Blogs from Kampala, Central Region, Uganda, Africa - page 6

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Africa » Uganda » Central Region » Kampala November 4th 2011

Today was the last day of school, as the schools in Uganda break up for 8 weeks for the end of the school year. The kids recapped all that they had learnt in the past month and a half in the first few hours and then we had break and moved outside where they sang songs and made paper hats. Just before the school broke up the children started singing this song for Megan and me about being superheroes. The kids usually make their own way home finding their way through the busy narrow paths, crossing sewage streams past homes that all look the same. This time, however, we all walked the kids home together, the now teachers, Afisha and Teddy with Megan and me also. I had been to see a few of their homes ... read more

Africa » Uganda » Central Region » Kampala November 4th 2011

The capital city, Kampala makes a great introduction of Uganda since it is highly developed and with a warm atmosphere. You’ll walk through the streets and strangers will great you “Hi, how are you?” and you’ll feel that you’re surround by lovely people. Don’t hesitate to ask for help and they will be more than happy to help, and they won’t ask you for money. If you need any help so we have learnt that best to begin the conversation with “Hi, how are you?” and later on ask what kind of information do you need. It has happened many times that we’re just saying “Hi” and asking for the direction but getting answer “I’m fine”. Well they are expecting that you’ll ask how they are doing today. Kampala is a green and hilly city, and ... read more
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Africa » Uganda » Central Region » Kampala November 4th 2011

We got back for our evening meeting in which we celebrated the purchase of the new building and started planning for when we will move into the building and what we can buy to get building and set up. Our original intention was to try move into the school before we left on the 1st of December but what Meg and I didn’t realise is that is Ugandan’s school year runs from January 16th to mid-November. This means that our school will finish mid-November for 2 months! We have plans now to open officially mid-January ready for the new school year. We have lots of work to be getting on with, hopefully now a bit more building and hands on work. We need to put in metal doors, windows, cement out the back for kids to ... read more

Africa » Uganda » Central Region » Kampala October 28th 2011

All the kids in the class are hilarious. We teach them colours and shapes and fruits as well as other things. We often cover colours with our flash cards. We have just been listening to one of the teachers singing a song about colours in which they repeat the name of the colour a lot in one song e.g. red is my favourite colour, red is the best, whilst waving the flash card. The children are then asked what colour is this? To which one of them shouted out BLUE. Hilarious. We were talking about different fruits and has some laid out on the table in front of them asking what each fruit and veg is e.g. orange, apple, beans, pepper etc etc. when it gets to anything green they generally just call it greeny’s. Knowing ... read more

Africa » Uganda » Central Region » Kampala October 27th 2011

We are looking forward to this weekend in Jinja white water rafting. We have been quite exhausted recently, even now just letting out a big yawn at 10 past 10am. We are waking up at the normal work time of 6am on Saturday to get on the free transport to Jinja. The rafting comes with a free night’s stay in a dorm in which we are going to spend Sunday taking a day off relaxing trying to recover from work and rafting. We will book a separate weekend with the same format in a couple of weekends time but instead of rafting we will be quad biking with an evening of sunset cruise. With each weekend the travel is free, the night’s stay is free and with huge discounts if you book a combo deal, the ... read more

Africa » Uganda » Central Region » Kampala October 27th 2011

We have now put a sh1.7million deposit on a new building to run the school from, this is also the same building we are planning to do after school catch up classes from, weekend fun activities and kids church on a Sunday. Just sh3.8million left to get over a couple more withdrawals from the local bank; the building is then ours! The whole team is super excited for the building and the plans that we have in store for the future. The current tenants of the house were already planning to move out by the 1st of November so hopefully the paper work will all go through smoothly. We will then have the prospect of knocking a few windows into the wall to get some more light in, put some secure doors in and then paint ... read more

Africa » Uganda » Central Region » Kampala October 24th 2011

We go to a hotel, just down the road to where we live, to get our internet. In this hotel we buy a few things ranging from just a soda to a full meal depending on how long we are staying there. One evening recently we Skyped back to my parents and decided to experience their fine dining facilities. When we eat out, even though a good size meal only cost £2, we try to make sure we are hungry and ready for the food we are about to eat. It was 8pm (our time) and it was dark. We took a seat and the lights came on, they weren’t any ordinary lights, these were flashy, multi-colour, in your face type of lights that made you think you should be back in primary school sliding on ... read more
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Africa » Uganda » Central Region » Kampala October 18th 2011

Hello all we are pushing on with the project currently nameless writing all the important details including a mission statement a vision a strategy etc we are writing and designing sponsorship forms profiles for the kids and CSR’s (Child status record) don’t worry I didn’t know either what one of those was until now we are looking into opening a few bank accounts buying a house and turning it into a school all the while doing our accounts to make sure we can afford all this. For those who don’t feel as rushed in their lives and feel like they have punctuation, below is a copy slowed down just for you. Hello all, We are pushing on with the project, currently nameless, writing all the important details including a mission statement, a vision, a strategy etc. ... read more

Africa » Uganda » Central Region » Kampala October 14th 2011

So we havnt updated, it seems for a while. Lots has happened since we last spoke. We have had some very incouraging meetings about the project in which we are starting (the school in the slum). When we decided to start this school project 3 and a half weeks ago, we were using an office of a guy called Moses, we bought some school supplies like wall charts, flash cards etc. Moses then identified 15 kids in the katanga slum that didn't go to school as their families couldn't afford the fees. We have been teaching 4 days a week originally with the help of a translator and another ugandan teacher (paid volunteer). We have been progressing with the kids and have had our first official meeting (with agendas and everything) on monday 10th in which ... read more

Africa » Uganda » Central Region » Kampala October 11th 2011

We spent a relaxing weekend in Kitale eating lots of delicious home cooked food including a Goan feast with potato chops and chicken xacuti. It was great being back there 17 years later, and although Kitale town seems to have expanded and the hustle and bustle increased, Uncle Effie and Aunty Celia's house was just as I remembered it and I was as astonished by the tropical fruit growing in their garden (avocados, mangos, matoke, guava, lemons etc) as I was aged 11! It was lovely to see Margaret again (their maid) and also to see how excited she was to see us. After a couple of days of home comforts we hit the road again and headed for the Kenyan/Ugandan border. The guide book said it should be around a 3 hour journey from the ... read more
Kitale
Sipi Falls
Sipi Falls




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