1a, 5b, Palmer House, James College, Tocil and South Africa

As the plane to South Africa took off, I had a last look at Uganda and saw cranes flying and the sun rising over Lake Victoria. It was magnificent!

But while I was once again captivated by the incredible beauty of the country, I could not help but feel relieved that I was on my way back home to South Africa. Even though I had the most amazing time in Uganda, I could not possibly imagine living here and was glad that the ODI had posted me to South Africa and not Uganda. The ODIs I had met in Uganda (and those from surrounding countries) on the other hand seemed to be really happy about their posting, loved living in Uganda and could not imagine being anywhere else, especially not in a “developed, westernised” country like South Africa.

So I started thinking … why was it that I could not see myself in Uganda, Rwanda or Tanzania? Was it to do with the fact that I often didn’t feel a connection with the local people and didn’t know what to talk to them about? The lack of running water even in government ministries? The fact that every meal consisted of seven starches (rice, potatoes, sweet potatoes, baked beans, pap, matoke and ground nuts) and not a single vegetable? Or perhaps because people felt they had the right to rip me off and demand money from me just because I was white? Was it because I would have to spend US$10 on a box of Kellogg’s Cornflakes? Or was it maybe because I would have to shave my head and go bold because the weather would make my hair frizzy a la Monica in “Friends”?

I could continue listing reasons why I don’t want to live in these countries, but thinking about it more carefully I came to a different conclusion: the reason why I cannot see myself live in Uganda is because I live in South Africa!

I admit that this might not seem quite logical, so let’s take a step back and think about this for a moment…

In Primary School I was put into class 1a. Even though this choice was completely random - I might have just as well been in 1b - only a few weeks after starting school I could not possibly imagine being in class B! The kids there seemed different to us in A and we generally didn’t like them very much…

The story was the same when I went on to grammar school. I ended up in class 5b and only a few weeks later it was clear to me that people in class B were “The Best”, whereas those in class A were “Arseholes” and in C meant nothing but “Chaos”. Needless to say I didn’t want to be in any of those classes…

Six years later I left Germany to go to boarding school in the UK and the story repeats itself once again – I was in Palmer House and even though all girls in my year were new, us Palmer House girls immediately clicked and didn’t really mingle much with the girls from the other two boarding houses.

I could continue, but I think you get the message. Whether you like it or not, it is clear to me that our environment shapes us to a greater extent than we like to admit! And that is precisely the reason why I can’t even imagine living in Uganda! I have gotten so used to this country, its people, habits and lifestyle that the thought of leaving it all to go to a “proper” developing county makes me shiver… At the same time, I am sure that if the ODI had decided to send me to Fiji, Ghana or Sudan (well, maybe not Sudan…) I would have been equally happy there and probably would not have wanted to swap with someone in “posh” South Africa for anything in the world!