I felt myself hurrying through the last few updates as I was quite time pressured at the internet cafe, so sitting in my room in front of my Computer - I definitely feel more relaxed not having the time counter weighing down on me or thinking 'gotta make sure I start to head out of town before the crazy Kampala traffic starts!'.
It's been an incredible 6 months - I think i've used the word rollercoaster a few times on these pages - and I think it is very apt description of the journey. Both emotionally and mentally, you hit so many highs and lows - and being away from your normal comfort area's, these spikes/troughs do get magnified a lot more. You see an everyday life that is so different - although the primary basis is still to 'feed the family', the route and means are so so different (not to mention the family sizes!). And you really see the differences between the standards of livings that people are partied to.
One of the major things I experienced in my village life - and this crosses both Uganda and Cameroon - was the lack of easy access to information. We are blessed with so much information at our fingertips, and before the internet, I remember making regular visits to the library to help me with my homework, or even to look up the history of football teams or improve my snooker... Information, if interest was there, was available. However, the people I was around in the villages did not have anything like this available. They'd rely on word-of-mouth from people that travel to neighbouring villages and towns to get the latest info... and it's either that or find someone with some sort of knowledge. For example, there was one person who was extremely interested in architecture, and he came to me with questions like - how thick did they make the wall of the Channel Tunnel to be sure it wouldn't develop a leak? - Unsurprisingly, that information was not stored at the forefront of my memory, and it made me think, if I'd been at home, I'd have clicked a few buttons and got the answer - but what do you do to foster out-of-the-box thinking like that in villages? Currently there isn't enough done - and this means people just settle for what they know or what they are fed... and thus, a lack of pro-activeness becomes inherent. So people settle, not seeing how they can drastically change what they do or how they do it.
Going back a few decades, what would have happened? People would have relied on information through their elders. Now people are caught between that and schooling. A reliance on schooling is understandable, as it should technically provide the most up-to-date info, but for that, the schooling infrastructure etc needs to be working well...
The other key element is electricity and internet - across many developing countries - there is some form of 'rural electrification programmes', and with mobile communications already present across the area in abundance, it's natural for this to be exploited to provide data across the air. The challenges are there - like affordability and educating locals on using this technology, but steps are being made in the right direction, like the recent connection of the high speed cable to East Africa , which should reduce prices and improve speed and capacity (which may mean it will soon be possible to read the news in the internet cafe's without having to find low resolution news pages!!)
I could go on and on, but one of things I have come out with from the 6 months is that, information needs to be provided/facilitated, and the communities need to made to understand how they can use this information. In Bangem, in Cameroon, there was definitely evidence of some enthusiasm, especially by younger members of certain groups - who took great interest in the various workshops we provided. Even though, there were many who attended in the hope of getting some free seeds or free lunch, fostering the few is a potential means to providing a route for uplifting the communities.
That's zooming in on one of the area's I found quite interesting... Socially speaking - it was absolutely great connecting with the various personalities I met on the trip... and I didn't realise how different the everyday experience was until I was sitting in the Lounge at Nairobi airport waiting for my connecting flight to London. Everywhere I looked were familiar tones, expressions, body languages - and it felt very weird. I had a snippet of this when I was staying at the hostel where I went rafting - but even there, the majority of the people I met were Volunteers or working out in Uganda. Being in the airport lounge - it hit home how different the daily experience is. Obviously it's expected to a point - but the contrast is really quite fascinating!
If you've made it this far - I'm impressed!! :o). I hope you've enjoyed reading about my experiences over the last 6 months... I'll try and get a few pics on here too - but right now i'm struggling to get them off my camera :os. But for now... That's all Folks! Keep safe, keep smiling, and don't be worrying about things you can't control!
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Im glad your back!! x
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