Only One Knife

Do you wonder what it was like to live in Uganda for 5 weeks with 2 different families? I will tell you of my experience, and please remember that Uganda is a big place and so is Africa; my experience is not representative of an entire country or continent.

Boda-bodas parked in Kampala

I stayed in Mukono for most of my time in Uganda, and this is an eastern suburb of Kampala and on the road to Kenya.  The road is paved wide enough for 2 cars and there is a dirt shoulder wide enough for another 1 ½ cars on either side. The road between the airport (Entebe) and Kampala and between Kampala and Mukono is very busy at certain times and I experienced all kinds of traffic. My hosts were very courteous (and courageous) drivers and I witnessed (and was in) taxi vans passing traffic on the shoulder of the road and taxi motorcycles (called boda-bodas) freely wove between stopped vehicles. Walking street vendors sold things like car accessories, drinks, snacks, newspapers, and toilet paper as they walked between vehicles stopped in traffic!

I saw people walking everywhere I went in Uganda and I would guess that this is the most often used mode of transport, although taxi vans and cars have routes on the major roads and the fee for long distance transport seem to be reasonable.

The other place I stayed was in Nakasongola and this was a more rural location where I observed the most varied conditions of living.

Many of you will be surprised to learn that I have a culinary background and 2 things that my first Chefs used to say echoed in my head during this trip. The first was, “Get used to your chef knife because it may be the only knife you have in the kitchen.”

Cooking on a charcoal stove

 Well this turned out to be true in Uganda on more than one occasion. And the same kitchen knife was also used as a hive tool! There were no cutting boards, and the general way of cutting was to hold food in one hand and cut it with the other. I observed one lady shaving cabbage as thin as a machine could and doing it quite quickly.  That brought to mind the other saying I remembered, “Only pilots work in the air.” Well, this is obviously not true as these folks know how to use the tools and work spaces they have to get the job done.

Our food storage area in Nakasongola,
along with the 'emergency' kerosene stove

Most of the cooking was done outdoors with charcoal and having a charcoal stove is the best way to get the most efficient heat. Not everyone can afford charcoal (or a stove); some people cut down trees, use scavenged wood or other burnable items for their fire. Farming is done with water that falls from the sky in the wet season and I did not observe a lot of collection of rainfall for household or farming use. I read an agricultural article in the local paper discussing the ways for farmers to collect and store water because rainfall is not falling as abundantly as it used to. People (mostly children) pump their water from the nearest well into 3-5 gallon containers and carry them home when they do not have access to any other water. There is piped water in quite a few places, but also many places still do not have electricity or a close water source.

Bricks after they have been fired

Many houses are made of bricks, and the bricks are made from the local soil. Wood is expensive, although I did observe tree farms. Some brick houses are finished with stucco, and most have a galvanized roof. There are also houses made of mud, and these mostly have the traditional grass roof. Traditional houses of wood, mud and thatch are quite durable and last 8-9 years.

I saw solar panels for sale and in use. If you don’t have electricity, you can pay a fee and a person will charge your cell phone, lap top or other electronic device. Our house in Nakasongola was about ¼ mile from the electricity line and this is what we did. 

Mud hut with grass roof

In remote areas, these places had solar panels as their electricity source. And some residences had panels too: It makes you look twice when you see a solar panel on top of a mud and grass hut!

I found beauty everywhere, and was fortunate to go to several local and National tourist spots. I will leave you with a few pictures from Ssezibwa  Falls, which is in Mukono and the first place I went for a short hike and relaxing afternoon. 

Next time I will describe more places and show you more pictures of life in Uganda. There are so many things I experienced, I am excited to share them with you!