We look for partner institutions in the US

In case someone new to this blog arrives to this post, let me introduce ourselves. The Kampala International University is a non-for-profit private tertiary institution with base in Uganda. It has campuses in Kampala (capital of Uganda), Ishaka (Western Uganda) and Dar-es-Salam (largest city in Tanzania). The person typing the keys is the director of the Institute of Biomedical Research that KIU recently created at the School of Health Sciences in Ishaka.

Our efforts are focussed in providing facilities, training and support to local researchers so they can develop their research agendas aimed to alleviate Africa’s disease burden. In these efforts, we are open to collaborations with any institution that values the social impact that science and scientists can have. their role in the development of low and middle income countries. Below you can find information about a call that could help us pursue our goals together with yours.

http://www07.grants.gov/search/search.do?&mode=VIEW&oppId=204133

Document Type: Grants Notice

Funding Opportunity Number: APS-ASHA-13-000001

Opportunity Category: Discretionary

Posted Date: Oct 15, 2012

Creation Date: Oct 15, 2012

Original Closing Date for Applications: Apr 15, 2013

Current Closing Date for Applications: Apr 15, 2013

Archive Date: May 15, 2013

Funding Instrument Type: Cooperative Agreement
Grant

Category of Funding Activity: Education, Health

Award Ceiling: $2,000,000

Award Floor: $0

CFDA Number(s):
98.006 -- Foreign Assistance to American Schools and Hospitals Abroad (ASHA)

Cost Sharing or Matching Requirement: No

Eligible Applicants

Public and State controlled institutions of higher education
Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education
Private institutions of higher education

Additional Information on Eligibility:

Agency Name

Agency for International Development

Description

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Office of American Schools and Hospitals Abroad (ASHA), is accepting funding applications from U.S. Organizations that assist schools, libraries and medical centers outside the United States to serve as study and demonstration centers for American ideas and practices.

Someone I met in Hawai’i

A glimpse of California

 

Surroundings of San Luis Obispo and San Francisco

Redwoods National Park

             

More of the Redwoods NP because I loved it.

Lake Tahoe

The little bit of Kings Canyon NP that was open

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A walk through Sequoia National Park

A bit of Hawai’i

 

 

 

 

Waimanalo

Waimanalo is a residential area near what could be considered a reserve in the mainland. That means that, lucky me, I have ended up in my personal paradise, far from the tourists - if being in the same island they can be far - and with the possibility to observe how is life in Hawai\'i for those who call home this remote spot in the Pacific.

A few walks on the beach and the following conversation with whom plays the role of host, driver, guide, provider of fins (literally) and other useful equipment brought me to the conclusion that in Hawai\'i there are many people that get away, because they want to or because they have to, living on the beach of near campsites.

Camping in most of the island is easy and free, but you need a permit that is only given for a maximum of four days. Wednesdays and Thursdays, actually, it is not allowed to camp in most of the sites. All this in theory, of course. In practice some of hem get settled with so much stuff (including the stuff keeper dogs) that it is difficult to imagine that they are going anywhere in the future, not even in the far future. Apparently some of them manage to get settled alternating the name of different family members on the permit. Others simply stay where they are until they are kicked out. On Wednesdays and Thursdays I imagine they try to keep down the activity or maybe they tidy up a bit to be less obvious.

In Spain we call the homeless people sin techo - roofless people. We can call them the name we want, but they wake up with this everyday.

One, two, three

Three days ago I was trying to decide whether I should first visit the Sequoia NP or the Redwoods NP. I didn\\\\\\\'t know what to do and I remembered several friends had mentioned that they we going to Hawaii this Winter. out of curiosity, I checked the tickets...

Today I have boarded a Hawaiian Airlines flight to Honolulu. There I will meet a Ugandan-raft mate and with a bit of luck I will get more of an insider\\\\\\\'s look to the island than I would have thought.

While waiting to board (and it\\\\\\\'s been a long wait) I have been fighting more than playing with the iPad2. This thing is light and quite a fast web surfer, but it has it\\\\\\\'s flaws. I finally found the Spanish keyboard and, guess what: They forgot the accent! (and this people made 46.1 billion dollars profit last year?!). Typing is very easy but not being possible to tap inside a word to fix mistakes or change things (which, by the way, I can\\\\\\\'t find a reason why that is supposed to help writing) having the usual arrows to move around would come certainly handy. In summary, with the inexplicable language barrier, the shitty applications available for blog writing (windows live writer for iPad NOW!!!, please :) and the fact that eeeeeverything has to go through the cloud because it doesn\\\\\\\'t have a miserable USB port, right now it gets a poor D. I am sure it will improve, but it\\\\\\\'s going to have to work hard to make up for the money it cost.

Aloha!
o