ps.

Here's a link to an article from last month's edition of the Innovative magazine. It was written by Chris Town, the senior engineer from Urban Systems who was just in Uganda in January to review the projects that ACTS is completing with the help of his company's sponsorship. Due to the large size of the file and the slow internet connections in Africa, I haven't actually been able to open and thus, read the article myself, but I've heard that it gives a good summary of the projects that ACTS does. If you read it, maybe you can confirm or correct me on that!
http://www.apeg.bc.ca/resource/innovation/archive/2009/2009janfeb.pdf

And rather than adding onto this blog, which I'd like to keep directed to the work I've done with ACTS, here's a different blog that I'll be updating during my travels eastandwes.blogspot.com.

The Road Ahead... (Sunday, Feb 15)

So, I'm really completely done with ACTS now. Our contracts officially end today, so I guess technically I've still got a few hours to go. But in all other aspects though, I'd totally done. Exit Report is written and submitted, all engineerings documents have been filed away for next year's team, and I've left Canada House for the final time under the ACTS banner.

And with that, I think this will be my final post on this blog, regarding my work with ACTS anyway. I look forward to seeing all of you again, and also the the cooler weather on the West Coast (hopefully, but just wishful thinking probably, some of all that snow will still be around), along with fast internet, Chinese food, English Church services, playing and watching hockey, reading the news in the morning, the list continues... But my plan is not to return home just yet because I don't know when I'll have the privilege to return to Africa again. So I'll be taking this chance to travel and see a bit more of the East African region. With one of my high school friends, we're hoping to bus around the Lake Victoria region, taking in the sights, and experiencing the culture of the Rwandan, Tanzanian, and Kenyan people. I'm not sure whether I'll have the ability to blog often, but I'll try and update as we move across the region if you'd like to keep up with our travels. Other than that, my return is set for April 20th so for those of you in the Vancity area, I hope to see you soon after that, and for those of you from elsewhere, I don't know when I'll be able to make it to your respective places, but you're always welcome to come visit in Van!

So, once again, I sincerely thank you for the overwhelming support that I received from all of you over the past few months. I've had a great time and a lot of that I attribute being oft encouraged by your support, which came in so many different channels. It really was a pleasure to have been able to share and partner with you in my work with ACTS.

And among the many things I've learned in Uganda is a new method for repairing glasses...


Signing off from Uganda,

Wes

And this ACT’S coming to a close! (Tuesday, Feb. 10)

Sorry, bad pun. =D We’ve just returned from Bushara Island this afternoon, where we’ve been for the past three days, doing our final debriefing sessions. So, officially, we’re now done. We’ve said our goodbyes to the Ugandan crew, we’ve left camp for the final time, and now, we’ve concluded our debriefs too. I still need to do some more handover work with Chris, who needs to follow up on some of the work that we started, and I also need to complete my exit report; but, once those are complete, and it shouldn’t take more than a couple of days I hope, I’ll be done done. Following that, I hope to return to Another Hope orphanage for another week, and sometime next week, to meet up with Kevin, from the eMi Canada office in Calgary, who is currently leading a design team near Kampala.

I don’t think of myself as being sentimental. Alright, maybe a little… =p I just find it difficult to grasp that this is really over. ACTS, GFS projects, climbing hills and testing water, driving inconceivably bad roads, the list could easily extend for awhile. For sure, I look forward to no more excel spreadsheets for the next little while; I definitely look forward to going back to Another Hope and seeing the kids again; I look forward to traveling some and seeing more of East Africa; and then, but not too much yet, I look forward to returning home. Still, I can’t help but look back on the past five months and wish that it wasn’t already over.

Certainly, it hasn’t always been a blast; there have definitely been a fair share of ups and downs, disappointments, frustrations, and a ton of anticlimaxes (read: over one hundred sources investigated, less than a tenth suitable for GFS consideration). As we discussed and examined in our debrief sessions, there is, and always will be, much room for improvement. Yet, there’s no doubt that this has been a wonderful experience in most regards. I know that I have learned a great deal, many things which I may not realize for awhile, or maybe, ever. But I recognize that I’ve been changed by the work that I’ve done, by the culture that I’ve been immersed in, and by the people that I’ve met.

Who would’ve thought that someone of Chinese heritage, born and raised in Canada, and having grown up in the big cities, could be so comfortable working and living in the rural communities of Southwestern Uganda, near the heart (or at least the centre) of that foreign and mysterious place we call Africa? This region where Runyankole is the language of choice; where the majority of people haven’t completed secondary school; where boiled bananas and mashed maize is the be all and end all of their diets. Well, newsflash, one, it really isn’t all that different, or as different as one might expect anyway, and two, it couldn’t have been done without all the support that I’ve received from home. I’ve said it before but I need to say it again. Your emails, cards, letters, phone calls, and of course, prayers, are very much appreciated. The support, care and encouragement that I received made the work lighter, the problems insignificant, and the disappointments slight. So, to you, who, just by reading this, are testifying to the care that has been undeservedly granted to me, thank you once again. Webale munonga!

Season’s over for Roving Team 2008 (Thursday, Feb 05)

In the past two days, we wrapped up the search for sources in the Isingiro and Ibanda districts, exhausting the rest of the potential sources that the two district offices had given to us. Yesterday was our final field day, and it pretty decent one, kinda... Asaph, the other half of reduced roving team, was back from the OFF and we managed to see three sources, none of which were suitable for a GFS, but at least they characterized an accurate depiction of the majority of the sources that we’ve investigated. One had too little flow, one was too low in the valley for gravity to bring anywhere, and the last was a protected spring that was no longer functioning. Haha, yep, fitting end to the tale of this roving team.

We spent today at Canada House, going over all of the documents that we’ve managed to collect over the past few months. District project proposals, community project requests, maps, population data, health and sanitation surveys, water quality test results, we perused over them for the final time, sorting the useful from the useless, throwing out a few, categorizing some, reorganizing others. So now, hopefully, next year’s roving team will have an easier time trying to pick up from where we’ve left off. The best help they have though, above al the organizing and labeling that we’ve attempted to do, is Asaph, the constant on this roving team, and those to follow. It’s been a pretty banner year for Asaph as well, he was one of the crew who ACTS put through driving school this past summer, and he’s now been driving for a good five months I think. (haha, as you might imagine with any new driver, there can be some nervous moments, when we’re rounding a corner a little too fast, or passing a vehicle a little too close, or stalling on a hill; but overall, Asaph’s probably driving considerably better than I was after just five months on the road, and on Ugandan roads, no less!) He’s also got a second child on the way, due in March, or possibly even this month the doctors tell him. We’ve now got Asaph using the GPS like a pro, and he’s even been training the other Ugandans on it, and he’s now typing at a blazing forty characters per minute, thanks to the MaxType freeware program, (haha, yea, that one will take some more time and practice). So, it’s been a good five months and a pleasure working with Asaph and Mike. Best of luck to next year’s roving team, but no worries, you’re in good hands.

Hello, Goodbye (Wednesday, Feb 4)

Well, it’s February, that’s the final confirmation that our time’s really, so quickly, coming to a close. Count, three days left of work. Two, actually, since this workday’s over, and really, just one and a half days because Saturday’s a half day. Then, we'll be heading to Lake Bunyoni, billed by the Lonely Planet as the most beautiful lake in Uganda, for three days at one of the camps that was also an ACTS project a few years ago. Three days of debriefing and wrapping up and, that’ll be it. Our contracts with ACTS officially end on the fifteenth, but, as far as we know, we’re completely done once debrief is over, less than a week from today. Crazy…

And the past week’s been just that as well, crazy. After everyone over the age of 25 had left Kasese, it was back to work as normal, except not really normal at all. It was the first time that I’d been roving without either Mike, who returned home two weeks ago, or Asaph, who was home for the monthly OFF. It was just me and Chris, who was along for the ride to get a better grasp of the process of developing a design and project proposal. He’ll also be here until May and will hopefully have the chance to tie up some of the loose ends that I just haven’t had the time to do myself. Yona, crucial piece to the roving team’s success, was not able to accompany us either because his youngest son was sick in the hospital with a serious bout of malaria (he’s since left the hospital and is recovering well). Add on the fact that, despite it officially being the dry season, it rained for three days straight, and we weren’t able to get as much done as we’d hoped for. Nevertheless, we are a respectable step closer to completing the Bughendero design, and hopefully, Chris is now well equipped enough to finish it off without too much difficulty. So, we left Kasese Saturday morning, probably for the final time for me. We first came to Kasese to do a quick one day survey for a small project back in September and proceeded to spend the majority of the following three months there. It was a lot longer than the one month that we’d originally allocated, and not surprisingly, leaving Kasese was a little harder too.

So, many thanks, to Mimi, for having us, I believe the longest stay that she’s had to deal with, and for making sure that there’s always hot water for the shower in the evenings; to Peter, for your unceasingly delicious cooking that was waiting for us no matter what time we got home; to the Bowers, for opening up your place to check email and just to chill whenever work found us near Kagando; to Yona, without whom we might still be wandering the hills looking for a project; and to the rest of the South Rwenzori Diocese team, for your hospitality, for your interest in our work, for your warm encouragement and exceeding gratefulness, and, haha, even for your unexpected appearances at the guesthouse, just to say hello. =D