Closing out Kampala

Today is Monday our last full day in Kampala. I am excited for next week in Addis Ababa but will always have a special place in my heart for Kampala. I will say that I am excited as I have heard Addis is cleaner than Kampala (more paved roads). My team member Kristi put it well when she said that when we get home we wont be able to just tell everyone all the things we learned. Our learnings and findings will come out over the next few months, so I wont try to get in deep about some of my key learnings rather I’ll just highlight a few fun things that might spark some interest or questions.
1.) Packing into cars: If a car holds 6 you can at least get 8 in it
2.) Customer Service is very different in other parts of the world relative to the U.S. restaurant service requires patience and the ability to always be thinking about what you are eating
3.) Extended family is king! Everyone here is very opening and welcome with their homes (something we could learn from in our very individualistic culture) people often take in orphans, children with HIV, nieces and nephews grandparents etc.
4.) Safety: We probably overdo safety in the U.S. but in my travels there are many stark observations that are different. Babies on the back of motorbikes, no helmets anywhere, men without shoes on unloading trucks of coffee, giant holes in sidewalks and I could go on. Bottom line is with our system of signs, railings and baracades in our country, you have to make sure you are on your toes.
5.) Polygamy (there is a lot) and Women’s Rights (there is a little) :As most of you know Africa has an issue with HIV/AIDS. Uganda is not that much different. Most of the HIV is spread through an unprotected sexual relationship. Here it is not uncommon at all for a married man with kids to have multiple wives, partners etc. Most of the HIV is spread through what they call here in an awareness campaign the sexual network. They are trying to raise awareness about the damage having multiple partners can cause. They face many challenges with this. In terms of women’s rights. Yes there are women in power and women in really good jobs here. But when it comes down to it women are supposed to have children (and lots of them) and if their husband is cheating it is often overlooked. Now keep in mind this is not everyone but just some general trends. There is a lot of challenges for women here.

I’ll stop at that for now but none the less a very interesting cultural exp thus far and I am sure more will come to mind in the coming time. Off to Addis…