Blogs from Eastern Region, Uganda, Africa - page 6

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Africa » Uganda » Eastern Region » Jinja October 26th 2011

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
Wide load
2.5 US for this meal.. right from the Nile
Keeping an eye over the town

Africa » Uganda » Eastern Region » Jinja October 9th 2011

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

Africa » Uganda » Eastern Region » Jinja September 4th 2011

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

Africa » Uganda » Eastern Region » Jinja July 25th 2011

So we move to my own organisation, UYWEFA, which was set up by a loose collection of people after an HIV/AIDS counselling course. Some of this original group have moved on; of those remaining many have spurts of enthusiasm for projects or activities but it is only really the director, Ronald, who devotes himself to the organisation on a regular basis. One of the most repeated words I have heard since I have been here has been ‘mobilising’ but the hardest part for UYWEFA is to mobilise volunteers to run any activity that is planned. The frustration is that there are plenty of funding streams out there for ‘grassroots’ organisations but the paradox is that most ‘grassroots’ organisations, set up and run by people that come from the community, do not have the capacity to apply ... read more

Africa » Uganda » Eastern Region » Jinja July 16th 2011

The charity sector in Uganda has attracted a number of innovative thinkers spurred on to make a difference by the plight of so many disadvantaged, vulnerable people within different communities. It also attracted a number of people spurred by the chance to become 'somebody' in their community, in Uganda and even internationally. Often these people will be the same. The evident wealth and success of international non-governmental organisations (NGOs), the UN and even successful homegrown charities such as TASO also provides motivation as a way of making a decent living. There are few positions in Ugandan society where you have access to the resources we take for granted in the West and working for a large NGO or development agency is one of them. During my first weeks in Uganda I commented on the large number ... read more

Africa » Uganda » Eastern Region April 27th 2011

The long Easter weekend provided us with enough time to get to the far east of the country and see a spot we had missed out on when we were in Mbale over the elections, Sipi Falls. I met with Lauren and another volunteer we’ve met out here, Debbie, at a horrible time on Friday morning. Once the 5 hour constant fear of crashing during our journey had receded we had a relax in Mbale where we stopped off for a night before going on to Sipi. Despite it being seen as a ‘hotspot’ for trouble at the moment I have loved the calm, relaxing feel of Mbale both times we have visited it. Our hotel, Mbale Travellers Inn, was nice as it was cheap and we had an Indian that tasted like paradise after the ... read more

Africa » Uganda » Eastern Region » Bujagali Falls March 12th 2011

Again.....Another trip to Jinja, this time with the aim of actually doing something! I went up on the Friday, again on the free shuttle! i spent most of friday chilling at the bar with the magnificent views over the river! I even went for a swim down on the beach that NRE had made, the current on this part of the river was rather fast! I had a relatively early night as I had to be up early saturday to go rafting! :) Having rolled out of bed and into the bus to take me to the main NRE site to get the briefing, equipment for rafting, breakfast and to meet the other rafters we where finally on our way to the start point. The drive to the start point took us out of Jinja and ... read more

Africa » Uganda » Eastern Region » Jinja March 10th 2011

We used the last of the, seemingly endless, election public holidays to return to Jinja and the Nile. We spent one night in Jinja, which has a fairly lively nightlife which seems more accessible than Kampala. After negotiating a 1500 shilling discount (50p!) for lack of hot water and TV we went onwards to the Hairy Lemon. The Hairy Lemon is a camp on a little island in the middle of the Nile, mainly frequented by international kayakers who use it as a base to explore some (apparently) fantastic rapids nearby. It was fairly pricy for Uganda but offered full board and few activities to tempt us into spending any more money. My short blog entry reflects how little there was to do but it was a great place to relax and do nothing. We had ... read more

Africa » Uganda » Eastern Region » Jinja March 8th 2011

Last day in Uganda. What will I never delete from my memory? • Riding on an old, rusty Boda- boda (motorcycle) with two more passengers without helmet and on a sketchy, dusty road where you would normally only use a 4WD- car or quad. • Delicious chapatti and African chai. I love it more than pizza! • Traditional, lovely and colorful dresses worn by all Ugandan ladies. Even women selling potatoes or working in the field look quite amazing with their almost carnival outfits. • Hundreds and hundreds of children playing on the streets and greeting us every time we walk by. However, leaving our new African family and new established NGO is thousands of times more difficult than leaving Uganda. We did a great deal of work. Within two months we managed to create the ... read more
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Africa » Uganda » Eastern Region » Jinja March 4th 2011

The reason why neither of us has written anything in the last few weeks is because we haven’t had internet at home. We don’t know if it’s because our hosts have failed to pay the bill or if the internet company have done some mistake or both, it’s quite difficult to get any straight answers. Nevertheless you haven’t missed all that much. We haven’t gone on any more excursions or done much sightseeing. We have mainly been working. The reason why we have spent so much time working is that we are planning on leaving next week and want to get everything done. Our main project has been the new webpage. We have pretty much been writing the entire content, taken all the pictures and formulated the composition. Now it’s all in the hands of our ... read more




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