Blogs from Hoima, Western Region, Uganda, Africa

It has been another varied and hectic two weeks since I last wrote so this may turn out to be an epic blog again. Apologies to those who don’t have time to read but those who do...enjoy! So by the end of the last blog we were due to be heading into the forest to do some more surveys, this we eventually managed after being delayed by a massive downpour of rain and we were able to get some good information and to see wild chimps again (although briefly) which was really nice. On Sunday we decided to go to the Catholic Church nearby, as we knew the bishop was meant to be visiting and we thought it might be an interesting service. When we arrived we found that it was actually a full day celebration ... read more

In Hoima everyone is given a ‘petty name’ which has a meaning and it is meant to be more affectionate if you address someone by their pet name - I have been given Amooti, meaning flower. The procedural greeting involving a petty name goes like this… Empako yawe? (what is your petty name?) Akiiki (petty name meaning leader) Ta Akiiki? (how are you Akiiki?) Kandi eya we? (how about your petty name?) Amooti (petty name meaning flower) Ndiho Amooti (I’m ok Amooti) Soooo….what have I been doing since my last blog? I spent the a couple of days following my last entry in head office in Entebbe finishing off my report for the stakeholders meeting, planning the educational program we will be using in Hoima and collecting together the resources I will need such as pictures, ... read more