Back in Kasese

The first four days back from the off were a great re-introduction into how things work in Uganda. We had switched focus from the Kasese area to the Ankole area because if we don’t find a project in this area, we’ll be sort of kicked out of our base of operations. The Ankole area has four districts, and we had a meeting scheduled with the district water officer (DWO) of the Isingiro district on Wednesday morning. After an hour drive to get there, we find nobody there. We wait half an hour, because hardly anyone is ever really on time here. Then we call him and find that he’s in Kampala. But his assistant should be able to help us. Well, we had met this assistant last time we were here and he can’t really tell us anything new. But he set us up with another guy (delegation is an art here) who was able to show us some springs. The springs were all middling and we ended the day slightly disappointed. I say slightly because I’ve since grown accustomed to this yo-yo of effort vs. reward and am now viewing everything with great amusement. It keeps things in a positive light.

I decided I didn’t want to spend another day futilely tromping through the Ugandan countryside. So instead I traded places with Wesley and spent the day finishing the proposal for the Bwesumbu GFS and the design for Kalonge GFS. From my November 28th post, you’ll recall that we’re down from five to two real proposals (I’ve submitted a third, but I doubt it’ll be considered as it involves a 3hr hike with a vertical gain of 1km and digging through soil that may or may not have landmines). I would love to be able to submit more, but I’ve now been here for 3 months and it seems like the one month remaining will hardly be enough. Still, if the two proposals I’ve submitted are accepted, it would provide water to 12,000 people and a future population of 25,000. I’ll take that.

Friday we headed out the Ntungumu district to meet with the DWO there. But of course, he’s also in Kampala (I’ve been told they’re not having a DWO party, but I have my doubts). Still, his assistant led us on a merry drive where we saw two more useless springs, but did get to see our new camp under construction. Because we were in the neighborhood, we were also able visit our old camp, the one that had been our home for the first month in Uganda. Felt like coming home. Which is funny because coming back to Kasese also felt like coming home. And so did going back to Mbarara after a month in Kasese. Makes me wonder what my reaction will be like when I return to Vancouver?

Saturday was interesting. Back in September we’d received a letter from a community called Nyaruhandangazi. Cool name. They have plenty of springs, but not enough water and the quality is bad in most of them. So we couldn’t help them out. However, when we met with the Mbarara district water office last month, they mentioned two springs with different names in the same area. Then our boss Tim mentioned a headmaster who also knew of springs in the area, also with different names. Intrigued at the possibility of new sources in the community and therefore the possibility of completing a proposal for the area, we set out again.

Turns out they were the same springs, our new information just had the names wrong. Which on the one hand is gratifying because it shows how thorough we’re being, but also disappointing because it means there’s no hope for a conventional GFS in this area.

I was hoping to finish the second proposal on Sunday morning and afternoon, but our power went out. So instead we packed up and drove to Kasese. They seem to have more power. At least for the moment. Seems like power in all these cities is pretty erratic.

But now we’re back in Kasese, and in one day found enough water for 11,000 people. So the other three days of frustration this week were cancelled out. I’m starting to see the appeal of prospecting. Or gambling.