WAIRAKA, Uganda — As dark storm clouds roll over hills on the eastern side of Uganda’s Lake Victoria, Bumba Musasizi steers his fishing boat to the marshy shore of Africa’s largest inland body of water. Having set out before dawn to see what God has tangled in the nets he laid the previous afternoon, it is now nearly 10 a.m.
He cuts his engine and drifts into the landing site, approaching the community of Wairaka. The long wooden vessel, which requires constant bailing out due to a persistent crack, slows to a stop silently in the bright green weeds.
“Two fish,” he announces, a paltry showing for the 25 nets it took him and a fellow fisherman nearly an hour to lay the previous afternoon, and he and another companion more than three hours to haul out of the water this morning.
About the author
Teresa Welshtmawelsh
Teresa Welsh is a Senior Reporter at Devex. She has reported from more than 10 countries and is currently based in Washington, D.C. Her coverage focuses on Latin America; U.S. foreign assistance policy; fragile states; food systems and nutrition; and refugees and migration. Prior to joining Devex, Teresa worked at McClatchy's Washington Bureau and covered foreign affairs for U.S. News and World Report. She was a reporter in Colombia, where she previously lived teaching English. Teresa earned bachelor of arts degrees in journalism and Latin American studies from the University of Wisconsin.