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Hidden but surely there
Posted on 27-10-2008
„I have a good feeling about this country,“ said Radha to Driss as soon as we stepped out of the airplane on Saturday night at the Entebbe International Airport.
And truly, there was a big difference we all felt from the very first minute. Unlike in our previous stop in Harare, the lights were on in the arrival hall, one could see a smiling face here and there, and crucially - there was soap at the toilet (read our Zimbabwe blog to see what we are getting at).
As we drove to the hotel, one of our new friends from CESVI, program coordinator Adama, briefed us on the situation in Uganda in general and child labour issue in particular. His point: working minors may not be as commonly visible in Uganda as in our previous destinations.
Totally different
While we were busy processing the first intake of information in the new country, we could not fail to notice how otherworldly different the outside life in Entebbe and then Kampala was from what we had gotten used to seeing over the last week in the unfortunate economic basket case popularly known as Zim.
Small shops packed floor to ceiling with goods of all kind one right next to another and the hustle and bustle of it all suddenly seemed so soothing one could hardly believe it.
Small businesses
Uganda prides itself with the highest number of small businesses per capita, explained Adama (including the failed ones, he added with a grin), and one could not deny there was almost any product you can imagine available in the small shops even at this late hour.
Ugandans’ enterprising spirit simply seems to know no limits – just hang some on a wall by the sidewalk and call it a “Boutique”, anything goes. After twenty years of war and ethnic conflicts Ugandans definitely deserve some kind of break underpinned by stability and opportunities to improve their living.
Hidden
But there is one thing we have not seen in the streets of Kampala (so far) – children selling boiled corn, oranges, chewing gum or just anything. And yet, the statistics say 34 percent of Ugandan kids are involved in child labour.
“Surely it is there,” Adama validated the Unicef 2006 survey, “you just have to go out and look for it, since it is more hidden here and barely gets mentioned.”
Make sure to check out this web site to see the results of our search.
Nadia and Pavel
„I have a good feeling about this country,“ said Radha to Driss as soon as we stepped out of the airplane on Saturday night at the Entebbe International Airport.
And truly, there was a big difference we all felt from the very first minute. Unlike in our previous stop in Harare, the lights were on in the arrival hall, one could see a smiling face here and there, and crucially - there was soap at the toilet (read our Zimbabwe blog to see what we are getting at).
As we drove to the hotel, one of our new friends from CESVI, program coordinator Adama, briefed us on the situation in Uganda in general and child labour issue in particular. His point: working minors may not be as commonly visible in Uganda as in our previous destinations.
Totally different
While we were busy processing the first intake of information in the new country, we could not fail to notice how otherworldly different the outside life in Entebbe and then Kampala was from what we had gotten used to seeing over the last week in the unfortunate economic basket case popularly known as Zim.
Small shops packed floor to ceiling with goods of all kind one right next to another and the hustle and bustle of it all suddenly seemed so soothing one could hardly believe it.
Small businesses
Uganda prides itself with the highest number of small businesses per capita, explained Adama (including the failed ones, he added with a grin), and one could not deny there was almost any product you can imagine available in the small shops even at this late hour.
Ugandans’ enterprising spirit simply seems to know no limits – just hang some on a wall by the sidewalk and call it a “Boutique”, anything goes. After twenty years of war and ethnic conflicts Ugandans definitely deserve some kind of break underpinned by stability and opportunities to improve their living.
Hidden
But there is one thing we have not seen in the streets of Kampala (so far) – children selling boiled corn, oranges, chewing gum or just anything. And yet, the statistics say 34 percent of Ugandan kids are involved in child labour.
“Surely it is there,” Adama validated the Unicef 2006 survey, “you just have to go out and look for it, since it is more hidden here and barely gets mentioned.”
Make sure to check out this web site to see the results of our search.
Nadia and Pavel
