Blogs from Uganda, Africa - page 141

Can you imagine the paperwork that would accompany these?! Children collecting the keys from a teacher's house and opening up the school themselves. Children sharpening pencils using razor blades. Children being sent to collect water from the bore hole as the tank is empty. Children cleaning the school and latrines. Children ( even P1) left for long periods without a teacher in their classroom. Children cycling to buy drinks for the staff meeting ( and returning the bottles the next day!) Children walking home alone, long after dusk. At home too, African children have a great awareness for their own safety. Joseph ( 4) was 'playing' with a blade about a foot long and hacking it into a tree! Most of the day he plays with no supervision! Victor (1) happily crawls around the kitchen area ... read more

So it's been a while since I last updated. I've now settled into the expat life at the Blue Mango in Kampala. I am working full time at Uganda Crafts, doing all sorts of things. I work with this great Irish woman who lives here, as well as 3 Ugandans. I'm learning a lot about fair trade and about life in Uganda - it's certainly been a good experience. I've been a bit lonely off and on - going from a group of 16 to all on my own has been challenging - but I've met a host of really fascinating people around my hotel and other places as well. If nothing else, I usually have someone to chat with after dinner about where we come from and things we've experienced on our travels so far. ... read more

31st July Monday DAY 10 NKURINGO to LAKE BUNYONYI Left Nkuringo around 9am to head back down the winding mountainous bumpy road. We saw the crested crane in some paddocks, the national bird of Uganda. Once back with the truck Chobe I washed all the dishes that we took with us and cleaned out all the food crates. Cat and I then went for a refreshing swim in the lake, which was cold and it was hard not to scream as our feet touched the slimy lake floor. We had a little bitch about the lazy people of the tour, then sunbaked for a while. We even saw some sea otters in the water. We had a buffet dinner again and Dave came to sit with us later. He had yet another girly moment when he ... read more

Webale Muno to all those who have sent messages via the blog, it is really great to read them when I log on. There's so much to say that it's difficult to know where to start! Sorry if I seem to jump around a bit! School is about 500m from the house. Usually there are children waiting outside, or at the end of the lane, to carry our bags for us. My host Nastwa and I walk in arriving at about 7.50. Some children are already there doing 'communal jobs' sweeping, putting the flag pole up, bringing firewood, collecting water from the bore hole ( about 750m away). There is a water tank that collects the rainfall from a roof, but it is running low. There has been quite a few rainy mornings this week, so ... read more

I've come into Masindi to meet with Cerys and update the blog. Unfortunately the power was down so we had a few sodas and a look around whilst waiting for the portable generator to arrive. Fortunately both our hosts are also good friends and so have gone off whilst we tap away. Tuesday morning dawned and all the headteachers came to collect us from the hotel. It was a bit like arriving at Bremen and meeting Ulla for the first time as one by one we all drove off! We went straight to the school. The roads were increasingly bumpy but they are fairly well maintained (still mud tracks) as the sugar factory nearby needs them for access to the sugar cane plantations. The headteacher (Christine) told me that the children were very excited and she ... read more