Mayor or Monkey - the exodus begins

Dear all,

Following the election of a monkey as Mayor of London, I have moved out of
the capital.

My new address is:
?? Cobden Rise
St. Catherine's Road
Southampton
SO18 1DL

My phone number is the same and so is my email because they have little to
do with London. My work does, but that'll end in August, so nothing more to
do with monkey land. Sorry, I meant London.

Life is well, and I am looking forward to a good summer; closer to friends,
the beach, the forest - and of course Carol.

Hope you are doing well - and best wishes whatever you are doing.

Edgar

Uniqueness

Read, every day, something no one else is reading. Think, every day, something no one else is thinking. Do, every day, something no one else would be silly enough to do. It is bad for the mind to be always part of unanimity.

  - Christopher Morley

Monday night in Kampala airport

There are times when the little luxuries are just so much more appreciated. Now is one of them; sitting in the airport departure lounge, with a cold beer, watching BBC World News. These two have ended a very good week in a very comfortable way.

Uganda has been good to me. Very good. I’ve enjoyed warm hospitality from my brothers in the Diocese of Kigeze; I’ve enjoyed the cool mountain air of Kabale in south-west Uganda, the camaraderie of Frank, my colleague in Watsan and friend in Tearfund. Altogether, this has been a tremendous trip, with altogether good memories.

I will return to Uganda – next time married and with my wife. There are things for us to be busy with, and places for us to relax and live. Really live.

Uganda has reminded me what it is to be generous, to relax, to laugh, to dream, plan and do. All things seem possible in Uganda – it is no wonder this country is getting ready to go places.

I wish Rev Reuben, Philip, Canon George, Ruth, Rev Eric, Hannington, Paul and Emmanuel well. They have blessed and inspired me by displaying almost super-human kindness, generosity, commitment and integrity. They have demonstrated what is possible. It gives me hope; hope for their communities, Uganda, Africa, even for myself.

Thursday in Uganda

Somehow the Diocese of Kigeze has found the key to what they do. Somehow, the Diocese of Kigeze is doing something I’ve yet to see in Africa. They are consistently succeeding. They are consistently delivering and transforming lives.

Over the last two days, we have seen communities changed from the roots up; simple, no-nonsense water supply schemes have been installed. But that is not the change.

The change is in self-perception; these communities have hope and pride. Not arrogant “we’ve done it all” pride, but a recognition that they are worth something, and they have something to be glad about. They’ve done well.

I visited Mary yesterday afternoon, and she told me how her children can go to school, because she sells lettuces she has grown in her well-kept plot that are watered throughout the year from her rainwater harvesting tank. This tank wasn’t built by the Diocese, but built by women volunteers in her community who had been trained by the Diocese to construct these tanks.

Is this not true development?

A roadside spring, protected by a well maintained spring box and garden, beneath a stand of thirsty eucalyptus trees, serves as more than just the source of water for a community. It is the bank, the financial market, the community investment hub, the driver of micro-economic growth. Each month the water users meet to contribute their 100 UShs (~3p) towards the well maintenance fund. Yet this fund is very healthy, and so the capital is issued to households as a loan fund, with which income generating projects can be financed from. Households must repay the loan at the end of a set time, plus interest. The profit they keep. Not only is the spring well maintained and working, the community is helping itself out of poverty and into sustainable growth.

Wednesday in Uganda

The power is off. Apparently this is rare, but it’s the second evening we’ve experienced it. And we’ve been here two evenings. Somethings don’t change in Africa; and I don’t mind.

I’ve spotted something about Uganda. It’s the ‘meal’; the Ugandan Meal. After eating the Ugandan Meal, I feel weighed down. It’s heavy stuff. Good stuff, but heavy. Let me whet your appetite:

Potatoes (Irish) like you have never eaten before – so tasty, crisp and mouth-watering. Spinach, cooked to tender perfection. Rice. OK, nothing too special about rice is there? Matoka, an interesting concoction which somehow I never seem to be able to fit into myself – it’s pressure cooked banana, but not sweet at all. Beans, beans, beans. What African countries menu would be complete without beans. G-nut sauce – just like peanut sauce, but pink. Stewed meat – a hit and miss affair; some cooks have got this bit down to an art, preparing tender succulent fillets, other serve stringy meat wrapped with bones.

The other option, I am told, is chicken and chips. Not a new experience for me on this continent.

Oh, did I mention fruit? No? Well, just let your imagination run…

Tuesday in Uganda

I rarely condition my hair, but I had broken with tradition, seeing as the water was so warm and lathered it up. Then the lights went out. As I fumbled on in the dusky twilight creeping through a slot in the wall, I reminded myself ‘I’m back in Africa – real Africa’.

Somehow I love it. Somehow I love the power-cuts, I love the holes in the road lying in wait to trap the careless and careful motorist alike, I love the endless billboards advertising hangover-free beer. I’m slightly annoyed, but very amused, that alternate shops are painted MTN Yellow and Celtel Red, as South African mobile phone companies race to colonise Africa. Six years ago, Africa got into my bones, and like many of the continents diseases, I’ll never be rid of it.

This time, Africa draws me back to visit the Diocese of Kigeze’s Water and Sanitation programs, started by the charismatic and unstoppable Rev Canon George Bagamuhunda, and continued by Rev Reuben, ably supported by the project engineer Phillip. Moments before my shower, we were sipping tea and munching tasty slices of brown bread with the latter two, being amazed by the scale and energy of their work – Health Teachings, Artisan Trainings and cluster workshops happening in the same week.

If they can do it here, why not all over the continent?

International Impotence fuelled by US Testosterone

I'm not a huge follower of the Israel-Palestine conflict, and certainly don't have some of the beliefs about it that other Christians may hold, but it does bother me: in short, I see a big rich bully pushing around a poor, weak victim. OK, sure, it is somewhat more complex than that, but, in short, there is a huge amount of injustice that I am surprised the international community continues to tolerate.

Or does it?

Israel was founded as a place that the Jewish people could live freely and without fear of persecution and terror following the brutal experience of the Holocaust. 11 minutes after it was founded, 11 minutes after the British Mandate in Palestine ran-out, the US officially recognised the State of Israel.

Since then the US has continued, at the highest possible authority to support Israel. Today I stumbled across this list of all the vetoes in the UN Security Council that have been moved to criticise Israel and her actions against her neighbours: http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/UN/usvetoes.html . 41 times the US has gagged the UN from expressing the majority world view of Israeli injustice and bullying. If it was once or twice, who would question the U.S. representative when he says "that the text does not display an even-handed characterization of the events in Gaza and is politically motivated". But 41 times.

I admire the UN: it is an important and worthwhile institution, yet it needs to be reformed. In the 21st Century - a century in which democracy is supposedly flourishing, there is little reason for the atomic powers of the 1950s to maintain Veto wielding powers. Why not include Israel, India, Pakistan as well? Why have a veto? Why have permanent members? Democracy needs a level playing field to work - the US should know that being the self-confessed experts at spreading democracy (after all, they flattened Iraq).

The US has no right to dominate global politics, and the veto is merely one of the myriad of ways the US asserts its unjust imperial authority. The outcome is that bullys win and victims lose: be it Israel-Palestine, Africa-WTO, the Indian Government vs. the People of India.

In truth, the international community does not tolerate this injustice: the problem is, their arms are tied and mouths are gagged by American might.

The Sox-life of Dutchmen

Today my links to my father's-land are somewhat strained and shameful with news of the current furore in the Netherlands over socks: specifically, white socks.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3397043.stm

A lesser know fact about me is that I have different coloured socks for each day of the week (I've got Monday's blue socks on today, tomorrow: Red) and I have religiously worn them for months now. Unfortunately, my Dutch cousins do not share such as sense of style and order, but prefer to wear white socks.

It appears that at the Dutch Finance Ministry, white socks are de riguer for daily wear amongst many employees. This overtly 1980's fashion statement is not confined to the halls of Dutch fiscal prudence, but, according to one British computer expert cited by the BBC, many Dutch academics are firmly attached to their white socks with some scandalously flaunting them beneath half-mast trousers.

While I've often thought of the Dutch as generally much cooler than us on the British Isles, I'm having to drastically rethink my position... not that I have a leg to stand on - especially with Orange socks on a Friday.

Boris

Mayor of London?

A lighter note...

You remember all those comedy names invented at high school :- Ben Dover, I.P Freely, etc etc. Well, we've found this in the office today: http://www.waynekerrmusic.com