After a few teary airport goodbyes and delayed and un-delayed and changed flights, I finally arrived in Uganda to begin my Peace Fellowship. I am grateful to be supporting the Gulu Disabled Person’s Union (GDPU) program that builds accessible toilets and handwashing stations at schools in the district. I will primarily support two GDPU efforts this summer:

1. The monitoring and evaluation of existing latrines and handwashing stations that GDPU has built at schools in the district.

2. The installation of a new latrine and handwashing station and menstrual products incinerator at a school in Kulu Opal.

As someone who studied environmental engineering and is passionate about water accessibility, the opportunity to work for Emma and the GDPU team on this project is an immense privilege. I can’t wait to get started. But before heading to Gulu, I have a few days stopover in Kampala.

The sunset from my first night in Uganda

On my first morning in Kampala, I visited the Uganda National Museum. I find that a history museum, and what a national government wishes to highlight about their country, can teach you a lot. The museum is an accumulation of many different themes and eras of Uganda. There are exhibits about traditional clothing and foods, excavated archaeological findings, Ugandan Olympians, and geological forces that changed the topography of Uganda over millions of years.

The museum boasts a multi-room exhibit about primates, focusing heavily on the mountain gorilla. Only approximately 1,000 mountain gorillas currently exist on earth, half of which live in Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. The rest of the mountain gorillas live in the Virunga Volcanoes, a region including Rwanda, DRC, and the Mgahinga National Park in Uganda. The exhibit highlights the dedicated Ugandan researchers who are working towards the conservation of these precious animals.

A very glared mountain gorilla taxidermy from the Uganda National Museum

I was definitely surprised by some exhibits. For example, there is a room about Henry Ford, the American founder of Ford Motor Company. The exhibit features an actual Ford Model T car but no written explanation of the connection to Uganda (although I later found out there is a Ford dealership in Kampala). There is an exhibit about why oil is beneficial to the environment and the economy. Curiously, this section was funded by the Uganda National Oil Company. This reminded me of the oil and gas section at the Bullock Texas State History Museum, curiously also funded by the Texas Oil and Gas Company…

In the back of the museum, the Uganda Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities recreated a “Cultural Village.” This series of traditional homes demonstrates indigenous living styles, each aligned with a different region of the country.

A recreated traditional home at the Uganda National Museum

As you might be able to see in this photo, Kampala is a city but also very green. I am amazed by how large the flora are. Palm trees and arrowhead plants grow just about everywhere.

The arrowhead plants pictured below are located at the Uganda National Museum. The plant on the left is about 3 feet (1 meter) tall and has leaves about 8 inches (20 cm) long. The plant in the right photo is about 6 feet (2 meters) tall and has 2-foot (60 cm) leaves! In comparison, I have tried again and again to keep an 8-inch (20 cm) tall arrowhead houseplant alive in my apartment in the United States, to absolutely no avail.

Arrowhead plants at the Uganda National Museum

I also noticed this phenomenon when I visited Malawi and Tanzania – plants growing to almost comically large proportions, developing uninhibited when planted in the right conditions. In East Africa, it seems like things flourish in places where they are meant to be. I hope this will be true for me this summer as a Peace Fellow, as well.