Blogs from Jinja, Eastern Region, Uganda, Africa

When I was asked recently, “What is the status of women like here? I’ve heard it’s quite bad,” by some Irish visitors we were hosting I was pretty taken aback, and not just because I had always thought that as I was born with something hanging between my legs I was unqualified to answer such a question. My response probably made her realise that she should never ask a man such a question again, “ermm…..yes it’s bad....but then it’s a bit more complicated because they have lots of women MPs.” Hardly the cutting insight she was looking for into the position of women in Ugandan society. What I was trying to get at, however, was that gender relations can be looked at in many different ways. In the home and the community the position of women ... read more

In January 2012 a small group of International explorers ventured into Uganda with one specific goal and that was to experience some of the most insane white water rafting known on the planet. One Scottish, one Icelandic and four Australians led by their Zimbabwean guide. This intrepid band of adventurers threw themselves at the awesome might of the White Nile and survived! Our group was picked up from the Nile River Explorers Camp in Jinja and driven to the rafting site, we got kitted out with crash helmets and lifejackets and received a full safety briefing and practical demonstrations of what to do "IF" we ended up in the river, as if that was ever not going to be an option! Our Zimbabwean guide Doug was excellent and managed to mould our disorganised rabble into a ... read more

Having now been in paid work for months I am starting to look back with some fond nostalgia on my time volunteering. I can, however, still remember the feelings of frustration, boredom and confusion that seem to affect volunteers in Uganda. I was reminded of this was when I was helping to run a debrief for the International Citizenship service programme. This programme, a brainchild of David Cameron, aims to make young Britons ‘globally active citizens’ and reduce poverty. Our organisation had decided to run this programme by pairing our young UK volunteers with a Ugandan volunteer, train them, and then place them in a civil society organisation (CSO) to build the organisation’s capacity in organisational management. In brief, it was a small disaster due to a myriad of factors which left some very disgruntled volunteers. ... read more

I am finally here. I think in most senses, it took a while for me to settle into life here, it is so very different to England. I have been here ten days and a couple of hours as I am writing this, but it feels so much longer maybe because things are very different here. I am staying in a village called Namengo which is about fifteen minutes walk outside Lugazi,but at the pace English people walk probably around 5 minutes. Ugandans walk very slowly. No one is in a rush here. I am working in a Nursery school in a village called Kikawula, which is also not very far from Lugazi. The school is very basic and they have hardly any resources. However, the children are so keen to learn, a little girl called ... read more

Though I do not have any comparison, Uganda is a good place to train for a marathon. For one, the reservoir of sweat that I produce running any time before 9am means that is has forced me to see some wonderful sunrises, very underrated in the African sun movement ratings. You get a wonderful mist over the rough green patches of Jinja and look out to the Nile. I often run down to the Source of the Nile where you can avoid the entrance fee if your there before 7am. It is there, just five minutes from the gym, that the hardcore of Jinja’s fitness community hang out. I struggle to get down to the river side and back up again as an assortment of sweat-banded people do press-ups, sit-ups, star jumps running up and down ... read more

Rafting the Nile was unbelievable… not only was the rapids insane but also the animals that we saw were incredible. We set off for Jinja early Saturday and arrived to the backpackers with a welcome of free teas and coffees, which then extended to chapatti with an omelette and fresh fruit. If the rest of the day is going to be as good as this… I… can’t… wait. We got We got down to the Nile after we got kited up, had a little safety lesson and jumped in the rafts for a further safety lesson. Can I just say, at this point both Meg and I had not been rafting before and didn’t know really what to expect. It’s probably the right to say… mum, dad… we didn’t want to wimp out and go for ... read more

The first thing we noticed when entering Uganda from Kenya was how green it is here. It is a nice surprise to see this instead of the constant dust that is thrown all over us when a breath of wind passes. As well the roads are surprisingly good and our head got a nice break from hitting our head all the time. After a hectic hitching experience from the border we arrived in Jinja which is famous for being the town at the beginning of the mighty Nile River. To be honest, if the Nile wasn’t here there would not be too much of a reason to stop in the town since everything is based around the river, well and Lake Victoria as well. The town itself is pretty basic but compared to Kenya (it is ... read more

Moving to Jinja I sometimes feel I have been taken to the world that I heard about in stories from my parents and grandparents as well as the one I left nearly a year ago. Surrounding me are remnants from a Britain of 50, 70 or 100 years ago, and now. A traditional Britain is in the classroom, where a teacher stands at the front and dictates to children parroting what is said and are caned if they fall out of line; the courtroom, where judiciary have wigs that look just as ridiculous here as they always have done in England; in fashion, with the impeccably pressed trousers and shirts and bowler hats (which I’m sure are worn with more style than pre-war Britain but still evoke that image); society at large, overtly moralistic and deeply ... read more

Despite now having been in Uganda for eight months I still struggle to understand, or adjust to, the completely different concept of time here. In my early days I remember being completely exasperated attending community meetings and waiting for the obligatory couple of hours for people to turn up. It is not like I had not been prepared, I had been warned that it was one of the hardest things to adjust to but nothing can quite prepare you. Thinking that I may one day want to be employed in a 'developed' country again, I vowed not to lose the improvements I had made in timekeeping from days where I would head the class for being late to school. I came prepared for any meeting with a few hours work or language books. It helped. I ... read more