible, like fine leather. The hammering process gives the barkcloth a wonderful texture, and it is cured in the sun to a rich red-brown color.
Of course woven fabrics are widely available today in all kinds of bright gaudy colors and patterns. While most younger women wear fashionable western style clothes (usually skirts and dresses), older women and country women wear more traditional styles, some loose kaftans, other long skirts with matching blouses, some with curious peaked sleeves. The kitenge or shawl is an indispensable accessory to all women whether modern or traditional and doubles as a headscarf, sling for a baby or coiled up as a support for a load carried on the head. I found a kitenge printed with an irresistible design and had it made into a traditional style dress by a local tailor, Bridget. Here is the one and only Obama dress!
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