Uganda's Ministry of Health and Living Goods

Top: Bushels of green bananas, which are indeed consumed by the bushel to make 'matooke' in Luganda, a starch staple with bland but, savory flavor and texture between plantain and potato
Middle: Oliver Karius, the Assistant Health Commissioner of Uganda and me in his tiny, sweltering office
Bottom: School children walking to assembly in Kampala, note the girls' colorful uniforms!

I take it back that Kampala is so developed it resembles a resort town. The property surrounding our hotel and the area near the President's home is certainly very resort-esque, however most of Kampala is dirty-dirt, an assault on the olfactory sense. Garbage is heaped so tightly and high, it nearly resembles natural landscape with a dusting of Uganda's reddish earth here and there. The city certainly has it's charm though, but I was fooled into delusions of grandeur when we arrived at dusk on Sunday. When you realize the stream running through a small ravine is actually black water coursing between two camouflaged trash heaps, you re-think resort references. Kampala is very hilly and the condition of the roads is quite poor in most parts, massive potholes and changing heights made for a ride that was just way too mean to my tender insides after food poisoning.

On the morning of my emergence from food poisoning seclusion, I joined Oliver and Chuck Slaughter for day two's breakfast, which I ate with trepidation. Chuck is the beyond astute retail master mind behind Living Goods (and TravelSmith). We were picked up by LG's transport before 9:00, an Isuzu-like van circa the early 80's - popular the world over with soccer moms. The Kampala version is souped up a bit, raised from the ground and usually fitted to accommodate nineteen (yes, nineteen) passengers as privately operated transport for the public. LG's van is nicer, with less seats and driven by a young man called 'Chief' who appeared to be no more than 20. Chief took us over the brutal potholes and down a road, upon which a few entrepreneurial children placed a giant rock and demanded a toll to move it. This road seemed no better than any other, but I gathered everyone puts up with this rock-block business and goes on their way after handing over a few shillings.

We arrived soon after at LG's Kampala headquarters where we met with Chuck's team, an amazing group of staff perfectly and diversely fitting their roles within the organization. We went through some of our due diligence questions and learned more about operations in general all while cooking smells wafted from their small kitchen where someone was preparing what I guessed was lunch, starting around 10:00am. Sure enough at 1:00pm, out came steamed rice, bananas, goat meat, chicken stew and cabbage with large glass bottles of coca-cola and orange soda. The fragrance was beyond enticing and though I felt hungry, the residual, burning stabs in my stomach warned me against indulgence. The goat was AWESOME, like steak in color and texture but a bit richer in flavor and yes, I suffered for it.

After lunch, Chief took us to the Ministry of Health to meet with Commissioner Paul. After navigating a maze of halls and a brief wait in a closet/his assistant's office, Paul invited us into his small office where he delivered an hour long soliloquy about the Ministry's shortfalls and learnings in recent years and to discuss the collaboration between LG and local government systems. It was my first ever experience with African officials and though I could sense the famed bureaucracy but overall, he seemed devoted to supporting the organization in a real way, grateful for LG's presence and efforts.

'Til next time!
Hilaria