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.

The ‘vulnerablest of the vulnerable’

Today as we walked up to breakfast the sun was shining, the birds singing, and the views across to the mountains in Rwanda were spectacular. Our smiling waitress, Sharon, greeted us warmly and brought our breakfast (which bore no resemblance to what we’d ordered the night before). 

 We managed to meet Charles as appointed and took some clothes down to the office. The T-shirts are going to the children who come to the disability focus groups next week and Moses will distribute the rest as he sees fit. He’s trying to arrange for me and him to visit the local prison and we’ll take the baby and smaller children’s clothes as we know they have 3 young children there and several pregnant mothers.  There was some discussion about whether the clothes should go to these children, but Moses is adamant that as the sponsored children get fees and medical help and gifts from the UK that we should also be caring for the ‘vulnerablest of the vulnerable’ who can’t benefit from sponsorship. So if we can arrange it, there will be a visit to the prison (thanks to everyone who donated clothes to bring out).  We also talked about the possibility of taking clothes for the children at the hospital – but I didn’t bring enough :( 

We spent the morning planning meetings for next week and deciding who is going to do what. We did some group facilitation techniques training! We talked about how we’re going to get the message out that we want the children to come to the centre – as I’m writing this, Moses is trying to contact people by mobile phone - so far he’s managed to successfully speak to 3 out of 12 people! He’s put out an announcement on the radio for one of the meetings we’re planning. Hopefully we’ll get the right number of people – whatever that is…..

At lunchtime we went back to the hotel for a rest and sat in the garden for 10 mins – very pleasant.  I am enjoying the lull before the storm that I suspect will come next week. 

This afternoon we visited Taso (hyperlink) The Aids Support Organisation and were made welcome by Ambrose and the team and shown around the facilities. It was brilliant, plus we got to meet up with our friend rev. Moses.  They have a special ‘youth’ section where children who are HIV+ can come and play and receive counselling and medication.  They have a fleet of motorbikes to take drugs out to patients in the villages – I thought about some of my friends who would be very happy doing a job that involved riding motorbikes around Africa, but then I remembered the people they’d be visiting and maybe it would actually be a very difficult job.

The rest of the day was spent once again trying to get cash (!), speaking to Pete to try and sort out the house alarm, trying to teach someone how to edit a spreadsheet but in the end giving up and doing it myself (bad teacher… I think IT lessons are a job better done at the start of the day), and shopping for snacks for our trip to the Game Park tomorrow.

Because we are visiting, the team has a tea break in the morning.  I take water (tea leaves in the bottom of a mug of hot water with the occasional ½ teaspoon of cinnamon).  The Ugandan team take tea (mug of hot water, teaspoon of tea leaves, 2 heaped teaspoons of powdered milk, up to 3 teaspoons of sugar and a teaspoon of cinnamon).  We have some of our most interesting conversations over tea. Today we discussed whether or not there is any real poverty in Britain since basic needs are provided (healthcare and food).  They were surprised when Tom said that the reason we can visit is because we are rich – but most people would struggle to afford to come more than once if at all.  They didn’t believe there is any poverty in the UK.  So todays first question is: ‘How do you define poverty?’  We also had a bit of a geography lesson and a discussion about language.

Today’s second question is ‘How do you define disability?’.  We were trying to decide who to invite to attend a focus group, which generated questions like, ‘Is having an extra finger a disability?’ and ‘Is being born a hermaphrodite a disability?’.  Just think about it – how would you decide who was or wasn’t disabled, and actually should you be making any such judgement unless you yourself have a disability.  We talked about the difference between describing a person as ‘disabled’ or ‘a person with disability’ which focusses on the person before the disability.

I have another question: ‘How can the most vulnerable children in any society be identified’.

Behind the beauty of the mountains and forests here, you don’t have to look far to see children in ragged clothes and no shoes playing in the dirt.  We know some of what goes on behind closed doors but it isn’t always easy to find the children suffering with disability and hidden from view for a whole host of reasons.  And what about our society? Do we equally stigmatise and judge? Are there children hidden away or who hide because it’s safer? Can our children with disabilities go to school without fear of bullying? I’m not sure I’m really prepared for next week at all.

Game Park tomorrow – Moses and Allen have decided to come with us so we’re off with Charles for some R&R.  May not get Internet again till Monday.

It has been a good day

The hotel room is good (Colin – it’s more than adequate!).  We have a bed, a mosquito net, two chairs, a table and places to store our clothes.  This is luxury compared to our last visit to Rukungiri where we had a bed and 2 hooks on the wall.  We have a flush toilet, with an unbroken seat, a cold shower and a sink with a cold tap.   We slept reasonably well and woke to the sound of squawking birds.  Last time we went to sleep once the disco had died down and woke a couple of hours later as the vans picked up people for work. This was one reason for us going to a ‘posh’ hotel that was a bit out of town – hopefully 10 nights with plenty sleep.  

 We had an excellent breakfast and met Ronnie the Zimbabwean head of the kitchen who is grappling with Tom’s ‘funny diet’.  We had a miscommunication with Charles which meant we were waiting for him at the hotel while he was waiting for us at the children’s centre. 

The photo on the left is the stairs down to our room which is in the block with the red roof (note, we don't have a front room with a view but a back view with a mud wall to wake up to - but we're not complaining!)

 For the business side of our day see Dr Tom Goes Global.  Suffice to say we achieved today’s planned activity and also went into town for lunch.  I treated Moses and Allen and Charles to lunch. In case you think this was particularly kind, the total bill came to less than £5.  We had been talking about food earlier and I wanted proper Ugandan food -  I had groundnut (G-nut) sauce with matooke (mashed plantains), rice and green baby aubergines (I realise fellow travellers may not see this as a treat, but I do).  My lunch cost 62p! I was so full I couldn’t finish it. 

We’d spent the morning talking about children with disability and what little expectation there is for them to be useful people in society. We talked about prejudice and gender, culture and stigma, and abandoned babies and how poverty leads to discrimination.  We discussed education and how in Uganda the focus is on following a set curriculum rather than looking for a child’s talents and strengths (sound familiar?) and how this impacts on children with disability. There were moments when we all felt that only a revolution could lead to change.  Then we remembered, you can’t do everything, you mustn’t do nothing, you can do something.

We saw the reality of how sponsorship changes children’s lives when we met ‘our’ Rebecca, who we last saw in 2008 when she was just finishing school.  She’s the same age as our Pete and we started sponsoring her when they were both about 7.  Since we last saw her (her sponsorship ended in 2010), she’s completed a course in business studies, got married, had a child and now runs her own business. Even writing this brings a lump to my throat.   

  

She didn’t know we were coming and when she saw us she immediately came and held me very tight – it isn’t exaggerating to say that I truly love her and this isn’t just about supporting a charity.   She asked about each of our sons by name and thanked us again for how we’d made it possible for her to achieve all that she has.  She looked very happy and well and it was a brilliant encouragement for us that what we do is founded on principles that work.  When I find it tough this week and the problems seem insurmountable, I’ll think of Rebecca.

As we got out of the car when Charles brought us back to Heritage Inn, he said, ‘It has been a good day’.  I agree.

Welcome to Uganda!

Today started early for our friends Gertrude, and Charles who is our driver.  They came to the hotel to tell us they wanted to leave earlier – and the hotel told them that we weren’t there!  They went into Entebbe and waited for an Internet café to open so they could check we hadn’t emailed them with a new hotel. Eventually they came back to the hotel where we were staying and the person on the desk admitted that we were there after all - but failed to tell us our friends had arrived.  Tom bumped into them on his way to the room and we finally set off at 8.30.

The next part of our Ugandan day involved navigating Kampala, trying to park in Kampala, needing to ring home to unlock a bankcard, and eventually finding somewhere that would give us cash.  I should also say that when Gertrude left us at this point (having finally got back the deposit from us that she paid on the car) she was carrying a bag of children’s clothes (thanks Katy) and the various items we’d been sent to take out to pass on to her.

Finally, yippee, we set off at 10.30.   On a not bad road.With a car full of diesel and some bottles of water.  Our phones rang in the car – the house alarm had gone off in Barnsley so there was a bit of texting Pete to get him to go home and switch it off.  We stopped eventually for yours truly to make a ‘short call’ at a concrete box with a drain behind a garage.

No day in Uganda would be complete without an hour or so hanging around a garage.  We eventually reached Mbarara but Charles was a bit concerned about a strange noise coming from the gear box.  After some discussion it was agreed that a new sump nut was needed so we waited while a man had ‘gone for a nut’.  Eventually he reappeared and after a bit of bloke stuff under the car we set off again.

All went smoothly for the next hour or so and we even saw herds of zebra at the side of the road.  We waved at small children who were shouting ‘Mzungu, Mzungu’ when they spotted white faces in the car, we smiled at the huge amounts of furniture people can get on a bike (or people in a car), we gawped at the variety of goods on sale by the roadside – or sometimes the monotony of  piles of tomatoes on every stall… And eventually we came to the favourite of all travellers to Uganda – the potholes. I think Charles is amazing, he negotiates potholes and speed bumps without actually going into the ditch at the side of the road, keeps our backside bruises to a minimum and manages not to kill any pedestrians, cyclists, motorbike riders, or the occupants of cars, taxis and busses – all of which are similarly negotiating potholes in a game of ‘almost dodgems’ where you try and get as near as possible to hitting someone without actually making contact.  And all this while telepathically knowing which way the vehicles over-taking or careering towards us will go round their own potholes.  Impressive!

It all came to a stop when a lorry got stuck in mud in the middle of a set of road works. All the vehicles started stacking up randomly on either side so when the lorry was finally moved (many men standing around shaking their heads followed by a digger coming up behind and pulling it backwards by hooking the bucket on the back of the lorry) the road ahead was blocked by queuing traffic.  Oh how we laughed.

We didn’t laugh quite so hard when we arrived at our Rukungiri accommodation where we’re staying for 10 nights to be told we weren’t booked in and they were full.  Quick call to Moses the local manager and all was resolved – he’d paid a deposit but they didn’t realise it was for us.

So now we’re getting ready for bed having eaten our tilapia.  We still aren’t Internet connected so you’ll get a few blogs all at once.

I thought I’d end this blog with one of Gertrude’s stories – which along with today’s activities, some awesome scenery and the friendliest most helpful girl you could imagine at the hotel – remind us of all the reasons Uganda has welcomed us back. 

Gertrude’s daughter is a paediatrician.  She’s finding it very hard.  Mothers have to stay and look after their children in hospital but if they have no money it’s difficult to find food.  Sometimes the very poor women use their clothes as bed sheets and have to bring their well children with them.  Those (well) children often pick up illnesses at the hospital.  Gertrude keeps  having to get new sheets as her daughter takes hers to the hospital for the children.

Welcome to Uganda….

Travelling woman

I'm sitting in Brussels airport feeling a bit disconnected. We left home at 3.45am and flew her from Manchester at 6.45. To get to our gate we walked the length of the airport and caught a bus.  Its a bit disorientating on less than 5 hours sleep!  On the plus side we were, in the words of our friend Rachel, privileged to see the sunrise over Belgium, and Brussels airline serves nice almond croissants for breakfast.

I can't believe we're off again. So much for deciding once every two years at the most. We had a message from 'young' Tom this morning that set us up for the day. ... Really excited about seeing our friends again.

 After a break I'm picking this up again over Juba having seen the amazing Nile and the sunset over Africa.  Rachel is right, it's something that you can't underestimate - being able to fly across the world, see incredible sights, have the joy of making new friends and maybe in some small way helping to make someone's life more bearable by supporting Global Care.  At the minute I'm just holding out for a reasonable nights sleep tonight, but the nerves have been joined by a sense of excitement and anticipation.

Next stop Entebbe.

Off we go again

Can't believe we're off to Uganda again. Bags are packed, we're checked into our flight, taxi booked for tomorrow morning, Pete has a 'Mum folder' with important documents.... We had a fantastic time on Saturday at the Global Care 30th Anniversary celebrations and I feel inspired and excited - not just slightly anxious.

This is the first time we've had a trip lasting three weeks, or where we had to organise it ourselves with the Ugandan staff (though we did have a fair amount of help from Paul Rowell). I keep wondering if the guest houses will be booked and what on earth our car will be like.

We set off at 3.45am tomorrow morning for our first flight from Manchester to Brussels.  I've booked much cheaper flights this time - we're hoping Brussels Airline is just plain cheap and the price doesn't reflect the service.  From Brussels we fly to Entebbe (via a brief stop in Kigali) and should arrive in Uganda around 11pm. Hopefully there'll be a driver from our hotel waiting to take us for our first night under a mosquito net.

On Wednesday morning we're meeting Patrick from the Kampala office to sort out some financial matters and hand over the assorted packages that have arrived for our friend Mary.  It will be good to see Patrick again. We met him last year at the Uganda conference. He joined Global Care when they took over responsibility of a Spurgeon's project in Kampala.  Accepting that from Wednesday onwards we're working on African timescales (i.e. I don't have a watch so I'll guess the time, or if I do I'll come when I'm ready)  - with a bit of luck our driver for the trip, Charles, will arrive at a similar time to Patrick and we might get off to Rukungiri by 9am.  It will be a long but interesting drive through the Equator.  Last time we went I spotted Zebra at the roadside so my eyes will be pealed at the right moments.

So, I'm planning to be in bed by 8.30pm tonight - maybe my stomach will stop being jittery long enough for some sleep.  We have a Ugandan Sim card and printed emailed instructions for how to set it up with Tom's phone to get mobile Internet. (Its definitely a 'boy' thing - I'm just expecting to have Internet by magic). Maybe we'll be able to check in with you all by Thursday. I was going to add a photo of the bags in the hall - but I can't remember where I packed the camera lead for the laptop.  Next stop south of the Equator.