Dance, Dance, Dance, Revolution
[First off: I’ve been accepted to Tufts’ Fletcher school for graduate study next fall, for the first time in six months I actually know what I’ll be doing next year and where. Good feeling; come visit me in Boston. DC people, I plan to make it up to you with a trip this summer, also scheming for a big party at my parents house before I move…]
Back to the backpackers life in Kampala. Until arriving here and throwing my stuff down on a bunk bed in a stinking room with some guys ass peaking out beneath a mosquito net just meters away, I hadn’t realized that I had gone almost 3 months without staying at a backpackers – an abode that was a staple for my time in South Africa. The smell aside, it’s nice to be back; you meet interesting people and it generally opens your mind to new perspectives on Africa.
Speaking of which, I mentioned in one of the South Africa posts the tourist mantra: “I want real Africa” in response to supposedly well-developed and exceptional SA. Well, how about 18 hours on a bus over what is much closer to a path than a road? I can’t believe how bad the roads are in Kenya. Arusha to Nairobi is a heavily traveled road and yet both governments seem to feel ok with it being absolutely littered with craters. Not pot-holes, craters. A number of times I could feel a shooting pain in my spine and felt my extremities tingle after being jolted from a few precious seconds of sleep. North of Nairobi the road is under construction and was even worse, and apparently the road from Eldoret, Kenya to the Uganda border has never been close to paved. I think it was Tim who commented on the buses only getting worse north of SA….yup.
Was nice just stopping in Nairobi and talking to Kenyans there and on the bus – reminding me how friendly they are and getting me excited for spending some extended time in the country. Gotta love the Kenya/Tanzania border too, with informal tuck-shops and scammers spilling right up to the door of Immigration. I could really do without “pay toilets” at these borders though. This is basically someone who sets up shop at the sole-toilet outside Immigration, charges 500 Shillings (~50 cents US) for use of the facilities and gives a cut to the proper authorities who should be preventing such graft. Meanwhile, I make it my job to spend exactly every coin of the previous currency before I get to the border in order to avoid basically giving money away in the exchange-cut, which also means I’m getting good at ‘holding it’ on these bumpy rides…
Ok, once you get here, Kampala is great. Just a laid-back city where you get the sense that there’s a lot going on though. Has an old, impromptu feel (there is NO reason to the street lay-out though), yet a ton of construction going on, feeding off the country’s recent economic growth. Good reading in the local papers too - nice selection compared to other cities so far. Also, one of the best op-eds I've read on the recent growth in Mozambique and the author's brilliant warnings against that nation going the way of Uganda. Please read, this touches on a lot of what I discussed in my Zimbabwe posts in terms of true economic independence. I've been concerned about Mozambique as well because it was clear while I was 'down South' that South Africans and some Zimbabweans are basically buying up everything in Southern Mozambique and are re-colonizing the country in many people's minds. Actually, I'm thinking that link may not work without registering, so here are some highlights:
By Dr. Tajudeen If you read anything about mozambique today and the tremendous progress the country is supposed to be making, one cannot help recollecting similar rave reviews and reports about Uganda in the late 1980s through the1990s. The statistics are very familiar: over 6% growth rate, expanding opportunities for business, IMF/WorldBank ideology, a confident middle class, and an environment open to foreign investment, INGOs, donors blah blah blah. In other words: a nation open for business and nd a relatively enlightened leadership. Of course the ovation for Uganda is no longer as enthusiastic as it used to be not only due to the economic limitations of macro- economic rejuvenation in a dependent economy but also the limits of political tolerance between the ruling party and the President and its erstwhile over-indulgent foreign supporters.
Many new buildings are going up [in Mozambique] and old ones being rehabilitated. The hotels are in brisk business full of ubiquitous UN, Western NGO officials and assorted busines men and women all over the place. There are more than 20 big donor agencies and organisations in the country who are basically the engine of the new growth. It is a reward for successful peaceful settlement of the war against RENAMO, ideological capitulation or pragmatic realignment away from the former Stalinist model and endorsement for the political leadership. But as in Uganda, this support comes with costs that increase everyday. One, it is not sustainable that a country be so dependent on foreigners through both budget support and resources for its capital development.
Even our [Uganda's] largely foreign-sponsored NGOs (increasingly substituted for civil society) are also more accountable to their funders than the people they serve! Opposition politicians spend more time complaining, whining and pining to foreign (and usually Western ) diplomats and other aid officials than organising to politically challenge misruling governments. Our governments sign up to international commitments like the Millennium Development Goals in addition to mountains of other Intra-African protocols or agreements like NEPAD, the African Peer Review Mechanism, APRM without expecting to fulfil them.
Lots of attention to the arts in Kampala too - relative to other cities I’ve visited on this trip - a big film festival right now, good local music scene, and I’ve already visited a few decent art galleries.
One thing though: if I walk into a club and even think for a second that I might be one of the better dancers there, your country is in trouble. Honestly, I shouldn’t even be dancing to hip-hop period, but out of boredom and lack of music-alternatives in the clubs here it does happen and it’s only mildly embarrassing. Less so as I’ve moved north though and that’s a problem. I got a sense of this in Arusha, where I saw a couple of glaringly bad dancers, and in Kampala last night, there were bars full of them. Ok, dancing’s cultural and ‘good dancer’ is of course a relative term; whatever, this is great, I own the dance floors in Kampala.
People in Kampala are great – friendly in an honest way (ahem, Arusha) and always willing to help idiots like me. Had a couple contacts here through my class in Jo’burg and a friend of Ganga’s, so its nice to have local partners-in-crime. Also, I have a pseudo job interview on Monday with the CIPESA project, an initiative of bridges.org Very excited to check out the work they are doing. Organizing a trek to see gorillas next week too, hearing good things from other tourists. So, I’ll probably be in Kampala for another week before settling in Eldoret for a bit; plenty to keep me busy here though, I expect my dancing to improve ten-fold.
Back to the backpackers life in Kampala. Until arriving here and throwing my stuff down on a bunk bed in a stinking room with some guys ass peaking out beneath a mosquito net just meters away, I hadn’t realized that I had gone almost 3 months without staying at a backpackers – an abode that was a staple for my time in South Africa. The smell aside, it’s nice to be back; you meet interesting people and it generally opens your mind to new perspectives on Africa.
Speaking of which, I mentioned in one of the South Africa posts the tourist mantra: “I want real Africa” in response to supposedly well-developed and exceptional SA. Well, how about 18 hours on a bus over what is much closer to a path than a road? I can’t believe how bad the roads are in Kenya. Arusha to Nairobi is a heavily traveled road and yet both governments seem to feel ok with it being absolutely littered with craters. Not pot-holes, craters. A number of times I could feel a shooting pain in my spine and felt my extremities tingle after being jolted from a few precious seconds of sleep. North of Nairobi the road is under construction and was even worse, and apparently the road from Eldoret, Kenya to the Uganda border has never been close to paved. I think it was Tim who commented on the buses only getting worse north of SA….yup.
Was nice just stopping in Nairobi and talking to Kenyans there and on the bus – reminding me how friendly they are and getting me excited for spending some extended time in the country. Gotta love the Kenya/Tanzania border too, with informal tuck-shops and scammers spilling right up to the door of Immigration. I could really do without “pay toilets” at these borders though. This is basically someone who sets up shop at the sole-toilet outside Immigration, charges 500 Shillings (~50 cents US) for use of the facilities and gives a cut to the proper authorities who should be preventing such graft. Meanwhile, I make it my job to spend exactly every coin of the previous currency before I get to the border in order to avoid basically giving money away in the exchange-cut, which also means I’m getting good at ‘holding it’ on these bumpy rides…
Ok, once you get here, Kampala is great. Just a laid-back city where you get the sense that there’s a lot going on though. Has an old, impromptu feel (there is NO reason to the street lay-out though), yet a ton of construction going on, feeding off the country’s recent economic growth. Good reading in the local papers too - nice selection compared to other cities so far. Also, one of the best op-eds I've read on the recent growth in Mozambique and the author's brilliant warnings against that nation going the way of Uganda. Please read, this touches on a lot of what I discussed in my Zimbabwe posts in terms of true economic independence. I've been concerned about Mozambique as well because it was clear while I was 'down South' that South Africans and some Zimbabweans are basically buying up everything in Southern Mozambique and are re-colonizing the country in many people's minds. Actually, I'm thinking that link may not work without registering, so here are some highlights:
By Dr. Tajudeen If you read anything about mozambique today and the tremendous progress the country is supposed to be making, one cannot help recollecting similar rave reviews and reports about Uganda in the late 1980s through the1990s. The statistics are very familiar: over 6% growth rate, expanding opportunities for business, IMF/WorldBank ideology, a confident middle class, and an environment open to foreign investment, INGOs, donors blah blah blah. In other words: a nation open for business and nd a relatively enlightened leadership. Of course the ovation for Uganda is no longer as enthusiastic as it used to be not only due to the economic limitations of macro- economic rejuvenation in a dependent economy but also the limits of political tolerance between the ruling party and the President and its erstwhile over-indulgent foreign supporters.
Many new buildings are going up [in Mozambique] and old ones being rehabilitated. The hotels are in brisk business full of ubiquitous UN, Western NGO officials and assorted busines men and women all over the place. There are more than 20 big donor agencies and organisations in the country who are basically the engine of the new growth. It is a reward for successful peaceful settlement of the war against RENAMO, ideological capitulation or pragmatic realignment away from the former Stalinist model and endorsement for the political leadership. But as in Uganda, this support comes with costs that increase everyday. One, it is not sustainable that a country be so dependent on foreigners through both budget support and resources for its capital development.
Even our [Uganda's] largely foreign-sponsored NGOs (increasingly substituted for civil society) are also more accountable to their funders than the people they serve! Opposition politicians spend more time complaining, whining and pining to foreign (and usually Western ) diplomats and other aid officials than organising to politically challenge misruling governments. Our governments sign up to international commitments like the Millennium Development Goals in addition to mountains of other Intra-African protocols or agreements like NEPAD, the African Peer Review Mechanism, APRM without expecting to fulfil them.
Lots of attention to the arts in Kampala too - relative to other cities I’ve visited on this trip - a big film festival right now, good local music scene, and I’ve already visited a few decent art galleries.
One thing though: if I walk into a club and even think for a second that I might be one of the better dancers there, your country is in trouble. Honestly, I shouldn’t even be dancing to hip-hop period, but out of boredom and lack of music-alternatives in the clubs here it does happen and it’s only mildly embarrassing. Less so as I’ve moved north though and that’s a problem. I got a sense of this in Arusha, where I saw a couple of glaringly bad dancers, and in Kampala last night, there were bars full of them. Ok, dancing’s cultural and ‘good dancer’ is of course a relative term; whatever, this is great, I own the dance floors in Kampala.
People in Kampala are great – friendly in an honest way (ahem, Arusha) and always willing to help idiots like me. Had a couple contacts here through my class in Jo’burg and a friend of Ganga’s, so its nice to have local partners-in-crime. Also, I have a pseudo job interview on Monday with the CIPESA project, an initiative of bridges.org Very excited to check out the work they are doing. Organizing a trek to see gorillas next week too, hearing good things from other tourists. So, I’ll probably be in Kampala for another week before settling in Eldoret for a bit; plenty to keep me busy here though, I expect my dancing to improve ten-fold.
5 Comments:
Congrats on Tufts--it'll be good to see you next year!
WOW, Drew, Congratulations!!
No more tough decisions...
Congratulations, Drew! On the dancing too.
Big ups on da Fletcher. I can give you all the info you need on the campus and the surrounding area -- feel free to inquire.
congrats!
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