Subject: Bukoba #23: A Slow September

Saturday, September 21, 2002

The University Council still has not decided which staff will be cut, but the University administration I work with have proposed that it keep many of its current staff, including me because of my abilities to earn funds and keep the computers working. The reopening is likely to be delayed six months to a year, but the regional government continues to reiterate its support and press the district governments to include the University in their budgets. Until we get a new letter of interim authority, we will operate under different names, e.g. "University of Bukoba Project", "project manager", "fundraiser/accountant", etc. My title is now "IT specialist".

At the end of August I went to Kampala, left my CV at Makerere University Education and Computer Science departments, Kyambogo University, Kampala International University, and Kampala University, purchased application forms for the latter three, and gathered information about various universities in Kampala. None of the universities I visited seemed very eager to hire a foreign lecturer without a PhD or admit a Tanzanian student without A-level school results, but the information could at least be used by our university in designing our web site, brochures, forms, etc. I stayed in a crowded and busy area near a large minibus park at a budget hotel which was conveniently located but at $10 a night a bit expensive for my VSO salary.

There are plenty of opportunities for me to keep busy in Bukoba. I visited the well-designed and equipped computer lab at Ihungo Secondary School and will help set up the network when more equipment arrives. Hekima also has a nice lab and could use some computer teaching assistance. The Open University also has work possibilities and the director expressed interest in starting his own Internet cafe to compete with the Cyber Centre. So for the moment it looks like I will stay put.

My VSO programme officer Ludovicka visited in early September and despite the University's problems we discussed an extension of my contract. I sent my application, though it seems unlikely that I will extend unless the University can accomplish more in the next few months than it has in over a year. A work permit in Tanzania takes up to six months to process, so I'm not sure if my extension request is too late.

The KAEMP database project is taking longer than I had anticipated. The registrar already signed a contract to receive no more than 2.4 million shillings and received a million of that, but the project will take at least 50% more time than I had initially estimated, so I hope we can renegotiate the terms. It is getting complex with about 30 tables and reports and 50 queries and forms, but Access 2002 is powerful and easy to use compared to dBase which I used in 1994. My other main challenge is to train KAEMP staff sufficiently to be able to create their own reports and to maintain the database themselves when I'm gone.

The weather has fluctuated between hot, dry periods and cloudy days with a little rain. I have done a little walking, jogging and tennis and have just had minor tummy troubles. I am reading God's Bits of Wood about a railway strike in French West Africa in the 1940s which makes my troubles seem minor indeed.