LIFE IN RURAL AREAS

Once outside the noise, chaos and bustling traffic of Kampala, Uganda is immersed in rural poverty.

The metalled roads end where the "jungle" begins. They are replaced by heavily rutted dirt tracks that become impassable when it rains. Often the quickest method of transport is by bicycle or on foot along narrow tracks between the vegetation.

When you reach a village community, and they are expecting you, and you have come to see how you may be able to assist them in developing their future they treat you like royalty.

They have little they can give you but they 'throw a party' anyway. Noise and laughter fill the air. Singing, dancing and vibrant colour surround you. Everyone is dressed in his or her finest clothes. They kill the 'fatted chicken' to provide you with a feast. You are their guest and they honour you with fine long speeches - and just about everyone who is anyone in the village has something to say.

Be prepared for a long visit.

It is very humid for most of the year. Landlocked Uganda sits across the equator. Many of the people who live in the "jungle" do so in crudely constructed mud huts. Some are lined with animal dung. They are small, maybe 12 feet by 12 feet. There are few, if any, possessions inside.

There is no electricity. In the towns electricity is available when the Ugandan government is not selling it to Kenya or other neighbouring countries for much needed foreign exchange. In the "jungle" such things as foreign exchange are a million miles away.

There are no 'social services'. There are no medical facilities. If a poisonous snake bites you, or you contract malaria, or as a woman you have complications in childbirth, you will most likely die.

AIDS and the HIV virus have decimated the adult working population leaving the young children and the old people to fend for themselves. There are very few able to work the land to make a living.

Poverty is at its worst in the rural areas and Kabubbu is no exception. It is the area where Quicken Trust has done most of its research and is carrying out its main partnering programmes.

Details of these can be found throughout our website.