Soroti Grant Disbursements Days 3-6

After 660 kilometers (410 miles) behind the wheel on some rough African roadways (or lack thereof), we have almost concluded the grant disbursements in the Soroti area for this grant cycle. Given the level of activity over the past week, I thought it was best to summarize it all in one post.

Day 3: Obalanga (Monday)

We had a smooth day of grant disbursements in Obalanga on Monday.  It was another long drive over some challenging terrain, but fortunately, it didn’t rain and we got back before dark, so it was a much easier drive than some. I was also complimented by my coworkers on the improvement in my African driving skills, so that was nice!  Although I did get confused at one point as we were driving into town when I saw an oncoming car, and it looked like a toddler was driving it! Then I remembered that the driver sits on the other side here. (Duh!  Not the first, and probably not the last time I’ll get confused like that.)

We had the disbursements under a mango tree, and all went smoothly.  It was the same process as the prior days, so not much more to explain there. Something different though was that there were two languages spoken by different business owners in the area, so one of the local leaders served as a translator throughout the process.

Another cool giant mango tree with business owners assembled beneath it 

Talking with business owners with help from translator 

Reviewing record books

Woman with baby signing for grant

Happy business owners

I also had an interesting bathroom experience while there. It was basically an enclosed flat section of earth with a makeshift wall for privacy. It was the only place to go in the area, and the compound's owners were so happy and welcomed me to use their facilities--one even helped to hold back the side that was starting to collapse so I could get in. It was certainly memorable. I didn’t realize until I got back to the group that straw from the wall had gotten all over my back.

Rustic bathroom

Day 4: Katine (Tuesday)

Katine (pronounced Kah-teen-ay) was closer to home (only a 30 minute drive away) and the main roads were really nice. However, once we exited the pavement, there weren’t really roads, just small footpaths. In fact, we had to slow down and look for a break in the trees to find the turn-off.  My coworker advised “You have to use wisdom to find your way here.”  I was surprised that a car could even fit through some of the places.

So it's kind of a road...

Passing by a field of sunflowers owned by one of our business groups 

A fun thing about driving in this area was that every time we passed a group of kids while going through the villages, they all started running after us and following the car for quite a ways. Considering how rough the paths were, I had to go pretty slowly, so they had an easy time keeping up.

Shot of kids in the rear view mirror

There were also some interesting places to park.  For this one, I was directed to park in a bushy area and had to climb across the front seat to get out.

View of parking job behind business owners

Though the location was close by, it was still a long day with going back and forth between different Business Mentors’ disbursement sites. We also had an issue where business owners who were supposed to receive their grants didn’t bring all of the appropriate paperwork, so we had to leave that area and come back later when they had their records, so there was a bit of extra driving involved.

Disbursement in a church with a grass-thatched roof

Day 5: Mukura (Wednesday)

Mukura was also not too far away, however, we hit a bit of a delay on the way. We were cruising along until we were flagged down by some police who directed me to pull over and park on the side of the road, along with every other car headed in our direction. My colleagues guessed that there might be some sort of dignitaries coming.  As it turned out, they were clearing the road due to some wide-load trucks that were crossing the series of narrow bridges ahead of us, so no cross traffic could pass until they made their way through. It ended up being about a 45 minute delay. When the lumbering vehicles finally passed, the writing on the large cylinders indicated they had something to do with gold mining. I had read in the Uganda news recently that they were attempting to revive gold mining in the country, so maybe it had something to do with that. Finally, we got back on the road. 

Waiting on the roadside

View of bridges and trucks that were blocking the way through 

Wide loads finally coming through 

Once off the main road, we had a couple of instances where there were cows in the path that did not want to move out of the way of the vehicle, so we had to have someone get out and shoo the cow off of the road.  

Stubborn cow that refused to move, despite honking the horn and inching forward 

At the first disbursement site, a group sang a song for us, which was really neat.

Signing business owners

At each location, the business owners were so kind to set out chairs for us. I think they might be chairs from local schools, since they are all almost the same style   They were not the most comfortable chairs to be seated on for several hours at a time--especially after long drives in the car. But still, they were a luxury considering we were usually the only ones with chairs, while others sat on the ground, or on leaves or rocks.

Our typical seating arrangement

I encountered some new wildlife at the second site. At one point, a bunny hopped into our meeting area, which got me really excited (which amused the business owners). Then we also had the typical sheep and chickens making their way through to check out the action.  

Uninvited visitor

Curious sheep

I also received another live chicken, and this time handled it more gracefully. One of the business owners explained that it is Ateso custom to give a chicken to visitors who come to the village.  

Receiving chickens

We also received bags of oranges, which are actually green here in Uganda--as in green all of the time, including when they are ripe. 

The final disbursement of the day was held in a partially built church.   All in all, a good day!

Children in front of the unfinished church

Day 6: Katakwi (Thursday)

Today we went to Katakwi, which is almost 2 hours away on some really rough roads.  

Typical oncoming traffic

 At one point along the way, I was chastised by my coworkers for slowing down to avoid running over a young monitor lizard. I was surprised when they said I should have aimed for it. I was told the lizards eat the local villagers’ chickens, turkeys, etc., and could hurt people too. In fact, there were some villagers beside the road to observe the spectacle of me maneuvering to avoid the reptile, and my passengers speculated that they were saying to each other “Crazy mzungu” or something to that effect. My coworkers also said it was just as bad as slowing down not to run over a snake! (I didn't say it outloud, but I was actually thinking that I probably would have slowed down if it was a snake too).

After a somewhat grueling drive, we arrived at the disbursement site.  Records were reviewed and cash grants disbursed. In addition, we also gave out a couple of grinding machines.  These are used grind local grains for packaging and selling (for more on the grinders, check out a blog post from my coworker at http://villageenterprise.org/blog).  The grinders were assembled so the business owners would know how to put them together and use them. 

Demonstrating grinder assembly

Kids gathering for a watch and to ham it up in the background of the photo 

Demonstrating grinder operation

Afterwards, I received some generous gifts of eggs and eggplants, and some of the business owner groups asked to have their photo taken.

Happy business savings group (women with grinders holding the boxes on their heads) 

As we were getting ready to leave, a guy asked me to come and take his picture (or rather, that’s what I understood from the translation). I went over and he got on a bike and started peddling. Turns out he had equipped it to serve as a human-powered sharpening tool, which he demonstrated by sharpening a panga (or machete). He was so proud and I was truly impressed by his ingenuity!

Pedaling the tool-sharpening bike

Close-up of panga sharpening

We have one last day of disbursements, which was supposed to take place tomorrow, but since there is a conflicting function in the village, it will have to be rescheduled. So fortunately, I get a day off from driving on my birthday tomorrow!  What a great present!