Entry Four - Kampala and the Makerere campus

I am currently staying at a residence on campus attached to the Makerere Institute of Social Research (MISR). The apartment is far larger than I need - a living room, balcony, bathroom, bedroom, kitchen and hallway. It came fully furnished including a TV, phone, cooking utensils, etc. There is maid service, an automatic generator kicks in when the power goes out, and there is even hot water occasionally. However, it costs a whopping 750 USD/month!!! Although it may be possible to bargain down a little, it is clearly not the kind of budget accommodation I imagined staying in. Elsewhere on campus is a residence used by foreigners where rooms/apartments range from half to a fifth of the cost here. Although it seems like an good solution, I suspect that my contacts here might take it as a sign that I am not serious about getting a full Ugandan experience if I move in with a bunch of Westerners - most of whom are in their early-mid 20s and not attached to the university. Given the costs, I may not be able to afford the (elite) Ugandan experience!

More so than in North America, universities in Uganda (particularly Makerere) are centres of the elite. Makerere and its vice-chancellor are regularly in the newspaper and student politics are often closely linked with city and national politics. Most politicians in the country have passed through here at one point or another (as students or lecturers) and the government, and private industry to a lesser extent, regularly call upon experts at the university for consultation and often with offers of government posts or employment. While many of the elite go to England for their education, Makerere is still the training centre for the 'movers and shakers' of Ugandan society. This of course means that there is a lot of money at the university, or rather among certain people at the university. For myself, it means that on campus I can legitimately feel like a struggling student, much like in Toronto. However, off campus in many areas of the city, I am myself among the 'elite'.

Makerere is to the north of the city centre. The area around Kampala road is downtown Kampala. To its south near the markets and taxi parks is an even more bustling neighbourhood with numerous electronics, hardware, and supply stores mixed in with cheap hotels, bars, etc. To the west of this is Old Kampala, which is the centre of the Buganda 'kingdom'. There is an enormous new mosque on top of a hill there paid for by Colonel Gaddafi. To the north of downtown are the unbelievably expensive hotels (e.g. the Kampala Sheraton which charges upwards of 300 USD per night). Above this is a wealthy residential neighbourhood that also contains a few embassies and expensive restaurants. East of this neighbourhood is a golf course, next to which is a huge shopping mall called Garden City. North of this area are a couple of areas clustered with relatively upscale bars and restaurants around Cooper Rd and Kisimenti. To the west of this area and to the north of the residential area is the campus. The main road to the south is a very busy street lined with street vendors selling everything from groundnuts to stereo systems and shops ranging from salons to fast-food joints.

The campus itself is impressive - though this impression might be due preparations for the influx of 'freshers' on Monday. MISR is located just inside the gate to the left, next to which is the Centre for Human Rights. Across from my flat is Klub 5, a restaurant/bar/internet cafe/aerobics centre, which can get noisy during evening gym classes. The other side of my apartment faces into a garden within the MISR complex. On the other side of this road is a mosque, whose Imam apparently has a Ph.D. and also teaches religious studies (school-run Catholic and Protestant churches are located elsewhere on campus). Continuing up the main road, there is a turn off toward the schools of education and fine art. Further up the road is the impressive new computer science building, which apparently has internet almost on par with high speed. Beyond this is the student canteen and bookstore across from the Senate Building, which contains among other things, the Postgraduate Studies department. Northwest of this are two residences for foreigners (one very upscale with tennis courts and a bar/lounge, and the other that I am looking into). Next to this is the vice-chancellor's residence, which I am told is usually the site of any student protest.

Beyond this is the centre of the campus where the Main Hall sits (noticable for its famous "Ivory Tower") containing a few lecture halls, the university press and the offices of the administration bigshots. Makerere was founded in the 1920s under the British, and this building was the centre of the original campus. The area underneath, where the printing press is currently, housed armaments used in the event of any riots or disturbances. This seems like the ultimate embodiment of colonial rule - a technical school used to instruct "the natives" in modern science, on top of a military arsenal used to crush these same students, among whom were many of Uganda's anti-colonial nationalists. I can't enter this or many other buildings without a student card, which I hope to receive soon. Next to it is the Faculty of Arts, containing, among others, the History department. Up the road is the main library, which is in the process of being expanded (though almost every faculty has its own library, which are usually better stocked than this one). Continuing further leads to the Faculties of Agriculture, Chemistry, Science and a bunch of others that I will likely never use. The east of the campus also contains numerous residences and there are many areas that I have yet to see. It is a huge campus (over 24 acres I am told). There are over 30,000 students, nearly all undergrads.