Blogs from Eastern Region, Uganda, Africa - page 19

After leaving Nakuru for the second time on wednesday, we drove a long way to a camp in the middle of nowhere in the Kenyan highlands near to Eldoret. It was an amazing campsite - hot running water, flush toilets with toilet paper, and even a soap dispenser by the taps! There was also a really nice bar in an underground cavern, with two fires to keep us warm! Pretty nice altogether. The next morning (thursday) we got back on the truck for an early morning start after a breakfast of scrambled eggs and mango (random but nice!) and basically spent the entire day travelling to our next campsite in Uganda. We crossed the border at about midday, and when we stopped there to sort out our visas lots of people tried to sell us things ... read more

White water rafting was awesome - one of the best things i've done since i arrived. We were rafting down class 4 and 5 rapids, the highest being 6. Between the rapids we floated downstream on the current, so we occasionally got into the water and swam next to the boat, which was so surreal - i couldn't believe that we were actually swimming down the river that we always learnt about in school. The river is beautiful and everything was so lush and green, and occasionally we would see some people from nearby villages washing their clothes in the river. The scenery was just so stunning that we never got tired of it. Our lunch was on an island and it was the best lunch we had had for a while- sandwiches!!! They must ... read more

im in jinja which is a small town just west of kampala- and yesterday we rafted the nile. it was....nuts. rapids reach the intensity level of 6, and we were doing up to 5. we flipped over three times which is a life altering experience. i would love to say that my life flashed before my eyes when i was pulled underwater time and time again, but really all i could think about was the air that was in....some direction. when we first went out the weather was pretty nice, but as soon as we were on the water, learning the tricks of the trade with piers and sayer...it started raining. raining hard. so hard it hurt. oh yeah that was the hail. HAIL on the nile...in uganda. chunks half the size of pennies! this is ... read more

This last week I have worked alongside Soft Power Education, another non-profit I found online prior to this trip. Soft Power is a British registered, non-religious charity, working closely within the local community of Jinja. Their aim is to develop and improve educational facilities for children. Starting off initially by building two pre-schools for AIDS orphans, they now have constructed/renovated close to 30 schools, all made possible by monetary donations and volunteer work. This means, any donations made go 100% into the project...a big reason why I wanted to contribute myself. After meeting wiith the staff of Soft Power, We've decided the best way for me to help is by painting the “teaching aids” requested on the classroom walls of Wakitaka Primary School. This would be perfect since I just don’t have the energy to ... read more

I knew the moment I met Stephen that he was someone special. There are certain people that just have a light around them... “good energy” I guess you could call it. Stephen Wante is 30 years of age and runs the El-Shadai Foster Home in Bugembe, right outside of Jinja town. The home offers shelter, compassion, counseling and support to app. 30 children, with ages ranging from 3 years to 20 years. The children’s background and home districts vary widely, but all tell the story of poverty, neglect, abuse, conflict and abandonment. The home is a family-style environment and the children treat each other as brothers and sisters, and “Uncle” Stephen as a trusted and respected father figure. There are no “care-takers” and all the chores are shared. The home gets by with the basic ... read more