Falling in Love in Uganda

My African mama and I having lunch

Relationships in Uganda can be very interesting, especially to a newcomer. From prolonged hand-holding and extended greetings to the way members of the opposite sex interact with each other, there is much to learn about Ugandans deeply rooted customs and traditions. However, it requires much time to decipher the hidden code spoken between locals. In this post I will share some interesting observations that I have made about how locals interact with each other in Uganda.

Greetings

Bonding and relationship building is incredibly important in Ugandan society, more so than in many western countries. I believe this is partly due to the strong tribal unity that is still present within the society, and partly due to the slower pace of life evident in the community.

Tribal living has strongly influenced the way of life and the customs in Uganda. Locals count on each other for the community’s safety and survival, and in times of difficulty they will turn into each other for help.

Furthermore, the fast-paced way of life that is so prevalent in modern Western countries has yet to enter Uganda. Therefore, it is important to be concerned about the well being of your fellow neighbors, especially in rural area. Furthermore, with lots of time on hand, it’s common that a simple greeting turns into an extended conversation that lasts up to even an hour at times.

When locals greet each other, it’s customary to do a series of handshakes, changing the grip a few times, and then finish by holding the other persons hand for a few minutes while performing the ritual of extended enquiries. For example, here is how I am greeted everyday by my coworkers.

“Hello Mr. Reza! Welcome! How are you? How is Nansana (my village)? How is the life? How are the people in the guest-house? How is (so and so at the guest house)? So how are you? How is everything (repeated)? How is the life (repeated)?”

A very interesting fellow that I met at a night-club in Kampala

It was a bit weird to answer the same series of questions every day, but now I have kind of gotten used to it. I also like to have fun with it because sometimes in Canada I can feel that people don’t tend to care about each other as much.

In the rural areas within the Baganda tribe, younger people have to kneel in front of their elders to greet them even if they run into their elder relatives on the street.

A consequence of this ritualized greetings is that blanking an acquaintance in the street or launching into a conversation or transaction without at least a courteous “Hello, how are you?” would be considered the height of rudeness, and may prompt a frosty, uncooperative response. By contrast, a friendly greeting especially in Uganda is likely to elicit broad smiles.

Asking a Girl’s Hand in Marriage

Another interesting observation that I have made concerns the ritual of seeking a girls hand in marriage. When a man is finally ready to take this important step, the custom dictates that he goes with his parents (if they are alive, or his uncle in case they have passed away) to the girl’s aunt house to discuss the matter, and describe his circumstances. It is the aunt who is the gate keeper, and ultimately makes the call whether the groom is well-suited for the girl; therefore, on her approval he gets to have the formal introduction with the girl’s parents at another session.

The Introduction Ceremony

Groom's family bringing gifts for the bride's parents

For the formal introduction, the groom-to-be will be accompanied by his father, uncles, siblings and friends. He will have to carry gifts for the girl’s parents. The gifts in question vary according to tribe and ethnic group. In some cases, the girl’s parents will demand specific items that the groom must present before them. In other cases, the parents will leave the choice up to the groom. One thing is certain though, he cannot make this visit empty handed. Typical gifts include: fabric, cattle, goats, money, sugar, furniture, and more. This custom is to pay respect to the bride’s parents for raising her, and to show the groom’s sign of appreciation.

The Religious Marriage Ceremony

In Uganda, there needs to be a formal marriage in order for the groom to take the bride home. This ceremony is in many ways very similar to a western style wedding, and takes place in a church or a mosque depending on the couple’s religion. The bride’s family prepares everything including the reception party, and informs the groom of the number of guests allowed. The bride, however, wears the local dress called

Men and women dressed in local outfits for a wedding ceremony

Gomesi, which is a dress with a sash tied around the waist and large exaggerated shoulders. The bride can wear as many as six or seven dresses during the course of the ceremony.

The groom wears the most important formal local outfit called Kanzu.

“Who Do You Think You Are? I Am the One that Gets to Wash His Clothes!”

Once married, the course of a life for a woman can change drastically. Married life can be cruel to many women in Uganda due to the lack of women’s rights and physical abuse by men. A woman is considered very lucky if she can have babies, and have her husband by her side to help raise the children. Many men tend to disappear after the first few babies are born, and some conduct multiple affairs leaving the mother of their children to raise them all on their own without any financial support.

Muslim men, on the other hand, are known to have as many as ten wives openly as a sign of their financial status, and manhood in the community. Some locals don’t consider a male a ‘man’ until he gets at least three or four wives. At times, the wives can all live together under one roof. Each wife can produce as many as ten children as there are little to no contraceptives or family planning present, especially within the rural areas. Men believe that children are gifts of god, and the more they ‘receive’ the more blessed they are. Women unfortunately don’t have much say in this matter.

There can be quite an interesting dynamic between a man’s wives. Normally when a new wife enters the family the previous wives can be pretty brutal towards her, showing much animosity and disrespect. Here are some of the remarks they can use to belittle her: “Who do you think you are?” “You don’t event get to wash his clothes!” “I am the one that cooks for him, and washes his clothes!” “He loves me!” The new bride can often be called a “side-dish”, or “spare tire” as a sign of disrespect. There can be much drama in the house, until the new bride has children because then she is not as desirable in the community. Alternatively, the dynamic can also change when a newer wife enters the house. At that point, the previous wives ally her in order to battle the new comer! And the cycle continues…

My Husband Doesn’t Love Me Because He Is Not Beating Me

Current on-going campaign to stop violence against women

Although many campaigns have been taking place in the recent years to stop violence against women, Ugandan men still tend to show signs of physical abuse and brutality towards their wives. Women who don’t play by the man’s rule get hit the most. The interesting phenomenon is that women expect to be beaten; they can see it as a sign of their partner’s love and affection for them. Often one can hear a woman complaining that her husband hasn’t beaten her for some time as she suspects that he doesn’t care or love her any more! Some Ugandan women consider the love taps as part of their love affair, and marital life. I don’t think I would ever hear a woman in Canada complaining about not being beaten by her husband!

Uganda has a very rich culture formed by thousands of years of tribal formations that is deeply rooted within everyone’s demeanor. Some customs tend to be more considerate than others . Although the western way of life has influenced the general culture to a large extent in the recent years, there are still some powerful traditions such as valuing your elders or local neighbors that are heavily weaved into the fabric of life. One can only understand these customs if they spend some time with the locals, rub elbows, and observe everything with an open sense of curiosity. I am grateful for having an opportunity to gain some insight into Ugandan’s way of life.

A Single Mother Of Three Struggling to Make Ends Meet – Need Sponsor

Summary

This is the story of a single mother of three children, who has been through so much, and yet she is only 26 years old. Her name is Kiwuka Josephine Ritah. She is a very proud lady with a strong spirit, and does not like asking for help. However, she does need a lot of support, and I stepped up for find a sponsor. I know her from working closely with her at KYDA. Even though life has not been fair to Rita, she has the purest heart. I see her children’s conditions, and it absolutely breaks my heart. Her eight-month old son that gets dressed in her older sister’s old pink dresses because Rita can’t afford to buy him proper clothes, their living condition that is a 200 sq run-down room crammed with all four of them, and Rita’s abandoning husband that does not support them, or even glance at his children when he runs into them on the street are just some examples of her life difficulties that I have witnessed by being around her. Even though Rita works full-time as a social worker, her income is not nearly enough to raise her three children on her own. For as little as $75 per month, you can sponsor her to provide nutrition for her children (currently they can only eat once a day), provide health care, clothes, and send her older son to primary school. This is about the same cost as one coffee per day, and that’s not Starbucks coffee!

Here is Rita’s story thanks to Anouk Peters for compiling it:

Rita and her three children named Santose, Valentina, and Amiri (left to right) at her very modest home.

I was born in Masaka district in a wave plate house where I lived together with my mother and partly with my father. I am saying partly, because he had 5 wives to divide his attention in between. Before I was born a brother of mine had died of measles so I lived together with my 5 brothers and sisters. When I was 4 my father died of AIDS. His properties were shared but his brother, my uncle, took the properties that were meant to be for us. I think my father was the virus carrier because of his different wives and in 1999 , when I was 15,  my mother also died of AIDS. From that moment on we were orphans and stayed at our parents’ house where my older brother was taking care of us. Life was difficult since we had absolutely no money.

That year I had my first relationship with a man. When I lost my virginity to him after half a year, I also got pregnant. He took me to Jinja to live with his parents. I wasn’t happy about that but I didn’t feel like I had any other choice. There I gave birth to my healthy 1^st born son and after that I stayed there for a short time, went back home. I apologized to my brother for being pregnant this young, my brother forgave me and gave me the option to study. I said yes to that and my aunt took care of my child. This is when the relationship with the father of the child ended. He wanted me to be a house wife and to marry instead of studying. That was not what I wanted for my life so the relationship had to stop. This man never supported my son and me up till now. It so bad to think that he has even never seen his father. Like I said I chose to study. Back at school the other students were backbiting me and were making up gossips about me. They stopped because I was doing very well at school. I finished school and went to an institution called YMCA. During that study I went home every weekend to see my child who was doing well.

In 2008 I met a new man whom I married at the age of 24. After a couple of months I got pregnant again, this time with a girl.

Rita is having fun with weaving a basket.

He reacted very positive and I was also very happy with the pregnancy. My daughter was born lame, but luckily with bandages her body position could be changed into normal during her childhood. During that time I was making and selling crafts such as baskets, which provided us with some little money. My son could go to school because my brother helped with the school fees.

My husband was good to me during the first year but when I got pregnant again he became acting really rude towards me and he demanded me to abort my child. Of course I refused so he dumped me leaving me all alone. I delivered this child from a government hospital where nobody was there to help or support me. My former husband denied my calls and still denies any support. Just like my first boyfriend does.

I told you that I went to YMCA, well I got a diploma in guiding and counseling HIV/AIDS patients there and through that college I got my job at KYDA. I’ve been working there for a year now as the project officer, the assistant to the director.

I lead HIV projects, participate in handing out scholastic materials to the vulnerable children and make home visits.

These days, I take care of myself and my children on my own. Like I always did. Since my aunt died of cancer in 2006, leaving 5 children behind (their father also died) I’m also taking care of these children as much as I can. My brother pays their school fees, I pay the rest. Another aunt who is 68 is living with me at the moment because she has problems with her joints. She cannot walk without a stick and her hands are sore all the time. When I’m at work she takes care of my oldest children when they’re not at school, my youngest child I take with me to work.

Santose crawling

Life can be difficult sometimes but I’m managing. I see life as a blessing from god. My children are my friends, I love them so indescribably much. I know for sure that I’m never going to be in a relationship with a man again. They’ve disappointed me so much. You know, sometimes Ugandan woman blame their mother for their life flaws but it’s men that should be blamed instead. Men should be sensitized to resuming their responsibilities like former generations of men did. They should fulfill their promises and make sure a family is stable. Now they just don’t care and do what they want.

I’m fine with being a single mother, I see my future as a bright one. I hope to save some capital soon so that I can start making crafts and snacks again that I can let other people sell it during the day. That would give me less problems with paying the school fees of my 3 beautiful children. The money for school fees and proper medical care are really concerning me, but I’m doing the best I can.

Here is a break-down of Rita’s monthly costs, showing her expenses  and income. As her current standards of living is very poor, the expenses reflect the cost of having a decent life, providing three nutritious meals a day for her children, proper medicine, and sending her older son to school.

Table: Rita’s Family Monthly Budget

Index	Item	Montly Cost (U-Shillings)	Monthly Cost ($ CAD)
1	Rent	60,000	$24
2	School fees	50,000	$20
3	Scholastic material	11,667	$5
4	Medical fees	30,000	$12
5	Transportation	30,000	$12
6	Clothes	12,500	$5
7	Food	97,800	$39
8	Milk	18,000	$7
9	Cleaning material	7,000	$3
10	Charcoal for cooking	20,000	$8
11	Income	-150,000	-$60
TOTAL NEEDED		186,967	$75

Your sponsorship will be very much appreciated by Rita and her three children. You get to be part of these children’s lives, and make a huge difference in their future. If you wish to sponsor her, or provide any donation please contact me at reza1983@hotmail.com.

Thank you deeply,

Reza

Break The Poverty Cycle By Sponsoring a Child To Receive Primary Education

Summary

Me with local children at a primary school in Kitezi.

I am writing this post because I deeply believe in a right that no child should ever be denied, and that’s having primary level education. I see many vulnerable children who have no education what so ever, or have dropped out of school after grade 2 or 3 because they didn’t have the means to continue their education. They are mostly young women who are associated with men who mistreat them, abuse them physically, impregnate them with multiple children, and eventually infect them with HIV/AIDS leaving them with the children to raise on their own. These women don’t have any means to support themselves or their children, raising children who are no better off than themselves. Therefore, the cycle of poverty, and disease continues. It is absolutely tragic to watch this reality unfold. But the good news is it doesn’t have to be like that. This cycle can be broken by sponsoring a child to receive primary level education for just $140 dollars per year, or less than $12 per month! I believe everyone in North America can afford to sponsor at least one child as the cost is not a financial burden to most people. The important point is that while I am here in Uganda, I have access to these children directly. The money that you donate will go 100% towards these children’s education with absolutely no administration costs, or the various fees that most charities charge. You will get to be a part of that child’s life, and receive pictures and updates about how their life is improving by your kind sponsorship. I don’t know about you, but I strongly believe that when you give, you get back from the universe in many folds.

Why Having Primary Education Is Vital For Children in Poverty?

Having access to primary level education is the gateway to break the cycle of poverty for children who are living in abject poverty. An important result of access to education is increased access to higher paying jobs. However, money is not the only way that education helps to break the poverty cycle. Access to education in impoverished areas has been proven to decrease infant mortality rates, reduce family sizes thereby reducing population growth, and increase health and nutritional awareness. All these elements are interrelated and all result from access to schooling.

Challenges for Children in Uganda in Abject Poverty

•    Close to 18 percent of school-aged children are not enrolled in school and the dropout rate averages 66 percent.
•    School-related costs have been the major obstacle for children in abject poverty to access education.
•    Requirements that parents meet basic costs, such as the cost of uniforms or exercise books, before their children are permitted to attend school are insensitive and operate against children from poorer families.
•    Difficulty in paying for school meals causes hunger and reduces concentration in class
•    Lack of learning materials inhibits efforts to compete in school
•    Orphaned children staying with relatives who are less appreciative of the value of education (majority of the parents/guardians are not even primary seven graduates)
•    Lack of access/provisions for children with special needs

Targeted Children in Abject Poverty

•   HIV/AIDS infected and affected
•   Orphans and abandoned children
•   Children looked after by asset-less widows and widowers
•   Children heading households
•   Homeless children
•   Street children
•   Child labourers
•   Children with disabilities
•   Chronically sick children
•   Victims of domestic abuse
•   Child mothers
•   Child sex workers
•   Formerly abducted children, child soldiers, children in conflict areas

How to Sponsor A Child?

It can very affordable to sponsor a child in Uganda to receive primary level education as well as one nutritious meal a day. For just $141 per year ($12 dollars per month), you can enable a child to break the cycle of poverty for ever change their future. The sponsored children will be carefully selected from the children in abject poverty (see above) with my counsel, and KYDA. All you need to do is to contact me, and I can help set up a payment system, or a one time donation from you. Your money will go into a trust account that’s reserved for these children. KYDA, who is my organization will continue to supervise the sponsorship going forward.

Here is the breakdown of the school fees for a child per year.
An exchange rate of 1 $CAD = 2,500 Uganda Shillings was assumed.

Table: Provision of School Fees and Scholastic Materials

Index	Item	No. Of Units	Unit Cost	Total Annual Cost (Ug Shillings)	Total Annual Cost ($ CAD)
1	School fees per child (primary level one to six)	3 terms	70,000	210,000	$84
2	Examination fees per child per term	3 terms	10,000	30,000	$12
3	Mathematical set per term	3 terms	2,000	6,000	$2
4	Books, 1 dozen per term	3 terms	7,000	21,000	$8
5	Pens, 1 dozen per term	3 terms	6,000	18,000	$7
6	Pencils – colored	3 terms	1,500	4,500	$2
	– regular	3 terms	1,000	3,000	$1
7	School uniform	once per year	25,000	25,000	$10
8	School bag	once per year	15,000	15,000	$6
9	Sports wear	once per year	20,000	20,000	$8
TOTAL				352,500	$141

These children will be forever grateful for your kind contribution.

Thank you,

Reza

Assist HIV+ Women To Start Up A Hair Salon – Neeed Sponsor

Summary

Students learning hair design at KYDA.

Teaching hair dressing is a project that is currently in progress in KAWEMPE YOUTH DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION (KYDA) to 25 HIV+ young women so that they can support themselves financially; however, the project stops after these women graduate, and due to very high unemployment rate in Uganda, it’s difficult for some of the graduates to find proper jobs right after completion of the training. This proposal is about finding sponsors to provide a grant, or a business loan to a group of the graduates to start up their own hair salons after graduation, where they can build a successful business. The loan or grant is about $1000 CAD, and it can be paid back in monthly payments within one year. You can read about one of the ex-graduate’s (Rubina) success stories in this post here. KYDA already supported Rubina to have a successful salon, but there is no more funds available to support other new graduates. Your support would be highly appreciated by this women. Read below for more details.

Background

KYDA started a pilot project dealing with HIV/AIDS positives aged 5 to 19 years in August 2010. The main reason for that has been the goal of improving quality of their lives and their families’ life by providing nutritious foods and empower  the clients and reduce the stigma they are facing through psycho social support, guidance and counseling and vocational skills training in hairdressing and tailoring and designing. The main target group, when providing vocational skills training, is school drop outs infected/affected by HIV/AIDS. KYDA has been able to  give them training successfully with professional trainers but  the challenge has been lack of funds which make it impossible to provide start up kits for trainees’ during this semester after their graduation.

Even so, KYDA has recognized the importance of following up and aims to sustainability and long distance goals, both in grass root level, in client lives as well as improving the effectiveness of Organization. Therefore, KYDA has search opportunities for example to co-operate with Ministry of Education and be registered as a training institute. Yet these goals take time and are long distance future plans. That is why KYDA has come up with a solution that might help both clients and Organization while waiting the economic situation to improve.

How Will the Funds Be Used?

Rubina, a graduate from hair-design program at KYDA, who has successfully started her salon using a start-up grant.

At the moment KYDA was able to provide one start up package for the purpose of setting up a saloon. This happens through co-operation with a Finnish volunteer/social worker Ms. Melina Laukka, who has been able to raise some small funds for the purpose of setting up a saloon business in the local community in Kagoma, where some of the trainees come from. Although this seems a giant step in the right direction, but still a lot needs to be improved so as to provide more salons as start up kits to all young positives after graduation!.

Each saloon takes on a group of five girls workers who also can be managing the place. They are holding responsible of improving the saloon and they take full responsibility of paying rent and handle the saloon. They keep records and make documentation of incomes, expenditures and outcomes. One of the girls (the most active) holds the main responsibility and writes monthly reports to KYDA who will supervise the project. KYDA will update information to Canada through e-mail. Whenever special skills are needed or when the saloon starts make profits, saloon will hire other girls from the hair dressing training group. Those people will work for the saloon while waiting to set up their own business on agreed terms.

KYDA will provide a loan as a start up kit and will open bank account for special purpose of startup kits. People holding the business will begin paying back monthly, installments amount that we have agreed together after 6 months opening a business. After paying back, we will be able to set up another saloon for other trainees who are on the waiting list for their own saloon.

In order to achieve wider changes and affect the lives of young positives, there has to be way where they can be able to be involved in process of change and improving process of their lives. They are working for their own purposes and they feel responsible and empowered more easily. That is why, it is important to provide the possibility for them to affect their own lives through training and start up kits.

If the business fails, some negotiations have to be done. How the person in responsible will survive in the future? Is it possible to replace her/him to another business (etc. saloon) and give the remaining equipments for the business where the person would work? Would it be better to sell the equipments and put the money to “start up” account or use it for supporting business for paying part of that persons` salary?

How To Be A Sponsor?

In order to sponsor a group of graduates to open up their own hair salon after graduation, it costs about $1000 CAD. Any donation that you make towards this project will be much appreciated. Your funds can either be given as a grant, which can be rotated between new graduates, or it can be used as a loan which can be paid back after a six month grace period in monthly installments up to one year. If the money is given as a donation, the students will pay it back to KYDA, and KYDA will provide that loan again to another set of graduates. If the money is given as a loan, KYDA will work with the person most responsible at the salon to make out a payment plan. Typically, the loan can be paid back at $150 per month after a six month grace period, and completed in 12 months. You may contact me to set up a plan.

Table: BUDGET PLAN FOR THE SALON

ITEM	QUANTITY	AVERAGE  COST (U Shillings)	AVERAGE  COST ($ CAD)
Hair dryers	2	800,000	$320
Mirror	2 (big and small)	120,000	$48
Sink	1	150,000	$60
Rollers	5  packs	60,000	$24
Carpet	4m	16,000	$6
Curtain	1	25,000	$10
Safety lock	2	50,000	$20
Trolley	2	150,000	$60
Bucket	1	12,000	$5
Electronic  kettle	1	30,000	$12
Jerry can	1	75,000	$30
Chairs	3	100,000	$40
Sign post	2	100,000	$40
Paint	2 cans	50,000	$20
Hair products		70,000	$28
Hair extension		70,000	$28
Towels, bulbs		32,000	$13
Rent	6 months	600,000	$240
TOTAL		2,510,000	$1,004

Exchange rate
$1 CAD=2500 Uganda Shillings

Thank you very much for your kind sponsorship.

Empowering Youth in the Community Thru Music, Dance and Drama – Need Sponsor

This is a project that Shaban, my coworker at KYDA has brought to my attention. I see a lot of potential with this project to create positive changes in the community especially among youth thru performing arts. Through music, we can mobilize the youth, teach them skills to support themselves financially, get them out of risky areas, and raise awareness for prevention of HIV/AIDS. We are looking for sponsors to support this project. We have thankfully received some donations so far to get it started, but it’s still not enough. I will be actively involved with this project to make sure that it goes into fruition while I am in Uganda. Your contribution will be much appreciated.

PROJECT PROPOSAL: MUSIC DANCE & DRAMA

UYDNET is a community based organization working within Najjembe sub-county in  Buikwe District near Kampala. It has much emphasis on children, youth at risk in poverty, sexually transmitted diseases including the HIV / AIDS scourge , harassment, sex abuse and others.

These vulnerable youth at risk are faced with scandalous and strenuous life of dropping out of school, loss of relatives, lack of guidance, lack of support, idle and unorganized, and lack of skills.

UYDNET through its objectives aims at sensitizing the youth to contribute to the national effort to improve the health, fight HIV/AIDS, STDs/STIs, and malaria among the rural and urban communities. We also plan on prevention of sexual transmitted diseases by behavior changes in youth bring about by a drama group.

The major aim is to take the lead to stop AIDS, poverty and respond to health hazards. The organization wants to participate in several activities including poem, traditional folk song, traditional dance, creative dance, designing on its materials, refracting the above theme.

This project needs financial support reach out to youth in the community.

Values

Obligations to the young generation who are un-employed and have dropped out of school in ages 15 to 30 years.

Feasibility Study

Several challenges were identified like:

1. High unemployment rate among the youth
2. Stigma associated with HIV/AIDS
3. Limited funds due to lack of access to funding opportunities
4. Inadequate materials for music, dance and drama
5. Poor training system due to lack of costumes to the participant which leads youth to be away from the group and go back to risk areas

Apart from challenges, we also learned youth involvement in drama could develop them from one level to another in which builds them a good foundation for togetherness.

Also there will be a need for joint planning to enhance infective use of resources and materials given by the funder on monthly through contribution program to sustain the project and involving other stake holders to improve quality of services and sustainability of the project.

Objectives of the Project

• To improve peoples health and standards in the community
• To sensitize community to know their HIV status
• To improve peoples livelihood
• To help youth to attend skills for better life
• To enable youth to socialize with others with common interests
• To enable youth to know how drama can develop ones talents
• To help youth to avoid idle and disorderly.
•  Benefits outputs of the project increased income earning of the community members, which improves the quality of youth, their family life hood.
•  It will also help with development of youth talents and sustainable employment skills.
•  Risks like sexual transmitted diseases will be reduced if the group moved in the community and sensitized them.
•  Improve on working relationship with other developed communities in terms of exchanging ideas.

Activities To be Carried Out

• Teaching and performing traditional songs, poems, and fold songs
• Developing the talents of the youth
• Art and design
• Games and sports
• Health talks
• Home visits
• Institution visits
• Training skills
• Community out-reaches
• Drama shows
• Exhibition

Monitoring and Evaluation

Drama committee together with the organization committee, will monitor and evaluate the group activities. All members are responsible to measure the performance against the goal of the project. This will enable the project management committee to take collective measures to achieve the project goal. Local leaders, parish chef, community development officer, all government agencies will be engaged also.

Evaluation will be carried out every quarter to see the impact of the project to the community.

Reports will be submitted to the fundraiser or through  Reza Rahmani.

  PROPOSED BUDGET FOR IMPROVING MUSIC DANCE AND DRAMA

MATERIALS	QUANTITY	RATE	AMOUNT (Ug Shillings/ $CAD)
Set of drums 3 big ones 2 long ones 2 small short ones			580,000/ $232 CAD
Xylophone	1 set	200,000	200,000/ $80 CAD
Fiddle	1 pair	30,000	30,000/ $12 CAD
T-shirts	8	15,000	120,000/ $48 CAD
Trainers allowance	2 years	300,000	600,000/ $240 CAD
Donations received			- 625,000/- $250 CAD
Total Needed			905,000/ $360 CAD

A Girl With A Big Dream – Your Help is Needed

I would like to share with you the story of a lady, who has touched and inspired me profoundly. Her name is Asiimwe Dorcus. We work together at KYDA. I am posting her story because I believe there is someone out there who may be equally touched by her story, and would love to be part of her big dreams. Dorcus needs our support. This is a lady that I fully trust, and I know has a big heart.

Please read her story below.

Who Am I?

My name is Asiimwe Dorcus from Kampala, Uganda. I am  24 years old. I am the first born with two young brothers. My father died when I was 4 years old leaving my mother (Janet) with all the responsibility of raising and caring for me. My mother was denied a chance to study because his father never wanted to educate girls. She decided that she was going to work hard and educate me; hence, she moved to a small town and worked in the market, when she saved some money she took me to school at the age of 8. I also started to work alongside her and contributed to my education up to 18 years when I finished high school (secondary)

After finishing High School, I started working with my Aunt, who supported me, and I studied a diploma in social work. Now, I am practicing social work at KYDA where we care for orphans, vulnerable children and HIV young positives

I Have a Dream

I want to share with you my dream – a dream that is very important to me. I have a dream of starting up an orphanage in one of the remote areas of Uganda since I have witnessed many children who lose their parents suffering all of their life. Relatives mistreat them, some end up on streets and only a few of them get educated. Most of these kids never get an opportunity to fulfill their dreams in life.

I want to initiate an orphanage to ensure that the orphans also get a home where they can be loved, treated and cared for by people just like their own parents would do. Therefore, those children can also grow up and contribute to the community development using the good ethics and values learned. Children who grow up to be people of good integrity

I want the orphanage to raise people who will bring incredible changes in Uganda irrespective of their poor backgrounds. The difference will be experienced in all world because I hope to work hard in union with other partners to see that all children from the orphanage will have a bright future and always have a heart for the needy.

How I Am Making My Dream A Reality

 I decided to go back to University to do Development Studies and acquire knowledge and skills of Development along side social work. I am studying this particular program because I don’t want to keep children in the orphanage, and not be able develop well knowing that Uganda is still a developing country. To do that I need to be a professional Development worker who practices what is essential to empowering these children.

I Won’t Be Able to Do It Alone

Fortunately, I was admitted to do a three years program in University of Makere in Kampala, Uganda with the contributions of my friends and relatives. This is a highly regarded University in Eastern Africa. I managed to start my studies last year; I am currently in my second year. My relatives helped in the beginning, but now they cant continue because all of them have other financial difficulties to deal with.

Below is the University requirements and its break down in Uganda Shilling, and Canadian Dollar (exchange rate of $1 CAD = 2500 U-Shillings).

1^st semester’s tuition                           700,000/ $280 CAD

Functional fees                                      546,000/ $218 CAD= once in the first semester

Student aids                                           200,000/ $80 CAD= once a year

2^nd semester’s tuition                          800,000/ $320 CAD

My Own Contribution                  -700,000/ $280 CAD

My Financial Gap                           1,546,000 Shillings per year
/$618 CAD per year, or $51 CAD per month

I am currently beginning my second year of studies, and I still have two years ahead of me. To support myself I am working full-time at KYDA during day-time, and I go to school in the evenings. The earnings in Uganda, however, are very small. I can manage to pay for my accommodation, my transport to the University, scholastic needs, study seminars and tours, feeding for 700,000 U-Shillings/$280 CAD tuition per year. This amount is still not enough to cover for my university fees. Therefore, I am still in need of $618 per year to be able to continue my education.

How You Can Help Me

In case I fail to get support then I may ask for a dead year as I try to work and see if I can raise my fees; however, in case I’m unable to raise the fees (tuition), this won’t kill my dream of helping the orphans. My plan then will be to adopt some of them whom I will can care for with the resources that I have. I will parent them from my home in that I still get chance of being a mother of the motherless or fatherless.

I kindly request for your support in my education. You may contact Reza Rahmani to set up an arrangement; whatever you are able to contribute in form of monthly or a one-time donation, I would much appreciate. I will be so grateful for anyone who will help me and then you will also be part of my dream of helping many Ugandan Orphans who are homeless.

As for accountability for your kind contribution, I will be forwarding results for my performances to the person who will help me.
Thank you dearly,

Dorcus

A Sneak Peak into Creating Transformation in Youth

Agriculture Demonstration Project at KYDA

Working at Kawempe Youth Development Association (KYDA) is very rewarding. KYDA is a small NGO with ten paid staff members and a few volunteers who are based in the district of Kwempe near Kampala (the capital of Uganda). KYDA mainly targets vulnerable positive children and youth with particular emphasis on disadvantaged young people, including school dropouts, HIV/AIDS orphans, young people affected by drug abuse, street children, former victims of commercial sex exploitation, child laborers, victims of domestic violence, slum dwelling youth, and teenage mothers.

Home Visits To Really Needy Families

What I like about it is that my project is very hands-on. We go out in the field every day to visit homes of really poor single mothers to as many as five to ten children. At times only the mother is infected, but in some cases both the mother and her children are infected with HIV/AIDS. They mostly reside in the slums in very simple and basic living arrangements, small mud houses with no electricity or running water. They are mostly uneducated, and their husbands are either dead or have left them. These families’ biggest need is to have proper food. They need food even more than medicine to combat the life-threatening diseases they face. Without food, they can’t take the medicine as their bodies reject it. Due to lack of nutrition, they also get extremely weak, and their immune systems crash to almost nothing. Most of these women are unemployed. They can’t work due to toll that the disease and the toxic medicines have on their bodies. I go with Shaban, who is the main social worker at KYDA. The conversations are mostly in Luganda (local language in Uganda), but he pauses every so often and translates to English for me.

HIV+ grandma receiving basic needs kit to support her HIV infected grandson.

Providing Basic Needs Packs

The visits are mostly followups to previous interventions by KYDA such as providing basic needs kits (some nutritious packaged food and cleaning material), giving grants to help educate their kids, donating live chickens to provide a supplemental income and food for the family, or providing seeds to grow small crops in their backyards. We check in with them to see their progress, whether they are successful with implementing the provided aids, and what further support they may need to be able to live sustainably. We walk as much as ten to fifteen kilometers a day in little villages.

The Chicken Project – Bringing Fresh Ideas

For example, last week we visited about ten families that were each given five chicks and the needed training back in January. A Dutch volunteer before me initiated this project with the financial support of her family and friends in the Netherlands. Some chickens were doing really well, and others were still very tiny. Some families had lost a few chickens due to lack of proper housing to keep them, and some chickens were living in very dirty conditions. We gave proper feedback to each family based on their situation. If one family was doing better we ask them to support their neighbor so that their neighbor could learn from them and become successful as well. We will be building a house for the chicken for a grandmother who doesn’t have the means to properly keep them. A set of five chicks with seeds and medicine costs less than five dollars. That money may be nothing for us, but to them it is their lifeline. Each chicken lays one egg a day on average, resulting in over 150 eggs a month in total. That’s enough pay the rent for a month, or to provide some nutrition for their children, to put things into perspective.

Rita is having fun with weaving a basket.

Vocational Skills Training to HIV+ Youth

Another major project that KYDA supports is providing vocational skills to twenty-five young HIV positives, orphans, and other vulnerable children in the community in tailoring and designing (embroidery), hair dressing, and improved craft making. They receive the needed training that lasts three to six months to become a proficient crafts maker or hairdresser. It’s a full time educational program. The community members or local health center mostly refer these young women due to their poor living conditions. Almost all the graduates for hairdressing either get a job in a salon or start working for themselves as entrepreneurs. Sometimes they team up and receive a sponsorship donation from KYDA to start up a small salon after their graduation.

Rubina – A True Success Story

Last week, I met one of the women, named Rubina, who graduated from KYDA in hairdressing. She is HIV positive, and has two children. Her husband left her to go to South Africa for employment while she was still pregnant with her second baby. He never came back, and stopped supporting her all together. Her son is four years old now, and is absolutely adorable. Rubina is now able to support her family by running a small hair salon. A past Finnish volunteer at KYDA to start up her small salon sponsored her. She sends both her kids to school and kindergarten, and she is healthy enough to work fourteen-hour days. She told me the most heartbreaking story about her son Ryan.

Ryan and I sitting in the hair salon.

Although he has never met his father, he believes that his father is still around. When Ryan was a baby he used to cry for hours until Rubina would call him so he could say hello. And now when his mom buys him something new, he tells all the kids that his father bought it for him. At times when his mother disciplines him, he says that he will tell daddy about it. Rubina has now stopped calling him altogether as she thinks she is just wasting her little earnings on expensive international calls. It breaks my heart to see how much this boy needs his daddy to be in his life. Rubina is just one of the millions of women in Africa with a similar story. However, she is one of the lucky few, a role model for other women because of how she was able to get out of extreme poverty and almost facing death at some point due to being extremely sick. It’s visiting women like Rubina and learning about their success stories that makes it worthwhile to not give up the battle against the spread of HIV, or to end poverty by taking small measures everyday.

The very first English lesson that I taught.

Teaching English to HIV+ Women

I also teach the students at KYDA English two times a week. Although English is the main language in Uganda, a lot of people who are not educated cannot speak it. There are fourty three local languages in Uganda due to the tribal formation of the society. However, English is the main language that everyone uses to communicate with one another due the diversity of the languages. It’s really essential for these women to know English because it can empower them to work, sell their crafts, or service in the marketplace, and to be able and interact with others. They really appreciate the lessons, and they are learning very quickly. In turn, they teach me the local language, Luganda. I can now greet people, ask for the price, and buy things in the market using the local language. I feel very privileged to be a part of these women’s lives.

The main thing that I felt I was missing in Canada at my engineering job was that I didn’t feel like I was making a difference in someone’s life. Here at KYDA I do have the privilege to feel the gratification of being in service to someone who is need. At the end of the day, I can come home and feel satisfied with my day’s work. Thank you universe.

A student weaves a basket.

Ryan and I sitting in the hair salon.

This lady was able to successfully grow the initial five chickens.

The very first English lesson that I gave the women.

Rita is having fun with weaving a basket.

HIV+ grandma receiving basic needs kit to support her grandson.

Hello Africa

Life in Uganda is very simple. I live at the guest house designated for all the international volunteers at Uganda Pioneers Associations (UPA). The guest house is located in a small town called Nansana. Nansana is a small village, which is compromised of many slum neighborhoods. It is considered the dirtiest region within greater Kampala division. There are, however, lots of chickens, goats, and sheep from nearby neighbours running around in our backyard. It’s makes it a very unique environment.

The guesthouse has 5 rooms, and there are 2 to 3 people staying in each room with a total of 12 people staying altogether. There are ten women, and two men.  I am not surprised by the larger presence of women by now as I experienced a very similar situation in Argentina. It is still a mystery to me why women travel and volunteer in foreign countries far more than men.  The countries represented at the guest house at the moment are as follows: Finland (5), Netherlands (3), Germany (3), and Canada (1).

Ninety percent of the residents are in their early 20′s. There are ten smokers, and two non-smokers including me! Everyone here is volunteering with a different local NGO. UPA is the host organization that connects us with the local NGOs, provides a portion of our donations to them, and helps us get settled in Uganda.

The residents volunteer at various projects in the community such as childcare in orphanages, hospital work (prevention, testing, and treatment of diseases, especially HIV/AIDS), school work (educating the mentally and physically handicapped, teaching English), and community development (me). Most of the volunteers are long-term volunteers staying between three to six months here. I will write in detail about my project in my next post.

It has been quite a shock to adjust to the way of life in Africa. I am glad that I didn’t come straight from Canada, and I already experienced a lower standard of living in Argentina before landing here. I will first share with you the not-so-convenient part of my life, and then what makes Africa very special. Here is a tour of the guesthouse!

 My Bedroom

I share my room with a nice Finish guy. I have a small bed that I can’t quite fit in; I either have to extend my legs through the bed’s bottom end or sleep diagonally to fit inside. I wake up every day with a nice back and neck pain due to my banana shaped mattress and rock hard pillow. There are two chairs that I use as shelves to organize my clothes. My room has no windows, and there is no fan to circulate the air. It’s nice that at night it cools down a bit (20 C); however, I still wake up soaked in sweat as if someone poured a bucket of water over me.

I had to add a mosquito net around my bed to protect me from being bitten to death by Malaria mosquitos. I am grateful for taking a daily dose of anti-malaria pills for further protection. The pills, however, give me very weird and vivid dreams every night. I used to have almost no dreams at all! The other night, I dreamt of a few cyber toothed tigers that were chasing me to tear me into pieces, but after I greeted them in Lunganda (local Uganda language), they became very friendly and starting speaking with me and licking my cheeks! I think of it as free entertainment for the night.

 No Running Water or Electricity

We have no running water for weeks at a time. I was told that before my arrival they didn’t have running water for two full months. Thank god that it’s the rainy season right now. (By the way, there are only two seasons in Uganda since it’s located on the equator line. The seasons are dry season and rainy season, each one lasting for three months.) We have power outages for 12-14 hours every other night.

We are lucky that we collect rainwater at the guest house, so during the long water outages we can use it. We also buy water from local water boys who fetch water from a well that’s a few kilometers away. The locals, however, have to walk to the well every day to get their supply of water. We use the rainwater for cleaning and bathing, and we boil it for cooking or drinking.

Shower

I remember the first day when I had to take a cold shower using a jerry can and a pitcher. I was swearing and complaining the whole time. I used almost two 5 liter jerry cans, and I was still dirty. I am happy to report that I am now an expert in showering without running water by using less than three liters of water. I take half a pitcher of water to soak myself. Then lather with soap. I finish by one last pitcher of water to rinse, starting from my head and working my way to my toes. The rinsed water is normally completely brown due to incredible amount of dust present everywhere. Not so pleasant!

The dust is mostly due to the poor condition of the roads. Since most roads are not paved, the oncoming traffic blows the dust in your face. I use several hygienic tissues during the day to wipe my face and neck, and they turn completely brown even only after two hours being outside. At the end of the day, my hair feels like it is full of hair products because of the dust in my hair.

Toilet

There is a western style toilet available, but due to the lack of running water we can’t use it because we can’t flush it. The alternative is a toilet outside, which is basically a hole in the ground (good old squat style). We take our toilet paper with us. At night, it’s party time for all the cockroaches and spiders as they all crawl outside from the hole. It’s quite an art to enter without crushing a few of them. Sometimes when I open the door, they come flying out and I have to dodge them from hitting me on their way out.

Kitchen

There is a shared kitchen available for everyone. It’s quite an adventure cooking in the kitchen as there are ants and all sorts of insects crawling everywhere. You can’t leave your bread out more than an hour without it being devoured by ants. Until last week we didn’t even have a cloth to clean the countertops or the eating table, so we just shooed them away before eating. African ants don’t tend to listen very much!

What Makes Africa Special

Having said all of that, there are a lot of things that make Uganda very unique and worth the compromises. For starters, the sub-standard living conditions have really made me appreciate everything that I have in Canada; for example, something as simple as taking a hot shower whenever I feel like it I used to take for granted.

The best part about Uganda though is the people. They are the most heartfelt, and down to earth people whom I have ever met. The way they greet me is so personal and welcoming. I feel as if some of them have known me my entire life. Also, most of the time I am treated like a celebrity. Everybody waves at me on the streets; they greet me with “Hi, Muzungu,” meaning “Hi, white person.” At the super markets, one person always offers to carry my basket, and another person walks besides me to help me pick up the products from the shelves. I just need to point at the product, and there it goes into the basket. If there is a lineup, they immediately move me up to the front of the line. Children want to hold my hand on the streets, and some grab my hand and rub against their face to see how it feels like. Sometimes they pull on my body hair to see if it’s real as African’s do have much body hair. Of course, it can also be annoying at times to have everyone stare at you constantly on the streets. I now have an idea what it must feel like to be a celebrity.

The other nice thing is that everything is very affordable. For example, I have a personal driver that picks me up every morning and drives me to my work, and brings me back again in the afternoon for $2.50. A nice plate of local food doesn’t cost more than a couple of dollars as well.

Life is also a lot more relaxed here. Everything is by African time, which means you are allowed to be late up to 2 hours, and that’s OK. There is nothing to stress about. Locals spend a lot time on personal relationships and random conversations can run for hours at a time.

Uganda also has a lot of beautiful nature and landscapes that take one’s breath away only if exit Kampala. It can be a perfect getaway to drive for a couple of hours to Jinja, where the source of Nile lies, camp right by the river facing the most exhilarating water view, and catch the beautiful sunset while drinking chilled local lager all for under 20 dollars for the whole weekend. See the gallery below for pictures from the source of Nile – magnificent!

Baby coffins are in demand due to poor health care

The Secret to Learning Spanish the Quick Way

The main reasons I traveled to Argentina was to learn Spanish and work in the orphanage. I couldn’t wait to get started on my volunteer project. However, when I first arrived in Argentina, I didn’t know more than a handful of phrases in Spanish. “Hola, Como estas?, Que t’all?”, you know… all the basic greetings. It can be kind of challenging to work in a Spanish speaking country, where only the minority speaks English, if you don’t speak much of their native language. But, there was a method to my madness. I will now share what worked well for me when I was trying to learn conversational Spanish in a short period of time.

My strategy for learning Spanish quickly is as follows:

1. I don’t know about you, but I am not a big fan of studying big textbooks. I started learning Spanish on my own before leaving Canada by listening to an audio program. Magically, I came across a really cool and free program on iTunes called Coffee-Break Spanish. This program focuses on conversational Spanish, and it does a great job of making studying Spanish fun. Each lesson is no longer than 15 minutes, which makes it very easy to listen to during your downtime. It is designed for travelers to Spanish speaking destinations who want to find their way around quickly.
2. After arriving in Buenos Aires, I participated in a Spanish immersion program at a school called Coined. I took a test on the first day to evaluate my knowledge, and, of course, I was placed in the very beginners class (A1). I had to start with the alphabet, and learn to count from 1 to 10. Kind of embarrassing! However, my Spanish started to improve quickly by attending the class 5 days a week, 4 hours per day for a full month. Coined offers a conventional program with emphasis on both conversation and grammar. It is tailored more towards Argentinian Spanish though, teaching the local accent and unique phrases. I had an exam every Friday to evaluate my progress, and by successfully passing the test I moved onto the next level. By the end of the first month I graduated from level 3 (B1). This program is recognized internationally. However, I didn’t care much about the certificate, but rather my ability to comprehend the language and actually carry on a conversation. Although I understood much more than I could speak, by the end of the month I could have a basic conversation. It still wasn’t enough to work in a professional environment; nonetheless, I was pretty impressed by my own progress!
3. I also stayed at with an Argentinian family during my first month stay in Buenos Aires. This helped me tremendously. The other students who were also learning Spanish at the school, but living at the shared residence used to finish class, and immediately revert to their native languages, or to English. I, on the other hand, had to speak Spanish when I went home to the host family. I covered my experience at the home-stay family in much more detail in this post. You can read further for more info.
4. By the second month, I started my volunteering program. No one there knew a word of English! Now, I actually had to speak Spanish. There was no way around it. Understanding the children’s accents and colloquial Spanish was very difficult. It was as if they were speaking a whole other language! A big part of learning a language is making mistakes, and getting corrected. I didn’t have that luxury there because kids don’t tend to correct you. My Spanish naturally improved by listening to everyone speak it every day. But I think my comprehension improved a lot more than my speaking ability.
5. What really improved my speaking ability after I completed school was meeting up with local porteños (locals from Buenos Aires), and speaking Spanish. There is a website called convestationexchange.com. This website is designed to help people learn any language from anywhere in the world. For example, there are lots of native Spanish speakers who want to improve their English, and are willing to teach someone Spanish in exchange for learning English. Conversation Exchange essentially connects people with that common purpose. It is completely free, and really easy to use. You simply locate your current city, your native language, and the language that you want to learn. Then it lists hundreds of people in that city who are interested in learning your native language and can help you with the language you want to learn. It shows their gender, age, and a brief description about them, and a way to contact them through the website. There is an option to be a pen friend, speak over Skype, or meet face to face. Of course, in my opinion meeting face to face is the best way to go! Normally, when people meet up, they set up the rules for conversation in between themselves. We normally spoke Spanish for the first 30 minutes, and the other person corrected me or taught me new phrases. Then we switched to English, and I did the same for them.

Not only this is a great way to improve your ability with the foreign languange in a quick way, it’s also a great way to learn about the local culture. Furthermore, meeting different people with various backgrounds allows you speak about subjects that you normally wouldn’t have talked about, and expands your vocabulary very quickly. Portenos that I met up with normally spoke very fluent English leaving very little for me to correct, but they did help me out quite a bit. They were also very interested to learn about the Canadian culture, and I was happy to tell them all about Vancouver and Canada!

I did really bond with a few guys, and they invited me to go out with their group of friends. Slowly, I started to make friends in Buenos Aires.

There are a lot of ways to learn a language quickly. Of course, your natural talent for learning languages plays a big role. For me, I didn’t care as much about written Spanish as I did integrating into the culture quickly. Although learning the basics, and some grammar, is important because it helps you have a more fundamental understanding of the language; I decided to jump into the deep end of the pool. I had to go through the process of learning a new language when I first immigrated to Canada, and I discovered that just putting myself out there and speaking to locals was the best way. Therefore, I duplicated the same process here in Argentina and I found that it worked like a charm. I am planning continue learning Spanish when I return to Canada by using the same website again, hopefully to connect with people in Vancouver.

Being a Vegetarian Among The World’s Biggest Steak Lovers

People often ask me, “What is it like being a vegetarian in Argentina?” After all, Argentina has the world’s second highest consumption rate of beef per person after their neighbor country Uruguay. Argentinians proud themselves on all-you-can eat churrasco restaurants, Parrilladas (steakhouses), and Sunday Asados (social gathering to bbq meat all day), which are a national institution.

Having said that, I am actually surprised to find out that Buenos Aires (BA) is a vegetarian friendly city. Although vegetarianism is still not mainstream, in the last few years BA has grown to be a very cosmopolitan city, offering more and more options for those who choose not to eat met. I have also been lucky during my journey in Argentina; for the first month I lived with an Argentinian lady who had been a Vegetarian for years. She prepared very delicious meals every night. For lunch, I used to eat at a local salad bar that was just a block away from the Spanish school (Coined). They had a wide selection of raw vegetables, salads, and cooked meals that were all only vegetarian. The price was 80 cents per 100 grams. I used to get a full plate of gourmet food for about 5 to 6 bucks. I loved it.

empanada de caprese

Then I discovered the empanada de verdura, and the empanada de caprese. I went crazy! An empanada is a bread or pastry stuffed with various kinds of meat or vegetables. Empenada originates from Spain, and it is available at most pizza places in various forms throughout South America.  An empenada de verdura is stuffed with spinach, cheese, eggs, and various other vegetables. My favorite though, the empanada de caprese, is made with tomato, basil, and mozzarella cheese. The cost is only $1.25 each.

After living with my host lady for a month, I moved into a shared residence in January. At that point, I started cooking for myself. There is a very small kitchen that has enough room for only one person at a time, but it has everything that I need. I didn’t cook much in Vancouver; there was a kind of learning curve to cook meals that are tasty, and yet don’t take an eternity to prepare. After much trial and error, I am now actually enjoying my own cooking. The best part is that I am done in one hour, more or less, after cooking and cleaning. I usually buy couscous, quinoa, and brown rice from health food stores that are popular. Also, I get vegetables such as tomatoes, celery, and green and red peppers from a local vegetable shop. I especially love zapallitos, a round zucchini like vegetable that is indigenous to Argentina, but tastes a bit sweeter than a zucchini. There is also something that I buy from the super market called milanesa de soja that I have not seen in North America. It’s a healthier and simpler version of a veggie patty, like a breaded soy schnitzel. I just put it in a pan and cooked it with olive oil for a few minutes, and it’s done. Here is a picture of milanesa de soja made with tomato sauce and avocados! Delicious.

Milanesa de soja with tomato sauce and avocado

Recently, I wanted to treat myself to a nice restaurant. I managed to convince a couple of people from my residence to try a well-reviewed Veggie restaurant in Pallermo (a 20 min cab ride from Micro-center of Buenos Aires). In order to find the restaurant, I used a website called www.happycow.net. It has a directory of all the veggie restaurants around the world, reviewed by real people. We went to Kensho , in the artsy Boedo neighborhood, which is run by vegetarian chef Máximo Cabrera. Before opening Kensho in late 2006, Cabrera was the chef at Bio, which calls itself the city’s first “organic restaurant.” He continues to use only organic ingredients, and updates the menu seasonally. His customers are not necessarily vegetarian and often show up out of curiosity.

Kensho's cozy atmosphere

The restaurant is pretty small, and has the warm feel of a friend’s house. I was very impressed by the menu. There was a nice selection of very creative meals marked by the type of food: Vegan (without any dairy products), Raw (only cooked below 38 C), or Gluten Free! For a starter, I had a platter with a selection of various appetizers and dips. I don’t remember all of them, but I do remember the spinach soup, and cashew cheese spread, which were very tasty. For the main course, I had Tabouleh dish containing quinoa, mint, cranberries and various nuts. It was full of so many interesting flavours. For desert, a peanut butter fruit tart decorated with raspberries sauce. So rich, and heavenly! We drank a very nice bottle of Malbec red wine from the wine capital of Argentina, Mendoza. Ripe fruit flavors of plums and blackberry gave it such a jammy characteristic. We finished the meal full, but not bloated, and got to try various new food combinations. It really was a dining ‘experience’. The restaurant lives up to its name, in both senses. Kensho, which means ‘to wake up the imagination’, carries the slogan ‘food to wake you up’. It did just that. The meal came to about 35 dollars per person- not bad for having original, fresh, raw, and organic food! I definitely recommend checking it out if you ever travel to Buenos Aires.

Tabouleh dish

Overall, it’s fairly easy being a vegetarian in Buenos Aires although, like most cities, there is way more options for meat eaters. Most restaurants offer at least a couple of veggie dishes, and almost always carry salads. For more gourmet vegetarian food, Pallermo barrio offers much more interesting possibilities. Of course, if someone stays here longer then choosing a place equipped with a full kitchen is the best option as eating out every day can become costly over time. The price of vegetables is fairly affordable in Buenos Aires, and there are lots of fresh ingredients to choose from at local vegetable stands.

More info:

List of top ten veggie restaurants in Buenos Aires

http://www.neverendingvoyage.com/best-vegetarian-restaurants-in-buenos-aires/

http://www.argentinaindependent.com/reviews/thegrill/top-5-eco-restos/

Review of Most Veggie Restaurants in Buenos Aires

http://www.happycow.net/south_america/argentina/buenos_aires/