Work at RASD

Today I'll tell you about the work that I'm doing with RASD. RASD has only been an NGO (Non-Governmental Organization) since 2005, but already has a lot of facilities and programs. For example, their internet cafe is the only way to get to the web in town, so every time I make a post, it's thanks to their little router.



My first project to focus on is an education program to promote composting in Nkokonjeru. On Tuesday I met with the Town Health Inspector, Yusufu Kazibwe, who told me that next month bins for compostible material will be installed in the town. Currently the rubbish bins in town are overflowing with a mix of plastics and compostable waste, so these new bins will hopefully help reduce the waste that has to be taken to dumps outside of the town. The compostible bins will be emptied to a compost heap. Here the town will oversee that the material is turned into good humus, and then sold to local farmers. There is a lot of substance farming in the town, so I plan to encourage people to also use household compost heaps.



Tomorrow I'm giving presentations at the two major primary schools in town on the benefits of using compost correctly, and on Monday I'll be giving presentations at the two major secondary schools. I'm trying to better understand how people could benefit from compost by speaking to locals; since Luganda is the native tongue, either Ignatius or Sam will be going with me
(This picture is Ignitius with RASD in the far background, on the hill toward the right).



If anyone reading this follows the Champions League (the football organization in Europe), you know that last night Barcelona beat Manchester United in the final game of the series. Dan's supervisor at the local bank, Moses, invited us to watch this match with him. Since satellite TV isn't something that people have in their households, when a game comes on that people want to watch everyone goes to something similar to a local sports bar. I was expecting booths, tables and bar stools, but the building that I walked into with Dan and Moses was set up more like a small church, with rows of tightly packed benches facing toward the front of the room where two small TVs were set up. Although outside the temperature was cool, in this room body heat from more than a hundred people made the air stifling, like a sauna with an unpleasant odor. A man went through the room to collect 1000 shillings (about 45 cents) from everyone, and the game came on at 9:45. The importance of this game to the people of Nkokonjeru is something like what the Super Bowl is to most Americans. So imagine a couple hundred football fans watching the Super Bowl in a tightly packed room. That's something like what this match was like.