Saturday, 4 July 2009
Lazy Morning
Woke up late after a Nile Special Beer to drown our sorrows after the tennis last night so having a lazy morning on computer and washing before going out to visit the accomodation that the Irish teachers will be staying in.
Prime steaks, bishops’ washing, travelling chickens, HIV/Aids workshops and food parcels?
No update to the blog for a few weeks as we have been at VSO training for new volunteers in Kampala and access to internet has been limited to checking our emails with not time to do anything more. It was good to see and sample the bright lights of a capital city, although we felt like the country mouse visiting the town mouse! At one point we went to an Italian delicatessen and Sabrina lost Geoff, only to find him staring open-mouthed at a cold counter full of prime steaks.
The training was held at the Lweza (pronounced Louisa) conference centre, which is owned by the Church of Uganda. The accommodation was basic hostel-like, but the hot showers were bliss. Our stay coincided with a retreat for all the bishops of Uganda, so we were sharing the place with 33 bishops. We chatted to them in the meal queues, spoke to the Archbishop of Uganda and met the new bishop of our new cathedral in Kamwenge. But enough name dropping. The best sight was of 35 purple shirts hanging out to dry on the washing line – definitely a missed photo opportunity.
The new volunteers were a mixed but amazing bunch of people. 2 Americans, 1 Kenyan, 1 German, 8 English, 2 couples, and a family with 3 children under 8. Most were in their 20’s and 30’s and we were the oldest, but we felt young. The job skills ranged from doctors and nurses, through fundraisers and sign language teachers to managers and organizational capacity builders (a common job in development circles but we’re still not sure what it really means).
We went up from Fort Portal by bus, which was our first experience of coach travel in Uganda. We sat in the two window seats of three and were joined by a succession of passengers who squeezed into the small third seat. One of them fell asleep on Geoff’s shoulder. The journey took four hours, with stops only to pick up and drop off passengers. There was a chicken under the opposite seat and at every stop, street vendors would try to sell a range of snacks through the windows – goat kebabs, fried bananas, boiled cassava, sugar cane and drinks. We had brought our own sandwiches.
At Kampala we were just dumped off in the street, as apparently the bus company is in dispute with the bus station about an increase in fees of 10,000 USH (about £3.30) per coach. The number of people around was absolutely amazing and special hire drivers (our taxi drivers) were continually thrusting their keys in our faces to tout for business. Fortunately one of my work colleagues, Salvatore, sorted us out with a good, safe and cheap special, although not before a language misunderstanding meant we had walked for 20 minutes through the hot and bustling streets to another bus station.
Back to work this week and we have 4 days of workshops. On Tuesday Geoff was with the senior education officials and local politicians of the district to review last year’s, and plan next year’s, work. On Wednesday and Thursday we facilitated a workshop on HIV/Aids issues in schools with headteachers – 40 of them. On Friday we are told headteachers and host families how to look after the 8 Irish teachers who will be visiting for 5 weeks. Ugandans get quite worried about hosting bazungu (whites) especially with our ‘weak’ stomachs and so we will try to allay their fears.
P.S. We watched Wimbledon on the TV in the next door hotel, eating Minstrels which had been sent by our daughter, Catherine, to our new Post Office Box – the address is
Slide
PO Box 1511
Kamwenge
Uganda
just in case you’re interested. They took 3 weeks to arrive and tasted even better for the wait. The packet of chocolate buttons has however melted into one big button due to the heat. Going back to the tennis, it was great to see the shots of the London skyline between games.
P.P.S. Some more chocolates and liquorice allsorts arrived from Nicola this week as a late Father’s Day present. No pressure Tom
P.P.P.S watched Murray lose last night – very sad. The game finished at 9.00 local time, which meant that the locals were unable to watch their very popular soap opera – equivalent to East Enders. Very culturally insensitive but how often do we get the chance to see a Brit in the semis of Wimbledon?
The training was held at the Lweza (pronounced Louisa) conference centre, which is owned by the Church of Uganda. The accommodation was basic hostel-like, but the hot showers were bliss. Our stay coincided with a retreat for all the bishops of Uganda, so we were sharing the place with 33 bishops. We chatted to them in the meal queues, spoke to the Archbishop of Uganda and met the new bishop of our new cathedral in Kamwenge. But enough name dropping. The best sight was of 35 purple shirts hanging out to dry on the washing line – definitely a missed photo opportunity.
The new volunteers were a mixed but amazing bunch of people. 2 Americans, 1 Kenyan, 1 German, 8 English, 2 couples, and a family with 3 children under 8. Most were in their 20’s and 30’s and we were the oldest, but we felt young. The job skills ranged from doctors and nurses, through fundraisers and sign language teachers to managers and organizational capacity builders (a common job in development circles but we’re still not sure what it really means).
We went up from Fort Portal by bus, which was our first experience of coach travel in Uganda. We sat in the two window seats of three and were joined by a succession of passengers who squeezed into the small third seat. One of them fell asleep on Geoff’s shoulder. The journey took four hours, with stops only to pick up and drop off passengers. There was a chicken under the opposite seat and at every stop, street vendors would try to sell a range of snacks through the windows – goat kebabs, fried bananas, boiled cassava, sugar cane and drinks. We had brought our own sandwiches.
At Kampala we were just dumped off in the street, as apparently the bus company is in dispute with the bus station about an increase in fees of 10,000 USH (about £3.30) per coach. The number of people around was absolutely amazing and special hire drivers (our taxi drivers) were continually thrusting their keys in our faces to tout for business. Fortunately one of my work colleagues, Salvatore, sorted us out with a good, safe and cheap special, although not before a language misunderstanding meant we had walked for 20 minutes through the hot and bustling streets to another bus station.
Back to work this week and we have 4 days of workshops. On Tuesday Geoff was with the senior education officials and local politicians of the district to review last year’s, and plan next year’s, work. On Wednesday and Thursday we facilitated a workshop on HIV/Aids issues in schools with headteachers – 40 of them. On Friday we are told headteachers and host families how to look after the 8 Irish teachers who will be visiting for 5 weeks. Ugandans get quite worried about hosting bazungu (whites) especially with our ‘weak’ stomachs and so we will try to allay their fears.
P.S. We watched Wimbledon on the TV in the next door hotel, eating Minstrels which had been sent by our daughter, Catherine, to our new Post Office Box – the address is
Slide
PO Box 1511
Kamwenge
Uganda
just in case you’re interested. They took 3 weeks to arrive and tasted even better for the wait. The packet of chocolate buttons has however melted into one big button due to the heat. Going back to the tennis, it was great to see the shots of the London skyline between games.
P.P.S. Some more chocolates and liquorice allsorts arrived from Nicola this week as a late Father’s Day present. No pressure Tom
P.P.P.S watched Murray lose last night – very sad. The game finished at 9.00 local time, which meant that the locals were unable to watch their very popular soap opera – equivalent to East Enders. Very culturally insensitive but how often do we get the chance to see a Brit in the semis of Wimbledon?
Sunday, 14 June 2009
Is a fox a wild animal?
Last weekend we visited some of our fellow VSOers who are working in Fort Portal, our nearest
large town, which is about 1 ½ hours drive away. We stayed with a Dutch couple called Kees and Freddy. Kees works as a maths tutor at the local primary teachers’ college and Freddy helps at the local special needs school. She is also a serious walker and we did some serious walking over the two days. On Saturday we visited some caves and a beautiful waterfall which we could stand behind and listened to some interesting stories from the guide about kings and princesses that used to live there. In the evening we met a couple of other VSO tutors at the college – Hannah who is from Hull and Celia from Boston, USA.
On Sunday we were up and off early for a rigorous 4 hour walk up and around the local crater lakes. The paths were very, very, very steep but the views at the top were stupendous. We could see the Rwenzori Mountains on one side and back to Kamwenge – about 70 Kms away – on the other. Freddy has done lots of planting in her garden so Sabrina took the opportunity to take some seedlings and cuttings home with her. Why?
Well we are now the proud possessor of three large planters. We wanted to brighten up our courtyard, which is just plain concrete – very secure and private but very boring - and asked the next door hotel staff for some empty paint pots, which is what the locals use for flowers. To our amazement they carried in these huge planters – it took three people to carry them. The escari –night watchman – then got the soil from the roadside which he carried in a washing up bowl. Altogether it took 18 loads to fill them up. As it is now the dry season we are carefully watering them with waste water. The flowers and cuttings are all doing well.
On Monday Geoff went out to visit a couple of nearby schools with the district inspector, Willy. All very well, except that he had to go on the back of Willy’s motor bike – the first time he had been on one in Uganda. He met Willy clutching his brand new white helmet and put it on – much to Willy’s annoyance. He seemed to take it as an insult to his driving ability! Geoff had to explain that VSO insisted on volunteers wearing helmets on motor bikes and only then was Willy happy.
On Thursday Sabrina attended a school assembly to hear the HIV/AIDS message put over by pupils. The messages are very direct for our ears, although it must be remembered that a lot of the pupils at primary schools are teenagers as they move up to the next year when they are ready and not by age. It was very entertaining and there were some brilliant actors. The highlight for Sabrina was when the male star came out standing on a pair of sticks held horizontally by two scouts, like a stretcher without the fabric in the middle. They stood still and moved the sticks backward and forward and the actor moved his legs with the sticks so that it looked as though he was walking despite not moving! Even more amazing he remembered his lines all the time his legs were moving back and forth!
This weekend we went for a walk around a local environmental area, the Bogodi Wetland
Sanctuary. This small sanctuary is an admirable example of conversation and tourism having a direct impact at grass roots level. Run by the Kibale Association for Rural and Environmental Development (KAFRED), all money raised from the trail is used for community projects in the local village. So far it has funded a library and a new secondary school. It is about 4.5Km long and lasts for about 3 hours, with lots of different birds to see with exciting names – we particularly liked the eastern grey plantain eater, the shining blue kingfisher and the olive bellied sunbird! We also saw 5 types of monkey from very close up. Our guide was Ivan and he was very knowledgeable and interesting about what we saw. There was a very high tree house looking out over the swamp. 
When we were filling up with petrol the day before, we mentioned to the attendant that we were going to see monkeys; he said “Do you have monkeys in England?” When we said no, he asked if we had chimps, then hippos, then lions, then giraffes and then elephants. On being told no to all of them, he said, “Well what animals do you have?” All we could think of was foxes, which we felt did not really compare with any of the above so we just kept quiet! Fortunately another vehicle wanted fuel so we could escape without having to think of what in the UK compares with the animals here.
large town, which is about 1 ½ hours drive away. We stayed with a Dutch couple called Kees and Freddy. Kees works as a maths tutor at the local primary teachers’ college and Freddy helps at the local special needs school. She is also a serious walker and we did some serious walking over the two days. On Saturday we visited some caves and a beautiful waterfall which we could stand behind and listened to some interesting stories from the guide about kings and princesses that used to live there. In the evening we met a couple of other VSO tutors at the college – Hannah who is from Hull and Celia from Boston, USA.
On Sunday we were up and off early for a rigorous 4 hour walk up and around the local crater lakes. The paths were very, very, very steep but the views at the top were stupendous. We could see the Rwenzori Mountains on one side and back to Kamwenge – about 70 Kms away – on the other. Freddy has done lots of planting in her garden so Sabrina took the opportunity to take some seedlings and cuttings home with her. Why?Well we are now the proud possessor of three large planters. We wanted to brighten up our courtyard, which is just plain concrete – very secure and private but very boring - and asked the next door hotel staff for some empty paint pots, which is what the locals use for flowers. To our amazement they carried in these huge planters – it took three people to carry them. The escari –night watchman – then got the soil from the roadside which he carried in a washing up bowl. Altogether it took 18 loads to fill them up. As it is now the dry season we are carefully watering them with waste water. The flowers and cuttings are all doing well.
On Monday Geoff went out to visit a couple of nearby schools with the district inspector, Willy. All very well, except that he had to go on the back of Willy’s motor bike – the first time he had been on one in Uganda. He met Willy clutching his brand new white helmet and put it on – much to Willy’s annoyance. He seemed to take it as an insult to his driving ability! Geoff had to explain that VSO insisted on volunteers wearing helmets on motor bikes and only then was Willy happy.
On Thursday Sabrina attended a school assembly to hear the HIV/AIDS message put over by pupils. The messages are very direct for our ears, although it must be remembered that a lot of the pupils at primary schools are teenagers as they move up to the next year when they are ready and not by age. It was very entertaining and there were some brilliant actors. The highlight for Sabrina was when the male star came out standing on a pair of sticks held horizontally by two scouts, like a stretcher without the fabric in the middle. They stood still and moved the sticks backward and forward and the actor moved his legs with the sticks so that it looked as though he was walking despite not moving! Even more amazing he remembered his lines all the time his legs were moving back and forth!
This weekend we went for a walk around a local environmental area, the Bogodi Wetland
Sanctuary. This small sanctuary is an admirable example of conversation and tourism having a direct impact at grass roots level. Run by the Kibale Association for Rural and Environmental Development (KAFRED), all money raised from the trail is used for community projects in the local village. So far it has funded a library and a new secondary school. It is about 4.5Km long and lasts for about 3 hours, with lots of different birds to see with exciting names – we particularly liked the eastern grey plantain eater, the shining blue kingfisher and the olive bellied sunbird! We also saw 5 types of monkey from very close up. Our guide was Ivan and he was very knowledgeable and interesting about what we saw. There was a very high tree house looking out over the swamp. 
When we were filling up with petrol the day before, we mentioned to the attendant that we were going to see monkeys; he said “Do you have monkeys in England?” When we said no, he asked if we had chimps, then hippos, then lions, then giraffes and then elephants. On being told no to all of them, he said, “Well what animals do you have?” All we could think of was foxes, which we felt did not really compare with any of the above so we just kept quiet! Fortunately another vehicle wanted fuel so we could escape without having to think of what in the UK compares with the animals here.
Monday, 8 June 2009
Going to schools
We drive along the murram roads of Kamwenge trying to avoid pedestrians and cyclists. Cyclists carry everything and anything . . . sugar cane, sacks of charcoal, beds, furniture, even coffins (empty) Pedestrians carry their water, produce and shopping on their heads. Children run barefoot along the side of the road with their exercise books and bags. Along the roadside the papyrus grows tall and graceful.
After being joggled about on the potholed roads, we see a school sign and turn off on to a virtual footpath through the high maize, banana trees and elephant grass. We drive for anything up to 5 Kms past mud huts, cassava, or bean plantations until the path widens and . . .
It is always enjoyable arriving at a new school, especially at playtime. First we see the bright colours of the school uniforms through the trees – all Ugandan schools have brightly coloured uniforms – and then as we turn into the school, a few children will notice that there are white people – mzungus – in the vehicle and will run up to greet us. Gradually more children will come out until by the time we park in the shade of a mango tree, the car is surrounded by smiling faces shouting ‘Hallo Mzungu, how are you?’, to which we reply ‘I am fine, how are you?’
As we get out of the vehicle they respectfully move aside and some offer to carry our bags. By this time the headteacher or another senior teacher will have hurried out and we will be ushered into the headteacher’s office where a visitors’ book will be produced. Every workplace and organization in Uganda has a visitors’ book and our first task on sitting down is to fill it in. Once we revisited a school the next day and signed our names immediately below our names from the previous day! As we sit, there will be faces peering through doors and windows to catch a glimpse of the white faces – in many cases in the rural areas, it may well be the first white face they have seen in the flesh.
Our business with the headteacher and staff finished, as we emerge from the building, more
children will appear to surround our vehicle and offer to carry our bags. Unfortunately this also occurs during lesson times as teacher absenteeism is high for a wide variety of reasons and there are always some classes where children sit waiting patiently for a teacher to turn up. They are therefore glad of our appearance to enliven the waiting! As we drive off the children run up beside and behind the vehicle, sometimes so close that we have to stop and shoo them away. Once we drove to a house 1 Km away from the school only to find that three 9-year-old children kept up with us all the way!
The same story is repeated at the next school. The only exception is in the town centre schools, where pupils are used to seeing mzungus around and so adopt an air of world-weary sophistication as we turn up, as though nothing can surprise them!
After being joggled about on the potholed roads, we see a school sign and turn off on to a virtual footpath through the high maize, banana trees and elephant grass. We drive for anything up to 5 Kms past mud huts, cassava, or bean plantations until the path widens and . . .
It is always enjoyable arriving at a new school, especially at playtime. First we see the bright colours of the school uniforms through the trees – all Ugandan schools have brightly coloured uniforms – and then as we turn into the school, a few children will notice that there are white people – mzungus – in the vehicle and will run up to greet us. Gradually more children will come out until by the time we park in the shade of a mango tree, the car is surrounded by smiling faces shouting ‘Hallo Mzungu, how are you?’, to which we reply ‘I am fine, how are you?’
As we get out of the vehicle they respectfully move aside and some offer to carry our bags. By this time the headteacher or another senior teacher will have hurried out and we will be ushered into the headteacher’s office where a visitors’ book will be produced. Every workplace and organization in Uganda has a visitors’ book and our first task on sitting down is to fill it in. Once we revisited a school the next day and signed our names immediately below our names from the previous day! As we sit, there will be faces peering through doors and windows to catch a glimpse of the white faces – in many cases in the rural areas, it may well be the first white face they have seen in the flesh.
Our business with the headteacher and staff finished, as we emerge from the building, more
children will appear to surround our vehicle and offer to carry our bags. Unfortunately this also occurs during lesson times as teacher absenteeism is high for a wide variety of reasons and there are always some classes where children sit waiting patiently for a teacher to turn up. They are therefore glad of our appearance to enliven the waiting! As we drive off the children run up beside and behind the vehicle, sometimes so close that we have to stop and shoo them away. Once we drove to a house 1 Km away from the school only to find that three 9-year-old children kept up with us all the way!The same story is repeated at the next school. The only exception is in the town centre schools, where pupils are used to seeing mzungus around and so adopt an air of world-weary sophistication as we turn up, as though nothing can surprise them!
Sunday, 31 May 2009
Celebrating Sabrina’s birthday
Into the life of every VSO volunteer must occasionally drop a little luxury – and we had ours last weekend at the Ndali Lodge. We went there, one of Uganda’s ‘most stunning retreats’, to celebrate Sabrina’s 40th birthday. Well that’s what the owner kept saying and he should know! The history of the lodge is fascinating. It was originally bought by the present owner’s grandfather, who was kicked out of Uganda by Amin. When the present government said that such owners could get their land back if they produced title deeds, the current owner’s father came back with his title deeds and reclaimed it.
We arrived just in time for a lunch of macaroni cheese bake with home grown salad from their
garden. Then round the pool to cool down, take in the wonderful view and generally relax until dinner. There were 10 guests staying and we were an eclectic bunch. A gay couple who had just seen the gorillas and worked in finance in Canary Wharf, a couple on their honeymoon, which had lasted for 6 months and was about to end with a trip to see the gorillas, 2 New York singleton women who were in fashion and the law and lived up to stereotype by never stopping, a young couple who managed an upmarket lodge in the south of Uganda and a Dutch/American couple who worked for NGOs in Kampala and had diplomatic immunity as the female partner was attached to the US embassy on bed net distribution. Oh and us! The owner and his fiancée were also at dinner which was great fun with brilliant and wide-ranging conversation as well as the first alcohol since the plane. The 4 course meal was very tasty with some great conversation.
In the morning we got up late, had breakfast and then went down a very steep hill to take out
the boat. By the jetty there were 3 local teenagers who were fishing from reed canoes that they had made themselves and which looked exceedingly hard to balance on, yet they were able to catch fish and paddle around without looking unstable at any time. One even spread his hands wide apart to indicate how the big the fish he caught were, but we only saw him catch tiddlers – fishermen are the same the world over. We just paddled around and let the wind push us about, then moored and slowly walked back up the steep sides of the crater lake.
We lunched overlooking the lake, were presented with a date cake for Sabrina’s birthday, then set off back to Kamwenge. The weather was lovely and the roads were full of Ugandans in their Sunday best strolling along in family groups or sitting in groups just chatting. It was lovely to watch and see their happy, smiling faces. In Kibale Forest we saw 3 family groups of baboons
enjoying the evening sun and stopped right next to them. There was also a blockage caused by a road grader improving the road through the forest which necessitated some delicate vehicle manoeuvring across a pile of loose earth at a 45º angle with 4 wheel drive engaged.
Overall a wonderful weekend and a great way to celebrate Sabrina’s birthday.
We arrived just in time for a lunch of macaroni cheese bake with home grown salad from their
garden. Then round the pool to cool down, take in the wonderful view and generally relax until dinner. There were 10 guests staying and we were an eclectic bunch. A gay couple who had just seen the gorillas and worked in finance in Canary Wharf, a couple on their honeymoon, which had lasted for 6 months and was about to end with a trip to see the gorillas, 2 New York singleton women who were in fashion and the law and lived up to stereotype by never stopping, a young couple who managed an upmarket lodge in the south of Uganda and a Dutch/American couple who worked for NGOs in Kampala and had diplomatic immunity as the female partner was attached to the US embassy on bed net distribution. Oh and us! The owner and his fiancée were also at dinner which was great fun with brilliant and wide-ranging conversation as well as the first alcohol since the plane. The 4 course meal was very tasty with some great conversation.In the morning we got up late, had breakfast and then went down a very steep hill to take out
the boat. By the jetty there were 3 local teenagers who were fishing from reed canoes that they had made themselves and which looked exceedingly hard to balance on, yet they were able to catch fish and paddle around without looking unstable at any time. One even spread his hands wide apart to indicate how the big the fish he caught were, but we only saw him catch tiddlers – fishermen are the same the world over. We just paddled around and let the wind push us about, then moored and slowly walked back up the steep sides of the crater lake.We lunched overlooking the lake, were presented with a date cake for Sabrina’s birthday, then set off back to Kamwenge. The weather was lovely and the roads were full of Ugandans in their Sunday best strolling along in family groups or sitting in groups just chatting. It was lovely to watch and see their happy, smiling faces. In Kibale Forest we saw 3 family groups of baboons
enjoying the evening sun and stopped right next to them. There was also a blockage caused by a road grader improving the road through the forest which necessitated some delicate vehicle manoeuvring across a pile of loose earth at a 45º angle with 4 wheel drive engaged.Overall a wonderful weekend and a great way to celebrate Sabrina’s birthday.
Saturday, 16 May 2009
Sabrina wanted to let you know that she does the washing too!
Next week Justine is doing the washing and cleaning for us. She works at the hotel next door and is glad to earn some extra money.
2 weeks gone and the highlights of this week are:
- Sabrina went out with district health team to clinics in the north of the district to deliver bikes to village health workers, as well as condoms and drugs. She visited 6 clinics, leaving the office at 11 in the morning and getting home at 7.30 in the evening! The vehicle had seen better days and had a cracked windscreen where the bonnet had come open and smashed against it. It overheated twice during the day and lunch was matooke and groundnut sauce at a small café deep in the bush.
- Kees and Freddy, two Dutch VSOers from Fort Portal, a large town about 1 ½ hours drive away, came to visit us and brought some luxuries that we cannot get in Kamwenge. These were weetabix, ribena, processed cheese and long-life milk. It was good to meet people in the same situation as us and compare notes. They have bought a little RAV-4, which is a first-time sold Japanese import. It is 4 wheel drive and very useful but apparently the paperwork took twice as long as expected – bureaucracy is the same everywhere!
- Sabrina attended a meeting between the district health team and two UNICEF officials who closely questioned the staff about how they done against their targets and how well they had spent UN money. Good to know that there is close follow up of donor funds.
- Sorting out health questionnaires for when we go into school. We had a late meeting until about 9.30 one evening as we had to get the draft sent to Kampala for approval by 9 the following morning.
- We attended a workshop for local councillors on water run by the Department for Water Development. Many interesting facts came out as well of lots of background information that will help us to be more focused on our health promotion work. We learnt about deep boreholes, hand dug wells, ordinary and improved springs.
- Each borehole and well is expected to serve 300 people, and each spring 150 people;
- At least 30% of households have no adequate sanitation;
- Only 70% of water sources are functional at any one time;
- The community that benefits is expected to contribute about £66 towards the total cost of a £4500 deep borehole and similar proportions for the cheaper types of sources;
There are many challenges to increasing the number of sources, including:-
- Low understanding of the relationship between water, sanitation, health and hygiene;
- Sanitation not seen as a priority by decision makers;
- Cost of initial investment seen as too high by low-income families;
- Lack of locally available materials;
- Lack of adequate and regular water supplies in the right places;
- Competing demands for limited family resources.
We really feel that we have made good progress this week in terms of our understanding of the culture and background issues which will help us when we are out working with schools. We are also being recognized and greeted by colleagues that we see around town as well as learning some local language – well ‘hello’, ‘good afternoon’, ‘thank you’ and ‘goodbye’!!
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