not your regular Sunday night

One of my Kla friends, Vanja, started working on a song in January.  I first heard of this on our Lake Bunyoni road trip but at the time thought this was just a fun project - not something that would actually go anywhere.  The initial line I had heard was "Mzungu...sexy....remember me, we met at Iguana, lets go home and make a little Obama".  I thought it was pretty funny - Iguana Bar is one of those places that you are bound to end up at, likely every couple of weekends if you are in Kla longer-term.


Well by early March the song had been recorded, was being played on radio stations and at the various bars and clubs.  To hear the song go to Little Obama.  After recoding a song the next logical step is to make a video!  Vanja actively recruited her friends and asked us to take part in the video shoot...I can now say I have danced in a music video....and I now have my fingers crossed that I don't look like a complete idiot.


The video shoot took place Sunday night in a warehouse in an area of town we had never been - and likely won't rush back too!  The traffic to get there was pretty horrendous and the directions we received were minimal.  Upon arrival we found that another video was being shot and that we were delayed - it was almost 8pm at this point.  I was a bit worried about how long the whole thing would take but worked to keep a positive outlook (despite a mild hangover from a late Saturday night!)

Warehouse where the video shoot took place

Vanja's set would be the one on the left

Trude and me on set.....waiting

Janet and Sonia arrive, chatting with Keena

The Star begins to get ready

preparations

Trude putting her heels on in anticipation of starting

(she was about 2 hours too early!)

The set is almost ready

Vanja on set

Producer's view

Changing the set for the club scene

(this is what we Mzungu's were needed for!)

Sonia - wondering what we got ourselves into!!

We survived!!!  And its time to go home!!

It was definitely an interesting experience to watch the process unfold.  It was slow at times (but TIA), hot under the lights and unfortunately a Sunday night....but it was still good to go out and support Vanja!!  I look forward to seeing the final product and hope that by hiding in the back of the club scene that I will barely be noticed!

Other than that there is not much new and exciting to report.  My dad is supposed to leave Toronto next Monday to come visit me but he is booked on British Airways!  I have my fingers crossed that the strike doesn't affect his flight.

Meetings

It has been a busy 2 weeks with 12 straight days of meetings!!  I apologize for the delay with a new post and for the emails I have yet to respond to.  Yes - my hotmail has some sort of virus...if you receive an email from it with no subject please just delete it.  I have changed my password and hopefully it will stop sending random messages!

First I must back track a bit - you may recall that just before the onset of the meetings I headed to Jinja to go horse riding.  While it was a great day and as usual amazing scenery I was sore for close to a week after!  At first it was my lower back but by mid-week I began to realize how stiff my legs were.  If you are looking for a great work-out using muscles that you have forgotten exist hop on a horse and trot and cantor for a couple hours!

Nile River Rapids

Luc and Trude at a photo stop

The full Regional Planning Meetings started on Thursday March 4 (this was preceded by a two-day Communications Seminar and a full day session at the office).  One of the exciting things for me was the opportunity to meet the teams from the various countries where RTP works.  I had communicated with many of them by email or phone over the past 7 months but now I am able to put faces to all of the names.  


The first few days of the meetings were spent reflecting over the past 3 years.  It is not often that people have the chance to do this as things move so quickly and there is always a deadline for something.  One of the interesting things about the process was that Country Teams were not allowed to use lap tops - all of their work had to be displayed on flip chart paper.  Our conference room ended up with new wall paper from all the work they had completed!

Three-Year Trend Analysis

Tanzania Presentation

On Saturday we also had a visit from the Chair of the Canadian Advisory Board.  There was a lot of protocol to follow as he was on an official state visit.  I have learned the importance of protocol here since my arrival in July and our visit with the Vice-President of Uganda.  

Group photo (taken by me) with CAB Chair and his client (Mr. Naveen)

Group Photo taken by Mr. Naveen 

(The Uganda Country Manager complemented my understanding of protocol when I refused the front row seat and had our AVP of International programs take it)

By the end of Saturday we had heard from all of the country teams and I was thoroughly impressed with the progress that has been made in just 3 years.  Saturday evening was a celebratory dinner and of course there was dancing - there is always dancing at our meetings and everyone takes part.  This is definitely one of the difference to meetings in Uganda vs meetings in Toronto.

Saturday Night Dance Party

Sunday we had a very interesting session on Human Resources.  It is always a tricky topic as there are so many concerns.  Eva and David did a great job navigating us through the new compensation structures and addressing the difficult issues related to one-year contracts for field staff.  Monday was International Women's Day - a statutory holiday in Uganda.  I took advantage of some free time in the morning to get to the gym (entirely necessary after a week of buffet food!) before heading to the office for another meeting!

By Tuesday the end was in sight and people were getting tired.  The group work continued and teams started to plot out the changes they would like to see in our beneficiaries over the next 1, 3 and 5 years.  The next step was to map out how to get there!

National Training Officers

The meetings were scheduled to officially end on Thursday but most of us continued with another full day Friday!  By 630 on Friday a group of us sat at the Korean Restaurant, were able to relax and reflect on what I think was a successful 12 days!

In the spare time that I had during the meetings I found myself fully immersed in the book Shantaram which apparently will be a movie soon.  I highly recommend reading it before the film comes out...as you know the book it is rare that a movie does a book justice.

The weekend was a good one - I did only a little work and tried to catch up on relaxing and my time in the gym.  Upon arrival at Kabira on Saturday I was pleasantly surprised to find that they had upgraded almost all of the weight machines!  While it through me off my work-out a bit and the old equipment has not yet been removed it was very exciting and is the motivation I need to get my butt in gear after 2 weeks of buffet food!  It was also good to catch up with my Kampala friends that I had not seen in a while.  We had a group dinner at Lotus Mexican on Saturday night - yummy, yummy drinks.  Sunday night Janet and Sonia had a group of us over for homemade pizza and game night!  I was sorely embarrassed in a game call Borders where you need to match African borders - my knowledge of North and West Africa is atrocious and I will be doing some studying before the re-match.

with real skor bar and lots of love

The planning meetings are now in full-swing and I am hoping I can keep my energy up for another 7 days!!!

I was lucky to get out of town for a few hours last Saturday and go horse riding in Jinja.  The scenery was amazing and the riding was great.  I must admit that 7 days later I am still a bit sore after 90 minutes of trotting and cantering!!!

Monday and Tuesday were spent in a rather intense but incredible communications seminar. It was all about understanding different perceptions and how that affects your communication with others.  It really pushed me to think about how I react in certain situations and how that can affect communication.

Wednesday morning I woke up very excited as I would receive a package from home.  Sadly when i got to the office I found out my colleague from Toronto had been delayed by a day but it was well worth it.  Thursday she arrived with a fabulous package put together from my sisters that included cookies made 'with real skor bar and lots of love' as they wrote in the note that came along with it:)

So far the meetings have been busy but good.  It has been an opportunity for each country team, and for us as a regional team, to look back over the past three years to see how we have reached where we are today.  I am looking forward to tomorrow's presentations and to reflecting in the lessons learned as we plan for the future.

Olympic Expectations

As I have avidly been tracking the Olympics and Canada's progress to "Own The Podium" I wonder if the expectations created for the Nation were just too high.  I have always suffered from Olympic Fever but this year I find myself to be quite competitive about where Canada is in the total medal standings....I work with a Norwegian and they are still ahead of us.  I managed to create a situation whereby if we do not surpass Norway in the next few days I may be hearing about it for a long time to come.


The idea of investing in athletes is a good one but I think that there are many other places that the money could be spent.  That being said the sense of National Pride that is created from the Olympics, and specifically success at the Olympics, could perhaps justify the expense...


One of the amazing things about the 2010 games is that I find myself watching sports I have never watched before.  I have seen a lot of ski jumping and biathlon as they are events that take place in the early morning.  They are actually more exciting sports than I had though!  With an 11 hour time change I can't really pick and choose what I want to watch but have been happy with what I have seen so far.  The really cool thing is that I can track Canada's success through facebook - so many of my facebook friends have been making status updates related to the games.


I anticipate that I will have a few sleepless nights over the remainder of the week - tonight I will have to wake up for the Canada Russia game and also hope to see the women's bobsled.  (Heather Moyse - who in the past I have played rugby against  - is sitting in first place after two runs!!!).  Then there is the women's hockey final, the men's ariels, the women's figure skating finals and sooo much more that I will be waking up at odd hours to watch.


In non-Olympic news - all is well in Kla.  Another week gone by and another two restaurants tried out!  I ate Korean food for what I think is the first time and it was pretty good.  We also went to Le Chateau, a Belgian restaurant, for a really nice dinner.  Our Regional Planning meetings start next week so we have been doing some prep work.  The meetings also mean that a couple of people from Toronto will be coming so hopefully some treats from home for me:)


I have had a bit of a pitfall in my planning for my dad's visit - Air Uganda changed their flights to Zanzibar.  I think this was a terrible move on their part.  They used to have Friday and Monday flights...perfect for a long weekend but they have changed to Tuesday, Thursday & Sunday.  While this may sound good it is the timing that is the problem - you do not arrive in Zanzibar until 5pm on the Thursday and the flight out is at 1030am which really only leave you with 2 full days there!!  Luckily there are other options...just more expensive and involving Nairobi transfers:(


If you get a chance do check out RTPtv for some great stories from the Olympics!

one year post-op

Today marks one year since I had my right ACL reconstructed - it was the second reconstruction and third surgery on a very battered knee.  My knee still looks pretty scarred and ugly but is fully-functioning and occasionally serves a a conversation piece (especially since I have almost matching scars on the left knee!).

Jobst Pump designed to minimize the swelling in my knee

I must admit that I still have days that I think about playing rugby - most often when it is cool and there is a light rain here.  To me it is the perfect conditions....it becomes a forwards game and is a slower game.  Since I was not fast and will likely never be, slow games were my favourite.  This weather also means mud and for some reason there is something oddly satisfying about playing for 80 minutes and coming off the field covered head to toe in mud.


Mom, Dad - do not worry.  Days when I consider for a second about returning to rugby I remember the weeks on the couch with one leg or another in the jobst pump or being iced.  I must admit my speedy recoveries were due to a lot of help at home re-filling my ice cooler and a fortune spent on physio.


In news from Kla - I went to another restaurant that I had not been to on Friday - Haandi - and it was pretty good!  I was very excited on Saturday morning when I woke up at 5am and actually found the Olympic Opening Ceremonies on live!!  I have been avidly watching whenever I can and have likely spent hours online reading about the results that I miss.  While I am so happy that there is some coverage I am not always sure what the producers are thinking.  For example on Monday night's coverage they were switching between the women's 10km cross-country, the snowboard cross preliminary rounds and the men's downhill.  When there are medals on the line why air preliminary rounds!!!  And if you have already stated who the winner is in the cross-country why keep going back to it!!  Ultimately I only saw about 8 skiers in the downhill....missed the all the Canadians and the gold-medal run so needless to say was a wee bit disappointed....yet still happy there was coverage:)


On Sunday I managed to get lost along a road that I have been driven on almost every day for the past six months!  One little turn and you end up in a whole new area.  I managed to sort it out and ended up walking twice as far as necessary to reach my destination....not so fun with the humidity we have been having but I can now say I have explored a new part of Kla!

new discoveries, odds & ends

Over the past week I have had a bunch of new experiences in Kampala - this is exciting as it is so easy to settle into routine and stick with what I know.

Last Friday evening we went to Steak Out for dinner.  I had heard of the place but had not yet been there.  I should mention most of what I had heard had to do with Thursday night "Rock Night" and not with the food but we decided to give it a try.  I understand why it is better known as a bar than a restaurant due to its set up BUT the food was yummy.  The steak was good and the side of veggies was amazing (cooked in butter!).

On Saturday a rather large group of us went to The Lawns for dinner.  Most of had not been there before and I think we were all pleasantly surprised.  While it is a bit more expensive than most Kampala restaurants the setting and service were amazing.  They even have Game Meat and I tried Crocodile.  I think that may need to be repeated - I actually tried Crocodile.  It was a bit chewy!

Earlier today I went to a new supermarket.  It was big and most importantly cheap!  They had coke light (still have not found coke zero in Kla) for only 1000UGX (around $0.50) and Skippy Peanut Butter.

Other than my new Kla discoveries there is not too much exciting to report on.  I think I have been experiencing bad weather karma ever since I posted about it on FB - it has gone from ridiculously hot to cold and rainy and now back to hot.  My poor body has gone on strike and I have been suffering with a nasty head cold for most of the week.

Below are a few pictures from recent visits to the field.

Children listening to the R-C-A post activity

little boy that I was next to during one of the games

very young girl (with a disability - birth defect left her with one shorter leg) an activity for a group of 20 or so

same girl - smiling and playing away

younger children watching an activity in Soroti

(this is from my November visit to the area)

The next few weeks will be busy as we prepare for the Regional Planning meetings starting at the beginning of March.

Olympic Fever

My bi-annual Olympic Fever has fully set in.  The two weeks of Olympics every two years is always a highlight for me.  I think it should be a world-wide holiday so people can sit glued to their tvs and support their Country.  I must admit that I am not at all patriotic....until it comes to those two weeks.  I think it is more than cheering for your Nation - it is all of the heart warming stories that the TV-Networks find and use to keep people like me glued to the television.


Over the past 6-months I think I have complained a fair bit about the sports coverage I receive on my numerous sports channels.  At this point I am still a little concerned that when I wake up at 2am on Sunday night/ Monday morning to watch the Superbowl that I may find synchronized swimming instead.  That being said I must admit that the ESPN coverage that I get has done a good job fueling my fever.  Every morning I have been able to watch heart-warming and heart-breaking stories from past winter Olympics.  Now I just hope they don't disappoint and that the coverage of The Games is good.


Now it was important to get me going this year, as I must admit I became quite disenchanted with the whole Olympic Movement over the past 18 months.  Between the Games it is easy to get caught up in the corporate battle, as while the Olympics does bring some spectacular sporting moments, it does come down to dollars and cents.  I was quite distressed to learn in early 2009 that Right To Play would be banned from the Olympic Village in 2010.  See some articles about this here:Right To Play banned from Olympic Village.  


There is of course much speculation about why RTP lost the privilege of being the only charity allowed in the Village and on what the effect will be for the organization.  There is the issue that Mitsubishi Canada is one of our Corporate Partners and over the past two years has donated over $1 million to us -  (In April, May & June - 2008 and 2009 they have donated $100 for every car they have sold in Canada) - and that GM is one of the sponsors for Olympics.  But that comes down to cold-hard business.  I understand that companies pay HUGE amounts for the Olympic rights and it is important to protect what they are paying for but to me it goes against the whole spirit of the Olympics.  Today it has almost become a game for some companies to see how they can ambush the Games and I think in some cases they spend as much money as those that have paid for the rights.


How this will affect RTP is still unclear.  At past games our presence in The Village has been a way to educate athletes about the cause and spurred giving from athletes such as Joey Cheek and Clara Hughes (the athlete chosen to carry the Canadian Flag at the Opening Ceremonies).  As a side note - this is the second consecutive Olympics that a RTP Athlete Ambassador has been selected to carry the Canadian Flag at the Opening Ceremonies!!  These athletes then help us spread the word about RTP and raise the much needed funds to carry out programs in some of the most disadvantaged communities in the world.  Our Olympian Athlete Ambassadors also protested the ban as they have found inspiration from visiting our booth in The Village at past games.  


Over the past year there has been a group of people working very hard to determine what type of presence RTP would have in Vancouver and how we could engage not only the athletes but also the millions of fans.  Just yesterday the plan was unveiled: RTP Vancouver/ Whistler Activities.  If you happen to be attending the games I encourage you to check it out.  If you, like me, won't be making the trip out you can follow all the action at http://twitter.com/RightToPlayIntl or on RTPtv starting February 12.


I will be watching The Games whenever possible and look forward to wearing my Roots Canada T-shirt from their Canada Collection supporting RTP.  Roots has also created an RTP line so you can go out and buy RTP gear.  While I do love the lines that Roots has created for various Olympics in the past they are no longer the official supplier for the Olympics - but they do produce amazing gear so go out and support RTP if you are trying to be patriotic (they have gear for a variety of countries) this February.


I also need to make a comment about Lulu - my favourite clothing store and probably the reason my savings are abysmal.  I came across a great article yesterday about how they have managed to get around all of the branding regulations (2010 and Vancouver cannot be used) - Lulu - Genius!!


In non-Olympic fever news - last week I experienced weather Karma.  After seeing people all over facebook comment on the cold I decided I would mention the nice warm weather in Kampala.  I think within an hour of my post the mercury rose and we had 4 - 5 days of hot, humid, brain frying weather.  The office is not air-conditioned and I must admit I had trouble getting anything done.  So of course I was complaining about the heat and then the weather changed again - the temperature is back around 22 (cold for Kla) and the grey skies accompanied by occasional downpour is back.  So I guess the lesson I have learned - I need to just adjust to the weather and there is no need to remind people that I am not wandering through the snow!