"thanks"... from the old man in the hat

Along with the rest of the nation, I received a text from the recently reelected Uganda President, Yoweri Museveni, and it read as follows:

"This is the old man with a hat, thank you for voting for me & the NRM. Let's work together for a better Uganda. Congratulations on the NRM victory."

Photo courtesy of Julie Beckstrom and her blog.

If you're wondering what the hat reference is all about, see the below photo of Museveni's campaign posters.... I'm not quite sure why he's wearing a sombrero. After months of these posters being scattered on every surface in town, no one has ever explained to me what the hat is all about.

But anyway, Museveni won by a pretty hefty majority and will continue in his reign that has lasted 25 years so far. Since then there have been massive celebrations in the city but also a few protest along the way and people chanting songs about how he rigged the vote. But all in all, the elections were relatively peaceful because there was an incredibly strong military presence, which has been continued to be seen in the city (sorry, no picture evidence for this one).

Part of the reason the military is still around is because elections for local officials still need to take place. The elections for mayor were supposed to happen last Wednesday. In fact, a spontaneous public holiday was called for the occasion. However, the voting was called off because by about 10:00 in the morning there had already been shading happenings. Apparently several of the candidates were blatantly stuffing votes. One even showed up with a truck-full of ballots already filled out with his endorsement! So elections are being drawn out in hopes that the cheatery will be put to a stop. Let's hope....

Julie and I were talking about elections the other night and she observed that it seems to be a trend in Africa that if elections are corrupt they are usually peaceful, but its the violent ones that bring justice. I thought it was an interesting observation given the recent events in Egypt, Libya, and Yemen. It seems that in order for change to happen, violence and revolution are often the only means to get it accomplished.

It really makes me thankful for the regulation that America (and many other nations) has about length of rule. If a president is corrupt, the maximum amount of damage he can do is in an 8 year span. That simple law keeps those in power from being able to stay in power for too long. Checks and balances. Limitations of power. But if that is not the precedent, it is hard to keep those in power in check.

Anyway, enough about politics. I just hope that in the remaining elections the Ugandan people experience both fair and peaceful elections.

hakuna matata

In case anyone was curious, "hakuna matata" really does mean no worries, and it is a Swahili phrase that is actually used. In real life. Not just in the Lion King. I discovered this on my first venture outside the country of Uganda, into other parts of East Africa.

First, there was Kenya. I had the pleasure of accompanying my boss, Liz, to Nairobi for a business trip. And it was quite successful, if I do say so myself. The point of the trip was to explore alternatives for suppliers, and boy does Kenya have options! What I discovered on my trip to Nairobi was how much more the business sector and the city in general were developed. There were multiple options for suppliers in each area of need we had. The city had sky scrapers and well-paved roads (residents of Nairobi may argue with me here, but all I have to say is come visit Kampala). And there was even a distinction in how business was handled.... We had suppliers tell us up front that they had certain limitations and couldn't make this or that product. We had people with real expertise respond to us honestly and on time. We had people tell us "hakuna matata," don't worry about that, we'll handle it no problem..... Not that this never happens in Uganda, but it's definitely rare... Needless to say, this aspect of our trip was pretty exciting for us and gave us a lot of hope for our partnership with companies in Nairobi.

Enough about business though, I also got to do some pretty cool things in the city. First, Liz and I took an afternoon off on Sunday and visited the giraffe reserve. We were able to feed them, and yes, the picture below shows the after effects of Liz allowing one to take a piece of food from between her lips.

Yes, I admittedly did the same.... It wasn't quite as gross as it looks. It was just so fun to be close to animals that you hear about, see on TV, in the Lion King, at the zoo... and be able to touch them and even get some lip action if you so desired.

My last day in Nairobi, I got to visit several other companies/organizations that focus on empowering women through providing sustainable employment. My favorite was Amani Ya Juu. It started in 1996 with only three women, but since then has spread to four countries and has been able to employ around 300 women! They have an amazing workshop and they produce 200+ products. It was fun to visit Amani and dream of what Sseko could look like after it's been around for 15 years. What countries will we be in? What products will we be making? How many women's lives will we have impacted? These are questions I love to think about...

So that was Kenya. It made a good impression.

Then I was off to Zanzibar. Yes, it was as exotic as it sounds. Zanzibar is an island off the coast of Tanzania. I spent most of my time there on the beach.... or wandering around the island on a spice tour..... or meandering through the narrow cobblestone streets of Stone Town. It was a magical few days.

This picture I took out of the window on my plane ride in does not do it justice.

I had planned my trip to Zanzibar to flee the city of Kampala during the week of elections. There ended up not being any riots in Kampala... There were some minor issues in other parts of the country, but I am happy to report that we have had a surprisingly peaceful election season in spite of the turmoil in other parts of the continent. So no worries. Hakuna Matata.

impossible is nothing

That's the slogan for Adidas these days: "impossible is nothing." Since I'm not super into sports brands, I heard that for the first time last week.... and it took me a bit my surprise to be honest. Because in Uganda, a phrase I commonly hear is "it's not possible."

I have countless examples of this.... but I'll give the most recent one I heard of. My boss, Liz, is here from the states and went shopping the in craft market last week for some paper beads. She found a necklace she liked, but it was too short. So naturally, she asked the woman selling it if she had a longer option. The woman adamantly replied that it was not possible to make a necklace like that in a longer fashion. Liz was shocked, and not convinced. She thought that it was completely possible.... and wanted to try. She asked the woman to hand her two of the necklaces, and then instead of clasping them individually, she clasped the pieces together to form a necklace twice as long. All the women in the market were hooting and hawing, as Liz held up the long necklace and showed them all that it was not impossible.

As I said I have had countless examples of this... I've probably heard the word "impossible" almost every day since I arrived here. And I think I've finally come up with an explanation as to why, when I think about what I see most commonly in my interactions here: I have seen that Ugandans are not lacking in creative thinking; that is not the issue when they say that something cannot be done. I think it is that the culture here is incredibly resourceful, but not innovative.

Now, I realize that those words may sound like synonyms, but there is a distinction and I think that is where the explanation lies. Resourcefulness has to do with the ability to deal skillfully in new situations with what you have, while innovation has to do with making something new, changing what is established, or really any type of forward thinking.

I have seen the most resourceful things here... You would not believe what people can do with old bicycle parts, or how much can be piled on top of a boda boda, or how just about anything that the average American would have thrown out can be reused with some creative refurbishing. This way of thinking seems to stop though when you start dealing with things they don't have... For example, making a fabric in a new color, or printing on a different type of material, or accomplishing something by a certain deadline. This creative thinking pattern doesn't seem to transition into forward thinking, and as an American living in this culture, its quite fascinating.

American companies, for example, are a stark contrast... They tell their customers (maybe to a fault), that with them, anything is possible.... or in Adidas' case "impossible is nothing." Our culture prides itself on innovation and thinking up new things. It is from that context that I found myself entering Uganda, and at first was taken aback when people would say they would "try," instead of just saying they would do it. Or saying that something was impossible just because they had never done it before....

The strange thing is that the more people keep telling you something is impossible, the more you start to believe it. My co-worker, Julie, and I have often talked about how easy it would be to just agree and say "you're probably right... it is impossible to get this done here." But then we have to shake ourselves out of it and continue to issue the challenge to try to do something that's never been done before.... and guess what?! Sometimes, it actually happens! Sseko itself is a testament to that.... But it really has been great over the past year to see suppliers and contacts thinking outside the box to get things accomplished. There are definitely some people here in Uganda thinking creatively about the future, and I hope that during my time here that is something I continue to see.

kampala: captured on film

A guy named Adam came through Kampala while I was in the States and did some filming. I never got to meet him, but I just watched a sneak preview of the film he's making and I was pretty impressed.

Shake the Dust is the title of it, and its about the hip hop/ break dancing culture in unlikely places around the world. From Uganda he went to Yemen... definitely not what I would think of as a hip hop capital. So not only is it a cool concept, but I think this clip captures a really great glimpse of Kampala. To me, this video kindles a fondness in my heart for this place and I think its because of the familiarity of all the scenes. Owino Market. The football fields. The taxi park. A neighborhood that looks just like mine.

This is it.

Enjoy.

not easy

We've started a book club of sorts here in Kampala.... A group of fellow Americans are going through Tim Keller's book Generous Justice, and even though we're only in our second week, its brought up some very interesting/challenging conversations.

As we were talking the other night, a really hard truth to face came up. It was this....

It's easier to love on African orphans and widows than the truly marginalized in my own society.

At least this is the case for me.

For some people, coming to live in Uganda would seem like this massive sacrifice. I suppose it is in some ways, but I don't really view it that way... I'm doing work that I absolutely love, I'm traveling, experiencing a new culture... Being in Uganda is quite enjoyable for me. In fact, I can safely say that there isn't anywhere else I'd rather be at this point in time. So when some people back in the States talk about how brave I am or how sacrificial, it puzzles me a bit. But I do understand that this isn't every one's "thing." All that to say, working with widows and orphans (most of Sseko's employees fall into this category) in Uganda isn't something that makes me squeamish or hesitant or consider telling God "nope, sorry... not goin' there!" But there are other things that do make me feel that way... and they shouldn't.

A few people in our group of friends even said that they would have a harder time if God called them to live in the States than if he kept them abroad. {disclaimer: I realize that this group of people is not typical.... and that since they are already ex-pats this point of view isn't all that surprising.} But between all of us, the question came up of do we have to be abroad to be living out what we believe about social justice?

And the answer we came to was no.... no, you don't have to go to Africa to be involved in social justice. God's command is for us to show love to the marginalized in society, including the American society I come from. And sometimes its even harder to do in your own backyard.

During this conversation, I was struck with the example of my friend, Kellie, whom I had the pleasure of living with for most of Christmas break.

Kellie hangs out with strippers.

She brought an organization to College Station, Texas, called Jesus Said Love. The whole premise of this small group of people is to build relationships with women who work in the local strip clubs. First of all, I've never heard of anyone talking to strippers before... I feel like for the most part even talking about them is taboo. We like to keep things like this at arms length... pretend that the Silk Stocking strip joint isn't just around the corner. I've honestly never once thought about the women who work there, who are inevitably living in my community.

But Kellie talks to them. She buys them Christmas presents. She prays for them. She gets coffee with them. She hangs out with them in the club before business picks up. I admire Kellie.... because for me, the idea of coming to Uganda and living out social justice here seems far easier than doing it in College Station, Texas, where the marginalized happen to be strippers.

I think a little part of that is the fact that the poor are often romanticized... I find this to be especially true of the African poor. But you can't really romanticize the idea of hanging out with strippers. It's more raw... gritty. And ultimately, when you get to Uganda and actually get to know members of the group of people you thought of as "the poor," you see that it isn't all that romantic after all. Some of them are happy and joyful (like you see in the non-profit ad's). But some of them are tough and sassy. Some of them are lazy and rude. Just like people anywhere else, they aren't all the same.

I guess its just funny to think that one way to live out social justice is trendier or more attractive than another... I'm just grateful to have people like Kellie in my life to challenge my view of social justice and to go against the grain in the way they approach it.

NOT charity

I work for a company.... This is a simple fact, but it is commonly misunderstood. A lot of people seem to think that if you're doing something in Africa it obviously must be a charity or a non-profit of some sort. But that's not what Sseko is. We are a social business. And a lot of our fellow expats either work for similar companies or understand the concept of what we are doing.... But I've found that this is at times difficult to explain to Ugandans. The only interaction many of them have had with white people is through charity, i.e. hand-outs.

This past week I was faced with an instance of this misunderstanding. Right now at Sseko we are undergoing a lot of changes and one of those is the method in which we pay our women. It was my job to explain the change to them and then have one on one meetings to answer any questions or concerns. I met with a woman who is one of the "aunties" who works for us. She started working for Sseko last spring and before that had been doing a little bead making on the side for a local widows group.

This woman came to me and I told her again the rough amount she would be paid each month (depending on if she met her work production or not), and it was actually more than she had been making in the past.... but she had some questions for me.... She wanted to know if she would be getting any extra money to pay for transportation since she lived far away. {Note: this woman has lived far away for her entire employment and has never received extra money for transport}

I told her that the policy was as it always had been and that she would have to pay for her transport out of her wages, because it would be unfair for us to pay her more just because she lived farther when she was doing the exact same work as the other women who work for Sseko. And then a phrase came out of my mouth that I had never put together before... I said "Pay at Sseko is based on work, not on need." That was the first time I was truly able to articulate the difference between what we do as a social business and what the traditional charities these women have had past experience with do....

For some time I have known that no matter how much we pay the widowed aunties who work for us, it will never be enough. One of them is HIV positive, has a daughter that is as well, and nine other children of her own to care for.... not to mention some of her children's children, and other extended family form whom she is responsible. The culture here is incredibly community based, and everyone is responsible for everyone else.... so even if these women were getting paid the salary of a government official, it wouldn't be enough.

But these women aren't getting paid the salaries of government officials.... that would be utterly ridiculous. They are relatively uneducated, have little work experience, and one of them barely speaks English and is illiterate. They are getting paid the equivalent of a teacher's salary to make shoes, which is more than they would make doing anything else... Working with Sseko is a pretty amazing opportunity for them, and they know that and are so appreciative for the jobs we have provided for them. But, there come times like these when I have to yet again explain that we are employers. Sseko is not a charity. We are certainly understanding to our employees and their needs, but I'll say again that pay at Sseko is based on work, not on need.

It's honestly almost a relief for me to be able to put that into words.... because at times the line gets blurred and when I personally know these women, I wish I could cater to all their needs. But I can't afford to and neither can Sseko... what we can do is give them great jobs and a way to earn a living... what we can give is opportunity.

T.I.A.

This is Africa.... I heard the abbreviation for this phrase for the first time after moving to Kampala. We say this when ridiculous things happen that would only happen in Africa.... like say this.

In case you can't tell, I'll explain what this is. The lock on this window has been broken since we moved in seven months ago. Last week a repairman came to fix the lock. Apparently, he couldn't reach the screws he needed to in order to install new ones from the angle he was at inside the room. He told me he was having trouble with the window.... but I just told him to keep trying harder. What do I know about fixing a window? That's what I called him for!

Anyways... I was out of the house when he finished the job and when I came back, that was what I found. Yes, its just what it looks like. He punched holes in the glass and put the screws in from the outside.

So now we have a window that locks..... but it has two holes punched through the glass. For some reason, the repairman thought this a job well-done.

T.I.A.