Mzungu! Mzungu!

Over and Out

2008-04-04T11:35:00.007+01:00

The beautiful children of Kiyumbakimu - farewell...

Char is thoroughly impressed at being made to dance in front of everyone!

Jay 'shakes his bones' at our Leaving Party

Julius shows us how its done

Char says: After a week back at the orphanage it was time to say goodbye to the kids, the people and the amazing country that is Uganda. Needless to say the farewells were emotional. And in true Ugandan style our taxi taking us to the airport arrived well over an hour late. It shouldn’t be any other way! We left Uganda on Saturday 29th March after nearly eight months in East Africa. Since we were flying Emirates, we decided to have a short stop-over in Dubai on the way home. This proved to be something of a culture shock for us but was still good fun – if we didn’t think about it all too much. Coming from deepest darkest Africa to a land of over-the-top, indulgent, excess was perhaps a little in bad taste, but none the less, we wanted to see what all the fuss was about.

Dubai is a crazy place and a sprawling suburban centre featuring hundreds of shopping centres and a new sky-scrapper under construction on every street. We visited one of the big shopping malls and the scene outside was like a high class car show. Bentley followed Porsche followed Macerate and so on. Inside there was none other than a real snow ski slope (with three runs and a child’s toboggan run). Bearing in mind that Dubai is the middle of the desert and gets 50 degrees hot in the summer months, the indoor snow really summed up the indulgence of the place.

Arriving back to the UK mid-afternoon on Monday (31st) I tried (and failed) not to cause a scene when reunited with my mum in the middle of Heathrow. Needless to say, we were both thrilled to be reunited with our family after such a long time apart. We are now both slowly starting to get back into the swing of things and rebuilding our life in the UK. But Uganda can never be too far from our thoughts and just as soon as we have enough money, we will be back to visit our ten beautiful children, Sseguya, Stuart and all of our Ugandan friends. They always will remain very close to our hearts and minds.

Char and Jay say: Before we end the blog forever (!), we would like to thank everyone who has taken the time to follow our story, especially those who have stayed in touch and helped to keep our spirits up.

Special thanks go to:

Marion Millerick and all at MicroDrainage for their generous donation – without which KCV may not yet exist

Hants &IoW Sustainable Business Partnership, HCC Economic Development Office and the Olive Consultancy for much appreciated Christmas donations

Everyone who sent letters and parcels but Ella deserves a particular mention for fortnightly letters and newspaper articles – you made us feel loved!

Both sets of parents for your incredible support (and cash!!!)

Please don’t forget about Kiyumbakimu Children’s Village and keep an eye on the forthcoming website www.kcvillage.org for news stories and ways to help. Donate online now at www.justgiving.com/kcv

Big love,
Over & Out
Char and Jay x x x

Back to Uganda

2008-03-21T07:25:00.002Z

Our beloved Kampala. The city is basically 24/7 gridlock. But it still rocks!

Us both at Sipi Falls number two

We had a beautiful view over sipi falls 1 from our campsite - but it was bloody windy on that cliff!

The thunder clouds encrouch into a sunset over the nile up at Bujagali Falls

Grace & Steve up at Bujagali (hope the photos not too dark to see)

Too many beers? or too much poker?!

Bujagali falls - dangerous..apparently. We've been down that big 5m drop at the far side in a kayak! Bloody brilliant (jay capsized and swam through most of it!)

The pros make it look easy... but give us a few years and we'll be taking them all on on our own

Char says: Sorry we haven’t written for a while, we’re still alive, and back in Uganda. Our first few days back in the ‘Pearl of Africa’ didn’t really merit enough news for blogging but since then we’ve upped the action!

We spent two windy nights overlooking Sipi Falls in eastern Uganda. It was a very beautiful, quiet spot – but it was so quiet that we were the only tourists in the whole place! A guided trek took us to beautiful views of all three water falls in the Sipi family as well as giving great views over the valley. We had originally intended to stay around Sipi for a little longer but it was so quiet that we found ourselves in bed very early and so decided to leave after two nights!

After the peace of Sipi we went looking for somewhere with a little more action and so returned to Bujagali Falls near Jinja – a spot that blog readers may remember from our New Year’s Eve adventure (its also near where we did the rafting)! There is an excellent charity called SoftPower Education (check out www.softpowereducation.com) working in the area and so we decided to spend a couple of days painting a school with them – we just can’t get enough of volunteering! After two days of do-gooding we blew the biggest amount of money the whole time we’ve been in Uganda and became ‘paddlers’.

Two days of kayaking on the Nile began with a lesson on the flat water led by Ibrahim – one of the best kayakers in Uganda, and perhaps, the world! – where we learnt the basics and how to capsize. I was pretty scared at first but the whole capsizing thing is remarkably easier and less terrifying than I had imagined. After lunch we headed up the river and then paddled back to the camp – challenged by tackling Grade 1 and 2 rapids for the first time. The first Grade 2 knocked me right over and soon I was swimming! Jay on the other hand managed to stay afloat through all the grade 1 rapids and both grade 2s – but somehow managed to capsize in some slower moving water near the end of our journey – twice!!!!(Jays Says: they were big ass eddies and very hard to navigate according to some other paddlers!!)

Our second day of kayaking involved less learning and more screaming! Tandem kayaking involves following the Nile for 30km over numerous rapids including huge Grade 4 and 5 waves – some of the biggest in the world – it’s the same route as we did when we went rafting! You get to sit in the front seat of the tandem with a professional paddler sat in the back who looks after you. If you flip, all you have to do is sit tight, hold your breath and let your guide roll you back to the surface. In theory anyway!

Tandem kayaking was one of the most intense, terrifying and fantastic experiences I have ever had! It is more terrifying than white water rafting, which we did back in October, (and, after to talking to plenty of other people who were too scared, it takes more guts to do – we’re so hardcore!). This is because you are so much closer to the waves – they all appear to be huge (well they are – 5metre plus)! The biggest rapid is called ‘Silverback’ and is really, really huge (four waves)! Needless to say, both Jay and I took a swim on this monster wave. Somehow though, once I’d capsized, I managed to get back in the boat, and before I knew what was going on, we were heading back into the rapid for more! Within seconds we were back under the water but this time I managed to hold on to the boat and Ibrahim (my guide) was able to roll us back up without the need for capsizing – what an adrenaline rush!

After two days of madness on the river, we felt we needed a well deserved break and so headed up to the island paradise of Hairy Lemon (see previous blog for photos!) After two nights Grace (another ICYE volunteer from the UK) and her bloke Steve (who is out on holiday) joined us at the Lemon. We spent a couple of crazy (!) nights sitting up late, drinking beer and playing poker before moving back to Bujagali for one last night.

We are now back in Kampala for a few days to do a little souvenir shopping and say farewell to friends at our second home – Backpackers! On Monday we are heading back to the orphanage for our final farewells. Which will no doubt be a very sad affair! Saturday afternoon and we begin the journey home – two nights in Dubai and then we’re homeward bound!

This will probably be our final blog in Uganda but we may we add something in Dubai and will certainly be writing a round up when we get back home. Thanks to everyone who’s been reading – and letting us know they’ve enjoyed the blog. Uganda is a great place which I hope everyone will now feel inspired to visit and enjoy!

Big love, C & J xxx

Ahhh... Zanzibar

2008-02-28T13:04:00.009Z

Not a bad beach really...

A nice place for a nap..

Our terrace at our guest house. Not the WORST view we've ever had.

JB's blue bucket! So infamous there's a facebook group coming soon!

Classic Zanizbar. Dhow. Sunset. Beach. Nice.

Char gets ready for Nemo spotting! Check out the colour of that water!

One of Stone Towns thousands of amazingly carved doors!

Jay Says: After our thought provoking but draining experience in Rwanda and our beautiful but tiring hikes through the Usumbaras (as well as six months of very hard work at the orphanage) we deserved some good R&R time!

So after arriving in Dar we caught the ferry across the choppy waters for 9 days in Zanzibar. Arriving in Stone Town is like stepping into another world. Stone Town is an exotic, rambling and beautiful town full of narrow winding streets, grand architecture, amazingly carved wooden doors and a mix of African, Arabian and Indian culture - all set on the shores of a turquoise Indian Ocean.

Getting lost amongst the maize of winding streets of prayer rooms, carts of coconuts and mangos and smells of spices in obligatory and whilst tourism has hit many parts in quite a big way it still keeps in charm
Tourism has also skyrocketd prices - but we still found a nice little guest house tucked away near a local restaurant selling freshly caught muscles and claims in coconut sauce, or spicy beef curry for 1500 TSH (or 60p) - whilst the posh restaurants nearby were selling the same dishes for 10,000TSH.

After a couple of days in Stone Town we headed up to the North coast for some beach action. We stayed for six days at Kendwa's long idyllic beach of pure white sand and even purer warm turquoise sea. Ahh..pure bliss.

After a couple of nights at 'Kendwa Rocks (named after the coral rocks not its bar!) we walked along the beach to a local guesthouse we had spotted and got ourselves a room with a sea view right on the sand! We shared our guesthouse with some really nice folks - a few brits, three Israelis and a Canadian. That night saw Kendwa Rocks host its renound full moon party. Whilst the party itself turned out to be not that great (consisting only of a crappy DJ and not much else) our guest house out on the best pre full moon party-party. Home made cocktails from local gin and sugar cane spirit - all served in our fellow Canadian's somewhat infamous blue bucket!

The beach was beautiful and the sun was scorching - we had a great time relaxing by the water, enjoying our budget breaking suppers at candle lit beach restaurants or reading books lying in palm shaded hammocks!

We finished the week with a superb snorkeling trip out to a nearby reef. And after Charlotte had recovered from her sea sickness we were treated to some amazing under water scenery and marine life - including, excitably, many a character from Finding Nemo (although Crush was no where to be seen)!

All in all a beautiful place and a well deserved rest! And now we head back to our second home of Uganda for the final month of travel!

Until next time..

J & C xx

Treking the Usumbara Mountains

2008-02-19T05:13:00.006Z

Char at the top of the view point - you cant really see from the photo but the view went for miles!

As we neared the top the fog decended! But thanfully lifted soon after

We walked through beautiful lush fertile valleys - not what you expect from Africa

The villagers here made a good living selling there fresh produce all over TZ

Char Says: We left Rwanda on Feb 11th on a Rwandair Express plane bound for Kilimanjaro Airport in Tanzania. We spent the night at budget digs in nearby Moshi but our room still provided views of the grand mountain – not that we realized until we woke the next morning and the clouds had lifted.
A rickety old bus bumped us all the way from Moshi along a very steep mountain road to Lushoto in the Usumbara mountain range. Straight away we booked a three day guided trek, departing the following morning. Shortly into our first day we both felt how unfit we have become after six months of relatively no exercise - other than the odd trip to the well to carry water! But with encouragement from our nice and intelligent young guide, kiki, we fought the pain in our legs and were rewarded with some fantastic views.

The area has a climate unlike the rest of TZ, and as you can see from the photos, this gives the area a beautiful green scenery and provides fertile farming land. The variety of fruit and veg we enjoyed in the mountains was fantastic (making a welcome change) and included crops that we didn’t expect to find in Africa - apples, pears, plums and peaches to name a few!

After a furious morning of trekking - KiKi told us that the Usumbaras are used as training grounds for those wanting to climb Kilimanjaro, on this form we're still a few years off! - We arrived at our second night’s accommodation in time for a late lunch. That night we would stay at a convent. Being the 14th of Feb, it made for a most unconventional Valentine's Day, but the Sisters cooked up a feast for us and it was a lovely peaceful place to stay!

By the third day we were (finally) feeling a little stronger and conversations about Tanzanian politics and other tops of interest with Kiki helped to pass the time as we climbed the slopes. When we reached the peak we were disappointed to find low clouds blocking the view! We were told that on a clear day we could have seen as far as Kenya! By mid afternoon however the clouds had almost lifted and the view was indeed spectacular. Altogther we walked around 35miles over the three days in the mountains, fuelled by a diet of fresh eggs, chapattis and delicious fruit.

We decided to stay in Lushoto for another two nights to rest and relax, although we ended up doing another couple of shorter walks. One of which took us to another convent where the Nuns make and sell homemade Banana wine (yum!), jams and cheese! So you could say we've been eating our way around the Usumbara Mountains!

P.S. KCV update. The kids are still doing very well we hear. The New volunteers are settling in well and we are opening a nursery to the local children of the area within the next weeks. The kids are also getting healthy and healthy. One of our children went to the hospital for her regular monthly check up (as she is HIV poisitiv) top find that she has put on half a stone in just 2 months! Very good news!

PPS Sorry no photos - the computers being rubbish! We'll get them up ASAP!

Oh Rwanda Oh Rwanda!

2008-02-11T13:38:00.000Z

Some of the mass graves at the Kigali Genocie Memorial Centre. They contain 256,000 bodies in total

A few of the names of the dead they actually know

Green, Clean and Organised! Kigali not like any other African Capital!

Char Says: And so our holiday begins and we board a coach to Kigali – the capital of Rwanda. In spite of the poor weather the city is an impressive place with (amazingly) pot-hole free roads, an efficient and safe transport system and is spotlessly clean! Crazy. Something of a contrast to out beloved but crazy Kampala. Having made a last minute (6am on day leaving) decision to leave our tent in Uganda (we'll camp on the Ugandan leg of our travels) we arrived at the 'One Love Project' to find that they no longer offer camping anyway! The little bungalow we were staying in however cost us about 3.15 each per night, including breakfast and a free laundry service - bargain!

'One Love' is an NGO partnership between Japan and Rwanda which provides orthopedic assistance (prosthetic legs, wheelchairs etc) to those made disabled during the genocide. It’s a really cool place and a seriously worthwhile cause (the number of disabled people in Rwanda is shocking). Check out http://www.oneloveproject.org/

Jay and I have been really interested in the history of Rwanda and the genocide for many years now and so naturally we took this opportunity to learn more. Having taken place within our lifetime (1994) and affecting our peers, the genocide seems somehow more relevant to us than other historical tragedies. It came as no surprise then to find that we spent three hours at the memorial centre after being told an average visit takes about one and half hours. The purpose built centre us excellently done and includes sections detailing other genocides the world has witnessed. Outside, the well kept gardens have a number of mass graves which can be visited. The graves contain the bodies of over 256,000 victims of the genocide!

On Thursday we visited the Hotel des Mille Collines which will be familiar name to those who have seen 'Hotel Rwanda'. The film was actually shot in South Africa but the real life events unfolded here. These days however, the place is one of Kigali's top hotels, playing host to East African business people and serving overpriced Cokes to mzungu tourist.

Saturday was a very hard day indeed. We visited two of the churches involved in the mass massacres of the genocide, which are now preserved as they were as memorials. It is very hard for me to describe here what a poignant and chilling sight it is to enter a church where 10,000 innocent people sought refuge but were murdered. Light shines through the bullet holes in the iron roof, blood stains the alter cloth and the bones on display reveal skulls that are shattered and missing chunks through machete blows. Most chilling of all, but not possible to describe, is going down inside a mass grave to see shelves from floor to ceiling 30m long full of skulls and bones. Blogs can’t do it justice, but its something neither of us will quickly forger! It is hard to believe such a massacre could happen here just 15 years ago and that the West just sat back and watched the tragedy unfold!

As if we had not had enough, that evening we returned to the Memorial in Kigali for a talk from a 'survivor'. A fresh faced twenty something told us of the killings of his father and brother and how he spent over a month living in a church - believing everyday would be his last. The speech was followed by the film ' Sometimes in April', a gruesome, by realistic, story of one Rwandan family.

After all we have learned of the genocide, it seems quite unbelievable to see how the country has rebuilt itself. It now is a welcoming, attractive country that is trying to reach its full potential. The politicians talk of harmony and truly seem to fight corruption and plan for a prosperous future for all. Rwanda looks and feels like a great place to live. The people pf Rwanda are unbelievably resourceful and there is very little evidence of its troubled past! And so we really do applaud them!

We now find start a less emotionally draining leg of of trip. We are today in Moshi in northern Tanzania, heading tomorrow to climb the Usumbara mountains... more soon!

Goodbye Kiyumbakimu (of sorts)

2008-02-05T18:01:00.000Z

Evaluation Camp in Kampala with the other VolunteersThe Holy Stone! OOooo Check out the balancing rock!
'African Technology' Digging a Bore Hole by Hand! Crazy Fools! This is only 20m of what will be a 100m hole!
Playing around with the kids on the last few days! They have all got this obession with trying to pick us up!
Sseguya & Jay planted our first Matooke (banana) Plantation!
Last Lunch. Goodbye lunch with Sseguya and Mona at the local Pork Joint.. Mind the food posioning!

Jay & Char Say: So it’s over! We have now left Kiyumbakimu Children’s Village after six months and are about to start off on our travels.

Since New Year we haven’t seen too much excitement - just getting on with the usual business of running the orphanage and playing with the children. There has, of course, been lots of loose ends to tie up, projects to finish and things to get rolling. We have been handing over lots of things to the other volunteers Mona and Anna, who will continue to look after the project for the next six months. They will also be joined by a new volunteer, also from the UK, within the next three weeks. She’ll be staying for a year, ensuring continuity for the place. Our good friend Grace has been volunteering in Kampala for the last six months at a mentoring and human development organisation but wants to experience the ‘village life’ (!) so is also coming to help out for a month or so, and she’s a trained social worker – very useful!!

Work on the website is still continuing slowly as we keep getting messed around by the hosting company; a child sponsorship scheme with ten families is nearly finialised and an interview for a project manager fell through after the candidate wanted three times the salary we were offering! One of the few major new developments is that the contact in Italy who is helping us with the child sponsorship has also raised some money to pay for us to have our own bore hole at the orphanage. This is great news as we currently spend a lot of money paying for water collection from the well. The well for our community is very hard to access and causes many problems. Therefore a new bore will solve our problems, but we will also have the well open to the community at certain times, helping them also. The 100m hole is being dug completely by hand! Crazy – ‘that’s African technology’ as our boss said – but its very impressive – they’ve dug 35m down in two weeks already!

As our leaving date fast approached we realised that we had not visited the one ‘tourist attraction’ near our village – so an hour and half walk later Mona, Ssekulima and us got to ‘the holy stone’ – a big stone balancing on another big stone! Holy because it’s a traditional ancestral religion site. Doesn’t sound that great, but its pretty impressive and has some beautiful views. Also Ssekulima climbed a tree on the way and got us a bag load of free mangos on the way! Sorted.

Our last few days were spent saying goodbye to various people and as a result eating good food (and some not so good..! see below!). It was strange as it was goodbye but not really as after our travels we are coming back for a final week of real goodbyes. We had two mini parties – one with the children and all at the orphanage, where we bought a chicken and some pork (from a supposedly Muslim butcher!). That was really nice, but got a bit emotional, and it finally hit home to the kids that we would actually soon be going and not coming back! That was hard for them and us - as we’ve been through a lot together – from living in terrible conditions to coming to us for school and now living with us for the last few months. We also had a small party at the house of our boss’ family, where we stayed for the first three months. It was also Mona’s birthday so double celebrations. All was good fun, but that was a real goodbye to a couple of the kids as when we come back they will be away at boarding school. They’ve been great fun and good friends since we’ve been here, so was sad to say goodbye. And finally we had our last lunch at the brand new ‘restaurant’ in our village. The new Pork Joint (basically a room in someone’s house) was where we said farewell to Sseguya, our legend of a best friend.

So then after our sad semi-goodbyes we headed to Kampala for evaluation camp with all the other volunteers from around UG – our time has been a real mix of highs and lows and we obviously had some critical words to say (mostly about lack of management) but also many positives.

Unfortunately on Saturday night Charlotte became really sick and was up all night. We headed to the mzungu doctors on Sunday and after being charged an exorbitant price he thankfully told us that it wasn’t malaria – but very bad food poisoning! She has been pretty sick the last few days and laid up in bed. We have therefore had to delay our start to the holiday, but only by one day. Not the best timing – and that good food clearly wasn’t all that good.

So now we’re off. Leaving all our worries behind! As we said, it was sad saying goodbye, but we are coming back and really we’ll never be able to leave the place properly behind. Its made too much of an impression on us. We’ll always be staying very much in touch, especially considering how attached we’ve become to the kids and we know we’ll be back here as soon as we can afford! The last six months has been an incredible experience and something we will never EVER forget. Whilst it has definitely been the hardest thing either of us have ever done we have not regretted it for one second and, being cheesy, made us learn so much about so many things! Its been one hell of a six months! Thanks to everyone who has stayed in contact and kept us involved with life in the UK – its meant a lot!

So now here’s to beaches and mountains and hours squashed in small sweaty minibuses! Bring it on!
Take care, and see you all fairly soon,
C & J xx

p.s. we’ll try and blog as much as we can when traveling but we don’t know how much we’ll be able / how much we’ll be arsed! J love you all x

p.p.s. we both have new mobile numbers, drop us an email if you haven’t got them yet.

Christmas and New Year

2008-01-16T06:42:00.000Z

Yummy! Good old santa even found us in Uganda!

Ddamba lovin' his new bag and hat on Christmas Morning!Jackie looking smart in her new clothes!

Dancing around with the kids and their new presents

Sarah & Scovia opening presents!

Us with the kids on Christmas Day

The view from our tent over the Nile - where we stayed for New Years Eve

Sunset over the Nile, at the bar

Hendrick, Mona, Char & Jay in the bar on New Years Eve..still relatively sobar..!

Things got a bit lively in the bar...

Jay (and backpackers freind Owen) managed to end up in the swimming pool of the posh hotel next door by midnight..Charlottes photography skills weren't quite so sharp at this point.

The View over the Nile during the day

Jay Says: Firstly Happy 2008. We hope you had a good Christmas and New Year. Ours was certainly different from the norm but fun all the same.

In the build up to Christmas we knew a fair few packages and Christmas cards were on their way, however by 20^th we still hadn’t received any, so we were getting a bit worried. Thankfully a BIG batch of letters and packages arrived on the 21^st, just in time! We were very restrained and held back on opening the packages, although we did open one, containing Christmas Decorations (thanks Nige). Having those up and a pile of presents under the bed finally made it feel Christmasy! And so, true to herself, Charlotte woke up at 7am on Christmas day, very excited to open her presents. We must say a big thanks to everyone who sent things. I know we’ve only had about half of the packages yet, so if we haven’t sent thanks it might be coz its yet to arrive but thanks to one and all. Our chocoholic nature clearly got through to you all, as you can see from the photos. I don’t think we’ve ever had so much chocolate in our lives! Brilliant!

Anyway the rest of Christmas day was really all about the kids. This was obviously the first Christmas any of them had been treated or received gifts. Thanks to Mona’s mum, who had visited a few weeks earlier, all the kids had presents, which when received caused huge amounts of excited – we couldn’t stop some of them dancing around all morning. It was really great! We’d also gone out and got everyone soda (coke, fanta etc) and Sseguya and I had spent a good 3 hours walking around a few days earlier trying to find the last remaining chickens in the area that we could buy and kill for Christmas! Thankfully we got 3 so we all had a great feast before heading off to watch the football team associated to the project whoop the ass of a big team that had come all the way from Kampala. We had also been sent a few DVDs in the post so the kids watched Back to the Future in amazement(!!) whilst in the evening Charlotte and I treated ourselves to our first bottle of wine in 5 months whilst watching ‘Shaun of the Dead’ – pure bliss!

As we ‘worked’ over Christmas we got New Year off. Charlotte and I and Mona met up with another volunteer, Hendrick, and headed off to Jinja. On route we of course stopped at our usual haunt of Backpackers in Kampala, where the staff and other regulars now know us all a little too well! We also discovered the delights of schardenfreude, visiting the Casino to take advantage of the free drinks and food they ply you with in an attempt to get you to gamble. I managed to spend a whole £5 whilst receiving large amounts of Baileys, White Russians, Beers and a chicken sandwich in return!

Anyway we then headed up to a camp site overlooking the beautiful Bugajali Falls – the start of the rapids on the Nile. The camp site is the centre of all adrenaline activities in Uganda, where all the rafters and Kayakers come from around the world, as well as lots of young cool things like us(!). We had been informed New Years there was the “Biggest Party in East Africa”. This was clearly a lie, but it definitely kicked off and was very raucous and very fun. Some people had a little too much fun, but that’s all I’ll say to save embarrassment for certain people (*cough* charlotte *cough*)!

We stayed there for a few days to chill out (or perhaps recover is a better word) and swim in the Nile. That’s when the whole Kenyan crisis really got big. There were a couple of big tourist trucks there, whose next stop was meant to be Nairobi. Needless to say there were lots of worried people but they managed to find alternative routes. We heard some bad stories though from a guy who showed up, having fled from Elderat, the centre of the troubles.

The crisis thankfully hasn’t affected us too much as yet. Our biggest problem however is that all of Uganda’s fuel and many of its other imports come through Kenya. Therefore there is a fuel crisis here at the moment, with transport prices doubling. Hopefully this is easing as more and more tankers start getting through but we’ll have to keep close tabs on it as we were planning on getting a bus through Nairobi to get to Dar Es Salam in two months time.

Anyway after that, we headed back to Kampala to spend a couple of days with Angie (she’ll love the personal mention I’m sure) – a Ugandan colleague and good friend of Char from Hampshire County Council. Angela is back in Uganda for Christmas so we met up and visited some nice places on the petrol she had finally managed to locate and buy at over £2.30/litre! We visited the main CHOGM hotel to see what the presidents were treated to back in November. It’s a pretty special place with a huge horse stables, Olympic swimming pool and a very plush grounds and interior. One of the only advantages of being white in Uganda is that you can walk around anywhere without getting questioned- needless to say, we had a good old snoop around!

Anyway from that completely different world we’re now back in the ‘reality’ of the village. Shockingly we now only have 3 weeks left at the orphanage before our project ends and our two months of travels begin! The time has gone so quickly, but yet so slowly all the same! We are, however, very much looking forward to our travels. First stop an uplifting, pure fun filled frolic in the genocide memorials of Rwanda J.

But we are actually coming home, as when we were in Kampala we booked our flights home! We managed to change the flights for free as, according to our charity flight tickets, we are ‘missionaries’!! Anyway we leave Uganda on 29th March, staying over in Dubai for a couple of nights en route and landing back down in blightey on 31st March.

So, see you all in April folks!

Hope you had a great Christmas and New Year. Bye for now.

The Wait Is Over...

2007-12-19T12:13:00.000Z

Char & Jay Say: So it may of taken over four months but on Wednesday (12^th) the first ten children finally began living at Kiyumbakimu Children's Village. Some of the building works are not yet finished, and the site isn't quite as pretty as we'd like, but as they say, 'TIA' - That Is Africa...! The last four months of hard graft, frustration and banging our heads against a wall has finally achieved something tangible.

In true Ugandan style they kept us waiting nervously. At 9am we were all ready, egarly awaiting the children's arrival...by 11am, as the rain started to fall, we were wondering what had happened. But then, thankfully, they all started arriving, slowly but surely, carrying their possessions in a small plastic bags – one t-shirt and a pair of shorts – for those who were lucky.

They had seen the place set up a few days before, so knew what to expect, but the excitement was still great; jumping on their beds (the first time any of them have had such a luxury) opening their specail little storage cases, trying on their new clothes and, for the first time, wearing sandals. Seeing ten pairs of brand new, brightly coloured, sandals lined up on the door step was quite a site.

The health difference in some of the children is already apparent. The Mother we have hired is doing a sterling job, making sure they wash and clean their teeth everyday. We've made sure they get fresh fruit twice a day and top it up with Vitamin C tablets. Add to the fact that they now don't have to go out digging all day everyday and can actually have some fun, they are all full of energy.

As a result and with the children being so excitable we've been pretty tired this week. Running around, playing with their new toys and wanting us to join in every minute of the day. We've had no peace, but it's been worth it. The idea to build a small football pitch has definitely paid off as the boys have spent a good 2-3 hours a day playing there – they are football mad! They really are the most adorable and great bunch of kids. We both a little are too attached!

One of our kids- Jacki – as previously mentioned on the blog, was so so quiet after living alone all her life with her very sick alcoholic 85 year old Granddad. The change in her has been immediate. She is becoming full of confidence and playfulness and generally seems much happier.

Last night, after jumping around and being hyper for a good hour, Francis, the most confident & intelligent of all our kids got up in front of all of everyone to tell us a story. Everyone suddenly went quite and listened intently, before three others got up and told traditional stories of their own. Whilst it was all in Luganda, it was brilliant to watch the faces of the other children as they listened and was a real insight into Ugandan traditions. When you've got no toys, no electricity and live in a mud hut, telling stories in how you pass the evening. It's great that even though they now have so many new things and an exciting environment they still are keeping true to their Ugandan culture.

The only down side of all this is that having the children here has really bought home how much work we still have to do to try and get this place sustainable and professional before we leave – in less than two months! Its pretty stressful to say the least. But we can only try our best. And having the kids here is what it's all about!

Crocs & Craic

2007-12-10T12:39:00.000Z

Jay Says: So something a little less cynical this time..
Last week saw us have a well deserved half week off and our second mzungu style adventure. One of the good things about the charity we came to Uganda with is it is part of an exchange. And so back in July before we left England we met Bosco, a Ugandan volunteering in the UK with ICYE. He was, and is, a legend – really friendly and an all round top bloke. Upon coming to Uganda we met up with him a couple of times, once taking us to his house and cooking up the best Ugandan food we have had! Anyhow Bosco has a great job – he's a Safari Tour Guide, driving clients to all the National Parks and going on game drives etc. We therefore asked if he could sort a trip out for Char, I and some of our fellow volunteers. He of course came up trumps and got us an amazing deal.

Now Safaris in Uganda aren't quite the same as those in Tanzania or Kenya; during Amin's era all the animals were slaughtered and the parks have only just started recovering recently, so there's not the same abundance of animals as in KY and TZ, however the parks are still pretty special and whereas a Safari in TZ can easily set you back $2000 we paid nothing near that. So last Wednesday Charlotte, I and 6 of our good friends headed off to Murchison Falls National Park.

Murchison Falls is the worlds most powerful waterfall and its pretty special. After an 8 hour drive we got there and straight away trekked (well strolled) up to the top of the falls for some great views over the Nile before heading to the falls itself. Now this being Uganda Health & Safety rules ain't so stringent! It may be the most powerful waterfall in the world but there's nothing stopping you getting right up to it – and of course getting very wet in the process. It was amazing – the photos don't really do it justice, the power of the thing is immense!

Anyhow the next day we got up early and headed off for a game drive. Which was brilliant. Buffalo, Kobs, Antelope, Elephants and literally hundreds of Giraffe – right next to the vehicle. The only disappointment being the lions were hiding that day and despite a fair amount of searching they were no where to be seen. But it was brilliant all the same. We followed with a boat trip up the Nile passing Elephants, hundreds of Hippos and some rather large Crocs! Yikes! Our final day was spent trekking Chimpanzees in the forest. After a an hour or so we were watching our close cousins coming down from the trees to the ground about 15 meters from us – pretty special. All round a great trip – we all had lots of fun!

On our return to Kampala we spent the day hanging out together and staying at Backpackers – our favorite Kampala hostel – as we always stay there they now know us all by name..oh dear! Anyhow Saturday night was spent at a posh Thai restaurant sneaking a little too much Wargari (very cheap & lethal Ugandan gin bought earlier at the supermarket) into our cokes under the table (so much fun being a 16 year old again!) before heading to Bubbles O'Leary's - a grand Irish bar where we danced away into the wee hours, having our first night of drunken fun in four months – brilliant!

But yes a thoroughly good week. We've come back right into the thick of it at the project though – the kids are moving in on the 12th!! Surprise, surprise all the building works won't be finished, but it will still be a brilliant place for them; with a really great environment as well as so many treats and nice things like clothes and toys – all thanks to kind donations! So we've been rushing around trying to get it all finished and looking pretty this week. Also before we left for Safari we submitted our big strategy review to the charity's board – and it went down really well and they were very supportive, which was very encouraging. We've also just hired a mother for the children – we think she should be really good, having worked in an orphanage before, done AIDS awareness teaching and can even speak fluent English! We've also finally got an on site project manager – albeit temporary – but its still great progress!

But yes Wednesday is the big day when all our waiting comes to an end and the kids finally move in. We might be stressed about all the work we have to do before then but we are also very excited, to see our work pay off! Wish us luck!

I hope you are all having a good festive period and enjoying the cold. The rainy season has now ended here so we're back to constant sunshine..surprisingly enough we're missing the cold, as well as all the festive cheer or should I say festive beer!

We've now been away for 4 months – doesn't time fly! Hope you're all well, take care

Bye xx

Are you ready for CHOGM?

2007-11-22T11:29:00.000Z

Jay Says: A little different type of blog for you this week, all due to ‘major’ events happening over here in UG. Sorry if it’s a bit cynical..i am still a bit ecited to see all the special issues of the newspapers and photos...

This week finally sees Uganda hosting the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting - more commonly know as CHOGM. Basically every two years the head of government of the Commonwealth countries, along with the Queen, get together for a bit of a meaningless meeting to discuss all things of common interest to the Commonwealth. Excuse my cynicism but with the commonwealth being a miss-mash of very poor old African colonies, Caribbean tourist islands and Australia and NZ there isn’t huge amounts of common ground as far as I can see.

Anyhow Uganda was chosen to host the 2007 meeting and for them it’s a very big deal. The Queen, 50 odd heads of state and 5,000 delegates means potential for a lot of money to be pumped into the economy. And whilst the meeting is unlikely to attract huge amounts of media interest Uganda will get far more positive press coverage than usual. Something vitally needed for the post Admin tourist industry.

So far, so good…but now for the bad news. The government, and our good friend Mr President of 27years-I’m-going-to-change-the-constitution-so-I-can-stay-for-as-long-as-I-want-and no-ones-going-to-stop-me-as-we’ve-just-found-Oil-in-Uganda-so-suddenly-get-a-random-invite-to-and-pat-on-the-back-from-the-white-house-Museveni, and his chums seem to have blown the meeting’s significance out of all proportion. For the last three months the papers and radio stations have been filled with talk of CHOGM. You cant go anywhere in Kampala without huge billboards proclaiming ‘Lets Embrace CHOGM, Lets Embrace the World’ and ‘Ugandan is Ready for CHOGM, Are You?’. This has led to the now infamous ‘Are you ready for CHOGM?’ greeting.

But that’s the problem, whilst its happening this weekend, last I saw of Kampala a few weeks ago it was far from ready...and everyone knows it – bar the politicians who continually insist all will be fine. Pot holes still line the roads of the capital, hotels are half finished and exactly how the queen is going to navigate Kampala gridlock has yet to be worked out.

The biggest concern however is the amount of money the government has invested for a meeting lasting just 3 days. Billions of Shillings have been spent on improving dozens of hotels (far more than will be needed for the meetings themselves), roads have been re-laid, rubbish trucks have been bought, and then bought again as the original order wouldn’t of been ready in time, armies of workers have been hired to clean streets, and re-paint buildings and roads, hoteliers and chefs have been sent on training courses in Nairobi and, best of all, all the leading politicians of Uganda have been bought Blackberrys to use during the meetings. The fact mobile signal will be blocked off during the meeting as a security measure against terrorism clearly evaded the government official responsible for that idea.

A school in central Kampala has been demolished to build a hotel, only for the investor to pull out, leaving a building site. The road from the Airport to the capital has been ‘beautified’ – also know as forcefully removing the hundreds of people who lived there, demolishing their iron sheet houses and stalls and leaving them no where to go - but planting nice trees and grass instead, just so the Queen doesn’t see the real Uganda, the real poverty, on her way from the airport.

Hotels have been given 30 year tax holidays to encourage investment and upgrading, Uganda now has far more 5 and 4* hotels than they will ever fill. But it doesn’t matter to the hoteliers, as they’ve imported TVs, Beds, Telephones and Bottles of Alcohol, all tax free, in their thousands, when only needing hundreds for the actual hotel. There’s a saying that it doesn’t matter if these hotels lie empty, the investors have made enough money selling tax free imports on the markets that they can go on holiday for ten years.

And all for a 3 day meeting.

CHOGM could have been great news for Uganda. But, in my opinion, and that of many intelligent Ugandans, the government has exaggerated the benefits (often because they are the ones gaining from those tax free sales) and spent huge sums of money that could of been invested in health care, infrastructure and education – providing much better long term returns for the country.

And if your not living in Kampala, what does it mean to you? It means Primary Education is still not wholly free, as schools still demand money for upkeep and maintance while the government proclaims internationally that it has Universal Primary Education. Someone needs shaking, a that someone always seems to be wearing a hat.

Anyway sorry for the cycncism. As i say it is a good thing for Uganda and quite an exciting time - just such a shame that it could of been so much more.

Please keep an eye out for CHOGM in the media, i'd love to know how much coverage we get over there in England

Rant Over

Another Photoscape For Your Pleasure

2007-11-10T09:21:00.000Z

So our Holiday: Two and half days were spent at the 'Hairy Lemon'. Random name but a beautiful island on the middle of the Nile where you can swim, eat lush food and do not much else! Brilliant!

Char playing about in the Nile

Jay washing his clothes in the Nile - he's a true African now - never mind the t shirt sun tan. oh dear

Then we went back to Kampala to meet some freinds, including Ally (candada), Grace (UK) and Ronald (Uganda). We went for a GORGOEUS Ethopian meal! Yum...

With the best coffee i have ever had - literally roasted in front of me!

This week, exactly half way through our volunteering, we finally moved from our host family to the project. Here's the home we left behind...

The pigs named Jonathan (L) and Charlotte (R) we left behind

OUr bed was out on the back of a boda boda and taken the 10 mins up the hill. Those things carry anythig from beds, to tables to coffins..!

Char gave Enoke, one of our host brothers, a quick goodbye song on her guitar!

And we're in the new place! Jay had promised Sseguya (one of the workers at the prject) the day we moved in he would buy him a chicken - this was because Sseguya is Charlotte's 'Sister' and so Jay being his brother-in-law its tradition to compensate for the loss of a sister (loss via marriage that is) through buying a chicken! Anyway it meant we eat well on our first night at Kiyumbakimu

And here's our plush new room with the Ugandan flag flying over head, and check out the well made bed, you can tell Char's been around!
And our plush new living room with sofa and floors and everything

We're making a Kiyumbakimu Christmas Card - more details to follow soon - hold off buying your cards just yet - but we took some photos of the kids to aid this. Heres just a couple.

A Well Deserved Break

2007-11-03T07:28:00.001Z

Char says: After three hectic months we decided to use some of our four weeks holiday – we needed it! Last Saturday, after a brief shopping trip for the project in Masaka, we set off to Kampala. Unsure exactly what to do (especially because it is supposed to be the rainy season) we decided to just ‘go with the flow’.

On Sunday we met up with fellow volunteers who live in Kampala, Grace (UK) and Ally (Canada). Ally had made a discovery in the area of Kampala she lives – a place called the American Recreation Association. The place is like a white-person’s hidden haven in the city. It felt a little colonial but sometimes we do needed to accept that we are in fact westerners and need a little luxury! So we spent the day swimming in the pool and drinking tea. In the evening there was a free movie on a big screen – it wasn’t such a good film but it was still a lovely relaxing day.

We spent Monday exploring Kampala at a relaxed pace which we usually don’t have time to indulge. I found that I like the city much better when we are not in such a rush and visiting places to please other people accompanying us. It is still the most busy city I have ever visited but on Monday I found a new appreciation for it! That evening we met up with Ally and Grace again. First we had supper at Kampala’s very own Irish pub – Bubbles O’Leary- a rather delicious Irish stew! After that we headed to the National Theatre which plays host to a musician’s Jam Session every Monday evening. It took a couple of hours to warm up, but soon we were hearing some of the finest young musicians in Uganda. A rather unexpected treat came when it was announced that Jose Chameleon was going to perform. Chameleon is pretty much the biggest popular musician Uganda has ever produced and so it was a major treat to see him perform up-close, for free!

Tuesday saw us visit Entebbe for the night. Although we didn’t get to spend much time in the town, it seems like a really super urban centre – very clean and organized. We spent the day at the beach – totally relaxing before heading back to a rather quirky backpackers hostel in what seems like a very smart and affluent area of the country.

On Wednesday we made the long and interesting trip (waiting an hour to leave, getting another minibus with 24 people rather than the 14 that it can officially fit and taking a 25 min bodaboda down roads where the driver didn’t know where he was going) to a place called Hairy Lemon near Jinja. The place is simply an island retreat in the middle of the Nile and it took seven hours to reach but upon setting foot in the island, we knew instantly the long journey had been worthwhile. The setting is stunning, the food was delicious and it was the perfect way to relax. We spent two nights there, swimming and bathing in the Nile, reading, sleeping, playing cards, eating and drinking beer. Exactly what we needed!

So now we are back in Kampala and met the guys again last night for a meal at a delicious Ethiopian restaurant. The food was outstanding and the coffee was roasted in front of you literally seconds before it was served to you. The freshest and most delicious coffee any of us had every drunk. We have to head back to the village today which is going to be quite hard after having such a lovely holiday. But we should be able to move in to Kiyumbakimu this week! Watch this space…

Photos to follow when we get to a decent internet café where the USB ports actually work!

Blog Interruption: STOP EPAs

2007-10-27T19:50:00.000+01:00

Blog interruption. Political Broadcast Time:

Since 2002 the European Union (EU) and countries of the Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific Group (ACP) have been negotiating Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) as part of the Cotonou Agreement. EPAs aim to establish "new WTO compatible trading arrangements removing progressively barriers of trade between EU and ACP countries" which would build on "the regional integration initiatives of ACP states" and promote "sustainable development and contribute to poverty eradication in the ACP countries ". EPAs as they are currently being set up and negotiated are essentially Free Trade Agreements. Consistently, the EU has insisted that EPAs be based on a tight interpretation of WTO rules aiming for the elimination of all trade barriers on more than 90% of EU-ACP trade, within the shortest possible transitional time period.

In addition the EU is demanding negotiations in the field of investment, competition, trade facilitation, government procurement, data protection and services. Negotiations of the first four of these issues were rejected by ACP countries in the WTO because of their negative implications for development. Under the guise of a 'development partnership' the EU is re-introducing its WTO free trade agenda through EPAs. Despite a great deal of reluctance from ACP countries, the European Commission has put heavy economic and political pressure to rush into the EPA free trade negotiations without sufficient preparation. Those voices in Europe and the ACP urging the Commission to look for other options were ignored.

As a result of heavy dependence on aid, ACP governments have little choice but to give in to the EU's demand that they open up their markets to European goods and services. The overwhelming emphasis on liberalisation in the EPA negotiations proves that these negotiations are about expanding Europe's access to ACP markets, rather than about ACP countries' development. Regional integration efforts are central to ACP countries' development strategies. EPAs will endanger the fragile processes of regional integration and expose ACP producers to unfair European competition in domestic and regional markets.

The result will be deeper unemployment, loss of livelihoods, food insecurity and social inequality. ACP governments will face significant losses in public revenue from the elimination of import duties and will continue to suffer the problem of capital flight associated with liberalisation. While the European Commission argues that EPAs are 'instruments for development' all assessments so far indicate that the burden of adjustment for EPAs will be carried exclusively by the ACP countries, including those that are LDCs. The EU has narrowed down the Cotonou objectives of poverty eradication and sustainable development to a self-serving trade and investment liberalisation agenda. EPAs will increase the domination and concentration of European firms, goods and services. As such, EPAs will deepen - and prolong - the socio-economic decline and political fragility that characterises most ACP countries. EPAs based on reciprocal trade agreements do not make sense economically, or developmentally for ACP countries. Therefore, we reject these "Economic Partnership Agreements" as currently envisaged. We call for an overhaul and review of the EU's neo-liberal external trade policy, particularly with respect to developing countries. We demand that EU-ACP trade cooperation should be founded on an approach that is:

based on a principle of non-reciprocity, as instituted in GSPs and special and differential treatment in the WTO
protects ACP producers domestic and regional markets.
reverses the pressure for trade and investment liberalisation
allows the necessary policy space and supports ACP countries to pursue their own development strategies.

5* Orphanages & 5* Rapids

2007-10-13T15:18:00.000+01:00

Jay Says: Its been a quite eventful week or so, and you know I’m not very good at keeping things short and sweet, but I’ll try, as much as possible.

With lots happening at the orphanage, buildings works wise (albeit slightly slower than we would like), we thought it would be a good idea to visit some larger and more established orphanages. So last Thursday Char, Mona, Anna and I headed up to Kampala, the capital, to visit a couple of Children’s Villages just out of the city. This was literally quite a jaw dropping experience.

These places were simply amazing! Its hard to describe. Superb quality houses, all with furnished bedrooms, lounge/dinning rooms, real kitchens and ovens (most kitchens in Uganda are cook houses – small outside buildings where you cook on wood fires) running water, electricity, hot showers and proper toilets! The problem was that maybe they were too good. Most Ugandan adults will not be able to achieve this standard of living. So how are the children going to survive when they leave and go into the real world of pit toilets, water wells and iron sheeted houses – one even had separate staff to wash and iron the clothes for them. These kids are going to leave with excellent educations (they sponsor them right up until the end of University!!) but even so they still won’t have an environment like this as it is not really the real Uganda. But still they are getting an amazing start in life, so you can’t criticise too much. And despite the problems we recognised, the set up was brilliant – it was a real village. 10 children, deliberately of different ages and sexes, lived together in their own house as if a real family – as brothers and sisters. And each family had a Mother, who lived with them 24/7 caring for them as if they were her own, as well as doing the cooking, cleaning etc. All the families had an Aunty as well, just in case the mother left. At one of the orphanages the mothers had to commit to a minimum of 15 years and go on a training course in Nairobi for SIX months before starting! Amazing! This was obviously an international charity, and very different from what we’re aiming for, or could achieve in the rural village, but still it gave us lots of food for thought.

As such we have come back and have re-focused our attention and efforts on long term planning for the orphanage. Anna and I are going to stop doing as much teaching when the children move in. Instead we’re going to focus on putting together a detailed long term plan for the orphanage, how we think it should be set up and run as well as doing lots of fundraising! In a couple of weeks we’re then going to do a presentation to the Charity’s board and hopefully they will agree with us! All very exciting, and a brilliant opportunity to make a real difference beyond our six months here!

Anyway, now for the fun stuff! We thought if we were going to Kampala we might as well stay the whole weekend. We stayed in Backpackers- the main accommodation for gap year types in UG. It was the first time I’ve been in the majority as a white person since arriving. It was quite unsettling and very surreal at first! Everything was just so western. But after a while it made a welcome change and the cooked breakfast, free pool table and hot showers were amazing! We also had arranged for a couple of other ICYE volunteers to come and stay there, including, for the first time, Grace from the UK, who arrived a few weeks after us. So that was really nice. We also had a curry in a restaurant full of Indians - so you know it was good!

Anyway upon arriving at Backpackers there was a sign for white water rafting and on a rather spur of the moment thing we decided we’d go on Saturday. The rafting in Ugandan is at the source of the river Nile! And if that wasn’t cool enough it is basically the best place in the world to go! So with nervous excitement five of us headed out early on Saturday morning to Jinga, the source of the Nile (other than me it was all girls coz the two other boys were too scared!).

It was bloody amazing! Rapids are classed between 1 and 7. With 6 and 7 being pretty much death wishes if you’re on a raft. Only professional kayakers could do 6 and 7 is all round no go. But on the Nile you go over four Class 5’s and a handful of Class 4’s and 3’s. Class 5’s are mental! With four meter plus waves coming at you from all sides and sheers drops of about the same! We actually missed one class five, but still was awesome. We only flipped the boat once – on a class four, and were one of only two boats (out of 8) not to flip on one of the most insane Class 5’s! Luckily I was sat at the front so I got the best view as we went over the sheers drops and got smacked by the waves! When the waters were quiet we also jumped out and swam and floated along the Nile. An incredible, if not surreal experience. Anyway we were on the water from 11 to 6 and that was pretty much the best 50 quid I’ve ever spent. Oh yes and it was all very very safe and very well organised Mum and Dad, don’t worry!

Anyway, I was very good and wore lots of sun cream, expect on my knees – none of us thought of that, and more to the point no one told us to! So the next day, after being on the water so long, we all had very bad sun burn there. My knees are now covered in blisters and walking is quite painful! So Char and I have been lying in bed the last two days – but we’re fine - we’ve been to visit the local clinic (run by Irish Nuns!) and got some drugs, and are quickly on the mend!

So on Sunday we were heading towards the taxi parks to leave Kampala when the rains that have been expected for so long finally came! That was some serious rain! Like nothing I’ve seen before. Within minutes we were wading through ankle deep water and Mona, who didn’t have a rain coat, was soaked to the bone. After taking refuge under a market tarpaulin and then in a shopping centre for about 3 hours we decided we better wait till tomorrow to get home, considering the now massive traffic jam and river for a road! At this point Camilla, another volunteer with us felt somebody go in her bag. Turning around and saying ‘Oi what are you doing’ caused about five men standing next to us to grab the guy, throw him to the street and search him for anything he’d taken, while a couple of others took Camilla to the side to check she was ok. Now mob culture isn’t great, but they weren’t really violent so it was quite amusing. People genuinely cared and hated people stealing. If you accused someone of stealing something on the Tube every would just hide behind their Standard and not get involved, let alone tackle the guy and check you were OK! Its why Kampala is one of the safest capitals in Africa.

And finally (sorry we’re nearly at the end), the rain coming brought with it the ants. Not small ants, but big ones with wings! Anyway they are somewhat of a seasonal delicacy at this time of year, so we have now tried fried ants for breakfast! Yum… well I’m not so keen, but Char doesn’t mind. They don’t taste bad, they’re just a bit too squishy for me! (Note from Char: They taste kind of like sea food but they look really awful!) Next month is grasshopper season – but these apparently are actually meant to be very nice – I’m told they taste like prawns! I wait with baited breath!

That’s all for now,
Hope everyone’s well and those who have just started Masters are enjoying reliving being 18!

Lots of love as always!
J & C x

What A Difference A Dollar Makes

2007-09-29T09:21:00.000+01:00

The (now) four volunteers and the first 10 gorgeous children we are currently teaching and soon to be living with!!

WINDOWS AND DOORS! We have waited a LONG time for these. The set nearest is what will be our bedroom!

Mona and Jay painting the inside of one of the two classrooms!

New Roof!! On the Kitchen and Dinning Building! !

Jay Says: Firstly, if anyone has seen the news about major floods in Uganda, don’t worry. That’s only in the far far north. Down here in the South it hasn’t rained for over two weeks – which is bad news! This is meant to be the rainy season and everyone is planting crops in anticipation of the rain… so if it doesn’t rain soon the crops will fail. This is insane. People dying from floods in the north of one (small) country while a lack of rain is causing concern down south! More evidence of Climate Change having the biggest impact on those who contribute the least! www.stopclimatechaos.org/ Political rant over (you’ve missed them I know).

So, the blog:
Busy busy busy. We weren’t sure it would ever happen but the project has really kicked off over the last couple of weeks. As I mentioned before we were lucky enough to get a large donation from Micro Drainage in UK. Getting money into Uganda however is not as easy as it should be so its taken about four weeks for the money to come through! While we were waiting for this, rather than twiddling our thumbs we’ve been busy planning and using the Dando-Binns organisational brilliance to set targets, plan work schedules and decide how best to use the funds to ensure things would go as fast as possible. And its paid off, our manager has really taken on board everything we’ve said. The money came through last weekend so Saturday (22nd) was spent shopping, shopping, shopping; buying cement, sand, mattresses, plates, books, pencils, paint, ordering blackboards, hiring labours to plaster and put a roof on one of the buildings. Something we have been waiting a very long time for!

With all this work now being done we are hopeful that we and the children will be able to move in within a couple of weeks! We’ve been busy designing school logos, motos and uniform this week as well, all very exciting.

For the last two weeks the initial 10 children who will be living at the orphanage have been coming to the centre for lessons and porridge (maize flour mixed with sugar and hot water - a luxury for these kids) for a couple of hours everyday. The first week was quite hard, as literally all we had was an empty room and a ball. But we managed to make some pretty good educational games and work out the different abilities of the children. This last week has been a lot easier since we’ve bought materials, pens, pencils, textbooks etc. So we’re now going to make sure these guys have far and away the best possible start in life.

As the Children will be moving in soon we have been visiting where they are currently living in order to understand a bit more about their background, health and family situation etc. Just like when we did a similar exercise during our first weeks, this has been a really humbling experience. All of our 10 children live in real abject poverty, with relatives or extended family who can’t afford to look after them, let alone pay school fees. One for example is Jackline who is ten years old and lives with just her 85 year old alcoholic granddad. Her grandfather is sick and soon won’t be around, and as they are refugees from Rwanda they have no other relatives in the country. Francis’ mother has a mental health problem and his father has just been diagnosed with TB. They sold their home to try and find a cure for the mother and now live in a mud hut on rented land. God only knows what will happen to his six younger siblings when his father’s illness soon kills him.

And yet while these families have nothing, we have been given two (live) chickens, 10 eggs and about 10 avocados to say thank-you for looking after the children! We have been assured there is much more of the same to follow! I am therefore now adept at carrying live chickens! We also had the freshest chicken stew you’ll ever have. After watching it be slaughtered, I helped pluck the chicken (which was a bit freaky as it was still warm and legs would occasionally kick!) and 40 mins later it was on your plate! But it definitely makes you appreciate what you eat!

Oh and Charlotte and I are just so so cool. I know this because not only has Mona, a volunteer from Germany, come and joined us but now also has Anna, a volunteer from Sweden. So we now have more European volunteers than we do Ugandan staff (one cook & two caretakers/gardeners/handymen)

Others things worth a quick mention, Karaoke came to the village for one night only – but oh no not like England. Karaoke Uganda style is ‘professionals’ miming along to some songs for two hours! And half the village watching while one of the performers decided to pull the white man out of the crowd to dance and grind on the stage! It’s a good job I can truly dance like an African…!! Oh and the gay debate is currently hitting the newspapers big time… Some of the things we are reading are really quite worrying, but there’s nothing much we can do. And finally, we found a brilliant bakery in our nearest city that sells pasties, samoses , buns and pizza! So that’s our Saturday lunch sorted most weeks! Yum!

A Few More Random Photos

2007-09-15T15:25:00.001+01:00

Jay painting away at the orphanage!

Char and Mona start painting the orphanage

Stuart cooking up a treat

Ssekulima making Chapattis - yum!

Jay, Emmanual and Mariam looking cool at Charlottes birthday party!

Birthday Blog!

2007-09-15T14:46:00.000+01:00

The Birthday Table, complete with Cake, Candles and soda

Char says: As many of you will be aware, I became a little bit older yesterday (14th Sept). My Birthday has been a mix of high and lows. The bad news should come first – on the way to Mbarara, the city we visited for my Birthday, I had my mobile phone stolen from my pocket. So if anyone sent me a Birthday text message, I thank you, but I never read it! I felt a little crappy about the situation but looking on the bright side, my wallet, containing lots of cash and my Visa card was also in my pocket and it was much better to have my phone taken than the wallet. I will be up and running again very soon however with a new number.

We had to feed each other the cake - apparently its tradition - i think it was just so they could laugh at us!

On Thursday evening (13th) we had a little party with my family and some friends to celebrate my big day and this was a really nice event. I bought everyone a soda and we made some chapattis. Mama made some fried cassava – which tastes a little like chips if you use your imagination - and they bought some little cakes and some chapatti with eggs! Mona bought me an excellent birthday present of 23 Cadburys chocolate Eclairs each wrapped up with a 200 shilling coin and a piece of paper with ‘Voucher for one Chapatti’ written on it. You kind of have to live out here to understand, but there has never been a volunteer in the history on UVP who hasn’t loved fresh chapatti! It was all very funny and nice and so I would like to share these photos with you xxx

Mona and Me with her very sweet present!

And afterwards we danced away to some great tunes like...Backstreet Boys

The Other Uganda and the Football!

2007-09-12T13:58:00.001+01:00

Us outside the ground

Inside the ground with our fellow volunteers (sorry to Eliane for the flag in front of your face)

Some of the pre match entertainment to get the crowd going! (like they needed an help)

Inside the ground just before kick off - Very VERY mental - but ace!

Jay Says: So this weekend was spent in Kampala, Ugandan’s capital city. Kampala is pretty hectic! Its quite well developed with lots of tall buildings, big banks, fast food restaurants (there’s even a Nando’s) and a thousand internet cafes. Typically though the traffic is pretty much always gridlock!

Before this weekend we hadn’t seen that much of the city though, just the main area, which has a few impressive shops, but not huge amounts to write home about. A lot of what we’d seen was also quite dirty, busy and congested. However this weekend we saw a different side to the city and to Uganda in general. We stayed with Charlotte UK/Ugandan friend (Angie)’s sister and her husband. They are both bankers and work in Kampala. They live in some of the what we discovered were mass, sprawling, green, clean and attractive suburbs, covering the hills surrounding the city. It’s a completely different world from the village life we have been getting used to, and a different Kampala we hadn’t discovered yet. Angie’s family really spoiled us, taking us out to one of the swanky new nightclubs (where the music consists of cheesy 80’s and local music – the local music is clearly superior!), taking us to eat REALLY good roast pork, feeding us lovely breakfasts of omelettes, our first bowls of cereal for 5 weeks and driving us all around the city (as well as insisting on paying for everything)!

It was good to see a successful and rapidly developing side of Uganda. The lives they lead is just like we do in UK (whether that is such a good thing is questionable). They also showed us other areas of Kampala, including a shopping mall that could be out of any European city, with nice clothes shops, a susi bar and a supermarket with shelf after shelf of chocolate and, just as importantly, the first wine section we have seen in Uganda (a purchase was of course obligatory)! It was quite surreal, after being used to our village where 5 cars pass by every hour.

The best part of staying here however was the chat we had with Martin, the sister’s husband. He’s a successful area manager for a Ugandan bank, not the first person I would of thought would give us inspirational ideas on development, but he was. I think it probably deserves a whole other blog, so watch this space.

As we said in our last blog our main reason for going to Kampala was to go to the Uganda vs Niger African Nations Cup qualifier. We knew it was a big game but we didn’t realise was that Uganda hadn’t qualified for the Nations Cup since 1978, and as if they won by 3 goals they would qualify, so it was the biggest game for nearly 30 years! We went to the game with 4 other volunteers and a Ugandan friend. We got to the stadium a full 4 hours before kick off (we were advised to get there very early in order to get in)! After a quick Rolex (a sandwich of two fresh pancakes, fried egg, onions and tomatoes (all for the costly price of 15p) we headed in to find thousands already in there. The party had already started and as the stadium filled to capacity it only got bigger and better – four hours of singing, cheering and flag waving. Its just a shame that they only have one song! The game itself was great, although the quality of the football definitely left something to be desired. And Ugandans have a tradition of throwing water everywhere after every goals – thankfully the sun was shinning so a bit of water didn’t matter! We won 3-1, so everyone was happy, and whiles we weren’t quite sure how much to celebrate as qualification wasn’t guaranteed – it depending on results elsewhere, everyone else seemed more than happy to party! Walking back from the stadium to town was pretty crazy, but just as it would be anywhere after the biggest game in 30 years!

Anyway a good weekend was had, and we’ve read about some really good coffee shops, Indian restaurants and an Italian delicatessen – all our waiting for us on our next visit!

Oh and also, our friend Mona, another ICYE volunteer (from Germany), who was living a couple of villages away has now moved to come and live with us and work at Kiyumbakimu – that’s really nice as she’s lovely and so one else to help us get things going as fast as possible at the project!

That’s all for now,
Take care, bye xx

You've been Jiggered!

2007-09-07T15:18:00.001+01:00

PHOTO: Jiggers being removed by our brothers Stuart and Ssekulima

From Thursday 6^th September 2007

Char says: First things first, while we’re both annoyed by the lack of progress at the project we’ve been surprised by the way some people have interpreted the last blog! Its not like we’re hating being in Uganda – that couldn’t be further from the truth – but we called the last blog ‘Third week syndrome’ as this come-down period is natural, and something most overseas volunteers experience in their third week. Things get a bit tough sometimes but we didn’t come here for a holiday. Its not made to be a holiday full of beach parties and bars. We’re only a bit annoyed with our project because we want to achieve more. We are healthy, we have really nice friends and family (both fellow volunteers and Ugandans) and we enjoy the Ugandan lifestyle. So stop worrying about us!

Anyway, so this week’s blog…

It’s a funny old place we are living in with a unique story to tell every week! The biggest event of the week came courtesy of Jiggers. Why did no one tell us about these strange and disgusting little creatures?

On Sunday evening our friend and fellow ICYE volunteer Mona (from Germany) stayed at our house for the night. She is living in a village a few kilometres away from us but has a far more basic standard of living than we have. Having been to Kampala for the weekend, she showed us all of the purchases she had made of rat poison and insect repellent for her bedroom and told us about her visit to the clinic to have jiggers removed from her feet. That evening as we went to bed I commented to Jonathan how brave I thought Mona was and thought to myself how luxurious our home actually is!

The next morning I woke to find my little toe was swollen and stinging. Not wanting to be a hypochondriac, I sheepishly asked Mona to look at my foot in case I had also got one of her little friends! Upon further inspection from my brother Stuart, it was found that my feet were riddled with jiggers! Other brother Ssekulima set about checking Jonathan’s feet, and guess what, he was also jiggered (don’t think this is a correct medical term!). It took an hour of being stabbed in the feet with a needle to remove all of these horrendous little creatures from our poor, soft mzungu feet! Having thoroughly swept and mopped our bedroom floor, (although we’re pretty sure it is not from our nice room but from the school where we have Luganda lessons) I am being very careful to avoid having a repeat of this situation but Ssekulima is insisting on regular foot inspections to be sure. It is strangely amusing though!

Yesterday we partook in a weekly ritual which we are developing as a small change from the normal routine. Our closest ‘town’ Kiwangala, is a ten minute and 30p buda buda (a moped taxis) away from home. We have found a nice little bar there where we can buy ice cold bottles of Bell (Ugandan larger) for about 55p per bottle. Right outside the bar is a street food vendor who makes delicious chips. He puts the chips in a plastic bag and adds tomato slices, cabbage and salt and mixes them together. This tasty little treat costs less than 20p and makes a welcomed change to matoke or rice – and for the negative readers, we actually eat very well at home but it is nice to get western food once in a while. Altogether, it is a thoroughly nice evening out!

Elsewhere, we are going to Kampala (the capital city for those who are not in the know) tomorrow and staying at a my lovely UK/Ugandan friend Angela’s sister’s house for two nights. On Saturday we are going to watch the Cranes- Uganda’s national football team – in a match against Niger. The stadium holds 45,000 people and is just a few KMs outside of the city centre. In spite of the 4pm kick-off, the gates open at 9am and we have been advised to get there as early as possible! We are going with three other volunteers and some Ugandan friends and so they should hopefully help us to get there in time! There has been a lot of press coverage in the newspapers and on the radio as the game is a qualifier for next year’s African Nations Cup and Uganda have to win to qualify! Its all building up to what should hopefully be a really good match!

That’s all for now. Hope all in the UK are well. Oh and parents, please stop worrying about us, we’re both fine, fed, watered and not working too hard and no longer doing so much manual labour!

P.S. Ric – as we now have a laptop yes please do send us the new Rilo Kiley CD – that’d be grand! Oh and if there are any other major amazing new CDs coming out that people think we need we’d very much like to receive a copy if your sending us a letter or anything! There isn’t a great variety of music in Uganda (although we still get ‘Umbrella’ by Rhianna on the radio!! As if we were missing it!)

LEGENDS: Sseguya (the other (very very hard) worker at the project) and Samwell (a local teacher who is giving us Luganda lessons!)

Hakim and Rwegaba - two of the kids who live just next to the orphanage. They're great and so cute. Hakim is nicknamed Mzungu (white person0 because his skin is so pale!

3rd Week Syndrome

2007-09-01T16:04:00.000+01:00

Jay Says: Ok so we’ve now been down at our project for a couple of weeks – and its been a mixture of highs and lows to be honest. As we were warned would happen before we left the initial excitement and novelty of Uganda has now warn off and the reality of life here is kicking in.

As Charlotte explained last time the orphanage is far less built than we imagined – and there is no-one living there at the moment (ourselves included). We currently have 10 children who are registered and waiting to move in – but we will have space for at least another 30 children to come during the day – for lessons and food etc. Therefore our first week of work was spent visiting all the families in the surrounding area with the other worker at the orphanage - Sseguya and a teacher at the local school – Samwelll - who was our translator (and is now giving us lessons in the local language everyday). We interviewed around 35 families to identify those most in need of the orphanage’s help. This was something we feel very lucky to have done – it must be something very few westerners experience – going into the homes of some of the poorest families to meet with them face to face and discuss and see their living condition first hand. While the poverty was shocking – we met one lady, Jane, (in her 60s) who was looking after her 7 children but also caring for another 7 children who were either orphans or whose parents had left. So many families were living off such small amounts of money and every single family (bar one) laughed when we asked if their children wore shoes to school! This humour, happiness and human spirit is the greatest thing about Uganda. Many people are really struggling but you would never know, they don’t complain or get depressed they just enjoy what they have and get on with life a lesson for us all.

We are currently writing up the report on this exercise and hopefully will shortly go back to some of the families with good news – but only to such a small minority! However since then our work has been much harder and less inspiring. As Charlotte mentioned a lack of money is holding building works up and so the last two weeks have been really tough. Everyday we have been doing manual labour. Digging the land, shoveling, hoeing and slashing (basically cutting the grass with a blunt metal cane – the most mundane job ever!). While neither of us are scared of a bit of hard work but the problem has been we haven’t felt like we have achieved anything – as all the work has just been cosmetic, and none of it towards finishing the buildings! Added to this neither of us are used to manual labour everyday in the African sun (not to be sexist but this really isn’t a lady’s work!) we have therefore been quite tired and disheartened. Also my baby soft beautiful hands are now completely covered in blisters!

While I’m being negative I feel like listing all the other things that are hard at the moment (exaggerated because we are tired). Being an outsider! The novelty of being stared at, laughed at and shouted at just for being white has defiantly worn off. Living with the family has been great -the children are brilliant, a couple of them in particular are really fun and have looked after us - but sticking to someone else’s timetable is hard – especially when we often don’t eat until 10:30 at night (and then have to get up at 7 for hard labouring).

But that’s more than enough negativity for one blog! After our last blog about the lack of money we emailed a company that helped us out before (and has offered to help us out again) – Micro Drainage – Within hours of the email being sent a phone call was made and a very large donation was offered to get the orphanage off the ground! So THANK-YOU THANK-YOU THANK-YOU.
Once this money clears it will really allow things to get moving – buying the windows, doors and roofs that are needed so we – and more importantly the children – can move in!

Tomorrow should see the instillation of solar panels onto the orphanage roof (Note from Char: Hope all at the SBP are reading this!) This will be really exciting and the first signs of real progress being made! Today we have also been helping to build a classroom. Again while this is hard work, it is actually good progress so we feel good!

I’ve been going on a bit now so I’ll finish soon! But just to say as we’ve been having a hard time of it we’ve made sure our weekends have been good! The first weekend down here we went up to the nearest city to meet up with the other volunteers in the area – one of them had a hotel room so we all took it in turns to use a real loo and have our first real shower – followed by our first western food!

This weekend saw all the ICYE volunteers meet up to go to the Ssese Islands for a relaxing break and more western food and real toilets. It was really good but did take us 8 hours to travel about 70 miles (not to mention the dodgiest ferry ever!).

Anyway that’s enough for now. We both know that as the money comes through and things with the project progress we’ll be much happier and the textbook third week dip will go! So onwards and upwards – at least we haven’t got Malaria (unlike one of our volunteers who is living in the same village as us) – Mum & Dad don’t worry – he was being stupid and wasn’t sleeping with a net etc etc – we’ll be fine.

Lots of love to all xxx

p.s. since first writing this the solar power has now been installed and we have just found a shop in our nearest city (45mins away) that sells mars bars!!!! Yay!! We have also learnt the phrase ‘Hello my name is Jonathan, please call me Jonathan not mzungu’ which is working a treat – half of the village is converted. Just the other half to work on! Feeling much happier!

PhotoScape

2007-09-01T15:12:00.001+01:00

Here are some photos of our time so far. Enjoy. xxx

Molly and Justine - two of our teachers at our arrival camp Playing netball with the local children at our arrival camp

(apparently Jay is very good at netball - a girls sport but hey!)

What to do when it rains? Read or write in the journal

The last night at our arrival camp - a party in a feild - the whole village heard it and came and joined in!

On the way to our project we passed the equator!

Our new home: Our village where we live

When it rains in africa it really rains! Jay with Ssekulima (one of our host 'brothers')

Jay playing wityh Enoka - another of our host brothers
We went to a Ugandan Wedding! So Char got her white legs out!

The children around us are so poor but so hapy and beautiful!

Char, Jay and Sseguya after working hard - check out the banadage on Jay's hand - big softy! Sseguya is the other worker at the orphange - that man is a machine, he can dig all day without stopping! He's a legend though.

Our first cabbage crop!

Eating fresh Popo after a hard days work - check out the beard on Jay! He loves it but char made him shave!

The Sesse Islands. Arr.. relaxing weekend with the other volunteers with beaches real toilets and showers!

Taking a boat trip on Lake Victoria - you can just make out a big eagle on the tree on the left - they were everywhere on the Sesse Islands

The Sunset over Lake Victoria on the Sesse Islands - not bad eh?

Jay's mini me - Enoka dressing up as the coolest Mzungu in town!

Our Project

2007-08-18T10:25:00.000+01:00

From Friday 17th August 2007

Photo: Our Project

Char says: Arrival camp finished on Friday with a party in the field. The loud music attracted half of the village to come and join in! Unfortunately I have been suffering with a bad cold (the Ugandan’s call it the flu but really it was just a cold!) and so couldn’t fully enjoy this crazy party!

On Saturday (11th) we left for our projects. I felt a little sad to be saying goodbye to our fellow ICYE volunteers but at the same time it was exciting to think that we would finally see the project, start work and unpack! We arrived late on Saturday in Kyamukama, a village about 20km from Masaka – the fifth largest city in Uganda. We had been told in advance that we would not actually be able to live at the project straight away due to construction work but what we didn’t realize was that we would be living with Stuart’s family. Stuart is the ICYE/ Ugandan Volunteers for Peace (UVP) Country Co-ordinator and he lives and works in Kampala during the week, returning to his family in the village for the weekends. So we are currently living in one of the rooms of a building detached from the main house and living and eating with the family. We were surprised to find that we are sharing a room (a good surprise obv!) but the bathroom was less of a pleasant surprise! It consists of a hole in the ground and an over-sized washing up bowl. These are our shower and toilet – I’ll let you use your imagination…!!! But we just have to get on with using this typical African set-up. I try not to think too much about the home comforts I am quietly missing!

Photo: A typical house on the hillside of our village

Our project – Kiyumbakimu Children’s Village is set in a gorgeous location but it is remarkably less built than we had imagined. In fact, we will be the first people to live there when we finally move in. I am in two minds about this: Firstly, it gives us a lot of flexibility to run the project our own way and we will see a major change in the project over the months we are here. But on the other hand, it is not what we were expecting and as Ugandan time is considerably slower than UK time (eg. If someone says we will leave at 9am, don’t expect to go before 10:15am at the earliest!) when they say we will move in in ten days, my cynical side says we will be lucky to move in within a month.

The biggest hold-up with the project is because of money. And therefore, if anyone reading this would like to help the project to develop faster then please feel free to donate money. PLEASE!!!!

The internet is very slow so that’s all for now but we will try to keep this as up-to-date as possible xx

Arrival Camp

2007-08-18T09:59:00.000+01:00

Photo: The other ICYE Volunteers in Uganda

From Friday 10th August 2007

Jay says: So hello from Uganda. It took us about 24 hours but we´ve finally got here! The trip was quite eventful (none more than arriving nervoulsy in Uganda, being picked up and driven to arrival camp, but being pulled over by the police within 5 mins - thankfully it was just to allow the president and his full cavulcade to pass!).

Photo: Local school children came to visit the Mzungu every day (check out the shorts and socks action!)

Upon arriving we were taken to our orientation camp - a camp based at a scouts camp around 12 miles from the capital city - Kampala. We were there with the other volunteers who have projects in Uganda - 5 Germans, 1 Swiss, 1 Icelandic, 1 Finish and 1 Canadian (all of whom are really nice and its great to have some friends in the country we will be able to meet up with throughout the year). We were learning all about Ugandan culture, history and geography - however as long as you had read the introduction to your guide book (which we all had) - you know it all already - but its was fine as it was all very laid back (Ugandan style) and huge amounts of work didnt get done - more exploring, playing football, cards and drinking cups tea than anything! We were also taught some Luganda - the local language - its bloody hard but i´m sure we´ll pick it up when we have to start using it!

Photo: Our Local BAR!

Our time so far has been amazing - whilst its definately basic (nothings wakes you up like a cold shower outside at 9am!), we expected as much. But most of all its so beautiful - our camp had amazing veiws overlooking Lake Victoria and we explored the local area, visting the local villages. The poverty is on a scale you cant really understand or be pepared for - we drove through what i thought were slums on our first day, coming through them just a couple of days later you realise that these towns actually have houses with windows and roofs, and they have shops and everything they need - in fact they are quite afluent - its amazing how your perecption changes within a couple of days! But to be honest now you no longer notice the poverty - as everyone is just so happy and content - the children in particular.

Photo: Our view over lake Victoria

Just being white makes you such a novelty everywhere - but particularly in the villages - the children look on with amazment and calls of 'hello mzunugu how are you' follow you everywhere.

Boats to send Fish to Export near our arrival camp

Stopping for a soda draws crowds of children to see the mzungu

And we're off

2007-08-03T21:59:00.000+01:00

Jay Says:
Ok this is just a really quick one to say bye.
Today is Friday and tomorrow we fly off to Uganda.

We are both excited but to be honest i dont think what we are doing has sunk in for either of us yet. We have just been too busy - we only moved out of our flat this morning. So we are both pretty tired! And have the pleasure of at least a twenty hour journey tomorrow to look forward to! (Twenty hours because we are not going direct but going via dubai AND adis adaba!!)
We're also not really sure whats going to happen when we get there - but we should be getting picked up from the airport (we hope!) and somethng should be sorted for us - but this is Uganda - things are a lot more laid back than us organised Brits!

Anyhow we know we're going to have an amazing time. Thanks to everyone for all the good luck messages etc - we'll try and keep in touch as much as possible but i'm not sure how we'll do.

But yes so its six months at the Orphanage and then a couple of months making our way around eastern Africa and then back in time for the wedding (6th September 2008 for those that dont know)!

See you in 9 months! Take care,
BYYEEEEE

3 Weeks To Go: Pre-Departure Camp

2007-07-16T12:01:00.000+01:00

Jay says: Well its all getting very real now! Just three weeks to go.
First bit of news... August 6th... Oh no no no, we got our dates mixed up! We're actually flying on August 4th! Oh cr*p. Better change all our moving plans then!

We've just spent a great weekend at the Hill-End Field Centre in Oxfordshire. This was our Pre-Departure Training Camp with our charity ICYE. Before going I was a bit dubious about the camp, thinking it would be full of cheesy role plays and bonding games. And while yes there were plenty of these it was done really well - lots of useful information about our trip, the way the organization works, how to do deal with things we hadn't thought about but best of all a chance to meet the other 26 volunteers who are going out to do similar projects across the world! 26 others who are all feeling the same excitement and nervousness as Char and I! We thoroughly bonded over rather large amounts of alcohol and a couple of late nights.

The camp was also the Evaluation & Wrap Up Camp for the exchangees who have been volunteering in the UK from around the world. They had some brilliant insights of the UK (Including advice on buying your clothes from Primark & buying your booze from Tesco before going out!) But best of all we met Bosoco, a volunteer from Uganda. He was a legend and we've swapped details so we've got someone who can help us out and show us the sights in Uganda (it helps that he's a tour guide for a living!).

So well done and thank-you to Sophie, Cat and all at ICYE-UK.

Finally we just discovered the Ugandan partner organisation we're going with - Ugandan Volunteers for Peace (UVP) - has its own website! On which there is small bit about our Orpahange! As you can see from the photos below its pretty rural and as yet unfinished (missing a roof here and there!). I'm guessing its also going to be lacking in electricity and maybe running water but above all it looks VERY beautiful! Suddenly its very exciting and VERY real!

So much to sort out so little time..

Habari?!

2007-06-23T15:43:00.000+01:00

Char says: Welcome to our blog! Once we get out to Uganda we will be trying to keep the blog as up-to-date as possible but internet connection is likely to be infrequent! Six weeks to go and we still have loads to sort out. Already human pin cushions, we still both have further exciting injections and the prospect of Malaria tablets to look forward to! But besides that, its beginning to get very exciting!...

Jay says: So, just in case you're a weirdo who goes searching the internet for random blogs and you don't know me or Char then I'll give you a quick fill in. Come August 6th we're heading off to an orphanage in Uganda to volunteer for six months. We are then hoping to do a bit of back packing around Sub-Saharan Africa for the following few months (or as long as we can afford). We're going with the lovely small charity ICYE. If you want more info on why we chose to go with these guys rather than the raft of others out there offering gap year guff then please read this on ICYE's website...written by yours truley!

Finally a word on the title.
For those of you not in the know mzungu is the Swahili for 'white person'.
Anyhow as Char says please keep checking back - we'll try and keep you as up to date as possible. You may even get some pretty pictures now and again! But for now its time to log off and get excited...