George and Ted left for Kampala this morning, but not before an early morning meeting with Samson to talk through the terms of a new Mango Fund loan for him to buy significant quantities of rice and maize – over 40 tons. This for a man who had no working capital to buy rice three years ago! He has steadily increased his production each year, but this year represents a big increase in rice and a movement into maize for the first time. Input prices are edging up, which makes his business less profitable, but would you pray that he could acquire all his rice this month for less than 1000 shillings a kilo (about $0.40/kg)?
Blasio and I then left the airfield, having said goodbye with me driving a rented vehicle. It was a strange feeling having dropped someone off in a car and then getting back into town to go back to work. It seemed like I belonged here (don’t worry Gail – I am coming home as planned – you really wouldn’t like the insect life here!).
I promised to write about my driving. It’s quite an experience. Wrong side of the road, large potholes everywhere, or just dirt road, and congestion everywhere. There is a kind of pecking order from the curb to the center: pedestrians, then pedal cycles, then motorbikes, then cars, then lorries and finally buses that go wherever they want! This pecking order also reflects the relative speeds of the participants, so it is like a river with the fastest current in the middle. It’s also the pecking order for giving way. Its kind of like sail over power on the water, but more informal and is sometimes broken by a particularly aggressive person in any of the categories, which will cause a temporary disruption in the traffic and chaos and confusion will reign for a few seconds before order is restored. At first I was a problem because I was in the car “track”, but driving at bicycle speed. I was not popular! But soon I threw caution to the wind and went with the flow, after all I’ve driven in Paris, Rome and Boston. How hard could this be? At the end of two days driving we are still in one piece and you’d all be proud of my use of the horn sending motorbikes , bicycles and pedestrians all scurrying for safety, and equally proud of my avoidance maneuvers in the face of oncoming lorries and buses!
Later in the day I met with Mayor Charles Asiki. Charles is now in his second 5 year term and a great guy. Under his leadership, Arua has dramatically changed for the better. He has cleaned up the town, forced people to dig latrines rather than just relieving themselves everywhere, put road safety measures into effect and numerous other activities for the betterment of a quickly growing population. There are 60,000 inhabitants now, but estimates suggest that between 200 – 250,000 people come into town each week to bring wares for sale and make purchases! As a result of his leadership, there have been no cases of cholera for 4 years (there used to be upward of 500 and several deaths each year), and there have been no road deaths for over a year in town. Charles personally has seen 2 road deaths within 400 yards of his own office before he introduced “humps” to slow through traffic! We enjoy our conversations as we get each other up to speed on progress in our respective activities. Today we suggested a plan whereby he could substantially impact the economy of Arua by using his leadership position to encourage the citizens of Arua to buy Arua products. Most of the products sold in Arua come from Kampala. As they are bought here, cash from Arua goes to Kampala, leaving the local economy weakened. If we can begin to substitute local products we can staunch the flow of cash out of Arua and add to the size of the local economy. There are a whole series of very good local products, particularly food, but somehow the locals prefer to buy food from elsewhere. He was excited by the idea and wants to involve the C5 chairman (the governor of the district) in carrying the message to the citizens of Arua. A small change in buying habits could dramatically change the fortunes of the local economy and the local farmers in particular, who really struggle to survive!
This afternoon I had to myself, and I was excited that the Chelsea vs. Newcastle football match was on national television (I have been a Newcastle supporter all my life – its like being a Red Sox fan in the good old days before we won a World Series!). Unfortunately the hotel was repairing the generator – no TV. I drove the car around town and headed to the fancy new hotel – no TV as their generator was “resting”! And so the story went. If the match was on anywhere in town I couldn’t find it! Probably a good job as they lost 3 – 0 anyway!
I used the time instead to get measured for a “Shirtcoat” that one of our businesswomen insist that I should take back to the US as she is sure I will gather large numbers of orders when you all see me “styling”!
Well, I need to finish my sermon for tomorrow. I’m preaching at the early service at the Cathedral. I always find it a privilege to share God’s word and there is always a full house of people who are excited to worship God.
Blessings to all.
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