Blogs from Kampala, Central Region, Uganda, Africa - page 9

When a traveller jumps on the back of a boda boda for a ride through central Kampala, he or she is taking life into one's own hands, pure and simple. The centre of town features a chaotic meeting point of vehicles, all jostling for an inch of space, and all equally determined to arrive at their destination before the next guy manages to squeeze in. The city centre is packed with a riotous jumble of taxi vans, motorcycles, bicycles, pedestrians and potholes. Here in the capital of Uganda a driver's margin for error is razor thin; where knees and feet, elbows and shoulders come within inches of a potential impact with other vehicles. This is due to each guy accelerating for that fraction of available space at the same time. However, there's a fair degree of ... read more

I wish I could transport you to Owino Market in central Kampala so that you could experience the mayhem for yourself. So that you could walk down the 3ft wide alley ways, jumping over pot holes, balancing on planks as you creep over dirty puddles, and slipping and sliding in the mud that masquerades as the pavement. So that you have to squeeze, barge, and dodge your way past the thousands of traders, hawkers, caterers, and other shoppers, all seemingly walking in the opposite direction to you, leaving not an inch to breathe yet alone to stand. So that you can be overwhelmed by the sights you see - people shouting, people hustling, people cramming goods into every available inch, ramshackle stalls reaching to the skies, held together by prayers alone, piled high with thousands upon ... read more

The driving force behind UYWEFA is Ronald Bagenda. Ronald wakes at 4am to go to Kampala to buy meat for his butcher business. In Uganda most butchers only sell one type of meat, so he sells beef from a little glass cabinet next sharing his licence with another butcher’s next door. He works until he has sold his day’s stock (usually until around 12), making around 4,000-5,000 day (a little over £1) and then devotes his afternoons to directing UYWEFA. His passion for helping the community is outstanding and I am occasionally sceptical of his motivations such is the sacrifice he makes. He is currently trying to build his own house and has taken out a loan to finance it, as he struggles to repay he is having his assets repossessed. I wonder if he would ... read more

Greetings from Kampala! My flight was fine, buying a visa at the airport also gets you express entry to the country, there was an ATM in the airport, and I easily get a taxi to the 'hotel'. I must admit to a bit of Hilton Withdrawal and need to switch to vacation mode. I have a very basic room with the bathroom across the courtyard. At least there are curtains on the shower stalls! The drive from the airport was interesting. The presidential election was yesterday and results are expected tomorrow. There were lots of police, traffic police, and military police around, but absolutely no sign of any trouble. CNN reported some last night, but the driver dismissed it and said it was nothing. I have also seen a few UN cars and Internaltional Observer cars ... read more

Here is the Kampala HSE team all trained and ready to show Uganda how to be safe, this afternoon I will be Manual Handling... read more