We got up early to beat the traffic just like you do in the ATL. The drive in was as crazy as ever. We came within inches...well millimeters of having an accident. Traffic rules, lights, and sometimes even the policemen are just there as a suggestion. Next time I will bring a video camera because the still will not do it justice.
We started our meetings out at Makerere University with the Dean of the Arts. His children are involved with KKL. We also met with Dr. K who is working with Columbus State on their study abroad and he also taught at Columbus State 2 years ago. We justgave them an overview of the program and opened a line of communication between the Universities in hopes of creating a Memorandum of Understanding.
Next we mt with Florence. She works for an organization that is an advocacy group for women,specifically focused on AIDs. Nice women and by the time we left her she was very excited about a few possibilities. While sitting with Florence another friend of KKL Peninah cameto speak with me. She runs the rec center and intramurals on campus. I had a great conversation with her about how they run their campus recreational activities. Most of their sports programs are managed day to day by students with university staff just supervising. Believe it or not Makerere has a 25 yard swimming pool! For those of you who do not know, Kennesaw has been without a pool for a few years now with a new pool “on the master plan.”
We also met with the Department Head of Sport Science. Their degree is a mixture of the things HPS offers with minimal specialization. The Sport Science degree has only been around for 7 or8 years. They started with 7 students and are currently revising their curriculum. They were very interested in just about any collaborative effort.
We also met with the Gender and Women's studies “boss.” (I cannot remember her title and it was common for people to use the word boss to describe people in power). She and Ardith had more to talk about than I did so to be honest I faded out. We crammed a lot of grip'n and grin'n in a short amount of time.
Funny thing was that we were supposed to meet Kato the TKL driver at 12:30. Some how we missed him and decided to meet briefly with one more person then meet him back at the lot. The “brief” meet and great turned into an hour and we missed him all together. I think they almost called the Ugandan National Guard equivalent because they thought we were lost. I had also left my Ugandan cell phone on the charger at Trevor's house. You got it the one day we needed it, I did not have it! Turns out Teddy and Kato got to the location of our last meeting about the same time we did, so all ended well.
We settled up on a few things at the office and headed back to Trevor's to pack up and eat dinner.
The Entebbe Airport is surprisingly nice. I would say is like a Gulfport, MS airport. Small and easy to navigate. Check-in was easy! We did make the observation that we were traveling back with the $8000 Germans and some of the same “Evango-tourists” we flew to Uganda with. We are sitting at Schipol airport in Amsterdam killing time before the final flight.
Just a not on Ugandan weather...I do not think the forecast change the entire 10 days. Sunny, about 85, with a slight breeze and the humidity was undetectable.
Friday, June 5, 2009
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Picture Link
These pictures vary from scenes around town to pictures I took while traveling on the Ugandan Highways when we traveled to Kasese. Enjoy and post questions and I will try to answer them.
Most of the pictures will be posted here.
Here are some more
and more
Most of the pictures will be posted here.
Here are some more
and more
Monday, June 1, 2009
The Embassy, Ministry, & The Market
I know sounds a bit like “The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe.”
In a way it was!
The United States Embassy was quite interesting. Very pretty building and lots of nice people once you got in! First of you have to park about a ¼ mile down the road. You have to show I.D. at a window that looks much like where you would buy a movie ticket. They give you the go ahead and you enter the first security check point.
This is where you have to leave things like your cell phone, camera, and any bags. This would have been quick for us but the young American (I am only guessing because of the accent) was not prepared! His backpack would not fit in the locker and he had to take all the stuff out individually. Nightmare! Once through here you go in the next room one at a time to walk through the metal detector. Then we were escorted with one person in front and one in back of us.
One more metal detector and wand and two more I.D. check (with the final I.D. check at the Marine guard station) and we were in! We were shown around by the Political Officer. She showed us “where all our tax payer money was going.” The person that gave us the most usable info was Lisa Heilbronn, the public affairs officer. She gave us names of so many other schools that regularly come to Uganda. She and the P.O. Kathleen were very clear about how safe it is here in Kampala and Uganda. In their words Uganda is the safeest country in Africa.
On the way out of the Embassy building Kathleen showed and told us about a library that Americans can use when they visit. I thought that was pretty cool.
As Trevor collected our stuff Ardith and I walked back to the car. As we were walking we heard someone yelling a greeting at us. This was very confusing because we have only been Kampala 5 or 6 days! Turns out it was Jasper Allgawesa, the General Secretary of the National Council of Sports. He asked how our trip to the west went and looked forward to lunch tomorrow. I would not have been surprised if that had happened in Prattville, AL, Hattiesburg, MS, or Kennesaw, GA; but Kampala, Uganda!? Crazy!
After this we went to te Ministry of Education and Sport to meet with Honorable Charles Bakkabulindi. The meeting went as any meeting with a high level official goes. Grip, grin, Trevor and KKL/TKL are great and we look forward to having you here in Uganda. Every Ugandan has been very pleased to hear about the possibility of Americans coming. They see it as a chance to market Uganda and their culture. It was a good but short meeting.
We ventured back to KKL (every time you get in the car it is an adventure). Teddy (not sure if that is how you spell her name) and Kato took us to the national market. Teddy and Ardith were so slow looking that I had to negotiate to deals on my own. I think Teddy was impressed with the price that I got. Bre knows how much I like to shop and haggle over price so it was quite an accomplishment for me. Tonight we pack and prepare for a busy day meeting the Makerere University people.
In a way it was!
The United States Embassy was quite interesting. Very pretty building and lots of nice people once you got in! First of you have to park about a ¼ mile down the road. You have to show I.D. at a window that looks much like where you would buy a movie ticket. They give you the go ahead and you enter the first security check point.
This is where you have to leave things like your cell phone, camera, and any bags. This would have been quick for us but the young American (I am only guessing because of the accent) was not prepared! His backpack would not fit in the locker and he had to take all the stuff out individually. Nightmare! Once through here you go in the next room one at a time to walk through the metal detector. Then we were escorted with one person in front and one in back of us.
One more metal detector and wand and two more I.D. check (with the final I.D. check at the Marine guard station) and we were in! We were shown around by the Political Officer. She showed us “where all our tax payer money was going.” The person that gave us the most usable info was Lisa Heilbronn, the public affairs officer. She gave us names of so many other schools that regularly come to Uganda. She and the P.O. Kathleen were very clear about how safe it is here in Kampala and Uganda. In their words Uganda is the safeest country in Africa.
On the way out of the Embassy building Kathleen showed and told us about a library that Americans can use when they visit. I thought that was pretty cool.
As Trevor collected our stuff Ardith and I walked back to the car. As we were walking we heard someone yelling a greeting at us. This was very confusing because we have only been Kampala 5 or 6 days! Turns out it was Jasper Allgawesa, the General Secretary of the National Council of Sports. He asked how our trip to the west went and looked forward to lunch tomorrow. I would not have been surprised if that had happened in Prattville, AL, Hattiesburg, MS, or Kennesaw, GA; but Kampala, Uganda!? Crazy!
After this we went to te Ministry of Education and Sport to meet with Honorable Charles Bakkabulindi. The meeting went as any meeting with a high level official goes. Grip, grin, Trevor and KKL/TKL are great and we look forward to having you here in Uganda. Every Ugandan has been very pleased to hear about the possibility of Americans coming. They see it as a chance to market Uganda and their culture. It was a good but short meeting.
We ventured back to KKL (every time you get in the car it is an adventure). Teddy (not sure if that is how you spell her name) and Kato took us to the national market. Teddy and Ardith were so slow looking that I had to negotiate to deals on my own. I think Teddy was impressed with the price that I got. Bre knows how much I like to shop and haggle over price so it was quite an accomplishment for me. Tonight we pack and prepare for a busy day meeting the Makerere University people.
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