Living in Kagera, the memories of 7-year-old Lielle
Hieronder bij wijze van uitzondering een blog in het Engels. Deze tekst heb ik gedeeld met Kagera Sugar tijdens het bezoek van gisteren. Het verslag daarvan houden jullie tegoed, voor nu laat ik alles nog even bezinken maar het was fantastisch!
Voor een hele korte indruk, hierboven staan twee foto’s van mij bij ons huis in Kagera. Er zit 48 jaar tussen en ik had absoluut niet verwacht dat het huis nog zou bestaan.
I did not spend a very long time at the Kagera Sugar estate but it has given me unforgettable memories. Most of these are small and very personal, not surprising since I was only 7 years old then. Let me share some of those with you.
But before I do so, some background on what brought us to Tanzania in 1978. My father was working for a Dutch company HVA (Handels Vereniging Amsterdam) as a consultant in the area of business administration and controlling. HVA specialized in development support for agricultural projects in Africa, and together with the Dutch government they were involved in setting up a sugar factory in the Kagera region. A small team of experts (in total 16 people, including wives and children) in various fields was involved. Since this was intended to be a long-term stay, my mother Marla, younger brother Bert-Jan and myself all came to Kagera.
My mum was homeschooling us so that we would not fall behind in schoolwork, but most of my memories are around the free time we had.
I remember sitting on the verandah in the afternoon, my dad back from work at the factory, enjoying the sunset and nibbling on freshly roasted groundnuts.
Walking over to one of the other houses, this one was up on the hill behind us, where I would have my musical lesson, learning how to play the recorder. However, I managed to lose it after a few times and we never found it.
Growing marigolds in the flower beds underneath the verandah. We got some nice results but that was almost entirely due to the help of Joseph, our cook and allround helper.
Another very vivid memory is when he was slaughtering some chicken for dinner, something I had never seen before and somehow really fascinated me.
Some stories my mum told us:
My father invited some Indian vegetarians colleagues for dinner. Serving a formal meal with the limited resources she had was quite a challenge, but with some fresh milk and eggs, she managed. Unfortunately, we no longer have the menu, that would have been amazing.
She was very proud of her vegetable garden. She put in a lot of work and effort together with Joseph. For me it’s a less fond memory. The homegrown endive we often got for dinner was very bitter and not to my taste, it has taken me years to learn to appreciate it.
As said, we were expected to stay in Kagera for a number of years. However, in October 1978 tension between Uganda and Tanzania was rising, focusing on the areas where we were living. I don’t want to dwell on those days, it was not a good time and fortunately I do not remember a lot. My parents managed to shield us from most of it, although later we got to understand that it was quite a narrow escape. We had to cross the Kyaka bridge to get to safer ground and due to a timely warning from the Tanzanian army we all got out before it was bombed a few days later. I do remember a lot of driving, spending a night at a local mission hospital (possibly now St Joseph’s hospital in Kagondo) and finally getting to Dar es Salaam.
We stayed in Dar es Salaam, hotel Africana, for a few months until going home in March 1979.
Now, 48 years later, I look back on those days with fondness and nostalgia. Having lived in such a special place at a young age has influenced me immensely. I have since lived in Ghana when I was in my early twenties (1993-1998), working as an IT teacher, and going there was directly related to my Tanzania days.
Being back at Kagera Sugar and revisiting the place where I lived with my family is very special, and I would like to thank all of you for making it possible. A special mention must go to Mr Francis Lubandi and Mr Godfrey Punguti, who were very open and helpful to my out-of-the-blue request on LinkedIn for a company visit.
Asante Sanaa!
Bukoba, 16 August 2026
Wat een bijzonder en indrukwekkend reisverslag Lielle
Geweldig om zo mee te mogen lezen over hoe jouw kinderjaren waren daar in Tanzania en hoe ongelooflijk dat het huis er nog steeds staat.