African Time and LC Kampala North

Today, we really got to experience the frustrations of African Time. Time does simply not exist in the same form in Africa as it does in the western world, and despite that being sometimes very comfortable, it’s mostly a real pain.

AIM: Art is one of our club’s largest aid projects this year (I’ll let the man in charge write a few words about that later) and at ten o’ clock today, Oyvind was supposed to meet the lady from the printing house we’ve collaborated with during this AIM: Art project. She would bring all kinds of stuff needed to execute the project and it was vital that she’d be on time because at around twelve the groups going to Nsumba and Bushenyi were leaving, and they would bring with them a lot of the stuff needed to the project. But she confirmed several times that she’d be on time, at ten o’clock - European Time, not African Time. Then at eleven o’clock, she phones and asks when she should come.

And the whole day was basically like this, time being simply an instrument to give you stomach ache, not an instrument to help you keep appointments. But around three o’clock, finally most of the things that was supposed to be resolved was completed, and Oyvind soberly concluded that in the five days now spent in Uganda, one and a half of them has consisted of pure waiting.

But on a happier note, the AID IN MEETING program is really kicking into gear around now. The group going to Busheyi and Nsumba left today, as I mentioned, and tomorrow the group working in Arua is leaving, while the Kampala group have had several meetings today with central people in the KCCC organization about their future collaboration.

Another thing worth mentioning is our meeting with Lions Club Kampala North! At the end of the symposium on Tuesday, Andrew, the president of LC Kampala North invited us to their last meeting this Lionistic year, held last night at the Imperial Hotel. (The meeting was apparently from six till seven; at six o’clock not even one person had entered the conference room). But it was a very interesting fellowship, and perhaps the most rewarding bit was the president being really impressed with what our club, LC Bergen Student are pulling off - as he said it, “You have both inspired and us, and scared us”. We also gave the upcoming president a book about Norway to much appreciation.