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A devil’s deal? Turning a crisis into a livelihood strategy: The rise of Bodabodamen in an urbanizing Kampala, Uganda
- Author
- Jacobs, Keoma
- Note
- Preface November 2015: gunshots and explosions are part of my daily sound spectrum. The tranquillity of Lake Tanganyika has gone and I have to leave the country. An unwanted travel leads me via nasty Burundian militia checkpoints into the orderly hills of Rwanda and further to Uganda. Along with my departure from the country I started to love so much, I left my initial research idea - connecting food security and internal migration - behind. In a matter of days after I heard I had to leave Burundi because of the political crisis and unrest, I headed to Uganda. A country I knew barely anything of. From the picturesque hidden gem Bujumbura I travelled via a soulless but nonpareil organized Kigali to the craziness of Kampala. The differences between the three capitals are immense. One that immediately drew my attention; in Bujumbura few taxi-moto were to be found and even banned from the centre; In Kigali I saw more taxi-motos driving around with identification numbers on their helmets. Arriving in Kampala shocked me, the motorcycle taxis were everywhere. This was Kampala, December 2015, and I wondered: why there are so many bodabodas in this crazy town? Seven months later I am writing this preface: the last words of the long road I travelled to finish my master’s. The journey actually began more than 10 years ago when I started my study to become a mechanic in my father’s garage in Nuland. Then, via a bike trip from Den Bosch to Mauritania and back and a study travel management in Arnhem, I enrolled for a History bachelor in Amsterdam. I had dreamt of this for a long time, but always deemed it impossible due to limitations in self-esteem. In the meanwhile I met the love of my life and together, after I graduated from my bachelor, we moved to Burundi - the heart of Africa - in September 2014. The political situation in Burundi however made us leave the country and brought me unexpectedly to Uganda, a country that I slowly but surely closed into my heart as well. My biggest travel companion is my girl who has a crazy unfounded confidence in me and created, with her overwhelming warmth, an enabling environment to write this thesis. From reading my texts, discussing my arguments, cooking delicious Thai food and waking me up early in the morning to motivate to get my ass behind the computer and work; Irene did it all. Damn, I want to marry her! Only one can be the star but there are many others who deserve words of gratitude. ‘Thank you’ Alies Rijper, the rising star of a Great Lakes specialist, whom I met in Burundi and was foolish enough to agree to read my thesis for a final check. I want to thank my parents for their constant attention and welcoming me when I had no place to stay in The Netherlands. Also, Hans and Nel who allowed me to stay in their lovely house for six weeks while they were enjoying the Spanish sun. ‘Thank you’ Netherlands Ambassador to Uganda, Alphons Hennekens, for offering me a desk during my stay in Kampala. Many gratitude goes to Veronica Mukite, who welcomed me every morning at my desk in Kampala with a true smile: that woman inspired me! Furthermore I want to thank my supervisor Mirjam de Bruijn for her straightforward critical Skype call. And last but not least, my gratitude goes to the bodaboda drivers I worked with in Kampala. Without their willingness to show me their lives, speak openly and listen to my questions, no thesis would have been written in the first place. I hope you feel the energy I put in this work and enjoy the reading.
- Faculty
- Faculty of Humanities
- Specialisation
- Migration
- Supervisors
- Bruijn, Mirjam de
- ECTS Credits
- 30
- Language
- en