When we arrived by bus at the HIV/AIDS Resource Center in Katuna, Uganda
(the border between Rwanda and Uganda), twenty men were intently
watching a match between Manchester United and Chelsea on a small
television. Along with the pool table, board games, and additional
television downstairs, soccer games provide a much needed distraction
for the long-distance truckers who have to wait for their vehicles to
be cleared by customs before entering Rwanda.
But just eight months ago, instead of television and camaraderie among workers, the easiest diversion for truckers was sex. Katuna is one of many towns along what is known as the Northern Transport Corridor-a span of highway that stretches from Mombasa, Kenya through Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan and all the way to Djibouti.
In the past, the truckers were often delayed for days on the border, giving them little to do. Boredom-and drinking-often led to unsafe sex with prostitutes at the truck stops along the highway. As a result, truck drivers have one of the highest rates of HIV/AIDS in Eastern Africa. Unfortunately, the virus doesn't stop with them, and is often spread to their spouses.
Now,
thanks to the work of the Solidarity Center, a non-profit launched by
the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial
Organizations (AFL-CIO) to empower workers around the world by helping
them form unions, and Uganda's Amalgamated Transport and General
Workers Union (ATGWU), which has about 3,500 members in Uganda, the amount of time truckers spend on the border has
been reduced from days to just hours. The union has worked through
bargaining with the government to reduce the amount of time it takes
their paper to go through which reduced the amount of free time they
have on the border. When they don't have as much free time, they're
not as likely to engage in unsafe sex.
The Katuna resource center, like many others dotted along the transport corridor, offers training and education to truckers and sex workers, and provides reading materials like pocket guides explaining sexually transmitted infections and the dangers of letting them go untreated. More than 150,000 truck drivers and community members have received prevention services, care and support information through one-on-one or community group outreach. The Center also provides free testing for truck drivers, already more than 5,000 of them to date.
As we continued along into Kampala, you can't help but immediately feel the pulse and energy of the bustling city. In fact, we love this country so much we have no doubt we'll be back sometime in the future.
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People here are also very laid back -- We've even gone three days without a cup of coffee here and didn't seem to mind.
You hear the words "Hakuna Matata" everywhere. Literally.
Internet services down nationwide all day? Hakuna Matata...
Flights canceled? Hakuna Matata...
Two hours in wall-to-wall rush hours in Kampala? Hakuna Matata...
We spent a lot of time letting go and reversing any stereotypical American traveler latte-induced behavior...
Right after arriving, we visited the Mukono District, about an hour outside of Kampala, Uganda, where we met up with Edward Mukiibi and Roger Serunjogi,
coordinators of the Developing Innovations in School Cultivation (DISC)
project. Edward, 23, and Roger, 22 started the project in 2006 as a way
to improve nutrition, environmental awareness, and food traditions and
culture in Mukono by establishing school gardens at 15 preschool, day
and boarding schools. And over the last year, DISC has received global
attention for its work-DISC is now partly funded by Slow Food
International.
They started with Sunrise School, a preschool taking care of children between the ages of 3 and 6. By teaching these kids early about growing, preparing, and eating food they hope to cultivate the next generation of farmers and eaters who can preserve Uganda's culinary traditions. In addition to teaching the children about planting indigenous and traditional vegetables and fruit trees, DISC puts a big emphasis on food preparation and processing. "If a person doesn't know how to cook or prepare food, they don't know how to eat," says Edward. The kids at Sunrise-and the other schools working with DISC-know how to grow, how to prepare, and how to eat food, as well as its nutritional content.
As a result, these students grow up with more respect-and excitement-about farming. At Sirapollo Kaggwass Secondary School, we met 19 year-old Mary Naku, who is learning farming skills from DISC. This was her school's first year with the project and Mary has gained leadership and farming skills. "As youth we have learned to grow fruits and vegetables," she says, "to support our lives."
