Looking at the Nile through a stained window of an aircraft via ::::I've Left Copenhagen for Uganda::::
... ... African Woman - how to get hold of it outside East Africa? via ::::I've Left Copenhagen for Uganda::::
I have noticed an interest in the Ugandan-founded magazine 'African Woman'. I have received a few emails and even a phone call from Europe asking me how you can get hold of the magazine outside East Africa.
Good question! This is just to say that I haven't ignored the requests, but that I have been too busy to think of how to figure it out. If I do, I will let you know. In the meantime, you - who called me from Europe (the connection was not good that day), write me back, and I will send you the latest......
Another Nigerian giving his views on how to help Africa via ::::I've Left Copenhagen for Uganda::::
I read this article from the LA weekly about Femi Kuti, son of Fela Kuti - referred to by Uganda's Scarlett Lion. Another Nigerian giving his views on how to help Africa. I tried to say something about this issue yesterday in my post here, but it never came as clear as Femi Kuti below!
What’s your take on Bono and concerts like Live 8 that campaign on behalf of Africa?Bono doesn’t need to tell us that we are poor. We know we are poor. All these concerts come and go and nothing changes in Africa.So then what’s the best way for concerned Americans to get involved with helping Africa?Not to feel sorry for us but to be positive toward us. Do more business with us. Come and visit us. We, in turn, have to get stronger and not rely on leaders to do everything for us. We must take action... Ha ha, I do look like as if I am trying to save Africa, don’t I?! via ::::I've Left Copenhagen for Uganda::::
I have followed the debate pushed by the Nigerian writer Iweala Uzodinma's article 'Stop Trying to Save Africa. It has been commented on various blogs and even the Danish Sunday paper Politiken translated it and put in on page 2.
The article and the writer pissed me off big time, and in between whatever I have to do in a country where I have been put off a plane with no luggage, I have been trying to formulate a comment.
The man was right. - Yes, the West should leave Africa on its own (to the Chinese?). But then I got strongly dissappointed with his lousy argumentation and arrogance which makes him speak on behalf of all Africans. Categorising them all in one go, as well as he does with the whole group of ex-pats trying to save Africa.
I have given up the project for today. It... Back in Uganda via ::::I've Left Copenhagen for Uganda::::
First two days delay in Copenhagen due to bad weather in Southern England. Then soft tarmac in Heathrow delayed the plane from Copenhagen to Heathrow. I got the choice to stay in London for four additional days to accompany my luggage to Africa. I thought what the hell, luggage is for tourists and other softies!, and decided no and ran through Heathrow for my gate and a blinking sign saying Entebbe, boarding now.
I arrived this morning in Entebbe without luggage or anything usefull to wear apart from the clothes I was in. Tourist or not, at least they are entitled to a compensation for lost luggage. I am not 'cause I am a resident of Uganda. I feel challenged now till Thursday, where my luggage is announced to be on the next British Airways plane to Uganda....
Restless in Copenhagen via ::::I've Left Copenhagen for Uganda::::
I got two more days in Copenhagen to think about my ability to make fast changing-of-direction-of-life-decisions.
I have signed a short term contract with MS Tanzania, where I am going to work from September 1 as an information officer at the country office in Dar es Salaam.
My Icelandic nephew, Baltasar, just reminded me that the Tanzanians and the Zanzibarians ´were so crazy about him´ when he came for holidays in 2006. Blond children with blue eyes do get a lot of positive attention, especially if they say ´Jambo!´ by themselves.
In my case it might take a bit...... I can´t get the smile off my face… via ::::I've Left Copenhagen for Uganda::::
Plans changed. I am not leaving Uganda for Copenhagen. I am staying in Africa a little longer.
Sort of a last minute thing. I am packing for 6 weeks in Uganda, preparing myself to return soon and get back to life in Copenhagen. But Monday night I got an offer I could not resist. Wednesday I signed the contract, and got myself a new job which is going to occupate me in Africa from September till December. Maybe longer. I hope. The job and duty station are almost too good, and I fear that if I talk about it too much they will take it from me and give it to someone who doesn't go bla bla bla on a blog.
I am 36 years next week. But no older to admit that I am feeling childishly, stupidly happy and very enthusiastic (had to go out with friends and drink a lot of wine to level it out). At...
Images from the island where I grew up via ::::I've Left Copenhagen for Uganda::::
I grew up on Lolland where grandparents had canvases hanging on the wall in their sitting room. Ideally above the couch or the dinner table.
My grandparents had quite a few, which when I was a teenager was considered kitsch of the best kind. When I was a child I loved them. Today a lot of my generation consider the style retro. To me the ones in my grandparents' home gave soft associations of the country side, summer & sunshine, hard working people using old-fashioned tools, often harvesting, blue sky and white, fluffy clouds. Very rural-romantic. I always imagined that the canvases were painted just around the corner from my grandparents' home. And as I recall it - it was always summer & sunshine when I grew up.
At the moment I am spending time where I grew up. I enjoy to drive... Something is missing via ::::I've Left Copenhagen for Uganda::::
It is not all rural-romantic-idyllic. I went driving today around this flat island, which also is the place where I grew up.
Lolland is beautiful on a sunny summer day, but it begins to make me restless. I try to capture images here, but there is something missing. The noise, the chaos, the wilderness, the people, the multi-colors...
Man, I missed Africa today, this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this and this in particular, just to mention a few of the things which pops up in my head. The very worst thing is, apart from waiting till I get a go to to Uganda, is that I have to return to Denmark September 1st. I have moments where I fear how I will cope with living in...... - When are you going back to Africa, are you finished there?! via ::::I've Left Copenhagen for Uganda::::
People ask. And I reply that I just got back to Copenhagen after three weeks in Belgrade, where I spent one week in hospital to be treated for malaria, and add - that I am not going anywhere for some time. I realised that there is this little scary thing at the back of my mind pulling me from going anywhere difficult. Like a sort of thing saying danger ahead.
The thing pops up when I try to visualise myself committing to organised shopping in Kampala (for an up-country stay), packing my car, driving the 450 km up-country, settling in my house in Arua, and trying to move around West Nile to work. I know my hesitation is grounded in a combination of the fear of another malaria attack (I feel too week for another round) and the fact that I get tired by the thought of the practicalities of...
9204 km to Jozi/ South Africa via ::::I've Left Copenhagen for Uganda::::
Outside the Malmø Syd Station in Sweden they have put up this signpost.
A severe reminder of how big my world has become within the past few years. Wondering how I am gonna deal with it in the...... Absolute Black via ::::I've Left Copenhagen for Uganda::::
Just as well as I look after black people in the streets, other Africa-related stuff also catches my eye. Like the Black Diamond - the building which accommodates the Royal Library in Copenhagen - is made out of 2.500 square meter black granite called 'Absolute Black'. Black granite from South Africa. Adds a certain twist to this building.... Don’t ask! via ::::I've Left Copenhagen for Uganda::::
Somehow it seems that I have given people the impression through my last posting that I have left Uganda for good. I haven't, I am only in Europe on holiday.
However, the plan is that I am to leave Uganda on September the 1st. And this date is surely given me all sorts of stress which I guess is shining through. I'd like that people stop asking me: 'What are you going to do then?'. I will let you know, when I know......
From Africa to Europe via ::::I've Left Copenhagen for Uganda::::
I crossed Africa and Europe on a clear day. Beneath me the Sahara desert, and then the Dalmatian coast line. My favorite coast line!
I am finally in Copenhagen. Before we landed, we flew over the lower parts of Denmark, and I realised the sight gave me a lump in my throat. Denmark is beautifull from above on an early summer evening, and apparently this sight mixed with my expectations to meet friends later on caused an emotional short circuit. I know the following sounds embarassingly trivial, but I couldn't help thinking that I am priviledged that I still have access to my homeland and that the sight of it apparently evokes emotions of nostalgia. Couldn't help thinking of people living in involuntarily exile - of what that feels like.
Now I am trying to adjust to the fact that... Europe - my other world via ::::I've Left Copenhagen for Uganda::::
Somehow I can't get the Suede lines out of my head:
Run with me baby, let your hair downThrough every station, through every townRun with me baby, let's take a chanceFrom Heathrow to Hounslow, from the Eastern Block to FranceEurope is our playground, London is our townSo run with me baby now
I haven't got around to mention it, but I am flying to London tomorrow. It is time for a break and a Tour d'Europe. I sit now, in the haste that comes with having been enclosed inside Sudan and engaged in another world which won't let go easily, and up-date the deals made with people in London, Copenhagen, Iceland and Serbia.
Looking so much forward to seeing you...... Juba via ::::I've Left Copenhagen for Uganda::::
I know it doesn't pay Juba justice to post only one photo (I have the feeling that the average SPLA soldier would not be happy with looking into my camera lense).
At least this image illustrates perfectly how I have spent the majority of the weekend - as a passenger. From Yei to Juba, and back to Yei. Courtesy of Peter from the Danish Refugee Council in Yei who has been an excellent guide.
I have to return. Juba is way too exciting to only give one day to. An African metropolitan in absolutely nowhere. Scattered around a mountain to the River Nile. With the greatest mix of people and languages. From super expensive wazungu lodges to massive pot holes and garbage piles. Unbelieveable. How do they get all the stuff in...... If you can do the party you can also overcome the day after… via ::::I've Left Copenhagen for Uganda::::
Another rule applying to this kind of world is that if you can do the party you can also overcome the day after - including any kind of hangover, pack your stuff, deal with the world's most annoying and inconsequent border patrol, drive on to the next destination, and get ready for work.
Sunday I drove us out of Kajo Keji into Moyo on the Ugandan side and then half way to Yumbe, then my colleague Peter took over to Koboko. Then we both drove from Koboko and then back into Southern Sudan reaching Yei just before dusk.
Today I had to facilitate a workshop which I actually thought was sceduled for tomorrow with the same group I found myself with this morning, having completely lost track of dates matching with what days. However, I think I sort of got away with it. At least, my...
Triangling West Nile and a bit of Southern Sudan via ::::I've Left Copenhagen for Uganda::::
I am moving a bit in and out of cyberspace for some days. I am off to Koboko and Moyo in a bit for a farewell party for Beatriz, the manager of the Danish Refugee Council in Moyo this afternoon.
Then on Saturday another farewell-party in Kajo Keji about an hour across the border in Southern Sudan for Erik, the leaving DRC manager there.
Then back from Kajo Keji, over Moyo, to Koboko on Sunday for a re-pack of the car, and then off to Yei in Southern Sudan, where I will be probably untill Friday next week.
The car is being cleaned now, and packed with our new Education for Peace pamphlets, the democracy material - and lots of cheese in the cooler bag, apparently a prerequisite for receiving an invitation by the DRC to a function in Sudan!
Don't download and use this map, I added... An African travel advice for the long-haired; via ::::I've Left Copenhagen for Uganda::::
Don't forget your comb!
I did once. All I could buy was this type, obviously made for curly hair afro stylie.
Not for mzungu straight hair.
The one carved in wood is obviously the traditional one.
The one made in blue plastic can be bought in Uchumi supermarket in Garden City in Kampala.
I still use...... I sort of promised myself to stick to at least one thing… via ::::I've Left Copenhagen for Uganda::::
On arrival in Adjumani in June 2005 I sort of promised myself to stick to at least one thing regarding work, when the shit really hits the fan; not to take it personally. There is a handfull of explanations why the Sudanese refugees react the way they do, why things never happen according to deals, why promises hardly ever are made. Finally there is a tremendously amount of stuff I can't do a milimeter about (and better leave to others in order to keep sane).
I explored and learned to love this kind of emergency situation in Serbia. Here I am battling it. I have to admit that one or two things really took me by surprise at my worst meeting ever this Saturday. My first reaction was anger and pure disappointment, but eventually I was sad and found myself with a feeling of having... Why not visit Uganda?! via ::::I've Left Copenhagen for Uganda::::
I get a lot of emails from people who are interested in Uganda. Apart from all the many who ask very specific questions as from how to get in contact with a hotel in Arua, if there is Internet, to the price of vitenge - a lot also ask wether it is safe to travel in Uganda.
Not an easy thing to answer, and I'd rather moderate my answer in the light of today's riots. However, do always put your doubt into perspective. Never take things literally. You can easily be robbed back home in the pedestrian street in central Copenhagen. You most likely risk more driving round Jo'burg or Nairobi than northern Uganda.
Uganda is in general one of the most easy countries I have ever travelled, people are friendly and the nature is breathtaking. But Uganda still remains a secret to the many, who go... Amakula Film Festival in Kampala via ::::I've Left Copenhagen for Uganda::::
I will try not to miss the 4th edition of the Amakula Kampala International Film Festival. Even the theme seems to fit me well: Travels, Transit.
The Amakula website says the films will be gathered into four primary sections: The African Panorama (with a section for classics as well as for contemporary films), the Regional Focus on the Cinema of Eastern Africa (Uganda and the many countries surrounding it between Mozambique and Eritrea), Contemporary World Cinema and Landmarks (cinema classics over the last century).In particular I would like to see- some of Uganda’s finest musicians will be invited to perform live music scores with several great classic silent films which will be thus Africanized and perhaps they will never be the same again. That is some idea!And I'd also... Hope in the Dark via ::::I've Left Copenhagen for Uganda::::
Twenty-five years ago, AIDS was unknown in sub-Saharan Africa. Today it's overwhelmingly the continent's biggest killer. In Hope in the Dark, photojournalist Jeremy Cowart documents the hope and pain of Africa's AIDS generation - a generation beset by poverty and fear, a generation in which children in some countries are more likely to die of AIDS than not. But despite the sickening odds, Cowart captures brief glimpses of beauty, optimism and joy as he makes his way across the continent. Through this collection of startling, remarkable images, his lens uncovers not just the magnitude of the problem, but also the places where God is undeniably present in the midst of it.
Another beautifull photo book on Africa! Very cheap, too. Check out the project behind the book here. Buy it...... ‘Survival of the Fattest’ via ::::I've Left Copenhagen for Uganda::::
Always interesting when you unexpectedly find something Danish in Uganda!
This week I visited International Theatrical Movement for Anti-Corruption (IATM) which has an office in the National Theatre Building in Kampala.
I found this poster on their office door, which roughly translated goes; 'Are you sitting well!?' Back in 2003 I was part of making a campaing for MS Denmark dealing with fair trade, and the statue with 'the fat lady sitting on the shoulders of a little African boy' was quite a hit - also called 'Survival of the Fattest' by the artist Jens...... This Is Zimbabwe via ::::I've Left Copenhagen for Uganda::::
Let me take your attention to this Zimbabwean blog, which I have read along for a while. It is a civil action support group, and needless to say - they are busy at the moment. This is Zimbabwe has been appealing, in particular, to South African bloggers here. 21 March is Human Rights Day in South Africa:
You have the right to write freely where you are; we don’t. You can speak out from the rooftops; we can’t. You have come through fire to achieve your freedom; we’re still burning in hell.
Use your votes to demand a government that honours human right principles all over the world, and not one that talks about them for the sake of political expediency. If you get that government, then you’ll be helping us to get the freedom and justice we deserve too.
And bloggers have...
Leaving Sudan, entering Uganda. via ::::I've Left Copenhagen for Uganda::::
This is what a typical border looks like in the middle of Africa.
Mind you, if you walk less than 5 km in each direction you are most likely to be able to cross it without visiting a variety of containers or tukuls making it up for offices where you have to please a tall teenager in a dusty uniform, maybe drunk, surely gun-carrying, certainly Sudanese.
Oraba straight ahead. Then Koboko. Kaya...... Leaving for Southern Sudan via ::::I've Left Copenhagen for Uganda::::
Tomorrow I am leaving from Koboko to Yei in Southern Sudan. My first trip inside. I am a little excited, and I have been working desperately to kill my cold. Not successfully yet.
If all goes well we should be able to make it in 3-4 hours, but now that it started raining it is unpredictable. I might be able to post from there, or I will be back again on Wednesday.
Find a map......
Changed Priorities Ahead via ::::I've Left Copenhagen for Uganda::::
Others are reading their daily starsign with enthusiasm - I am guided by the road signs in Uganda. Sometimes, however, I feel they are talking a bit too direct to me. This one in particular seems to indicate my life in a nutshell.
Last week my sister suggested that we all went for Zanzibar for her 35th birthday. Isn't it nice to have a sister as far away as Iceland incorporating Africa (and me) in her holiday plans?!
Hence, I got a little embarrased when I realised that my answer went something like; 'Let's see, I'm not sure where I will be in January 2008'. Seems to have been my standard phrase for the past 15 years, we both...... Make to take out ‘precision’ of Precision Air? via ::::I've Left Copenhagen for Uganda::::
I can't possibly be the first one to suggest that the Tanzanian airline company should opt for a far more realistic name. Saturday night when I thought I was leaving Tanzania, in KIA Airport at Kilimanjaro, my name wasn't on the departure list. And I wasn't the only one, in fact Precision Air had overbooked the plane to Nairobi with about 20 passengers.
In stead of letting it all out on the nearest person with a Precision Air tag, I congratulated myself for all the other times I have flown in Africa - where no irregularities happened, and where I really needed/wanted to be somewhere in time. As I counted, I realised I have been extremely lucky. This Saturday night, I had none waiting for me in the other end, and nothing which couldn't be postponed.
However, I was the only one in KIA... Tempting Tanzania via ::::I've Left Copenhagen for Uganda::::
The annual meeting of MS Tanzania is over, and now there is only the grand party to do.
An annual meeting is an annual meeting, but because I was a guest here. I concentrated on my report, I didn't scrap big parts of the meeting (to go somewhere to have coffee), but stayed and listened. Additionally, last night I also drank beers with the general secretary of MS and the country director of MS TZ untill the bar closed at MS TCDC.
MS TZ is way ahead of MS Uganda regarding strategy and new ways of working as a development worker, and I feel a little bit envious of the dynamics and structure in place. Maybe MS Uganda shouldn't have send me on this mission to Tanzania. Whenever I have visited TZ I always end up wishing this should be the country to live and work in.
Hm...I wonder how...