Subject: Holiday Greetings and Reflections from Kampala
December 2003
2003 has been a mixed year of joys and struggles for Joanitha and me. Our marriage on September 13 was a pleasant celebration of our love for each other, but it cost much more than we had expected.
A year after the University of Bukoba closed, Joanitha was glad to be able to study two more semesters at a university, but disappointed by the chaos and mismanagement of Kampala International University. I was happy to have steady work, learn Linux basics and teach five web-based computer courses at Uganda Martyrs University, but exhausted by the three-hour weekly commute to Nkozi and disenchanted by equipment problems and student apathy.
The University of Bukoba Project remains comatose. The Acting Vice-Chancellor was poisoned to death in August and his houseboy was one of those convicted; both had been my neighbours and friends in 2001. The Registrar and the Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees continue to blame each other for the University's failure. The five remaining members of local staff have been working without pay for eight months, so I agreed to do two weeks of database training for the Bukoba District Council in January to generate a little money for UoB. Mr. Bakinikana is heading the Bukoba Lutheran Teachers College but there are only six students and his health is weakened from the daily motorcycle ride to Nyakato. The director of the Bukoba branch of the Open University of Tanzania is looking for work elsewhere. The Ntungamo Seminary is a beautiful facility but vastly under-utilised. These are the only institutes of higher education in a region of two million people.
The computers donated to UoB by Computers for Africa in 2000 and 2002 have gone largely unused. Laurence Corps and I co-facilitated a workshop in computer maintenance at Ihungo Secondary School in April, but the Ihungo computer lab has remained mostly unused since then because government schools have no money for the teacher salary of a non-required subject. The KAEMP database I spent so long developing will not be used for lack of an expert to maintain it and time required to collect and enter data; at best it is a prototype.
Having moved to Kampala in February, Joanitha and I are healthier, better fed, more comfortable and more mentally active than in Bukoba, but prices are higher, traffic more of a hassle, exercise more difficult, and we know very few people here. We have not been able to afford a honeymoon or long travel vacation, but we have spent some days at Bukoba, Nairobi, and Mount Elgon, and we have visited some of the tourist sites in and around Kampala.
Joanitha and I expect to move to Colorado in February in search of more lucrative work and further studies. We are both looking forward to seeing my relatives and exploring a new area, but the job market in the area is tight, and Joanitha will miss her family, friends and culture. Although I would still like to fight the pandemic injustices of the world, bring computer technology to the hungry masses, write a novel about my last three years, and revitalise my web site, I now have equally important duties of supporting a family and paying back debts incurred from three more years of African salaries, and I have been putting off a real career for too long. But the adventure is only beginning!
Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and Peace to All.