Uganda - Living Conditions in the Slums

When I was in Uganda in February and March, I spent a lot of time doing outreach in the slums. Here are a couple of photos shot walking down the road by the Bwaise Slum in Kampala, Uganda. The living conditions are shoddy and extremely unhygienic at the best of times during the dry season. I can only imagine what the conditions are like well into the rainy season because I caught the first two days of it and already these lowlands of the Bwaise slum turned into a swamp.

Early morning in the Bwaise slum, Uganda

A shot walking alongside one of Kampala, Uganda's largest slums

 

Mountain Gorillas in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda: March 2011

While in Uganda in February & March, I took some time to be a tourist. 

I headed to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Southwestern Uganda to see the mountain gorillas. The fact that the mountain gorillas are the world’s most endangered ape, along with the 1988 movie Gorillas In The Mist (about a scientist named Dian Fossey who studied and later fought for the mountain gorillas), has made gorilla trekking in Bwindi a very popular tourist attraction.

The current population of the mountain gorilla is approximately 700, with over half of these estimated to be in Bwindi and the remainder split between Mgahinga Gorilla National Park in Uganda, Volcano National Park in Rwanda, and Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

There are 6 habituated gorilla groups to see in Bwindi, and a maximum of 8 people trek per group. It takes almost 2 years to habituate a family for human interaction. I paid $500 USD and trekked for about 4 hours (so much for thinking I was in shape!) to see the Mubare family. It was the first of the Uganda mountain gorillas to be habituated in 1998 and there are now 6 members including an 8-month-old baby.

It was an incredible experience. It was unreal how unaffected by humans they were and although we were supposed to stay a minimum of 7m from them, they apparently don’t follow that rule…and they’re huge!!

Here are some of the photos from my trek:

A mountain gorilla peers through the trees in Bwindi, Uganda

A lazy blackback mountain gorilla caught mid-yawn in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park

A blackback mountain gorilla stopping to check out the trekkers in Uganda

Kashundwe Baby, the 8 month old youngest member of the Mubare gorilla family in Uganda

Mubare family silverback, Ruhondeza, in Bwindi, Uganda

The silverback of the Mubare gorilla family in Uganda

Uganda - Children at Work

I have had a very busy month since returning home from Uganda & Dubai. Africa inspired me to go back to school to research affordable housing, and I've also been doing back to back photo shoots. In the midst of all that, I have begun to sort through my 3000+ photos. The difficulties of women and children continue to monopolize the theme of my photos from Uganda.

A naked, barefoot child clings to his father near the Katanga slum in Kampala, Uganda. 

A Canadian tourist in Dubai, UAE

After five weeks in Uganda, the first thing that came to my mind about Dubai was excess, excess, excess! Every building is more architecturally elaborate and taller than the last. Our hotel (Jumeirah Beach Resort) had a mere 20-25 restaurants to choose from. The population is about 2 million with less than 20% being of UAE descent. It is the 20th most expensive city in the world. It has everything from indoor skiing to massive malls to camel racing (which is huge by the way)! The beaches were beautiful, the water turquoise and clear, and the marinas filled with multi-million dollar yachts. All in all, it was a pretty amazing place to explore with my family before heading back to Alberta (& the life of luxury after backpacking in Africa).

A view of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, UAE: The total cost of construction was $1.5 billion, there are 160 floors, and at 828 metres, it's the tallest man-made structure ever built. 

MyGanda: Week 2 of my Uganda photography project

During my second week here in Uganda, I shot a lot of intense subject matter. To say that life is difficult for women and children here in the slums of Kampala is an understatement. I am currently putting together two separate stories; one on the extreme trials of children living in the slums and the other on teenage girls and young women forced into prostitution to support themselves and sometimes their families.


In the meantime, here is another photo that I took in the Katanga slum.

Several young children peer into a home in the Katanga slum in

Kampala, Uganda.

Adding Comments to Posts

I had a couple of questions on how to post comments on my blog. Below each post is a grey bar which says what time I posted at. In this bar, click on where it says the number of comments. When the comment box shows up, simply fill it out, and then make your choice from the "Comment as" drop down menu. For those who are not familiar with blogging, the simplest is to choose Name/URL and enter your name or choose anonymous. Then hit "post comment."

MyGanda: Week One of my Uganda Photography Project

I am currently wrapping up my first week of shooting in Uganda. I am focusing my work on issues affecting women and children and have spent my time so far visiting some of the slums here in Kampala. I will be continuing to post while I'm here, so please sign up for my free blog subscription by email or reader in the right side bar (Email subscriptions are easy; simply enter your email address & when I make new posts they will be delivered to your inbox).

A young boy plays with a mattress outside of his home in the Katanga slum in Kampala, Uganda. Parents are typically unable to afford to educate their children, who then spend their time on the streets of the slums.