It has been three years since I was last in Kampala working with MAF and as I returned this week I wondered what changes I would find. On my first morning I walked the short distance from the house where I am staying to the MAF office and while it didn't quite feel like 'coming home' it did all seem very familiar.
As I walked along the side of the road (no pavements here) I had to watch out for on-coming boda-boda (the local motorcycle taxis) as they weaved around the road trying to avoid the pot holes and speed bumps. It would probably be safer for me to walk on the other side of the road but getting across the non-stop traffic seemed like it would be more dangerous!
I was pleased to see that Coffee at Last - the local coffee shop and cafe - is still in business. It's a great place to get coffee or something to eat. I'll obviously need to check that they still sell their delicious brownies...
The American Recreation Association - a popular place with ex-pats where you can play tennis, swim, go to the gym, get a drink or a meal or enjoy one of their regular social events - has changed hands and is now the Makindye Country Club. The entrance has had a colourful makeover and now that it is no longer affiliated to the US Embassy the large concrete slabs that were placed in front of the building for increased security have disappeared. From the outside it looks like a friendlier, more welcoming place.
The boda-boda riders still wait at their usual spot, hoping someone will come by who is looking for a ride. As a mzungu (white person) you can't walk by without at least one of them calling out to you 'Madam, you want to go somewhere?'.
The collection of little shops that are on both sides of the road look pretty much the same. As before I wonder how they manage to make a living as they compete for customers to buy their eclectic collection of goods - essential groceries like bread, Nido milk powder, Blue Band margarine, Omo washing powder, sodas, phone credit, bananas, tomatoes, onions.
It's good to see that the 'Jesus is the Alpha and Omega Delicious Chapatis' stall is still in the same place, making and selling their wares from their small white and blue painted stand.
The abandoned and partially derelict petrol station on the corner looks largely unchanged from three years ago and there has been no progress on the building site behind it. The concrete shell still stands as a reminder to someone's dream before they had to give up the project for reasons unknown but probably due to a lack of money or the right permissions.
And then I arrive at the office where there are many familiar faces and also some new ones who have joined the team as it has grown and changed over the last three years.
As I start work I experience a real sense of deja vu as I am again working on improving access to the remote communities who live on the many islands in Lake Victoria. They are some of the poorest and most under-served people in Uganda with very limited access to healthcare, clean water, sanitation and education. Rather than building airstrips on the islands (something, that despite my efforts three years ago to get all the required permissions, just proved too complex) we are now looking at the possibilities of introducing an amphibian aircraft to the fleet. Landing on water gives the potential to reach many more villages more quickly than traditional airstrips and also opens up access to other bodies of water in the region.
It's a project that is not going to be without challenges but it is good to be back.
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