Soroti Grant Disbursements, Day 1: Amuria

I had the opportunity on Thursday to attend my first grant disbursements.  It was a really great experience but also an incredibly long and utterly exhausting day. At least I had the heads up before the journey began that this would be one of the toughest drives of the disbursement schedule.

We departed from the office a little before 10 a.m. and made a few stops before leaving--we had to be sure and get snacks before we left town since there would be nowhere to get food during the day in the villages around Amuria that we were going to. 

I drove myself and two of my Ugandan colleagues for about 2 and a half hours on mostly dirt roads to get to our first destination. I was beginning to feel more comfortable with driving in Africa (after getting some practice in the other night) and I started to feel pretty confident in my abilities. Then it started to rain.  Ok, so I thought driving at night in Africa was bad… Then I realized I would take that any day over driving on muddy roads in the rain.  We ended up getting stuck at one point (had I not been so stressed, I might have taken some photos of the predicament we were in). Fortunately, the car had four wheel drive.  Unfortunately, I didn’t know how to turn it on, and I had no cell signal to call the car’s previous drivers to find out.  Fortunately, after some trial and error we figured it out, and finally made it to our first stop.

We had planned to disperse the grants outside under a tree, as has been done in the past, but given the rain, we ended up squeezing into a food store room.  

Grant disbursement recipients in store room with grain sacks in background 

The process began with speeches. I was asked to say a few words and used the few words I have learned in Ateso so far: Yoga (Hello) and Eh-el-ama (Thank you).  (I’m not sure if those are spelled right, but I figured I’d use the phonetic spelling.) The rest of what I said was translated by my colleague.  We gave out grants and certificates to those who were receiving their first small business grant. Afterwards we checked business owners’ records for those who qualified to receive their second follow up grant. 

Handing out certificates & grants to business owners

New business owners with certificate and cash grant

Very happy business owners!!

We ended up leaving the first site quite a bit later than planned, around 3 or 4 p.m., and since it had rained the whole time we were there, the roads became a total nightmare. Again, had I not been on the verge of a nervous breakdown while attempting to drive, I would have tried to take some photos to capture the madness. It was absolutely awful.  The roads were so slippery that even with four wheel drive, the car was swerving and sliding all over the place. Luckily, for the most part, we didn’t have to fear for our safety, since there wasn’t a lot of other traffic, and if we had slid off the road (as the car started to a few times), the greatest risk was that we would have been stuck in the soft shoulder. It was more scary than anything, and would have meant being stuck on the roadside for hours while we still had more grants to disburse and had to make our way back home. I know it seems like I’m exaggerating, but it was truly the worst experience I’ve had here so far. I really felt like crying a few times, like at one point when we actually were sliding off the side of the road prior to reaching a small bridge.  And then after a different particularly slippery patch, there was a point when I stopped the car and wasn’t sure I could go on…  Fortunately, my colleagues were immensely patient and helpful in instructing me on where to go, and which water-filled potholes were safe to drive through and which would likely mean us getting stuck (I couldn’t tell the difference, they all looked the same to me). But again, as I think back on the experience, we had the benefit of being in a car, while so many others had to make their way back home on foot, many of which were barefoot.

Fortunately, the rains had stopped by the time we arrived at our second stop about an hour later, so we were able to meet outside. By the time we arrived, I had to use the bathroom, but the rains had somehow impacted the outdoor pit latrine (don’t think I want to know how), so I was instructed to pee behind a hut. Taking care of business outside definitely beat the smell of a pit latrine, but I still had trouble not peeing all over my feet. I have a feeling though I'll have lots of opportunities to perfect the technique...

Location for second grant disbursement

At the second village slightly shorter speeches were given due to the time crunch, and then more grants were handed out.  

Grant disbursements

Business owner signing for her grant

Business owners waiting to receive grants

New business owner with her baby

Kids surveying the scene

Some of the local children also crowded around to look over my shoulder as I sat to take photos.

Another highlight of the day was receiving my first live chickens!  They were so thoughtfully and generously presented to us by the business owners as a thank you. It was my first time holding a live chicken, so I didn't handle it as gracefully as I probably should have... 

Expressing thanks for the first chicken

Receiving chicken #2

We then got on the road back home at around 7 p.m. It was dark by then and the roads were still slippery, but thankfully not as bad as they had been earlier.  It was still pretty stressful though.  Not to be dramatic, but I did have the thought several times “That which doesn’t kill you makes you stronger…” It was also pretty bumpy on the way home and the chickens were not too pleased when I hit a few bumps so there was lots of clucking coming from the back of the car.  

By the time I got home I was utterly exhausted. But at least I had 2 chickens to show for the day's work!  Plus, I got in some good practice for driving and disbursements to take place the next day. 

Not so sure what to do with the chickens though...