First of all, the fact that a Peace Corps volunteer can even thing of buying a car is a bit remote for most people to grasp. The GHSP volunteers have a bit of an advantage in that our host group. Seed has negotiated and worked hard so that we can buy a car. So from there......the fun starts. And no matter what I say this has been fun, and a great cultural experience. I might at the end have a car, and maybe not.
When we were in DC, Dr. Bonny the GHSP rep told me I could buy a car for around $1500. that seemed amazing, and doable. I know for me the fact that transportation is a major concern that actually having "permission" to purchase and drive a car was huge. Next things was to arrive here with destination Lira, check it out, and move forward. The options that the University have seemed sketchy at best. PC provided me with a local driver and car and everywhere we met, sometimes 10 to 12 km. outside of town ended up with me arriving and waiting for them to arrive in the hospital ambulance, which seems to function more as the hospital transportation vehicle. My goal was to become as independent as I can at my age, within my budge and with what might be available. As luck would have it I seemed to have stumbled upon a driver who was willing to work with me toward that goal. Cautious optimism, at best. Steven the PC guide and language instructor has also been helping as has Jesse one of the drivers for PC that I happened to meet who is also an Iraq survivor having worked for the UN.
Onward and upward. Anyone can go online and find cars for sale in Kampala, an abundance of them. Finding your car and finding one that will suit the roads of Lira even when it is flooding and finding one that suits your budget (extremely tight) begins the highlight of the search. We went out today with a driver who picked us up. I am leaving Lefty 7, my 2012 vehicle far behind and now looking at cars made in Japan circa 1999. I have tried to forget that the Japanese team obviously wasn't utilizing a female design team back then and have tried to forget that I really dislike that boxy look. I don't care about the style of the car much, what I care about is what is under the hood. We have found slipping fan belts, which I am told can be fixed and with one Honda I was told that Honda manufactures cars so that the door has a distinct clicking sound when you open it, two of them in fact but only on the left side. This I am told is a particular Honda design. To have perfected this on the left side but not on the right is a fete that I applaud Honda for. I have not seen a single Hyundai in all of the parking lots I have been through. The brokers are nice, but let's face it I am a foreigner looking for a cheap used car. Transferring the money to buy said used car from my almost non-existent savings is quite another fete that I am tackling. The rest of the group I am here with are off to a cultural show again tonight. They went last night but it was closed due to some wedding or something. I had a good day, Jesse the driver and I spent some time swapping war stories about Iraq, as a UN troop member he was on the side that was at the check points and hopefully not shooting at us civilians. I was once in a convoy, took out my camera to take a picture of an incredibly long line of tanks and saw the gun barrel moving toward me as the person in the carrier noticed a silver flash. Maybe Jessie? Wish me luck in this adventure. My goal, Wheels by Thursday. But, I am resigned to whatever happens, happens. If I can't accomplish this it isn't from lack of effort.
Spent the day at the hospitals, even though this was one of the best in Kampala many departments were lacking in significant interventions. We saw one little girl about five years old who had been brought into outpatient at the nutrition ward and moved to ICU, there was no truly no hope for her. Very very sad.
When we were in DC, Dr. Bonny the GHSP rep told me I could buy a car for around $1500. that seemed amazing, and doable. I know for me the fact that transportation is a major concern that actually having "permission" to purchase and drive a car was huge. Next things was to arrive here with destination Lira, check it out, and move forward. The options that the University have seemed sketchy at best. PC provided me with a local driver and car and everywhere we met, sometimes 10 to 12 km. outside of town ended up with me arriving and waiting for them to arrive in the hospital ambulance, which seems to function more as the hospital transportation vehicle. My goal was to become as independent as I can at my age, within my budge and with what might be available. As luck would have it I seemed to have stumbled upon a driver who was willing to work with me toward that goal. Cautious optimism, at best. Steven the PC guide and language instructor has also been helping as has Jesse one of the drivers for PC that I happened to meet who is also an Iraq survivor having worked for the UN.
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| And this |
Onward and upward. Anyone can go online and find cars for sale in Kampala, an abundance of them. Finding your car and finding one that will suit the roads of Lira even when it is flooding and finding one that suits your budget (extremely tight) begins the highlight of the search. We went out today with a driver who picked us up. I am leaving Lefty 7, my 2012 vehicle far behind and now looking at cars made in Japan circa 1999. I have tried to forget that the Japanese team obviously wasn't utilizing a female design team back then and have tried to forget that I really dislike that boxy look. I don't care about the style of the car much, what I care about is what is under the hood. We have found slipping fan belts, which I am told can be fixed and with one Honda I was told that Honda manufactures cars so that the door has a distinct clicking sound when you open it, two of them in fact but only on the left side. This I am told is a particular Honda design. To have perfected this on the left side but not on the right is a fete that I applaud Honda for. I have not seen a single Hyundai in all of the parking lots I have been through. The brokers are nice, but let's face it I am a foreigner looking for a cheap used car. Transferring the money to buy said used car from my almost non-existent savings is quite another fete that I am tackling. The rest of the group I am here with are off to a cultural show again tonight. They went last night but it was closed due to some wedding or something. I had a good day, Jesse the driver and I spent some time swapping war stories about Iraq, as a UN troop member he was on the side that was at the check points and hopefully not shooting at us civilians. I was once in a convoy, took out my camera to take a picture of an incredibly long line of tanks and saw the gun barrel moving toward me as the person in the carrier noticed a silver flash. Maybe Jessie? Wish me luck in this adventure. My goal, Wheels by Thursday. But, I am resigned to whatever happens, happens. If I can't accomplish this it isn't from lack of effort.
Spent the day at the hospitals, even though this was one of the best in Kampala many departments were lacking in significant interventions. We saw one little girl about five years old who had been brought into outpatient at the nutrition ward and moved to ICU, there was no truly no hope for her. Very very sad.
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| All that separates us is $$$$$ |
