Le weekend

This is a first for us - we decided to take the weekend off. We all worked hard last week so decided to go and look for some big game on Saturday.  We made an earlyish start... we've been having trouble taking out cash which means a daily visit to the ATM - but we forgot 'your daily limit' means 'within 24hrs'.  The maximum we can take out per day (or 24 hours) is the equivalent of £65 so it doesn't go far when you have to buy fuel and pay people money you owe for hotel deposits.  

 We set off on the familiar rough roads which soon turned into very rough roads and then what we would consider impassable.  Tom said he was getting too stressed sitting in the front so we started taking it in turns.  I found it hilarious how much debate took place over the route. Charles would say 'which way?'; Tom would say, 'turn right'; Moses would say 'straight straight' and Allen would get into a debate with Moses.  I think we all agreed that maybe local knowledge was better than the map when we learnt that a bridge had collapsed and was only passable by motorbike.  See Tom's blog for some of the reasons we had to stop. 

Eventually we reached the Park and the highlights for everyone were the elephants and hippos.  We had a picnic of peanuts and crisps in the middle of this amazingly beautiful part of the world and decided that this was a brilliant way to spend a day off.   

All the way to the Park the scenery was stunning.  Mountains, fertile valleys, rolling hills, banana and sugar plantations - it truly is awesome. I am so privileged to be able to come here and to have such great friends to share this trip.  We came to earth a bit when we talked to one of the wardens and he told us the other side of the river was in Congo.  He told us they (the armed rangers) are there partly to keep people safe from the DRC rebels as well as the wild animals, although sometimes people walk across the river where it’s shallow to buy Ugandan produce!


Our day finished in a very bizarre fishing village.  The sign said ‘beach resort’ and ‘best fish in Africa’.  It was by Lake George.  When we got there the road had been flooded so we couldn’t actually get to the Lake.  As we got out of the car, we were approached by a man in wellies and told we all had to register.  Tom and I were very popular as we had passports but the others didn’t show (or have, in most cases) any ID and grumbled that they were Ugandans, the government didn’t provide them with ID so why should they have to show it. 



As he wrote down all our particulars, the official told us that they had to record all visitors because of the warnings of terrorism and the possibility of rebels coming across from DRC to get into Uganda.  A sobering thought.

We watched the fishermen folding their nets in the boats and tying in rocks as weights.  We walked on shell paths as the women sorted out the best ones to sell or make things out of.  The people didn’t want their photos taken.  The offered to fry us fish at a very high price which we declined (not helped by the fact this was one of those days when we had very limited cash!).  It was a very weird experience. Charles and I agreed that it wasn’t like any other village we’d seen.  Charles had never seen a fishing boat before and he and Moses both admitted they are afraid of water because they have never lived near a lake. Neither of them can swim and wouldn’t want even to wade in open water.  We left having never felt properly relaxed but having had a visit we won’t forget.

 This morning (Sunday) we went to church in Moses’ village.  First we went to meet his family – he was brought up by a lovely lady called Bathsheba.   Moses’ grandmother  helped Bathsheba’s husband to gain an education, and his family took Moses in to help with his school fees and also to repay the kindness.  He told us that he had to walk to town barefoot carrying bananas on his head to earn some money, but when he finished Primary School he was given money to buy his first pair of shoes.  



 
The village was in what I can honestly say is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been.  We went to church but got to sneak out during the sermon (long and loud) to visit the Sunday school. The children sang to us and we taught them a couple of songs then we handed out some stationary I’d brought with me.  The children were lovely, Tom struck up a friendship with one of Moses’ relatives, Kevin – mind you, one of the younger children cried and was frightened of our white faces!



Now we’re back at the hotel.  We’ve moved rooms to one with a view rather that a wall, and are catching up on rest and reading.  This has been an incredible weekend.  We have seen abject poverty and great wealth in the variety of dwellings.   We’ve had to think what it’s like with no electricity and no fresh or running water.  We’ve seen beautiful countryside and happy families living together in harmony in a peaceful hillside village, Moses’ village were very welcoming.  But we’ve also seen a town where people are completely suspicious of strangers, where you have to think about everything you say and do, and where there is little trust and a pervading sense of unease.   

We are also struck by the support that successive generations give to the relatives of benefactors.  Moses says it was only because he had help that he had an education and now has a good job – and can take in other children who are in the same position he was when he was a vulnerable child.  Most of the married (and some single mothers) who we’ve met who work at Global Care take in additional children.  There’s a sense of not being able to watch children suffer – and were there aren’t enough sponsors the local team will take in children and try to get sponsorship for them.

If I hadn’t sponsored a child before I came, then I certainly would now.  Seeing the delight on the faces of our friends yesterday at seeing the elephants reminded me that they don’t usually have a Saturday off – and if they do, it won’t be to go out for a day trip.  Many people have several jobs and still live in a way that most westerners would be shocked about.  I’m kind of glad we have a cold shower and no variety of food here – but we still have running water and food!  You can’t visit here and see these children without feeling both a huge gratitude to God for all that you have, but also a renewed determination to fight for justice in whatever tiny way you can and help some child to gain an education that might lift the whole family out of poverty.