Meeting other volunteers

25 July 2010

Rhona and Bobby a Scottish couple who are coming to the end of their placement invited me out for the afternoon. They had invested in a car so came to the hotel to collect me and took me to their house. We walked up a hill behind the house and had extensive views over part of Kampala and out to Lake Victoria, unfortunately it was very hazy so views were not clear. I met Ben a Kenyan volunteer who lives next to them and joined us all for an evening meal before Rhona and Bobby brought me back. I am not sure I would want to drive in Kampala the roads are very rutted, the road signs nonexistent and there is a need to be forceful and very alert at all times. Night driving is even more challenging with the lack of street and vehicle lights and several pedestrians to avoid as well.

Accommodation

24 July 2010

I should have moved to my accommodation yesterday but a previous volunteer is living there until 3 August so I have to wait to move in. It was initially thought that a further volunteer was moving out of her temporary accommodation on 26 July but apparently she is not going to move until 30 July. I have therefore been moved to a cheaper hotel for the weekend and will hopefully hear on Monday where my temporary home will be. The present hotel is far too far from my place of work to be practical. So I continue to live out of suitcases.

First week in Uganda

16 – 23 July 2010
This first week we have been based in a hotel in Kampala very close to the VSO office. There are a group of 11 of us, 9 volunteers and 2 accompanying partners. Only 2 of us will be based in Kampala but there are already a lot of volunteers based here. We have had an intensive week of in country training and an introduction to the most appropriate local language for our placement – for me this is Luganda. We were taken to see a music and dance show in which the compare gave some very good back ground to the different areas.
Things that have struck me this first week in Kampala are:-
It is very dusty with a fine covering of red dust settling rapidly on everything
It is much colder than I had expected only up to about 22oC in day and dropping considerably in the evening
There are lots of birds around many of which are beautiful but also several are extremely noisy
The traffic system is chaotic but works until you get traffic police trying to organise it
People are very friendly if you take the trouble to greet them
The pineapples are huge and amazingly tasty
A meal is not a meal without boiled, mashed banana – motoki?

Leaving for Uganda

15 July 2010

Sonya had been home for a few days before my departure and both she and Steve came with me to Heathrow. This time the departure was much easier. We had all done it before, I was going to be so much closer and being placed in the capital can be home within a few hours if needed and finally this is only a 1 year placement. VSO had arranged charity/missionary tickets with BA so I had a generous luggage allowance and was actually under my weight allowance.

Transitional period

20 May – 15 July 2010This was a crazy 8 weeks catching up with family, friends and mail. I tried to get my full motorbike licence; I managed to pass the theory and mod 1 test but could not get a date to do the mod 2 prior to leaving for Uganda. I helped with The Lace Guild ‘Movement’ competition – the entries are on display in Walsall library gallery, Litchfield Street, Walsall, WS1 1TR until 25 September 2010. This is well worth a visit the gallery is open Tuesday – Friday; 10 – 5 and Saturday 10 – 4. With Steve’s help we managed to tidy up the garden and garage. Whilst Sonya was at home she also had a major sort out of her room with a bit of help/encouragement from me. As a consequence of all this we became regular visitors at the recycling centre. I also managed to get all the craft work I had completed in Indonesia framed – we just need a few more walls to hang it all!