Mpayo Sente! (Give Me [the] Money!)

Money is a fickle thing. You need it to live; you work for it; you may be ecstatic or heartbroken when you spend it, all depending on what you’re spending it on. Different countries use different money, and somehow this leads to some currencies being stronger or weaker, though I honestly have no grasp of how no matter how many times I Google it.

In Uganda, having money is somehow taboo. Owning a car, for instance, is a serious sign of wealth, but here you don’t “flash your money” as all of the Ugandan trainers told us. So if you have a car, you downplay it. You don’t wear nice jewelry because it’s rude and likely to be stolen. Theft is fairly common, and so anything you have, you have to lock up properly. For instance, the nicest buildings in Kampala are incredibly difficult to see because they are surrounded by concrete walls with barbed wire on top. In order to get into pretty much any mall, you have to pass through security. Even some shops are like that.

Walking down the street, you see so many things on the ground. Trash service is not common, and so people simply throw it on the ground. I’ve seen so many children’s single shoes, I know there are children running around with only one shoe because of it. The one thing you never, ever see on the ground, though, is money. Not even coins. The 50 shilling coin is worth a little less than 3 cents, and it is used far less than any penny you’ve ever had in your wallet. It is only taken, and given, by large supermarkets in Kampala, and sometimes they will not even take it from you. Even this coin, though, you never see. Money is something that is so precious to Ugandans, they never lose it.

Most Ugandans really want to go to America or UK. They have heard such great things about these places, and they know they would have a better life there. Thus it is incredibly difficult to explain to them that it is very, very expensive to live there. When I tell Ugandans that my parents are selling my car, they balk at the fact that I even had a car, especially at such a young age. I explain to them that there are no taxis or bodas where I live, and so I cannot get around without my own car. I also explain that my grandparents bought the car for me, that I can’t afford it on my own. It all seems to go over their heads, though. They are still processing the fact that I have had a car.

Roughly speaking, the exchange rate between USD and UGX (Ugandan Shillings) is 1:3500. This means if you are going from the US to Uganda, your dollar goes very, very far. The opposite is true, though, if you go from Uganda to the US. This is something most Ugandans don’t seem to understand. It has helped me to explain it through food. In Uganda, a good, filling meal at a restaurant costs about 3500=/. Recall that this approximately equates to $1. Now, very few reading this blog will not already know that a meal in the US costs MUCH more than $1, especially a good, filling meal at a restaurant. To make math simple, and to avoid getting into the differing economies around the US, I say the average meal in the US is $10. That means it costs ten meals in Uganda to buy one meal in the US. Given this, how expensive do you think things like electricity, phones, internet, etc. are? This seems to effectively demonstrate that America is a very expensive place, as does the fact that I have more than $10,000 in student debt…and I’m one of the lucky ones. That means I have 35 million =/ in student debt. I could buy one meal per day in Uganda for more than 27 years before I pay my student debt back. But without the $10,000 in student debt, I cannot get a job to pay off my student debt…. *cough* FREE EDUCATION PLEASE *cough*cough*

It’s hard to me to explain to you how much things here cost because I would have to constantly be converting to USD, and I tried very hard not to do that. It makes it very easy to pay another 4000 =/ for a soda when that soda is costing you just over $1, even though no soda should cost more than 2000 =/. We are paid a modest amount of money per the local economy, and converting to USD constantly is just not feasible for most things. I will share a few interesting tidbits, though.

--At the market, most things are 500 or 1000 =/, 14 or 29 cents. For example, six tomatoes, ten or more sweet potatoes, twenty small (Irish) potatoes, or one pineapple would cost me 28 cents. These prices are, of course, dependent on whether things are in season or not.

--Kitenge is the name for local fabrics, many of which are decorated with vibrant patterns. Six yards of kitenge costs between 20,000 and 60,000 =/, $5.71 or $17.14 depending on the quality of the fabric. From this you can have two dresses made, three or four skirts, or many, many, many ties. The cost of labor to have a dress made is usually no more than 10,000 =/, $2.85. Readymade, a dress costs between 30,000 and 40,000 =/, $8.57 or $11.43, depending on how good your bargaining skills are. A skirt should cost no more than 20,000 =/.

--Secondhand clothing is a huge market here because it is significantly cheaper than kitenge. For example, a skirt should cost no more than 5,000 to 10,000 =/, or $1.43 or $2.85, and a 10,000 =/ skirt had better be a like-new skirt. A dress costs between 10,000 and 20,000 =/.

--When thinking about clothes, though, please keep in mind that even a 3000 =/ secondhand shirt costs almost the same as a meal. Something that is 10,000 =/ is 3 meals, and something like buying nice fabric, although it will make more than one garment, costs 17 meals. And those are meals at a restaurant.

--A 330 ml soda should cost no more than 1000 =/, 29 cents, unless you’re in Kampala or at a restaurant. Then it could cost 2000 =/, 57 cents, or more, depending on where you are. 500 ml sodas go for 1500 =/, 43 cents. Packages of around ten biscuits (cookies), cost maybe 3000 =/, 86 cents, depending on what kind of biscuits they are. Capati should cost 500 =/, whereas a rolex is 1000 or 1500 =/ depending on if you want one or two eggs, with or without vegetables.

--Local restaurants range from beans at 3000 or 3500 =/ to meat at 5000 =/ to chicken at 6000 or 7000 =/, $1.71 or $2. Foreign foods are much, much pricier. When I buy American food, I expect to spend no less than 15,000 =/, $4.29, and have paid upwards of 30,000 =/. At the supermarket, a tray of 30 eggs is 10,500 =/, $3. I paid 24,000 =/, $6.87, for a large box of oats, and I have had oatmeal almost every morning for three weeks from that.

Basically, money here is very, very different. Seeing some of the USD prices, I’m taken aback. 10,500 =/ for a tray of eggs is more than I spend on a whole backpack worth of fruits and vegetables at the market, but in USD, I am paying 10 cents per egg. That just absolutely astounds me. I just wish I could bring these prices to America while still making $7.65 per hour!


Check out these pictures of Uganda money! (I'll add more as they make it to my computer.)

It's difficult to see in this picture, but the smaller bills are also
physically smaller than the larger bills.

On the 10,000 =/, you can see matooke!