Hi again! It has been a few weeks since my last post, but I have been hard at work getting ready for my departure. Here is a snapshot of my preparation in numbers:
2 - months until I land in Uganda
19 - days until my first half marathon (!!)
21.1 – kilometers I will be running in the half-marathon
16 – kilometers in my latest long run
2 – days of first aid training
380 – number of pages in the Luganda language textbook I have been studying
20 – approximate number of words I can say in Luganda so far without my notes
5 – number of immunizations I have already received (more to come)
50 – percent of my fundraising goal that I have raised so far
3 – blog posts written (including this one)
6 – passport photos I sent to Restless Development in London to get my Uganda visa
Everything is really coming together.
BUT, there is one thing about preparing for this trip that I did not fully anticipate, which is the…
1 million – questions I have received about Uganda! Is it safe? Where is it? Isn’t that where Idi Amin ruled? What are the politics like? What about HIV/AIDS? Where did you say it was again?
I believe that an important part of doing development work is learning about the country and culture where you will be working. So, in an effort to both prepare myself and better answer these questions, I will be doing a series of blog posts about Uganda. This first post will cover the basics.
10 facts about Uganda*
1. Uganda is located in East Africa, north of Lake Victoria. It shares a border with South Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
2. The country’s population is 34.6 million. The population is the second youngest in the world, with around 50% of the population under the age of 14 and 78% of the population under the age of 30. This begs the question: why are young people so often excluded from development?
3. Uganda’s per capita GDP is $1,300. By comparison, Canada’s is $39,400.
4. Yoweri Museveni, the current president of Uganda, came to power in 1986. The country was a one-party state until a referendum reintroduced multi-party politics in 2005.
5. Uganda faces international pressure for its conduct in both internal and external conflicts. The international community has criticized the Museveni government for its involvement in the DRC throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, as well as its handling of its own civil war with the Lord’s Resistance Army in the northern part of the country.
6. The country has many characteristics common in developing countries, including high maternal mortality and infant mortality. The fertility rate in Uganda is the second highest in the world, with 6.69 children born per woman. I can’t even imagine having six kids! This means that the population size in Uganda is projected to nearly triple from 2010 to 2050.
7. Only 13% of the population in Uganda lives in an urban centre. Even though urbanization is on the rise, the country has the 3rd most rural population in the world.
8. Ugandans suffer from HIV/AIDS, although the prevalence of the disease has declined in recent years. Around 6.5% of the adult population directly suffers from HIV/AIDS.
9. Despite strong economic growth in recent years, youth unemployment in Uganda is a staggering 80%. With a rapidly growing working age population, the country will need to drastically expand its economy.
10. Restless Development has been working in Uganda since 1997. They have conducted 15 years of youth-led development work, reaching over 200,000 young people.
Alright, so now you have the basics, and we all know a little bit more about the geography, history, politics, economics, and population characteristics of Uganda. However, if I learned anything in my many years of schooling, it is that facts alone do not tell the whole story. So, until I leave, I will be writing about different aspects of Uganda and how this all relates to development and the work I will be doing.
Finally, don’t forget that I am still fundraising and I need your help! I would love it if you would sponsor me to run my half-marathon on November 20th. Please visit my fundraising page or see me in person.
Cheers, and keep reading.
L
*Sources: Restless Development, BBC, CIA World Factbook
