Game time!

What I´ve seen during the few days I´ve spent here is that these people love to play games! The photos are taken from Keyeseka-market and from a Kgaba by the Lake Victoria.

These game´s are made by an UN-worker at his own workshop. He used only renewable materials and the game´s are a combination of traditional local and universally known games.

The 4 R´s of sustainability : reduce, reuse, recycle, renewable

Limited resources is a fertile ground for innovativeness. I got a short tour around the Keyeseka-market, the recycle area. It was hard to spot anything other than second-hand. It was mind blowing to see what can be created from car spare parts, tires, metals etc. Tires turning into shoes, hammocks, You name it! These people are literally using everything they can find, useless for the previous user and turn them in to something useful for someone else! These genius people are doing I small scale exactly what should be done in big scale! Reuse, reduce and recycle. These people do it because they have to, but aren’t we all forced to do this? So the artisans here are actually steps ahead of us. Unfortunately it was impossible to take photos there. (normally people doing business don’t want to be ended up in a film). I´m trying to get there again with some locals in order to share the innovativeness, creativeness and sustainable thinking with you.

You´d be supprised to know how much straws they use for drinks here! This wonderful lady, Benedicta is the director of Kinawataka Womens Initiatives. This women’s group uses recycled straws for making jewellery, shoes, bags and accessories such as belts. You can find more of her designs at http://www.kwiuganda.org/

I also visited a work shop where they used second hand barrels for village computer frames.

The traditioal charoal cookstoves are sold everywhere. These guys used used gas cans for producing the stoves.

Namuwongo Women´s group

I was honoured to visit Namuwongo women’s group´s workshop. William has helped these ladies from the very beginning of this group so he took me and my friend Sara to the Namuwongo slum, where these amazing women live, brought up their kids and have their business. Sofia, the manager of the women’s group told us the touching story behind. This slum area was established more than 10 years ago. During the wars in Uganda and in the neighbouring countries many families had to resettle away from their homes. These families were resettled in Kampala and they still live in the same spot, which was not supposed to be a permanent place for them. After more than 10 years, they still live there and the government have no plans to provide decent homes for these families.

Life was really hard for these women and they really struggled in order to afford normal items such as soap, or even food, not to mention paying school fees for their kids. Sofia, originally from Kenya came up with the idea of making jewellery, since the handicraft culture for jewelleries is strong in Kenya. Where there’s a will, there’s a way. At first Sofia didn´t know how and what material to use. But another lady from the slum knew how to make jewellery out of recycled paper. The women out their ideas together and nowadays Namuwongo women’s group is improving life’s of 36 women and their families, so more than 150 peoples life are improved through this.

The jewelleries are made by cutting the recycled paper in a long triangle shape. The paper is rolled around in to a shape of a bean, and finished up with glue and refining chemical. No dies are needed, the colour of the paper determines the colour of the bean.

If you would like to get some of these these beatiful items, let me know.

I woke up in Africa

30.3. Arrived in Kampala 8 am. Woke up from the most uncomfortable position in the airplane but everything was forgotten the second I saw the most amazing view beneath. I arrived in Africa! Thanks to my colleague William I had the warmest welcome + William had arranged a pick up for me. (otherwise I would´t have a qlue how to get to Kampala. By a taxi or a boda boda (Motorcycle taxi drivers ) The traffic is just cryptic! Due to the English colonialism the traffic is left-handed, the drivers are really “innovative” and crossing a street without pedestrian lines have given me some extra heart beats. I must admit that the first impression of Kampala is more modern than what I expected (and less rain, more sun and fewer mosquitos). The first day was just relaxing, adapting to the new continent and changing thoughts between team Finland and Uganda and started to plan adventures that out thesis team has ahead. Most import task still was enjoying the life in Kampala. I have a strong feeling that our relationship (me&Uganda) will develop into a love story during the next few months. First week I will stay at YWCA with my new friends from global pulse. The bar a few hundred meters away will keep me connected to the town beat the whole night.

From the heart of the mosquito net

Irena