radio katwe gossip

Radio Katwe is a independent Ugandan news radio station that gained international attention from Reporters Without Borders last year when its website was blocked by the Ugandan Communications Commission just before the presidential election.

Despite the block, the site is still going strong, publishing a daily mixture of hard-hitting journalism and amusing gossip. The following article falls in the latter category:

British etiquette experts in Uganda to train M7 in table manners

We got some information some months ago that as the CHOGM plans continue to gather momentum, some British experts in protocol and etiquette were flown to Uganda to help Museveni get CHOGM compatible.

Those people who have sat in the same room with him at state dinners know that M7 is a very crude man. He eats like a greedy pig and it is an embarrassment to people.

Full article»

Impartial? No. Hilarious? Yes.

o happy day, part two: september UBHH

The infamous 27th Comrade announced it. And then it happened:

Kissyfur:

So my curiosity did get the best of me right, blame in Sage for all the flack he gave it or the numerous bloggers who defended it. Well Kissyfur did show up at BHH. Mostly because I was going for rock night and needed to buy time before that and it sounded like a good idea. So yeah, I bribed Tandra with a Tyler Perry movie simply because I desperately needed to have somebody there that I atleast knew.

Tandra:

So anyways, got there abt 7.30 and interestingly enough i knew or had interacted with the majority there..isnt blogistan but an extension of ur life?? so i technically met Rev, ai, Dee, Carlo, Dante, the Baz (not the bee,mind), Liz and Heaven!.

Ivan:

I use a boda-boda to get to Mateos, known in some circles more appropriately as “that place where bloggers meet.” I attempt to keep my face non-smiling. I don’t want to give vendors the impression that we are buddies and they should offer me groundnuts. It’s my sod-off expression. Patented. Often imitated but never duplicated. Then I see two bloggers of the female persuasion.

Must. Not. Smile.

They see me as I try to stare down a pretty young thing that almost stepped on me. They smile.

Must. Fight. Smile.

One of them stands up. She seems taller than when last I saw her.

I yank the ear phones out of my, well, ears. That’s where they reside, isn’t it?

Smile Bad! Scowl Good!

She hugs me and my scowl leaves me. But not before saying, “Adios amigo, you’re weak. You give in way too easy!”

I’m counting around nine blogren, ten if you include Gay Uganda, who sort of showed. Mad props to him for doing so, especially in light of Monday’s debacle. Having the courage to make it to UBHH at all given Uganda’s current cultural climate makes you the Blogren Star of the Month in my book.

reality TV comes to Kabale

What do you get when you mix eight British multi-millionaires, three weeks in Uganda and a mission to improve the living standards of an African village?

Disaster, mostly. And also a new reality television show sponsored by World Vision, a non-profit known mostly for its child sponsorship program.

Ugandan bloggers have reacted strongly to the show, calling it “preposterous” and “another naïve thing from the West.” World Vision’s official line is that the show “explor[es] the complexities of development work and the causes of poverty,” which sounds very noble, but I’m going to side with the blogren.

Let’s recap: eight millionaires with no real knowledge of Uganda. $240,000. Three weeks. Granted, they have a “mentor” and a handy-dandy World Vision quick guide to sustainable development, but I have a hard time believing they’re going to accomplish something in three weeks that countless other professional aid agencies have failed to do in decades.

Even more than that, Millionaires’ Mission seems to trivialize the problems in Uganda, turning an entire village into an experiment. What role do the Ugandans have in this? So far, they’ve been filmed waving machetes at their supposed benefactors. Way to propagate Conrad-era stereotypes.

Tumwijuke argues that Millionaires’ Mission showcases the “humiliation of Ugandans” and criticizes the show for being just another excuse to watch rich westerners run around Africa. I think she’s absolutely right.

I couldn’t resist: World Vision tells viewers to “Forget the jargon and get a quick guide to some of the key development themes…. sustainability, aid, trade, participation….” In other words, “jargon, jargon, jargon, jargon….”

GVO: Uganda: Bloggers respond to massive flooding

My next piece is up at Global Voices Online:

The top thing on many Ugandan bloggers’ minds in the past two weeks has been the massive flooding across sub-Saharan Africa. The floods hit particularly hard in northern and eastern Uganda, where 250 people have died and up to 150,000 have been displaced.

Read more»

breakdance project uganda rocks the blogosphere

It’s time for another gushy post about Breakdance Project Uganda. Two posts, in fact, and neither of them mine:

Breakdance Project Uganda by Stevi Wara
“Biting my lip in concentration, my legs are awkwardly trying to mirror the movements of my new break dance teacher in front of me. Dancing with local Ugandans on my left and right I don’t feel pressure, but motivation to land this next trick.”

Abramz Tekya: Rapping, Dancing for Change by El Oso
“After a steady stream of phone-tag, Abramz and I finally found each other at Antonio’s – the closest thing I’ve seen to a local restaurant chain in East Africa. Sporting a hoodie, t-shirt, and baggie pants, I couldn’t help but feel immediately comfortable. It felt much more like talking to an old friend from Southern California than meeting a complete stranger in the middle of Uganda.”

In other awesomeness, the project is headed to Arua with MS Uganda. From Abramz:

We’re going to collaborate with MS Uganda ( A danish organization) & IATM (International Anti-corruption Theatre Movement) to do a community sensitization program about democracy & human rights.

We’re going to do a forum theatre play about democracy which will be a fusion of drama & breakdance (Bboying,popping & a bit of locking). Then we’ll have discussions with the community.

After the sensitization program, ‘Breakdance Project Uganda’ will do a free of charge breakdance workshop which will be open to all the community people.

And finally, because Breakdance Project Uganda makes me want to jump up and down like a little (breakdancing-ly talented) kid, a video from their latest visit to Naguru Remand Home: