#katakwi

[everydayafrica]

A fisherman attempts to trap fish at a village swamp in Katakwi district, eastern Uganda. The communities here practice a unique communal way of fishing called "gang fishing."Gang Fishing is a cultural practice in north eastern Uganda where families, neighbours and villages come together to fish in the large groups. Throughout generations, this collective fishing method has continously been practiced as a way of uniting communities. With large numbers of people stamping on the shallow waters to a near muddy state, visibility under water reduces for the fish, limiting their movements. The muddy water also traps air from underneath forcing the fish to float to the surface for fresh air, making it easy for them to be trapped by baskets. Photo by @edward_echwalu Edward Echwalu #EdwardEchwalu Everydayafrica #everydayeverywhere #Uganda #Katakwi (at Asamuk, Katakwi, Uganda)

[senegalison]

Notes from Katakwi

I've been lucky enough to visit two of our sites so far, and the second one was Katakwi, in Eastern Uganda. While I was there, I got to help restructure a project (which now needs even more changes, natch), and visit with many beneficiaries. I even learned a few Ateso words. And by that I mean two words. Here they are. Yoga noi! (Hello more! Like.... an excited hello.) Also, yalama! (Thank you! Like... thank you for this posho.)

There was a graduate student with us who's been living there and working with LWF Katakwi for the past two months. (That's her in the picture above. We're tastefully different!) Katakwi is a super small town. I say town because it has a main street, but it's kind of a cross between a town and a village. There are clusters of huts in the center of the area, and there is no running water or electricity except for at the guest houses.

I went running in the mornings and by the time everyone came into the office, people were telling me that their taxi drivers and neighbors had told them all about it. I am kind of comfortable with being the morning news. Sometimes I think that if I can entertain Ugandans with my strange habits, then at least I'm succeeding at something. One morning I gained an entourage of middle school girls in school uniforms for about a quarter mile. Every time I turned around they were still running and still giggling. The fact that my entourage was able to keep up with me and stay out of my line of eyesight for so long is a testament to the fact that I need to get faster. Anywho....

We met with beneficiaries of agricultural stuff and livestock. They've been using the animals and plants they were given to generate income and become more self sufficient. Here is Shannon with a farmer's donkeys, which he rents out to his neighbors for plowing and transport. 

Here are some cutiessss we spotted at a borehole we were visiting. They went to school nearby and were all in blinding pink. You actually can't even tell how bright it is from this photo. Girls and boys styling in pink-- my kind of place, obviously. 

More pictures of my coworker's daughter and her neighbors. There are from Shannon's fancy camera. The girls were so fun and we danced a lot and ate cassava. 

Okello with her stuffed animal on her back! She wanted it to be like a baby! Ah! So cute!

Best dance partners ever. They kept doing a weird booty shake. 

That's all for now. I'm probably going back to Katakwi next week to revise this proposal again, so soon I'll probably be up to 1,000 Ateso words and have a full Ladies' Jogging Club. Or something. 

[senegalison]

Field Days

Work day two was much better. I even got a grant editing assignment from Paul! #Yasssss.

After work, I had one kind of field day. I went on my first run here on Tuesday after work-- from the office to home. It took about 25 minutes and it was hard. Kampala, unlike Dakar, has hills, y'all. And my house is up a steep hill....and to go any further past us, the calmest road option is Tank Hill Road. I hope you are prepared to see my calves in 2013. Julie showed me a couple of her routes, and was leading the way yesterday. Dodging bodas and matatus (slow car rapides, basically... shared minibuses that stop a lot) to run means that it's a one-earbud-in situation.

I didn't mind the stares (much) we got from most people because I'm used to harassment while I'm just twerkin' on my fitness. In Senegal, people (mostly the car rapide boys) would yell stuff at me, and here it seems that most people were more reserved. So that's nice. Also (I was realizing this when I was in Chicago with Lexi), I think that because I ran less in Dakar to avoid being hassled every time, I was kind of resentful of the city. Like, "Senegalese culture won't allow me to do something that I love, and I hate that."* So it's better for me to just take my field days despite the fact that it's a little more hectic to run here.

The other kind of field day I'll be taking is really more of a field week. I'm going out to Katakwi, in eastern Uganda, to learn about our program there, give a seminar, and (I think?) take a survey from residents about what kinds of education programs they would like to be put into place. I'll be there for at least three days. There's an intern there right now doing data collection, which means it won't be as lonely as it can be. Julie says that our internet sticks don't work there, and that there's not much to do, so let's hope this girl likes Bananagrams and that the power stays on long enough for me to charge my Kindle. I mean, everyone likes Banagrams, though, right? Right? 

...Right?

*I say this as if running in Washington Heights when I interned in NYC last summer was some kind of treat. First of all, until you actually get into Fort Tryon park, everyone stares at you like you're doing handstands on the street, because no one in my neighborhood exercised. Second of all, I actually understood what those gross catcallers were saying, because my English is a little plus fort than my Wolof. And third of all, if I ran after dark on 186th like I ran on the Corniche, it would've been Ova with a capital O. So I probably could've calmed down a little, knowing what was in store for me in just a few months.