I scream for help; no one comes. I quietly listen. The man seems to be alone. He doesn’t have tools and will be unable to break open the shutters or doors with his bare hands.
Read MoreCoffee and Banana Farm in Buweswa
friends in a mountain village
Small Holder Farms in the mountainous region of Bugisu Uganda
Community Mapping
I leave on foot up the mountain behind my house at 6:45. The slippery trail of a road is deeply rutted from the heavy rains we’ve been experiencing this month. Children, groups of women, and men pass me, as I negotiate the mountain with shoes caked in thick gooey red mud.
I have an appointment with Christoper, the chairman of the cooperative that I am working at, for a coffee farm tour. I have a vague idea of where his house is, so I continue walking for 45 minutes. Local farmers assure me that I am heading the right way then suddenly the trail stops at a tidy looking farmhouse. A Ugandan farm wife waves and calls to her husband to come out, the young children stare at me from a distance. I might be the first American to climb this trail!
Their names are Joseph and Lona, and they graciously spend an hour with me answering my questions about their lifestyle. After a tour of their garden plot, and their livestock shelters, Joseph and I walk 20 minutes along a narrow trail through small coffee tree farms. I’m keen to see where his family gets their drinking water. The public well is adjacent to their church and a new primary school that the church is trying to establish. The school is of simple mud and wattle construction. Each small room is neatly swept with hand hewn benches lined up in front of a chalkboard. They educate over 100 children ranging from nursery school through primary school.
My Nokia buzzes. It’s my supervisor calling, interupting my conversation with Joseph about the school’s potential. John is surprised that I walked so far on my own. I hang up and tell Joseph that John is expecting me to backtrack to Christopher’s farm. Joseph and I climb the path back to his house and we sit with his wife under their coffee trees. I pull a flask of hot rooibos tea from my bag. We sip the hot beverage together, smiling and appreciating the morning. Christopher and John can wait.
Details:
· Joseph is one of the few farmers who tends to a kitchen garden. He grows beans, tomatoes, squash, and greens for his family’s consumption. The garden is fenced with barbed wire to keep the free range poultry and animals out.
· Joseph has multiple plots of land scattered across the parish on which he maintains coffee farms.
· Joseph and Lona send their older children to boarding school in Mbale. Their commitment to their children’s education is commendable and rather unique. Many children in the Buweswa parish have not been attending school this year because the coffee harvest was devastatingly low so parents are unable to allocate money to pay school fees.
Consulting with Coffee Farmers in Eastern Uganda
In the Field
“We’re going to climb today to visit another savings group, remember?” Yes I remember, visiting farmers in the field is the best part of the week for me. The clouds look thick this morning, I am anxious and ready to move. He notices my eyes glancing towards the door, “We can’t get there before 11 AM, because the farmers are in the fields all morning,” says John. Yes, I remember this too, but all the same once the daily rains start the mountain roads are slick trenches of mud. “Good, you wore your good boots today, you will move very well,” John says appreciatively.
John is the Manager of the Buweswa Growers Cooperative Society (BGCS), located in Mufufu village. We have been working closely together since I arrived at site a fortnight ago. The BGCS property is the center point of the village, and my little colonial-era cinder block house is right on top of its hill. I can see mountainous coffee farms covered in mist from my front porch.
This will be the ninth savings group that I have visited. Our window of opportunity is narrow because the rains begin at 1 PM, or earlier. We begin trudging up the muddy road, still sticky from last night’s showers. Boda Bodas come from both directions hauling supplies going up, and people coming down. Villagers are heading to the main road several kilometers down the mountain. We reach the tiny village at the top of the mountain behind my house, about a 45 minute hike, and we keep climbing. I haven’t had a chance to really explore these high altitude villages because of the rainy season but this morning the clouds parted, and we feel the full force of the equatorial sun on our faces. Small holder farmer families have built their homesteads close to the mountain road; they tend to their various plots spaced throughout the district. We stop to greet everyone; they are all curious to hear a foreigner greet them in Lumasaaba.
After another 45 minutes of hiking, we reach the savings group who have gathered in a church building on top of an adjoining mountain. The church is missing a wall, a welcome open-air shelter. Our group of farmers are all very much at home, calmly looking over the coffee farms and mountain vistas, comfortable in the cool mist. “Let the meeting commence.”
Site Placement ... becoming more real
Site Visit: 8 AM September 2024
· Find the public bus park
· Board bus
· Wait seated two hours until bus is full full
· Leave Mbale City towards Bududa
My stop is at Weswa junction, just before the town of Bududa. Arriving at 11 AM, half a dozen boda boda drivers cry out to me, “1000 shillings!” just to moto me that the last kilometer to the coffee cooperative. I walk.
Mist hung over the Manafwa River, swollen from recent rains. The surrounding mountains dodge in and out of the clouds. Dreams of primary forest filled with colorful birds, and endemic monkeys have long been forgotten. The region has been efficiently terraced, with banana trees, coffee farms, and rows of maize. The Ugandan side of Mt. Elgon National Park blends into the surrounding farming communities, or rather the other way around..
My sponsor, Buweswa Growers Cooperative, is organized from a series of colonial-era buildings solidly planted in the late 1940s. The board members were waiting for me on the hill. A bag of lightly roasted Arabica was opened, we stirred grounds into mugs of hot water and sat on bright blue chairs in the main office. After our introductions, was it an hour?, they eagerly escorted me to the white-washed building which will be my house. The cement floors were scrubbed clean, new mosquito screens were installed in every window frame, even my outhouse was freshly swept.
As I open my front shutters, cloud-filtered light fills the room. There is the path that leads down to the community well, I will be drinking and bathing with their spring water now. This is Eastern Uganda, like no other place I have been.
site assignment
rolling out chapati dough
Last week a group of us new ag. trainees shadowed another ag. specialist who has been working on various projects in central Uganda for the past 10 months. He introduced us to different Village Savings and Loans (VSLAs) groups, we walked down dusty country roads greeting community members, and learned to cook local cuisine.
This brief taste of rural life reinvigorated my desire to partner with Ugandan farmers, but first I am finishing a few more weeks of onboarding sessions and then a month of intensive language training.
preparing lunch from scratch
The best news of the week has been site placements.
I learned that I am going to live in the Mbale region of Eastern Uganda, an hour south of Mbale city. First there is a month of language immersion to complete, starting next week, where I may be living in Mbale city with a local family, but am still waiting for details.
After I pass the language proficiency test (please!) I will move into a modest bungalow located in the rural parish of Buweswa, a lush coffee growing region in the foothills abutting Mt. Elgon National Park. There I will be working with a coffee growers cooperative for two years.
I will accept all good vibes as I attempt to learn and grow in this beautiful East African country.
morning walk in central Uganda
Central Uganda
catching the rooster
At 17:16 the weavers flew in. There were well over 100 nests with male birds flitting about above my head.
We figure it out, often with support of family or friends, a community of love. Settling into routines, we fix our surroundings, we argue, and some of us flutter about more than others.
Technical Immersion
So, I find myself in a modest hotel somewhere in central Uganda. I was fed plates of matooke, rice, and beef two times today. I suddenly remember that rural communities world-wide graciously feed their guests out of pride and gratitude. Mennonites might feed you roasted chicken with green beans and potatoes. Malagasy will certainly offer an abundant plate of rice with a bit of tasty sauce. Here, west of Kampala we enjoyed hearty plates of steamed plantain, rice, and stewed meat with broth, always enough to keep us fortified for the day.
… back alone in my room, the weaver nests are quiet as guests are enjoying late night beverages at the bar. Sleep will arrive easily tonight.
Ugandan Post
“Dear Michelle,
Congratulations! You are conditionally invited to serve as a/an Agribusiness Specialist in Uganda…. and will join the legacy of more than 240,000 Volunteers who have served with the Peace Corps, working alongside community members in 144 countries to support locally identified development priorities.”
Country: Uganda
Title: Agribusiness Specialist
Sector: Agriculture
Departure Date: August 1, 2024
I am almost there! After months of completing applications and exams, and after a healthy amount of discussions with those around me I am finally packed and ready to live in Uganda.
Schedule thus far:
August 1 – 2 Meet cohort in D.C.
August 3-4 fly to Uganda
6 weeks general training at Peace Corps Training Center (not in Kampala)
6 weeks language training w host family in the field
2 years live and work with Ugandan community
TFN (ta for now)
PS.
Internet connectivity will probably be in and out for the next 27 months. WhatsApp is the best way to reach me with jokes, stories, and updates.
My Friend, the bread baker
Wood Fired Ovens, hand-shaped loaves, locally milled flour …
artisanal bread loaves
Curious as to the inner workings of a wood fired bakery I rode my bike out to the country one morning to the bakery my friend manages. Touds bakes the daily bread, biscuits, quiches, pizzas, and other assorted treats at a school north of town. He arrives to bakery well before sunrise to start the wood fires and proof the loaves for the day. After a few wrong turns, I arrived mid-morning in time to document his work and the aromatic loaves as they emerged from the oven.
sweet treats made with eggs from the farm
head baker
Touds is a phenomenal baker. Despite his hectic schedule, he is also a farmer and an electrician, he allowed me to shadow him in the bakery and ask questions all morning. Thank you friend!
Thank you for taking time to share your work story with me, it was a wonderful morning in the bakery.
waiting for delivery van
These are images from the school bakery my friend works at. It is a non-profit enterprise that provides meals to their students.
A popular retail bakery
that I spent many cups of coffee at, in Anstirabe is Chez Jeannette. There you will find a tight selection of hand-formed loaves, including their chewy, crusty baguettes, and delicate pastries all baked in the classic French tradition.
Traditions hold true during Harvest Time
Harvest season along RN-34
In rural Madagascar, as in many countries around the world where the cost of a family-owned car is simply unattainable, walking is a common form of transportation. People walk on and alongside the roads to get to their fields, school, the market, visit friends, or work.
One day, As I rode further and further from town, I noticed that there were more people walking than usual. It seemed as if entire villages were heading to a rice field. Yes, it was harvest time!
Rice is the major staple crop and contributor to food security in Madagascar
RN 34
Harvest time is a special part of the year for all agricultural communities. In my northern Midwestern community, everyone worked from sunup to sundown during harvest. Farm kids were excused from classes for a few of those especially crucial days to work with their parents. It was critical that crops were harvested at the peak of ripeness and before storms settled in.
The same principals hold true in rural Madagascar. Families were working alongside each other, harvesting and processing the rice as quickly as possible. A sense of relief was present, relief that there was an abundant harvest and relief that families had the capability to bring their harvest in together. The principals of a successful harvest are true here as they are in Northern Indiana.
rice distribution from Antsirabe
I never took pictures of farmers working in my U.S. American community. They would have had little patience for such frivolity when important work needed to be completed. My Malagasy hosts were patient with my requests to photograph them. A few farmers requested that I not take their photograph, but most were quite indulgent and let me shoot away. Thank you to all of the hard working farmers, just west of Antsirabe, who shared some of their time with me in April 2023.
a great travel advisor for exploring Madagascar is Wild Madagascar
For a clear summary of how global climate change is impacting agriculture in Madagascar check out Climate change risks and adaptation options for Madagascar (2021) published by Ecology & Society.
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Neighbors in Tsarasaotra, Antsirabe
daybreak in Antsirabe
I reach for my fag, ½ smoked from last night. That first drag clears the fogginess of sleep. I throw back the heavy acrylic blanket, head to the kitchen slowly as to not awaken anyone. Soon enough my son and another’s grandson will be stumbling into the kitchen, expecting their pot of steaming vary (rice). The apartment next door is quite still. It’s always been reserved for American Peace Corps volunteers. Nine different volunteers have lived next door since 1998. The current volunteer is a tall woman named Michelle. She seems nice enough, she’s often seen walking around town and at the various food markets. I wonder what it’s like for her to sleep and eat in the apartment all alone, how lonely.
entry into my neighborhood
I smell the cigarette smoke even before I open my eyes. I glance at my phone to check for messages. It’s 4:30 AM. No messages. Gawd that smoke. I sleep for another hour with a man’s cotton undershirt over my head to block the smell. As light emerges through the shutters I pull back the curtains, carefully prepare my morning coffee, then pump up my bike tires. Gleefully I wheel my government issued bike out the gate, waving good morning to the neighbor lady, Adeline.She is there everyday, standing at her kitchen window feeding the coal fire cooking vary for her grandson’s breakfast. At times some of her adult children live with her and the boy, leaving when they find short term work elsewhere. Somehow she isn’t irritated by the assumed roles of cook, washerwoman, and housekeeper placed upon her.
North of the Tsarasaotra neighborhood
Herding cattle to feed on an empty lot, North Side of Antsirabe
Agricultural lands on the R7, a favorite bicycle route on Sundays
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Morning Sounds
May 2023
I know exactly where I am, the first wafts of cigarette smoke from next door clearly place me in Antsirabe. It’s pitch dark. Soon, at 5:30 AM, I’ll swing my tanned legs out of bed, prepare my morning coffee and get my bike ready for the day.
Waiting
Waiting
Waiting
…for the sun to explode (Carreras)
At morning’s first light, on certain weekday mornings civil servants march up and down the of streets of Antsirabe singing in unison. Their melodies drift over the neighborhood.
Then I ride for meditation. If I’m up for socializing I’ll walk instead. If I feel especially bold I’ll take my camera. Pousse-pousse drivers especially love having their pictures taken leading to general joviality on the street.
I don’t have to be here alone. (Carreras)
May 2024
In Denver, I wake to the incessant sound of traffic. The drone of highway noise begins around 5 AM as coffins* are maneuvered to work. I sing to myself as I pour coffee. Imagine if the City of Denver employees agreed to greet their work day in song and march down 15th Street occasionally. A friendly thought.
A few months ago a friend, with incredible insight, blurted from across a crowed room “Michelle you’re going back to Africa aren’t you!” I laughed. How easily she knew before I even knew myself.
Heading to Market
Coffee Time
Saturday Morning in Antsirabe
Diners line up at local hotely for breakfast
The stringy little boy nestles next to his granny under the tarp. Last night they set up behind a non-descript hotely on the side street around the corner from the Alliance Francaise complex. They were begging on the corner last night, well into the dark morning hours, as hundreds of bar-hopping revelers streamed past them without a glance. Popular neighborhood karaoke bars competed with the thumping speakers of the all-city block party held on the central boulevard, just past the Carrefour supermarket. The promise of an almighty hangover only seemed to extend the party until, finally, the generators run out of electricity.
A hotely on the way to the market
When Joslyn arrives to open her hotely for breakfast, the revelers had just left a few hours ago. She recognizes the tiny, huddled frames under the tarp in the back. Her hotely is supported by a few odd boards with pieces of tin nailed together as a roof. As customers stream in and out of Joslyn’s place, she will set a bowl of white rice and weak coffee on the ground for the woman and child.
I walked by this scene every day, unprepared for their consistent schedule. Impossible to guess their ages, the boy underdeveloped due to his diet of rice and coffee, and the woman is prematurely aged for the same reason. I feel the intensity of their stares when I walk by.
There is little to be said.
Savuti Channel - Safari in Botswana
Savuti Channel Botswana
There wasn’t water in the channel that year but we watched a pride of lions all morning playing and relaxing in the Savuti.
Sub-adult lion playing with Cape Turtle Doves and eventually catching one
farm lodging
Cycling through the Garden Route, South Africa
The Western Cape of South Africa has been on my radar ever since I owned my herbery - garden shop. Invariably my favorite species to sell originated from South Africa, specifically the Western Cape region. This incredible terrain hosts 3% of the world’s plant species, translating to a mind blowing 1300 species/ 10,000Km. We can thank the 19th century English explorers for putting this region on the naturalist’s world map as wealthy Victorian adventurers clamored throughout the Western Cape harvesting plants for their Queen at home.
Funny how social media has made these far off places suddenly seem so attainable. One day last December I saw a Western Cape gravel grinder promoted on my Insta feed. Suddenly I was transported to pristine mountain passes, cycling through lush valleys with the hot sun on my face. I wistfully mentioned the tour to my husband and he generously signed me up. With only 3 weeks to ready myself I was off to South Africa on my dream vacation.
The tour did not end up being what I expected at all, four words, Corrugations and more Corrugations.
Turns out gravel grinding in South Africa can. be intense. I arrived in Cape Town with my Surly Travelers Check, two days before the tour was to begin, allowing myself a couple of nights to acclimate and build my bike. My B&B hostess gave me a giant bear hug and sent me off with best wishes for the week ahead.
Schedule:
Monday: “Quick” misty evening ride outside of George. A test of our wits perhaps?
Tuesday: George to Oudtshoorn - 70K (approx) - Outeniqua Mountains
This proved to be one of my favorite days. We rode through indigenous forests of the Witfontein Nature Reserve then into mountain fynbos terrain. It was a cloudy, misty day perfect weather for strenuous climbs. Montagu Pass was the climb of the day, here we encountered 4 mountain bikers and 2 vehicles. Blissfully low-key compared to Colorado traffic.
late afternoon in the Klein Karoo
Wednesday: Oudtshoorn to Eagle Falls - 84K (approx) - Klein Karoo
A blazing hot day with a lot of long ascents through farmland. I got swept but after a quick break in the car I hopped back on the saddle to finish the ride. We reached our lodge by climbing 1000 feet from the main road and then braiied with a rainstorm brewing around us.
Thursday: Eagle Falls to Uniondale 70k (at least) Klein Karoo
We cycled through the Holdrif Valley farmland. I remember being very relieved to reach our accommodations located on a very tidy sheep farm.
Friday: Uniondale to Knysna 70k (approx)
Crossed the Langkloof Mountains from the Klein Karoo to the Garden Route. We completed several passes including Prince Alfred’s pass. The descent into Knysna was paved and fast!
Saturday: Knysna to Wilderness 76k Garden Route
We accomplished the Seven Passes Road this day although we were told that we only completed 5 of the 7 passes. I was too hot and tired to go to the beach, which Wilderness is known for.
This was my first time joining an organized bicycle tour and there were some frustrations along the way.
I rode much slower than the men, initially making me feel inadequately prepared but soon enough I realized they were drinking beers while waiting for me to catch up!
The distances and terrain took me by surprise, but isn’t that the best kind of day?
What I learned:
Embrace the unknown once in awhile
Allow yourself to be uncomfortable, these are the conditions in which we find our strength
Grow your health when given the opportunity
Don't worry what others think about your abilities, they are too busy thinking about themselves
Remember the good moments when you feel discouraged.
This tour was a wonderful introduction to a region of the world that has peripherally intrigued me for a long time. Sure I bit off more than I could comfortably chew but I pushed myself harder physically than I have for a long time. Now that I have had a generous taste for what South Africa has to offer I am sure to return.
below are quick links to my photo albums of Kirstenbosch Gardens and Table Mountain NP of this tirp. When can I go back?
An afternoon in Cape Town before the bike tour
An afternoon in Cape Town after the bike tour
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Living with Wildlife requires community
With foresight and resources, we can address the ever-increasing incidents of human-wildlife interactions. Fortunately, there are inspirational stories of communities who choose co-habitation with wildlife instead of the destruction of it.
Read MoreTo Market To Market
Nina was my first language teacher, shopping for food was my second.
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