Blogs from Kampala, Central Region, Uganda, Africa - page 42

Still, here! It takes a looonnng time to get on to the net, load webpages etc. The typing may be a bit erratic too as the keys tend to jam! However, when you receive a welcome like the one we had last night, problems pale into insignificance. Children from the local Army Boarding school ( many of whom were orphans) came to sing, drum and dance for us. They started with a specially composed song to welcome the Global Teachers to Masindi. It was just amazing. Two girls were leaders and just started singing and then the rest joined in, singing in beautiful harmonies with the drummers driving the pulse. The dancers that performed next were equally awe inspiring. Such energy and incredible foot work that perfectly matched the percussion accompaniment. They will be entering the ... read more

Hi everyone! thanks for your messages, it's really great to get them when I log on. We're now in Masindi, though tonight is our last night before we go out to our families in the villages - then the challenge will really begin! We got a further taste of African life on the journey up from Kampala. The first experience was literal as we stopped at a roadside and ate watermelon and pineapple which tasted as you just wouldn't believe possible. In the heat of the day they were more refreshing than any ice lolly. The second experience was a bit different, but equally typical, the fan belt broke on the bus! We all piled out of the bus and sat on the roadside for a while, whilst our driver spoke of it being ready in ... read more

Since our return from Queen Elizabeth we've been staying on campus at Makerere and working with Dr. Berna of the Uganda SPCA. It's been an interesting couple of days and it certainly makes us grateful for all of the amenities that we have available in Canada! We began our week traveling around Kampala visiting the USPCA foster homes vaccinating, deworming and helping with spays and neuters. It’s certainly different to be doing spays on a kitchen table or even outside on the deck! The instruments are “sterilized” with some boiling water and other than that the procedure is not very aseptic. Each animal receives antibiotics at the end and Berna says they all seem to do quite well. Certainly different than what we do at home! For those that are interested: we used injectables (of course)- ... read more

The hell came to the fore under Idi Amin. Greed defines much of African politics and it was under him that Uganda rapidly deteriorated into chaos; a situation that is still mirrored today in many African countries. Uganda had just been on the verge of a civil war, when Dr Obote, Prime Minister of Uganda in the 1960s, carried out a coup to abolish the Bugandan monarchy, before setting about gaining absolute rule a few years later. Amin, then the Army Chief of Start, started to show himself for who he was when, accused by a Colonol Okoya of stealing government funds, this colonel was mysteriously shot dead with his wife. Amin bided his time, and when Obote went to Singapore, another coup was arranged, leaving Amin in power, a move ironically endorsed by the naïve ... read more

My new school for this summer is about 11km from Masindi Town. The area is mainly rural, with most people working in farming. The headteacher is Ms Christine Akullo who has been head for 4 years. There are 7 other teachers, including two men. (When I was reading the information from LCD, it all seemed pretty comparable up to this point. Then...) There are 450 children in the school, 103 of these are in P1 (Reception). This class is likely to only have 1 teacher! The numbers decrease going through the ages so the oldest class (P7) has only 25 children. Unusually for Uganda, the girls outnumber the boys in this class. Luckily there is a water tank, though no listing for toilets. You can use a mobile phone but "need to climb a bit"!... read more