January Blues

I’ve always found January to be a hard month – in Britain the days seem darker and colder than ever, the Christmas parties are over, you’ve eaten and drunk way too much so now all your clothes feel tight, it’s only a few weeks in to the New Year and you’ve already broken all your life-changing resolutions (the self-loathing is unbearable – ‘will I ever change?’), and the next holiday seems decades away. But I was so convinced that this January would be different - I’m fulfilling a life-long dream for goodness sake! I’m living in Africa, voluntarily helping the needful, in a beautiful country alive with music (especially Reggaeton beats), and the sun is shining bright and strong... but yet the January blues have still engulfed me!

I had the most wonderful Christmas and New Year break. As well as a safari, and a trip up-country to see the mighty Murchison Falls, Immy and I went to Jinja ‘the adventure capital of East Africa’. There we partook in a mixture of extreme sports, and extreme perfect-the-art-of-doing-nothing-ing. We camped in a safari tent on the banks of the river Nile, spent 2 lovely days on a paradise island actually in the Nile, and - although now neither of us can actually believe it happened – Christmas Eve was enjoyed rafting on grade 5 rapids (well, actually, not that much time was spent in the raft as such - more out and sometimes under).

Yes, that's actually Immy and me in there!

 So with the holiday over, Immy’s departure, plus my closest friend since I arrived here in Uganda also gone (home to the USA), I came back to earth with a real thump. Also, as a friend quite rightly pointed out, it is about the 4 month mark that people living/working abroad start to really question what they are doing and wondering why. Honeymoon period over. 

So January has been spent trying my very best to concentrate entirely on work (the classic ‘if I work 24/7 then I won’t have time to think about why I am upset’). I have taken on more students, plus another school, and – ridiculous though it sounds - I’m writing weekly plans and reports on all my students. Invaluable for keeping track of everyone’s progress and it has revealed numerous ‘coasting’ students, i.e. non-practisers! This Monday gone was probably my lowest day yet here... After a Sunday evening spent looking through all my notes, I arrived at KMS grumpier than I thought I could ever be (armed with my OCD-like progress-tracking file) ready to question ‘the coasters’. Instead of sleeping, Sunday night had been spent winding myself up, feeling like a victim. I wanted to ask them:

‘Why should I live thousands of miles from home, away from my family and comforts, and put up with being approached on the street everyday either for marriage or money? And have to turn down social events and weekends away because I’m a volunteer and therefore don’t have expendable income? And work my socks off (drawing particular attention to my exhausting 12-hour Monday) only to return to a small, dusty abode where - more often than not - there is no water to wash with? When you are not even bothering to practise for just 20 minutes a day!?’

I didn’t mention any of this, of course. Instead, I bottled it all up, had a good cry, and then asked the students kindly to put more effort in. That Monday got me thinking though. Whenever I had a hard day in UK, I used to think ‘I wish I was in Africa’. And here I am, so now what do I wish for when I feel life isn’t going my way? Thus this January I’ve had eureka moment (or maybe more of a confirmation of previous suspicions):

For all our complaints about our lives - whether it be our standard of living, financial status, job, location in the world, relationship woes, unrealised dreams etc. - we are actually all responsible for our own present happiness. So let’s all stop feeling so hard done by, and instead think of what we can give thanks for. Positive Mental Attitude.

Here’s to February!

Merry Christmas from the Pearl of Africa

“The kingdom of Uganda is a fairy-tale. You climb up … and at the end there is a wonderful new world. The scenery is different, the vegetation is different, the climate is different, and, most of all, the people are different from anything elsewhere to be seen in the whole range of Africa ... I say: ‘Concentrate on Uganda’. For magnificence, for variety of form and colour, for profusion of brilliant life - bird, insect, reptile, beast - for vast scale - Uganda is truly the pearl of Africa.” - Winston Churchill

These past 2 weeks, Immy and I have been lucky enough to spend the festive season exploring some of this beautiful county! Here is a few snaps from our adventure:

Kabaka's lake, on boda-boda tour of Kampala (Ricky, our guide, in middle)

 

 

 

 

Sunset beers overlooking the source of the Nile, Jinja

Christmas day on Hairy Lemon Island in the Nile

Immy's birthday, trekking through Murchison National Park to the falls

We wish you a merry Christmas and happy new year!

T.I.A.

‘T.I.A’ is a phrase that I became very familiar with whilst travelling in southern Africa earlier this year. It stands for ‘This is Africa’. The term is typically used when Westerners – tourists or expatriates – experience frustrations whilst here in Africa; anything from power shutdowns, to widespread corruption. In the 2006 film ‘Blood Diamond’, Leonardo DiCaprio uses ‘TIA’, which I think is how the phrase became so popular. For most, it’s the sort of thing you say – with a sigh and a smile – to divert your otherwise inevitable bad mood! I’ve been muttering ‘TIA’ to myself a lot recently... 

          Having been here for 3 months, I thought I had acclimatised to the fairly frequent water and/ or power shutdowns, but it’s been a whole new game these last 2 weeks. There have been more power cuts than I can count, and last week, 4 consecutive days of absolutely no electricity at all. In addition, more often than not there has been no running water for my showers, so I have become master at washing (hair and all!) in a bucket with 1 small jerrycan of cold water.

 

Showering in Kampala...

Note to mum and dad - I promise to never again complain about the poor water pressure in your shower in London. Worst of all, I can’t even feel sorry for myself. Living next to a slum is a constant reality check. Watching the ladies lug their giant jerrycans to and from the communal tap reminds me that, actually, electricity and running water in one’s home (even if temperamental) is a luxury.

So now that I am fully immersed in Ugandan life, my colleagues at KMS have adopted me in to one of the Buganda clans, and given me a new name to match! Everyone seems to really enjoy educating me on their traditional culture, particularly our KMS librarian, Maggie. I find it all incredibly interesting. Every time I pop my head in to the library to grab some music, I get caught up in a lesson and discussion about ancestry, marriage, language, and such like. I’m still learning, but as I understand it, the Buganda Kingdom consists of around 50 clans, all named after animals. It’s been decided that I am now part of Ngabi (Antelope) clan, and thus I have been renamed ‘Nabukeera’. An important rule to remember, is to not eat the animal that your clan in named after, which shouldn't be too hard given that I'm vegetarian. Instead, I have been enjoying lots of fresh fruit and vegetables from the market, courtesy of Beatrice.

Gillian McKeith from 'You Are What You Eat' would be proud!

You may remember I mentioned last month that we had a visitor from the BBC, Sarah, who came to Kampala Music School to record some interviews. Well finally, this weekend, the KMS documentary 'Notes from Kampala' is being aired on the BBC world service! To listen, and hear from some of the extraordinary people teaching and learning at KMS, click on this link.

I am extremely excited, as this time next week I will be on my way to the airport to pick up one of my lovely siblings! Immy is coming to visit and will be staying with me over Christmas, her birthday, and New Year. So there will be lots of celebrating to be done, and a great chance to venture out of Kampala and explore some more of Uganda. Immy, just to let you know, we will spend your first day here on a boda-boda, on a tour of the city with a lovely SAFE driver. Boda-bodas are moped taxis, and can be a little scary at first, but they are the best and most common way to get around, so the sooner you get used to them the better!

P.S. Supplementary photograph for the previous post:

St Pauls Cathedral, Namirembe (venue for the KMS Christmas Concert)

'Tis almost the season to be jolly

It’s hard for me to grasp that Christmas is just a month away when it’s 28°C and shops are still playing Shakira’s Waka Waka (This Time for Africa), rather than White Christmas. Luckily, though, there are some festive events cropping up in Kampala to get me in the mood. At KMS, we - Kampala Symphony Orchestra and Kampala Singers - are rehearsing for a Christmas concert in 2 weeks time, with a programme of Mendelssohn’s Hymn of Praise, and carols. The brass section of the orchestra is made up of MLISADA boys (see post ‘Music to the Rescue’) who have been practising their opening theme so much, that it seems half of Kampala is humming their part. Last week we rehearsed in the concert venue of St. Pauls Catherdral in Namirembe, which proved to be a really magical place, with breath-taking views to match (best I’ve seen yet actually – annoying didn’t think to take camera!)

I have also been rehearsing with KMS vocal group Sauti Ya Africa (Voice of Africa), for their Christmas concert. Not only do they sound brilliant - think Il Divo meets Take 6 - but they are inherently great dancers/ movers, and they perform with such infectious energy. When Sarah from the BBC came to record the KMS radio programme a couple of weeks back, she was particularly blown away by these guys and hopes to make them a demo to pass around the BBC.

Sauti Ya Africa - Francis, Ben, George, and Charles

Last week I moved house again! I’m now living with a lovely Ugandan midwife in Namuwongo (not to be confused with Namugongo, near my previous home), which is just 5 minutes journey from the centre of town. It’s a very interesting area of extreme contrast. We are situated in the middle of Namuwongo, in neutral ground if you like. To the left of our little house is Kampala’s International Hospital, pricey restaurants, and an expat-population overflow from the neighbouring affluent area of Muyenga. Yet, just to our right are 3 of Kampala’s largest slums, home to approximately 10,000 people in each slum (and only 2 proper toilets!) Other mentionable points regarding my new gaff include:

1. I can just see Lake Victoria from my window (!)
2. There are considerable amounts of goats wandering our street

Beatrice, my housemate, took me out for the day on Saturday. We visited the Parliamentary Building and Palace of the Kabaka (King) of Buganda. No, my hand didn’t just slip and hit the ‘B’ key by mistake - Buganda is the Kingdom of Central Uganda, which includes Kampala.

The Kabaka's Palace

This hilltop palace was once the pride of Buganda but it was ruined by Idi Amin in 1966 (on Obote’s orders). Today’s replica palace is just a shell, so it is not being used by the present Kabaka. As you can see from my photograph, the palace and gardens are really very beautiful, but the site is somewhat desolate, tainted by its history... During Idi Amin and his soldiers’ terror reign, underground torture and execution chambers were built here. My guide book states that these cells are not officially open to visitors, but I was immediately offered a tour on arrival. 

Entrance to Idi Amin's underground torture chambers

The torture chambers were unbelievably haunting, especially when accompanied by some far-from-delightful tales from my tour guide, plus wall writings describing some of the horrors enacted!

On our way back from the Kabaka’s Palace, Beatrice took me to Nakasero food market  - another one of those annoying places you want to take loads of photographs, but know it’s totally not a good idea to get the camera out. The ground was completely covered in colourful fresh fruit and vegetables, neatly stacked up to the sky. This is one of the cheapest places to buy fresh produce (huge avocados at about 12p each), but it is a market that is understandably avoided by many.

On Sunday, I joined a group of friends for a day-trip to the beach to celebrate the birthday of Dorothy (pink mask in photo below). It was such a lovely day out! We filled a taxi/ matatu to Entebbe and relaxed on the white-sand beach of Lake Victoria - sun-bathing, swimming, and volleyball-ing.

Entebbe beach, Lake Victoria

P.s. Apologies for the quality of my photographs these days – my camera is rather cumbersome so I tend to leave it at home and just snap away on my phone instead.

Kampala Music School goes viral

So the good intentions of updating this blog weekly have already slipped - Work is suddenly very busy here!

In addition to the lessons I am giving to 17 Ugandans at KMS (mostly adults and some of whom are also teachers at the school), 2 outreach projects, 2 orchestras, choir, and various other small-ensemble rehearsals, I’ve now also started teaching violin at St. Mary Kevin Orphanage Motherhood. SMKOM, situated in the village of Kijaansi just outside Kampala, is home to 150 orphans but also provides quality primary education for 300 ‘day scholars’. SMKOM became one of the first schools to defy social barriers in Africa by successfully integrating orphans in the school's population; within the classroom environment, it is impossible to distinguish between an orphan and a day scholar.  This has turned out to be one of my favourite places to teach - the children are unbelievably keen and diligent.

Perfecting bow holds at SMKOM

There has been a hype of activity at KMS in the past couple of weeks, with 2 special visitors from the media. Wbs TvUganda – a Ugandan TV channel - came to make a short documentary (watch it here), which has gone viral in the Kampala facebook world. Also, a radio producer from the BBC spent the week with us, recording a programme for BBC Radio 4. It will be aired on 14^th, 15^th and 17^th of December, so be sure to tune in! Sarah, the producer was overwhelmed with the teachers’ personal stories and all the work going on here, so it promises to be an interesting programme. 

Sarah from BBC interviews KMS Head of Keyboard, Paul

In other news:

• I have moved house (or ‘shifted’ as they say here). After 6 weeks of kindly being hosted by the KMS director and his family, I’m now renting a little room in a house with 3 other lovely volunteers. The house is slightly further out than I remember from my initial visit, which means a longer commute, but I no longer have to battle through downtown at least! Amongst other missing furniture, there is no fridge, which means having to buy fresh produce from the market each day.
• My cello playing is getting pretty good if I may say so! Don’t expect to see me performing a concerto at The Royal Albert Hall anytime soon, but just to let you know, I have now mastered ‘A Sad Dream’ and ‘A Happy Rambler’.
• There was a rare 'hybrid' solar exlipse the other day. I watched it from a cafe roof terrace with a group of friends. I was totally unprepared (as were most of us) but luckily one of the guys, Alasdair, rocked up with a special paper/ foil/ binocular contraption which allowed us all to view the eclipse safely.