January 7, 2010 - Kampala

After breakfast today, we called Barbara, who instructed us to go to the taxi stand in town in order to meet her. It was a challenge to flag down a taxi on Nateete Road that happened to have empty spaces for 3 people (most heading to downtown Kampala were quite full). Having gotten to the taxi stand, we took another boda boda ride to the nearby Radio One, where Barbara met us and took us to a coffee shop.

Barbara thought that the best thing we should do is to first ask the local district office (in Masaka) whether or not they have the maps and data of the groundwater and the topography of Ddegeya (we later confirmed with John that Michael Thornton tried to look for this information during the summer and found no avail). Failing that, the Water Resources Management Directorate in Entebbe (+256 414 320382/323531; Leodinous Mivebembezi - +256-414 321342/320914/570779; leo.mwebembezi@mwe.go.ug) may have groundwater data from record, costing about 5000 UGX (on the brochure that Barbara gave us; when she asked them, they also gave her the same price). However, these data may be very old. If we want to do some more in-field assessment in the future through the Directorate, then the cost could be quite high:
Groundwater equipment - with no personnel - 150000 UGX/day
Groundwater equipment - with personnel - 600000 UGX/day
Hydrological analysis - small - 1000000 UGX; per catchment - 3000000 UGX
Groundwater assessment - 3000000/area
Hydrogeological survey - 1200000/site
Borehold drilling, logging, construction supervision - 700000 UGX/site

Barbara also told us that from her experience with the local hydrogeology (near Masaka), the depth of the water table is often between 50-100 m, being shallowest in the valley and deepest on the hills. Most boreholes in this area fail mainly due to two reasons: (1) the borehole is not deep enough and only contacts the top layer of the water table, and (2) the quantity of water at the borehold site is not sufficient. Dave asked about obtaining the geological/topographical maps in the area, and these can be obtained via a different department: Department of Geological Survey and Mines - Agnes Alaha (256-41-320656; mob. 256-71-812843).

After this meeting, Barbara took us to good places in town to change money. Kevin got a Ugandan SIM card (+256(0)784399549), and we ate at Nando's (probably the last western-styled food for a while). We returned to the hostel just short of 1 p.m. Hudson---John's brother---agreed to pick us up at 1 from the hostel, but we learnt that he would not show up for another hour. In the meanwhile, Kevin made some more phone calls with the following people:

Solar Connect Association (in Kampala) - 0712 718005
They apparently do have water pasteurization indicators (WAPIs), but they are not sure if these are in stock, and apparently this will take them a week to find out.

Chris Arsenault (in Kenya)
We just introduced ourselves to him at this point; he would contact us again in a few days regarding his availability within the next couple of weeks.

Hudson came at 2, and Dave went to the bus terminal in Kampala with him to fetch a taxi, which took another 30 minutes or so. There are 4 of us travelling, but the luggage took up two extra spaces. Having loaded the luggage onto the taxi, we drove back to the Kampala bus terminal again to pick up additional passengers. While waiting for the taxi to fill, we walked around the shops and found a plastic bucket---about 40 cm in diameter and 50 cm in height. The original price was 15000-20000 UGX, but we bargained it down to 13000 UGX.

The taxi finally left at about 3:30 p.m. In the two-hour ride to Masaka, we passed by many beautiful Ugandan landscapes, notably, according to Hudson, some of the largest papaya plantations. At Masaka, everyone but us got off the taxi, and it took us about another 30 minutes to arrive at the clinic off the Masaka-Mbarara Road.

John showed us around the clinic grounds, which was larger and newer than we expected. There was a sleeping quarters with bunk-beds with mosquito nets, an office with laptops with internet, a diagnostic area, and another room with hospital beds being set up.

About south of the clinic, the terrain sloped downwards, with sweet potatoes growing. To the east was some eucalyptus wood (most of them seemed cut down, but people have regrown them). At the edge of the wood, Tom and Joe (a pharmacy student??) were leading an effort in mixing concrete and erecting some wooden posts in the hope of making a jungle gym.
Walking down to Nalongo took us about 3 minutes. At this time in the evening (about 6 p.m.), the place was packed with kids fetching the water for the evening. We were a little surprised to find a working borehole right beside Nalongo, yielding comparatively clear water at a good rate (about 3 minutes to fill 20 litres). We saw about 20 jerry cans being filled, and only one girl ventured to Nalongo and fetch water directly from the open pond. According to Francis (who studies journalism at Makerere University but is back to the village for the school break until the end of January), most of the people (about 70-80% of them) fetched water from the borehole and not Nalongo. Some may fetch water directly from Nalongo if they were short of time. Since the borehold water is comparatively "clean" (judged by eye for now), a major source of contamination is probably the dirty water vessel.

At about 8 p.m., we had dinner, consisting of traditional fare such as matooke, yam, some unknown beans, rice, corn, and avocado. Afterwards, John met with us. He emphasised the need to avoid making promises (and then possibly having disappointments/mistrusts) with the villagers. Unlike the Engeye, John appears to prefer that we make household interviews. In his opinion, the problem with a community meeting is that only a fraction of the participants are willing to speak up. So we have formed a rough plan as follows:
Friday (8 Jan.) - Joseph is going to take us to the different houses in the afternoon to talk to people. We will also be meeting the community elders---Salongo Kivumbi, Muwanika, and Medi.
Weekend (9-10 Jan.) - Finish the household interviews if necessary; in the meanwhile, we will try to assemble the filters.
Tuesday (12 Jan.) - The workshop begins.

John is away from tomorrow (Friday) until late Monday (4 p.m. or so). The medical mission will be arriving in Engeye on 18 Jan.