Kamuli
20 Oct 2010 4 Comments
Kamuli means “little you all are.” If you break down the word in Lusoga (I don’t know if this is right or not) but Ka = little , mu = you all , li = are .
So. Anyways. Kamuli! This is the place that I’m going to be living for the next two years! I found that out about two weeks ago and I visited the place where I will be working. It’s called Kamuli Twisania SACCO (Savings and Loan Co-operative) and I’ll be working with 4 other people. Isaac is my counterpart (my main go-to person in the organization) and he’s awesome, he’s 25 and really cool. Edith is my supervisor (I’m the supaviza, lemme get ya taxi numba [psytrance reference fyi]) and she’s older and is really nice. He son just actually got diagnosed as legally blind and will be going to the blind school that my friend chelsea is stationed at in soroti. And then Joffrey and Julius are the other two people that work there as cashiers and support staff. I’m really excited. A SACCO is a small microfinance institution where people can come to save money and get loans for a lower rate than a bank, and they actually have a chance to get a loan without putting up huge collateral. So it basically allows the less wealthy people to get loans. Kamuli is in central eastern uganda and it’s about an hour taxi ride south to Jinja. Kamuli is in the middle of nowhere but it’s a decent sized town with nice people and people that speak my language. I’m pretty far from other volunteers but I will be able to visit them sometimes. The nearest volunteer is probably 2 hours away in Iganga depending on which way you take. Anyways were about to be sworn in tomorrow as a true volunteer and no longer be a trainee! YAY! Training is over!
I’m staying in a hotel right now with all of our supervisors and counterparts and the PC staff. Which is fun and interesting. I’m leaving for Kamuli on friday and I’ll try and post a blog of what swearing in is like with the US Ambassador! and what’s been going on recently. I’ll be wearing the traditional male ware, which should be interesting as long as I can find a sports coat! I’ll post tomorrow .. but in the mean time my best friend chelsea’s blog is hilarious so read it if you’d like:
http://milkothemzungu.blogspot.com/
Miss you all very much,
Dan
Oct 20, 2010 @ 20:03:48
Congratulations! Be sure to post a picture of you being sworn in. Kinda like your graduations picture.
Oct 20, 2010 @ 20:28:49
Go Dan! Go PC! Go one-day-to-go-as-trainees!! I’m very excited for all of you!
Best wishes and congratulations.
Oct 21, 2010 @ 08:47:59
SACCO seems interesting, do people there also have access to other micro-finance products, like the web based peer-to-peer systems that the US media loved droning on and on about a few years back? Are SACCO’s funded by local organizations or international corporations?
I hope you’re doing well Dan!! I’m sure you can figure out who this is
. In any case, I just got a J-O-B, so maybe one day I’ll have enough money to come visit you in Africa.
Oct 23, 2010 @ 18:42:51
not quite sure who this is.. I do have several guesses though. but you seem like you’d be cool to be friends with.. oh wait I am already ahah! SACCOs are pretty cool.. they’re actually self-sufficient and don’t need funding by other organizations (well maybe initial funding). They have other microfinance products ie, Village Savings and Loan Associations, banks, FINCA, and random other ones.. so the competition is high. And I’d say that most people don’t have access to the internet so the peer-to-peer wouldn’t thrive here. I’m doing well by the way and will accept any and all visitors and would love nothing more start saving now.
Dan