How to Purchase Land in Uganda

Due to Western influence, there are two systems for purchasing land that coexist in Uganda. There is the traditional Kibanja way, where the village chairman approves the land transfer and it is considered official. Then there is the new Western system that involves lawyers and land titles. When the Western system was first implemented, there was only one land title office in the capital city of Kampala. They quickly realized that it would be more efficient to have district offices, so they completely closed down the land office in Kampala while they computerized and zoned 6 new land office. A closure that was only supposed to be one month lasted an entire year.
Yet it seemed like each system was pretty straight forward, until I met with our lawyer and I realized that both systems are deeply intertwined with one another. Before you can obtain the land title in your name, you not only have to pay the Kibanja fee, which apparently only gives you ownership over development on the land, you have to also pay "mailo" (or the land owner's interest in the land), which is essentially where you buy out the owner's interest in the land so that land title can be passed over to you.
All of this matters because I am supposed to be buying a parcel of land next to where we are constructing a middle school to increase the size of the property. However I have been working on finalizing this purchase all week and this afternoon when we had planned to go to the lawyer's office to make the purchase official, we got word that the land owner himself had left town for a funeral and won't be back until Monday. I'm just glad I left enough time in my itinerary so I can be flexible when things like this come up.
So instead of meeting with the lawyer, I spent my afternoon playing with the village kids, which is where I'd much rather be anyway.

The Complexities of Construction

One of my major tasks while in Uganda is to oversee the installation of doors and windows on the newly constructed school building for our partner school, St. Paul. My second major task is to orchestrate the roofing project at our second construction site which will function as a middle school upon completion.
I have learned that construction in Uganda is not as straight forward as one might think. Each task requires the work of a number of different people, all whom you have to barter with. For example, when discussing the installation of the doors and windows, I learned that there is not a place where you go to buy standard size doors and window frames, but you have to enlist the help of a welder who will make each door and window by hand. After he is finished, you have to hire transportation to take them from the welders workshop to the school. Once they are at the school, you have to hire a team of construction workers that can install the doors and windows. Once the installation is complete, you have to purchase glass for the windows and hire someone separately to come and secure the glass into the window frames. And to ensure we are getting the best prices, it is best to get 3 quotes from three different people for every task. It actually came in handy when I was bartering for the cost of welding windows and doors. I was talking with a welder who does great work but his price was a little high, I told him we already had another quote for the price we could afford (which we did, but his workmanship wasn't as good) and he dropped his price to meet the others! So we were successful this time :)
I went through similar complications with the roofing project, and I'm sure there are more surprises to come. It's all just part of life here that you learn to live with and possibly learn to love.

Until Next Time

My last day in Kenya was filled with appreciation. Sometimes life gets moving too quickly to take the time to really appreciate all the little things that make each day special. I was able to appreciate how welcomed I had become at my little hotel in Kitengela. On the first day, strange faces would peek in through the door of the conference room while I wrote my blog and stare at me without saying a word. I would ask if it is ok that I was there, they would say I am "most welcome", then continue to stare, so I would continue to write. I attributed this strange behavior  to them possibly never hosting a muzungu (white person) before. But as the week went on, I learned their names, met their families, heard stories about their lives, and became "sweetheart" by the time I had left.

When Kevin and I got to Empakasi School, I took a moment to look up from the construction work and appreciate the beauty of where I was. When my eyes focused in on the horizon, I saw three giraffes, a group of zebras and a wildebeest all grazing together. A few local massai boys that were helping with the construction asked if I wanted to get a closer look, so we headed through the savannah to go take pictures of the animals. On our way we found a gazelle horn and each of the boys got their turn to play with the camera and take pictures.

Unfortunately, I left Kenya before school resumed. For over 2 weeks the teachers had been on strike, fighting for higher pay. It is not wrong that they came together to fight for their rights, but it is too bad that it is at the expense of each student. I am here, fighting for the right to education. So every student can come to school and have the tools to reach their full potential.  My hope is that our work here not only gives these students the tool they need, but is a tangible reminder of the importance of education.

Business in Kenya

The longer I'm here, the more I realize how little I truly know about Kenyan culture. Business is run in a completely different way. I've learned how important it is to be hands-on in every step of the process to ensure everything is done properly. This naturally makes any project much more labor and time intensive. For example, yesterday Kevin and I spent all day at Empakasi School overseeing the team that was laying concrete on the chicken coop floor.
In Kenya, to save money, you have to individually buy cement, sand, and aggregate, then mix them by hand before laying the mixture. Kevin learned that he could get cheaper prices for materials at the hardware shops if he was a frequent customer so he has taken the time to go to the hardware store, purchase a small amount of the total material needed at the "new customer rate" then return to the store a few days later to purchase the remaining material needed at the "frequent customer rate." He also learned that contractors will usually overestimate the amount of materials needed for a project because their labor costs are 30% of the total cost of materials. For example, the contractor estimated we would need 20 bags of cement to finish the floor in the chicken coop, so Kevin bough 12 bags of cement. Unfortunately this time, we actually needed 15 bags of cement, so we had to return to the school this morning with the remaining 3 bags of cement so they could finish the floor. Nothing about this is efficient, but it must be done in order to save money.
The rest of the day Kevin and I spent reviewing the books, compiling receipts, and crunching numbers. I couldn't have imagined a better project manager, he is trustworthy and strives for accountability. He actually handmade receipts for the labor costs, which are rarely ever documented by receipt, and had each worker sign his payment receipt. I am genuinely pleased with the work that has been accomplished here and I am confident the construction will continue in a reliable manner under Kevin's supervision.

Chicken Coop Floor

My Arrival In Kenya

Today my journey begins. After a nine hour flight to London, a 25-hour layover, and an eight and a half hour flight to Nairobi, I finally arrived in Kitengela where I will spend five days working at Empakasi Primary School with our project manager, Kevin Omondi. Last year, Empakasi’s partner school, Eagle Crest Elementary, came to a consensus that they would like to help Empakasi School create a sustainable lunch program for its students. They deemed this the most important task since no lunch is currently being served to the students during the school day and few are able to bring a lunch from home. Teachers complained that students had difficultly focusing, and some had even fainted from lack of nutrition. Thus, we enlisted Kevin to oversee the project development of a chicken coop and a green house so the students will receive hard-boiled eggs and vegetables everyday. 

This morning I was met by Kevin Omondi, his site supervisor, Max Muniafu, and our associate, Dr. George Jones. We headed to Empakasi School to get a brief update on the projects. There we were met by the Empakasi headmaster, the school board chairman, one of the school board members, and a group of construction workers that had been working on both the chicken coop and the greenhouse. I was thoroughly impressed with Kevin's knowledge regarding the details of each project. He knew about the temperament of chickens, how that will effect egg production, and what we can do to yield the highest profits. For example, he decided to almost double the size of the chicken coop since egg-laying production decreases significantly in relation to the space each chicken has. He was also able to explain in depth, the quality of soil in the greenhouse, which plants will grow best in this environment, what fertilizers we should use, and what we can expect from each harvest. It was clear he had done his research, and I'm confident it will pay off when the lunch program is up and running.  

Chicken Coop

Greenhouse